A/N: Okayyy, so I have a stomach ache today, am off school, so after dosing myself up with painkillers, I decided to write the last chapter of Busking! I wasn't going to post it for a few days, but...yeah. I'm bored. And I've already done Science revision, shockingly!

This chapter was sooooooo hard to write. It ended up going on forever, so I had to delete it all and rewrite it. AND IT STILL ISN'T THAT GOOD! Sigh...I always find final chapters hard, so many loose ends to tie up! It's a pain in the butt...but a fun one, if that makes sense.

This chapter doesn't actually have that much dialogue in it, as I thought most of you would appreciate knowing exactly what's going on in Gin and Rangiku's heads. But there is some towards the end...THE FINAL END, WAAAAAHHHH! I wrote Fin at the bottom and everything...I don't like it when stories end, especially when I've got attached to them. I almost always cry, whether it's a sad ending or a happy one. Twilight and Fruits Basket come immediately to mind...

Awesome response to the last chapter, and new reviewers too! Yayyy...see if you can pick them out of the crowd!

angelprincess ino

Neil

xXxAizen's SmilexXx

crazyhorse567

fruitprincess95

agoodcupoftea

dragonballzlover2499

splitheart1120

Rainbow Fruit Loop

chesxca

and Fox95! That's almost as much as the chapter before last, and it's been less than 24 hours! Awesommmme! Thanks, you guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of it's characters. All credit goes to Kubo Tite and his awesome (updated? OMG YEAH! Will read after this!) manga.

Third Wish

Rangiku floated gently in the bath, pondering on the world in general. It wasn't often she had time to soak like this, and it always put her in a very soporific state. So, as she floated, Rangiku thought; exactly how much did Gin actually love her? Exactly why did he love her? And exactly why did she feel inclined towards him in a similar way?

Rangiku sat up suddenly, disturbing the peaceful tranquillity of the muffled silence that had fallen while her ears had been submerged. It wouldn't do to get all het up; if she started hyperventilating, Gin was on his paper round and wouldn't be able to save her.

She squirted a glob of shampoo onto her palm and lathered it vigorously into her hair. The suds felt nice, allowing the strands to slip through her fingers without resistance. Almost like Gin's had…

Rangiku shook her head hard. What was she doing? She'd promised herself she wouldn't make things even more complicated than they already were, and reminiscing over the feel of Gin's hair in her hands was not helping her achieve that goal.

But…she'd enjoyed it. That kiss. She'd always imagined her first kiss to be like in the fairytales; a handsome prince would rescue her from her plight, they would fall in love over time and finally get married. However, in retrospect, Rangiku could see that could never happen. She wasn't princess-like in anyone's eyes, and way too sensible to be caught in some 'plight'. And, though she hadn't known it at the time her daydreams were born, Gin had been the only prince she would ever or could ever have. The only one for her. They were made for each other, perfectly contradictory, yet they complimented each other exquisitely. The sun and the moon, the wild cat and the fox.

Rangiku snorted at the poetic rubbish running through her mind, but couldn't bring herself to contradict it. So, her suspicions had been true, then. She loved Gin. Big deal. Who wouldn't, in her position? But she knew Gin. He became bored easily; he was as temporary as a summer breeze. Rangiku didn't know whether she could handle being left behind by someone she cared for so much, and the worst thing was, she knew he could. He'd never known his family, but he'd never thought about them or wished for them, not even for a second. Gin could leave her behind without one look back, and Rangiku didn't think she could take that.

Rangiku sighed. She knew she was being silly, but she couldn't stop the negative thoughts. Giving up trying to repress them, she decided to counter them with good old reason; Gin's favourite method of dealing with stress.

He could leave her. Yeah, he could, but he wouldn't. He'd promised her that much, way back in the orphanage, and Gin never went back on his promises.

He could become bored with her. Uh…no. Rangiku knew Gin, but she knew herself as well. She was not boring. Nuh uh.

He could get lost on one of his huge walks.

…Right, now she was just being stupid.

Rangiku chuckled lightly at herself, her mood much improved. Maybe logic worked after all. But only sometimes.

