After the rain

Setting: One dy after Aizen's betrayal of Soul Society

It had been one of the few nights without sleep in his recent life. Ukitake still sat at his desk, starring at the paper he had tried to fill with beautiful letters. Calligraphy was just not his thing.
He felt more than he knew that Shushu was approaching and so he turned around to face his friend with a smile, when he did.
"Uh oh... I can feel the weight of heavy, deep thoughts in this room." His friend said. "Makes me longing for sleep to be honest."
"I can offer you a tea instead." Ukitake smiled, but Shushu shook his head. "No, thanks... makes me wanting to sleep even more... You look not as calm as usual. Did something happen I should know about?"
"You mean besides the betrayal of Captain Sousuke?"
"Mh... yes, besides that."
Jushiro laughed quietly and shook his head. "Relaxed as always..."
"Well... you know... there s nothing to be done about it anymore. Aizen made his choice... all we can do now is waiting what his next step will look like."
"It is your age talking... isn t it?"
Jushiro stood up and smiled a bit, while his freind turned around to leave again.
"Must be your overwhelming presence, Jui... usually I do not talk such nonsense... take care, will you? And rest a little." Jushiro smiled a bit more and watched his friend leaving.
He then turned to much more profoound matters again.
Aizen had betrayed them. As had Tousen and Gin.
Vice - Captain Momo (öhm something) had been injured, as well as Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Kuchiki. Nobody knew if one of them would survive or vanish into eternity.
And his Squad still did lack a Vice - Captain. He should really and honestly change something about that.
Ukitake smiled a bit and wondered if Rukia would show herself at the Headquarter today... As far as he knew she was still refusing to leave Kuchiki Mansion due to her brother's critical condition.
Mh.
He would just have to wait until the meeting of his Squad had finished... and maybe then have a look after her.

Henarion stood in front of the door, but he didn't dare knocking at it. He wasn't sure whether he would be welcomed by the man occupying the room and it nearly resembled a wonder that they let him get so far inside the headquarters anyway.
Now he finally reached Jushiros room, and he wavered whether he should enter or not! That was ridiculous!
Jushiro was the only other person besides his family he knew well enough to trust him. And he couldn't stand staying at the mansion anylonger. Rukia sat on her brother's bedside all the time and the house more resembled a graveyard than a the house it had been before.

The attack where Byakuya and so many others had been injured changed a lot. Even Henarion could feel that, although he wasn't explicitly concerned by it.
He didn't know too much about it anyway. The only thing he was sure about was that although it was a bad thing, it seemed to have saved Rukias life... maybe rather Jushiros and Shushus, but that wasn't important any more.
Byakuya was unwell, very unwell and no one new if he would ever recover. Henarion didn't dare thinking how things would go if he wouldn't. Just like he used do years ago, he still believed everything would come to a good ending. Byakuya wouldn't leave them. He just couldn't. Henry even told him while he had been asleep.

But now he just had to leave the house. Its silence was driving him mad.
Rukias sad eyes were driving him mad. He didn't want to look at her any more because each time he looked at her and her grief made his heart break.
That's why he was here now. Wavering whether to knock or not.
Henarion raised his hand, and, taking all his courage, knocked at the door.

Jushiro felt the presence of a reaiatsu (spirit power) outside, but he was confused to find it chaotic and untrained. Where had he felt it before...? Ah! He remembered just when the knocking occured.
"Come in!" he said a bit louder than he had spoken to Shushu.
The Captain of the 13th Squad slowly turned around on his knees and then stood up, while he saw the young man enter.

He had saved his soul from being eaten by a Hollow (*lol* man, that sounds freaky...*njammy* souuuuuulllllll *njammy*) and had brought him to Soul Society.

Henarion entered a bit insecure and looked around in his room before he faced him.
Actually there was not so much to see. His sleeping stuff was still in the wardrobe, his desk covered by a few pages of Calligraphy work. In the small corner for flower arrangements and poems were some Sakura Blossoms to find in honour to the injured people and the wish for them to recover soon as well as a poem wirtten by Shushu.

"Kuchiki Henarion." he said calmly and smiled a bit. "It is an honour to see you again. What can I do for you?"

