~ Memo at the Top ~
I know this isn’t a very long series so far and I realize that not many people are reading since I don’t post them fast enough anymore but I have a lot of things on my plate at the moment and it’s really difficult to juggle stories, friends, back-to-school shopping, and trying to take care of anything else my mom has assigned me to deal with. I’m trying my hardest to get things updated quicker but it is REALLY hard. Nami and Grimmjow ‘broke up’ and Gin dumped her with Rukia, Ichigo, and Byakuya. Now Nami and the others are going back to the Soul Society to heal Ichigo and Rukia right up.
~ Story Start ~
I hissed as the light hit my face from the window high above in an odd angle. The light didn’t usually shine right down into my face like that, did it? I was certain that it didn’t shine directly in my face as I lay on my side and it usually didn’t wake ME up at all. Grimmjow was the only one that was ever awoken by the light from Hueco Mundo’s sun. I opened my eyes just in case I had fallen asleep against the window only to find myself in a completely different room from the one I had slept in with Grimmjow. I felt for his arm or any body part the belonged to him and I felt my breathing pick up as I realized he wasn’t there. If he wasn’t there that meant that he had woken up or he had died or he was in a meeting. If he were gone, I was supposed to stay with Lillynette and that was final, he had said it himself to me when I was falling asleep one night. I was not allowed to be anywhere without him unless I was with Lillynette or Tia. This was all wrong.
I sat up swiftly, surprised when I found a man with long white hair and brown eyes staring at me with concern. He was sitting in a chair and I knew immediately who he was and what had happened. I just needed a little look at home before I understood everything.
“Dad?” I felt my tears appear as he got up and walked to the side of my bed, his eyes strained as he too held back tears. Both of us hesitated before we hugged each other hard, my tears coming quicker then ever as I sobbed into his haori. “Oh dad, I’m so sorry! I didn’t want to leave and when I met this really nice guy, I didn’t want to come back. I didn’t know that I missed home so much until he broke me again.”
“I know, Nami, it’s alright.” He whispered, soothing me as he had when I was a child. “There’s nothing to apologize for, you are home now and that’s all that matters.”
“I’ve missed you so much,” I sniffled, pulling back just enough so I could look up at him. There were tears dripping from his face as he smiled at me, his happiness was contagious. I laughed a little and hugged him harder, enjoying my father’s embrace after so long of not having it. “Are Ichigo and Rukia okay?”
“They’re healing up now,” He chuckled. “Renji Abarai, Uryu Ishida, Ichigo Kurosaki, and Chad Yasutora are also healing up in Division Four barracks.”
“Oh thank goodness,” I whispered, letting my arms fall off of him. Relief wafted through me until I realized he hadn’t said Orihime’s name. “What about… Inoue? Is she here, is she okay?”
“They didn’t retrieve her from Hueco Mundo,” Jushiro shook his head, grimacing as I closed my eyes, upset with myself. I should’ve at least tried to save Orihime when Gin took me back to Ichigo. I should’ve at least tried. “Don’t be hard on yourself, there was nothing you could do.”
“Yes there was…” I whispered, “There was so much I could’ve done in just that little bit of time that I was there. Dad, Aizen made me into an arrancar just a little more than a week into my stay there. There were tons of things I could do after the month of becoming a Gillian. I could’ve taken Orihime and ran, just gotten out of there but I couldn’t because I’m such a fool!”
“No, little Nami, you aren’t,” Strawberry’s voice sighed from the door, which I hadn’t realized was open. “You were in love with a boy that lied to you was all. And you never once had your mind on anything else. Or that’s what you said in your sleep once we’d gotten to the Squad 4 barracks. You said you were so hung up on him that you didn’t have a care in the world anymore, other then hurting your friends. This is exactly the reason why I trust you again, after you said that, I thought of you as a full soul reaper again.”
I blinked at her, a soft smile on my lips before I gave her an outraged look. “Ichigo Ryu! You get yourself back in your bed before I call Captain Unohana!” I was stern, firm, and cold. I never thought I’d act like that. “You were seriously injured! Go back to bed!”
