Wilted Blossom

Five: Last Request
 Ukitake X Sakura

Members of the Fourth Guard scrambled about as one of their patients went into code blue. Unohana-taichou, the lieutenant, and two of her subordinates rushed into the room they reserved for intensive care.

Immediately all could see what was wrong as Joshiro Ukitake spewed more blood in a brilliant fountain from his mouth. Unohana didn't waste a moment as she rushed to the fellow captains' side, her white coat snapping behind her. The sudden noise roused the other three setting them into motion, the lieutenant vanishing from the room in order to make preparations in case things turned for the worse.

"Hanataro, please regulate Ukitake-Taichou breathing and keep blood from filling his lungs," her calm voice dictated as the remaining two hovered near her elbow, waiting for orders, "Sakura locate the area of the rupture and attempt to halt anymore loss of blood, can you do that?" Unohana questioned the newest member of her squad without taking her eyes off of the white haired mans' face.

Emerald eyes flashed with determination as she moved to the other side of the table and placed glowing hands on his chest, "Yes, Unohana-taichou, I'll do what I can." Sakura Harunos' voice rang out clearly as the strength of spiritual pressure in the room grew.

No one spoke as each did their job to tether the man to his body, not even when glazed chocolate eyes slowly pried open. Ukitake looked at each face until he came to the one filled with most emotion and smiled, "Looks like I've finally died huh… how sad…for a captain to go out like this," he shakily lifted a hand and placed it against Sakuras' cheek, "At least I got a pretty angel with me…thou I must look a mess. Tell me angel, do I look as bad as I feel?" he coughed up more blood as the three shared a look.

"I'm no angel Ukitake-taichou; I'm just the 5th seat of Squad Four. Now please relax and let us heal you sir." The pinkette murmured softly as she continued her search for the aneurysm and tried to stop his weak attempts to reach for her again.

A pale imitation of laughter floated up from him, "It doesn't really matter …I can tell my time's almost up and I have no regrets," He closed his eyes as his smile faltered, "No, I'm lying…I …have one regret…" He trailed off as another fit of bloody coughing stole his breath from him.

Three worried pairs of eyes looked at him as he labored for air despite their best efforts to aid him, "What regret could you have, sir? Is there anything I could do for you to give you some peace of mind?" Sakura asked even thou an edge of panic had slipped into her tone.

There was a slight pause as they all waited to hear his answer, the other two remaining silent to give Sakura a chance to talk while they healed the weakening body, "That I didn't meet you sooner… we would have made a cute pair don't you think angel," he chuckled weakly as he watched a blush spread across her cheeks, "Well angel…what do you say? Would you be willing to share lunch with me…one day?"

Sakura glanced up quickly to see if her taichou had any advice but the woman had refocused on the task at hand as his health began to falter again, "Of course Ukitake-taichou, but you have to promise me something as well. You have to fight for me ok, fight to stay with me, do you understand me?" she forced more energy into his body as he began to spasm, spraying blood in all directions, "UKITAKE-TAICHOU!" Sakura yelled as his heart skipped a beat.

Turning to the others she nodded at them and immediately, they began the long fight to keep him alive through the night.

Strong sunlight filtered into the room as off tune humming slowly brought Joshiro to consciousness. Peeling back his eyelids a quick glance showed him the source as she carefully skinned an apple.

Sitting up he watched her turn to look at him with a shy smile playing on her lips, "Good morning Ukitake-taichou, it's good to see you healthy again." Sakura murmured as she began to slice the apple while avoiding his eyes.

"S-Sakura …what are you doing here?" he brushed a few strands of pale hair out of his face to get a better look at her.

A moment of hesitance was obvious in the room as the female didn't answer immediately, "Well, Ukitake-taichou, when you passed out your blood-pressure fell dangerously and you actually…died," she turned and looked at him and gave him a weak smile, "But we managed to bring you back very quickly, and because of that moment when you died…I'm fulfilling your last request." Sakura lowered her head as the taichou stared at her in shock.

A rustling sound caught her attention and she turned to see Ukitake forcing himself to sit up, "Thank you Sakura, I'd be honored if you would share a meal with me." The smile he gave her was enough to for her to respond with one of her own.

Authors' Note from AkatsukisSakura-

Sorry for the delay and poor quality of this story, I promise the next one will be better. The main problem I had with this one was that I couldn't connect with it very well and I'll take any criticism from the readers' that'll help me improve.

Author's Note from Neogirl-

I'm working on the kenSaku and the UraSaku as we speak! Thank you for reading!!