Spoiler Alert:

This story is based 20 years after the Thousand-Year Blood War Arc. If you haven't read the manga, a lot of the details in this story be spoilers. A lot of it, however, is me filling in the blanks in time. If you want to know what is real about the actual story and what isn't, check out the Bleach Wikia or read up on the rest of the story.

Disclaimer:

I don't own Bleach or any of the ideas present inside the manga or anime. The use of any materials that were not my own were intended for the purpose of entertainment and nothing more.

Note from the Author:

Welcome back readers! If you are new to this story line I highly suggest you read Seer, the first story in this series. If you decide to skip it, you'll miss out on all sorts of juicy story. To you continuing readers, I hope you enjoy the sequel! I have an awesome beta reader this go around, who will be helping me to make this story just that much better. Less grammar and spelling errors, and better phrasing - hooray!

Herald

She Who Heals

Today was turning out to be one of 'those' days. It seemed like every time I finished one project, someone was hounding me to go fix something else. I knew why I was so busy, but that didn't mean that I wasn't annoyed. And exhausted. All of my work from the last month and a half had been waiting for me to regain control of my shikai. Until my work had piled up, I hadn't realized just how many broken buildings I had fixed in the last five years. One wall every few days had been easy, but now I had three dozen buildings, some of which I had to create from scratch to replace what had been obliterated by Squad 11. I needed to figure out how to make an auto-repair function on the buildings that were most likely to be demolished by spontaneous violence.

"That doesn't look at all like the original building," Yumichika Ayasegawa nagged beside me. He had been following me around for the last hour, nitpicking my repairs to one of their training areas. For someone that was a member of the most ruthless squad in the Gotei 13, he sure was acting like a finicky pansy.

"I'm not done," I responded in a low, irritated tone. I normally didn't have the mental capacity to feel emotions while I was using my shikai, but he had been grating away at my nerves for almost an hour now. It was enough to make my control shaky. The headache caused by my still mending bond with my zanpakuto only made it worse. Normally, I could sort my emotions into a category and leave them there, making my actions completely motivated by logic and priorities. With Yumichika, I had lost that ability about thirty minutes ago.

"The edges on the eves need to be more rounded, like a scallop. Not squared off like they are now."

I shifted away from my mind's eye, the change of vision making me shake my head to clear the disoriented feeling that threatened to knock me over. I had only been able to use my shikai without losing consciousness for a few days. Now the pain alone was enough to keep my time with my shikai active down to twenty minutes or less. Having been at this for an hour was wearing on me, and I let it show when I turned to Yumichika and unleashed the full force of my flat glare on him.

"If you don't like it, you can fix it yourself," I growled at him. I turned and started walking away, making the motions to sheath my zanpakuto.

"You're going to leave it like this?" He protested, his voice rising with outrage.

"Yes," I grumbled as I continued to walk away. I would come back tomorrow and finish. I had more than my fill of his attitude.

"You can't just leave it! There isn't even a door."

I stopped mid step, my sword half sheathed and my teeth gritting. I thought over what I should do in this situation. The best option would be to leave and finish tomorrow, but my other option sounded so much better. I turned on him, sinking into my mind's eye as my anger took over. I drew my vision to the wood nearby, finding the training building instantly. I pushed power into the reishi that composed it, coaxing the wood to turn into pure, white reishi.

"There, now you don't need a door," I bit out as I sank the reishi into the ground, forcing it to become one with the concrete underfoot. The stone foundation and walls remained where they were, but all the studs, flooring, roof and siding melted into the concrete leaving a shell of a building in its place. I resisted the urge to snarl at Yumichika as the pain in my head flared, a repercussion to the power I had pushed out with my bond still damaged. I slammed my zanpakuto into her sheath and started walking away again as I dropped my shikai. The armor that had covered me from shoulder to knee filtered away into the air behind me, leaving a trail of golden flecks that wafted up into the sky. Yumichika didn't call out to me this time, leaving me to stomp away in silence.

I headed back to the Squad 10 barracks, aiming for the offices as I flash stepped to make the journey go faster. When I had dropped my shikai, the pain in my head had dulled to a low roar. Normally, I only had a headache when I used Maebure no Shukufuku, my zanpakuto's shikai, but after maintaining it for so long it was like the pain had to stick around.

I tried to not look as angry as I was feeling when I walked into the office building. I trained my face into a pleasant mask as I nodded at some of my squad members before heading up the stairs to my office on the second floor. It was hard to maintain the fake expression, but I managed it until I rounded the doorway that lead into the space that I shared with the 4th and 5th seats of our squad. My face dropped like I had never been smiling and an irritated scowl replaced it.

