Every piece of me is screaming as I hold Benehime in both hands. All while my eyes stream as they stay locked on Kisuke's face. He looks so calm, so peaceful, all with a soft smile and those wonderful gray eyes. My entire body is shaking as I choke out, "Kisuke... I... You... I can't...! I don't want to kill you! I love you! I can't!" Kisuke tilts his head at me ever so slightly, his gaze so very warm and patient. "This is all we can do, Adelha. And I know you'll bring me back. So don't be afraid. It's either you kill me now for these demon marks to come off, or I die later with no hope of coming back." He places his fingers to my face to wipe my tears away with his thumb and chuckle ever so sweetly. "Adelha. I trust you. So go ahead. I won't hold it against you. And it's only for a moment." My air comes in ragged pants as I lower my head and nod, every part of my body aching as I shiver all over. "Kisuke... I... Am so sorry... So very sorry..." Then my whole body goes cold as hollow resolve rushes in. My head comes back up for Kisuke to blink at my expression. Then I put one hand to his front to grip Benehime with the other. My voice is dead flat as I tell him, "If there was another way, we would do so. Just don't hold this against me later. I love you Kisuke Urahara. And so I free you from this mark forever." Kisuke blinks at me before I move, then he feels the strike. The blade goes into his chest with effortless ease, piercing his flesh and bone as if running through water. Though the sensation is of a paper thin slice, the agony it sends is all consuming. Kisuke goes wide eyed as the blade goes through his heart, the chambers stuttering against the cold metal of the blade to then struggle to effectively pump life through his frame. His blood pours from his lips as he chokes and shudders in front of me, my hair going white as I take all of it in with a finely honed sense of dread. Kisuke grips the hilt over my fingers as he chokes and gasps. And his words are hoarse and garbled as he gives his last few words. "So this... Is what it... Feels like... To die..." Kisuke's eyes roll back as he goes limp for me to catch him, my eyes streaming as he starts to go limp. His murmurs about the cold are soon lost as his heart finally stills. And the moment it does I give an scream that is all consuming in grief. My hands hug him to me as I wail in abandon, my hair now as white as snow from the sin I have committed. Then I focus to purge the demon marks from Kisuke's body. Magic soaks into the air as it buries deep to then wash away the darkness and evil of the marks. Purging them from Kisuke's flesh as I shudder all over. My words are ragged as I beg and plead, "Please work... Don't let this be the end... Please Lord... Grant me a selfish miracle..."
My eyes start to leak red as I push myself to my limits, tugging Benehime from his frame as I heal his body. The blade gives little resistance before coming away, then I place my lips to his own in a soft kiss at the corner of his mouth. I force every bit of power I have into his body to mend the wound and the damage I caused. The punishment I took from the fight with Kenpachi gets worse, the sword wound in my side ripping open slightly to add my blood to the staining around us. My air comes in pants as I kiss Kisuke's face over and over, pouring everything I have into his heart and chest in the hopes his soul is not lost. I soon hear his heart twitch to then give a glorious full pump, the pace resuming in his chest as Kisuke takes a full drag of air seconds later. His eyes open to have his hands grip my shoulders tight. But his words are choked as he murmurs, "So cold... So cold..." My need to have Kisuke alive and well rips my self preservation to pieces. So I force all that I have left into his body all at once. Feathers of light drift down from above at the magic spell I use. The scents of lavender and rain roaring over the area as I shiver and choke. The magic rushes through Kisuke in seconds, mending all of his body for sound and color to return to his senses. He gives a sigh the same time I do, his full of life while mine is full of pain. My eyes go clouded when his go wide, my kiss to his lips staining them with my blood as I give him words of love. "Live Kisuke... Daisuki... Linger here with me... Please..." My air cuts short as my strength gives out, Kisuke giving a shout that sounds muffled to my fading senses. Kisuke slams his hand into my chest for power to erupt, the healing I used still lingering for him to focus it back to me. His eyes are frantic as he gazes at my pale face, his words shouted and aching as he bellows with all his new found life. "I'm not letting you go that easily! Damn it all Adelha, no! Breathe for me! I TOLD YOU TO BREATHE!" His lips cover mine fully to give of his air, the taste of iron apparent as my lungs expand with his given breath to my frame. My chest is soon full for the healing to spread. All the while he keeps his hand to my heart to force his energy through my chest. The power compresses my heart to keep blood flowing by the sheer force of his will, as if he had taken his fingers to my heart to squeeze the chambers into contracting. He keeps up the effort as the healing rushes through both of us, his words hurting and hot against my lips as his free hand rests against my cheek. "I need you my daisuki! Don't you dare take my death as your own! Breathe Adelha! Live! Please!" Kisuke hugs me close to his frame as he feels the energy and healing mend us both. And only once it has ebbed away does my heart beat under it's own strength. My air returns to fill my chest slowly, his eyes opening to tilt me back and look into my face. And then my own open to stay locked on his.
