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Chapter 2

Settling into the chair at his desk, Byakuya sighed. So much damn paperwork. It littered his desk, in a neat way that only a noble's desk could achieve; but even so there was quite a lot. There were piles on the table across the room; his twin sons usually worked on their share of paper work sitting on the couch opposite of it. There were piles on the floor in front of his desk; that, he wasn't proud of. There was even more that would be coming; he officially had a headache. Yet even so, he sat and began to dig his way through the giant pile.

Sometime later, maybe an hour or so, Kai finally managed to make his way into the room. He ignored the paperwork and fell straight onto the couch in a heap. Byakuya frowned slightly. Soujun walked in behind him and looked at his now sleeping form on the couch.

"Gomenasai, Oto-sama. Nee-san is a bit tired. He stayed up training again." Soujun didn't wait for an answer from his father, nor did he want one. The soft snoring his brother made, calmed him. He could wake his brother, but he knew all Kai would do was complain. Soujun was used to doing not only his own, but his brother's share of the paperwork. And he'd learned that his father didn't mind as long as the paperwork got finished. Besides, he liked to listen to the soft sound of his brother sleeping.

Kai on the other hand awoke to find himself in his inner world. The sound of waves crashing onto the rocks on the other side of the grassy hill where he lay, was nice. A shifting in the corner of his eye made him turn. Midori was lying on her stomach with her face in her hands. His zanpakuto.

"Is something bothering you master? You seem disturbed by something." Her long pink hair blew slightly in the wind. Her deep green eyes focused on the young man in front of her.

"I suppose so." He laid back, folding his hands under his head.

"What kind of answer is that? You suppose something is bothering you?" She shook her head. "What does that even mean? It's a yes or no question!" Kai only furrowed his eye brows together at her comment. "You know," her voice softening, "masters are supposed to tell their zanpakuto everything."

"Gomen, Midori, I've been preoccupied lately. It's just that I've been having these weird dreams."

"About what?"

"This woman. She looks like me and I see her talking to dad, and it's just weird. Who do you think she is?"

"She looks like you?"

"Yeah she has my eyes and my hair color." Kai turned and peered at his zanpakuto. "Do you think that could be my mother?"

"Maybe. Though it would have to be a past vision. She died in battle right?"

"That's what Rukia said. And Rangiku confirmed it when I asked her. She was pretty hot; didn't look like much of a fighter though. Bet that was the first real fight she got into anyway."

"Kai!" Kai looked over surprised by her outburst. She didn't usually call him by his first name. "Ah… gomen master. Though you shouldn't talk bad about your mother. You didn't even know her."

Kai stood and clenched his fists at his side. "Even you…" He muttered under his breath. "I thought you were the only person that wouldn't tell me what to do and now here you go off yelling at me telling me I'm wrong! I don't care about my mother! If she really was a good person she wouldn't have died! She would be here! So don't tell me what to do!" He clenched his teeth together. He didn't understand why everyone expected him to be like her, because he wasn't. They wanted him to be amazingly strong, amazingly happy go lucky and he couldn't be! Why did she have to leave him here to take over her life?

Meanwhile I stood, slightly confused, but mostly disturbed, at the foot of my best friend's bed. He was sprawled across the top, half the covers were on the floor and half on the bed, yet none managed to stay on him. He also happened, well it was probably on purpose, to be in only his underwear. My eyebrows furrowed together. I always had to be the one to wake him didn't I? He still continued to snore, with an arm and a leg hanging off the bed, completely oblivious to the fact I was in his room. I wanted to flip the mattress, but knowing I would probably get scolded, I did the next best thing.

"ICHIMARU, GIN!"

He fell off the bed in an instant, right onto his face. He immediately jumped up and scanned the room until his eyes locked on mine. Sighing he fell back onto the bed. "Oh, it's jus' you." He folded his hands behind his head. "But did'ya hav'ta yell?"

"I could've left you here, and went on to the Soul Society without you."

His grin grew larger. "Ya wouldn't, Jai-chan. If ya were gonna leave, ya would've already left." He was right of course. If I hadn't wanted him to come, I wouldn't have woken him. So I just smiled.

