By the time Adeline made it back to her room she was spent. She wanted to take a shower but couldn't muster the energy to get off her futon. Her mind was relaxed and her body sated. She had expected Byakuya's passion but was surprised by his intensity. She thought she had heard someone mention that it had been 62 years since his wife had died.

Adeline blushed to think she had been the one, in all of the seireitei, he had chosen to bed. She could still feel his hands on her and his scent still lingered on his kosode that she had not taken off. She blushed even more as her body responded to the memory and winced in pain when she felt her core clinch.

Adeline couldn't decided if it was because it had been so long or because all her previous times had been in a gigai, but she was a little more than annoyed. It had hurt like the first time all over again. She hoped Byakuya didn't think he was her first, that honor had belonged to her husband. Even though she had told him she was married before it didn't mean was listening to her. She closed her eyes hoping she wouldn't be walking funny tomorrow. Surrounded by the warmth of their encounter she was deep asleep within minutes. For the first time since arriving to the seireitei she had slept through the night.

Adeline woke with a start. She sat up looking around her small room trying to figure out what had woken her when she heard a pounding on her door.

"Wh…Whose there." She said still confused and half asleep. The sun peeked through the window, blinding her.

"It's me, let me in!"

"Kisuke?!" She asked, starting to wake up and rubbing her tired eyes.

"Yes it's me. Come on let me in." He pounded again.

"Hang on!" She cried. " I uh… I just got up. I gotta change."

"Hurry up!" He complained.

Adeline sat up and looked around frantically trying to find her clothes before she remembered that she had left them behind in Byakuya's office! She looked down panicking trying to figure out what to put on. There was no spare obi in her room to tie what she was wearing together. She looked into the back of the closet, finding the clothes she wore when she first came here, a worn out pair of blue jeans and a tank top. She put them on kicking Byakuya's kosode into the closet and hastily closing the closet door before seeing her guest.

"What are you doing here?" She said stepping out of her room before he could come in. She crossed her arms over her chest, paranoid she was wearing a neon sign and that everyone would notice what she had done. She needed to snap out of it before she ran into Captain Kuchiki.

"We have a meeting today remember? Is that what your wearing to the meeting? Where's your uniform?"

"Oh no! I forgot about the meeting. I have to take a shower first!"

"Meeting starts in 3 minutes I don't think…."

"I'll be quick!" She yelled and sprinted off before he could stop her.

He smiled as Adeline ran off.

Her mother would be proud to see her using Shunpo so effortlessly.

Deciding not to wait in the hall he entered her room. Kisuke noticed the closet door partially open. He walked over and tried to close it several times before looking down to see what was stopping It from closing. Picking up the black cloth, Kisuke wondered why she was wearing her street clothes. He held out the kosode, thinking it was odd she had gotten such a big one when he noticed the squad six emblem sewed on the inside. Dropping the kosode he kicked it back into the closet. He stepped back and ran out the room wishing he had never went inside.

There are lots of reason's for her to have something like that he thought to himself, sliding her door closed.

Adeline came running over just as he closed her door. Her hair wet and hanging loosely down her back.

"Let's go old man. Were gonna be late!". She joked and ran off down the opposite end of the hall.

By the time they arrived at the meeting they were already 10 minutes late. Adeline tried to open the door to the main room in the squad one head quarters quietly, but still managed to disrupt Captain Sui-Feng's report. All eyes were on her as she slowly made her way to the front of the room. She felt so out of place and embarrassed to be wearing her street clothes. She also hoped they hadn't notice her walking funny from the pain she still felt.

"Sorry for being late Head-Captain. I over slept and lost tack of time." She blushed bowing deeply. She looked up and was relieved to be meet with his welcoming smile.

"No problem!" He responded waving away her concerns. "We just started anyway. What happened to your uniform?"

"Laundry mix up." Adeline answered blushing fiercely. "Please forgive my rudeness."

"Don't worry about it. It happens."

" Thank you Head-Captain. It won't happen again."

Walking back to the end of the room where Urahara waited, she was surprised at the expression on his face. If she had a guess, she would say that he was amused. She looked at him in confusion but he just put his hands to ears indicating she should listen.

As Captain Sui-Feng continued her report, Adeline took a chance to glance around the room. The floor was made of highly polished wood. Captain-Commander Kyroaku stood at the front of the room, the other captains lined up odds on one side and evens on the other. She saw Captain Kuchiki and felt her heart skip a beat and her face heat up. She tried to wipe the guilty look off her face as she the other captains stared at her, whispering to each other.

