A/N: Welcome to the last chapter of Beautiful Stranger (it'll be a short one), and thank you for reading! When we last left off, our heroes had endured quite a load of pain. But hey, sometimes pain can be just what the doctor ordered. Will they make amends? Let's watch!

Disclaimer: Bleach is an awesome manga series created by the equally awesome Tite Kubo-sensei! I have no ownership of his work, his characters, or any other mentioned copyrighted materials.

Beautiful Stranger

By: Princess Kitty1

And They Lived…

In the past, when Rangiku's relationships had terminated after little progression, she cried for days and sought out the nearest available shoulder to drown in her tears. And true, there was quite a bit of crying for this break-up as well, but not nearly as much. Part of getting older, she supposed. She was able to get through telling Shinji what happened with little more than a sniffle, and did her best to smile when he flew into rage, threatening all sorts of flat iron-induced violence against Gin.

But there were other things to worry about, like the party being thrown on the evening of the salon's last day in April, for all the stylists who had worked there. Rangiku was in charge of bringing enough plastic cups for all of them, and so she figured she would go to the store and stock up on more than necessary. She could always keep the spares and save time on washing cups for a while.

February ended, and March flew by without anyone noticing. The weather warmed, the snow showers subsided, the trees grew fresh green leaves, Easter bunnies and colorful eggs and pastels began filling the market. It was a turbulent time in nature, with cold fronts sweeping through and bringing everything from peaceful rainy days to window-rattling thunderstorms. Rangiku took it all in stride. It was a time of new beginnings, and soon she would have another salon to grow accustomed to.

Until then, she put on a new dress and strappy heels, fixed her hair, and gave Louie a thorough treatment of affection before grabbing the plastic cups she'd bought out of the pantry and leaving her apartment. She hadn't been able to bring herself to work on the salon's last day; she would have been crying into peoples' hair the entire time, she was sure. Shinji had managed, but kept texting her about feeling blue. She didn't blame him. They were going to be separated, which was hard on both of them, but the good news was that they still lived within the city and promised to visit each other.

"We'll do something fun," he'd insisted to her a few days prior. "Hiyori says you're welcome to join us for dinner. Mi casa es su casa, and all that jazz."

"Tell her I said thanks," Rangiku had responded, feeling truly grateful for the invitation. She hadn't been very social lately, as Momo had explained to her that she was entitled to a mourning period no matter how old she was, but she had plans to change that soon. The party tonight, though an unbearably sad occasion, would help spur her back into the swing of things.

By the time she arrived at the salon, there were about two dozen other stylists already there, busily putting up the last of the decorations. She aided them by ripping open the package of cups and stacking them next to the handful of two-liter soda bottles lining the reception desk.

It was awful, seeing the place so empty. The shelves once filled with merchandise were vacant. The chairs stood before spacious counters and glaring mirrors; all awards, personal pictures, and hair-styling tools were gone. Rangiku wandered over to her own chair, standing behind it as if she were tending to an invisible client, and had to swallow a sob. What was she getting so worked up about? She'd have a new chair and new clients come Monday.

A hand fell on her shoulder and she turned around. Shinji smiled down at her sympathetically. "I know, I know. It hurts me too." He pulled her into a warm embrace. "Let's try to enjoy ourselves, alright?"

Rangiku nodded once. "Yeah," she agreed, sighing heavily. How would she get on without Shinji, the most flamboyant straight guy she knew? It just wasn't fair… but then again, neither was life. They were all caught in a never-ending cycle of changes until the day they died. Surely this wouldn't be the only time that she'd have to switch jobs, leave a place behind, say goodbye to the people she loved.

Ironically, the fact that things changed was the only thing about life that never would change, and true to fashion, it never got any easier.

With the party underway, Rangiku put on a smile and focused on making the best of her night. She laughed, she ate, she drank, she enjoyed. And when the time came to close the salon's doors for good, she wasn't the only one who cried.

…

Unable to sleep that night, Rangiku dragged a chair out onto her balcony, grabbed a drink out of the refrigerator, and parked herself there. She felt sad and restless, which agitated Louie as well. He would come to her side every once in a while, whimpering for attention, and she soothed him with belly rubs.

There was a rumble in the air overhead, clouds thick with rain broiling above the city, flashes of light bursting through them. She hated thunderstorms, as did Louie. He would be sleeping at the foot of her bed tonight, without a doubt, and she would have the covers thrown over her head in the hopes of blocking out the lightning. Picking up her phone, she checked her weather app to see if it would be a particularly bad storm. The Doppler radar showed a small mass of oranges and yellows were headed their way. Nothing too drastic. It would probably be over in a matter of minutes.

