"Okay, this is it. Oh, God, I hope she likes me. Please like me," Yuki was saying to herself as her group walked down the streets.

A few minutes later, Yuki was walking alone around a block. She cautiously rounded a corner, looking into the sea of faces waiting on the sidewalk for the bus, when she heard:

"Rei!"

Yuki looked up to see Keigo pushing through the crowd with Rei's gigai, which was occupied by a soul. Keigo was holding a small bouquet of flowers

"Keigo-san!" Yuki said, as she entered Rei's gigai. She rushed to him and gave him a big hug.

"You look fantastic."

"Did you miss me?" Yuki asked.

"Oh, yes, terribly."

The two were walking down the street in Karakura. Yuki had her hands behind her back, and smiled happily as she soaked up the sights.

"This is so amazing! What a city!" Yuki breathed out.

"Three weeks at camp and suddenly you act like a American tourist," Keigo said.

"That's what camp's for, silly. Makes you appreciate home."

As they neared the house, Yuki took everything in. The house was a regular house on one of Karakura's loveliest streets. When they got up the steps, Keigo opened the door for Yuki.

"Arigatou, Keigo-san." Yuki entered the house.

The inside of the house was a beautiful, sun-filled house with a fantastic carved staircase. Yuki stood in the foyer, feeling very small.

"Hello?" Yuki called.

She peeked into the Living Room, but didn't see anyone. She headed around the stairs, counting the doorways and stops at kitchen where she sees a stuffed lion reading the newspaper.

"Kon, I'm home," Yuki whispered.

Kon put the paper down.

"Is that my Nee-san? That tall gangly thing?"

"Hai, it's me." Yuki took Kon in her arms and cuddled him.

"Did you have a good time, Nee-san?" Kon asked.

"Uh-huh…Great…" She sniffed him.

"What are you doing?" Kon asked, amused.

"Just smelling."

"Smelling?"

"I'm making a memory. Years from now, when I'm all grown up, I'll remember my Kon and how he always smelled of cotton."

Kon smiled. Then they were interrupted by a voice.

"Rei...!"

Yuki looked up to the balcony at the top of the stairs and sees her mother, for the first time in her life. Hinamori Momo was a natural beauty in her mid-thirties. Yuki walked trance-like to the bottom of the stairs.

"Mother?" Yuki asked.

"Honey, welcome home!" Momo exclaimed.

Momo rushed down the stairs as Yuki flew up toward her. Yuki fell into her mother's arms, tears flooding her red-contacted eyes.

"I can't believe it's you," Yuki said.

"And I can't believe it's you."

Yuki looked up at her Mother with tears in her eyes.

"What is it, sweetie?" Momo asked, worry seeping into her voice.

"I'm sorry, it's just…I've missed you so much."

Momo hugged her daughter. "Can you believe it? It seems like it's been forever."

"You have no idea," Yuki said.

After a few minutes, Yuki takes in her mother's room... it was beautiful, feminine and gracious. Tea had been laid on a corner table. Momo led Yuki to a small love seat.

"So tell me all about camp," Momo said.

"Oh my God, I love your room, Mom... it's so... totally Mom-like," Yuki said.

"Nothing's new… it's just as Mom-like as it's always been. So…c'mon, tell me… Did you like everyone? Was it fun?" Momo said.

"Yeah, it was great and I liked this one girl a real lot, I mean… in particular. She's from Soul Society, actually," Yuki said, and then she paused. "Have you ever been to Soul Society?"

Momo poured some more tea. "Yes…once. But that was a long time ago, before you were born."

"Man-o-Manichevitz ... I didn't realize you were so beautiful," Yuki said, staring at her mother.

"'Man-o-Manichevitz' … I love your new vocabulary."

Just then, Keigo knocked on the open door and with disdain, holds up Yuki's stuffed dragon, by its wing.

"I found a stowaway in your suitcase," he said.

"Oh my God, Ryuu," Yuki exclaimed. Momo turned to her "He belongs to a girl in my bunk… I don't know how on earth he ended up in my suitcase. Gosh, whaddya know."

"Well, since he's not our 'Ryuu', shall we dispose of him?" Keigo asked.

Yuki suddenly grabbed for it. "No! I mean, no. I'll mail him to her. She loves this thing a lot. She's like slept with that thing her entire life and she could never be like in a foreign country without him. No, no, I'll take care of it, thank you, Keigo-san."

Just then, the phone rang. Momo answered it.

"Hello? Hi... Really? Can't you manage without me? Rei just got home from camp... Well, what's the problem?" Momo asked.

As Momo talked on the phone, Yuki crossed to the dresser and ran her hand across her Mother's brush, her pearls, smelled her perfume, then lifted up a photo of Momo as a little girl. Yuki looked at her mom. Momo made a face about the phone call. Yuki laughed as Momo continued on the phone.

