Second Chances
Chapter 2: Many Meetings
IMBSA: Well, I have nothing to say right now. Tired, considering I stayed up all last night….Well….Bleh…. Actually, I did get poisoned today….I got pricked by one of the stickers of this toxic palm tree thingy in my neighborhood (why it was poisonous is beyond me) so now my leg hurts like crap….And I smell like vinegar 'cause that's the only thing that can relieve the pain. Nothing life-threatening, though, so that's good news. It's just fun to see other people's faces when the ensuing conversation is held:
Person: So what did you do this weekend?
Me: I got poisoned.
Person: O.O WHAT!
IMBSA: Yeeeeeah….
Disclaimer: "Promise that you always will/Candle lit on the window sill/You know I'll be coming home/You know I never wanted to go away/But what am I supposed to say/When I hear the sound of the trumpets call?"
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Meeting unprepared
You caught me unaware
I cannot run, I cannot hide
I must turn around and face you
See me as I was
See me as I am
Can you see the difference
My sadness mourning you
Aged me once
Killed me twice
And to have you I'd die again
"Life Denied" Klarissa Bradock
Knowing that Murrue was at work all day gave Mwu the only incentive he needed to take the next step. He couldn't…alright, wouldn't speak to her, or show himself now; that time hadn't come yet. No, rather, he decided that, after a month of silent pining, he would go into her house and poke around. Maybe the thrill of that adventure would hold him off for another month.
He was disappointed in the ease with which he got into her home. Like millions of others on the planet, she left the key to her door under the mat. He couldn't risk going through the front door; he was still convinced that that type of entry was too open and not at all prudent. Once again, he jumped the fence and went around back. The key fit and he opened the rear door to the kitchen.
Seeing the room in daylight changed nothing about the feeling of love, strength, and security he felt while in contact with that room. Mwu took his precious time wandering through the house.
The rooms he first came to were a bathroom and a living room (the latter of which the front door directly opened into). Bypassing both, he came to the stairs.
On sudden impulse, he wanted to see her bedroom. That would be best at holding back the dangerous desires that stirred within his heart. If they threatened to overwhelm him, he would just close his eyes, imagine her in her room, and everything would be fine. He remembered that the first room on the left was hers from watching her type at her computer into the wee hours of the night.
He stopped, staring at the white painted door. It was a plain door, but the knowledge that the room behind it was hers made it all important. He reached out, twisted the knob, and slowly pushed the door open.
If the kitchen had been warm and comforting, it was nothing compared to her bedroom. Everything radiated care and compassion from the yellow curtains to the cozy-looking queen-sized bed against the far wall. An orange laptop sat on a desk near the door; a vanity mirror on top of a dresser was against the wall to his right and a bedside table groaned under the weight of family photos. To its left was a bookshelf filled almost to capacity with every book imaginable. Across from the bed, to the drawers' right was another door, Mwu assumed it to be a walk-in closet. He leaned over her bed, smelling her shampoo, reveling in the scent of jasmine tickling his sense of smell. He peered at the photos, noting that only one showed most of the back of her head. Finally, after he had looked at everything there was to see (and that took a long time in its own right), he walked slowly from the room. He looked down the hall, wanting to discover all that he possibly could about Murrue's new life, but Reason was propelling him out the door.
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The sound of a nearby car coming up the road froze the blood in his veins, He had spent longer than he had intended to. Breathing hard, he raced out of the house, went over the fence and sprinted out into the road. Brakes squealed and the car screeched to a halt, bumper inches from Mwu's leg. He cursed. He knew the color of the car all too well. He looked for someplace to run even though he knew he wouldn't get anywhere in time.
Murrue was already getting out of the driver's seat.
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Murrue was thrown forward and then jerked back from the force of the car's stop. Panicking, she quickly unstrapped herself and stepped out, convinced somehow that she had hit the man that had appeared so suddenly in her path.
"Oh, I'm so sor—" The man's face snatched the words from her throat. 'No….' her mind screamed. It was as though she'd seen a ghost. "It….It can't be….Mwu?"
"Hello Murrue," he replied.
"It's not…not possible…."
"I am the man who made the impossible possible." A bit of his old humor came back and Murrue almost laughed. Instead, tears fell from her eyes.
"No," she whispered, quietly echoing her mind. "You…you died…."
"I guess I'm doing pretty good for a dead guy." He moved towards her, wanting nothing more than to touch her, to comfort her, but he didn't know if that was such a smart thing to do, considering the state she was in. He did, though, reach into his pocket and offer her a handful of tissues. "C'mon now; don't cry." He put a gentle hand on her arm and steered her to the house.
Murrue snapped more or less back to her senses and exclaimed, "My keys are in my car!" before he led her into her home. She quickly returned to the driver's seat of the vehicle. She gazed at the man through the glass of the windshield as he stood on the walk to the door, patiently waiting for her.
