Summary: Last chapter. Loose ends are tied up.

Morning was well on its way before she woke up.

She didn't open her eyes at first. She relished the presence of Uryuu pressed against her back, a warm and pleasant sensation. Sunlight streamed through the sliding doors which had been left open to let in the cool night air. Opening her eyes to greet the day, she ran her hand lightly along the leanly muscled arm that held her tight.

They had stayed up late into the night. The private bath was a real treat as they scrubbed each other's bodies, then enjoyed a long soak in the hot mineral water. Room service had provided another excellent meal, despite the late hour. Afterwards, they had finally gone to sleep, bodies entwined.

Did she really have to wake up now? Regrettably, she concluded they did. They were both supposed to be in the hospital. If Mayuri-sama found out she was not there, it would not be pretty. Rolling over, she smiled as she gently stroked Uryuu's sleeping face. It was almost like a dream, this time they had together.

Uryuu. Her guardian. Her angel. Her lover.

She decided that someday, somehow, she would find a way for them to stay together always. She wanted to wake up like this every morning.

He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Good morning." He said.

"Good morning." She said smiling back. She lightly kissed his lips.

It was the best morning she could remember.

It had not been a good morning.

He sat in his sedan chair as slaves carried him across the rubble. While normally an indicator of his status, in this instance, it was also a necessity. His right leg was broken. The air was smoky from the small fires that guttered all around. The weak morning sun could barely filter through. Moans and screams from the wounded echoed though the gloom.

"You really should be resting your Excellency." Patecatl said in a quavering voice. "This moving around is not good for you. You need time to heal."

In spite of the pain, the great emperor Mictlantecuhtl turned his head to look at the healer with his unbandaged eye.

Patecatl wore a necklace indicating special dispensation. This allowed him to do anything necessary to ensure his ruler's survival to include speaking without being addressed first and even looking him in the eye. That didn't mean the emperor had to like it.

"The people need to see me." He said. "We've suffered a humiliating loss. Many of the nobility were slain. Alliances are in chaos. Seeing me alive may be the only thing preventing a full rebellion."

Patecatl held up his medicine bag. "At least let me give you something for your pain, Excellency."

Mictlantecuhtl was very tempted. The pain from his many wounds was strong. He put it out of his mind. For now, he needed his thoughts to be clear.

"Later." He said.

All around him, slaves and free men alike worked to move stones and uncover bodies from the collapsed remains of the amphitheater. There were shouts and purposeful movement on the rare occasions they found someone alive. This didn't happen very often anymore. Mostly they worked to recover the dead. The nobility would be sent home for a proper burial. The rest were being stacked in the nearby square for a funeral pyre. It was the worst defeat in recent memory.

The events of the previous day kept running through his mind. The arrival of the strangers. The furious battle. Fighting first one, then another warrior equal to himself in strength and power. It had been like nothing he'd ever experienced since assuming the throne.

The sting of his loss was made all the more harsh by the sure knowledge that he had failed his people. The promise of a bright future, for himself and his people, had been snatched away. More than the ruined buildings and torn bodies around him, the knowledge that the imperial line would now end with him, leaving the empire to tear itself apart in chaos, filled him with bitterness. Lost in his thoughts, it took him a few seconds to realize someone was calling out to him.

"Your Excellency! Your Excellency! Let me through!"

Mictlantecuhtl saw his high priest, Tezcatlipoca, fighting to get past his ring of bodyguards.

"Let him pass." He ordered.

Tezcatlipoca, and one of his acolytes, Ixtlilton, prostrated themselves before him. At Mictlantecuhtl's command, they rose to their feet.

Ixtlilton did not have permission to look at him and kept his gaze down.

Tezcatlipoca was a far cry from his usual self. He had seemed to age centuries over night. When he was found, he had been wandering listlessly, seemly at a loss about what to do. He still looked terrible, hair in disarray, face paint smudged, but now he seemed alive again.

"We have some good news, my lord." Tezcatlipoca said. "Look at this."

He held up a small milky quartz stone.

"I expect you will explain why this is good news?" Mictlantecuhtl said.

"It's a recording of their gate coordinates." Tezcatlipoca replied. "I set these up near all the disruptors. If anyone removed them, I figured they may open a gate nearby soon after. This one recorded one of their gate's exact frequency. My emperor, we can now track them to their homes!"

Mictlantecuhtl frowned. "And what good will that do? Look at what they've done to us!"

