Chapter Two: Purple

He opened his eyes, slowly, half-afraid of what he's see. He thanked God when he saw the white ceiling of his own bedroom and he felt the warm shape that is Murrue cuddled next to him. Mu heaved another grateful sigh.

He was home.

Mu shifted himself back in the bed, able to sit himself up without waking her. He glanced around the room, taking it all in. It was the same except for the crib in the corner. While he was gone, Matthew had slept with Murrue—last night he slept downstairs. A smile came to the man's lips as to 'why.'

Mu's stare fell down to the pale covers and the raised outline of his right leg. He turned off the mattress, pulling back the covers, revealing his scarred skin. That changed his mood. Slowly, Mu ran his fingers over the gash. The pink scar contrasting with his deep tan. As he ran his fingers over it again, they coupled with someone else's. Murrue's light fingers slid up his leg, startling him.

"Thank you for coming back," she murmured, reaching from his wounded leg to his neck, curling in for another kiss he gladly gave to her.

The kiss they shared deepened, but before they both were completely lost to their senses, an ear-splitting cry shattered the peace of the house. As if instantly forgetting what they were doing, the two of them jumped from the bed and rushed downstairs; Mu, lagging on behind with the stiffness from his leg.

Evi was standing outside the room, covering her ears, sleep showing in her features. Mu laughed.

"You don't want to go in there, Daddy," she warned, bounding up to him, energetic as ever. The notion of sleep was lost to her. "It's loud—and smelly."

"Ahh," Mu grinned back, understanding what she meant. Evi latched on to his arm, pulling him towards the living room couches, bouncing as did so.

Mu sighed. He already knew Matthew was the quiet one so Evi must be making up for it all with her endless energy.

"Yep, Mama's gonna clean him then he's gonna sleep some more. That's all Mattie does—cry, sleep, eat and smell," she counted the reasons on her fingers, pointing them in Mu's face. She'd jumped onto his lap. "I mean, he's so boring! I thought little brother's you know, did something—Tyler has a little brother too and we can play with him—he talks too. But Mattie just sits around like a rock!" She huffed and crossed her arms trying to look all annoyed but failing. Mu stared back at her, face twiting trying to think up an answer.

"Well, Evi, little boys, and girls, aren't like dogs who always play, they have to grow a bit older before you can really play with them." Inside he was bashing himself in the head for such an answer, but it was the only one he could come up with. Evi stared up at him with her large, russet eyes.

"So, you mean I have to wait?" Mu chuckled, ruffling up her thin sandy hair with his hand.

"Yes, yes, Evi," he smiled back warmly, "you have to wait."

It was quiet—Matthew had stopped crying a while before and Murrue hadn't come out yet. Evi was actually quiet as well.

". . . Daddy?"

". . . Yes?" Evi looked up at him, eyes shining with excitement.

"While we're waiting, can we get a doggie?" She clapped her hands together. "Oh, please! Please, please, please!" Mu's eyes widened, staring at the little girl. He turned his face away so he didn't have to look at her and ran his fingers through his own hair.

"Ah, Evi . . . why don't you ask 'Mama' about that, okay?" She jumped off his lap.

"Yay, a doggie! A doggie!" She started running around the couch. Mu scrambled to get her to hear him right.

"Ah, wait, Evi . . ."

After a while, he'd finally managed to 'calm' Evi down. She sat next to him on the pale couch, legs swinging violently. She couldn't keep still—She couldn't wait. Finally Murrue walked out of the room, taking a deep, calming breath. She spotted Mu across the hall sitting on the couch next to Evi. She slightly cocked her head—she'd wondered why he never followed her inside.

"Alright," she said, breaking the 'silence.' "I just changed Matt and laid him down to sleep again—see, I told you he'd wake up," Murrue grinned, remembering what she told Mu.

"Ah," he smiled back, "but you said Two and it is now . . ." he checked the clock, "Seven-thirty."

"Well, we're lucky it wasn't Two," she replied matter-of-factly, eyes traveling over to her little girl.

She sat beside Mu, her face red from her holding her breath, eyes shut tight, trying not to break concentration. "Evi, what's wrong?" Murrue asked, concerned.

The little girl burst.

"MAMA, DADDY SAID WE COULD GET A DOGGIE—CAN WE GET A DOGGIE, PLEASE!"

Mu palmed his face. He hung his head exasperatingly from behind the jumping girl, hiding his face from Murrue's incredulous stare.

---

"I cannot believe you told her we'd get a dog, Mu," Murrue huffed as she cleaned up the kitchen just to have something to do with her hands. Matthew had woken up and was now sitting in a high chair beside the table; Mu was following her around the room and Evi had disappeared into another room.

"I never said that!" Mu retorted, defending himself.

"Well, she sure got the idea somehow," she sent him a glare. There was a laughing smile in her amber eyes.

"Maybe somebody said something to her before . . ." He drifted off.

"No, it was you."

"How do you know?" He accused playfully. Murrue's shoulders sagged from across the table.

"She looks up to you, Mu . . ." she muttered.

"Really?" Mu cocked his head. "I don't really think so." Murrue was going to answer but she was interrupted by the thundering of running feet. Evi ran into the kitchen, jumping the step, and stopped right in front of Mu.

"Daddy! Look at this picture I drew!" She shoved the paper in his face. His eyes widened softly, staring down at the crayon drawing. It was of the four of them. Matthew could somehow stand and was noticeable with is dark hair and short stature in the drawing. There was a girl he guessed was Evi, her long blond hair traveling passed her pink dress. Then came who must have been Murrue in a beautifully drawn red and white dress and then came him, the tallest of them all and dressed in a purple suit. He even had a tie.

"Wow, Evi . . ." He gazed quietly.

"See, Daddy, I wanted to draw a doggie right here, but then I couldn't decide on the color of the dog, so I didn't draw it.—This is for you, okay, Daddy? I'm working on one for Mama, okay? Okay?" He nodded and Evi ran out of the room, off to work again. Murrue smiled, turning away to a small cabinet beside her.

"You need more proof than that?"

"But . . . ?" Mu didn't notice her pick up one of the frames and hold it close after staring at it for a while herself.

"After you left, she would talk about you everyday, ask about you all the time. 'When's Daddy coming home?' 'Daddy'll really like this cake, Mama.' 'Don't throw the newspapers away, Daddy's gonna want to read them.' Every time, I told her you'd 'be back soon, but I didn't know exactly when'—even after you were MIA and POW, I never told her. That went on for a few months until she finally understood, I guess, or maybe she just got sick of asking . . ."

Murrue took the framed picture she'd held close to her body and held it out for Mu. "I this found it yesterday hidden in her room. She stopped talking about you around when I lost this picture. And that . . ."

Numbly, he reached out for the photograph. His dark blue eyes widened as he stared at it.

". . . that was when her favorite color turned to purple," Murrue finished quietly.

The picture, it was from back on the Archangel, the three officers lined up for a shot. Both Natarle and Murrue were in their Military uniforms, and he, in the middle, wore his signature flight suit.

The purple one.