Author's Notes: Nanao wonders about the Final Act. Slight Ichigo/Rukia.
For SxStrngSamurai.
Like So Many Pages
The well-worn pages turned easily in her hands, her fingers brushing the dog-eared corners as she skimmed the text, her mind wandering down avenues of black letters and symbols. The book in her hands was heavy and ancient and smelled of dust, it's contents as archaic as the movement of stars and planets. Nanao had usually had a fondness for reading such scripts, but not on that day. Her focus was off and no amount of adjusting her glasses would clear it.
It wasn't that she was unhappy. No, on the contrary, she felt a lightness around her, like unseen clouds brushing past her skin. For the moment, the fighting had stopped and those she cared about had lived. Aizen and his conspirators had escaped, creating the temporary lull, and the ryoka were preparing to leave. To her, it seemed that Soul Society was a bit, well, empty. Especially since Shunsui had wandered off somewhere and she had yet to get a member of the 4th Division to check his wounds. She had bandaged them herself on the field but she was far from a professional. She'd have to remember to have Ukitake checked out, too. No doubt he was also running around without proper supervision.
Well, for him, she could understand it. Kuchiki Rukia had lived, after all.
Nanao closed her book with a sigh and rose, tucking the volume under her arm as she left the 8th Division's Headquarters. Stepping out into the sunshine, she breathed in the heady scent of flowers and felt herself relax. The fragrance reminded her again that she'd better find Shunsui, and she was turning towards the inner court when a movement caught her eye. Walking down the street was one of the ryoka, Kurosaki Ichigo, and the girl who had been saved from a second death, Kuchiki Rukia. They were moving slowly, with the lazy grace that said they were comfortable with each other, that time held no meaning. Ichigo's arms were folded into his sleeves but his face was relaxed and Nanao thought she glimpsed a genuine smile on it. Next to him, Rukia's hands were swinging at her sides, and her eyes were somehow both soft and determined at once.
It was strange, seeing them that way. Only minutes before, Nanao had seen the Kurosaki boy run by with the long-haired ryoka girl - Orihime, was it? - as if bloodhounds were on their heels, and yet now that he was with Rukia, he looked… content. She thought she knew why, too, or had an inkling anyway, but it wasn't her place to pry into such things. Ryoka matters were best left in the hands of the captains. Still, she couldn't help but watch them as they turned a corner and disappeared from view. Kurosaki had gone through so much to rescue Rukia and now he would be leaving her behind. Rukia was, or at least had been, a shinigami, and her place was in Soul Society. It was logical that she would stay and the ryoka boy would leave. Logical, but not fulfilling.
The story wasn't ending correctly, she thought. Or maybe, there was still an epilogue. Either way, she felt that it wasn't over. Whatever plot was being penned, whatever words were being written, she could do nothing but continue on as she had been. She, too, was a character in all this, no matter how small the part.
She found Shunsui that afternoon, moping that Matsumoto had denied him alcohol of any kind, and had to stop herself from smiling where he could see. She could read him like so many pages in a book, as if they were actors, their movements directed and planned. She should have scolded him for trying to get drunk when there was work to do, but she didn't. She only sighed and told him she'd pour sake for him after he went to see a medic.
It was good to toss out the script every once in awhile.
And maybe that was what Ichigo and Rukia were doing as well. Breaking through the bonds of promises and lies to find something new, something unintended.
Nanao only hoped that she would be there to see it.
The End.