The war was over. The Second Bloody Valentine War, which had claimed so many lives, was finally over.
The official peace talks hadn't ended yet, but the fighting had stopped, and the crews of all the ships involved in the myriad battles had finally been able to go home. If they had a home to go back to...
The crew of the Archangel had returned to Orb, and the stately ship had been secreted away back in the underground hangar it had resided in for the past two years. But only until it was repaired. After that, plans had been made to move it to the Morgenroete shipyards, as it was officially part of the Orb military...
The little wooden house by the beach was almost the same as it had been before it had been destroyed by the Junius Seven-caused tsunami. While Kira and the others had been away in space, the little house had been rebuilt, just a bit bigger than it had been before. As the group from the Archangel approached the house, a swarm of small children rushed out and gathered around Lacus, laughing and talking happily. A woman with dark hair ran out and enveloped Kira in a tight hug, tears running down her face. Kira smiled, and hugged his mother back, finally looking like a boy again.
Two people stood at the back hand-in-hand, watching this reunion scene with smiles on their faces. As the little crowd began to move indoors, the couple turned to walk away.
"Hey, where are you going?" Kira's voice rang out from behind them.
Murrue smiled. "We're going back to the Archangel. We can live there until we find something more permanent."
The boy frowned, and was about to speak, when his mother Caridad came to join them.
"We have plenty of room, Murrue-san. Please stay with us for as long as you like. We have a spare bed.."
Murrue protested. "But we can't! You need the space...we'd just be getting in the way.."
"Don't be silly. You gave us all a place to stay when this house was destroyed. Now how can we not return the favour? I insist. Stay here with us until you find somewhere else to live."
Kira chipped in. "Mom's right. And you've been stuck on the ship long enough.."
Mwu, who up until now had been unusually quiet, squeezed Murrue's hand and grinned.
"I think we've lost this argument, don't you?"
A couple of days later, Murrue was sitting on the front porch of the little house, looking out at the beach, and the ocean beyond. Caridad had been so kind letting them both stay with her and the others. The result was that it was a tight squeeze, but the atmosphere was so friendly and warm that it didn't matter much.
"Murrue-san? Here you go.." came Caridad's gentle voice as she handed Murrue a cup of iced tea.
"Oh, thanks so much"
Mwu was on the beach, playing soccer with Kira, Athrun and the orphans. The children had quickly got used to his presence, and just as quickly tuned to the fact that this new big brother acted just as childish as they did sometimes. Murrue smiled as she watched the game, seeing how happy her lover seemed to be now.
"Fllaga-san seems to like it here, doesn't he? Kira tells me that he's the one you loved before, the one you thought had died." Caridad looked thoughtful. "The hat you had...the one in the old house...it belongs to him, doesn't it?"
Murrue nodded, sipping her drink.
"He must be very special. Since you never found anyone else in those last two years..."
Murrue smiled softly. "It's not that. I was too afraid to fall in love again..of having my heart broken again.."
"You think so?" replied the older woman. "Perhaps so, but while we stayed with you before, you always seemed to be waiting for something, as if you knew he'd come back to you one day. Maybe someone up there kept you from falling in love again, because they knew as well. Perhaps you and Fllaga-san are just meant to be?"
Murrue flushed brilliant red, and looked down. "It's really nothing that complicated. We were just lucky..."
Caridad wore a solemn expression. "In my experience, very few people are ever that lucky..."
The soccer game was still going strong. Mwu had easily got possession of the ball from Kira, and was racing toward the goal, followed by a pack of kids. He was about to score, when suddenly he pitched forward with a yell and fell flat on his face. Looking around, spitting out a mouthful of sand, he scowled when he caught sight of a round green object bouncing back towards Kira. One of Lacus' Haros had tripped him up.
Kira burst out laughing at the sight, and Mwu grabbed a handful of wet sand, throwing it straight at the boy.
Kira never stood a chance. Anger had improved Mwu's aim, and the sand hit the laughing boy right in the face..
Murrue, still watching, pressed a hand to her face.
"He's even more of a child than he was before..."
"But that is to be expected, surely?" came Malchio-sama's soft voice from behind the two women.
"I was told that Fllaga-san had his memories locked away, and was made to fight a war that was not his own. He wasn't able to be himself for those two years, because he didn't know who 'himself' was. Now his real self is reasserting itself, reaffirming who he's meant to be..."
Caridad nodded. "Maybe it's a good thing that he's like a child, as you need to learn to be like that. You can be far too serious, wanting to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. You're too young to act like that. The war is over now, Murrue-san. You're not a captain anymore. Stop being a figurehead, and just be yourself.."
Murrue sighed, running a hand through her auburn hair. "It's been so long...how do I do that?"
The older woman pointed to where Mwu was again running about with the children. "He can show you. And you can show him. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and you keep everything bottled up. You can learn from each other..."
As Murrue thought about what she had been told, Mwu came running over, a huge smile on his boyishly handsome face.
"Hey, Murrue, come play soccer with us!" he laughed, taking her hand.
"I can't...I can't play soccer.."
He thought for a moment. "Well, tell you what. You can be referee"
As the game progressed, she sat on the sidelines, watching what was happening. One of the orphans, a little girl came and sat beside her, clutching a doll. "Murrue-san?"
"What is it, sweetie?" asked the woman gently.
The girl pointed to Mwu. "That big brother says he's going to marry you one day. Is that right?"
Murrue went bright red, not able to answer due to the breath leaving her lungs.
He..he said something like that?
Back at the game, Mwu deliberately tripped Kira, laughing at the boy. "Serves you right!"
The referee immediately placed two fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle. "Foul! No fair!"
Mwu blinked, then grinned. "Is that right?" He ran over to her and lifted her straight off the ground, twirling her around until she was dizzy, and wouldn't put her down, despite her squeals.
That night, they had a barbecue, with potato salad. Murrue got herself a small plateful of salad, while Mwu loaded up his plate with a pile of everything.
"Are you sure you have enough there?"
Her lover peered at her own tiny plate, then frowned. "Are you sure you have enough?"
She was surprised at his concern, but smiled and nodded. "I'm fine, don't worry."
He slipped off the jacket he wore, and placed it around her own slim shoulders, as protection against the night breeze.
"Now I have you all to myself, just like I wanted. So I have to take care of you, don't I?" He smiled, and wrapped an arm around her waist, placing a kiss on her cheek. All she could do was blush at his words.
Caridad and Kira watched the exchange between the couple with a smile.
"He's just what she needed, isn't he? Someone to look after her, so she doesn't always have to be so strong, someone who can be there for her.."
Kira nodded. "And he needs her. To be reminded that no matter what he did before, and no matter where he was, someone has always loved him. I'm sure that the pair of them will be married before the year is out..."
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( Lol, mindless fluff again. Read and review please! )
