Okay, for purposes of staying away from doing POVs other than Nanami's I'm going to make any chapter not centered around her in 3rd person. Just so everyone isn't confused.

Those who reviewed for Chapter 5:

Kaneko Aikawa

animelove22

Lilith Jae

BleachxFairyTail9121

Elfen Children

There weren't many reviews this time around, but that's because I updated so quickly. Haha! Either way, I appreciate the support and love reading what you guys have to say.

To Lilith Jae: You are a LIFE SAVER! I completely forgot the promise I made about clearing things up in the fifth chapter! I had lost all that along with my old flash drive and couldn't remember where I was going with what I had so I rewrote it. And Nanami's 'Vizard Training' explanation comes in this chapter, so that should help clear things up, too.

Wow. It don't think I've ever written a chapter this long before. Ever. It's from the inspiration you guys give in your reviews and followings. Without your support, this story would have died off and never came back a long time ago. Thank you so much for sticking with me and being patient. This extra long chapter is my thank you. (:

Here we go!

Chapter Six: A friend, And Then There's the Family

Ichigo slammed the man against the wall, nearly knocking over the table leaning against it.

"What do you mean she's unconscious?!" the father roared. "What did you do, Urahara? Tell me!"

Kisuke didn't even flinch. Ichigo was a man of strength and courage. He'd been through Hell and back quite a few times—he'd even survived a few un-announced trips to Soul Society and made it back with only a few scratches. But his control over his rage, as well as thinking before he takes action, was never his strong suite. Kisuke expected this. He remained calm and let Ichigo work through it in his head.

"Ichigo…" Rukia's voice was only a whisper to Ichigo's ears. But she wasn't one to be ignored. She grabbed him by the arm that held Kisuke Urahara against the wall. "Ichigo, stop. You're being unreasonable."

He turned his harsh gaze on his wife. "'Unreasonable'?! Rukia did you hear what he said?"

She nodded. "Yes, I did. And If your memory would for once serve you well, I went through the same process when I got this body." She squeezed his arm, a reminder of how short her own temper could be. "Remember?"

Ichigo thought for a moment, and slowly his hand on Urahara loosened and eventually slipped to his side. "Oh…that's right," he said in a small voice. He looked up at the blond haired man. "Sorry, Urahara. I guess something in me just…snapped."

In truth, Ichigo wasn't why he had over reacted to suddenly. Of course he remembered that Rukia went through the same thing all those years ago, but something about hearing that his daughter was out cold made his blood boil. The protective side of him burst out all at once, like water breaking through a dam.

Kisuke smiled, but there was an evil fade behind his eyes. "It's alright, Ichigo. I knew you'd be upset with me, so I could only expect that something like this would happen. That's why I got Rukia to agree to pay for any damages done to my home in exchange for your possible outrage." He rubbed the back of his head. "In fact, I think I have a headache. I won't be able to do my chores for the day. That means you'll have to do them for me, Ichigo."

That earned the man a whack on the head. He crumbled to the ground, feeling a read headache forming.

"Not on your life, Hat and Clogs. I don't even think you have chores, let alone when what it's like to do any. You just get Ginta or Ururu to dod them for you." He groaned in annoyance. "If you hadn't just done me a huge favor I'd show you how much damage I can inflict on you home."

Kisuke looked up at the orange hair man. "Please…" he begged, still in pain as he held the spot the orange-haired man struck him over the head. "There's…no need for that."

Rukia, growing tired of their games, sat back in her place at the table. "Tell us, Kisuke, how is she?"

Urahara settled back in his seat, though Ichigo remained standing, leaning against the nearby doorframe. The former Captain glanced up at Ichigo. "She's fine, as I said a few moments ago. And if I wasn't so rudely interrupted, you'd know that she's undergoing the last few stages of the healing process. She should be awake any moment now." His eyes were then on the more sensible one of the pair. "As you're aware, the process of making a permanent body for a Soul Reaper is quite easy. But it takes a toll on the soul and mind." He presented a single finger to them, signifying a number one. "The soul, because of the process of being bound to a body that it's not used to." He held up another finger, signifying a munger two. "And the mind because this new body can't do what Soul Reaper bodies can do. There's also the fact this body won't heal as quickly. There is the good news that because the soul is more firmly boded to the body that she will be able to move more freely and accurately, whereas she wouldn't with a nomad Gi-Gai."

