So, the cover picture I chose was something very cute and I adore it. It was hard for me to find an IchiRuki kid picture. But I finally found one! A few, actually. But this was the only one that fit my character and story (kind of). I know I didn't give a physical description of Nanami in the first chapter, but there will be for this one.

…But more than likely the next one…

Anyway… I will be posting the reviewers who commented on the previous chapter, as a thanks for reading. And I will be doing this for every chapter. Here they are:

zitag

SailorIchiruki (Guest)

Darkest Kurogetsu

hunter of comedy

Blissbeat (Guest)

Kaneko Aikawa

ilovebks

Thank you for the support! Keep it up! Now here's the next chapter!

Chapter Two: They Are Your Parents, You Have To Go

It had to have been a few hours until I woke from my sleepy state. I was dazed and disoriented, but I also didn't know where I was at first. This wasn't my room, and this wasn't my bed. I sat up quickly and looked around. Relief flooded over me when I realized that I was in Hisana's room. Sleeping in her bed. And she wasn't nowhere to be found.

I threw the covers back and stood, giving the room a quick sweep for anything unusual.

"Aunt Hisana?" I called, half expecting someone to answer. "Aunt Hisana!" No one did.

Quickly, I ran to the door, threw it open and peered outside. There was no one there either. It was early evening and the sun was just starting to set. The servants were likely tending to their duties inside the house. But where was Aunt Hisana?

"Aunt Hisana! Where are you?"

"Here, Nanami," I heard her call, her voice sounding faint, but I knew where it was coming from: the front gates.

I ran along the house, cutting a few corners and very nearly dodging a wind-chime. Fearing the worst, I had my hand on my Zanpakuto, ready to jump into anything. When I got there, I skidded to a halt.

"Aunt Hisana, are you-?" I couldn't get the rest of the sentence past my lips, because I was too shocked by the sight of my aunt and uncle standing in the middle of the yard with Renji Abarai.

Aunt Hisana smiled warmly, but it faltered slightly. "Nanami, sweetheart, you're finally up. Good."

I withdrew my hand from my sword and let it fall limp at my side. I looked at her, completely confused.

"What…What's going on here?" I asked, feeling as though I had missed something very important.

Uncle Renji stepped forward. "Hey, uh…Nanami. I'm sorry it had to be like this, but now that you know what you know, you have to go."

I gulped. That sounded an awful like what they tell people who have commited serious crimes before they kill them off. What was he talking about? Was he…? They wouldn't kill me…in front of Hisana…would they?

"W-What are you talking about? What do I know?"

It was Hisana who answered me. "We know that you were awake earlier, Nanami. We didn't realize it until the end when your body started trembling against mine." She held her hand over her heart. "I'm so sorry you had to find out that way, child, but you have to go now. The Head Captain will try to eraser your memory again, and if he does than I fear we will lose a part of you."

I shook my head, trying to take all of this in. "So…wait. You're telling me that all of that stuff from earlier… It wasn't a dream like I was hoping?"

She shook her head. "I wish you could have heard it from us properly, but there's no going back now."

"What do you mean? Why can't I stay here? Are you really sending me away because I know the truth… That my parents are alive?"

She looked up at Uncle Byakuya, who did and said nothing.

"If you stay here and the Head Captain finds out that you know a hint of the truth than he will have your memory wiped. He's done it a few times before, and each time you came back…different. When we took Ichigo and Rukia from your memory, we lost a little bit of your soul." She shook her head, her eyes watering. "I'm so sorry, Nanami, but it would end like this weather we had told you directly or not."

Those names; I remember them from earlier. "Ichigo… Rukia…" The names felt foreign on my lips, but the sound of them brought warmth to my body that I couldn't explain. It was almost like I had been waiting all my life to hear those names.

She nodded. "Rukia…is my sister. Ichigo is her husband. They are your parents."

Well, I guess that's the answer I had been expecting. But hearing it directly was a little more of an impact.

Uncle Renji spoke up. "We have to do this now. If we don't they'll be on us before she makes it through the gate."

"Wait! I can't leave now! I just graduated the academy. I was assigned to your squad." I flicked my eyes to my father figure. "I have to stay here and fulfill my duty. I…I wanted to be a Soul Reaper… Just…Just like my parents. But more importantly I wanted to stay here and protect you, Aunt Hisana!" By the end of my speech I was in tears. It wasn't fair. I didn't want to go. I couldn't leave her hear with no defense.

For the first time in a long time, Uncle Byakuya spoke. "Stop acting foolishly, Nanami." He spoke as if he was scolding a child, and I winced when I realized that I was acting like a baby. "You will do well to remember that Hisana is my wife, and I have been protecting her and you for a very long time. I did it before you were here. I did it with you here. And I can do it without you now."

He words were true, but they still hurt. He was pretty much telling me that I wasn't needed here and to get lost. I knew that if I didn't go willingly he would push me off his property anyway.

I took a deep breath, putting an extra-hard shell on my powers and steeling my control. "Where will I go? Where could I live without them finding me?"

The lieutenant of Squad Five stepped close enough to wrap me in a hug. It was so unexpected that I didn't know what to do at first, but eventually remember how to move and hugged him back. He was like an Uncle to me, too, and occasionally I still addressed him as much. He was the one that taught me to fight – as did Uncle Byakuya – and I will always remember him and the fun we had when I was a child.

"You really didn't think we were just kicking you out without making sure that your trip was a safe one, did you?" He laughed to himself, but I didn't see what was so funny about any of this. "You little brat. You should know by now that we were asked to take care of you, and that is exactly what we are going to do."

