Epilogue: Puzzled

Yes I know that even after all of this time I still do not own Bleach.

I will keep trying, and when I finally succeed I will make all of the awsome

fanfictions out there into actual episodes.

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The girl stood in a forest of shadows and nothingness.

Total, utter, complete darkness drifted around her.

Nothing stirred.

Yet she was not alone.

A white-haired boy stood in front of her.

"Good-bye Hinamori."

He was saying. For some unknown reason, those two simple words made fear creep down her spine and she winced.

Then he leapt away into the darkness, leaving her.

She reached out a hand and tried to cry out after him to wait, but she had no voice.

Then he disappeared from her sight.

Suddenly, she heard a mountain-shattering sound. A roar that was like it was from the throat of some terrible beast, a dragon and a griffin combined. She knew that howl all too well. As the screech died away, she thought she smelt something, something odd. It had a liquid-like smell with a tang.

Then it came to her.

Blood.

First he had disappeared, then the howl, and then the smell of blood. Once again she tried to cry out, yet once again no noise emitted from her body, and no reply met her ears.

No. She thought. He…he can't be…he can't be dead. It's impossible! No Hollow could kill him! Not him!

Her fears were added to as the smell of blood increased and she felt liquid on her ankles. Her eyes trembled as she slowly glanced down. Her socks were drenched in a wet river of blood; his blood, and she cried out a silent scream that was never heard.

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When we are born, we are like puzzles just taken out of their boxes. Pieces are spread out all over like a twisted maze.

Confusing, incomplete, unsolved. But as our lives go on slowly, gradually, the puzzles are put together, piece by piece until only few parts remain un-occupied; empty. We fill these spaces ourselves, putting the pieces together, until the puzzle is complete.

In the cool Autumn of Soul Society, the is the story of how one girl recalls when she had been missing one, small piece of her puzzle.

This is the story of how Hinamori Momo found the last and final piece.

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Momo Hinamori sat on a hill in a small forest that overlooked the Western side of Soul Society and everything that lay beyond.

A cold breeze drifted past her and she crossed her arms and shivered. It had been almost a year since then, the End of the Year Dance, although the next one was approaching. Almost a year since she had been saved multiple times by her beloved, Toshiro Hitsugaya.

She recalled the dream she had had the night before and shuddered. She buried her face in her hands and wept. She did not know why she cried; it just seemed to come naturally.

She recalled what he had said almost a year ago:

"See these?"

She nodded and he went on.

"I never want to see these again unless you're happy."

Then he had flicked her tears away, as if flicking away her troubles. She had kept this promise since then, and had only cried when she was happy, but it was not as easy as she had though it would be. She often came back to this forest, something she thought she would never do. She would come up to this hill and cry, for his sake. For she was happy, and that is why she cried almost every day, for almost a full year now.

She was so happy that she had found him, so unbelievably, indescribably, happy. She loved him, he loved her, nothing more could be asked for, and nothing more was.

She lifted her head up and wiped away the drying tears.

Suddenly, Teiketsu and Sachiaru emerged from behind a bush to her left. Hinamori greeted the white wolves and patted Sachiaru on the head. Hitsugaya had given the cub his name for it meant 'lucky', and the 10th division taichou believed that he was a very lucky wolf. He had been saved by Hinamori, and for that reason Sachiaru was loyal to her over anyone else, even Hyorinmaru. And it was very obvious to Hinamori why Hitsugaya had given Teiketsu her name, for it meant 'purity'. And her pelt was of the purest, snow white.

Since Hinamori had saved the cub last year, the pack had stayed in this forest all year round, instead of just in Winter. No other Shinigami knew of their forest, only a certain pair came here.

Hinamori and Hitsugaya both believed that it was safe to say, that the white wolves were no longer in danger of extinction.

Another cold, harsh breeze pushed by and with a small shudder, Teiketsu and Sachiaru both bowed to the girl and pranced away into the forest.

Neither the fukuutaichou of squad 5, nor the taichou of squad 10 knew the real reason why the wolves did so, but they had a pretty good idea.

