Visions of Persimmon- Chapter 1: A Breeze in the Boughs

DISCLAIMER: Bleach and all its characters are owned by the talented Tite Kubo. I own only my story, and am merely borrowing them to tell it. I receive no payment for my writing.

SUMMARY: At the end of the Winter War, Rangiku Matsumoto mourns the loss of her childhood friend, Gin Ichimaru. But the nightmares that plague her may be more than just dreams, and could ultimately hold the key to mending her broken heart. Canon Setting, AU plot divergence.

A/N: No real warnings on this one, maybe some rude language, and alcohol use. I wasn't going to post this for a week or two, because I've been blowing up with updates lately, but, I'm impatient. Oh well... Enjoy!

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Rangiku Matsumoto stared listlessly, observing two sparrows perched on the branch of a cherry tree just outside the window. Lazy clouds drifted by, and a soft breeze blew still more petals from the blossoms that hung heavy on the limbs. She emptied her cup of sake, and refilled it immediately from the bottle on her desk.

"Matsumoto, have you finished those…" The short, white-haired young man who surveyed the scene from the doorway began to quiver with rage. "Matsumoto! This is unacceptable! Not only are your reports not completed, but you're drunk? In the middle of the afternoon? Honestly…" The captain of the Tenth Squad, Toshiro Hitsugaya, turned abruptly on his heel and stormed back out of his lieutenant's office. "Finish your reports, Matsumoto," he called back over his shoulder, "or I'm going to write you up for insubordination this time." He slammed the shoji door.

"Yes, Taicho…" (1*) Matsumoto's voice was a ragged whisper, and a tear streaked hotly down her cheek before she wiped it away on the black sleeve of her shihakusho (2*). Since returning from Hueco Mundo, and the defeat of Sosuke Aizen at the finale of the Winter War, Matsumoto had been unable to focus on her work. More correct perhaps, would be the statement that, since Gin Ichimaru had died in her arms during the bloodbath resulting from that battle, that her heart had been troubled.

Matsumoto and Gin had been childhood friends, growing up together in the poverty-stricken Rukongai District 64. They had always known a deep, loyal love for one another, but it had not been until he lay broken, bleeding, and fading in her arms, that Matsumoto had come to grasp fully all of the things that had been left unsaid between them. The tears that had fallen on his face that day from her eyes had been too few, and the time too short, to encompass the words that she regretfully realized had gone unspoken between them for so long, that before she knew it, it was too late to say them at all.

Matsumoto heaved a heavy sigh, picking up her brush and dipping it in a golden tray of ink, turning her attention finally to the tall stack of papers piled on her desk. She dully scanned over the documents, leaving her signature where it was required, checking that all the fields were filled in before setting the page in her 'out' box and moving to the next page. And the next. And the next.

Her numbness could have just as easily been caused by the sake as by the anguish in her heart, but the next page that came under her brush stroke caused her to gasp. Everything snapped into sharp, almost surreal clarity around her as she read the words on the page in disbelief. Regarding the exile, Urahara Kisuke, having been tried by Central 46 and found guilty of the resurrection of two of the Espada lieutenants of the traitor Sosuke Aizen; The resurrected Arrancar in question have been determined to pose little to no threat to Soul Society, as they inhabit Gigai, thus possessing none of their former abilities or power. They shall be permitted to exist until such a time as that they cause particular breach in law, at which point they may be dealt with accordingly. Kisuke Urahara shall be served with a cease and desist order regarding his experimental activities pertaining to any and all further resurrections of deceased Espada or Arrancar. Please indicate a suitable Shinigami to deliver this order by hand.

The word 'resurrected' rang hauntingly in Matsumoto's ears. She could not grasp the full implications of her actions, but a desperate hope welled up in her as, in the empty field to the side of the paragraph, Matsumoto filled the name of the Shinigami to complete the task. Rangiku Matsumoto.