It didn't feel wrong, when he entered but nevertheless Henarion swallowed hard.
What was he doing here? Why did he come here in first place?
What did he hope to find here?
Henarion looked around, still feeling insecure and his courage sank a bit.
The room seemed quite plain to him.
There was a wardrobe and a huge desk. He could see some writing on it, and in one of the corners he could see some sakura blossoms and some more pages of written stuff.

He wondered whether Jushiro was writing poems or small stories.
The man turned around to him and offered him a smile.
Henry tried to smile too, but it didn't really work.
"Good... morning." He greeted the man with the long white hair.
"I... actually...." Well yeah, what could Jushiro do for him?
He didn't know himself.
"I didn't know where else to go." He said with a quiet voice, before he slowly sat down on the floor.

"Byakuya... is still sleeping. He didn't wake up for days. His bleeding didn't stop yet. But he's not getting worse. Neither better." Henarion thought it to be his duty at least to tell the other man about the constitution of his brother's health, although he might probably already know. "The house is silent except for Rukia. It's often silent, but never like this. I am used to noises. Now there aren't noises anymore." He looked up into the hopefully blue eyes of the captain. "May I... just keep you company for a while? If you're not too busy... right now?"

"Sit down." Jushiro said friendly, while he listened to Henarions words. He could feel his confusion and sorrow and it didn t really surprise him. The whole of Soul Society had quite shaken for some daring seconds the last day. As always when a great suffering appeared, the smaller ones were hard to see. He didn t know if Henarion really cared for Byakuya- it was difficult to do so- but he was the one shaping his life and giving him a place to live and to stay. Without him things would change.

"I am not busy." Jushiro said with another smile. "I just have to wait for a report." It was an unwritten law that everything usual- as morning meetings- were not held by the Captain due to his helalth. Jushiro usually just took action when something... unforeseen happened... like executions or betrayals. Releasing the seal had cost him a lot of strength, not to speak of the thread of being slaughtered by his own Sensei. So he was grateful for this silence and rest.
"I am sure everyone will recover soon. It is just a question of time." He smiled again. "Do you like to have a tea?"

"The way you say that I am even tempted to believe you." Henarion answered and a smile flushed over his lips. He didn't know most of the Shinigami too well and he had no clue what Byakuya thought about most of them.
But at least he knew Rukia liked Jushiro and she after all belonged to his division.
Besides that Jushiro saved his life. And he brought him here.
"Shouldn't the question rather be if there will be enough time?" Henarion asked quietly and then nodded towards Jushiro. "Peppermint would be great."

He might not have the complete overview concerning the things happening, but the few things he got to know till now made him realize most people were worrying about the latest events.
And, so far he already got, the Soul Society had never been bothered like this before.
He had heard of the betrayal but he didn't know the background of it all as he had just come here short time before everything started.

"I mean... I know this is none of my business... not really... I've got nothing to do with it but... still I... would like to know what it is all about." He quietly started to talk again, while Jushiro filled a cup for him.
"Is it true that the one attacking you has formerly been a man of your own? A captain?" His eyes grew a bit wider as he was saying that. To be betrayed by the those trusted in always hurt the most. He knew that and so just looked at Jushiro quietly.

Jushiro handed him over a cup of tea and then stayed quiet for a minute.
"Yes, yes, he was the Captain of the 5th Division. Sousuke Aizen. He was praised for his gentleness and warmth. He never acted in a rush, was always careful. When we found him being nailed to one of the towers and bleeding his life out, we were all shocked."
Jushiro remembered that feeling well. He had been quite sick at that time, but the murder or Aizen had made him move again.
"However... it was just an illusion created by him to confuse us more and more. His supporters are two other Captains. Gin and Tousen. That leaves three Squads completely without leader... never a thing too good."
Jushiro smiled again shortly.
"Aizen has withdrawn for now. Much more interesting is what we are going to do about Ichigo and his human friends. An amazing bunch of kids... And who knows what else lingers in the depths of all the worlds? I can feel that things are changing. The calamity of Sereitei has been disturbed... there is no way turning around again... but there is one to get it back."

