"Hey, I said you...... What for? Aslan came to Cagalli's side speechlessly and asked, his tone lively like a helpless old father looking at his bear child.

"Don't you understand?"

"Huh?"

"I can't move, don't be there, help me!"

"You're all like this, do you still have a position of spirit?"

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up!"

"......" Aslan really can't accept Cagalli's brain circuit, and really doubts what kind of family can raise such a daughter, you and I are enemies of each other, just now you are dead and alive, and now you are tied up by me, strictly speaking, you are my prisoner, which family's prisoner yells at the person who catches him like the eldest lady?

Although he was speechless, he was upright, and Aslan still squatted down and helped Cagalli up in the water.

As soon as she was helped up, Cagalli was about to say thank you, a small crab crawled out slowly from under Cagalli's hair, a pair of swarthy little eyes looked at Cagalli, and then looked at Aslan, the bubble-spitting little mouth seemed to be curled in a very obscene arc, "poof~", and jumped into the water again.

"Poof~haha......"

"Are crabs so funny?"

"No, sorry, it's just fresh to me."

"DOESN'T THERE BE CRABS IN PLANT?" Cagalli glared at Aslan in annoyance, stood up and jumped out of the shield to cover the rain, exposing herself to the pouring rain.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"It's just washing, and it's covered in sand and seawater." Feeling the freshness of the rain, Cagalli looked up and smiled, "Hmm~!" It's cool! ”

Aslan was stunned for a moment when he saw this, smiled helplessly, walked behind Cagalli, raised the knife in his hand, and cut the rope that bound Cagalli.

"Huh?"

"You don't have a weapon, and you can't make a big deal if you want to."

"What did you say!?"

"You seem to have crabs in your clothes, too."

"Huh?" Cagalli's face flushed, and sure enough, she felt a burst of itching in her chest, and without thinking about anything, she lifted her clothes, revealing her delicate skin that was white and red, and even revealed the southern hemisphere that was not alone.

"Really!" A small crab fell, Cagalli exclaimed, but at this moment, her gaze collided with Aslan's, and the two of them were stunned for a moment at the same time, their faces flushed.

Aslan realized that he seemed to have seen something that he shouldn't see, and turned his head away with a red face, but in a hurry, he didn't pay attention to his feet, and with a "plop", he ended up with the same fate as Cagalli.

……

The rain is getting heavier and heavier, and it has no intention of stopping at all, but it is full of ambiguity and warmth, as if it is intended to fulfill one or two people.

In desperation, Aslan and Cagalli did not dare to linger in the rain, so they found a nearby cave and hid in it, set up firewood, and dried their soaked clothes.

"Give."

Cagalli, wrapped in a blanket, looked at the military rations handed over by Aslan in a daze.

"The signal here is very poor, and eighty percent of them are going to spend the night here tonight." Seeing that Cagalli didn't answer, Aslan shrugged his shoulders helplessly and put it at her feet.

"Isn't it all your fault?"

“……”

Aslan was silent again, turned around and picked up his share of food, and replied in a low voice, "That's because the Earth Army launched a nuclear strike first. ”

Now it's Cagalli's turn to be silent, of course she knows that the source of the war is the nuclear strike of the Earth Army, hatred brings hatred, forming an infinitely spreading chain, but she just can't understand why the two sides have to be divided into life and death? Can't it be like Orb? In Orb, don't natural beings and adjusters live together in peace and happiness?

"ZAFT's rations are also rations, and your own was washed away with the bag, right?" Seeing that Cagalli was still unmoved, Aslan persuaded her.

Cagalli is arrogant, unwilling to agree or accept Aslan's handouts, but physically honest.

"Gollum~"

"Hmm......"

From the afternoon to now, she really hasn't eaten anything at all, Cagalli is not a delicate eldest lady, but she is not out of the scope of the eldest lady, her stomach is naturally hungry, and in the end she has no choice but to frankly pick up the ration and eat.

"Huh." Seeing this, Aslan also showed a gentle smile like an old father.

Time passed, the firewood was crackling, and Aslan and Cagalli sat opposite each other, relatively silent.

"You...... Won't you tie me up? Cagalli asked, she just felt that the atmosphere was too awkward, it was definitely not the first time that a lonely man and a widow had lived in a cave in the wilderness, and she was a little afraid, "If I take advantage of your unpreparedness to snatch your gun, the situation will be reversed." ”

"What?"

"You'll be like a fool then."

"Poof~ha......" Aslan laughed again, he thought Cagalli wanted to say something, and that was it?

"What are you laughing at!?"

"No, you don't have a long memory."

"Hmm......"