Could it be true? She couldn't fathom any reason that the shop keeper would have brought Espada back from the dead, but there it was, before her very eyes, in black and white. I have to speak to him, she resolved. Maybe… She sighed tremulously, stuffing the elation back down into the depths of her heart with a choked sob. She was terrified to allow herself to get too excited. She couldn't take the heartbreak of thinking she had maybe found a way to get him back, and then finding out that it wasn't possible. She wasn't knowledgeable of all the finer technological intricacies regarding the abilities of the former Head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, but she knew that he was a genius, able to work wonders, and had little doubt that if this report said he had done it, that surely he had.

Completing the rest of Matsumoto's back-log of paperwork took her into the evening, the flickering flames of oil lamps lighting her pages as she finished up the last of the reports with a stretch.

"Oi, Rangiku, are you still working?" The straw-hat topped head of Shunsui Kyoraku poked through the doorway of her office. "Don't you know what time it is?"

"Oh, I know, Shunsui-san," she replied with a smile, rubbing at her bleary eyes and yawning. "I let myself get behind a bit."

Kyoraku regarded her for a moment, and darkness flickered through his eyes. "I am sorry, Rangiku-san," he said softly. Her eyes lifted to his in shock, but her face softened as she understood his meaning. No one had really bothered to console her on her loss, because it seemed nobody had realized how deeply it had cut her until now. The clear, grey eyes of the Eighth Division's Captain had pierced to the heart of the matter through. "Are you alright?"

Matsumoto sighed. "I haven't been sleeping well. When I can sleep, I have nightmares…" She reached for the bottle of sake, still sitting on her desk. Captain Hitsugaya couldn't belittle her a drink after staying so late, and completing her reports, she reasoned.

"May I join you?" Shunsui asked lazily, producing a bottle of his own from somewhere in his shihakusho. Matsumoto motioned toward some cushions in a small sitting area, and Shunsui flopped down, revealing that, as usual, he was already somewhat intoxicated. "Maybe you should go see Unohana? She probably has some kind of sedative tea she could give you, to help you sleep."

"Hn…" Matsumoto sipped from her cup as she swayed across the room and dropped onto a cushion beside Shunsui. "I still have plenty of sake."

The brown-haired captain chucked musically. "You won't sleep restfully if you drink until you pass out."

She filled her cup again, and looked at him critically. "What about you, hn? You're drunk all the time…"

Shunsui nodded his head in agreement. "Yes. And I sleep all the time, too." He tossed Matsumoto a sluggish grin, and tipped his chin down. "It's not very restful sleep."

She sighed, and swirled her cup. "My heart is troubled whether awake or asleep. He haunts my dreams."

"Tell me," Shunsui urged her, shifting closer to her, leaning on his elbow as he reclined against the cushions, his face becoming very attentive.

Matsumoto closed her eyes, recalling the visions that had plagued her nightly. "He sits in the cemetery in Karakura Town. There is a chain around him, and he is bound with it. I cannot go to him, I am not in the dreams myself, I only observe him there. He waits." She sighed. "I know not what for."

Shunsui scrutinized her, his face growing somber. "Are these dreams, or visions?"

Matsumoto opened her eyes, and looked sadly to him. "I don't know. But he's trapped. He can't go anywhere."

The captain scratched at his scruffy beard. "You really should go see Unohana in the morning, and find out about getting a tea or something to help you sleep at night." He thought for a moment. "Where does the chain go?"

Matsumoto shrugged, sipping her cup. "I can't tell, it just trails off somewhere. I've never seen where it comes from or leads to."

Shunsui nodded agreeably. "Fair enough. Next time, see if you can pay attention and find out."

"Why, does it matter?" Matsumoto cocked her head curiously.

Shunsui smiled with that relaxed manner of his and gestured dismissively. "Oh, no matter, I'm just curious." Matsumoto seemed to take the answer easily enough, for which he was greatly relieved. He decided he would have to speak with Unohana himself in the morning, hopefully before Matsumoto did, and give her warning about these peculiar 'dreams' the lieutenant was complaining about. He didn't want to worry Matsumoto any further, but something about them didn't sit quite well with him.

