"Murasaki..." A soft voice whispered, "Murasaki..."
Murasaki opened her eyes, finding herself lying on the surface of a crystal clear lake. There were two islands, one in front of, and one behind her. The land in front of her was completely made of ice, and raging blizzards ravaged the land. On the one behind her, flames danced along the earth, bending and weaving themselves into magnificent shapes and figures.
Not a single ripple was made on the surface of the lake as Murasaki got to her feet. She turned around to face a pure white dragoness who was decorated with beautiful red markings. Her red eyes pupils were darker than her irises, much like the girl's light silver eyes, and her white, feathery wings faded to red at the tips. The dragon also had strange, cat-like ears resting on top of her head, which were tipped with red. She coiled her serpentine body around the young girl lightly, gently touching the girl's forehead with her cold, yet warm, snout.
"Are you okay, Murasaki?" The dragoness asked softly. The girl nodded, running her fingers along the dragoness's jaw line gently, causing the great beast to purr softly.
"It came a little too close for comfort." She murmured, and the dragoness nodded, "I agree. I should scold you for waiting so long. You know the consequences for waiting, I've told you many times."
Murasaki nodded, "I know them. I just don't understand why I keep getting these urges faster and faster, I'm afraid that someone could find out about my...condition..."
The dragoness pressed her snout harder against the girl's forehead, "I know, thankfully your brother showed up when he did."
Murasaki nodded, "Yeah, I definitely don't want to go through the first stage. Not again."
The dragoness nodded, "Yes, it wasn't exactly enjoyed by me either."
The young girl looked up at the dragon, "So you experienced it?" She nodded, and Murasaki looked down, "I'm sorry. I didn't get it fast enough."
The dragon sighed, "While it isn't exactly a fun thing, blindness is nothing compared to the following consequence."
Murasaki's eyes narrowed, "Yeah, but sometimes, I don't know which is worse."
The white dragoness swatted her over the head with her tail, soft enough to not do any damage, but hard enough to be felt.
"Don't talk like that." The dragoness scolded the girl, who was rubbing her head, "Yeah, I know. But I'm just being honest with you."
The dragoness let out a small groan, "You and your honesty, sometimes you need to tone down on that." Murasaki shrugged, "You may think so, Touketsuhi, but I think people like it when I'm honest with them. I tell them what I think."
"And sometimes you end up looking like a brat." Touketsuhi retorted, getting a frown from the girl, "Hey, it's not exactly something that I can control, I say what I think. At least I don't judge books by their covers."
The dragoness sighed, nodding, "I suppose that part is true, but perhaps you should try a bit harder to not be quite as honest. Ask people if they want you to be truly honest with you."
"But if they say no," The girl began, "And I answer, then they'll know that I'm just saying what they want me to say, it's not going to help anything."
Touketsuhi sighed again, lying her massive had down on the surface of the lake, "You are a difficult child, Murasaki." Murasaki smiled, "I think that it's about time that you awoke, your pupils should have faded by now."
She nodded, throwing her arms around the dragoness's neck, "Goodbye, for now, Touketsuhi." The dragoness rested her head against the girl's back, "For now."
Murasaki sat up, rubbing her eyes as she looked around the room blurrily, waiting for her vision to adjust.
"Murasaki!" An irritated voice yelled, "Get up!"
"In a minute, Rangiku." She mumbled in response to the older woman as she stood. After changing into her robes, she stepped out to be greeted by a considerably angry looking Rangiku.
"What's wrong with you?" She asked, cocking her head to the side slightly. The older woman rubbed her temples, "The Captain won't stop badgering me, he kept yelling at me to wake you up, and I have to be somewhere right now."
Murasaki frowned, "You mean the bar?" Rangiku stiffened, "Um...Of course not!"
"You can't lie to me, Rangiku." The lieutenant sweat dropped, "I'm not lying!" She exclaimed, before pushing the young girl in the direction of the office, "Go on, get going."
Murasaki shook her head slightly, heading down the long hallway that led to the office.
"It's about time," Toushiro snapped as she stepped into the office, "What took you so long?"
She frowned, "You're extra irritable today. You sure you don't want one of my massages?"
As always, she failed to note the slight reddening of the tan boy's face, "I don't need a massage! Just do your part of the paperwork!"
The young girl let out a small, quiet sigh, as she sat down on the couch facing away from him, ignoring the fact that there was an invisible pressure on her chest, and the fact that her stomach was tightening. She glanced down at her shaking hands.
'Am I...scared of him now?'
She grabbed a pen, getting started on her paperwork.
'Why?'
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Why was he so angry today?
Toushiro frowned, trying not to press too hard as he signed the paperwork. After a moment, he looked to the couch where his third seat was sitting.
'You shouldn't have been so harsh with her.' Hyourinmaru scolded, 'Acting like that will only hurt her, and you.'
He looked back down to his paperwork. The dragon was right, he shouldn't have been acting like this. He looked back up to where Murasaki was sitting.
"Murasaki." He said, getting her attention. She looked back at him, her strange silver eyes meeting his teal ones, "Why don't you take the day off?" She blinked, "But...I haven't finished my part."
He sighed, "That doesn't matter, you deserve a break."
She hesitated, then nodded, "If you say so." She said, standing up, "But Toushiro," She began, "Don't overwork yourself, your already stressed enough."
With that, she left the room.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
What could she do to pass time? Momo was probably working, Rukia was in the human world, and Rangiku was at the bar...
"There's no way I can go to the bar." She mumbled, sitting down.
"Ya, let's not do that." She looked up with a smile, "Gin."
The silver haired man sat next to her, "You got the day off?" He asked, and she nodded.
"You leave your lieutenant to the paperwork?" She asked, and he chuckled, "Actually, I was just heading back to my office, when I heard ya talkin to yourself 'bout goin to the bar. I take it Rangiku's there?"
Murasaki let out a sigh, "Well, duh. Since when isn't she?"
Gin ruffled her hair, "I'm sure that ya will come up with something, Murasaki." He stood up, "Better be gettin back, can't let Kira do all dat work."
She nodded, watching him as he left. Standing up, she sighed.
"Rangiku it is."
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach!
A/N: Well, this chapters considerably short compared to my others, so I apologize. I've been in school, so that's my excuse for the long wait. And I had a killer writer's block ^^' OH! And I have a poll up that I need you guys to vote on.