"I can't always be there to pick you up," Rhia said. She didn't particularly appreciate Torsin's outburst, nor did she acknowledge his advice about pain. She had several lifetimes worth of human experience to go by. She needed no instruction or counsel. Of course, the pain in those past lives had never been so real as it was, now. Still, mourning was a very private affair. It was one of the reasons she needed to leave this place, her old home, for somewhere unfamiliar. I need time. Space. A century's worth, maybe.

She made no move to help Torsin as he fell. The autumn wind was picking up, tugging at her clothes and blowing dry leaves around her form. Her eight hell butterflies appeared, whirling around her and riding the eddies upwards, clearly indicating that it was time to leave. "I do hope you find a way to do so on your own,"

Will I ever see Karakura again? She rolled her neck muscles, preparing for flight. Will I ever see my old friends? The Seireitei? Any of this? She thought perhaps not.

"There is nothing left to see," And with a soft rustle of leaves, she was gone.

((Fin))