They drank and talked until early morning, the conversation eventually turning to more lighthearted reminiscing of times gone by. Shunsui told flamboyant stories to make Matsumoto laugh, because he could see how profoundly she was in need of something to ease the deep strain on her soul. When she finally nodded off, he situated her more comfortably, and draped his pink flowered kimono over her as a makeshift blanket. He knew she would return it after waking, and with any luck, she would already have visited the Fourth Division's Captain by then, and maybe he would be able to get some more information indirectly in this fashion.

Shunsui lifted the stack of completed reports from Matsumoto's 'out' box, and took them into the main office, moving them to the 'in' box on the Captain's desk. A few pages fluttered as he moved them, and as he shuffled them back into order, his eyes landed on a particular report of interest. He scanned the details, and then slipped this page in amidst the stack to a less conspicuous location.

The Eighth Squad Captain fashioned a little sign from a scrap of paper, and hung it on the door to Matsumoto's office, writing, "Do not disturb, by order of Division 8 Captain Shunsui Kyoraku." If he knew Hitsugaya, it wouldn't carry any weight, but it was worth trying. The poor woman needed some rest, if she could take it. As he wandered back to his own chambers in the Eighth Squad barracks, he considered the lightening of the sky already to the east, and made a last minute stop to see if Unohana was up yet.

Just his luck, Unohana and her lieutenant, Isane Kotetsu, were leading an impromptu Sunrise Tai Chi class in the courtyard of their barracks. Shunsui milled about in the gateway, leaning against the wall and waiting for Unohana to notice him.

It didn't take long, and she nodded to Isane to continue without her as she made her way over. "Good morning, Captain Shunsui!" she greeted him sweetly, with a gentle smile. "To what do I owe the honor of such an early-morning visit?"

"I'm concerned about Rangiku-san," he told her, his seriousness catching to Unohana's own expression in an instant. "She's been troubled since returning from Karakura Town, with nightmares. About him." Her deep blue eyes glistened with understanding as he went on. "She told me she dreams he's wrapped in a chain in a cemetery, trapped there. Something about it…" Shunsui shuddered a little in the early morning breeze.

Unohana nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed, that is worrisome. I can see your cause for concern. I'll speak with her today, thank you, Taicho."

"Discretely, please," Shunsui urged her. "I don't want to alarm her unnecessarily; she's already under great strain from her grief. I suggested to her that you might be able to provide her with something to help her sleep, so she should come by sometime today."

Unohana bowed with a smile. "Thank you, Shunsui-san. I will be expecting her."

WWWWWWWWWW

Gin was perched on the stone grave markers of the cemetery. The chain that wrapped around his waist also kept his arms pinned down to his sides. He appeared despondent, staring listlessly off into nowhere, as he always did in these dreams she had of him. Matsumoto had a moment of lucidity, and remembered to look around for the ends of the chain that bound him. As she focused, she was able to see it winding between the grave markers, and it led down the path out of the cemetery, to her vantage point where it seemed to continue somewhere outside her field of vision.

Gin looked up unexpectedly, and seemed to peer straight in her direction with serious curiosity. She thought for a moment that she heard him calling her name in a distantly whispered voice. He wrapped his fingers in the chain that draped down to the ground, and cracked it like a whip, a wave travelling down it to where it vanished… And she felt it yank painfully at her chest.

WWWWWWWWWW

Matsumoto awoke, bolting upright in a cold sweat, her hand flying to her cleavage where the ache still lingered bodily from the troublesome turn of events in her dream. This had been the first time he had ever responded in any way to her presence, and it was disconcerting.

The light through the window let her know it was late, approaching noon if not after already, and she scrambled to her feet, alarmed. The pink, floral kimono that fell to the ground reminded her of the evening she had spent in the good company of Shunsui, and she realized she would have to take it back to him, and thank him for his kindness.

There was a note on her desk, and she wandered over to read what it said. Matsumoto; Thank you for staying late to finish your paperwork. Please take the day off, and return tomorrow after you are rested and in a more productive and focused state of mind. Signed, Division 10 Captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro.

