CHAPTER 28
Memories
Byakuya gave a soft sigh as he fixed the kenseikan in his hair, his nimble fingers working the pieces of delicate porcelain into place. A pair or arms wrapped around his chest from behind, and a warm body pressed to his back. He gave a soft smile as she glanced behind him, "Can I help you…?" Hisako smiled ever so softly, reaching up to unclip the head pieces from his hair, placing them on the sink. She raked her fingers through his bangs, smoothing them down to their natural arch over his eye.
"We're at the beach… Lose the nobility for a while…" she whispered, cupping his cheek. He leaned down and kissed her softly, wrapping his own arms around her body, "Let's go swimming in the ocean." she offered, looking up to him, "It's a warm day today…" she took his hands, leading him into their bedroom. Hisako went to her husband's suitcase and dug through it in search for his bathing suit she had packed. Her hands stopped their search, her head tipping to the side as she gazed at an envelope. She picked it up from under the garments, "What's this?" Byakuya glanced at her, raising a slender black eyebrow.
"What is what?" she stood, making her way over to him. She pulled out a slip of paper, folded perfectly in half. Curious, she unfolded it, and read the perfectly cursive writing.
"Have Byakuya explain these. Have fun." Byakuya tipped his head, taking the paper.
"Explain what?" she shrugged, then opened the envelope. Gasping softly, she pulled out a stack of photos.
"They're… pictures." she flipped through them, then gave a chuckle, "Byakuya… It's you… and your parents." his eyes widened, and he peeked over her shoulder.
"Me?" the woman in front of him nodded, and slowly sat on the bed, flipping through each picture. Slowly a smile began to form on her lips. Byakuya sat behind her, leaning her back to him as she looked at each picture. He chuckled, resting his head to her shoulder, "I remember these…" Byakuya reached out and pointed to his father, "That was mother's birthday…" he said softly. Hisako blinked, then looked to him with confusion in her eyes.
"Where is she though…?" his eyes saddened slightly.
"She had… passed away before the picture was taken." Hisako's jaw dropped slightly, as if she were about to say something, "It was several years before that… When I was 3, maybe 4... Father would distract me on her birthday. We'd run in the gardens, play hide and go seek in the mansion… He said that she wouldn't want me looking sad on her birthday, so he would play with me all day so she could see me smiling." he flipped the pictures, and his smile grew slightly, "There she is… I was a few months old." Hisako looked over the picture. The trio was out in the gardens, beside the small koi pond. His mother was laying on her side, her head in Sojun's lap with Byakuya laying against her stomach, a bright smile on his face as he reached for the camera. Sojun had a bright smile on his face, his hand on Byakuya's back, while his wife was gazing up to her husband, "Grandfather told me that mother worried that I wasn't outside enough to get fresh air." Hisako giggled as he turned to another photo. It was of Byakuya sleeping soundly in his bed, "I was around eight here…" his soft voice said. He was silent for a few seconds, "I don't know why this photo was taken exactly…" Hisako smiled, reaching out to trace his face in the picture.
"You look so cute… You're smiling in your sleep." she giggled. Byakuya nodded.
"Maybe that's why…" she glanced to him
"What do you mean?" he sighed, closing his eyes.
"After my father died…I sort of… shut everything out. It was like I became a statue. I didn't want to play, I didn't want to eat… I didn't want to do anything… My parents were the only friends I had… after father passed away, I only had grandfather… And he was only concerned with my training to be the next clan leader…" Hisako's gaze softened and she kissed his cheek.
"Can you tell me about your father…?" she asked him quietly, "If you don't want to, you don't have to." he shook his head, taking her hand.
"If you want to know, then I'll tell you all I can remember." she turned to face him, leaning into his arms. He held her securely to him as he rested against the pillows, "My father was supposed to be the next head of the Kuchiki family, the 28th heir. But it passed to me when I was born. He and my mother were childhood friends, and they ended up falling in love." he chuckles, "And that is what our families had hoped… They wanted to try something different… They wanted the future bride and groom to grow up together, instead of knowing each other a few days prior to the wedding."
"Like ours." Byakuya chuckled, nodding.
