This chapter is co-written with trulyanimelover06.

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Dedications in alphabetical: .CriMsonxLadY., Aihsire Atha, Alice, Byron Lancaster, cagallifangurl, colourfulgurl, Dhevz, eternalasucaga, Fii aka Ficchan, hellopanda23, Jodeist, Joker Oak, Katina Uchiha, kamille murasame, KazumiSakura, Litari Hatake, Miyu Nanami, mokonamodoki93, mrs. zala, patzie24, sakurayamato1, SaKuRaYukIe, Sandyx5, Sawagi-chan, The Blue Mask-cara, The Only Love For Soujiro Seta, trulyanimelover06, yuki001,

Disclaimer: I do not own gundam seed.

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Previously...

"Cagalli where are you?" Kira asked frantically.

"I'm in the south wing study!" Cagalli replied. "Guess who's here?"

"Athrun!" Kira replied.

"No! It's Yuna!" Cagalli corrected. "I think he saw me and recognised me despite me dressing up and all. He tried to follow me but thank god I managed to lose him..."

"He's here too?" Kira said.

"Yes I know! Can you believe it? All he has to do now is to poke his nose around a little more and then I'm a gone case!" Cagalli nearly yelled.

"I have another bad news for you," Kira told her.

"Well spit it out. How bad could it get now anyway," Cagalli said.

"Athrun's here," Kira replied.

"WHAT?" Cagalli shouted.

Chapter 15

The trumpets sounded, playing the fanfare and announcing the arrival of the princess. Everyone looked up towards the marble staircase. They were all excited. Nobody knew how the princess of Orb really looked like. She was kept away from the media and the public her whole life. Of course, there were some who knew but tonight was her first formal appearance. Even so, the press was not invited to this private event ensuring that the public will not know her until her debut on her eighteenth birthday.

"Presenting, her royal highness, Princess Cagalli Yula Athha of Orb!"

Everyone stared in awe of the blonde princess standing on top of the stairs. They were captivated by her radiance and her beauty. Cagalli began her descent with the poise and grace instilled to her as a child.

"Calm down Cagalli!" she told herself. "Everything's going to be fine. Just breathe. You can deal with the consequences later and hope for the best. Breathe. That's right. Five more steps. Three... two..."

Cagalli finally made it. Her father, who was waiting for her down the stairs, was beaming with pride.

"Cagalli, I would like you to meet someone," the King smiled at his daughter.

Taking her father's arm, Cagalli followed the King. Somehow, her heart was beating furiously. She had a bad feeling about this meeting.

"Cagalli, this is my friend Chairman of the Plants Patrick Zala. Patrick, this is my lovely daughter Cagalli," the King introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir," Cagalli curtsied.

Patrick Zala merely nodded his head.

Cagalli looked up at the cold man in front of him. "He really is Athrun's father. No doubt about that..." Cagalli thought.

"She's a beauty Uzumi," Patrick finally spoke. "She really looks like Via, speaking of whom, how is she?"

"Well you know my sister, you can never tame her. She's as free spirited and as wild as ever. She's currently climbing Mount Everest with Ulen." Uzumi laughed.

"I wonder how he keeps up with her," Patrick mustered up a small smile. "I suppose personality wise, Cagalli took from Ulen."

"That's where you're wrong Patrick," Uzumi chuckled. "Looks and personality wise, she's definitely a Via. The only thing she got from Ulen is his blonde hair."

"You're majesty! Chairman!" someone called out.

"Unato," Uzumi said as a chubby balding man walked towards them.

"How are your majesty and the chairman?" Unato asked. "Ah! Princess! It's so good to finally meet you! You really are such a beauty! Everyone here can't take their eyes of you!"

"Definitely a Seiran," Cagalli thought in disgust. "He must be Yuna's father."

"I must introduce you to my son Princess! He's name is Yuna and he is a handsome young boy! Very charming, you will love him," Unato Seiran said.