Henarion watched Jushiro with curious eyes. He liked listening to his voice.
It was a gentle and nice one. He never heard him rise his voice or even shout at anyone.
He hever heard that voice being cold or repelling.
That probably was the reason why Jushiro gave a feeling of comfort to anyone being with him or talking to him.
"So it is some kind of Conspiracy?" Henarion asked quietly once more. "Where can you know there aren't still any supporters of Aizen with you, spying your squads to foresee your actions?" He raised his eyebrows and watched Jushiro.
Well propably Aizen already knew how the Soul Reaper's divisions worked.
What did he want? What were his reasons for attacking them?
Did he aim for a world full with hollows?

The young man bit his lips while he reached out for the cup of tea Jushiro just offered to him.
He took it into his hands and sipped some tea.
It was warm and tasty and made him smile for a short moment.
Then he looked at Jushiro again. "Why do you want to do anything about them?" He immediately asked when Jushiro mentioned Ichigo and his friends.
Henarion himself had lived amongst humans nearly all his life.
He had even thought to be human himself, although he always knew he had been different from the others.
Most humans couldn't see ghosts or souls.... or even hollows. They couldn't do tricks or magic. But Henarion could since he started to think.

He blinked and looked into his teacup for a moment. If life in Seireitei had become more dangerous, then life in Karakura town had surely become more dangerous as well!
He looked up terrified, when the thought occured to him.
Having less captains of the squad teams means having less resources to fight the hollows and that meant people's souls where seriously in danger.
"What do you intend to do, if I dare ask?" He looked at Jushiro again.
The captain seemed to be quiet and calm as always and he wondered whether he would ever lose his temper.

"It is some kind of Conspiracy, yes." Ukitake answered quietyl. He remembered having looked into Aizens eyes and asking: "What for?"
"To seek greatness."
Aizen certainly could be called mental. He just fell one time too often onto his kind, soft head. There was nothing to change about that.
"Aizen had his big showdown yesterday... he surely did take his supporters with him... he knew we would start to examine... actually... I think the 11th Squad did... I hope they won t find any more..."
Jushiro sipped a bit of his tea. "Me in particular or the Gotei in general?" he asked kindly. Everybody knew that his Squad was the least efficient one since Kaien had died... and that was his fault as well. Not only had he lost his lieutenant, but also his thrid Seat Officer and Rukia. And he himself could not be considered a full member of the Division. That was jus the way it was.

Henarion just watched Jushiro quietly. Lots of thoughts were running through his mind, thoughts and questions, but he didn't dare to ask them, rather had the feeling he still knew too little to understand everything in the right way.
"So you all thought Aizen to be dead until he showed up yesterday?" It was rather a rhethorical question than a real one and Henarion's eyes shortly sparkled.

"Why would one want to destroy Soul Society?" He went on asking, but again his question was rather rhethorical. He shook his head quietly. He felt the wish to help, but he also knew that there was nothing he could do. He was still struggling to fit into this new world, so he thought he could hardly be of any use for someone like Jushiro or his Byakuya.
"In General." He finally answered Jushiro's Question, meeting his eyes again before putting the cup on the table.

His thoughts disgressed again to Rukia and Byakuya. The girl stayed with Byakuya and he knew she was concerned about their brother's constitution. Henarion himself hoped he would improve soon. Although he tried to keep calm, he was worrried too although trying not to show it.

"Ah." Ukitake smiled. "Well... first of all clean up the mess... than reorganizing the Squads. I hope I ll get a Lieutenant then soon. As I said... the 11th Squad is looking for hints and intruders... certainly the Ninjas are too."

He nodded quietly and thought it better not to mention that this task was usually the 6th Squad's. No one was as efficient, quick and without mercy in chasing down traitors as Kuchiki Byakuya. Jushiro remembered him being a lively and hot tempered kid, but now seldom a smile was seen on his face.
He tried to be an example for society and was asked to act that way. The loss of his wife had taken the warmth with it that once lingered in his heart and now all he could cling to were laws and a strong sense of justice. Maybe once he would find that mercy also provided a feeling of comfort and security.

