Toshirou Hitsuygaya , Captain of the 10th Division of the Gotei 13 stood in front of a few sections of his squad. Everyone stood straight at attention. The tiny captain ever so slightly shifted his weight form one foot to the other hiding his frustration at waiting. His arms were crossed in his black sleeves, and his white cloak hung, pressed, and flawless. The squads were lined up one after another in ascending order along one of the Seireitei's special gates. This particular one was awaiting very special guests from the realm of the Spirit King.

Each captain stood along with heir Vice Captain and a block of their squads' top 23 members. The squads were awaiting an important guest. The king's youngest daughter, Yukiko, had recently married and her new husband, Shigeo, was to inspect the squads. It was a tradition with lots of pomp and ceremony. The Shinigami had been waiting for half an hour, and there was no telling how much longer they would wait. When one of the royal family members traveled times were never specific for security reasons. Their guests would receive a block of time within which they would arrive. Thankfully the gate began to glow with activity. Everyone knelt in deference as the procession began to emerge. There were separate palanquins for their servants, luggage, and the royal family themselves, but they were all identical and no one knew in which the royal couple sat.

The procession moved down past the squads along the white stone roads of Seireitei. They stopped momentarily until select captains could mobilize in front and in back to guide them to their accommodations. Hitsugaya was not among them. After the incident with the King's Seal the organizers thought it best not to involve him too deeply in the royal visit. He agreed. The select captains then mobilized in front and three in back to guide the royal visitors to their accommodations.

Later in the day all the captains convened for dinner along with the commander and sat in a private banquet hall awaiting the king's daughter and her new husband. The royal couple arrived, but were preceded by elaborately dressed, masked, ceremonial guards and a priest to purify their path. The couple entered and almost everyone craned their necks to steal a glimpse of the couple as they entered. They were dressed simply, but in very luxurious fabrics. The prince was in red and gold, and his young bride wore pale blue and white. His robes had patterns of tigers, and hers shimmered in the light revealing geometric patterns of hexagons.

They were not overflowing with excessive layers, nor wearing elaborate crowns. The prince had a few carefully chosen, and appropriate, words about what he had observed so far. He finished with "Thank you all for your hospitality. Darling?" he gestured to his wife to signal her agreement.

Up until now she had kept her eyes cast downward, shielding her brilliant irises with her thick black lashes. She looked up at the room and said "Yes, thank you very much."

Everyone muttered their replies and lifted a glass to toast their guests. Hitsugaya, who was sitting in the back of the room, hesitated when he saw the color of the princess' eyes. She, like him, had large blue green eyes. The shape, the color, even the way her lashes stood out on the edge of her eyes was exactly the same. Toushirou snapped himself out of his surprise and lifted his cup. He was surprised the princess had the same colored eyes as he did since it was very rare in Soul Society. When someone transformed from a physical body to a spirit form their eyes reflected the uniqueness of their soul. In the living world there was a saying that eyes are a window to a person's soul. In Soul Society eyes translated to a rather literal reflection of a person's soul. Hitsugaya had never seen anyone with his eye color, but decided it was a major coincidence and shrugged it off.

As the dinner progressed Hitsugaya kept noticing other things about the princess. It was not only the color of her eyes but their shape, and her nose, and her laugh; they all resembled his. At the end of the evening approached a few of the captains made their excuses and left. The princess nodded to the gentlemen as they left and her eyes then found Hitsugaya across the room standing with two of his peers. The princess' eyes locked with Toshirou's and she froze. He understood her surprise and didn't think it too odd when she looked at him with such surprise. He nodded, slightly, to acknowledge her highness and tried to put his focus back on his own conversation.

The prince stood next to his wife and chatted with some of the captains. The prince half turned to ask the princess for her opinion. She broke her gaze at the young captain and answered her husband. Her eyes surreptitiously slipped back to the young officer and soon she thought it best to retire for the evening.

Princess Yukiko made it back to her room, calmly explained to her servants she would prepare herself for bed and when the last servant closed the door she lay on her futon and wept, quietly, in secret.

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There was brunch the next morning where the prince and princess could mingle more informally than the dinner the night before. The royal couple chatted with Captain Ukitake and Captain Kuchiki, then Captain Kyoraku approached with Hitsugaya.

"Ah!" said the prince as the man and boy approached. "I noticed, princess," he put a gentle hand on her back "that you took a particular interest in the boy captain yesterday. I can see why" he said with a smile. "His eyes bare an uncanny resemblance to yours." He eyed his wife for the slightest crack in her blank expression, but there was none.

Yukiko said "I was more surprised that one so young could become so accomplished" she answered. She looked to Hitsugaya and said "Your parents must be so proud, but concerned for your welfare. This is a dangerous job you have."

The prince became more curious about the white haired lad and asked "Where were you raised, boy?"

"Captain, dear " Yukiko emphasized. "He may be young, but he is a captain."

The prince cleared his thought and said "My apologies, Captain."

"No, offense taken" replied Toshirou. The depth of his voice surprised the princess and Byakuya noticed a fleeting look of sorrow flash across her face. Hitsugaya replied "The first district of Rukongai."

"Ah, a nice area. Interesting how a random group of souls becomes a family, eh dearest?" said the prince to his wife.

