JC: Here's chapter 7. I had to hide in a box from all you AsuCaga fans. I'm really sorry for letting Rusty kiss Cagalli-sama on the lips. I was so crazy. I'm even mad at myself. Haha! Please do read and enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I only own Jean and Kai here.

Entwined Hearts

Phase 07: A Troubling Issue

"Anyway, why did you bring me here?" Cagalli asked the orange-haired guy, as she sat down on the soft sand.

"Like I said, I have something good to show you," Rusty replied and sat down beside her.

She shrugged. "And what is that?" The moment she turned her head at him, Rusty leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. "Ahmm…?" Her amber orbs grew wide as marbles, as she felt his hot lips against hers. Rusty was kissing her, kissing her passionately that it almost felt so tempting.

Tempting as it was, Cagalli knew it was so wrong. She pushed Rusty away and punched him hard on his face. She was mad, freaking mad at him for kissing her without her permission. She felt so violated. She stood up, glaring down at Rusty, with her fists clenched tight.

Rusty saw how furious she was in her amber orbs. He felt fear and pain in his heart. "I-I'm sorry," he muttered, touching his swollen red cheek. "I didn't know what came over me." His voice was low and soft.

Hesitantly, she touched her lips. She could still feel his warm lips against hers. She shook her head vigorously, trying to wipe the awful memory of his kiss. She was already engaged to the man she truly loved. She made a solemn promise to herself that she will only kiss Athrun and no one else. "You bastard! How dare you?!" She wanted to punch him again.

"Cagalli, I'm sorry!" Rusty uttered, rising from his position. His eyes were glued to the sand as his bangs covered his face. He had no courage to face her eye to eye. He was so ashamed of himself. "It's just that I have feelings for you, Cagalli. I love you…"

Hearing those three words made her blush a little. She knew how it felt to be in love, but it doesn't excuse him from his actions a while ago. "Don't you dare say my name…" she grumbled, gritting her teeth.

"Huh?" Rusty raised his head and saw her furious eyes.

"You're no friend of mine, so don't say my name," she said.

"Cagalli…"

"Shut up!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Mackenzie, you know very well that I already have a fiancé," Cagalli said, showing him the engagement ring on her finger. "And yet, you… I can't believe you!"

"Looks like my emotions got the best of me, princess." Rusty smirked a bit, as his eyes showed guilt and pain. "I hope you can forgive me, princess. I still want you to be my friend."

"I'll have to think about it, Mackenzie." She spun on her heels and walked away from him. "In the meantime, don't show your face to me." She quickened her pace, leaving Rusty alone to reflect on what he did.

ORB Military HQ

It was another busy day at headquarters. Nothing but work, work, and more work for the soldiers. But they were already used to the busy life. Sure, there were a few complaints here and there, but there were still satisfied because they have such great leaders. However, none of them knew how problematic their leaders were at the moment. One had problems with two girls who were undeniably beautiful and the other one was facing a crisis with a boy whom she thought she could trust. They were leaders of a great country, but in reality, they were still normal people.

Kira heaved a deep sigh as he disembarked from his private ship. He had arrived from his trip to Scandinavia and he was exhausted both physically and mentally. During his stay at the Clyne Mansion, Kira was forced to spend all his time with the lovely Lacus Clyne. They toured around the mansion and even walked around the Clyne Private Resort. He had entertained Lacus' questions properly and kept a fake smile on his face for the whole time.

"You've been sighing a lot since we left, Kira," Athrun said, showing some concern. He placed a hand on Kira's shoulder. "I know it's tough."

"Athrun, you're lucky that you only have one girl to worry about," Kira muttered, lowering his head. "Why did my parents have to make those promises to them? I'm the one who's suffering right now."

"Your parents didn't expect things to turn out this way," Athrun replied. "How about if you go home and rest up?" He was sure that Kira would forget his worries for a while when he's at home.