The feathers of light drift around us as my vision clears, then my hand reaches up to grip his sleeve. My words are full of fear as I beg him, "...Kisuke...? Did it work...? Please tell me... That it worked..." Kisuke looks down to where the mark on his chest once was, and then he moves his sleeve to look where there was one on his arm. Both marks are completely gone, no pain or lingering notes of darkness to be felt. So Kisuke looks back to me to then give a nod of his head. Though his lips are still stained red, he gives his signature cheeky smile at me. "It did. It worked. Both marks are gone, and they won't ever come back." My eyes water for me to choke and cry, his arms bringing me forwards to hug my head to his heart and sigh. "Thank you Adelha. You did it. You saved me." I sob and wail as he hugs me close, my entire body shaking as he rubs a hand to my back. But then after a minute, I surprise him by shoving him away from me. Kisuke nearly topples over as I scramble backwards and away from him. He looks up to my face as I choke and hiss out, "No...! Don't you dare thank me for- Don't touch me! I just- You were- I-" Kisuke goes wide eyed as he takes in my expression, half crazed as red continues to leak from my eyes. Kisuke reaches up with a hand to ask, "Adelha? What are you-" But I jerk as if he swung his hand out to slap me as I shout, "DON'T! Don't thank me for what I just did! Don't even think it! I just- DON'T THANK ME FOR KILLING YOU!" Kisuke looks at me with great worry, his words trying to calm me down. "Adelha. Hey now. Don't beat yourself up for that. We both know it was the only way to fix this. And it worked. Yeah, it was bad. But I didn't die for good. So don't-" But my gaze freezes him in place with the look of pain and loss as I shriek like a banshee at him. "DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO CONVINCE ME THAT EVERYTHING IS OKAY KISUKE! I JUST KILLED YOU! I TOOK YOUR BLADE AND DROVE IT INTO YOUR CHEST! I STILLED YOUR VERY HEART! SO WHAT THE HELL MAKES YOU THINK THAT SUCH A THING IS ALL RIGHT?!" Kisuke goes dead still as my hands delve into my hair, my shaking getting worse as I tug at the strands of white. Kisuke gets a very bad and sinking feeling as I continue to scream. "I killed you...! I slaughtered the rogue Bounts...! The curse marks and the hexes on my family...! The funerals for all twenty of our youngest Bounts...! And now I- I- Kisuke! I killed you! I KILLED YOU!" His frame goes stock still as I tilt my head back and give a bellowed shriek of anguish and pain, every pitch and tone echoing it's dissonance over the air with such agony he shudders to lower his head at the noise. Then in the next second, air stirs for him to look up and go wide eyed in fear. For where I was once kneeling in front of him is nothing but Benehime as it sits in front of where I once was. Kisuke feels icy dread lace over his being as he starts to look around him. His words full of panic as he calls out to me. "Adelha? Adelha?! No... NO! ADELHA! WHERE ARE YOU?! SHIT! DON'T DO THIS TO YOURSELF! ADELHA! ANSWER ME! COME BACK! NO!" Kisuke gets no answer as the wind starts to howl, and his dread sinks into his very bones as my absence lingers. Kisuke shivers as he breathes, "On no... No no no... Daisuki... Where did you go... What have you convinced yourself of... Adelha... Don't do this... This price... It isn't worth your soul... No... Just what in Heaven's name have we done...?"
