Roles Reversed: Leaving a Goddess
"I will always be by your side to protect you. Always…"
"Yeah, it's a promise."
The night was young, they were foolish
"Squad two, reporting for duty, Ma'am!" The crowd chanted in unison.
Yoruichi paced before the crowd, her dark purple hair glittering in thee morning sunlight, her brows furrowed in concentration. She couldn't quite place it, but she knew something was off today. Eyes on the ground, she didn't even look up to meet her court guard squad.
"Lieutenant, make your report!" Yoruichi ordered, her eyes still on the ground. Her answers were quiet murmurs but none of which belonged to her Lieutenant. She stopped pacing and looked up to scan the crowd of her guards, eyes searching for the familiar face of her Lieutenant. "Lieutenant Soi Fong?" Yoruichi's eyes became more frantic in her search of the crowd of her subordinates. "Where is Soi Fong?" Yoruichi asked, her eyes narrowing as she addressed her squad.
The men looked around nervously until one of them cautiously stepped forward, his soft eyes held fear and looked everywhere except upon Yoruichi. "Soi Fong has been…" the man took a deep breath. "Sentenced to exile." The man took a quick step back out of fear of the princess.
Yoruichi's eyes widened as her mind exploded into a flurry of emotions, most of that were foreign to her. Her mind wavered back and forth, 'How could she…. Why… when?' she quickly regained her composure, she couldn't lose it now, here, in front of all her subordinates. "Why wasn't this brought to my attention sooner?"
"We knew you shared… a special bond with that girl… and it would have made you angry… Well, we just didn't want you to be mad at us, Ma'am!" The guy looked very nervous as he pleaded with the goddess. She glared at them again, making them all jump in their spot in like.
"And do any of you low lives know for what reasons was she sentenced to exile?" Yoruichi asked, her resolve wavering ever so slightly as her voice cracked.
One of her braver men stepped forward to face the goddess. "She has been sentenced for helping former Captain Kisuke Urahara in escaping arrest. The charges on him are still unknown."
Yoruichi almost fell over in shock… Soi and Kisuke? Soi had absolutely detested Kisuke whenever he and she were together. And yet this? Was it all an act? Was Soi going to pop out and say it was all a joke? She noticed her squad was still standing there, she couldn't let them see her like this.
"Dismissed…" She said rather weakly. Her squad looked at each other, unsure of what to do. They weren't used to being let go like this. "I SAID DISMISSED!!" She screamed this time, her desperation to be alone evident in her voice. Her guards scatter with a flash step in all directions as her voice echoed through the empty building. When Yoruichi knew they were all gone she began her slow, lonely walk back to her room in the building. Her pace quickened as her mind wandered and soon she was in an all out run. She slammed the door to her room and sank to the floor. She brought her legs to her chest and cradled them with her arms.
"You said you'd be there to protect me… SO WHERE ARE YOU NOW?!" She screamed to no one at all.
"She was just an underling, someone who was expandable…" She tried telling herself, hoping she would calm down a bit. "So if that's true… then why does this hurt so much?"
100 YEARS LATER
Sokyoku Hill
"Captain Yamamoto! I'm going after the ryoka boy as well!" a now older Yoruichi yelled as the old man nodded. Yamamoto flash stepped to chase after the renegades, Ukitake and Shunshi, and Yoruichi began to prepare her blade for combat.
Then the air was knocked out of her as she felt her feet leave the ground, a body colliding with her own. Over the edge of the cliff she went as her eyes focused on the masked assailant that had tackled herm black hair braided with white wraps and hoops at the end.
"Who the hell are you?" Yoruichi managed to spit out once you regained her breath.
"Have you honestly forgotten me, Yoruichi-sama?" The masked figure called, her voice sounding hurt, sad and… familiar?
Yoruichi's eyes widened in realization. "Soi?" She called to the masked figure. The person pulled down her mask to reveal the face of a slightly older looking Soi Fong, as Yoruichi had expected. Soi Fong let go of Yoruichi and flash stepped away to land on a near by tree and Yoruichi recovered from the tackle and did the same, before they both hit the ground.
Opposite trees, opposing forces, they stood in silence.
"How dare you show your face around here! Around me! How could you help the Ryoka boy after you have been exiled!" Yoruichi yelled.
