Right, I seem to be on a roll at the moment so here's another little fic. I normally write about one or two a year so 3 in two weeks is a lot for me.

This could kinda follow on a bit from my last fic bit you don't have to read it first.

This is written from Ran and Shiro's points of view. Apologies if it doesn't flow very well... Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach...

There Until It's Over

Another day in the office. Another day filled with paperwork and after that, maybe some more paperwork. No training, no missions, no going out, no shopping and definitely no sake. Recovery really was a bitch.

Moving on to the next piece of paperwork requiring her attention, Matsumoto scanned through it before signing her name.

She could hear her Taichou working at his own desk. He didn't need to be here, he'd already finished his own work and, like so many days recently, once he'd finished his share, he'd taken the majority of her work too.

While this wasn't exactly a new phenomenon it had always been accompanied by complaints about her laziness but since her release from the Fourth Division he hadn't said a word about it, had even asked whether she wanted the afternoon off on several occasions.

Matsumoto knew she wasn't showing it well, wasn't really doing much of anything well, but she hoped her captain understood how much she appreciated his help.

Continuing through the paperwork she began to lose track of the time, another thing that was becoming far too frequent. She was used to daydreaming but that wasn't what this was. She'd spend half an hour staring at a piece of paper without noticing until eventually Taichou would ask if she was ok, unsurprisingly her assurances that she was fine were usually met with sceptical looks.

Eventually she founda piece of paperwork that succeeded in pulling her thoughts back to reality.

To all Captains and Lieutenants of the Gotei Thirteen,

In light of the current vacancies amongst the upper ranks of the Gotei Thirteen, recomendations are currently being taken for candidates to fill these positions...

The notice went on but Matsumoto couldn't read it, her vision blurring as tears began to fall. Again.

Gin.

She wanted, needed to hate him. He had been her best friend, the man she loved, for so long. So many years she'd wished that he'd felt the same. He had, it turned out. Had loved her more than she ever could have imagined but he'd fooled her all along.

So many times he'd left her behind, gone out of his way to make her angry, to make her hate him and all so she'd be safe, so she'd stay away from him and Aizen would never know the truth. So many years when they could have been happy, they all been wasted because he felt he needed to avenge her for something she didn't even remember.

You were always such a fool... Gin...

Hitsugaya knew Matsumoto had stopped working again. Despite years of berating her about paperwork, he couldn't bring himself to say a word about it now.

Two weeks and four days she'd been out of the Fourth Division and each day had been more heart-breaking for him to watch.

While under Unohana-Taichou's care, Matsumoto had been kept sedated to give her injuries time to heal and had only been woken up the day before her release.

Everyone wanted to know what had happened in the real Karakura town. Ichimaru had been found dead, Matsumoto lying over him unconcious. There was plenty of speculation flying about but no definite answers.

Hitsugaya himself had considered asking, Yamamoto was insisting that an official report must be handed in, after all. However,one look at his usually bubbly Fukutaichou had been enough to convince him to wait a few more days. And then a few more after that.

Looking at his Lieutenant now, as she sat at her desk, was enough to make his heart ache. Her hair seemed limp and lifeless, her skin pale, her bright blue eyes, usually twinkling in mischief seemed empty. He knew that the only difference was her personality, nothing else had really changed. She still looked the same as before but her usual cheerfulness was gone. She was too quiet and obedient.

He never thought he'd want to hear her weedling her way out of work but recently he'd found himself arriving at his office hoping, praying even, that she'd be late, that she'd turn up in the afternoon with some lame excuse and feigned innocence and fall asleep on the sofa in her usual contentedly lazy way.

Instead she was always on time, sometimes even beating him in, distracted to the point where he often didn't even get a 'good morning' and when he did it sounded like it had come from somebody else...

It wasn't often that he disliked his age. He could hold his own against any of the other captains, never had any problems completing his Division's paperwork or contributing to meetings but looking at the tears sliding down his Fukutaichou's face he wished he was older.

Had he been Kyouraku or Ukitake, Unohana or Komamura, he would have known what to say and do. Had he been ruthless like Soifon or Zaraki he would have been able to tell her to get over it and spare himself the pain of bearing witness to this strong, proud woman breaking to pieces in front of him.

But he wasn't.

Getting up from his desk and leaving the room he did the only thing he could think to do.

Somewhat surpised, Matsumoto was nontheless greatful when her captain left the room. She didn't want to cry in front of him but hadn't been sure she could keep her voice even long enough to excuse herself from the office.

Now, alone, the tears came and with them, the aching emptiness in her chest that was becoming all too familiar. Doubling over in her chair, trying to ease the emptiness inside she let herself cry in a way she never could when someone was around.

Eventually the pain began to lessen and breathing became easier again. Taking several deep breaths she tried to regain some control of herself and opened her eyes.

In front of her was a cup of tea.

And a handful of tissues. A handful?

Looking up she found Hitsugaya-Taichou standing next to her, an unusually gentle expression on his face, a hand full of tissues held out to her.

Handing her the tissues Hitsugaya sat himself on the desk and waited. Pain like this wouldn't just dissappear overnight, nor would it become easier to watch.

He never wanted to become an expert at dealing with it, that would imply seeing it too many times but one thing was for certain: he would do this every minute of every day for her if need be.

This could never be fixed but some things weren't supposed to be, some things could only heal with time and he'd be there until it did.