“Jeez Nami, would you calm down?” She growled at me, her hands on her hips now as she stared me down with humorous blue eyes. Her long red hair was pulled up, for the first time, in a bun on the top of her head and her Soul Reaper uniform was gone, replaced by a too large kimono with sakura blossoms and a tree on it. Behind the tree limbs was a setting sun, drowning its beautiful light in the dark green of the landscape. “I’ve got better things to lie in bed all day. Besides, Renji and I are going to the human world for the day.”
I stared at her as a light blush covered her cheeks and I squealed happily, leaping out of bed and hugging her tightly. I laughed with her and spun her around in a very girly manor.
“Oh Ichigo, that’s great! I can’t believe you guys are going out together!” I giggled, “That is adorable!”
“Hey, calm down, Nami!” Ichigo laughed, finally finding her feet back on the floor as I stopped twirling her around. She patted the top of my head, even though I was actually a little bit taller then her, and giggled, “Don’t get carried away. It’s a vacation, a reward if you will, for rescuing you. Your dad set it up for all of us to go back, even you if you want, and hang out together just to relax.”
I hesitated, my dad misinterpreting it as permission from him. “It’s okay, honey, you can go. I’m not mad at you at all, it wasn’t your fault.”
I smiled at him, nodding slowly and looking back to Ichigo, “I guess I’ll go. I might as well, haven’t acted like a Soul Reaper in a while.” I paused, creasing my brow as I thought about it, “So… everyone’s healed up then?”
“Ha! No, Chad isn’t. Rukia isn’t really feeling that well either but she is coming with us. She says she’d rather spend time with you then stay in the hospital. Kurosaki is coming and Uryu said he’d come too.” She rolled her eyes, “They’re all so stubborn.”
“And you aren’t?” I laughed, tucking some of my long hair behind my ear. She scoffed and her expression was that of mock hurt as she gasped,
“That’s horrible! You’re so mean, Nami!”
I shook my head and linked my arm with her, “I think I’m going to follow you around today, just to make sure you’re being careful.”
“Then you may want to get dressed because bandages aren’t going to cut it.” Ichigo rolled her eyes, motioning to the bandages that I hadn’t realized had been wrapped firmly around my torso and upper part of my thighs. “Oh and cover up your tattoo and your hollow hole before someone notices it. That six was crossed out, by the way, when Captain Unohana dressed all the wounds.”
“I had wounds?” I blinked curiously at her, ignoring her statement about my six. “But… I never fought anyone after you… Who could’ve given me any wounds?”
Ichigo shrugged, grabbing my dad’s wrist and pulling him out of the door. “Sorry Captain, this is a girl thing. You don’t mind going back to your barracks for a while, do you? I’m sure she wouldn’t want you waiting out in the cold.”
“But it’s not col—”My dad tried to say when Ichigo shut the door in his face, pushing me down on the bed and heading to my closet.
“So… Nami? Do you like your hair that long or would you rather it be shorter again?” Ichigo asked as she searched through my cloths and pulled out a couple kimonos I’d never worn.
“It wasn’t really my choice to grow it out so long,” I shrugged, hugging myself quietly as I watched her. “Angel made it that way when I went bankai the first time after I became an arrancar.” I paused to sigh and got off the bed, “Here, let me help. I know my closet better then you.”
I searched through my cloths, pulling a few more out before deciding on a nice silver and blue one. I left the others lying on the bed and dressed there, in front of Ichigo. I quickly moved to the mirror, frowning at my long pink hair and grabbing my zanpakuto out of its sheath. I quickly cut it so it wasn’t nearly as long. I pursed my lips before looking at Ichigo decisively, “Do you have any black hair dye?”
“Hmm… I think so, should be at the barracks. We can run there if we need to.” Ichigo suggested, smiling brightly at the thought of the wind in her hair.
“No need,” I giggled. “I’ll just sonido our way there. Plenty of wind for you and plenty of speed for me, okay?”
“Got it,” Ichigo nodded and jumped on my back, letting me take off out my door and past all the Division 13 barracks, back to Division 3. I set her down lightly, whistling at the mess she’d made of her room.
“Wow, Ichi, this is crazy.” I laughed, covering my mouth with on hand. “Jeez, Izuru must be sincerely pissed at you right now. I know how much of a clean freak that guy is and this is just beyond messy.”
