Yami pulled the cord from her neck, keeping her hold on the vast majority of it. Karu didn't have time to drop it as Yami tugged it towards her, making sure her fist greeted Karu.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Yami asked as Karu's hand covered her nose, blood seeping through her fingers.

"Not as much as it'll hurt you," Karu snarled.

She didn't sound very intimidating though and she wasn't. Not anymore. Hebi, though he'd been stronger, was her weapon. Without him, Karu's limited abilities, were even more limited.

"That's funny," Yami finally said. "You don't stand a chance."

"It has been too long since I've witnessed a zanpakuto in action," Mother declared.

She narrowly avoided losing her head at the hands of Ukitake, a fact based more on the fact that she was taunting him then her lack of skill. She'd proven that she was well versed in combat.

"Perhaps you do not possess as much love for my dear Yami as you claim."

He didn't know why but hearing those words filled him with rage. How dare she claim Yami as her own. All to taunt him. To rub in his face that the girl that all evidence said was his daughter, had been taken from him so easily, leaving him with no recollection of her.

"Focus, dear captain!" Mother said.

Ukitake turned as one of her doubles slammed into him, knocking him back. She was strong. Much stronger than him. And she relished that fact, throwing it in his face. A sensation crawled along his arm, resting on his hand.

"She's no match for me," a voice whispered.

A sense of strength filled Ukitake and he clutched his zanpakuto tighter, the blade, glowing as if it had received some upgrade in strength. This spiritual pressure was not his own and it wasn't familiar. But Ukitake was willing to use it to fight. Mother seemed to feel some sort of change because she paused long enough to study him. It was in the pause, Ukitake struck, his blade, still glowing from the outside spiritual pressure, slicing through her. Mother's head flew back, mouth open in a silent scream as her pale skin seemed to age, blackening as it did before shattering like broken glass.

Karu had had a hard time holding back the pain she felt at Hebi's death but she managed. But the pain that shot through her body left her breathless. Yami didn't seem affected but she had noticed Karu's motionlessness.

"Mother," Karu whispered.

Her strength. That was it. She felt so much weaker. That was why. Her eyes went to Father but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at his hands. Hands that were slowly turning into sand and being taken by the wind.

"It was all a lie," he said.

His eyes went to Karu and then the others, still fighting to break past Zabimaru to the attacking Soul Reapers inside who'd accepted the strategy willingly.

"Man was created after Woman. Mother, Eve, she made me and God did not object. It was to be expected that our own arrogance would lead to our downfall. And you."

His eyes found Yami.

"Are our downfall."

"No," Yami said. "I did not kill Mother. Your downfall came from her belief that no one would ever be able to kill her."

"That captain did," Father replied.

His shoulders were blowing away. Now he was only a head and neck.

"He had help."

With those words, Father vanished, gone forever. Yami cast a glance at Karu.

"Well," she said. "It's only a matter of time before our power goes. Should we probably get something under our feet?"

Karu said nothing, still staring at where Father had been. Slowly, her gaze went to Yami.

"There is nothing left," she said.

With that, a heavy breeze hit them and in that breeze, Karu vanished. Yami only caught sight of the others before they vanished, sucked to another world via Setsuko's powers. Yami would have worried more but at that moment, whatever lag had occurred caught up and she fell, a scream escaping her as the roof below grew closer. At the last possible second, Ukitake appeared, catching her.

"Gotcha!" he said triumphantly, smiling at her.

Yami couldn't help but smiling back as the weight of it all sunk in. Mother and Father were dead. Granted, she was now powerless but that was not the worst thing that could ever happen. She was alive. As she stared at Ukitake, memories started to trickle in. One in particular stuck out. She was probably 14, 15 at most and she stood beside a man as they stared at a makeshift gravestone. Her mother's. Her real mother's. Despite the sadness of it, Yami was excited. In the memory, she could see his face. She could see her father's face.

Adam stared down at the Soul Reapers as they regrouped. He was aware of Soi Fon who stood beside him. He was also aware of her questions and the angel he had to face.

"Go ahead. Ask," he ordered.

"What now?" Soi Fon asked.

"We go our separate ways," he replied.

His eyes went to her.

"Unless there was something else you hoped to happen?"

