~~~~~~~Shinji's POV~~~~~

It was nearly a week since Emily's been in hospital. Unohana kept a neutral face while telling me that there were no changes. I didn't know whether to take that as good or bad news. I was currently in the hospital room where Emily was, worried. 'You know, I doubt this is healthy. You should try and get some sleep. You haven't had a good night's sleep in a week.' I promptly ignored Sakanade's words. What did she know anyway? Every time I had tried to sleep I had had nightmares. I would sleep when it would all be over. My eyes widened when I sensed Emily's reistsu spike up. It was even visible, the yellow light surrounding her. 'This is bad. It can't go unnoticed.' However, it quickly vanished, her reiatsu becoming as stable as it was before. Only less. I thought that Jyubi finally took matters in his own hands and healed her via her own reiatsu. To me, he's not only the strongest zanpakutou, but also the weirdest. He is an independent zanpakutou, unlike all others, meaning that he can manifest in the real world without Emily's approval and has his own reiatsu as well, slightly different from hers. She had also said that he can see the future and his power allows him to make 'deals' with her, giving her even more power than usual. It's mostly as if they share a contract, rather than a normal shinigami-zanpakutou relationship. My hopes were confirmed as she started moving slowly…

~~~~~Emily's POV~~~~

I slowly drifted back to consciousness. I was fully aware of the position I found myself in, hospitalized and all. My chest hurt badly, just from breathing. 'I can't heal it. It will recover normally, maybe even leaving a scar.'

'You've done so much for me already. It's okay.'

I made a weak attempt to rise from bed, only to hiss sharply when my chest started hurting once more. My eyes shot open and I saw Shinji watching me from a chair. He looked really tired, but relieved at the same time.

"Shinji…"

"How do you feel?" he asked, genuinely concerned. Now wait a minute, he doesn't blame himself for what happened, does he? I stretched a little, about as much as my wound allowed me to.

"Well, I've been better, but I'm fine. Can you help me a little here?" Shinji raised a confused eyebrow, then walked up to me and helped me stand up. He sat on the side of the bed, scanning me curiously. "You look like shit, when was the last time you slept normally?" He just shrugged at my question.

"Yesterday…"

"Liar!" I interrupted him. "You haven't slept at all since I got in hospital, have you?" Shinji seemed taken aback by my words. "How long have I been here anyway?"

"A week." He answered, yawning. "Unohana wasn't sure you'd survive." He added, worry obvious in his voice.

'I wouldn't have. Arigato Jyubi.'

I placed a hand behind Shinji's neck, pulling him closer so I could kiss him. We broke apart and I pulled him down. "Get some sleep, Shinji. You need it." I said, moving to the side so he would fit. He opposed a little, but I figured he was way too tired to deny himself some well-deserved rest. I felt his arms around my waist as I also lounged back on the far-too-small-for-two-people bed. I was pressed tight against Shinji. I could feel him breathing, his chest rising and falling calmly. I looked him in the eyes only to find him doing the exact same thing. Damn, he was worried still! I sighed. "Baka, what would you do if I died?" I asked softly.

"It's a possibility I'd rather ignore. I want to know you're safe all the time. What happened proved me that I am not doing my job properly." I rolled my eyes and kissed him.

"Hey, I'm here. I'm fine. You don't need to worry anymore." I said, slowly falling asleep.

~~~~~~Few hours later, Normal POV~~~~~

Unohana had informed all Captains and Vice-Captains of Emily's state. Now Kensei, Mashiro, Lisa, Rose, Love, Shunsui, Junshiro, Yoruichi, Urahara and Hiyori were all waiting in front of the room, staring through the small window in the door. Emily was sleeping on top of Shinji with her head on his chest. He was asleep as well.

"Aww, aren't they just cute?" Mashiro asked childishly.

"Shut up!" Kensei said, annoyed.

"Well, I can't deny that she's right." Urahara remarked. Several others agreed.

"No point in making fun of that now." Yoruichi remarked. "They've been officially together for a while."

"You're right, Yoruichi-san." Urahara said, a disappointed look on his face.

"Damn baldy should wake up already." Hiyori muttered. Love rolled his eyes, though nobody noticed since he was wearing sunglasses.

"Let him rest, Hiyori."

"Yeah, Shinji had barely slept this week." Rose said. Hiyori proceeded to beat the crap out of the two. Lisa chuckled.

"Shinji's been replaced."

"Lisa-chan, don't be so mean~!" Shunsui chanted.

"Hey, she's waking up." Ukitake announced. Everyone went silent. The Shintaichos were slightly worried. Yamamoto's words were still ringing in their ears. No matter what, don't reveal the way she was wounded, or her identity as Senkai.

Emily's eyes slowly opened, her sleep confusion slowly clearing. She quickly noted that she was sleeping on top of Shinji and that there were many impatient people waiting to enter the room. "Shinji, wake up." She proceeded to shake him awake. Shinji groaned in frustration. "Shinji, the others are waiting outside." The affirmation seemed to serve as a motivation worthy of Shinji's awakening. No sooner he rose from bed, the door opened and Hiyori kicked her way in, starting to scuffle with Shinji. Emily sweat dropped and focused on the others.

"Emily-chan, how are you? We were so worried about you! Even though Kensei-meanie won't admit it, he was the…" Kensei pulled back his Lieutenant.

"It's good to have you back." He said.

"Well, more or less. I still can't get out of this bed." Emily answered.

"Eh, that'll come in time. You're conscious, that matters most." Lisa said.

"By the way, how did it happen?" Love asked.

"Yeah, what did you two do?" Rose asked. Kyoraku quickly jumped in.

"You surely don't want our precious Emily-chan to revive such horrible memories, do you?" Emily raised an eyebrow, knowing the trick. The other two raised their arms defensibly.

"Course not!"

A/N: Hehe, I bet you can all guess what Mashiro tried to say.