"Welcome back, Yamamoto," Amagi Kyoruni's soft voice greeted me as I moved towards my desk. I glanced at him to see he had turned in his chair at his desk. His friendly, daffodil yellow eyes smiled at me as he finished turning fully towards me. He was one of those guys that just looked like a nice person, with a soft featured face and permanent gentle expression turning his lips, he was liked by everyone. His hair was green like the leaves of the plants that his zanpakuto created, giving him an earthy appearance that only served to add to his peaceful exterior.

"Thanks, Amagi," I grumbled as I walked past him to my desk. "I can take your reports up to Rangiku in a few minutes if you're busy."

"Are you sure?" He asked, concern bleeding into his voice. "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," I responded as I plopped down into my chair with a sigh. I rested my elbows on the desk before cradling my forehead in my hands. "Squad 11 just doesn't know how not to break things."

"You've been out of commission for over almost two months now. Just because you can use your shikai again, doesn't mean you need to," Amagi said as his footsteps approached me.

"I just don't like people waiting on me." I let out a sigh and lifted my head to gaze up at him. I gave him a reassuring smile as I pushed the pain out of my eyes.

"You shouldn't be-"

Amagi cut himself off as my zanpakuto manifested between us. I blinked up at her with surprise as her teal gaze met mine. She didn't normally manifest on her own, though in the past she had done it often enough. Normally, she saved her surprise entrances for when I was alone, or with someone who knew more about her. This was the first time she had done it in front of Amagi, which clearly showed when he jumped back with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. He was at a loss for words as he froze with his back pressed to the wall.

Tankyu no Unmei was exactly the sort of zanpakuto that would do that to a man. She was beautiful, stunning, shocking, and so foreign that she could leave anyone in awed silence when they first saw her. Since my powers had evolved, and I learned her true name, her appearance was always similar while changing with predictions. The only things that always remained constant, were her striking teal eyes and her onyx black hair. Her mask today was made from plates of golden lace that layered from her eyebrows into her hair like feathers while smaller flecks of gold spotted her cheeks, growing in density as they trailed up her cheekbones to her ears, where they decorated the curve of her ear before transforming into elegant chandelier earrings. Her hair was done up in her usual shimada, but instead of the red ribbons they were a made of a slick teal material that matched her eyes and kimono. Patterns of white and gold feathers had been painted into the fabric of her kimono and obi, making the fabric pop with the shine of the paint.

She didn't say anything as she moved towards me. Her hand slid over my shoulder while her other slipped behind my head and she pulled me towards her. I didn't try to resist her movements and let her pull me to her chest. I snuggled my nose into her kimono as her nails ran over my hair, soothing the pain that lingered from using our shikai for so long. The chains from my kanzashi jingled as her touch moved my chignon, the sound bringing a smile to my lips.

"A few more days," she murmured. Her voice was smooth like silk and sultry like I always imagined a siren's would be. "A few more days and I will have our bond repaired. The more you use our shikai the faster it will go, even if it pains you."

"I know," I replied, my voice muffled by her kimono. Without my shikai running, it took her days to fix something that could take an hour. She was powerful on her own, but without the aid of my spiritual pressure, her abilities were limited. When our shikai was running she could completely take it over if she wanted to. I hadn't known another zanpakuto that could do such things outside of the Muramasa incident thirty or so years ago, but that was all just words to me. I had only been a soul reaper for 18 years, but we had to learn about the events in our past while I was going through the Spiritual Arts Academy. My zanpakuto was just unique, but no more so than any other zanpakuto.

Tankyu no Unmei literally meant Seeker of Fate. She acted as if she were some sort of god most of the time, and treated me as her Herald. Every day she would give me a name that reflected my future - She Who Chooses, She Who Wonders, She Who Struggles, She Who Belongs - they were all my names at one point in time, but since my bond with her was nearly broken, my name had been She Who Heals. Even now the pain in my head was ebbing away with her touch, soothed by our closeness outside of our bond.

"Ria," Amagi's voice came hesitantly to my ears. "Who is that?"

I tried not to laugh at his attempt to be quiet. I pulled back from my zanpakuto just enough to lean around her body so I could see him. His back was still plastered to the wall, but he had collected himself enough to fix his posture. His eyes were wide as they roamed Tankyu no Unmei's back side.

"This is my zanpakuto. I told you she could manifest," I said softly. The caress of her healing touch had my words coming out in a gentle sound when I had meant to be teasing him.

