And again I thank everyone for sticking with me! I know the final chapters were kind of short, but I did the best I could for sucking at fight scenes. I hope all my time researching Uryu helped with the final battle. Like I spent two days on that crap. I know if you ask its not a compliment, but can I have a compliment? Just kidding. This is the promised epilogue. I hope someone leaves me a review to tell me what they thought of the story overall. Be prepared this epilogue is really long. I hope you have a good minute to read it thoroughly so you don't miss any of the fluffy goodness.
Epilogue
Squad 4 was busier than ever. Absolutely ever. Every battle they had ever participated in, was nothing compared to this. At least from the hospital stand point. Most of the time in major battles there were mostly deaths. This time the majority of those involved, were injury. Every room contained several injured people. There were even beds lining the hallways, containing the less injured. And there was a fair amount of tension in the building. Because Kenpachi had been admitted, Yachiru was hanging around the hospital. And while she was just the same cheerful Yachiru she'd always appeared to be, a lot of the more serious injuries were tiger clawings. Not a single surviving Soul Reaper would ever doubt Yachiru's compatibility as the Lieutenant of 11th.
Unohana checked over the notes. After the death of Kurotsuchi, Ichigo's friend Chad had apparently hunted down the scattered scientists using equipment to control the infected. Using what was reported as silent intimidation, he frightened the scientists into turning off the equipment and releasing everyone from their battle frenzy. At that point, every able bodied Squad 4 member rushed to bring back the wounded. Unohana closed the compounded battle report and headed for her office. It had been turned into a temporary room. For just the one very special patient. She slid the door closed behind her and her eyes raised to meet the forever grumpy Kenpachi's. "I still don't understand why you can't just send up that Orihime chick to heal me. It would take seconds. Then I could be out of here," he grumped. Unohana gave one of her creepy smiles.
"Because I can keep my eye on you here, and know you aren't out causing trouble with the people we've already healed. No, I'm going to keep you here, injured, until my staff have the number of injured down to an acceptable amount." she stated. Kenpachi glared at her, and watched as she dropped a thick file to her desk and sat down. He put his mind to work, trying to think of a reason to be released.
"I'm almost healed as it is, two more days and you'll have no reason to keep me here," he said triumphantly. Some pathetic little boy had told him two days earlier that morning. Hana-something. It didn't matter. Unohana looked up from whatever she working on.
"Who said you were going to stay healed?" she asked. Kenpachi took a moment to process. She didn't mean... "And yes, I do mean that I will cut you if you try to leave," she said giving another of the crazy smiles.
Soifon leaned back in her office chair. She cracked her knuckles and worked her shoulders to relieve tension. Then leaned back over her desk to work on more paperwork. A complete list of every loss her division suffered, including their files. It was standard procedure for any loss. The file would be completed with their death and a copy of the battle report, then taken away for filing. Although even as Captain of the stealth force, she had never seen where the files were taken. The door to her office opened. Even though she didn't plan to look, knew who was there, the smell of food caused her to raise her head. Grimmjow deposited the bag on his own desk, but pulled out a container and set it on a clear space on her desk. She glanced at the contents threw the clear lid. Dumplings and pork fried rice. Her eyes narrowed at him. "You know, I was taken by surprise when they told me that was what you always ordered. I figured it would be sushi or something to do with fish. You know, to be like Yoroichi." he snarked at her. She resisted the pull of her lips to smile, and pulled the meal closer to her. Grimmjow turned around and grabbed something else from the bag. A to-go cup. She grabbed for it gratefully, knowing it was probably her spiced tea that she ordered. One steaming sip later and it was confirmed. He leaned against the edge of her desk, even after she glared at him for it. "So are we going to talk about this Bee?" he asked, staring down from beside her. She continued to ignore him. Just like she had since her fever broke. She just didn't know what to say. They had both admitted to feelings after that fight, but at the same time, he was her Lieutenant. Not that that had ever mattered to Kyouraku, but it mattered to her. She needed the separation between her work life and her personal life. But she could admit to needing him on the same level.
"There's nothing to talk about. It can't happen. Ever," she told him. He rolled his eyes, spun her chair toward him and yanked her by the arm to him. His left arm grabbed her face and he leaned down to firmly kiss her. Her hands gripped his jacket. After a while, she pushed him away. "Animal," she muttered, dropping into her seat. Grimmjow smirked.
