"Have you decided what you're going to do?"

The tiny shuttle was making it's way back from the PLANT colonies, where the initial stages of the peace talks had been taking place, to the lunar city of Copernicus, where the rest of the Orb fleet, including Archangel, was docked. The journey had been pretty quiet, save for cautiously optimistic murmurings about how well the talks had gone. And several questions about a certain captain's complicated personal life. "It's not complicated!" Murrue argued, resting the back of her head against the seat. "It's just..." She sighed, closing her eyes. "Just what?" asked Kira from the pilot seat. "I thought you'd already decided that you were going to tell Mwu-san you wanted to get married? Did you change your mind?"

"No...I do want to marry him..I just..." Running a hand through her auburn hair, she glanced back to her younger friends. "I want it...to be a decision from both of us. I don't want him to feel...obligated because of the baby..." Lacus reached forward and placed her hand over the captain's. "Fllaga-san didn't ask you to marry him because of the baby...he asked you because he loves you. You know that.."

Murrue nodded, a small smile on her face. The girl was right. Even if things had gone the way we imagined they would...he would still have asked me - because that's just the way he is...

"You seemed so sure before;" remarked Cagalli. "Since when did you get all indecisive?" The woman chose not to answer that, instead leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes again. Her friends were right, of course. It wasn't like her to be indecisive..and her worry was most likely all for nothing. All she needed to do was talk to him, right? And it could wait for a little while, anyway. She hadn't seen her fiance for over a fortnight - she missed him. Smiling to herself, she wondered if Mwu had missed her, and how he had done in charge of her ship while she'd been away. Maybe it means he'll complain less when I have work to do...

The next thing she knew, her shoulder was being shaken gently. "Captain..Captain, wake up.." Blinking her eyes open, she focused blearily on the smiling face of Athrun. "Come on, wake up. We're back now, okay?" Wake up? "Was I asleep?" she asked, rubbing her eyes, and the boy grinned. "For almost two hours. You looked like you needed it, though.." Murrue blushed, embarrassed. "I see. Thank you.." Stretching, she got out of her seat and stepped out of the shuttle, which was now inside Archangel's hangar bay.

He was waiting for her.

He'd been there for a while, ostensibly checking the maintenance on Akatsuki. But in reality..he'd been waiting for her. As the hours passed, he'd become increasingly fidgety and impatient, not able to sit still, which had amused Murdoch and the technicians no end. But he couldn't help it...he missed her. Seeing her step out of the shuttle, he couldn't stop his face lighting up in an idiot grin. "Hey," he said softly as she walked towards him. Murrue smiled back, the expression making his heart skip a beat. "Uhhh..." he stuttered, then managed to recover. Saluting, he winked at her. "Welcome back, Captain.." She returned the salute, amber eyes twinkling. "Thank you, Colonel. Did you take care of my ship?"

Mwu nodded, just gazing at her. The attention made his fiancee blush. "W-what?" she murmured. He didn't answer, just pulled her into his arms. Murrue squeaked in surprise at the rather public embrace - but didn't struggle. He sighed, stroking her hair softly. "I missed you.." he said, so quietly only she could hear him. She smiled, closing her eyes. "I missed you too..." she replied, equally quietly. The two stood there together for a few moments, then, on some unspoken agreement, broke apart. Mwu took her hand, squeezing gently. "C'mon.." The two walked out of the hangar bay together, knowing their friends were watching, but not caring.

"I still have work to do, you know," she reminded him. "The ZAFT delegation are coming here next week..we need to prepare for that.." He just shrugged. "Maybe. But that can wait a while." He brushed a finger over her pale cheek. "You look exhausted.." Leading her into their shared room, he closed the door behind them. Murrue smiled ruefully. "I thought now that you'd had a taste of what my job is like, you'd complain less about it.."

"Nope," Mwu replied cheerfully, wrapping the young woman in another hug. "If anything, it'll make me complain more - now I know just how much work they make you do. And next time something like this comes up, they can do without you. And if they disagree, they can answer to me.." He nuzzled into her hair, breathing in the scent of roses. "Cause I'm not letting you go again.."

