Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, much to my dismay.
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218 B.C The Qin Dynasty
"Soi Fon? You must remember to thrust the sword this way", a gentle voice spoke. She rooted her back foot to the ground and bent her knee. She moved like a spring, the tip of the sword penetrated the wooden block with precision. She withdrew and smiled gently at the young girl whose admiration for her adoptive mother was beyond any words could express. "That is called Ci, Soi Fon...it is the basic art of thrusting your sword". She handed back the sword to her daughter, who became sullen at the sight of the weapon on her hands.
"But Lao Bu...It is so difficult...", she politely protested. "I have neither your skill nor..."
The woman closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "You have little regard for yourself, Soi Fon. Why, I can say with much confidence that you are better than me when I was your age"
"Is that really true, Lao Bu?"
"Would I lie to my daughter?"
Soi Fon smiled at her mother's question and sheepishly shook her head. "I suppose not"
"Good, then you must keep perfecting your craft, then you will become better than me". Her mother's smile was disarming, her words were beyond comforting. Yet, the moment her mother regarded someone as an enemy, a transformation occurs that even Soi Fon has difficulty reconciling Mei Feng the woman general, and Mei Feng the caring and patient woman in front of her.
Soi Fon nodded and inhaled. She imitated her mother's movements and successfully hit her wooden target with ease and precision as well. She grinned proudly at the beautiful woman who watched with tender admiration.
"See what I mean, Soi Fon?" ,she said, hugging her daughter and disregarding all protocols between general and soldier-in-training. Lesson over, and she can be Soi Fon's mother again. She kneeled down and brushed her daughter's hair away from the young girl's face. "This is all that you have to remember. When fencing, though highly alert...the appearance is as calm as a fair lady's...but when in action, a vicious tiger emerges"*.
Soi Fon, as young as she was, tried her best to chew on her wise mother's admonition and committed every word in her memory.
"Now, go and clean up. Dinner is almost ready", Mei Feng gently pushed her daughter away and watched the robust young girl skip and hop her way from the training room. Her expression became sullen. Soi Fon was only 10, and yet, she had been subject to military training since last year. A child should not know of The Way, until her faculties are fully able to comprehend it, let alone be given the burden to kill.. Xiao Fon...She silently prayed for her best friend who died in the heat of battle and left little Soi Fon in her care. She sighed and stood up. There was nothing she can do to protect the young girl. They belonged to the Women Generals of the House of Da, serving the Qin Dynasty. Soi Fon, at a tender age, needed to be trained.
There is danger looming, she casted a dark look outside, gazing at the river Hwang Ho.
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1905 A.D Soul Society
"How can I protect Yoruichi-sama like this?!
Soi Fon hurled herself around, slicing the wind. The out of rhythm and awkward movements reflected her frustration over her self-assessed performance in her training.
"Like this?!"
She repeated her motions, wielding the sword with much more frustration, until she felt a hand fall over her left shoulder. She froze, when the person moved closer to her ear and held her combative hand.
"Listen to me, Soi Fon. Swing the sword like this". Her eyes grew large at the realization that it was her Yoruichi-sama; she could barely react, and so instead, allowed her senpai to gain control of her arm as she held it up and instructed her how to make use of her Zanpakutou properly.
"Yes, bring it across", Yoruichi said. She then guided Soi Fon to bring it down to her waist level and thrust it across and upwards, all the while, her hands slid from her kohai's shoulders to her lithe arms. "Like this".
The sound of metal moving across the air was followed by a deafening silence. Time seemed to have stood still, with Yoruichi's hands still gripping Soi Fon's arms, and her body dangerously close to the young girl. Her gaze was focused on Soi Fon until the young girl stirred and almost instantaneously sprung herself away from her, landing on a kowtowing position.
Yoruichi walked towards Soi Fon and said "Don't beat yourself up like that. You're doing well"
Soi Fon looked up and replied, "No, I am still inadequate"
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2008 A.D
Soi Fon gripped her bed sheet and stirred. "No, I am still inadequate, Yoruichi-sama", she mumbled. She bolted up from her sleep and gasped. "Tsk.", was all she could say while still panting. She massaged her forehead and grimaced, attempting to recall her dream, not so much the sequence with Yoruichi, but the first one. But it was vague, so vague that she could barely remember the face of the other woman. Oddly enough, she found herself repeating the words, "when in action, a vicious tiger emerges". She opened her eyes after mumbling the phrase, and sat up.
The small captain absent-mindedly reached for her Zanpakutou and held it in front of her. She moved it, through a slow thrust in a forward position, aiming at an imaginary person's heart. Soi Fon then shook her head and banished her thoughts aside. Sighing heavily, she forced herself to stand up, in order to prepare for the day's work.
