Moving On

Corbeau stared at the golden eyes that had been studying her face. She bit her lip as she wrestled with herself mentally. 'Ask him to let you go and run,' her mind screamed at her. Her body on the other hand begged her to grab the towel and pull it off. Temptation loomed large and furry and was actually holding her in his embrace. The forbidden fruit that had plagued her existence was gazing into her eyes and about to grope her breast.

"Angel, do you want me?" Sajin murmured.

Did she? Definitely. Should she? Definitely not. Then again…maybe she should just give in. Renji seemed bent on believing she was having an affair with the wolfman anyway. The tension and anger between them had become a constant in their lives, and it was wearing on their nerves. Hers sometimes flared into full blown resentment and hatred. This was one of those times and that was why she had come here to be alone.

"Sajin, I-I," she stammered unable to finish the sentence. A lump formed in her throat and her mind whirled with conflicting thoughts. She felt as if she were being torn in two mentally.

"Raven!" Renji's voice rang through the trees.

Corbeau turned her head toward her husband's voice, and she felt Sajin release her. She knew if she turned back there would be no one there. He could practically vanish into thin air when necessary and at this moment it was definitely necessary. Her knees weakened and gave way, and she found herself on the ground. She did not know if it hurt because she was too numb. What had she almost done?

"Raven! Baby, where are you?" he yelled again. His voice sounded strained and worried.

"I-I'm here," she called out barely above a whisper. She cleared her throat, allowing a few tears to fall to loosen the muscles constricting her voice. "Renji, I'm here!"

Renji burst through the bushes a few yards down from her. He ran to her, obviously alarmed by the fact she was sitting on the ground crying. After dropping to his knees and putting his arms around her, his cold, trembling lips pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"What are you doing here?" he inquired, sitting on the ground beside her.

"I come here sometimes to think," she answered which was exactly what she had come here to do today until something unexpected had grabbed her attention.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked, avoiding her gaze.

"About us. What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't act stupid, Renji. Our marriage is dying and you know it."

"What do we do?" he inquired just as confused and at a loss as her.

They weren't the only ones falling apart. What the hell had happened to everyone? It was as if insanity was a disease and had infected everyone. Relationships were falling apart. Several people had quit and left the show. Everyone was arguing, and it seemed like fist fights were a nightly occurrence. For once, Ichigo seemed to be the one who had his crap together since he and Sui Feng were mending their relationship and becoming great parents.

"You've got to get over this thing," she murmured, slowly raising her eyes to look at him. "It's destroying you and our relationship. I want you. I love you. Don't you know that?"

"Please forgive me. I know I've said and done some hurtful things you didn't deserve," he said, nervously pulling at the dead grass beside him.

'Now there's the understatement of the week,' she thought to herself but kept her mouth shut. Now was not the time for sarcastic comments.

"We've got two babies counting us. We've got to get through this thing," he stated in a way that made her wonder if he were talking to himself.

"Renji, kiss me," she requested, leaning forward. "It can be your promise that you're done with this Sajin thing and we'll move on from here."

Corbeau closed her eyes when he leaned toward her. Her whole body felt as if she had received an electrical shock when his lips touched hers. It had been a long time since she had felt that way.

Corbeau lay beside Renji tickling his nose with the tip of her wing. She did not want to wake him, but she had to. She had been awake since well before dawn just staring at him and cuddling close to his body. Whatever had been standing between them had been given a hard shove out of the way. They had broken down the invisible barrier that separated them. She felt like she did the first few months they were together – incredibly happy and totally in love. Even the children seemed to notice the difference with the tension gone and the new atmosphere of contentment and joy.

Renji had let go of the suspicions and accusations. If he did not catch himself before a snide comment was made, a raise of his wife's eyebrow immediately alerted him and he was swift to apologize. From time to time, new problems and tensions would arise but they would address them posthaste instead of ignoring them and allowing them to fester and get worse like a bad wound.

Today was moving day and Renji had to get up and get going. Everyone would be here soon with their children for her to watch so they could pack up and get ready. Corbeau tickled his nose again finally eliciting a groan and a swat from him. She stifled a chuckle as he rolled over onto his belly and faced away from her.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," she murmured, kissing his neck. She brushed her fingertips across his back making goose bumps rise over his skin.

"Baby, stop," he whined, shivering under her light touch.

"Come on, sweetheart, wake up now and you can make love to me before you go," she whispered, kissing his neck. She smiled broadly when he rolled back over, meeting her gaze in the dim light of dawn.

"I'm so glad I didn't lose you. I love you," he murmured, sliding his arms around her. "Just let me hold you."

Corbeau snuggled against him, pressing her lips to his chest over his heart. How could she ever live without him? A grunt and a whine from the crib caught her attention. It sounded as if Allete was waking up.

"Go ahead, baby," Renji told her when he felt her body tense. He knew she wanted to go check on her.

Corbeau kissed him briefly on the lips before scrambling out of the bed. She looked down into the crib and tears sprang to her eyes with what she saw.

