"Do you really have to go?"

She smiled, kneeling down to ruffle the little boy's hair. "We have to make sure that the bad people don't hurt Orb anymore. But I promise you we'll come back just as soon as we can, okay?"

"Big brother too?" Ryuta looked sideways at Mwu, who smiled himself.

"You betcha. Back before you know it."

The boy nodded, but still looked sad, and Mwu knelt down to poke him in the nose. "C'mon now, kiddo. This is something that we have to do to make sure everyone here's going to be alright. So you be good for your mom, and I'll be good for Murrue, and we'll race cars again when I get back."

Ryuta managed a watery smile, then, to the man's obvious surprise, climbed onto his lap and hugged him. Mwu glanced sideways at Murrue then up at Erica, then smiled, returning the hug. "It's okay. Hey, I bet you we still have five minutes left. Want to go hunt for seashells?"

Ryuta nodded, and the big boy and the little boy ran off down the steps to the beach. Brushing the grass from her stockings Murrue got up, she and Erica watching them play. She'd known it would be like this - the two of them had gotten close in the weeks they'd been here. The setting, the little boy's friendship, the chance to get away from fighting for a while - it had all been just what Mwu needed.

"Lonely kid.."

"Ryuta? But I thought.."

Erica shook her head and smiled. "Not him, La Fllaga. The games they've played, the stuff they've played with - he had no idea what they were until Ryuta told him. What the hell kind of time did he have growing up?"

"Lonely, like you said. But this has really helped. I can't thank you enough for letting us stay here."

"What are friends for? It was nice having the two of you around. Though you can tell flyboy over there that he caused me three times as much laundry with his jeans full of mud and grass stains."

Murrue grinned. "Boys will be boys."

"Yes, they will. And I have all that to look forward to. At least your boy's growing down instead of up."

She walked to the low garden wall and looked out onto the beach. Mwu was walking across the sand (having somehow managed to keep his uniform clean) with Ryuta riding on his shoulders, the little boy's pockets bulging with shells and pebbles. "He doesn't want to go. I mean, he knows we have to, but.."

"You think this has been good for him?"

"I don't think we could have found anything better."

"Or for you. You've been working really hard - this rest has done you good."

"It doesn't get easier from now on."

"Official part of the military now, huh? At least I won't have to try and repair Archangel in secret. You guys getting promoted?"

"Cagalli-san said so. It's not necessary, but she can be pretty stubborn."

Erica grinned. "Yes, she can. Don't knock it, though. You deserve a promotion. Where are you headed?"

"Copernicus. It's neutral ground, so ZAFT can't do anything if they find us there, and we can use it as a base for fact-finding missions."

"Copernicus is a nice place, though. You could go on dates."

"I don't think we'll have time for dates."

"I bet you will. And I bet he'd take you out to dinner. The dates you've had here haven't been so bad, have they?"

Murrue pinked but smiled. As Mwu had gotten used to life here he'd gained confidence, and had taken her out into the city a few times, the two of them having dinner together or just going for drinks, and they'd often got back home pretty late (luckily Erica had given them a spare key).

"No, I enjoyed them. But I never thought I'd be able to date him. It seems.....kind of redundant."

"Honey, having a guy take you out for dinner is never redundant. Let him spoil you if he wants to."

"Alright.." Glancing at her watch she sighed, raising her voice to call out to the man on the beach. "Mwu! It's time to go!"

Both boys' faces fell. "Already?"

"Sorry, but we have to be on base in an hour.."

Reluctantly Mwu lifted Ryuta from his shoulders and set him down carefully. "Look after your mom, okay? I'll bring you a present from Copernicus."

"Promise you'll come back?"

The man sighed, crouching down to look the boy in the face. "I promise I'll do my best to. But I have to take care of Murrue and my friends. Okay?"

The little boy nodded, reaching up to scrub at his face. "Okay."

Mwu smiled and ruffled his hair. "Thanks, buddy."

It was hard to leave this place. At first he hadn't felt comfortable here - hadn't felt like he belonged anywhere except the ship - but the Director and her husband had made him welcome. He'd found a friend in the little kid, spent hours in the garden or on the beach, and he'd even been able to take Murrue out on dates....something he'd always wanted to do. Taking his girlfriend's hand he turned to the Director with a grateful smile. "Thanks a lot for letting me stay here."

"It's no problem. You make sure you look out for Murrue."

He grinned. "You know I will."

Murrue herself just grumbled softly, but said nothing.

"And La Fllaga?"

"Yes?"

The Director smiled. "You look out for yourself as well."

"I will. See you when we get back." Squeezing Murrue's hand he gave the family a last wave before the two of them turned to walk away. It probably wasn't the done thing to arrive on a military base holding hands with your captain, but he'd never much cared what anyone else thought.

"You been promoted?"

Murrue made a face. "Cagalli-san said so. She said there wasn't enough time for a proper ceremony, so.." She dug in her jacket pocket and tugged out an envelope. "One of her aides brought this over yesterday." Inside the envelope were two rank badges, orange and yellow like his own.

"Colonel, huh?" He grinned. "Now we match. But you should have gotten a higher rank."

"What for?"

"Cause you deserve it."

She shook her head. "I didn't do anything."

"You and the others saved this country. And the missie. I'd say a promotion was the least you deserved. What about the kid?"

"General."

Mwu blinked. "You're kidding. What the hell did he do to get a rank like that?"

"Cagalli-san trusts him more than anyone." She squeezed his hand with a sweet smile. "If I was in charge, I'd make you a general."

He chuckled. "I don't think I'd make a very good one. But you.."

