Disclaimer: applies of course…I can only dream about even being able to draw manga…

A/N: A very, very big apology is needed since I've been taking so long to get things written out…I've been crazy busy, stressed out at times, working, uninspired or just plain exhausted over the past couple weeks…so yeah, things are taking a while to form…I hope it's worth the wait…I tried to make it extra long...

CHAPTER 37

"Shunsui, Shun~sui," Jyuushiro coaxed his friend awake, shaking him roughly. "C'mon Shun, wake up."

"Shove off," Shunsui muttered, rolling over. "Class doesn't start yet."

Jyuushiro chuckled. "What are you dreaming about? We aren't in the Academy anymore, I just need you to wake up. I have something to show you…Shunsui?"

Shunsui just mumbled.

Jyuushiro leant in close to his friend's ear and whispered.

"Shunsui, if you don't get up right now, I'll tell Nanao about the time you lit yourself on fire."

Shunsui bolted upright.

"I'm up, I'm up, never tell such an embarrassing story to anyone," his eyes were wide as he grasped Jyuushiro's collar, pulling him in close. "Understand?"

Jyuushiro chuckled again. "Of course not. I'd fear the retribution too much."

"What did you want to show me?" Shunsui rubbed his eyes and stretched when he stood.

"Come with me," Jyuushiro lead the way out of the Eighth's barracks.

"What is it?" Shunsui whined as he followed.

"I just got back from the World of the Living,"

"Nani?" that seemed to wake him up. "Why were you there? Why didn't you call me to come? Did you see Nanao-chan?"

"Unohana Taicho called me there, I was too worried something had happened to Kimi to think about trying to wake you up."

"Did something happen to Kimi?"

Jyuushiro shook his head. "She's fine…except for her hair."

"Her hair?"

Jyuushiro nodded. "It's black."

"Black?"

"You heard me…and I don't like it…" Jyuushiro's face turned momentarily sour. "But that isn't what we were talking about. And Nanao is fine too."

"So what were we talking about?"

"Why Retsu called me to the Living World," Jyuushiro reached into his gi and pulled out a black and white picture. "We went to see a Human doctor and she took this," he handed Shunsui the image.

"What is it?" Shunsui examined the photo.

"It's a picture of our son," Jyuushiro grinned.

"Eh?" Shunsui glanced up in surprise. "Son?"

Jyuushiro nodded. "The woman who took the photo said it was a girl, but I saw Unohana's face when it was said, so I think the human guessed wrong and we're having a boy–" he was cut off when Shunsui wrapped his arms around his friend.

"Omedetou," Shunsui grinned as he straightened away from his surprised friend and looked down at the picture again. "So this ugly thing is your son…"

"Ugly?" Jyuushiro frowned, offended.

Shunsui chuckled. "I'm sure he'll be cute when he's born."

Jyuushiro sweat-dropped. "Just don't tell Kimi you think her baby is ugly…that could be bad considering how she reacted."

"How was that?"

Jyuushiro made a face. "I'm not telling. If Kimi finds out she'll be mad at me…and you know I'd rather you be mad at me than her."

"What happened to the days when men chose their mates over the women in their beds?" Shunsui sighed.

"Did those days ever exist?" Jyuushiro raised a single eyebrow.

Shunsui frowned. "Now I think about it…if they did exist I never experienced them…"

Jyuushiro made a face. "You make it sound as if I'm a really bad friend."

"Only when you choose Kimi over me,"

"As if you wouldn't choose Nanao over me,"

That gave Shunsui pause.

"Hmmm, you're right,"

Jyuushiro grinned again. "But you may want to make sure the Eighth is in better shape by the time she returns."

Shunsui rolled his eyes. "At least we're getting the paperwork done."

Jyuushiro just shook his head at his friend, fighting back laughter as he took the picture back.

Kimiko sighed heavily.

She still didn't know what the fight had been about the day before.

To give Yoruichi and Kisuke some space to…work on their relationship, the S.W.A had decided to "move out" of the Urahara Shoten and instead found a cosy little westernized Bed and Breakfast Inn to stay at.

The majority of them had doubled up in rooms in order to save some money, but since they hadn't planned to actually spend a lot of time at the inn, it hadn't seemed like much of a problem.