He sounded hostile. Even he knew it. But he was in an uncomfortable position. As a Forbidden Child, he knew what every choice would be. He saw the twists and turns of everyone he'd ever met, with the exception of Yami but that was because Kida had interfered. Her power alone made it impossible to guess what went on in her head. Now, his second sight, well, it wasn't gone. But it had been reduced. Looking at Soi Fon, he just couldn't bring a vision to his mind. Her own feelings, though hidden outwardly, were a mess. She was confused. He was confused. But at least he knew that the best thing to do at that point was to walk away, lay low. Deal with Jophiel who hadn't vanished yet, for whatever reason.

"If you're going to go, now is the best way time to do it," Soi Fon said.

Her voice was even.

"What if the Old man wants you to bring me in?" Adam asked.

Soi Fon turned to go.

"He only told me to bring you here. Not to bring you back. I'm following his orders."

Adam watched her go. He felt compelled to stop her, but chose not to, a sinking feeling in his gut as she walked away. As soon as she was gone, the sinking feeling still in his gut, he readied himself for Jophiel.

(TIME SKIP)

Yami's eyes opened slowly, her gaze going to Byakuya's throat. She couldn't help smile a bit. If she could, she'd choose to stay beside him forever. Of course, there were a few reasons they couldn't. One being the limit of their time together. Yami was not a soul. And she wasn't a Forbidden Child anymore. In fact, she was still human. Thus, she'd been ordered by the Head Captain to remain primarily in the World of the Living, where she would live and train at Urahara's shop when she wasn't going to school. She was okay with that. Both Byakuya and Ukitake had made it their mission to visit her as much as possible, Ukitake more so than Byakuya because he had more time on his hands. Sometimes, Ros came with him, having reclaimed her place as a Soul Reaper, though she was working to reclaim her title of third seat. If she'd managed to do it once, Ros reasoned, she could do it again. Yami repressed a laugh, snuggling closer to Byakuya, looking up at the cherry blossoms above, mind going to the time she'd run from the estate, throwing herself into the water only to have him drag her out. Yes, she could lay here for hours, keeping him to herself. But that would be selfish. She kissed his cheek, gently.

"Time to go," she whispered.

His eyes opened, a little quicker than she had expected. Of course he hadn't been asleep. He'd been savoring this more, if it was possible, than her. This made her smile return.

"Renji will be waiting. And we can see each other soon."

He sat up, somewhat reluctant, but with as much dignity as any lord would. One of his hands cupped her chin, drawing her close.

"As is expected, you are right," he said. "Soon is far better than latter."

Yami grinned and he released her chin, standing and then offering her his hand. When he pulled her up, he wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close. Yami welcomed it but knew that he was being closely watched by the Head Captain through the man's subordinates. If Byakuya were late, even just once, regardless of how late, he would be penalized. And then who knew how long it would be before they saw each other again. These thoughts must have been going through his head as well because Byakuya slowly drew back, looking every bit as captain like as he was.

"Good bye," Yami said.

He kissed her gently and then he was gone. Yami smiled, crossing her arms. She had school the next day and should probably have headed home immediately. These days, the trip back on top of the trip there drained her. But she had to try something. Slowly, she approached the water nearby, Kimari's words in her head. Water equaled her. At least it did once upon a time. With no care for her shoes, Yami entered the water, the ever-present connection there. That didn't prove anything. She'd always felt connected to the water. Slowly, Yami took a deep breath, remembering when she'd first been learning to use her abilities as a Forbidden Child. Drawing on that knowledge, she focused her attention on the water and lifted her arms, fingers just naturally settling into a position of choice. For a few minutes the world around her was silent and all she could hear was her heartbeat, loud in her ears as a part of her scolded her for being so hopeful when it came to something so ridiculous and impossible.

"Please," Yami whispered, surprised how bad she wanted it to work.

As if her words had broken some spell, the water around her rippled and some of it slowly rose. Yami, not even bothered by her shock, moved her hands, watching with glee as the water moved with them. It was something she shouldn't have been able to do but at the same time, she felt at ease. This was natural for her after so many fears of being able to do just this. After a few more moments, Yami lowered the water back into the lake, stepping from it. It seemed Kimari had been right, as she so usually was. Water equaled her.

A/N: I think I'm actually going to miss typing this. I like how it ended though. I mean, yeah, it leaves a lot of questions and I HATE when stories I read do that. Ex: The Graceling. I won't spoil the ending of that but it annoyed me when that one male character had that thing happen to him and he refused to go home and live with it and instead hid in the woods...yeah...ANNOYED. *Ahem* Anyway, I actually want to do something with Adam because a lot of people actually emailed me directly (stop it!) about how much they liked him. On a further side note, how the hell do so many people possess my email!