He gestured around him with his hands. "Are you proposing we go to these people's homes and fight them on their own ground!"

"Yes my emperor, that is exactly what I'm saying." Tezcatlipoca said.

Mictlantecuhtl leaned forward and spoke quietly so the men around them couldn't hear.

"Weren't you listening? They nearly destroyed us. They decimated the nobility. They made us look like powerless children! How can we prevail against people like that?"

Tezcatlipoca knew he tread on dangerous ground.

"We suffered a surprise attack when we least expected it. We were hit with weapons and skills we've never seen before. We had no idea of their true capabilities. My emperor, all that can be changed. Ixtlilton, tell him what we have learned."

Ixtlilton gave a slight bow before starting, but still didn't attempt to meet the emperor's gaze. "Your Excellency, we observed many things about the enemy both in captivity and during the attack. We can come up with new strategies. New weapons. New ideas for training so our warriors may cast spells in battle like theirs. Most importantly, we have the samples taken from Lieutenant Nemu."

"The vault will still be secure, even if every tunnel collapses." Tezcatlipoca said. "There are poisons we can copy, substances that make paralyzing gas, even drugs that give warriors temporarily heightened speed and strength."

"Combined with what we have learned about their weapons and tactics, we can eliminate their advantages. With sufficient numbers, we may even have a slight edge." Ixtlilton added.

"But to what end?" Mictlantecuhtl asked.

"To grow and keep the empire strong." Tezcatlipoca replied. "You have to look ahead my lord. Right now we need to heal and rebuild. Later we need to train. After that, we can strike back. Think about it emperor. We can get the lieutenant back! We can have a future again!"

Mictlantecuhtl sat back in his chair as he let the realization sink in.

"Of course." He said. "If we strike at them when WE are prepared…"

"They will be the ones burning their dead." Tezcatlipoca finished.

"We will be able to do more than just recover Lieutenant Nemu as well." Ixtlilton pointed out.

"There were other women in the rescue team. They were at least her equal in power. Think of the possibilities my lord!"

Mictlantecuhtl began to feel hopeful again. Possibilities indeed. An entire harem of strong, fertile women giving him many heirs, securing the future of the empire. Maybe other benefits as well. New ways of thinking. New skills to learn. Best of all, maybe he would not just raid this new dimension. Maybe he would be able to expand the empire further than ever. It was turning out to be a good morning after all.

They had been up since dawn to set up their device.

It was not quite like a portal. It was more like scaffolding, metallic and utilitarian, stretching a good ten meters long by three high and illuminated by the interface between worlds. You could not pass through it. It was designed to allow the twelfth division to make certain modifications. Currently, it outlined a glowing blue wall of energy. The wall between Soul Society and the dimension where Nemu had been trapped. In front of the scaffold, white coated technicians scurried back and forth, setting up cables and installing strange devices.

Mayuri stood in the middle staring down at the main console. He had been up since before dawn ready to fulfill the orders given to him by the Captain-Commander himself. After the monkeyshines from last night, he hadn't slept well either. He ground his teeth with impatience. Everything was taking too long. He lifted his head up to shout some orders.

"Dammit Nem..."

He caught himself just in time. He looked around. Had anyone heard him? If the technicians did, they were doing their best to look like they hadn't. The white hot fury Mayuri felt whenever he thought about his errant daughter flared in his chest. With her assistance, he would have finished this task by now. As it was, even with a dozen technicians, they had been there for hours.

"You!" He barked pointing at one hapless minion. "What the hell is taking so long?"

"Your pardon, captain." The poor shinigami said as he began to shake. "We've almost finished setting up the power relays. It shouldn't take more than another five minutes."

Five minutes! He could reconstruct an entire central nervous system in five minutes.

With Nemu's assistance.

He ground his teeth as he suppressed his rage.

"Very well." He said. "You will not get one second more."

He held up a strange, glittering device in threatening manner.

The technician's face drained of blood as he hurried off to complete his tasks. What had that thing been? A laser? A bomb? A disintegrator ray? There were so many horrendous possibilities, he was growing faint with dread.

Mayuri sighed and put his watch back in his pocket. The last few weeks had been hard. It's true, he really had planned a Nemu 2.0. In fact he had well over a dozen versions planned out in his files. Many were highly specialized for various missions or procedures. It would be simplicity itself to have his machines create one. All it would take is loading the program into the fabricator and pushing the button.