Which was why Kimiko found it strange that all the members of the association had convened in the room she, Reiko and Unohana, to watch movies on the television that no longer really resembled a box anymore it was so large and thin and rectangular.

They had started out with a movie labeled a romantic comedy. It had been funny and sweet and…boring, especially since Kimiko didn't understand enough about the Real World to fully grasp what was going on most of the time.

They moved on to a paranormal thriller which was much more fun to watch and had the majority of the present women twittering and drooling over the super hot American actors (A/N: if anyone cares, I'm referring to a movie called the Covenant here, love that movie).

Finally came the movie Yachiru was most looking forward to.

It was a historical war drama filled with samurai, effects, katana, and blood.

Lots and lots of blood.

When it came to watching a horror movie that featured psychological torment and even more blood and gore than the previous film, Kimiko was starting to disapprove.

She had faced this kind of thing.

Blood and war wasn't foreign to her. It was a big part of her; it was a big part of her past and had always been a constant presence in her life.

…but she didn't enjoy it enough to want to watch it for her enjoyment when she should have been relaxing.

Kimiko glanced across at Reiko who was sitting beside her. She didn't appear to be enjoying it either, and looked about as good as Kimiko imagined she herself looked.

"Rin-chan," Kimiko whispered next to her ear. "Want to come with me? I need some fresh air."

Reiko nodded and both women stood and snuck quietly as possible out of the room.

"Not enjoying the blood and war?" Reiko joked as they reached the inn's common room and curled up in two of the comfy armchairs.

"I highly doubt anyone who has seen any of what we've seen would ever enjoy something like that," Kimiko commented. "Kami but these western chairs are comfortable," she sighed contentedly as she sunk further in. "How were you coping with it?"

"The movie?" Reiko paused. "It brings back memories."

Kimiko nodded in understanding. "Same here."

"Wonder if we're remembering the same thing."

"The incident during the Akai* War?" Kimiko raised an eyebrow.

Reiko was surprised as she nodded.

*FLASHBACK*

It was chaos, absolute chaos.

The Hinote Soutaicho was dead for sure; the seventeenth taicho and Fumio were both down and those that were left of the two teams were starting to panic, cornered as they seemed to be.

'Damn it, where's the backup?' Raiden was cursing in her mind.

With everyone panicking as they were and being cut down, it was open for anyone to take control.

And Reiko didn't want to die amidst panicking men.

"Everyone form a circle! Back to back people!" she shouted the orders. "Don't give your enemy your back!"

Clustered circles formed.

"Keep calm," she commanded. "Help is on its way."

The battle continued on, the Hinote Division members present and still standing seeming to calm down now someone was taking charge.

"Fukutaicho, there's too many,"

"No there isn't. You know the stories of our Ryuukin, of the Samurai Hime; she's taken on more alone. We can do this; we can't let her down."

"Hai!" was a collective call and the battle raged on, the fighting spirit renewed in the exhausted soldiers.

…until the sea of their opponents parted and a single man stepped forward.

As their enemies drew back, the Dragon Soldiers grew on edge again, the clash of steel halting abruptly.

"I have a few questions to ask of you," the man spoke in a friendly manner.

Reiko moved around until she was between the man and her subordinates.

"Ask them, but there's no guarantee we'll answer,"

"After dealing with my method of questioning, I think you will," he smirked and, surprisingly, called out to the katana they now all realized was a zanpakutou.

"Asari, Shin Ikasamashi*,"

There was a flash of light.

A skeletal, ghostlike hand stretched out towards her and sent violent shivers rushing through her when it passed through her body.

Then, things grew dim.

At least, as far as Reiko could tell they did.

The edges of her vision grew black and hazy; her ears felt as if material had been stuffed into them. Her body felt heavy.

'Now,' a deep, sickeningly soothing voice echoed in her mind. 'Why don't you tell me all about your precious Ryuukin?'

"No," Reiko murmured.

'We aren't traitors, to so easily give up information,' Raiden echoed her sentiments.

Reiko gasped as a stabbing pain shot through her head.

It felt like someone was clawing through her brain.

