Warning: spoilers through #416 of the manga. Please enjoy and review…

Resolution

Rangiku stood up when Captain Unohana walked towards her. She had a grave look on her face and stopped short of Rangiku. "I'm afraid he isn't much better than before…he's maybe even a bit worse. Trust me, Rangiku, I am doing all that I can to keep Gin alive but his wounds were very serious. You should start preparing yourself, just in case," she warned, as gently as a person could relate such news.

Biting her lip, she nodded. Words were well beyond her at this point. Had she been able to transport Gin a little sooner, they might have had a better chance. If only he hadn't put her under that kido spell, she might have been able to fight along side him. Still, she knew why he hadn't. When was he going to stop protecting her?

"I think it best if you not see him for the moment. If things improve or…if they worsen, I will contact you," Unohana promised.

Stealing all her nerve, Rangiku gave her a slight bow and walked out of the fourth division's healing unit. As much as she wanted to see Gin, especially while she could still imagine that he might make it through the night and live on to reprise his role as one of the captains, she did not want to spent any unnecessary time there. She'd been injured severely and had spent three agonizing days recuperating down the hall from Gin's room. Although the bandages were all gone, she still felt weak. If Unohana or the others had any suspicion that she wasn't in excellent shape, she had no doubt they'd chain her to a bed.

Exhaustion told her she should walk back to her room and get some rest until they knew more, but she knew she'd never fall asleep. Instead, she went to Gin's room. He'd given her a key ages ago. Why not use it on such an occasion? Once she'd unlocked the door and walked in, she flipped on a lamp and walked around the room to his desk. Sitting down, she looked at the items on it, still untouched since he'd first left with Aizen. There were a number of framed pictures there that she liked to look at. Some of them were of Gin and his classmates or of the other members of the various divisions he'd been in. One was of her, having just graduated from the academy. Another was from a birthday party they'd both attended. It was a wild one with unprecedented sake drinking. Renji's? Shunsui's? It didn't matter. What mattered was that someone just happened to have a camera and had told them to pose together. Gin had wrapped an arm around her and kissed her cheek. She was blushing. It was her favorite picture. She had a copy of it hanging up on the mirror at her place as well. It was one of the only pictures of them that she had. There were no pictures of them as children at all since they'd grown up in poverty and didn't know of anyone with such a luxury. But despite that, Rangiku could remember every detail about their lives then, as if it were yesterday…

"I've decided. I'm going to become a shinigami. Become a shinigami and change things. So that they'll end…without Rangiku having to cry," he told her, his usual smile gone.

Rangiku caught up to him, trudging slowly through the wet, heavy snow. "What do you mean?" she questioned fearfully. "Is this because I cried last night? Gin, you don't have to be a shinagami."

She regretted letting the cold get the better of her. If she'd known that he was going to do something this drastic, she'd have held in her emotions better.

"Yes, I do," he said, completely serious as he looked over his shoulder at her. "There isn't a choice anymore. We can't remain in the Rukongai forever, we'll either starve to death or freeze. Why is it that children are left to die here, anyway, while the few select individuals with soul power are granted a life of leisure?" he questioned angrily. "Once I graduate, I'm not going to stop at just being another shinigami. I'm going to become a captain-then maybe I'll be powerful enough to change the whole system."

"Gin," Rangiku interrupted him. "Being a shinigami is dangerous work. They have to fight hollows. You could die!"

"I'm not going to let a hollow get me…I have too many important things to do. The first one is to get us the hell out of here. I'm going to graduate from the academy as quickly as possible so I can start earning money to get you out of here too."

"If you're going to become a shinigami than so am I. I'm not going to be left behind," she insisted, "not again."

Gin turned to face her. It was obvious that the idea didn't completely appeal to him but if he joined the academy, that meant he'd have to leave her here alone, and she knew that sounded even worse.

"Fine," he agreed, walking over to her and wrapping his arm around her, pulling her forward until her head was resting against his chest. "This time, we'll go together."

Rangiku pulled back enough to tilt her head up and peer at him. He sighed heavily and then looked down at her. As he did, his grin returned and he squinted down at her as he kissed her forehead. It was the first time he'd ever done such a thing.

Wiping the tears from her face, she got up from the desk. Lingering on the past nearly always ended like this, she mused. There were so few good memories that weren't really a little tragic in some way. It was all they could do to survive, back then. Even their versions of fun would be considered pathetic to most of the friends she'd gained since leaving the Rukongai. Few people could begin to comprehend what they'd gone through on a daily basis. That's one of the reasons they still needed one another.

Rangiku walked over to the bed and laid down. If she couldn't sleep in her own bed, maybe she could fall asleep here. It wouldn't be the first time and the smell of him still lingered on the pillows. She wrapped her arms around one and pulled it against her chest.

Why didn't he let her help him? Didn't he realized that she'd rather die at his side than to live without him? After all this time, he was still in the habit of leaving her behind.

She had been too shocked when he pulled his zanpakuto out, and had scurried to grip her own, to defend herself against his kido spell. She remembered him rushing over to her as she drifted from consciousness, kneeling down beside her.

"I'm sorry, Rangiku," he said, slipping his hand behind her head and lifting it off the ground. "I never meant for any of this to happen."

"Gin," she said weakly, her vision starting to blur and darken.

Gin brought his mouth to hers and kissed her, cradling her in his arms as he did. It was as if he were kissing her for the last time. In her heart, she feared that it might be. She longed to hold unto him but she was too weak and faded until she lost all conscious thought, waking later only to find him nearly dead.

"Damn you…" she sobbed, crying against the pillow.

