Disclaimer's Note: I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam X

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Phase 24-War for Two

March 8, C.E. 71, Deserted island, Unknown location

"Where did you lose them?" Murrue asked, "Can you establish contact with either of them?"

"The radio's not responding," Miriallia replied worriedly, "There's no reply at all." Only minutes ago, Mu and Kira had returned from the battle but both Ryo and Cagalli were missing and had yet to come back to the ship. The bridge crew was trying to reach them but so far, nothing had been discovered.

"Even the radar can't find them, there's too much interference," Tonomura told her, "We only managed to track them to where they left the battlefield and that's it."

"Captain, I'm going out to search for them!" Kira suddenly said, appearing on the main view screen.

"Hold on, Ensign Yamato, I can't let you do that!" Natarle replied, standing up, "We can't waste any more time lingering here! I'm reporting those two as MIA for now!"

"MIA?" Sai asked, "What's that?"

"It stands for 'Missing In Action'," Tonomura replied, "It means that they disappeared during the battle. In other words, even if it's not confirmed, they technically died while fighting." Sai looked at Miriallia, who returned the glance, both alarmed.

"Wait, Lieutenant Badgiruel!" Kira begged, "We can't just mark them as dead…without even looking for them!" Murrue thought about this and then turned to Miriallia.

"Crewman Second Class Haw, how much time until the sun sets?" she asked.

"Um, well," Miriallia said and looked down at her screen, "There's only about an hour until night-fall."

"Very well then," Murrue nodded, "Ensign Yamato, I grant you permission to search for Ensign Mouri and Cagalli."

"Captain!" Natarle argued, "We're still in ZAFT territory! Sending him off will leave us vulnerable!"

"It'll be difficult searching from the air," Murrue continued, not paying much attention, "Once the maintenance and re-supply is done, go out in the Strike for an underwater search."

"Captain! I can't support this!"

"As Captain, it's my responsibility to look after the crew!" Murrue argued, "I'll take full responsibility for my actions!"

"Fine," Natarle frowned, "But I'm making a note of this in my report later…"

"Do what you want…" Murrue replied, "But I can't leave those two out there…on their own…"

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Cagalli inched closer and closer to where she had seen the pilot run to, keeping her handgun raised. Meanwhile, Athrun clutched the wound on his arm to stem the bleeding and listened to the stranger approach his hiding spot. "A soldier from the Earth Forces?" he wondered to himself, "Could it be one of the pilots from back there?" Cagalli glanced over at the pilot's bag, noticing the gun lying next to it, before returning her gaze back to where she guessed he was hiding. She began to strafe to the side, eventually catching sight of the pilot. Athrun's eyes widened at the sight of the stranger and he slowly sank to the ground into a kneeling position. He reached down to his boot and pulled out a knife before holding it in front of him in a defensive position, although he knew that it wouldn't be of much use against a loaded gun. For a while, the two just glared at each other, both daring the other to make the first move with their gazes, until Cagalli looked down momentarily and kicked Athrun's gun away from the bag. Seeing this, Athrun took the opportunity to leap up and onto the hill. When she heard it, Cagalli looked back and hastily shot at him. She missed and adjusted her aim before firing four more, all of which missed. Frowning, she ejected the empty clip and put in a fresh one as she glanced around warily. After about a minute, she took the chance and dashed over to where the other gun lay and picked it up to inspect it.

This was the moment that Athrun had been waiting for.

As soon as he saw the stranger pick up the gun, he got up from his hiding place and leaped into the air. Cagalli heard the disturbance and turned around, bringing Athrun's gun up at the same time. Before she could get any shots off, however, Athrun had kicked the gun out of her hand, causing her to stagger back while he landed in a crouching position and the gun clattered a few feet away. Struggling to regain her balance, she pointed her own weapon at him but he grabbed her wrist and the two entered a brief struggle. Finally, Athrun's Coordinator strength prevailed and he flipped Cagalli over, causing her to land about a foot away and she dropped her gun in the process. Before she even stopped skidding, Athrun had gotten a grip on the collar of her Kevlar vest and was kneeling over her, his knife poised to strike. As soon as Cagalli saw what he was about to do, she did the first and only thing that came to mind.

She squeezed her eyes shut and screamed as loud as she could.

Somewhere, Cagalli could have sworn that she heard a distant crashing sound and someone swearing even as she waited for death. Which was why she was pleasantly surprised when nothing happened for another minute or so. She finally decided to open her eyes a bit and see what was going on, only to see a pair of startled green eyes gazing back at her.

"You're…" Athrun mumbled in amazement, his knife still raised, "A girl?" Gradually, he became conscious of how far the stranger's chest jutted out against the Kevlar vest he still had a grip on and he slowly relaxed his position.

"What…" Cagalli stuttered, now close to tears from the encounter, "What the hell did you think?" Now that his suspicions had been confirmed, Athrun finally lowered his knife and got off of her. Minutes later, he was taking the magazine from her gun before tossing both the weapon and the ammunition into the waves. Cagalli, who he had gotten off of by then, now had her hands tied behind her back by the wrists and her ankles bound together, lying on her side.

"Hey," Athrun suddenly said, catching her attention, "Are you…really part of the Earth Forces?" Cagalli frowned as he unzipped the front of his pilot suit while walking over to his bag, "You don't have an ID on you…and I've never heard a scream like that on the battlefield."

