Author's note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is AU.

Choosing Battles

Nanao sat with perfect posture at the head of the table. With Rangiku's help, she had modified her wardrobe to emphasis the fact that she was an adult without, hopefully, reminding everyone she was an attractive, young woman. She was fully aware that she would have to get married eventually, but Nanao was determined that it would be on her terms and her choice of husband. So, she was trying not to have the subject come up just yet. Nanao knew that she would have to pick her battles carefully right now, and she was not quite ready to approach that battlefield just yet. Her strategy there wasn't complete.

So instead, Nanao did her best to appear mature and responsible and control the council meeting. It took doing. Aizen and his supporters never failed to miss a chance to try and weaken her position or exploit the situation she was in. She knew that Aizen was up to something, but what exactly was still unknown, and Nanao wasn't about to tackle that issue without a good deal more information. There were plenty of other issues to deal with.

Such as the state of the borders. The reports she was getting from the Shinigami Knights did not match the ones that her military were giving her, and Nanao was more willing to trust the former right now. The leading officers all had some sort of connection to Aizen for the most part. It was the border with the Arrancar that was most troubling. The number of border clashes and skirmishes had dropped off despite the fact that most of the troop on that border had been transferred to the other borders, especially their border with the Kingdom of Bounts. The transfer of the troops didn't make much sense to Nanao given that Bounts was hardly a threat militarily and they had good trade relations with them currently.

However, when she had pointed that out, General Tousen had dismissed her opinion saying she knew nothing of strategy. Tousen was another former knight. In fact, he had left the order a year or two after Sir Kyoraku had been exiled. Thankfully, Nanao had several people on her side who did know a thing or two about strategy, and they had not let the issue drop. Now there was a lively debate going on about what the lack of border trouble meant for Seireitei. Nanao sat back and listened. She didn't know enough about the issues at hand to venture comments, but she did her best to absorb everything being said. These days she spent any free time she could get educating herself on the various issues these meetings brought up.

The debate was winding to a close, and Aizen took the opportunity to strike.

"Speaking of showing a strong face, your highness, you do not seem to have given much thought to your marriage. Unless you are married, you cannot be crowned for another two years." Aizen smiled gently. "It can be seen as a weakness that we do not have a crowned monarch. There are several candidates that I can recommend that would be suitable. You should marry and be crowned as soon as possible to prevent any assumptions of our weakness on the part of other nations."

Nanao met his gaze coolly. "You are mistaken, Lord Aizen. I have given a great deal of though to my marriage."

That much as true. She held up a hand to stall further advice. "However, while the points you have made contain truth, there is also the fact that a hasty marriage on my part could also be construed as a weakness. It could lead not only to other nations but also our own people to believe that I am incapable of ruling. Furthermore, a full royal wedding takes at least six months to a year to arrange and plan. At this point, my time and focus cannot not be on such a frivolous matter."

The part about it taking six months to a year to arrange and prepare a full royal wedding was a lie. With Rangiku's help, Nanao had begun to put everything place, so that when she married, it would be done quickly. It would take at most a month to have everything in place, though Nanao didn't expect to be announcing a marriage for at least six more months. There was still the small matter of just who she would marry, and Nanao had been doing research on that as well. Mostly, her research had been to refute any suggestions made by the council, but she knew she would have to make a choice eventually.

But it would be her choice, and Nanao would not be rushed into it. Thankfully, once Sir Ukitake and Sir Urahara expressed their agreement with her point of view, the matter was dropped for now. Nanao knew it would come up again, but for now the meeting moved on to other matters. By the time they were done, Nanao felt drained and exhausted, but her day wasn't over yet. There were still a number of things she needed to do before she could seek her bed, and she should probably eat something in there as well.

It would have to be a working dinner. Nanao summoned a maid as she entered her quarters to help her change from the court kimono to what had become her working uniform. The black kosode and hakama were comfortable, and she didn't have to worry about them while she was searching through the archives or practicing kidou. Neither activity had her in the public or the court's eye nor did the paperwork she did in her private study, so propriety and proper conduct didn't come into question. Once she was dressed, Nanao sent the maid off to arrange for her dinner to be delivered to her study.

With that taken care of, Nanao went to her study and got down to work. She had research to do and paperwork to sign. Slipping on a pair of wire framed glasses, she picked up the first document. Most of the paperwork was the everyday clutter than came with running the palace. While these were typically things that her steward and chatelaine would take care of, Nanao wanted to have an idea of what exactly went into running the palace. She didn't think that there were currently any problems, but she didn't want to be taken by surprise. Nanao couldn't afford to make mistake right now. A minor problem could upset the balance she was working so hard to maintain. As long as she could keep most of the nobles convinced that she knew what she was doing and had things well in hand, Nanao wouldn't face pressure to let the council handle everything until she was of age.

Nanao sighed and reached for a map. She studied the distances once again. She didn't know for sure, but a number of the Shinigami Knights had implied that Sir Kyoraku was in Karakura. At top speed with good weather, it would take about two weeks for the journey. At most it would a month. Nanao bit her lip. One more month. She had waited years. She could wait another month, and with any luck her champion would be home sooner. The new of her father's death had gone out nearly three weeks ago now. Nanao sighed again and called for a page.

"Could you please bring Sir Ukitake to see me?"

"I'm sorry, your highness." The young man bowed. "Sir Ukitake received a messenger shortly after the council meeting and he left shortly after that."

Nanao's eyes lit up. She could only think of a few reasons for that short of behavior.

"Leave a message for him to come and see me as soon as he returns then."

"Yes, your highness."

Nanao did her best to calm her racing heart and lower her expectations. It didn't necessarily mean that Sir Kyoraku was on his way. That was simply one possibility. Still, she attacked her paperwork with renewed energy. There was always hope.