Authors Note:

One night I was sitting in front of my Laptop and I felt like writing something. Suddenly, I had this story in mind and I started to write it down.

When I look at it now, I feel kinda strange. This is unlike all my other FanFictions's. It doesn't really have a point. I don't mean that this is meaningless, but usually with every idea I write down there is something I felt necessary to share.

...Well, not really. It is kinda hard to put in words. ^^'

I don't think this story is "really bad" though. Maybe a little bit strange... And Mullen and Leen are both acting a little bit OOC, I suppose.

You decide.

This takes place about 10 months before the game, I think.

I still have no beta-reader for my English Storys so I would gladly take suggestions to improve my writing, grammar etc.

A moment for Two

Usually, Leen considered herself quite polite. Despite her position in the army she always tried her best not to be rude to anyone. It was just something she considered not right.

However, in this moment she couldn't help but stare at the person in front of her with open mouth.

Colonel Mullen, her superior, was wet all over.

Water was dripping down his strands of hair, his face and his uniform. And there were quite obvious hints that there had been a lot mud as well, seeing as there was still some left. By now there had already formed a puddle underneath him.

The blond man wiped some of his wet hair out of his face and smirked.

"I am quite a sight, I suppose."

This finally brought Leen back to her senses.

"I'm sorry Sir. I'll get a towel."

"I'd appreciate that. It won't do me any good to stay like this" Mullen answered, still smirking.

It didn't take Leen long to return and hand the colonel something to clean himself off with. Mullen in the meantime had already gotten rid of the upper part of his uniform and his boots which were now causing a second puddle on the floor. He took the towel with a nod and immediately started to get himself dry and clean again.

Watching her superior with a confused frown, Leen wondered what happened for him to end up like this. It had been a sunny day and she was sure that there were no ponds on the entire base. Given, she hadn't been to the M-Joule Base before, but she had studied the ground plan on her way here. Biting her lip she considered if it would be rude to ask and satisfy her curiosity.

Still trying to dry his hair Mullen suddenly turned to face Leen. "Are you not going to ask why I am soaked like sponge? I won't bite if you're going to, you know. I won't even nibble."

The young girl blushed. Lately, the Colonel had developed a strange sense of humor that seemed to get the upper hand when ever they were alone and there were no serious things to discuss. She enjoyed it when the normally serious green eyes sparkled with mirth or softened but for some reason it always made her blush. Yet, she managed to reply with a calm voice.

"Nosiness is not something a good solider should display, Sir."

"I see. You have a good point there, Lieutenant. But you're also my Aide-de-Camp. Who if not you has the right to question my appearance? Well, if you're not going to ask, I will tell you of my own will. If you want to know it, that is. Would you like to know, Leen?"

This time he wasn't smirking. Instead he regarded her with a look on his face that showed he knew that she wanted to ask. Leen blushed again, but she decided that a soaked Colonel Mullen in the middle of the night was something that deserved an explanation. This man wasn't the clumsiest after all, so there had to be a really good reason.

"I have to admit that I would like to know it indeed, if you don't mind."

There was that smirk again. The officer paused with the toweling and glanced at his mud-stained boots on the floor.

"Well, to make it short: I happened to be caught in an assault."

Leen gasped. "You were attacked? By whom?" Worried she took a closer look on her superior, searching for injuries. How could this man stand here and joke around if something like this happened? And why hadn't she heard about it? Mullen raised a hand.

"Ah, forgive me. I didn't mean to frighten you. It was an assault, but not with weapons or the intention for harm."

"What do you mean?", Leen asked confused.

The colonel started to use the towel again and walked up to his locker, probably to get something that he could change into.

"I wasn't even the chosen victim. I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. The whole situation was explained to me a such: a soldier of a unit currently positioned in this base has earned a special promotion due brave and wise actions in a recently fought battle. I will spare you the details but he will officially rise several ranks tomorrow and become the commander of a new unit in a different base. His friends of the unit he is officially still in at the moment thought it would be nice to have a farewell celebration of some kind. It involved a prank in which he was supposed to enter a different and already prepared room. As soon as someone would enter it, buckets filled with water and dirt would empty on said person. It was a friendly reminder to always remember that an officer might give all the orders, but that it is the soldiers who do all the 'dirty work'. I think you can figure out what happened."

And she could. For some reason Mullen had entered that room before that soldier could.

"Then...what did you do with the soldiers who were responsible?"

"I made them clean up the mess they had caused."

"Nothing else?" Leen was surprised. Surely Mullen had all right to do something harsher? She had seen officers loose their temper at much smaller things.

The blond man shook his head while closing his locker after choosing some clothes.