"And by 'more firmly'," Ichigo interjected, still barely able to wrap his head about all of this scientific talk, "you mean that because her soul was given more time to bond with the body you gave her."

Kisuke smiled, genuinely impressed. "Very good, Ichigo," he praised. "That's correct. Normally there would only be a few minutes—an hour at the most—of bonding required for a Soul Reaper to move around freely in their false bodies. However, if the soul has more time to bond with the body, there won't be any problems."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "So…she'll be okay?"

But what Ichigo really meant to say was, "She'll be a normal girl? Not a Soul Reaper twenty-four/seven?"

Kisuke only nodded. "The body she has now will be her new physical form."

"When can we see her?" Rukia asked, trying not to show her eagerness to see her long-lost daughter.

"Right now."

It wasn't the blonde man that answered her, but someone at the door just behind him. In the doorway was their daughter, standing at her usual height, her long black hair still flowing past her shoulders. The only difference was that she wasn't wearing her Soul Reaper clothes. Replacing them was a pair of jeans that looked only slightly big on her, and a yellow t-shirt tucked under a brown fitting jacket.

"Nanami." Rukia barely got the words past her lips before she was on her feet and meeting her daughter, now able to blend into the human world, in her arms. Nanami hugged her mom tightly, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of the warmth her mother brought with her.

She dark-haired girl pulled away from Rukia, but didn't let go. "Well…that was a trip," she said, getting her mother's smile to widen further with humor.

Rukia chuckled. "I know what you mean."

"It will take some getting used to, having a body that doesn't do what you're used to," Kisuke said, interrupting their moment. "So, I would give it a few days of just relaxing and taking it easy before you try being a Soul Reaper again. The transfusion of your soul with that body took a toll on you, so it's important that you rest."

Nanami nodded, a gentle smile on her lips. "Thank you…Hat and Clogs."

Kisuke's brow arched. "I see my nickname will hold strong in the eyes of this family."

Nanami nodded again. Then she turned to her father, who remained in the doorway, watching his wife and daughter with a smile on his face. She walked up to him, her mother close behind, as if she were a toddle learning to walk.

Ichigo, barely giving Nanami the chance to say a word, reached over and pulled her into a hug. Her head was thrust to her chest, his arms wrapped around her the same way they were just last night when they met for the first time in 16 years. Soon, her own arms found their way around his back.

"Welcome home," he said, releasing only so Rukia could take her hand. "Let's get out of here so you can meet the rest of the family."

They said their good-byes to Kisuke, Ginta, Ururu,and Tessai with a promise to visit if they needed anything. Then the three of them started their walk back to the Kurosaki estate.

There was nothing but the sounds of the rather quite city around them as they walked. Occasionally, Nanami would wonder about some of the human things she saw as they passed by them, but she didn't want to sound stupid. So, she decided to wait to ask such questions when she knew a little more about this world.

Ichigo and Rukia were happy to answer her other less embarrassing questions, like what they did every day instead of being Soul Reapers.

"Well, I'm a doctor," Ichigo explained. "I work for my father at his Clinic."

"'Clinic'?" Nanami repeated, trying to guess what that might mean. "Like…a place where you heal people?"

Ichigo chuckled. "Exactly like that. Except we don't use the healings Captain Unohana uses with her Zanpakuto. Our healings are much more…simple."

Nanami made a face. "Captain Unohana's healing techniques seem pretty simple to me."

Rukia stepped in, feeling her husbands teaches as misleading. "Yes, they are to me as well. But things like that don't exist in the human world. For example, humans can't Flash Step like Soul Reapers. Their minds and bodies aren't capable of things like that."

Nanami nodded, kind of understanding. There was still some much that didn't make sense to her, but in time she hoped she'd learn.

Nanami looked at her mother again after taking her confused gaze off her feet as they walked. "What about you? What do you do as a human?"