"If you think you are going to avoid this you are wrong Bee. And if you want it kept behind private doors, then you better just accept it. Because if you keep pushing me away, I'm going to pursue you publicly. And I know you don't want that." he said, pushing away from her desk, and heading towards the door.
"You'd keep this... private?" she questioned. She was surprised. If he had this life altering love of her, shouldn't he want to be open about it? Was he ashamed to feel for her?
"Of course... this is a superior and subordinate relationship. Not highly looked upon. And I'd sort of like to stay in this squad," he said with a lopsided grin. The corners of her mouth tugged in response. He made her want to smile. He understood her. In ways that no one else would. She stood, and followed his footsteps to the door of her office. She slid it closed, locking it. She turned, and gazed up into his eyes. His eyes reflected the fiery look in her own.
Tia knocked lightly on the door to Stark's office. She heard him bid her to enter, and she did so. She stood in front of his desk and he stood up to be at her level. Without a word spoken, they walked from the office together and into the garden. They sat together on the bench and she leaned her head against his shoulder. "You seem tired," she said softly. He scoffed. "I mean actually tired Coyote. Not just like you're being your usual lazy self." She picked her head up and punched him in the shoulder.
"Its tiring being a Captain," he replied. Tia nodded her agreement. "Its worrying watching Lilinette. She's not the same anymore. She's not... me anymore." Tia understood what he was saying.
"She's developing into her own being?" she affirmed. Stark nodded. "And what about you. Your resurrection. Is that going to be affected?" Stark's shoulders moved. Tia could tell it was really bothering him. "And what if you do separate. Wouldn't that be better? She could develop her own abilities and be able to protect herself. Its hard to feel a distance growing between you and someone you love, but I think this would probably be better. You won't have to worry about her so much," Tia told him, placing her hand on his shoulder. She returned to leaning against his shoulder, and his arm went around her shoulders.
Later, as she returned to her office, she found Toshiro waiting for her. His arms were crossed and he looked like he'd been waiting a while. She raised a blonde eyebrow, waiting for him to say what he wanted. "I attacked you. You were an ally. And while I don't forgive you for injuring Momo, I figure you and I are even for the whole battle of Karakura thing. I will stop looking at you like you're an enemy. But just know, that if you ever harm Momo again, no matter the circumstances, I will kill you." he told her. She knew this was as close as they would come to a truce. She nodded her head, and he left her office.
His office was quiet and empty. It was peaceful. The reason was irritating, but he took the opportunity to appreciate the peace. It wasn't often he had the time alone. After a few good minutes of silence, his office door slid open, and his Lieutenant and little sister entered the room. Rukia was carrying a basket of food from the manor and Renji was drinking something from a disposable cup. Renji dropped into his chair and scooted forward noisily. He leaned forward and his pen began to scrape across the papers. He tapped it a few times against the wood. Then sipped loudly from his cup. Rukia had sat on the little couch in the room, waiting for Byakuya to pick whatever he wanted from the basket. After a few seconds of watching her sneak glances at his Lieutenant, he grabbed for the package of rice cakes, and waved at his sister. She grabbed the basket. At the doorway, his sister and Lieutenant shared a longing glance at each other. Then she left. After a moment, he looked at his Lieutenant. "You... have as much of a blessing as you will ever receive from me as the head of the Kuchiki clan," he stated after a moment. He returned to his work, trying to ignore the dumbfounded look on his stupid noisy Lieutenant's face. Eventually without saying anything, Renji went back to noisily doing his paperwork.
Kyouraku was napping on a rooftop. Well, pretending to nap would be more acurate. He had his straw hat over his face, and was just thinking about the fact that they had made it through yet another crisis. He heard Nanao approach him, knowing the sound of her steps. She sat down beside him quietly. "Granz finished whatever it was he was working on to safely remove the lesions," she informed him. Of course she knew the difference between when he was napping and pretending. He reached a hand out and placed it on her knee. She leaned her chin down to rest on his hand.
"Hey Nanao, how about we get married?" he suggested. He never moved the hat from his face. He didn't want to see her reaction if it was negative. He closed his eyes, waiting for her scornful refusal. It had happened before.
"I suppose," she replied after a pause. Then added, "whenever you get off your ass and act like a Captain again." Kyouraku frowned under his hat. So that was it. He sat up and his hat fell to his lap.