Matsumoto sighed with defeat. She knew it was the most she could have expected from her captain. His personality was almost as cold as his Bankai, and coming from him, this could be considered more than generous. Knowing she could use the extra rest anyways, she slung Shunsui's kimono over her arm and headed out to go take care of returning the loaned garment.

Passing by the Fourth Division barracks on her way, Matsumoto remembered that she was supposed to speak with Unohana about some sedative tea, so she wandered in to the main office. Unohana was seated at a low table, putting the finishing touches on an ikebana (*3) arrangement. She smiled up at Matsumoto warmly as the lieutenant entered. "Good afternoon, Matsumoto-san. Your visit was well-timed, you've saved me the errand of delivering this to you." Unohana stood and handed the floral sculpture to the other woman. "Just a little get-well gift," she offered as explanation. "Shunsui-san stopped by this morning to let me know you've been having trouble sleeping of late. Come in and sit down, let me have a look at you." She invited the other woman toward her desk chair with a hospitable, sweeping gesture.

Matsumoto came in and took a seat in the straight-backed, western style chair. The Fourth Division captain tipped up Matsumoto's chin, looking deeply into her eyes. "How frequently have you been having the nightmares?" She touched gently on the darkening circles that were beginning to gather under Matsumoto's eyes, telltale signs of her regularly disturbed nights.

"Every night since," she sighed. Unohana hummed in agreement, coming behind the chair and feeling around Matsumoto's neck and throat, palpating her lymph nodes. "Last night was different than usual, though." Unohana's clear blue eyes narrowed, and she listened carefully as Matsumoto recounted her dream in vivid detail. Her hand slid down over the long blond hair of the woman seated in front of her, to press against her back, between her shoulder blades. Unohana's fingertips glowed green with kaido (*4) as she attempted to flow healing Reiatsu into Matsumoto's weary body.

But deep within, Unohana sensed resistance. Almost as if the wounds of her heart and spirit are contaminated with some other type of Reiatsu, displacing her own… But this is strange, unlike anything I have felt before. Unohana fed what kaido she could to mend the weariness of Matsumoto's body, but her lips tightened with her unease, growing exponentially in light of the information she had gained from their conversation.

"I will give you some tea to help you sleep, but there is little more I can do, at this point." Unohana's voice carried a thread of tension that worried the lieutenant. "There seems to be some sort of foreign Reiatsu lodged in you. You might wish to go visit Captain Kurotsuchi, at the Shinigami Research and Development Institute… Perhaps he has a method of removing the unidentified energy."

Matsumoto turned to Unohana and crinkled her nose. "I'd rather just deal with it, than deal with Mayuri. He'll probably turn me into a goat or something."

Unohana tittered musically, lifting her hand to her mouth. "Oh dear, I don't think his abilities are quite that potent!" She sobered after a moment. "Really though, Matsumoto-san… I do need you to go and be seen. I don't mean to alarm you, but this could be something serious."

Matsumoto made a sour face, but then brightened suddenly. "What about Urahara-san?"

Unohana appeared thoughtful for a moment. "Yes, I suppose he might be able to help in regards to this issue… But I do insist that you are seen, by one or the other of them, as quickly as is reasonably possible."

Matsumoto nodded. "I will, Unohana-san, thank you for your help." She stood to leave, but the captain touched her elbow.

"Don't forget your tea," she reminded the other woman, and pressed a bag of medicinal herbs into the hand not occupied by the flower arrangement.

As Matsumoto made her way over to the Eighth Squad's barracks and the office of Captain Shunsui, something was nagging at the back of her mind that she couldn't seem to put her finger on. It was a stroke of good fortune that Unohana wanted her to be seen by Urahara, she decided, when she was already trying to get over to ask him about resurrecting Gin. Hopefully, her luck would hold, and that would be enough to tip the scales in her favor if her own captain blew up when he saw that she had listed herself as the messenger to deliver the "cease and desist" order to Urahara.

