---
"What's wrong Murrue?" asked the dark-haired man as she trudged heavily up the stairs.
"Nothing," she mumbled without glancing back.
"Okay," he replied uncertainly, "Don't you want any dinner?"
"No thanks," she replied, "I'm kind of tired right now." With that, she entered her room and locked the door before flopping onto her bed.
She lied there in the dark, and held up her left hand, gaze lingering on the ring. It signified a promise, a promise of a chosen future. But could she be happy in that future knowing that Mwu was still alive and that she didn't wait for him? It was true that she'd learned to move on in the year since Jakin Due, or rather, she forced herself to move on, telling herself that she needed to, or else she would never be able to live properly. She had to learn to let go of the past in order to find a future. At first, she was unwilling after what had happened, but slowly, slowly her heart healed and she learned to love again.
Maybe it was because she was afraid to be alone, especially since now that there were no distractions of battles for her. Or maybe she was angry at him, angry that he had left her alone, angry that he didn't "come right back" like he said he would, and angry that he had captured her heart, then broke it with no one to pick up the pieces. He didn't keep his promise, so why should she?
Was he angry at her?
No. No, she wished that he would be angry. She wished that he would yell at her.
But instead, the look in his eyes was one of disappointment and sadness, one of heartbreak that echoed her own a year ago. That look haunted her, as if accusing her in a broken voice 'how could you'.
Her gaze travelled to the two white military hats sitting on her bookshelf, and felt a pang of guilt stab at her heart as they stared back silently.
"Why didn't you wait for me Murrue?"
She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to make those words and the memory of that look in his eyes go away. She felt the familiar guilt rushing back at her, like it did when she first starting dating again, the horrible guilt that she was betraying him, betraying his memory. But she had pushed it down then, telling herself repeatedly that she needed to move on, and for a while, it stayed buried.
"I just didn't think you'd get married so soon. I thought you'd at least wait a bit."
She suddenly felt angry as hot tears welled in her eyes. She was angry, angry at him because his words had hurt. But it wasn't so much as to what he said, but rather because she knew he was right, because what he had said echoed what her conscience had accused her of in the back of her mind. It was true; she had been selfish. She was sick of being alone, sick of being heartbroken, sick of waiting, and sick of crying. So despite what that voice in her head tried to tell her, she decided betray him, decided to betray her love for him.
But now…now what? Life had thrown her another curve ball, and how was she supposed to deal with it? Now that the guilt came bubbling back, she wasn't sure how to deal with it.
Was this a sign that she had made a huge mistake? Well, she had made a mess of things, that was for sure.
Was their love supposed to be invincible? If so, then how did it come to this? Was it simply because she was weak and succumbed to her selfishness?
At the moment, she did the only thing she could think of: burying her face in her pillow and let her tears fall, hoping it would wash away the guilt.
--
"Murrue, Murrue?"
"Wha—" The woman in question snapped back to attention as she felt something poke at her arm. She turned to the source of the sound and found herself staring into a pair of worried brown eyes.
She shook her head to clear it. "Sorry Gale, did you say something?" she asked sheepishly.
The man's brow furrowed in concern. "Are you feeling okay? You hardly touched your breakfast, and you didn't eat anything last night either."
"Oh, I'm okay," she bit into her toast, "See, I'm eating."
He didn't look convinced as he raised an eyebrow. "Did something happen yesterday?"
Murrue's eyes widened as images of her surprise meeting the day before rushed into her mind. She shook her head quickly. "N-Nothing, I, just have a lot of my mind."
He smiled hesitantly. "I guess you're pretty busy planning the wedding and everything aren't you?"
She nodded, grateful for an excuse.
"Well," he stood up, "Don't work yourself too hard." He moved to kiss her, but paused as she turned away. His brows furrowed again as he studied her, but knew that at this point, she wasn't ready to tell him whatever it was that was bothering her, so he should just leave her alone.
"I'll see you tonight, okay?" With a light peck on her cheek, he left.
Murrue watched as he headed out the door. She glanced at the ring again and sighed again as she sipped her coffee.
(...to be continued...)
AN: a bit of insight into Murrue's thoughts. and here we get to see Murrue's fiance, an OC, hope that answers your question fireworks. as much as I adore the AndyMurrue potential, I can only see their relationship stay unrequited, staying the way it is in Destiny.