"Yes… like ours." he ran his knuckles down her cheek, "A few years went by… usually, you had a child by the end of your second year of marriage. But for some reason… no matter how they tried, they were unsuccessful. But father refused to give up. They both wanted a child, not only for the clan, but they wanted a baby like every other family. Like you, my mom always wanted a child. It killed father that they hadn't had a baby yet… And one night, mom was walking through the gardens with dad, and they decided to try one more time. And she said if it didn't work, she would give up." he chuckled, "And obviously, since I am here it worked." Hisako laughed softly, "Grandfather said they were so happy when I was born. He said nothing could wipe the smiles from their faces." he looked to Hisako, then leaned forward to kiss her softly when he saw her happy yet depressed face. He cupped her cheek, his thumb stroking beneath her eye, "Everything will be alright Hisako… I promise you… we'll have a baby someday." he leaned over to where his forehead rested on hers, their noses touching. She nodded, wrapping her arms around him.
"I know… I just… was so excited about Ronina…" he nodded, holding her tightly to him.
"As was I…" he leaned back a bit, "I had a dream… the night before last… I had a dream, that Ronina was with us… She was 5... And you were a few months pregnant… five or six, I couldn't really tell…" Hisako's eyes widened, "We were all in the backyard, and it was around sunset… when I get home form the barracks. After we all spent some time together, you said it was her bed time. I took her and put her in her room, and she went to sleep… But, as I was walking out… she turned in her sleep, and said, 'I'm alright daddy.' and I woke up…" he looked to her, disbelief written all over her features, "I wonder… if Ronina somehow found a way to tell us she was alright…?" Hisako bit her bottom lip, before tears welled in her eyes. She sniffled, a tear rolling down her cheek as she nodded.
"Yeah…" came her quivering voice, "I think it might have been…" a small smile came across her features as she leaned to him, "Oh Byakuya…" his arms wrapped tightly around her as he buried his features into her soft black hair. She nuzzled his shoulder, her smile still there, "I love you…" his gaze softened and he nodded, kissing the crown of black atop her head.
"I love you too…" came his deep voice in reply. His fingers ran through her hair as he held her close. After a few seconds, a small smirk took over his features. Hisako gave a small gasp as she felt dexterous fingers begin to unbutton her blouse.
"What are you doing Byakuya…?" she looked at him with widened eyes and a raised eyebrow. He gave a small chuckle and pecked her lips.
"You wanted to go swimming." a small blush crept across her cheeks, "Are you blushing my dear? The one who told me she would walk throughout my squad in the nude with no care at all?"
"Shut it…" she stuck her tongue out at him, "And here everyone called you the Ice Prince, the man with no emotions in his body." she smirked to him, tapping his nose with a finger. He took her hand, kissing each fingertip.
"That was before I was married to a vixen of a woman, who tested my temper, patience, and sanity." she chuckled, biting her lower lip as he began to kiss the back of her hand and wrist, moving up her arm. She cocked her head to the side, her eyebrow raised in question.
"For someone who said we weren't ready, you sure are acting like you're trying to seduce me." he chuckled softly, moving to kiss her softly.
"Who said I was trying to seduce? Your mind simply goes into the gutter every time my lips come in contact with your body." she rolled her eyes, swatting him away playfully.
"You know, for a man like you, you sure are a smart ass." his fingers returned to unbuttoning her blouse, delighting when it parted and fell open, revealing her smooth skin, yet slightly disappointed when he discovered her wearing of a bra, "And you keep on stripping me." he shrugged, his hands easing the fabric down her arms to pool about the bed.
"You said you wanted to go swimming. I'm just helping." he offered, his hands reaching around her back to unclasp the bra, smirking slightly when he saw it snap forward a bit, "It is a private beach after all. No one will be around." Hisako sighed, her eyes softening as she looked away, wrapping an arm around her stomach.
"But… I would be more comfortable in my bathing suit…" she looked to him when she felt his hand lift her arm away, then a hand pressing to her stomach, over the almost healed scar.
"Because of your scar?' he asked her quietly, even though he already knew the answer. With a soft sigh, she nodded, closing her eyes. She felt herself being pulled back into his arms in a secure hold, "It's only going to be me out there with you Hisako… I have seen your scar, and I don't think it affects how you look in any way. You are still my beautiful wife, and one scar won't affect my love for you." his wife smiled slightly.