As scenes and images of memories flickered through her mind, she realized that her enemy was literally searching through her head in order to find information; as simply as if he were flipping through a book.

'Resist,' Raiden ordered, sending a wave of fire out in an effort to defend his master.

Reiko retreated into her own mind, finding herself in her fiery Inner World, behind a circle of fire that surrounded her and Raiden as a defense.

'Very clever, Shikamaru Reiko, to hide yourself away before I could finish reading your history. But not to worry, I saw more than enough to weaken your resolve. See, witness your worst moments,' the voice echoed again, this time louder.

There was silence except for the violent crackling of the protective flames.

Then something shifted just beyond the ring of fire and the darkness was transformed, giving way to an image; the scene playing out in front of her as if she was right there, a third party witness…it was the day her brother had been lost.

It was a day that had always haunted her; the day her brother's life had been exchanged for hers.

This man, this enemy, was pulling out her worst memories…this was his unique method of torture. Anything that she had felt even remotely guilty for at some point in her life was drawn out and shown to her in vivid detail.

Ho would have thought that such a distinctive practice of abuse could work so well.

Raiden kept telling her not to succumb. To hold strong. But it was obvious that even his resolve was cracking the more he was involved in the memories.

The second the blazing wall weakened, the ghostlike hand reached out to her again at an amazingly fast pace and a deafening buzzing pierced her head more painfully than anything she had ever felt before.

After what felt like an eternity the feeling suddenly seemed to rip out of her mind and she was ripped out of her Inner World right along behind it.

She forcefully opened her heavy, aching eyes to stare into the blind, disbelieving eyes of the man that had been her mental tormentor.

Next she noticed the katana that had been stabbed almost to the hilt through his neck, blood dripping from the sharp blade that had gone in one side and out the other with frightening ease.

Reiko flinched when that blade turned and sliced out, cutting through jugular and spraying flecks of blood everywhere.

She could feel the thick, warm drops when they hit her skin.

"Rin-chan?"

Reiko hadn't realized she had collapsed to her knees until Kimiko was crouching before her, a gentle hand placed on her shoulder.

Reiko spotted the bloodied katana held unthreateningly in Kimiko's hand before glancing up into the worried two-coloured gaze.

"I didn't…break…did I?" Reiko questioned worriedly.

A ghost of a smile tipped one corner of Kimiko's lips up.

"No, you didn't. I'm proud of you Rin-chan; you held everyone together."

Reiko smiled in relief before her eyes rolled back in her head and exhaustion overtook her mind and body, sending her spiraling into black oblivion…

Unfortunately, it didn't stay black for long.

The scenes that had been taken from her memories and played out in front of her surfaced again, consuming the quiet blackness…

Kimiko stood beside the window of the infirmary, looking out.

She had arrived too late.

She understood that death came with war and no matter what she would never be able to save everybody; she had always known this and had lost many comrades over the years she had been a shinigami.

…but this time…if only she had arrived a little earlier…

Reiko hadn't been the only one to have been mind rapped; but she was only one of three still alive after ending it.

Two of the three, including Reiko, were still in comas after a week.

The one to have woken had needed to be ruled unstable and there was nothing any of them could do to help him.

Reiko sighed and Kimiko glanced over even though it wasn't the first time she had heard the name "Byakko" fall from her subordinate's lips since she had begun to show signs of potentially waking.

Kimiko glanced over at the strange contraption that she had been told was tracking Reiko's erratic dream patterns.

It was running smoothly now, no more extreme spikes.

"I hope you're having better dreams now Rin-chan," Kimiko sighed, rubbing her head tiredly.

"Ryuukin-sama?"

Kimiko glanced up as Reiko's doctor entered.

"Visiting time has ended for the day and Sakura-hime has called a meeting with the Soutaichos that you need to attend."

Kimiko nodded. "Sensei, just tell me, how do you think Rin-chan is doing? Do you think she'll come out of this all right?"

"I honestly can't say," the doctor shook his head. "In terms of her dream patterns, she seems to be doing better than the others have done, or have been doing; but we can't know anything for sure until she wakes up. Either way she's not going to remain completely unaffected by this occurrence."

"I've heard a few rumors about Rin-chan," Kimiko sighed. "Saying she has very little resolve and goes off on drinking binges after battles because her mental state was already a little unstable."

