Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its original characters.
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Zanpaktou speaking"
"Zanpaktou thinking"
'Zanpaktou/kido techniques'
5 years later unknown location in great forest
On the ground of the forest floor laid a tired and starving Soifon, it had been some days since Soifon had last eaten or drank anything. She found out that all of fruits of this area are highly poisonous and so are the animals that eat them, Suzumebachi was barely able to cleanse the poison from her system and in doing so cost a lot of Soifon's spirit energy to perform the purging.
Soifon tried to backtrack to an area where there was some safe food to eat but she found herself unable to find a safe area, she has been stuck here for weeks and now she is at her limit and currently lays face down on the ground slipping in and out of consciousness fighting to stay awake out of fear that if she sleeps she won't wake up again.
" no dammit! not ...not like this I wont die here I haven't spent all this time training to get stronger just for my life to end here in this poisonous forest" as Soi thought this she noticed Suzumebachi had just passed out because of her master running low. Suzumebachi had been giving Soi her energy so she would have more time to find food but now the sword spirit is out of energy to give "damn! not you Suzumebachi, damn what am I going to do I don't…. I don't have eno...enough energy to...to stand an..and I can barel….ly stay awaaaa...ke".
After a few minutes Soifon's vision began to blur saying to her that she was nearly finished, as her vision began to go black she noticed something, or someone approaching her all she could see at this point was a silhouettes of a tall figure approach her. All Soifon could think of this point was "damn it" before blacking out entirely.
After Soifon passed out the lone figure stood over her passed out form on the forest floor, studying her noticing her ragged and dirty old uniform from the 2nd division, her messy and now longer black bluish her, her tanned and dirty skin and the bags under her eyes which says she hasn't got much sleep recently.
The mystery figure stud around 6 foot in height, covered entirely in a black ragged cloak and it faced covered by an equally ragged hood the parts that could be seen where the feet and shins and they were covered in what looked like black boots with flat soles.
When the figure was done studying Soifon it spoke up "well would you looks at that, I was right there was someone out here you must have gotten lost in this part of the forest poor thing, well don't feel to bad, it got me too at one point" said the figure in a gentle and joyful male voice.
As the figure continued to look at Soifon he noticed her sword on her lower back " oh ho ho a soul reaper huh? now what is a one of you doing out here? hummm well I wonder what I should do about you ?" as the figure said this it took one look at her cute little innocent face, the one she shows when she sleeps and sighed "ha-uh well... damn, I guess you win, who could say no to a face like that? well guess you're coming with me then, I'll get you fixed up in no time and that's a promise" said the figure again in gentle and happy tone.
So with his mind made up the figure pulled out a hand from his cloak, the hand was a also covered in the same black material as his boots but this one possessed light green glowing markings running like circuits on a circuits bored along the arm and back of the hand lightly. When the hand made contact the figure picked her up and positioned her on his back when secured he disappeared, leaving a only a light breeze where he once stud.
Few days later Soifon unknown location
Soifon began to wake up groggily, she felt stiff, tired and most of all hungry. She squirmed a little from where she was and when her brain began to register she noticed how she felt her back was on something soft and comfy and with something big,soft and warm layered on top of her and her head laid on something softer than her back, all and all forgetting the hunger she felt great.
Realising a blissful sigh Soi began to remembering her last moments before passing out she remembered feeling hopeless and that everything she worked for was about to come to an end before she finally achieved well anything. A long time ago Soifon knew what she wanted she wanted to be strong to reach her full potential,she wanted to be strong so she could help even the most damned person, she wanted to have her humanity back, she wanted friends, she wanted love, she wanted a family and she wanted to be more than strong enough to help Youriche if she was ever found by soul society and brought back for what ever fate awaited her upon returned; she doesn't know how she would know if she is captured, she's just got this feeling she will. She knows she wants to no longer be Youriches protector anymore, she wants to be her friend, her equal and maybe, if she swing for the same team as she does and is interested, her lover. Soi found out at some point after remembering her drunken night over 5 years ago how she got those clothes she wore under that tree and it would seem the young petite girl learned how to please and get pleased by her fellow woman, her sword congratulated her with fireworks for her first time, even though it was alcohol induced. Soi despite being embarrassed at the memory of that night was happy it happened it helped her figure out more about who she was.
