"So, have you picked out a dress yet?"

The person the question was addressed to blinked, surprised. "Huh?" Setting down her cup of coffee, she sat further up on the comfy green sofa, slender legs curled underneath her. "No, not yet..." she replied, a faint tinge of rose to porcelain cheeks. "But there's still two months to go." Her two younger friends smiled at that, and one of them, a delicate young woman with candyfloss-pink hair leaned forward to set her own teacup on the table. "Have you thought any more about what you want it all to be like? Malchio-sama says he'll be more than happy to conduct the ceremony...but are you sure that it's all you want?"

Murrue smiled at that, brushing aside a lock of dark hair. "Oh yes. We've talked about it..Mwu and I, and this is what we want. Nothing...too fussy..."

The other girl, Miriallia, rolled her eyes, slumping back against the sofa. "This is going to be the biggest day of your lives...and all you want is to hold the whole thing in a teeny-tiny chapel in the middle of nowhere, with maybe a handful of people there. C'mon, Murrue-san, you really don't want anything bigger? Everyone would be happy to help, you know.."

"I do know," Murrue replied softly. "And I - we - appreciate it, believe me. But we're happier just keeping things simple. It's the ceremony itself that's most important, not all the fuss surrounding it. You..understand, right?" Miriallia sighed, but nodded. "Yeah, I understand. I think the Representative was kinda disappointed, though. It sounds like she wanted to make a huge celebration out of it...after all, you two are the senior officers of the ship that more or less saved the country, as well as being her friends."

The dark-haired woman smiled, taking another sip of her coffee. "I think that perhaps Mwu might have been even more embarrassed about something like that than me. He's...different now. Only a little, but he doesn't really like having a lot of attention drawn to him anymore. This ceremony, this wedding...he prefers it this way, as do I."

"He does seem different now. Not so much that he isn't the person he used to be," Lacus mused. "But he's..quieter, I think. I wonder if it's because of his time with the Alliance?"

"I think so," was the answer. "There are a lot of things that he still won't tell me about, that happened in those two years. He says that it took him a long time to work up the courage to propose..because he didn't think I would accept it because he left me alone. But there's no way I could have ever turned him down. And now, the wedding...it's our day, something neither of us thought we could ever have, and we just want to enjoy it."

Miriallia chuckled. "I never thought of it like that. But it's true. If you can't be selfish on your wedding day, when can you be?"

The three women chatted a while, the two younger excitedly discussing what kind of gown would suit their friend best, Lacus describing the chocolate cake she intended to make. Murrue listened, smiling at their enthusiasm. They were happy for her, and that meant a great deal . Maybe..she could let her friends plan just a little part of her wedding...after all, it was thanks to her friends that she and her fiance were even able to be here to have all this..

"Evening, ladies.." The familiar deep voice rang out through the sitting room, and the three friends looked up to see Mwu standing there in the doorway, cheerful grin on scarred face, Murrue gasped, starting to get to her feet. "Oh, Mwu! I'm sorry...I haven't made dinner, and I..." The man laughed, reaching out to place a finger on her lips. "Whoa there, missie. Look." Proudly, he held up two large cartons. "Takeout."

Murrue huffed and looked away, pink stealing onto her cheeks. Mwu just grinned, ruffling her dark hair. Lacus and Miriallia, suppressing smiles at how utterly domestic the couple had become in such a short space of time, made their excuses and left. Mwu sighed, flopping back onto the sofa. "Man.." he whistled. "That was a tough day..." His fiancee smiled fondly, sitting down beside him and opening the takeaway cartons.

"What were those girls here for?" he asked through a mouthful of noodles.

"Nothing really," she replied. "They just wanted to know how we've been. And they were trying to persuade me that a slightly more...ambitious wedding, would be nice." The blonde man rolled his eyes, searching through one of the cartons for a fortune cookie. "Them as well? Can't we just elope or something?"

Murrue giggled, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Oh, come on. They just want us to be happy..."

"I know.." he replied. "But isn't it up to us to decide what makes us happy?" Leaning back against the plush sofa, he wrapped an arm around her. "You and me. "

"Yeah.." she murmured, gazing at the diamond engagement ring that sparkled on her left hand. "But to have the day we want..we need everyone's help still, don't we? Malchio-sama for the ceremony, Lacus-san and Kira-kun, who are making all the preparations for afterwards. Be honest, Mwu. Would you really want it to be just you and me, without our friends there? After all..." she said, her hand moving to take his, "it's thanks to them that we're even able to be like this.."

The scarred man smiled. "You're right. I guess...it's their day as much as ours.." Murrue peeked up at him, warm amber eyes shining. "I'm glad you feel that way. I thought that...you wouldn't want something like that.."

"Why not? Our friends, all the kids..it wouldn't be right without them there.." he replied cheerfully.

Murrue just beamed, moving to kiss him. "Thanks, love"

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