"There are a few points of concern, but I cannot disclose any of them."

"Not even to the Ryuukin?" Kimiko raised a single questioning eyebrow in a manner that suggested she already knew he couldn't.

His only response was to blush a little.

Kimiko let a chuckle slip out. "It's okay sensei, I imagine a lot of it is personal business that she would talk about if she wanted others to know. All things considered it is probably something that happened when she was still in Seireitei."

Kimiko paused, taking a moment to think.

"Would you allow me to try something?"

"What would that something be?"

"I've been discovering my abilities as the Ryuukin lately,"

"Remember not to push yourself," he warned, interrupting her. "All the more superior doctors in Eisei Division know you have just barely recovered; and after exerting yourself in that battle last week as much as you did–"

Kimiko interrupted this time with a roll of her eyes.

"That's part of what I'm discovering. I knew my limits before I became the Ryuukin and I knew when I could and couldn't push those limits…those have changed now, especially after being weakened for so long. I'm not the kind to be pampered and fussed over; and I wont risk being weakened again so quickly…so I'm taking it slowly, a bit at a time, and strengthening myself again as I go. At the same time I'm trying to learn about these new abilities I have. It's already been a year since I woke up. No one wants to protect a Ryuukin who is weak and I've never been the kind to let my subordinates go into battle without me to lead them."

"On the other hand your subordinates have been annoyed by your interference in their routines."

"Yeah, well," Kimiko shrugged indifferently. "It often takes people a while to warm up to me. They'll get used to it."

"You were in your coma for an unusually long time…"

"Which was mostly out of my control; but I can understand how it might make everyone feel I'm not worthy to have the title or powers."

"Well, unlike everyone else, I like your attitude," the man smiled. "Rumors have said a number of things about you, including that you don't want to be here; but you've still dived in head on. There have been a growing number of soldiers in here complaining about pulled muscles and various other injuries because of your new training methods, but that just makes me realize that they were never in much shape to be fighting to begin with. It's no wonder we lose so many soldiers."

Kimiko shrugged.

There was silence.

"I guess I'll head off then," Kimiko shuffled her feet. "I'll be back again. But you know to let me know if there's any kind of change?"

The doctor nodded.

"Wait, you sidetracked me, I wanted to try something," Kimiko turned back. "I was learning about a way to brand reiatsu so you always have access and can sense it more acutely. Reiko is familiar with my reiatsu and I though perhaps if I could use this method to allow her to know there is someone here for her, that it may help her."

"How does this method work?" the man frowned curiously.

"It's difficult to explain," Kimiko frowned. "I need to connect with her reiatsu and then put a little of my own there without it mixing in."

"What happens if it mixes in?"

"Nothing, it's ineffective," Kimiko shrugged.

"Will this harm her in any way?"

"I wouldn't be suggesting it if it did,"

"I suppose…" he began hesitantly. "With the Soutaicho's permission."

Kimiko rolled her eyes at that.

"If you insist," she replied. "I'll ask your soutaicho at the meeting."

"I insist," he seemed somewhat relieved.

Kimiko sighed heavily and gave a little wave as she left the room.

After what had been an absurdly long, crazily boring meeting, Kimiko had finally managed to speak to the Eisei Division's soutaicho and was presently once again standing at Reiko's bedside; said soutaicho beside her.

"This may take me a moment," Kimiko warned as she closed her eyes and focused, drawing out her reiatsu.

'This will work better if skin touches skin,' Kaida informed her, in a bored tone.

Kimiko placed a hand over Reiko's limp one.

'Those prickles are the girl's reiatsu; brush your own against it,'

Again Kimiko followed the instructions.

Reiko's reiatsu spiked in response to the brush of Kimiko's and Kimiko felt a jolt go through her own body as Kaida sent out a tendril of her warm golden reiatsu through Kimiko to grab at the responsive spike.

'Is it normal that I'm starting to see reiatsu in different colours?' Kimiko wondered.

'Yes, the gold is mine; red is the girl's; and yours is that barely visible shimmering…you have strange reiatsu.'

Kimiko frowned in response to that and could imagine Kiyoshi was probably silently pulling faces at the dragon.