So why didn't he do it?

Images passed through his mind as he remembered when he first activated Nemu. How pleased he had been at first with his accomplishment. How she started making mistakes. How furious he was that what was supposed to be his greatest creation was displaying flaws. He'd beaten her till his arms got tired. Did he really want to suffer through that kind of disappointment again? Besides, Nemu was back now. As soon as she was finished malingering in the Fourth division's hospital, he'd whip her into shape quickly enough. He could just picture it.

He rubbed his fist as he envisioned teaching her a lesson for hiding behind Unohana's skirts. How dare she lay about at the fourth division when she knew she was supposed to report to him. How dare she abandon her duties to him. He could see it in his mind's eye as he thought about the many ways he would "remind" her of her responsibilities.

Then he sighed. He couldn't even do that anymore. She would actually report him to the first division for assault. Report him! What gave anyone the right to tell him how to treat his own daughter anyway? If he didn't need the funding, he'd… no. He was being angry for the wrong reasons now. It wasn't the fault of the first division or the rules of the Gotei 13 that Nemu was acting rebellious and defying him. No, Actually, it was all that damned Quincy's fault! He was the one who put strange ideas into Nemu's head. Why was she so obsessed with that inferior creature anyway? There were too many people watching him these days to do what he would have liked to the arrogant brat. That didn't mean he couldn't do anything. How could he get back at that miserable worm?

He turned the problem over and over in his mind. Unlike the many times before when he pondered the situation, he was pleasantly surprised when an answer presented itself. It was a clever as it was simple. Turn Nemu against him. Yes! That would be sweet indeed. It would serve to punish both of them. He would treat her well when she got back, get on her good side and convince her he'd changed. He was sure it wouldn't be long before he regained her trust. Then, when her defenses were down, he would approach her like a properly concerned father, and convince her the Quincy had betrayed her somehow. Crushed and heartbroken, she would have no choice but give her full loyalty back to him. She would turn her back on the Quincy and give up on this foolish infatuation. It would be like it used to before that boy showed up.

He began to grin and his spirits finally lifted. Yes, he liked this plan indeed. He would have to act quickly though. Best to do it soon before she got too hung up on that loser.

"Captain Mayuri-sama." A technician said. "The power relays are in place. We are ready to begin."

"Very well." He acknowledged.

Looking over the control panel, he saw the indicator lights coming to life. He dialed in the desired settings and watched as the meters adjusted. It was soon ready. It took a lot of power to upset the tension fields between two dimensions, but once you did, the fluctuations lasted for a millennium. He hit the device trigger. A plasma charge built in the focusing rod, leaping out in a bright streak to hit the energy wall, changing it where it struck from a glowing blue to purple. It spread out in rings, like from a stone tossed in a pond, rippling faster and heavier. Soon, it was a pattern of rapidly moving purple lines over a blue background. The frequencies in the dimension surrounding that world were now scrambled. The inhabitants were trapped in their own little universe for at least the next thousand years.

Mayuri chuckled. That was certainly going to ruin somebody's day.

"Try to figure that one out, primitives!" he jeered. It was turning out to be a good morning after all.

She almost caught him looking at her again. As they walked hand in hand down the street, she could feel his gaze against her face. He turned away as she turned her head. When she looked forward, she could tell he was looking again. They went back and forth several times.

"What is it?" she asked. "Is there something on my face?"

She used her free hand to feel around her mouth to see if there were some stray grains of rice on her cheek.

Uryuu laughed. "No, there's nothing on your face. I just like looking at you.

Nemu had to glance away. He was making her blush.

"You look lovely when you smile." He said.

It's easy to smile when you're happy, she thought. She was interrupted before she could reply.

"Nemu-chan! Ishida-san!"

The couple turned to see Isane and Momo running up to them.

"There you are!" Isane said. "We went to the hotel and they said you'd already left."

"Everyone's looking for you Ishida-san." Momo said. "You're supposed to be back at the Senkaimon to return to the real world in half an hour."

"Captain Mayuri has been calling non-stop for you for the last two hours." Isane said. "We've managed to put him off so far by saying you're sedated, but he should be at the compound soon."

"I have to take you back to the sixth division compound." Mom said to Uryuu. "We've made up some real world clothes for you. You'll have to change quickly if we're to get to the gate on time."

"I have to take you back to the fourth division." Isane said to Nemu.

