Revised 12/1/11. Many thanks to all who have left reviews.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters, and am making no profit from this work.
o o o
Shunsui Kyōraku and the espada Stark faced each other under a dome of blue. They were high, much higher than their comrades – dueling flashstep had taken them to unoccupied sky. Ukitake was gone, off to reinforce the embattled shinigami below, and Stark's young fraccion had not yet caught up, so they were quite alone. Stark struck and Shunsui blocked, sparks flying as the two swords grated against each other. The flash of a cero brought Shunsui's attention down, away from the braced swords before his face, and quickly he raised his left sword to deflect the burst of energy. It seemed that all the years of antagonizing a kido master had paid off. He grinned, and filed that thought away to share with Nanao when he next saw her. Likely she would huff, and make some dry comment . . . but the battle called his attention. Reversing his blade Shunsui struck out, slashing across Stark's stomach, forcing the espada to disengage – too slow to avoid a shallow cut, too fast to get any more than that.
Movement pulled Shunsui's attention to his left. The little arrancar, having finally caught up, was jumping at him, knife-sword outstretched, her face a mask of fury. With barely a thought he whipped Katen Kyōkotsu around, twin blades biting deep into her side. The fury slipped, revealing surprise and pain; her visible eye widened and locked on his as the wind blew her soul away. For a moment he felt a weary sadness (little girls shouldn't have to look like that), but he pushed it down. Something flashed in the corner of his eye; a fraction of a second was all he had to take in Stark's faster-than-expected recovery and the sword lunging in towards his midsection. Time seemed to slow down as he reversed his cut and brought his swords around to block, giving him eons to realize he wasn't going to make it in time. This is going to hurt.
At the moment of impact, the air in front of Shunsui blurred and the unmistakable form of his vice-captain materialized. Fear ripped through him, but far too late. The moment seemed frozen, a horrific tableau; Stark's sword thrust through Nanao's chest, bloody tip mere inches from Shunsui's stomach. There was a roaring in his ears and the rest of the world seemed to fall away until all he could see was his lieutenant, still with a look of shock on her face, arms outspread before him, zanpakutō dangling uselessly from one hand. Nanao coughed, a strangely delicate sound, and blood sprayed from her lips. The scene shattered, and time resumed its awful flow. Shunsui lunged forward but Stark sprang back, flicking Nanao off his blade like so much blood. She fell, blood arcing from the gaping wound on her chest. Both body and blood plunged towards the fight far below.
Shunsui didn't pause to think. Faster than Stark, he dodged under the espada's blade and rocketed downwards. Stark pursued him, but the captain didn't spare his opponent any thought. All of his being, every fiber of his soul, was concentrated on reaching Nanao. Droplets of blood floated by as he flashstepped towards the ground in huge leaps, racing gravity for the only prize that mattered.
Focused only on Nanao, Shunsui didn't notice Stark's pursuit until a cero whipped past, narrowly missing his ear. Even that he might have ignored, save that it almost hit her. Another cero crackled by, another near miss, and Shunsui knew the espada had to be dealt with. Still plunging downward at incredible speed, Shunsui readied his zanpakutō and counted out a few long seconds. When the whistling behind him reached a peak, he wrenched his body to a halt and flipped over in a move that nearly broke his body in half. It was worth it, though – Stark never had a chance. Racing after Shunsui as he was, he couldn't stop in time, and impaled himself on the zanpakutō held. Death came almost instantly, but Shunsui didn't wait to see it, flinging him aside as easily as the espada had flung aside his vice-captain. Shunsui resumed his breakneck dive, while behind him the remnants of a once-powerful soul drifted apart in an empty sky.
The wind felt like needles in Shunsui's face as he poured more speed into his descent. Earth was rushing towards him, eager to hold him in its embrace, but he had no thoughts left for fear. Finishing Stark had cost him precious time; Nanao was far below, a slight black form still trailing blood. Shunsui put on a final desperate burst of speed, practically teleporting the final distance, and managed to haul her into his arms instants before impact. There was no time to halt their fall; he barely managed to wrap himself around her before they hit.
They slammed into the ground with terrible force. Shunsui's breath was gone, knocked clean out of him; if he had any other injuries, he didn't notice. After a few gasping moments he struggled upright, and the fear he'd had no time for in the air screamed into his brain. Nanao was limp in his arms – there wasn't even the feeblest reaction to the impact. He held her close, one arm about her thin shoulder, the other helplessly trying to staunch a wound that had long since stopped bleeding. Frantically he searched her face, desperately searching for any sign of life. "Nanao? Nanao!" But there was nothing, no breath to hear, no pulse to be found. She was gone.
"Nanao!"