"You didn't tell me that she looked like that," he said in a harsh whisper. Her hand left my hair as she turned, pinning him in place with her teal gaze. The pain in my head was gone, so I sat back and watched as she sauntered over to him. She stopped only inches from him, clearly invading his personal space, and gazed up at him. She was taller than me with her geta on, but only by a few inches, but next to Amagi, she looked like an ornate doll and completely out of place. She reached up to his face, her fingers caressing down the line of his jaw as her head tilted curiously to the side.

"He Who Stutters," she said, her voice coming out in an alluring drawl. She tapped his chin with her index finger before she vanished, leaving Amagi frozen in shock. I tried my best not to laugh at his vacant expression. She could only see my future, but I hadn't expressed that detail to Amagi yet and she knew it. But, we did both know that he had a date tonight with one of the Squad 6 girls and that he was nervous about it.

I stood and moved to his desk. He didn't react to me as I scooped the stack of papers on the corner of his desk into my arms and walked off with a wave, "good luck tonight Amagi."

I left him alone in the office as I headed back to the stairs. Without the headache to weigh me down, the anger I had felt earlier left my chest at the thought of the nervous wreck he was going to be this evening. I was sure he would be fine, but I'd hear all about it tomorrow. I had been completely useless at work the day after Toshiro and I had first kissed, so I could imagine how distracted he would be.

Rangiku's office was on the third floor, down the opposite hallway from Toshiro's office. I had to stop at the top to gaze down the hallway to his office. He had been gone for several days now, off observing the training mission that our 8th combat team was on. Most of the members of the combat team were newer soul reapers who had little in the way of experience. Their last mission to the World of the Living had ended with an Adjuchas disabling their team leader and scattering the team throughout the area. Toshiro thought it best that he go with them on their next excursion, to make the new members feel better about their Hollow encounters. They were due back in a few days, but they usually returned early so I was hoping I would see him soon.

Letting out a sigh of longing, I turned and made my way to Rangiku's office. She was the acting captain until Toshiro returned, so all the paperwork and reports from the squad went to her for review and signature. The concept was rather funny, especially when one considered how much she disliked work in general. She was much more interested in the people, than the paperwork that they produced.

Rounding the doorway that led into her office, I stopped just inside to glance around. I had been expecting her to be in here with all the work she had to do, but the room appeared empty. I slowly walked in as I opened myself to feeling spiritual pressures. She was here, or nearby at least. I pursed my lips as I moved to her desk and set the papers beside several other stacks. I turned to the room and almost instantly spotted her feminine form sprawled out across the couch that had its back towards the door.

I tip toed over to her, trying to be as quiet as possible when I stopped at her side. Rangiku looked like she always did, luscious strawberry blonde hair framing her face in full waves, make-up done to perfection and her cleavage exposing far too much skin in her tight shihakusho. It looked like she had flopped down on the couch and instantly fallen asleep with her arm and foot hanging off the edge while her other hand was covering her eyes. A soft snore slipped from her open mouth as her chest fell and rose with her breath. There was a slight flush to her cheeks that had me wondering if she had gone out to drink at lunch. It was well into the afternoon now, so it wouldn't have surprised me.

I debated with myself about waking her up, but decided not to. She could be rather grumpy when she first woke, and there really was no need. She'd never get her paperwork done anyway. The three weeks that I was unconscious had resulted in piles of paperwork falling off her desk in heaps. The remains of Paperocolypse were still scattered behind her desk in disorganized piles. I was going to have to take care of it all soon if she didn't. Yay.

Letting out a soft sigh, I turned and left her office. No one would blame me if I left early today, even if I didn't really need to. I had been staying late since I had regained control over my shikai to try and eliminate the backlog of work requests, but with the pain of running my shikai I hadn't done as much as I had hoped. I needed to sit down and meditate with my shikai running. If I wasn't actively trying to do something, I could filter out most the pain by categorizing it and pushing it aside.

Instead of taking the stairs down, I flash stepped over the railing that lined the outer wall. I stopped on the fourth floor of the housing building, stepping onto the railing then down to the walkway just outside my barrack's room. I had moved back in here a few days after I had been released from Squad 4. Staying with Rangiku had been nice, but I enjoyed the freedom that staying in my own quarters allowed me. When I was staying in her spare room, it had allowed her to always know when I came and went, which mostly translated into she knew when I had stayed the night with Toshiro and when I hadn't. It made for very awkward mornings, filled with knowing looks from my lieutenant that I struggled not to blush at. She didn't know just how intimate we were, but she must have had a pretty good guess.

