"Don't do that ever again, do you hear me?"

I fed myself a spoon of porridge. It taste plain. "I am hungry," I tried to be reasoned with them, especially with Reana that never stopped yelling at me after caught me escaped the tent and queue for lunch. I pointed my spoon toward the little girl on her lap. "Ask her."

"Don't bring five year old Fatima to our business, Soldier!" Bryan pointed at me. "You have neglected you obligation to heal properly on bed."

"I didn't know I was forbidden to go outside."

This time, both of them just sighed.

"All right," Reana raised her hands in the air. "We were not fully innocent here, as we left you just like that. No one accompany you here to tell you the details. My bad."

"But no more excuses," Bryan pointed out. "You will be guarded day and night—

"As a prisoner."

"If not for your prior action, we wouldn't!"

"Listen," Reana gave Bryan a warned look before turn to me. She smiles but her anxiety couldn't be hide. "We didn't have such army in this camp. Only guards. We only want to make sure nothing bad happen. You're a soldier, in a refugee camp that should be always neutral, please understand."

She didn't mention it, but I knew she had suspicion as big as her partner over there.

A spy, she presumed.

She was too naïve. If she put a bigger distrust to me, she could take a more serious precaution. Not gave me an advantage like this.

"I understand," I bowed to her. "Sorry for causing you trouble."

"N-No, you don't need to bow like that!" Reana quickly dismissed. "It's just—I was worried—we were worried—you might ... because after all, people here were just too ... forget what I'm saying, please."

"I will." I nodded and noted to myself the etiquette of humans after cousing trouble for their own kin. "Thank you."

"For what?" Reana wander.

"Your concern."

Bryan looked at me with a look that similar with Azrael and Raphael: jhe judging look.

"Do you mind if I ask some questions?" My sight might be poor now, but I couldn't just ignore the fact he was just tucked something beneath his collar, covered by his gesture to scratching his neck. "About you, in particular?"

"Bryan!" Reana warned him again. "We've talked about this just now. We don't have to—

"Just in case, Reana."

"He's not in his full condition yet."

"Then, let's use this chance before one of us getting at each other's throat," Bryan quickly turned to me and ignored Reana. "Please tell me you'll never hurt any of us."

"That's not a question."

Bryan narrowed his eyes. "You sounded like a Maha."

I gave them the same look. "And you just like those extremist humanitarian."

That man upset. "Did you just accuse me?"

"You just did."

"Both of you, stop that!" Reana warned us both. "We're not at—

"Reana's friend. Bad." Fatima suddenly interrupted. Everyone was taken aback by her sudden reaction.

While I was wondering what was going on, Fatima leapt from Reana's lap. She crouched, took a handful of sand to her hand, and threw it too Bryan's shoes.

"Bad." She said, then approached my bed. She sat by my side.

She said nothing else.

Reana blinked in awe before smiling. "Wow." She turned to now grumpy Bryan. "That was a good start, don't you think?"

"With me as the bad guy. Nice." Bryan pointed Reana. "Whose side you're on actually, Young Miss?" He turned to me with anger burn his eyes. "We will never get along."

"Obviously."

"No, seriously, Bryan, stop—okay, that was a good thing, finally, but I will get serious too." She turned to me. "We really didn't intend to do anything bad to you. We're just worried over things. If you couldn't say about why you—a Human—dressed up like an Alliance's soldier or why you were in there last night, that's okay, but we need a word from you that you will never endanger this camps, no matter what. Promise me, then I will call it settled."

"Reana!" Bryan's protest abruptly cut by her raising hand.

"Deal?"

Annoying and naïve, not a good combination. She could've just said that I have to keep my presence minimum so Union wouldn't lit a fire to this camp.

At least, I won't put them in danger. My entire kind will.

"Yes, I promise." I agreed. "It's difficult to make them believe I am not a Maha with this height." I looked at my own injuries, felt the urge to quickly erase them forever. "No matter how many injuries I'm having."

No one talked, for two seconds. Until the girl beside me approached me again, this time, with lentils from one of her pocket. She handed it to me with dirty hands.

"Meals...." She said in faint Arabic accent. On second look, she had a brighter skin, paler hazel eyes, and more colorful hair. "Delicious."

***

No matter how I escaped a problem, another problem kept rising.