When Soi was done reliving her past experience she remember before she blackout a figure coming to her. That's when her brain kicked into overdrive, her eyes shot open and abundance of questions appeared in her mind "where am I? who was that figure? did it bring me here? am I a prisoner? no it doesn't seem like it but who?,where?, when? why? an-" As if answering a call Soi began to hear a door opening with a creak, not sliding open noise like she is used to hearing.
Before the Figure came into the room she lifted herself up on her elbows and took in her surrounding. She noticed she was on a western style bed with plain white puffy covers and pillows the room was full of of various objects like a draw with a mirror attachment, a big comfy looking sofa with a load of equally comfy looking pillows, the where a variety of painting's hanging on the walls some of people and some of landscapes, objects or events. Soi noticed their was light coming from a big window on the right side of the room and she could see it was around midday.
Soi was knocked out of her observation of the room when she noticed the creaking had stopped and started hearing the sound of footsteps, finally she heard a gentle and happy voice speak up "oh so I see you're finally awake that's good you have been out for a few days, and am sure you must be hungry, so here I brought you some food" when Soi heard that the kind sounding man was done talking she turned to see her host and what she saw left her dumb struck.
The person in front of her was wearing something that she had never seen in her life, it was a complete black bodysuit that fit from head to toe and had green glowing markings covering it all over. On the face area there was oval eye lenses that also glowed green and the whole outfit was skin tight. The man's build was shown to be muscular and lean which showed who ever this guy is he has trained and worked hard to get his body into that condition.
When Soi sensed the man's spirit energy she was shocked on what she found, she found what felt like a calm osese, gentle and peaceful feeling, but what else catch her attention was the capacity of it, the man had captains level spirit energy easily but she felt that what she was sensing was being held back. To say Soi was shocked would be an understatement but she didn't feel threatened by him in fact she felt perfectly safe and calm.
When the stranger noticed Soifon's dumb struck look he decided to find out what had her so confused "is there something on my face dear" with in a confused tone.
His question caught Soifon by surprise and she was hesitant to answer, seeing this the man waved it off "no need to answer am not that surprised by that reaction of yours, it must be really weird seeing someone wearing something like this, but I will just let you know am not some lunatic who enjoys wearing skin tight full body suits for the hell of it" Soi look at the man a bit sceptical but she put it to the back of her head when she noticed the food he was still carrying and further more her stomach also decided then to make its presence know, the man gave a soft laugh when he heard it.
Soifon felt embarrassed when she heard him laugh at her and in responce she scowled at him, but was having a hard time looking any form of scary with her face flushed red. Seeing her cute glare of death the man decided to cool off"sorry I didn't mean to laugh, but hey! use this to shut your stomach up " he said and passed her the tray of food.
Soifon took the tray and found the food looked pretty good, some steamed vegetables, meat with some sauce on top and finally some bread. Soifon looked at the man and said a genuine "thank you" the first words she had spoken to another person in over 5 years "wow 5 years since I last spoke to someone other than Suzumebachi, I wonder who this guy is ?" she decided she will ask him after she was done eating.
As the young girl began to eat she noticed her spirit energy was restoring at a remarkable rate and it felt like it was even growing past it original limit, she would have asked about it but she was enjoying her first meal in weeks too much to ask. When she was done eating everything she let out a huge sigh of relief at the feeling of her stomach no longing being an empty wasteland.
She would have continued to bath in her relief if it wasn't for her remembering that feeling of her power growing from eating the food she just demolished "what was that feeling just then ?, one minute my energies at rock bottom and the next it passing my previous limit, what the hell was in that meal?" she looked at the plate with a frown on her face and turned to the man; who had moved and had taken to sitting on the sofa, with the same frown on her face.
Noticing her look the man laughed a little which only served to make Soifon's frown deepen "you like it?, I made it myself its not like other meals, as am guessing you can tell from your now restored energy" when the man was done speaking he got up and walked over to Soifon.