"Well excuuuuse me," Cagalli grumbled sarcastically, although she flushed a bit at the memory.

"So, you're the one who attacked my transport back there, huh?" Athrun asked as he peeled the suit aside to check on the cut on his arm, "An atmospheric fighter…just across the ocean…"

"Hey, you guys shot me down too, you know!" Cagalli retorted irritably while Athrun applied a bandage to the wound, "I'm the one who should be complaining here!" Turning to look at her, Athrun couldn't help but chuckle at the way she acted.

"What about your team, then?" he smiled, "Any reason why you were flying around solo back there?"

"For the last time, I'm not a soldier!" Cagalli frowned, "I'm not part of a team or any of that stuff! You think I wanted to end up stuck in a place this…whoa!" As she was talking, Cagalli had struggled to straighten up into a more position, namely sitting, but she had ended up landing on her face and rolling a bit, now lying on her front like a trussed-up Christmas turkey. Even as she struggled, Athrun watched with an amused smile before getting up and picking up his back. "You…" Cagalli grunted while she managed to get her knees beneath her, "You're one of those people who attacked Heliopolis, aren't you?" This caught Athrun's attention and he turned to look at her as she added, "I was there too…I was at Heliopolis when you people destroyed it!"

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"They've probably sent out a distress signal already, but…" Murrue said, "It probably won't be of any help when the radio signals are in this condition." The Archangel had come to a complete stop by now and was floating on the water's surface calmly. Kira was inside the locker room getting ready to head out on the search mission and was fixing the collar of his pilot suit as he listened to her, "There are many deserted islands around the area where we last heard from them, so it's possible that they may be somewhere around there."

"Okay," Kira nodded and turned off the speaker before thinking, "Hold on, you guys, I'll find you!" Just as he was about to leave the locker room, though, the door hissed opened and Kira was surprised to see Kisaka standing in the doorway. "Mr. Kisaka?" he blinked, "What…?"

"Find Cagalli," Kisaka said simply and bowed a bit, "Please bring her back…" Kira stared a bit before he nodded confidently.

"Don't worry," he told him, "I will!" Later, as he sat in the Strike's cockpit making last minute adjustments, Murrue contacted him again.

"Once again, I apologize for this, because I'm sure that you must be tired from the battle," Murrue sighed, "But we're counting on you to find them."

"It's nothing," Kira replied as the system started up, "I'm fine, really."

"Even if you don't find anything, be sure to return in about two hours," Murrue reminded him, "If it comes down to that, then we'll think of another solution."

"Right."

"Please don't strain yourself too hard," Murrue added, "If you don't get any rest, it'll be hard for the rest of us as well. So please be sure to return after two hours."

"Yes ma'am," Kira nodded and watched as the catapult slowly opened, "Strike…launching!" The Strike, which had been re-equipped with a new bazooka and its shield, was shot forward and glided a few kilometers away from the ship before splashing into the water.

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Meanwhile, at ZAFT's Carpentaria Base near the Northern tip of Australia, the rest of the Zala team was sitting in the waiting room. Or, at least, half of it was. Nicol was gazing out the window at the sunset while Dearka was sitting on the couch reading a magazine. They had landed at the base hours earlier only to learn that Athrun's transport had been attacked and shot down while en route to the base. They were still waiting for news about his whereabouts and that was what Yzak, who was the other member not present at the moment, was doing. All of a sudden, the door opened and the aforementioned fair-head walked into the room. "Yzak!" Nicol exclaimed while Dearka and himself turned to face him, "Have you heard anything yet?" That was when Nicol noticed that Yzak was looking oddly calm, to the degree where it looked like he was smiling smugly.

"Fellow members of the Zala Team," Yzak began and Nicol was surprised to hear that Yzak actually sounded moderately cheerful, "I'm sure that you're all very anxious to hear some news, so allow me to relay to you the first mission of our glorious squad." He glanced at Dearka, "Something that's…more important than anything else…" Pausing for a dramatic effect, he looked back to Nicol and concluded by saying, "We, the members of the Zala Team, are going to search for our leader!" At this, Dearka burst into a fit of laughter, finding the irony of the whole situation to be very humorous. Nicol glanced at Dearka irritably before Yzak added, "Well, it's not like he could have helped it when his transport got shot down, he wasn't even the one at the controls, but…"

"What?" Nicol asked, "What is it?"

"Unfortunately, headquarters is still very busy with the whole loading business," Yzak said and Nicol could almost detect a hint of glee in his voice, "And so that means that we'll have to find our precious Athrun on our own."

"Oh man…" Dearka chuckled, turning back to his magazine, "What a way to start out as a new squad…losing our leader and having to find him right after we transfer!"

"Despite the urgency of the situation, however," Yzak sighed, faking disappointment, "It's getting late, and it'll be difficult to look for him in the dark. Therefore, we'll have to start searching for him tomorrow."

"But that's…!"

"Relax, Nicol, he's in the Aegis!" Dearka replied nonchalantly, "Even if he's lost somewhere, it's not really that big of a deal. It's not like he's falling through the atmosphere or something like that…"

"Well then, that's the way things are," Yzak nodded, "Get a good night's sleep, people. We'll be departing tomorrow when they've finished up with our new ship, so we'll just have to wait 'til then." Nicol heaved a sigh before turning back to the window.

