My Only One

An Epilogue

By: Light of the Firefly

OOOOO

I sat in the corner, away from the crowd. The building was packed, there were so many people here that some of the party had been taken to the hallways and balconies. The mess hall of the 8th Division had been converted into a makeshift bar and dance floor, both of which were getting put to good use. The lights had been dimmed some time ago, as the people got rowdier and the music louder. The food was delicious and plentiful, as was the sake and wine.

It was our welcome home surprise party.

Our fifth seat bumped into me on the left, turning to apologize with rosy cheeks and slurred tones. I couldn't help but to smile at the man. My own mood was just as light as everyone else here, only a more sober version of it. I looked out over the crowd, at the numerous familiar faces, and the numerous new faces. Word had spread about the get together, planned in secrecy by none other than Rangiku. The Captain and I had been lured here by Captain Ukitake, who insisted that a meeting was being held.

It was a celebration for us, but almost as many members from other divisions were here as our own. Even the shinigami we didn't know were enjoying themselves, after all everyone here had a reason to. The Winter War was over, Soul Society's damage had been repaired, and bodily injuries had healed. We were stronger now, more bound and connected to each other in the aftermath. As soldiers, and friends.

It had been three days since I woke up, naked and sated, lying in bed with Captain Kyouraku. I had been slightly confused at first, staring at his sleeping face inches from my own. Until all the memories from the night before flooded my mind, giving me the briefest moment of panic. I had felt a sense of shock at my own actions the night before, let alone his. I had squashed it quickly though, when his own eyes had fluttered open to meet mine that morning. The smile he had given me in that moment sent butterflies pattering across my stomach, followed quickly by my own automatic smile back. Wordlessly, he had reached for me again, starting another round of explorations, and of soft moans. It escalated quickly to loud cries and sweat slicked skin.

The next three days had pretty much passed in that fashion, as we stayed holed up in his rooms. We had a lot of years of suppressed desires to make up for, after all. We had spent the majority of it in various states of undress, of course. It was a thirst never quite quenched, no matter how many body shattering sensations we had experienced over those few days.

I blushed at the memories, enjoying a small secret smile to myself. Things were defiantly going to be changing now. I know that once I had opened up and let him into my heart, nothing would ever be the same. It had been the fear of that, of change and something new, that had scared me to death for so long. Looking at it now, with new eyes and with a new light, I can't remember why the hell I waited so long to allow things to move as naturally as they had.

Tomorrow was the scheduled first day back to the office for us. But as I watched Captain Kyouraku stumble to the stage for his turn of karaoke, I wondered if anyone would even be asleep by the starting time in the morning.

As the music to the song started up, he promptly forgot the lyrics and started singing another song all together. Which went mostly unnoticed to the people gathered, I believe, as the majority sung along with his words anyhow.

I had been informed by Captain Soi Fon earlier in the evening, that Uzaki finally had fessed up. Apparently her and her brother had been inspired by Aizen's recent actions, assuming Soul Society was in a weakened state after the war. They had planned on trying to overthrow the ranks, with help of our added powers, and their unique gifts. They were a noble family, apparently, who had many firm followers due to years of fair treatment. They had never shown any signs of malice, although they weren't thought of as kind in anyway by the surrounding families. They were reported as quiet, and kept to themselves. What changed in their demur, I'll never know. But at some point they had slowly devised this plan of stupidity, which obviously went horribly wrong.

Uzaki explained that she had never meant to catch such high level officers, that was purely luck. Due to the short comings of staffing at the time, we were sent out when it would usually be handled by lower seated officers. She was attempting to simply catch a few shinigami to use to experiment on before ever allowing her plans to bloom. But things changed when she realized she had a Captain and Lieutenant, she figured she would never have the same opportunity twice. So, half cocked and unprepared, the twins had attempted to figure out how to control the new powers. They were basically unable to utilize our added energy with any semblance of control, since they had done no test runs on it before hand.

Uzaki has been sentenced to death for the plans she admitted to, not to mention a slew of other charges, most of all that included attack and imprisonment on officers of the 13 Squads. I wasn't clear on how I felt about the sentence, but I decided it was out of my hands regardless.