As she approached Shunsui's office, she heard familiar raised voices, and cringed internally. Oh no, Captain Hitsugaya has beaten me here! She considered eavesdropping outside the door, but at the last moment she knocked and just went in, deciding it would be better to face the reprimand she was sure that she had coming, head-on.

Toshiro stood, arms folded, opposite Shunsui, who was leaned lazily back against his desk. They both turned toward Matsumoto when she intruded, and she could see the report in her captain's hand. The scowl on his face caused her stomach to knot. "Oh, hello Taicho, Shunsui-san." She hoped her brightness fooled them, though she doubted it. "I was just returning your kimono, Shunsui-san. Thank you for your company last night. I… I really needed someone to talk to." The last bit sort of slipped out without her realizing it, and the sadness in her tone was palpable. She glanced up at the two captains as she handed the garment to Shunsui, and she saw the look on Hitsugaya's face soften unexpectedly.

He let out a sigh, and furrowed his brow as he shut his intense green eyes in irritation. "Matsumoto, would you please clarify for me, what is the meaning of this?" He waved the report toward her, and her voice caught in her throat.

"I was trying to explain to Toshiro-san that you've been under a lot of stress lately," Shunsui supplied, much to Matsumoto's relief. "A change of atmosphere might do you some good."

"It's true, Taicho," she agreed hurriedly, thankful for the assistance Shunsui had offered in explaining herself. "I've just come from visiting Captain Unohana, and even she's concerned. She's asked me to go to be seen by Urahara." She waved the package of herbs as proof, and hoped the half-truth of her words would hold water; Matsumoto desperately did not want to be examined by Division Twelve's captain, under any circumstances. "I can deliver the letter and have Urahara perform his tests all in the same trip; it would be much more efficient than sending another Shinigami." She saw a glint in Hitsugaya's eye that indicated to her that he was just about to relent on the matter, so she gave a final, gentle nudge. "And I could use a change of pace…"

Hitsugaya gave a frustrated sigh of resignation, laying the report on the corner of the desk. "Fine. But he had better get something figured out. I expect you to return from your little excursion with your head on straight, Matsumoto." He stalked past her and out the office door, calling back, "Pick up the letter you're to deliver at the Captain Commander's office."

Matsumoto and Shunsui both breathed a sigh of relief when Hitsugaya was gone, and then laughed at each other. "My my, I thought he would never leave," Shunsui said, scratching at his scruffy beard. "He was pretty riled up when he saw that report, and he knew I had been there last night, so he thought I had something to do with it, or at least maybe knew about it."

"Thank you," Matsumoto told him, looking down sadly. "For everything. You've been more than kind to me."

"It's nothing," Shunsui assured her with a dismissive wave and a smile. "You just needed a friend, that's all." He saw the tears brimming Matsumoto's eyes, and he reached out a hand to tilt her chin up. "Here now, what's this?"

"My Captain doesn't understand what I'm going through," Matsumoto muttered bitterly, blinking hard to keep her emotions at bay. "You seem like the only one, actually, who is sympathetic right now to me."

"Gin will understand. I think that's the problem, dear. You need to talk to him."

"Gin is gone," she whispered hollowly, and tears streaked down her cheeks in hot trails.

"Deceased, yes. But gone…" Something in Shunsui's tone caused Matsumoto to look up and stare hard at him. "Maybe not gone…" He eyed her with a deep wisdom in those stormy, grey orbs. "Have you not considered that your dreams are more than dreams, Rangiku-san? That perhaps Gin actually is trapped somewhere?"

Her breath stalled in her throat, and her eyes widened as she stared off, her mind spinning crazily with possibility. "That's not… But… I had hoped something like that, but I never imagined…"

Shunsui picked up the paper that had been left on the corner of his desk by the departing Hitsugaya. "I saw the report last night. Between what you've told me and this, I think that going to see Urahara is exactly the course of action for you to be taking at the moment." He gave her a knowing gaze. "But from the look of things, I think that you've already figured this out." Matsumoto blushed a little at having been found out so quickly by the astute captain, but nodded in silent agreement. "Just out of curiosity… Why is Unohana-san sending you to Urahara?"