"I guess we'll just have to wait until morning then…"

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Back at where Cagalli and Athrun were, the latter was sitting in the cockpit of the Aegis and trying to establish contact with any friendly units. Unfortunately for him, all that he kept getting was static, even as he flipped through the channels. "None of these are clear," he sighed, "I didn't think the radio waves were this bad out here." Just then, a low rumbling sound interrupted his thoughts and he looked out to see dark clouds gathering over the sky, flashing at one point, "Looks like it's gonna storm pretty soon…" Down below, Cagalli had managed to successfully drag herself up onto a small ledge by moving about in a caterpillar-like fashion on her front

"Ugh, that jerk!" she grumbled, "He only went easy on me 'cause I'm a girl! Stupid…rope!" A sudden crack of thunder startled her and when she sat up, she lost her balance and gravity pushed her down onto her bottom and she landed on her side before rolling all the way back down the ledge. It didn't take long for her to land face first into a large puddle that had formed and after a bit of struggling, she managed to roll over onto her back, gasping for air. Just then, she felt something wet drip onto her face and she looked just as it started to downpour. "Great, just great," Cagalli groaned and tried to sit up but realized that the bonds on her wrists prevented her from doing that. All of a sudden, the tide started to come in and she choked as some of the seawater slipped into her mouth. Meanwhile, Athrun had the Aegis raise its arm and something that looked like a small missile shot from it before landing in the water. When it surfaced, the tip split open to reveal a sort of buoy that Athrun hoped would strengthen the radio signals a bit. By now, Cagalli had managed to get her head, or at least her face, back above the surface of the water and was breathing in deeply when she heard a loud noise behind her. Looking up, she saw that the Aegis had positioned its shield right above her so that the rain couldn't get to her and it was then that she heard footsteps behind her.

"Hey, you," she heard the pilot say, "What're you doing in there?"

"What's it look like to you?" Cagalli snapped, surprising Athrun, "I fell in and I can't get back up! Stop standing there like an idiot and help me out already!"

"I really don't think that you're in any position to be telling me what to do," Athrun chuckled, putting his hands on his hips.

"Shut up and get me out already!" Cagalli shouted and Athrun smiled a bit before kneeling down and taking her shoulders, pulling her up into a sitting position easily.

"You alright?" he asked but Cagalli just averted her gaze. Just then, Athrun felt a slight tickling sensation on his hand and he looked to see a small crab crawl out of Cagalli's hair and onto his hand. Cagalli noticed this too and the two of them watched as it crawled along Athrun's arm and then stopped at his elbow before dropping back into the pond. The two looked at each other and Athrun couldn't help but burst out laughing moments later.

"Hey!" Cagalli said, "What's so funny about a crab, huh?"

"Sorry," Athrun laughed and let go of her shoulders, "It's just…I've never really seen anything quite like that before!"

"What, you guys don't have any crabs on PLANT or something?" Cagalli asked before she straightened up into a standing position and hopped out of the puddle.

"Hey, where're you goin'?" Athrun asked, confused as she stood outside of the cover provided by the Aegis' shield.

"As long as it's raining, I might as well wash up a bit," Cagalli replied, turning to face him, "My clothes are full of sand." Athrun watched as an expression of relief crossed her face and she threw her head back, laughing, "Ahh, this feels great!" He smiled a bit before pulling his knife out again and approaching her. In a single fluid motion, he cut through her wrist-bonds and then reached down to cut her ankles loose as well. "Why…?" Cagalli asked, looking at him oddly.

"Restraining a civilian without a just cause is against military regulations," Athrun replied, stepping back a bit and putting his knife away, "Besides, you don't have a weapon anymore. Even if you did try to attack me, I could handle you easily."

"What did you just say?" Cagalli fumed, angered from being called weak.

"Instead," Athrun said in his most serious tone, "I'll just have you take your clothes off."

"Huh…WHAT?" Cagalli gaped and instinctively covered up her front, "You…you're not gonna…"

"N-no! That's not what I meant!" Athrun stammered, sensing that she had misunderstood him, "I meant that you should dry your clothes off by the fire! Even by the equator, it gets cold at night, you know. If you don't dry them off, you might…" All of a sudden, Athrun was cut off when a gunshot rang out and acting upon instinct, he grabbed Cagalli and pushed her down to the ground behind a rock. "What was that?" he frowned, drawing his own gun.

"Wait…" Cagalli said, "There's someone else on this island who came with me. I think he might've thought…"

"Never mind," Athrun replied, holding up his hand, "I'll deal with this." Saying that, he stood up and fired off two shots from his gun before another shot rang out and the gun was knocked from his hands by the bullet. Drawing his knife, he ran for cover while dodging bullets and he glanced at where the shots were coming from to see someone dressed in an Earth Forces pilot suit running out from behind a ledge. He managed to get up onto another ledge and leaped at the pilot, raising his knife. To his surprise, his opponent put his gun away and drew his own knife before catching Athrun's wrist and drawing back his own knife. Seeing this, Athrun grabbed the wrist and the two entered a brief struggle, each trying to push the other back. "This guy's strong," Athrun thought, "Way too strong for a Natural…could he be…" He chanced a glance at his adversary and for a moment, an image of Kira flickered into his mind. "K-Kira….?" he muttered, blinking in surprise. His opponent responded by pushing him away with his foot and jumping back, giving Athrun a more full view of who he was fighting.