My eyes shifted back to the stage when the song ended, landing on Captain Kyouraku once again. He was giving some slurred version of a thank you for coming speech to the crowd, who cheered him on excitedly. He was wrapped in his trademark pink haori once again, complete with straw hat and bottle of sake in one hand, which sloshed to the floor every time he waved his arm to punctuate something he was saying into the microphone. I looked on, shaking my head at him.

His eyes met mine across the room then, and he suddenly looked more sober than I assumed him to be. A thousand words passed between us in our silent gazes across the crowd, and I watched a grin spread across his handsome face. Several others noticed too, apparently, and I caught a few murmuring bits of gossip. My cheeks heated at the sudden attention, but I couldn't force myself to look away from him, or to stop my own smile for that matter.

Falling in love with this man had been one of the easiest things I have ever done. Although, it took some time for me to get to the point of admitting that to myself.

Handing off his microphone to the next round of entertainment, he made his way through the people, eyes never leaving mine. He stopped when he reached me, and I looked up at him as he stood in front of me. His gaze swept over me, and I felt my body heating in response.

"Nanao-chan." He greeted, his voice having dropped to a low tone I was well familiar with after the last few days. We hadn't been able to spend much time together since we arrived at the party, both of us having been pulled off by various groups. It had been hours since I last spoke to him.

"Captain." I greeted back, and he quirked a reprimanding brow at the use of the formality. It was going to take a ridiculous amount of time for me to call him anything else, I would imagine.

"Do you think anyone would notice if we slipped out early?" He asked, his dark gaze burning. I almost took a step towards him, to close the gap, but stopped myself. Several pairs of eyes were still on us.

"Are you actually suggesting leaving a party early?" I said with true surprise.

"If you will accompany me, I am." He grinned, his features giving way to the thoughts churning in his head.

"I never thought I'd see the day." I retorted, moving around him and making my way towards the exit. He followed closely behind, and I felt his presence like a force of nature with my back turned. My body was painfully aware of him, even though I wasn't looking directly at him.

"That's a yes, then?" He said, as we reached the door. Pushing through it, I had barley thought of a reply when his arms wrapped around me, turning me and pressing me to him.

His lips were pressed to mine then, and all other thoughts drifted away as our bodies molded together.

The kiss turned heated quickly, his hands roamed over me and I clung to him with just as much need.

I was so wrapped up in my focus of him; it didn't cross my mind that we were still in a hallways at the 8th Division. Or that there may possibly be a small crowd in said hallway, having overflowed from the party inside.

The sudden roar of their cheering and loud clapping snapped me back to the present, and I felt my face turn bright red instantly as I jumped away from my Captain. Looking around, I was mortified to see that there were quite a few subordinates around us who had just got a small show. They were all beaming, smiling proudly at us.

I looked back to Captain Kyouraku, who was beaming and smiling proudly as well, but his eyes were only trained on me.

The small group around us forgotten, I was caught in his gaze once more. I could have avoided his grasp when he reached back for me, but I was growing soft on him it seemed.

Soon as his arms fell around me, he shupoed us out of there. I grabbed a hold of him in surprise, as the space around us distorted and we flicked across the barracks.

He chuckled in my ear, "Didn't think I'd let you get away, did you?"

"I'll be hearing about myself for weeks after that." I grumbled halfheartedly.

"Don't worry, I'll set them straight." He said, glancing at me sideways. "I'll make sure the truth is the only thing being told."

"That's what I'm afraid of." I said, rolling my eyes. He was the worst loose-lip I knew. Hard to say what he would share if asked. I almost groaned out loud.

I tightened my arms around his neck and the neck flick landed us at his doorstep.

"Don't look so worried!" He laughed at my expression. "I was referring to the fact that I love you, and plan of having you at my side for the rest of our lives."

It's not the first time I've heard such a remark from him over the years, but this time was different. More serious, and I stared up at him, his dark gaze shinning with honestly.

"Then I'll tell them the same." I said quietly, and his lips pressed to mine once more.

OOOOO

I have to be honest; I hate to see this one at an end. This couple is my favorite of the Bleach characters. And this story was fun to write.

Thank you to all of those who reviewed, means the world.

I have a few ideas brewing over a new story, so stay tuned for those.