"If you want to grab a gun...... smile suddenly retracted, and a mood called sadness surrounded the firelight's face, "...... I'm going to kill you, so don't do that stupid thing. ”

"......" Cagalli was stunned for a moment and lowered her head, she really didn't understand what Aslan meant, why did she treat it so gently? Shouldn't they be enemies? Isn't the ZAFT army merciless in dealing with the enemy? If ZAFT treats the enemy so gently, what are the companions that have been lost before?

"Whether it's [Heliopolis] or this time, you've managed to get your life back."

"Hmph, I didn't expect someone from ZAFT to worry about my safety."

"[Heliopolis] that time...... We didn't expect it to be like that. ”

"What?"

"[The Aurora Society] developed the MS for the Earth Army, and we originally only intended to take them."

"What else is there to say now? No amount of quibbling can change the fact that you have destroyed the colonial satellites! ”

"Then Orb's neutrality is to be the grass on the left and right?" Aslan asked, in fact, his political literacy is not high, and he is very unaccustomed to Obu's practice of trading with both sides and seeking benefits from them, even if Yang Hui, Wang Liumei and Huang are his friends, he also has the same opinion.

Since you declare neutrality to the outside world, then don't do anything, just watch it obediently!

"......" Cagalli was silent, not only Aslan, but she was also dissatisfied with Orb's approach, and even more incomprehensible.

"We're fighting for PLANT, and we can't let that stuff go."

"Isn't it the same with the earth? Your invasion has left the earth in shambles, which is why we ......"

The eyes of the two collided together, and the flames were reflected in the pupils of both sides, with anger, unwillingness, and more persuasive enthusiasm.

In the end, Aslan looked away, and said happily but fearfully: "My mother was on [Julius 7] at the time, if it wasn't for the emperor and Wang Rumei, she would ......"

"Huh?"

"Although my mother was saved, countless innocent people lost their lives in the blink of an eye, even the children could not escape, how can people swallow their anger!?"

Aslan knew that the tragedy of [Blood Valentine's Day] could have been avoided, and Yang Hui had already given information in advance at that time, but neither the top management of PLANT nor ZAFT cared, so he let the Earth Army succeed.

But in the end, isn't it the Earth Army that caused all this to happen? It is understandable that the two armies are fighting each other for their own purposes, but the Earth Army has launched a nuclear strike on [Julius 7], which has no garrison, and it is unacceptable to anyone.

"I have many friends who have died under your fire!"

“…… Forget it, there's no point in arguing with you about this here. Aslan gave up, and he found that no matter what he said, he couldn't convince Cagalli, so he just lay down and prepared to rest.

Cagalli snorted coldly, wrapped in a blanket and walked outside the cave, God may also know that her help was meaningless, so the rain stopped, the clouds dispersed, and the moon came out.

Looking up at the Aegis Gundam, Cagalli recalled what she had seen and heard in [Heliopolis], recalled her dispute with Yang Hui, and Yang Hui's lessons and reprimands, her heart was very confused, and she didn't know what was right and what was wrong, she didn't understand the big truth, she just wanted to follow her own ideas.

Turning around, Cagalli was shocked to find Aslan asleep with her arms on her pillow.

"Hey! You're going to sleep? ”

"No, how could it be...... But just landed on Earth...... Just transfer ......" The intermittent words were not finished, Aslan closed his eyes again, he was indeed tired, and there was a tiredness in his tone, he didn't feel it before because he was trained rigorously and knew how to cheer up in the face of threats, and now that he judged that Cagalli was not threatening, he relaxed, and the accumulated exhaustion suddenly welled up.

Cagalli glanced at Aslan who was asleep, especially the gun on her waist, the angel and the devil were fighting to the death in her heart, she sat down with her back to Aslan, and deliberately raised the volume and complained: "Don't sleep so soundly next to the enemy!" ”

As a result, Aslan did not answer Cagalli at all and continued to sleep soundly.

Seeing this, Cagalli also sighed, she was getting more and more confused about the situation now, especially the ZAFT army.

From Andre Bartfield to Aslan, she is considered to be the two ZAFT troops she has really come into contact with, but each one has brought her completely different feelings, Andre Bartfield's open-mindedness and enthusiasm, and Aslan's gentleness, all impact her inherent impression of the ZAFT army.

But excluding contact with the two, ZAFT brought her only the pain of war, whether it was the collapse of [Heliopolis] or the sacrifice of his North African comrades.

With very complicated feelings, Cagalli squatted beside Aslan, her hand trembling and reaching for the holster on her waist, but when she was about to make contact, she thought of Aslan's gentle warning to her, and her hand paused and retracted.

At this moment, the crackling sound of firewood woke Aslan up.

(End of chapter)