"Really," the pilot grumbled, "Why does everyone keep thinking I'm him?" Sure enough, Athrun saw that this stranger was indeed not Kira. Although he bore a striking physical resemblance, his hair was jet black instead of brown and his onyx eyes didn't have the same warmth that Kira's amethyst ones carried. His knife didn't look like any that he had ever seen either, a triangular-blade with a small hoop connecting it to the handle. "Listen, ZAFT guy," he suddenly said, startling Athrun out of his thoughts, "I know that there's a war going on and that we're not supposed to even be having this chat. But if we don't put our differences aside until we get out of this godforsaken place, then I've got a feeling that none of us are gonna make it out of here alive."

"He's right," Athrun thought, pondering the stranger's words, "We might end up killing one another before help comes…."

"So, whaddya say?" the pilot asked and straightened up, putting his knife away before extending his hand, "Truce?" Athrun stared at the hand for a bit before putting away his own weapon and relaxing, taking the other pilot's hand in his own with a firm grip.

"Yeah," Athrun smiled, "Truce." Just then, he heard a splashing sound from behind him and he turned to see Cagalli walking over to them.

"What the hell was that!" Cagalli shouted, "First you're trying to kill each other and now you're shaking hands?"

"We've settled on a temporary cease-fire," the pilot explained before asking, "You alright?"

"Just fine, small thanks to you," Cagalli grumbled, "I've had my hands and feet tied together for the past hour or so and this guy had enough manners to let me go just a little while ago. Where the heck were you, anyway? You said that you'd come running if I made a loud noise. Didn't you hear the gunshots?"

"Well, it's a pretty funny story, actually," the pilot replied, suddenly sheepish, scratching the back of his head, "You see, I did hear the shots, but when I was hurrying to where I heard them…"

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Flashback

"It sure is humid here," Ryo sighed and glanced around before swatting at his arm, "And full of these stupid…bugs!" The pilot of the X Gundam had parted ways with Cagalli only five minutes ago and had already plunged deep into the trees that covered the island. He looked over at a rather tall tree and decided to get a better view of the island, so he hitched his bag up higher up onto his shoulders and got a firm grip onto a low-hanging branch before pulling himself up onto it. After a few minutes of climbing, he reached the uppermost branches and gazed over the island. It was smaller than he had thought, about ten square miles if his geography skills were up to date. All of a sudden, he heard gunshots and was so startled that he slipped from his perch and managed to grab onto another branch, just saving himself from a nasty fall. As he looked for a branch to drop down onto, he felt the one he was dangling from bend sharply. "Please don't break, please don't break…" he muttered and then heard a loud snap, "Dammit…"
Even as he fell, he groped around wildly for something to hold onto but found nothing but air.

Just when he thought there was no hope, however, he felt the strap of his back go taut and then he felt it slip from his shoulder, only to feel it wrap around his leg and jerk him to a sudden halt. And so there he was, dangling upside down from a tree by the strap of his bag and swaying in the breeze like a wind chime. "This is so embarrassing," he muttered and glanced at his feet, "I'm sure glad that Cagalli isn't here to see this." Just then, he heard a girl's scream echoing across the island, "Oh man, I've never heard her scream like that before! She must be in real trouble if she's actually screaming!" Having dwelled in his embarrassment long enough, Ryo focused on the next step: getting back down. First, he tried to pull his torso up and untangle his foot by himself but after several failed attempts over the course of an hour, he found himself forced to take a more serious approach. Reaching for the pouch attached to his belt, he fumbled around with the clasp before getting it open and pulling out his knife, drawing it from its sheath. He dropped back down to build up energy and then jerked himself up, swinging the blade at the straps. The first time, he missed and on the second try as well but on the third swing, he managed to sever the straps before he felt himself falling again. Fortunately, though, he wasn't too high up from the ground and landed without serious injury; although his bag hit him on the head when it fell.

"Ouch! Son of a…" Ryo grunted and rubbed his sore head, "I'm never doing that again…" Putting his knife back into its sheath, he placed it back into its pouch and picked up his bag, "Guess I'll have to get a new strap later…" He quickly tied the severed pieces together and stood up before he realized something. "God dammit!" he swore, "I totally forgot why I'm down here!" And it was true. Ryo had been so busy trying to free himself that he had completely forgotten just why he had come down, or fallen out of, the tree in the first place. At that moment, his reminder came in the form of the sound of a missile being fired. Moments later, he heard shouting and found the voice familiar. Then it clicked. "Cagalli…" he muttered and dashed off towards where he had heard the sounds, drawing his hand gun as he ran.

End flashback

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"And now," he said, gesturing with his arms, "Here we are!" Cagalli and Athrun both stared at him incredulously before Cagalli burst out laughing.

"You…" Cagalli laughed, "You got yourself stuck in a tree? With your own bag?"

"Sadly, yes," Ryo sighed while Cagalli kept laughing. All of a sudden, she yelped and jumped up as if in surprise, her hands flying to her chest. "Hey, you alright?" Ryo asked, "What's gotten into you?"

"Something…tickly…" Cagalli replied, her hands patting her vest, "It's…somewhere up here…." Athrun watched and then knew what was going on.