*****
The grove of forest and ruins in my basement spreads out around me, the wonder of it's beauty lost to me this particular night as I lay there unmoving. My hands and face are still stained with crimson as my hair lays around my head in stark white curls. My eyes stare into nothingness and do not blink as I lay there for Isshin to find me. His own eyes go wide at the sight of me, his shout a roar that bellows my name. "ADELHA!" I don't even twitch as Isshin flash steps to me and lifts me up, his hand going to my neck as he shakes all over. "Adelha! Say something! Adelha! ADELHA! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?! ADELHA! ANSWER ME!" I lay limp and unmoving in his hold, the threaded pace against his fingers never wavering any higher as he goes wide eyed. "Oh no... What the Hell happened to you... Please, say something... Blink... Anything..." The sound of a pair of geta comes slowly walking up as Isshin hugs me to his front, turning to see Urahara come forwards towards us. Isshin gives him a questioned, "Kisuke?! Do you know what happened?! Adelha's in total shock! I can't get her to even twitch!" Urahara flinches to walk over and kneel across from Isshin, his fingers reaching out and into the white of my hair. "Yeah. I know exactly what happened." Isshin looks first to Urahara's face, then down to where the demon mark used to be. Isshin's eyes go as wide as allowed to crush me to his chest, his own shock mingling with his fury that builds with every threaded throb in my neck. "Oh no... You didn't?! Please tell me you weren't that stupid to make her do that for you! Please for the love of my sanity tell me you didn't have her kill you to bring you back after that filthy thing came off?!" Urahara just kneels there as Isshin's temper builds, his rage making his reiatsu roar around him as he glares at Urahara. "YOU DID! YOU STUPID FOOL! OUT OF ALL THE BRAZENLY IDIOTIC THINGS TO DO! HOW COULD YOU MAKE HER DO THAT?!" Urahara gives a long sigh to take his hand from my head and put his fingers to my wrist, his grey eyes never once leaving my face. "I know. It was as much my idea as it was hers. I gave her Benehime to have her run me through, then she washed the demon marks from my body once I died. She was able to bring me back moments later. But it ripped her up really bad. I thought I'd been able to refocus the healing enough to help heal her just as she had me. But then she shoved me away to start screaming like a mad woman. Then in the span of a second she was gone."
Isshin chokes to grip my head tight and press it to his front, his entire frame shaking as he hugs me close. "...Damn it all. She probably panicked and went through with the idea before she could talk herself out of it. Especially when there was no other option after weeks of searching through every book and tome in Rhan Tao's lab and library." Urahara nods to note the pace against his fingers, his count of my heart rate way below the par as he gives a hard sigh. Urahara tears up to grip my hand tight as he tells Isshin the obvious with aching words. "She's finally broken. She's comatose, if not half way dead." Isshin jerks as if Urahara ran him through, his nod of agreement quick as his eyes stream. "I already can tell that! But the question is where we should tend to her. We can get her set up either in Rhan Tao's lab or up in her room." But they are stopped by a quiet order from behind them. "I think we should keep her right here." The two of them turn to see Captain Ukitake step forwards, his eyes gazing only at me as Urahara raises an eyebrow. "Juushiro? How'd you know to come?" Ukitake removes a hand from under his sleeve, the blue folds of my spirit ribbon apparent in his fingers. "Must you ask, Kisuke? I woke up drowning in her horror. Her soul may not have known, but her magic responded none the less to reach out to me in need." The two of them nod as Ukitake moves forward to kneel down across from Isshin, his arms taking my weight from Isshin to nestle me close. "I think it best to bring what we need down here instead. Adelha has always sought comfort in this grove. This is her safe haven and place of peace whenever she needed to escape from the rest of the world. It would be best to leave her here in this sanctuary. Would it not?" Isshin closes his eyes to then nod and get back up, handing Ukitake my phone with the EKG monitor on it to then get out his own. "Just tap the red square and we'll be right back. C'mon Kisuke." Urahara nods for the two of them to shunpo from the grove, Ukitake hugging me closer to his frame as he gives a sad sigh. Ukitake looks to the reading of my heart on the monitor, the numbers all in red as he watches the lines move over the screen with much sadness. "Oh Adelha. Sweet soul. Why must you keep ruining this pace within you?" Ukitake reaches up and closes my eyes to then drift his fingers through the strands of my hair that are now as white as his own, his mood somber as I lay in his hold like dead weight. He thinks on how I fought so fiercely weeks before when Aizen came back for revenge, my power evident as I had given no quarter. My fist punching through Aizen's frame where the Hogyoku had gleamed to then remove it. Ukitake himself had dealt the final blow, our group heading to the Ugendo for rest after the ordeal. It was not until a few days later I had told him what I had done later that night, taking the Hogyoku to make a single wish. Ukitake closes his eyes as my words drift through his mind and heart. "I did it for you! I didn't want to watch you fade away, Juushiro! I've spent months trying to think of a solution! Months of nothing but running into dead ends wherever I looked! But only when I saw and took the Hogyoku from Aizen's possession did I dare to even feel any form of hope! So I made a wish and took your sickness from you, thinking it's better to ask forgiveness than permission! You can be angry with me as much as you like, but I don't regret it! I won't lose anyone else! I'd rather die than watch any of you suffer for another second!"
