Disclaimer: I still don't own Bleach...

--

Epilogue : Always

Yumichika woke and sat up abruptly. His heart was pounding, his blood was rushing in his ears, he was shaking all over, and he was covered in cold sweat. He swore quietly. Stupid nightmares! Stupid Arrancars. Stupid Ikkaku who wouldn't use his bankai where other shinigamis could see it...

Rubbing his eyes and focusing his mind, Yumichika lay back down and forced himself to take slow, deep breaths and to regain control of his wildly fluctuating reiatsu before he managed to wake anyone else up in the Division. The tight knot of anxiety in the pit of his stomach, though, simply wouldn't go away, no matter how hard he tried to relax his entire body. Stupid, ugly war... Unbidden, unwanted, the images of that one particular night started flashing in his head again. Ikkaku had come so close to dying that day - he would have died for sure if he hadn't decided to go bankai after all... What if...?

With an irritated sigh, Yumichika opened his eyes again and sat up on the edge of his bed. This was pointless. This was ugly. This wasn't getting him anywhere. He had to calm down, he had to go back to sleep. Another round of insomnia was definitely not what he needed right now. But how... ? He could already feel the tension knots forming between his shoulder blades, and he knew that the memories were still lurking around in his head, just waiting for him to close his eyes again. He sighed ; it looked like he wasn't going to pack any more sleep tonight...

That's when he felt it, slow and discreet at first, but growing stronger and bolder with each passing moment. The familiar sensation was soft as feathers, and yet strong as running water, pressing gently but firmly against his body and mind. A small part of him felt ashamed when he realized that he had woken Ikkaku up after all, but the embarrassment didn't last as it was dissolved by the all-encompassing force of Ikkaku's reiatsu engulfing him. Gratefully, he let the gentle but mighty waves run through him, washing away the anxiety, the fear, the tension.

He closed his eyes again and lay back down, knowing that this time his mind would be at peace, and he would manage to go back to sleep serenely, secure in the knowledge that Ikkaku was watching over him, as always.