After failed attempt to ask any communication device to Reana, I ended up like a grounded flea in this tent. Killing time by only hearing useless information from outside, slipped outside few times to overheard anything, and slept outside all those battles.

I looked at the clock Reana put on the drawer. It's been a week in October. Ten days have passed since I was placed here.

With scissor she left behind, I cut the bandages and checked the wounds.

It stopped bleeding, but the whole regeneration process was slow. The cut was only halfway to completely heal.

I tried to walk and run this time. The bruises and the pain didn't affect me so much as before.

"No signs of nano agents." I recalled what Rana concluded when she'd done her examination on me, one day.

Those Unions' dogs and their damn drugs.

If only this crap refugee had any research facility, the simplest one, I could have used it to investigate what exactly resided within those weapons of Union. The news I heard here didn't even accurate. As if this camp was on different timeline. News were moving slowly in this area, like a secluded land with no internet connection or maglev tracks.

No, relax, Mikhail. It wasn't like you to lost control.

First, the latest news I heard Union was trying to take back Sana'a. Hadriah reached an agreement with Generaloberst Ares. The first victims of Medusa died in Equatorial and—

"Hey, you little rat! Come back here!" A voice suddenly came from the outside of my tent. "Give it back!"

Someone infiltrated my area. She ran and almost stumbled upon her very feet. But she quickly regained her balance and approached me. That girl hide behind the drawer, while shadows of people gathered around my tent.

"Hey, we've forbidden to come near this tent, right?"

"Right, they said injured soldiers slept in there."

Someone clicked their tongue. "Then, let's report this to the grownups! We can't let that girl steal anymore!"

After they walked away, Fatima slowly emerged from her hideout. She came to me and hand me some peanuts.

"I don't need that," I refused. "You steal it, you eat it."

That girl pouted. "Thank you. From me. To you."

Reana said this girl was never close to anyone. Bryan said she only talked to Reana and never tried to befriend with anyone here. I see those were bluffing. There was no way this girl couldn't be attached to another people if she's like this.

"I didn't do anything."

She pointed me. "Saved." Then she pointed at herself. "Fatima."

Ignoring her, I took the new bandages to wrap this up again, but a small quickly snatched it away. I glared Fatima who sneak her peanuts to pockets again while the other hand had my bandages. She quickly climbed up to my bed.

"Fatima help!" She proclaimed when she stood next to my feet.

"I said I don't need—

My words quickly stopped when she reached out to me. Her small hands touched my cheeks. She brought herself closer until our heads bumped. She quickly pulled out and nodded.

"No fever!" She unwrapped the bandages. "Now, treat!"

I was completely froze in time. Unlike me, the warmth that she left seeped through my conscious. I touched the warmth, half fazed by how it left there instead of vanishing.

"No."

Fatima shook her head. Insisting.

"I said—

"Please."

I turned left in anticipation. My hand reacted with reaching Lohengrin's gun and pointed it at the entrance, where Reana stood there, watching us.

"Nice reflex," She raised the blanket in her arms. "Don't worry, I just want to give you a blanket. Night getting cold these days. First snow would fall tomorrow, or so the weather predicted."

Reana put that white blanket on the drawer. "Don't get cold. You have to get well soon to come home, right?"

"Home." What a silly name for a land.

"What?" Reana watched my reaction while keep an eye to Fatima that now treat my wounds. She finished it in a minute before I do the rest. "You sure have one, right?"

I didn't answer to that.

"When you've completely healed, make sure to visit my home, right?"

"Don't make me promise again."

"No. It's not a promise." She said. "It's a word between acquaintances. Exchanging hometown. I'm from Equatorial Federation. Where do you came from?"

"Eurasia."

"No wonder. You're so tall and white." She lift a bar above my head for a moment.

Tall, whether she meant it or just being sarcastic, I didn't know for sure. One thing I knew, even within Eurasia, this height was not common traits nowadays. I was above two meters tall, when most of Eurasian were only about two meters tall.

"Ah, by the way, I'm Reana Melista. Volunteer. You could call me Reana," She stretched out her hand to me.

She left me no choice but to accept her.

"Err...." She hold my hand even though I already let go of hers. "I ... I've never heard your name, haven't I?

So, that was it. "No."

She bit her lips. Then she looked at any other directions but my face, wasting my time uselessly.

"Th-then...." She coughed. "What should I call you, Sir?"

***