She let herself wonder about whether Gin loved her as much as he claimed, then waved that off with a swipe of an imaginary hand. Gin may have had the ultimate poker face, but all disguises fell with familiarity, and Rangiku was about as familiar with him as they come. He loved her, she knew that. And a hell of a lot, too.

Rangiku shivered with anticipation at that, an excited smile on her face. She knew she was lucky; how many orphaned girls get the guy of their dreams with barely any struggle at all? Yeah, she didn't think so.

Why would he love her? Ah, who cares? Rangiku was ever the practical girl, and if something was there, there was no need to poke and prod it for proof until it crumbled to dust in front of her very eyes.

So. There she had it. Gin loved her. She loved Gin. There was no third wheel in the works, no hot other guy or girl. But there was Gin himself. Idiot, he was much too self-depreciating. Unlike her, he over-thought things, examining them over and over until he'd dissected it all to nothing. He couldn't see her love for him, and if he could, he'd pass it off as indigestion or some other crap. When she'd kissed him - when she'd enjoyed kissing him - all he'd been able to think about was how selfish he was for stealing her first kiss. And he was selfish; not for those reasons, but for the fact that he thought that all things complied with his personal conceptions. He thought she saw him as a friend, so she did. It was that simple. There was no leeway in his mind for her to show him what was right in front of his eyes, no space for her to show him she actually loved him as much as he loved her. Granted, she hadn't realized she thought of him in that way until he'd pecked the corner of her mouth a few days ago, but since then, he'd changed completely in her mind's eye, and, Gin being Gin, he hadn't seen or even suspected it.

Rangiku shook her head slowly, sluicing her foamy head with warm bath water. He'd come round eventually. Gin was many things, but he certainly wasn't stupid.

…

Gin frowned as he shoved another newspaper through another letterbox, kicking off another small, yappy dog. He swore quietly when the said mutt nipped his leg, not hard enough to draw blood, but still pretty damn hard. He strode down the driveway again, making sure to close the gate properly behind him.

As he straddled his bicycle, Gin thought back to the events of the previous day; Rangiku had made her second wish, Rangiku had kissed him. He'd kissed Rangiku. And she hadn't pushed him away.

Gin allowed himself a soft smile. So maybe there were some feelings there after all. But there was no guarantee that she actually loved him; the kiss could have been the work of the raging teenage hormones she'd been suffering from recently. But then again, the raging teenage hormones could be a result of her loving him.

Gin sighed heavily as he delivered another newspaper. It was a vicious circle, this train of thought. No matter what he came up with, it always led him to the same impossible conclusion that was giving him a headache. It was the only thing that was realistic, and yet it was the only thing that could never happen. Rangiku could never love him as he loved her, he was her friend. In her eyes, anyway. But was he? The way she'd kissed him; it'd held such undiluted passion, the passion only seen in embraces between couples in films. It had matched his own, and Gin knew all too well what he felt for the wench.

So maybe she did love him. But she couldn't. But maybe, somehow…

"Ah, stuff it all!" Gin groaned out loud. He was sick of this. As he cycled down the winding path to the convenience store to collect his wage, Gin devised a plan. He would go home, ask Rangiku what the hell was going on, get an answer out of her and react accordingly. Perfect.

He had an infallible plan in place. Now, all he could do was hope and pray for…both of the outcomes?

No, that was messed up. He couldn't want both options, that didn't make sense. He must want one more than the other, but damn it all if he could tell what it was.

Did he want her to reject him and move on with her life, for her to free herself of all ties to him? No. But did he want her to return his feelings, only to feel torn in two when some other random guy came along later and stole her heart again? She wouldn't want to abandon him, but Rangiku prided herself on always following her heart. No, he didn't want that indecision for her either.

So what in the name of hell did he want?

Gin rolled his eyes mentally. Of course. He wanted the impossible. He wanted her to love him, fully and unconditionally, for her to never so much as look at anyone else, for her to be his forever. That wasn't going to happen, Rangiku was so radiant she'd be sure to catch the eye of another, one more loyal, more friendly, more kind than him. And he wanted her to stay with him only. That was selfish.