Yuki noticed Momo's closet door open and she entered, gazing at all of her Mother's clothes. She looked at a row of evening clothes and touched the beautiful fabrics.

"Rei!"

Yuki poped out of the closet, worried she'd been caught trespassing.

"Would you mind very much running down to the studio with me?"

A few moments later, they arrived at a store called Hinamori's Designs.

"Wow, that's incredible." Yuki was looking at a beautiful wedding dress in the store window.

"Really? You don't think it's too over-the-top?" Momo asked.

"No. I love it. You know who would look really beautiful in that gown? I mean, beautiful?"

"Who?" Momo questioned.

"You." Momo seemed a but embarrassed.

"Me? I think the setting change has made you a little loopy. Come on, let's see what all the fuss is about…"

Inside the studio, a skylight filled the foyer of the converted town house with a splash of white light. A huge vase of white orchids sat on an antique table. Momo and Yuki climbed a circular stairwell, passing a Bridal Boutique on the first floor.

"You mean you never think about getting married again?" Yuki continued.

"No, I like things exactly the way they are, thank you," Momo said.

An assistant hurried past them, carrying a veil.

"Hi, Momo. Hey Rei, welcome home."

"Hi... Thanks ..." She shut her eyes, thinking hard. "Fiona! Yeah, I'm back. Thanks. But Mom, seriously, doesn't designing all these wedding gowns ever make you think about marriage… or maybe just think about the IF' word?

"The 'F' word?!"

"My 'father'," Yuki's mind went back to her father.

"Oh. That 'F' word. Well, no, actually it doesn't because I didn't even wear a wedding gown-when I married the IF' word."

"You didn't? Why not?"

"Hey, how did we get into this discussion anyway?" They arrived at a large loft filled with people)

"Okay, here we are. Now let's see what disaster awaits us," Momo said.

As they stepped into the loft, they see a photo shoot in progress. A model wore a beautiful wedding gown as a photographer shot away. Make-Up, Hair people and Assistants scurried about. Yuki watched like a kid in a candy store.

"Okay, she's here. We're saved," the photographer said.

"Uh-huh, the pressure's on," Momo whispered to Yuki.

"We don't know what to do with the veil. if she wears it, it covers the back of the dress, if she doesn't the dress looks–" the photographer explained.

"– incomplete. Right." She turned to the model. "Can you try standing sideways..? Head up, kind of an Audrey Hepburn type... that's it. That's perfect." She turned to the assistant. "Now slip the veil on and drape it back... not over her shoulders ... straight back, there you go..." She turned back to the model. "Now lift the train in your arms like you're carrying it. Don't worry about the bouquet, you're married now, you gotta learn to juggle... Beautiful. And look happy, it's your wedding day!"

The model laughed as the photographer reeled off shots.

"Mom is too cool," Yuki said.

After the commotion, Momo and Yuki made their way down the hall, passing a row of design offices. Two assistants carried a gown past them.

"So what did you wear to marry my Dad?"

"Why the sudden curiosity about your dad?" Momo asked.

"Well, maybe because he's never mentioned and you can't blame a kid for wondering..." Yuki did have a point. "So, what was he like? Really."

"Who?"

Yuki rolled her eyes.

Momo and Yuki stepped onto the street.

"Mother, you can't avoid the subject forever."

"Okay. He was quite lovely to tell you the truth. When we met, he was...actually entirely lovely. All right?"

Yuki smiled. "All right."

Then, it started to rain. Momo snapped open an umbrella.

Momo put her arm around Yuki. "Are you cold?"

"I'm fine. So, did you meet him here in London?"

Momo took Yuki's hand as they dashed across the street.

"We met in Soul Society."

"No kidding?"

"We didn't hit it off immediately. We were childhood friends."

"So, was it love at first sight?"

"I knew you were going to ask me all these questions one day. Taxi!"

Momo raised her am and hailed a cab. It splashed to a stop and they hurried inside. Momo and Yuki sat side-by-side.

So, did you see each other every single day?

"You know, this part of your personality reminds me of you father. You'd think he raised you instead of me."

"Yes, we saw each other every night, every morning and every hour in-between. Then one night, he popped the question, right there in the middle of the tenth division."

"Cool."

"And since a Head Captain can do all kinds of special things, like even marry people…"

"OhmyGod, you mean, you got married in Soul Society?" Momo nodded. "That's beyond cool. So what happened? You didn't love each other when you weren't in the middle of the Tenth Division?"

"I don't know, honey. These things are complicated. I'm very fiery and you father's very icy. I tried living in Division ten, he tried living in Division five but..."

"It just didn't work out," Yuki finished.

"No, it didn't. Except for having you."

Yuki smiled. Momo put her arm around her, and pulled her close. Yuki sighed.

"Dear old Dad. I wonder what he's doing at this very moment?" Yuki said.