Uryuu and Nemu looked at each other. There were no longer smiling.

"We don't have any more time?" Uryuu asked.

Nemu didn't know what to say. It was all so sudden.

"This is not fair." He protested to Isane. "Do we really have to leave just like that?"

As Isane tried to explain there really weren't any options, time seemed to slow down for Nemu.

She knew what Uryuu meant. They had so little time together. Now, when they weren't ready, when they couldn't say a proper goodbye, they had to part? It was very unfair. Her own words came up through her thoughts. In a different world, they'd have all the time they needed. Unfortunately, they didn't live in that world. She interrupted her friend.

"Isane-san, could you give us a moment?"

Isane was caught off balance. "A moment?" She said.

"Yes." Nemu said. "A moment. Alone."

She gestured by shaking her head to the side.

Isane finally took the hint. "Oh, a MOMENT. Ah. Say Momo? Is that the latest cell phone you have there?"

Momo caught on quickly. "Why no Isane, but it does have some very interesting features. Why don't you let me show you over here?"

The two wandered off a little ways to give the couple some space.

Nemu looked up into Uryuu's eyes. "I have to go now."

He took hold of both her hands. "This really isn't fair. I know we can't do anything about this, but I really did want you to go with me to the gate."

"I want that too." Nemu said. "It's not possible."

"So what are we going to do about this? About us?" he asked.

Looking him in the eye, Nemu spoke with strength and conviction.

"We're going to be grateful for the time we have and we'll take whatever comes with no regrets."

"But how do we know if we'll ever see each other again?" He said.

She wrapped her arms around him and held him close.

"I know we'll see each other again." She said.

"I believe our fate is to be together, even if we have to work harder than most to do so. This is really just the beginning for us. I'm sad we can't stay together now, but I'll hold our time together close to my heart until we say hello again." She gazed up at his face.

"For now we have to say goodbye."

"No," he said with a wistful smile." Now we have to say until next time."

Nemu smiled back."Until next time then."

They came together for one last long kiss. He stroked her face as they stepped away from each other.

"I'm ready now, Hinamori-san" Ishida said.

"Me too Isane-san." Nemu said.

Momo and Isane acted with exaggerated surprise.

"Oh how silly of me." Momo said "Here I am showing off my phone when I need to get Ishida-san to the Senkaimon on time."

"Oh no, it's all my fault." Isane said with exaggerated hand gestures. "I should not have distracted you with my foolish questions."

Momo gestured with her hand towards the direction they had to take.

"Shall we go Ishida-san? We'll have to shunpo to make it on time."

Uryuu bit back his reply. Quincies did not shunpo. They used the more elegant and in his opinion superior hirenkyaku technique. Still he did not wish to appear rude.

"I can keep up." He said. He looked at Nemu one last time before he left.

"Until next time."

"Next time." She softly replied.

Momo and Uryuu flickered out of sight.

Isane looked over to see Nemu still staring at the space he had just left.

"I'm sorry Nemu-chan." She said.

Nemu shook her head. "It's alright." She said. "No matter what, we'll see each other again."

Ichigo was the first to start laughing. Everyone turned around to see what he was laughing about and broke up in turn. Even Rukia put her hand in front of her mouth to try and stop her chuckles. No one could believe their eyes as the young Quincy strolled up wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts.

"I'm sorry." Momo whispered. "It's all I could find on short notice."

Uryuu grinned ruefully. "Don't worry about it." He said.

Of all his red-faced, cackling friends, only Chad seemed to approve of his new look and gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up.

"Hey Ishida." Ichigo said between snickers, "We're going back to Japan, not to Okinawa!"

"I wouldn't be dressed like this if you hadn't burned my clothes." He testily replied.

"You could have just worn the yukata, Ishida-san." Rukia said.

"I have it right here." He said holding up a furoshiki, a square cloth used to carry things. "I didn't feel it would be appropriate for me to wear walking home."

"But you would have walked home wearing that Quincy thing?" Ichigo asked.

"Proudly!" he snapped.

"Say, don't you normally make your own clothes?" Renji said. "You can do it pretty fast too I understand."

Uryuu looked down and adjusted his glasses. "I didn't have the opportunity this time." He said.

"Ha! I told you! Pay up!" Renji crowed as he elbowed Ichigo in the ribs.

"This doesn't prove anything." Ichigo said as he rubbed this side.