Before Rukia could answer, Ichigo said, "You mean besides pretending that her sucky little drawings are art?"

Rukia, in the blind of an eye and with no hesitation, stomped hard on Ichigo's foot, her heeling connecting dead on with his smallest toe. Ichigo yelped in pain and hobbled around, holding his pained toe. Nanami paused to wait for him, but Rukia pulled her along, completely ignoring her husband as he mumbled treats.

"What I do, Nanami, is take care of my other three bundles of joy," Rukia explained. She smiled lightly. I help Ichigo and his sisters and Isshin around the Clinic when I can, but there are three children who demand my attention even more so."

Nanami looked up at her, her father forgotten. "So…I do have…siblings?"

Rukia's expression dropped to that of fear and guilt. "Don't think that we'd forgotten about you, Nanami. We could have never lost hope in seeing you again. Like a river, life flows on, and the life-span of a human is shorter than what you might expect, and…" Rukia began stumbling for words, trying to explain to her oldest daughter that they didn't just abandon her, that they never stopped thinking about her despite the fact that they moved on in a way.

Nanami, taken aback by the mere fact that she wasn't an only child, listened to her mother stumble for words. But she didn't need to hear them for her to be convinced about what she was saying. Nanami knew they loved her—she felt it in their hugs and saw it in their smiles. She was already convinced.

"I know," Nanami said, sparing her mother of further torment. "I know that's not why you chose to have more children." A wide smile brightened her face then, making Rukia stare at her in shock of how happy she looked. "I'm just excited to have a family as big as this one. I never would have dreamed that I would have siblings some day. And now…I do."

That warmed Rukia's hear to the point of melting. She was glad. And so, so very happy.

"Oi! Rukia! That hurt, you midget!"

The orange-haired man came charging up them, having finally composed himself and caught up.

Rukia, who's smile had completely disappeared at her husband's choice of timing, turned around and glared at Ichigo. "Well, if your foot wasn't so big, I wouldn't have tripped over it."

He a noise of disbelief. "Right. You were the one walking in front of me, remember?"

The pair continued to glare at each other. It was actually pretty comical, seeing a rather tall man being glared down by a woman that only came to just under his shoulder level. They didn't express hate, but annoyance. Nanami could tell it was something they did often. But she still felt as though she should…intervene.

"What are their names?" she asked, successfully getting their attention.

"W-What?" Ichigo asked, having been lost to her and Rukia's earlier conversation.

"My siblings. What are their names?"

Quickly, realizing that they were caught in the act of on of their usual tiffs, Rukai and Ichigo composed themselves. Together, the three of them started the trip again, as Rukia spoke.

"Well, you have two brothers and a sister," her mother started. "Izuro is the youngest. He's only a few months old, and the baby of the family. Yutaka and Kana are twins, and they just turned 8-years-old."

The girl who was a Soul Reaper most her life nodded, trying to take it all in. She looked at her father. "Mom mentioned you had sisters."

He nodded. "Yeah, Yuzu and Karin. Their my younger sisters—twins, actually." He smiled at her shocked expression. "Twins run in the family. They work at the same clinic I do with my old man."

"You're father?" My…grandfather? she thought, not wanting to say it loud.

He nodded again, a small smile touching his lips. "There's so many people who know who you are, but you don't know them. They'll be excited to hear the news."

That made her wonder just how many people her parents knew that were aware of the unique situation Nanami was in. And just how involved were they with her parents' Soul Reaper jobs?

"How…how many people?" she dared to ask.

Ichigo saw the slight panic in his daughter's face. The last thing he wanted was to overwhelm her at such an early point in her arrival.

"Don't worry about that just yet, Nanami. You'll meet them all in time."

She nodded, facing the destination. The house she found just last night came into view. "Meeting 'them all' sounds like there's a lot of people," she pressed.

Ichigo put his large hand on her shoulder as they closed in on the house. "Yeah. And the family just keeps getting bigger."

