"What are you... doing?" Athrun asked with an exasperated expression as he walked over to Cagalli, his tone sounding exactly like a helpless father dealing with his mischievous child.
"Can't you tell?"
"Huh?"
"I can't move! Stop just standing there and help me already!"
"Given your current situation, do you really have the right to act so high and mighty?"
"Stop talking nonsense and hurry up!"
"..." Athrun truly couldn't comprehend Cagalli's thought process. He genuinely wondered what kind of family could raise a daughter like this. They were enemies—just moments ago, they had been fighting to the death. Now, she was tied up by him, technically his prisoner. Since when did prisoners act like spoiled young ladies, barking orders at their captors?
Despite his disbelief, his actions betrayed his words. With a sigh, Athrun crouched down and helped Cagalli up from the puddle she was lying in.
Just as he pulled her up, Cagalli was about to thank him when a tiny crab slowly crawled out from beneath her hair. Its beady black eyes glanced at Cagalli, then at Athrun, its bubble-blowing mouth seemingly curling into a perverted smirk before it plopped back into the water with a splash.
"Pfft—HAHAHAHA!"
"What's so funny about a crab?"
"Nothing, sorry. It's just... new to me."
"PLANT doesn't have crabs?" Cagalli shot him an annoyed glare before hopping out from under the shield's shelter, exposing herself to the pouring rain.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Perfect timing for a wash. I'm covered in sand and seawater." Feeling the refreshing rush of rainwater, Cagalli tilted her head back with a grin. "Ahhh~! That feels amazing!"
Athrun blinked in surprise before chuckling helplessly. He walked up behind her and, with a swift motion, cut the ropes binding her.
"Huh?"
"You don't have any weapons. Even if you wanted to cause trouble, you couldn't do much."
"What did you just say?!"
"Looks like there's a crab in your clothes too."
"Eh?" Cagalli's face flushed red as she suddenly felt an itch around her chest. Without thinking, she lifted her shirt, revealing fair skin tinged pink—along with a not-so-lonely southern hemisphere.
"There really is one!" A small crab fell out, and Cagalli gasped. But at that moment, her eyes met Athrun's. Both froze, their faces burning crimson.
Athrun realized he had seen something he shouldn't have. Flustered, he turned away—only to trip over his own feet in his haste and land flat in the water, just like Cagalli had earlier.
...
The rain grew heavier, showing no signs of stopping. Yet, it carried an air of warmth and ambiguity, as if fate itself was conspiring to bring two people together.
With no other choice, Athrun and Cagalli didn't dare linger in the downpour. They found a nearby cave to take shelter in, started a fire, and began drying their soaked clothes.
"Here."
Wrapped in a blanket, Cagalli stared blankly at the military ration Athrun handed her.
"The signal here is terrible. We'll probably have to spend the night," he said, shrugging when she didn't take it and placing it by her feet instead.
"Isn't the bad signal your guys' fault?"
"..."
Athrun fell silent again, turning to pick up his own ration before answering in a low voice, "That's because the Earth Forces launched the nuclear strike first."
Now it was Cagalli's turn to go quiet. Of course, she knew the war had originated from the Earth Forces' nuclear attack—hatred begetting hatred, forming an endlessly spreading chain. But she simply couldn't understand why both sides had to fight to the death. Couldn't they coexist peacefully like in Orb? In Orb, Naturals and Coordinators lived together in peace and happiness, didn't they?
"ZAFT rations are still food. Yours got washed away with your bag, didn't they?" Seeing Cagalli still unmoved, Athrun tried to persuade her.
Cagalli was too proud to agree or accept Athrun's charity, but her body betrayed her.
"Gurgle~"
"Ugh..."
She hadn't eaten anything since afternoon. While Cagalli wasn't some delicate princess, she was still within the bounds of being a young lady. Her stomach growled loudly, and in the end, she had no choice but to honestly pick up the ration and start eating.
"Heh." Seeing this, Athrun showed a gentle, almost fatherly smile.
Time passed slowly, the firewood crackling as Athrun and Cagalli sat facing each other in silence.
"You... aren't you going to tie me up?" Cagalli asked, mostly because the atmosphere felt unbearably awkward—certainly not because this was her first time alone in the wilderness with a man and she felt a bit scared. "If I took your gun when you weren't looking, the situation would reverse."
"What?"
"Then you'd look like a complete fool."
"Pfft—hahaha..." Athrun laughed again. He'd thought Cagalli was going to say something serious, but it was just this?
"What's so funny!?"
"Nothing. You really don't learn, do you?"
"Ugh..."
