Inspired by Red Duty, Black Honor by Obsidian Jade. Please read RDBH before you read this it will make more sense that way.

I own nothing. Tite Kubo owns all that is Bleach.

When he had married Hisana, there had been no honeymoon... no true enjoyment as there perhaps should have been. Honor and duty to the Clan weighed too heavily upon their union from the very start. When that was added to the weight Hisana had already shouldered, it was simply too much for the woman to bear and eventually it had consumed her.

Though no one would know it, he had always strived to show her in some small way every day that he loved her. It was why he let her go on the mad quest looking for her sister even though he knew it was taking a toll on her. It was a part of her soul that his love could not fill. To be whole, she needed her sister and he had tried to give that to her.

It was always the little things. A flower left on her pillow, the glimpse of a rare smile from his lips... Faintly whispered words of I love you as she drifted off to sleep. Viciously guarded secrets meant only to be shown to her and no one else. She had been the whole of his internal, hidden world. He had gone against the clan's wishes in marrying her... but seeing her that day, he had been caught and he had known then that he could not love another woman... There would only be Hisana.

There was still an altar for her within his heart and it would forever remain untouched.

His eye was drawn to the setting sun and how the sky flashed red for a heartbeat maybe two before it settled into that dusky twilight. Red. How his world was colored now. There would never be another woman... but there had come to be another love. It was different, but it was no less consuming. His world was changing again...

In a few days time he would be sealing his fate with a commitment ceremony. Then, he was going to do things better this time... this final time. He hoped that Hisana had never had to question his love for her... but he intended to make certain that his second love never had a reason to even think of questioning it. He had already made the arrangements in the real world.

For three blissful days, he was going to leave Soul Society and Honor and Duty behind... For three days he intended to be both selfish and selfless. He intended to make those three days the most selfishly fulfilling days he had ever had... but he also desired deeply to selflessly ensure that his love could say the same. They would be selfish together... and they would lose themselves in each other... It brought a smile to his face to think of it.

He wanted to believe that Hisana would be happy for him now. Rukia often said that her sister would not have wanted him to live out his remaining time alone... Hisana was such a beautiful soul that Rukia was probably very correct in thinking such things... Idly, he wondered what Hisana would think of Renji.

Another commoner... Yet one more way for the fiery young man that lay well hidden within him to snub his nose at the politics that forced him into barely glowing embers. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine how that conversation would go...

"I am glad you have found someone to love and to keep you company. You should not be alone..." Came the soft words... "Tell me about him?" She would ask.

"He is from Rukongai... Inuzuri. He grew up with your sister. He is... a fire that has never been tamed and that rages at every opportunity. Though he has since learned to rein in the flames when appropriate at least."

"You balance each other out then. You are always so serious so focused on what you must do you forget what you want to do. And you temper his fire that it does not burn him... Am I right?"

"You are right."

She would smile. "I am glad. I can tell just by the look in your eyes that you love him deeply. Do not feel badly for it, do not feel guilty, I am gone... you loved me deeply while I lived... and that is more than I could have ever asked for. You found my sister, you gave her the home I could not... You deserve your happiness and do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Do not forget to live..." She would plead.

It was strange how he'd come to fall for Renji. It had been happening slowly over the course of long years... Ever since they had passed one another when he had come to adopt Rukia as a sister. He had felt the fiery presence just barely being controlled, threatening to boil over... He had taken in the red hair and the tattoos and while he had said nothing, he had made note.

The more he came to learn about the man the more notes kept piling up in that one corner of his mind. He had noted the way he'd ended up in different squads... the longest stint prior to becoming Lieutenant to the sixth was in the 11th squad. He was certainly brash enough to belong there. There were times even now when it was easy to see the 11th squad mentality in him...

When first he had joined the 6th squad, Byakuya had not know what to make of the man. Surely the brute force tactics he'd become accustomed to in the 11th would have to be drummed out of him... Yet the first time Renji spoke his mind and the fire of his soul brushed against Byakuya's, Byakuya had known he would never be able to squelch that fire.