From where they were, Nanami could see kids playing in the front yard. younger kids were running around the fenced in yard, yelling and giggling. There were 4 kids in total. The oldest boy was pretending to be some kind of monster, she guessed, chasing the two girls around the yard. A woman with long, pale-orange hair stood in the middle of the kids, laughing along with them as they played. She was holding a baby on her hip, who clapped happily at the sight before him.

When they grew closer, just a few feet from the gate, the woman noticed them. "Oh! Ichigo, Rukia! Welcome home!"

She turned to them, and Nanami noticed her belly was rounded greatly, suggesting that she was very pregnant.

Nanami halted in her tracks just as they walked into the yard, closing the gate behind them. Ichigo and Rukia continued walking to greet the woman.

Her father took the child that was rested on her hip, the baby wiggling happily at the sight of her parents. "Hey, Orihime. Thanks for watching them."

She smiled brightly. "It wasn't a problem. Izuro fussed when he woke up, but he was an angel nonetheless! And Kana and Yuta helped me get him a snack before we came out here. They've been keeping themselves busy."

That's when the woman, Orihime, caught sight of Nanami and grinned widely. "Oh, and you must be Nanami!" She caught her hand hand held it tightly with two of her own. "It's so nice to see you! You probably have no idea who I am, but I definitely remember you. You were only a few days old when I met you, and my, were you a cutie!"

Ichigo's smile turned to a frown when he saw Nanami's expression. "Orihime, we haven't gotten to talk to her yet," he said with a hint of warning in his voice.

Orihime's face dropped into a frown as well. "I-I'm sorry." She let go of Nanami's hand as she gently held her belly. "Some times I just can't control myself." She smiled brightly at Nanami, though her earlier mistake was evident in the guilt the girl saw in her eyes. "My name is Orihime Ishida. My last name used to be Inoue, but after I married my husband, Uryuu, I decided to take his last name."

Nanami tried to smile as best she could, but the children were starting to crowd her, and for the first time in her life she felt claustrophobic.

Orihime glanced down and placed her hand on the head of one of the little girls' head. She had dark orange hair could have passed for brown in the dark; her eyes were a light brown that almost looked like a honey color. "This is Yumiko. She's—"

"Hi!" the girl girl said suddenly, smiling as brightly as her mother. "My name is Yumiko, but Mommy and Daddy and everyone else calls me Yumi. I'm 10 and a half, and I can read better than Mommy can cook!" She was so proud of herself, but her mother looked down at her daughter with annoyance.

"Yumi, that's not a very nice thing to say."

The girl looked innocently up at her mother. "But Daddy and Hiro say it all the time when you're not around. And Tara says that she runs away when you are in the kitchen."

Ichigo chuckled and Rukia both chuckled at their friend. The humor in the air lightened the mood, and Nanami cracked a smile as well. Had she been in on the joke, it probably would have made her laugh aloud.

Orihime ignored her laughing friends, her hands still gently stroking her swollen stomach when she said to Nanami, "And this is Meimi. She's due to arrive in just a few weeks."

Nanami smiled, truly happy for her. "Congratulations."

"Mommy, Mommy! Who is that?" the other little girl asked, bouncing up and down at Rukia's side while pointing at Nanami.

"Yeah, Mommy," the boy agreed, looking at Nanami with a confused expression. "How do you know who she is?"

"These monsters are the twins." Rukia pretty much ignored what they had asked and looked up at Nanami with a smile. "This"—she placed her left hand on the girl's head—"is Kana. And this"—she placed her right hand on the boy's head—"is Yutaka."

Kana looked up at Rukia with horror. "Hey! Mommy, I'm not the monster—Yuta is!" she protested. "Daddy says he gets it from you."

Ichigo chucked nervously as his wife's hard gaze turned on him.

"No, Kana!" Yuka argued. "Dad says we're both his terrible two. So, there!"

Ichigo chuckled. "He doesn't quite understand what that means," he said to Nanami, but she had already guessed as much.

"And this is Izuro," Icihgo said, shifting the baby on his hip. The baby looked at Nanami with an expression that could only be described as wonder. Then, as if embarrassed, the baby hid his face in Ichigo's shoulder.