Soi looked at the man before speaking " It seems to have done more than restore my spirit energy" the man cocked his head to the side a little at this statement "it seems to have allowed me to break through my limits somehow" now that was really strange to the man
As she finished speaking the black wearing host began to think "now that's strange the food restores spirit energy that true but it doesn't just give a person a random increase, so how could that have happened? hummmmm"
Soifon noticed he was eyeing her with what she could only guess was the look of someone trying to figure something out "difficult to tell with the mask covering his face" Soi thought to herself. Soi then noticed that her host seemed to be done with his current thoughts.
The host looked at Soifon and lifted his hand. She saw that his hand began to glow a light green, Soi then began to back off a little but the man stopped her by waving his other hand frantically to stop "hey! hey! don't worry it just and examination kaido, I just want to see if my thoughts are correct" Soi seeing no problem with this laid back on to the soft comfy bed much to her bodies joy.
Seeing that the young girl was now comfortable the host began his examination of the girl staring at her forehead he hovered his glowing green palm over her face and began travelling it all over her body never touching just letting the green light scan at her. Once he was done he gave a "hum" and a "I see" which made Soifon both curious and worried at what he must have found.
Seeing the curious and worried looks she gave he decided to fill her in "don't worry its nothing life threatening and perfectly fixable" this defused Soi's worry but still made her wonder what it could be "you're just suffering from a lack of nutrition and stunted growth and underdevelopment" hearing this Soi turned away from him to look out the window, seeing this he spoke again "but you already know this dont you?, mind telling why your like this?" he ask in a worried voice.
Soi turned and look back at the man with a neutral gaze, seeing her look the host began to panic "it okay if you don-" before he could continue Soi just lifted her left hand to stop him.
"Its okay and no I don't mind telling you, but it may be hard to understand, but first I would like to know something?" at her question the man just looked at her and said "fire away" with permission Soifon continued "what is you name? and are you a soul reaper?" Soi asked with a curious voice.
She couldn't see but she thinks she saw him smile under his mask. "well that is perfectly alright, I am Haelan, Haelan Bennett and mind me asking yours youngster ?" he asked with curiosity. When Soi heard his name she was surprised to hear a non Japanese or Chinese name spoke, but she decided to put that to one side for now when she heard him ask for hers .
"um its Soifon" she said stumbling a little over her words.
He looked at her a bit puzzled "no last name or something?" he asked with a questioning gaze. She shook her head at him in no.
"no it isn't that its just a mix of both my first and last name my fall name is Shaolin Fon but I prefer Soifon" she said with a bit pride about her name it was her grandmothers and her brothers told her she should be proud to have been given that name because she was a great woman, who was able to be her own person even if she had to hide it from the clan, but she apparently showed her true-self to her brothers before she died in battle.
"ahhh what an interesting name to create for yourself and you said fon huh?" he ask and she responded with a nod and said "yeah that's right" he nodded back and continued "I see I think I have heard of that family, its one of the minor noble families right?" when he said that she responded with a huff , which just made Haelan all the more curious about the girls past.
"HA!" she said loud and fall of bitter humore "Nobel please there's nothing Noble about that family at all" she said with anger and distaste as if the thought of the family left a bad taste in her mouth.
"huh? take it there's some bad blood between you and your family huh?" he asked and when he did she scowled at him and he was surprised by this one, it wasn't a cute one like the others, it was the one of someone who had been deeply hurt and filled with anger.
Soifon clenched her fists around the cover and gripped it tightly until her knuckles whitened and spoke through gritted teeth "Family!? FAMILY!? they are not family, family supposed be something which loves you and cares for you?, not something that treats you as tool for someone else!, not something that tries to turn you into a weapon for someone else's use!, not something that beats you bloody!, puts you through nine kinds of hell every day and then when you come home they not even their to say high! (tears began to appear in the corners of Sois eyes and her voice began to get quieter) and parents are people who care when their children die" when Soi's emotional rant was done she turned away from Haelen and looked down her fringe shadowing her eyes and while tears streamed down her face.
Soi had never just exploded like that, she had never been so exposed before, its showing that her emotional conditioning is truly wearing off and she is becoming very raw, she has never felt so many raw emotions before.
After she calmed down from her anger another emotion hit her deep sadness and depression at the memory of all her brothers deaths and of her parents treatment of them all, as these memories began to surface Soi couldn't help but cry out loud, unable to contain the cracks in her voice as she did so. She would have continued if she didn't feel something warm and comforting wrap around her shoulders and pull her in. She then felt something warm and nurturing wash over her and it felt as if it was telling her everything would be okay and that you are safe and, and are at home now.