Sliding the door to my room open, I quickly stepped inside and scanned the area before closing the door. Ever since I had been assaulted after the Summer Festival, I was paranoid about entering my room. I had been so drunk at the time that even if I had looked around, I probably wouldn't have seen him, but I couldn't help myself from being cautious. The events caused by Hideo Mitsuji had me watching my back when I shouldn't have needed to. Squad 12 was certain that they had rounded up everyone that had been possessed by his zanpakuto, but I wasn't. I had seen firsthand how Mitsuji's soul candies could draw themselves away from the surface of the person that they possessed, leaving the host completely unaware of their presence. I was just waiting for the day when one of them decided to surface again and try to kill me.

My sister and I were the last surviving descendants of Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the former Head Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads. We had no clue about our ancestor for most of our lives, believing that Yamamoto was just a common name in the 4th district of North Rukon. That was, until we were targeted by Hideo Mitsuji, a former Soul Reaper who had a grudge against the former Head Captain, and started hunting us down in a fit of violent revenge. He killed everyone in the Rukon Districts that could possibly have descended from Genryusai Yamamoto, and once he was done with them he turned his sights on us, the only descendants to have been protected by Seireitei.

It was thanks to Captain Hitsugaya that I survived his first attempt on my life. Mitsuji lured me to the World of the Living and sent a Hollow that was far stronger than me at the time. It almost killed me, but Toshiro arrived just as my strength had been fading. He saved me so many times after that, and through our interactions I couldn't stop myself from falling for him.

I tried not to at first. It wasn't proper for a lady to be swooning over her superior officer. It felt wrong, and I told myself countless times that there was no way he could feel the same way for me. Then, he kissed me, pulled me from a horrible memory and replaced it with something gentle and tender. I almost blew it after that, expressing my feelings in a horrible confession that had me running half way across the Seireitei to hide my embarrassment. He wouldn't let me hide though. He chased me down, drug me back into his arms and showed me exactly how he felt.

We had been together since that night. Through the highs and the lows that Hideo Mitsuji's vengeance put me through, he was always there. He would correct me if I ever said it aloud, but without him I wouldn't have had the strength nor will to survive.

I stopped as I started to pass my dresser mirror, turning my head so I could see the kanzashi that hung from my chignon. Three golden peonies decorated the tip of the pins, their petals thin and etched so delicately that they looked real. The tips of each petal were scalloped and bent back to reflect light across the metal that made it appear to subtly glow. A white gem sat in the center of each flower, giving the gold an even more heavenly glow. A butterfly sat on the edge of the largest flower, its wings so lifelike that it fit in perfectly with the flowers. Eight gold chains with circular, beveled plates spacing each of the links out, hung from the flowers. They chimed subtly with my movements, making far less noise than my original kanzashi.

Toshiro had given me this kanzashi the first time I had seen him after I had woken up. It was a gift, meant to replace the one that had been broken when Mitsuji had tried to take me over with his zanpakuto's soul candy. I hadn't had the courage to look at the mangled hummingbird yet. It had been passed down in our family from generation to generation, and I had broken it not just once, but twice. I wasn't worthy of it, and with my sister still being controlled my Mitsuji's soul candy, I couldn't bring myself to go anywhere near it.

In my uniform, the kanzashi looked completely out of place. I had started wearing make-up to accent my chocolate brown eyes and doing my long, black hair up in a fancier chignon to better accompany the fine metal ornament. We were allowed to customize our uniforms to some extent, so I had sleeves like a yukata added to mine as soon as I graduated from the academy. Having been raised to be a lady, and to be married to an advantageous family, I was used to wearing more formal clothing before I decided to become a Soul Reaper. The sleeves were just a trinket to my sister, and all her efforts to make sure that I was raised as a proper lady.

Shaking my head, I smiled as the chains jingled at my ear, and turned away. I had vowed not to let myself linger on the past until everything had come to an end. Worrying about things that were out of my control was useless. Mio was in Squad 12's genius hands. They would figure out a way to free her from his control. Captain Kurotsuchi had already freed Takeshi Nakai and one of the other Soul Reapers who were taken over by him, so it was just a matter of time. My sister had a spiritual pressure unlike most people who weren't Soul Reapers, but she wasn't strong enough to withstand the treatment that had been used. It didn't help that she was five months pregnant either, preventing them from testing any treatments on her.

