:Hey there, here I am again! This time round it's going to be a bit angsty, so be warned:

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The cup of coffee sat on the mess hall table, steam rising from the hot liquid. Mwu watched it idly, but

in truth he wasn't paying much attention. He was too busy thinking about what had happened in the past

twenty-four hours. Yesterday he had recovered all the memories of his past that had been lost to him

for so long, and finally been reunited with Murrue. As a result, last night had been one of the happiest

times of his life.

Murrue had attempted to scold him for risking his life to save the ship, just like he had before, but the

laughing delight on her beautiful face had betrayed her true feelings. The events of last night kept playing

out in his mind, including one conversation that caused him to smile as he thought of it. Murrue had

kept telling him how much she loved him, and he'd asked her about that...

"Hey, Murrue?" he asked.

"Hmmmm?" she murmured happily, snuggling closer to him.

"If I hadn't recovered my memories, could you have loved Neo, do you think?"

Murrue smiled. "I think I already did love him"

"Oh?" Mwu replied. "Then who do you love more, me or him?"

She raised her head off his shoulder to look at him, a surprised expression on her face. Then

she smiled.

"Silly. You are him, and he is you. How can I love one more than the other when you're the same person?"

"But if we were different;" he persisted. "Then what?"

Murrue kissed the tip of his nose. "You, Mwu, always. Only ever you."

"Hey, Mwu-san!" came a now familiar voice, breaking into his thoughts. Kira had walked into the mess, and

now sat down opposite him.

"Hey, kid. You came over from Eternal? So, how have things been going with the pink princess?"

The boy looked embarrassed. "Uh, fine, I guess, I...So, you got your memories back? How are things

now with you and Murrue-san?"

Now it was Mwu's turn to look embarrassed. "I-uh, well, ya know..."

Kira smiled.

"I'm glad. Murrue-san's been lonely this past two years. Even though she's been living with Bartfeld-san,

we were all still worried about her. It's good that you're both happy now"

Mwu froze. Living with Bartfeld? Murrue hadn't told him that. Had he even heard the kid right?

By the time he'd managed to process what he'd just been told, Kira had changed the subject, and

was now talking about the battle. Mwu nodded in what he thought were the right places, and when Kira

paused for breath, made his escape.

"Uh..thanks, kid. I gotta go do maintenance on Akatsuki. Nice talking to you"

Leaving his coffee still untouched on the table, he walked out of the mess hall, leaving a very confused

Kira behind him.

Mwu wandered the corridors of the Archangel for what felt like hours. Last night he had been so happy,

finally reunited with his beloved. But did Murrue really love him? What if she had come to love Bartfeld in

the two years he wasn't able to be with her? If she did still love him, then who did she love more?

What do I do? If I lose her, what do I have left? He laughed bitterly. My memories?

He hadn't told anyone, but now that his memories had returned to him, he had become very insecure.

Before, there wasn't any doubt, because I didn't know what I was missing. But now I remember who

and what I'm supposed to be, I'm afraid. Afraid of losing everything again, like I did before.

Afraid of losing her.

He had lost who he was so easily, how could he ever depend on something so intangible as memory

again? When it all could be snatched away from him like before?

Besides, the memories I have that are the clearest are the ones of the last two years. The ones

I most want to forget...

That was it. He couldn't keep wandering around like an idiot. Murrue's shift finished in a little while.

He needed answers, and she was the only one who could give them to him.

I'll go to her room, and wait until she comes back.

In Murrue's room, he sat on the edge of the bed in the half-darkness, not knowing what to do with himself.

He knew Murrue might be mad if she came back and found him sitting here, but he needed to hear the

truth so badly he couldn't just wait for her to find him...

"You, Mwu, always. Only ever you"

He grabbed a pillow from her bed and hugged it close to him. Some part of him scoffed at how he

was acting like a child, but right now, he needed comfort. As he sat there in the gloom, breathing in

her scent from the pillow, he never noticed a single tear slip down his cheek and soak into the fabric.