When Rangiku got a whiff of rain on the wind, she stood, deciding to bring the chair inside before the deluge started. But she came back out onto the balcony, thinking she'd catch a few droplets on her skin before shutting herself inside. She lifted her drink to her lips, leaning on the railing and tucking her hair behind her ear. So ends another perfectly good thing in my life, she thought a bit glumly, keeping an expectant eye on the sky above.

"Excuse me!"

Rangiku's heart skipped a beat. She sincerely hoped that it was the beer genie this time.

Lowering her gaze, she found herself staring at none other than Gin Ichimaru, who stood on his hotel balcony directly in front of her. He wasn't smiling this time. There wasn't a shred of humor on his face. "Beg your pardon, but you're not thinkin' of jumpin', are ya?"

Rangiku remained where she was. "Why would I do that?"

He shrugged, or at least, she thought that he might have. "From where I'm standin', it looks like you got dumped by some cowardly asshole."

She frowned. Thunder purred overhead, and Louie let out a yip from inside the apartment. Rangiku took a step back from the rail, the wind causing her dress to whip about her thighs. "What are you doing here, Gin?" she asked him, putting the empty beer bottle down at her feet. "It isn't Valentine's Day."

"No, it isn't." Gin's form was illuminated by a quick strike of lightning. It was starting to rain, one heavy drop at a time striking the earth, filling the space between them. "Can we talk somewhere I won't be shoutin' at ya?"

Rangiku remembered the words she had thrown at him back in February. Friends. They were friends now, right. She nodded. "I'll meet you downstairs."

Of course, she didn't have to, but she wanted to be an adult about… whatever this was. Though the fact that he was in the city months ahead of his scheduled time struck her as odd. What was he doing there? She went indoors, grabbing a light pink raincoat that she'd recently purchased and throwing it on over her dress. "Be right back, Louie," she said to the nervous dog, turning the television on to distract him from the storm.

By the time she got to the lobby, a downpour had begun, the smell of wet pavement pungent when she emerged into the night. She flipped up her hood and walked towards the hotel. Gin met her halfway. He seemed to have forgotten his coat this time. "I, uh… remembered you tellin' me that the salon was closin' tonight," he said sheepishly. "How are you feelin'?"

A drop of rain landed on Rangiku's nose. "I've been better."

He looked away from her. "Right. A-Anyway, you asked me what I was doin' here, which is a good question, considerin' that usually I'd be starin' at the ceiling of a motel room halfway across the country right about now." She said nothing, so he pressed onwards. "In the effort of savin' ya one of those speeches you've probably heard in movies more times than you can count, I'll cut straight to the chase and say that I made a mistake."

Rangiku stared up at him through the hood of her dripping raincoat. "How?"

"I guess you like the speech," Gin sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. He was getting drenched. "I meant what I said in February, Ran. You are wonderful, and charmin', and funny and driven and sweet… and beautiful, so very beautiful. I don't know how I possibly thought that I could let go of all that and still be happy with what I had." A soft rumble echoed through the sky. "Getting to travel the world is great. Bein' somewhere new and different every few days is exciting. But what does that matter if I wake up every mornin' with no one by my side?"

"Not much, I'd imagine," Rangiku muttered a bit spitefully.

"Exactly." Gin cast a look into the street. "I'm not expectin' you to forgive me. Really, I'm not. But in case you decide to be an angel and shed some mercy my way, I just wanted you to know that I won't be goin' anywhere for a while."

She regarded him cautiously. "What do you mean?"

"Reason number two for my bein' here," he laughed shortly, "I'm sort of… between jobs right now." His smile remained fixed in place as the information sunk into Rangiku's skull. "I realized, around two days after I'd left, that there was finally somethin', someone worth givin' up my wanderin' for." He shook his head. "It's a shame that I couldn't have realized it before I'd chased you away."

They stood in the rain, neither of them speaking for a while. People continued to walk past, undoubtedly giving them dirty looks for hogging the sidewalk. Rangiku allowed herself to breathe. "What will you do, then?" she asked, wondering how much of her trust she should extend. "You've been moving around your whole life, Gin. Could you really sit still for more than a few days?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly, finally lifting his eyes to hers. "But I'm willin' to try."