"It isn't the scar… It's what happened that caused the scar to get there…" he nodded.
"I know… I know… But…" he held her out, looking to her, "A woman I love told me, that if we dwell on the past, we'll never see the future… I think that woman needs to take her own advice now." he cupped her cheek, "I promise you Hisako… Everything will be alright. Ronina will be okay… We'll get through this… and one day, we can try again. Whenever you think we're ready, we can try again for another baby. Alright?" she thought about it for a few moments before her smile grew, and she nodded.
"Deal…"
2 WEEKS LATER
Hisako giggled as she walked into her bedroom, suitcase in tow, "Well, I don't know about you, but I got a nice tan." Byakuya just rolled his eyes as he carried his own luggage in as well.
"Yes yes, very lovely." she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Jealous that you just burned?" she giggled when he glanced to his shoulders, which did hold a slight tinge of pink to them, "With your pale complexion, I doubt you'll ever tan." she licked her lips, "But I bet if you ever did tan, you'd look delicious!" she winked at him then sighed, collapsing to her bed, "I wish we could just stay in France… And not have to worry about Soul Society or anything to do with it…" Byakuya raised an eyebrow, moving to where he was laying beside her.
"Why is that?" she shrugged, looking to him.
"Well, there's just a lot of stress sometimes…" she began to count the reasons by tapping a finger, "We both are captains, we both are nobles, we were forced to marry, they pressured us about children, and then our tragedy that happened… it just takes its toll on a person." he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him as he nodded.
"Yes… our lives can be a bit stressful." he smiled softly to her, "But I wouldn't change it for the world. Thanks to my stressful life, I was lucky enough to be born into wealth, where I would be taken care of, I became strong enough to become a captain, and I was lucky enough, to be married to two beautiful, wonderful women in my lifetime. I lost my first wife to sickness…" he moved to nuzzle her cheek, "I plan on doing whatever it takes to make sure I don't lose the one I have now… And I plan on doing whatever it takes to make us happy… and whether we need to wait a while for children or not, I won't give up… As long as you don't." Hisako felt as if tears were going to burst from her eyes at any moment. She reached up to stroke his cheek.
"I'll never give up Byakuya…" she whispered, leaning to his strong form. He winced a bit, causing her to move back, "Sunburn bad?" he nodded slightly.
"Just a bit. I think when we went swimming yesterday the ocean washed off my sunscreen." she tapped her chin then smiled.
"Wait here." she jumped from the bed and went into the bathroom, opening the bottom cabinets under the sink, "Now… where are you…?' she dug around a bit before grinning, "Here it is!" she came back out and sat in front of him, holding up a bottle of green gel, "Aloe Vera. This stuff does wonders for a sunburn!" she twisted her finger, "Take off your shirt and lay on your stomach." he raised an eyebrow, making her roll her eyes, "Just do it." he sighed and nodded, following her directions. She winced herself upon seeing how red his back was, "Ouch… You really fried…" she popped her knuckles and opened the lid, squirting some of the gel onto her hand. Once she got a good amount, she rubbed her hands together and slowly began to ease the goo onto his back. He gave a small grunt of pain before a tingling coolness swept over the places her hands ran over. Slowly Hisako felt him relax beneath her touch, making her chuckle, "Feel nice?" he nodded, his eyes cracking open to look at her.
"Very. Thank you." she gave a nod, leaning down to kiss the back of his neck.
"You're quite welcome." she chuckled, "Now, how about we uniform up and we go see how Renji handled Squad Six while you were gone." the man gave a groan, hitting the pillow with his head.
"I would be surprised to see my squad still standing." Hisako rolled her eyes, climbing off the bed and heading to the closet.
"Oh come now. Surely you have more faith in him than you sound." she shrugged, "Besides, I'm surprised he hasn't re-challenged you to another duel." he turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow, "I heard about when Rukia was to be executed, how he told you he was going to save her and you two battled, only for you to end up winning." his eyes widened slightly, and she tipped her head, "What?" her own eyes widened, "Of come on! You haven't even noticed?" when he gave her a blank stare, she just sighed, "The man is in love with her Byakuya. When he was in Squad 11 before transferring to be your lieutenant, he told me he wanted to surpass you. He had this look in his eyes that said he wouldn't stop until he succeeded. He told me that when you adopted her, you took away the only family he had, and he hoped to one day defeat you so he could get her back." he shook his head.