"Nonsense! What personal justice can be so overwhelming that you are violating that of a whole society for it, Jushiro? Tell me, my student... my son! Tell me, what made you believe your justice counted more than that of Soul Society?"
He still could hear his teacher's voice in his head and it made him sad for a second. He had not understood. He never would.
Jushiro hoped Byakuya wouldn t go the same way... but he had risked his life for Rukia. So there was still some hope.

Somehow Henarion got the feeling, Jushiro might not be telling him everything he knew, but he was sure there was reason for it, most probably because even knowing those details wouldn't change anything to him.
He shook his head slightly again.
"If there is anything I can do... or... if I can be of some help somehow... you will tell me, right?" He asked and his green eyes sparkled slightly. He would become crazy and start walking the walls if he just had to sit and wait for one more day.

He never felt his life was stagnating, but now it seemed to...
Well, it was strange. Although everything around him was changing, he himself wasn't doing a thing, an experience he never made before.
Usually it were his actions, his thoughts and his intentions making the things around him change. Now everything changed and he just stood still.
And he felt uncomfortable with that.

He emptied the teacup and put it on the table one last time.
"Thank you for your time. And your patience." He said quietly and smiled a bit.
His life had never been easy, but he didn't unlearn to smile during all those years.
He wouldn't start with it now.
Thereto he liked it too much.

Ukitake smiled. "You are welcome, Henarion. I surely will tell you when there s someting that needs to be done and fits you."
He watched the young man calmly. "A lot of things have changed... but for me..."
He stayed silent and smiled a bit more. His eyes had seen so much and Soul Society had changed so often over the years that he just knew everything would go on... to a point where the changed things became reality and everybody would think about the old state as a change.
"Never mind." he smiled. "I guess Rukia will stay at home today?"
He could not be angry with her. He probably would feel the same way as she did. "And you will return there too?"

Henarion nodded without saying a word.
It felt good at least to know that he would be told if there was something useful he could do, although he somehow didn't really expect anyone to show up at his.
"Yes, she will." He answered finally. Rukia was worried about Byakuya and albeit Henarion really liked her, even fancied her in some way, he felt in the wrong place with in Byakuyas sleeping room.
For him it felt like intruding a very intimate scene and so he just stayed away and let the two of them staying with each other. Besides that Rukia knew Byakuya for a some time longer than he did. And she absolutely adored Byakuya. She admired him and Henarion was sure she cared for him well, better than any other could.

When he thought about the two of them, he couldn't help but feeling torn once more.
Although his heart told him he belonged to them, another part of it asked him what he had given up for them. And then his mind interfered telling him that nothing could compare with what he gained through his relation to Rukia and Byakuya.
That was surely true, but still... still.

"Later." He answered softly. "I think I will go for a long walk first." Another smile flushed over his face. "Is it allowed to go to Karakura City? Generally I mean?" He looked at Jushiro. He longed to see the city again, and maybe meet some of his old friends. He had thought about it already longer, but didn't dare asking, fearing Bya could get the question the wrong way.

"Usually we just go there when we are needed." The Captain answered quietly. "The Human World isn t ours anymore, although we all have been humans once. I could open a gate for you... but what do you want to do there? Nobody will be able to see you... except some gifted people and Hollows... Maybe rather choose Seireitei for a walk..."

He stood up slowly and raised his head, when Kotetsu entered and kneeled down.
"Captain... the Squad is complete and has finished its morning training."
"Complete? Kuchiki Rukia is here as well?"
"Yes, Captain, she is... but her strength still hasn t returned..."
"Ah... these Younglings...then I will have to send her home again, I guess."
Kotetsu didn t comment on that. It was not up to her to do so.
"Continue with your duties ...."
"You don t need to be concerned, Captain. Everything is quiet around Sereitei."
He nodded quietly.
"Anyway... return to the Squad, please. I will join you then..."
She nodded and withdrew.

"Well, well... maybe you should take her with you on a walk..." He smiled shortly at him.

