The Second Promise

"I promise you, Mayu Asuka." He tightened his grip on her hand, letting her clearly feel his strength and resolve. "I, Xia Ya La Flaga, will definitely come back alive. And the companions by my side—Jiliang, Lacus Clyne, Nicol and Michel, whom I mentioned earlier, and everyone aboard the ship—I won't let any of them die. We'll go together, and we'll come back together."

This was not merely an attempt to comfort a child. It was an oath a man made by staking his name and very existence on it.

He would bring everyone back. Not one person could be missing.

After all the fighting was over, I'll come here again. I'll return alive and come see her again.

I absolutely refuse to leave Mayu alone to die in this cold world. And I absolutely will not allow myself to die and make her taste the pain of loss again.

Mayu blankly felt the undeniable warmth and strength flowing from Xia Ya's palm.

That oath was so weighty, so resolute, that her heart, which had been pounding violently with fear, miraculously began to calm.

The emotions she had been forcibly suppressing, holding tightly inside all this time, finally found an outlet after receiving that unbreakable promise.

"...It's a promise."

Tears streaming down her face, she nodded hard and answered his oath with all her strength.

"It's a promise... Mr. Xia Ya, Miss Jiliang, Miss Lacus... You... you all promised..." Her gaze passed over Xia Ya's shoulder to Jiliang and Lacus behind him, as though she wanted to draw them into this promise as well. "When you come next time, you'll bring more people to meet me... You'll introduce me to Mr. Nicol, who can play the piano... and everyone else... I absolutely... absolutely won't forget. So...!"

She drew a deep