"Looks like a crab got into your shirt, too," Athrun smiled and Cagalli looked at him, startled, before she pulled up her vest and her shirt with it. And even though she didn't pull it up too high, it was still enough for Athrun to catch a glimpse of her slim form and also a bit of something else, though not all of it, as a second crab dropped from the inside of her shirt where it had been hiding.

"You're right…" Cagalli blinked and then looked up at Athrun. Just then, the said bluenette realized that he had just been staring and quickly turned before promptly slipping on a rock and falling into the puddle. This time, Ryo laughed with Cagalli as Athrun sat up and shook the water from his hair before grinning sheepishly at what he had done.

"Yeah, yeah, real funny," Athrun said when he had gotten back up, "Anyway, we should probably get out of this rain or we'll end up getting sick. There's a cave over there we can stay in for the night." He then turned to Cagalli, "There's a blanket in my bag. You can use it to cover yourself while your clothes are drying." Cagalli nodded gratefully and took the back before heading off to the cave that Athrun had pointed out. When she was gone, Ryo went to stand beside Athrun, noticing that he was watching her leave.

"You liked what you saw, didn't you?" he asked teasingly, nudging him in the ribs.

"Shut up…" Athrun replied and flushed red.

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Night had fallen and by now, the rain had long since stopped. This, however, wasn't something that Kira was paying attention to. He was still sitting in the cockpit of the Strike and had already searched several islands on his way. Every now and then, the Strike's head would resurface to look for land and Kira was feeling tired, having been out in the ocean for quite a while. Sighing, he glanced at the digital clock in the cockpit. 9: 09 a.m., his two hours would expire soon. "Cagalli," Kira thought, "Ryo…" He had the Strike dive back down into the waves, "Where the heck are you guys?"

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Later, inside the cave they had taken refuge in, Cagalli sat next to Ryo and protrusion of rock, with the blanket she had borrowed from Athrun wrapped around her shoulders. Despite the added warmth, Cagalli still shivered a bit since her clothes were drying over the fire that Ryo and Athrun had built up and her shoes were sitting next to it, meaning that she wasn't wearing much under the sheet. Athrun himself sat against the adjacent wall, gazing into the fire like she was doing. Only Ryo seemed to be able to find any incentive to move at all, his eyes darting back and forth across the cave, looking for something interesting. After nearly half an hour of silence, Athrun finally reached into his bag and pulled something out of it before standing up. Ryo looked over to him as he came over and held whatever was in his hand to Cagalli. "Here," he said with a small smile and Cagalli looked up to see that it was a tin mug with a small package of rations in it. "The radio waves are weak around here," Athrun explained as he set the cup down near her feet and straightened up, "Help won't arrive until morning. We'll have to spend the night here.

"Well that's your fault, isn't it?" Cagalli frowned, "After all, you guys were the ones who shot Neutron Jammers into the Earth's surface."

"Cagalli…" Ryo hissed into her ear and nudged her with his elbow but Athrun was already going back over to his side of the cave, missing the scene.

"It was retaliation," Athrun muttered as he picked up his own mug, still standing as he gazed outside the cave "After the Earth Forces attacked us with nukes…" Cagalli said nothing but Ryo felt a pang of guilt in his heart.

"They don't know…" he thought to himself bitterly and looked at the ground, "Should...should I tell them?"

"You know, even if it's ZAFT's," Athrun suddenly said to Cagalli, "Rations are still rations. Besides, your stuff is floating around out in the ocean, isn't it?" Cagalli narrowed her eyes at him but then the silence was broken by the sound of her stomach complaining. Her face turning red, she reached down and picked up the package before opening it and starting to eat. Ryo reached into his own bag and started eating his own rations as well but after a while, he made a face and closed up the wrapping before standing up.

"Where're you going?" Cagalli asked as he walked over to the cave entrance.

"I don't see how you people can live on this crap," Ryo grumbled, "I'm gonna go get some real food. You two behave yourselves, you hear?" Before Cagalli could retort, Ryo had stepped out of the cave and vanished into the night. Athrun glanced at her and couldn't help but mentally chuckle at her before taking a sip from his mug and glancing out at the Aegis, which was kneeling near the cave. Later, he tossed a stick into the fire to keep it going and sat down as it crackled a bit.

"Are you…sure you don't need to keep me tied up?" Cagalli suddenly asked and Athrun looked up at her with a puzzled expression, "If I sneak up on you while you're sleeping, I could steal your gun. Then I'd have the advantage and you'd just look stupid." Athrun blinked once before he started to laugh and this infuriated the blonde even more, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Athrun chuckled, "I was just thinking that you'd never learn." Suddenly, he calmed down and told her, "If you try to take my gun, then I'd have no choice but to kill you, so just forget about it." After a brief silence, he added, "You've managed to stay alive even after Heliopolis and this place. It'd be a shame if you had to die here."

"Hmph," Cagalli frowned and looked away as the fire crackled again, "I never thought someone like you would ever worry about my life." Athrun sighed and turned to gaze out of the cave again.

"About Heliopolis…" he said, "We never expected it to turn out like that. The Mobile Suits that Morgenroete developed for the Earth Forces were all we were after. If we had been able to capture them all, then it would have ended right there."

"It doesn't matter what you say now," Cagalli spat, "You guys destroyed it and that's a fact!"

