Disclaimer: See above. -laughs-

Warnings: Shonen-ai, ooc-ness on Ichimaru's part, but it's intentional, I assure you. Angst, drama.

Notes: This is the last chapter. I've played with these boys for long enough. I'm eternally grateful to all of you who supported me throughout this ordeal with reviews and kind messages. I know it's been a long time coming, but it's finally finished and it's kinda short. I don't like drawn out final chapters for any of my fics. Keep in mind that I will continue to write about these particular characters, especially those of Gin and Aizen. My next fic entitled 'Breaking In The Reins' will be an Aizen/Gin based one, set during Gin's time as Aizen's fukutaichou. Keep an eye out for it. It will hopefully be posted sometime before the New Year, or shortly thereafter.

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Three days had passed since the rescue team and their charge had returned, a grueling seventy-two hours that had consisted of thorough questions and dredged up memories. Byakuya and Renji were useful for most of the story but were utterly useless for the rest, having been down for the count for most of their stay in the hollow world. Ukitake, wide awake and lucid enough to remember everything during his stay, had given the captain's council enough worthy information to successfully exempt himself from punishment for his supposed crimes.

Because of this, Hitsugaya, loyal to his very core, had stormed out of the meeting hall, ignorant to the newly appointed shobantai-taichou Sasakibe Chojiro's orders for him to stay. The foil wielding shinigami sighed and waved him off as he finished the lecture and dismissed the remaining captains.

It had been easy enough to seal the hole created by Aizen and to destroy the device Mayuri had invented to gain access to the dark netherworld. As it was, the modified shinigami almost cried as it was incinerated, somewhat mollified by the fact that if he so chose, he could create another one. But then again, he thought, why would anyone want to bother with a forever shadowed world that provided little to no stimulation to the senses?

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On the eve of the third day, Ukitake made a trip to the third division headquarters to visit Gin and Kira, finding only the silver haired taichou in the office, lounging on his divan as he had so often done in the past. The slim form, seemingly so much thinner than the last time he had seen him, rolled over and a tired set of red eyes peered up at him, his cheek slightly pink from where it had lain against the back of his curled hand.

"Ohayo, Jyuu-kun. How's things?"

The elder man sat down and gently, without words, took the smaller swordsman into his arms and clung to him, holding him tightly against his chest, feeling the lifelessness in the man's bones and the vague shift of his breathing. There was no doubt he was wasting away. The amount of food he ate wasn't the case, as Ukitake had seen the empty plates in the adjoining room. He was withering like a balloon that was slowly losing its supporting helium. Drifting back down to earth without a notion of how dangerous his impact with the ground was going to be.

"Please, Gin. Let him go. I can't stand to see you like this." He whispered softly. "I don't want to lose you to such an insignificant circumstance."

The tiny whimper Ichimaru gave tugged at the other's heart and Ukitake held him tighter, rocking gently until he turned his head to watch the door, feeling the blond fukutaichou's reiatsu as he approached from the hallway. Apparently Gin felt it too, because he lifted his head and looked over, rewarded by a returned grin from the young shinigami.

"Good evening, Ukitake-taichou. I brought the sweets Ichimaru-taichou had asked for."

"Thank you, Kira-kun. You can bring them here. He's only resting."

The boy nodded and stepped over, handing the tightly wrapped package to the long haired captain, smiling broadly at the tiny smile his own taichou gave him.

"Ano...I've got an early morning tomorrow so if it's all right Ukitake-taichou..."

"Go on, it's all right to go home. I'll watch him for tonight. Just be sure to come in on time tomorrow."

The eager vice captain bowed and went on his way, casting a tiny glance over his shoulder before disappearing into the corridor, his spirit energy fading as he left the main Court. In his arms Gin struggled slightly, wanting to get up but unable to, due to his lover's tight hold.

"Jyuu...can you let me up?"

"Ah, gomen." He let go and sat back to give him room, picking crumbs from the front of the younger man's haori, knowing that even on a good day, Ichimaru was a messy eater.

