You Can Go
Chapter 2

She blinked...and blinked... her eyes staring down at the paperwork she was supposed to have finished ages ago by now. She looked at the untouched pile of forms waiting for her to fill them out and sign them before focusing back on the one in front of her and blinked at it again...

She unconsciously started twirling the pen between her fingers...

Soi shifted her gaze to the clock and shook her head out of frustration once she realised she had been sat at her desk for several hours without so much as touching the paper work because she had gotten lost in her thoughts of her week spent with Yoruichi yet again.

No matter how hard she tried Soifon couldn't get the image of seeing Yoruichi appear so broken and lost out of her mind that she really had gotten nothing done in her first week back as she battled with herself over the thought of going to the world of the living to check up on the older woman, the confrontation came from the fact that she was determined to not get lost in her feelings like she had done before the last time Yoruichi had left, not when she had come so far in controlling them and besides Yoruichi had told her to go and she was certain the Princess would seek her out when she wanted to see her again...even if she did leave right after kissing me.

She kissed me – crap no stop! Soifon shook her head attempting to rid herself of those thoughts knowing it was impossible as she felt her heartbeat racing and her body warmed as she remembered the kiss. It had only lasted a second but anytime she replayed it, it felt like an eternity had passed. She recalled the Goddess's scent and the sweet taste of her lips as they crushed against hers, that kiss had felt like a desperate plea, almost like Yoruichi had been begging her for something. Begging...Bah! Yoruichi would never ever beg for anything, especially from me, she knows I would give her anything wil– The sound of the pen snapping in her hand caused her to look down at the broken remains clenched in her fist as she realised what she had thought.

Soifon relaxed her hand and watched the broken pieces slip between her fingers to clatter onto the desk. She studied the bits of plastic and picked up one of the larger remnants of the pen, casually but with purpose turning it over and around with her fingers though her eyes drifted back to the remaining broken pieces and all she saw was her broken resolve to not let her world centre around Yoruichi.

No, not broken. Her eyes narrowed with disdain and with a quick movement, she swept the pieces of plastic off her desk along with the piece she had been holding, I can fix this. I won't let her do this to me again. Soifon opened one of the drawers and reached inside, her hand searching through the contents as she made up her mind to not run back to Yoruichi believing that when the dark Goddess wanted her company again, she would seek Soifon out as usual. This would allow Soifon the time needed to dismiss the kiss by telling herself that Yoruichi was clearly upset about something and she had wanted a distraction from whatever had caused her pain and for those reasons, the kiss had meant nothing to Yoruichi.

Soi's hand brushed up against something in the drawer, she had found what she wanted so she withdrew her hand and set the new pen to paper and began to fill out the form in front of her, determined to complete her paperwork.

The captain of squad two soon found her new resolve being pushed and tested beyond her limit and her squad members were busy staying out of her way as stormed through the barracks, currently fuming over the one person she now couldn't make up her mind on if she ever wanted to see again only to be frustrated at herself for feeling a stabbing pain at the thought of never seeing Yoruichi again brought her.

Yoruichi...Where the hell are you! She screamed mentally, doing her best at not slamming her fist through the wall she was stomping alongside of as she sought some kind of distraction, knowing full well that nothing would save her from her own treacherous thoughts.

It had been two whole weeks since she had left Urahara's shop on the night she had found Yoruichi slumped against the wall and it seemed that said person either had no interest in finding Soifon to explain herself or that the Princess was purposely avoiding her completely by not even showing up in the Soul Society at all once she had vanished, leaving Soifon on the stairs after kissing her.

That kiss...Soi unconsciously touched her fingers to her lips as she replayed the kiss again, a light blush spreading across her cheeks. The hot sensation spreading across her face brought her back to reality; thankfully no one was around to see the stern captain standing with her fingers lightly touching her lips as she felt the blush deepen. Outrage flooded her system, her hand snapping back in place at her side and her strides became more powerful, eager to leave the area, mentally scolding herself for reacting so stupidly over the kiss.

I've always known she liked tease, it obviously meant nothing to her. She repeatedly to herself once again, still finding no solace in those words whatsoever and her conflicting emotions continued to fester towards the Princess for making her go through this.

