Author note: This is a continuation in my Bleach fic series that focuses on an OFC and her relationship with known Bleach characters. The upcoming storyline is a little darker and more dramatic than my previous fics, and a lot of it won't make sense if you haven't followed along from the beginning. The first story in this series is 'Descend, Heaven's Cloud of Doom!', followed by 'Red Kimono, Grey Heart', and 'Sealed Powers, Hidden Hearts' respectively. Many thanks to everyone who has been reading, who has reviewed, or added me to their author's alerts. You're all awesome. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Sakura Takahashi, fourth seat of the 11th Division of the Thirteen Protection Squads pushed a stray lock of pale hair from off her forehead, which was damp with sweat. In each hand she held her dual Zanpakuto, her stance alert and ready. Her red kimono flew behind her in a sudden gust of wind, and her unusual violet eyes were narrowed with concentration. She shifted her weight and it was then that her opponent chose to attack. She met his attack with a flurry of parries, her swords moving so fast through the air that they were a blur of light and sound.

Jumping back, panting slightly, she nodded.

"Better concentration, Yumi! But you're not going to persuade Fuji Kujaku by beating him into submission."

Yumichika Ayasegawa, fifth seat in the 11th Division, gazed down with a look of pure frustration at his Zanpakuto.

"He's an arrogant, narcissistic bastard and won't deign to speak to me!"

Sakura sighed, refraining from pointing out that her friend's sword was his mirror personality. Technically, she outranked Yumichika but that was purely a technicality. In terms of experience and skill in battle, Yumi far surpassed her, except in one area: achieving bankai. Sakura had managed this years before as a symptom of her unusual birth. It didn't come as easily for others, and, admittedly, her own bankai could only be sustained for limited periods. Nevertheless, she had been instructed by her superiors to assist Yumichika achieve his, and so here they were, training in Sereitei whilst their friends guarded the human world against the Arrancar.

Yumichika, digging the edge of his blade into the dirt of the training ground, gazed pensively up at the darkening sky.

"I should be in the human world, anyway. With the others."

Sakura sighed once more and gazed at her arrogant, beautiful friend.

"I hear you, Yumi, but I'm still forbidden from leaving Soul Society lest I attract Aizen's interest. Last time was a little too close for comfort."

She referred, of course, to her almost fatal battle with an Arrancar that had risked exposing her, and had almost killed Yumichika.

The elegant Shinigami shook his head, making his chin length blue-black hair brush against his pale, handsome face.

"Considering his initial attack on Soul Society, are they so sure he isn't capable of monitoring us now?"

Sakura's eyes glowed with excitement, and she stepped closer to her old friend.

"Exactly! I've thought the same thing, and have even raised it with Yamamato's lieutenant but he deigned to comment on it."

She sighed, the excitement in her eyes fading. "Though it's not as if he were even inclined to listen to me. Father isn't much help either."

"Poor little Sakura," Yumichika sneered suddenly, his expression one of disdain and exasperation.

She opened her mouth to snap at him then looked away, biting her full lower lip. Things had been so strange between them since her last excursion to the human world. When Yumichika had been fatally wounded, Sakura had done everything she could to keep him alive until they could safely transport him back to Soul Society where the 4th Division could heal him. With her powers completely sealed, she'd been restricted to mere human methods of healing, and the time he'd spent lying sick and dying had been emotionally fraught for all involved. For almost that entire time she'd sat up with him, tending his wounds, watching him whilst he slept, ever vigilant and attentive despite her own injuries. Sometimes, when he was conscious, he'd instigate odd conversations with her about her relationship with his closest friend, and her lover, Ikkaku Madarame. It had confused and troubled her but she'd been too busy worrying about him to really consider the implications. It was only once they were back in Soul Society, both of them healed, that Yumichika declared his feelings for her. Feelings that she didn't know she could, or wanted, to return. But when he'd kissed her.. . .

She looked back at her friend, jumping slightly when she found him standing close to her, watching her face intently, his expression unreadable. The gentle breeze ruffled the ornate feathers he insisted on wearing on his right eye and eyebrow, and blew strands of his dark hair across his high cheekbones. She remembered how soft that hair had felt beneath her fingers as he'd kissed her, and how his mouth had pressed so tenderly against her own. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself and staring at her friend with a troubled expression in her large violet eyes.

"Yumi, about what happened between us. . ."

She paused, unsure of how to proceed, when a voice called out to them from across the training grounds.

Rukia Kuchiki, unseated Shinigami in the 13th Division, and the one who'd discovered Ichigo Kurasaki's powers all that time ago ran towards them, waving a hand. Sakura gazed down at the smaller woman, about to smile in greeting when she noticed the look of grim determination in her luminous dark blue eyes.

"What is it, Rukia?"

"The Arrancar have been spotted in Karakura Town. Captain Hitsugaya and his group have gone to meet them. We're needed, Ayasegawa."

Sakura, who was close to Rukia's oldest friend Renji Abarai and quite fond of the smaller Shinigami, hugged her fiercely.

"Good luck, Rukia. Happy fighting."

Rukia nodded, face grim, and ran off, calling over her shoulder.

"I'm going through the gate now. Come as soon as you are able, Ayasegawa! Sakura, keep Orihime busy until it's safe for her to go through the gate! Your father is arranging it!"

Sakura waved her assent before touching Yumichika's arm.

"You ready?"

"Need you even ask?" His voice was regal. The usual. She grinned fiercely.

"Then let's go."

The two flash stepped to the nearest gate, which glowed with spirit energy. Sakura glanced at it longingly, resisting the urge to just rush through and to hell with the consequences.

"You want to join us."

She looked at Yumichika, startled by his soft voice. Her eyes were sad.

"Yes."

He looked away, blue eyes pensive, before glancing back at her.

"You miss Ikkaku."

She sighed, shaking her head, white hair falling around her back and shoulders in a soft wave.

"It's not just that."

An awkward silence fell. Finally, Yumichika turned toward the gate but Sakura reached out and took his hand, pale fingers sliding between his.

"Wait! Yumi. . .I. . ." She faltered, eyes searching his face, her mind running with a hundred different things to say to him. For a moment, he merely stared down at their entwined fingers. Then the elegant man shook her hold of him almost roughly and walked through the gate without a backwards glance.

Sakura stood on the grass of the Sereitei. Alone.