119.

Title: Something Precious
Rating: PG
Pairing/Character/s: Ryuuken
Word Count: 479
Warning/s: Spoilers for the post-soul society arc, sort of. Maybe not, I don’t know. Depends.
Summary: Ryuuken makes a choice.
Dedication: Greg- Thanks for dinner tonight! I’ll see you when I get back.
A/N: I’m going to see my daddy tomorrow, for the first time in a long time (Since March, I believe?). That’s a long time to me, okay? And I haven’t been home in over a year, so this will be interesting. Thus, I have papa-Ryuuken love again. --;; I’m such a daddy’s girl.

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There’s a small life in his hands that he is responsible for now, and as he looks at it, he thinks that there is something profoundly moving about the way a tiny hand wraps into a fist around one of his long fingers.

It’s a heavy weight that settles in his chest as he looks down at that pink, wrinkled face, surprisingly bright eyes gazing back up at him curiously.

He finds himself staring thoughtfully at the little person that is suddenly the center of his universe, and there is an accompanying feeling of deep, dark dread that washes over him at the same moment that he feels the staggering presence of what can only be described as overwhelming love.

The conflicting emotions tear fiercely at him for a while before he feels something break inside, and with something akin to realization battering his heart, he very quietly turns with his son in his arms to face the moonlit window.

Uryuu makes a contented gurgling noise and releases his father’s index finger with a little sigh as his eyes begin to flutter closed. Ryuuken rocks him gently for a moment and thinks that his arms have never felt so heavy.

Outside, he can hear the roar of a Hollow, a chilling noise that has been bellowing angrily in his ears for some time now, while he has been here in the nursery holding his son.

A part of him yearns to don his Quincy clothing and challenge the beast, longing for the familiar rush and uncertainty of battle to flood his veins as they have numerous times before. His heart remembers how it is to fill with excited anticipation right before engaging such a monster in the field.

He wants to go.

But Uryuu is fast asleep in his arms now, and that weight keeps him from drawing his bow and chasing the creatures of the night without a care, as he had in the past.

Because now he cannot be the reckless hero that he wanted to exist as forever, back in the carefree days of his youth. Now, there is something much more overwhelming in his life than his own dreams and it makes for a profound weight in his arms that keeps him from chasing after them.

Because now, there are more important things in his life than what he wants.

After a while he lies a sleeping Uryuu down in his crib and leans down to kiss the back of a tiny hand. Allowing himself one last look out into the night sky, he hears the Hollow’s roar and takes a deep breath when he feels the blood racing through his veins in response to the monster’s fearsome challenge. It’s almost too difficult to ignore.

But one look over his shoulder at a peacefully slumbering infant is all it takes.

He pulls the curtains closed.

END