Tsubame: WhEEEEeeee…I'm finally continuing this story after so many months. I'm having trouble writing new fics because this one story is taking up my time. I decided to write "His Possessive Nature" first. Fighting Spirits can wait a little longer.

I hope you don't mind that I gave Kira the spotlight in this chapter. After this, he will disappear for a while. Please be patient Athrun will have his time in the spotlight soon… GAROWYN, THANKS FOR BETA-EDITTING AGAIN! You're the best!

I want to thank all those who reviewed! You guys are so supportive! glomp : Feminist1991, IYGU, -boos-, Sunflower Seeds, Cari-Akira (of course!), animemistress419, kenshinlover2002, Vigorian-Asakura, Kitty-Kat900820, asga, ANONYMOUS-gsd, Garowyn (never complete without her), Rayar, PINKSISA, karen41, athcaga and The Angels' Princess!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny or even Gundam Seed Eternity. If I did own the third series, it would probably be chaos or it will go somewhat like this. I hope you like it.

"Double Identities"

By Tsubame Ongaku

Beta-read and edited by: Garowyn

Summary: Athrun is engaged to Orb's perfect princess, Cagalli Yula Attha. He obediently accepts his fate but one day he met a fiery beauty named, Eulla. She is everything the princess is not but why does he still find himself falling in love with her?
A/N: If it is in italic, that is a flashback… hehhehhee….

Chapter 5: The two sides of a coin

"I don't care what you have to do!" Cagalli screamed at the trembling guard. "Get Kira in here, now!"

"Y---yes, ma'am!" The guard gave her a salute and went running out the door. Cagalli had that effect on most of the guards. They fear her anger more than they fear tornadoes and earthquakes.

Cagalli sighed to herself and dropped tiredly onto her bed. She stared at the ceiling for a while. She frowned as she remembered the events that took place that night. "I'm getting married to an even bigger peacock than Yuuna." She clenched her fists angrily. "At first I thought that there was no bigger peacock than Yuuna. I was proven wrong."

She remembered the way those green eyes had looked at her so intently. "I have to admit, though," she thought grudgingly. "He is the cuter peacock."

There was a knock at the door. Cagalli knew immediately that it was Kira. She could always sense if it was him at the door at certain times. "Come in, Kira!"

The brunette coordinator hesitantly entered her room. He was smiling nervously because he knew that he was really in trouble, now. "Hi, Cagalli. Great party, huh?"

Cagalli stood up and folded her arms in front of her. Her hair was a mess and she was still dressed in the pastel green gown she had on earlier. The tiara was on her make-up table. She had carelessly thrown it there out of anger. How she hated being an Athha at that moment.

Kira could see from that frown that Cagalli wasn't at all happy. He gulped. Kira had tried to tell Kisaka to delay the announcement for a few more days to give Cagalli time to accept the circumstances. Kisaka said he couldn't because he had specific instructions from the representative not to delay it. Now, Kira was going to suffer for it.

"Kira, what was that?" she demanded. "Why wasn't I informed that you were going to announce that tonight?"

"Kisaka told me not to tell you," he replied. "He said you would've tried to find ways to stop it. I have to agree with him. You might even try to tamper with the speakers, if you knew."

Cagalli sighed. Kisaka and Kira knew her too well. Yes, she would've done that among other things to stop that announcement to delay it for a few days and give her time to think how she as going to get out of it. "Kira, how could you?" she whined. "You left me in the ballroom all alone! Where have you been anyway?"

Kira blushed a bright red color. "I've been with Miss Clyne. I gave her a…ummm…tour around the gardens."

Cagalli's jaw dropped and broke into a grin. "Miss Clyne? Are we talking about the Lacus Clyne?" His blush became redder and Cagalli got her answer. "She's the singer from the PLANTS that you admired, right?"

Kira coughed but didn't answer. It was better if he just changed the subject. "Cagalli, I will be going away for a while again."

Cagalli's face fell. Her brother just got back after three days of absence. She knew she should smile, though. Kira got guilty easily and sometimes this got in the way of his job. So, she forced herself to smile. "Oh, that's too bad. Why? What is it this time?"

Kira shrugged nonchalantly, but he, too, felt sad about the thought of leaving when he had just returned home. "It's a long story."

Nervously, Cagalli walked towards her make-up table and sat down. She took out her jewelry box and began taking off her earrings and putting them into the box. "How many days are you going to be gone this time?" Kira was usually only gone for days.

"This time it is different, Cagalli," Kira whispered softly. "I will be gone a bit longer."

"Oh," was all she could reply.

"I will be gone for a few months this time." He walked up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry. I just got home and now I'm leaving. I feel like an idiot."