"Thank you Captain. Our final bit of business is to discuss Miss Park over here. As most of you know, I allowed her to come here in a trial basis, as a special favor to Urahara who has helped us out so much in the past. I assure you she is full a blooded shinigami and therefore is entitled to a spot at the academy. These last 6 months she's spent with us were more like a trial so she can see how things run around here. I would like to meet with each Captain that has hosted her over these past six months, those of you who have not are free to leave."

The captains all slowly filed out of the room, leaving behind the select few captains she had spent time with. Almost all of them she noted were the Visored captains, and probably only agreed to host her as a favor to Urahara, with the exception being Captain Kuchiki who had allowed her only because his own lieutenant, Renji Abarai had taken some time off. After Captain Commander Kyoraku assured him she was excellent with paper work he had agreed to let her step in.

One by one the captains meet with Captain Commander Kyoraku and Urahara while she looked on. She was becoming bored and wondered why she was even there when Captain Yadomaru wandered over.

"Why has Urahara taken such an interest in you?" She asked bluntly.

"Im not sure." Adeline answered, taken aback. "Has he?"

Lisa narrowed her sharp green eyes.

"He's calling in favors left and right trying to get you in. Do you want so desperately to be a shinigami? What division do you want to join?" She stared intently at Adeline, trying too peer into her soul and reveal all her secrets.

Adeline backed away in response. My secrets are my own.

"To be honest with you I haven't really thought about joining a squad. I haven't completely decided to join the Gotei 13 yet either. I haven't even decided if I want to go to the academy. Im here because Kisuke Urahara told me this is where I belong. He told me this is where my parents came from, and I thought if I came here too I might be able to find out more about them." She answered.

"I see." Lisa replied before walking away.

Adeline thought hard about what Captain Yadomaru had said to her. She looked over at Urahara. He was deep in conversation with Captain Kuchiki and the captain commander. She was starting to get mad at him when suddenly it all started to click into place.

She was furious. Of all the underhanded manipulative things he could have done this was the worse. If her suspicions were correct, he had a lot of explaining to do.

"Hey! Come on over here already." Urahara cried waving to get her attention.

She threw him a dirty look and stormed over. All the other Captains had left, save Captain Kuchiki; of course.

"Well, all the other Captains have said the same thing. You would be a huge asset to the Gotei 13 should you decide to join. I have no doubt you'll breeze right through the academy. We have a few lieutenant positions available and Captain Kuchiki here has offered you 3rd seat in his squad and an office of your own should you wish to practice your craft."

Adeline was stunned. Captain Kuchiki must have been really listening to her when she complained about missing her practice.

"That was very kind of him, Thank you Captain Kuchiki." she said as she bowed to him.

Captain Kuchiki nodded back before excusing himself and exiting the room, leaving Adeline with the traitor Urahara and the Captain Commander.

"Well I think you have what you need to make an informed decision. Try not to take too long now." He said clearly dismissing her.

"I'll do my best." Adeline bowed deeply before leaving the room.

When she finally made it outside she sprinted. She wanted to put as much space between her and the traitor as she could. The air whipped through her hair as her mind reeled with information. She ran as fast as she could. Before she knew it she was already outside the barracks, her mind made up. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.

"KISUKE URAHARA!"

"Yes?" Came his amused response from behind a tree.

"Tell me the truth!" She demanded. "Are you…..have you been lying to me? Are you my father?"

"Well, yes and No.." He replied. He looked at her and took a deep breath. "Why don't we discuss this inside" He replied after seeing the determined look on her face. There was no getting out of this now and he was partly relieved to finally get to tell the truth, or the particle truth.

They entered the room and sat at the small table in the corner. She poured them both tea and sat back waiting to hear his story.

"123 years ago I was outcasted from the Gotei 13, for hollowfication experiments that I did not preform. I am of course referring to the incident that happened to the visored Captains. Now even though Aizen was responsible for what initially happened to them, I was the one responsible for their current status. I ran from the soul society and hid in the human world. 30 years ago I had you."

She listen closely to his story. Most if it gelled well with what she had heard about him around the seireitei itself. She was eager to hear the rest of his story. She poured them some more tea and waited for him to continue.

"I thought everything was going to be ok," He continued. "However as an infant a unusual number of hollows were attracted to you. I worried it might have been Aizen so I hid you. I made a special gigai that would age with you as a human would and suppressed your shinigami powers. I had a quincy contact of mine find a family to hide you amongst, in the America's and far away from everything going on over here."