I turned to my room and let a slight frown muddle my expression. If I let myself release my shikai in the middle of the barracks, I would probably make some of my squad members uncomfortable. I was still learning how to control my zanpakuto's powers. It had been easy in the World of the Living, where very little was made of reishi. Here in the Soul Society, everything was made of reishi, and my power became hard to control especially with my bond to my zanpakuto still damaged. I needed to go somewhere that wouldn't have everyone weaker than me sweating bullets just to keep working.

I left my room, making sure the door was securely closed before I jumped over the railing and landed quietly on the walkway below. The buildings here had all been designed for quick reactions to possible threats, with most of the doors facing the outside of the building and a large enough gap between the railing and ceiling for just about anyone to easily move through.

I straightened my shihakusho and touched my kanzashi to make sure it hadn't come free during the jarring movements before I turned and started walking. Both the Captain's and Lieutenant's quarters sat away from the barracks, separated by a field of grass. Rangiku's house was almost always populated with visitors outside of work hours, but Toshiro's sat quietly opposite of his socially gifted lieutenant. He valued his privacy, so outside of Rangiku or one of the other captains it remained his sanctuary.

Well, then there was me.

I made quick work of crossing the grassy field and stepping up onto his porch. The season was slowly waning into fall, leaving the air pleasantly warm instead of scorching hot and the foliage beginning to turn from green to yellows, oranges and reds. As I rounded the corner of his house, the pond and plum trees that sat behind it came into view. I hadn't known that there was even a pond back here until he had taken me to his house for the first time.

"Tankyu no Unmei," I called out to my zanpakuto as I pulled her blade from her sheath. I felt her manifest beside me before I turned my gaze to her. Her teal gaze met mine, her brow quirked in a curious expression.

"Herald," she said softly in greeting.

"How long will it take you to fix our bond if I leave our shikai running?"

She remained still, her frozen expression telling me that she was exploring our bond in her head.

"Half a day," she finally answered. Her long lashes blinked slowly as she adjusted her posture.

"So, it will take a few days of our shikai running for you to finish, or I can try to bear through the headache and you would be done tomorrow?"

"If you strain yourself too much, any progress that I make will be lost to a new tear."

I let out a soft sigh. There was no getting around it. A few more days and I would be back to normal, whatever normal was.

"Maebure no Shukufuku."

Power flowed through me as my shikai activated and a headache roared to life. Golden flakes of reishi formed around me, glowing with my reiatsu as they multiplied, filling the air around me with a warm, golden glow. I reached out with my sword arm and the reishi wafted towards me. It turned to liquid when it came into contact with my skin and my sleeve dissipated into the air. Plates of black armor lined in gold formed on my hand, covering my fingers in metal plates that layered towards my fingertips. The armor continued to form, encasing my outer arm in plates that were fastened in place by gold chains. A shoulder pauldron, breast plate and thigh plates formed, all fastened together by gold chains. A black metal obi cinched my waist, the weave of the metal links so fine that it appeared to be fabric while a thicker gold chain acted as the obi-jime to accent the finery of the metal.

When it was done forming, I dropped my arm to my side. Maebure no Shukufuku, The Herald's Blessing, was the restricted version of my shikai. It allowed me to use my mind's eye to see reishi and manipulate it as I saw fit, as well as giving me heightened sight and senses. My zanpakuto was certain that one day we would be a devastating force, but right now, I was still learning how to handle the power. In the World of the Living it had been easy, but here in the Soul Society I was easily overwhelmed. Even with my damaged bond, I had almost lost control several times and had been forced to drop my zanpakuto to stop myself from destroying the things I was trying to fix.

I hadn't activated my shikai to do things though; I had done it to allow Tankyu no Unmei to work on repairing our bond. I sat down on the edge of the porch and slid forward until my toes could touch the ground. I leaned to the side and rested my shoulder pauldron and my head against one of the pillars to allow myself to not fall over when I sank completely into my mind's eye. If I was doing something that required my mind's eye to travel, I tended to lose control over my body and it ragdolled.

I slipped into my mind's eye, leaving my sightless gaze to linger on the pond and trees, and delved into the world around me. The first look into my mind's eye was always overwhelming. My head filled with everything around me, consuming my thoughts with the reishi in the area as I worked to put everything into categories. Wood, dirt, grass, stone, metal; I sorted it all into its own area in my head and pushed it to the side until only the small radius around me was visible in my head. My mind always wanted to spread to the world around me if I didn't keep myself reigned in. It was easier to distract myself when there were other people around, but alone as I was, I struggled with myself.