Ukitake smiles as his eyes water, his grip getting tighter around me as he gives a sigh. "Adelha. I know your real name... The one you told us to keep a secret... That name that signifies you as a child of light. And yet look at you now. Your brilliance is nowhere to be seen. All that is left is an emptiness within you. I know full well you did not wish any harm upon Kisuke. You love him dearly, just as you do Isshin and myself. Do not let what was needed cost us your light as the price of such a miracle." Ukitake lifts me up to place his lips to mine, a lingering touch that is light and sweet as his heart aches inside his chest with every beat. He tastes the barest trace of iron, his sigh against my lips breathing into my slightly open mouth as he holds me close. His free hand reaches up to touch over my shattered heart, the pumping jewel inside of me almost too weak to kiss his fingertips in a sign of life. Ukitake shivers as he grips tight to my front, the pace against his hold a bare whisper as my warmth continues to fade. He begs me with a barely audible plea, "Heart of my Tovaras, beat longer inside of this frame. Breath of my nakama, bring warmth once again to these lips. Light of this priceless soul, return to gift us your radiance. I will give anything. I will pay any price. Please, open your eyes and smile for me. Don't fall into the black and not ever return. Please Adelha, come home to us. Do not ruin my future by making me spend this life without you. Do not leave us all in the bitter cold your loss would instill in our hearts, child of light." Ukitake shifts me to place my head to his heart, closing his eyes to hug me close and cry silently. The minutes tick by with no change, his heart aching when Isshin and Urahara return. Isshin comes around to note the tears trekking down the Captain's face, his sigh full of sorrow as he looks down on me. "No change?" Ukitake shakes his head as Urahara rolls out the futon, Ukitake placing me inside of it as they all frown. Isshin laces an IV into my collar and down into my chest with care, Urahara lacing the tubing of the nose piece into my airway and down directly into my lungs. Ukitake keeps his hand in mine as the other two work, his fingers woven in my own as he keeps his eyes to my face. Soon enough, Urahara gets back up to then shunpo away to get the extra futons in the spare rooms for the three of them. Isshin gives me a thorough examination as Ukitake sits with my hand in his own, Urahara coming back as Isshin listens to my lungs and heart. Isshin frowns as my frame lays lifeless and still in the futon with a lingering chill to my skin. My air barely causes my chest to rise as the soft swishing of my blood through the chambers of my heart sound in his ears. Isshin places the stethescope to the apex of my heart, the beat weakly kissing his fingertips as barest life courses slowly through my body. "Just as I feared. This is a full blown coma. We made need to put her on the ventilator just to keep her breathing at this rate." Isshn presses the listening end of the stethescope harder into my chest, his eyes leaking as he chokes and growls. "Adelha said herself there's a difference between damaged and broken. One you can fix and make whole with but a few cracks. The other is far too ruined to even attempt such. Even if she does wake up, the damage has been done. After everything she's gone through, I don't see her coming back from this... Not after everything else that's happened in the past month..." But it is Urahara that gives them hope. "What if we gave her some of our soul energy? She hasn't had any of the Bount's serum for a full day at least. On top of her barely drinking it at all for the past few weeks." Isshin closes his eyes as Ukitake nods, his arms lifting me up to nestle me close once more. "It's certainly worth a try. I'll go first."
Ukitake places my lips to the pulse in his neck, cradling my head to his frame as my soul absorbtion blooms automatically. He flinches slightly as the sensation is like actual fangs in his flesh, his grip getting tighter to hug me close. But the change is noticable as my heart rate improves slightly on the monitor. Isshin touches Ukitake's shoulder after ten minutes have passed, Ukitake nodding to then hand me to Isshin's waiting arms. Isshin does the exact same thing to have me drink of his soul energy as his hand in my hair gets lost in the strands of white. Isshin gives a hiss as the ache of the touch bites into him. "Ow. She was right. That is uncomfortable. No wonder Koga hates having to feed from her." Ukitake raises an eyebrow as Urahara nods to tell him, "Koga is the only Bount the vials do not work on. As such, Adelha has been doubling up on them to then have him feed from her instead. So far, it's been working perfectly." Ukitake sighs to put his hands to the bridge of his nose. "I am not surprised in the least. Especially when Koga is the only reason Kairya never succeeded in killing her when the original Bounts planned the raid against the Soul Society." Isshin lets me drink for ten more minutes before removing my lips from his neck. Then Urahara moves over to take his turn. But Urahara removes his geta to lay with me in the futon, his arms hugging me close to press my head to his neck. Isshin goes wide eyed for Ukitake to give a knowing smile and say, "You plan on doing this until you pass out. Don't you?" Urahara closes his eyes as I drink of his soul, his hand at my head gripping tighter for him to nod. "I thought I was being so clever. Taking those marks from Danielle, thinking it would be a simple fight for control. Then I lost it right in front of them. I nearly killed them both. Danni nearly died keeping that thing at bay while Adelha used the Hogyoku to banish that evil thing back into the recesses of my mind. Then Adelha used that horrid Stigmata spell to heal me afterwards." Ukitake goes wide eyed as Isshin chokes and exclaims, "She did WHAT?! Adelha used the Stigmata spell on you?! But that rips her apart whenever she casts that to heal someone!" Urahara nods again as Ukitake flinches, Urahara hugging me closer as he sighs. "Yeah. I know that now after I saw her bleeding all over the floor. It took six whole vials for her to be healed up with moderate scarring. Danielle broke her ankle and got just as bloody. So I wasn't too upset when they insisted I stay with them that night. They even shanghaied me into sleeping in the spare room with them upstairs. In between them no less." Urahara chuckles at this point to tell them, "Danielle only had a death grip on me for a few minutes before she rolled over. But Adelha never let go of me once the entire time I was awake, and she was in the exact same position when I woke up in the morning. She never even twitched. For a minute I thought she was dead until I put my fingers in her neck. She should have had ten vials instead of just the six. If not a full dozen."