Murrue laughed too, holding up her free hand. "No more, please. Being captain is enough. Too much, sometimes."

"What would you like to be instead, then?"

"What I'm meant to be. An engineer. Give me a ship to repair and I'm happy."

"Anything else? That'd make you happy, I mean."

She just smiled again, though this time a little shyly. "We'll see how things go."

"Fair enough." He thought he knew, or at least could guess, what would make her happy, and while it was something he hadn't been interested in before, he had to admit he'd been giving it some thought in the last few weeks. She and I could make a go of it together. Find a place and settle down, see where life takes us.. But for the meantime.. "Murrue?"

"Hmm?"

"Do we have time for ice-cream?"

She rolled her eyes but did smile, hugging his arm. "A cone if we make it quick. On base in 45 minutes."

"You're wonderful."

"I try."

They were a little late, but luckily no-one seemed to mind. He'd expected Murrue to let go of his hand once they entered the hangar where Archangel and their crew waited but instead she held on tightly, flashing him a happy though slightly nervous smile. She'd always tried to hide their relationship before, perhaps not wanting to tempt fate, but today it seemed as though things were different. As though she was different. Not really understanding but pleased anyway, Mwu glanced around the cavernous space. Archangel waited amidst a web of wires and docking clamps, technicians still swarming all over it, and a collection of mobile suits were being loaded on board, including the new fancy Freedom, the Athrun kid's suit, a group of Murasames, and, to his surprise, that shiny gold suit from before.

"The missie's coming with us?"

She frowned. "I doubt it."

"Can I go see?"

"Sure. Be back in ten minutes, though."

He grinned and stole a kiss. "Yes, ma'am." Slipping away, stifling a laugh at her audible 'huff' of annoyance, he made his way over to the group of suits. The gold one had been fixed up, armour shining bright enough to blind under the hangar lights, and he smiled a little.

"Commander?" The voice was familiar, but not one he'd expected to hear somewhere like this. Standing a little way away, leaning on the railing, was the missie.

"Hey there. You coming with us?"

She shook her head. "I have to stay here. I wanted to talk to you, though." She gestured to the gold suit. "I was wondering if you wanted to pilot Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki? That's it's name?"

The missie nodded. "I can't go - I'm too out of practice to use it properly even if I could go with you. It'd be better for you than the Murasame."

"Are you really sure about this?"

The missie smiled. "It's better that it's used by someone. Plus it'd suit you better than anyone else, even me."

"How do you mean?"

She handed him a letter. "Erica-san told me to give you this."

Hey, La Fllaga;

Since you're reading this, Cagalli-sama probably already told you about Akatsuki. We both decided that you should be the one to use it, as your recklessness plus a Murasame means you'll likely get shot down. And you can stop pulling that face, you know I'm right.

It has the Natural OS, built along the same lines as Strike, so you should find it pretty familiar, but it comes with a couple of other features that I think you'll like. The Shiranui flight pack has funnels, which work the same way as the gunbarrels on your old Zero except they're free-flying, not wire-guided. It'll take some pretty sharp reflexes to operate them properly, but Murrue seems to think you're up to it. The other perk is the gold mirror coating, which I'm sure you've noticed.

"No kidding."

It's beam-reflective, a bit like Strike's shield was - it should handle rifle shots pretty well. But it hasn't been tested against positron cannons, and I do NOT want you to try it. You're only borrowing Akatsuki, so if you get it and/or yourself broken in any way, you're in big trouble. Understand?

He grinned ruefully. "Perfectly."

"She was worried about you."

"She's worried about Murrue. They're best friends....she doesn't want to see her sad anymore."

The girl glanced back at Akatsuki. "She likes you both. She was the one who suggested you take Akatsuki."

"Oh." Unexpected, but kind of nice. "I'll have to thank her. Thank you too."

"You're welcome. Make sure you all come back safe."

"It's a deal."

He was dreaming. Standing at the window of their room (her room they now shared) he was just staring out at the stars, that little half-smile on his face and she smiled herself, kicking off from the deck and floating over to join him. As always he knew she was there and turned to catch her, nuzzling his face into her hair with a contented sigh. "It's nice to be back."

"On the ship, or in space?"

"Both," he admitted. "But here the most. This is the first place that ever felt like home."

"It is home, for both of us. Until we find a new one."

"A new home, huh? Where would that be?"

She smiled, leaning back against him. "Where would you like it to be?"

"Somewhere like the Director's place. Where we can see the ocean and stuff. Only not all frilly."

Murrue giggled. True enough, her friend was fond (perhaps over-fond) of ruffles and flounces, and the spare bed in the attic room had been piled so high with cushions Mwu had fallen out of bed more than once. "No. I don't like frilly things."

"Not a frilly wedding dress, then?"

Unsure of where he was taking this, but her heartbeat picking up all the same, she answered as nonchalantly as she could. "I'd prefer something simpler."

"You would, huh? Maybe we can find something at Copernicus."

"What exactly are you asking me?"

Mwu grinned. "Nothing."

She raised an eyebrow and he chuckled, cuddling close to press kisses to her neck and cheek. "What?"

"Stop being a jerk and spit it out."

"I will. When I deserve you."

"Don't be silly."

"M'not. I really don't deserve you. I just love you."

"And that's all I need."

He sighed. "You're going to keep asking me."

"Until you ask me."

"You're sure that's what you want?"

Murrue rolled her eyes. "Been waiting for two years."

"Think we'd be okay? That we'd make a good team?"

She threaded her fingers through his. "We already do."

Another deep breath, then another kiss to her cheek. "Marry me, then?"

"Yes."

( mwahahahahahahahahaha sugar at past 11pm

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