A/N Enjoy, my friends, and thank you all.

Floating was fun, Nanao decided, as she floated across her apartment. Shuuhei had dropped her off only a few moments before, after a romantic walk along the riverfront under the full moon. The lingering kiss, his soft happy smile and the sparkle in his gray eyes told her that, yes, he might very well be floating right now too. Hugging herself tightly, she whirled around the room until she collapsed dizzily on the couch. Her glasses were smeared from his closeness, and the edges of the room seemed enshrouded in a mystical haze. She felt like she was in the middle of a marshmallow dream with no desire to wake up. How long had it been since she was this happy, she wondered.

A shuffle of footsteps outside her door roused her from her happy daydream. She flew to the door, throwing it open. "Shuuhei, you've come ba…"

"Nanao Ise, you are to come with us." With no further warning, two very serious court guards grabbed Nanao, one on each arm. The third guard led the way as they walked her swiftly away from her apartment.

"No!" she protested. "I've met my quota of kidnappings for one date!"

The rest of the Seireitei had lain in darkness as Nanao had been marched through it, except for an occasional light here and there and the emblazoned eighth office. In the far distance, she thought she could see shadowy movement in the ninth.

After the guards had escorted her to her final destination, they had left her alone in a stately hallway with only a caged bird for company. Nanao leaned over to see it better, putting her finger near the cage. The bird pecked at it once or twice. "So, what are you in for?" she asked. It cheeped, pivoting its head nearly upside down to look at her.

"That's Priscilla," said a familiar voice. "She bites."

Jerking her hand back, Nanao step away from the cage in front of the man and asked warily, "Chojirou, why am I here? What is this about?" Priscilla scolded in bird talk that she hadn't had a chance to taste that yummy worm-like thing yet.

The vice captain gave Nanao's hand a quick squeeze. An easy friendliness existed between the two. After his attempts at fatherhood, egged on by Shunsui, had failed miserably, he had assumed the role of Nanao's bachelor uncle, an arrangement both could live with. His light squeeze had been mildly reassuring to her. "The Captain General would like to speak to you, Nanao. Follow me, please."

Vice Captain Sasakibe led a puzzled Nanao straight to Yamamoto's office, ushering her into a large room where Yama-Jii sat cross-legged on a small platform. She had only been here once or twice before. It was normally reserved for captains and the captain general's inner circle. She knew she should feel honored, but she was still somewhat apprehensive about why she was there and extremely annoyed at being pulled away from her happy dwelling place where she could dwell on Shuuhei.

"Ah, Nanao Ise. Come in," ordered the old man gently. "Come. Sit beside me." He patted a large pillow next to him on the left.

"Thank you, Captain General," replied Nanao, a bit bewildered as he waved her in for a landing on the spot where he had patted.

"And how was your date with Shuuhei Hisagi? Tea?" he offered, pointing towards a silver serving set on a small table to his right.

"No, thank you, sir."

"I will have some myself if you don't mind. Sasakibe gets very upset if I have him make preparations and then do not use what he has prepared." He put his hand to his mouth as if to whisper, but didn't. "He can be so impossible at times, but don't tell him I said that." As Yama-Jii poured himself a cup of tea, Nanao glanced at the vice captain who was standing behind the old man. Sasakibe shook his head in disgust. A second cup was poured.

"Oh, no, thank you, Captain General, I couldn't," said Nanao, waving him off.

"It's not for you!" snapped the old man, handing it backwards to Sasakibe. "Just the way you like it, I believe, Chojirou. Two sugars and four dollops of cream."

"Close enough. Thank you, sir," said the man who preferred four sugars and two dollops of cream.

"Now," resumed Yama-Jii, "how was your date? I assume it was uneventful after you left the restaurant."

With the tea nonsense over with, Nanao could once again think about her evening with Shuuhei. The sensation of flight in the pit of her stomach came soaring back. She answered simply, "The date was fine, Captain General, especially afterwards. Thank you for asking."

What she had wanted to do was to proclaim to anyone within hearing distance how wonderfully 'floatie' she felt, but she knew she had to hold back. Yama-Jii was not the appropriate choice for girl talk. She would have to find Matsumoto or Isane before they found her for the inevitable wheedling of details. She hoped Isane wasn't disappointed that she had enjoyed herself so much. His kiss – WOW, she thought. Much better than Isane described.

A hand on his chin, the old man watched her with growing interest. "Obviously more than fine," he said at last, "judging from the smile on your face and your change of clothing. I approve."

Realizing she had been lost in thought, Nanao gazed in embarrassment at the flowers on her dress. As she smoothed out the material, she also realized that for once, her captain had been correct about what she needed. It was a shocking admission for her.

She nodded her head bashfully, "It was wonderful, sir."

Continuing his intense observation of her, he stated more than asked, "Then you are no longer angry with the man who twisted your life like a ring upon his finger, your captain, Shunsui Kyouraku?"

His query startled her. It took her a full minute to process her thoughts.

At last, she lifted her nose and looked directly into the old man's eyes with a cold stare, causing him to shudder ever so slightly.

"No, sir, I'm not angry. I'm furious," she said calmly. Shunsui may have been correct about her need for a little fun and romance, but that didn't mean she was ready to let him off the hook. "Yes, I had a wonderful time with someone that I never dreamed I'd date, but the captain had no right to manipulate us the way he did. When he isn't ordering me to do his work, he's harassing me. When he isn't harassing me, he makes me run inane errands. When I'm not running inane errands, I have to sprinkle rose petals on him to make him appear 'sensitive, yet manly.' And I still have my own work to do on top of all of his. Oh, and every twenty years he thinks I need a man in my life, but what I really need is a vacation from my captain."

A sly smile appeared under Yama-Jii's thick mustache. "Then you would not mind helping an old master teach his former student a lesson?" He slurped his tea noisily, gracefully extending his pinkie.

Her eyes popped open wide. "No, sir, I wouldn't mind helping at all. I'm working on plans for revenge of my own."

"Excellent. Shall we combine our efforts?" asked the old man. "Much like the two-sworded zanpakutou that your captain carries, together we can be twice as deadly." He set down his teacup and picked up a set of papers from beside him on the floor. "Sasakibe! SASAKIBE! He's never around when I need him."

"I'm right behind you, sir," said the long-suffering vice captain.

"How long have you been standing there?" The captain general handed his vice captain a set of sealed papers. "Sasakibe, issue these orders immediately. And put down that teacup. Why are you drinking tea on duty?"

"I was merely holding it in case you wanted a second cup, Captain General."

"Well, in that case…get going, get going. You have work to do." Yama-Jii waved him off.

Sasakibe bowed and left Nanao alone with the captain general to plot.

"Hee hee, he thinks he's getting away with something," chuckled Yama-Jii. "I'm not the doddering old fool I allow him to believe I am. I know that tea was for him. Now, Miss Ise, tell me your plan and I'll tell you mine."

It was very early in the morning by the time she finally got to bed.