She blushed, and broke away, sitting down on the bed. "I didn't know you were that possessive," she remarked teasingly, and he laughed. "I didn't either...until I met you. It's your fault for being so beautiful.." Sitting down beside her, he kissed her cheek. "Have you been looking after yourself like you promised?" She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. "I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked..the talks usually started early in the morning and finished late at night. But we did get chance to have days out in the city, or for rest, so it wasn't so bad." Mwu sighed, wrapping an arm around her waist. "As long as you're all right.."

Murrue nodded, then reached out to take his hand, squeezing it lovingly. "Here.." she said softly, moving his hand so it was placed on her stomach. He grinned. "Has she been doing okay?" She just smiled. "Wait.." He nodded, not understanding...then he felt it. "Wha...is that...is she.." he whispered, and she nodded. "She started about a week ago. She's even kept me awake a couple of nights.." She rubbed her stomach gently, shaking her head in affectionate annoyance.

Mwu beamed, delighted, and pulled his fiancee into his lap, arms enclosed around her waist. "This is great!" Lying back on the bed, he kissed her, taking his time to show her how much he loved and had missed her. Murrue returned the kiss happily, turning around in his embrace until her hands were placed firmly on his shoulders. They both had waited for this for a fortnight..

"Okay," he said when they broke. "So she's all right, and pretty energetic at that, it seems. And she's making things tough for her mom, huh?" She nodded, laughing. "She's just like you.." Mwu pretended to scowl at that, but he couldn't be angry at the thought that his daughter might take after him. Instead, he just pulled her closer. Murrue smiled, snuggling into his arms. "So, did you keep everyone out of trouble?" she asked, and he nodded. "Of course."

"And how did you like being captain?" He screwed up his scarred nose at that, huffing. "Not very much. I used to be a captain before, but I never thought much of it. Although," he remarked, brightening at the thought, "'Captain La Fllaga' does have a nice ring to it.." He expected his fiancee to laugh at that, but instead, she just closed her eyes, a small, secret smile on her face. "It does.." she replied quietly. Mwu looked down at her for a moment, gauging her reaction to his words. There had been something in her voice..."You'd like that, huh? For that to be your name?" Murrue opened her eyes and looked up at him, pink-cheeked. "You know I would. I accepted when you proposed, didn't I?" Mwu nodded. "Yeah, but the way you sounded just then...You don't want to wait till we get home, do you?"

She sighed, closing her eyes again. "It would be nice to wait. To get married back home on Earth. But...with the way things are going - it doesn't sound like we'll get back there until after she's born. And I..." He smiled, understanding. "You want to get married before the little one makes an appearance, huh?" Murrue blushed again, not answering. But he knew.

"Okay." he said, smoothing down her hair. "If that's what you want.." She wriggled around in his embrace, moving to sit up. "But what about you?" she asked, worry painted all over her face. "What do you want?" She looked away again. "It has to be something we both decide.." Mwu smiled, reaching out to cup her chin in his hand, making her amber gaze meet his blue one. "This is what I want," he reassured her. "I wouldn't have asked you if it wasn't.." He sat up to join her, ruffling her hair. "I already decided that home for me..was wherever you were. And Archangel is home. It's where we met, where we fell for each other, and where we were reunited. If you think about it.." He took her hand, raising it to kiss the engagement ring he had given her, "where better to get married?"

Murrue smiled, the worry disappearing as her face lit up in delight. Without a word, she hugged him, so tightly that they both fell back onto the bed again. He chuckled, kissing the top of her head. "You were all worried about that, I bet.."

A few days later, Murrue went out into Copernicus with Lacus, along with Miriallia, who had been let into the secret. The two girls kept giggling at how obviously happy the older woman was. "You keep blushing, Murrue-san.." said Lacus, taking her friend's arm. "So, did you plan what was going to happen?" The captain nodded, smiling. "One of the other ship captains is going to do it - the ceremony, I mean. Mwu says he'll get the rings, so there's not much left to plan, really. I'm going to tell everyone...when I figure out what I'm going to say.."