Henarions face overshadowed, when he listened to Jushiros words.
He lowered his eyelids and stayed silent for a moment, before he watched the captain again.
He didn't answer to his question.
What did he want to do their? Clinging to his past.
Meeting people he once knew but of course Jushiro was right. Most of them would just not be able to see him.
He would walk the streets like a ghost, without being noticed, without talking to anyone, only listening to the sounds of others.

Before he could explain himself, the room's door opened again and another Shinigami entered. Henarion stepped aside a bit and made himself as inspicious as possible while he quietly listened to the discussion of the two Soul Reapers.
He watched the woman curiously. He knew only little of the squad members or the other units and he even didn't know the name of this one as well.

"Rukia is here?" He asked surprised - and with asking interfered the talk.
"Oh... sorry, didn't want to meddle in..." He immediately apologised, before he slightly bowed. The other Shinigami left again and Henarion realized Jushiro was watching him again.
"I will think about it." He said quietly, not knowing whether it was a good idea to go for a walk with Rukia. He would just have a look for her and then decide. "May I accompany you to the training grounds?"

Ukitake nodded quietly and in some kind of nostalgic manner he took a black silken piece of cloth and tied his hair back.
"Yes, you may." he said and then left the room with the young man.

He could hear the Squad before he could see it. They didn t sound as cheerful as usual, but nevertheless the sound of voices reached his ears. When he turned around a corner and had a look at them, he could see that they had just finished their training, but were already enjying their leisure time again.
He just smiled.

"Captain Ukitake!"
His warriors stared at him and then quickly stood in one line.
"Our apologies, Captain!" They said simultaneously.
"Mh." He smiled a bit. "Never mind... if I am not mistaken, it s our turn to scout the surroundings... isn t it?"
"Yes, Sir!"
"Well then... off you go, Shinigami... and take care, will you!"
He glanced at Rukia.
"Kuchiki Rukia... stay for a moment, will you?"
She lowered her head and stared at the ground. "Yes, Captain!"

While the others took off, she stayed and Ukitake took a few steps towards her.
"You have just escaped your own execution. Moreover you were put into a prison that seperated you from your spiritual energy, child. It is not your time yet to take over your duties as a warrior again."
She bit her lip.
"Yes... Captain..."
"Ah... this is not a scolding, Rukia. It is to help you. Take some more days off, will you? You are welcomed at the Headquarter any time, but don t put yourself in potentially dangerous situations. Will you promise me that?"
"Yes, Captain! I promise."
She raised her head and glanced at him, before a small smile covered her features. "Thank you, Sir."
He smiled back.
"You re welcome."

Henarion followed the captain out of his room.
They walked some corridors in silence, while Henarion kept his own thoughts and the Captain probably did the same. Jushiro didn't seem to be too troubled about the latest events, but Henry had been told that the man was already quite old and therefore possessed a very unique calamity.
Even Byakuya, being over a hundred years old, compared to him was nothing more than a young man who still had to learn much. Would he once become like Jushiro? Would he lose his cold, repelling nature, to become the wise and calm man Jushiro was?
Or had Jushiro just always been this way?
Well, to answer this question, Byakuya had to recover in first place.

Henry looked up when they entered the training grounds.
The "soldiers" already seemed to have finished training and now relaxed a bit.
Immediately Henarion spotted Rukia sitting on a stonelike thing.
Her black hair slightly moved in some kind of soft wind, but her eyes weren't red and there was no hint tears hat covered her face that day.
He remembered the evening before, when Byakuya had been brought to the mention she had been like a ghost. Pale and terrified, but trying to be strong.
He had told her it was alright to show weakness and that it was alright to feel pain and to cry for the ones she loved. But she had only looked at him, shaken her head and had said:
"He wouldn't cry. And I will not disappoint him with my weakness again."
Henry had put his hand upon her shoulder, and he had told her again, that there was nothing wrong with crying, but she had shaken her head once more.
"So why don't you cry then?" She had asked him and Henarion realized he had no answer to her question, so he had just withdrawn.
But during the night, when he had walked the empty, silent corridors and the empty, silent rooms he had heard her sobbing and weeping quietly.