The chestnut-eyed girl's mind began to recall events from the past year. She remembered going home on the first morning of the New Year, and placing the small, crystal sculpture of a cat on her office's desk. She recalled the feelings of loneliness she had always felt, and she recalled the urge for a cat, a companion to keep her company throughout the long hours of the day.

Now, she no longer felt alone, for he was always with her, no matter where she was, he was always by her side even if she could not see him. Hitsugaya was always there, and he always would be.

He was here; she was never alone.

Never.

When her former taichou had betrayed her; he was there.

When she lay, for what seemed an eternity in that awful, lonely coma; he was there.

When she had almost drowned twice in the frozen lake water of this very forest; he was there.

When she had almost died of frostbite; he was there.

She was alive now because of him.

Her life had been gradually being put together, piece by piece, like a puzzle. Then it was as if someone had thrown her life off of a cliff into a dark whirlpool. Her life had been shattered by Aizen's treachery. And as she lay in that bed, in the still darkness of a coma, Hitsugaya had been there for her all of the way.

Her life was being put back together. Then she had realized that there was only one more part of her life missing. She needed to find it, but he found her. They had been sitting on that very hill when the New Year's sun had risen, and they made their wishes. Then, he had kissed her, and the last piece of the puzzle had been put into place. She was complete.

Yet the truth is, he had been the first and last piece of her puzzle. When she had first met him, when they had attended the Shinigami Academy, when they were young, one of the pieces had fit. And all this time, wasted time, had gone by, and neither knew why they did not reveal their true feelings to each other sooner. That would have made both of their lives so much easier.

Hinamori would give anything to be his fukuutaichou, so although they were very close friends, she envied Matsumoto. To be around him constantly, go where he went, follow in his footsteps, be with him…

Yet she had admired Aizen.

And now, Hinamori would give anything, to never even have met that traitor. Hitsugaya had always known Aizen's true intensions, and had tried to convince her of his treason, yet he said that he had never blamed her, but she believed, that deep down, he had. And for that reason and that reason only, Hinamori knew she could never make that up to him, so she detested herself.

But now, Aizen was gone, and she was safe. For Hitsugaya will never betray his own men, let alone her, no matter what. He was trustworthy, and she was loyal; the two made the perfect couple that only comes along every 10 million years.

As a third, frosty breeze passed by, Hinamori decided to get going. She pulled her feet up from dangling over the ledge, but stopped when she felt a slight pain in her ankle, that shot up her entire body.

Then she heard footsteps behind her and turned to her right.

"Oy." He sighed. "Need a hand?"

He smiled sweetly and reached out his hand. The girl smiled and slid her little hand in his. She staggered to her feet and unsteadily stumbled.

"Hey take it easy!" Hitsugaya exclaimed, catching her. "Your ankle is still injured from that last battle with the Hollow isn't it?"

He asked. She found her balance.

"I'm fine Toshiro." She told him.

"Oh so now I've been promoted to 'Toshiro' instead of…"

"Shiro-chan!" She smiled.

"Bed-wetter Momo." He mumbled. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked.

"Yes." She replied stubbornly. "I'm sure." But a small shadow of fear trickled down her spine, as she remembered her dream.

However, Hitsugaya knew when she was lying. He laid his right arm around her shoulders and took her right hand in his left. She sighed, seeing that she could not convince him that she was all right.

"Come on." The boy said. "Lets go."

She gave him a small smile and limped back to the 10th division building with him. Once there, they went up to Hitsugaya's room and he wrapped a bandaged cloth around her ankle.

"Arigato Toshiro." She whispered softly. "But you really…"

"I did it because I wanted to Bed-wetter Momo." He smiled again tauntingly. "Like I said before, why don't you let someone else worry about you for a change?"

He repeated his own words. The two friends talked and discussed the occurrences that had taken place over the last few days; mostly talking about how many Hollows there were now. After a while, it began to get dark outside and the aqua-eyed boy walked the chestnut-eyed girl back to her division's building. They passed through her room and two emerald eyes gleamed from a certain crystal statue on her nightstand.