"You may claim that Heliopolis was indeed neutral," Athrun frowned, "But you can't deny the fact that ORB was building Mobile Suits for the Earth Forces there." As Cagalli cringed at this, he added, "We're only fighting to protect PLANT. When something like that happens, we can't just ignore it and pretend it never did."

"It's not that much different for the Earth Forces, you know," Cagalli argued, "You guys just come along in your fancy Mobile Suits and trample all over them…is that something they can ignore?" For a few moments, the two stared at each other, the flames of the campfire reflecting in their eyes. Finally, Athrun broke eye contact and looked away, as if submitting.

"My mother…" he said, "She was on Junius Seven when it was destroyed." As a look of surprise came over Cagalli's face, Athrun told her, "It was nothing more than an average agricultural PLANT…and yet the Earth Forces dropped the nukes on it without warning. All of those innocent people died in a blink of an eye. The elderly, the children….everyone…" Looking back at her, he asked determinedly, "So how, then, can you just ask me to sit around and do nothing about that?"

"Look, I feel bad, okay? About your mother and all," Cagalli frowned, "But do you think you're the only one who's lost someone important? I lost a lot of my friends too…all from attacks made by you people!" There was another tense silence before Athrun sighed and turned.

"Forget it…" he said and lay down on his side, propping his head up on his hand, "There's no point arguing about this now in a place like this…" Cagalli said nothing but stood and walked out of the cave, Athrun's eyes following her every move. Once outside, she looked up at the Aegis and remembered when she first saw it. It had been on Heliopolis, while she had gone into a restricted area with Ryo and Kira as her guides. It had been there that she had come to the conclusion that her father had betrayed the country of ORB. Heaving a sigh, she turned and was surprised to see that Athrun was starting to doze off where he was.

"Hey, are you just gonna go to sleep?" she asked, confused.

"Huh? Oh, no, of course not," Athrun replied after his head jerked up, "But…I just mobilized after a descent, so…I'm a little…tired…" With that, he laid his arm flat on the ground and rested his head on it before falling asleep, much to Cagalli's surprise.

"What's with this guy?" she thought as she tossed some wood into the fire, "Is he seriously gonna just fall asleep?" She was squatting next to the fire near him and as she looked at him, her gaze fell on his gun, which was on his right side. And since he was sleeping on his left side, it was completely exposed.

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"I said I'm fine!" Kira argued, "I got plenty of rest like you told me to!"

"Just how do you define 'fine'?" Mu frowned, pulling the younger pilot away from the Strike's open cockpit, "Sure, you rested alright, but you only lay down for what, an hour after washing up! Not only that, you also disregarded the amount of time that the Captain gave you. For Pete's sake, you came in an hour and a half late!"

"But…!" Kira tried to argue and looked at the Strike as he thought to himself, "I can't just leave them out there…not after all they've done for me…" Kira's thoughts traveled into the past, to the moment when Cagalli had given him comfort in a time of emotional crisis. He remembered the times when Ryo had offered him countless advice on all sorts of subjects and how many times he had placed Kira's well-being before his own.

"It'll be dawn in about five hours," Mu told him, breaking him out of his thoughts, "We'll go out and search for them then, alright?" All of a sudden, Mu gave him a rough shake to make sure he was listening and added through gritted teeth, "Look, I don't like this either, okay? There's no real point in saying this, since I'm the one who lost them, but don't try to carry everything on your own." He then said in a more relaxed tone, "Don't worry, they're a tough pair of soldiers. We'll definitely find them in the morning." Kira nodded but even then, he couldn't help but heave a heavy sigh as he walked off. It was going to be another long, restless night for him.

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"How can this guy just fall asleep and let his enemy walk around freely?" Cagalli wondered out loud as she sat at the mouth of the cave. Sighing, she shifted her feet a bit before gazing up at the Aegis again. She remembered being told that Heliopolis was under attack by ZAFT, that their Mobile Suits had entered the colony. Even now, she could recall the shock that she and the others had undoubtedly felt when they had heard this. She sighed again and stood, walking into the cave again before standing over Athrun. "They…" she thought and squatted down next to him, her hand reached for his holster, "They…killed…" All of a sudden, she remembered what he had warned her about earlier and her hand stopped just before it reached it. As she struggled with her conscience, she heard him mutter in his sleep.

"Why…?" she heard him say, "Why are…you in the Earth Forces…? I don't…want to…kill you…" Cagalli looked at his face and was startled to see tears glistening under his closed eyes.

"He…" Cagalli thought sadly, "He sounds…just like Kira…" She then looked back at the Aegis, "But…I've got to!"

"Ah ha! Now I've got you, you little-OW! YOU STUPID…!" The sudden explosion of Ryo's voice from somewhere occurred just as Cagalli had her fingers around the handle. And to make matters worse, the fire suddenly crackled loudly and this was enough to make Athrun stir and open his eyes blearily. Seeing this, Cagalli looked down and by now, Athrun was starting to realize what was happening. All of a sudden, Cagalli had thrown the blanket over him and retreated to the adjacent wall with the stolen weapon while Athrun struggled to free himself, silently cursing her luck and Ryo with it.

"You…!"

