Spoiler Warning: Scene taken place after end of SEED
Summary: "He didn't share their happiness. How could he, when he was all alone?"
HEAVEN
by Maplerose
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"Ugh"
The man groaned as he stirred and cracked open his eyes.
Where am I?
He sat up and looked around at the foreign surrounding, feeling his pounding headache slowly subsiding.
Around him were rolling hills of flowers dotted with colourful flowers and patches of trees here and there, stretching on to what seemed like forever. In the far distance at the horizon, he was able to make out hazy outlines of mountains. It was daytime it seemed, as it was light out, but there was no sun to be found in the clear blue sky.
Mwu closed his eyes and tried to recall what had happened before he woke up here.
He remembered the blare of alarm inside the Gundam, and a blinding flash of light as he prepared himself to meet his chosen fate. His eyes snapped open as his memories came rushing back.
The Archangel! Murrue!
He looked around him with a start. What happened to them after…
They were nowhere to be seen.
Mwu looked down at himself, and was surprised to see that there was not a single scratch on him. Odd, he was sure that he had some wounds on him even before getting in the way of the Lohengrin beam. And instead of his pilot suit, he was wearing a t-shirt that he usually wore under his uniform. Then he suddenly understood: this was heaven.
Not sure of what to do, he slowly stood up. There were other people around, milling about casually. Maybe he should ask someone.
"Commander La Flaga? Is, is that you?" a voice called from behind him, a quite familiar voice.
Mwu turned around and to his surprise, found himself looking into the pale violet eyes of Natarle Badgiruel.
"Lieutenant?"
"What are you doing here?" she asked incredulously.
"I should ask you the same question."
She looked down, smiling. The smile seemed both content and sad, he noted.
"The Dominion has been destroyed by the Archangel," she answered softly.
Mwu's eyes widened in surprise. "Then that means, the Archangel is all right," he stated with relief.
Natarle nodded, smiling. "Yes. Thankfully, the Dominion's Lohengrin was stopped—"
She stopped mid-sentence as her eyes widened with realisation. "Wait, you mean…then that means…"
Natarle looked up at him, disbelief in her eyes. "You were the one who stopped it, weren't you?" she whispered softly.
He shrugged, almost casually. "I had to do something."
She looked away, eyes troubled. "I, I'm sorry I couldn't stop him," she mumbled, shoulders slumped.
He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. "Never mind. Don't worry about it. There's no use thinking about it now. The important thing is that the Archangel is safe."
"Yeah…" she nodded slowly. "Thank you Commander."
The two stood in silence, not sure what to do or what to say. The silence was finally broken by a chuckle coming from the commander.
"What?" Natarle asked, confused. "What's so funny?"
Mwu shook his head. "I was just thinking about Alaska, when we parted ways. I said I'd hope we meet again someday. I never imagined it'd be here, like this."
"Hmm, neither did I." Natarle looked down. "Do you think it's over?"
"What is?"
"The battle, the war," she looked up again, meeting his blue eyes. "Do you think they managed to stop the nuclear attacks and Genesis?"
Mwu smiled, a gentle, content smile. "Of course. Murrue, Kira, and the others will stop the war. I'm certain of it. They will make sure that our sacrifices weren't in vain."
Natarle's eyes widened slightly. "Kira Yamato? He's, really alive? How did…"
The commander chuckled. "We're not sure exactly. He just showed up out of nowhere when we were in Alaska, piloting the Freedom. I think the pink princess saved him."
"The Freedom…" Natarle repeated as she stifled a gasp, recalling the name of the Gundam that Azrael so desperately wanted to capture—and the one that she almost managed to destroy. "So he's the pilot," she whispered.
"Wait commander," she suddenly remembered something, "Weren't you supposed to transfer to California? How did you end up with the Archangel?"
Mwu chuckled in answer. "I had to go back. I couldn't exactly leave her," he winked and told her what went on at JOSH-A.
Natarle opened and closed her mouth, not sure of what to think or say. She wasn't sure whether he was referring to the Archangel or her captain when he said "her". She eyed him, either way, the commander sure had style. She suspected that there was something between the captain and the commander before she had transferred at Alaska. But now the fact that he came back to the Archangel confirmed that suspicion.
"You know, I was such an idiot," Natarle said softly. "I gave Captain Ramius such a hard time on the Archangel. I never realised how important her compassion was, and how strong of a leader she was, until it was too late. She told me before I left at Alaska that I'd be a great captain some day. Some captain I turned out to be. I ended up fighting her, and almost destroying the Archangel. I never did get a chance to apologize." Natarle looked down, regret in her eyes.
"I think she'd understand and forgive you. She didn't want to fight you either." Mwu remembered the troubled face of Murrue after that battle at Colony Mendel. "But that's war for you."
"I know," Natarle sighed. "She said that she hoped we'd meet again someday, some place other than the battlefield. But I guess that's not possible now, is it."
She looked up, "What about you? Any regrets?"
"I'm just sorry I couldn't keep my promise to her," Mwu whispered softly, sadness in his eyes. He chuckled mirthlessly, "She must be so angry at me right now. But you know what, if I had to do it again, I'd do it in a blink of an eye."
The two (former) officers of the Archangel talked a bit more, catching each other up about what had happened on both sides since Alaska. And they've come to the grim realisation of just how horrible war really was for everyone. It seemed that everybody wanted to exterminate each other out of fear and jealousy. And Mwu heard the words of Le Crueset echo in his memory. Was it human nature to fight; was there no way for humans to accept each other?
He never really believed in the afterlife or heaven. It was something unnecessary to think about, another thing that would distract him when he needed no distractions. But now that he was here, he couldn't help but feel cheated. He'd heard about heaven from others' stories. It was supposed to be a wonderful place full of love and happiness, where there would be no war or conflicts. But as he looked around the beautiful field, he could only feel emptiness and turmoil.
Ironic. There they were on Earth, fighting and risking their lives trying to achieve peace, and here he was, in a place where it was always peaceful and he wouldn't have to suffer or struggle anymore; yet, he found himself envying those on Earth. Strange, wasn't this what everyone wanted? A place where no one had to fight, and where everything was beautiful and perfect. Even though this was what he had pictured victory to look like, he found himself missing the chaos of the battlefield. Because she was there.
Mwu looked sadly at the smiling faces of others around him. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, but he didn't share their happiness. How could he, when he was all alone?
So, this is heaven.
AN: another weird idea of mine. I didn't put this in Promise Me because it kinda focuses on Natarle and her relationship with Murrue as well. The ending echoes chapter 3 of Promise Me: Victory
I really do love the 3 officers of the AA, they compliment each other so perfectly, which is why Phase 49 broke my heart, yet I love it because of the drama. and I love how Lizzy Rebel use the analogy of the sun, moon, and earth for them in Until They Bury My Ashes. so I did a fanart of the three of them: www. deviantart. com/ view/ 29292648/