"Wonderful" she said. The prince noticed his wife was distracted and asked "Are you feeling alright, Yukiko?"

She immediately suppressed her emotions and smiled "Of course dearest. At your side I'm always well."

He looked at her a bit suspiciously and turned his attention back to the young captain. "What kind of family was it? Many children? Strict or loving parents? How did you come upon that family?"

Yukiko put a hand on her husband's shoulder "Darling, I know you're here to inspect the troops, but please, not everything in their lives is open for discussion."

Hitsugaya was embarrassed and not quite sure how to react. He pressed his lips together and looked down to hide his blushing. The group chuckled and Ukitake felt for the young captain and decided to deflect the awkward attention away. Ukitake put his arm around the young captain "Hitsugaya is one of our most respectable and upstanding officers. If you're looking for someone to question you might find a juicier story elsewhere. Kyoraku, wouldn't you agree?" The group laughed , familiar with his antics. Hitsugaya was clearly uncomfortable with everything but didn't object to anything. He was the least senior as well as the youngest.

Toshirou could not help but feel the prince did not like him. He was convinced it was over the King's seal. He saw, clearly, he had an ally in the Princess Yukiko but would try to make a good solid impression on the prince, as well.

"CAPTAAAAAAAIN!" Called Rangiku Matsumoto from the couch in the captain's office in the 10th squad administrative buildings. She pushed aside her fair hair and rubbed her large pale eyes after a long nap and was concerned her captain had left without her. It was the day after the breakfast with the royal couple and Hitsugaya's mind was distracted by the royal visitors.

"Matsumoto! The prince's inspectors will be auditing our files tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do. Straighten yourself out and prepare" ordered her captain as he walked towards his desk.

She did as she was told and said "This would be a lot more pleasant if the prince were not married" she primped her hair and pinched her cheeks. "I hear his wife is a lovely woman, though."

Hitsugaya said "Actually the prince is of a lower house of nobles, and lucked out. She is the king's daughter and the youngest of the royal family." He stated this not revealing his feelings one way or the other about the princess.

"I hear she looks like you. Her eyes anyway." Matsumoto looked at her captain for a reaction.

"Yes" he said, scribbling something in his notebook. "They're the same color."

"Extraordinary, Captain!" she said, clapping her hands together.

"Not all that extraordinary, Matsumoto" he said trying to play down the similarity.

"Perhaps if we were living souls it wouldn't be, but you know everyone's eyes in Soul Society are almost completely unique. Unless of course you are born here in Soul Society or up in the Kings Real—"

"Matusmoto! Please, don't suggest such ridiculous things!" snapped the captain.

She was surprised he was so sensitive about the topic, but respected his wishes and dropped the subject.

Later that evening the two officers finished up paperwork and the white haired boy captain left to head back to his quarters after the sun set. Hitsugaya felt he was being followed. He could feel the follower's reiatsu. A masked swordsman, Hitsugaya's pursuer, dropped down in front of him. The young captain did not feel threatened in the confines of the narrow pathways of the Seireitei. He knew his surroundings well. When the swordsman unsheathed his sword Hitsugaya felt something different from the normal pre-battle adrenaline. He was still sure he could win, but didn't know why this man, draped in white, was so confident.

The swordsman raised his sword and Hitsugaya felt a sucking wind then drew his own sword and shifted his weight to try and fight the sucking wind. He did his best to keep his stance with his sword at the ready, but his footing was slipping. His hair and cloak whipped in the manufactured currents of wind. When the wind died down the masked swordsmen began to approach calmly.

When Toshirou again looked down he was stunned to see his sword was not Hyouinmaru, but a simple ausuchi, a nameless zanpaktuou. He attempted to raise his reiatsu, but there was none to raise. Kidou was out of the question. Hitsugaya was cornered and almost defenseless. He drew on the most basic teachings, the first skills he had learned as a student on how to handle a katana.

He attempted to defend himself with his swordsmanship, but it was no use. The masked man beat him down with a few powerful reiatsu laden swipes. The boy-captain just barely dodged a swipe of his attacker's blade and collapsed with a large, but relatively shallow slash across his chest. It was not deep and he knew he could survive it if he could get to safety. He could lift himself to his knees, but hardly any further when he saw how much blood he was losing.

Hitsugaya saw a star sparkle and a flutter of pale blue fabric drop from the sky. Princess Yukiko dropped from the sky and landed right between the masked man and the boy captain. She raised her hands and demanded the masked swordsman reveal himself. His silence was a refusal and his undoing. Yukiko crossed her arms and spread them out again in a sharp quick movement. Clouds began to gather in the clear night sky.

The masked man halted and raised his sword. Hitsugaya felt the sucking wind and tried to get to his feet to bear the brunt of the attack against the princess, but he collapsed. The swordsman didn't have the time to complete his technique. A bolt of lightning came crashing down, striking their attacker. The bolt did not burn and instead it left a jagged column of ice in the ground where the attacker had been standing. The column then quietly began to dissipate into tiny snowflakes which were carried away on the evening breeze.

As the column disintegrated he saw no swordsman, but he felt the return of his reiatsu and Hyoinmaru once again took it's familiar shape. The last thing he saw before he passed out was her large blue-green eyes looking down at him. She whispered "Oh, my baby!" and stroked his face.

He was compelled to say "Mother?" and then passed out.