"I'm sorry!" Cagalli exclaimed, ignoring the fact that she was now in only her underwear as she clicked the safety off and Athrun drew his knife, holding it in a defensive position, "I don't wanna shoot! But I…I can't just let you go back to your Mobile Suit! You're just gonna use it to kill more people, aren't you?" Athrun blinked in confusion and lowered his knife a bit as she continued, "I know ORB was wrong for making it…but…but that Mobile Suit…it's just gonna bring more pain to the world and take away tons of lives!" By now, her voice was choking up and the corners of her eyes were stinging from developing tears.

"Then shoot," Athrun replied coldly, "I'm the one pulling the trigger here, aren't I? I'm a ZAFT pilot, I can't allow you to tamper with that unit. But if you must, then I'll have no choice but to do my duty…" With that, he moved the knife so that he was holding it upside down with the blade pointed at her. Cagalli's breaths had become ragged and Athrun was sweating as they stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

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"It almost makes you wonder if there's no other way but for one of us to be destroyed..."

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These words, spoken by the late Desert Tiger, echoed in Cagalli's mind even as her hands shook and then, she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. "God dammit!" she screamed and drew back the hand holding the gun, "Shut up!" Athrun knew what was about to happen and as he threw his knife aside, he jumped at her as she too threw her weapon at the ground. A moment later, a gunshot rang out and then there was silence as the echoes faded away. Inside the cave, however, both of them were unharmed and panting heavily before Athrun picked himself up off of her and looked at the still smoking gun.

"What kind of idiot throws a loaded gun with the safety off?" he asked as he turned back to her, more amazed than angry, "What the hell were you thinking?"

"S-sorry…" Cagalli stuttered, still in shock at what had happened. At that moment, the two heard footsteps from the cave entrance and they looked to see Ryo running up to them with something flailing around limply in his hand.

"I heard a gunshot in here," he panted as he skidded to a stop, "Is everything al…right…?" He paused as he looked at them and that was when they realized the position they were in. Even though his hands were holding his torso off of the ground, it still looked like Athrun was straddling Cagalli in a rather odd way. "Sheesh, I go out to get something to eat and this is what you guys do while I'm gone," Ryo said, shaking his head with an amused expression on his face, putting his hands on his hips, "I swear, I can't leave you two alone for a second without you doing something weird…"

"I-it's not like that!" Athrun stammered and quickly scrambled off of Cagalli, sitting against the wall next to her.

"No, it's not!" Cagalli added as she sat up, "We just…" Just then, she noticed that the side of Athrun's pilot suit had been torn and that there was shallow cut there. "Was that…?" she asked, pointing at it, "Was that from…?"

"Ah, I'm fine," Athrun replied, standing up, "It just grazed me."

"Why…" Cagalli said, "Why did you…?"

"I dunno," Athrun shrugged, "It all…happened so fast, I didn't have time to think…Anyway, I'll just patch this up…"

"Are you sure it's not too deep?" Cagalli asked and stood up as well to follow him as he went over to his bag.

"Don't worry about," Athrun smiled and picked up his bag to get a bandage.

"Here, let me…" Cagalli told him and reached down and tried to take the bag from his hands.

"I can do it myself, you know," Athrun said, pulling back on the strap.

"I said I'll do it!" Cagalli argued, pulling the bag against her chest.

"It's fine!" Athrun frowned, pulling harder.

"Just let me do it for you!" Cagalli shouted and pulled, holding the bag to her chest as if it were her own child, "Please…let me make it up to you…" Athrun noticed that there were tears streaking her face now and he relaxed, letting the strap fall from his hand.

"Hey now, what are you crying about?" he asked, "It's not like you're the one who got shot…" That was when he noticed that Cagalli was wearing only two articles of clothing that just managed to cover her up and he turned around, blushing, "But…before you do anything…could you please put some clothes on?" Cagalli blinked and then realized that she had been standing in front of him in her underwear the whole time and her face turned a brilliant shade of red as she quickly got onto her knees, using the bag to cover up her front. "Um, I think yours are dry by now…" Athrun said and quickly moved so that she could get her clothes, both still blushing.

"Well, I guess I'll just gut and cook this thing by myself, then," Ryo sighed, being used to seeing this sort of thing, and moved over to the fire where Cagalli was taking down her clothes. The two of them looked and blushed even harder when they realized that Ryo had just watched the whole thing and that was when Athrun noticed the limp object in his hand.

"Is that…?" Athrun asked, looking closer at it, "What I think it is?"

"Yup," Ryo nodded, slicing open the underside of the object with his knife, "It's our dinner." It was a medium-sized trout, almost big enough to wrap around his own head and very plump. Cagalli cringed a bit as she watched him reach into it and pull out its insides with his bare hands, having left his gloves near his bag. He tossed these into the fire and started to peel scrape the skin off with the knife while Cagalli dressed herself before moving over to Athrun and pulling the bandages out of his bag. Ryo took the fish outside to wash it out and when he returned, Cagalli was bandaging Athrun's side, though he head to remove the top of his pilot suit so that she could reach the wound. The fish was now on a cleaned rock and Ryo sliced the meat into pieces before reaching into his pocket, puling out a few plants.

"What are those?" Cagalli asked, looking up from her work when she finished.

"Some herbs that I found near the lake," Ryo said as he cut them, "It's not salt or pepper but hopefully, they'll give this thing some flavor."