Soi Fon headed towards the training grounds with a nagging feeling that she just couldn't shake. It is as if she had forgotten something, and she was desperately trying to recall it. So immersed in her thought, or a hodgepodge of them, that she didn't notice that her former senpai was already following her.
"It is so uncharacteristic of you not to have felt my reiatsu...Soi Fon", Yoruichi declared flatly.
Soi Fon stopped herself from walking, turned around and instinctively kowtowed in front of the other woman. "Yoruichi-sama", she muttered.
Yoruichi hesitantly waited for Soi Fon to defend herself from the teasing comment , but nothing came about. "Soi Fon? You can stand up now", she mumbled, frustrated over Soi Fon's habit of still applying protocols on nobility with her.
Soi Fon nodded and stood up. "I'm sorry, Yoruichi-sama"
Yoruichi waved it off. "Tsk. I was just teasing you. You looked so...disturbed. Care to share it with me?"
"Ah...I was just...". Soi Fon struggled to invent something in her head, a behavior that didn't go unnoticed with Yoruichi. She sighed but refrained herself from pushing the captain any further.
"Never mind...", she said with a tinge of sadness and walked away. "I'll see you later"
"Yo-yoruichi-sama!", Soi Fon called out. Yoruichi however moved fast and soon was beyond hearing distance. Soi Fon shook her head and shrugged everything off, she'll apologize later to Yoruichi, because right now she's late for her training. She went at the opposite direction and used her flash steps to reach her destination as fast as she could.
Yoruichi continued to walk with no destination in mind. She had gone back today to Soul Society with every intention of just seeing Soi Fon, but the captain's demeanor seemed to have suggested a lack of warmth over her presence. She halted and looked around, "well, I went here for one reason", she said to herself, "so might as well...". Yoruichi started walking back and used shunpo eventually, to find Soi Fon.
When Yoruichi finally reached Soi Fon's destination, she decided to mask her reiatsu and observe the captain's behavior. She was moving her Zanpakutou using a style that was not taught by Yoruichi, and she was very awkward at it.
"I don't think I've ever taught you to hold and swing your sword that way", she blurted out, unable to restrain herself eventually after Soi Fon's several painful attempts on that style.
"Yoruichi-sama!", Soi Fon exclaimed. "I was just...trying...a new...I mean..."
Yoruichi frowned. "Is there something bothering you, Soi Fon?"
The captain shook her head, but refused to meet Yoruichi's gaze. She heard her former senpai sigh, but had opted to remain still.
"I sense that I'm not welcomed today", Yoruichi murmured, though it was clear enough for Soi Fon to hear and understand.
"That is not true, Yoruichi-sama. I have always look forward to your visits"
"What seems to be the matter then?"
Where do I begin? "I...I didn't sleep well...and I'm sorry for having offended you"
"Why couldn't you sleep?"
Soi Fon groaned inwardly. The last thing she wanted Yoruichi to know is that the Captain of the 2nd division had been mulling over her dreams...that included her former senpai and a recurring one that included a mysterious Chinese woman who felt oddly familiar to Soi Fon. But she also knew lying would not pass through Yoruichi, and so she decided, editing her answer would not exactly constitute an outright fabrication.
"Just...dreams, Yoruichi-sama..."
"Bad or good?"
"Ahh...", Soi Fon blushed. "G-good, I suppose" Why is she prying like this?
"Did that include me?", Yoruichi asked innocently. Or at least, as innocently as she tried to be.
Soi Fon gulped. "Y-yes, Yoruichi-sama...I dreamt...I dreamt of the time you taught me how to swing my Zanpakutou"
Yoruichi smiled, then frowned. "So...you dreamt of me...and that constituted your lack of sleep? That's not good." Before Soi Fon could protest, Yoruichi continued. " Is that why...all of a sudden you're experimenting on a different way to handle your Zanpakutou?". Yoriuchi couldn't help but feel slighted by her own conclusions. It had been a tough reunion for them, as Yoruichi found out much of Soi Fon's anger rested on the fact that while their style of fighting is acutely the same, she had managed to still be on top of the fight that occurred between them. She can't exactly blame Soi Fon if the strong-willed captain wished to veer away from the training she had been given.
"No, Yoruichi-sama!" Soi Fon's voice was filled with panic at the thought of offending her former senpai once more in just one day. "I woke up in the middle of it. I'm just the type who finds it difficult to return to sleep after abruptly waking up...it has nothing to do with...what you saw earlier" Soi Fon was already at the stage of rambling and continued to do so. "I just...it just came to my mind...and I attempted to...just...try it out"
Yoruichi smiled. "I didn't mean to get you all worked up on it...I don't mind...It just felt odd...that's all...So no one's taught you that?", she asked with a hopeful tone. She felt bitter at the thought of Soi Fon turning to someone else for help in her continuous training.