“Actually,” Ichigo chuckled, crossing her arms over her chest. “Izuru isn’t allowed in my room anymore because he keeps cleaning it. I would rather it be messy than clean, especially when it’s all research.”
I scoffed and grabbed a bottle of hair dye from her counter, checking to make sure it was black and not some really weird color like blue. Hey, don’t judge, pink is a VERY natural color, thank you very much. And you can ask Yachiru too, she’ll tell you.
~ Later ~
I bent over and dried my hair quickly with the blow dryer Ichigo had borrowed from Rangiku (who had stolen it from Orihime). My hair was now perfectly black and I was sure it would be even darker the next time I went bankai. I sighed happily as I turned the hair dryer off, flipping my head up and smiling at how it sat, perfect and straight.
“Nami, are you done yet?” Ichigo asked through the door, the sound of her tapping foot said she was growing impatient and I knew that I had better wrap it up.
“Oh yeah,” I replied, glancing solemnly at the wings that sat on the side of my head, pure white and untouched by the black dye. I pouted slightly, shaking my head and realizing that I would never be able to hide my mask remnants. I shrugged, realizing how childish I was acting at the moment and trying to get back into my quiet, normal Nami self as I opened the door to find Ichigo staring at me seriously.
“Kurosaki and the others are waiting, we need to go now,” She blinked at me, grabbing my wrist and pulling me along. “Sure glad we’re getting gigai that look exactly the same as us.”
“Yeah…” I chuckled, smiling. “Me too. Oh hey, do you think Kisuke will have room for one more person to live with him?”
“I don’t think so…” Ichigo murmured, not glancing back at me as she stopped where the others would shortly be arriving… even though she said they would be waiting. “Kisuke already has Tessai, Sora, and Renji living with him full time. Well… Renji’s not there fulltime yet but as soon as he gets out of the hospital he will. Sora and Tessai have been there for a while, since Kisuke left the Soul Society with Yoruichi and Tessai and the vizards. And Sora stays in Kisuke’s room while Tessai… I don’t really know where he sleeps but Renji stays in another room.” She sighed, looking at me with a dull look in her eyes, “Please, Nami, don’t leave. I already lost you once and we fought so HARD to get you back. The other Captains are debating on whether to offer you a higher position in one of the Divisions if you want it.” At my frown she added, “I KNOW you don’t like higher positions but you would be able to make decisions on almost everything. They want to offer you the Fifth Divisions Captain seat. Momo was so excited when I told her, she really misses you Nami. Please, don’t go. Just take the position or, ya know what, just keep third seat if you want! Just don’t leave me again.”
I sighed, closing my eyes and muttering to myself, ‘She loves you, that’s the only reason she’s talking like this. You’re her best friend and practically her sister, of course she doesn’t want you to leave.’ I breathed in slowly and opened my eyes, smiling a little bit and saying, “I’ll think about it.”
Ichigo started to protest but hands covered her eyes quickly, blocking her vision from view. I laughed as she tried to pull Renji’s hands from her face, unable to turn around because he had her pinned against him. I rolled my eyes, enjoying the laughter of the red haired couple as Kurosaki and Rukia and Uryu joined us. Rukia was still in her Soul Reaper uniform, as was Kurosaki; and Uryu was still in his Quincy uniform, looking a little uncomfortable. Now that everyone was here, Ichigo opened up a door for us to go through, led by a hell butterfly so we could get out. Once we hit the street, Rukia and Ichigo dragged those of us who didn’t have a gigai to Kisuke Urahara’s shop.
“Oh, Mister Urahara!!” Ichigo called, eyes ablaze. “Time to give us our gigai!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” He called, irritation rippling in his voice as he and a white haired girl came out. He wore the same thing he usually did, with his hat firmly in place.