She took his hand in hers and shook her head as she looked at him through the mirror. "Don't be. This is your job and I have mine." She rolled her eyes and chuckled good-naturedly. "The difference is that my job is not as yours. Your job is to protect father and me and my people. My job?" She held up her tiara to his face. "My job…is sitting here and looking pretty. I'm so pathetic."

Kira hugged her affectionately like any brother would hug his sister. Seventeen years of separation made no difference on their closeness. "You're not pathetic."

"You're just saying that," she grumbled. "I don't do anything, Kira! The truth is…I'm getting sick of being this perfect princess." She looked out the window and stared longingly at the bright lights of the city of Orb. "I want to be out there for once and be myself."

Kira frowned. Whenever Cagalli said something like that it wasn't good. "Cagalli, you aren't thinking what I think you are thinking, are you?"

"Ummm…" She pretended to think for a moment. "No?"

"Cagalli, do you know how dangerous it is for you to just go out?" Kira reminded her. She knew, actually. Kira or Kisaka never failed to remind her almost everyday. She rolled her eyes again and remembered a year ago. Kira hadn't acted like that before. Cagalli proposed that Kira must have caught the Kisaka virus. It is a virus that turns any normal and healthy person to a paranoid and overprotective individual. It was either this or that Kira never got over the time she was kidnapped by thugs when she tried to escape from her bodyguards.

She was fine. She knew what to do and was rescued in less than four hours. She got a very long scolding from Kisaka and then from Kira. After that incident, Kira took the position of Head of Security. She had an impossible time of escaping ever since. Kira always seemed to know what she was planning and was always one step ahead of her.

"You're not planning something while I'll be away, are you?" he asked, suspiciously.

She crossed her fingers behind her and smiled innocently. "Perish the thought! Of course not, brother."

Kira was far from convinced. "Just to be sure, I will tell Kisaka to double the security around you while I'm away." He took out his cell phone and began dialing Kisaka's number. It was busy. "I'll call him later." He shrugged. "Just keep out of trouble, okay?"

"What makes you think that'd I'd actually start trouble?"

"Remember the last time?" he said. "…And the time before that? And the time before that?" He ruffled her hair. "Just keep out of trouble please, Cagalli. Stay inside."

"You worry too much, Kira," she muttered. "You're no fun anymore."

Kira grinned teasingly. "Promise me that you'll not give Kisaka any trouble while I'm gone."

She rested her chin on her hands. "I promise, but I won't promise to like it."

"Good girl. " He ruffled her hair again and was about to leave.

"Kira?" she called.

"Yes?" he answered, his hand already on the doorknob.

"Can we talk some more?" she asked. "When are you leaving?"

"Tonight," he said sadly. "I need to do some packing, but…I can get one of the butlers to do that, if you want." He, too, wanted to spend some time with his sister before his unexpected departure. The reason behind this departure, though, he knew he couldn't tell her. Not unless he wanted to get her involved in something dangerous. It was his job to prevent that.

"That would be great!" she exclaimed and plopped on her bed. Her $10,000 gown was ruined, but she didn't care. "I'll call them right away!" She picked up her service phone and called the butlers. She told them to prepare Master Kira's things for his trip.

Kira watched her guiltily. She really cared about him. She was an only child before and everything was given to her at the snap of a finger.Then when her mother died in that tragic shuttle accident, she forgot about it.

He noticed how different she was from the first time he met her. Here she was, now, dressed in a rumpled gown and sprawled lazily on her bed. The first time they met she was in a white sundress and a wide sunhat and sipping tea like the perfect lady in the patio. He felt uncomfortable just sitting beside her. He didn't know what to talk about to a girl like her. All he knew were mobile suits and the latest news. It didn't seem like a good topic for one such as her. In short, it was an awkward and quiet tea. It was only later did he found out that Cagalli Yula Athha was more than the pretty face in magazines.

He was looking for the bathroom on his first night in the mansion. He was lost. He grumbled about why the Athha mansion had to be so huge. He somehow found his way to the basement where they trained the guards. Suddenly heard voices in a training room. It was the training room for mobile suit pilots.

Inside, he saw somebody working one of the machines. It was late so it seemed very odd. These machines were like video games except it had a virtual reality system that made the battles inside the game seem almost real. Kira couldn't see the face of the person since it was hidden inside the machine's virtual helmet, but Kira decided to watch him instead. It just might prove interesting.

The player was amazing. He scored higher than most of the guards Kira saw that morning. He piloted the machine with the ease of a professional. Kira wondered if he was one of the new trainees. "That's amazing!" Kira praised the pilot. "You must do this often."

The person said nothing. Instead, he pointed to Kira and then the machine next to him.

Kira watched this with surprise. "What? You want me to pilot that one?"

The mysterious pilot just nodded.

