Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters and settings that Tite Kubo created.

Author's Note: I decided only to write one little message for this story. The main thing to say is 'I hope you enjoy' which I do, and another thing is to explain about the dubious grammar in the title. Two Heart Beats, My Love should, by some, be written as Two Heartbeats, My Love or maybe Two Hearts Beat, My Love . . . what I actually meant, was something that was a mix of both those alternate titles. It's 'heartbeats' but written as two words, so it's kind of like option two as well. Am I making sense? Probably not, and now you might be wondering why I bothered to say all that in the first place. Truth is, I'm not certain myself.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy Two Heat Beats, My Love . . .

Prologue: Forget
~ Pain of Loss

There were tears gathering in her eyes but she didn't look back. Couldn't stop to look back. If she did . . . she might lose the firmly placed resolve that kept her shoulders straight and her pace steady and measured. She wouldn't run away, but she wouldn't turn and run back either. She told herself again and again that she was doing the right thing. And it was the right thing, not just because she wanted it to be.

As the first perfect tear slid down her pale cheek, creating a wet, glistening line on her skin, she closed violet eyes and the faintest smile touched her dry lips. She was doing the right thing. This way . . . everything would be alright. There wouldn't be suffering anymore, there wouldn't be the need to give up happiness. They could all go on living as they were always meant to. Shinigami . . . Hollows . . . maybe they could stop bothering themselves with such things now. They had lives to live, things to do before they died. And when they did, perhaps then that would be the right time for them to worry about those things again.

Stop saying 'them'. It's not them . . . there's only one person . . .

She was still lying to herself. Trying to convince herself that all of them would be able to move away from that part of their lives. But that wasn't true . . .

Ishida Uryu would still, undoubtedly, fight the Hollows, as his Quincy Pride dictated. Inoue Orihime would continue to aid her friends when they were injured. Yasutora Sado, she refused to acknowledge the teenager's nickname, he too might continue to use his powers to fight. To protect.

Would he still continue to fight?

She could only hope that she'd been efficient enough in her not so smooth severing of all bonding ties. And she felt she'd done the best she could. Now, she had a future to move towards. She could focus on training, increasing her abilities and her strength. Like the probable others in her rank, she'd set her sights on a higher position, and fight towards that goal. Captain Ukitake had even offered her the chance to become his Lieutenant. There would be no time to doubt, no time to worry, no time to linger in the past . . . linger with the memories.

Goodbye everyone

She stepped from the Senkaimon and into the icy night air of the Seireitei, black shihakusho fluttering from her form in the lively breeze. Below, she could see the faint light from the interiors of some buildings, but the majority was dark.

This is the way that fate has led us

In a single leap, the petite shinigami began darting towards the barracks of the Thirteenth Division. The moisture in her eyes was blown away by the force of the wind created by her own movement, and her lips cracked. Violet gaze was clear and filled only with purpose.

The past shall fade away

She walked past the Thirteenth Division quarters, remembering that she, as a noble, should be resting in the Kuchiki Family Manor, in her own private rooms. There was no hesitation in her stride. It was alright, she wasn't going to cry again, she was going to let go . . . Release the memories to the wintry wind. The memories . . . and the emotions.

Goodbye . . . Ichigo

Entering her rooms, she knelt on the covered floorboards, gazing out of the still open screens and up into the midnight sky. She felt that she could do as she'd said she would, simply move onto a new chapter of her life . . . but as the realisation of her actions finally caught up with her, the most terrible agony she'd ever experienced ripped through her chest, a faint gasp slipping from her cold lips.

Curling into herself, her wide, vacant eyes searched for the one person who'd be able to ease her torment. The person whom she trusted completely.

But there was no one in the sparsely furnished room except herself.

And the pain that came with that realisation almost broke her completely.

But then she recalled why she'd done what she had.

And, although her heart still ached in its brokenness, Kuchiki Rukia knew what she'd done had been right.

Please forget about me