Author's Notes: My first fic for this pair, which hopefully will have at least a part two addressing Momo and Hitsugaya. The story is about resolution of the past (read: Gin and Hinamori) and moving on, set in the future after the conclusion of the final war against Aizen.

Bleach does not belong to me.

----------

Afterwards

That morning, a shroud of thick fog covered Soul Society as the solitary silhouette of Matsumoto Rangiku made its way towards some hills a ways removed from the city district proper. Her sandals falling over crisp blades of grass still laden with dew, the vice-captain arrived at a small clearing, where a lone, leafless tree stood; the very image of desolation. At the base of the tree was a solitary rock, out of place and erect, and this Matsumoto regarded with a complexion as gray and cool as the mist that dampened the exterior of her uniform and the ends of her flamboyant strands.

"So this is where you've been coming to."

Her eyes widened at her captain's voice, whose presence had suddenly revealed itself behind her. Lips curving slightly upwards she turned around to find her captain a few paces behind her, a white silk scarf wrapped around his neck and concealing parts of his chin. "Good morning, Taichou."

Hitsugaya Toushirou walked up to where his vice-captain stood, and for a minute the two wordlessly regarded the plain stone at the base of the tree as a slight breeze rippled the grassy plain around them.

"He and I used to come here as kids."

Hitsugaya turned to look up at the woman standing beside him, whose eyes appeared far away in distant memory.

"Gin liked to sit high on this tree's branch and… look down at everything. I remember I once said how I liked the view because from afar, you couldn't see all that was terrible and foul in Rukongai." Matsumoto turned to meet Hitsugaya's gaze with a smile. "Do you know what he said in reply?"

The young captain, his complexion stern and neutral, said nothing, and Matsumoto continued. "He said he liked the view because everything became so small, the people like ants, the houses, Seretei… everything."

Uncorking the bottle that had been hanging from her side, Matsumoto walked up to the stone and proceeded to pour the clear wine over the marker, all that was left in memory of former captain Ichimaru Gin, as traitors were not permitted graves. The vice-captain emptied the entire bottle over the stone as the liquor ran down the face of the marker in rivulets that mimicked tears; her eyes remained dry.

Loosening the scarf around his neck, Hitsugaya's fingers lingered for a moment over the angry scar underneath that ran from his jaw line down the side of his neck to his collar bone. His mind remembered the fateful day weeks earlier when he and Matsumoto fought Gin for the last time: The majority of Aizen's minions had fallen after fierce fighting, and as the task of confronting Aizen himself fell to Kurosaki Ichigo, the task of taking on Gin fell to the two officers of the tenth division, one of just a few remaining still capable of combat. It had been a battle to the death for both sides as Gin, irredeemably corrupted and powered by Aizen's influence, drove relentless at him and Matsumoto. At the end, the bloody fight came down to one final crossing of blades, with him taking Gin head on and Matsumoto delivering the finishing blow from the side.

Though it had transpired in merely split-seconds, Hitsugaya still recalled vividly the expression on her face when Gin had turned at the last moment to meet her gaze; surprise and sorrow appeared in her torn expression, and her sword faltered… the fleeting moment of hesitation allowing Gin's blade to pierce the side of his neck. The hot spray of her captain's blood brought Matsumoto back however, and Hai Neko fell with a vengeance, cleaving Gin in a clean stroke that ended the fight.

That was the only time that Hitsugaya remembered hearing Matsumoto scream.

------

Standing prone before the stone, the vice-captain suddenly felt the sensation of a soft fabric draped over her neck, and found his captain's white scarf around her shoulders. She looked at the young man confusedly, whose sharp eyes, not meeting hers, continued to train on something hidden within the distant mist. "…You'll catch a cold standing there like that."

Touched by his warmth that still lingered on the silk, Matsumoto's expression softened as she wrapped the comforting fabric around herself, but when her eyes fell on the red mark at the side of Hitsugaya's neck, she inadvertently shivered, recalling how she had held him in her lap as she desperately tried to stop his life from flowing out between her fingers.

She knew that had he not made it, she would've followed him.

But he did make it, and recover fully, though his body was forever marked with the reminder of how her moment of weakness nearly betrayed the trust he had in her; the life which he placed in her hands.

… Which was why she felt she could no longer serve him; was no longer worthy.

"Captain, I…"

She spoke after him as he began walking away, his back facing her. Hitsugaya stopped in his footsteps, and for a while both were silent as Matsumoto struggled to find words able to convey her guilt, her regret, her relief at his survival, her gratitude for all that he had done for her, and her sorrow for being the one to destroy it all.

"Matsumoto…" She looked up to see that he had turned around, incomprehensible depths of meaning in his eyes as he continued in a quiet, yet determined tone. "I won't accept your resignation."

Hitsugaya held up a hand before she could protest as he began walking back towards her. "What happened then is over now; nobody…" Reaching out his hand, the captain closed his fingers around her wrist solemnly as he looked up at her, "nobody, neither of us, came out of that battle unscathed. The only difference is that while my scar is here for everyone to see, you've hidden yours away, inside."

He released her hand, and Matsumoto remembered why she had screamed back then: Not because she was facing Gin, the man who held so much weight in her heart for so many years, not because it was her sword that sank through Gin… but because of the look on Hitsugaya's bloodied face when he saw her hesitate, a moment before his eyes went blank.

She screamed then because she thought she'd lost… killed the man who mattered most to her.

Hitsugaya felt a pair of slender hands envelope his tightly; Matsumoto's head was bowed, her long hair containing the top half of her visage, and Hitsugaya returned the pressure in his hand firmly, gripping hers and holding on before he spoke again. "I need you by my side, Matsumoto... now more than ever."

A long minute passed, but when she raised her head, what greeted the young captain was a smile and pair of slightly moist eyes. "… If you're still willing to have me as your vice-captain, sir."

Hitsugaya shook his head lightly before returning the smile. "It has to be you."

And together they left, the lonely spot behind them, and headed back to where their work and the new day awaited.

-To be continued