All was quiet aboard the Archangel. Kira floated down the silent corridors, on a visit from the Eternal. He had come with the intention of visiting his friends, but so far, no-one was around. Sure, it was pretty late at 'night', but normally there should be someone around...
As he thought this, he saw Miriallia walk out of a room just up ahead, and he waved.
"Hey Miri! How's it going?"
Miriallia smiled happily at seeing her friend. "Oh, just fine. Are you off duty now?"
Kira nodded. "Yeah, I just thought I'd come and see how you were all doing. Athrun went over to Kusanagi to visit Cagalli.."
The two young people wandered down the halls together, chatting about nothing much, just what they'd been up to recently, and how quiet it had been. The war was still going on, but for the last few days, both sides had been rather quiet. Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before everything started again, but for now, they were enjoying the down time.
As the pair talked, they rounded a corner...only to duck back around the way they had come, peeking out at the scene before them in complete amazement.
Captain Ramius was standing there, back against the wall, and Commander La Fllaga had his arms wrapped around her waist, and he seemed to be trying to kiss her on the cheek. The Captain's face was bright pink, and she looked to be trying to push the Commander away. But the more the Commander tried, the less effort she put into struggling, and she even giggled.
"Stop that, will you? People could see us!"
Their unwitting spectators still watched from around the corner, totally seeing them.
The Commander laughed, and kept right on with trying to kiss her.
Kira and Miriallia slowly backed off and tip-toed away, shocked at what they had just witnessed.
"I heard something about this from Neumann and a couple of the others, about how the Captain and Commander had gotten together all of a sudden, but I wasn't sure whether to believe them or not..." whispered the girl.
Kira smiled "I never imagined them getting together, but I'm glad they have. They're such good people, they deserve to be happy..."
Miri grinned slyly. "So shall we tell everyone?"
Kira shook his head. "No. If they want to keep this relationship of theirs a secret, we should let them..."
Mwu had managed to get close enough to unzip the collar of his Captain's jacket, and was busy placing tiny kisses on her neck, smiling as her hair tickled his nose. Murrue's hand was still flat to his chest, but she had seemingly forgotten all about pushing him away. Looking up, Mwu grinned as he saw that her eyes were closed, and her cheeks were pale pink. As we watched, those dark eyes of hers opened a little, and she quickly checked all around them.
"You don't have to worry so much, Captain. If I see anyone, I'll stop, okay?"
But she still looked nervous. "But they'd easily be able to tell what we've been up to..."
He sighed, and pushed himself away from her, running a hand through his thick blonde hair.
"I'm sure that no-one would mind if they did see us...But sure, I'll wait till we're alone, if you're worried."
He brightened as an idea struck him. "Hey, do you want to have dinner with me tomorrow night?"
Murrue blinked. "Dinner? You mean, in the mess hall?"
"Nope" Mwu said proudly. "With me. In my room."
Her eyes widened, and she blushed again. "Is this...is this a date, Commander?"
"Uhhh...kinda, I guess. It won't be too fancy, though..."
He was expecting her to decline his offer, but instead she gave him that sweet smile that always caused his heart to melt, and kissed him on the cheek. "Then I'll see you tomorrow night..."
The next evening, Murrue checked the closet in her room again, even though she knew the contents would still be the same. All that was there were spare uniforms and the orange overalls she wore as an engineer. Nothing that was really suitable for a dinner date...
Idiot. Of course there isn't. And the Commander did say that it wasn't going to be fancy...
Her uniform would just have to do. She smoothed out the skirt nervously, and checked her reflection in the mirror.
She saw a brunette woman wearing a nervous happy smile looking back at her. She had no idea why she felt so shy...it was only dinner...
But it's dinner with him. And the last time we were alone in his room together, we...we...
Her cheeks flamed red, and she took deep breaths to calm her racing heart.
I have to stop acting like a teenager...
Checking her reflection one last time, Murrue grabbed a clip from a drawer, and twisted her hair up, fastening it in place. There. Now she looked a little different...
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"Welcome.." said the Commander, smiling in that happy way of his. His room was darkened, the lighting dim, and Murrue could just make out a little folding table and two chairs further inside.
Mwu extended his arm, and gestured for her to enter. Checking one last time to make sure no-one outside was watching, Murrue stepped inside.
"You look lovely tonight, Captain.." he said gently as the door swished shut behind them.
"Why, thank you, Commander, and you look very smart as well." His collar was zipped up, and his sleeves were rolled down, just as regulations demanded. It made him look very different.
He pulled out one of the chairs for her so she could be seated, and she smiled at the tray of ship's food that lay before her.
"I'm sorry..." he said sheepishly. "That was the best I could do. But I did manage to wheedle this out of one of the cooks..."
With a typically theatrical gesture, he lifted up a bowl in the centre of the tiny table to reveal a sticky treacle-like pudding.
Murrue couldn't help laughing.
The pair ate in relative silence, each just enjoying the other's company. Mwu could only stare at Murrue as she ate, almost entranced by her. The hairstyle made her look so different...he couldn't resist. Stretching a hand out, he softly stroked her dark hair, chuckling when she jumped in surprise and almost choked on her dinner.
"I like what you did...was that for me?" he teased, loving it when she blushed.
She looked horribly embarrassed, and made as if to reach behind and unclip her hair, but he easily caught her wrist.
"I do like your hair the way it usually is, but please, leave it like that for a little while longer..."
As he spoke, his fingers crept downwards and began caressing the exposed skin at the back of her neck.
