Dancing Leaves
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The leaves whirled and danced, in a slow, meditative pattern. The only thing she could hear was their faint rustling as the wind carried them about the clearing, and the only thing she saw how the sun turned them into transparent butterfly wings from one moment to the next when they flew overhead, their veins standing out in sharp contrast against fragile skin.

With great care, Yachiru tightened her hands on the stick she had been given and following the wind trail of the leaf, she struck. The green dot of evanescent life eluded her, whirling suddenly as the wind caught it anew, taking it to safety a few inches out of her reach. With a muffled yelp of protest and indignation, Yachiru lost her balance, the hand still resting on the forest floor slipping, her face solidly planting itself in the dirt.

"OW! Ken-chaaaaan!"

"Again."

"But-"

"Again."

It wasn't often he fell into one of these moods, but it was one Yachiru knew, for this one stood out in startling contrast over most of the others. Kenpachi of Zaraki was calm, quiet and focused, seated on a nearby rock with his sword out, leaning on it as he watched her. The solidity of the stone was nothing next to his own, inflexible resolve, which somehow translated into serenity as he watched her and waited. The little girl finally sighed and nodded, taking a deep breath even as she pushed herself up on her knees to try and get a better chance at hitting the leaves, watching them waver in and out of reach tauntingly.

Face screwed up in determination, she waited, wishing he'd let her revert to her usual game of catch the leaf bare-handed, rather than having to try and hit it with the stick, either with the edge or the point as firmly instructed. Taking a deep breath, unknowingly falling into the same calm Kenpachi was exhibiting, Yachiru held up one hand, otherwise steadily bracing herself on the ground on her knees and one hand, and waited until the wind brought the leaf a little closer once more, to try again.

The shadows of the leaves were what finally tore her fragile concentration away from the green, oft sunlit spots of greenery in the air, and Yachiru contemplated the dots of darkness flitting about her on the ground for a while, her tension slowly replaced by a small, delighted smile. They really were like butterflies, she thought, even as she felt the wind brush up against her back delicately all of a sudden, the shadows shifting patterns on the ground once more.

She found herself lashing out by instinct then, the patterns suddenly making sense, the wind no longer an enemy meaning to thwart and frustrate, but now a staunch ally in battle. When it was over, standing on both feet, upright, Yachiru stared at the leaf speared on her stick in mingled surprise and delight, smiling uncertainly at her success. Turning to look at Kenpachi, she listened to the wind as it caught itself in the captured leaf and waited for his verdict.

"...again."

But he was smiling slightly as he spoke, and even as she wobbled and fell back, landing on her behind, Yachiru was already tracking the path of another leaf in the wind, watching it soar and dance with its shadow on the ground.

One day, she resolved, she would soar as well.