"Its a deal then Nanao. I'll be a Captain again, and you will be my wife/Lieutenant." She scoffed at him. As if she didn't believe he'd take back over from her. But she was wrong. He wanted to get back to actually leading his team again. He had a few other ideas working in his head, that he would need to work through, but at least he'd negotiated a deal with his woman. Even if she didn't believe it.
She paused outside the door to his room, her hand in a fist poised to knock. She took a deep breath, then just walked in. Shuuhei glanced up from his desk and a smile slid across his features. He greeted her and she breathed a sigh of relief. She stepped closer to him, and sat at the edge of his desk. "How is it?" she asked quietly. He paused a moment. Her eyes traveled to his right arm, wrapped in bandages. He shrugged his right shoulder, shifting the arm.
"It hurts," he said softly. She nodded closing her eyes. He must have noticed her expression, because he reached up and grabbed her elbow with his left hand. "You did what you needed to do," he told her. She heard his chair roll back, and he tugged her elbow til she was sitting in his lap. He kissed her softly, but as she pulled away she stared at the other reminder. A new scar over his face. Diagonally from just under the 69 to a few inches below his ear. She sighed, standing up. He caught her wrist, refusing to let her leave. "You don't have to feel guilty about hurting me to protect yourself." he told her. Her head drooped to her chest. She thought about how he'd escaped and she'd attempted to merely cero his Zanpakuto to get it out of his hands. Instead she'd blasted his whole sword arm. But he'd kept coming after her. And then he'd pinned her, one hand around her throat the other holding her wrists. She'd done the only thing she could think to do. She'd meant to headbutt him, but he'd moved his head away, and she'd given him a deep cut from her horn instead. That was the worst part. Her mask had hurt him. Something that she couldn't really change. Couldn't fix.
Another tug at her wrist and she was back close to him, and he was standing, hugging her. Tears tracked down her face. The guilt was eating her. But he'd told her she didn't have any reason to be guilty. She was confused, but she knew that strangely she still had him.
Szayel shifted his shoulders. The haori didn't fit in well with his sense of style, but he'd been informed it wasn't optional. And neither was his new position. He handed the stack of trays in his hands to Nemu, who seemed pretty subdued. He hadn't quite gotten used to the fact that she was there at his elbow at every moment. But he was sure she wasn't used to him being in her father's place. He watched as she carried the trays out the door. He'd been going threw the files on Mayuri's experiments. He had to admit, he was very sadistic for a hybrid, but some of the things he'd done to his daughter. And daughter was only a technical term. Simply because she had his DNA. She was just another experiment to him. One that he'd continually tortured. On a daily basis.
Szayel's gaze fell once again to the haori he was wearing. He wasn't sure if he was proud to be the 3rd head of Research and Development, or if he was disgusted. Either way, it was his job now, and he would do it with style.
Nemu carried the trays outside to the waiting coolers. Once inside, the Squad 4 member would take the cooler to their division, where the serum would be given to those that had been infected. It was brilliant really. After only an hour of examining the corpse of one of the infected who'd died with the lesion active and brain intact, Szayel had come up with a serum that would eat away at just the lesion, then dissipate from the body. He really was quite the scientist. She turned to go back into the lab, but she saw Uryu leaning against the side of the building. She approached him slowly. She wasn't sure about the fluttering in her stomach, but she knew she actually enjoyed being in the Quincy's presence. And that she would help kill her father to protect him. She just couldn't understand why he'd stuck around. "Is there something you need Uryu-san?" she asked, her head down. She didn't want him to see that her face was starting to turn pink.
"I'm about to leave," he told her. He watched as she avoided meeting his eyes. Did she hate him now, for killing her father? He didn't want to think about why that thought turned his stomach. "I just thought I would see how you were doing before I left," he added. He didn't know why it mattered, he's a Quincy and she's a Shinigami.
"I'm well," she stated. It was a strange question, as she was obviously uninjured. She thought on it for a minute more. "I'm adjusting," she added. She glanced up and met his eyes. She'd realized then, that he'd been asking about her mental state. He nodded. He didn't seem like he had anything else to say. But he wasn't leaving either.
"If... if you need to get away from the constant reminder, I'm sure you know my address." he told her. Again, she had to think about his reasoning behind it. She knew she was emotionally stunted, being the product of a gigai and an artificial soul. But it sounded... like he was inviting her to stay with him. She nodded her head, smiling at him, and she felt the pink creep across her features again. She hurried away.