"The punishment should fit the crime. There was no real harm done and from the looks on their faces they were really scared after they discovered just who fell for their little prank. I doubt they will do something similar again. I suggested that they volunteer for a week of cleaning the kitchen though and I think they will."

"Still...I would have expected you to be a lot angrier about this."

"Oh, I was angry. I still am. Who would want to get a surprise like this in the middle of the night? But I think the lesson that was behind this is true. One should not forget all the lives supporting the higher ranks. All the medals, privileges and power would be worthless without the loyalty and hard work from the soldiers. If all soldiers of Garlyle would suddenly decide that they will no longer follow my orders, there would be nothing I could do about it. I may be strong and I may have the power of command, but in the end I am nothing but a human being, tainted with sins and mistakes just as all of them."

Leen watched the older man in silence as he continued to get himself clean again. She couldn't help but wonder if these thoughts were the reason why so many soldiers looked up to the young colonel and trusted his decisions. She had been working together with him for some time now and she had already learned that the trust given was well placed. The man in front of her was stern, but the decisions he made were always logical and never ruthless. He was also a very skilled fighter and he certainly was good when it came to tactics. Also, there was something about him that she could not quite put a finger on. Something that made her feel that this person knew what he was doing and that it was all right to follow his command even though you might have no idea what he intended or you would deem a situation hopeless otherwise. But if it was Mullen who gave the orders, who told you what to do, there was always a feeling that it could be done.

He was a born leader, she suspected. Someone who others would follow willingly to their doom. And if he weren't the person he was, this would be a dangerous thing.

His good looks only added to the picture of a fairytale-like soldier, one that you'd expect to find in a bedtime story told to children. Yet, the same man would rarely accept a compliment, always making excuses as to why he did not deserve such a thing said about him and he would almost never be found enjoying his life.

Leen was assigned as his Aide-de-Camp and therefore she was the one who spent more time with Mullen then anyone else. So logically she was the person who knew him best. This man seemed to live and exist only for the army and the duty placed upon him. Maybe he was a born leader, but if the price for that was that he would life a live only filled with rules and orders and without happiness, Leen wasn't sure if it was really worth it. Then again, he had shown that strange humor when they were alone.

And the young girl had to admit then that she had grown to like the man she was working for not only as a soldier. Had they met outside the army, she wouldn't put it past imagination that they would have become friends.

"You are unusually quiet, Leen."

"Huh?"

Interrupted in her train of thoughts Leen looked up only to meet the green eyes of Mullen. Surprised she took a step back. Since when was he standing in front of her? And why didn't she notice?

"I-I'm sorry Herr Mullen. I was thinking about what you said."

Mullen rose an eyebrow.

"That is nothing to be sorry about."
"Right. I am sorry."

When she saw the other smile she blushed again. She was making a fool out of herself.

"So, you have been thinking. What did you come up with?"

"I think you are a very nice person", Leen replied instantly. Mullen looked surprised and her blush deepened. What was she doing? Having thoughts like that was one thing, actually telling it to him was something else! He was her superior after all.

"I- uh... what I meant was...you never forget that there are humans doing the work. You keep that in mind when you give orders. And everyone is respecting you because of that. An because you're good at it, of course."

The surprise on Mullens face slowly turned into a thoughtful expression and Leen lowered her gaze, embarrassed. Therefor she missed the fond smile that the colonel was giving her.

"You are honest Leen. Try not to lose that."

She opened her mouth to answer but the sudden sound of a door being opened stopped her. Both she and Mullen turned to look to see a soldier hurrying into the room.
"Colonel, I have an important..." He stopped in mid-sentence and looked at Mullen with big eyes. It was only then that Leen remembered that the officer was not fully dressed and still partly wet. She had totally forgotten about that. And she suspected that she must have had a similar look on her face when she had seen her superior earlier.

"I hope you have a good reason for bursting in the room of an higher ranking officer like that, soldier. What is so important that you could not ask for permission first?"

However, unlike with her Mullen replied with authority in his voice now and regarded the other man with a calm yet threatening look in his eyes as if everything was just like it was supposed to be. The solider paled and saluted.

"I am sorry, sir. We received a message from the headquarter and I was told to inform you immediately. General Baal wants you and your unit to move back to the J-Base as soon as possible."

Mullen frowned but simply dismissed the soldier before he turned to Leen.

"See to it that the Lyonlot will be ready at dawn."

"Yes colonel Mullen."

When Leen left the room she couldn't help but feel sad that their conversation got interrupted like that. But that was what it was like to work for Garlyle. You never knew how long a private moment would last. Then again, as long as she got to have these moments at least every now and then, she didn't mind that much.