Soi Fon shook her head and seemed to have read Yoruichi's mind. "I have not trained with anyone else, Yoruichi-sama".
It used to baffle Soi Fon when Yoruichi, upon her return to Soul Society, had been increasingly territorial over her. It came to a point for Soi Fon however, to just accept it, the way she has been trained by her family and to respond in a manner appropriate to her Yoruichi-sama's needs, in this case, indulge her recent possessive demeanor. Luck had just been in Soi Fon's side because she needn't lie most of the time. For whatever it was worth, Yoruichi's new found jealous streak was merely compatible to Soi Fon's dedication to her.
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Yoruichi lay on top of the roof and stared at the moon. She had returned to Karakura town and headed straight to Kisuke's shop. But instead of her usual first stop to the pantry and a short chat with her long time friend, she immediately went straight to being alone, and thought of nothing but Soi Fon. Sadness overwhelmed her spirit just by thinking of how distant Soi Fon had been. Not that she had expected a warm welcome and a tight embrace.
Yoruichi berated herself for being naive enough to think that Soi Fon will simply resume to her former role as Yoruichi's constant companion and closest comrade. Not closest...I didn't tell her what my plans were...But how I wish I could describe her as such.
There was something more that hurt Yoruichi. It is as if Soi Fon's behavior towards her had been reduced to automatic responses. Yes, Yoruichi-sama, No, Yoruichi-sama, I'm sorry, Yoruichi-sama, I look forward to your visits, Yoruichi-sama. All of which, were given in a flat but docile manner. It was as if Soi Fon has grown weary but remained true to her original duty in life, simply because she is the type who wouldn't dare rock the boat.
Yoruichi shook her head in hopes that the movement itself would banish all her thoughts and fears. This is how fear feels like...when you think you're losing an important person in your life...this is how Soi Fon...must have felt...And yet she has managed to grow stronger...too strong to cling on me now. That last thought brought about another wave of anxiety on Yoruichi. She doesn't need me anymore...now that I've grown to realize I need her.
Maybe it had always been me who needed Soi Fon, not the other way around. But didn't Soi Fon admit to needing me? No, damn it. She was told and brought up to serve me. She never said she needed me. Yoruichi thought long and hard if, during their confrontation after one hundred years of being incommunicado, Soi Fon has said something about needing her. She didn't. All she said was, she had found contentment by fulfilling the duty to protect me. And even her question of why I left had nothing to do with need, but had everything to do with the resentment of a soldier abandoned by her general.
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216 B.C
"Run...Soi...Fon...run and...live"
Soi Fon's hands trembled as she held the woman's face. "No...no...Lao Bu...I will not leave you...Lao Bu...? Lao...Bu..." Soi Fon felt her mother's blood-covered wrist to find a pulse slowly weakening. "No...no...please...Lao Bu..."
The woman in front of Soi Fon choked in her own blood and slowly turned pale.
Soi Fon heard the thundering sound of horses running towards her. And in one swift motion, a man scooped her up and swung her behind. Every split second created more distance between her and the lifeless body of the woman whom she had treated as her own mother. "No! Let me go! I can't leave her!"
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2008 A.D
"No!!!" Soi Fon screamed and sat up. She carefully scanned the environment around her and realized she was in her own room. She began reconstructing and deconstructing her dream, but the more she thought about it, the more it became distant, yet once again, had an eery feeling of familiarity to it. She felt a heaviness in her heart. A pain that was caused by the death of that woman--a woman that she had referred to as her mother.
The only thing that was clear to Soi Fon is that these dreams began creeping into her subconscious the day she had fully used Shunko, and became more frequent as the days progressed. She stood up and gazed outside her window and found herself staring at the moon. Who are you?
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* This quote was lifted from Yuh Niuy's Wushu Philosophy.
A/N: Quite a long one, please bear with me.
Some parts of this story are historically accurate such as the Qin Dynasty and the dates that I have assigned to it. Concepts such as women generals are also historically sound though the one I have attributed here is a figment of my imagination (the real Women Generals come from another dynasty, not the Qin). I have based at least some of Soi Fon's mother's traits and stature to Yuh Niuy, and some from Mu Guiying. Both of which are also real historical figures in Chinese history.
With regard to dates that cover the "present", I must apologize because I have simply assigned it randomly. While this story (half of it anyway) follows the original setting of Soul Society and Karakura Town, the plot will not necessarily follow any of the arcs in the manga and/or anime series faithfully.
Yes, it's not a coincidence that I have ended my first story with Yoruichi and Soi Fon talking a bit about the Qin dynasty, and then now, this story begins with such (The two stories, are, however unrelated). I've studied Chinese history (though not extensively), and therefore I plan to put it to good use. (So as to not waste my liberal education) Ambitious? I know, but I got to give it a go.
Read, review and comment if you can :)