She had sky blue eyes that seemed to stare into your soul. She had long white hair down her knees, which was tyed up in a very thick and messy braid, kept there by a rope that wrapped around it at the end. She had part of the back of her hair up in a tight bun with intricate chopsticks in it to keep it up. In one ear she had a long chain with a tiny golden bell hung onto it, the only earring she had on. She also had the left side of her bangs tyed at the end with a blue ribbon that matched the kimono she wore. Speaking of which, it wasn’t really a kimono at all, more of a really long shirt that was barely long enough to hide anything at all. There was a large white bow with flowers on it tyed around her mid-section, the ends hanging out behind her. One of them, the left one, had a huge golden bell hanging from it, like her ear. She wore long sleeves on her arms that weren’t attached to the body outfit itself that were too long and go a few inches past her hands. On her legs she wore white stockings that come up to her mid-thigh with a blue ribbon tyed around the tops. On her feet she wore regular sandles like Kisuke’s. She looked very young and very beautiful but I wondered how old she really was since she was living with Kisuke.
“Hey,” I nodded at them, directing it more at Sora then Kisuke.
She smiled and nodded, keeping her words locked behind her pearly white teeth. I raised an eyebrow curiously at her but glanced at Kisuke as he laughed, my confusion rippling through me as I tried to understand what was so funny to him.
“Sora doesn’t like to talk much, ya know? She’ll only talk if she thinks it necessary.” He waved his fan at his face with his other hand on his cane, which I knew hid his zanpakuto. “Now, down to business. Why don’t you guys go get your gigai before I give them to someone else, hm?”
“Er… right.” I blinked and Rukia, Strawberry, Renji, and I slowly wandered to the backroom. I stopped to glance at Kurosaki and motioned for him to follow, “Aren’t you coming?”
“My body’s at my house,” He muttered. “I’ll wait for you guys before I go get it.”
“Right…” I grimaced, crossing my arms over my chest and following the others into Kisuke’s room with Sora following us slowly.
~ Strawberry’s POV ~
I stared down at my body now that I was in my gigai. This was really stupid, I hated gigais worse then stupid mod-souls. I glanced at Rukia, who was smiling satifactorily at her own gigai in the mirror. My gaze traveled to Nami, her expression uncomfortable as she patted the spot where her mask rements were supposed to be. She must feel exposed if she had no way of showing that she was still her, what with her hole and the crossed out six on her breast concealed from the viewers of the World of the Living. Renji was pursing his lips as he stared down at the jeans and button up shirt he wore, his tattoos above his eyebrows were hidden by some sort of cloth thing… I wasn’t really sure what is was actually. When he saw me looking, he flushed and turned away, making me giggle.
“Are you finished?” Sora asked quietly, poking her head through the doorway and sweeping her gaze across us. “Good, now come before your friends become impatient. The Quincy,” She didn’t sound disgusted as most Soul Reapers did when she said it, “went to change his clothes, he shouldn’t be long. Mr. Kurosaki is out there waiting for you as patiently as he can.”
Rukia and I exchanged a glance and said at the same time, “Which means its time to go.” We laughed and headed for the door as Sora left, Renji and Nami following us quickly. Rukia sighed and mindlessly wandered over to Kurosaki after a while, talking to him in a quiet voice. Renji and I leaned against each other’s backs as best as we could. Nami sort of… curled in on herself. She was sitting next to Sora, who in turn sat next to Kisuke, and she had her body pulled to her, her face buried in her knees. The only reason I knew she wasn’t crying was because her body wasn’t shaking and shuddering, like it had just yesterday when Gin had thrown her on the ground next to Rukia and I. She was so distraught that day, it was the worst memory I’d had by far.
“Sorry it took me so long,” Uryu’s voice said as he entered the shop, pulling at the collar of the shirt he wore. Everyone looked up at him immediately, exasperation glittering in Ichigo and Rukia’s eyes as they caught sight of the outfit. Could he NOT just wear jeans and a t-shirt? “I had to fix my shirt.”
Nami stood up with Sora and Kisuke, all the two gliding towards us with Kisuke looking just a bit clumbsy between them. I could tell that they were older then everyone here just by the way they walked, their face completely clear of almost any emotion other then the soft smiles that they wore. There was no way that Nami was as old as Sora at all because I had heard the rumors of Sora’s treachery before, when she was just a few centuries younger. It was not techinically her who had killed her captain but everyone blamed her because she ran instead of staying to defend herself. Soul Society had apparantly been less civilized back then, so Nami told me when we’d first met. She hadn’t really been alive that long but she certainly seemed old enough to be 1500 years old. Suddenly, Nami’s face became that of a playful young adult and it filled me with confusion.