Orihime awed. "He's so shy. But it won't be long before he warms up to you," she assured Nanami.

Izuro peeked at her, and when Nanami smiled and waved at him, she giggled manically and hid his face again, like it was some kind of game.

Yutaka, Kana, and Izuro are her siblings… They were her flesh and blood. And Ichigo has two younger sisters. Do they have kids? When was she going to meet them? Where any of her family going to like her?

Questions buzzed around her head like a mad swarm of bees. She looked around at all the faces, memorizing them, remembering that they were all friends and family. She looked at each of the younger kids around her.

Yutaka—her brother—had short, spiky orange hair, just like their father. And amber eyes that matched her own.

Kana—her sister—had short layered black hair and violet, much like their mother's.

Izuro—her baby brother—had dark brown eyes and a tuff of black hair on his head.

Yumiko and her mother looked a lot alike, her personality sticking out the most.

There were two names—Hiro and Tara—that she wasn't familiar with.

She took in all of the information—all of the faces and personalities—and stored them in her mind. If she was going She was sure that they weren't related to her, so were they more of her parent's friends?

More questions arose before any were answered, but she would deal with them later. For now… she was okay with just being with them.

A few minutes later and Nanami was perched on the living room couch in the the Kurosaki home. Orihime took Yumiko back to their home get ready for dinner, which was arranged in the honor of Nanami's return. She protested, of course, not wanting all of the attention on her. But her father assured her that is wasn't a celebration. Just a way for the family to meet her. In time she would get to know them, but there were a few choice people eager to meet Nanami. So, due to having no real choice in the matter, Nanami agreed.

Ichigo and Rukia disappeared in the kitchen for a minute, one making a bottle for Izuro while the other got a glass of water for Nanami. And Yutaka and Kana both wanting "juice boxes"—Nanami had no clue what that was—delayed them further.

The baby was in the middle of the floor, on his back on a sky-blue blanket. When Icihgo had set him down, Izuro had fussed momentarily, but then became distracted by his own chubby foot. He was entertained only momentarily before he rolled onto his stomach and grabbed hold of a stuffed bear nearby.

Kana and Yutaka were on the couch opposite of her, watching her curiously. It was clear they still didn't understand what was going on—to them this was just another day. Her being here must have thrown them off a little.

Deciding it was better to actually talk to them, she smiled and said, "So…do you guys like reading?"

They looked at each other for a moment, and then said at the same time, "It's okay."

"I read more books than he does," Kana said, raising her nose to her brother as if bragging.

Yutaka's face scrunched up in annoyance. "Yeah, well I color better than you. You can't even stay inside the lines."

Kana huffed, crossing her arms. They both turned their backs on each other.

Nanami sighed. She hadn't meant to make them fight. Does that mean she was going to be a bad older sister? What if she couldn't get the hang of being around family like this? What then?

She was pulled from her thoughts by a little hand grabbing her leg. She looked down and found that Izuro had crawled over to her and she hadn't even noticed.

Using strength in his little arms she didn't think he possessed he pulled himself up her legs. His bright happy face appeared over the top of her knees. She smiled at him and waved, just as she had done outside. The baby's response was something that warmed her heart. Instead of turning away, Izuro smile grew as wide as his face and he let out an adorable laugh. Nanami laughed too, amused by his reaction.

"Well, isn't that something."

Ichigo appeared with Izuro's bottle and set it on the coffee table. "He can get pretty vocal. He especially likes giggling very loudly." She though he might sit next to her on the couch, but he only stood there and watched, smiling.

Nanami's smile never faded as Izuro looked between her and Ichigo and let out another squeal of joy.

As the 6-month-old toddled around her legs toward his father, he lost his balance and started to fall. Nanami was smart enough to know she had to catch him and instinctively reached out to. She caught his chest with the palm of her hand and stopped him from hitting the floor, balancing him there—half leaning on her hand, half falling.

She was frozen. She didn't know what to do. Babies weren't her specialty.

She was in a state of momentary panic when Ichigo said, "Put your hands under his arms and pick him up."

