A/N: Finally another one shot from yours truly. First time doing Knives, so be nice.
Oh yeah, me no own Trigun

"Pretty night, huh?"

I choke on my tea. "What are you doing out here, spider?" I hiss, slamming the chipped mug down onto the porch railing. It merely smiles and holds up Its own steaming cup.

"You looked lonely out here by yourself, Mr. Knives," It chirps, setting Its drink on the deck rail beside It, a ways from myself. "I thought you might like someone to talk to." I roll my eyes.

"Why, on Gunsmoke, would I want company from a spider suck as yourself?" I ask bitterly, glaring at It over my shoulder. The glare bounces off, reflected by that sickening smile, and It turns Its gaze from me to the heavens.

"Did you know you look like Mr. Vash?" It asks, Its repulsive voice sounding somewhat distant. A twinge of rage forms in my gut.

"Of course I have, you idiot," I snap, "we're twins!"

"You have different eyes," It replies plainly. Its response makes me blink. Leaning on Its elbows, It takes in a deep breath of the night air. "Everybody in my family has blue eyes," It continues, "and my big big sister says its our trademark as a Thompson."

"Where the hell are you going with this, spider?" I ask, careful not to let any of my confusion slip into my words.

"Well…you two have different eyes…" It says, wringing Its hands together. "His are kind and loving…and yours…yours are just cold…" The end of Its sentence drops and It begins to fiddle more with Its loose clothing. "But…but I've seen both of you with the same eyes," It concludes, eyes sweeping over the desert wasteland.

"Is that so, spider?" I ask boredly, taking a long sip of my drink. I may be at a much higher thinking level then It, but I have no idea what It's talking about. After I look away, It speaks again.

"You have the same eyes…when you look at him," It says slowly. Again I choke, my eyes sweeping up to look at It, finding It once again smiling at me. "You love him so much, don't you?"

"What would you," I grunt, playing high and mighty,"know of love, spider?" The smile is whipped away in an instant. Finally, I've found something to shut It up.

"You're right," It says weakly. "I'm afraid I know very little about love." Much to my delight, tears form in Its eyes. "I only know it's beautiful…and short."

"'Love' did that to you, did it not, spider?" I ask, pointing lazily at Its belly. Turning away, It nods. Oh, this is good fun. "Because of your 'love', you are bringing another of your filthy species into this world, but where is its father?" It flinches, head lowered to where Its eyes are covered by the stringy hair covering Its head. Triumphantly, I sip my tea. Sure, I'll never hear the end of this from brother, but I finally got under Its skin. Oh what progress.

"Thank you," It whispers, ripping me from my thoughts.

"For what?" I ask, quite confused, before gulping down some of my lukewarm tea.

"For letting me meet him." I look up slowly, finding It facing me. "If it wasn't for your love for Mr. Vash, we would have never met, and…" Its voice drops to a dull whisper as another tear slides down Its cheek and lands with a dull splash onto the floor boards beneath It. "And although it was your orders that parted us…for now," It continues, "I still want to thank you for bringing us together." A soft smile spreads over Its face, tears now streaming freely. "I guess that's all I wanted to tell you." Bowing slightly, It gathers up Its mug, contense mostly untouched, and turns to leave.

"I…I only wanted to protect him," I mumble, looking way from It as It stops, hand stretched outward to grab the doorknob. Slowly, It turns around, waiting for me to continue. "I didn't want you humans to hurt him." My eyes drift over the darkened landscape. "In fact, I had no intention on leaving him with the blame for July. You foolish humans placed that bounty on his head and now…" My finger nails dig into my palms as my hands ball into fists at my side. "You've seen the countless scars that crisscross his body, have you not?" I ask, glancing at It. It nods. "Those began long before July, back when we traveled together…only as brothers."

Back then, he could regenerate the lost flesh, but, as time went on, he became more tied to you spiders and chose to keep them, one by one. They were small at first, but, as time crawled on, he forgot how to regenerate them…and that's when they became more gruesome." I choke down the lump that had appeared in the back of my throat before continuing. "Those scars, now in countless numbers, are forever carved into his skin." My fists shake, knuckles a dull white. Taking a few deep breaths, I loosen the balls at my sides and lean limply onto the banister. "Because of my mistakes, you humans are taking him away from me piece by piece…and what's worse," I heave a sigh, looking away from the house to my side, "he hates me for it."

A hand sets itself firmly onto my shoulder, turning me to look into two sky blue eyes. "Don't say that!" It says sharply, the tone of Its voice surprising me. It starts to wag an index finger at me, scolding me. "You shouldn't even think that!" Again, It smiles, this time taking on a knowing sense. "Mr. Vash loves you. He might not your actions, but he loves you." I stare at It for a moment before nodding. Smiling, It removes Its hand from my shoulder, and gives me a quick peck on the cheek, shocking me. "And don't you forget it!"

Goodnight, Mr. Knives," she says sweetly. Turning to leave, she flashes me one more smile before slipping inside.

"Goodnight…Millie."

--Owari--