'Little brat' was something he began calling me when I started becoming a challenge for him in our sparing practices. He was in on the secret and I never knew, but I guess that would make sense. I'm sure they knew he'd be spending a lot of time with me and didn't want him to spill any information. Always cover your bases.

I pulled away, confused. (Not that I wasn't confused by this whole thing in the first place, because I was.)

"So…you'll come with me?" I asked, hopeful.

My hope vanished when he didn't smile. "No, I can't. And as much as I'd like to personally 'greet' Ichigo, I have to stay here. But we are going to make your trip an easy one."

"I know you're confused, Nanami," Aunt Hisana said over Abarai's shoulder, "but you have to trust us. We wouldn't let anything happen to you."

I smiled almost immediately. "Of course I trust you. All of you." My smile faltered. "I just wish I could have had a better good-bye."

Uncle Renji ruffled the top of my head, and I knew for sure that some strands were pointing every-which-way. "This isn't a good-bye; you'll see us again, little brat, don't you worry. I'll be popping in to make sure Ichigo hasn't screwed up like he's done in the past."

I scowled at him and pattered down my hair. "Can I at least know here I'm going?"

Just as I finished the sentence, a gate to the human world appeared behind them, and it seemed as though Uncle Byakuya was the open who opened it. We all turned to face the gate. Slowly, my feet started moving on their own, as if I were being drawn in. What is this connection I feel? Why did I suddenly want to leave this place and go to the human world so badly?

"Beyond there you will appear in Karakura town where Ichigo and Rukia resign," Uncle Byakuya explained. "You have an exceptional skill in sensing spirit energy; I know you will find your way."

When I could finally peel my eyes from the portal that connected the two worlds, I turned to Hisana. She smiled sadly and opened her arms for me. I gladly fell into them, relishing in the last of her warm hugs for a while. I was going to miss her, and I will never forget what she and everyone else has done for me here.

"I love you, Nanami," she said to me softly. "Never forget that you have family here. When things settle down we will send a message, and you can see us again."

I nodded into her shoulder, trying to hide my tears. "I love you, too, Aunt Hisana."

She squeezed me as tight as her frail arms could, but I didn't dare squeeze back. Then she held me out at arms-length and we studied the tears rolling down each other's faces. Grief struck me when I realized that I couldn't protect her like I wanted, but Uncle Byakuya was right: he was here, and he always will be. Not being able to take the pain of leaving her and everything behind, I turned from her and took a step toward the gate. But I didn't get very far. In fact, I ran into something – or rather, someone.

I looked up and found that Captain Kuchiki stood before me. I expect his face to be as blank as it always was, but it wasn't. His steeled emotions melted just a little for me, and he smiled. He actually smiled.

"We will miss you, Nanami. Remember your training and it will take you far. Ichigo was never very good at controlling his spiritual pressure, so he shouldn't be too hard to find. Take care of yourself. And tell Ichigo that he had better take care of you, or he'll feel the wrath of my Senbonzakura." Normally I would have laughed at something like that, but I feared that it might actually happen.

I knew that he would never say it aloud, but he as saying in his own way that he loved me like a daughter. And I was perfectly okay with that.

It was such a rare opportunity, and he was showing such kindness in his face, I couldn't resist. I threw my arms around him, hugging him as tight as I could, because in truth I haven't hugged him in so many years. I buried my face in his captain's uniform, letting a few stray tears fall. "Thank you, Byakuya Kuchiki. I will remember everything you've taught me. And…I love you too."

He squeezed me tight once and then pulled away, all of us facing the gate. "You must go now, Nanami. Before the gate closes and we lose our only chance to get you out of here."

I nodded, not really sure what else to say. I wanted to know why they wanted me out of here so back and so quickly. I wanted to know what would happen when the Head Captain found out I up and disappeared. But I knew we didn't have time for those questions, and I could only pray that everything worked out okay.

A Hell Butterfly appeared through the gate, awaking my entrance. I took steady even steps to the gate. The Hell butterfly fluttered around me as if preforming some kind of dance. When I was nearly through, I turned to look at them one last time. Aunt Hisana leaned heavily on her husband, a hand over her heart as if it ached. Uncle Byakuya held his wife close with one arm, his face showing nothing once again. Uncle Renji stood closer to the gate, smiling sadly.

"When you see Ichigo Kurosaki, tell him that he better take good care of you. And make sure he knows that I'll be coming after him if he doesn't." He nodded to the gate. "Now go, Nanami, and remember that you will see us again soon."

Without any regret, I turned from them and took that last step through the gate. Behind me the doors closed, sealing off any last minute good byes. When the doors opened again in front of me, it was as if barely a second had passed. In the blink of an eye I was facing the world of the living – it was night time just like in Soul Society.

Slowly, hesitantly, I took my steps out of the gate. The Hell Butterfly followed me only a few feet past the gates, and then returned to the portal that connected the two worlds.

As I stood there looking upon – what did he say it was called? Karakura town? I realized that I was going to be living a completely different life here. I would have to blend in and become a regular girl. I sighed heavily, my mind still on the ones I left behind in Soul Society. But I couldn't dwell on the past. I had a mission: Find Ichigo Kurosaki.

I hope you all enjoyed! It's turning out pretty much like how I wanted to so I hope you are into it as much as I am. (:

Any questions, comments, or concerns? You know how to reach me.

Thanks For Reading!

-Aly