I have had this idea in my mind for weeks. So I felt the need to post it, for all to see. It's a long multi-chapter fic so it'll last a long time. Unless I update frequently enough to where it only lasts a short time. XD But I highly doubt that. Lol. I have major Lazyphobia, it's a rare disease i made up where your really lazy. XD Pretty contagious too so don't get too close to me. This story was also inspired by KatonRyuuka's 'Leave out all the rest'. Thank you so much KatonRyuuka!

So this is a long story, mostly a serious, hurt-filled one, opposed to my usually humorous, romantic ones. I don't think i've written one like this. Well I decided to try it. Rating may change later. Anyway, this is a story I think you'll get into right off the bat. I was going to wait until Gifts of Love was done, but i feel it should be posted now rather than later while the ideas are fresh in mind. So without further delay allow me to introduce to you 'Wilting Daffodils'. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. Wish i did...

Wilting Daffodils

Prologue

Memories are like ribbons. They come in many different lengths, some are short, some are long. They also can come in many different colors, blue for the sad, red for the angry, pink for the pleasurable, and so on. These ribbons are loved for a while until you get new ones and forget the old ones as time goes by.

But there are people who save every single ribbon. No matter how much they may hurt them.

She is one of those people. Saving all the memories she's able to, afraid to let go of even one. Because these memories, are all she has left in the world. All she has left of... him. These memories are new, from not that long ago, and so fresh on her mind. They're all happy memories, very sweet, special memories that she shared with him. Or used to at least...

She let out another sob and curled herself further into a ball on her side, pulling the blankets over her head to shield herself from the outside world. She's barricaded herself in her room for three days now, refusing to eat, refusing to see anyone, and refusing to drink anything but sake.

Life used to be so good to her, it used to actually mean something. But now... Now she wishes she could leave this world, nothing else seems to matter. Nothing but the memories she still carries. But even they cause her pain. These wonderful memories that would fill her with great joy each time she thought of them, now made her eyes water at the very thought of them.

She just couldn't move her body, it felt hollow. Yet there were tears spilling out of her eyes, one right after the other, with no indication of stopping. She couldn't face the outside world yet, it was too hard to even try to get out of the bed. The doors and windows are locked, the curtains are closed, the room is dark even in the day. Yet she still hides herself under the blanket, feeling safe in her own little world here. Feeling like the events from days ago didn't happen and she was still safe and happy in her lover's arms.

But that dream always turned into a nightmare as she opened her eyes to realize that this was the real reality. He was no longer here with her, and may never be again. Could she still face him? Even after all they had been through? Even if it hurt her so?

Matsumoto Rangiku was never one to run away. She always stayed and fought for what she believed in. But that Rangiku didn't exist anymore, now all that was left was a broken woman, with a broken heart to top it off.

Ise Nanao walked steadily down the halls of the Tenth Division, carrying a report in her arm that disturbed her greatly. She wondered if anyone else had seen this. She had to find Hitsugaya-taicho and ask him if he knew anything. She approached the main office door and knocked.

"Come in." She heard and opened the door. As usual, he was at his desk. But the paperwork seemed to be more than usual. And just as she predicted, no Matsumoto at her desk, or on the couch for that matter. Hitsugaya lifted his head from his work and nodded his greeting.

"What can I do for you Ise-fukutaicho?" He asked, putting his pen down and folding his hands on his desk. Nanao stepped into the office and closed the door. She walked over to his desk and tossed the report in front of him. He looked at the report before his gaze went back up to her.

"What's this?" He asked. "It's a report from members of this division. Stating that the fukutaicho of this division has not been present for her duties the last three days. And she has not been given a mission or been on patrol. She is either missing or refusing to come to work, let alone send some kind of notice. I need to know what you know about this." Nanao gazed at him with a glare that actually competed with his own. He sighed.

"I honestly have no idea why Matsumoto has not come in to work. She has not contacted me at all. I haven't seen her since the false alarm in Rukongai." He stated matter of factly. "You must now something. This report was going to go to First Division, if I hadn't gotten my hands on it first. If First gets this report, who knows what they'll do. You have to know where she is." Nanao demanded, she had to find her best friend before something bad happens to her.

"I told you, I do not know where my fukutaicho is. No one has seen her in days. However if it will make you feel better I will hold onto this report. I will try to keep her absence a secret, but I cannot guarantee it will stay secret for long." Nanao sighed, that was the best she could get from him she supposed.

"I suppose that's all I can ask from you. Thank you Hitsugaya-taicho. I'll find her." Nanao studied his face for a minute. He did have a face that looked like he missed her, but it was hidden well underneath his scowl. She bowed and turned to leave.

"Wait." Hitsugaya called, making her pause and turn to look at him again. "When you find her, tell her hurry and get her cheerful ass back here." Nanao smiled and nodded. "Sure." She said before leaving the office.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Nanao didn't understand why she didn't try Matsumoto's house first. It seemed like the most obvious place to look first, or maybe that was the reason she didn't look there first. The point was she needed to look there, all other possible places for her location had been Matsumoto-less. She approached the small house, the fukutaicho's banner of the Tenth Division decorating the outside wall of the house. Nanao walked up the steps and knocked on the front door.

She waited outside for a while, then knew that if no one answered yet, they weren't going to. Nanao walked over to the window, and noted that the curtains were closed. Nanao'ss frown deepened. Rangiku never shut these curtains, they were always open. She only shut them when she wanted to hide from the world.

Nanao concluded that Rangiku was definitely in there, and something was troubling her.

