While Flay wore a complicated expression, Athrun also noticed her gaze. Watching her look, Athrun remained silent, standing quietly beside Kira.
Kira glanced at Flay and saw the complex emotions in her eyes, feeling a mix of conflicting emotions himself. His clenched fists at his sides eventually loosened helplessly.
Flay, with her complicated gaze, caught Kira's hand movements from the corner of her eye. Seeing her boyfriend's actions, she instantly sensed the emotions he was experiencing at that moment.
Suppressing the complex emotions in her eyes, Flay spoke up again, asking Kira.
"Is Cagalli alright?"
"She'll pull through."
Hearing Flay's repeated question, Kira looked at her, sensing her consideration for him. A trace of guilt flashed in his eyes as he replied to Flay.
At this, Flay fell silent and said no more.
...
Time passed minute by minute, and the three of them continued to watch Cagalli vent her emotions in the heavy silence.
"How is the situation?"
A voice inquired from behind.
Breaking the silence among the three, they turned simultaneously to look at the person behind them. Athrun, among the three, was the first to shake his head at Felix, his tone tinged with concern.
"It seems Cagalli hasn't accepted it yet."
"I see!"
Felix acknowledged with understanding.
Looking at Cagalli ahead, he strode toward her. Kira and Athrun, seeing Felix's movement, instinctively reached out to stop him.
Felix looked at their actions and asked with a smile.
"What are you two trying to do?"
"Captain Griffith (Brother), maybe let her be alone for a while?"
The two spoke in unison, looking at Felix.
Hearing this, Felix smiled slightly and shook his head at them.
"Sometimes you need to administer strong medicine. How long should she be left to think on her own? Besides, there's no time for her to dwell on these things right now!"
After saying this, Felix stepped past them and walked toward Cagalli.
Seeing this, the two followed him.
Flay, noticing this, also followed Kira's footsteps.
Cagalli, who had been burying her head to escape reality, heard the approaching footsteps and spoke without looking up.
"Please let me be alone!"
"Is hiding like an ostrich what you call being alone?"
Looking at her, Felix wiped the smile from his face, his voice stern as he questioned her.
His words reached Cagalli's ears, and she responded with a somewhat willful and petulant tone.
"None of your business!"
Hearing her somewhat spoiled voice, a cold smile appeared on Felix's face, his voice carrying a hint of anger.
"You heard what your father said. You know Kira is your family, and I'm sure you've learned about my situation from Kira.
Do you think I have the right to interfere?"
Listening to Felix's tone, which held a touch of anger and a lecturing, almost paternal quality, Cagalli abruptly raised her head, tears streaking her face, her eyes red as she shouted.
"Why should you interfere? You're just a brother I barely know—what right do you have to tell me what to do?"
"Well now?" Seeing her display a bit of Uzumi's stubborn mule temper, Felix became intrigued. "Quite the temper you've got there!"
With that, Felix directly yanked Cagalli up from the ground. Feeling his pull, Cagalli struggled with all her might.
However, her struggling strength paled in comparison to Felix's power. His hand clamped around her arm like an iron vise, firmly restraining her.
"Let go of me!"
"Let go of me!"
Continuing to struggle, Cagalli shouted at the top of her lungs.
Seeing this, Felix's eyes turned cold, and he immediately executed a takedown maneuver on Cagalli.
In an instant, Cagalli was pinned to the ground by Felix.
Witnessing Felix perform a takedown on Cagalli and seeing her pressed against the floor like that, Athrun felt an inexplicable pang of heartache.
"Captain Griffith..."
Just as he began to speak in protest, Felix coldly cut him off.
"Athrun, this is none of your business. If you don't want to get beaten up too, just stand there and watch quietly."
Hearing this, Athrun closed his mouth and stood silently watching as Felix disciplined Cagalli.
Seeing that Athrun had stopped talking and showed no intention of intervening, Felix looked down at Cagalli beneath him and asked with a smile.
"Will you listen to me properly now?"
Hearing this, Cagalli's face still showed defiance, her voice retaining a touch of willfulness.
"If you've got any guts, let me go!"
"Sure!"
Complying with her request, Felix readily agreed and released Cagalli, standing up and taking two steps back.