He had no desire to subdue it. He wanted to temper it, to hone it into the powerful tool it could be... But he did not want to reduce that fire to the embers he was forced to live with in his own heart. So he watched his Lieutenant... He saw the fire, the pride, the brashness, the ego... but that was all a mask of a sort. Beneath was a fierce heart, a loyal soul, who was ready and willing to go to great lengths for his friends. Courage and strength... All of the things that perhaps Byakuya could have been had the mantle of nobility not been placed upon his shoulders.

He had learned that Renji was smart... He might not speak eloquently but he was more observant than anyone would give him credit for... He'd learned to read Byakuya fairly quick which was impressive. He weathered going to the tea ceremonies and other attempts to give the Rukongai dog some culture and while he might not have refinement, he certainly had picked up the ability.

How fiercely he'd protected and defended Rukia. How he'd unabashedly called Byakuya out on his behavior... He never backed down, he kept trying to fight. It was that spirit, that spark that had captured Byakuya... It was only solidified when Renji went after him with his bankai. Did Renji notice the little things?

The windflower silk scarf... the box with the moon on it... little things... soon to be much bigger. Subtleties and subtext might not be Renji's strong suit, but he was learning quite well and quite quickly... So perhaps he did notice the little things... Byakuya hoped so. For while he was going to be making some grand gestures in the coming days, he was a far more secretive soul by nature. Protective of his heart... and guarded because being a noble meant he had to be.

So aside from these rare moments of blatant displays of his feelings, Renji was going to have to get used to the little things... the small seemingly trivial ways to show someone you care without having to repeat yourself and make the sentiment lose its meaning... Nothing was trivial after all. Loving Hisana had taught him that.

He opened his eyes and watched the sun sink behind the horizon. "I will not make the same mistakes this time Hisana... I will not let the Clan Elders keep me at embers... I do not know if my fire will return to the blaze it was in my youth... But at least one soul will know what it is to be burned by it... " He whispers to the airy nothing... Another promise... but this one would be easier to keep... at least it felt like it would be.

After the ceremony, he had blindfolded Renji. As striking as the image was, it was not the time nor the place to let those baser instincts get the better of him. Even if it would have been a delicious experience. Instead it was time to get to the other part of the surprise. The formalities were done and now, was their time...

He led Renji through the gate to the real world... They paused at Uruhara's shop long enough to pick up the gigai that Byakuya had arranged for. From there, it was to a car that was waiting to take them to a boat... and from the boat to a private island he'd secured the use of for three days. Once they were in their gigai, he'd returned the blindfold to keep Renji from seeing the surprise.

When they finally got to the small beach house it felt like an eternity had passed. He led Renji up to the small porch and then removed the blindfold. Renji had blinked in shock. "Where are we?"

"A private island I've secured the use of for the next three days."

"Private?"

"You and I are the only souls here."

Renji blinked some more... "Wow."

Byakuya smiled slightly and chuckled softly at that.

"Why?"

"Because we will not likely have the opportunity for such a private getaway again for who knows how long. I mean to enjoy this time..."

"What else do you intend Byakuya?" Renji asks, a brow arched in curiosity.

At that, Byakuya quickly closes the distance between them... "I intend for you to be burned by the fire that you've re awakened inside me. For three days I am yours... For three days, there are no titles, no honor, no duties between us... For three days it is just us... and I intend to make certain that we are both left soul branded by the experience." He says in a nearly purring whisper against Renji's ear...

The tone in Byakuya's voice sent chills up and down Renji's spine... He could already tell the difference in his love... His partner... He could already feel the usual cold noble's air dissipating and the heat it was leaving in its place was stirring in so many ways... He swallows hard and then smirks.

"Then what the hell are we waitin' for? Time's a wastin' " Comes the smart assed quip. It brings a real smile to Byakuya's lips and they retreat to the beach house proper to start enjoying themselves and each other.