She got up and started pacing about the small room. It was one thing to speculate but it was quite another to hear him admit it outright. Her head was getting clouded and she felt numb.

"I just wanted you to be safe from Aizen, until we could find a way to bring him down. After we defeated Aizen I thought it would be alright to meet you. Thats when I brought you back to my home to train you properly. We wanted to tell you then who you were, but you had a happy childhood and we didn't want to ruin that. Now here we are." He finished, somewhat anticlimactically.

When he was finished she stared at him deep in thought. Urahara smiled with pride watching her as she dissected the story, asking questions and then answering them herself.

Adeline finally stopped pacing the room and collapsed on her futon completely drained. She couldn't figure if she was mad or not. She needed time to decide and knew she couldn't do that with Urahara here.

"Wait, what about my mom?" She asked sitting up.

"Well, thats more complicated. I cant tell you about her…yet. You're gonna have to trust me on this one."

Adeline didn't like that answer but knew that was the best she was going to get.

"I just need space to deal with this ok. Does anyone here know who I….that I'm your…. that we are related?" She asked.

"Only Captain Commander Kyoraku. I have not told anyone else and I'll leave that up to you to decide."

Adeline nodded at his words as she got up and walked him to the door, opening it to the empty hallway. She felt bad for the way she was treating him but she still wasn't sure how she felt about any of this.

Before he left however, she reached out and hugged him. She wanted him to at least know she wasn't mad but she didn't trust her self to speak. She was overwhelmed with emotions and felt her eyes begin to tear. She pulled away from him and turned around to hide her face. She hated to cry more than anything.

When she turned around she spotted Byakuya. His eyes were narrow and cold, his mouth set.

"Captain Kuchiki, how can I help you?" She asked trying to sound surprised. She had felt tried but oddly her energy picked up now that he had come.

"I have come to have a private word. Although I did not expect you to have male company this late." His words cut her like a steel blade. "Tell me..." He continued getting even angrier. "Do you often see men this late?"

Adeline was paralyzed with shock. She could feel her anger rising, her blood flowing and her eyes beginning to blur. She looked into his eyes, looking for the warmth they held last night but saw only emptiness.

"How could you?" She chocked out between sobs before turning around and closing her door shut on the both of them.

This day had already toyed with her emotions and this was the icing on the cake. She leaned against the door, embarrassed that Urahara of all people had been there to hear their exchange. She walked over to her closet pulling his kosode out, and sat on the floor by the door, clutching it and crying waiting for Urahara to leave before seeing him again.

On the other side of the door she heard Urahara speaking with Byakuya.

"I Know its been awhile Captain Kuchiki, but let me give you some advice. Don't insult the women you fool around with. Oh don't worry, she didn't say anything. Let's just call it instincts. Oh and one other thing. If I ever hear you talking to my daughter like that again, make no mistake I will kill you. Have a nice day now, ok." And with that Urahara left, leaving Byakuya alone in the hall.

Adeline opened the door and slid it closed quickly. She handed over his kosode not wanting to look into his eyes. She felt like she was going to cry again so she took off running as fast as she could out of the barracks. She needed an outlet for all the emotions that were assaulting her.

Not looking back she ran out into the crisp night air wondering around the seireitei with no direction in mind. The thoughts flowing through her mind should have been about the discovery of her father but she could not get over how Byakuya's words had hurt her. She didn't expect anything out of him but to hear him say that, to know that thats what he thinks of her was killing her. She was surprised at how much his opinion meant to her.

She found herself at the base of a beautiful Cherry tree. She sat under it to watch the leaves as it fell. A cool spring breeze wafted through her hair bringing with it the scent of rain. She looked up to see small drops slipping through the branches. Adeline stood up and walked out from under the shelter of the branches to stand fully in the rain. She welcomed the coldness of the drops beating down on her, begging to feel something other than the pain she was feeling.

She reached into her inner pocket and pulled out her fathers cross and wrapped it around her slim wrist. She closed her eyes and concentrated the reishi around her, commanding it to take shape. When she opened her eyes, in her hands was a quincy bow. Before her shinigami power manifested she couldn't produce a powerful bow. That was how her family had come to die. She was unable to defend them against a hollow. Now thanks to her Aomegami she was able to manipulate the reishi around her without difficulty even when she didn't have it with her. She pulled back and let the bright blue arrow's fly into the night sky. Nothing was better for clearing emotions, she thought, then letting the arrows lose. She released for hours it felt like while the rain drenched her clothes bringing a chill she felt deep in her bones. Finally when her fingers bleed from the intensity of her spiritual pressure, and the rain had long stopped she quit. It was exhausting to her trying to push back the amount of reishi waiting to be commanded and she felt relief after finally letting it out. She collapsed on her knees, sinking into the wet ground tired in her body and mind.