Ukitake frowns at this point to note, "That's very rare for her to stay unmoving for so long. She usually tosses and turns like an acrobat in her sleep." Isshin glares at them both as he snarls out, "And how the Hell would you know that, Juushiro?!" Ukitake raises his hands to state with an innocent smile, "The few times she brought me home and ended up being too tired to leave. Not to mention the couple times Yachiru drugged our tea for us to fall asleep next to each other on the floor. Nothing happened Isshin. I swear." Isshin growls very loudly for Urahara to snicker. "And the grizzly bear gets protective of his adoptive daughter. So adorable really, how defensive you get of her." The glare Isshin gives Urahara makes him go wide eyed, Isshin gritting his teeth as he fumes with all his pent up fury. "I have every right to be, Kisuke! Especially after that botch Ryuken pulled when Rhan Tao had to replace Adelha's heart monitor! She may have had to kill you to save you, but she didn't have to watch your heart stop!" Urahara goes as wide eyed as Ukitake at this bit of news, Isshin choking to bring a hand to his eyes and shiver. "I will never forget that moment! Even now it's burned into my head! I had to watch her heart give out! I held it's stillness in my hand! Her heart was completely lifeless! I had to massage it in my hand just to keep her alive! It took three full minutes for Rhan Tao and Ryuken to switch the drugs out for ones that weren't harmful to her system, and it took seven more minutes for her heart to start beating again on it's own! Ten full minutes I had to pump her heart with my fingers! Ten minutes believing I was doing it all for nothing! I was about to rip my own heart out to replace hers, then her heart started to flutter in my hand again!" Isshin reaches a shaking hand up to grip tight to his front, his choked growl of air no surprise as he continues with evident pain at the agony the recollection brings. "I've held her very heart, Kisuke! I've kept it working in my own selfish need! I've given her a chance to live by holding her very life in my keeping as a doctor, friend, and father! So you better be damn sure I'm not about to let anyone ruin what little light that heart still holds! Especially by you and your cheap assed stunts!" Isshin points a shaking hand right in Urahara's face as he keeps fuming. "This is YOUR FAULT! ALL OF IT! EVERY LAST BIT! You should NEVER have taken that damn mark off of Danni like that! Not when you'd drag BOTH OF THEM through such UTTER HELL in the process! Adelha has ALREADY lost ENOUGH family and friends without YOU adding onto the pain! The WORST of her nightmares, and she had to suffer it for BOTH OF YOU!" Ukitake puts a hand to his mouth at this point, his eyes watering as he shivers. "What?! Isshin! You mean- Is this the reason- That's why she used the Hogyoku on me?!" Isshin looks up at Ukitake and scoffs at the question. "Of course that's why, Juushiro! What makes you think that she can watch any of us suffer without wanting to wish it away?! And yet with you two it was only getting worse! But for Kisuke the price was far higher than her strength of heart could tolerate!" Urahara gives a hard jerk as the realization finally hits home, his eyes watering as Isshin pants in air. Ukitake looks to be no happier, his own eyes smoldering with silent rage as he glares down at Urahara. "Isshin is partly right. But Adelha also had other options. She did not have to shoulder this burden alone. The both of you were very foolish and made costly choices."