"C-commander...we're supposed to be eating!" Murrue protested, her voice faint.
"But we're almost done except for dessert.."
Pulling away from his gentle touch, she got to her feet, composed once more, and voice regal.
"Maybe so, but I only agreed to have dinner with you, nothing more."
She turned to leave, but faster than even he thought possible, Mwu stood up and caught her hand, spinning her back around to face him.
"Do you have to leave just yet?"
Murrue knew this would happen, had expected it, and she knew she shouldn't have been surprised.
Of course you knew. And don't try and pretend you had no intention of staying the night if he asked...
But taking a deep breath, she looked up at him. "We don't know when the enemy will attack, we have to be prepared, we have to.."
Her words were cut off as the Commander drew her to him and kissed her passionately. The kiss was so intense it made the ends of her fingers tingle, and her knees feel like jelly. When they broke apart, she was practically breathless.
"It's just...I love being with you, even if we're only talking.." he said softly, his face serious for once.
"I know you're the Captain, and I'm a pilot, and we have our duties...but I wish we could stay like this for always, just the two of us, without the war or our mission getting in the way.That's why I'd like you to stay here with me tonight..."
Murrue flushed and looked at her feet, not used to the Commander being so sincere.
"I...Commander..."
Mwu laughed quietly, and tilted her chin up so she was staring right into his piercing blue eyes. "That's my secret, you see. The one I wanted to tell you. About how I've come to not want to share you with anyone..."
Murrue couldn't believe he was saying something like this...did it mean that he...loved her?
"So now that you understand...please will you stay with me?"
She couldn't answer, didn't trust herself to answer. She could only nod.
His handsome face lit up in happiness, and he kissed her again, a much more gentle and sweet kiss than before.
"And please.." he said finally, bending down to meet her gaze again. "can I call you 'Murrue'? And will you call me Mwu?"
Later that night, as they lay in each other's arms, Murrue suddenly spoke up.
"Can I ask you something?"
Mwu lazily opened his eyes and looked at her. "Sure you can.."
"When you came back to save the ship at Alaska, how did you know about the Cyclops? You shouldn't have been anywhere near the control room if you were simply coming back here..."
Mwu seemed surprised at this question from out of the blue, then smiled ruefully. "I guess that's another secret... but I'll tell you...I found out by accident...because I sensed him.."
Murrue frowned, and pushed herself up onto an elbow to face him, pulling the sheet around her. "Sensed who?"
"Raww Le Klueze. A ZAFT commander. For some reason neither of us have been able to work out, we can sense each other's presence. Like a tickling in the back of the mind. He was in the control room, I don't know how he got there, but when I found him, I found out about the system..."
"I've never heard of anything like that before..." said Murrue, concerned. "What kind of person is he?"
Her lover scowled, the expression looking out of place on his normally happy face.
"The very worst. I don't know much about him personally, and I don't know how to explain it, but I just know that he's..well... I wish I couldn't sense him, I'd give almost anything to not be able to..."
Murrue looked sad for a moment, then smiled a little. Moving close to Mwu, she wrapped her arms around him to try and comfort him.
"It's okay. In a way, I guess we should all be grateful that you can sense him. If not, you wouldn't have ended up where you did, or at least, not until it was maybe too late. And we...we wouldn't be here right now."
He finally smiled back, and kissed the top of her head. "That's true, and it does make me feel a bit better about all this. But please, unless there's no choice, don't tell anyone else, all right?"
"I promise. Unless I have to, it'll be our secret. Thank you for telling me.."
"And what about you?" he said, the laughing tone back in his voice. "What secrets does Murrue have?"
"Secrets? I don't have any."
"I bet you do. Everyone does. What is there that no-one knows about you?"
Murrue thought for a moment, then flushed a little as a memory came back to her. Moving further up in the bed, she whispered something into his ear which caused him to laugh merrily. "Really?"
She nodded, giggling. Her academy days were long behind her now, but she still remembered her ability, and she was sure she hadn't lost it yet...
"You're telling me you were that much of a drinker?" Mwu pulled back the covers to peer at her delicate frame.
"Where the hell did you put it all?"
"Quit that!" she scolded, still laughing. "It's not like I'm proud of it..."
"Now I know how you were able to down that moonshine in the desert like it was soda..."
Murrue flushed and buried her face in the pillow. "I said stop it!"
"Well, thank you for telling me your secret. And I promise I won't tell anyone about it...unless you want me to. I'm sure the crew would love to hear about...ow!"
Murrue had whirled around and smacked him full in the face with her pillow, making his eyes water.
"Oh, is that how it's going to be? You asked for it!" She giggled and tried to escape as he swung his own pillow at her, just barely dodging the attack. The couple indulged in their childish sides for several minutes until they collapsed back onto the bed, breathless and laughing.
"And you get mad at me for acting like a kid!" chuckled Mwu as he pulled the auburn-haired captain closer.
"At least I don't act like one 24/7..." Murrue shot back, smiling.
"Can I see you act like this more often?" he asked hopefully, trying to tickle her.
"We'll see..." she gasped, whacking him with the pillow again to get him to stop.
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( Lol. This came about as I remembered that in phase 44 of Seed, Murrue-san suddenly knew all about Mwu being able to sense Klueze, and she also called him by his first name. I always wondered how that happened...
The academy thing...well, you all saw her chug that whatever-it-was in the desert, right:laughs:
And the pillow fight? I have no excuse for that...
Please read and review! )