Murrue walked back to her quarters, feeling rather tired. The preparations for the peace talks between

Orb and ZAFT were taking forever. At least Cagalli-san was coming to space soon, so the major parts

would be taken care of. Murrue stretched her arms, feeling muscles pop. Sitting in one place for so

long really took it out of you. Perhaps she would take a bath again..

Or perhaps Mwu and I can take a bath together, like last time... She giggled a little at the thought,

and also blushed slightly at what might happen.

As she opened the door to her room, she was taken aback. The light from the hallway fell across

someone sitting on her bed. She smiled as she saw it was Mwu. She was about to flick the light on,

when something made her stop. He hadn't jumped up and yelled 'Surprise!', hadn't come and hugged

her, in fact, it seemed as though he hadn't even noticed her come in.

She walked towards him, the door sliding shut behind her. Mwu was just sitting on the side of the bed,

clutching a pillow, slumped forward slightly.

"Mwu? Mwu, my love, what's wrong?" she asked, by now really worried.

He didn't look up at her, didn't seem to have heard her at all.

"Mwu?" Murrue asked again, sitting down beside him. Finally he stirred.

"Murrue?" he said softly. "Do you love me?"

She was taken aback by this odd question from out of the blue.

"Of course I do, you know that. I never stopped loving you" she replied.

Mwu looked up at her, and she was shocked by the desolate expression on his face.

"Even when you were with him?" he asked, looking away.

Murrue was baffled. "What do you mean?"

"The kid told me you and Bartfeld lived together in the two years that I...wasn't around. Did he...did

you...?" he stuttered, the concept seemingly too painful to even think about.

Now she understood. He thought she...

"Bartfeld-taichou and I did live together, it's true. But we were only friends, just housemates

really. We were both lonely. He had lost his loved one, and I thought I had lost you. If we had been

left to deal with those feelings by ourselves, we might not have been able to cope..." She trailed

off, remembering the early days after she moved in, a few months after Jachin Due. She would often

awaken in the middle of the night, sobbing and crying out for Mwu, after dreaming of Strike's sacrifice,

or that he was there with her. Bartfeld had been there for her, reassuring her that while the pain and loss

she felt would never leave her, with time, it would lessen. And he had been right.

"He helped me. He was a friend that helped me through my grief at losing you. But we were only

ever companions, nothing more."

Murrue smiled and laid a hand on Mwu's shoulder.

"Back then, and now more than ever, you are the one I love."

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Only you"

"I can't...I don't...my memories...they...I.." he began.

"I don't trust them...what if they leave me again? What if I have nothing left?"

Murrue's heart melted. So that was what was really bothering him. Mwu was afraid, insecure.

If he had lost his memories, had them taken away, then regained them so quickly, how could

he trust in something so transient? He needed an anchor point, something or someone that would be

there no matter what, whether he remembered or not. He needed her. That was why the thought of

her being with Bartfeld had hurt him so much.

Murrue smiled a little. Mwu couldn't bring himself to trust in his memories just yet, and for the previous

two years, her memories were all she had left of him. That was kind of ironic. But until Mwu regained

confidence in himself and his past self, all she could do was be there for him. And she would be.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her, resting his head on her chest. She

smiled softly as she stroked his long blonde hair.

"Don't worry. Your memories are here to stay. And no matter what, I'll be here for you. I love you, and I

won't ever leave you. We can always be together, Mwu."

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(Wow, emo Mwu.

That was SOOOO tough to write! How do you write about a depressed Mwu and still keep it in

character:cries: I got inspiration from this fic from the one MapleRose wrote the other day, called

'Forbidden' (which is awesome, go check it out if you haven't already). She wrote about what Tiger

would think when Mwu came back. I tried writing from the other side, about what Mwu would think

when he found out Murrue-san had been living with Tiger for two years without knowing the truth...

The memory angst...I don't know where that came from :laughs:

Please read and review!)