Beginnings
Author's Note
I must confess that I did not start out as a Byakuya-Soifon shipper. I did not start out as any shipper. Yet in the process of writing my first fic, "When Sakuras Bloom", I started to see the similarities between the two. In emotional parlance, I began to see how their "hearts could knit", so to speak.
I briefly toyed with the idea of bringing the two together in that fic. Some of you may have noticed my seemingly random interludes that brought Byakuya and Soifon to cross paths in chapters such as "Enter the Shinigami Women's Association", "Sakuras I & II" and "The Heart Has Its Reasons II and II". These were by no means contrived – as I wrote, Byakuya's appearance seemed quite natural.
I followed where my pen (and Tite Kubo's) led, and ended my first fic without bringing the two together. I found no opportunity that could credibly bring them beyond the stage of polite words and crossing paths.
My readers can think of this as a timeline that potentially spins off from my first fic. The events listed here will take place between the Winter War and the end. But this is a spinoff – and I have yet to craft the circumstances that could bring them together.
Nonetheless, I could not stop thinking of drabbles involving the two. So here I present their relationship as a fait accompli – the heart has its reasons, but those will be delved into another day.
I have written these drabbles in terms of seasons, months and days. These are to be taken metaphorically – that is, the events described in December loosely follow November and represent a certain mood of winter, but are not literally one month after.
Meanwhile, enjoy! Thanks for reading (again)!