Tankyu no Unmei's hand rested on my shoulder as she sat behind me. I felt her curl her legs around my hip before her arms wrapped around my waist and her chin rested on my shoulder. The pain from our bond eased with her touch, and I found my mind relaxing into an easy drawl of information. Once upon a time, she had left me to the mercy of my own actions and refused to intervene or assist me. That was before I had understood her or her power. She still had the same thought process and refused to break her rules to help me, but now she accepted that sometimes she had to come to my aid. She was the Seeker of Fate, and I was her Herald.

I let my body slip away from my control as my mind eased further and I entered a meditative state. With my zanpakuto's help, I lost track of time as she worked on our bond. I relaxed into her touch on my mind as she kept my attention from wandering too far. She held me as she worked, keeping the pain from becoming too much as she drew on our shikai. Whenever the pain would surge, she would sigh and stop whatever she had been doing until it dulled. She held me for a long time until I felt her physical presence vanish. The sensation drew me back to my body for only a moment before I sank back into my mind's eye.

Something brushed against my knees and I felt a body push my legs apart. I resisted the urge to startle and trained my mind's eye on the person who was invading my personal space. A small smile turned the corner of my mouth.

Toshiro.

With my mind's eye, I didn't see him like my regular vision would have. Instead he was so much more than just a physical presence. He'd only been this close to me with my shikai running a few times, but every time it was like an explosion of him in my head. I could feel everything about him; his heart beat, his shihakusho as he pressed closer to me, his hands ghosting up my thighs so lightly that I couldn't feel it with my body. His fingertips trailed up the plates of armor over my thighs and up, drawing my attention away from my mind's eye to focus on his touch as he cupped my cheek.

"Where are you?" he murmured as his thumb trailed over my bottom lip.

"Right here," I responded in a whisper. I slowly drew myself to sit straight, subtly stretching my neck and shoulder to alleviate the stiff joints. I blinked slowly to chase away the burn from having left them open for so long, as my mind's eye faded and my normal vision came back. The first image I saw was of his chest, the turquoise sash that held his zanpakuto, Hyorinmaru, crossing from his shoulder down to his waist. His captain's haori was normally pristine, but now it looked a little worse for wear with several tears fraying the collar and dried blood staining the fabric in an arching splatter.

I tilted my head back so my gaze would wander up the rest of him. Once upon a time I had been too embarrassed to admit how attractive he was, but I had long since gotten over that. He wore his shihakusho baggy, but with his broad shoulders he filled it out, hiding just how lean his frame was underneath. With my heightened vision from my shikai, I could see better than anyone how the fabric pulled tighter over the expanse of his chest, and just how slim his waist was from the denting of his shihakusho. I knew from personal experience just how fit he was, and the thought of it sent a thrill up my body. His face was structured like a Greek statue, the angles all sharp and soft at the same time while accenting his high cheekbones and sharp chin. The snow-white hair that he was so well known for was messy with whatever fight he had been in, the long locks falling over his eyes in a slightly disarrayed fashion.

I met his aquamarine gaze and found myself in awe of the colors that my shikai allowed me to see. Normally his eyes were just aquamarine, but with my heightened sight there were streaks of teal, turquoise and green hidden amongst the glacier blue. The expression he wore was soft as his hand trailed over my hair and his fingers ran through the chains of my kanzashi.

"Your bond is repaired?" He asked.

"Not yet," I said with a shake of my head. "A few more days."

"I was half expecting to find you unconscious when I returned," he teased despite the seriousness of his words.

"This is the first time you've come back to me as the injured one," I replied as I ran my hand down his stained haori. "Maybe I need to start worrying about you?"

"It's not mine," he said, shaking his head. "Grimmjow decided to make his displeasure with us known, but enough of that."

He tilted my chin up and kissed me, banishing my thoughts with his touch. My zanpakuto fell from my fingers to clatter on the porch and my armor dissipated as my shikai dropped. I started to move to stand, but he gently pushed me back until I was lying across the wooden floor and slid my body away from the edge until he was kneeling over me. He pinned one of my hands down with his own, while his other rested on the floor beside my head to support his weight. I smiled against his lips as my free hand slipped up his neck and into his hair, my fingers knotting in his snow colored locks.

After a long and very enjoyable moment, he pulled back, leaving me panting beneath him. He caressed my brow and temple as his eyes drifted over my face, expressing worry that I seldom saw in his gaze. I wanted to say something to sooth him, but what? Whatever was in his eyes, it was something that I couldn't fix. Every time he had left me behind because of his duties, he had come back to find me injured or almost dead. Or possessed. This really was the one time he had come back to me, and I wasn't in some sort of peril. I must have had him worried the entire time he was in the World of the Living. But, there was no more Hideo Mitsuji. With Toshiro's help, I had killed him, turned him into pure reishi and completely removed any physical trace that he had ever existed.

