Time to Heal

Over 100 hits and less than ten reviews, is there something wrong here or is it just my imagination. I am getting less hits as the chapters add up.

Chapter 4: Giving up the Ghost

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anyfthing pertaining to the Gundam franchise.

PRESENT TIME

Murrue woke at 5 am, she couldn't go back to sleep for the life of her. Her laptop was on the nightstand next to her. The video that Arnold Neumann found months ago was on the hard drive. Even without the computer, Murrue remembered every second of the video. She was still contemplating showing the video to Natarle's parents, their emotions might be mixed. She clicked on the video and watched for the hundredth time or so. She still needed to decide what to do, either just talk or show the video. Both would shake up Natarle's parent's lives again.

TWO HOURS LATER

Charles heard a knock on the door; he knew that Murrue had finally shown up. This visit could help heal some damage done to his family or it could just tear it apart again. He opened the door, Elizabeth behind him, and let Murrue inside their house. Once they were settled they all knew the hard part was about to start.

"Ma'am, Sir, I would just like to say that I am truly sadden by Natarle's death. She was a great soldier and a good friend of mine. Even with our disagreements, without Natarle on the Archangel we would have died very early in the war," Murrue said. She knew that her words would never make things alright.

"What happened in that battle," Elizabeth asked. Her husband had convinced her that what they had been told was too simple.

Murrue proceeded to tell them about everything from meeting Natarle at the Mendel Colony, seeing Azrael on the bridge, him taking control, to the battles at Boaz and Yakin Due. She told them about Mu's "death" and the reason that she fired on the already heavily damaged Dominion. She told them about the grief she felt after she fired the shot. She realized that she killed one of her closest friends in cold blood.

"Then Mu came back, but his memories didn't. At the end of the Second Bloody Valentine War Mu regained a majority of his memories. After a few months my guilt returned, I realized that Natarle died that day because I wanted revenge for Mu's death. Her blood was on my hands and I needed closure. Then I found a little bit of closure," Murrue told the grieving parents. Tears were running down their faces.

Charles and Elizabeth were happy to hear the truth, but still sad. They were sad that their daughter had died thinking that her friend hated her. They finally knew that Natarle was emotional torn between the oath she swore when she joined the military and the loyalty to her friends and her beliefs.

Charles stood and walked towards Murrue, who looked completely saddened by just recalling the events, and gave her a hug. It was a very paternal hug, something Murrue hadn't felt in a long time. Elizabeth came over and joined the hug, all feeling a little less pain. They stood like that for a few minutes, just letting the time slide away with the pain.

"What brought about some of your closure," Charles asked, hoping that he and Elizabeth would both get a little more closure.

"Charles, it is getting late, perhaps we should let the girl get some rest. She can continue tomorrow," Elizabeth said, finally realizing the time.

"Murrue, you are welcomed to come back tomorrow to continue," Charles offered.

AT A LOCAL HOTEL

Murrue sat at the desk in the room, she was exhausted, but was worried that nightmares from the wars. So she did the one thing she could think of, she called Mu.

"Hey, Mu, I needed someone to talk to." Murrue was glad the Mu answered the phone; he was the one person who had helped her when she faced this grief. Hell, the man offered to come to the Badgiruel residence, to offer emotional support to Murrue.

"Sure, about what. Don't tell me you miss me already it has only been two days." God she loved this man. He found a way to make light out of the most terrible situations.

"I am having doubts about showing Natarle's parents the video. What if it doesn't help? Do they need to know," Murrue tried to disguise the sadness in her voice.

"But what if it does, if they don't learn the truth then they may never find closure. Just think about it, honey," Mu said, Murrue could almost feel Mu's presence.

"I will, thanks Mu. I love you. I will see you in a few days," Murrue said. After a few minutes between the two lovers, Murrue sat in bed. She had made up her mind; she knew what she was going to do.

AN: A short chapter. If I can get the next chapter up tonight I will update it then, but if not it will be up on Tuesday. Gotta go out of town tomorrow. Please review. And thanks to kookith, Byron Lancaster, CrimsonHowls, and kkorrnelia for your reviews.