As she bathed in the warm feelings and calmed down she looked up to see it was none other than Haelen holding her in a firm hug. He looked down at the young sad girl and sighed "well we can't have you being sad now can we?, and your um well what should I call them?" "cold hearted bastards" Soi said with a dead-panned expression, " um maybe not that, how about creators huh?" Haelen suggested, "making me sound like a mod soul here" she said with a blank expression, "well that's the best I have, so cold hearted bastards it is then!" he said in joyful tone, when he said that Soi smirked at getting him to call them that.
Once they were done with their little back and forth conversion on what to call Soi's parents, Haelen held Soi at arms length and looked her straight in the eyes before speaking "Soifon I want to make a proposal to you, now I know this is sudden and out of the blue but am hoping you will yes to this" at hearing him say this all Soi could think was "where is he going with this? and what's he hoping I will say yes to?" after she was done thinking Haelen continued "Soifon I want you to do me the honour" "oh no please" Soi thought "of becoming my.." "oh spirit king no!" "MY DAUGHTER!" Haelen shouted louder enough to scare some nearby birds off.
After those words left Haelens mouth Soi sat their with wide bulging eyes, her jaw hanging and all colour gone just leaving her and her clothes a colourless canvas with a shadow casting past her, all and all she look like she had just been struck by lightning and landed in a giant bucket of clear white paint.
The poor girls brain couldn't handle it so the brain did the only thing it could, shut down and so with that the mighty powerful ex-lieutenant of squad 2/Onmitsukido Soifon passed out.
Seeing that the young girl had passed out, Haelen sighed to himself and only thought one thing "maybe I shouldn't have shouted out the last bit" and with that Haelen tucked Soifon back into bed, to let her brain workout everything and decided he would come back later to check in on her.
Same time Soifons Inner world
Currently hovering over the middle of a flower covered field watching her master walk back and forth was Soifon's sword spirit Suzumebachi.
Suzumebachi was a small little human looking spirit standing about 15cm tall, she has pink eyes , long brown hair tied into two long pigtails. She wears a fur collar around her neck, she spots a matching set of puffy shorts, legging and shoulder sleeves all possessing the same matching black and yellow stripe pattern and she has breast plates covering her small chest. On her feet she wears flat black shoes like Soifon and her right arm is entirely cover in her shikai stinger.
When Soifon first turned up here Suzumebachi was laughing her little ass off at her master. The whole thing was too funny for her, some guy finds her in the woods, takes her in and later asks Soifon to be his daughter, it crazy and hilarious.
After awhile the sword spirit calmed down after she noticed the feeling coming from Soifon and when she felt them she noticed Soifon was seriously considering it "hey Soifon are seriously thinking about it?" she got no answer,Soifon just continued to walk back and forth biting her nails and with a frustrated look on her face.
Seeing she wasn't going to get her masters attention just by speaking up the sword spirit intercepted her masters path by flying directly into view. Once she was in her master line of sight she spoke loudly this time "HEY SOIFON YOU IN THEIR!?" this knock Soifon both out of her thoughts and on her ass.
Seeing she now had her master full attention she commented "well seems I finally got your attention" she said with a happy smirk on her face which only served to make Soi scowl at her "so I will ask again, are you really thinking about taking his offer to become his daughter?" the little wasp girl asked to her master with her head cocked to one side.
Soifon looked at the spirit and averted her gaze to the ground before speaking "I don't know really, its all so weird and I haven't had the best experience with family and the thought of having a dad and I mean an actual dad scares me, I mean I not afriad of Haelen being a bad man who will treat me like they did I can tell he is a good guy, it's just… I don't know if he is doing it out of pity after seeing me break down like that and I don't know if I want a new dad I mean I am supposed to be an adult, hell I was the lieutenant! of squad 2 am supposed to be done with parents but my heart its, its-" she would have continued if her spirit didn't finish for her.