But Kira shook his head. "I still have some office work to do, Athrun. Thanks for the suggestion…" He walked away, trying to keep his chin up. Despite the problems he had, he was still the Head Representative and he needed to keep up his good work.

Athrun understood Kira's sense of responsibility and decided to let him be. Now that he was back from the trip, he could see Cagalli. He wondered if Cagalli was back at the mansion. "I'll better go check." He started walking down the hallways and suddenly…

BUMP!

Somebody bumped into him, but he regained his balance right away. Unfortunately, the person fell butt first on the floor. Athrun quickly looked at the person and was surprised to see that it was Cagalli. "Are you all right?" He offered his hand to her.

"Um…Yeah… I'm fine…" Cagalli replied, not aware that Athrun was there. As much as she detested it, the scene of Rusty kissing her still haunted her mind. She couldn't get rid of it no matter.

"Cagalli, don't you want to stand up?" Athrun asked since she was still on the floor.

"Oh?" She looked up and met his emerald orbs. "Athrun, you're back!" She presented a wide smile to him and took his hand.

"Everything all right, Cagalli?" He pulled her up and smiled.

"Yeah! Everything's all right!" She laughed a bit nervously, thinking if she should mention Rusty to Athrun. She hasn't mentioned her problem with Rusty to anyone yet. She knew it would be a shock to everyone that a person managed to steal a kiss from the Princess of ORB. But keeping it inside was pretty hard as well.

Athrun sensed something odd about Cagalli and wanted to ask what was wrong. But then he remembered Kira's big problem. "Cagalli, Kira's probably in his office right now. I bet he wants to see you."

"Oh, really?" she beamed. "By the way, how was the trip? What did Lacus Clyne discuss about to Kira?"

"How about if you ask Kira about that?" Athrun faked a smile. Seriously, he did not want to explain the whole engagement thing to her. Knowing Cagalli, she would probably explode and end up blaming him for not stopping Kira.

"All right…" She spun on her heels. "I'll see you later, Athrun," she said and then walked off.

Head Representative Office

Restless as you may call it, Kira was pacing back and forth in his office. He kept thinking about the two girls and their somehow crazy fathers. He didn't actually want to say that they were crazy, but those two leaders really gave him a headache, no, migraine. He was usually calm and collected in handling problems. Well, problems of his countries, but problems with girls? How he wished he could die there so he wouldn't have to go through the stupid ordeal.

"It's all a stupid bet," mumbled Kira, stopping by the window. He stared out to the clouds and sighed once again. "And I'm the price…"

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Someone was at the door.

Kira turned around and crossed his hands behind him. He thought it would be a soldier so he needed to have a firm face. "Come in," he said in a serious tone.

When the door opened, a familiar blonde girl came in and she was carrying a smile on her face. "Hey Kira!" Yes, it was Cagalli Yula Athha, the ever-so-loving twin of the young Representative of ORB.

"C-Cagalli?" His firm face simply vanished at the sight of his twin. How could he tell her about his engagement to Lacus? How was she going to react when he will tell her about the bet? One thing for sure, he knew it wasn't going to be pretty. He was dead scared of Cagalli's violent temper. He could control her but not all the time. "How's it going?" he managed to say, as a drop of sweat slid down his cheek.

"Nothing much," Cagalli replied, hoping she could mask her sadness. She was thinking of telling Kira first about Rusty, but she decided to stay quiet about the issue for a while. "How was the trip, Kira? How is Scandinavia?"

He straightened up and turned around, pretending to look outside the window. He didn't want Cagalli to see his disoriented expression. "Scandinavia is a fine country. I actually like it. The soldiers there are much disciplined." He talked like any serious leader would.

"How about Lacus Clyne?"

He really hoped she wouldn't bring her name up. "Oh, Lacus Clyne is a sweet girl and her father is one understanding man. I really enjoyed their hospitality."

"What did you guys talk about?" Cagalli approached his desk and sat down.

