Chapter 29:

"Ah, it feels so good to be back!"

There was no one around to hear the exclamation as Yukiko stepped from the senkaimon, which closed behind her. She took a deep breath and stretched her arms over her head. A smile spread across her face as she looked everything over. The uniform she wore was clean and in perfect order along with the blade strapped to her hip.

After she finished her appraisal of the Karakura skyline, she flashed to the more rural part where she paused in front of a welcoming shop. She smiled privately to herself at the sight that greeted her arrival.

The two children, Ginta and Ururu, were busy cleaning up the front; or more accurately Ururu was cleaning. Ginta had started a pretend game of baseball on his own.

"I think that bat may be a little too thin to be of any real use,"she teased, startling the two.

"Oh, Miss Ume," Ururu greeted.

"What are you doing here?" Ginta asked with a frown. His arms crossed in front of him while his face became flushed.

Despite the desire to tease the boy a little, Yukiko opted to not bring it to attention. "I just came to see Kisuke. Is he in?"

"He's watching the final send off." Surprisingly, Ururu had answered before her brother could. At least Yukiko thought they were siblings. They certainly acted like it.

"What send off?" Yukiko asked.

"Carrot top's." Ginta seemed a bit more irritated than before this time.

Yukiko's brow furrowed as she tried to think about what he meant. The all at once it clicked and her eyes widened. "That's happening today?"

"It's happening now."

Yukiko felt like she was just punched in the stomach and she quickly turned around. "Thanks, Ginta, Ururu," she called out as she sprinted out the gate.

Although she didn't know where Ichigo's house was, she was able to find it when she sensed a few different energies nearby. Luckily she made it just in time for the two soul reapers present to say their farewells, then stand in place as his energy slowly slipped away.

Knowing her time was limited, she flashed in front of him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "Thank you, Ichigo, for setting me free,"she whispered, ignoring him tense up at her actions. "I wish there was some way to stop this...you don't deserve to lose your power."

She felt her eyes tear up as one of his hands awkwardly patted her back. "Thanks, Ume," he murmured. "Take care of yourself."

She pulled away at this and moved so he'd have a good view of his two soul reaper friends. Then he gave one last smile and wave as his energy completely vanished.

When it fully faded, he continued to stare at them but Renji turned away. "Come on, Rukia," he said morosely. "I doubt he can see us anymore."

She sniffed and nodded turning away as well. "Ume, what are you doing here?"

Yukiko took a deep breath, giving her a soft smile. "I'm just here to visit my favorite ex-soul reapers."

"What about the Head Captain's punishment?" Renji asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It ended today," she answered, stretching her arms over her head. "Anyway, I heard from Ginta that Ichigo's energy was running out right now and came over to say my goodbyes."

"Did they really just let you…" Rukia was cut off as Renji gripped her shoulder. She looked to him in confusion and he just shook his head.

"Well, I'll see you when I'm called back," Yukiko said, stretching her arms over head. "Tell Bya-chan I'll see him later."

She grinned when the two looked at her in complete shock before taking off. She was done chatting with the pair and wanted to get her vacation off the ground. By the time she made it back to the Urahara shop, All three of her old friends were present. She gave each one a hug and then they chatted for a good hour or more before she put on her gigai and left.

It was just another day as Kensei set a bowl of food on a long table. He was almost finished preparing lunch while the explosions of a heated sparring match went on nearby. Mashiro and Hiyori had gotten into it after the little lieutenant had eaten one of the green haired lieutenant's sweets. He didn't bother telling either of them the argument was stupid as it would have been pointless. Both were clearly too into the fight to listen anyway.

Just as he was putting the finishing touches on the meal, he felt someone behind him and turned to bat them away. He didn't have the chance, however, as the moment he was facing the person, their arms were around his neck in a tight hug and the smell of plum blossoms filled his senses.

"I missed you, Kensei."

The voice confirmed what he already knew and he returned the hug. "Yeah, me too," he said softly. Then they both let go and he looked down at the smiling face of his girlfriend. "Food's ready, if you're hungry."

"Starving," she said immediately, trying to get a look around him. "What are we having?"

He chuckled and gestured at the table, covered in platters. "Pork steak and potatoes."

"Hmm, sounds good. Let's eat!"

As she got herself a plate and began digging in, Kensei called the other's over before helping himself. In moments all eight Vizards were helping themselves to the food and greeting Yukiko on their way.

"So, what's the old man's verdict?" Shinji asked in between bites.

"Not sure yet," Yukiko answered with a shrug. "I'm here to give them time to figure that out."

"What'd they make you do as punishment?" Love asked curiously.

"Lots of paperwork." At the look on everyone's faces she laughed. "No seriously, because squads three, five and nine are captainless right now, I've had to go to each one and help out with paperwork and other tasks. At first, I was helping squad ten as well, since their captain was in emergency care. I swear I had almost no time to myself. I was exhausted!"

"And it's not like you ever enjoyed paperwork either," Shinji chuckled. "It must have been such a nightmare."

"Tch, you're one to talk, Captain Hirako," she retorted. "You would have tossed yours on anyone else if you thought you could get away with it."

He glared at her and she giggled in response. Kensei watched in mild amusement at the verbal banter, pleased to see her in such good spirits. But there was something she hadn't told them yet and he was reluctant to ask. "Have you made any progress over there?" he finally asked.

Yukiko paused to look him over, her expression turning somber. Immediately he wished he hadn't said anything, but the damage was done. "About that…"

Everything went silent as all the Vizard looked at her in worry, a blanket of tension falling over the group. Even Mashiro lost her jovial expression, silently waiting for the other to finish. Kensei was internally kicking himself for asking, realizing things couldn't be going well.

