This chapter is dedicated to all who has fallen in love with Yuzu and Mamoru, especially The Dessa and my beta EternalDream who seems to know this fic better than I do!

Standard Disclaimers Apply

The Ties That Binds
Interlude: Yuzu

"Are you thinking about your boyfriend, Yuzu-nee?" Yuzu blushed as she looked at Sora, who grinned at her, Zanpakuto sheathed across his back as he sat down next to her. "Don't you worry, Yuzu-nee! I'll fix whatever mess Soul Society got themselves into and bring you back straight to his arms!"

"Sora!" Yuzu cried out, completely embarrassed. Her nephew just laughed, and Yuzu tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She really did miss Mamoru. Just as she was about to ask him if he wanted to meet her family, she was whisked to Soul Society along with everyone else in her family for safety reasons.

"So. Are you going to tell me about him?" Sora asked, and Yuzu just took a deep breath.

"I met him in the park near work. He's…he's very special to me," Yuzu admitted softly as she recounted the first time she met Mamoru Taira.

Yuzu had never considered herself as being a particularly 'forward' woman. Asking a man out on the date, making the first move—that was not in her vocabulary until she met him. When she confided to her friend Ami about the mysterious man she met at the park, Ami had grinned and clapped her hands.

"Finally! I never thought the day would come when you'd find a man attractive. Go for it, Yuzu-chan! Ask him out and be a woman of this century!"

"How come you never brought him over? Actually, scratch that, it's probably a good idea you didn't. Grandpa would've sent him running the other direction!"

Yuzu laughed, though somehow she knew her father would never have been able to intimidate him.

"What makes him special? Cause you know, I should be the one to determine if he is special enough for my Yuzu-nee or not!"

"I don't know, Sora-chan. Why don't you tell me how special Hisana-chan is?"

At the mention of his friend's name, Sora turned red and scowled. "There's nothing special about her! And besides," he paused for a moment to fish around for a reason to not have to explain himself or think of his pretty friend, "we're…we're not talking about me! We're talking about you!"

"There's just something about him," Yuzu shrugged. "I never imagined I would meet someone while taking a walk around the park. He was just sitting there, dressed in black, and his crows came to me."

"Crows?" Sora questioned, and Yuzu nodded her head.

"He said they were a gift from his grandfather. Phobos and Deimos."

"The crows made him special?" Sora wrinkled his nose. "You're weird, Yuzu-nee."

"No, it wasn't his crows," she responded softly, looking at the clear blue sky above them.

Before she met Mamoru, Yuzu had always felt guilty for being jealous. She knew it was wrong, especially when her family's gift was almost like a curse, but it was one of the reasons she chose to study veterinary science instead. With animals, there was very little possibility of being followed by a number of souls that she could not see. Karin would complain about the number of souls that followed Yuzu home that had to be cleansed by a stand-by team of Shinigamis. While she would probably never have the same spiritual capabilities as the rest of her family, ever since Sora's birth, she could at least see the other Shinigamis without their gigai.

Still, she felt out of place in her own family, and she felt guilty for that. She knew she was loved by them all, but she could not stop another twinge of jealousy, one for the loss of romance, no matter how happy she was that Karin had found happiness with Hitsugaya Toushiro. He made her sister happy, and she was glad. And now that she had found somebody of her own, it eased much of the ache that had existed in her chest. Perhaps she would even stop feeling less adequate than her family.

"I can't really explain it, Sora. But there was…something…about the way that he looked at me that made me feel different."

The three months that she had known Mamoru had been the best of her life. She did not even hesitate to give him the locket her mother gave to her as a gift before she died. For the first time in her life, Yuzu felt complete as a woman. There was something about the way he held her hand, the way that he kissed her, that made her heart flutter. His voice, deep and smooth warmed her, and his eyes were so vividly green she could get lost in them.

Yuzu's thoughts was broken by Sora, who was pretending to gag beside her. She simply laughed and ruffled his hair. "One day, you'll know how it feels like too."

"I doubt it. So, does this mystery man have a name?"

"Mamoru." Yuzu replied with a smile. "Mamoru Taira."

"Taira? Mamoru Taira?"

She turned to see Sora who looked pale, his eyes narrowed in anger and she could feel a strange sensation of fury from her nephew.

"Sora-chan," she asked hesitantly, "what's wrong?"

"Mamoru Taira." He went silent for a moment, unable to choke the words out in his anger. "He's one of the brothers from the clan that we are fighting against."

At his response, Yuzu let out a laugh, relieved that that was all her nephew was angry at. "That's not possible, Sora-chan. Surely it's a coincidence. Remember when I brought Misa Kuchiki home for our study session? Daddy and Rukia were sure that the name was just a coincidence and that Misa didn't have any spiritual power at all."

Sora just continued to frown, a surname he could agree to a coincidence. But to have the full name? Before he could say anything else, an alarm pierced the peacefulness around them, and Sora quickly got up and saw his Uncle Renji running towards them.

"Sora! Get your Aunt Yuzu to the closest division headquarters. The Taira clan have breached the walls of Seritae!"

Without even waiting for Yuzu to say anything, Sora grabbed her hand, and they made their way away from the park, but their path was soon blocked by a man in red attire, similar to what the Shinigami wore.

"Who the hell are you?" Sora demanded as he manoeuvred his body to stand protectively in front of his aunt.

"You can call me Hideyoshi," the man responded pleasantly, his hands on the hilt of his Zanpakuto that was still sheathed across his waist. "I have heard so much about you, Sora Kurosaki." His eyes drifted behind Sora, and he slowly drew his Zanpakuto from its scabbard. "Although, nothing much is known about you, Yuzu Kurosaki."