Matsumoto chuckled, wiping at her eyes and nose with the sleeve of her shihakusho. "Because I refuse to be seen by Mayuri. That was my other option."

Shunsui's eyes widened, and he chuckled with her. "Good for you. He's a genius, but questionable motives and methods, at best." He tugged a handkerchief from his sleeve, and passed it to the blonde woman, earning him a thank you from her. "Exiled or not, I would put my trust in Kisuke over Mayuri any day of the week."

Matsumoto nodded, drying her eyes and passing the handkerchief back to the captain. "Thank you again. You've been a good friend to me during this difficult time, Shunsui."

He smiled, and patted her on the shoulder. "There, there, now. Kisuke will know how to sort all this out. Get on your way, and go to visit him."

She smiled and nodded, leaving to head back to the Captain Commander's office, to retrieve the letter. It was very official looking, emblazoned with the seal of the Division 1 Captain. Matsumoto tucked it into her shihakusho, and returned to her own room to put the flower sculpture away. She decided that she had enough time before leaving to take a short nap, and brewed herself a cup of tea from a portion of the herbs that Unohana had given her. The sweet, smoky flavor of whatever mixture she had used, washed a sense of peace over Rangiku that she hadn't known in some time, and she finished drinking the cup then headed over to her bed, already feeling drowsy. She pulled the letter out of her uniform and opened the drawer of her night stand, laying the letter in there so it did not get rumpled by her sleeping on it. She fell on the bed and curled up, and within moments, was out like a light.

WWWWWWWWWW

She could smell the smoke from the incense that was being burned at the shrine, a sweet and heavy scent that washed over her as she walked up to the gate of the cemetery. Gin was standing at the end of the path, watching her with curiosity, slowly reeling in the long chain that connected the two of them, spooling it at his feet. He did not yank on it this time, which Matsumoto was thankful for. Her chest had ached for a long time after waking up, the last time.

As she neared him, she suddenly passed into a thick, hazy mist. It had not been there a moment before, or so she had thought… But then she got the feeling that it had actually been there all along, and she had never been able to see it until now. She realized that as she neared Gin, that he must have been invisibly surrounded in this mist, and had been unable to see her through it.

A hand gripped her arm, and there was blistering white-hot pain where the fingers pressed into her skin. She looked up and saw Gin. He watched her intently, his mouth moving but no words were coming out of it. "Gin, are you alright?" she asked him, feeling tears beginning to well up at her eyes. He opened his right eye, revealing the beautiful ice-blue iris there. But sadness overtook his face as he opened the other eye, his left one. It was also the left hand which gripped her arm so searingly, and Matsumoto choked.

His other eye displayed a black sclera, with a golden iris.

He was becoming a Hollow.

She reached for him, tears pouring down both their faces as she pulled him into a kiss. She heard his voice in her mind then, an urgent whisper as she felt helplessly drawn away from him at the beckoning of the waking world.

"Hurry…"

WWWWWWWWWW

Matsumoto woke again in a cold sweat. If she felt more rested from the effects of the tea, her emotional distress masked it. She realized there were tears staining her face, and that she had been actually crying in her sleep. She reached for the letter that lay in the open drawer of her night stand, and as she pulled it out, a crumpled up piece of paper beneath it drew her attention.

She lifted it out, heavier than she had expected, and carefully unfolded it. What she saw made her break down in unrestrained sobbing all over again.

They were dried persimmons.

She remembered Gin giving these to her. They were the shared favorite food of the both of them, ever since they had been friends as little kids. He had stopped by her office one day, not long before he had followed Aizen to Hueco Mundo. The crumpled up paper was a pathetic wrapping, but he had handed it to her with a genuine smile, one that he only ever gave to her, she knew.