"Gin?"

A dreamy eyed look was given, one that pained the elder man. "Hmm?"

"Would you like to come with me to see Kaien tomorrow?"

The life returned to Ichimaru's face and he nodded, getting up and stretching a little bit. He turned to look down at his elder lover and reached for the package he held, sniffing the brown paper once it was relinquished.

"Can I take these with me? I want to eat them on the way."

Ukitake smiled and stood as well, wanting to head home and get a good rest, winding an arm around the painfully thin captain, suddenly aware of how childlike he was now that his puppet strings had truly been cut.

"Of course you can. Just be careful not to drop any."

"I won't. Kaien'd get mad if I let that happen..."

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In the depths of the thick garden centered between the squad houses, watching the leaves rustle above them, the sixth division taichou and fukutaichou sat together, Byakuya's body healed by the fourth squad's skilled hands while Renji remained bandaged, his wounds too severe to be fixed in only a few days. The thick cotton wrappings stood out starkly from the young shinigami's arms, his dark skin against the pale white showing off just how much sun he soaked up in the summertime. Now however, he would no doubt be scarred by the marks Aizen had placed upon him.

Quietly he shuffled in the embrace of his stoic lover, humbled by the memories of what had happened to them.

"Calm yourself, Renji. You're moving as if you're being held against your will."

The redhead grimaced as his pained arms brushed against the other's chest, settling onto his side and resting his head under the nobleman's chin.

"I can't get the images outta my head, Byakuya. ...from what I can remember that is."

Gently, the elder man ran a hand through his lover's hair, the garnet length out of its usual tail as the effort to dress it in the morning was too much for the injured shinigami, earning himself a purr and a light kiss to his neck.

"You don't have to remember anything about it anymore, Renji. Genryuusai-dono has been laid to rest, Aizen is finally gone and though Ichimaru is acting strange, things are going to return to normal soon enough."

The boy snorted and blew upwards to dislodge a stray hair from his forehead. "Ichimaru can be as odd as he wants to be. Long as he doesn't hurt Kira."

Byakuya sighed, sitting up a little more and pushing the young fukutaichou off, irritated by his constant worrying over the blond shinigami. He would have liked to be rid of the third division vice captain but because of his devotion to duty and his love for the pony tailed swordsman, he tolerated it, but only for so long.

"He hardly even speaks to him anymore, Renji. According to Ukitake, Ichimaru is like a child himself now. He speaks quietly and stays away from those who aren't absolutely trusted. His circle of friends has grown smaller since he came back. Only his fukutaichou and Ukitake himself, actually."

The boy blinked, somewhat put out by being shoved off and then hearing how pathetic the snake-like shinigami had become.

"Are you serious?"

A nod, and Zabimaru's master perked up, pumping a fist into the air and immediately wincing afterwards.

"That means he's gonna be nicer to deal with! If he's all fucked up, he won't be the same cold bastard he's always been! Fuck, I wonder how excited Kira is about it all..."

The regal Kuchiki sighed and moved to stand, leaving his happily chuckling lover behind in the soft grass as he made his way back to their squad-house.

"Kira-fukutaichou is devastated, Renji. His lover and mentor is no longer the man he used to be. The boy no longer has a teacher. No all-knowing captain to do everything for and to devote his life to."

"What do you mean? Ichimaru's fuckin' ali-"

"There's no life left in him, Renji. He's a broken toy, much like his saddened vice captain. Aizen's death was far more devastating to him than any of us could have imagined. He's like a child who's lost his favourite parent."

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"Naa, Jyuu-kun?"

The white haired captain looked up from his silent prayer and smiled warmly. "Yes, Gin? What is it?"

"Can I say something to Kaien too?"

The elder man blinked and nodded, quickly finishing his few words and stepping back from the memorial stone, giving his lover room to say what he wished. It was odd for Ichimaru to want to say anything, usually sitting quietly while the thirteenth captain did his little rituals and then happily cheered him up afterwards.