Isshin gives an empty laugh at this point to throw his hands up. "Oh please! You know her! She will never let anyone shoulder any of her burden if she can help it! It's why she is constantly hurting! Providing for Koga so he will have the soul energy he needs to keep going! Even though that serum Rhan Tao made for them was making her sick every time she drank it! Killing those five rogue Bounts when they murdered that family and nearly killed one of their own in the bargain! She did that on her own without once getting anyone else to shoulder the sin! Stealing the Hogyoku from Aizen so she could use it solely on you, Juushiro! Even if it meant we all condemned her for it and getting exiled from the entire Bount community for using such a thing for personal reasons! Only for her to lose much of that same community in that Hollow attack! Twenty innocent people no older than 17, and they all had to have funerals and arrangements made instead of Christmas gifts! And yet she was still moving forwards, she was still able to put one foot in front of the other! On her own with very little support from the rest of us! Why?! Because everything she does, every breath she takes, it has NEVER been for her own sake! It has ALWAYS been for her family, all so we can keep her! Or else she'd have tossed it all aside and hung herself by now!" The other two nod in full agreement, Urahara giving a hard sob as his grip around me tightens. The others are not surprised at the tears that lace down Urahara's face, his regret and guilt apparent as he grips my shoulders and shakes. "I never should have suggested the idea! It was a joke! A way to lighten the situation! I never once considered she would take it seriously, let alone actually do it! You're right, Isshin! This is all my fault! Oh Adelha, I never wanted you to be hurt like this! I take it back! I take it all back! I'm so very sorry, daisuki!" Ukitake closes his eyes as they too water, his sigh full of aching sadness as he gives a confession of his own. "She wasn't about to lose the both of us, Kisuke." Isshin and Urahara go stock still, Ukitake confirming their suspision. "It didn't work. The Hogyoku did not cure me of this illness. So even though she risked everything to save me, in the end her efforts did not bear fruit." Isshin jerks as if someone slapped him, Urahara closing his eyes as all three of them let the silence linger. But then Urahara opens his eyes again, and his words are firm and resolute. "All the more reason for her to keep going. She's never once stopped trying to give us all her best. And as such, she won't dare to stop now. Especially when the stakes are even higher and the need is even greater. We have to believe in her. Because that is what keeps her going. That is what makes the difference. Having us to fight for is her reason to get back up. So we can't give up on her now. Not when she needs us to need her back."
Urahara brings his hands around to nestle at my head, bringing my lips from his neck to lean forwards and kiss me sweetly on my head. His words are warm and full of love, a sigh escaping as he holds me close. For a moment Kisuke gazes at me, his eyes holding warmth for one whom he calls his daisuki. Kisuke tells me with a light and somewhat amused tone of voice, "Hey now. How long do you plan on leaving us all alone? We need you here with us, Adelha. Who is going to keep Isshin from going nuts in the clinic? Who is going to make Juushiro his tea with that wonderful smile? Who is going to make sure I stay out of trouble? Who is going to keep our Danni happy if she loses her sister? No one else is here to do that, daisuki. There's so much more we have to do together. So you have to stay here with us, Adelha. Now get back here, before you make us wait a second longer." Urahara hugs me close as I give a slight twitch of my head, Ukitake and Isshin going wide eyed as the numbers on the monitor slowly improve. Until I give a soft moan in Urahara's hold, my intake of air full and shaking as I come to. Ukitake practically falls over as he kneels on all fours in front of us, Isshin doing the exact same thing as Urahara holds me. Then I open my eyes, the green still clouded as I take another full breath of air to give another moan. "...Mmmmm... Kisuke...? ...Is that you...?" Urahara nods, his lips in his signature smirk. "Yep. I'm right here. So is Isshin and Juushiro." I blink slowly as my heart rate keeps picking up, my eyes clearing with each second as I come fully around. "...So it did happen... It's all true... They weren't bad dreams... Kisuke...! I really did kill you to get the marks off...!" Urahara nods and I start to cry really hard, my sobs of air ragged and I wail and shake all over. Urahara hugs me tight as I come undone, pressing my head to his shoulder as I wrap my arms around him and practically crush him with my grip. "Yeah. You did. Now I can't brag anymore about someone never getting the drop on me. Because you sure did THAT!" Isshin snorts to add in, "You've been needing a good flooring for a few decades in my book." Ukitake gives a warm chuckle at this point. "Very true. And Adelha is the best one to do so. Since she isn't the type to hold back on you, Kisuke." Urahara nods to hug me all the closer, my sobs being broken up by a very bad case of hiccups as I keep wailing into his shoulder. "So true. But it's over now, Adelha. The harm you caused was fixed. The demon marks are gone and will never come back. And I'm still here with you, so it all worked out." Ukitake makes a gesture at Isshin for him to nod and hand Urahara something, my eyes squeezed shut as I keep bawling and hiccupping without stopping. But then Urahara puts something into my ears that makes me stop and sniffle. Then it become apparent what they meant to do when Urahara puts the listening end of the stethescope to his chest. His heartbeat fills my hearing in a strong and steady pace, my eyes going wide as he lifts my head to meet my gaze with his own. His smile is warm and full of affection, the look in his eyes of mirth and love in turn. He puts my hand over the listening piece for his heartbeat to kiss my fingertips, my intake of air on a hard sob as I listen. The sound of his heart is wonderous, a blessing of unequalled value to my soul. The swishing of blood with each hard pump of the chambers, the valves opening and then snapping shut to course life through his body as we lay there in each others arms. I choke and shiver as I put my head to his chest and sob in relief, my words full of love as I whisper, "Kisuke...! (hic) I didn't lose you...! (hic) I can keep you- (hic) For a bit longer...! (hic) May I? (hic) Will such- (hic) Be allowed..? (hic)Please...?"
