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This was another request, this time form raezura.
While I do have a tendency to name fics after songs, this fic was not named after the Pink Floyd song "Wish You Were Here," but the generic phrase often found on post cards.
The movie that Yoruichi and Soifon are watching at the beginning is "The Mystery of Chess Boxing" or "Ninja Checkmate."
Soifon watched the television as the Ghost Faced Killer fell in defeat at the feet of the movies heroes. The heroes had to team up and use the "double horse" style to conquer the Killer's over whelming "five elements" style. As the credits rolled, Soifon couldn't help but think about her and Yoruichi as she watched how well the heroes complimented each other in battle.
Soifon's battle with the Bount Mabashi had left her wounded and drained. She had been ordered to a few days of bed rest while her wounds healed. Much to her surprise, Yoruichi came to visit her during that time. She hadn't expected Yoruichi to be concerned about her, let alone come and see how she was doing.
Even more surprising was that Unohana had ordered her to a week's leave. Soifon had expended a dangerous amount of her reaitsu fighting Mabashi's poison, and it still hadn't fully recovered. While Soifon was ashamed of her inadequacy, Yoruichi was excited to hear about the down time and graciously offered to let Soifon stay at the Shoten.
Soifon had been apprehensive at first. While she loved the idea of being able to be close to Yoruichi for a week, she detested that it would also put her within a mile of Urahara. But things were not as bad as she though they would be. The Sereitei was keeping Urahara busy, preparing the Fake Town in which the Winter Wars would take place, so she rarely saw him.
Now was one of those occasions. Urahara was in his workshop, and she and Yoruichi were sitting together on a couch in a living area in front of a television, watching movies. Together was a relative term, as Yoruichi sat on her haunches with her legs curled up under her at one end while Soifon sat at the other ram-rod strait with her hands folded neatly in her lap. She would have loved to sit closer to her Goddess, but she didn't want to encroach on her personal space. Not that she even had the courage too.
Without warning, Yoruichi stretched and stood up. Soifon's head instinctively snapped to the movement. Yoruichi was currently wearing a rumpled tank top and hot pants. Her long, beautiful legs were almost completely exposed. Soifon had to physically stop herself from staring. Soifon's eyes moved farther north, but soon found that it was quite obvious that Yoruichi was not wearing a bra. She decided to look the woman in the eyes, but found the action awkwardly intimate.
"Wait here," Yoruichi said to a slightly blushing Soifon after she was sufficiently stretched. "I have something to show you…give you." Yoruichi faltered uncharacteristically. "I'm going to show you something that you can keep afterwards." Before Soifon could answer, Yoruichi left.
Soifon sat on the couch awkwardly, not knowing what to do. She was dressed far more conservatively than Yoruichi, wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans, but still found the clothing uncomfortable. The jeans were tight and tended to ride up, causing Soifon to fidget to get them to a comfortable position.
As Soifon sat, quite literally twiddling her thumbs, Yoruichi was digging through her closet. Next to her was a growing pile of shoe boxes.
Yoruichi had hoped, perhaps foolishly, that everything would return to normal when she finally returned from her exile. She was wrong, of course. Soifon had changed from the timid girl that she had known a century before to a bitter woman. As the information about Aizen's betrayal came into light, Soifon slowly warmed back up to Yoruichi. But it seemed that there was an impassable rift between them now.
Before, Yoruichi wouldn't have hesitated to answer affirmatively if someone had asked her if Soifon was a friend of hers. They spent a copious amount of time together, and Yoruichi enjoyed every second of it. There was something thoroughly satisfying in reducing the serious, mission-minded Soifon into a blushing, stuttering mess. Yoruichi never got tired of it.
Now, there was almost no intimacy to their interactions. Soifon was always quick to ask what Yoruichi required of her, and to leave if there was nothing. They no longer spent recreational time together. Yoruichi supposed that Soifon's position had something to do with it. But even now, Soifon literal kept her distance from her.
Yoruichi could understand why Soifon was acting like this. Yoruichi had hurt her deeply by leaving unannounced. Soifon was probably afraid to get close to her again, afraid that she will be hurt again. Yoruichi removed the last of the five shoe boxes for her closet, hoping that contents would help mend the gap between them.