Kira was beginning to sweat a lot. "Umm… Politics, countries, weapons, military… You know the usual stuff."

"Is that all?"

He was getting the feeling that Cagalli was on to him. "Yeah, that's all."

"Kira, why do I get the feeling that you're hiding something from me?" she muttered, narrowing his gaze at his back.

Curse the twin intuition. He can probably hide his secrets from everyone but not from Cagalli. She knew him to well, as in very well. He gulped as he felt chills going up his spine. He knew Cagalli was staring at him as if she wanted to bore holes on his back.

"You didn't wind up in another agreement, right?" Her voice was becoming relatively eerie. "Kira, come on, spit it out."

She was reading him like an open book, Kira thought.

"Kira, this silence is really suspicious."

Kira turned his head slightly to the blonde. "Cagalli, promise me you won't get mad, okay?" he pleaded. He revealed an awkward smile, making Cagalli more curious about him.

"And why would I get mad at you in the first place?"

"It's just that…" Kira started explaining. Well, his sister had the right to know.

Hangar

At the Far East corner of the hangar, a group of soldiers were talking about an interesting topic on a certain brunette and his girl problems. The soldiers were actually friends of the brunette, also known as Kira Yamato. They were Kai Kazuya, Miriallia Hawe, the Zala Siblings, Athrun and Jean.

Miriallia couldn't believe what she just heard from Athrun. Her best friend had become a price in a bet. She didn't know if she should be happy about it or be extremely angry. She did wish Kira to have a love life once, but she didn't quite expect it to turn bizarre. She pitied Kira for having to go through these problems. "I'm going to talk to him later," she said.

"I'm sure he'll feel better after talking to you," said Kai, grinning widely.

Suddenly, the red-haired Jean pinched his face hard and shrugged. "Wipe that goofy grin off your face, Kai!" she uttered, releasing his face. She crossed her hands in front of her and glared at him. "You're actually thinking that Kira-sama's situation is funny."

"WHAT?! NO! " He shouted, but Jean just glared at him more. "Okay… Okay… It's just that, man, Kira's one lucky guy!" He leaned his back against the wall.

"What do you mean? Kira-sama is feeling unlucky right now thanks to Vice-Foreign Minister Alster and Siegel-sama!"

"Well, he has two girls to choose from. Come on, let's make a bet," Kai said, rubbing his two hands together like some greedy investor. "Who will win Kira's heart? Will it be Lacus Clyne or Fllay Alster?"

Jean never knew how thoughtless Kai was. She stomped over to him and hit his head. "You are such an idiot! Don't joke around at a time like this!" she shouted near his hear, rendering him almost deaf.

"Now, Jean, calm down," Athrun said, grabbing his sister's hands to stop her from hitting the Kai again.

"Nii-san, I have to teach this guy a lesson," she said, struggling to break free from his grasp.

"Jean…"

"Hey, Jean, settle down," Kai said, winking an eye. "Your angry face is making you ugly."

Jean instantly blushed at his remark. "WHY YOU?!!" She was extremely angry now. "LET ME AT HIM!"

Kai dashed off in an instant. "Zala, make sure you're holding her tight," he said when he reached a certain distance from Jean. "I don't want to turn into scrap!" He chuckled merrily.

Miriallia couldn't help but chuckle with him. The scene was too funny.

"I'll get you, Kai!" Jean uttered.

Athrun continued to hold her, much to his dismay. His sister was making a real ruckus and the other soldiers were starting to get curious. He quickly covered her mouth and brought her outside.

"Nothing to see here," Miriallia said warmly, waving her hand at the other soldiers. She then ran off to follow the siblings.

The soldiers went back to their routines, ignoring what just happened.

Head Representative Office

"YOU DID WHAT?!!" Cagalli screamed at the top of her lungs.

Kira backed away from her, while a worried look covered his face. He just explained to Cagalli about everything—from the engagement, the bet, to the promises made by their parents. It didn't do him any good. He got Cagalli mad and he could feel her dangerous aura spreading around the room.