She looked at him, confused for a moment. She hadn't done anything like this before. Could she really do it? The look of encouragement he sent her was more than enough motivation to try. And it was clear he wasn't going to help the squirming baby to his feet.

Slowly, she reached down with her other hand and grabbed Izuro under his arms. A look of bewilderment crossed his face, but he stopped squirming. Just as slowly, she lifted his weight off the ground and gently placed him on her knees so he faced her. His wide, dark brown eyes looked straight into hers. A sense of warmth filled her when he grabbed onto her thumbs as she continued to support his weight and balance him on her knees.

Her father spoke again, voice still filled with encouragement. "Bounce your legs lightly. You'll like how he laughs."

She glanced at him, but did as he suggested. She bounced her legs softly, careful not to jostle Izuro too much. And slowly, Izuro smiled widely and giggled like a manically. His giggles were interrupted by the bouncing motion, so it sounded as though he was hiccuping. Her father was right, she liked how her baby brother laughed, and Nanami could listen to that sound all day long.

Izuro started to fuss again when she stopped bouncing her legs, and Ichigo announced it was time to give him his bottle. He picked him up with one hand, supporting the baby under his belly and hoisted him into the air effortlessly. He grabbed the bottle from the table, and ass soon as Izuro saw what he had, this fussing stopped and her reached for it.

Craddled against Ichigo's chest with the bottle in his mouth, Izuro grew quiet and ate happily.

Nanami watched in fascination and admiration as her father held his son. He moved and handled thing so fragile as if he'd been doing it for years. Like a Soul Reaper swing his sword as if it were a part of his body.

A few minutes passed and everyone sat in the living room. Ichigo chose to remain standing to feed Izuro.

That was when Rukia gently broke the news to the twins that Nanami was actually their older sister. They were understandably confused, but Rukia explained the best she could without confusing them further. She explained that Nanami has been living with her sister, but hasn't been able to come back until today. They seemed to accept that for now, so Rukia told them they would understand soon enough.

They were dismissed to their room to play, and Izuro, who had long since fallen asleep, was put down for his nap while Nanami, Ichigo and Rukia talked.

This is what Nanami had been waiting for. She wanted to know the truth about what happened 16 years ago, and she they gave her to Hisana and Byakuya.

There was a tense silence that hung over them for a few moments. Rukia was the first to speak up.

"I assume that you have a lot of questions, Nanami."

The girl nodded. Boy, did she have question for them. If she asked them all, they might be here all day.

Taking a deep breath, she got the first question over with: "Why did you give me up?" Ichigo and Rukia looked from her to each other, a look a hurt crossing their expression. "I'm not mad. I just…want to know why."

Ichigo looked kind of uncomfortable, but so was Nanami. "It's…harder to explain than you might think, Nanami."

She looked up at him pleadingly. "Try."

With one last glance at his wife, who nodded in approval that he be the one to explain he said, "When we found out Rukia was pregnant, we were so happy. But, at the same time, we panicked. I helped my dad take care of my sisters after my mom died, but I had never taken care of a baby before. And Rukia… Well, all of this was new to her, too. But we worked through it, and 9 months later we had an amazing baby girl." A light touched his eyes and his smile was gentle as he went back to that day, remembering the details of the good and the bad.

But it was the bad that caused the slight drop in his grin.

"The moment you were born, we knew there would be trouble."

Nananmi's brow knitted together. "Why?"

But as soon as she said it, she knew exactly why. It was the same reason she trained so hard all her life to keep her inner powers hidden, to keep from letting the beast from its cage.

"Because of the Hollow…" Nanami concluded.

Rukia's head bowed in dismay. "We…we didn't know what to do. Soul Society was the only place safe for you. There you could learn to control you powers safely and effectively." Sadness crossed her expression. "However, neither of us could take you there. With Ichigo only being a Substitute Soul Reaper, he wouldn't be allowed to reside in Soul Society, and because I was the one assigned to this area, I couldn't leave either. There were so many things tying us here, we were running out of options. But…eventually, Soul Society won over and you were taken there under the protection of my sister Hisana and my brother-in-law, Byakuya."