"Sure it does.' Renji replied. "Admit the truth Ishida-san. You were too busy last night because you picked up a chick at the barbecue didn't you?"

Uryuu could feel the blood pounding in his ears. How was he going to respond to that? It wasn't in his nature to lie, but he didn't want to admit to anything like that. Even if he was the type to kiss and tell, Nemu was too special for such shabby treatment. Fortunately he didn't have to answer.

Rukia punched Renji on the shoulder. "Baka! This is what I'm talking about. You just have no sense of tact! You're embarrassing me!"

Renji's had the good sense to look chagrined.

"Ha, she sure told you!" Ichigo whooped. She hit him next. "Hey, what was that for?"

"You're just as bad as he is! Honestly, both of you need to grow up!" She barked.

"Now both of you apologize."

Both of Rukia's targets looked down at the ground and mumbled something that could almost be heard.

"What was that? I can't hear you." She growled.

"Sorry." They both muttered louder.

"That's better." She said.

She turned to Uryuu and smiled. "Ready to go home Ishida-san?"

Uryuu smiled with relief. "Sure."

There were many shinigami both from the sixth division as well as off duty members from all over who waved goodbye and wished them a safe journey. As he waved back, Uryuu wished there was one more face in the crowd to see him go. He wasn't too down though. He was sure that sooner than he expected, he would be seeing her face again. The crowd and the voices faded away as he stepped through the gate.

"Shouldn't we hurry?" Nemu asked Isane.

"Only if we have to." Isane replied. "Yasochika will text me if your captain shows up. Speaking of which, do you have your phone? We've been trying to contact you for the past hour."

Nemu felt embarrassed. "I had it turned off."

She had turned it off before dinner last night. Activating her phone, she was relieved to see no missed calls or texts from last night. If someone had tried to get a hold of her and failed, they may have next tried to visit her room. It was no secret where she was staying. There were several times last night where that would have been…awkward. As it was, all the missed calls seemed to be while she was walking back to the fourth division with Uryuu.

"Hey nee-san!" a voice called out.

Nemu looked up from her phone to see a pink-haired streak headed straight for her. She barely had time to put her phone away before being tackled around her waist. Yachiru hugged her tightly as she jumped up and down with excited joy.

"You're back, you're back, you're back!" she chanted.

Nemu knelt down to hug her back "Hello little sister. I missed you too."

Yachiru was grinning so widely she could hardly keep her eyes open.

"Say, I thought you were hurt? You're looking pretty good to me."

Nemu stood up and resumed walking, leading the precocious child by the hand.

"Captain Unohana healed me personally. I should be good as new in a few days."

"Oh yeah, she's real good a healing." Yachiru said with a nod. "She came right over to heal Ken-chan when we got home. You know, I didn't think he was hurt that bad, but she stayed the whole night and never left his room! She musta needed to do a lot of stuff to make him feel better."

Isane began to cough and avoid looking at the child. Nemu said nothing as the little girl prattled on about all the things that happened while she was gone. Yachiru was her closest friend in Soul Society. Walking hand in hand with her, she wondered if this was what it felt like to be a mother.

Suddenly, she stopped walking. Her hand flew to her abdomen. She remembered. Mayahuel. The Mictlan healer had said she would be ready to conceive about the same time as the ceremony. She would be fertile right about now.

Yachiru looked up, her face quickly clouded with concern. "Nemu-chan. You alright?"

"Yes, Nemu-san. Is anything wrong?" Isane asked.

Nemu shook her head. "It's nothing. Just a passing thought."

They continued on. In her mind, Nemu reproached herself for being so foolish. As she told Mayahuel, she couldn't conceive. Her body was loaded with toxins. Even her blood was filled with strange potions and chemicals that would prevent any possible pregnancy. That's why she hadn't used any of Captain Unohana's other precautionary supplies. There was no point in using contraceptives when she would need to be purged of all foreign substances just to be able to try and get pregnant.

Still, it was a lovely thought. Would it be a boy or a girl? Maybe twins? One each? Going over the possibilities in her imagination, she could see her child in various stages, from baby to young adult, growing strong and wise and proud. There were good things to be said for having a baby girl Good things for a boy as well. However she looked at it, one thing remained the same for both. She wanted her baby to have straight black hair and piercing blue eyes. Her hand rested on her stomach as she imagined what it must feel like to have new life stirring inside.

END