The Las Noches group had made the cafeteria, the only standing building, where they stayed during their time back in the Seireitei. Nnoitra watched Nel walk into the room. He thought back to their time in that training room. She'd definitely responded to him. He wasn't the only one. And during the fight outside this building, his gut had dropped when he watched her get stabbed through her stomach. She was fine now of course, thanks to Orihime, but at that moment, he'd thought she was going to die. And the thought sucked. Not that he would ever admit to that. Her eyes met his. They shared a look... that burned. "We've been given the approval to return to Las Noches. Temporarily. We may all get called back for a time once they have had time to recoup and decide on the next plan of action." she told him. He pushed off of the wall he'd been leaning against and thrust out a hand. A garganta tore through the space and the Las Noches group filed through. Once on the other side, he met Nel's eyes again. Las Noches... to them, it meant privacy. They disappeared with a buzz.
Ulquiorra pulled Orihime from the beds she'd been standing over. "It's time to stop woman," he said. She turned to face him, a pout forming on her face. "You're out of energy." he tried again. He watched as an idea formed. She put her hands behind her back and she beamed at him. He was wary of the look, knew she would attempt to manipulate him.
"You could lend me some?" she said. Her eyes begged him to agree. His chest tugged. It was curious, the way the woman made him feel. He took her shoulder and gently steered her out of the hospital. He nodded at the Captain of the division as he passed, and she nodded back. Orihime was full on pouting as the exited the building.
"Absolutely not woman. I will not give you my energy for you to use withing minutes. No one is dying in there, and you need your rest. We were cleared to go home yesterday but you wished to remain and be helpful. I've allowed that for now, but if you continue to exhaust yourself this way, I will take you home without your permission," he told her. Her mouth fell open, and she followed him without a fuss. He took her to the room she'd been lent in the barracks of the division, and made sure she was going to go to sleep, before exiting the room. He leaned against the wall opposite her door, and waited. After about ten minutes, the door opened and Orihime froze. He raised an eye at her. He'd known she'd try to sneak ok.
"I... I was just going to thank you for telling me to go to bed. I know I need it!" she exclaimed loudly. He stood up, hands in his pocket and crossed the distance between them. She backed away quickly, and he entered the room, kicking the door shut. He sat down on the small couch. "Y-you're not staying are you?!" She stuttered, going pink in the face. Wordlessly he met her gaze. "I can't sleep with you watching!"He continued to watch her impatiently. Finally he seemed to cave. He stood up and approached her.
"I've been thinking," he murmured. "About what you did before I sent you back into that mess hall." The pink on her face darkened to a red color. "That's the thing humans do... when they care about each other? When they... share a heart?" he questioned her. Mortified, Orihime slowly nodded. She hadn't thought then, just acted. Ulquiorra's pale hand reached up, and his fingers brushed against her cheek. He leaned forward, and pressed his lips against hers. Orihime melted against him. His other arm wrapped around her back and held her to him. When he pulled away, his green eyes gazed into her own. "Go to bed, now, Orihime," he told her, leaving the room.
Kyouraku stood before Yamamoto in his office. He'd just pitched what seemed, even to him, like a crazy idea. Yamamoto seemed to be thinking it over. "Again," he said. Kyouraku took a breath.
"A crisis team. A group of people with different abilities that train in particular to respond immediately to whatever happenes next. People who are studied up on the history of the Seireitei and can be prepared for anything. Something to give us an edge. Because we aren't going to stay at peace for long. We never do. And it needs to be secret. Because if this last crisis showed us anything, its that sometimes the threat is in our own house. And they don't need to be targeted." Kyouraku finished. Yamamoto nodded.
"Alright. Who do you have in mind?"
Ok! That was your epilogue! All the little loose ends were tied up. But wait you say, what about that ending? That, my loves, is for the off chance that I decide to return to Bleach fiction. I have said it before but I have a Bleach story that I've already hand written that I will start posting soon. After that its on to other things. But if some major inspiration hits and I can't stay away, I've left myself a good opening to start a sequel with. If you don't want to think about there possibly being a sequel down the road and you thought this story was horrible (but stuck with it) then just ignore the last chapter and be glad its over. And just so you know, to those who follow me personally, when I post a story titled Twisting Reality, it IS NOT the sequel lol. But give it a go anyways. Thanks again!