Vash's birthday is fast approaching.
It'll be the first time Vash's birthday is celebrated at the orphanage. Preparations for it have been kept secret from the man ever since Wolfwood made a casual comment about it, that Vash's birthday is just a few weeks away. Melanie declared they must celebrate. The kids busy themselves with planning gifts for Vash, while Melanie and Livio discuss baking a special recipe, a cake, based on flavours Vash likes.
Wolfwood also busies himself with assembling a gift, staying up late at night at his desk, drawing up designs and throwing away prototypes when the gift doesn't turn out just right.
Wolfwood gets a radio call from Meryl and Milly about coming over to celebrate Vash's birthday. The girls tell him about a carnival happening on the same day as Vash's birthday in the town near the orphanage, saying it'll be a great way to bring Vash and spend the day together. Wolfwood recalls seeing posters on the walls about an event when he ran errands, but paid no attention to them. The next time he's in town, he grabs one of the posters to get more information, reading that the carnival will have games and exclusive food.
With plans and gifts ready for Vash, everyone waits for the date to arrive.
July 21st.
Wolfwood wakes up early and heads to the kitchen, way before Vash is expected to show up. He finds Melanie putting the finishing touches on the cake she baked yesterday, putting sprinkles on the vanilla cake and a candle. The only way to bake the cake in secret was to bring Vash to town so that he didn't smell the sweet aroma wafting throughout the orphanage. While he kept Vash busy for two hours, they both noticed townspeople setting up their booths for the carnival. Vash commented on it, having little idea about what's happening the next day. Wolfwood sweated a little while he feigned ignorance, somehow passing Vash's lie detector as he directed the other's attention elsewhere.
Livio is next to join the kitchen, ushering along the kids, who each hold their wrapped gifts for Vash. Soon after, there's a knock on the door. Wolfwood opens it to find Meryl and Milly, right on time, and greets them both with a hug. Milly helps Melanie prepare a special breakfast for everyone, chocolate pancakes and waffles, while Meryl and Livio work with the kids to set up decorations, handing out party hats, blowing up balloons and hanging up banners. Wolfwood guards the doorway where Vash is expected to show up and waits as he watches everyone busy with their tasks.
It's half an hour later when Wolfwood hears footsteps down the hall. He grabs everyone's attention with a quick clap of his hands and instructs everyone to get ready. Melanie brings the cake to the table and lights the one candle in the middle, above the Happy birthday, Vash!
Vash greets Wolfwood at the doorway with a yawn, rubbing away the sleep from his eyes. "Morning, Wolf—"
"Happy birthday!"
Vash jumps, wiping away any lingering sleepiness he has as he takes in the scene in front of him with wide eyes, noticing the decorations, cake, and Meryl and Milly. He gawks at everyone before staring at Wolfwood, unsure of how to react to the surprise. Wolfwood pats him on the back and pushes him towards the table, sitting him down where the cake sits.
One of the kids shouts, "Make a wish!"
Vash takes a few seconds to make a wish before blowing out the candle with one breath. The kids cheer.
"You guys didn't have to do all this for me," Vash stammers while his eyes dart across everyone.
Meryl puts her hands on her hips. "Of course we have to."
"We wouldn't want to miss celebrating your birthday!" Milly chimes in.
Melanie takes the cake to prepare it for cutting. "It's our pleasure to do this."
Wolfwood watches Vash grow teary-eyed for a moment before it's wiped away when the kids bombard him with their gifts, showing off the handmade trinkets they made. Vash still looks overwhelmed at being the center of attention, but puts on a smile of gratitude as he accepts each gift, adoring each one like a prized possession. He's got new beaded bracelets and picture drawings to add to his collection.
The girls give him their gifts too. Meryl presents a potted plant she found halfway across the planet, the rare kind Wolfwood has only seen in books, and judging by Vash's face, he's shocked to see Meryl found it, a rosette pattern of leaves and a flower in the center. It must be one of the many species the Earth Federation brought to terraform the planet. Milly hands Vash a homemade quilt filled with vibrant colours tiles that can brighten up any surface it lies on. She must have spent weeks working on it, or got help from one of her many siblings. Vash thanks them both with a hug, once again saying they didn't need to give him anything, but appreciates the gifts.
After the gift-giving, breakfast and cake are served, and everyone sits down to eat. The room is filled with chatter as the kids laugh amongst each other and the girls recount their reporting adventures, giving them updates since they last visited. When everyone finishes their plates, Wolfwood shoos Vash away before he can start clearing the dishes.