'Now,' Kaida continued. 'See the spike I've taken hold of?'

'What about it?'

'You need to detach a small amount of your reiatsu and brand it onto the tip of the spike.'

'And that sounds easy,' Kimiko responded sarcastically.

'Just like this,'

A little gold bubble floated away from the tendril and Kimiko quickly mimicked.

'Now, you carefully brush it against the spike like this,' Kaida showed her again. 'And meld it to it as if you were adding a layer to a sweetcake.'

'I can't cook to save my life; layers don't work for me…isn't there a better example you can use?' Kimiko commented, but tried anyway.

'And pull away slowly now…there we go. She has a little of my reiatsu there too, but you pulled it off.'

Kimiko sighed in relief and pulled herself back, ending the connection with Reiko by removing her hand.

Pushing Kaida's presence back to her Inner World, Kimiko opened her eyes.

"It's done," she told the doctors. "Now we just need to see if it helps."

*FLASHBACK END*

Kimiko and Reiko drew themselves back to reality from the same flashback.

"Well, that puts a damper on things," Kimiko sighed heavily, sinking even further into her chair.

The method used had clearly worked because within days, Reiko had come out of her coma. Unfortunately the experience had affected her enough that she had been required to take a leave of absence and attended therapy sessions regularly. It had been well over a year before Reiko had been allowed to return to her duties, or even go near her zanpakutou. For an even longer time, the sight of blood repulsed her and those events still haunted her to the present day.

Another problem presented was that an awareness of Kimiko's, as well as Kaida's reiatsu had now been permanently stamped to Reiko's.

She could easily sense or locate Kimiko at any given time. And her awareness of Kaida's reiatsu meant that Reiko was potentially the only person aside from Kimiko herself who could tell when Kimiko drew on Kaida's abilities, or when Kaida was dangerously close to the surface.

Reiko glanced over at the Ryuukin, sunk low in her chair and burst out laughing at the pout she knew for a fact Kimiko wasn't aware had appeared on her face.

"Eh?" Kimiko blinked over at her companion, startled.

"Gomen, gomen," Reiko struggled to calm herself back down. "You just looked like a spoilt child pouting because you were denied something," she fell back into laughing.

Kimiko frowned until Reiko had calmed down.

They sat in silence for a while before Kimiko caught herself pouting again and stood, heading towards the exit and stepping out into the crisp air of twilight.

She took a deep breath and began to walk towards the horizon slowly, watching the remnants of colour from the sun's rays began to disappear and darkness descended.

"Kimiko-dono?" Reiko called, catching up to her. "What are you doing?"

"Pouting apparently," Kimiko rolled her eyes and pulled out the map Reiko had given her.

"You're going to do that now?" Reiko looked surprised.

Kimiko shrugged, studying the map. "I don't see why not, you're leaving tomorrow after all."

"Kimiko-dono?" Reiko broke the silence as they walked. "Why were you pouting?"

Kimiko's cheeks flushed faintly in embarrassment.

"Ano…" she trailed off then sighed heavily. "I guess I'm just a little homesick," she admitted, staring up at the night sky. "Seeing Jyuu made me realize it…I feel a bit pitiful about it."

Reiko smiled and shrugged. "I think it's kind of nice…being able to have someone you can freely miss."

Kimiko frowned slightly. "You don't miss Kuchiki?"

Reiko looked a little shocked. "No, I do, I do…it's just…it's different," she finished pitifully with a sigh.

"Most people seem to know about Byakuya and I sharing a past now, but they never used to," she explained. "We didn't hide it, but we weren't exactly open about it either. We started out as friends but the more seriously we got…involved, the more we seemed to drift apart."

"It's been known to happen," Kimiko nodded.

"But it wasn't that kind of drift," Reiko shook her head. "It was more that we started to keep secrets from each other and we knew the other person was keeping something too…it was a vicious cycle neither of us could pull out of. I was too afraid to tell him I loved him because I worried that he never told others because he was ashamed of the differences in our rank…and that's a valid fear for anyone who dates a noble."

Kimiko nodded her understanding.

"Was he with you because he loved you or because you were convenient," she spoke the fear Reiko had once felt and it was Reiko's turn to nod.