It took every once of self control for Cagalli not to gag. "That confirms it..." She thought.

"Yes there will be plenty of time for introduction later Unato. Anyway, I don't see any of the boys around. Kira, Athrun, Shinn and Yuna are not here," Uzumi said.

"It would seem that the younger generation are not into social gatherings anymore," someone commented.

Everyone turned around to see who had spoken. It was Gilbert Durandal.

"Or it could also be that they are trying to get to know each in their own boyish way to strengthen the bonds of our countries," Cagalli reasoned. "They are after all, the future leaders of the generation."

"Excellent comment your highness," Gilbert said. "I'm sure you'll make a fine Queen of Orb someday..." he mused.

... ... ...

Flashback

Shinn was taking a stroll in the south wing garden. It was a beautiful night. The crescent moon illuminated the stone path he followed as the cool evening breeze gently touched his face. The south wing garden was also known as the rose garden. Roses of myriads of colours filled the entire garden.

As Shinn was about to head back to the grand ballroom to look for Kira and Cagalli, he heard two familiar voices. Taking cover among the tall rose bushes, Shinn listened to their conversation.

"Zala! What are you doing here?"

"I didn't expect to see you here as well."

"Well what can you expect, I am basically royalty!"

"Is that so?"

"Don't play games with me Zala! Cut your crap and tell me where she went!"

"I don't believe you're in any position to tell me what to do."

"How dare you talk to me like that! I just had enough of you always disturbing MY Cagalli!"

"For your information, she's not your Cagalli. She's mine. She has agreed to be my girlfriend."

"Oh yea? If she's your girlfriend, why isn't she your date for this party?"

It was quiet for a while. Shinn didn't hear Athrun rebutting.

"Aha! I knew it! She didn't come here with you! Meaning someone else took her here!"

"She didn't come here with you either."

Shinn heard enough. He knew that Cagalli was in trouble and that he had to find her soon. After managing to contact her, Shinn found her and Kira in the south wing study.

"What? BOTH of them saw me?" Cagalli panicked.

"Calm down, Cagalli. They only saw you. They don't know you're the princess. They thought that you were someone else's date." Shinn told Cagalli.

"Great. How reassuring," Cagalli rolled her eyes.

"Seriously Cagalli, you don't have to worry. We can easily make an excuse why you're here. Just say I begged you to come because I desperately needed a date so that my mother would stop nagging." Shinn said.

"Yes but you're forgetting one thing," Kira said. "Cagalli's going to be formally introduced to the guests later on."

"They don't have to find out..." Shinn said. "Cagalli just have to be with them somewhere else at the time of her introduction..."

"But how can she be at two places at the same time?" Kira asked.

"I can't," Cagalli replied. Something in Cagalli's eyes however told Kira that she had it all figured out.

Suddenly, Kira was hit with realisation. "I don't like this at all," he told her.

"It's not as if we have much of a choice!" Cagalli replied.

"Can't we just knock them out? Or lock them inside a room until it's over?" Kira asked desperately.

"Are you forgetting who their fathers are? We can't do that to them and expect to get away with it!" Cagalli said. "You will have to distract them!"

"And what makes you think we'll get away with this one! Surely they'll notice!" Kira protested.

"No they won't! Trust me. Just make your voice two notches higher, add a little boobs and wah-lah!" Cagalli told him.

"I still don't like this," Kira said. "What if something goes wrong? What if..."

"That's why Shinn will be with you at all times! He will make sure nothing goes wrong!" Cagalli tried to reason.

... ... ...

"Don't breathe Kira! Stomach in!" Cagalli commanded as she pulled the strings, tightening the corset.

Kira, who was forced to obey, looked very miserable as if he was in the brink of tears.

"Kira, don't be such a baby!" Cagalli snapped. "Be a man and suck it up!"

"Pft! But he sure doesn't look like a man!" Shinn snickered.

Kira glared at Shinn and just as he was about to protest, Cagalli cut him off. "Just ignore him," she told Kira.

