Epilogue: When Sakuras Bloom

Please read the Author's Note before you read this chapter. Otherwise this chapter and the previous two will make no sense.

This chapter contains spoilers for those who only watch the anime and do not read the manga. You have been warned.

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Soifon had thought she would step down from the keigun. I am useless as an assassin with only one arm, she thought bitterly. She was given a reprieve by the gods, however, and despite the loss of her arm, she did not have to cut out that part of her life which had been so bound up with her honour and identity. Orihime Inoue, the Royal Princess of Heaven, restored to Soifon and Hachigen their missing limbs. She rejected the reality by which their left arms had been taken, and gave them back that which they thought had been lost forever.

Her arm restored, she continued to lead the Onmitsukido and the Second Squad marvelously for nearly two hundred years more, making her one of the most senior and respected Captains around. Her experience and skills were needed, and Hitsugaya Toshiro relied heavily on her when he took over the position of shou-taichou following the retirement of Yamamoto Genryuusai some fifty years after the Winter War.

Yet some wounds never fully heal, for Soifon had been touched by no less than Death itself, when Baraggan's Respira hit her. Even the Royal Family was bound by the laws of birth and death – Orihime could postpone, but even she could not reject death finally and fully.

In her 300th year of service, Soifon stepped down from the Onmitsukido and the Captaincy of the Second Squad. She was no longer young by Soul Society's reckoning, yet she was not old either. She knew her health was failing.

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"Yoruichi-sama," her voice was weak, and cracked slightly. She held out a hand towards her former mentor.

"Hush, child. You need to rest." Yoruichi took Soifon's left hand and patted it clumsily. She is no longer a child! Yet this is so familiar… She reached out her other hand and brushed the hair away from Soifon's face, feeling the fever ravage her.

"Sit back and enjoy the flowers. Look how they fall – you wanted to come here, did you not? See, the sakuras are in bloom." The Onmitsukido had sent up a makeshift bed for their former Captain under the sakura trees. After spending many weeks cooped up in the Fourth Division, Soifon had requested Captain Isane Kotetsu's permission to see the sakuras in bloom. "The Onmitsukido will bring me and Yoruichi-sama will accompany me…" Isane had smiled gently and nodded. When the Onmitsukido took Soifon out, Isane returned to her office and wept.

Yoruichi and Soifon sat in silence for some time, with Soifon reclined on her bed and Yoruichi kneeling next to her. The petals cascaded gently and Soifon took a deep breath and inhaled the sharp air of spring.

"I… I am sorry to have failed you, Yoruichi-sama… I…" Her grip tightened on Yoruichi's hand with the strength that remained in her.

A tear began made its way down Yoruichi's cheek. "Silly girl! You… have not failed me. You promised to protect me with your life did you not? And you have done that every single day since you entered my service. Well, aside for those hundred years…" She smiled a sad smile.

Soifon's eyes bored into Yoruichi. "And… and how have I d… done?"

A stream of tears was now flowing freely down Yoruichi's face. She knelt next to the bed and pressed Soifon's hand to her cheek. "You have done well. No one from the Fon family has served the Shihoin family as you have. You have been so strong. Your work is nearly done, my dear friend."

Soifon smiled. Her face was relaxed, and she was finally at ease. "I… It has been my privilege, Yoruichi-sama. I only wish I h... had more days for this privilege."

She paused. "Thank you, Yoruichi. Thank you, nee-san." Her grip on Yoruichi's hand tightened, then loosened forever.

Yoruichi held her friend tightly as she wept. She kissed Soifon's forehead tenderly and whispered farewell. Within a few minutes, the pink spirit particles were soaring through the air, interspersed with the sakuras that Soifon loved so well.