"Adeline?" Came a gentle voice.

She turned her head around not expecting to see him.

"What are you doing here?" Byakuya asked

"I…. well I'm…." She took a deep breath and hung her head. "Im letting off some steam." She looked defeated.

Her hair was soaked and her eyes bloodshot. A cold breeze swept through the air and she clutched her body, shivering in the coldness. She couldn't muster the energy to be mad or anything else other than tired. It shamed Byakuya to see her mood, knowing he was partly responsible for it.

"Why don't you come inside. You need to dry yourself off."

"I'm fine. I'll find some clothes I just really want to get back to my room and rest."

"Here." He said draping his kimono over her head. "I will escort you back to your barracks" He was hoping he could have a chance to make it up to her.

"I… I don't have the energy to fight ok?" She replied close to tears again. She clutched his kimono tight around her, trying to find warmth.

Byakuya looked like he wanted to say something instead, nodded his head and held out his hand to her. She hesitated before grabbing it, feeling her stomach clench at the warmth that shoot through her body at his touch and allowed him to pull her to her feet. Together they walked in silence toward the barracks. Adeline felt relief that despite what had happened and what he had said she still felt comfortable in his silence. The same however could not be said for Byakuya. He felt awkward walking along in silence when he needed to say so much. Several times he went to say something and then changed his mind saying nothing instead. He glanced her way a few times but she had a far off look in her eyes and absentmindedly played with the trim of his kimono, pulling it through her fingers.

"Oh for heavens sake." She said and stopped walking abruptly. "Just say what you need to say already. Its driving me nuts!"

Byakuya came to a stop and turned around to look at her. She didn't look too upset anymore, her eyes looked red and tired but were dried and she had a gentle expression on her face.

Byakuya wanted to tell her he was sorry. That he was unused to feeling these emotions and acted out of turn.

"I didn't know." Was all he managed to get out.

"Yeah well, I didn't either until earlier. Ive been trying to deal with all this." She replied. She took a deep breath and decided to be honest with him. "The truth is what you said hurt me, not because of what you said but because of why you said it. Is that what you really think of me?"

"No!" Byakuya looked at her. He tried to convey to her with his eyes his regret at what he had said. "Adeline I'm..."

"You don't have to say anything. You didn't know and honestly I'm not entirely sure what I would have said if I saw you with another woman. I know its silly but that's just how I feel."

She started walking again and after some time they reached the barracks. She turned to face him.

"Thanks for helping me find my way back. I had no clue where I was." She managed a weak smile, glad this day was finally over.

"My house. You managed to make your way to my house." Byakuya responded a hint of amusement in his grey eyes. He was beginning to feel relief. Perhaps she would forgive him.

Adeline let out a puff of air. How could she have ended up there out of all the places she could have wondered to. She shrugged off his now wet kimono and handed it back to him.

"At any rate, just because Ive accepted your apology doesn't mean that I'm not still mad at you…. a little." She smiled despite herself.

Byakuya wanted to smile. Instead he just nodded. He was pleased to hear that she had accepted his apology, especially considering he never properly apologized. Knowing that he didn't deserve her forgiveness, he was amazed at her compassion.

"Adeline." He said softly.

She closed her eyes, relishing in the way he breathed out her name, reminding her of the way he called out to her last night with his sultry voice.

"Yes?" She asked opening her eyes and looking into his.

"I am sorry."

"I know."

"About last night.."

"Please don't…" She interrupted shaking her head. "Just don't take it back".

Her eyes held the loneliness he became so familiar with and was mixed with fear.

"No. It cannot happen again but I do not regret what happened either."

She nodded back feeling relief.

"Thanks again for walking me back Captain." She turned to go into the barracks leaving him alone and not looking back.

Adeline showered and got ready for bed. She really needed to get a new uniform she thought as she pulled on her night shirt and climbed into her futon. Adeline closed her eyes and drifted to sleep, tossing and turning as her sleeping mind tried to sort her feeling about her new dad and what her feelings for Byakuya meant.