The battle of Jachin Due raged on, space itself seeming to explode with the amount of firepower being exchanged. A lone mobile suit was flying away from the terror of the battlefield, to a large white ship just behind the front lines. Strike was heavily damaged, missing an arm and leg, and most of the flight pack. All the pilot wanted right now was to make it back to the Archangel, change to the Moebius Zero, and get back out there. Klueze wasn't going to get away that easily...

Of course, Mwu knew that he had been injured (again), probably quite badly (again), but he wouldn't let that stop him.

As Strike neared the space where his ship waited, Mwu saw that they were still in battle with the Earth Alliance ship Dominion. The Archangel's sister ship hung there malevolently, like a huge black spider stalking it's prey. It didn't look to be doing very much, in fact, the two ships seemed to be just...waiting. Then, slowly, the Dominion's 'leg' opened...and the air shimmered before it. Mwu felt a finger of ice travel down his spine. The Lohengrin. And Archangel hadn't noticed...

He kicked the Strike's verniers onto full, ignoring the complaining whine of the already overtaxed engines, and boosted toward Dominion as fast as he could go. Mwu knew that if that thing fired and hit the Archangel, his ship would disintegrate, be blown to smithereens. He had to do something, anything to prevent it. Checking the weapon situation, he scowled, a bead of sweat travelling down his face. Beam sabers were all he had left, but for what he needed to use them for, they would be enough.

I won't let you do it! I have to make it in time! I have to protect them. Protect her...

A split-second before the positron cannon fired it's deadly shot, Strike's beam saber skewered through it, the chain reaction it caused destroying the cannon completely. The resulting shockwave knocked the already-damaged Strike backwards, the mobile suit flying several metres from the ship.

Murrue looked up in surprise at Neumann's alarmed shout. Dominion..Natarle...had been about to fire on them, she managed to work out. But something had taken out the Lohengrin before it could fire...what had it been?

"Captain! I'm getting Strike's signal!" called Miriallia from the CIC. "It's heavily damaged, but on it's way back!"

Murrue gasped. Mwu... was he all right? Then it hit her. The Dominion...

Did he do that? Did he see what we missed..and save us all?

Her heart swelled with love and pride. Her Mwu..he had saved the ship. For a moment, a brilliant smile lit her tired features, then faded. Now wasn't the time for that. She still had to fight, after all. But the pride remained. He'd made a difference, just as he'd hoped, and in so doing had saved everyone. He'd saved her. Filled with a renewed optimism, she called out to the CIC.

"Fire the Gottfried..take out their other weapons!"

The green flash of the Gottfried shot through space and struck the other ship, vapourising the enemy weaponry. The other Lohengrin, the other Gottfrieds...they all disappeared. Mwu smiled to himself as Strike moved towards the open hangar bay of Archangel.

"Way to go, Murrue.." he murmured, suddenly feeling very tired.

Murrue wasn't sure why that had been so easy, exactly. Surely there must have been some crew aboard the other ship, if not, who had tried to fire the Lohengrin? So why..why hadn't they tried to dodge?

"Miriallia-san..put me through to the Dominion, please..."

Natarle looked up through a haze of pain. Captain Ramius' face had appeared on the bridge viewscreen, face stern.

"Surrender. You have no reason to fight anymore..and no way to win."

Despite the pain her gunshot wounds caused her, Natarle smiled a little at Azrael's reaction. He was frozen, the gun slipping from his limp fingers. His eyes were wide in shock, the realisation that he had lost.

As he opened his mouth to speak, his expression suddenly became blank, the echo of the gunshot ringing around the deserted bridge of the Dominion.

"I won't...I won't be used...anymore.." Natarle gasped, the gun he had dropped held in her own shaking hands. She looked up at Captain Ramius, her violet eyes fluttering closed. "I'm..sorry. This ship..is yours now.." The gun fell from her hands, the woman passing out from her injuries.

Murrue leaned forward in her seat. "Natarle!"

In the hangar bay, Strike finally landed, the mobile suit falling to it's knees as if exhausted. Mwu climbed out of the crippled suit, floating to the deck, all for getting in the Zero and going back out into battle. But as soon as his feet hit the deck, he collapsed to his knees, much like the Strike, his exhaustion and injuries finally catching up with him. As he fell forward, Mwu was vaguely aware of people shouting, running towards him, but the world grew black, and that was the last he knew.

Meanwhile, one of Archangel's small boats flew out toward the silent Dominion. Even though the ship was still in a combat situation, the crippled enemy vessel was now no more than a sitting duck. They couldn't just leave Natarle there, after all, so they brought her back to be treated, back..home. After that, Murrue ordered both Lohengrins to be fired at Dominion, fragmenting the ship, so it could never be used again.

--

The battle was over. The war was over. Jachin Due had self-destructed, GENESIS being destroyed at the same time due to the sacrifice of Justice. Raww Le Klueze was dead, Providence being no match for the final death throes of Patrick Zala's insane dream. All was..somehow right with the world, as if things had been reset with the colossal explosion. Of course, those aboard the ships of the Orb Union and Clyne Faction knew that things could never again be the same as they had been, but hopefully, this new world would be a better one for all of mankind.

