( This is a new story of mine (yes, yes, I know I've written enough by now) and I decided to write AU again, only less AU than my other story. I just wondered what kind of life they'd have if Neo-san had saved the Archangel, but never got his memories back. I'm pretty sure that he and Murrue-san would have been together whatever happened, but it's nice to wonder, ne? )

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It was after the battle when he found her. She hadn't come down to the hangar to meet him, but to be honest, he hadn't expected her to. I wish you had, though. I have something I want to tell you... He'd hoped that his actions during the battle had helped her understand. He'd jumped in the way of the Minerva's positron cannon, not without thinking, but because he'd wanted to protect her. After all the things he'd done during his time with the Alliance, the people he'd killed - he'd had to save her. The thought of such a kind and beautiful person being killed...when he could do something to prevent it...it was too painful to consider. Smiling, he'd run a hand through rumpled blonde hair, the locks damp with sweat. I don't even remember exactly when it happened. Just that one day I was sitting with her, drinking coffee just like always, when she smiled at me. That moment...my heart started thumping so loud I was sure she'd hear it. Her smile, it made me dizzy..made it feel like a thousand butterflies were in my stomach. That's when I realised that I loved her.

He'd made the decision then. Akatsuki..the mobile suit the Representative had lent him...he would use it to protect her. Protect the gentle captain he'd come to care for. That time he'd spent with the Alliance, he'd been a puppet, a doll with no free will of his own. All that had happened since, with him making the choice to stay in Orb, to be with her, to protect her - it had been his own will. What he wanted to do. Here, he wasn't Neo Lorrnoke, at least, not the one he'd been before. Here, he was someone different...he could be whoever he wanted to be. And I want to be the someone to take care of her. I might not be her Mwu, but if he felt at least half as strongly about her as I do, then he must have loved her very much. I'm sure he wouldn't mind me looking after her for him...

He'd looked all over for her...and finally found her. She'd been standing there on the observation deck, one small hand pressed to the glass window, chocolate brown hair drifting about her shoulders in the zero-gravity, expression sad, but happy at the same time.

"Captain?"

She jumped a little, turning quickly to see him standing there leaning against the wall. "Oh, Colonel! W-welcome back.." Her porcelain complexion pinked slightly, a faint blush, and he grinned.

"Something interesting out there?" he asked, floating up to stand beside her and gaze out into space, just as she had been. Outside the ship was the vast panorama of stars, the endlessness only broken by the odd piece of wreckage moving past...nothing that would have captured her interest...which made Neo wonder whether her focus had been inward, rather than outward.

"I was thinking," she replied, voice soft. "About what happens now, where we go from here...all kinds of things..."

"Won't the ship be going back to Orb? That's your home, isn't it?" he asked, noting how solemn she seemed. After a moment, she nodded, and he smiled again. "And there's peace now. Or at least a ceasefire. So why worry?"

The captain smiled too, if only a little. "I do want to go home," she admitted. "I suppose that now I have the chance to, I should just relax..." She closed her eyes for a second, then looked up at him, those dark golden eyes seeming to gaze straight into his heart, just like always.

"What about you?" she asked, the concern returning to her face. "Where will you go?"

"I have nowhere else," Neo replied, also placing a hand on the window. "I joined the Orb military, so I guess that Orb's my home too now, if they'll have me.."

"I'm sure they will," she said softly, pink stealing into her cheeks again. "Would you be happy there?"

He nodded, azure eyes moving from the vista of stars to light on her. "It's a beautiful place. Very peaceful.." He laughed a little. "That might take a bit of getting used to.."

"We can help you with that," was her reply. "I'm sure Cagalli-san will be able to find you a place to live, and the military are always looking for test pilots..."

"Would you be happy?" Neo asked suddenly, causing her to blink. "If I came to live in Orb with everyone else? With...you?"

The captain blushed again, a deeper pink than previously, and for a moment she didn't answer. Then she nodded fractionally.

"I'd like that...very much.." she whispered.

Neo smiled gently. He knew how lonely she was, probably better than anyone else on the ship...because his loneliness was just as deep. Neither of them had anyone they were particularly close to, even though she had her friends...and they had found companionship in each other. She was his best friend, and also the one he loved, and even though their duty on this ship was almost over, he still wanted to stay by her side, just as he had asked when they were in Orb.

I want to stay by your side forever...

"When we do get back to Orb, back...home, will you show me around? Show me the sights, the best places to grab a cup of coffee, that kind of thing?" he asked, inwardly chuckling when the captain immediately flushed poppy red.

That's right. I'm asking you out. I want to see my new home, sure enough, but more than that..I want to see what you're like when you're not being a soldier. I want to see who you really are, and perhaps at the same time, you could show me who I really am...

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( XD

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