Her right hand twitched as she heard the munching continue some distance behind her, no doubt Omaeda thought he would be safer standing behind her where he was out of her sight but she could still hear him stuffing his face instead of taking part in the exercises with the rest of the squad that he was supposed to be running today except when she had passed by to check up on him, she had found him napping with the squad members fighting amongst themselves.

Soifon had made him pay dearly for sleeping by giving him the most painful wakeup call he had ever gotten by stamping on his face and was pretty sure he would be sporting a black eye by now, she had forbidden him from healing any damage done with kido as a further reminder to not slack around. With his most recent beating Soifon was slightly confused at why he was evoking her wrath on him again as she heard him continue to chew on whatever he has stashed inside his robes.

"Put those away Omaeda." She stated, knowing he would hear her clearly as she reminded herself to breathe deeply while she focused on a memory that would take her away from her incompetent lieutenant and wished she hadn't done so because within an instant, the illusive cat woman raced to the top of her thoughts. She was sick of it. There had been no sign of Yoruichi yet and Soifon had become sick of it. If Yoruichi wanted to avoid her then Soi was going to let her, the woman clearly regretted kissing her and found it easier to run off and leave her again then try and speak to her.

Despite her growing frustration towards the Princess she had managed to keep herself insanely busy by throwing herself into her work, more so than usual as well as managing to make time to catch up with the others as she had been doing so before, especially when she caught her thoughts drifting towards the Goddess of Flash which is exactly why she was currently sat at a table with Ukitake, Shunsui with Nanao sat at his side, followed by Isane who was beside her own captain, Unohana. She had hoped to just spend some quiet time chatting to Ukitake only to have Shunsui catch up to them both as they wandered around the garden, admiring the collection of bonsai trees there.

Shunsui insisted that they go out for the evening but not wanting to offend Ukitake or Shunsui, she had agreed to join them only to have Nanao catch up to them before they entered the upper class restaurant, berating her captain for abandoning his work yet again except she ended up joining them after Ukitake calmed her down and with the usual laid back comments Soifon had come to expect from Shunsui.

She was however, pleasantly surprised when they entered the restaurant as while they were waiting to be seated, a different worker approached saying should they so desire, Unohana had extended an invitation for them to join her table and they followed the worker deeper into the restaurant till they passed through a beaded doorway that opened up to a small decked out area with a large table that could seat up to 8 people set up. Unohana was sat there, smiling happily at them all while Isane was sat beside her, currently munching on the meal she had ordered. The worker bowed low as they moved past him to the table as he told them to enjoy their time and he would be back later for their orders.

It was quite a nice little set up, the table was the only one there and the surrounding area was decorated with traditional plant life with a rather large water feature creating a very quaint yet extravagant feeling. It was even fenced off by a waist high decorative wall to stop any unwanted guests straying onto the property. This was obviously reserved for the restaurants more important guests and she was silently pleased about having the area for themselves without the distractions of other conversations taking place.

"It was nice of you to invite us to join you out here Retsu." Shunsui thanked her as they sat down.

"It is such a lovely evening, the more people around to enjoy it with the better." Unohana smiled back at him. Soifon nodded at this, the more people around to talk and listen to, the easier she would find it to focus without her mind wandering onto topics she didn't want to think about and after they had sorted out their orders, the group settled into a casual conversations of the past couple of days, recounting some of the more memorable events while complaining about the days where everything worked like clockwork and nothing happened till the sky grew darker and their waiter returned to light the lanterns around them which cast a warm glow over the table. Once the sake started taking effect, the conversation took a more foolish turn in Soi's mind; she had declined drinking the sake as did Unohana and Nanao despite Shunsui's encouragement for them to join in though she was still able to enjoy her time with them.

They must have been there for two hours at least till Soifon stiffened as she recognised a familiar reiatsu as the owner drew closer almost with a purpose as it became clearer that they were heading this way. Curiosity was getting the better of her as she waited for them to arrive at the secluded outside area and she wasn't left waiting very long either as she caught sight of her heading towards them. Soifon noticed the conversation slowly draw to halt as all the seated guests turned to acknowledge their surprise visitor.