Archangel's sickbay was unusually quiet. Of course, many crewmembers had been injured in the battle, burns, cuts, scrapes...but she had no idea what kind of wounds the one she'd come to see had sustained. All she knew was the report from the hangar bay.

They told me he'd passed out..that he was injured. I hope he's all right...

When the door hissed open, Murrue couldn't help laughing, both with amusement and relief. He was there, and he was just fine. Sure, he was in one of the beds, bandaged up pretty tightly, but he was wide awake reading his own medical chart. And he looked bored out of his mind.

Tears built up in Murrue's eyes. She could so easily have lost him, she realised that now. She could have lost him to the war, just as she had feared. She had kept that anxiety under control during the battle - she had had no choice - but now the tears fell, the drops running down her cheeks. A choked sob escaped her, and Mwu looked up from the chart in surprise.

"Oh, hi! I've been waiting for you.."

Getting out of the hospital bed with slight difficulty, stiff due to the injuries he had recieved, he held his arms out, smiling. Murrue sobbed once more, and ran into his waiting embrace, her tears soaking the bandages as she was pressed close to his chest.

"T-thank you..you kept your promise..and y-you saved us..."

Mwu laughed softly, and ruffled her dark hair. "Well, I had to, didn't I? What would I have done if you weren't here waiting for me when I got back? I couldn't imagine a world without you in it, you see..."

Murrue's marigold eyes widened, and she hugged him so tightly he could hardly breathe. "I-I love you, Mwu.." she whispered, more tears disappearing into the white linen.

"I love you too.." he replied. "See, dreaming of the future isn't such a bad thing, huh? Now we don't have to fight, you can dream as much as you like. Now, how about we go home?"

For her answer, she kissed him passionately, her eyes closing slowly. Mwu's own eyes also closed as he returned her kiss, his hands wrapping even further around her slender body.

In the bed opposite, Natarle smiled, and went back to sleep.

--

"I wasn't surprised you were with him.."

"You weren't?"

Natarle shook her head. "No. I saw the way he looked at you, the way he'd always stick by you. I had a feeling he wouldn't leave like he was supposed to..."

The older woman smiled a little, leaning back in the uncomfortable plastic chair. Mwu had brought her to the hospital to visit her friend, giving the violet-eyed patient a grin and a wave before dusting a sweet kiss to Murrue's cheek and disappearing. And to her surprise Natarle had just smiled.

"It just sort of happened.."

The younger woman nodded, glancing up at the flowers she had been brought for a few minutes before speaking. "I didn't think you'd come here."

"Why not?"

"I've done nothing to deserve it. I fought against you - I could have killed you." She smiled again, the expression rueful, and looked out of the window at the perfect blue sky. "I expected to be in a prison infirmary, not a civilian hospital, after the things I did."

Murrue shook her head. "None of what happened was your fault. Don't blame yourself."

To her surprise, Natarle laughed. "What is it?"

"Nothing. It's just that I thought you might say that. If when Azrael had fired, it had hit Strike, killed the Commander, would you have been so willing to forgive?"

"I...I don't know..." If Dominion had killed Mwu...could I have forgiven her? Even knowing it wasn't her, but Azrael, that had done it? Anger, pain and grief would have overwhelmed her. "I don't think I could have. But it all ended the way I'd hoped it would. I hoped you'd have come back with us. I still consider you a friend, Natarle.."

The younger woman blinked, clearly surprised, then smiled, the first true smile Murrue had ever seen from her. "Thank you. For that, and for bringing me back. Not many would have done that. Perhaps being soft isn't such a bad thing after all.."

--

"She said that?"

Murrue nodded. The words clearly troubled her, her amber eyes downcast as they walked hand-in-hand along the beach. He watched her for a time, then stopped, pulling her close for a hug. "You okay, sweetheart?"

She smiled a little, closing her eyes as he stroked her hair, his fingers tangling in the silky auburn. "It just made me think, that's all. Am I really soft?"

"Maybe just a little, for a battleship captain I mean. But it's not a bad thing. I bet you that if you'd done everything by the book, we wouldn't be here like this right now..." She laughed softly, the sound muffled by his shirt, and moved closer. If she had followed every order to the letter, Archangel would have been destroyed several times over, and he would have certainly never have known the true Murrue behind the captain's facade. Kissing the crown of her hair, he took her hand again and the two continued walking.

"Would you still like me if I'd acted like Natarle?"

Mwu chuckled. "I can't imagine you as an ice queen. And I wouldn't want to. You're perfect the way you are." He kissed the tip of her nose, beaming delightedly when she blushed. "I mean it."

"S-shall we go home now?" she stuttered, cherry-red to her ears. "Kira-kun and Lacus-san will be waiting..." They were living there for the time being while they searched for their own home, somewhere quiet and out of the way where they could live together in peace just as they had both wanted. To him, the future he wanted was clear. To grow old with the one he loved, the two of them perhaps raising a family together.

He hadn't told her yet...but he was sure she would agree.

--

( wheeee another story lol, based on an old oneshot.

please read and review! )