At some point through the night, she must have drifted off. The sun was not up but the sky was beginning to lighten when she sensed the hell butterfly fluttering beside her head. Jumping up, she received it's message to come to the infirmary as quickly as possible. She used flash step and made it there in record time, although she was fearful of what she'd find once she arrived. When she walked in the door, a couple of the others were crying, unable to speak, and simply pointed towards the captain's room. She rushed down the hall and opened the door just as Unohana was exiting. "Rangiku, I'm glad you've co-"

"What's the matter?" she hollered, unable to bear the lengthy reply.

"He's been asking for you," she said, smirking and opening the door wide.

"Does that mean…?"

"He looks to be improving a bit," she said, cautiously optimistic.

Ranguki rushed past Unohana and heard the door click shut behind her as she approached the bed. It was still dark in the room and there was little if any light coming in through the window. Gin looked to be asleep, for his eyes were shut and his mouth was relaxed. He didn't move at all except to take deep breaths.

As she approached, she reached down and fingered his silvery hair, brushing it out of his eyes. Quicker than one would expect, Gin's hand shot up and grasped her wrist, making her jump and screech. He began to laugh but then coughed uncontrollably, making him moan in pain.

"Serves you right," she sighed, sitting down on the side of the bed. "You shouldn't be doing things like that when you're still recovering."

"It was…worth it," he coughed, "just to see…the look on your face."

"You're an idiot."

Done laughing, he just laid there staring up at her, far too weak to do much else. "I know."

"You shouldn't have used kido on me. I would have fought with you," she said, turning serious.

"Which is why I used kido on you," he countered, pulling her hand to his lips and kissing the palm of her hand.

"Quit being so protective of me…I'm not a child freezing and passing out in the Rukongai anymore."

"I can't…you're the only good thing that's ever happened to me. If I loose you, there won't be anyone or anything left worth fighting for," he said.

"Yes, there is. There's all those other kids that aren't making it out alive that need defending. Remember that? You're job's not done," she informed him.

"It must not be," he agreed, loosening his hold her hand. "Sorry, they have me on pretty heavy meds."

"You should rest. I can wait to wring your neck until you're better," she teased, leaning down and kissing his temple.

"You should rest too," he murmured as he shut his eyes.

"Did Unohana ask you to say that?"

There was no answer; he'd already fallen asleep.

Rangiku was back to work in full swing three weeks later, sitting at her desk with a mountain of paperwork before her. She'd rather be fighting hollows any day but Captain Hitsugaya was hesitant to put her on active duty yet and knew that she would not want to leave Gin behind, even if he wasn't up for visitors much.

The captain had just left for a meeting when one of the other members of the tenth division walked into the office with a letter for her. Eager to do anything other than her work, she opened it immediately.

Ran-Chan,

Ditch work. Come play.

Gin

It took her all of seconds to run out of the office and head straight to their typical meeting spot. Back in the Rukongai, near where their old shack used to stand, there was a particularly delicious persimmon-bearing tree that yielded the best fruit she'd ever tasted. When they wanted to be alone and away from the prying eyes of the other shinigami, they always met under this tree.

When she arrived, he was lying on the ground near the trunk. Juice sprayed as he bit into what remained of a persimmon in his hand.

"You played hookie from the captain's meeting?" she asked, sitting down beside him.

"I'm still on medical leave," he grinned mischievously.

"Yeah, you look awful," she said in mock sympathy, shaking her head. The truth was, he was nearly healed already. Whenever Gin set his mind to doing something, he wasted no time. Now that he was home and there was no imminent danger awaiting them, he'd set his mind to taking steps to stop the inequality within the soul society.

"Wanna bite?" he offered, holding the fruit up in front of her.

Leaning in, she opened her mouth to taste the fruit when he tossed it over his shoulder and, sitting up before she could react, kissed her. Gin pulled her into his arms, situating her on his lap, and digging his hands into her blonde hair with his sticky fingers.

Ranguki wrapped her arms around his neck, sucking on his lower lip to taste the sweetness of the fruit he'd eaten. "Mmmm…I want more," she muttered against his lips.

"Thank God," he groaned.

Gin slowly lowered her into the unruly grass, kissing her repeatedly before he pulled away, looking down at her as he rested on his elbow. Rangiku brought her hand down his arm, amazed that it seemed as good as new after Aizen had ripped it off him. She shuttered at the memory and closed her eyes.

"Quit dwelling on it," he said, running his finger over her furrowed brows.

"Aizen might be dead but that doesn't eliminate the dangers that we face," she pointed out. "And the next time, I don't want you to decide whether or not I fight by your side. We're a pair, aren't we?"

Gin's smile seemed as genuine as she'd ever seen it. He smiled so effortlessly now that the ordeal with Aizen was over, it was as if he was finally carefree for the first time in his entire life.

"Yes, we are," he agreed, reaching up and tearing another persimmon off the tree. He tasted it before bringing it to Rangiku's lips. Hesitant, she waited to see if he was going to trick her again before she took the fruit from him and bit into it.

"So, do you promise?" she asked.

"Promise what?" he asked, as if she'd just interrupted his train of thought.

"Promise to let me fight beside you," she answered.

Gin's smile faded and his eyes peeked open at her. "I promise never to leave you again."

"You promise you won't leave me behind?" she asked, trying to clarify what he meant by that statement. "Without telling me?"

"Yes…and no. I promise never to leave you-ever again," he said, bending down and kissing her briefly. "I'm making you a vow."

Rangiku pulled him back down to her. He knew her response. She showed it to him, right there, underneath the canopy of leaves above them. As they laid there late into the day, they felt free to make many plans for the future, for the first time since they'd met.