#hellcat129

[saranel]

I have been lurking here for ages and have finally mustered up my courage to ask a question. I have been looking and looking for days but have found nothing about. I was just wondering because the last time we saw, Kisuke was facedown in a pool of blood. I know Nel was there to rescue them but I was wondering how do you think she did it and in what condition the 4 of them were in and how were they treated? Okay I think I'm rambling on now but I was just curious because I have seen nothing

Also tagging @ichiyuki, who more or less asked the same question

Okay, first off, I’m always open to questions, even if it takes me a while to answer the more complex ones :) But for future reference, if you’re just naturally shy, I also accept anon messages!

All righty, let’s do this…

I love Nel’s design so much

(Operation Save Urahara and co’s Asses, under the cut!)

Right, so! 

Last we saw of Nel in 666 (see above), she was gearing up to enter Askin’s ultimate poison sphere to rescue Urahara’s group.  Small digression here to talk about who exactly is included in said group:

Four reiatsu signatures.  The natural assumption here is that the four individuals are Kisuke, Grimmjow, Yoruichi and Yūshirō.  But back when the chapter was first released, many people (myself included), wondered whether Yūshirō was actually trapped in the dome to begin with.  The theory was that Yoruichi and Askin’s skirmish moved the battlefield a fair distance away from Yūshirō. Remember that this was back when we were wondering if perhaps Soifon would show up to rescue him, or Askin would survive and be captured as a hostage (I’m still heartbroken this didn’t happen ;-;)

Given how the series ended, however, plus the fact that Askin’s kamikaze attack can only be activated upon his death, I think we can safely assume the four signatures were indeed Kisuke, Grimmjow, Yoruichi and Yūshirō. 

I think a lot of the drama surrounding the possibility of their survival was the result of an iffy translation, considering Kisuke’s own ‘last’ words and Nel’s in this panel:

The tone here could be taken to mean that Nel is fearful she might never see Ichigo again, but a better translation of the last two panels should clear things up:

Nel: How many reiatsu are inside……four……? // At least two round trips, then…… // The entrance is…… // Huh?! // It’s tiny! // ……If I’m honest… // I would have preferred to go with Ichigo, but……

In this translation, it’s made clear that Nel is talking about making two trips, plus her tone sounds more wistful than anything, her lamenting the fact that this will take a while so she won’t be able to catch up with Ichigo. 

So, Nel talks about having to make at least two round trips, obviously grabbing a pair of them each time and then diving back again.  I have a feeling that Nel was asked by Kisuke (and also made the same judgment call herself) that she should first rescue those who were worse off.  And since Yoruichi and Yūshirō should be closer together, my guess is she grabbed those two first, to put an end to further exposure to the poison.  Remember that Yoruichi had already reached her limit in 663 and Yūshirō was in bad shape himself back in 662.

Originally, I would gave dismissed the possibility that the number of trips has to do with distance, given the fact that Nel could easily go in Sonido mode and cover it in a sec. However, it is possible that just like Shinigami were unable to form stepping platforms, the heavy atmosphere also leaves them unable to Flash Step, or at least as effectively (unless I’m mistaken, Kisuke does Flash Step behind Yoruichi in 662, but in general, Flash Steps weren’t used a lot in the final battles).

I’d say Nel is strong enough to carry at least two bodies per trip, so I guess distance might indeed pose an issue, at least in Yūshirō’s case.  So if we want to add a bit more drama here, we could say that Nel ended up having to make two trips just for the Shihōin sibs, then rushed in at the very last minute to rescue Kisuke and Grimmjow.  Even moar dramaz?  She rescues Yūshirō/Yoruichi, realizes she’s cutting it close and makes her second trip for Kisuke and Grimmjow, only to have Kisuke send her away, insisting she save Yoruichi/Yūshirō first.          

Whatever the configuration, I’m pretty sure she made it.  Even if you don’t take the WDKALY novel as canon (where we get confirmation that both Kisuke and Yoruichi made it), I never really doubted they’d survive.  Nel’s presence in 666 serves no purpose otherwise, and if only some of them were meant to make it, you’d think it would be at least mentioned as a tragedy.

I mean, initial shock aside, Kisuke looks pretty damn impassive at the situation since he’s already planned for it.

That’s a bit too chill for a man who is very close to death.

So, Nel brings all four bodies to safety, then gets to work.  I assume that all are either unconscious or in a position where they can do next to nothing, which means Nel has to heal at least one of them first.  Given the fact that he can concoct an antidote and is an overall talented healer, it makes sense that she would heal Kisuke first.

Liek dis:

I can’t recall if Nel’s super healing drool is also an option when she’s in her adult form, but hello, this is Urahara we’re talking about.  He’s got it covered:

And people thought he was just messing around, tsk, tsk… 

In all seriousness though, the bracelet thingy makes perfect sense.  Nel lost her adult form when Nnoitra bashed her skull open, and she kept leaking reiatsu constantly, at a greater pace than she was creating it, leading her to regress to her child form.

That ‘bracelet’ Urahara gave her? Remember what’s located on the wrists?

Listen, I will drag Kubo for a number of things, but peoplewere unfair to accuse him of being inconsistent and invoking lolscience to fill a problem’s particular needs.  At least in Kisuke’s case, he has always, always given him both the time to work out solutions and had said solutions work within the universe’s established rules.  Yes, that includes the bankai pills, the human shell he made for Isshin and even Yoruichi’s Thunderkitty form.  It’s all there. 

So by simply removing the bracelet, Nel allows more reiatsu to leak out of the vents in her pulse points, and can return to child form to use her Super Drool to heal at least one of them back to full health (presumably Kisuke).  And I say at least one, as it’s highly possible she needs to heal herself as well after being exposed to the poison.

She heals Kisuke, who in turn gets to work on the rest of them.  I assume he tackled Yoruichi and Yūshirō, leaving Grimmjow up to Nel, since she has a much better understanding of Arrancar physiology.  Yup, that was totally the reason.  It’s not like he wanted to collect any future blackmail material, no siree.  A framed copy of this was Ichigo’s High School graduation gift, btw. 

After that, I assume Kisuke was reasonably worried over Yoruichi, who received the heaviest blast of the poison for the longest time, so naturally, one would think he’d lean over her with concern as she opened her eyes, at which point she’d sock him straight in his remaining functional eye.  To his credit, Kisuke takes it without a peep and lets her have his haori. Yūshirō is terribly confused.

So there you have it! Meta and headcanonz, hope you enjoyed the read, friend :)