I lifted myself up, propping my elbow behind me as I captured his mouth in a quick, gentle kiss. I pressed my forehead to his and nuzzled his nose as I whispered, "I missed you too."

He captured my mouth with his as his arms wrapped around my body and he lifted me off the floor. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he wasted little time picking me up and carrying me inside. As he walked, articles of clothing seemed to fall off to be scattered down the hallway and through the living room to his bedroom.

We spent the night together, enjoying each other like we had been apart for longer than just a few days. Normally he was the one in control, but tonight, he took the back seat and let me set the pace. He was careful with every touch, every caress, treating me like I would break if he was too rough. He had patience with me when I was hesitant, and guided me when I was lost. We had been intimate for a few weeks, but I hadn't been with anyone before him. I hadn't asked what his history was, but he had enough experience that anything we did, ended with me drowning in pleasure.

When we were exhausted and fully satisfied, I curled up on my side with a smile on my face. His arm wrapped around my waist and he pulled me into his body. I couldn't help but to giggle as he shoved the pillow out of his way so his arm could slide under my neck. I snuggled back into him with a happy sigh and nuzzled my nose into his arm. He kissed the top of my head before he settled against me, his body relaxing at my back. I drifted off to sleep in his arms, listening to the steady rhythm of his easy breathing.

My dreams were calm and peaceful that night. They were always easy when he was near, like just his presence could make me relax. I had always been a bit of a worry wart, and it caused my mind to wander into dark places. I had nightmares that stemmed from my fears, growing into horrible constructs that kept me awake at night. When Toshiro was near, I didn't have to worry about all those things. I wasn't strong, nor was I a fighter. But he was, and I trusted him with my life, and my heart.

I woke to the feeling of the sheets moving across my skin and cold air replacing the warmth at my back. I didn't register the sounds of Toshiro getting up until I heard the snick of the shoji door sliding open and closed. Groggily, I rolled onto my stomach and stared blearily at the door. It couldn't have been much before sunrise with the dim light that filtered in from the closed drapes. I opened myself to feeling his spiritual pressure, and found that he had stopped on his porch. I waited for him to move, but even after several minutes, he was still there.

Perhaps I should have left him to sort his thoughts, but I decided against it and rolled out of bed. I started to reach for my clothes, but they weren't where I normally folded them up. It made me smile when I saw one sock hanging over the edge of his dresser, the other across the room on the floor. They had been the last things to go during our activities last night.

I pulled the sheet from the futon, wrapping it loosely around myself before I headed for the door. I followed his path to the back porch, trying not to giggle as I pushed his haori out of the middle of the hallway with my foot. He had left the back door open, but I closed it after I passed through. The early morning air had a chill, so I pulled the sheet tighter around me as I turned to see him sitting on the edge of the porch. The noises I had made drew his attention and he turned his head towards me, a grin quirking the corner of his mouth when he saw what I was wearing.

"Am I over-dressed?" I asked, referring to his yukata versus my sheet.

"Yes," he replied with a quiet chortle. I moved to him, stepping one foot over his legs so I could sit in his lap and straddle his hips. Leaning into him, I pressed my cheek to his shoulder and rested my forehead against the side of his neck. His arms surrounded me, pulling me tighter against him and pinning the sheet against my back. I nuzzled my nose into his neck and let out a contented sigh. He always smelled like the mountains: crisp, clean, and faintly earthy.

"You're up awfully early," I said softly. "There must be something on your mind."

He took in a deep breath and held it for a moment before he let it out. "Grimmjow wants Luien Baras back."

"That's the Numeros that Squad 12 has locked away, right?"

"Yes," he said with a nod. "I believe he was intending to the slaughter whole combat team as a message, but wasn't expecting a captain to be there."

"Have you fought him before?"

"No, and it's been thirty years since I last saw him."

I bit my lip as I put the timeline together in my head. Thirty years ago, the Quincy had tried to kill the Soul King, but shortly before that was Aizen's coup that had created the Espada in the first place. There were only two – no, three Espada still alive, but since I had been a Soul Reaper, they had remained in Hueco Mundo. For one of them to go to the World of the Living, he must have been pissed. I didn't know what the relationship between the Soul Society and the Espada was, but after the Captains and Lieutenants had made a point to leave Luien Baras alive, I could only assume that it was a friendly one.

