The days passed peacefully, the Hollows apparently preoccupied with regrouping. Yoruichi allowed herself to heal, retaining her human form to allow the bandages to stay in place. Soi Fon stayed by her side most of the time, entertaining the older woman with the most eccentric repertoire of music she had ever heard (on the harmonica or otherwise). In so many ways, it reminded Yoruichi of the days when she and Soi Fon had been endlessly together. But the Soi Fon that sat with her now was an almost completely different person from the Soi Fon that had been with her then, and that she had encountered once since.
The way the younger woman bore herself now, for instance. The old Soi Fon had either carried herself with the hunched subservience of the Guundanchō's personal escort, or, the haughty stance of the Shinigami's 2nd Division Captain and Onmitsukidō Commander-in-Chief. Now, she simply stood erect, straight and pliant as a bamboo sapling. And the way she addressed Yoruichi had changed as well. Her tone was respectful, as it had always been, but no longer deferential or reverential. Yoruichi didn't know if the changes pleased her, amused her, or disappointed her. It was probably a mixture of all three.
~~~~~
Yoruichi was bored. It had been weeks since the last Hollow attack. Ichigo and his friends had never returned to the shop. According to Urahara, they had gone straight to Soul Society after their battles at the Goteijūsantai's request. Yoruichi glanced at the figure on the window sill.
"Hey, Soi Fon, why don't we go out for a walk? This boredom will kill me, even if you can't."
Soi Fon raised an eyebrow at the last remark. She knew it was a teasing reference to their by-now-daily training routine. In some ways, Yoruichi was still the stronger fighter (there was a reason she was a legend amongst the Shinigami after all), but Soi Fon's skills had grown surpassingly close to that of the older woman. Still, she had never gone on the offensive - at least not when it was against Yoruichi.
The older woman called from somewhere in the shop. "Well, are you coming or not?"
"I'm coming," Soi Fon called back. It had been a while since she had roamed the city.
~~~~~
They were walking back to Urahara's shop, Soi Fon carrying a single bag. They had been wandering in the shopping district when a display of yukata had caught the younger woman's eye.
"You've never tried wearing one of these, have you?" Yoruichi had asked. When Soi Fon shook her head, the older woman had promptly gone into the shop and bought one with a floral blue design. "It'll be interesting to see you in something else besides combat gear." Yoruichi had explained. "At the very least," she had smirked, "it'll be amusing."
But it wasn't hilarity that Yoruichi felt when she entered the room later that night and found an entrancingly perplexed Soi Fon trying to tie her yukata's obi. The azure fabric had brought out the indigo of the younger woman's eyes while heightening the flush on her cheeks. She had removed her hair ribbon as well, and her raven black locks cascaded over the obi half tied around her slender waist. It occurred to Yoruichi that her former protégé was an exceedingly lovely young woman.
"Here, you tie it like this..."
Soi Fon felt arms encircle her waist, hands reaching for the edges of her sash. "You have to wrap it around one or more times...just underneath your breasts..." The hands caressed her sides, lips nearly brushing her ear. Soi Fon closed her eyes and shuddered.
Yoruichi felt the slender body tremble underneath her hands. She finished tying the obi and tugged the ends of the bow much harder than necessary, pulling the pliant body against her own. One hand curved possessively around the narrow waist; the other brushed the raven hair off the nape of an ivory neck. Yoruichi brought her face close to the exposed skin and breathed deeply.
She remembered the last time she had held the slim form in her arms like this. Only then, it had been to teach a much younger Soi Fon how to wield a sword. She slipped her hand underneath a loose sleeve and allowed a fingernail to trace the length of the now-grown woman's sword arm. Over the taut muscles, the skin felt bewitchingly soft.
Soi Fon tried to control the trembling in her limbs. Five years of meditating had not prepared her for Yoruichi's tender violence. She felt the older woman spin her around and slam her against the wall, the desire in the golden eyes suddenly frightening in their intensity. She wondered bleakly if a lifetime of annihilation was worth the ecstasy of a single night, and at the moment that Yoruichi's mouth began to descend on hers, decided that the answer was no.
"Don't, Yoruichi-sama." It was the quiet dignity in the refusal that made Yoruichi release the younger woman.
Narrowed golden eyes stared hard at blue unflinching ones.
"Why?" was all Yoruichi asked.
Soi Fon drew the edges of her kimono close. In a voice that carried pain, regret and steady resolve, she said:
"Because, Yoruichi-sama, I deserve more than this."
Yoruichi's quiet voice stopped her at the threshold.
"More than a goddess, Soi Fon?"
Soi Fon paused. "No, not more than a goddess, Yoruichi-sama. Just a goddess that stays." Then she had left.