Urahara nods to place a kiss to my head, his heart rushing his blood through his body in a strong and steady pace like thunder. "Yes. You can keep me. I'm not going to leave you. I'm still here, daisuki." I finally smile at his words after over a month of hardship and great misery, my kiss to his cheek full of love as I hug him tight. Ukitake reaches a hand out to grip my arm tight in turn, Isshin doing the same to hold onto my shoulder. Isshin gives a low rumble of a noise that is a comforting sound to my hearing. "We're not letting you go that easily, squirt. Don't ever forget that." Ukitake nods and gives me his most vibrant smile. "Yes. We aren't ever going to let you go, Tovaras." I grin at the nickname Juushiro and I use for each other, my eyes finally shining in warmth and happiness at long last. "Tovaras. Meaning to be that of one whom you trust without question and love without equal. Yes. I'm still needed. Thank you. All of you. For bringing me back out of that dark place of misery." Urahara kisses the corner of my mouth to hug me tight, making me squeak and go red all over. "Ah! Kisuke! Shameless flirt! I have half a mind to tap you dry and then fry you afterwards!" All three of them laugh at my joke for Urahara to place his head to mine, the other two giving loud sighs to get into the futons next to the one Urahara and I are in. I lay in Urahara's hold which is much like a homecoming, his heart strong and steady as I listen to it's glorious music to my soul. I give a silent prayer of thanks, my relief washing away much of my guilt as Urahara hugs me close. I pass out soon after, my heart rate on the monitor slowing. Urahara takes the stethescope out of my ears to lay it down next to his head, Isshin reaching out to grip tight to my shoulder. "You were right Kisuke. Very clever of you to notice that she needs to be needed. I'm kicking myself for forgetting." Ukitake nods, then they all close their eyes to let sleep claim them.
The four of us lay there in the grove for the next several hours. Then Urahara wakes back up when I give a soft noise in my sleep. Isshin and Ukitake also wake up at the sound, Urahara chuckling as I give a few more words and fall still again. "What is she dreaming about, nee? Perhaps a midnight reandevous with her one true love? " Isshin smirks to note, "That's possible. I caught the words 'love" and 'you' in there. But I didn't hear a name, Kisuke." Ukitake nods in confirmation, but then gets back up. "Danielle has been dropping hints at me for months. Even more so when Adelha's husband in America filed for divorce on her. But we should switch places now, Kisuke. You've held her long enough." Urahara gives Ukitake a questioning look, then it is made clear when Ukitake reaches into his sleeve. What comes out is a small jewelry box, both Urahara and Isshin going bug eyed as Ukitake smirks. "Unless you plan to challenge my claim on her and have me fillet you with my zanpakuto, I do believe she is mine." Urahara goes wide eyed in astonishment, then he gives a wide smirk. Kisuke hugs me closer as he notes for Ukitake, "And what makes you think you'd beat me if I wanted to lay claim to her, Juushiro? Just because we use the honorific of 'daisuki' doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy at least seeing if we might become more." Ukitake raises an eyebrow to note, "Yet you haven't gotten her a ring." Urahara snickers and nods. "True. But I've had it in my head to at least ask for a dinner date or movie." But Isshin looks to the monitor to smirk, his chuckle full of mirth. "Good grief. You two aren't the only ones I'd expect to ask her that question. Her friends Vash and Wolfwood already could claim her and she'd say yes right off the bat." Ukitake and Urahara turn to look at Isshin in astonishment, Isshin giving a rumble of a laugh. "Unlike you two, I happen to know where her diary is kept. And I don't have any problem with reading it in front of her. If only to get her feelings and true thoughts discussed out in the open." Urahara blinks a few times as Ukitake pieces some things together. "So that's why Adelha was so depressed when Vash hooked up with Rangiku and then Wolfwood got together with that L woman. She wanted a chance to be with them instead." Isshin nods to then give a hard sigh, "More than that with Vash. Apparently, she is VERY in love with that red coated trouble maker. To the point where she would have asked to marry him instead of waiting for him to do so. Yet he and Wolfwood haven't even so much has given her anything other than sibling affection. She spent a full two days on my couch binging on ice cream over that. But she came to the conclusion that if Vash and Wolfwood are really happy with the one's they picked out, then she'll support them and wish for their happiness regardless."