"Ah, well you're probably right. But I didn't wake you so you could go back to sleep again. Get yourself together, Gin."

"Alright…" He swung his legs over the side of the bed and headed to the bathroom. I turned to leave; I had many things to do before we left. Walking down the hallway, I decided to make a mental list: wake everyone I wanted to take, make sure the gate is stable to pass through, assemble everyone, make sure everyone knew the plan…

"Hey Jai." A large hand came down on my head, breaking my concentration. I looked up at the tall man next to me. With white hair and blue eyes that matched mine, who other could he be but my father?

"Dad, I was trying to concentrate. You know I have a lot to do today."

He simply laughed. "I know, I know. But in my mind you're too busy. You didn't even notice me walk up."

"Ah true. But these are things that have to be done. We have to make sure we understand who's going and who is staying here to protect the royals. And then there's…"

"I get it already. I know that it's important. Maybe you shouldn't take on such responsibility at such a young age, you'll get wrinkles."

I simply glared. "You've had much more stress than me and you're older. I don't see any wrinkles."

"There's always your mother…"

"I don't want to think about that dad!" My mom aged fast and she had wrinkles when she was really young. "I hope Hikaru or Kinryu gets that trait though!"

"Aha! That's my girl!" Hikaru was my older sister. She looked like me except with green eyes instead of my blue ones. Kinryu was my older brother. He also looked like me yet with red eyes. My brother was the captain of the Kido Corps and my sister was lieutenant. I didn't care for either of them much and they had never really cared for me. My dad was the only one that I loved in my family and he had died when I was really young. So when I died and came here, to the Royal Dimension, I had to meet him all over again.

The Royal Dimension was where anyone that died in either the world of the living or the Soul Society that was deemed useful was taken. After I died many others that I had known while I was alive were also brought here. Ukitake, Juushiro, the former captain of the 13th Division died of tuberculosis and was brought here because he was wise and strong while he lived. Ichimaru, Gin was also deemed useful. He may have seemed bad to those who were not watching, yet when it came down to it he had wanted to defeat Aizen from the start. I respected him for that.

"Hey Jai, I'm going to check and make sure the dragons are ready, okay?"

"Alright." Yes, there were dragons. They came in all colors and full-grown, they were the size of an average house. Every squad had a designated a dragon. The captain picked out the dragon. When the squad got a new captain they also got a new dragon. They got to pick out the dragon just after it was born. And then they would help to take care of the dragon and teach it the skills it needed, depending on the squad's job. The captain and the dragon would then form a special bond and that dragon would only listen to its own master. I had my own dragon too. His name was Kurai. He was a big black dragon with fierce pearl white claws and teeth. His job was to protect the royal palace although he is such a sweetheart to anyone that looks past that scary front. So the prince and princess liked to feed him after they were finished studying for the day. They became quite close with Kurai, and with me as well. They even made a special landing point near the top of the palace for him to stay. As they grew older they started to help me take care of him. And just recently, with the permission of the king himself, I let them ride Kurai with me. I offered to let the king try, yet he objected telling me he was far too old for that type of thing.

The king liked me because I was so friendly to his children and to him. I became very close to him as we began to talk more often, usually over tea. I told him how I'd died and left my husband and twin baby boys. When I told him, he wrapped in arm around me and said, "Sometimes life happens, and you may not live on in their lives but your legacy will. So don't think about the 'what ifs' and instead remember what you have here. They might end up coming here someday anyway."

The prince and the princess were another story when it came to relationships. The princess, Akemi, was quiet and shy and doesn't ever talk too much. Though lately I found out that she could sing and have been pushing her to show her full potential. The prince, Daisuke, was strong and bold, truly the heir of the land. He always told me how he wanted a dragon like Kurai when he became king. I keep reminding him that the dragons are for the captains of the royal squad and he keeps reminding me that he will one day, become a captain.

Leaning forward so that my palms were resting on the railing, I looked out over the land. The floating mountains of land over the wide-spread ocean were quite the view. But then I remembered I had things to do, and if these things were not done, there wouldn't be this nice view. So I continued on my journey to wake everyone.