This Love Again

Chojiro/Momo

"Come now, stay close, be careful." he quietly ushered as he carried himself down the open corridor. Eyes briefly looking down to the matching white-haired child that hugged tightly to one of his legs. She hid behind him as another Division member passed them by and attempted to keep herself obscure by running from side to side to keep away from the strange people who passed them by. The motion almost tripped him a few times but he had to chuckle to himself at her antics.

Keeping his steps paced, he paused slightly at the large, double doors that served as the entrance to the next portion of the Division barracks. For someone who had acted nervous before, he watched as the child stepped free from behind him and moved to examine the door herself before she pushed lightly against it- as though more curious as to what was on the other side now. He moved to press his hands against the solid oak before he started to push them from the frame, watching as the girl quickly retreated to behind him once more. Shaking his head lightly, he stepped in through the open doorway and made his way into the massive room that laid out in front of them.

The well-aged man that resided on the other side of the room glanced up briefly from the work in front of them before he moved to set the papers aside. His wrinkled face, partly hidden underneath the white beard that decorated the lower half of it, took a moment to study him before a gracious smile took to his expression.

"Sasakibe... it's been awhile."

"Indeed it has, Captain Yamamoto." he nodded, returning the given expression. "I apologize for the wait; it's apparently possible for five years to pass by without much notice."

It was hard to believe it had been that long already... it seemed like just a few days ago he was departing for the given mission; it was decided before the mission had been given out that it would be longer than the standard task, that it could last upwards of months into years. He accepted it without hesitation when most recommendations pointed to him- well to say it was without hesitation would be of ill, untruthful words; it took some persuading from the First Captain to convince him to go and a few words of assurance that he was needed more for this task than he was here.

Still, he was all the more happy to be back now. There was plenty of work to do and catch up on... after a five-year absence, he had no doubts there was a list of things for him to start on; or perhaps some dust to take care of in his office.

"And just who is this?"

He glanced down once more and watched as the girl stepped out from behind him for a second time; her chocolate-brown eyes completely fixated on the things around her, but more so on the other man. White locks of hair had been pulled back into the messy bun while a few longer strands fell into her soft face. She didn't bother to push them aside and simply stared through the parting locks. A pale-blue dress seemed to play on the matching shade of nail polish that decorated her hands and feet, courtesy of her mother this morning; white, open-toed shoes had been fitted on with some difficulty but helped to complete the casual look. It was a few steps forward before she looked back to him as though to see what his plan of action was going to be, in which case he slowly moved to echo her steps.

"Her name is Iris."

She continued to walk ahead of him, more so out of curiosity now as all else no longer mattered.

It didn't take long for the older man to make the connection before a faint chuckle seemed to escape him. "Iris... that's a beautiful name."

"It's been a long time... I thought now would be the right opportunity to let the two of you meet." he started, pausing now as he let the girl run ahead of him. He watched as she stumbled slightly over a small fold in the rug underfoot but she caught herself easily and continued on.

The First Captain moved to push himself away from his desk and to his feet, still able to move with ease and an uncanny sense of grace despite his age. "You know, when I recommended you for that mission, the only outcome from it I had considered was you coming back with a positive report."

He heard himself chuckle at the remark and figured the man made a good point on the matter, then again he hadn't really been expecting anything different from that assumption either. But as he stood watching as the young girl walked up to the older Captain and stopped just a few inches from where he was standing... there were no other outcomes that could have warranted this kind of feeling. "I suppose in a way you could say I did just that."

"In a sense, yes."

The smaller girl cocked her head to one side for a moment before she reached one hand up towards the taller man; a small hand that was carefully taken into a larger one. "Iris..."

"Yamamoto."

It seemed to take a moment before a smile found its way to her lips. "You have a funny beard. How long did it take for you to grow out?"

"A long, long time."

"Like a million years?"

"Ha ha, Iris, sweetheart, let's not get carried away."