The two walked outside and stood on the girls' balcony, holding hands, and said their good-byes.

"See you tomorrow Shiro-chan." The brown-haired girl said quietly with a slight blush.

"Oy." He mumbled playfully. "So now I'm back to Shiro-chan."

He smiled and Hinamori gave a short giggle.

"Good-bye Hinamori."

The white-haired boy replied. The girl winced slightly at those words. He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. Once again Hinamori was caught off guard, and her eyes widened. Hitsugaya could feel her pulse pounding in her wrists; she was still easily baffled.

Every time he kissed her, her heart seemed to miss a beat. It took a moment for her heart rate to slow, and then she softly returned the kiss. Then the two pulled apart, yet Hitsugaya still held Hinamori's hands. He felt the pounding in her veins slow to a normal pace and smiled, amused. He had been smiling a lot more lately, but only the smile he gave her. He let go of her hands and turned to jump off the balcony but was stopped by her voice and her hand grasping his.

"Wait, don't go."

She spoke barely above a whisper.

He, of course, could never refuse her, especially when she spoke in such a fragile voice.

"What is it?" He asked turning back to her.

She was afraid.

She recalled her dream from the night before, as well as the saying of how dreams come true.

"Well…it's just…" She trailed off.

Then she threw her arms around him and cried out.

"I love you Toshiro!"

He returned her hug, somewhat puzzled.

She said it as if she had never said it before.

"What's wrong Hinamori?" He asked again.

She began to cry as she told him the dream she had had. How she dreamt that he had said good-bye to her and then left her, going somewhere he would not ever return from, somewhere she could not follow. Although it had been a dream, she feared him saying good-bye to her, for if he did she thought he was leaving her, and not returning. She knew what had happened to him after he had said good-bye. The words came spilling out of her mouth as she finished the description of her dream.

"I'm not sure what happened," She hiccupped. "But once you said 'good-bye' it was as if you really meant it, and they say that dreams always come true." She sniffed and tears rolled off her face. "It's just…it all seemed so real." She whispered.

"You're right," He said.

"Dreams come true, nightmares don't."

He said it in his most re-assuring tone, yet she continued to gasp and cry.

"I'm never leaving you, I'm not going anywhere, I'll always be with you."

The girl lifted her head out of her shihokshou. He reached out a hand and wiped away her tears.

"And what did I tell you about these?"

He asked her gently, holding up his fingers as her tears dripped off. After a moment of panting she replied,

"That…that you don't want to see them…unless I'm happy." She sniffed.

He nodded and flicked her tears away.

When she finally stopped gasping, he looked at her.

"Mata ashita, Hinamori."

He told her patting her head. The girl forced a smile and softly replied,

"Arigato, Shiro-chan."

He let go of her and leapt off the balcony, and Hinamori noticed how he had failed to say 'good-bye".

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The next day the first snowfall of the year covered the land in white. Hinamori found Hitsugaya in his office, and she quietly greeted him.

The taichou smiled.

"Lets go for a walk." He suggested. "It's too nice a day to let the snow slip by without breathing the cool air."

"Hai." She nodded.

"That would be nice."

As the two left the office, two small ruby eyes gleamed from a crystal statue at the corner of his desk.

A soft breeze blew off towards the distance; carrying a few unsuspecting leaves to a destination only the wind knew.

The white puffs of the first snowfall of the year continued to flurry down upon Soul Society.

The aqua-eyed boy and the chestnut-eyed girl sat on a familiar hill in their secret forest as the pure snow fluttered about them.

He laid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her over, and she leaned on him.

Although it was snowing, the sun still broke through the cotton clouds.

And although we are all aware of just how pure the snow is, the two that the sun shown down upon, Hitsugaya Toshiro and Hinamori Momo, share a love purer then any snow, that will last not one season, nor one eternity, but Forevermore.

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A/N: Well there you have it! Forevermore is complete, but I'm working on about 3 other HitsuHina fanfics right now, so just be patient. Please review!!! HitsuHina4ever!!!!!!!!!