Kukaku Shiba stood leaning against the wall, in her usual outfit and pointed directly at Soifon before any of them had time to say anything to her, "Oy Soifon." She roughly jerked her outstretched arm back over her shoulder, indicating behind her, "Need to talk with ya." Without waiting for an answer from the captain, Kukaku turned on the spot and walked off.

With a sigh and a quick apology to the seated group, Soifon excused herself before flash stepping away to land beside the gruff woman, still curious at what was wanted of her Soi was rather annoyed for her pleasant evening being interrupted in such a manner by someone who reminded her of Yoruichi so she decided to skip right to point. "What do you want Shiba?" she asked rather impatiently.

"You ain't changed much," Kukaku noted the death glare she was receiving from Soifon so decided to not play games with her tonight, "I need to report a missing person." she admitted with a sigh, wishing that she wasn't the one who had to tell the stubborn captain this.

"You have to be kidding." Soifon stared at the woman, trying to work out if this was some kind of trick.

"You are head of the Onmitsukido so it's you who has to deal with these type of things, correct?" Kukaku sighed again, she had told him this would be waste of time and it certainly seemed to be reaching that mark.

"This is true but that doesn't mean you have to seek me out personally when I'm off duty, you could have gone to the squad barracks and someone would have taken a report from you." Soifon explained pointlessly, knowing full well that Kukaku knew this anyway and assumed this was just some kind of ploy to waste her time. "Now excuse me while I return to my activities." With that she turned around, eager to leave the presence of the woman before her evening was completely ruined.

Kukaku watched the short woman stomp off, half tempted to let her go realising how stupid this was going to sound, hell even she was thinking it was some kind of strange prank but she did swear to him she would tell Soifon in person. She took in a deep breath, bracing herself for whatever reaction was bound to come from this. "It's Yoruichi." She watched as Soifon froze, standing very still as she absorbed what name was spoken and saw the captain begin to slowly turn around on the spot, a frown fixed across her face, her eyes narrowed in angered disbelief with her head cocked to one side questioningly.

"What?" Soifon's voice was surprisingly quiet and level for someone who looked like she was ready to explode.

Unfazed by the look that would send weaker souls running, Kukaku stood her ground, "She's the one who is missing." Once again waiting, judging Soifon's reaction to find out the best way to handle this mess.

"Tsk," Soifon sneered, not believing a word. "Now I know this is a joke." And with that she started walking, turning her back on the Shiba woman again.

"You think I believe this anymore than you do?" Kukaku called out, she wasn't known for being patient and the squad two captain was starting to annoy her. "No one has sensed her presence for nearly 5 weeks now and Kisuke is-"

"Well it sounds like she is has done what she's best at and left." Soifon snapped, cutting Kukaku off at hearing that name, her relaxing night out ruined by the way this conversation was unfolding. "Besides, she told me she often left for extended periods of time b-before." She scowled at her own stammer, unable to ignore the familiar pang of betrayal settle across her chest at referring to the 100 years Yoruichi had spent travelling the human world after leaving her without even a goodbye only strengthened at having Yoruichi run away from her again.

"Well yeah, more time away then actually being there really only she always told him she was going." Kukaku tried to explain while ignoring the jab at her friend made by Soifon. She knew Soi wouldn't be able to just move past it in a flash but the last she had heard and from past rumors running around; the two were getting along just fine so she didn't understand what had caused the snappy remark. Soifon was too busy cursing Kisuke's name to notice Kukaku's puzzled expression while she was picturing new ways of killing Kisuke slowly at hearing that the man she despised at least got a goodbye from Goddess.

"Look, the only reason I'm even telling you this is from the very fact that Kisuke is concerned enough to worry about her being gone this time round, he-he said she was…different." Her usual self assured tone faltering slightly as she recalled the strange description Kisuke had given her, it certainly didn't sound like the Yoruichi she knew, especially when combined with her going missing. If something had bothered Yoruichi before, either Kisuke or Kukaku usually found out around 10 to 20 minutes later when Yoruichi showed up, complaining to her heart's content and rounded off with a few drinks once she was finished so their time together would finish on a high note. "He also said you were with her last, did you notice anything…different about her?"