"Craving a parents love, affection, pride and care all that those cold bastard never gave you or your brothers, down deep inside you is a lonely child who has cried for her mom and dad everyday and now here is someone who is willing to answer that call for that child" The spirit said in a serious and knowledgeable voice, everything the spirit said shocked Soifon stiff she never thought that deep down she still wanted or needed any sort of parents love she thought herself to be grown up and independent, but it seems that part of her is still unfulfilled.
Soifon continued to look down before asking "what do you think I should do Suzumebachi?" she asked with a near pleading voice looking for some answers and how she should tackle this situation.
The spirit looked at her master with compassion "I don't know Soifon I don't think this is something that the brain and logic can decide I think this is something only your heart can decide" the wasp spirit said with a gentle compassionate voice.
Soifon looked at the spirit with eyes that showed the inner conflict "and what if he is just doing this out of some pity for a hurt little girl he found in the woods?, you know how I hate pity" she said with irritation in her voice at the thought of someone showing pity to her.
"then find out silly" said the spirit back to her joyful voice, Soi could only mumble "huh?" "oh come one you can't have forgotten can you?" the spirit asked and again Soi just kept looking at her confused at her meaning "oh my Bankai, I can't believe you right now, hello little miss ex 2nd division lieutenant Soifon, you have been trained by the best to spot lying even if their face is covered by a lead wall you're not someone who can be easily lied to, plus you can sense his spirit energy to make double sure he isn't" she said in a humored tone at her master forgetting such a skill she possessed and it only made her more amused seeing her realization and then made her laugh out loud at then seeing her face palm herself and grown in irritation at herself.
Soifon just sighed at Suzumebachi "so if it isn't just out of pity what then huh? do I just say yes or what?" the young grey eyed girl asked in a slight frustrated tone.
Suzumebachi just looked at her and then started shaking her head left and right slowly while saying "oh Soifon Soifon Soifon" in a mocking tone which started pissing the petite woman off quickly "I just said not so long ago I can't make that decision for you, you have to decide and like I said follow your heart, now get going I have done all I can for you and your problems are giving me a headache right now all this serious stuff is a damper on my natural glow that keeps me looking sharp" said the spirit in mock exasperation tone before turning to her master and flashing her master a grin and a wink while shouting "NOW BE GONE HEADACHE!" before pushing Soifon out of her inner world.
Back in the real world Soifon
Soifon woke up from her discussion with her zanpaktou with a goal "okay first I need to know if Haelen is just doing this out of pity, if he is then its a clean no sir I wont be your daughter then a clean shot for his balls as a reward for his pity HA !... but, but if it isn't then what do I say? yes? or do I still say no? ahhh man this is hard! hell I dont even know what he looks like or anything about him" Soifon took some deep breaths to settle her mind before continuing her thoughts "okay I will just take Suzumebachi's advice and let my heart decide for me, don't think just let my heart decide" with her mind set Soifon got out of the bed to go look for Haelen; much to her bodies disappointment.
When Soifon got to the bedroom door she reached for the golden knob of the door and twisted it until she hears a faint blunt click, as she pulled the door slowly open she could hear a squeaky creak coming from its hinges "how annoying must that get?" she thought before exiting into the hallway.
The hall way is long and was currently being lit up by light coming in through the glass windows lining the hallways right side. On the other side of the hallway there are a many doors leading to other rooms, as Soi strolled down the hallway she noticed that all the doors have small metal plates on them with a different label printed on each, but she didn't not bother to read any, she was not interested.
The hallways floor was covered by a soft carpets with complexes patterns in circles repeating every few steps and was lined by more complex designs, the patterns were laid on a bed of a soft red colour, all in all she found the the long carpet to be beautiful. The walls of the hallway where covered in wallpaper with a forest like pattern showing trees and falling leaves, the wall paper gave Soifon a relaxing feeling and was helping sooth her nerves before her interrogation of the mystery man known as Haelen.
After a minute or two Soifon finally come to the end of the hallway and what she saw when she came out made her jaw drop and her eyes widen in pure shock. In front of her was a vast valley surrounded by great mountains in what seemed to be an imperfect circle that looked like it stretch for as long as the seireitei did, if not further. She couldn't see all of it but what she could see was still interesting.