"It's part of what shattered me so badly when I heard he was marrying Hisana."

Kimiko lay a gentle hand on Reiko's shoulder, a show of support and understanding…a show of comfort.

"He seems to be trying to tell you now though,"

Reiko nodded. "But it's too late now for what I wanted to hear then…now I'm not ready."

There was a moment of silence.

"I think only he can heal the wound he left on your heart," Kimiko told her quietly before looking away and into the direction of a reiatsu she could sense drawing closer to them.

"One of the Hinote fukutaicho," Kimiko observed, a statement which was confirmed moments later by the man's uniform colours when he was bowed before them.

A few hours later, Kimiko and Reiko were on their way back.

"They seemed to enjoy that," Reiko observed. "It's funny thinking back."

"Thinking back to when?" Kimiko wondered.

"To when you first started to get involved with the army after you were recovered," Reiko chuckled. "I can't believe how many of them didn't like you until your tousan visited that time."

*FLASHBACK*

It was amazing just how many of the soldiers looked at Kimiko with thinly veiled loathing.

The soldiers who had been around when the previous Ryuukin had still been alive weren't used to the Ryuukin personally taking part in anything, so Kimiko's interference rubbed them the wrong way and made them edgy. Coupled with the fact that they all adored Sakura-hime created a lot of tension in the ranks.

Reiko and Sakura constantly trying to convince them that the stone-faced, just barely recovered new Ryuukin was actually a very nice, friendly and capable person, hadn't changed their opinion at all.

What truly puzzled them the most, however; was the fact that Kimiko didn't seem to care.

They had all gathered to greet the visiting royal family, dressed in their immaculate uniforms.

Sakura looked beautiful, dressed as she was in a feminine kimono variation of the outfit she usually wore as her uniform when she was on duty.

It was all golden silk material with orange maple leaves. The obi was an imperial purple with pink and white sakura blossoms. The colours and symbols that the Ryuukin wore.

Kimiko, on the other hand, had dressed somewhat like the soldiers.

Her hakama were the imperial purple; her gi, which showed off her tattoos and the faint scar that sliced between them, was a warm golden yellow. She wore the emerald green obi she was always seen wearing and the headscarf of the same colour.

There were no excessive decorations or elaborate patternings to her outfit and she still wore no tabi with her sandals, but the materials used to make it were clearly more expensive than the soldiers outfits.

It was almost as if Sakura and Kimiko were in reversed rolls judging by how they were dressed.

Kimiko stood casually with her right forearm resting where her zanpakutou was stashed into her obi and the thumb of her other hand was hooked into her obi.

This was the first time the majority of the soldiers were seeing her without a cane to support her weakened body, but they were all struck by how imposing a figure she was even when standing so casually.

All the soldiers stood to attention when an elaborate senkei gate appeared and the king, his wife and two of the princes stepped out; followed closely by their guard.

"Tou-sama," Sakura grinned and moved forward to hug her father.

"Sakura-chan,"

As Sakura moved on to greet her mother and brothers, the king approached Kimiko, who bowed formally.

"No hug from you?" Zentaro smiled warily.

"We've never really had a hugging kind of relationship, have we?" Kimiko raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "Besides, your wife is right behind you, you know how she gets when you show me any kind of affection."

Zentaro glanced back at his glaring wife and sighed heavily.

One side of Kimiko's mouth quirked up resignedly.

"Don't fuss over it," she told her father. "I'm used to it."

"That's what I hate most about it all."

Kimiko shrugged. "I got over it all a long time ago."

"I guess you are too old for me to start openly showing you affection now anyway."

Kimiko shrugged again and glanced away, embarrassed.

Zentaro smiled and took those final steps, closing the gap between them and embracing his startled daughter.

"You…huh?" Kimiko wasn't really sure how to respond.

Sakura approached them, laughing at Kimiko's uncharacteristic display of confusion.

"One step at a time tou-sama, I think," Sakura said, grinning. "She still gets awkward when I openly show her affection in front of others."

The king pouted but backed up.

"Ah, Heika, this is the Tatsu Gunryo*."

At their soutaichos' commands, the soldiers all bowed formally to the royals.