"How'd you catch it, anyway?" Athrun asked, "None of us have fishing rods…"

"Those rations came in handy after all," Ryo grinned, "They made pretty good bait. And there were some thin vines growing around, so I used that as a line. Took me forever just to get this guy to notice the bait; caught the wrong end of its tail while I was trying to subdue it, too." He pointed at his face and they noticed for the first time a long, thin cut on his cheek. "It didn't bleed too much, but it stung pretty bad for a while. Kind of like getting a paper-cut on your face," he told them, rubbing it a bit with the back of his hand, "It's still throbbing a bit." Eventually, Cagalli finished bandaging Athrun and the two went to help him with the fish, which was soon roasting over the fire on sticks.

"Just one question," Cagalli said, "How'd you know there was a lake here?"

"I saw one before I climbed that tree," Ryo explained, taking a stick and prodding it a bit, "Well, it feels cooked…can't be too careful, though." They waited for another few minutes and by now, the cave was filled with the aroma of cooking fish meat. Ryo took the stick and prodded it again before peeling a piece off and nibbled on it. "I'd say it's safe to eat now," he nodded and took a bite of it. Athrun took his own piece and Cagalli watched them a bit before taking one for herself. The rest of the meal was spent in silence and even after they finished eating, no one said a word for hours until finally, Cagalli was huddled up against the wall, succumbing to the sweet temptation of sleep.

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Dawn broke but for many people, there was no time to stumble around sleepily. Nicol was preparing to leave the Carpentaria Base in a helicopter so that he could begin his search for Athrun. Meanwhile, Mu and Kira had launched the Skygrasper and the Strike from the Archangel to perform an aerial and underwater search for their companions as well. As for the missing soldiers, all of them were still asleep in the cave, the campfire having gone out long ago. Suddenly, Athrun and Kira were awakened by a beeping sound that was coming from the Aegis' cockpit and when the former looked at his watched, he instantly shot up and hurried out to the Aegis. The small commotion woke Cagalli up as well and she watched, confused as Ryo hurried out after Athrun and it took her a while to finally get up and follow them. By now, Athrun had used the zip-line to get to the open cockpit and quickly hit a few switches to activate the radio. "I hope it's what I think it is…" he thought as he got into the seat.

"Athrun…At…run…can you hear me?" a familiar voice crackled over the line, "Plea….respond…Athrun!"

"Nicol? Is that you?"

"Athrun! You're okay!" Nicol exclaimed in relief, "We're heading to your location from the coordinates that we got from your signal. Hang tight!"

"Alright," Athrun nodded and shut off the radio.

"What is it?" Cagalli called out from below, having joined Ryo beneath the Aegis.

"I've made contact with my crew!" Athrun replied and Cagalli glanced at Ryo worriedly, knowing that they had no way to contact the Archangel. Just then, a second reading was picked up on the Aegis' radar and Athrun looked down at the controls.

"From the sea?" he wondered, "But who…?" Meanwhile, Mu's Skygrasper was flying over the ocean when the radar began to react to something in the distance.

"A distress signal?" Mu blinked and looked closer, "Alright! Kid, I found them!" With that, he turned the Skygrasper over and headed in the new direction while the Strike did the same as it sped through the waves.

"My team will be here to pick me up soon," Athrun explained to the other two, having gone back to the ground, "And there are also two signals approaching from somewhere else in the sea. From what I saw, they were coming in the direction of your units and it's not ZAFT's readings, so they're probably your allies."

"Ours?" Cagalli asked excitedly and Ryo cracked a small smile.

"I'll need to hide this guy here for a bit until they leave," Athrun told them, gesturing at the Aegis, "I wanna try to a void a fight here as best as I can."

"Yeah, I guess that's best," Cagalli nodded, "Well, we'll head back to where we left our units now…we can take cover and see who's coming from there."

"Alright," Athrun nodded and Cagalli smiled before taking a look at the Aegis again. Athrun couldn't help but keep his gaze on her for a moment longer before she looked down again.

"Well, guess this is it," Cagalli shrugged, "I guess I'll be seeing you, then…"

"Later, pal," Ryo nodded and gave Athrun a friendly punch on the shoulder as they turned to leave. As they did, Athrun couldn't help himself and called out to the blonde.

"Hey! You're not really a member of the Earth Forces, are you?"

"No!" Cagalli laughed, stopping and facing him, "I'm not!"

"They're not even soldiers…" Athrun thought, remembering Kira, "And yet…everyone's…"

"I'm Cagalli!" she suddenly called out, interrupting his thoughts, "That's my name! Cagalli! What's yours?" Athrun hesitated for a moment but when he saw Ryo give him a knowing nod, he smiled and faced her again.

"Athrun!" he said.

"Cool!" Cagalli smiled and turned, waving as she ran off, "Don't get killed, Athrun!" Athrun smiled as he watched her go and he was turning to go to the Aegis when Ryo's voice suddenly rang out.

"Athrun!" Ryo called out and Athrun turned to face him, "Keep an eye on Nicol for me, will you?"

"Will do," Athrun nodded and Ryo grinned before hurrying off after Cagalli. When he had caught up to her, she was waving at something large that had broken from the surface of the water, a few hundred yards from the downed Skygrasper.

"It's the Strike!" she exclaimed excitedly, "Kira!" Ryo laughed as he watched the Mobile Suit approach before he turned to her.

"Do you think we should tell Kira about Athrun?" he asked, "He'll probably ask us what happened here." They both thought about this for a bit and then laughed as they answered simultaneously.

"Nah."

Phase 24: End