Soifon was currently standing on soft luscious grass and was in a big field with a few trees dotted around in the distance there was a few structures that look like they serve multiple purposes but they all seemed to possess 2 different cultural styles, one being the type you would find in seireitei and the other you would find in the medieval times in the world of the living from long ago, some even seemed to be a blend of the two styles. When Soi looked up she could see it was the afternoon now. The sky was decorated with some light clouds and their was a breeze coming from the east.
Soifon turned around to see what she had left and what she saw was a building that looked like one of the division barracks, it was almost nostalgic to see an almost perfect replica of one, she couldn't guess what it looked like outside given how different it looked inside "if it wasn't for the glass windows then this would be an almost a perfect copy of one of the barracks" she thought to herself.
When Soifon was done staring at the familiar looking building she turned to focus on locating Haelen, Soifon closed her eyes to help locate his peaceful feeling spiritual energy and after a bit of expanding her senses she picked it up, coming from a few miles ahead, and with his location found she began to flash step to his location finding that her speed had improved, it was a small amount but she could tell "it must have something to do with my increase in spirit energy".
When Soifon arrived at his location she found him sitting under a large apple tree that looked hundred of years old and stood many stories high. She saw Haelen staring at a large crystal blue lake that looked like it was bottomless, but reflected the sun's light beautifully "wow such a beautiful sight, I wonder did 'he' build all those structures back there, plus there seems to be no other people around, and I have never seen an apple tree outside of the world of the living before" thought Soifon with her curiosity on Haelen growing more and more.
When Soifon was done with her thoughts she approach Haelen and it became clear he knew she was there despite keeping her energy well masked "so you feeling better now my dear?" he got a nod from the young girl, though he could also see she was a little surprised that he could sense her "am truly sorry to drop I bombshell like that on you without giving you time to fully calm down, I just thought it felt right clearly that was one sided" he said with nervous amusement. Once Haelen focused back on the girl he could see she was filled with questions and emotions he could see she was feeling anxiety, angry,hopeful and was looking at him with slight yearning, like a child wanting their dad, at that look he felt bad for not running over and snatching her up, but he needed to wait for her answer before he could play his desired role as a father for the girl.
Haelen gave a quick cough to clear his throat "so have you come to a decision Soifon ?" he said with a slightly hopeful voice .
Soi picked up on this and didn't know how to feel about hearing it but she focused herself on her task to find out what this mans deal was "no" that one word look to crush the masked man but his hope seemed to quickly refilled when she continued "I haven't come to a decision yet" she said in her best neutral voice she could muster up, she couldn't afford to show anymore emotion to the man in front of her she needed answers and her emotions would hinder her getting them.
Haelen looked back up at Soifon "so you're still thinking? please take all the time you need and if you need me to do anything to make your decision easier please don't hesitate to ask" he said in sheer honesty to the young girl which couldn't help but make her smile for a second because of the opportunity he just presented for her.
"well since you're offering I do have few things to ask you" Soifon said with a voice that seeks answers to questions yet to be spoken.
Haelen looked at her interested (well as interested as a masked man could look) in what she had to ask "well please fire my girl".
Shrugging of all the pet names Soifon readied herself to ask her questions and prepared herself for the answers "you better prepare your balls for a world of hurt if you seriously made your offer out of pity" she thought with spite. " okay why did you ask me to be your daughter? did you do it out of pity? if you did then you can take your offer and shove it because I don't need anyone's pity you hear me!" she said nearly shouting at the end 'ok I guess my neutral things out the window' she thought a little ashamed by losing her cool so quickly.
This nearly looked to have surprised Haelen but soon she could hear him laughing a little and soon his laughter broke out in full, this began to irritate Soifon fast and she wanted to know what was so funny to him "hey! you latex wearing bastard what's so funny!?" She said/shouted through gritted teeth at being laughed at, but her words seemed to have gotten his attention back from laughing.
Haelen looked at her for a second before speaking in an almost whiny voice "hey no need for the name calling that hurt coming from my potential future daughter" his words caught Soifon a bit by surprise and made her feel a little bad for her words, so she muttered a faint "sorry" under breath which seemed to make him feel better "its okay and it was wrong for me to laugh without telling you why" he said back to her in his happy tone.