Allete had been waking up but Isshin had snuggled up next to her and put his arms around her. She had calmed down and went back to sleep yet he was still patting her back.

Corbeau felt Renji's hand on her back as he silently eased up next to her. "How cute is that?" she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Our precious babies. Sweetheart, there's something we need to talk about," he said, taking her by the hand and leading her out of the room. Now probably wasn't the most opportune time to discuss this, but there never really would be a good time.

Corbeau's nerves were immediately on edge when he urged her to sit down. She anxiously twisted her fingers together while he explained that Ichigo wanted Isshin. With tears streaming down her cheeks and her heart breaking, she nodded that she understood. The child was his after all, and there was nothing she could do. She would still see him every day.

"Besides, if they're raised as brother and sister, how will they get married some day?" Renji asked, hugging her to him. "It will be okay, Raven. We will be okay."

The caravan arrived at their new location at dawn two days later to find an interesting surprise. Don Kanonji had left a day ahead and now they knew why. He was sitting in the middle of the field with a group of about ten women. They appeared to be a troupe of gypsies and belly dancers which is exactly what they were. The belly dancers would be a part of both the mainstream show and the more adult shows. The fortune tellers would have booths set up along the midway leading to the main freak show tent. This show was getting better and more interesting year by year.

The next day Corbeau decided to take the children to the area where Rangiku and the belly dancers were practicing and working on a new show routine. She was content sitting on the blanket watching while the children ignored them for the most part with only the occasional curious glance.

"Come on! Come dance with us!" Rangiku exclaimed, beckoning her friend to join in with a wave of her hand and her hips. It was no surprise the woman caught on quickly to their style of dancing.

"Oh, no, I couldn't!" she protested waving her hands as two of the belly dancers shimmied her way. "No, please, really!"

"Come on, we'll show you," said one of the dark women who held one of her hands. The woman had dark eyes, hair, and cinnamon colored skin. She was stunning as were all of them. The lovely exotic dancers would be a great addition to their show.

"It's fun!" another girl assured her, grabbing her other hand.

Both women pulled simultaneously and jerked her to her feet. When Corbeau stood in the middle of the group, the children immediately became very interested.

"What doin', Mama?" Isshin asked, his dark brown eyes watching her carefully. They were slowly trying to get him out of the habit of calling Corbeau his mama.

"She's dancing," Hiro answered although he was not asked.

Amazingly enough an argument did not begin between the boys. They continued to watch their caregiver instead. Allete lost interest and turned to poke Himawari, Ichigo and Sui Feng's baby, who was playing quietly on the pallet beside her. They were all having a great time dancing and laughing until one of the women suddenly began screaming. She was yelling something in their indigenous language called Romani. She was pointing toward the trees and chattering loudly and hurriedly.

"What is she saying?" Corbeau inquired, moving toward the children. She grabbed her cell phone as she scanned the trees for what the woman saw. Then she found him.

There was a man standing behind one of the trees. Not only was his behavior odd, he looked incredibly abnormal. He appeared to be some kind of psycho killer clown complete with make-up.

"Renji, send Sajin and Kenpachi quick! We're out by the gypsies tents. We've got a watcher and he's a weird one," Corbeau said, willing her voice to stay calm as she watched the man carefully peer around the tree.

"Weird? Weirder than any of us?" he inquired with a snort.

"Much weirder," she replied, spreading her wings out to cover the children. How painfully ironic for a stranger to be weirder than a half raven, half wolf, or any of the other dozens of human oddities they employed.

"I'm coming your way too. Hang on. We'll be there soon," he assured her.

"Corbeau? Is that really you?" the man asked, walking out from behind the tree.

Damn. A full view of him was downright disturbing. It's quite momentous when a freak of nature finds something that disquiets them. His face was covered in the thick black grease paint make up like the clowns use except for his nose, cheeks, and a streak on his chin that was white paint. His eyes were the most unusual shade of gold, like pure honey. He was wearing an unusual headdress that reminded her of what the pharaohs of ancient Egypt wore. As he moved closer she could see was wearing a long, flowing robe type garment. What planet did this guy fall from?

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Corbeau demanded, standing up after the women retrieved the children from behind her. She glanced to make sure they were a safe distance away before walking forward to confront the bizarre stranger.

"I am Mayuri Kurotsuchi," he announced, moving close enough to touch her.

Corbeau steeled herself as he reached out to stroke her cheek. She hoped the rescue crew would be here soon.

"Hey! Get the hell away from my wife!" Renji yelled.

"Your name is meaningless. Who are you?" she repeated, swallowing hard. There was something familiar about him; a nagging fear of his true identity poked at her brain and pricked at her spine. Her body began to tremble as he cupped her face with both of his hands. Those striking gold eyes stared into hers with a coldness and scientific inquisitiveness that reminded her of someone. Was he analyzing her?

"You wouldn't recognize the name because you never knew my real name. You called me father."