Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Bleach.

Title: The Princess and the Dragon: A Bleach Fairy Tale

Chapter 1

A/N: So this is my first time writing anything related to Bleach. I'm sorry if the structure of this story is kind of confusing. Basically, it's a story within a story where Matsumoto is reading a fairy tale.

Format note: Any lines entirely italics are happening in the "real" world of Bleach and not in the fairy tale itself. The same goes for any dialogue that starts with a person's name in script format. For example:

Matsumoto: blah blah blah

Btw, I use the Japanese ranks and honorifics. Personally, I feel like the relationships between the characters are shown through the way they address each other. Hearing Rukia call Byakuya by his first name instead of ni-sama sounds very odd to me (because of how their relationship works). It's like hearing someone call their mom or dad by their first name. I hope that doesn't make the story awkward for any readers.

Matsumoto made her way through the corridors of the 4th division, looking for her taichou. Hitsugaya taichou had just returned from an extended mission in the human world and rumor was he'd been injured.

From all accounts it wasn't a serious injury. A checkup, maybe an overnight stay, and he'd be free to go. Good as new. Still, she was worried. The initial reports of hollow activity had been way off. Again. Thank you 12th division. But Hitsugaya Toshiro wasn't the youngest taichou in the history of the Gotei 13 for nothing. No casualties and only minor injuries made the mission a complete success.

Of course, she should have been there with him. She was his fukutaichou. He had no business going into battle without her. But no. He'd insisted she stay behind. Sure he claimed someone needed to run the division. And truth be told, with so many of the recent missions being assigned to the tenth they were feeling the strain.

The tenth was known for its professionalism. Something she took no small amount of pride in, even if it was mostly due to her taichou's efforts. It made sense not to take both commanding officers this time. The paperwork alone was becoming a nightmare.

Well the paperwork had built up steadily over the last week. It could wait another day. Besides, he would definitely appreciate her company. Sure her taichou was a little introverted and he often went to great lengths to be alone.

It was clearly a cry for help.

She found his room easily and had barely opened the door. "Taich-"

"Matsumoto, shouldn't you be at the division?" He was sitting up in bed with his haori removed and a bandage wrapped along the length of his left arm. Matsumoto hoped her relief wasn't too obvious. Her taichou hated being fussed over. Seeing that he was safe, it was time to pester him.

"Oh Taichou, don't be like that! Checking on you is more important."

"As you can see. I'm fine."

Ignoring the indirect dismissal, she sat in the chair closest to the window. "I'm here to keep you company. I've got this great book Hinamori found."

She glanced at her taichou. At the mention of his childhood friend, she'd hoped for some spark of interest. But if anything he seemed more annoyed with her. Before he could object she opened the book and launched into the story.

. . . . .

Long ago there was a peaceful kingdom that had ruled over the land for a thousand years. Every year the harvests were plentiful, the borders safe, and the royal family was very kind. The people of the kingdom were happy.

Sadly, no peace can last forever.

One day a terrible dragon from the icy north descended on the kingdom. The dragon was frighteningly powerful and its heart was as cold as its frozen homeland. It terrified the local villagers, laying waste to their homes.

But the queen sent her bravest knight to slay the monster before it could hurt anymore of the villagers-

. . . . .

Matsumoto closed her eyes. Oh god. She could feel her taichou glaring at her. Sometimes she could really be dense. She bowed her head pitifully, tried to shield herself with the book. "I'm sorry taichou. I…I'm smarter than this, I swear." Slowly, she worked up the courage to face him.

His face betrayed nothing, would have given Kuchiki taichou a run for his money, but the sudden drop in temperature was unmistakable.

Matsumoto exhaled, watched her breath turn into steam, and gave him her brightest smile. She could play it off as a joke. Right? He'd never believe she was that oblivious.

"Get out."

Or not.

"Yes taichou."

Matsumoto quietly closed the door behind her. What had she been thinking? She'd read the story a dozen times. It wasn't anything groundbreaking. The usual story of a dragon and a heroic knight. You know, slay the dragon and get the girl.

Of course her taichou wouldn't see it that way. As a boy with a dragon inside him, who was feared or hated by an entire village… How else would he identify with it? Matsumoto sighed softly. She wanted to blame this one on the sake. Or Hinamori. Yes, this was her fault.

Matsumoto was halfway down the hall when she heard screaming. That wasn't uncommon in the medical division. But this wasn't the type of screaming she was most familiar with, the "I'm being killed by a hollow/arrancar/traitorous shinigami" type of screaming. This sounded even more dramatic and slightly higher pitched.

Now, Matsumoto was naturally curious, didn't respect boundaries on a good day, and needed a distraction. She quickly found herself peeking through a door at the opposite end of the hallway.

It wasn't a typical patient's room. It was too big, big enough for 3 officers to form a cleansing barrier in the center and still have enough space left to move about. Yachiru was sitting within the barrier doing her best to deafen everyone in the room. Hanataro was trying futilely to calm the girl down. Even Unohana taichou looked exasperated.

It didn't seem possible for her to make the situation any worse. So Matsumoto got as close to the pink haired fukutaichou as the barrier would permit. "Hello Chiru-chan." She tried to sound as upbeat as possible, hoping to quiet the girl, if only for a moment.

The girl stopped screaming, maybe distracted, maybe just out of breath. And Matsumoto looked her over. Yachiru didn't appear to be at any serious risk. True, she was paler than normal and it looked like she hadn't slept in days.

Unohana seemed to read her mind. "Kusajishi fukutaichou decided to sneak in the 12th division's labs. Fortunately or unfortunately, one of Mayuri taichou's security measures stopped her." The 4th division taichou sighed softly. "She isn't in any danger anymore. However, she will need a few more treatments and her recovery would go much faster if she wouldn't fight us."

