Author's Note: A big thank you for reviews to Thayet, Kaze, Icyangel, Splitheart, Shadow Pain and GoranR. And no worries Thayet – it was a lovely review. I like long reviews! 3
This one's just a short story, but I hope you like.
Story so far: When Byakuya disappeared on a mission to the human world, Hisana was enlisted to help find him. Byakuya was badly injured. They were both infected with a hollow's venom that caused paralysis, but Hisana was able to join her soul to Byakuya's using a device Ukitake had given her. It bought them enough time to let Byakuya defeat the hollow, though it caused a great strain on hes soul.
And the story continues…..
Grey light streamed into the room. She flexed her fingers against satin sheets, curled them up until their tips touched her palm.
"Where am I?" She thought perhaps she already knew. Captain Unohana rose from where she'd been sitting by the window:
"You're home. Captain Kuchiki's mansion."
"Where's Byakuya?"
"He's being treated for his injuries at the Fourth Squad barracks."
"And Ukitake-taichou? Is he alright?"
"As well as can be expected."
Hisana frowned:
"What does that mean?"
"Well shortly after regaining consciousness, he realised that, at some point, he would have to answer to Kuchiki-taichou about why you were there." She had approached the bed and now she smiled as she offered Hisana another pillow: "They are recovering well, Hisana-san."
"And the others?"
"We found six men from Kuchiki's squad and twelve from Ukitake's. All of them had been infected with a potent venom that caused paralysis, but not death. Four of them, like yourself, received no other serious injuries and I sent them home after they'd received the antidote. The others are being treated as we speak."
"Then why are you here, with me?" As she spoke, her breath caught in her throat, and she coughed. Unohana helped her sit up, but the tightness in her chest had already passed.
The female cpatain smiled as she answered her question:
"Relax, Hisana. I am here at the request of two captains. One insisted I come here out of affection; the other, no doubt, out of guilt. Who am I to argue with such strong passions?" She had drifted back to the window and was gazing out at the fresh snowfall.
To Hisana, she looked like the kind of woman who would have no problem dealing with anybody's passions. She exuded a sense of extraordinary calm, as if nothing on earth could disturb those still waters. Hisana didn't entirely trust that quietness within her, but she did believe that what she said was true. She forced herself to relax back into the fine pillows. "How are you feeling?" asked Unohana.
"Fine. Just a little tired." She hesitated, and frowned: "Hungry. I'm really hungry."
"I thought you might be." Unohana crossed the room to a table and returned with a bowl of thick broth. Sitting up, Hisana took it in both hands and drank deeply. Food hadn't tasted this good in any of her lifetimes. "Take it easy," Unohana commented: "He won't thank me if you choke on your medicine." She was watching Hisana with interest.
"Medicine?"
"When we found you, your reiatsu was almost entirely gone. You will need to build it up again and food will help. Hunger is a good sign. For now, I prescribe three full meals a day."
"I thought the poison only obscured reiatsu." She held out the bowl for a refill and Unohana obliged. "I'm sure Ukitake said that," Hisana added: "And Byakuya-sama's sword was still in shikai, so there was no decrease in his reiatsu; he simply couldn't use it to react." The last of her words were lost as she buried her head in the broth.
"It was not the poison that drained you, Hisana."
"Hm?" Hisana looked up and wiped her chin.
"When you linked your soul to Byakuya's, whether you intended it or otherwise, you gave him a fresh source of reiatsu that had not been poisoned. Unfortunately for you, Byakuya is exceptionally strong, even for a man of his age. Trying to wield his power with your spirit would have been a little like trying to carve rocks with glass. Compared to his, your soul is a fragile thing. He could easily have shattered it. He could have killed you."
Hisana remembered: she had been in terrible pain. That cold, tearing her apart from the inside. It had been him then. He had done that to her:
"He would not have let me die," she said with conviction. Unohana made a soft sound in her throat, and, in a quiet voice that made the comment almost casual, she said:
"I sincerely hope he would."She saw Hisana's expression and every trace of sympathy disappeared from her face: "Something you have to understand, Hisana-san, if you are to be a part of his world, it is not a gentle one. He will never belong to you. His love will never be unconditional. Before all else, he is a captain of the shinigami. His first responsibility is to the balance of souls between the worlds of the living and the dead; his second is to the men in his care. He will face death many, many times over and there is every possibility that he will die violently for a cause you can never completely understand. If, after knowing all this, you choose his world over your own, he will still outlive you by a thousand years. Because that is what we are." The softness was gone from the female captain's features now. The truth behind it was something darker, something ruthless. She had seen the same thing in Byakuya's eyes: a sadness. A resignation that stemmed from devotion to something far beyond the worlds she knew. For all their power, she thought, they had sacrificed something. Something precious. That aching absence drew them together, no doubt, but it would remain, forever, a gulf between her and Byakuya. The question was not whether she could bridge that difference, but whether she could live with it. "Byakuya is young and he is rash," said Unohana, her voice softening a little as she approached the bed: "He rarely has to ask twice for the things he wants. And yet, you are clever, Hisana." Gently, Unohana brushed the hair back from her forehead, her touch communicating more than her words ever could: "You are kind. You are young. You are human. It is a lot to give up. Do you understand me?"
"Yes," she said.
"Good." Unohana sighed and took the bowl from where it rested in Hisana's hands: "You should get some rest now. I'll come back to check on you this evening."
As she reached the door though, Hisana called out to her:
"Unohana-taichou?" The older woman glanced back. "What if I am already in love with him?"
The shinigami smiled:
"Then it cannot be helped, Hisana. I do not have a cure for that."