He could see her. The room was dark, and he was almost asleep. But if he opened his eyes just a little, he could see her flitting like a shadow around the small cabin. The light was just enough for him to be able to make out her slender figure, clad in a nightdress. He couldn't help smiling as she moved to pick up today's uniform from where he had left it discarded on the floor. She lifted the crumpled garment in her arms, smoothing out the creases, and then smiled herself, pressing her cheek to the now-folded jacket and closing her eyes.
The kid's right. She's happy. It's been over two years since I left her alone, and when she finally found me, I didn't even remember her. But like he said, that doesn't matter to her anymore. I could see that, but didn't believe it. I didn't believe that she'd be able to forgive me for what I did to her, let alone still love me..
He had been sitting on a gantry above the hangar bay, staring at nothing, when Kira had found him. The boy had been confused, and sat down beside him. Mwu could understand the kid's bemusement. After all, it had been two days since he'd recovered his memories, and during that time, he and Murrue had been practically inseparable. He should be happy, right? To have remembered everything, and to have been reunited with the one he loved? But instead, he'd been troubled.
"Is there something wrong, Mwu-san?" the kid had asked, showing that uncanny perception he'd developed over the last two years. Mwu had plastered a smile onto his face and nodded. "Course not. Why should anything be wrong?" But Kira clearly wasn't buying it.
"Are you worried about Murrue-san?" he asked, violet eyes serious. Mwu hadn't been intending to react, but the question had caught him off guard. He'd looked away, unable to answer. The boy just smiled softly.
"She forgives you, you know. You shouldn't worry about that..."
Mwu had turned to the boy in surprise, frowning in disbelief. "How can she?" he had asked, not even bothering to ask how Kira knew what he'd been concerned about. "I broke my promise, I left her alone..and when I saw her again, I didn't even know who she was. How can she forgive me when I can't even forgive myself? Besides..." He'd taken a deep breath, and rested his chin on the gantry railing. "I'm not the same person I was two years ago, Kira. I love Murrue more than anything, but I don't deserve to be with her. I've killed people...done some terrible things. But she.." he'd sighed, a gentle smile playing on his lips. "She's exactly the same. She hasn't changed at all. She's every bit as beautiful and kind as she was the day I met her...and she waited for me. Even if I'd never come back, she'd still have waited. It's just...hard to believe..."
Kira had laughed at that. "Is it really that hard to believe? Mwu-san, if your situations had been reversed, if Murrue-san had been the one who'd left you alone like that..I know that you'd have done the same thing. You'd have waited until you saw her again, right?" At his friend's fervent nod, he'd smiled again, then sighed. "And you know, Murrue-san has changed. Not so much that everyone can see it, but she has. She's acted the same around everyone as she always has...but in unguarded moments, she'd sometimes look up at the sky, or out to sea, and I could see it then. Loneliness. I heard that people in the place she worked asked her out, but she always turned them down...because they weren't you. You were all she wanted, Mwu-san. That's why she forgives you. Whatever it was that you did, she doesn't care about. You're here with her again, and nothing else matters."
He'd still been unable to quite believe it, but after his talk with the kid, he'd gone to her office. When he'd slipped into the tiny room, she'd looked up, and her beautiful face had lit up into a smile. "Oh, Mwu!" He'd smiled himself, his previous melancholy being no match for her sunny mood. "Hey, princess. Whatcha doing?"
At his question, she'd stood up and moved to the coffee maker. "I was about to take a break. Would you like to join me?"
So the two of them had settled together on the sofa, sipping their drinks. Murrue had rested her head on his shoulder, the way she always did, and was smiling happily.
"Murrue?" he'd asked, and she'd murmured something questioning. "Do you want to...know the things I did in the last two years?" She'd looked up at him at that, surprised. "Why, do you want to tell me?"
"I want to, but I don't.." he'd replied. "Because what I did, I'm not exactly proud of, and I was worried that if I told you, that you wouldn't forgive me." Murrue had smiled at that, and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm sure I would..." she'd told him, settling back down beside him.
"But how can you say that when you don't even know what I did?" he'd asked, and she'd shrugged, amber eyes closed. "Because the past is the past, and we're here now. Besides, whatever it was you did, I'm sure you didn't want to do, am I right?"
At his nod, she'd smiled again, reaching for his hand. "Then why wouldn't I be able to forgive you?"
"What about...for breaking my promise? For leaving you alone? I..." But she'd muffled that question with a finger placed to his lips. "Now that's something you definitely don't need to apologise for. I forgave you for that a long time ago, because I know why you did what you did, and I'm grateful to you. How can I hate you for saving my life?"
He had understood then what Kira had meant. Murrue really didn't care what he'd done. In fact, he knew that if he'd told her everything, all he had done, she would still give him that gentle smile. He'd learned from before that she had a heart big enough to forgive anyone...and she'd given it all to him.
"Thanks, Murrue..." he'd whispered, wrapping her up in a grateful hug.
She had finished carefully folding the discarded uniform, and had set it down on a chair beside hers. Since he had come back, they had spent every night together, just like before, and the result was that they had begun to treat each other's cabins as extensions of their own. He often forgot and ended up littering Murrue's room with clothes or papers, and she would forget where she was and tidy up his room, thinking it was her own. Mwu smiled as she carefully peeled back the covers and slipped into the bed beside him. "You don't have to clean up after me, you know?"
She huffed slightly, pulling the covers up around herself. "I didn't know you were awake. Besides, I forgot." she replied. He shifted to the side to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her close, nuzzling his face into her dark hair.
"At least it'll make things easier for when we live in the same house.." he murmured, and she blushed fiercely. "I don't remember agreeing to something like that." she said, doing her best to sound annoyed.
"But it'd be fun, wouldn't it?" he asked, and after a while, she nodded, snuggling up to him. Then she smiled sleepily.
"As long as you keep it tidier than your room.." she mumbled, and he laughed, kissing her on the cheek. She forgave him for leaving her, forgave him for the last two years, and she'd even be okay with them living together.
I didn't have anything to worry about, did I?