Create a little controversy…
The soft morning sun made its way through the open windows and danced lightly through the room; shining a path across the bed and going out of its way to pierce through her eyelids. A brief groan escaped her as she turned away from it for a moment before her dark eyes opened to the empty bed space next to her. Fingertips played lightly in the barren space that showed signs of previous placement before they curled into the soft sheets below. How long ago was it that he woke up? She didn't even hear him… he wasn't even a morning person to begin with, so why was he up before her? That was just about impossible to do.
Pushing herself up, she gave into a brief stretch to pop her shoulders back in place as her muscles felt all too stiff around the joints. Slipping herself over the edge of the bed, she pulled herself to her feet and slowly moved across the small bedroom; the loose material of her black uniform pants dragged behind her slightly with every shuffled step. The morning was not treating her all too well at the moment… the pale scars that had healed themselves over her skin felt tight and restricted her movement more than usual. It was what usually happened when she slept in too late, which she couldn't even understand why she did that in the first place.
Fingertips tugged free a pale-yellow tank-top that had been tossed over the back of a chair and she slipped it on just before she stepped out into the open corridor. She barely cared much for anyone out patrolling the hallways and continued on her way down to her left; listening carefully for anything out of the ordinary to alert her of why the morning felt so weird. Perhaps it was just the overall silence and the isolation that the mountainside lodging provided for her. There was no one else around for miles other than the mountain animals that made a short appearance every now and again. It was perfect for her.
After a long argument of tired convincing and relentless persuading, all of which failed, it was the slightly forced order that seemingly banished them both to this place. Their last mission had left them ripped apart, mostly disemboweled and practically dead from the aftermath; Captain Unohana stressed once or twice during the given conference that they both had in fact died just minutes after they had been delivered to her Division- quick healing and near perfect measurements had forced their hearts to start beating once again. So maybe the mission had completely knocked them out for a few weeks and left them both severely weakened afterwards, she didn't think a few months of 'easy resting' was all too necessary. They had both fought the idea of it and declined it at every given moment until three months after the whole incident left them with no other choice but to forcibly accept it; Captain Yamamoto's orders.
And the older man seemed all the more calm and collective when he announced that they were to take the rest of the year off.
She wouldn't have been able to hold her tongue had he not been there with her… had he not practically dragged her out of the room after agreeing for the both of them. But she supposed the whole matter did have some perks to it. She was able to retreat to her Grandmother's old establishment, which had been kept in excellent condition, and found the right amount of time to recover from the attack; the scars were still painful from time to time but they had finally started to fade back into a normal flesh tone- it would still be another year or so before they'd be a less noticeable pink shade. She wasn't able to go right back to her training regiment but was able to focus more on energy-based training; it was like a watered down sense of meditation but it was something more than just sitting around doing nothing.
It wasn't all too easy to convince him to stay with her either; it came down to personal threats and near violence to even get him to change his mind. But he eventually did so and since then they both seemed to have found some form of contentment in this place.
Stepping into the main room, she paused briefly at the end of the hallway when she spotted him seated in one of the chairs on the far side. Shaking her head lightly, she moved her way over towards him; keeping her steps almost weightless and completely silent as she closed in.
"You're up late." he remarked when she had drawn close to his side.
A brief frown curved her lips at his comment before she moved her hands to find a place of rest on his shoulders. "And you're up early. What's the deal?"
A light chuckle seemed to escape him. "Just the usual."
She leaned over his shoulder and peeked down at the small bundle that was currently resting in against his chest. The sleeping child seemed all the more at peace as tiny hands curled themselves again and again; bundling the black material of his shirt between even smaller fingers. Perhaps there had been a little more to this whole 'forced vacation' than they had been willing to let on. She watched for a small while longer and noted that the child seemed perfectly content being held against the flat of his sternum; every now and again a small yawn would come free. "She is an odd child."
"Look at her mother." he started before feeling her knuckles implant themselves just at the base of his neck. "Okay, okay… well, she still has to get it from someone."
A light roll of her eyes followed before she gently reached down and took the child from him; fingers just lightly lifting the small form as they were still trying to grow accustomed to the odd weight. The sense of movement stirred the smaller girl and she listened to the soft coos that followed afterward. Gently cradling the child against her, she watched as the girl yawned once more before she looked up towards her; it seemed to take some convincing before her tiny eyelids would open, revealing the solid whiteness on the other side. "She's looking more and more like you; I don't know if I should be worried or not."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She paused for a moment at the question before she turned to head towards the door that resided close by. "… Let's go outside, Ninel…"
A/N: I noticed that most of my chaptered stories end with a baby/children in some way, but it appeared as though Little Bit of Spine did not (combo breaker much?). So, you could consider this as an extended ending to Little Bit of Spine because I did really want something like this to happen in some way, but at the time all ideas had escaped me. All I have to say is if you have a problem with it, that's fine and I respect that. This is just merely my idea and outlook on such a thing.