The young girl looked back at the man still sitting at the tree and decided to take a seat next to him since she was feeling a little more comfortable around him since his response seem to clearly speak that pity wasn't the cause of his offer to her " so I take it pity wasn't the reason you asked me in the first place?" she said with a calmer and slightly more happy tone. When she looked at him she saw him shaking his head and saying "no" this made Soi happy knowing it wasn't out of some pity.
Haelen looked at the young girl and saw she was looking at him with eyes that asked "then why?" Haelen found her big grey eyes to be so cute that he let out a little are awe at the sight "you just have the most cutest eyes ever~ you know ?" that little compliment surprised Soifon and made her a little flushed and embarrassed, the look on her face only served to get more of this kind of attention from him "oh and you blush too how adorable! oh come here hahaha!" after that he reached out with both his hands and snatched Soifon into an awkward positioned and bone crushing hug she tried to struggle out but found his grip was firm and even with her now sub captain level strength she was no match for his fatherly love powerd hug.
Still with Soifon buried in his chest and trying to get out Haelen spoke up loud enough for Soifon to hear over her own muffled screams of protest on the overly affectionate hug "you know Soifon I made the decision to ask you to be my daughter a couple of days after bringing you here" he said in a soft happy tone, he noticed she stopped struggling and screaming and he took that as cue to continue "yep I did, I would watch over you for hours and as I stared at your cute little face I knew it was one I wanted to see more of, and as you layed there I could see you where someone running, from what? I don't know" he felt her stiffen a little "but what I know is that no child should go unloved and you know what? I have always wanted to be a dad" he then heard her mumble "then why aren't you one?" he smiled a sad smile that she couldn't see under his mask "because I had already given my heart to someone and she is too far out of reach for now" this interested Soifon but she decided she would ask more on it later "I could also see that you seek strength, I know that and even if you don't accept me into your life as your father I will still offer to train you nonetheless" this surprised the young girl, he is willing to help her get stronger even if she doesn't become his daughter "I guess you could say am being a bit selfish asking you and me to become a little family but I just want someone to give my fatherly love too, you are the only one I have met who has given me a feeling of wanting to nurture, raise and care for in this way, I have never felt those things more strongly than I do now Soifon " after he finished he started noticing that she was beginning to jerk and throb a little and he could then start hearing little whimpers coming from the young girl in his arms.
Soifon was crying not because of sadness, anger or any form of pain this time, she was crying because of relief, happiness and joy she was so explainable happy. Right now this man really wants to take the role of her dad and because he wants too, not because of pity or just because he's feeling bad for her. He really cares for her he wants him and her to be family something she has never truly had. Sure she wants a family but she never said it had to start with romance and then having children. She knows what her answer is but she still needs to get to know her soon to be dad.
Soifon squirmed until Haelen finally decided let go she sat their a little in silence wiping away some of the happy tears which had streamed down her face, despite the tears she couldn't help the tiny happy smile from appearing on her face. When Haelen saw the smile on her face he himself smiled under his mask he knew he had just gotten himself a daughter "so given the smile I taken that I've just gotten myself a cute little daughter hum?" he said with his best knowing tone, his only response was Soi attempting to scowl at his tone but quickly melted away to replaced with smile and shiny grey eyes.
Soifon spoke in a relaxed tone "yeah I guess you did..." she then looked him in the eye then spoke the word he has waiting for "dad" she said with fresh happy tears and before she knew she was already captured in another bone crushing hug with her new dad who was laughing up a storm.
Soul Society 1st division
While Soifon was in Haelen's vice grip or hug as everyone other than Soifon would call it, in soul society an old head captain just felt chill come over him, like someone had just touch the back of his neck with the coldest of ice.
"I wonder if that could mean anything, I don't know why but I feel I have got a serious headache coming, maybe I should get some soothing tea my nerves feel a bit worked up" and with that the old head captain had his trusty lieutenant fetch him some tea.
He feels there was storm coming he just doesn't know when, but among-st that storm he feels he may just see something shine.
Back with Soifon and Haelen sometime later
"So my cute little Soifon, what do you think of your new home?" said Haelen as he gestured to everything as they just walk around one the vast fields.
Soifon takes glance around and sees that wherever she look there's beautiful green grass, blooming flowers, a few but large trees and she can truly say that it is all truly beautiful and yet she knows theirs is probably more "honestly its beautiful, how did you find this place dad?" she asked with curiosity lacing her voice.