Shifting uncomfortably, not wanting to share the memory of the kiss Soifon hesitated – Kukaku placed her left hand on her hip, noting Soi's look of uncertainty to answer her. "Did you guys have a fight something?"

"What? No! No it was nothing like that…She said nothing to me." It was technically true Soifon assured herself, Yoruichi had spoken to her but it was only to tell her that she could leave and nothing else, she had no idea what had caused Yoruichi to look so defeated, it was the only word she could use to describe it as she remembered Yoruichi collapsing on the stairs before her and how she had to keep supporting her to prevent her from falling down the stairs.

"Ok that's just odd in itself." Kukaku mused to herself before sighing, shifting her weight to her other leg. "Can you at least do some kind of look out for her…oh and if you see her around do tell her to drop by so I can beat her up for making me drag my butt all the way out here because of that guy." Soifon smirked at this, taking personal pleasure in picturing that scene taking place even though she highly doubted that Kukaku could catch Yoruichi to actually lay even a finger on her.

"I believe I can do that." Soifon told her though remained doubtful, Yoruichi was one of the strongest people she knew and if she didn't want anyone to find her then no one would. Soifon was also pretty sure she would show up eventually, laughing at the way they had overacted to her absence when it was common thing for a cat to do after all.

Still even knowing this, she couldn't fight back a little nagging voice. Even Kisuke said it was strange for her just up and leave and if Kukaku didn't see fit for concern she wouldn't have even showed up. What if something had happened to Yoruichi? She felt her heartbeat race, a thousand and one scenarios playing out in mere seconds, each showing different ways Yoruichi could have been hurt. She knew full well that any other time, the Princess would be able to avoid any dangerous situation. But this is different, she clearly wasn't alright when she left, her sense of judgment could be thrown off.

"Alright I will, but if this turns out to be some wild goose chase, tell him I'm gonna tear up his hat for wasting my time." Soifon told Kukaku with a sigh and the two parted ways, both eager to resume their previous activities. She rejoined the group at the table although she didn't explain what had been so urgent for Kukaku to pull her away out of earshot and she soon found she couldn't focus on the conversation in the same manner as before as her mind continued to play out scenes of Yoruichi being badly injured and left without anyone to help her.

Soifon ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to dispel her imagination, repeating to herself that Yoruichi had been an outstanding captain when she was part of the Gotei 13 and her strength and tactical skills have continued to be proven invaluable to the Soul Society after her return, she wouldn't become careless, no matter what had happened.

"No!" Soifon screamed out in desperation, leaping back up to her feat, unsheathing her zanpakuto faster than a lightning strike, taking up a defensive stance, ready to strike at any moment as her eyes took in her surroundings. Her grip on her blade loosened as her hand began to shake as she realized she was in standing backed up against the corner in her bedroom, her bed sheets twisted in a pile from her scramble to be free from their clutches moments ago. They feel so…real…she thought, referring to her dream as she sank down against the cool wall, glad to have something strong behind her once she convinced herself it had all been a dream. A nightmare, she corrected, still clutching her zanpakuto protectively in front of her.

It had been several weeks since she had told Kukaku she would keep a closer eye out for Yoruichi and since then, her dreams had taken a darker and more sinister turn each night where she was forced to watch Yoruichi fight for her life, hear her call out to Soifon for help and the times where the she had been able to reach her – it always proved to be late. The nightmares refused to let up as the days continued to pass and this wasn't the first time she awoke with adrenaline coursing through her body from being ready to throw herself in harms way in order to save Yoruichi.

She breathed in deeply, forcing her body to relax after reassuring herself that she had been dreaming again. She slowly stood up, assessing the mess of her bed from where she must have been tossing and turning in her sleep moments ago as she sheathed her zanpakuto and trudged out of her room into the living room she had converted into an office many decades ago now and continued to move into the kitchen to grab a glass of water, her throat painfully dry and was silently thankful that no other quarters were close by to her own so she didn't have to worry about someone overhearing her shouting just then, or any of the previous times for that matter.