She looked from her mother to her father, eyes wide. "Y-You're a Substitute?"

He nodded. "Yeah, as crazy as that sounds. My Soul Reaper powers were awaken the day I met Rukia."

Nanami was starting to put the pieces together in her head. "'Awakened' as in…"

"As in my father was a Soul Reaper. When he met my mother, he gave up his life as a Soul Reaper to saves. And when I met your mother, she did just that for me."

The loving look their shared made Nanami's heart melt. But as much as she couldn't resist a good love story, she was interested in hearing more about what happened when she was born.

Rukia continued to explain.

"There was no way we could mask that amount of power to keep Hollows from sensing you, and there's no telling what could have happened to you if you couldn't contain that power," Rukia explained. "At the time, the Hollowfication of a Soul Reaper was unfathomable to us. And such a power was never passed on to child."

"For all you know," Nanami interrupted, "I could have destroyed the whole town if I cried, or released a Cero from my fist at random."

Again, Rukia nodded. Her eyes were filled with love and pride that tugged heavily on Nanami's heart strings. "You are the first child born of two Soul Reapers, Nanami."

Nanami blushed, though she wasn't sure if it was from the comment or from the warmth in her heart. "I…I don't think that's true."

"No, you're right, Nanami. You weren't the first child born of two Soul Reapers," Ichigo agreed, effectively capturing Nanami's attention. "But you are the first child born of two Soul Reapers were the father carried a Hollow within him. That power was then passed to you. You are the first child born Vizard." He chuckled lightly. "It's actually impressive that you mastered controlling it in such a ashore amount of time."

Slowly Nanami nodded, still trying to wrap her head around everything that she was hearing. "I… Uncle Byakuya and Uncle Renji trained me from the time I could walk. They taught me how to control my powers. And for a long time, Master Shinji taught me how to harness my powers and use them at my discretion."

Ichigo blanched. "Did…Did you just say…Master Shinji?!"

Confused, Nanami nodded. "Yes. He's the one who's been training me to control my inner Hollow since I began to walk. Before that I was always up on a binding spell that…"

She trailed off, the look on her father's face filled with confusion and annoyance.

"I can't believe that bastard has been training my daughter to control her Hollow all these years."

"It's only fitting, Ichigo," Rukia cut in. "He is the one that trained you."

Ichigo made a noise of disapproval. "He didn't train me. All he and Hiyori did was beat me around like a rag doll."

Rukia shrugged. "You know how to control your Hollow though, don't you?"

"Are you saying—"

"It makes sense now!"

The pair looked at Nanami, who stood suddenly. Her hands were clenched at her sides, nails digging deep into her palms. There was rage in her eyes, pure hatred. But she wasn't looking at either of them. In fact, Ichigo was sure that she wasn't seeing anything at all. It seemed as though she was in a different world.

Whilst her parents went back and forth about Shinji, Nanami's mind was swirling. She remembered practicing with her uncles, Byakuya and Renji. She remembered training with Master Shinji. And in all the lessons with him, he always said that remembering who her family was would keep her grounded, keep her sane.

Uryuu Ishida. Orihime Inoue. Sado 'Chad' Yasutora. She now knew why all of those names sounded familiar.

"They…They erased my memory," she said, seething.

"What do you mean, Nanami?" Ichigo's concern grew along with her Spiritual Pressure. "Relax, okay? Just talk to us."

Talking her father's advice and hearing his warning, she took a deep breath. And calmed herself, because losing control was never any good.

"The Head Captain had my memory erased each time I had a hint about who my real parents were."

The parents froze, not believing what they were hearing. Together the three of them stood there in the living room, the tension growing thicker.

"H-How do you know he did that?" Rukia asked, trying to make sense of it.

She glanced at her mother, her voice calm but her heart was still hammering in her chest. "Uncle Byakuya. He said that each time they took my memory, they look a little bit of my soul." Her right hand released it's clench and she placed it flat over her heart. "They took a little bit of my memory to hide you from me."

"Damn that bastard!" Ichigo yelled.

