With Mayuri-sama dead, only she could hear her sister crying.

She ignored the remains of her father, pulling her broken body forward as best she could to reach Ashisogi Jizō. Mayuri-sama's sacrifice had saved her life. There was nothing more she could do for him. She would mourn him later and keep him forever in her heart. All she could do now was take care of her sister.

"Mayuri-sama," Nemu asked when she was a child. "Why is she crying?"

"Eh?" The scientist replied "You can hear it too?"

Nemu nodded. "She's hurt Mayuri-sama. Help her. Make it stop."

Her father scowled. "First of all, it's not a 'she', it's my zampakuto. Combining my original weapon with Nemuri No. 5 enabled me to achieve bankai. The key to that power is pain. By subjecting the neural pathways of No. 5 to constant agony, I've unlocked the full potential of the weapon and can customize it's affects as needed."

"But you have to make it stop." Nemu insisted upset. "She's crying. It hurts."

"Of course it hurts!" Mayrui huffed. "Didn't you just hear me explain? It's necessary to maintain my zampakuto's power. You learn to ignore it after a while."

"Please make it stop Mayuri-sama." She begged with tears rolling down her cheeks. "She hurts so much!"

"Enough!" He snarled backhanding her across the face. "I will not be lectured by my own creation!"

Then he beat her until he grew tired.

That wasn't the first time Mayuri-sama had beaten her and it definitely wasn't the last. She never brought up the pitiful cries from Ashisogi Jizō again. Mayuri-sama was wrong though. She never learned to ignore it. They were louder than ever as she finally reached the battered weapon. Pulling the sword close to her body, she reached out with her reiatsu forming a link between them. She gasped when the wave of pain swept over her. It was almost unbearable even though she knew it was only a faint echo of what Ashisogi Jizō endured.

It had taken years of searching through Mayuri-sama's secret files while his back was turned to learn what she needed. What could be done could also be undone if you knew how. Using her hard won knowledge, Nemu began the kidou chants that would set her sister free. The words were a guide, directing her energy to unlock the three loci of pain, three programmed energy constructs designed solely to torment Ashisogi Jizō. She could see them pulsing around the neural core that resided in the blade. The first was easy. The loci of the body simply poured energy into every nerve ending causing extreme physical agony. It was simple to deactivate. The next was far more difficult. The loci of the mind tortured Ashisogi Jizō's conscious with terrifying nightmares and bombarded her with constant feelings of hopelessness and horror. It took a lot of energy to shut down the many facets of the program. Nemu felt drained when she finished. But it wasn't over. There was still one left. And it was the worst.

The soul is much more than simply a recording of the individual or the vehicle for the cycle of reincarnation. It is also the connection to the divine, the contact between the self and the universe that makes all of creation interconnected and whole. Mayuri-sama found a way to sever that connection. Ashisogi Jizō's soul pounded and shrieked against a wall of negative energy that denied her this essential contact making her feel impossibly alone. It was unbearable to Nemu to feel it from the outside. Nothing she had done so far would have any meaning if she didn't succeed in freeing her sister's soul.

Pulling up every ounce of energy left in her body, she chanted and focused on deactivating her father's terrible creation. It took a lot out of her to shut it down. That was only the first step. As she had learned, even defeating the program did not destroy the barrier. It only allowed her to approach it. She only had one shot. She 'reached' out to the dark pulsing construct with her own soul. She had to match her spirit to the frequencies, slipping past the barrier to get inside. The pain was like nothing she'd ever experienced before. She could feel the isolation claiming her, cutting her off from the universe. She had to fight off panic and deny her overwhelming instinct to turn back. She was vaguely aware of her body far away pulling Ashisogi Jizō tight, the barbs and spikes digging into her flesh.

'I'm coming sister', she thought as she pushed forward ignoring the agony, 'I'm coming for you'.

For a moment, the barrier completely engulfed her. She was isolated like her sister, floating in a sea of nothingness, an intense feeling of utter wrongness enveloping her. She began to panic. What if she got lost like a diver drowning? What if she was headed the wrong way? Fighting it off, she continued her struggle, continued pushing until suddenly…she was through.

Ashisogi Jizō was shocked into silence. She could feel Nemu. She could feel her sister's love.

'I made it.' Nemu thought towards her sister 'I'm here for you now.'

And the barrier fell.

Waking up in her own body, Nemu could hear Ashisogi Jizō's confused mewling. For the first time in her existence, she was whole and free from pain.

"It's all right Onee-chan." Nemu murmured. "I have you now. No one is ever going to hurt you again."

Singing a low key lullaby, Nemu calmed Ashisogi Jizō's fears. Slowly, she felt her sister come to understand her new reality. Her form seemed to shift and change in Nemu's grasp. After a while, she fell asleep. For the first time ever, Ashisogi Jizō, Nemuri No. 5, was at rest. Completely spent, Nemu soon followed her into unconsciousness.

"Here!" Hanataro shouted to the stretcher bearers. "She's over here!"

He tried not to think about the things he was stepping over and around to get to the fallen lieutenant. There was nothing he could do for the captain anymore. Reaching Nemu, he gently rolled her onto her back.

"Lieutenant, are you all right? Lieutenant Kurotsuchi, can you hear me?"

Her pulse was weak and her breathing shallow. Combined with her wounds, she clearly needed immediate medical attention. The stretcher bearers arrived and began preparing her for movement.

"We're going to move you now lieutenant." Hanataro explained. Even unconscious, it's surprising how much people will pick up in emergency situations. "We're going to strap you down on a litter. I need you to let go of your zampakuto."

He tried to take it from her hand as he explained. He couldn't remove it. Nemu held it in an unbreakable grip.

"It's no use." He informed the bearers. "We'll have to tie it down somehow."

Where did it come from anyway? Was it Nemu's zampakuto? He'd never seen it before. It was a lovely weapon encased in a silver trimmed sheathe with a simple yet attractive design for a guard. The strangest thing was the child's face embossed on the hilt. It seemed to Hanataro that the sleeping child shown looked almost identical to Nemu.