…And he was going round in circles. Again.

Gin gave up, parked his bike and entered the block of flats they lived in.

…

Rangiku's head snapped up when she heard the key in the lock of the door to their apartment. Gin was home!

She hurriedly stood up, wringing out her long hair one more time before tying it loosely with a red elastic band and venturing out into the living room, where Gin was taking off his shoes.

They both started to speak at the same time.

"Gin—"

"Ran-chan—"

There was a brief silence. Then…

"You wanna go first, or shall I?" Gin asked her, picking up immediately that what she wanted to say was freaking important.

"Uh…yeah, okay." Rangiku stalled, suddenly unsure of how to proceed. She couldn't just drop the bombshell on him like that, he'd have a heart-attack. But then again…he'd dropped it on her.

"I love you too, Gin."

Gin choked on his own breath. "Gah! What?"

"I love you."

"Ran-chan…ya don't have ta try an' make me feel better by—"

"No, shut up for a minute, Gin! I love you. Don't argue, it's my mind!" she commanded him when he opened his mouth to protest. "I hadn't realized it before, but…it's been quite a while. I know you love me too, you told me after all, but I can't help wondering whether you'll just get bored and leave or something. It's stupid, I know, but I just can't get the thought out of my head."

"Ran-chan…" Gin breathed, wide-eyed. His irises were such a pretty colour, she marveled. "I'd never leave ya. You know that. I just…couldn't. Yer my life, Ran-chan, I'd give up everythin' fer ya."

"Me too, Gin."

"But," he continued, causing dread to settle in Rangiku's stomach. "I can't allow ya ta be with me. Eventually, yer gonna see some other kid, an' he'll be so much better than me, an'—"

"That's bull crap!" Rangiku interrupted him. "There's no way I could ever look at anyone else with you by my side, Gin! Stop…putting yourself down! Apart from everything else, it's freaking irritating!"

"But I—"

"I don't care, Gin! I love you, I'm not leaving you, and I'm not going to be made sad by being with you. On the contrary, it'll probably make my life." Rangiku mused, relieved beyond comprehension at her final understanding that Gin wasn't going to leave her after all.

"I—Ran-chan, I—" Gin stuttered, trying and failing to come up with some other half-assed excuse as to why he wasn't good enough for her.

"And so…I've decided on my third wish! And you have to mean it, with all your heart, Gin!"

"What is it?" Gin croaked, still absolutely flabbergasted at the revelation she'd thrown at him only moments before.

"I want you to kiss me. But not just an ordinary kiss. I want it to be a promise: that you'll never wander off, that you'll never leave, and that you'll frickin' believe it when I tell you I love you!"

Gin stared at her, speechless.

"I understand if you don't want to make those promises, so—"

"Don't be stupid, Ran-chan. I already made them. I love ya too." Gin recovered his voice, rolling his eyes in joking scorn.

"So will you kiss me?"

"With pleasure, Ran-chan."

Fin

A/N: And that is the end of Busking! *Sobs*

I'm so sad to see this thing go, but so happy also, 'cos now I can finally believe that Gin and Rangiku are completely happy in at least one fandom, and NONE OF THEM DIE!

If you'd like me to write any other pairings in the future, please either tell me in a review or PM me. I'll try my hardest to do so, but if I don't particularly like the pairing or missed out on it completely because it was in a filler episode in the anime, then I can't make any promises. If you want to see what pairings I like, check my Profile, but I probably forgot some, so try anyways! Thanks again for sticking with me throughout this story, it's my longest so far, and possibly my favourite. (Still can't choose between this and The Six Matchmakers)

And...I said before that I'd love to get 80 reviews, and I believe I have...let me check...yes! I have! 86 reviews! I know it's not likely, but I really would adore to crack 100, so, even if you haven't reviewed before, please do so now! I do accept anonymous reviews, and any comments are welcomed, as long as they're not flames! Sooo...I do believe this is the last time I'm going to see you guys in this fic! See ya! Byyyeee! xx