"No. Rukia doesn't love him though." Hisako raised an eyebrow.
"And how would you know that? You two barely talk." she said softly as she began to dress in her uniform, "I mean, I know you care about her, but you need to communicate more. It's like she's terrified of you at some times." his gaze saddened and he looked away from her, out towards the gardens.
"After her near execution… I'm surprised she even wants to be in the same home as me…" Hisako smiled and walked over to him. She cupped his cheeks, and leaned in to give him a soft kiss.
"You forget that you saved her though… Gin was going to kill her, then you took the blow…" she reached down and took his shirt, lifting it over his head. Then she placed a hand over his chest, over the scar that was over his heart from where the sword had pierced his flesh. He took his hand and placed it over hers, sighing deeply.
"But still… If I had protected her like I promised Hisana I would, she wouldn't have been in that mess…" his hand tightened around hers, "When I found her, she looked so much like Hisana…. I thought if I spent too much time with her, my mind would begin to think that Hisana never died… So I kept my distance… but that only strained mine and Rukia's relationship." Hisako brushed his bangs from his features.
"You can still save your relationship with her… Talk to her. Spend time with her. Hell, tell her about the sister she never got a chance to know." he shook his head, looking to the mattress.
"I can't… I've tried so hard to suppress my memories of her over all these years… Every time I thought of her, it would hurt… because I would never see her again… hold her…" he trailed off, and Hisako nodded.
"And make love to her…" he looked to her with widened eyes before he sighed, giving a nod.
"Yes…" he said quietly, "I thought that if I kept remembering Hisana, the more I would hurt by her absence… So I tried to shut it out… Everything about her I tried to ignore… and that included Rukia… Every time I saw her face, I saw Hisana in her… I could hear Hisana… her soft laugh, her saying my name whenever she wanted my attention… It was Hisana… And it hurt." she frowned, leaning over to kiss him again. Her frowned only deepened when she felt his lips trembling slightly against hers.
"I know… But sometimes running isn't the best thing to do… You need to celebrate the life you had with her, not try to forget it because she passed on…" he shook his head.
"I wouldn't try to forget her… There's no way I could do that… Ever week or so I would go into the shrine room where we keep the deceased Kuchiki member's portraits for remembrance. I kept Hisana's separate… I thought that she deserved more than a simple picture… She was my wife after all… Every time I wanted to forget… I would miss her too much… so I would go back to see her picture… And on the day of Rukia's execution, I went to Hisana's picture… I was silently begging for her forgiveness… And asked her what to do… And all she did was smile…" Hisako cradled him to her, her stroking his hair.
"It's alright now… Rukia's fine… and she'll always be protected by you… And now you'll have me by your side to help." she cupped his cheek, lifting his gaze to hers, "I'll always be by your side. Whether you want me to or not." he chuckled, nuzzling her neck.
"And here I thought you wanted to murder me when we got married." she giggled.
"Well, we've had 10 months to have our differences worked out." she took his hand, guiding him to the closet, "Now, how about we go check out your and my squad?" he nodded.
"Sounds good to me." Hisako nodded and went to fix her hair while Byakuya dressed. She looked into the mirror and gave a faint smile, glancing to her husband that was dressing. She lifted her shirt and pressed a palm over her scar. She smiled softly and sighed. Byakuya was right. She needed to listen to her own advice… She needed to concentrate on the future, not on her past. She smiled back to herself in the mirror. Yes, she felt everything would turn out alright…
UUUUGH. So it's been what? 4 months since I updated? I'm so sorry! School and my Jushiro fanfics, and my lack of inspiration have kept me from working on this... And I really don't like this update much... I couldn't think of something good to write. Haha. Plus, I was kind of depressed that I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter. Haha. So, I'm thinking of ending this and posting the epilogue, and completing this, or adding a few more chapters, then completing this… Hmmm… Opinions? Haha. Just tell me in your reviews! They are very appreciated!