Then all at once her smile was back and she laughed. "Sorry," she said, holding a hand in front of her mouth to try to hide her mirth. "I didn't realize you were all so concerned about that. Really I'm doing fine. I had some good visits with Captain Shunsui and Captain Ukitake, and I've been visiting Captain Unohana every few days to have an evaluation. Overall I've managed to go through three more sets of memories and can function pretty well with the rest."

"You haven't had any more episodes?" Rose asked. He appeared to be relieved by her answer.

"Well, not to the same extreme," she admitted, running a hand through her hair. "Every once in awhile I do end up needing to go off by myself to avoid having an incident, or nearly collapse in the middle of a sparring match, but all the new soul reapers know me as Ume now so when those happen I have tons of people saying my name and pulling back. At the very least I haven't attacked anyone so that's a plus."

Kensei sighed heavily, returning to his meal. The fact she'd decided to fool them even if only for a moment irked him, but he was glad to know that she was doing so well and felt her chances of coming out of all of this in one piece were pretty high. Thank goodness.

For the next hour or so Yukiko told the ex-soul reapers about the various squads, the people in them now and how much had changed. After that, she had a sparring match with Mashiro, which made her push it a little too much and she needed a bit of time to recover. This was fine for Kensei as he took her to his room to do so, escaping the incessant badgering from the others.

Yukiko laid on the bed, snuggled into his arms her tiredness making her slowly slipping off to sleep. As she faded, Kensei stroked her hair, taking in her scent as much as possible. He didn't know how long she'd be allowed to stay with them, or what would be decided by the Gotei 13, so he focused on this moment deciding that no matter what was decided, he'd have her in his arms again.

One week. That's all the time Yukiko had to spend in the human world before she was called back. Granted she was told the verdict immediately, allowing the Vizard to relax, but she still couldn't stay longer. After everything with Aizen there were discussions going on about how to start fixing all of it; starting, of course, with filling in the positions that were vacated. This included the three captain seats and of course any seats left open due to deaths. Despite being assured she'd be rejoining the Gotei 13, this did mean that at the moment they had no idea where to put her.

For almost a month the debate continued and without a squad she was assigned to, and no punishments to deal with any longer, Yukiko spent her time visiting with her favorite squads. She sparred with her four friends, told stories about Kensei to Shuhei, checked in on Hinamori and squad five, and occasionally visiting Byakuya. Seeing as how he was a captain she treated him with the respect he deserved unless it was just him and Renji. Then she called him by her favorite nickname. It didn't get the same rise it used to, but that adorable tick on his forehead would always make an appearance.

Then one day, she was called to squad 1 and she arrived with Rukia having been visiting squad 13 at the time. She nervously stood before the door, feeling her stomach do flips as she tried to get up the courage to open the door.

"They're waiting inside," Soyokaze said softly. "You can't put this off any longer."

Yukiko swallowed, reaching toward the door again, only to pause. "I-I don't think I can," she muttered.

"Are you really that afraid to face them?" Rukia asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Yukiko blushed mildly at this, realizing she'd answered her sword out loud. "And to think, you faced down Aizen without any fear."

"Oh trust me, I was afraid," Yukiko said, with a nervous laugh. "Sometimes it just takes a moment to move past that fear."

Rukia looked her over for a moment before smiling encouragingly. "Well, then let's move past it," she said, taking the other's hand. "This time, you're not alone. You have an entire room of soul reapers working with you." Yukiko smiled and nodded as Rukia pushed the door open and the two stepped inside.

As expected, on the other side of the door, the room was filled with the captains and/or lieutenants from every squad standing in two lines on either side of the Head Captain. Yukiko bowed to the group, noting the smiles from those she was closer to, then took up space against the wall near squad 13 and waited.

When she and Rukia had taken their places, the Head Captain got to his feet and addressed the room in his booming voice. "It is time to announce who will be filling in the gaps left behind by the war," he said, looking over each of the different squad leaders. "First, Yukiko. You will once again take your place as the fifth seat of squad 5."

Yukiko blinked in surprise before looking over at Hinamori and smiling. It was nice knowing she would be rejoining a squad she was familiar with, especially after all the time she'd spent with them these past few weeks.

The Head Captain went on to announce a few other positions being filled as other members were promoted. Then finally he came to the empty captain positions. At this point he paused and looked to the door. "Enter!"

At his words, the door opened and four people entered making Yukiko's jaw drop. "No way, what are they doing here?" she wondered to herself. As the group entered, the shortest one with green hair looked her way and gave a big smile and wave. She returned it curiously then met the gaze of the silver haired man and blushed at the smirk he gave her.

"The Captain of Squad 3 will be filled by Rojurou Outoriboshi," the Head Captain continued. "The Captain of Squad 5 will be filled by Shinji Hirako. The Captain of Squad 9 will be filled by Kensei Muguruma with Mashiro Kuna as his Lieutenant. That is all."

Yukiko couldn't believe her ears. These four were returning to the Gotei 13, which meant she'd be working with Shinji again, and Kensei would be returning to Squad 9...meaning he'd be that much closer. They could actually...

"What do you say, Yukiko?" Shinji asked, walking over to where she was standing in stunned silence. "Are you willing to work under me again?"

Yukiko's mind whirled at the thought of what all this meant. Eventually she got a hold of herself and smiled as brightly as she could. "I look forward to it, Captain Hirako."

Shippoman: Happy New Year everyone. I wanted to put this up on New Year's Day, but it took me awhile to finally get it all out. Here you are, the final chapter of Shattered Soul. I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did writing it. Let me know either by using the pole on my profile, through a review, or PMing me if you want me to do the Thousand Year Blood War. Thank you all for sticking with me this long and for all your comments. They're the reason I was able to finish. ;P