Title: You Can Taste Heaven Perfectly

Author: Eumenides (flowerofsin)

Pairing: Tousen/f

Rating: PG

Word Count: 757

Warnings: none

Summary: AU. A scene from things that never were.

Under the setting sun, the shinigami made her way back to her home. Opening the door, she walked inside, stepping out of her sandals and sliding her feet into the slippers waiting nearby. She shrugged out of her captain's haori, draping it over an adjacent chair.

"I'm home," she called out.

"I'm in the kitchen," a deep and familiar voice answered.

Walking over toward the other room, she peered inside, greeted by the sight of her husband in front of the stove. His long dark braids were pulled back out of his face and bound behind his head. She watched him grasp spices that he had arranged on the nearby table, adding them to the pot before him in turn.

"Ah, that smells very good," the shinigami remarked.

"I'm glad you thing so," Kaname answered, his lips pulling into a faint smile. He turned to cast sightless eyes in her direction. "How were things today?"

He heard her sigh as she moved to unfasten her zanpakutou from her side, placing it on the kitchen table before coming over. "There was a nest of hollows we had to take care of. Then a long meeting with Yamamoto-sama." She frowned. "I think I preferred dealing with the hollows."

He chuckled slightly before saying, "I'm sorry to hear it."

She moved to stand next to him, placing an arm loosely around him to rest on his hip. "That's alright," she answered. She watched the contents in the pot on the stove bubble as he stirred them for a few moments before saying, "Even with school not in session, you get stuck doing a different sort of work, You must regret the kind of wife you ended up having," she told him in a joking voice.

Though the tone seemed to say otherwise, he caught the hint of something else in her voice. "Don't be silly," Kaname answered, turning to her. "I really don't mind. Besides, I like cooking."

Tousen covered the pot so that it could simmer. He felt his wife move away, hearing the cabinet nearby open. The clink of dishes was heard as she grasped plates to set the table. Kaname retrieved a bottle of sake, bringing it over to the table. As he set it down, his hand bumped against her zanpakutou. He picked up Suzumushi by its sheath, his other hand moving toward the hilt. His fingers wrapped around it slowly. Though he was adverse to battle, for some reason the weight of this sword felt good in his hands. Perhaps because it was part of her.

The woman in question slipped her arms around his waist, resting her chin upon one of his shoulders as she pressed close. "Thinking of taking up the sword?" she asked while gazing at the katana he held.

"No," he replied, his hand slipping from the hilt. "I've never been much for fighting." Kaname smiled faintly. "An odd husband I make for a shinigami, one that doesn't care for battle."

He felt her arms tighten around him. "I wouldn't have it any other way." She cast her eyes briefly to the side, the memories of dark events arising unbidden. "I had enough of men who loved violence all too much years ago."

Kaname placed a hand over her clasped ones, squeezing reassuringly. They stayed like that for a few moments before Tousen remembered the simmering pot on the stove. Reluctantly, he pulled away, leaning her zanpakutou against the wall before returning to check on their dinner. The shinigami followed him to peer over his shoulder.

"Such a wonderful meal you're preparing," she told him as she eyed what was cooking in the pot he returned to stir. "But somehow I think I might want dessert first." She wound her arms around him once more, this time one hand slipping lower.

Kaname's eyes widened as he turned his head as if to gaze over his shoulder, a surprised look on his face.

She gave him a coy look that he wasn't able to see. "Well, at least I haven't neglected all of my wifely duties." She nuzzled against the side of his face so that he could feel her smile.

He chuckled in a deep voice, making her smile widen. "And of course, I'm thankful."

Kaname turned from his task for the moment to catch her lips. As she deepened the kiss, he raised a hand to card fingers through the silk of her hair, as certain as always that there was no place he'd rather be than here.

End