I forgot to disclaimers on my other chapters and so now I am going to do them for this chapter and all following chapters: I don't own bleach or any of the characters in this story other than Kana but I don't mind if other people use her in their stories…..after all, copying is the sincerest form of flattery. ;-)

Chapter 6

Kana was settling into her new post in squad 13 well. She was named 4th seat, becoming the 4th strongest fighter in the squad. This was unusual but no unheard of for those who had high spiritual pressure. Kana was not experienced as a fighter other than in training but her immense spiritual pressure had so dominated the former 4th seat that he had yielded to her without much of a fight, suspecting he would have his seat back soon as Kana was promoted to Lieutenant. Everyone in the squad seemed to expect Kana to become the new Lieutenant soon, everyone except Kana. She was hoping to someday fill that empty seat but was not expecting it. So while she knew she was treated with respect, she did not act superior to the others just because she was stronger. She treated everyone as an equal and sometimes even as more than her equal because of their greater experience. She listened when people talked and tried to follow most advice when it was given. This endeared her to her new squad and most liked her. The two third seats, Kiyone and Sentaro, soon took her under their wing (at least as best as they could) and taught her what they knew about their captain. They liked her and helped to show Kana the ropes. Kana soon gained enough real fighting experience to be a serious opponent and started sparring with not only members of her squad but high ranking officers from other squads as well.

Kempachi Zaraki watched Kana fight with the fourth seat from squad 8 one day and though "it's almost time". He wanted to spar with this girl but wanted to make sure she had gained enough experience to make the fight fun. It was not worth going through all the trouble of challenging her if the fight did not last long enough to be worth it. But it looked like she was quickly progressing and it would not be long before he would challenge her. He frowned slightly as Kana executed a swift twirl to add momentum to the swing of her blade and brought it crashing into the right side of her opponent. As she turned, her braid swing and the sun glinted off her jet black hair. For an instant, Kempachi could have sworn he was watching a younger version of Retsu Unohana. It was a little unnerving just how much this girl resembled her, even in her movements and facial expression. Kempachi just shrugged to himself. It was of no concern how the girl looked, only how she could fight and based on what he was seeing now, he was going to have a good time.

Kana knew that Captain Zaraki was watching her. It added force to her swings and filled her with anticipation. She knew that he had wanted her in his squad and was just waiting till she had enough real fighting experience to challenge her. She could not wait. Kana knew that she was a little different than the peace loving squad 13, and it was soon becoming obvious to other people as well. If it had not been the head captain himself that had assigned her to squad 13 and that empty lieutenants seat, Kana would have considered apply for a transfer. But she knew she was as good as married to the 13th squad unless the head captain said otherwise. But in the end, Kana was fine with that. Every time she thought about it, she ended up imagining herself wearing the lieutenant's badge of the 13th squad and her toes curled in excitement. She swung her sword one more time and knocked her opponent to the ground and held the tip of her sword to his throat till he yielded.

When Kana was done training with her zampakuto for the day she settled it at her hip and headed towards the office. She had a little paper work to finish filling out before she went out drinking that night. And with Rangiku coming along it was looking like a fun time. But the last thing Kana wanted to face in the morning was trying to fill out paper work with a hangover. Man, this was the part of the job that she hated. But it could not be helped so she settled in to get it over with.

Retsu Unohana was just finishing up her rounds at the hospital ward that was in the middle of her squad's grounds. She had just finished putting the final touches on the chart of a patient when she decided to forgo the rest of the mountain of paper work waiting for her in her office and instead head home to her place and have a cup of relaxing tea and read a good book. It had been a while since she had treated herself to a night of relaxation and tonight she was going to make up for that. She walked in the door of her apartment and immediately hung up her captain's haori on the hook by the door. After changing into more comfortable cloths she heated water for her tea. When it was ready she poured herself a cup and walked over to her book self to select a book. She decided to indulge herself in a sappy romance novel and curled up on her couch to read it. She was about halfway through it when the soft crackling of the fire and the soothing tea lulled her into a peaceful sleep. Unfortunately the peace did not last long and she found herself dragged into an all to real and familiar nightmare.

The night was cool. Retsu lay in her bead enjoying the breeze coming through the open window, rufling the curtains of the cottage she had rented in a town along the coast of the United States know as Cape Hatteras. She smiled at her baby girl that was sleeping in a low bed next to her own. She had just started to learn to run today. Retsu knew her time with her daughter was running out. In just under two weeks she would have to return to the soul society and hand over the child to another family to be raised. While she knew the noble family that would be taking in her daughter, having chosen them from all of the nobility herself along with the head captain, she was still reluctant to part with her green eyed child. She knew she had been lucky to have this much time with her daughter. She had used some of her built up leave time to extend her sabbatical in the world of the living and since she had not taken a vacation in almost a century, no one had asked to many questions. But the head captain was getting impatient. Isane was doing an okay job running everything back in the soul society and holding the squad together but there were duties that Isane could not handle and Retsu needed to do them herself.

Retsu sighed as she gazed at the little girl that already had her long black hair and Jushiro's green eyes. She had pale skin just like her parents and her intelligence was already being displayed as she grew and learned things much quicker than other children her age. Retsu saw both of the girl's parents in her daughter in equal parts. Who knew what this girl would grow up to be? Retsu hoped that someday she would join the 13 court guard squads. This was a strong possibility seeing how strong the child was and how much potential she had.

The cool night breeze suddenly turned hot. What was that smell? Smoke? Retsu's eyes suddenly filled with fear and she lept up from the bed and reached for her sleeping daughter. Just as Retsu's hands were about to close on the child's arm the wall in front of her exploded. Dust filled the room and since Retsu was in her gigai, she could not use flash step to avoid the ruble that fell on top of her. The next hour seemed to be a blur. She remembered people filling the room and arms pulling at her and the area of the wreckage that was where her daughter usually slept. But since her daughter did not sleep in a gigai, the human should not be able to see the child. Retsu finally managed to get free of her gigai and returned to the site only to find any empty bedroom. No matter how she searched, both with her sight and other senses, she could not find her daughter.

She wandered around the town in a daze calling out her daughter's name. Eventually the head captain himself had to come to the world of the living along with Kempachi Zaraki to drag her back to the soul society before she could do any more damage to the world of the living with her out of control spiritual pressure. She was confined to her room and until she returned to herself only Isane and the head captain were allowed to see her. They eventually got her to eat and drink and after a week or so, Retsu finally recovered enough to return to her duties. While she appeared normal on the outside, it took much longer to heal the pain on the inside.

Retsu awoke screaming her daughter's name. Isane rushed in and helped Retsu calm down. Isane held Retsu until she stopped sobbing and then heated up some tea. It was a familiar routine, though it had been happening less frequently of late (something that Isane was glad of since she was able to get more sleep). When the tea was ready Isane poured some in a cup and handed it to Retsu and left the room. Retsu sighed. Isane was such a good and loyal lieutenant and Retsu hated that her nightmares always woke up Isane and disrupted her sleep. But Retsu was glad she had Isane. Retsu did not know what she would have done if she had been forced to face the nightmares alone. Retsu decided that just sitting around was not going to solve anything so she got out of bed and walked over to a desk by the fire and lost herself in some paper work.

I hope you like this. I am about to go on a vacation and I have kind of hit a writers block with this story. I know where I want it to go, I am just not sure how to get there. Suggestions for the upcoming chapters are always appreciated. And I am willing to try to get more into the romance between Retsu and Jushiro more if that is what you guys want. Please review!