Author's Notes: Though I'm sure you'll know the lead male character is Kenpachi, his name is never mentioned. I guess I just figured that introductions were not as important as the main story line. And also, even though if I ever have a daughter in RL I would want her to be just like Yachiru, I am ashamed to admit she does not appear here. This is because I wanted the friendship to develop between the two main characters, and I couldn't do that with a bubbling, high-on-sugar little girl bouncing around.

Finally, I understand how hard it is, and sometimes how annoying it is, to have an OC in any fan fiction, but considering I have been working on this for a while, and only just decided to post it, I will throw caution to the wind and hope my OC doesn't upset you too much.

If you heed these minutiae and still feel like reading my story, I thank you, and hope you enjoy it. Also, the whole first part is written, so while I write the second part, I will, over time, post the first part.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Bleach related characters, references, situations, etc.

"I sent my soul through the invisible,
some letter of that afterlife to spell;
and by and by my soul returned to me,
and answered, "I myself am Heav'n and Hell."

--Omar Khayyam

Part I: Prologue

There's a common misconception that once life ends, that's it. No more stories, no more adventures, and no where else to go. Once it's gone, it's gone, and there's no coming back. Such a statement is partially true, but not entirely. Many beliefs have different points of view, but the be all and end all is the same: death is only the beginning.

Assuming there is a fantastic afterlife where joys are immeasurable by mortal standards is a limited way of thinking. Assuming there is an 'afterlife', period, is also limited, for once dead, there is no life; not even an after one. Nevertheless, it is not too impossible to believe such an existence could be classified as an 'afterlife', since one exists beyond the mortal idea of 'life'. In all honesty, it is difficult to explain exactly the meaning of what happens upon one's death, since language is limited to a mortal's point of view, which, of course, is already limited.

But for the purposes of this story, limited or otherwise, such terms are the only ones to work with and will have no choice but to be used. Thus attention will be turned to the original point: death is only the beginning of one's journey.

On that note, the journey of Hiroki Sakina actually begins not upon her entrance to Soul Society, the 'afterlife', but with the departure of her grandmother, Nana Kira. She wasn't really her grandmother, of course. Sakina entered Soul Society with no recollection of her time on Earth, save for that it was good. She was so young when Nana Kira found her that she was scarcely able to form coherent sentences.

And after almost three centuries of raising her as her own granddaughter, Nana Kira was finally saying her goodbyes. For even in Soul Society, souls are able to cease to exist. But Sakina did not want her to go. The elder woman found her granddaughter on the far reaches of Sector 3, in Rukongai. Knowing how dangerous the slums of Soul Society can be, especially to someone so young, she raised her in her decrepit home, giving the young girl one simple rule: she must never leave the house.

Nana Kira did not want Sakina to get hurt, so she felt that if she stayed inside, she could protect her. She would go out every morning to get water, and be back to tutor the young girl, teaching her to read and write, among other things. While Nana Kira was away, Sakina would work around the house, to keep it clean and in pleasant condition. All she ever knew was that house, and as long as Nana Kira was there, the young girl never felt fear.

But if Nana Kira was dying, so to speak, Sakina would know fear. Who would protect her or tutor her now? How would she get nourishment? Would she then have to leave the house? Sakina had never seen Rukongai, save for what she saw out the window or the pictures from her study books. Would the poor, desperate people Nana Kira always talked about and tried to protect her from now come to raid her home? It always seemed as if Nana Kira had an aura about her that repelled all others, for even though, at night, Sakina could hear the recklessness and rioting of the people on the street, they never came near her home. And when it got truly bad, when Sakina would crawl into bed with her grandmother, it seemed far away and nonexistent.

All these points, though valid, did not stop her grandmother from dying. She told Sakina that her only regret in life was to not show her granddaughter the outside world. She would have to see it for herself, and hope that no harm befalls her as her journey begins. Although Sakina was naturally sweet, Nana Kira made her promise not to immediately trust anyone, for anyone could try to hurt her.

There was only one other promise Nana Kira made Sakina make that day: to leave Rukongai by becoming a shinigami. To go from a girl who never saw even Rukongai and was tutored by her grandmother for three centuries to a shinigami who was supposed to be worldly as well as possess incredible spirit power that Sakina obviously did not have was impossible. But even though she brought this up to her grandmother, the elder woman would not back down. She saw in Sakina a great potential that the girl did not see herself. It would be flourished by a more intensive training than Nana Kira could ever give her. Becoming a shinigami would be the only thing that would give Nana Kira peace.

After the promise was sealed, Nana Kira closed her eyes and became still. Her soul had deceased. Her spirit energy was gone. Through her tears, Sakina watched her grandmother disappear from sight, leaving her alone, as night was falling, and the sounds of rioting bubbled up from the silence. And now that her only means of protection was gone, Hiroki Sakina no longer felt safe in her own home…