Urahara flinches and gives a long sigh to say, "Oh ow. Just ow. That cannot have been easy for her to admit defeat over." Ukitake nods to frown, "I read some of the journal. Those poems are very well written. Full of both passion and love. But they didn't have names to them. It makes a lot of sense now. Why she was so sad when Vash was with Rangiku when we had tea together. She tried to hide it. But I could tell she was really hurting." Urahara closes his eyes to think a moment. "That was a few weeks ago. She came by my shop the next day and practically begged me for something to do. So we stayed in the shop making candies all day. When I asked her what was wrong, she just started to cry as she worked. Told me she had to give up on a dream she'd wanted all her life. And that was all she'd tell me." All three men look at me as I shift and murmur in sleep yet again. And this time there is a name as my tears trek down my face. "Vash... Please... Be happy..." Then I go still once more as tears continue to fall. Kisuke gives a long sigh to state, "Oh Adelha. I am so very sorry. I would never want for you to go without someone to love you the way you deserve." Then Kisuke gives a snicker to state. "All the more reason why I should you her mine." Ukitake gives him a hardened look to state with a bit of force, "Over my cold and very dead body, Kisuke." Urahara looks to Ukitake with a challenging smirk, when Isshin points to the heart monitor. "Juushiro. Kisuke. Both of you have every right to lay a claim to her if you really do want to make her happy. But why don't you ask her what she thinks of this evident cock fight. Since she woke up during that last bit. And from the looks of it, her heart is gonna explode." Both of them go wide eyed to look down at me, my own eyes as wide as allowed and my whole frame is stock still in shock. Isshin give a warm laugh to add in, "Calm down and take a breath, Megs. You don't have to say yes to anything. Not after all the chaos and mayhem you've gone through. No one is going to force you to make a choice right away. And if either of them do, then I will whack them for you." But I surprise all three of them with what I do next. I reach out my hand for the box to open, the ring removing itself from it resting place to float onto my finger. The band is of silver with white gold vines woven around it, the star of diamond glinting in the light. But then it changes from it's white to a vibrant blue under my magic, my hand outstretched to Ukitake in evident answer. Urahara blinks and gives a very dejected sigh to let me go, Ukitake grabbing my hand to tug me forwards into his embrace.
Urahara pouts openly as he watches us, his frown full of resignation. "Ah well. If I'm to lose to anyone, it's good that it was to Juushiro." Urahara gets out of the futon for Ukitake to lay himself down next to me, my arms around him in a tight hug as he smiles in evident joy at my face. "You're admitting defeat, Kisuke? That's a very rare thing coming from you." Urahara sits in his futon to remove his fan, hiding his face with it as his hat hides his eyes. "Consider it an early wedding gift then. I know full well you will take good care of her. I also know exactly where you live to snatch her for myself if you can't cut it." Ukitake looks at him with a smirk of his own, his hands pressing me close to his chest. "You'll never take her from me while I live, Kisuke Urahara." Urahara nods to note, "Obviously. She told me about the soul tile already. Though I still haven't seen her wearing it." I snicker and note to Urahara's surprise, "And you never will. I fused the soul tile to my sternum, Kisuke. So in a sense, Juushiro had claim over me long ago." Urahara looks to Isshin when he chuckles to add in, "I didn't know where she put it either until I saw it fused to her sternum for myself. So she did indeed place Juushiro close to her heart. Literally. You honestly don't stand a chance, Kisuke." Urahara gives a rather large sigh, but goes still again when I state, "Both of you quit picking on my daisuki. Or I'll crisp your sandals." Isshin gives a snicker as Ukitake smiles at me, my words full of love as Urahara goes wide eyed at my words. "Kisuke. I might have given us a chance if Jusshiro hadn't taken my attention already. But that doesn't mean I don't love you dearly. Do not ever question how much you mean to me, daisuki." Urahara looks to my face as I open my eyes to look back at him. My words are full as a few tears trek down my face. "I will never stop loving you Kisuke. No matter how much we hurt each other, be it by accident or by intention. I will always give my best to make you happy. But you need someone that will give all of herself to for you to do the same. So even if I had said yes to you, we only would have hurt each other further. And I've done that more than enough and will not do so again." Urahara blinks a few times, his sad smile hidden by the fan as he nods in acceptance. "Okay then, Adelha. I understand. It still hurts, but it's an acceptable reason. I see what you mean. Just be sure you do your best to be happy. Okay?" I give a nod of my head that takes some effort, Ukitake noting my fatigue to reach up and cover my eyes. "That's enough talk. You need rest, Tovaras." I give a happy sigh as I nuzzle my head to his heart, the ring unlacing from my finger to reset itself in the jewelry box for safe keeping. "All right, Tovaras."