Yoruichi exited her room, carrying the boxes stacked on top of each other. They completely obscured her body, so it appeared as if Soifon was looking at a stack of boxes with beautiful legs.
"What are these?" Soifon asked after Yoruichi set the boxes down roughly in front of her.
"Open it up and find out." Yoruichi said a little nervously as she sat down on the couch. Cautiously, Soifon removed the lid of the top box. The inside of the box was stuffed to the brim with envelopes. Soifon turned to Yoruichi and gave her a quizzical look. "Take one out."
Soifon removed an envelope and examined it. Turning it over, she saw that the envelopes was addressed to her. Again, Soifon looked at Yoruichi questioningly.
"Go on, open it!" Yoruichi urged with some enthusiasm. Slowly, Soifon broke the seal and removed the contents. She unfolded the sheet of paper within. On it was writing.
April, 1958
Dear Soifon,
Washing D.C. is such a pretty palace. It's hard to believe that I'm so much older than the country that I'm currently in. There's this sakura park across from a lake and this big obelisk thing. It's really pretty and reminds me of the grove between the Fon and Shihoin estates that we spent so much time together in…
"What is this?" Soifon asked, her breath a little short.
"These," Yoruichi cautiously scooted closer to Soifon, so that she could point things out in the documents, she told herself. "are all the letters I wrote to you over the past one hundred years."
"L…letters?" Soifon stammered. Had Yoruichi really written her over the century?
"Yeah, I tried to write you once a month, when I could." Yoruichi replied.
"Why didn't you send any of them?" Soifon asked as she removed another letter an opened it.
"Well, you know how I can procrastinate…" Yoruichi rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. It was a total lie. Yoruichi hadn't sent any of them because she was afraid of what she would receive in response, or worse, what she wouldn't.
Soifon was so absorbed by the paper in front of her that she didn't notice that Yoruichi was leaning on her, a hand on her shoulder, reading along with her.
November, 1941
Dear Soifon,
Things are starting to get pretty hairy here. War is in the air. I've decided to pack up and go to America. It seems safer there. I tried to convince Kiuske to come with me, but he doesn't want to leave his shop. He says if things get bad, he and Tessai can just hide out in the training area…
"You should have seen the way they dressed! The men wore theses tight pants that flared out at the calf with platform shoes, and tight shirts that were unbuttoned with hairy chests." Yoruichi shivered in disgust. "And then there was the music! I don't understand how anyone could listen to that crap!" Soifon laughed as she listened to Yoruichi described the phenomenon known as "disco."
That was how Soifon had spent her week off. Her and Yoruichi would spend the day going through the letters, with Yoruichi elaborating on the stories that they contained. None of them contained a heartfelt apology or confession, as Soifon had hoped. The closest she had come to that was a promise of an explanation when Yoruichi returned, which she had already received. The letters were just anecdotes from Yoruichi's travels around the World of the Living.
Soifon removed another envelope an opened it. Instead of a letter, there was a photograph inside. The picture was of Yoruichi and Urahara. They were at the beach. Yoruichi was wearing a skimpy orange bikini and smiling widely with Urahara in a head lock and holding up two fingers in the victory sign. Soifon's skin flushed upon seeing so much of Yoruichi's body.
"Turn it over." Yoruichi requested, a bit anxiously. Soifon complied. On the back, written in black marker, was the phrase "wish you were here."
Soifon's breathing became sharp and shallow. Her hands began to tremble a little as the words seeped into her brain.
Yoruichi watched Soifon as she held the photograph, rereading the message as if she didn't believe it was actually there. Yoruicihfelt a pain in her chest as she watched those gray eyes that now looked remarkably like storm clouds threatening to burst. She was almost consumed with an overwhelming need to reach out the Soifon. To hold her tight, to stroke her hair gently and tell her that everything was alright now that the she will never do anything like that again.
But she didn't. It would have been too much. It was too soon. Yoruichi needed to fully mend their relationship before she tried to take it further.
For Soifon, the photograph and the five words on the back meant as much as the entire collection of letters combined. The letters told Soifon that she hadn't been forgotten, but this photo told Soifon that not only had she not been abandoned, but she had been missed.