"If you tried to take my gun..." His smile suddenly faded, replaced by a sorrowful expression illuminated by the firelight. "...I'd have no choice but to kill you. So don't do anything that stupid."
"..." Cagalli froze, lowering her head. She truly didn't understand—what did Athrun mean by this? Why was he treating her so kindly? Weren't they supposed to be enemies? Didn't ZAFT Forces show no mercy to their enemies? If ZAFT treated enemies this gently, then what were all the comrades she'd lost before?
"Both in Heliopolis and this time, you barely managed to survive."
"Hmph. I never thought I'd have a ZAFT soldier worrying about my safety."
"About Heliopolis... we never intended for things to turn out like that."
"What?"
"Dawn Company was developing MS for the Earth Forces. We only meant to seize them."
"What's the point of saying this now? No excuses can change the fact that you destroyed a Colony!"
"Then is Orb's neutrality just playing both sides as an opportunist?" Athrun challenged. Truthfully, his political awareness wasn't high either, and he disapproved of Orb's fence-sitting—trading with both sides to profit from the war. Even though Yang Hui, Wang Liu Mei, and Sumeragi were his friends, he held the same view.
If you claim to be neutral, then just stay out of it and watch quietly!
"..." Cagalli fell silent. Like Athrun, she was deeply dissatisfied with Orb's actions and couldn't understand them.
"We fight for PLANT. We can't just ignore something like that."
"Earth is the same, isn't it? Your invasions have left Earth in ruins. That's why we..."
Their gazes locked, flames reflected in both their pupils—anger, frustration, and the burning desire to convince the other.
Finally, Athrun averted his eyes, speaking with both relief and lingering fear. "My mother was on [Julius 7] at the time. If it weren't for Sumeragi and Wang Liu Mei, she would have..."
"Huh?"
"Even though my mother survived, countless innocent people lost their lives in an instant—even children weren't spared. How can anyone just swallow that!?"
Athrun knew the tragedy of [Bloody Valentine] could have been avoided. Yang Hui had provided advance intelligence, but neither PLANT nor ZAFT's leadership took it seriously, allowing the Earth Forces to succeed.
But in the end, wasn't it the Earth Forces who caused all this? While military strategy is fair game in war, the Earth Forces had crossed the line by launching a nuclear strike on [Julius 7], which had no military presence. No one could accept such an atrocity.
"I've also lost many friends to your attacks!"
"...Forget it. Arguing with you about this is pointless." Athrun gave up. No matter what he said, he couldn't convince Cagalli. He simply lay down to rest.
Cagalli snorted, wrapped herself in a blanket, and walked outside. Perhaps even the heavens realized their help was meaningless—the rain had stopped, the clouds had parted, and the moon now shone overhead.
Looking up at the Aegis Gundam, Cagalli recalled what she'd witnessed in [Heliopolis], her arguments with Yang Hui, and his stern reprimands. Her heart was in turmoil. She couldn't discern right from wrong, didn't understand grand principles—she just wanted to follow her own convictions.
Turning back, she was surprised to find Athrun already asleep, his arm pillowing his head.
"Hey! You're really going to sleep?"
"No, of course not... but after landing on Earth... and moving..." His fragmented words trailed off as his eyes closed again. He was exhausted, his voice heavy with fatigue. Earlier, his rigorous training had kept him alert in the face of danger, but now that he judged Cagalli harmless, his guard dropped, and the accumulated weariness overwhelmed him.
Cagalli glanced at the sleeping Athrun, her eyes lingering on the gun at his waist. An internal battle raged within her—angel and devil locked in combat. Torn with indecision, she sat with her back to him and deliberately raised her voice in complaint. "Don't sleep so soundly next to your enemy!"
But Athrun didn't respond at all, continuing to sleep deeply.
Seeing this, Cagalli sighed. She was growing more and more confused about the situation—especially regarding the ZAFT Forces.
From Andrew Waltfeld to Athrun, these were the two ZAFT Forces members she had truly interacted with, yet each had given her completely different impressions. Andrew Waltfeld's open-mindedness and passion, Athrun's gentleness—all challenged her preconceived notions about ZAFT Forces.
But setting aside her encounters with these two individuals, what ZAFT had brought her was only the pain of war—whether it was the collapse of Heliopolis or the sacrifice of her comrades in North Africa.
With deeply conflicted emotions, Cagalli crouched beside Athrun. Her hand trembled as she reached toward the holster at her waist, but just before making contact, she recalled Athrun's gentle warning to her. Her hand paused and withdrew.
At that very moment, the crackling sound of the firewood startled Athrun awake