"You gathered them all here to greet us?" Zentaro frowned.

"Not all of them," Sakura shook her head and her beads clacked together as her ponytail swung. "And it was my idea. You know how Nari-chan gets. She would rather have you inspect them while they are training than when they're just standing around."

Kimiko sighed and rolled her eyes. "You didn't need the entire army to greet you. It would have been okay if just the soutaicho were here; maybe the taicho as well."

Zentaro chuckled and motioned one of his servants forward.

"I have gifts for the both of you," he announced.

Sakura brightened and Kimiko frowned.

"Sakura-chan, some material for another pretty new kimono," he handed over an intricate wooden box that contained the material. "And a few bits and pieces to go along with it."

Sakura took it and opened it excitedly.

"And your mother had a few gifts for you," Zentaro turned his attention to the younger of his daughters, taking another box from a servant. "Kimiko-chan, your gift needs to be explained."

He opened the box to reveal silver beads.

"I know how your hate to show your hair to people, but I thought you were likely to want to wear your hair in the traditional style the Ryuukin and the Tatsu Gunryo have always worn. So I had these made for you. There are more than enough to cover all of your hair, and they shouldn't be too heavy for you."

"Arigato," Kimiko accepted the gift. "That's very thoughtful of you."

The king smiled, he could see she liked them.

"I have one other thing I know you will like a lot more."

Kimiko frowned questioningly, watching as the king reached into the sleeve of his kimono and pulled out a sealed letter.

She recognized the writing simply from looking at her name on the front.

"Is that…?"

The king nodded, smiling as he held it out to her.

She quickly handed the box of beads back to him, snatching up the letter and tearing it open.

Her heartbeat sped up and she hadn't even made it past "koishii" before tears pricked the backs of her eyes and she knew she would probably end up crying in front of her soldiers before she had finished.

Zentaro frowned as she quickly refolded the letter without reading all of it.

The he, as well as all the watchful eyes, even Kimiko herself, was startled when Kimiko did something she had never done before.

She leant forward and hugged her father tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered close to his ear. "Thank you so much."

The king smiled softly and returned her hug.

"Are you not going to read it?"

"Not here," she smiled just as softly as she pulled away. "There are too many people here who shouldn't see my tears."

Kimiko turned to the army.

"If you'll all excuse me," she told them before flash-stepping away to an empty corridor where she leant back against the wall and reopened the letter to read.

A soldier came across her an hour later sitting on the floor with the letter in her lap.

"Ryuukin-sama?"

Kimiko cringed at the name but looked up.

"What can I do for you?"

"Nothing sir," the soldier seemed surprised to see her there. "Just…what are you doing here? Sakura-hime is showing your family around."

"I'm sure they can manage without me for a bit longer."

The soldier gulped, hesitated and then sat down beside her.

"You seemed different after you got that letter the king handed you."

Kimiko nodded and lifter the letter from her lap.

"It's from my husband,"

"Husband?" he was startled again. "I didn't know you had a husband."

Kimiko nodded again and shrugged. "Not many people do know."

"Where is he? If you don't mind me asking."

"He's still back in the Seireitei."

"I take it it was a love match then?"

Kimiko snorted. "That's an understatement. It hurts to survive without him around everyday."

The soldier nodded. "You're a lucky one then. I'm the same. My wife and I were childhood sweethearts, but she works the rice fields a few towns from here, we don't always get to see each other that often, but we need the extra money to support the kids."

"Gomen-ne,"

"It's not your fault, I'll serve my contract and go back, a soldier earns more than a farmer so it's worth it in the end."

Kimiko nodded. "You have children then?"

The man nodded. "Two little girls. What about you?"

Kimiko shook her head. "I can't have children…a past injury destroyed that hope for us, so I think you're the luckier of us."

"Gomen, that must be hard."

Kimiko shrugged. "I was lucky to survive at all, so Aki doesn't mind too much," she smiled. "That's the power of love I guess, accepting someone for everything, no matter their short comings."

"It's a beautiful curse," he smiled ironically.

Kimiko nodded her agreement.