Feeling her freedom restored, Cagalli quickly got to her feet and turned to glare furiously at Felix.
"Want to hit me?"
Noticing her expression, Felix wore a somewhat provoking smile as he spoke to Cagalli.
Hearing this, Cagalli clenched her fists but wisely refrained from attacking Felix. Seeing her desire to fight back but lack of courage to do so, Felix continued.
"If you don't want to fight, will you listen to me properly now?"
"I said I want to be alone!"
Staring at Felix, Cagalli shouted her rebuttal.
Hearing her retort, Felix wiped the smile from his face and sneered with a stern tone.
"Be alone? Looking at you acting like an ostrich, even two more nights won't change your ostrich behavior."
"Whether I act like an ostrich or not is none of your business?!"
Hearing the word "ostrich" again, Cagalli yelled at Felix.
Listening to Cagalli's shouting, Felix clearly understood this was her second form of escape. Tired of wasting more words, he remained silent and directly moved to subdue Cagalli once more.
Seeing Felix attack without warning, Cagalli was startled and hurriedly reacted defensively.
Observing her response, Felix dodged her attack while grabbing her arm, executing another simple takedown to pin Cagalli to the ground.
After this takedown, Felix quickly released Cagalli.
Cagalli climbed up from the ground, turning to face Felix with even more intense anger in her eyes, her fists clenched so tightly they creaked.
"You've gone too far!"
With a low growl, Cagalli charged at Felix, throwing a punch.
Seeing this, Felix took two steps back while moving his hands to seize an opening in Cagalli's stance, executing a shoulder throw that sent her to the ground.
"With your mediocre skill, you're nowhere near my level," Felix remarked, a mocking expression on his face as he taunted her without restraint.
Hearing this, Cagalli clenched her fists, got up from the ground, and launched another attack at Felix.
...
"Kira, is this ZAFT member helping Cagalli?" Flay asked, observing the one-sided fight between Cagalli and Felix and sensing something amiss.
Kira nodded in response.
"Yeah."
After replying, Kira explained to Flay, "This is helping Cagalli vent her emotions. Once she lets it all out, she'll find it much easier to accept things."
Having spoken to Flay, Kira turned his attention back to the fight, watching as Felix treated Cagalli like a punching bag.
"Kira, don't worry," Athrun said, glancing at the fight and then at Kira. "Captain Griffith knows what he's doing."
"I know that," Kira replied with a nod.
...
Half an hour later,
The fight between Felix and Cagalli ended with Cagalli unable to get up any longer.
Felix adjusted his breathing slightly, crouched down to look at Cagalli panting heavily on the ground, and calmly asked, "How do you feel now?"
"No one acts like a brother the way you do," Cagalli complained, looking up at Felix.
Hearing Cagalli call him "brother," Felix knew she had finally accepted the situation and was no longer avoiding it like an ostrich.
He reached out to help Cagalli up, brushed the dust off her clothes, and said in a much gentler tone, "Though the method wasn't the best, the result is good. You're much better off now than when you were acting like an ostrich earlier."
"I figured it out on my own; it's not your doing," Cagalli retorted stubbornly, though inwardly she acknowledged Felix's role.
Seeing her stubbornness, Felix smiled slightly and didn't argue with her.
Raising his hand, he mimicked Uzumi's gesture, gently stroking Cagalli's hair and comforting her softly, "Cagalli, blood ties are just one way to define family. Sometimes they mean something, and sometimes they don't."
Taking a deep breath, he continued, "Representative Athha may not share blood with you, but the bond between you is real. He genuinely cherishes you as his only daughter. Are you going to deny all of that because of so-called blood relations?"
Without hesitation, Cagalli replied to Felix's words, "I'm not!"
Hearing her firm response, Felix smiled warmly.
"You clearly understand it in your heart, so why keep struggling and avoiding because of blood ties? Accept it openly—there's nothing wrong with that, isn't there?"
As he spoke, Felix patted Cagalli's shoulder. Then he withdrew his hand and smiled at her.
"Go apologize to your father. Don't let him worry about you."
With that, Felix pulled Cagalli up from the ground, gave her a light pat on the back, and urged her.
"Hurry up and go!"