SCENE - Outside a very small, whitewalled cabin, with its back to a pond. The cabin is home to JUSHIRO UKITAKE. A dusting of snow covers the ground and a few short trees which stand at intervals around the cabin. The sun shines in the East, barely an hour above the horizon. SHIGEKUNI YAMAMOTO-GENRYUSAI, bent by age and responsibility, Captain General of the Gotei 13, stands surveying the cabin with his hands clasped behind his back, the pale cloak of captaincy fluttering in a soft wind. Yamamoto sucks in a breath of the crisp air and steps forward to knock on the cabin door. A hacking cough echoes from inside, and the door is pushed open.

UKITAKE: Oh, Captain General! Come in. Come in, please. What can I do for you?

Ukitake motions the old man inside as another cough racks his body.

YAMAMOTO: I have a proposal. I'd like you to think on it. Are you feeling well today?

Yamamoto's voice betrays no emotion as he enters the cabin, removing his reed sandals. Ukitake offers him a hand to help with the step up into the living space, but Yamamoto ignores it. They walk side by side as Ukitake responds, moving into the cabin's central room where a futon still lays unrolled, its covers thrown back as if Ukitake had only now risen from bed.

UKITAKE: Well enough, Sir. Why don't you sit down? If you'd like, I can brew some tea and you can explain this proposal to me.

Yamamoto lowers himself to the floor and shakes his head, motioning Ukitake to sit as well.

YAMAMOTO: That won't be necessary, Jushiro. Let me get to the point. It's been too long since you've had a lieutenant. The Thirteenth is the heart of the Gotei, just as the First is its head. Your division is responsible for all our storehouses, all our secrets. It is reckless to leave all this in the hands of one man. What would happen if you were to-

UKITAKE: We've talked about this before, Captain General. There is no one. Not to take the place of Kaien. You know that as well as I. I will not entrust the Thirteenth to someone I cannot rely on. coughing You know Kiyone and Sentaro are not up to the task.

Yamamoto waits for Ukitake to conclude his interruption, his eyes fixed on the other man's face.

YAMAMOTO: And what of Kuchiki? It seems she has been... cleared... of any wrongdoing, and it seems her abilities have returned. You know she was always the strongest under your command, ever since you lost Shiba. Will you say you cannot rely on her?

Ukitake falls to another fit of coughing, his face beginning to turn red. When he recovers himself, he meets Yamamoto's gaze with steely eyes.

UKITAKE: I swore, Yamamoto. I swore I wouldn't put his sister in danger. You know it, and I won't go back on my word. I won't make her a part of this, not anymore than I have to. Don't ask me for what I cannot give.

Yamamoto stands gracefully, his motion belying his aged appearance. He waits a moment, but Ukitake, still red-faced, doesn't rise.

YAMAMOTO: And if you asked Byakuya to withdraw his request, to release you from the promise? If he did? Would you name her your second then?

UKITAKE: I will not ask, Yamamoto. I will not.

YAMAMOTO: I only asked you to think on it, Jushiro. A good morning to you.

Yamamoto lets himself back out, leaving Ukitake to brood in silence. He closes the cabin door softly and crunches away across the frosted ground. CHOJIRO SASAKIBE appears beside him, falling into step a pace behind.

SASAKIBE: What did he say, Captain?

YAMAMOTO: What I knew he'd say. Did you arrange the meeting with Byakuya?

SASAKIBE: Sir, of course, Sir. He'll be waiting in your office when you return. Do you really think he'll agree to let his sister be put in harm's way, even now? Especially now?

YAMAMOTO: I don't know, Sasakibe. But I have to try. Ukitake has held out too long. He needs a successor.

SASAKIBE: Forgive my presumption, Sir, but so do you. We both know I'm not fit to lead the Gotei. I serve, as well as I can, but that is my place. You need a leader, for us all, should you fall.

Yamamoto stops and turns, looking back at the cabin. His face is smooth and unreadable. He stares for a long moment before turning back to Sasakibe and resuming his measured walk.

YAMAMOTO: I am aware, Sasakibe. (a pause) Ukitake has a difficult time finding a successor, because he already had one. Shiba Kaien would have made an excellent captain, but he is lost to us now.

SASAKIBE: Sir, but I don't underst-

YAMAMOTO: Successors can be lost in other ways, Sasakibe. If illness makes them unfit to serve, for example, in the position they were destined for. Ukitake is not the only one who finds it difficult to move on.

Snow swirls through the air, thickening into a brief fog. When it clears, the two men are nowhere to be seen.