"At the moment I'm just glad to have this letter," she smiled sadly. "It's no secret that I don't really want to be here, and the fact that my husband isn't here with me is only a part of why…but he's such a baka sometimes," she chuckled. "He always knows how to settle me and put me at ease. In this case he's taken up half a page telling me about his bonsai."

He shared a laugh with her.

"You know, you aren't so frightening when you smile and laugh," the soldier observed.

Kimiko rolled her eyes. "That's what I'm told."

"I'm sure you'll get to see him again sooner than you think."

"It can't come soon enough," she sighed.

*FLASHBACK END*

Kimiko shrugged nonchalantly. "It wasn't unfamiliar to me."

She turned her attention to the night sky.

"There are even less stars here than in the Seireitei," Kimiko sighed.

"Mmm," Reiko mumbled an agreement and their Bed & Breakfast came into view.

"Ah, Rin~chan," Matsumoto ran up to them as soon as she spotted them. "Gomen Kimiko Taicho, but some of us are going out drinking," grinned the already half-drunk fukutaicho. "Since it's Shikamaru Taicho's last night she has no choice but to come along too."

"Of course," Kimiko nodded. "Have fun Rin-chan," she wiggled her fingers and watched as the majority of the women headed off.

"Kimiko Taicho," Nanao called her attention.

"You aren't going too Nan-chan?"

Nanao shook her head.

"Keeping me company?"

Nanao nodded. "Unohana Taicho is keeping Yachiru-chan under control."

"I'd be happy to swap with her,"

Nanao shook her head again. "She said you need to rest occasionally too and I should make sure you don't do anything too strenuous for a while."

Kimiko rolled her eyes.

"Let's watch something on that box thing then shall we?" she headed towards the stairs.

When they reached the room, Nanao reached for the paper that said what was on T.V. for the night.

"I nearly forgot," Kimiko drew Nanao's attention for a moment, grinning cheekily and holding out a little bag for Nanao. "It's a little present I got for you the other day."

Nanao accepted it, frowning slightly.

Her face went up in flames when she saw what was in that bag.

"They're for when you and Shun-chan, you know, go all the way," Kimiko grinned as the blush got even brighter. "Since I know you would be too embarrassed to think about it."

"But…" Nanao hid the pink lacy garments away.

"Nanao," Kimiko put her hands on the younger woman's shoulders and caught her gaze. "Don't feel any pressure because of this, okay? Think of it as a joke…my way of saying I think you're perfect for Shunsui, alright?"

Nanao just gulped.

"You don't need to ever wear them, heck, they probably aren't even the right size," Kimiko made a face and moved to sit on her bed. "I can tell you I'm embarrassed about the idea of standing in front of Jyuu wearing what I bought…but I didn't even know what they were…and I'm starting to babble now…" she trailed off, shutting herself up.

Nanao couldn't help but smile. "It's okay, babbling, I mean…it calmed me down a little."

"Good," Kimiko nodded once. "Now put those away so no one will see them and question them and come and sit," she got comfortable on the bed and started to play with the T.V. remote, frowning at it curiously.

When she returned, Nanao found Kimiko sitting quite comfortably in bed watching another movie.

"What is this?" Nanao wondered, taking a seat next to the taicho on the bed and watching the screen.

"No clue," Kimiko shrugged. "But it's fascinatingly twisted."

"Alice in Wonderland," Nanao located it in the movie guide. "It says it's part of a Tim Burton marathon. What does that mean?"

Kimiko shrugged again.

"He's probably an actor or something in all the movies they're playing," Nanao flicked through the guide. "Wait, found it…he is the director."

Another shrug from Kimiko, she didn't know what that meant.

"Let's just watch them Nanao?" she pleaded.

They found that they had very different opinions about each movie, but there was no doubt that they both enjoyed commenting and arguing about every one of them and the…weirdness of each of the films kept them well entertained until they fell asleep.

A/N: review and tell me what you thought, hopefully it wont take me so long to get the next chapter up…sorry again…and Yulien, that stuff I mentioned…look forward to it next chapter :D

*Akai = red

*Asari = search; Shin = mind; Ikasamashi = swindler …over all the command would be translated to "Search, Mind Swindler."

*Tatsu = dragon; Gunryo = army, soldiers, war …so Dragon Army pr Dragon Soldiers