Yoruichi had been missing for over a month now and no one within the Soul Society had felt her reiatsu and if the woman had been able to sneak by unnoticed, she could be anywhere outside of its boarders, the land stretched out onto the vast wastelands as far as the eye could see and it would be impossible to search for her there by herself and still perform her duties as captain. Hearing nothing more from Kukaku, she assumed that Yoruichi hadn't returned and that no one had located her there either and although she had done her best to put off going to the world of the living, mainly because she feared if it reached that level then she was openly admitting that something must have happened to the playful Princess, Soifon knew it was the only available course of action left to her now.

She left the glass on the counter before heading back to room to get changed since she did not want to go back to sleep, too afraid to face what nightmare would play out if she did, so once she was had changed back into her captain's uniform she flash stepped out of her quarters to arrive beside the nearest squad member on duty, who jumped at her sudden arrival.

"I have business in the world of the living and it is unknown how long I will be gone for. Pass this information along to Omaeda at day break and remind him that I expect all duties to be fulfilled while I am away." She continued on her way, not waiting for the man to reply in acknowledgement to her message as she headed for the Senkaimon that would take her to the world of the living.

Not surprisingly, Soifon encountered no problems upon reaching the gate and had been granted permission to leave on such short notice within a matter of minutes and she soon found herself standing in the middle of an empty street, lit up by the lampposts placed at regular intervals. Unsure of where she actually was, she got out her soul phone and found the way to Urahara's shop, grateful for her speed since it did not take long to finally arrive outside the shop.

It felt kind of empty without being able to feel Yoruichi's reiatsu radiating from within the building even though she could feel Kisuke's, she assumed Tessai was still wearing his gigai out of habit since they were no longer marked as traitors as she couldn't feel his spiritual pressure so was a little surprised when the door slid open with Tessai standing there to invite her inside and left her standing in one of the many rooms saying that Kisuke would be joining her any moment. Soifon wasn't left alone to her thoughts for long before Kisuke entered wearing his usual outfit.

"Well it's good to see you haven't picked up all of Yoruichi's bad traits." he spoke, yawning as he did while happily sitting down at the small table, grateful to be off his feet. Soifon remained silent, confused as to what bad traits he could possibly be referring to. "You left without saying goodbye," Kisuke explained "Though you're back now so what can I do for you at this nightly hour?" his tone lightened considerably at this.

"I was hoping you would allow me to stay here while I searched for Yoruichi-sama." She stated, hoping the man would not question her, she was on a short fuse from lack of sleep and being here felt like she may as well have stood in front of the Gotei 13 and announced her feelings about Yoruichi officially as it showed how much Yoruichi still had a strong hold over heart even after her attempts to fade out her feelings for the woman.

Kisuke tilted his head down so his hat hid his expression from view, things had defiantly become more interesting since Yoruichi had practically kidnapped Soifon but he hadn't expected them to take this turn. Yoruichi had vanished without a word and he was worried she may be careless considering the state she was in when he had seen her and now, a month later, Soifon was actually asking to stay while she looked for Yoruichi...it certainly showed him that the captain still had feelings for her.

"By all means, what mine is yours – I trust you can remember the way to the room you stayed in before?" he asked, standing up with a stretch, ready to show her the way if necessary.

"I do although I am going out for now and I don't know when I will be back." She explained before leaving the room via shunpo. Kisuke scratched his head as he headed back downstairs to continue his work. Find her Soifon, for her sake.

The rock groaned and cracked as the force thrown against it smashed right through it, causing the rock to split in half in a matter of seconds and crumble into pieces, not being able to stand up against the single punch thrown at it. Soifon clenched her fist anger, observing the handiwork of her latest outburst dispassionately. It's no good, this is bloody useless! Soifon trudged off exploring the underground training room without really paying any attention to what she saw. Two whole freaking months and nothing! Absolutely nothing! It's like she's vanished of the face of the earth! It wouldn't have been so bad but a few weeks of getting nowhere in actually looking for her, even with Kisuke's help – they had decided to track her down using kido again but with same results as always, the co-ordinates the spell revealed always lead them straight back to the Urahara's Shop.

The very first time this happened ended up with Kisuke and Tessai needing to stop Soifon from tearing the place apart while she swore her head off about killing the blasted cat woman if she actually found her in one of the rooms and after conducting a proper safe search they came to the mutual decision that Yoruichi had used some sort of kido spell, maybe even a great selection of spells to block being tracked – they were dealing with the former captain of squad two and head of the Onmitsukido after all.