"Get changed, we're going to town."
Vash gives him a dumbfounded expression when Wolfwood nabs a plate from his hands. "What? Why?"
"We're going to the carnival!" Milly chirps excitedly.
"Carnival?" Vash is flabbergasted for the second time, before recognition fills his expression. "This was more than enough. I—" He's stopped by Meryl pushing him towards the hall to get ready.
"It's your birthday, we have to do something fun. Now shoo!"
Vash looks at Wolfwood for help but gets a shrug. He has no choice but to relent.
Wolfwood orders the kids to get ready, too. They scramble to their rooms to get dressed and are back before Vash, who shows up a few minutes later looking more presentable, wearing a T-shirt and jeans and his wild hair tamed with gel. While the kids are putting on their shoes, Melanie and the girls finish putting away the remaining dishes and join them at the door, with Livio right behind. Everyone is ready to go.
They walk the dirt path that leads to the town. The noise of the carnival can be heard as they approach the outskirts, louder as they near the town square. It's packed full of people. The children rush over to the nearest attraction, a ring toss game, and Livio chases after them in a hurry.
Melanie follows the group. "Enjoy your time!" she shouts to the remaining four.
"What should we do first?" Meryl asks, standing on her toes as she looks around.
Wolfwood eyes the many options of booths and food stalls through the large crowd.
Milly points at one of the booths. "Oh! We should try the shooting gallery!"
The guy manning the shooting gallery beckons them over, grandstanding that no one can pop all the balloons, which are very tiny, to win the big prize of a stuffed toma. Wolfwood scoffs, earning a jab to the side from Vash. After paying to play, the four attempt a round of shooting the balloons with blanks. It's obvious to them that the guns are rigged to miss.
Wolfwood grumbles when he empties his round of blanks with only one balloon left standing. He looks over at Meryl when he hears her curse, looking ready to chew out the guy for the foul play, but stops when Milly cheers. Both see Vash and Milly clear the board.
Milly walks up to the board of toma plushies while the operator guy gapes. She picks a blue one. "Which one do you want, Vash?"
Vash scrutinizes each plushie before pointing. "I'll take the yellow one."
With prizes in hand, the four of them try other carnival games, enjoying the less obviously rigged games like the ring toss and darts. It's past noon when they decide to make a pit stop at the food stalls, lining up for ice cream. They keep an eye on the tables nearby that are all full of families enjoying lunch. When one family leaves and frees up a table, Meryl pushes Wolfwood and Vash to grab it before anyone else while the girls stay in line.
Wolfwood watches the crowd of people walking about and enjoying the carnival; kids running around while parents follow along, groups of friends tasting the strange food concoctions and having a competition at one of the games. It's peaceful in a way, despite the loud noise. It's strange to see a better side of humanity that Wolfwood isn't used to seeing the ugly side for as long as he has. He finds himself wishing there would be more of this as humankind continues to rebuild on this planet.
Wolfwood turns his gaze to watch Vash, who's also watching the scenery. The other has a strange, faraway expression on his face. It's a bittersweet one.
"Is something bugging you?" Wolfwood asks.
The expression disappears as Vash glances at him. "No, it's nothing."
Wolfwood frowns.
"Really, I'm fine, don't give me that face. I'm enjoying myself." Vash attempts to placate him, but Wolfwood isn't buying it. He looks back at the crowd with a smile. "It's great to see everyone happy."
Wolfwood knows what he means. After seeing misery and cruelty for years, it's a nice change to see humanity enjoying the better things in life that don't involve guns or fighting for food or money. Although it doesn't explain why Vash has a sad look.
Wolfwood is about to call out on Vash's bullshit, but he's stopped when Meryl and Milly appear with ice cream. He keeps an eye on Vash for the rest of the day, seeing the same look pop up whenever he's not distracted by the group's conversation or a game. At one point, Vash is so lost in his head while eyeing the crowd that he doesn't hear his name being called by Milly. Meryl gives him a questioning look about Vash's behaviour, and Wolfwood shrugs back before shaking his head. After that, all three of them keep Vash's attention away from whatever is troubling him.
They taste some unusual foods from various vendors scattered around the main strip. Milly insists on trying out the deep-fried toma meat, earning a look of disgust from Meryl at the amount of grease on the thing and an excited one from Vash. The fried meat ends up tasting really delicious to Meryl's surprise after taking a small bite. Milly drags them into trying other concoctions like spicy lemonade, peanut butter corndog, and deep-fried cookies.