Now she sat here on the stone, and nothing hinted to what he had experienced the night before. Rukia seemed to be alright, not too abscent minded, and her being there gave Henarion the hope that Byakuya's condition might have improved.
Otherwise Rukia wouldn't have left him, right?
A smile flushed over her face, while she talked to the captain, and so Henarion kept in the Background and just listened quietly.
What should he say after all? He didn't even tell her that he wanted to leave the mansion, but seeing her here now made him realize he must have left the mansion already hours ago. He remembered walking the districts of Soul Society, but he didn't assume that hours passed by while he did so.
Silently he sat down, just watching the two of them without a word.

Ukitake watched the young girl with a calm smile on his lips. He knew that Rukia was far stronger than she seemed to be. Being accepted and taken into that important family had shut her down. She never had talked a lot in the past... not even to Kaien whom she loved the most of all. It was not only a privilege, but also a burden to be important. Rukia had lived amongst the poorest of people in Soul Society. Suddenly everything had changed for her, but still she remained the girl she used to be and he respected her for doing so.
He knew or rather hoped that with what had happened yesterday, Byakuya would do so too. In general he knew when he had lost and Jushiro guessed that with his apology he had quietly accepted that Rukia was trying her best to make him proud, but nevertheless had to go her own unique way.
The Head of the Kuchiki Clan was neither ignorant nor stupid. Ukitake knew that, but he also knew what a heavy burden laid on these quite young shoulders. How old was Byakuya? 150? A few years older? He didn t know, but he obtained two most important positions as a Captain and a Clan' leader. Sometimes that must made him feel being a prisoner too.

"So, how about Captain Kuchiki? Any news?" he asked without smiling, but a gentle look in his brown eyes.
"The Captain is still recovering. The wounds caused by a Shikai are usually difficult to heal. To be honest, captain, nothing has changed since yesterday." she reported immediatly and looked a bit sad while doing so.
"I see." Ukitake said and nodded. "Well, the Captain has been far worse injured in the past. Don t worry too much. You know how stubborn we Captains can be."
He smiled again.
"Now? Do you want to go for a walk together or not?"
He watched the two Younglings, waiting for them to interact.

Could he say no?
Henry looked up, first to Rukia, then to Jushiro, and again to Rukia.
She seemed alright and the captain's words even seemed to have encouraged her, dragged some of her sorrows aside. "Yes. Sure." He said slowly and got up again.
The situation resembled him of the day he waited for her at the gates of the academy, short time after Jushiro had brought him to soul society.

Henarion had stumbled over her name and therefore waited for her at some certain place encounter her and the first time they had met he had accompanied her to that huge mansion she lived in.
Back then he already liked her, but she couldn't give him the information he longed for then.
She just didn't know about it.
"Where would you like to walk?" He asked her softly while he was nodding towards Jushiro in order to thank him for his company.
"Would you like to go for a walk at all? Or prefer walking home?"

Jushiro smiled encouragingly at the two young souls and then raised his hand in farewell, before he turned around and faced the sun.
"Take care." he smiled and then turned the head a little. Was that a Hell Butterfly coming towards him? Unbelievable. Should he really get something to do? No way.

Rukia looked at Henarion and at her Captain, then back at her brother. "Yes, why not?" she said and smiled. "A walk sounds not too bad..."
Moreover she had stayed in a tower-like prison for nearly a month. Without really knowing where to go, she just started walking with Henarion at her side. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and nothing gave a hint to what had happened yesterday. Soul Society had been turned upside down. She had not known Aizen too well, but she knew his reputation as one of the most gentle and sophisticated Captains among the Gotei.
Obviously that was just... wrong.

"Hu?" She could see that her Captain obviously had been made the "target" of a Hell Butterfly and she wrinkled her forehead. She loved her Division, but it was not a secret why the 13th Squad recently got no real jobs to do... Anyway... she had been told to get some days off and order was order.
"No, I don t want to go home." she finally added. "We can just... walk the streets or parks or both..."
It was nearly time for the plum blossoms. The time when her sister had passed away a few years ago. She didn t even really know that she had had a sister. There had been memories, but it were only few and when time was passing by she had thought more and more of them as dreams.
Yesterday it had turned out they were not. Did it change a thing? Rukia didn t know yet.
"We had not have a Butterfly since ages... i wonder..." she said quietly and then shook her head.
"What about the park over there? Looks nice...!"

