Count to Ten

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed... Only the characters I add and the plot.

Summary: Kira is haunted by the dead. He doesn't know why they are but he has learned to live with it. How will meeting a new girl help his little problem? And why are all his friends still looking for him three years after he disappeared? Kira OOC.

(A/N)- Author's Notes

(Lalala)- Ghost Speaking

Last Time:

"Her name is Lyra." Athrun whispered as Kira looked on.

The little girl has pink hair just like Lacus had and she has blue eyes like Yzak. Kira just looked at the little girl. Jasmine walked in next and looked sadly at Kira before she sat next to him.

"She is Lacus' daughter..." Athrun continued.

"Who is the father?" Kira asked finally.

"Yzak and her got together after you left. They married soon after."Athrun muttered.

"Why is she here?" Kira asked.

"Yzak was Flay's second victim... Though she didn't touch him. After Lacus was murdered he went insane and killed himself. Flay had driven him over the edge with her taunts." Athrun said as Lyra pulled closer to him at the mention of her parents.

"Why is she here?" Kira asked again.

"In Lacus' will she stated that you are her guardian but if you didn't come back and something happened to both of them then she asked me to look after her for you. Lacus wants you to adopt her daughter..."

WARNING: Blood is mentioned and Lacus death is as well. Not for the faint of heart but necessary. Enjoy and R&R!

Chapter Eleven: Adoption?

Kira looked at the little girl for a long time. His eyes seemed so lost and afraid... Jasmine wanted to take his pain away. Kira held out a shaky arm to touch the little girl. When Lyra saw that Kira wouldn't hurt her or anything she put her little arms out to be held by Kira. Kira smiled stiffly as he stood up and took the girl from Athrun. He sat back down as he looked at the little girl hugging his chest.

"Lyra is it?" Kira asked softly as his eyes began to soften.

The little girl nodded her head as she snuggled. How weird it was that she would trust him so much at a first meeting, was on everyone's minds. She is exactly like her mother they all thought. Her mother had been so trusting but also knew when not to. At the thought of Lacus Kira's eyes began to tear again. He pushed them down as he studied the little girl in his arms.

"Would you like a new daddy Lyra?" Kira still spoke softly.

Again she nodded but this time she looked up at him. He smiled at her before getting up again. Jasmine stood up as well and they all made to leave the girls bathroom.

"Kira?" Athrun called before Kira could leave.

"Athrun?" Kira called back as he turned around.

"Are you going to adopt her?" Athrun asked.

"After we deal with these ghosts," Kira firmly said, "But until then she will stay with me. If she is happy then I will adopt her. I don't want to force her to have a new father."

Athrun nodded his head as they all finally left the room. They entered the quiet restaurant to find all there guests eating quietly. Kira sat down with Lyra on his lap. Feeding her as well as watching the others talk. They were telling him about what happened while he was gone.

"The day after you left was when Flay first appeared. She said she killed you and that she would kill us one at a time. If we ran she would just follow us and kill us off one at a time. After that we tried to find you but there wasn't a trace." Cagalli was saying.

"After the threat we all moved into Athrun's manor that his mother had left to him. We formed our own force to either fight off the ghosts (we weren't sure if they could be killed yet.) Or prevent another war from starting. Lacus became a main leader of the public. She kept the peace together." Mir added.

"Six months after you had left she was crying outside. Yzak had been walking by and for some reason he comforted her. It was totally out of character for him. After that we found them talking a lot and going off by themselves. Soon they were going out in public as a couple. One day they just announced that they were getting married. That was about a year after you left. Nine months after the hurried marriage they had Lyra." Cagalli continued.

"A total of six months after Lyra was born was when we started seeing Flay more. No one had tried to hit her or anything yet. All she had been doing was talking and trying to cause accidents. No one was ready for what she was about to pull... Lacus was outside in the backyard with Lyra. Mr. Pink had been playing with a crawling Lyra. She had just started crawling and was trying to grab Mr. Pink when IT happened..." Athrun trailed off.

"There was a stone angel with a stone sword in its hand behind Lacus. Lacus thought she was safe. It had been at least a week since the last Flay sighting. While she was watching Lyra... The base of the statue crumbled... The sword went through Lacus's back just before the rest of the angel collapsed on top of her killing her instantly." Dearka whispered as the room fell silent.

Kira choked up after hearing this part of the tale. After all this was only the beginning he was sure of it. Though besides a missing Yzak and Lacus he didn't see anyone else. He listened quietly. His food forgotten as Lyra curled into a ball on Kira's lap.

"Two months later Yzak had fallen into a deep depression. (He had been in denial most of the time.) We found him one morning on his bed with an empty bottle of pills near his left hand. Lyra had been crying in the room next door which had alerted everyone to something being wrong." Athrun muttered.

"After that is was attack after attack. She only managed to hurt but nothing too serious. Then she stopped attacking a few months ago. She totally disappeared which we were all happy about but then Tolle showed up... Mir had been the one to first see him..." Cagalli looked at Mir.

"Then you came back into the picture and stopped him from hurting anyone." Mir said though she did look sad because he had been her boyfriend.

"What's your story?" Dearka asked.

Kira went on to tell them of his travels. How he tried to find a way to make Flay disappear. How he never stayed in one place for very long. That he thought Flay had only been after him. He also told them about his life with Tom and Bailee and how Tai had been killed by Flay and how he began to run again this time with Jasmine.

He then told them about the research he had found with Doctor Youngling. He told them how Doctor Youngling and his assistant was killed and how Kira had been injured. Jasmine talked a little as well. Telling her part in all of this. When Kira told them what he had learned they all stared at him slack jawed. Lyra had fallen asleep by then and it was now supper time.

"Who do you think is doing this?" Athrun finally asked after a moment of silence.

"I'm not sure yet but I think it was someone we knew." Kira said with a far away look in his eye.

"Well I suppose we better get back to the Manor." Cagalli muttered after they had eaten supper there as well.

"Yeah... Its getting late. We can finish this discussion tomorrow." Athrun agreed.

When they got back to the manor they stared at it in horror. It was bathed in the blood of the soldiers who had been asked to stay there. Not all of them but from what they could see there were at least five down. Either dead or just barely alive. Standing in the entrance looking out at the property which was full of soldiers stood...

(A/N I'm evil! Muh hahaha! I'm going to leave you all guessing. That's not the worst part of it. grins I'm putting this story on hold for awhile. I want to work on some of my other stories for awhile. Like Gray Leaves. I haven't touched my other stories in months. So you guys will just have to survive however long it is until I next update. I know I'm evil... Im proud of it!

Thank you to those who reviewed. I hope you guys like the chapter. I know the scene with Lacus was a bit graphic. I might have to change the rating because of it but it was the best I could think of. I'm a twisty person. shrugs

Please R&R!

Karone