The group ends the day at the bar, which is also packed. There's a live band at the far end of the place, causing them to sway their heads to the beat of the music. The liveliness of the bar puts a smile on everyone's faces, especially Vash's who has no traces of the look he had earlier as he chats with the girls, gushing to them about the kids and the garden he's managing that grows each day. Milly tells them about the cities she and Meryl have seen while reporting, how the planet has thrived in just a few months. Meryl pulls out some films captured by her camera to show off the places they've been and even wild animals they've encountered. They each order drinks and spend the rest of the evening enjoying themselves.
When the suns start to set, the crowd of people start to dwindle, heading back to their homes as the sky dims. It's time for them to head back. When the group reaches the orphanage, they say their goodbyes.
Vash bows. "Thank you guys for today, I had a great time."
Milly gives him a big. "It was our pleasure, Vash! No need to thank us! We gotta do this again next year."
Vash pats her back. "Next year, huh?"
"Yes!" Meryl says, giving Vash as well before pulling away. "We have to do something more exciting!"
Vash waves his hands. "I'm happy with anything, really!"
Meryl pouts. "You're no fun. There are plenty of things we can do. You have a year to think about it!"
While Meryl scolds Vash, Milly's voice grabs Wolfwood's attention. "Vash had a strange smile today."
So, he's not the only one who noticed. "You know how he is."
"Yes." Milly smiles sadly. "I hope he makes peace with what's troubling him."
"Come on, Milly! It's time to get going!" Meryl shouts from where she stands by her truck.
"Right!" Milly turns to Wolfwood to hug him goodbye. "Look after him for us."
"You got it, big girl."
They say goodbye, with the girls promising to visit in a few weeks.
When Wolfwood and Vash head inside, they are bombarded with the kids telling them about the food they tried at the carnival, pulling Vash to sit on the couch and listen to their stories. While everyone is distracted by the conversation, Wolfwood takes his chance to go to his room and grab a small box he left on his desk. He puts it in his pocket and heads back to the group to listen to the kids' stories. When it's well past sunset, the children are all tired out, and Melanie guides them to their rooms to tuck them into bed. Wolfwood and Vash also take their leave, the other yawning as he stands.
Before they separate, Wolfwood stops Vash in the hallway. "Here." He holds out a box to Vash. The other takes the box and inspects it with curiosity. Vash opens the lid, peeks inside, and takes out the gift. It's a necklace, a leather cord with a pendant attached. The pendant is shaped like a disc, made with wood at the bottom and blue resin at the top. Tiny flowers sit in the center of the pendant, like a mini terrarium, flowers that Wolfwood has been growing on his windowsill for the last two months after buying seeds from a local shop, all unbeknownst to Vash. It's handmade jewellery.
"A good luck charm," Wolfwood says, rubbing his neck.
Vash gazes at it as he raises the pendant to eye level and moves it around in his hand. Wolfwood tenses when his eyes go misty.
"This is beautiful," Vash murmurs. "How did you…I didn't know you could do this."
Wolfwood relaxes. "With a lot of practice and patience." In his room, there are many prototypes scattered on his desk from when he was trying to perfect the size and design.
Vash puts the necklace around his neck. He holds up the pendant. "This is lovely. Thank you," he says, beaming at Wolfwood.
Wolfwood feels his face heat up at the praise. "Glad you like it."
Vash bids him goodnight, and they go their separate ways.
After cleaning himself up for bed, Wolfwood ruminates on what Milly said earlier while lying in bed. He tries to forget about it so he can fall asleep. An hour of restlessness passes, and Wolfwood decides to give in. He needs a smoke.
Wolfwood picks out a cigarette and a lighter from his drawer. He doesn't smoke as much as he used to. Now with his second life, he wants to make the most of it. Although sometimes, the craving hits when he needs to brood and stare out into the distance of the cool desert night. Sticking the cigarette into his mouth, he tests the lighter to see if it still works and heads to the front door. The cool air hits his skin as he steps outside. Looking over at the bench he usually loiters on, he finds someone already sitting on it.
It's Vash.
Wolfwood freezes when he sees Vash who's equally startled by his unannounced presence. There are tears on his face that he quickly scrubs away.
Vash stands. "Sorry, I'll leave—"
Wolfwood stops him with a hand on his shoulder. "No, it's fine. Stay."
