Chapter 118: SEED – The Two of Them
Cagalli blushed slightly as she looked at the bare-chested Tolle, feeling a little shy and awkward.
Tolle immediately turned his body away, facing his back toward Cagalli, and said,
"Don't worry, I won't peek. Once you've changed and wrapped yourself in the blanket, I won't be able to see a thing."
Cagalli softly replied, "Mm," then began taking off her wet clothes and wrapped herself in the blanket.
"I'm done. You can turn around now."
Tolle quickly turned back, walked over to sit with Cagalli by the fire, and began heating up some emergency rations. The two of them finished a simple meal together.
After eating, Tolle—sitting close to the fire—deliberately sneezed a few times, then pretended to shiver as if he were freezing.
Seeing this, Cagalli hesitated, unable to ignore it, and with her face turning red, said shyly,
"Are you cold? Do you… want to share the blanket with me?
Don't get the wrong idea! I just don't want you catching a cold—then I'd have to be the one to take care of you."
Tolle nodded without hesitation, thick-skinned, and slipped right next to her.
He pressed tightly against her side, wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and pulled the blanket over the both of them.
"Thanks, Cagalli, you're really warm. Before this, I honestly felt like I was about to catch a cold."
Cagalli shyly whispered, "Mm… don't mention it."
But the blanket seemed a little too small for the two of them side by side, and as the cold sea breeze blew through the night, even Cagalli began to tremble slightly.
Tolle noticed, realizing she must be cold, and pulled her straight into his arms. Sitting her in front of him, he covered both their bodies with the blanket.
Skin against skin, both grew embarrassed, falling into silence.
Cagalli was the first to whisper a question to Tolle: "That kind of thing… is it really that pleasant?"
Tolle suddenly felt his chance and held her tighter, replying, "Yeah… it feels really good."
Cagalli seized Tolle's arm and bit down hard, then after gnawing for a moment, snapped angrily,
"You and Kira are both bastards! No—no, you're even worse!
You… you already have a girlfriend, and yet you still come teasing me.
You jerk, you scoundrel, you… trash…"
She cursed him again and again, but Tolle said nothing—just held her silently.
Then, Nami began altering Cagalli's subconscious, gradually making her ignore the fact that he already had a girlfriend—and that he might even have more in the future. She also softened her reckless personality, so that when they were alone together, she would become relatively obedient and gentle.
As the brainwashing ended, Cagalli slowly began to change.
She was like a docile little lion—no, more like a kitten—nuzzling tightly against Tolle.
Tolle stroked her hair helplessly. Looking at this "little lion," he felt at a loss. He wanted her, but not like this—not in such circumstances, not for her first time.
After all, that was something precious for a woman. It shouldn't just be taken so casually.
And he wasn't that kind of impatient lecher. So, the night passed without incident, the two of them leaning on each other peacefully.
Meanwhile, aboard the Archangel, Kira—who had only just rested for a short while—wanted to sortie again in the Strike Gundam after its resupply, determined to look for Tolle and Cagalli.
But Murrue rejected Kira's sortie request, insisting he rest longer before heading out again to search for them.
Mu also physically dragged Kira away, refusing to let him launch.
With a sulky expression, Kira protested,
"I told you already, I'm fine. I already rested, just like you asked."
Mu yanked him right out of the Strike's cockpit and snapped,
"Fine? You call this fine? You rested an hour in the standby room!
And just now, you disobeyed Captain Ramius's orders, refusing to return at the designated time."
"But—"
Mu cut him off sharply.
"In five hours, the sun will rise. I'll go with you then."
His face darkening, Mu continued furiously,
"Don't think you have to shoulder everything yourself. I hate it just as much that we haven't found them.
Maybe I can't do much to help—but you can't take all the responsibility alone.
Those two kids are tough. Once the sun comes up, we'll definitely find them. Trust me."
…
At dawn the next day, Kira and Mu resumed searching for Tolle and Cagalli.
At the same time, the signal on Athrun's spacesuit also activated. Nami immediately reported this to Tolle.
Tolle walked over to Athrun, untied him, and said,
"All right, Athrun, your comms should be back online. Your people will definitely come for you.
So… head back to your Gundam. We'll return to ours too—our friends are out there searching for us as well."
Having been bound all night, Athrun stretched out his stiff limbs first, then fixed Tolle with a serious look.
"You're not afraid that once I get back in Aegis, I'll just kill all of you?"
Tolle shook his head.
"No. I believe you won't. After all, you're Kira's friend. That makes us indirect friends too, doesn't it?"
Athrun looked at Tolle, neither agreeing nor denying, his silence saying everything.
Tolle, gazing at him, suddenly recalled Andrew's words and asked,
"By the way, Athrun, you know my name now, right? I heard I've already gotten famous in ZAFT?"
Athrun nodded.
"Yes. Everyone underestimated you before. But after what you've done—including stealing Captain Miguel's custom unit—you've become the third-highest priority target, right after the Strike. You're well-known now."
"Wow, really? Didn't think I'd get this famous."
Athrun then asked, "You and Kira—you're not Earth Alliance soldiers either, are you? Then why…"
But Tolle cut him off with a shake of his head.
"You know Helipolis was destroyed. After that, Kira and I had nowhere to go, forced onto the Archangel.
And our friends are there—we had to protect them. That meant picking up weapons and fighting, even though we never wanted to.
All of this was beyond our control—just fate's arrangement.
But I hope next time we meet, you, Kira, and I can sit down and really talk.
Anyway, enough. We'll meet again on the battlefield."
Tolle waved casually over his shoulder as he walked away.
"Yeah. We'll meet again—on the battlefield."
When Athrun heard Kira's name, his expression softened. Watching Tolle leave, he too said goodbye, then made his way back toward the Aegis Gundam.