“Well it’s about time,” She giggled, smiling a bit. “Sora was trying pretty hard to keep me awake over there.” She must have thought something that hurt her because she flinched and closed her eyes, a tear just barely visible as it slid down her cheek. But it could’ve been just an illusion because she opened her eyes and grinned widely, brushing her hand over her cheek and wiping it away without anyone noticing. “Well, let’s go.”
It worried me, her face had never really been that happy before. There was no tiny dull look at the back of her eyes that I remembered seeing so often. She was hiding it better then she ever had, pretending she hadn’t a care in the world as she hooked her arm with Uryu’s and pulled him along with her. Ichigo and Rukia and me and Renji just stood there, uncertain of what exactly to do. Finally, Rukia grabbed Ichigo’s arm and pulled him after Nami and Uryu. Renji quickly followed suit by pulling me up on his back and following them, too.
“Bye bye, now! Be careful and don—” Kisuke cut off as Sora laughed.
“Oh no you don’t, you’re not getting out of this one.” Her voice was like bells as she finally let it flow out like a normal person’s. It was a very pretty high alto sound, much better then the soft whisper that made her voice sound dull and rough. “Come on, Kisuke, before I drag you all the way there.”
I laughed and, as Sora caught up with Renji and me, I linked my hand with hers and pulled her and Kisuke with us. She laughed with me, keeping her firm grip locked around Kisuke’s arm as we arrived at a fair. I didn’t really know what a fair was, actually, since I’d never really cared much for human past times. Kurosaki and Uryu said that they were meant to be fun, something people come and do just to spend time with they friends or something. I was already having fun, how much more fun could one girl have?
Apparantly much, much more.
We went on a thing called ‘Fireball’, a ride that sent us upside down over and over in a huge circle. I really appreciated the name too, since we were in a vehicle that looked like a dragon and since I had a fire zanpakuto. After that, Kurosaki let us stop being dizzy before asking where we should go then. Rukia suggested the giant wheel thing. Nami didn’t seem up for it but she rode it anyways, cringing away from the view and staring down at her hands, barely letting her left side touch Uryu’s right. I was glad that most of the burns on her body could be hidden by the clothes she wore and I was glad I got her out of the Soul Society for a bit, to have some fun. It didn’t seem that she was having fun though, she looked like she was in pain. When we finally got off of the continuously spinning wheel, and after getting stuck at the top for five minutes, I excused myself from the rest of the group and pulled Nami along with me.
“Babe, what’s wrong?” I asked quietly, linking my arm with hers casually as I wandered over to a bench. I was pretending to need to sit down because I had the jitters after being up so high. Ha! And they believed me, how stupid, I wasn’t afraid of heights.
“I used to sit in a window when I was in Hueco Mundo and stare out at the white sand all the time. And I used to lay on the roof with him that was at least as tall as the wheel. The roof was the place where I could calm down and relax and think. That’s where I went to hide after I was told that I was to be made into a weapon.” She didn’t look at me at all, not even when I bent down so I could see her face. All I saw through the curtain of hair was her one eye that had tears falling from it. “He slept there with me once, when I didn’t know what to do after the sun sank too low. He stayed there with me the night before I was killed… a month ago, nearly.”
“Oh Nami,” I whispered, stroking her hair and pulling her into a hug, signaling to the others that there was something wrong. She didn’t hug me back, just sat there as she began shuddering and shaking, letting her tears fall like rain. “I know he hurt you, I know. You have to forget him, you have to wipe him from your memory. He only used you, remember?”
“You wanna know the funny thing?” Nami sniffed, looking up at me through pained green eyes. “He was lying. He was lying and I knew it, I could see through his façade. Even though no one but Zi could see through mine, I could see through everyone elses and I could tell that he was hurting more then I was. He didn’t want me to go, for the first time in his life there was something more then just killing that he loved. He only sent me away to keep me safe, only had Gin give me back because I was in danger of being killed by the same man that had created me. And the only reason Aizen wanted me dead was because I couldn’t kill you, because I couldn’t kill my friends that I had cared so much for and I still care for. I cannot go back to Hueco Mundo without being attacked. I have to wait until Aizen is dead before I can go back, whether Grimmjow,” I watched her flinch at his name, realizing how much pain he really had caused her, when I thought it had been Zilo Telavu. It had always been him, not Zi. I owed him an apology, sort of. I listened carefully as she continued on, “Whether Grimmjow is alive or not doesn’t matter. I can still live here and be a Captain but I would prefer to go back to Hueco Mundo for most of the time. It felt like home after a while.”