Rangiku was cold and wet, the wind causing a shiver to run up her spine. She must have never dried after falling into that icy lake. "Show me," she murmured, drawing the raincoat tighter around her form. "Show me that you can, and I'll… I'll see what I can do." Turning for the apartment building, she got as far as the front doors before she couldn't help but look over her shoulder. He still stood there, staring after her, soaked and rather pitiful, but a tentative smile had found its way to his face. She returned it before slipping inside.

When she woke up the next day, the sun had come out, the city was alive with activity, and there was one unread text message on her phone from Gin.

Good morning, it read simply.

Rangiku sat up in bed, sunlight coming in through the window and warming her skin as she typed out the most appropriate response that she could think of: Good morning.

…

"You wouldn't believe how little they charge to do hair here. And they've got, like, this crazy bionic treatment that'll leave it ramrod straight for a good six months, no matter what you do to it. I know! Why don't we ever get that stuff, huh?" Rangiku held her phone in one hand, a laundry basket in the other as she walked barefoot across the floor, heading towards the door. "Ugh, Shinji, for the last time I am not going to… why would I even say something like that?"

"I just want to hear how it sounds!" came the enthusiastic voice on the other line.

Rangiku rolled her eyes. "Well, I'll let you know as soon as I learn the word for strawberry. Now go do something about your pregnant wife! Shouldn't she be craving weird things by now?"

"God, you don't know the half of it."

Hanging up the phone after a quick farewell, Rangiku dropped it onto the sofa, causing Louie and his pink-collared look-alike to glance up at her questioningly. "Play nice, you two. That goes double for you, Lucy. I know you're younger and more energetic than he is, but you can't go pushing him around like you usually do." She grabbed hold of the door and pulled it open, stepping out onto the balcony and breathing in the warm, moisture filled air.

Gin sat on the chair in the corner, staring at his laptop and looking pensive. Rangiku set the laundry basket down and grabbed the sheets that she had allowed to air dry on the rail. "Having trouble?" she asked him as she removed the weights that she had been using to keep the blankets from flying off in the breeze.

"Little bit," Gin rubbed his chin. "If you could pick one word to describe that restaurant we ate at last night, what would it be?"

Rangiku hummed thoughtfully. "What's the Spanish word for 'exquisite'?"

"Exquisito," he replied, writing it down. "You know, darlin', if we're gonna be here in Puerto Rico for the next few months, you should make an effort to learn the language."

She folded the last of the blankets and placed them in the basket, then skipped over to where he sat, moving behind him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "How about you teach me?" she said flirtatiously, kissing his cheek and looking over the travel article he was writing. Gasping suddenly, she pointed out a word on the screen. "Novia. I know that one!" She swatted at his shoulder. "What are you doing, writing about me in your articles?"

"Hey! Women read this stuff, too. They should know that there are fun things for them to do out here in the Caribbean." Gin slipped a hand into her hair and pulled her down, kissing her deeply. She drew back after a few seconds.

"But aren't we at an advantage because the magazine pays most of our expenses?"

"They don't need to know that."

Rangiku scoffed and went to retrieve the laundry basket, taking a moment to admire the shimmering ocean in the distance. So Gin had found a job that allowed him to wander – though not nearly as much as he used to – and she'd ended up doing more traveling in the last year than she ever had in her life. It wasn't so bad. Even Louie had himself a traveling companion these days; a female miniature schnauzer that Gin had picked up at the shelter shortly after they'd moved in together. Her mother was jealous of her new exotic lifestyle, her father hardly approved of her relationship. Everybody won! "And for your information," Rangiku shot at Gin, "I have learned some Spanish."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

She sent him a smoldering look. "Hazme el amor."

Gin's eyebrow shot up. "I think you've been watchin' too many of those soap operas in your spare time." They stared at each other a moment longer, then he stood from the chair and abruptly closed the laptop. "But, you know, if you insist, I can always finish the article later."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Rangiku giggled as he kissed her passionately, reaching past her to open the balcony door, then carefully guiding her indoors.

"Beautiful Stranger…

Love of my life."

The End

A/N: Another happy, romantic ending! …you know, one of these days I'm going to unload the angst of the century, without warning, just to cleanse myself of all this gooey, lovey-dovey joy. In case you were wondering what Rangiku said to Gin so smolderingly, 'hazme el amor' translates to 'make love to me.' It pays to be bilingual. :D Also, the last two lines are from the song Beautiful Stranger by Clazziquai, which the title was based off of.

Once again, thanks for joining me for this story! I hope you enjoyed it, and that it made your February and Valentine's or Singles Awareness Days a little more entertaining. Until next time!

/Princess Kitty1/