Author's note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is AU and set in the same universe as Tales of the Kingdom.
Twilight
Rangiku hid a smile as Nanao easily made small talk with Dr. Kurosaki. The princess had taken to her lessons very well. She really was a sweet girl, but very few people saw past the mask of the shy, intellectual that she wore. Nanao was also incredibly sharp. It had taken her very little time to see the value in what Rangiku had proposed to teach her. And she was all for deceiving those around her. Nanao trusted nearly no one as far as Rangiku could tell. Rangiku counted herself to be among the lucky few. She was definitely one of the few people that Nanao trusted that princess actually had access to. With her champion shipped off to foreign lands and the Shinigami Knights forbidden from the palace grounds, the girl was mostly without allies.
The geisha found she liked the princess far more than she had expected to, and the girl was going to be a very good queen if she survived this. And the girl's bond with her champion reminded Rangiku very much of her relationship with Gin. There were differences of course, but there were also similarities. Rangiku wondered if Nanao realized that she was already half in love with her champion. The older woman didn't know if that was a relationship that would work out, but the girl deserved to have someone who loved her in her life. However, none of this was important right this minute.
Once the appointment had ended, the two women headed back to the okiya. Rangiku watched her young charge closely. In the last year or so, Nanao clearly established herself as a young woman, not a girl. Rangiku had no doubt that by her next birthday the subject of marriage would begin to come up. Rangiku also had no doubt that Nanao wasn't about to let any one make the decision of who her husband would be for her. In fact, Rangiku was planning on working with Nanao on some strategies to manage that. Rangiku was convinced that if they wanted the kingdom to actually be livable for the ordinary person, they needed Nanao on the throne.
Things here in the capitol were fine for now, but the rest of the country was in trouble. And thanks to Gin, Rangiku had a pretty good idea of who was behind most of it. Rangiku wasn't sure what Aizen was trying to accomplish, but thankfully, figuring that out wasn't her problem. No, she just was responsible for making sure that the heir to the kingdom did turn into a useless ornament or someone's puppet, and that was work enough for her.