To Absent Friends And A Fresh Start (Leona, Armina)

"It's not the most noble reason to want power, but it's a reason I truly believe in. I don't want to be someone's plaything ever again. It was a degrading experience that I'll never forget no matter how much time passes." Leona freely admitted that why she wanted power was not the most altruistic reason she could have had. However, like with everything else she had said up to this point, she was telling the truth. Power was what she really wanted and she wanted it to be able to defend herself should anyone try to claim her as a possession.

Leona removed her hands from the places she had put them on and prepared to tell what happened after Leonidas and Lucia showed up ready to fight. Unlike the other parts of the story this part was one of triumph... for the Sheridans, that was. The blonde's mood lightened some before she spoke.

"My older brother Leonidas was absolutely furious. He would have killed every last hoodlum he could get his hands on if it hadn't been for my sister Lucia being there. But don't think my sister was being soft. She's a kind and gentle person who'd rather heal people than hurt them, but if you ever get her mad at you that's a sign you've made a serious mistake." Leona went ahead and told Armina that none of the hoodlums died that night and explained why they were still among the living: that reason was Lucia Sheridan. If Leonidas had come by himself there was a good chance that he would not have bothered using Hakuda. He would have used his zanpakuto instead and the guys who had tied up and fondled Leona would have either been dead or wishing they were dead after Leonidas was finished with them.

"Half of the guys saw my siblings in uniform and realized exactly what they were going up against. They ran for it and didn't look back. Leonidas and Lucia didn't go after the ones who ran because as angry as they were the runners weren't a threat any more. The ones who stayed thought they could take on my siblings because of the numbers being in their favor. Unfortunately for them numbers weren't enough to save them from the wrath of two angry Shinigami." Leona told Armina that some of the hoodlums had enough brain cells to realize that fighting a Shinigami was a bad idea and made the smart choice to leave while they still could. The remaining ones thought that superior numbers would let them defeat Leonidas and Lucia. They were soon proven wrong.

"My siblings used Hakuda because they didn't want to get their zankaputos dirty, but that didn't mean the guys didn't get what they deserved. Leonidas is like you... he's a tall, muscular person who can hit like a freight train using his fists or his feet. He punched one guy in the face and broke his nose plus sent him spinning 180 degrees to the ground. It's a wonder the guy he punched didn't get his neck broken when his head was turned by the force of the punch." Leona gave an example of what Leonidas could do using just his fists.

"Lucia isn't as strong as him, but she can still hurt someone with Hakuda. She broke one guy's nose with a roundhouse kick and gave another guy a black eye with a flurry of punches. His left eye was hit just like mine was. I guess my sister believed that an eye for an eye was appropriate considering the circumstances." Leona assured Armina that her sister was no slouch when it came to combat. The older Sheridan sister was slow to anger, but if she ever let herself succumb to that emotion she could be every bit as vicious as her more combative siblings. That night was one of the few times Leona had ever seen Lucia angry and it was not an occasion she would be forgetting any time soon.

"When everything was said and done my brother and sister won the fight without taking a scratch and rescued me. They untied me and took me home, watching out for the guys who ran away in case they came back with reinforcements. Thankfully there was no further trouble and all three of us got home safely. They explained what happened to our parents and my sister and mother began treating my injuries. The physical wounds were easy to treat, but the mental ones weren't as easy to patch up." Leona recounted the how the fight had ended and hinted at her post-fight recovery before she stopped talking to give Armina a chance to speak.

"The worst of the mental scars healed about three months after the incident thanks to the help of my family, but as you probably saw, the smaller ones are still there." Leona reported that the mental trauma the incident gave her had not totally gone away with the passage of time.

"For example, I keep men at arm's length when it comes to romance. I can talk with them, work with them, and fight alongside them without any issue, but seeing one as a boyfriend is... difficult." Leona told Armina that one of the scars was an inability to see men as potential romantic partners. In any other situation she had no problem with them, but when it came to romance the blonde had difficulty trusting the opposite sex. The logical side of Leona knew that that was unfair to a potential partner who had no intentions of mistreating her, but the vivid memories of that night still haunted her and she did not want to go through such a degrading experience ever again.

"I also can't wear skirts any more without feeling intense discomfort. I feel too vulnerable in one to wear it comfortably even when they're modest." Leona revealed another one of the small scars that still stuck with her to the present. The skirt did not have to be short to make her feel uncomfortable. A few weeks after her physical wounds had been healed her older sister Lucia had bought her a knee-length black skirt to wear and a few minutes after putting it on to show Lucia how it looked on her the younger Sheridan hurried back to her room to take it off and put on some shorts.

Moving on from that unpleasant subject for the time being, Leona decided to talk about how her career as a Shinigami got its start.

"You could say that the incident gave me a big push to attend the Shinigami Academy, Armina." Leona started.

"Three months after the incident both of my parents gave me their permission to enroll in the Academy if I wanted. So did Leonidas and Lucia. I truly wanted to go and having my family support me made the choice very easy." Leona confirmed that the deeply unpleasant night did have a positive side, but only one. That lone upside was that it had given the blonde the desire to gain strength so that she could better defend herself the next time the local hoodlums got the urge to try and harass her. That desire led her to the doorstep of the Academy and to a world that she never would have experienced had she stayed at home.