Nanao went back to the door and tried opening it. No good, it was locked. Nanao quickly jumped over the railing to the ground and ran around the house to the back door. It was locked too, only this one was locked with kido. The lock on the back door had been broken, so she had to resort to using kido to lock it? Was she that desperate to keep people out? Luckily Nanao was one of the better experts at kido, and this spell wasn't that hard to break for someone of her calibur.

Nanao gathered spirit energy in her hand then placed it on the door and moved it around. Searching for the spot where the spell was strongest, which was also the battery fueling the spell to put it simply. Nanao found it in the center of the door and shot her spirit energy into the door and felt the spell disappear. She slowly opened the door, and looked inside.

It was completely dark in the house. Nanao stepped into the house silently and shut it just as quietly. She looked around, kicking off her shoes and trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness. She could barely see. She stepped lightly yet slowly so she would make noise or run into anything. Her eyes finally adjusted so she began to search for her missing friend and fellow fukutaicho. She wandered the small entryway into the living room, and gasped at the sight she saw. The furniture was knocked over, some lamps were broken on the floor, and there were sake bottles everywhere. Nanao began to get worried. What happened to this place?

A very faint sound drifted into her ears. She turned towards the hallway that led to the bathroom and bedroom. Nanao felt Rangiku's reiatsu immediately and crept through the hall and stopped in front of the door to the bedroom. She turned her head to let her ear touch the door to listen. She heard the sound again and identified it as... sniffling?

She thought twice for a minute before knocking on the door. She heard shuffling and the clanking sound of bottles on the other side of the door. Nanao heard the lock click and then the door opened to reveal Matsumoto Rangiku. Looking absolutely terrible.

Her hair, usually wavy and shining, silky and smooth, was tangled and looking like it was nesting a bird. She was clad in nothing but a bathrobe, and it was clinging loosely to her, the knot tying it together looked like it was fixing to come undone. And finally, her face... Usually so beautiful and always full of joy... Her eyes were red and puffy from constant crying, and still had some tears in them. Her nose was red and looked irritated from frequent tissue use. She looked totally miserable.

"N-Nanao..." Rangiku said, nasally because of her runny nose, she sniffled. "What're you doing here? How did you get in?" She asked tiredly, she looked exhausted. Nanao studied her appearance before answering.

"You haven't come to work in three days, I was starting to worry. I'm glad I got here when I did. No offense but you look awful." Nanao said. Rangiku lifted the tissue in her hand to her nose before blowing. "I know. And I'm sorry for not coming to work. I just... I just..." She couldn't finish as she burst into tears. Nanao jumped when Rangiku threw herself at her. She wrapped her arms around her distraught friend and soothed her silently.

"What's the matter? Did something happen? You can tell me, I'll listen." Nanao pulled Rangiku away and led her to the bed, which was covered in used tissues and sake bottles, just like the floor around it. She sat them both down onto the bed, and grabbed the box of tissues from the nightstand. She pulled out a tissue and wiped the tears from Rangiku's eyes and cheeks then held it to her nose. Matsumoto blew into the tissue and a small sob escaped her when she was done.

"Now, why don't you tell me what's wrong?" Nanao offered. Rangiku looked as if she was contemplating whether to tell her or not. Could whatever have happened to her be that bad? Was it so bad she couldn't tell her best friend? Matsumoto fumbled with her fingers, sniffling a few times.

"If you don't want to tell me I under-" "Kami hates me." Rangiku said. Nanao looked at her questioningly. "What?" She asked.

"Kami hates me. He doesn't want me to be happy at all. Everything that makes me happy gets taken away. Or maybe it's my fault for not guarding my heart properly. I don't know. Or maybe it was just not meant to be? I thought it was though, what went wrong? What did I do to upset Kami so? Why did I have such a fate thrust upon me?" Rangiku asked, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Rangiku what're you talking about? Is this about Ichimaru? I thought you were over him?" Nanao asked and instantly regretted when Matsumoto burst into a new crying session. She sobbed and shook uncontrollably. Nanao scooted closer and hugged her close, rubbing her back.

"Ichimaru has been dead for years now, I thought you said you were happy he left." "It's not Gin!" Rangiku cried. Nanao was confused, if it wasn't Ichimaru that was causing this, then who?...

"In order for you to understand..." Rangiku said, pausing to blow her nose again. "I'll have to tell you the whole story. But you have to promise not to tell anyone about this. This has to stay between us. Please Nanao, can I trust you with this?" Rangiku asked, grabbing Nanao's arms and lightly shaking her. Nanao reached up and grabbed her hands and held them in her own.

"You can trust me, I won't tell a soul." Nanao said with a small comforting smile. Rangiku wiped furiously at her eyes, hating the fact that she seemed so vulnerable. It was so unlike her and she hated it so much. She pulled away from Nanao and stared down at the folds in the bed before looking away from it, as if refusing to remember some painful memory.

With a shaky sigh, Rangiku opened her mouth and began to tell her sad tale.

This was a short chapter yes, but most prologues are short. But yes, this was the first chapter. Next chapter, you will see the actual beginning. Soon i will update and soon you will know the reason for Rangiku's depression. Go ahead and guess why she;s so upset, if you get it right you may get a reward. Lol. I warn you that most of this story will be sad. Got it? Okay. The next chapter will be out soon, because i've had a real desire to write the last few days. So watch out for it! Keep reading and reviewing you guys! Until next time!

LATERZ!!! SoaringHellButterfly.