They stopped and Haelen spun around to see her "well my sweet just like you I left soul society many, many centuries ago for….. reasons, I will tell that story to you another time, anyway I also traveled through the great forest for some months and years until I got to the poison zone, the on I found you in" he said as he pointed to her and she frowned at the memory of that place " It took me some time but I eventually got out, if it wasn't for my many years of experience and skill I might have died myself, you see there are some plants in that area of the forest that releases a sort of hallucinogenic into the air which confuses the senses gentle and gets a person to start moving in a circle, so you may think you going one way, when you actually might be going another" there was a deeply shocked look on Soifons face at hearing this information she wonder how Suzumebachi didn't pick this up.
"maybe she and I where so drained after purging the poison from my body that we didn't have enough combined power to sense it" while she was thinking that another entered her mind "wait how did dad huh am becoming quickly used to saying that, but seriously how did he make it through when I couldn't?" "hey dad I am curious how did you make it through?" she asked.
Haelen look at his new daughter and took pose of thinking with one hand rubbing his chin and the other supporting his elbow as he stud in front of her "well I packed some food away from one of the previous zones so I wasn't short on food, so I was lucky to not eat any of the poisonous fruits or animals of that area, but you see back then I would mark spots as a way of knowing my way back to places" as he said this he saw his little Soifon eyes light up telling him she knows what happened "go on Soifon I can see you've worked it out" he said in an amused tone.
Soi looked at Haelen with a little smirk "you spotted one of your marks you left behind after seeing that you began to noting something wasn't right, later I bet you sensed something wasn't right with your energy or something like that, but what I do wonder is how you got the stuff out of your system or if you ever did?" she ask with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.
Haelen laughed and rubbed Soifon's head with one of his hands to praise his little girl for her smarts, she squirmed and scowls in protests to this "hahaha very good my clever little Soifon and yes I did spot one of my marks and I did get it out of my system, how I did that was that I forced my spirit energy into my heart in a concentrated amount, not so much that it would give me a heart attack or worse but enough that it would flow around my body and burn away the drug and after that I came across this place," he said as he gestured to everything again, happy to show and tell his daughter how awesome he is "so Soifon what do you think? interesting story about your old man" he said pointing to himself with his thumb and beaming as hard he can through his mask to Soifon.
She looked at her dad and smiled she could see he has a lot to tell and show her in the years to come and she couldn't wait to get started with him, she can see she is going to have a great time getting to know and learn from him, his comforting aura and happy attitude are making her feel like a little girl again, she can feel the sad child inside her brightening up with every second spent around him.
"yeah it was but am sure you got much more in store for me huh dad?" she said with a knowing grin on her face and she thinks he must be grinning under his mask "oh note to self, ask about the outfit, seriously what is with that thing? it warm out here and it must be boiling in that, and how is he breathing? it has no gap on the face to let him breath through!".
Next thing she noticed his hands where on her shoulders "oh you bet my deer! there's so much I have to tell you, and show, oooh and how I cant wait to get started! and I cant wait to start passing down all I know to you oh, but don't worry I ain't dying am old in number not in body" Soifon was confused at that but she shrugged it off for now "but before we get to teaching you all the cool stuff first we are going to have to deal with this body of yours come lets get you something to eat" he said and began walking back the way to the buildings.
Soifon spoke you before he could get a few feet away "but am not hungry" she said
Next thing Soifon noticed sent fear produced chills through her body was Haelen looking back at her with a face that screamed run for you life to anyone it was aimed at"my dear I didn't say you had a choice, now come with me to the mess hall because that's where we will begin to fix your body's malnourishment, now I hope you will reconsidered your appetite because you're going to need it for what am going to prepare for your meal" he said in sweet tone which only made it more scary "well you coming?" he asked and she nodded rapidly.
When they began walking back she could only think "man he can be as scary as Unohana is describe" she shivered at the thought of the woman"but hey if he anything like her I know it's just another sign he cares".
Over with Haelen his thoughts are way different to Soifons "man there's going to be a lot of dishes by the end of this" he thought with a sign as he pictured the dishes to come.
End of chapter 2
(Haelen= healer, Bennett =blessed, together could mean blessed healer)