On top of the corset that was suffocating him, Kira wore a similar pale green dress to Cagalli. His brunette hair was also hidden by a blonde wig.

"I think he needs more stuffing Cag," Shinn laughed. "I know you're flat, but not that flat."

Cagalli's eyes widened in surprise and her face turned red immediately.

"YOU PERVERT!" Cagalli accused as she crossed her arms on her chest.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Kira yelled at Shinn. "THAT'S MY SISTER HERE!"

"I-I didn't m-mean it that w-way!" Shinn stammered as he blushed in realisation at what he just said.

Suddenly, the hair dyer flew towards Shinn. Shinn successfully darted out of the way but he was unable to dodge the next shoe that hurled onto his head.

"Ouch! That hurts!" Shinn cried as he massaged head.

"OUT!" Cagalli screamed pointing to the door.

"C-Cagalli, I didn't m-mean to! I-I swear!" Shinn said.

"GET OUT NOW!" Cagalli yelled as she threw her other shoe at him.

Shinn wrapped his hands around his head as ran towards the door trying to avoid the flying shoe.

"AND STAY OUT!" Cagalli roared, slamming the door at Shinn's face. "Now, where were we?" Cagalli asked calmly this time. Her mood, suddenly turning a hundred and eighty degrees, scared Kira. "Right, contacts," she answered her own question.

Kira gulped as Cagalli turned to him, her fingers carefully holding the small delicate plastic.

"It's a-alright s-sis," Kira stuttered. "I can p-put it on myself."

"Don't be ridiculous Kira! I can put it on so much faster for you!" Cagalli told him. "The last time you tried putting it on by yourself, took you two hours! We haven't got all night you know..."

"B-but..." Kira squeaked.

"Kira Yamato!" Cagalli barked.

Kira stared at his twin. Cagalli can sure be intimidating when she wanted to.

A little while later, Shinn was finally allowed to go back into the room. Shinn was speechless when he saw the twins. They looked exactly like mirror images, he could not tell them apart. Turning to one of them, Shinn said, "Come on Cagalli, it's nearly time."

"I'm the real one you dolt!" the other blonde yelled at Shinn.

... ... ...

"Athrun!" Shinn called out when he spotted the bluenette and Yuna in the balcony of the grand ball room. "I didn't know you're in Orb." Shinn said completely ignoring Yuna.

Athrun looked really surprised when he saw Shinn. "Well umm..." Athrun said.

"Cagalli will be so happy to see you. She's here you know... I invited her. I needed a date to escape my mother's wrath and she agreed after some bribing," Shinn told Athrun.

"Where is she now?" Athrun asked.

"She's in the east wing garden. She hates parties, so she walked off by herself. I'll take you to her," Shinn offered.

"What? She's alone?" Athrun nearly yelled.

End of flashback

... ... ...

Yuna had followed Shinn and Athrun to the garden after hearing that Cagalli was there. "Cagalli darling!" Yuna said as ran towards the blonde standing by the fountain. Turning around, the blonde cringed in disgust. Yuna lost his balance when the blonde he attempted to hug moved out of the way. Suddenly appearing behind Yuna, the blonde lifted his feet and kick Yuna into the fountain. That will teach you not to mess with my sister you creep.

"Cagalli!" Athrun rushed to the blonde. "What were you thinking walking off by yourself? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is?"

Kira stared at the mad bluenette. Hmm, good to know that he cares a lot in my sister's safety.

"Don't do it again. You have no idea how much you made me worry," Athrun said as pulled the blonde into an embrace.

Beside them, Shinn was covering his mouth and trying not to laugh out loud. He was thinking of how Kira was feeling.

Kira's face was turning redder by the second. He felt really awkward to be in the arms of another boy considering that he was straight. Oh gosh. Cagalli owes me big time for this!

Realising the blonde's sudden rise in temperature, Athrun pulled away. "Are you ok? You seemed to be a bit hot," Athrun said as he placed the back of his hand on the blonde's forehead.