Vash reluctantly sits back down. Wolfwood sits next to him and lights his cigarette. He exhales a puff of smoke as he looks out into the dark horizon illuminated by the moons and stars. The sound of the wind and Vash's poor attempts to muffle his sniffles fills the silence.
"Is there something bothering you?" Wolfwood asks.
Vash sniffs again before answering, "I've never cared about my birthday." He takes a moment to wipe his face. "I had so many. More than I deserve. After a certain point, it becomes meaningless."
Wolfwood is no stranger to feeling like you've lived past your usefulness. Nor is he a stranger to Vash's sense of worth—or lack thereof, getting to live much longer than anyone else on the planet. Both a curse and a blessing.
Vash continues with a hushed voice, "It's also a reminder of what I've done. Taking away birthdays of so many people."
Lost July.
Wolfwood looks up at one of the moons in the sky, the one with the noticeable crater that can only come from a massive blast. A blast Vash created. Sometimes he forgets how much firepower Vash has, or had. His full head of black hair tells him that there is no way Vash can do something like that again without consequences.
"I already had more than my fair share of years, I don't deserve any more."
Wolfwood opens his mouth to refute him—Vash deserves to have a normal life after the shit one hundred and fifty years of living on this unforgiving planet. The scars on his body prove it, a permanent reminder. Vash deserves a life without being hunted like a dog. He's done more than enough penance by saving every single person that he can, saving him.
Knowing he's going to get a scolding, Vash stops him. "I know what you're going to say. I just…" He turns away to hide his expression. "It's something I can't help thinking about, and I don't think I'll ever stop."
Wolfwood takes a drag of his cigarette and blows out the smoke seconds later. "None of us thinks that."
"I know." Vash scrubs his eyes before he turns back and sports a sad smile as he looks out into the distance. "Sorry, I probably sound ungrateful after today. I wasn't lying when I said I enjoyed myself."
"Don't worry about it." Wolfwood doesn't like that Vash still sounds and looks sad despite it all. He reaches over and drags Vash to rest his head on his shoulder. "Next year, say it with a real smile."
Vash laughs. "I'll remember that." He sighs as he gets comfortable next to Wolfwood. "I worried Meryl and Milly, huh?"
"Yep." Wolfwood inhales and exhales smoke as silence passes between them. His cigarette is almost spent.
"I'm glad my birthday can bring happiness to others instead of pain, at least," Vash whispers.
Wolfwood hums in agreement.
"So, what brings you out here?" Vash leans back to look at him as he changes the subject.
Wolfwood side eyes him. "Needed some fresh air."
"Fresh air while smoking?" Vash pouts at his vague answer, shaking his head. He rests his chin on Wolfwood's shoulder again. Vash's breath tickles his neck. "I thought you stopped."
"Old habits die hard."
The conversation drops there, both content with staring into the dark horizon until sleep takes one of them. Half an hour goes by of listening to the stillness and occasional wind of the desert when Wolfwood checks in on Vash and finds him asleep on his shoulder. Huffing, Wolfwood takes the last drag of his cigarette and flicks it to put out the light before sliding an arm under Vash's legs and around his shoulders. He leaves the cool night air behind him and heads back inside, carrying Vash to his room.
Gently lying Vash down on the bed, Wolfwood catches something around his neck. Wolfwood smiles—he's wearing the necklace. After tucking Vash under the covers, he stalls for a bit before leaving, examining Vash's sleeping face and noticing his swollen eyes. He's glad he caught Vash before he went to bed, can't have him crying on his birthday, even if it's well past midnight.
Wolfwood brushes back Vash's bangs and leans down, dropping a kiss on his forehead. He quickly leaves after that, not wanting to be at the crime scene despite no one awake to catch him. Before leaving the room, Vash stirs.
"Wolfwood?"
"Yeah?" Wolfwood makes out Vash's silhouette in the dark as he sits up.
"Do you want to stay?"
Wolfwood would like to, but the cigar still in his hand tells that he smells unpleasant. "I stink," he says lamely.
"I don't care."
Wolfwood throws his dead cigarette into what he hopes is the garbage and climbs onto the bed, sliding next to Vash. Vash wraps his arm around his middle before planting his face into his shoulder, not a care that the smell of smoke is clinging to his skin and clothes.
"Thank you," Vash murmurs beside him.
Wolfwood pets Vash's hair before closing his eyes. He passes out within minutes.
Next year, Wolfwood witnesses Vash adorning an unwavering and genuine smile on his birthday.