She seriously considered putting her car in reverse and driving away to put as much distance as she could between herself and Mw—'the man who claims to be Mwu,' she mentally corrected herself. But as she watched him, it seemed impossible to separate the two men. The way he stood with his hands in his pockets, how his foot tapped out a once-familiar rhythm on the concrete….Somehow, she just couldn't entirely convince herself that that man was not Mwu. She came close, but some part deep inside refused to accept that he was anyone but Mwu.
She sighed, started the car, and pulled it into the driveway. She sat a few moments in the car to collect herself, and then got out to face the man who stood on the walk.
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The pair sat in the living room, silently appraising each other. Murrue was curled up in the easy chair, legs folded under her, while Mwu sat on the couch on the opposite side of the room. The only sounds heard were the ticking of the clock and the rhythmic breathing of the two. Mwu had tried a couple of times to engage her in conversation, to no avail so far. But Mwu La Fllaga was a very stubborn man.
"So….Where 'm I gonna sleep?" He asked.
Murrue looked blank. "Sleep?"
"Yeah. What, you thought I'd just say hi and then haul ass outta here? I don't think so."
Murrue silently considered this. She didn't want him to leave…really….He looked so much like—'Stop it,' she mentally scolded herself. She still wasn't completely convinced that he was Mwu….But then again, she wasn't altogether sure that he wasn't Mwu either. "The guest bedroom," she answered finally.
"You never wanted to room separately on the Archangel." He responded, getting a bright pink blush in reply. It was a true statement.
Composing herself, Murrue repeated firmly, "The guest bedroom." Mwu sighed.
"If you insist."
"I do." She rose, going upstairs with Mwu following her. Murrue led him to the room diagonally across the hall to hers and opened the door. The room beyond was painted blue-green, white bed with pale blue sheets in the middle. A set of dresser drawers stood in the corner. "This room." She couldn't help it and added the formal title, "Sir," behind it.
"Murrue—" The woman turned to face him, eyes quickly filling again.
"Stop it," she half-hissed. "You're not…you can't be Mwu. I don't even know you."
Mwu flinched at her words. That hurt. "Murrue—" he began again, only to be cut off a second time.
"No! He's dead! I saw him die, and-and you're just…." At this point, she dissolved into heart-wrenching sobs, tears coursing down her pale face. "You can't be him, you just can't be!"
Closing the distance between the two of them, Mwu put an arm around her, other hand moving to tip her head up and force her gaze to meet his. His blue eyes glittered. "Can you look me straight in the eyes and honestly tell me that I'm not Mwu La Fllaga? Are you one hundred percent sure that I'm not him?"
Murrue, shocked out of her tears by both his questioning and the familiarity of his touch, could not answer him. She would be lying if she said "Yes"; but if she answered "No" then that proved his point. And that meant that there was a possibility that the man holding her was Mwu. All Murrue could do was stare into the depths of his sapphire eyes while her mind worked frantically to come up with a response, mouth opening and closing as she struggled for words. Reading her silence correctly, Mwu's eyes softened. Then he took advantage of her opened mouth by pressing his lips to hers.
Tears formed in Murrue's eyes once again. She knew his kiss, his voice, his touch. And she could deny it no longer.
'Still,' a voice in the back of her mind warned her, 'be careful.'
Then it was driven from her head; all that existed in that moment was herself and Mwu.
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IMBSA: Wellps, there they are….I think this is the longest chapter so far….:checks: OMG, it is! O.O R & R!
REDKC: I'm sure there is some…somewhere….Like, x.x…O.o…v.v….Is there one for "This sucks?"
Darth Riven: Thanks for the review!
Red and Gold Phoenix: It's good to know that you have no complaints so far….She really is, isn't she? Oh you are, are you::checks BULL::steals riding crop from Natarle (don't ask what the Ensign is doing with it in her possession….-;): I haven't seen it! Grar…. :notices the "you rock" part: Oh, why thank you. :smiley:
Chayla Maznable: ….I saw eppy 49 on Friday, so I can see why you're skeptic. I…kinda am too now….BUT I WILL NEVER GIVE UP HOPE::strikes cheesy pose: Oh, don't worry, we plan to reveal all….Once we figure out how he did it too….
Wandering Cat: Have patience, my Padawan. He will get his…just…not right now….How did you know that was all I was willing to sacrifice as far as his good looks went? As for the "left arm" thing, well….We actually tossed that around and decided not to. First of all, Andy lost his arm. Second….It just…detracts from Mwu's seksiness. :girlish giggle: The suggestion was a neat one—and we were damn near using it ourselves. Oh, and you weren't wrong….:tear, tear:
D-Jack: Sorry about that. It's the way I remember it and distinguish this Mwu from Aries Mu in Knights of the Zodiac. Not that you could ever get them confused unless you're scanning all of your numerous fanfics to find a certain name….
DarkRoxy: Why thank you. As for the "allure of darkness"….Well, yes it will be present in varied amounts in the story….It just might not be as apparent in some parts than in others. As for your other review….Well, does this chapter answer it?