Gin shuffled over and kneeled on the cold granite cobbles, bowing his head and losing his everlasting smile, a more somber, dignified visage taking over.

"Ohayo, Kaien-kun. It's Gin. I've just got to tell you that Jyuushiro took care of Sousuke. I know he probably mentioned it to you already but it's big news around here. I'm kinda happy for you, now that your soul can sleep finally. I'm sure you've been wandering around trying to find your way home."

At the mention of this, Ukitake balked somewhat, turning to stare at the broken captain as if he had suddenly burst into flames, or something as equally impossible had happened. How could he know about the visit from Kaien's ghost? Was it just common knowledge about wandering spirits? He wanted to believe that, and not the idea that maybe his beloved vice captain had visited Ichimaru in the past.

"You know, I kinda miss him, Kaien-kun. Yeah, just kinda. He...was my world you know. I followed him because he was so important to me. But he got so angry with me over nothing. Then he threatened my Izuru..."

The clarity with which Ichimaru spoke made Ukitake smile again, the man's slim shoulders straightening as he stood up a bit more, not slumping as much as he had when they had first arrived. To the ill captain, his lover seemed to get more confident as he went along, each subsequent sentence bringing about more of the strong willed, defiant Gin he remembered from so many years before.

"I'm gonna get going now. I think Izuru's coming back from work soon and I wanna be there to welcome him home." He smiled, a broad grin that spoke volumes of his sudden recovery. "I wanna be nicer to him than Sousuke ever was to me."

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The change in the third division captain was sudden but not unheard of, his fellow shinigami still wary of him even after he had been reinstated as the leader of his squad, much to the delight of his fukutaichou and remaining subordinates, their time under the tutelage and leadership of Hisagi Shuuhei coming to an abrupt end. As dominant and fair a leader he was, they were devoted to the snake-faced defector and even after the betrayal and return, they agreed to follow him to the end.

Byakuya and Renji, their relationship strained due to the redhead's constant worrying over the blond, stayed together in the end, Renji deciding that had Ichimaru not returned, he would have pursued the young fukutaichou, if only to love him and keep him safe from everything he had been sheltered from in the past.

As it was, the boy was eternally happy again, eager to serve his captain and thrilled to be in his good books again, though he had never truly fallen from them. It was as if everything that had gone on had never happened. He blocked out all memory of his attack on Aizen and his eventual return to Soul Society. When asked about it, he shrugged and changed the subject, causing more arguments between himself and his friends, so much so that the newly appointed permanent shobantai-taichou ordered all mention of the defection and return to be avoided in conversation.

Ukitake meanwhile, went on with his normal routine, still enjoying his part time shinigami duties, as well as Ichimaru's occasional visits. He scolded the young captain and even though he felt bad doing it, he constantly told him to return home, to be in the arms of the boy who had brought him back from the brink of self destruction. On the seventeenth day after his homecoming, he found himself in his squad-house, staring into space with his right hand deep in his inside pocket, as his diligent vice captain worked hard on the backdated reports. He cleared his throat a bit and watched as the blond's head tilted towards him, as if he were listening for an order or a request.

"Izuru?"

The blond snapped to attention and got up from his desk, moving to the silver haired shinigami's side.

"Hai, Ichimaru-taichou?"

"Here."

Kira held his hands out and stared at the leather patch the elder man placed in his open palms, immediately closing his hands and throwing his arms around the man's neck, hugging him tightly. The elder swordsman remembered it from when he had visited the blond in his home, just before taking him back and he smiled as well, winding his arms around the boy's waist and nuzzling his cheek.

The shy vice captain's words were muffled against his captain's shoulder but he was ignorant to it as his bliss blocked everything out, the feel of the other's arms around him causing his knees to shake and his eyes to suddenly tear up.

"Thank you, Ichimaru-taichou. That means so much to me."

Gin tightened his hold and rocked gently, feeling the boy's quakes and little sniffles as the young fukutaichou tried to keep himself from crying openly.

"It means more to me Izuru. More than you'll ever know."