Matsumoto nodded sympathetically. Trying to get the hyperactive child to sit still for any length of time was a battle. Add in the utter boredom of sitting in a barrier and the uncomfortable feeling of the healing kido prickling her skin, and this was a lost cause.

Matsumoto glanced down at the book in her hands. Her grumpy taichou be damned! It was a good story. Perfect for a little girl. She smirked at Unohana taichou.

Matsumoto kneeled down on the mat directly in front of Yachiru. "I've got a story here and I know you'll love it!"

The little girl in question stared at her suspiciously. It felt like a trick. She always hated being in the infirmary. And the stupid kido treatment was the worst. 4th division was awful!

Matsumoto grinned back. The girl was still upset but her interest was obvious. Matsumoto opened her book and began to read. As soon as she started, it was clear she had the young fukutaichou's attention.

A faraway look appeared in Yachiru's eyes, her imagination already taking over.

Perfect!

. . . . .

Long ago there was a peaceful kingdom that had ruled over the land for a thousand years. Every year the harvests were plentiful, the borders safe, and the royal family was very kind. The people of the kingdom were happy. Until one day a terrible dragon from the north descended on the kingdom.

Hitsugaya, obviously, in his Bankai form appeared in the sky.

Okay. So maybe the dragon wasn't terrible. He had plenty of good qualities. Mostly, he just had trouble opening up to people. But he did descend on the kingdom.

The people were terrified. They turned to their beautiful queen for help.

In flash of light and a puff of smoke Matsumoto appeared on a large balcony, overlooking her city. She smirked. "Like it could be anyone else."

The queen decided-

Yachiru: Who cares about a stupid old queen!

Matsumoto: She is not old!

Yachiru: Some queen sitting on a throne is boring!

Matsumoto: It's part of the story. And she isn't old.

Unohana Taichou: I'm sure Matsumoto was mistaken.

One look at Unohana taichou settled the argument. Yachiru was finally cooperating enough for the healers to start making progress and nothing else mattered. Matsumoto glanced down at the now useless page. Why had she thought anyone else would like this story? It was too late for regrets. She was committed now. Matsumoto resisted the urge to grab the bridge of her nose. She could do this. She'd steal what she could from the book and make up what she needed to.

No problem.

The ground opened up to swallow the beautiful and totally not old queen.

Let's try this again.

In this kingdom there were many small farms. On one of these farms a young girl lived with her family.

Another flash of light, another puff of smoke, and Momo found herself standing in a small farmhouse.

The sometimes endearing, more often irritating, humble farm girl-

Yachiru: Where's the princess? If there's a dragon there has to be a princess.

The pink haired girl was glaring at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world. The little girl, who was her equal in rank (which at that moment stung like a bitch), crossed her arms and continued to glare.

Yachiru: There has to be.

Apparently, those were the official rules.

The ground began to open again swallowing the girl, the house, even the farm itself.

"Hey! Why can't I be-"

Shut up. Your stupid book got me into this mess.

For the third and, please god, final time there was a flash of light and a puff of smoke.

Princess Rukia stood on her balcony staring into the moonlit sky. The princess loved watching the moon. It always filled her with a sense peace.

Suddenly, a dark shape fell over her.

The dragon swooped down, a shadow against the darkness. Before she could call out for help she was already in the dragon's clutches and it was rising into the night sky.

Hitsugaya smirked at her then adjusted his hold on the princess' waist. "Tell me if my grips too tight."

Rukia blinked. "That was not what I was expecting you to say."

Green eyes, surprisingly human eyes, stared into her own. "Would you believe I don't enjoy hurting innocent people?"

"Considering I'm not falling to my death, I'll take a leap of faith."

Higher and higher the dragon soared until the entire kingdom was lost in the darkness below. The dragon turned to the north and flew towards the horizon. You see, the dragon wanted to steal the princess beca-

Yachiru: Because the dragon loved the princess!

Rukia's eyes widened.

Hitsugaya blushed furiously.

Matsumoto: …Fine!

As I was saying, the dragon had fallen in love with the princess. So he kidnapped her before she could be married to one of her brother's loyal knights. The dragon carried the princess off to his keep in the north.

Hitsugaya cleared his throat. "Erm…hang on."

Rukia, a faint blush on her cheeks, just wrapped her arms around the dragon's neck and nodded.

But the princess was not without hope of rescue. The knight she was promised to was one of her oldest friends. He was brave and strong, although not the most intelligent person in the world.

Enter Renji, stage left.

But the knight was loyal. Did I already say loyal? I feel like I said loyal. Anyway the knight vowed to rescue the princess. The knight knew he couldn't take on the dragon by himself. He would need the help of his two most trusted comrades.

He found them at the most prestigious dive bar in the city and told them about the horrible injustice that had befallen the princess.

Renji stormed up to their table. "Some asshole dragon kidnapped Rukia! Let's go after him."

His comrades, while brave and seasoned warriors, were concerned. After all, a dragon is not an enemy to be taken lightly.

"Hell yeah! We get to slay a goddamn dragon!" Ikkaku cheered, and they each raised a glass of sake.

"It will make a beautiful tale of courage and love, triumphing over evil." Yumichika added. Another round of glasses were raised.

Renji grinned. "We hit the road at first light. We should get some rest."

Everyone laughed.

So the ritual high fiving and pre-mission drinking commenced.

I hope it wasn't too hard to follow along with what was happening. It felt like it took a lot of work to get the story rolling along because of all the starting and stopping (mostly Matsumoto and Yachiru's fault).

I appreciate any and all reviews, especially constructive criticism.