He looked tired. His shoulders were slumped, and as she watched, he stretched out, his mouth widening in a yawn. She shook her head, a small smile curving her lips. Purposefully, she walked down the corridor to where he stood leaning against the wall, and placed her hands on his shoulders. Mwu looked up in surprise to find her staring up at him, her amber eyes brimming with amusement. "Murrue?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "What is it?" She didn't reply, just ran a hand through his thick blonde hair. Then she smiled again. "Aren't you the one who always tells me that I need a break? You've been working on Strike for too long again, huh?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, well..I need to get the hang of that thing, don't I?" His grin grew sly, eyes twinkling despite his fatigue. "You worried about me?"

Murrue sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "Shouldn't I be? If you'd been there much longer, I was going to come and find you. You need a rest."

He chuckled at that, a hand reaching out to caress the soft skin of her cheek, fingers working their way into her dark hair. "Thanks, beautiful.." She glanced away at the affectionate term, clearly embarrassed, though her face wore a faint smile, and she had pinked slightly. His hand resting on her shoulder, he gestured down the corridor. "Well then, shall we go? To get some rest?" She huffed at that, still looking away. "I said you needed a rest. I didn't say anything about me."

"Aww, but.." Mwu protested. "That's no fun. Besides, why would you have gone to the trouble of finding me otherwise?" She frowned at that, her gaze meeting his. "Like I said, I was worried..."

"Nah, I'm not buying that one," he said cheerfully. He didn't elaborate what he really thought, but he didn't need to. Murrue flushed again, but sighed, letting him gently steer her down the corridor.

"Captain Ramius!" The voice drifted down the hallways, startling the couple. Breaking free slightly from Mwu, Murrue turned around to see one of the crewmembers from the Kusanagi heading towards her. She frowned again, confused. "Yes? What's wrong?"

"Sorry to disturb you so late at night, Captain," the crewmember said apologetically. "But Director Simmons wanted to speak with you. She's waiting in your office."

Murrue visibly deflated, her disappointment clear to see. Recovering herself, she smiled at the messenger. "I see. Thank you. Tell the Director I'll be along shortly."

When the crewmember was out of sight, she looked up at Mwu. He looked as annoyed and sad about the development as she felt, and she took his hand, squeezing it gently. "I'm sorry.." she told him softly, and he smiled a little. "It's all right," he reassured her, bringing her hand to his lips to place a kiss upon it. "When you're done, you know where to find me.." Murrue nodded, standing up on her tip-toes to kiss him. "I won't be long.." she whispered.

After she had gone, Mwu made his way to his room, flicking on the lights and heaving himself into the small chair beside the desk. He debated whether to just spread out on the bed, but as tired as he felt at the moment, he knew that he would be asleep long before Murrue was able to join him. Sighing, he decided on a nice hot shower, hoping that it would wake him up a little.

It's not exactly fair. Murrue and I are so busy now we hardly get the chance to even see each other, let alone be together. And now that we were able to make time for each other...something like this happens. I hope whatever this is, it won't take too long...

Murrue was thinking the exact same thing. Sitting behind her desk, she listened to Erica's report, tapping her pen impatiently upon the stack of reports that were ever-present. What the Director had to say was important, sure enough, and it hadn't been able to wait until tomorrow. But right now, Murrue didn't care. All she wanted was the chance to escape. To find the one who was waiting for her. It was very unprofessional, and also very selfish. But...

"Captain?" Erica asked, frowning a little at the other woman's obvious inattention. "Are you all right?" Blinking, Murrue forced herself to smile, setting down the pen. "Oh yes, I'm fine. I guess I'm just tired, that's all."

Erica smiled, nodding. "I understand. No-one's been able to get much sleep recently, what with the developments in the Alliance. This won't take much longer, I promise."

He was sitting at the small desk, head pillowed on his arms. Not quite asleep, but not quite awake, either. He'd entertained the thought of just climbing into bed, but he'd forced himself to stay awake, knowing that she could be here any moment. He dozed slightly, a smile curving his lips as he slipped in and out of pleasant dreams, especially when he dreamed he felt a soft hand stroking his hair, and a kiss on the back of his neck. "Mmmmm..." he mumbled sleepily, and in his dream, he heard a familiar gentle laugh. "I thought you were going to wait for me?" her voice asked, and he stirred, one blue eye opening.

She was standing there, leaning over the desk, a smile tugging at her lips..and she wasn't a dream. Raising his head from his arms, Mwu smiled back, yawning. "Sorry.."

Murrue shook her head. "No. I'm the one who should be sorry, for taking so long."

"Not your fault," he pointed out, getting up from the chair and holding out a hand. She took it, curling her thin fingers around his large ones, and moved closer to where he stood, wrapping her other arm around him, as he in turn embraced her.

"Why are we always too busy to see each other?" she murmured, a hint of bitterness and regret in her soft voice. He inclined his head to rest it on hers. "'Cause we're soldiers, hon, that's why. We just need to make time, that's all.."

"Time..." she replied, voice muffled by his T-shirt. "There's never enough of it.." He didn't answer that, just held her close, pressing a kiss to her dark hair. After a while, he gently pulled her backwards towards his bed, the two of them slipping beneath the smooth sheets and blankets after Murrue removed her boots and jacket. She laughed a little, nuzzling her head into the hollow of his shoulder. "And even when we do manage to spend time together, this is all that we're able to do..because we're always so tired..." Mwu looked down at her, eyes lidded with sleep. "I know. What we need is time off duty. Then we'd be able to do whatever we wanted, wouldn't we? What would you want to do?"

She blushed, hiding her face under the bedcovers. "What we did wouldn't matter. We could just be together, and that would be enough, wouldn't it?"

"True." he replied with a smile, pulling her up a little until they were so close their noses touched. Murrue smiled back, the loving expression lighting up her face, and she rubbed her nose against his, before she kissed him. He closed his eyes, wrapping his arms tightly around her as he kissed her back. The exchange was passionate, intense, a display of the feelings the two of them kept suppressed while on duty. Here, alone together, they were able to express those feelings, the love they kept hidden.

When the kiss broke, she snuggled back down, resting her head on his chest. She was warm, comforting, loving - everything he needed in the whole world. "I love you.." Mwu whispered, stroking her back softly, and she nuzzled closer with a contented murmur, kissing his neck. "..love you too..." she replied.

As long as they were able to make time for each other, even the worst day, the worst duties...weren't that bad...

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( :grins: I told onee-chan that I felt like writing a really fluffy and romantic story. Hope this is okay, sis!

Please read and review! )