Miriallia laughed. "If it takes you as long to tell the others as it did for you to tell me..." She shook her head. Her captain had stuttered and blushed so much, it had taken her several minutes to get the words out. And she had seemed baffled that Miriallia hadn't been at all surprised by the news that she was getting married. "So, if there's nothing left to plan, why are we here?"

Lacus smiled. "We have to get a dress." Murrue nodded. "I don't want...to get married in my uniform..."

The search for a suitable outfit took several hours, as well as several cups of coffee. Murrue didn't want a traditional wedding dress - there really wasn't much point, after all. Something simple would be better.

"Do you have any idea what you want?" Miriallia asked, hanging discarded outfits back on the pegs. "Even the colour would be a start.." Murrue smiled, shrugging. Lacus studied her friend for a few moments. "I think I have an idea.." Taking the older woman's hand, she led her out of the shop, and into another that had previously been rejected due to the expense of the outfits. Studying the garments there, she nodded, picking one out, handing it to Murrue, and shoving the woman into a changing room.

"Wha..Lacus-san!" came a protest, but the girl wouldn't hear of it. "Try it on."

A few moments later, the changing room curtain was pulled back, and the young captain stepped out. She was blushing like mad, but smiling. Lacus grinned proudly, pleased with her choice. "That looks great on you.." The dress was held up with thin straps on the shoulders, and pale pink, the colour suiting the dark-haired woman perfectly, and made of a floaty, gauzy material that fell to just above the knee. "You look beautiful, Murrue-san.."

Miriallia nodded, then frowned a little as she noticed something. "Not to be rude, Captain...but did you put...weight on? The floaty material mostly hid the older woman's stomach, but the slight bump could still be seen if you looked carefully. Murrue's blush deepened, and she vanished back into the changing room, closing the curtain so quickly that the rings jangled. Lacus smiled, and leaned over to whisper in the other girl's ear. Miriallia's eyes widened in shock. "Is that why she's...why it's happening now, instead of when we get home? How far along is she, anyway?"

"About four and a half months." was the reply. "Almost as soon as they got back together. She and Fllaga-san had some problems with it all at first, but everything's okay now. Just...don't tell anyone else, okay? They don't mind people knowing about the wedding, but this...it's better to keep it a secret as long as possible." The orange-haired girl nodded, smiling. "No wonder she's seemed more tired than usual...and why the Colonel seems so proud of himself..." She shook her head. "I did guess that there was something more between them than there had been before...but I never guessed it would be this..."

After the dress had been paid for (by Lacus, despite Murrue's protests), the three women made their way back to the ship. "So, where are you going to stay the night before?" asked Miriallia. The captain frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Haven't you heard that superstition?" asked Lacus with a smile. "The bride and groom can't see each other the night before the wedding. So, what are you going to do?" Murrue paused to think about that. "I don't know.." she replied. "I guess I could stay in another room...seeing as my room is ours now..." But Miriallia shook her head. "You can't do that. Knowing the Colonel..he would so sneak in there with you. You need to stay somewhere else.." Lacus giggled, nodding. "I know...come over to Eternal. You too, Miriallia-san. We can all stay there.." Murrue raised an eyebrow. "A sleepover?"

"You have to admit, it sounds fun," teased Miriallia. "Plus, it's a perfect way to make sure the two of you don't cheat..." The older woman nodded slowly, a smile spreading across her face. "It does sound like fun." she said softly. "Mwu won't be happy about it, but.." She giggled. "Why not?"

Everything was ready, the wedding planned for just over a week away. After all the worry, the tears and confusion, she had - or was going to have - what she had secretly wanted for the last two years. A family.

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( Oh, I had fun with this one XD. Nice and fluffy. And yes, next chapter is the wedding. Does that make up for the angst?

And I also borrowed Sky's idea about the pre-wedding sleepover. But it was such a fun idea!

Please read and review! )