Soifon's time in the world of the living was quickly drawing to an end and she doubted very much that the Captain-Commander would grant her any more time with both the Soul Society and Kisuke studying spiritual pressure levels on the lookout for any activity close to Yoruichi's, once back in the Soul Society she would be limited in what she could actually do. Not that I'm getting much done here either, Soi realised and resisted the urge to smash up a particular large rocky formation close by her.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no! She couldn't...she wouldn't have! NO! It was as if someone flicked a switch on within her mind as everything fell into place as she took in the other large rock formation close by the one she had nearly destroyed, close to the top and lodged into the side, were two identical large wooden beam of equal length that she recognised from Yoruichi telling her as the makeshift gateway Kisuke had made so Kurosaki could travel into Hueco Mundo. It makes sense, what better place to hide from friends than within enemy territory! I can't believe I never realised this before! She thought desperately; flash stepping back to the shop till she found Kisuke sat at a computer screen in his makeshift laboratory.

"Open up the garganta, now!" Soifon demanded from the doorway, not keen on entering the room, who knows what weird experiments the strange man had left lying around the place.

Kisuke spun around in his chair to face her, looking rather relieved as he threw a small object towards her which she caught effortlessly and she examined the strange bracelet like device now in her hand. "I'm glad you didn't connect the dots sooner, I don't think I could have run around avoiding your attacks and worked on that at the same time."

"What is this?" She held the bracelet away from her, glaring at the only piece of decoration on the leather strap. It was a small oval silver button, around the size of her thumbnail but what annoyed her most was the picture of Kisuke's smiling face occupying the oval shape.

"That is a beacon – once you go through the garganta I won't know when to open it for you unless you press down on that silver button. Doing so will activate the beacon which will alert me to your exact co-ordinates and I'll have you home in no time." He explained, clearly quite proud of himself, Soifon switched her cold stare from the distasteful object to Kisuke instead.

"How long have you known?" she spoke through a clenched jaw, he had better have a good answer if he wanted to have his lab kept in one piece.

Kisuke waved his arms around in defence, picking up on what Soifon actually implying, "I only stumbled on it in the night, on a sudden whim I decided to run a quick scan on Hueco Mundo and the readings go off the charts – she is there, that's for certain. I would have told you sooner but I needed to work out a way to get you two back so I've spent my day fashioning that handy device. Be careful with it though, I only have the one made for now and this will be its first field test."

She's there...she's been there all this time – what the hell is she thinking! Soifon's pulse quickened as she was swept up in the relief flooding through her mind and body at having confirmation that Yoruichi was in Hueco Mundo. All that mattered now was getting Yoruichi out of that place; she could worry about killing her later for acting so stupidly. She followed Kisuke impatiently back down to the training grounds beneath the shop, her frown deepening with every step taken and she had to bite back her own tongue to stop herself from yelling at the man, demanding to know why they didn't just flash step to get there faster.

"You got the bracelet?" he asked her, as they finally stood in front of the two rock formations.

"Yes." Soifon answered with a nod, feeling the bracelet pressing lightly into her left wrist where she had secured it in place. Kisuke then leapt upwards to land neatly on one of the wooden beams sticking out of the rock face, calling back down to Soifon.

"Remember, just push it once when you are ready – it may take a moment or two to activate but the portal will open up at the location you pressed it at so in other words, don't wander off to go sightseeing." He added the extra detail just make sure it was clear, knowing full well she would remember every word. Neither of them was going to admit it out loud but they were both worried as to what Yoruichi was doing in Hueco Mundo and why she had entered the place without a certain way of getting back.

Soifon paid no attention to the incantation Urahara was currently uttering to open up the garganta that would take her to Hueco Mundo was, she was too busy trying to fight off the last traces of her nightmares in which she found Yoruichi dying and her last thought before she jumped through the now open portal she was that she hoped to arrive in time so that she didn't have to deal with those nightmares becoming reality.

A/N: So much for this being a one shot story and I've most likely jinxed myself saying this but I do intend for the third chapter to be the last one.

Again, I hoped you enjoyed reading this (sorry if it was bit dull, tried to give it an excting ending though)