"Hey! Don't even look at her! I'm the one you want to fight with!" Sora snapped as he drew his own Zanpakuto from behind.

With a laugh, Hideyoshi charged, and the two fought, and Yuzu realized that Sora was moving the fight away from her.

"Mama!"

She swirled around and saw a young child who was running, a tattered doll in her hand as she ran around looking for her mother. Yuzu knew her nephew can take care of himself, the young girl on the other hand…

When the child stumbled, she quickly ran towards the girl and scooped her up in her arms. She had just begun running to the nearest building she could see when yet another figure blocked her path, also in a red uniform, who grabbed her arms and pulled her roughly towards him. She released the child in her arms who looked at the man in fear.

"Run!" Yuzu yelled.

The child just sniffled and ran away, and Yuzu's attention was brought back to the man who shook her.

"Where is Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"I don't know," she bit out.

"Liar!" His fist connected with her face, and she fell to the ground. She looked up at her attacker who pulled her up again. "You expect me to believe that your brother would not reveal his location to his family?"

"I don't know where he is," she repeated firmly as she tried to struggle from his grasp.

The man sneered and pressed his blade to her face. "Pity. I guess you'll be of no use to us then," he said and pressed his Zanpakuto deeper to her face, giving her a small cut across her cheek before dropping her to the ground. "Enjoy your last moments, Kurosaki."

Yuzu stood up and winced in pain as her hands traced the slash on her face. It wasn't too deep, but she would not be able to stop the flow of blood easily without a basic first aid kit. The sword that'd cut her had been razor sharp, after all. Before she could walk, another figure wearing red blocked her path. She looked up, and felt her heart stop as she realized who was standing in front of her.

"Mamoru?"

She remembered Sora's words not a half hour earlier, and her heart felt like it was about to break as she stared into his eyes. She tried to move away from him, but he was too fast and he gently held her face as he examined the gash she'd received.

"Who did this to you?" he demanded. His voice still had that smooth and deep tone she had loved, but there was an underlying hardness that she had never heard before.

"I don't know," she responded, backing away from him slowly. "You! You're one of them!" She didn't want to believe it, but she wasn't the type of woman who could hold onto a lie or try to rationalize situations when the truth was right before her eyes. Mamoru Taira was a Shinigami, the one who's clan was out invading Soul Society and killing innocent people. He reached out to her, but she jerked back, intending to sprint to the left to try and evade him. Fuzziness filled her head, and she began to slide to the ground. She must have lost more blood that she realized, she thought, otherwise she wouldn't feel so faint. She didn't even have the strength to stop Mamoru from picking her up. Her arms and legs began to feel like a dead weight.

Mamoru carried her in his strong arms, arms she had loved to hold onto as they strolled through the park, and Yuzu could only close her eyes as she felt like they were flying. She could barely keep her eyes open as he gently laid her down on the grass. She looked at him, and there was something about the way that he looked at her that made her feel afraid for the first time since she'd met him. And there was a sick feeling of doubt pooling in her gut, that perhaps her feelings were not really reciprocated as she had once thought them to be.

"Was that why you kept coming to the park? For my brother, Ichigo? Because I'm a Kurosaki?"

"Yes."

That one little word broke her heart even more, and she started to cry. She looked away from him, not wanting him to see her misery, and she tried to wriggle from his grasp, but he wouldn't let her. All those times—the way he looked at her, held her, kissed her—it was all a lie. That hurt her more badly than knowing their families were at war with one another.

Her body felt almost completely numb, and she swallowed her pride to ask him, "What's happening…?" She couldn't even finish the words. She'd only received a small gash on her face. Surely a wound that small and shallow could not be lethal. But she could feel a strange sensation creeping over her body, and she could only look at Mamoru with despair and fear as he brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. Perhaps the tip of the blade had been poisoned? She'd read mangas where the samurai had poisoned-tipped swords.

"I am sorry, Yuzu," he whispered in her ears. He leaned down to lips press gently to her lips, and she could feel the rhythm of his heart against her chest.

She looked at the eyes of the man she had fallen in love with, and never saw or felt the pain when he plunged his Zanpakuto in her chest. She only saw the blade as he withdrew it from her body, and she saw the stark regret in his eyes. She just knew in hear heart he wasn't trying to kill her faster—it felt like he was putting her down to ease her pain, as they sometimes had to do at the veterinarian clinic to old and sick animals. His face remained grim and stoic, and looked borderline ashen. It gave her the courage to ask the question that had been plaguing the forefront of her mind since she found out the reason he kept on meeting her in the park. Perhaps she was being hasty in thinking he hadn't really cared for her... With nothing left to lose, she found her voice.

"Did you even…really love me?" she whispered.

He did not speak, but he nodded his head, and Yuzu felt a flood of relief. Their time together hadn't been all a lie. She smiled weakly as he held her tighter, his hands cradled her face again as her vision began to blur. It might have been foolish to believe him after everything, but as she felt him hold her hand and kiss her palms, she knew that he had told her the truth.

She felt Sora on a spiritual level even before she heard him scream in rage.

"Don't hurt Sora-chan, ne?" she breathed, barely able to get the words out. He nodded wordlessly again, and the last thing Yuzu Kurosaki saw before she died were the eyes of the man she loved.

-0-0

End Chapter

Anna: Thank you! More Orihime soon!
Ichihime supporter: Thanks :) glad I can do something positive for you, and more IchiHime later.
Xtremefairy: Karin was a little harsh, but they will be fine soon!
Magdalena88: Yep... in due time! Sora's going to know a little bit more.
Ermilus: Thank you!
nypsy: Momo will be in and out of chapters! Thanks for liking what I did with her character! I couldn't resist adding Hisagi to the mix!

And again, thank you all for reading and reviewing! Please continue in doing so! Your reviews make my day too!