moonsheen

dosetsu got this idea stuck in my head.

It was just as well she closed her eyes when the light hit them. An instant later the ground beneath her gave a lurch, and the updraft stung her cheeks and whipped through her hair. She touched her hand to the back of her head, trying to keep it all in place, but she’d already been thoroughly disheveled from the start and, feeling the cloth beating loudly against her, she loosened the ribbons the rest of the way and pulled out the pins. She kept them in the cradle of her stiff, bandaged fingers. The fabric--and the freed strands--flew. Below she could hear people calling her name. It startled her for a moment. She was amazed their voices hadn’t been lost to the rush of air.

…They sounded very far away. it really was just as well she’d closed her eyes.

‘I’m sorry,’ she thought, with an ache in her breast. ‘I’m sorry. This is what I have to do.’

She wasn’t sure if the words had slipped out or if her mind had simply been louder than the winds and the shout of Captain Ukitake, but a hand settled on her shoulder.

“Hmm?”

The sky above roared.

She took a breath (and oh, it stung) and looked up, wondering at why his face looked so strange to her—until she realized he was shaking the remains of his glasses off his fingers. Shiny pieces falling away. ‘Earthbound,’ she thought, swallowing hard, shaking herself from her stupor. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t seen him without them before.

“Second thoughts?” he asked, with arch of his brow and a mild tip of his head. Still, how strange it was not to see the lenses flash. She licked her lips and, when the words didn’t come immediately, pressed nearer. The air was bright and cold and growing colder, but he was still warm.

“No,” she said, inhaling his scent. “Never, Captain Aizen. I’m fine.”

‘…this is where I need to be.’

She loosened her grip, and let the pins fall.

They were earthbound anyway.