"You want an explanation, right, of course," Jushiro said nervously. He took my hand and ran his thumb over the back of it soothingly, though whether it was to calm himself or me I wasn't certain. "Well, er, you see..."

"Do you need a minute?" I asked, giving him a worried look. He gave a nervous laugh.

"I should be saying that too you. No, no I'm fine. Now... Where to begin?"

"Try the beginning," I suggested.

"Right, well, my brother met your mother in the world of the living," he began.

"So my mum wasn't a shinigami?" I asked.

"No, no she wasn't. Well, he immediately fell head over heels for her, exclaiming that it was love at first sight!" He smiled a bit, staring at me, lost in thought. "He kept going back to visit her, over and over again, until he told her what he was, and married her. Then, they had you," he gave my hand a tight squeeze and I barely saw his eyes watering.

"Why are you so upset?" I asked softly, squeezing his hand. He shut is eyes tight and faced downward.

"You were such an adorable child..." He mumbled. "You always smiled, giggled, you loved new people. You were... You were so innocent. I loved you like you were my daughter. But then..." His voice broke, and I was shocked at how hard this was for him.

"Calm down," I said soothingly. "It's okay."

"She went insane..." He choked out.

"Who?" I whispered.

"Your mother..." He replied, his shoulders shaking. He shook his head violently. "She killed him! Right next to your crib! And she... You're too young to know that..."

"It's fine," I said calmly, putting my free hand on his shoulder as he continued to face downward. "I can take it."

"She..." He hesitated, and I gave his hand a squeeze. "She transported to a whole new dimension... And she.... She left you... She left you.... That crazy woman left you on a cliff's edge!"

Everything was quite as I stared at Jushiro in silence. I saw droplets of water falling from his face, onto my hand. I sighed and pulled him towards me, hugging him tightly.

"It's okay," I murmured softly. "It's alright, Jushiro."

"It's... It's not..." He whispered, his tears soaking my shirt. He pulled away, grabbing my shoulders tightly as he stared at me desperately. "It's not okay! I should be comforting you! I should be hugging you and apologizing for not being there. You should be the one crying! You should be upset with me for not coming to get you! Why don't you hate me?! Why aren't you sad, or shocked, or yelling at me?! How can you be so damn calm?!"

He stared at me, and I stared at him a while before I began laughing lightly.

"I-Im sorry!" I laughed. "I shouldn't be laughing! It's just funny, is all," I sighed, giving his bewildered face an apologetic look.

"Funny?" A shocked voice said.

"Yeah," I said, turning to grin at Toshiro, "cause that kinda explains how I'm so weird now." I turned back to Jushiro, and smiled at him in amusement. "And I'm not going to blame you, Jushiro, because its not like you made all of this happen," I gave a shrug. "Besides, what happened in the past is in the past. Nothing can be done to change it. If I don't mind then you shouldn't either."

He gave the strangest look... But I'm used to that.

"You are... Very mature."

I turned again and looked at Unahana.

"Thanks, taicho," I grinned.

"You don't hate me?"

I sighed and released Jushiro's hand and knocked lightly on his skull.

"Don't make me repeat myself, silly uncle," I smiled tiredly. He chuckled weakly.

"I'm sorry," he said, rubbing his neck with a sheepish smile.

"Stop apologizing!" I said, though I was grinning. I poked his nose, saying, "boop," and causing him to blink before chuckling.

"What was that for?"

I grinned, swinging my legs back and forth and wagging my finger at him.

"Nose boops make everything better!" I said childishly.