Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach or anything with the Bleach name on it…okay.

Saya skipped through the woods picking wild flowers much like the little girl in her dreams had. Thinking mainly of Juushiro, she seemed to be favoring the white ones. Maybe I shouldn't have danced with Byakuya? Saya thought to herself.

"Maybe not." A smooth voice answered her.

Saya gasped a little and looked around.

"Why do you always do that? You always look around as if someone else is talking to you. It's annoying… and somewhat hurtful." The voice retorted, faking a pout with the last statement. Saya wasn't sure how she knew he was faking, but she did.

Saya smiled invisioning the handsome man with purple eyes and raven hair, "I'm sorry; it's only recently that I've heard a strange voice talking to me in my head. I'm not quite used to it yet." Saya retorted. "Besides, you always seem to speak to me at the oddest times."

"Not used to me? Strange voice? Odd times? Again, I'm so hurt. We used to talk everyday and still now you barely hear me."

"Everyday?"

"Hai, Saya-sama. You lost a lot of yourself twenty years ago."

"… You know who I am?"

"Hai, Saya-sama."

"Then you can tell me?"

"I cannot tell you what you already know, Saya-sama. You must remember it for yourself."

"That's not helpful!"

"Is it not? Hmm, how will I ever deal with the guilt of disappointing my Saya-sama?"

"Oh great, you're a comedian."

Saya heard a laugh inside her head, "I cannot tell you, Saya-sama. But I will help you remember."

"Promise?"

"Hai, I promise."

Saya smiled to herself and continued to pick the white flowers growing in the forest. "I want to give these to Ukitake-san, but I don't think it would be appropriate. I'll give them to my Aniki instead." Saya said to her voice. She didn't hear it respond. "Hey, are you listening? I'm talking to you!"

"Saya-sama, go back to the others."

"What? Why?"

"Saya-sama! GO BACK NOW!"

Just then Saya heard a ripping noise and turned her head towards the location of the sound. Her eyes grew wide with fear and her breath hitched in her throat. A giant beast with a black body, white mask, and huge hole in its chest had emerged from the rip. It had huge claws at the ends of long arms that drug on the ground.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A tasty soul all by itself! Yummy!"

"Saya-sama, JUMP!"

Saya did as she was told and jumped up higher than she thought possible to a tree branch above her head, barely avoiding the swipe the monster had taken at her.

"Tell me what to do!" Saya pleaded with the voice in her head.

"Start running back to the others and stay in the trees!" Saya listened without hesitation this time and started jumping from tree branch to tree branch with the hollow following close behind. Luckily it had to dodge the branches and leaves, so it wasn't able to catch her as easily as if she stayed on the ground.

Shunsui and Juushiro looked at each other as they felt Saya's reitsu flare in a sudden panic. Only a moment later Kaien and Byakuya felt it as well. Shunsui quickly stood up and reached out with his reitsu to find his sister.

"She's heading back this way, and quickly." Juushiro said.

"She's almost here." Shunsui said, placing a hand on his sword. What has her so panicked?!

Saya saw that the trees were starting to grow thinner as she approached the lake.

"We're almost there!"

"Saya! Watch out!"

Saya barely dodged another full-on swipe of the hollow's claws. She wasn't unscathed however, and she felt blood drip from the cut she just received on her cheek. With that added to the ones on her stomach, right side, and upper back, Saya was feeling the pain and wooziness of bloodloss.

"Saya, you must defend yourself!"

"What do you mean?! I don't know how!"

"You do know! I will help you!"

Again Saya barely escaped the sharp claws of the demon.

"NO! ANIKI!" Saya screamed as she almost fell off the final tree branch. She made it! She was at the lake and the hollow hadn't caught her.

A hollow? How could I not sense it before? It was Saya, her own reitsu was so high and in such a state of frenzy that I couldn't feel a measley hollow? Shunsui yelled in his head.

"SAYA!" The four men below her yelled out along with the voice in her head.

Saya turned to see the hollow right behind her. It drilled its long claws through her left shoulder and both of them started to fall off the branch. Shunsui had already jumped up, sword in hand, but it looked like he was too late.

"What a tasty treat for me!" The hollow said as it opened its mouth preparing to engulf the girl in its clutches.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Saya screamed as she extended her arm and hand towards the hollow's now open mouth. She felt a surge a power rush through her and escape from her palm. She saw the hollow disintegrate in front of her eyes and then she saw a flash of pink before she blacked out, still falling.

Ukitake jumped up and caught her in his arms before she hit the ground and Shunsui landed gracefully only a few feet beside him.

"Saya? Saya can you hear me!?" Shunsui yelled as he rushed to her side.

"She's blacked out, Shunsui. She's bleeding badly from her shoulder and it looks like she's been wounded in other places as well. It's not safe to move her to the fourth division right now, we'll take her to my infirmary and call for a member of the fourth squad. Byakuya, go and alert them that we require immediate medical attention in the thirteenth division."

