( Hello! This is another AU type fic, what if Mwu had been found by Archangel after what happened to Strike? I know MapleRose has already written one like this, and I assure everyone that this isn't a copy of hers (for a start she's a much better writer than me). Hope it's okay! )
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The light was too bright. It burned through his eyelids, forcing him awake, even though every part of him just wanted to sleep. Gradually, other things registered to his fuzzy mind, the feel of a bed beneath him, the smell of antiseptic. And pain. Burning pain all throughout his body.
He opened his eyes, then quickly squeezed them shut again, blinking rapidly to get used to the light.
"Where am I?" He hardly recognised his own voice, instead of the loud cheerful tone he was used to hearing, what came out was little more than a hoarse whisper.
"You're in Archangel's sickbay. How are you feeling?"
The voice came from his left, and slowly, painfully, he turned to face the speaker. It was the ship's doctor.
"The ship is safe?"
The doctor smiled kindly. "Yes, thanks to you, Commander."
Mwu closed his eyes again. "But how can I be here? I shouldn't have survived that..."
The doctor sighed. "To be honest, we're not sure. As far as we can tell, the Strike's shield protected the cockpit section and kept it intact. But the diagnostic board in the cockpit exploded. Your pilot suit was completely shredded, and you ended up with internal injuries, as well as several shrapnel wounds. If it hadn't been for them finding you so quickly, you certainly wouldn't have survived. As it was, it was touch and go for a while."
"Will...I be okay now?"
"Yes, you're out of danger now. You'll have some lovely scars, including one right across your nose, but you're very lucky to be alive."
Mwu chuckled softly, wincing at the pain the movement caused him. "I don't feel lucky..."
The doctor only smiled. "You think so? Look to your right..."
Mwu managed to turn his head to his other side, and saw her.She was sitting beside his bed, her head pillowed on her arms, hair spilling over her face, fast asleep.
"Murrue..."
"You've been unconcious for three weeks," said the doctor quietly, "and during that time, the Captain's barely left your side, except when she had to. Practically every waking moment, she's been here. I asked her several times to go to her room and get some decent sleep, but she always refused. I don't know about you, but I'd sure as hell feel lucky if I had someone like her..."
Mwu just stared at the sleeping woman. Murrue looked the same as she always did, neat and tidy, uniform perfect, hair shining. But her face...her face was etched with lines of worry, and there were black rings underneath her red-rimmed eyes.
She's like this because of me?
Stiffly, slowly, Mwu stretched out a hand, and brushed the dark auburn hair from Murrue's face, then took one of her small hands in his, entwining their fingers together.
My Murrue...
He smiled to himself as he fell asleep again, happy in the thought that she was there with him.
A few hours later, Murrue's eyelids fluttered, and she awoke. She hadn't let herself sleep more than a few hours at a time since they had brought Mwu back on board, scared for some reason, even though he was out of the woods, that he wouldn't ever wake up..
Her neck was stiff, and her eyes felt heavy.
I'm so tired...but something woke me up. What was it?
Her left hand felt warm for some reason, and she looked down, her marigold eyes widening as she saw her hand clasped in Mwu's.
"He woke up?" she asked, her heart jumping.
The nurse on duty smiled. "Yes, he did, for a few moments. He was so happy to see you..."
Very gently, Murrue unthreaded her fingers from Mwu's, and took his hand in both of hers, stroking it softly.
"I wish I'd been awake..." she whispered, closing her eyes.
She started in shock as she felt her hand being squeezed weakly.
Mwu was awake. His blue eyes, practically the only part of his face she could see under the bandages, were filled with pain, but at the same time, happiness.
"I'm so glad you're okay.." he whispered. "Is the war over yet?"
Murrue smiled, and nodded. "Yes, my love, the war is over. We can all go home now.."
Mwu managed a laugh. "Home. Now, where is that again?"
"Orb, I guess. It's the only place we can go. Are you all right with that?"
He squeezed her hand a little tighter. "Sure, if I'm with you..can we be together? Like we planned?"
She nodded silently, smiling even though the tears had begun to trickle down her cheeks.
Mwu's eyebrows dipped in an approximation of a frown. "Hey, what's the matter?"
His arm moved slowly up to her face, bandaged fingers brushing against her cheeks, wiping the tears away.
Murrue held his hand to her face with her own, still stroking his fingers.
"I...I was so scared..." she sobbed. "That you were going to leave me...before K-kira-kun found you...I - I thought that I was alone again..." She hiccuped as the tears fell.
"I'm so sorry, Murrue" Mwu said. "But I had to do it..please understand. If I had to, I'd do it again. It wouldn't have worked...if I had lived and you had died, because...because..." His voice was getting fainter and fainter as fatigue overtook him again, and Murrue had to strain to hear his last sentence.
His voice was barely above a whisper, and she only thought she heard what he said, but the words were...
"I...I..don't think...I could have...lived without you..."
Her tears fell freely. She couldn't believe he'd said something like that..it made her so happy she could hardly breathe. Had he really said it? And had he meant it?
Leaning forward, she pressed her lips ever so gently against his dry ones in a light kiss, a tear falling onto his face and soaking into the bandages.
"Thank you, Mwu. For making the impossible possible, and for keeping your word. I'll be here when you wake up again, by your side, and that's where I'll stay forever..."
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( :smile smile smile: Now that is fluff. That's how Seed should have ended for those two in my opinion, instead of him being dead then magically plotholed back to life XO. It would have been nice to see them together from the beginning in Destiny. I wonder how life would have been for them?
Please read and review! )