"They'll heal eventually, Armina. There's no magic solution to the problem... I just have to keep going one day at a time. I've already taken a big step forward by not seeing men outside of my family as people to be distrusted." Leona informed the blue-haired young woman that healing was happening, but that it would take time for the blonde to fully move on from what had happened to her. At least the worst of the scars had faded long ago. That was a big deal for her because thanks to the help her family had provided she was able to interact with men in a normal manner... except when it came to romance. Leona was not sure if she would ever be able to see any man as a potential boyfriend and she was not going to rush a decision on such a serious matter.

Armina's next question did not make much sense when Leona had first heard it being put to her, but when she thought about it the words hit her like Armina's sledgehammer to the stomach.

"I... I probably wouldn't have had as strong a drive to enroll if my family didn't support me. And if the incident didn't happen I might have been content to wait a few more years to even think about the Academy." Leona confessed with uncertainty on her voice.

"I thought about it multiple times before that night, but I never had a solid reason to commit to that path. All of my family were Shinigami and I wanted to be one too because I didn't want to be left out. I didn't want to be in the civilian sector while they had more interesting lives." Leona asserted in a slightly stronger voice. She thought about her last two sentences for a few moments and her newfound strength had been shaken by the realization that if the incident had never happened and her family had not given her their support Leona might have never gotten the drive to pursue the path that would lead to her becoming a Shinigami. Leona, unable to say anything else at the moment, went silent, giving Armina another chance to speak. However, the blonde's mind was far from quiet.

Armina's question had gotten the blonde to give a subject that did not have anything to do with fighting serious thought for the first time in quite some time.

Before responding to Armina's advice Leona kept her mouth shut and thought about everything she had been told. The blue-haired young woman had good points, especially the assertion that if the blonde truly wanted to become strong she would have to think more about what was best for her than what was best for others. While it was still true that her desire to become a Shinigami had been given a boost by events prior to her enrollment Leona still had some agency and it had shown in her choice of division. When she realized that one of Armina's arms was draped around her shoulders the blonde's face turned a light shade of red... the blue-haired woman might notice that if she were paying close enough attention.

"I already went against my family one time and that was when I chose to join the Fourth Division." Leona revealed that while her family's opinion meant a lot to her she was not totally subservient to them.

"I remember how my father claimed that I was courting disaster by joining the Fourth. My mother implored me to join the Seventh Division like my brother and father had done or maybe the Eighth Division if I wanted to go my own way, but I stood by my decision. Even Leonidas and Lucia, my friends and protectors, tried to change my mind, but I didn't budge. I wanted to be in a division that tended to see combat because engaging in actual combat was how I'd get stronger." Leona recounted how her family had opposed her and how she had stood her ground. That was proof of her desire for power, but that proof was not nearly strong enough to make her case. She would need more.

"I devoted myself to the Fourth as much as I did to gaining power. My brother once joked that my zanpakuto was my significant other because on the infrequent occasions I went home I'd practice basic kendo in my room or just sit and admire the surface of its blade. My sister joked that my real name was Leona Fourthdivision and that I was adopted by the Sheridan family when I was a baby." Leona offered a piece of anecdotal evidence. While it was nowhere as strong as the preceding statements she had made, it was still proof of her will. She had stayed in the Fourth Division barracks a lot more often than she had went home and she could frequently be found in a training room either practicing basic kendo by herself or sparring with someone.

"Exciting is one way to put it, Armina." Leona started off politely. She was ambivalent as to whether or not the Gotei United going defunct would usher in change for good or change for ill, but regardless of how she felt about it change had reached Soul Society and the ramifications would possibly take decades, if not centuries, to be fully understood. The tiny part Leona understood was that the old order had vanished, possibly never to return, so she would have to take some initiative and choose a path for herself that was not determined by a superior officer. With the amount of thought she had put into the matter she had determined that there were two realistic options for her.

"Right now I've come up with two options. I can join Captain Komomura's faction, a group whose ideals are a lot more to my liking than the vague concepts endorsed by other factions. My other choice is to leave Soul Society behind and take my chances in the world of the living." Leona listed the two options she was trying to choose between. Earlier she had indicated a desire to join the faction headed by the famous Captain because its values aligned closely with her own, but she was not sure if she could fully commit to it, not with the lure of freedom in the world of the living on her mind. While leaving for the other world would put Leona in an unfamiliar place where she had no allies and no support structure to fall back on if the going got tough, that course of action would also put her in a place where she could make her own way without having to take orders from anyone.

However, taking that opportunity would mean leaving her family behind to face the changes Soul Society was undergoing.

If the blonde left Soul Society she might be going on a one-way trip.

Could Leona turn her back on them to pursue what she wanted?

Leona was distracted from the enormous decision that lay ahead of her by Armina's gesture, which had left her with a red face. As devoted to the Fourth Division as she had been the blonde had never gotten close to any of its members and she had certainly never gotten close to a seated member until the sparring match with Armina. As a result of not having much social interaction with members of her former division Leona was uncertain as to what to say and that went double because when outside of a sparring match the blue-haired woman was kind of attractive.

"It-it's all right, Armina. I'm not upset at all. I'm just n-not used to anyone wanting to get close to me outside of a combat situation." Leona assured the taller young woman that her gesture was not one that she was upset by. Her voice might betray how awkward she felt in the presence of a tall, beautiful woman trying to be friendly with her, but in truth the blonde had no problem with Armina. It was simply a surprise that the latter wanted anything to do with Leona now that they were no longer shared the bond of service to the Gotei United.