Tempest Wind (Vash x F!Reader)

Nature of Your Being

Memories of Earth return to you as fragments, shards to still be pieced together. Your fingers grab onto your hair, and you want to roll up both from the overwhelming flood of images and all the feelings in your chest. You didn't remember who you were, but that's not what you expected. The coldness in your words, the harsh truth of your being reflected in your face. But the thing that hurts the most is that nothing has changed, you continue to be pushed by those base instincts, the same mentality, even if you want to deny it.

Vash lets you hunch over a bit, and his arms tighten around you. He can tell you are in pain and wants you to know that you're not alone, he is there and will support you. He sees your blank stare from the corner of his vision, your fingers pulling at your hair.

"Iris..." He isn't sure he should say the name he had seen on the screen, so he swallows it back. "It's okay. Take a break. Don't hurt yourself. I can only imagine how hard this must be, but please lean on me."

You grit your teeth and push down all the emotions trying to boil over inside you. Everything you've been looking for is within your reach. You want to know... you have to know more. Your body relaxes and straightens up again. You can pick up the pieces later, right now, there is the burning question of your nature still left unanswered. What are you now? Something happened on this ship after you were recruited, you were still human then, had to be.

Determined to uncover the truth, you pull away from Vash's arms and sit down at the console. Your fingers glide over the keys and buttons with ease, like you do it every day. You look through your files, and deep inside a random looking file system, you find a folder called "Project HUMAN, subject 0325". Vash's hand grips your shoulder as you try to open the item, only to be greeted by a message saying it is locked. You try your handprint again with no success, even something Vash typed in didn't grant access. A heavy weight appears in your stomach, this has to be it. At least some answers are hidden inside, you can feel it.

You stare at the screen. The red message denying you access to your information flashes on the screen. You let out a deep sigh and feel Vash's grip tighten.

"Tell me what I can do for you. How can I help you?" Vash sounds so sad, he is at a loss.

"I don't know it myself," you say quietly, the feelings still being pushed down. "I want answers."

The laboratory doors open, and you turn your head towards them to see Luida and Brad step inside. Brad looks awkward, avoiding looking straight at you, instead staring at the tray with food in his hands. The woman, however, is calm and has a kind smile on her lips.

"Good to see you're awake. And you came to the same conclusion as we did about looking for your records. Did they help? Did you get the answers you desired?" Luida comes close enough to stand beside Vash.

"Some..." you look back at the screen. "But not everything. I seemed to be a regular human when I boarded the ship, but I still don't know what happened after that. I think I found where the information is, but... we can't access it."

"We'll take a look at it, but maybe I can help to fill in the gaps just a little bit for now. I have the results of the labs, and I had a look at them. Do you want to know? We can wait a bit if you'd prefer that." Luida's voice is still calm and kind, with a comforting warmth in it.

You look back at her and don't see Vash's gaze shift onto you with concern as his lips press tightly into a line.

"I want to know! Please!" You lean forward in your seat more towards the older woman.

"Well, I'm not a doctor, I was trained in the basics, but I did find out some things..." She hesitates for a moment, the expression on her face wavering on doubt. "The samples I took, I ran them through some machinery measuring all kinds of markers, and everything seemed normal, well, except for your blood turning into a completely different material that I haven't gotten around to testing yet. But despite the test results coming back normal, I pulled up your genetic makeup and looked through it, and it isn't completely human. I can't say how it was altered, but part of your code resembled that of... Plants."