"Yes sir." And Byakuya flashed away quickly.

The other three rapidly ran to the infirmary and lay Saya on a platform within. Shunsui started to peel off her top while trying to preserve as much of her modesty as he could, but he needed to see the damage caused by her attack. He was able to see that the worst was her shoulder while the marks on her stomach, side, face, and back were surface wounds. However, the claws from the hollow had pierced her clear through from front to back.

"Aniki, help me." Saya's voice said weakly in her unconscious state. Shunsui felt heartbroken. He hadn't been able to keep her from getting hurt; he had promised to protect her and she had almost been killed by a fourth rate hollow because he wasn't paying attention.

"Shunsui, I'm going to perform some healing kidou as best I can, at least until a member from the fourth squad arrives." Juushiro said as he held his hands over Saya, muttering some words to himself. Shunsui nodded and looked on helplessly. It wasn't often that he had felt this way.

Not too much longer, Unohana herself arrived with Byakuya trailing close behind.

"Thank you, Ukitake-taicho, I've got it from here." She said in her kind voice. She began to heal Saya enough to transport her to the fourth division. "It seems like those claws were poisonous to some extent. I'll have to take her back to by division to completely heal her. But she should be fine to carry at this point. Kyouraku-taicho, would you be so kind as to bring your sister and follow me?"

"Of course." Shunsui said as he gingerly lifted his sister and held him close to her. He shunpoed to the fourth division and sat outside of her room while Unohana continued to heal his sister.

Saya woke up against the bark of a jacaranda tree and her face being tickled by a fox glove. Swatting away the flower she looked up to see the culprit of this small annoyance. She wasn't surprised when she was greeted by purple eyes and a warm smile.

"Glad to see you awake, Saya-sama."

"Am I awake?"

"Well, you are here. You're still unconscious in your own world." He said while sitting beside her, leaning against the tree.

"Oh." Saya said with disappointment weighing in her voice.

The man laughed at her, "Don't worry, you're fine. Unohana-taicho herself is healing you and your brother is nearby. Can't you feel him?"

Saya closed her eyes to concentrate. He was right; her brother was nearby and obviously worried about her.

Shunsui shifted in his chair when he felt his sister's reitsu reach out for him. It was much different than when he had felt it before, when while she was being chased by a hollow. Then it was like a harsh wind storm, now it felt like a gentle breeze that calmed the spirit on a spring day. He was sure he even smelled flowers, but he couldn't place the scent. He stood up from his seat and faced the door allowing his reitsu to extend to her, letting her know that he was there, and waiting for her to wake up. At first her's recoiled but then whipped around him like a playful breeze before retracting fully back to its owner.

"You're worried about her." His sword spoke to him.

"You're stating the obvious." Shunsui said sarcastically, only to hear a snigger in return.

Saya opened her eyes and returned her gaze to the man beside her.

"I'm glad that it's calm here again. I'm glad it's not storming."

"As am I, Saya-sama."

Saya turned her stare towards the field of foxgloves before her and enjoyed the soothing breeze that blew past her face.

"I like it here." Saya said, closing her eyes again. She didn't see the man sitting beside her smile.

"Would you like to finish your dream from earlier today?"

Saya opened her eyes and gave him a confused look, "There's more?"

"Hai, Saya-sama, close your eyes."

Saya did as she was told and immediately was taken back to young girl and her mother. They were nearing an enormous palace with two entrance gates, a moat running between them. The palace itself was the brightest white and the shingles on top of the many roofs were a slate sort of color. There were several buildings that were connected by covered walkways, open courtyards, and large halls. The stables were just inside the second entrance and probably held 100 horses within them, not to mention living quarters for all the stable hands. Trees grew everywhere and Zen gardens were placed every 50 yards throughout the palace grounds. Streams and ponds were filled with colorful koi fish and lily pads.

The little girl laughed and giggled as she expertly maneuvered her way through the endless walkways and courtyards. She seemed to know exactly where she was going. Anyone she ran past would bow to her, but obviously they didn't expect any acknowledgement in return. It was clear she was on mission and nothing would stop her. Well, maybe one thing could slow her down.

She stopped abruptly in front of the dojo when she heard the men and women inside practicing their forms. She snuck up to peek through the small crack in the sliding doors. Knowing she wouldn't have long before she was caught (and she didn't want to get in trouble again for watching!) she peeked through to see a group training. They were covered from head to toe in a black uniform. Even their eyes were covered by a screen so that no part of their identity would be revealed. The only color on their uniform was a green obi, indicating they were members of the royal guard.

Saya opened her eyes and was staring at a ceiling in the fourth division.

"You're awake. You've been asleep for hours. Unohana-taicho helped to heal you." Shunsui said to his sister.

Saya turned towards her brother's voice. Her shoulder was a little tender and she winced slightly when she tried to turn on her side.

"Don't move, Saya-chan."