"Is this a challenge?" Kira asked. This guy was brave to challenge him. Everybody already knew that he was a coordinator. Unless this guy was a coordinator, too, the chances of winning were slim. He nodded with consent. "I accept this challenge."

Kira could see the challenger's mouth break into a grin. Kira ignored it and readied himself in the machine beside his. Kira planned to give this guy a game to remember and he wasn't about to go easy on him.

"Are you ready?" he asked as he donned the helmet and accessed himself into the game. He saw the challenger nod and the game was on. Kira knew the guy was good, but he never expected that he would give him a run for him money. The challenger had no trouble at all maneuvering his mobile suit.

Kira had to admit that the game wasn't as easy as he thought. He could barely move and block the enemies around him but somehow he managed. He had to think fast or else he would lose. He changed a few of the configurations of the mobile suit to be compatible to his calculations. He typed fast and at the same time barely getting away from attacks in all sides.

The challenger already made took down nine. If he wanted to win, he had to catch up soon. Finally, he typed the last configuration, then the mobile suit came to life. He managed to make five hits in one blow of his katana-like weapon. He shot down two more with his long-range laser gun. He needed to catch up.

The battle was fierce and both competitors gave a close fight. Suddenly they tied to a score of twenty and twenty. In this challenge, the first to get a thirty wins. They needed just ten more…

"Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four," Kira counted. Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine…"

There was only one enemy left to kill. The one who kills it first would win. The challenger aimed and fired his laser. The gun failed. It was out of power.

Kira smiled. "I guess luck is in my side today." With one last blast of his gun, Kira shot down the enemy.

Game over…

Kira took off his helmet and gave a victory yell. He then gave his opposition a thumbs-up. "Good game!"

"Yes, I have to agree," came the reply. "I was so close."

"Wait a minute." Kira's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you a…"

"…girl?" the person finished for him. The pilot took off the helmet and shook her hair free. Blonde hair came tumbling down. "That was a poor excuse of a win, though. You won just because my gun ran out of power."

"You….you're…Miss Athha?" Kira was pointing at her with a shaking hand. This was the lady he had tea with that afternoon?

"What?" She was grinning evilly. "Haven't you seen a princess pilot one of these things before?"

Cagalli saw him watching her. He had a lost look in his face. "Kira, what?" she asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing really," he said. "I just can't get over how different you are from the elegant princess you always play in public."

Rolling her eyes, she groaned. "I get that a lot." Then she suddenly grew serious. She brought her legs towards her and wrapped her arms around them. "I'm getting married to somebody who doesn't know a thing about me, Kira."

Kira looked at her sadly. He could understand what she meant. She was getting married to a stranger, who knew nothing about her, but what can be read in magazines. "Kira? What if he doesn't love…the real me?" she asked.

"She's scared," Kira thought. He couldn't blame her. There was much to fear of the unknown. Athrun only knew Cagalli from what he'd read. Kira noticed the magazines Athrun carried, when he picked him up at the spaceport. The magazines all had Cagalli in the cover. These magazines were not reliable. For example, one magazine said that Cagalli's favorite color was pink. The truth is that she loathed pink and her favorite color was green.

"He'll love you," Kira assured her. He held her hand and gave it a squeeze. Kira never told her that he liked her better as the tomboy than the princess. The princess was untouchable and unreachable. As the little tomboy, she was warm, open and fun. "I know Athrun. He will love you."

"You're just saying that because you're my brother," she grumbled. "I bet you like the elegant me better!"

Kira sighed with frustration. Cagalli was always like that. She always tried to bring herself down. She insisted that people like the princess better than the real her.

"Cagalli." He took a coin from his purse and began tossing it in the air. "Did you know that you're like this coin?" The coin's heads faced up. "There are two sides of you."

Cagalli followed the coin with her eyes. She just watched it as it flipped and tossed in Kira's hand. "What made you say that, Kira?"

"The heads," he said, showing her the coin. "It is the elegant lady side of you that we see in public. She goes to premiers, conferences and parties with a perfect smile on your face. This side, the title princess suits you. You're virtually untouchable and unreachable." He chuckled. "Sometimes when people comment to me about how elegant you are, it gives me the shivers. They should see you when you're angry."

"Are you trying to imply something, Yamato?" she warned.

He ignored her. Kira flipped the coin again and it showed tails. "This is the other you. The one I and a few others see."

Cagalli gave him a blank look. She was thinking that maybe working had friend his brain because he was talking nonsense again. "Are you okay, Kira?"

"This is the tomboyish, stubborn, hotheaded you ." He ignored her again. "The complete polar opposite of the other side of the coin." He pocketed the coin and shrugged. "But someday, Cagalli, you have to choose which side you're going to take. Unless, someone is ready to fall in love with two people."