"Ah brought ya somethin," he'd said upon presenting her with the package. She had opened it with a smile, and pulled out one of the pieces of dried fruit, breaking it in half, and giving part to him. They had eaten it together in silence, and then he spoke words that took her mind back many, many years, to when they had both been young children. "D'ya remember why ah became a Shinigami, Rangiku?" He waited for a reply, but she was watching him carefully. Questions like these from her friend were seldom very straightforward. He had a way of speaking indirectly, even with her, though when it was just the two of them he was always less guarded. When she did not speak, he sighed. "Persimmon fruit, when it's young, is very bitter," he said, dropping his accent as he held a piece of the dried fruit aloft, examining it. "It's only when it's ripe, that it transforms, and the sweetness of it can be properly enjoyed." He pressed the fruit back into its paper wrapping, and folded the paper over it, pausing with his hand laid over it for a moment. "People sometimes misunderstand, and think that the drying process involves letting the fruit rot… But that's not the case. Rot indicates the presence of insects, fungus… Impurities." He looked up at her and opened his eyes slightly, flashing that brilliant blue from under a shock of silvery hair. "That would produce something unwholesome. The fruit is changed by the process, but it is not made unwholesome. The drying process requires much patience, and time. Though the original qualities of the fruit are gone, the final product… Is safe…" He sighed sadly, and turned from her. "Enjoy those," he murmured. "I made them just for you, Rangiku."

As she sat on the edge of her bed remembering, she was crying again. She hadn't realized the significance of his words, at the time. He had been speaking of himself, and the sacrifice he had made, in order to try to assure that she was never again hurt by the likes of Aizen. Everyone else just thought he was deranged, power hungry, wanted the Hogyoku for himself. They still thought he was rotten- a traitor to the core, even betraying Aizen- but Matsumoto knew it was the unspoken sweetness of the purity of his love for her, which had caused his actions. It was not just a moment of sacrifice, like stepping out in front of a car to push a friend to safety, or taking a bullet for someone… Not a life merely ended in a single act of sacrifice, but an entire lifetime actively lived, moment by moment, as a sacrifice, given up to ensure the ultimate safety of another. A lifetime of precise and patient planning, each careful step chosen intentionally to bring him closer to his final goal of securing her safety.

She folded the paper on itself, tucking it into her shihakusho along with the letter, setting her jaw in firm resolve. Your gift will not go unappreciated, Gin, she assured him mentally as she moved with silent shunpo (*5) across the darkened sky, toward the Senkaimon (*6). I will see to it that it is returned. I will show them… You're not rotten, Gin. The once-bitter fruit of our childhood has ripened, and now it's time for me to return the protection that you so willingly offered me. Now it is you who are in need of help. I won't let corruption take you, Gin. I am coming, my beloved. Just wait. Just a little longer… I'll find a way, Gin. We'll be together again, just hold on.

WWWWWWWWWW

*1- Taicho- Captain

*2- Shihakusho- "Garment of Dead Souls," standard uniform of the Shinigami, a simple black robe-like garment, usually work with hakama, which are similar to loose pants.

*3- Ikebana- Japanese art of flower arrangement

*4- Kaido- A type of kido, without any other specifically known name, number, or spell of spoken incantation, with the sole intention of healing the target

*5- Shunpo- Shinigami technique of "flash-step," moving very quickly, often through the air.

WWWWWWWWWW

A/N: Wow, I've been stalled out on this story for the longest time! I went on a reading bender yesterday, and then while writing Chapter 3 of The Ties That Bind Us, and working so much with Matsumoto, I got inspired again to wrap up the first chapter of this. I'm so happy with it.

This will overlap in the next chapter into the last bit of one of my other stories, Urahara's Arrancar Rehabilitation Center, telling a slightly different and more detailed view of the events there. This was supposed to be a two-shot, but I see this now going at least 3 chapters, because of overlap and plot development points I touched on in The Ties That Bind Us.

Thank you for reading, please take the time to leave me a review, if you enjoyed it!

Speak to you soon,

~KaiBlueOtaku