• Chapter 12
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    Hitsugaya stretched out, gazing up at the ceiling.

    That was… incredible.

    He looked over at Sharon, sleeping next to him. He had heard about “the experience”, though he had never had it himself. But this – interconnection – had been beyond his imagination. Who would have thought that four beings could share so much?

    I doubt this is typical. Who ever heard of sharing something like this with their zanpakuto?

    A warm chuckle filtered through his heart.

    It took you two long enough.

    He let a slow smile drift across his face. Hyourinmaru was right.

    Sharon rolled on her side, snuggling up against him. This felt so… right. She felt so right.

    Then he noticed her hair…

    “Oi, Sharon.” He nudged her gently.

    “Hmmm?” Her eyes were languid and dreamy as she looked up at him.

    “Does your hair always stick out like that when you lie down?”

    She blinked a few times. “Depends on how I tie it up. And how much comes loose. What, I look like Renji again?”

    “It is a rather disturbing image.”

    She flashed him a grin. “I could cut it off, you know. No more Renji hair.”

    He looked back in mock horror. “But then I couldn’t do this.” He pulled out the hair elastic. “And this.” He started finger-combing her hair out in a fan on the pillow. “And this.” He buried his face in her hair and started nuzzling her cheek, her neck…

    Sharon laughed. Ah, what a sound – just happiness, no more pain and torment. “We wouldn’t want to lose that, now would we?” She kissed him gently, then more fervently as her arm wrapped around his neck.

    Another warm chuckle, this time in tandem.

    “Do you ever get used to having a dragon in your head?” Sharon asked.

    “Usually he’s just there, and I don’t think much about it. It’s like thinking about another part of yourself being attached. But he sure is a good one to have around. It’s good knowing I’ll never be alone again.” Hitsugaya trailed his fingertips down her arm, then took her hand in his.

    “I am so bloody ignorant. I don’t want to fight, but I know I have to learn how. And I really want to learn how to talk with Oshidamaru.” She let out a sigh. “I guess that means shinigami training, right?”

    “It’s not as bad as you think. And I have the feeling you would probably be good at kidou. Maybe with your medical training, you could work with Unohana-taichou.” Only if she loans Sharon back to the 10th once in a while, that is. Sharon just settled her head down in the crook of his arm.

    A pause, stillness, warmth.

    “Sharon?”

    “Hmmm?”

    “Why did you call me ‘annwyl’?”

    Another pause, another warm stillness.

    “I got that word years ago. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people I have used it for. Simply put, you are very dear to me. ‘Dear one’ seemed appropriate.”

    “Even when you didn’t remember who I was?”

    “My heart remembered. That’s all I needed.”

    He held her close. Yes. That’s all they needed.