“Well…” I started but someone cut me off as they put a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Sora, her blue eyes confused as she watched Nami carefully. What could such a wise woman be confused about?
“You… have been offered a Captain’s position?” She asked calmly, cocking her head and letting the large braid fall over to the side. “But you are an arrancar, aren’t you? I thought arrancar were enemies.”
“Not all of them,” I murmured as Kurosaki did the same. He looked at me, watching me nod before he went on, “I met an arrancar in Hueco Mundo named Nel. She had three fraccion but she calls them her brothers and her pet. She was pretty smart, I’ll give her that, but she didn’t seem like the type to hurt Soul Reapers or humans.”
“You just made yourself sound smart, Ichigo,” Kisuke laughed, smiling at him. At first I thought he was talking to me, which made me look up and nearly growl. When I saw where his gaze was, I calmed down though. I listened as I turned my gaze back to Nami, letting his voice carry over to me. “Anyways, the only reason they are offering Nami any position at all is because they would rather she stay and act as a Soul Reaper. Not all of the Captains know that she is an arrancar, just a few of you I’m sure. Captain Yamamoto wouldn’t want that to get around, it could cause the whole Soul Society to riot. Nami probably will never be seen as an arrancar as long as she remains in the Soul Society for the majority of her remaining lifetime.”
Nami stood up and smiled slightly, “Great… guess that means I can’t live in Hueco Mundo.”
“You wanted to live in Hueco Mundo?” Kurosaki asked her, frowning slightly.
She glanced at him with sad green eyes, “It was home… after a while anyways.” She paused and crossed her arms over her chest, “Look, this has been fun for the short time I was doing this but I think I need to get home.”
“Which home?” I whispered, my voice hoarse as I felt the tears come on.
She looked at me and pursed her lips, her childish look back on. “Oh come on, you really think I would be as stupid as to go back to Hueco Mundo now? When I’ve got a knife hanging over my head there? Hell no. I’m going back to Soul Society, silly.”
I stared at her wide-eyed until she left, motioning for Kisuke to get her out of her gigai. When her body fell, I quickly caught, making sure it wasn’t hurt, like a mother would a child. Even though the gigai wasn’t Nami, I still held it like it was, watching as she leapt away. I had Ichigo carry her on his back for a while, just letting her lay there. She looked like she was asleep so no one would say anything about it. Something at the back of my mind kept annoying me and I kept trying to think about what it was. It wasn’t until a couple hours later that it dawned on me.
Nami couldn’t get to Soul Society without a Soul Reaper anymore.
~ End ~
Okie, I sure hoped you enjoyed that because this one caused me to be extremely pissed off over and over again. And I am sorry that my writers block fucked up Nami’s personality in this one, it wasn’t completely my fault. Sora is one of the three new characters that I’m putting in, btw, and I hope you like her because she’s one of my best friend’s characters. Well… here are the pics for it. Hope you like them.
http://s.ecrater.com/stores/118571/4acd8f3fee142_118571n.jpg - Nami’s kimono
http://i36.servimg.com/u/f36/14/06/66/84/ichigo19.jpg - Rukia’s kimono
http://i36.servimg.com/u/f36/14/06/66/84/ichigo18.jpg - Ichigo and her kimono
I have recently learned that the picture for Nami doesn’t work so here is her looks… with pink hair. I also have her black hair now too, short and long. One of them is CC from that show Lolouche or something, I can’t spell it.
http://i36.servimg.com/u/f36/14/06/66/84/nami_411.jpg - Pink haired Nami
http://i37.servimg.com/u/f37/15/47/57/22/nami_a10.jpg - Nami with long black hair
http://i37.servimg.com/u/f37/15/47/57/22/nami_w10.jpg - Nami with short black hair
Thankies very much. –waves-
~Kayler teh Sailor~
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