"I can't believe you, Kira!" Cagalli slammed her hands on the desk. "You're engaged to two girls now! How can you not say no?!"

"I can't back down, Cagalli," he replied, still feeling nervous. "Siegel Clyne and the Vice-Foreign Minister were very serious about the promises."

"How about the bet?!"

"Well, that's…"

"This is too much—even for you, Kira!"

"I know…"

Cagalli massaged her temples a bit to calm down. She didn't know what to think of her brother anymore. It was either he was too soft or too much of an idiot.

"I'm really sorry, Cagalli," he muttered under his breath.

"So, who are you going to choose?" she suddenly asked.

"I don't know. I can't decide."

"It's because you don't know them too well," Cagalli said, taking a seat on his desk. She cupped her chin with her left hand, while her right hand tapped the desk. "Kira, you know you can't force yourself to love them."

True, she had a point. Kira had thought about it too. "Maybe I should get to know them better."

"It's the only way." Cagalli stood up and motioned herself over to his side. "But how are you going to do that?"

He plainly shook his head and stared down at the floor. He was certainly confused, and Cagalli could feel the burden in his heart. It was twin's intuition again.

"Kira, I'm sure you'll get through this," she said in soft voice this time. She can't be angry at him all the way now, can she? The only way to help her brother out was to support him in the best way possible.

"Thanks…" Kira muttered, feeling lucky to have a good sister.

ORB Mansion

The morning was gloomy and cloudy. It seemed that it was going to rain any moment. Inside the mansion, the brunette representative was getting ready in his room. He was facing his mirror, combing his unruly hair. His things were all set on his desk. The only thing missing was his uniform coat which he hanged on the chair. After he was done fixing his face up, he walked towards his desk, put on his coat, and grabbed all the things he needed for the day.

Before he left the room, he noticed the dark clouds looming over the mansion. He knew it was going to rain. He walked out the room and went downstairs to the dining room where breakfast was served. Sitting across him was his blonde sister who was eating her eggs and bacon.

"Good morning, Kira!" she greeted him after stuffing the last piece of bacon into her mouth.

"Good morning, Cagalli," he replied. He picked up his knife and fork and started eating.

Cagalli had finished up her meal and drank some milk. As she placed her glass down, she looked over at the brunette and flashed a smile. "Kira, I don't know if you can handle more surprises but…" she said.

"Huh?" He looked at her curiously. "What is it, Cagalli?"

"You have some unexpected guests, Kira, and I want you to entertain them for the day," Cagalli said, as she lifted her glass of milk.

Kira raised an eyebrow. "Cagalli, I can't do that. I have a meeting this afternoon."

"I know." Cagalli drank her milk till the last drop and placed the glass on the table. "That's why I'm going to take your place. I'll handle that meeting later, Kira."

"Don't be silly," Kira said after taking a bite of the bacon.

"I can handle it."

"But it's my job. You have your own job to worry about."

"Kira, you're going to entertain the guests whether you like it or not," she said seriously, narrowing her gaze.

Fearing her violent temper, Kira decided to give in. "Who are these guests? Do I know them?" he asked.

Cagalli smiled at him mischievously. She wiped her mouth with a clean napkin, stood up, and spun on her heels. She glanced over her shoulder to look at Kira. "Let's just say they're acquaintances of yours," she said, giggling like a little girl.

He had a bad feeling about these guests. "All right… Where are they?"

"Right behind you," replied Cagalli and left the dining room in a hurry.

"Behind me?" he muttered. Slowly, he turned his head and saw two persons gawking at him. He gasped and accidentally knocked over his glass of milk on the table. "What?! What are you doing here?"

To be continued…

JC: All right, it's over for now. You can guess who the two persons are? It's quite obvious. The next chapter will be more about Athrun, Cagalli, and Rusty. Be sure to watch out for it. Please review and no flaming.