It's lovely here. But still...

It had been Mwu's idea to come here. Since he had discovered that neither he nor Murrue could take more than a couple of days off after their wedding, he'd gone and booked this holiday instead.

"We'll just have to have our honeymoon before the wedding, that's all!" he had said, brandishing the brochure.

Murrue had just smiled and let him get on with it. But when she found out where the honeymoon was going to be, she had almost gotten angry with him. She couldn't believe he'd booked somewhere like that, and she had refused to talk to him for an hour, or even look at him.

But of course, being Mwu, he had worked his way past her defences, smiling at her and trying to kiss her, until she finally gave in. Her self-imposed hour of silence ended up lasting barely fifteen minutes.

Is this what it'll be like for the rest of our lives? There must be some way to win against him...

Mwu had sat down next to her and pointed out all the things that they could do on their holiday. At first, she hadn't wanted to look. But his enthusiasm had made her interested...

It had looked like fun, and Mwu was so looking forward to the trip, bouncing about like a kid on a sugar rush, she didn't have it in her heart to refuse him. When she had finally agreed, he'd grinned happily and wrapped her up in a massive hug.

I can never say 'no' to him...and now we're on our honeymoon. Before we even get married..

Murrue turned and looked out of the window. The scenery was beautiful, trees, bright blue sky, little houses...But the ground was covered in snow. Mwu's idea of the perfect honeymoon had brought them to a ski resort. And now he was going to take her skiing. An idea that frankly terrified her.

Murrue was so lost in thought, that she jumped violently when her fiance burst into the room.

"Hey, are you ready to go!"

She turned to him, ready to yell at him for scaring her like that, when she stopped and stared.

Mwu was in a jacket and ski pants, as she had expected. But they were powder blue, and the colour brought out the cobalt of his eyes perfectly. And the ski pants were so tight, they showed off every muscle in his legs...

The combination made Murrue feel dizzy from lack of breath, and her cheeks were bright red. Turning away quickly, she looked out of the window again, trying to calm her racing heart.

Dammit, how can I be angry at him when he looks so...so...

Mwu laughed at his fiancee's reaction, knowing exactly why she had looked away. Walking up to her, he bent down and kissed the end of her nose. "You look stunning."

She pouted a little. "I look like I'm in grade school." Her outfit was pale pink, and the jacket was trimmed with fake fur. Mwu thought she looked adorable, and he told her so.

She's always beautiful, no matter what she's wearing.

"Come on," he said, taking Murrue's hand. "Let's go." She protested, and tried to pull away.

"But Mwu, I can't ski..." He grinned. "I can. We can ski together, okay? I won't make you do it on your own."

As the ski lift reached the top of the mountain, Murrue was conscious of people staring. Both men and women were looking in their direction, and she had more than a sneaking suspicion that they weren't staring at her.

Sometimes she hated the fact that Mwu was so handsome. Letting go of his hand, she hid behind him.

Some chalet girls (with blonde hair, perfect skin and very long legs) outside the cafe noticed him, and waved him over.

"Hey there, handsome! Wanna come ski with us?"

Mwu smiled cheerfully. "Sorry girls, I'm spoken for!" he yelled back, pulling Murrue out from behind him.

The chalet girls laughed. "Someone like you with a plain little sparrow like that?" asked one of them acidly.

Mwu's smile disappeared, and his eyes became hard and cold. "Don't you ever talk that way about my fiancee again." he snapped, reaching out for Murrue's hand. But it wasn't there. Looking around, it was if she had just disappeared.

"Looks like your little sparrow flew away" spat one of the girls.

Murrue stood under a pine tree just outside the resort, hugging herself. Normally, she was very strong, and very little fazed her. But the one thing that made her insecure was the fact that Mwu was so attractive. She loved him so much, but she couldn't shake the nagging worry that one day he would find someone else prettier than her...And those girls had been perfect.

"Murrue!" She looked up to see Mwu running towards her. "How come you ran away?"

She couldn't look at him. I must look so plain compared to them...

Mwu bent down and cupped her face in his hands. A small tear rolled down her cheek.

"Hey...what's the matter? You're not upset about what those girls said, are you?"

Murrue hiccuped slightly. "They...they're...maybe you'd be better off with someone like that...than..."

Mwu frowned. "What are you saying? That I should leave you and go with one of them? Is that what you want?"

She shrank back. "N-no...but I...they..."

He sighed, seeing how afraid she was. Reaching down, he pulled off the ski glove from her left hand, and raised it up to show her the gold band on her ring finger. "This means that I chose you over everyone and anyone. It means that I love you more than anyone else in the whole world, and I want to marry you. Those girls - they're not perfect. How can they be, when not one of them is you?" Mwu pulled her into a tight hug. "Not one of those perma-tanned valley girls could ever compare to my Murrue."

She blushed, butsmiled and hugged him back, relieved, and a little cross at herself for doubting him. Letting her go, he placed the glove back on her hand, and took that hand in his. "Let's go."

They spent the afternoon skiing, although Murrue didn't ski alone. Mwu promised her that later in the holiday he would teach her to ski by herself, but for today, he had something special planned.

The 'something special' turned out to be tandem skis.

"You go in front, and just enjoy the ride. I'll steer." he said, blue eyes twinkling. Murrue was scared silly.

"But what if you fall?" He just laughed. "Fall? I'm a pro. Watch me. Now, hold onto the poles, and do what I tell you, okay? Here we go!"

He pushed off from the top of the mountain, and they sailed downwards, getting faster and faster.

Murrue screamed and closed her eyes. I don't want to die!

"Okay, Murrue, move to the left!" She did as she was told, risking opening one eye.

"Excellent! Now the right!"

When they reached the bottom, he unfastened her feet from the skis. Murrue's legs felt like jelly.

"Don't you ever do that again, Mwu La Fllaga!"

"Why? We didn't crash, did we? Told you I was a pro."

That night, after they had eaten dinner, Mwu brought her some hot chocolate, and they snuggled up together on the sofa in front of the fire. He watched her as she looked into the fireplace, the orange flames reflecting in her marigold eyes.

"Are you all right now? Not worried still?" She smiled ruefully. "I think maybe I always will be a little jealous of other girls. It's your fault for being so handsome."

Mwu kissed the top of her head. "And you tell me you've never noticed other guys looking at you?"

"Huh?"

"Silly. Those valley girls were mad because you were with me, but they were also mad because all the other guys were looking at you rather than them."

Murrue blushed. "They were not."

"Sure they were. Because you're beautiful."

Her blush deepened, and she buried her face in the mug of chocolate. He grinned and took the mug from her hands. "Shall I prove to you how much I love you?" he whispered, running his fingers up her arm and cupping her chin in his hands, before kissing her gently.

"Tell you what. Since we won't be able to spend our wedding night here, how about we pretend it's tonight?" he murmured, moving his lips down to her neck.

Murrue gasped. "That...sounds like...a good idea to...me"

Laying her down on the sofa, he kissed her again, this time more passionately.

The snow started to fall outside, flakes flying past the window, but by that time, Mwu and Murrue didn't care.

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( Okay, so I know naff all about skiing. But it was a cute idea. Why I thought Mwu would be a good skier, I don't know. It just...worked.

Murrue-san's insecurity might be a bit OOC, but I'd sure as hell be insecure if I was with someone like him.

Plus, this story made me imagine Mwu in tight ski pants :blush and dreamy sigh:

Please read and review! )