She thought about this. Her brother had a point but there was something else that she wanted to know. "Brother, which side of me do you like better?"

Kira smiled, but instead of answering, he took out the coin and flipped it to her bed. The coin showed…

"Tails?" Cagalli asked. Maybe he was mistaken. That meant that he liked the weird her. "Are you sure about that?"

Her dark-haired brother merely shrugged in reply. "Oh, you know the answer. Why did you bother to ask?" He turned the doorknob and stepped out but before closing the door he said, "Heads or tails doesn't matter, sis. I just love you as you." He left Cagalli puzzled as he stepped out of the bedroom.

Kira got went to Athrun's room next. When he got there, Athrun was plopped on the sofa with his tie undone, jacket off and eyes closed sleepily. His eyes automatically opened, when Kira entered. Seeing it was only his friend, he relaxed a bit.

"Hey, Kira," Athrun greeted, not getting up. "I wasn't expecting you. What brings you here?"

Kira's face was grim. The news he brought was grave and he had no time to joke with his best friend. "Athrun, Lacus told me not to trouble you with this, but I think there is something you should know."

Athrun grew serious. "Lacus? Kira, did something happen?"

Kira sat down on the chair opposite to Athrun. They needed to talk. "Athrun, somebody tried to kill Lacus tonight." Kira saw Athrun's hands clenched so angrily that he was shaking. "She's safe now. I personally took her home and that is why I disappeared at the party."

"Any suspects?"

"No." Kira folded his arms and shook his head. "We're still investigating. Somebody wants her dead." Kira remembered while touring Lacus in their gardens; at first he heard the rustling of the bushes then the clicking of a gun. Before he knew it, he was pushing Lacus to the ground and keeping her from a fatal gunshot to the head.

Kira burned with anger as he remembered how those sick people surrounded them with all their guns directed at them. His eyes had become different. They became dark and blank but filled with hate. It was the dreaded SEED mode. He was able to fight them off. Lacus was uninjured, but a hidden knife of one assassins wounded Kira's hand. The knife was meant for Lacus. Kira killed the man instantly.

"She told you not to tell me?" Athrun asked smoothly. "Why am I not surprised?"

"She didn't want to worry you," Kira replied. "She meant well. And…Athrun, there is another thing that you should know."

Athrun dropped his head to his hands. "What?"

"I think you should know that I'll be gone for a few months." Kira waited for a reaction, when there was none, he continued. "I will be taking care of her security."

Athrun shook his head. "No. I can do that."

"Athrun, I don't think you should. You just got here and besides." Kira folded his arms. "You should use this time to bond with my sister." Kira remembered his conversation with Cagalli earlier.

"Kira? What if he doesn't love…the real me?" she asked.

"She's afraid, Athrun," he whispered. "She's getting married to a total stranger."

Kira saw the surprised expression on Athrun's face. Athrun bit his lip nervously. "Ummm….Kira, I think I scared your sister…a bit tonight." Kira's eyes widen in surprise. "I just wanted to know if she's timid." He wrinkled his nose. "You know what I found out, Kira? She is…"

Kira didn't say anything at first. He just stared at Athrun as if not sure what to do next, then slowly a smile crept up his face. "Timid? Cagalli?" He suddenly broke into a fit of laughter. "Are you sure we're talking about the same person here? Cagalli timid? Oh, how I wish!"

"Kira, I really don't see what is so funny."

Kira stood up and patted his friend's shoulder. "You and her are going to get along quite well."

Kira then slipped his hands into his pants' pockets. Before he did, Athrun saw the bandages in his right hand. Athrun was sure he hadn't seen that earlier that night. "Kira, what happened to your---"

Before he could finish, Kira took a look at his watch. "Oh, no. It's late and I still have a lot to do. I'm leaving tonight or as soon as possible." He sighed, but then frowned. "Athrun, please take care of my sister while I'm gone."

"What?"

"Kisaka is a very busy man. He doesn't have the time to watch her."

Athrun shrugged. "That shouldn't be any problem. She doesn't look like much trouble."

Kira didn't answer. It would be better if Athrun got to know Cagalli on his own. "You'll know soon enough, Athrun." Before leaving, he added, "Don't be fooled by her, Athrun. Don't make my mistake. There is more to her than a cute face."

Tsubame: I think I should concentrate on one fic before making a new one. I promised myself that I would not leave a fic unfinished. I will finish Double Identities no matter what! I guess my other stories are going to have to wait for a while. They won't disappear.

Listening to: Yu-gi-oh soundtrack… WhhhhEEEEeeee…YAMI YUGI is love!

Mood: Hyper!WWWWHHHHHHHEEEeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEe……

Working on: "Summer School," Chapter 7 and Chapter 6 of Double Identities.