I sat back so I could see his eyes, but he was pointedly avoiding my gaze. His face was hard with pent up emotions, his eyes reflecting the thoughts buzzing through his head. If I thought that I could say something to ease his mind, I would have. But how could you ease something that you didn't understand? I let the sheet slip through my grip and reached out to run a hand down the front of his yukata, trailing over where the blood splatter had been on his haori.

"Who's blood was that?"

I felt him stiffen with my question. His reaction alone told me that whoever it had been, it had been bad. His gaze met mine and I could see the pain that he was feeling.

"Amano."

I didn't let my expression change despite the urge to cringe. Sanado Koji was our 12th seat, and the leader of the 8th combat team. If he wasn't the one who was injured, it was one of the newer Soul Reapers. I didn't know everyone in the squad, but Toshiro made it a point to at least meet everyone on their first day. He cared for everyone in the squad. It was his duty to protect everyone under him, and he took his duties personally. It was why he had saved me in the beginning; it was his responsibility as my captain.

I bit my lip as I tried to think of something encouraging to say. Against an Arrancar, and an Espada no less, I didn't stand much of a chance, so for a new Soul Reaper an encounter with an Arrancar was certain death. Without asking I knew that he was dead, and Toshiro was blaming himself.

"How is Sanado?" I asked, trying to distract him from himself.

"He wants to give up his position at the 12th seat," he said with a sigh.

"Well, the 9th seat is open," I said lightly.

"He feels that he isn't fit to be leading the combat team anymore, I hardly believe that a promotion would make him feel any more fit for the position."

"How do you feel?"

Finally, he met my gaze. For only a moment, the raw emotional pain that he was feeling showed, but it vanished as he schooled his face, his expressions slipping behind his annoyed mask. I cupped his cheeks in my hands, completely dropping the sheet in the process as I raised up to kiss him.

"You don't have to hide from me," I cooed. He remained frozen for a long moment, and I knew he was considering my words. Slowly his hand slid up my bare back and pulled me into him. He hugged me, his arms straining not to squeeze me as hard as he wanted to as he pinned my arms between us and forced me closer.

"It's my fault that they are dead. It's my duty to protect my squad. There is no one else to blame but myself," he said, his words biting with the anger he felt towards himself.

"You are only one person. If you hadn't gone to the World of the Living, I'm sure more of them would have fallen victim. But, you can't blame yourself for someone else's actions."

"We left with eighteen squad members," he said as his arms tightened around me. "We returned with twelve."

My eyes widened at his words. Six of them had died to Grimmjow. That explained why he was so bothered. The 8th Combat Team was a training team; they weren't supposed to see more than a few basic hollows on their mission. It was supposed to be a controlled environment, and Toshiro was supposed to go just to make them feel safe after the Arrancar attacked them on their last mission. No doubt Toshiro would request that they be moved to another squad, believing that their trust in him had been ruined.

"Were they all from the Rukon Districts?" I asked softly.

"Yes." His voice was almost a growl. Becoming a Soul Reaper was one of the few ways to get into the Seireitei, so many of the people who joined our ranks were from the Rukon Districts. It offered them a better, but more dangerous life. But, Soul Reapers from the Rukon Districts typically didn't have much of a family, nor the money to perform a proper funeral if they passed away before accruing a savings. The higher in rank you were, the more you made. It was just a fact, unless you were like Rangiku and constantly blowing your money on booze and vanity items.

I didn't say anything after that. Whatever words came to mind, struck me as something that would make him even more angry at himself. I had never been the one to offer words of encouragement; I had left that talent all to my sister. So I did what I knew I could, and I held him as he dealt with his thoughts. I didn't know if I was a hindrance or not, but he didn't ask me to go. He held me as tightly as he was willing to, his arms straining on occasion as his thoughts made his muscles tense and relax.

Before we had come together, he had been distant and cold towards everyone. He was still that way, the practice of keeping his thoughts to himself having schooled his ability to voice his feelings into rusted silence. He'd only said how he really felt about me when I had been out of my mind with sorrow after my sister was lost to me. He was still closed off, but his feelings came through his actions instead of his words. I didn't mind. Someone had hurt him in his past, and I wasn't about to go reopening his heart's wounds.

I loved him. Even if he couldn't say it in return, I knew he felt the same way by the way he looked at me, held me, and kissed my scars whenever he caught me thinking about my sister. Maybe his possessive nature had worn off on me, but I couldn't imagine my life without him now that he was in it, and I wouldn't give it up for anything, or anyone. I was his, and he was mine.