"Yes." Henarion answered her while following her look with his eyes.
Yes, the park really looked nice.
And if the weather would stay nice, even their walk could become nice.
A soft breeze was tearing his hair aside and Henarion qickly put it back with a black fillet.
"How is Byakuya?" He softly asked while watching her from the side.

She seemed to be lost in thoughts, or at least thinking hard about several things.
"Are you alright?" He added and watched her intensly.
Her eyes where sliding accross the gardens and she seemed to watch the flowers and trees and small animals living there.

He stopped at a small pond and looked at the water.
He had always been fascinated by water, but never learned to swim.
Water was amazing. It's surface always looked unruffled and peaceful.
Nevertheless usually it was deep and troubled beneath its surface and still possessed the ability to drown those daring to break the peacefulness of the surface.
"Can you swim?" He suddenly asked. "I have never learned to swim..."

The park indeed was beautiful and Rukia watched it quietly while her thoughts still circled around this and that. She had never been the talkative type of girl, but now even for her this silence was unusual and she knew it.

Yes, how was their brother? She couldn t tell. She just remembered his arm around her, his sharp breath and the blade that had pierced him instead of her. Rukia again felt him breaking onto his knees, something she had never experienced before and finally feeling herself being the one holding him, so he wouldn t fall onto the dusty ground.

"As the Captain said," she finally replied. "He will recover soon. He's sleeping now."
And he looked so young without all the symbols of status and of being a Captain. He looked like an ordinary young man wrapped in ordinary white blankets- or rather not. Still there was this aura of nobility and honour around him that made everybody realize he was something special. But the cold of his features had gone for now.

She couldn t tell him what she felt. Her thoughts were those of a child and she felt embarrassed by them, so Rukia nodded and smiled: "I am... kind of. Things have just been a bit confusing recently... yes, I know how to swim, but I like frozen water better... you can go ice-skating then."

Henarion nodded.
He could feel, Rukia wasn't in a mood to talk, but at the same moment trying not be politely and friendly towards him. He didn't want to urge her to talk to him, and so he just stayed quiet.
The young didn't know her too long by know, but he liked her and he got along with her way better than with Byakuya.
Nevertheless now it felt like Rukia was shutting down and keeping him out - well, why not? After all he wasn't one of her intimates.
Though it made him feel a bit lonely and lost, intensifying the thought he was in the wrong place here.

He watched the water again, saw how a little insect ran over its surface without slippling through it and falling into the water.
They couldn't do it.
But walking on ice nearly felt the same. He smiled a bit.
Never had he been a child of sadness and he wouldn't allow sadness or confusion to rule him now. so when Rukia mentioned the ice his smile grew a bit brighter.
"Can you freeze water?" He asked curiously. "Usually you cannot drown in frozen water... and I would like to try ice skating... once." His green eyes lay lay upon Rukia, as he watched her quietly, but with a certain sparkle in them.
He was a curious person and he didn't hide that.
Besides it helped him ignoring things he didn't like.

"No... I cannot freeze water... but sometimes... when I am stressed or under pressure, snow flakes will fall from heaven. That is because my reiatsu is related to ice."
She saw a leaf falling onto the pond and smiled shortly.

"But we can go ice-skating in winter. My headquarter lays in a biiiig lake and I am sure my Captain will not be too strict... and if... we will just go when he is sleeping."
Well, she was kind of mean... but she didn t mean it that way.

"It's not that I don t like him... he helped me a lot..." she said quietly. "But my... first... "Captain" has always been Kaien. He was a great man... and very friendly. He liked to laugh...but the shinigami all knew they could rely on him... it is really not the way that I think Captain Ukitake is not a good person... but it was not him welcoming me... you understand?"

She actually first got to know Ukitake that night when Kaien... he had held her back and finally defended her with his own sword. For the first time she really had experienced that he knew her after all although he seldom appeared to supervise the squad himself.

"Why did you go to see him in the morning?" she asked softly. "You hardly know him, do you? And... it s not meant as an offence or something... I am just curious."