"Don't you find Rukia's death sentence a little bit strange? How such a minor crime the Central 46 would rule death? I know they are a bunch of old geezers but even still they know that a ruling of death would have to be a bigger crime then that of lending a human their powers…" Soi Fong questioned. Yoruichi was speechless, of course she thought it was a bit weird that such an extreme punishment was rewarded for a minor crime but she never thought of opposing it. "The Ryoka boy, he wants to save Rukia because he believes that this justice, is unjust… So I'm lending him my power in anyway I can."
"And you…" Yoruichi said, her voice a bit shaky. "You left, with Kisuke of all people! I thought you hated him! … Or was that all an act to throw me off? Are you and him…. Are you in love with him?" Yoruichi spoke the last part with such sadness it made Soi's heart wrench. She wanted to run over and envelope the goddess in her arms, to tell her it was all going to be ok.
But she couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle though…. Her, in love with Kisuke? Her chuckle became an all out laugh at the thought of her being in love with the Kisuke Urahara, the village idiot!
"So you laugh at me? So it must be true…. No matter, I should kill you now!" Yoruichi said, her hand gripping her Zanpakuto even tighter.
"Will you forgive me then?" Soi asked the princess. Yoruichi's eyes widened. "If that is what it takes for you to forgive me, then go ahead," she opened her arms in a sign of surrender. "Kill me." Her sword clattered to the ground.
Yoruichi was again speechless, she stood thinking about Soi's offer before, quickly, drawing her sword and flash stepping in her direction. Soi closed her eyes and embraced her on coming death by the woman she admired the most, but when it didn't come one of her eyes fluttered open. Yoruichi's sword had stopped mere inches from her throat. As for Yoruichi, her head was bowed and her hands shaking.
"Why?" Yoruichi asked, her voice trembling as she tried to hold back the tears that threatened to come. "Why did you leave with him?"
Soi Fong took a deep breath… she knew that this question would arise and had been practicing what to say… but suddenly none of the words seemed right as she racked her brain for more. "That night," She began softly. "I caught him trying to sneak into your room. I questioned him on what he was doing here on such a late hour and he unexpectedly explained everything, his being exiled, and his attempt in getting you to come along with him. I didn't want you to live the life of a petty criminal… and exile, so I asked if I could go in your stead. He reluctantly agreed after I assured him I wouldn't let him go without a fight. We both agreed to not mention anything to you for our own personal reasons... The life of an exile… doesn't suit a princess of your stature. I was more then happy to do it for you, just so I could save you even from the slightest bit of anguish."
"You think you saved me from anguish? My best friend was sentenced to exile… And you!" Soi flinched at the new rising anger in Yoruichi. "You said you'd be there to protect me! AND YOU WEREN'T!"
"Oh wasn't I?" Soi asked, a hint of riddle in her voice. "Think back Yoruichi, didn't you notice anything strange while in the heat of battle?" Yoruichi looked confused to say the least as she racked her brain. "Whenever you were in a dire situation… the enemy would unexpectedly and unexplainably be destroyed?"
Yoruichi's eyes widened in realization. "Th-that was you?"
Soi's arms wrapped around Yoruichi in a protective embrace. "I told you I'd protect you, and I meant it. I couldn't let anything happen to you." Soi leaned it closer and whispered three words into Yoruichi's ears that washed away without a shadow of a doubt all of Yoruichi's protest. Yoruichi's sword dropped to the ground as she gave gerself into the embrace, taken in by the scent that she had so long been denied.
"You were my subordinate, someone who shouldn't have had any affect on me… but you… when you left, I couldn't help but feel like someone had wrenched my heart out." Yoruichi went on. "You weren't supposed to have that sort of hold on my heart!"
Soi shushed Yoruichi. "It's ok, Yoruichi, I'm back," Soi dug her face into the princess's hair. "And this time I'm here to stay."
Yoruichi looked up and cocked on eyebrow at her. "Promise?"
"Yeah, it's a promise," Soi smiled and Yoruichi returned it.
And that was a promise she intended to keep
Authors Note: Alright, well there you have it. Anyway I always thought Yoruichi would, in the end, be a bit more forgiving then Soi was. I also didn't think Soi would attack Yoruichi if the roles were reversed. Anyway I was reading through some reviews of other peoples stories when a similar topic came up "What would happen if Soi left instead of Yoruichi?" Well I came up with one possible solution and here it is. Anyway, please R&R THANKS!
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