"Calm down, Ichigo," Rukia warned, glancing in the direction of where Nanami assumed the kids' rooms were. She then looked at Nanami. "My…brother told you that?"

the girl nodded. "Just before I left. And…when I first heard your names, when I heard dad mention Uryuu's name, and even just a few minutes ago meeting Orihime I felt…something. It was as if a void was being filled; like something that was meant to be there had finally returned. Granted, I did get a headache just trunking about it and hearing their names. Regardless of that, the truth is finally coming back." She glanced over at her father. "Uncle Byakuya said that each time they erased my memory—after every time that I heard your names or saw something that reminded me of you in some way—they took the memories away. But it's pretty clear that they couldn't keep them away from long. That's why he wanted me to leave. So that they couldn't do something like that anymore."

The two former Soul Reapers understood full well what the Head Captain was capable of. Ichigo, of course, was very upset that he would do something like that to his daughter. Rukia was just glad that there wasn't a permanent scar on her daughter's soul, and that her memories were always able to return somehow.

"All that matters is that you're home," Rukia said, smiling gently. She grabbed Nanami's hand and squeezed it.

Nanami smiled, and then glanced back at her father, who of course was happy to see Nanami's smile. "I…I'm so happy to finally meet you guys. I guess telling me that my parents had died protecting me was the best that Aunt Hisana and Uncle Byakuya could do for me. There couldn't exactly tell me who you were, but tell me that I didn't have any would have brought more questions and suspicion."

Talking about Hisana brought a pain to Nanami's heart. She wanted so badly for so many years to be at her side, protecting her as she had done for her in so many ways. But, just as it's in her nature, Hisana wanted the best for her Sazanami.

And this was it. Living the life she wanted, knowing her parents and having a family that cared. This has been her dream for as long as she could remember, and Nanami wasn't going to let it go.

Ichigo, having glanced at his watch, cursed lightly under his breath, which earned him a cold look from his wife.

"Hey, Rukia. They'll be here any minute." Despite the urgency in his voice, he couldn't contain the smile from spreading across his lips.

And a smile to match his made it's way into Rukia's already glowing expression.

Nanami, obviously left out of the loop about something, glanced between them. "Who? Who's coming?"

The petite woman released Nanami's hand only to pull her closer, wrapping one of her arms around her daughter's waist. Her smile was so genuine and the look in her eyes said something special was about to happen.

"Well, let's just say that after finding out that you were finally home, we sent some people to get things for a dinner. And they should be on their way over right now."

Nanami let out an exasperated sigh. "So is this when I'm meeting all of those people we were talking about earlier, isn't it?"

Rukia only smiled. Ichigo offered the same as they left the room to prep the kitchen for guests.

That left Nanami to her thoughts for a moment.

She hadn't thought about what her parent's reaction might be when she showed up at their home. She didn't know for sure if they even knew that they had a daughter, let alone that she was alive. For all she knew, they weren't going to make a big deal out of her showing up out of the blue. But it seems as though that's exactly what they did. Not that Nanami minded much.

She wasn't big on gatherings. Her aunt and uncle rarely had people at the estate because her aunt was always so sick and often needed rest. So this whole things was a new experience for her. She was apprehensive, while at the same time excited.

Nanami was finally going to meet the family—the large extent of it—that she always wanted.

So, this chapter was really extra long. And there are so many points were I wanted to cut it and make two chapters, but I promised you guys explanations, so I hope this chapter clears things up a little bit. I know theres more to explain and I'm going to touch those bases in the next chapter. Hopefully, with this role I'm on, that next chapter will be up in no time.

I hope you enjoyed this one! As always, let me know what fuck-ups I've made and I'll fix them as best I can.

I know I made a mistake with Byakuya's Squad number—it's 6, not 5, as I've been reminded several times—but without my original documents I can't go back and fix it. Those old chapters are long gone. Sorry about my horrid mistake. DX

Keep an eye out for the next chapter. It should be coming out soon now that I'm on a break from school for Thanksgiving.

Keep reading to find out what happen with Nanami's past and we'll eventually see what's in store for her future! As well as what happens now that she's back were she belongs.

Thanks For Reading!

—Romni