"But I want to roll over. Help me." She said while extending her right hand towards her brother. He took her hand and supported her shoulder as gently as he could and helped her turn on her side, facing him.

"Thank you for saving me, Aniki." Saya said, her eyes still heavy.

"I didn't save you, Saya." Shunsui said softly.

"What do you mean? I saw the hollow disappear and then I saw your pink haori."

"No, you destroyed right before I brought down my sword."

Saya thought back for a moment, "Oh, that's right. I remember this weird feeling coursing through me right before I blacked out."

Shunsui started to stroke his sister's hair. "Ukitake caught you. Saya, what happened?"

But it didn't look like he was going to get an answer just yet.

A small smile came to Saya's lips as she closed her eyes and started to drift off to sleep. "Ukitake-san? I was picking flowers while thinking about him. They were white." She said softly as she fell asleep again. Shunsui went to move but his sister, in her sleep, grabbed his pink haori to keep him near. He sat back down in a chair that was by her bed.

Turning to his friend that was sitting in the corner, Shunsui smiled. "Did you hear that, Juushiro?"

Ukitake returned his friend's smile. "Yes, I did."

"You know, Ichijin, some would call me a genius." The blonde hair captain said wielding a rather long syringe.

"Yeah, but I would call you a baka." Ichijin replied.

"Now, that hurts my feelings!" The captain pouted. "Besides, you should show a little more respect to a genius captain such as myself." He said with his pout turning into a cheesy grin.

"You're right. I'm very sorry, Baka-taicho."

"That's not what I meant."

"Baka-sama then?"

"I'm the one holding a very long needle. I'd hate to slip and fall and jab it into your arm!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. You are a genius among geniuses blah blah blah. What are you working on now?"

"Can't tell you; it's top secret Ichi-kun."

"..."

"What, you don't like your nickname?"

"It's not that."

"Well??" The cheesy smile had returned to his face.

"You said that you thought I was a girl. If you go throw 'kun' on the end of my name, do you think that I'm a boy now?"

"Who said I couldn't use 'kun' for a girl?"

"Well, it's just not done that often." Ichijin scoffed.

"So let me hear your voice and I'll use something more appropriate."

"You're just trying to trick me. You said it yourself that I was a girl."

"I said it was highly likely, but I also remember saying that you could be a very effeminate boy. In fact, you could still be a boy; preferring to be thought of as a girl instead of a boy. It's not my place to judge. I don't care one way or another." The captain said turning back to his lab table.

Ichijin debated on whether or not to let the captain hear her real voice. She knew he was curious about his masked visitor, but she also knew the rules. She wasn't allowed to reveal herself to anyone; and that included the Gotei 13. She eventually reasoned that even if he heard her voice, he still didn't have a face to put with it and she would never reveal her true name to him. She disabled the device that filtered her voice.

"Here is my real voice." She said. "Are you happy now?"

The captain whipped around with wide eyes, surprised that he "won" this small battle. It had been months since this masked stranger had first started visiting him, and she had been so careful not to reveal anything about herself. A smirk soon appeared on his handsome features. "Yes, Ichi-san. Thanks."

"So will you tell me what you're making?" She asked.

"A gigai."

"I thought you already perfected that invention?"

"Yes, well this one is a bit... different."

Saya looked at the man with the windswept hair and purple eyes. "I didn't finish either of those memories." She said a little perturbed.

"How do you know if you can't remember them?" He asked back playfully.

"I don't know, but it feels like there's more." Saya said, not losing the annoyed tone in her voice.

"You've waited a long to remember anything, Saya-sama. Twenty years… so what's the rush now? It's alright if you have to wait a little longer."

"Fine." Saya sat there with her arms crossed looking at the fox gloves when something dawned on her. "What's your name? You know mine but I don't know your's."

She was surprised to see that her purple eyed friend looked a little saddened when she asked him this.

"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" Saya asked.

"You used to know my name. I wonder if I told you, would hear it again?" He said quietly.

"I hear you fine now. Why wouldn't I hear your name?"

"It's not always the same, Saya-sama."

"Well, let's try. Tell me, what is your name?"

"It's - "

Saya furrowed her brow. Why couldn't she hear his name?

"I'm sorry, did you mumble?"

"My name is -"

Seeing that Saya still looked confused he didn't try to tell her again. He just smiled sadly at her.

"Don't worry, you'll hear it someday. I've been waiting twenty years for you to hear me again. I can't wait a little longer for you to learn my name."

"How do I do it? How can I learn your name?"

"... You need to become a Shinigami."

Author's note: WOW! First let me say thank you soooooooooooooooooooo much to everyone for reviewing and private messaging. All the responses I got made me really happy and excited to get the next chapter up ASAP! I'm really happy that everyone is enjoying this story. I have to admit, I got halfway through this chapter than then nixed it to start it over again. But I'm relatively satisfied with this outcome. So I hope that you enjoyed reading it! Please review and I promise to update soon! (P.S. I wasn't lying about the Spring Break thing, huh? ;-D)