"N-No! I mean I'm fine! Don't worry!" Kira nearly shouted.

"You don't sound really good," Athrun told Kira.

"It's just a sore throat! Really, I'm ok!" Kira panicked. This is bad! He's going to find out! What should I do? Think Kira think!

Just then, Yuna tried to get off the fountain. "What's this? My darling is sick?"

"Buzz off," Shinn said as he kicked Yuna back into the fountain.

"I'm taking you home Cagalli. I don't care if it's just a minor sore throat. I'm not taking any chances," Athrun said. "I'll just inform my father that I'm leaving first."

"No!" Kira's sudden outburst made Athrun look bewilderedly at him. Argh! Why of all the times, he has to be over-protective now? "Umm... I mean I need to pee first."

"Shinn, why don't you take Cagalli..."

"No!" Kira cut Athrun off. "I mean please don't leave me!" Kira begged. Kira sounded very desperate as he glared at Shinn as if asking him to help out.

Shinn shrugged, "Well you heard her." Pointing to the drenched Yuna in the fountain, Shinn continued, "Besides, I should take care of this loser here even though the sound of him dying of hyperthermia is very appealing."

Athrun looked at the blonde. "Cagalli's sure acting really weird tonight. She must be sicker than I thought," Athrun thought to himself. Softening his eyes on the blonde, Athrun said gently, "It's alright. I won't leave you. I'll take you to the toilet before I inform my father ok? Is that alright?"

Kira nodded. Wow it worked! Maybe I should have joined the drama club instead of tennis.

As Kira followed Athrun inside, Kira stepped on the hem of his long gown and tripped. Just then, Athrun turned around and Kira fell face flat on Athrun. Both their lips met.

... ... ...

Kira was behaving like a baby in the toilet. He had just kissed his best friend, a boy for that matter, on the lips. It was the most humiliating thing Kira had done other than to dress up as a girl.

My first kiss! That was my first kiss! I knew I should have asked Lacus out sooner. Now it's too late. My first kiss was given away to a guy! This must be god's punishment for stealing Cagalli's Swiss chocolate truffles.

After what seemed like an eternity, Kira had finally gotten over the kiss. Reaching for his phone that was tied to his ankle, Kira called Cagalli.

"Kira where the hell are you? Why did you call? Did he find out?" Cagalli asked frantically.

"I'm in the east wing first floor ladies," Kira replied. He was not going to tell Cagalli about the kiss. He had been humiliated enough and he was not going to let her rub on it. He could only hope that Athrun will not mention any of this to Cagalli later on.

"What are you doing there? You're not a peeping tom are you?" Cagalli questioned.

"Oh course not!" Kira replied embarrassed. "Listen. Athrun wants to take me home! He thinks I'm sick! He wants to inform his father that he's leaving! We have to switch now!"

"Alright! I'll be there in five minutes! First floor east wing ladies right?"

"Yes. What? Five minutes? Can't you come sooner? He's going to think something's wrong if I'm inside for too long!"

"Then tell him to leave you and find his father first. Say you'll be stuck in the toilet for quite a while."

"But what if he meets you halfway while you're making your way here?" Kira asked sceptical.

"I'll be sure to look around and check if he's in the corner! If he is, I'll hide!" Cagalli replied.

"But..."

"Just do as I say Kira!" Cagalli snapped.

... ... ...

Cagalli was in a rush. It took her longer than expected to leave the ballroom with the other guests constantly trying to keep her in a conversation. She could only hope that she could leave before Athrun could reach the ballroom.

Just as she thought everything was going to be fine, someone had called her. Cagalli immediately stiffened and paled. She knew that voice.

"Cagalli? What are you doing here?" Athrun asked.

To be continued...

Thanks for all of your reviews! I really hope you like this chapter! Is Yuna's father called Unato? I can't remember. I'll try to update once a week, latest once in two weeks. So if you don't see me don't worry! I probably just did not have much time to write. Please review and tell me what you think.