If you were to turn into a snake tomorrow..
And begin devouring humans..
And from the same mouth you devoured humans..
You cried out to me, "I love you!"
Would I still be able to say "I love you,"
The same way I do today?
Pain flashed through his body as he lay on the crumbled stone.
His breath was barely able to get through to his punctured lung, the bloody stump where his arm had been slowly bleeding out a dark crimson.
So close.. he thought. I had been so close to getting my revenge on that bastard..
And his most precious treasure..his most beautiful jewel..was going to be left all alone..
Tears welled at the corners of his eyes.
Rangiku..when did everything go so wrong?
He wondered where she was right now. Was she wounded? Alone?
He wanted to hold her in his arms one last time.
He wanted to feel her heartbeat as he held her hand.
He wanted to stare into those deep pools of crystal that could see right through every single wall he put up to keep everyone out.
To protect her.
He wanted to be there.
He wanted to kiss those pale lips one last time.
To gently run his slender fingers through her beautiful strawberry curls, each strand gently curling around his hands.
He wanted to say goodbye.
I screwed everything up, Rangiku. I'm sorry for everything.
I'm sorry for leaving you alone for months on end.
I'm sorry for never being there to protect you.
I'm sorry I could never be the noble prince you wanted.
I'm sorry that I was so reckless.
I'm sorry..
I'm about to die.
He would have smiled, if she had been there.
He would have reassured her that dying wasn't so bad, if it was true.
Another low wave of pain went through him, and his breathing hitched as his lung gave out on him. His breathing shallowed, his world suddenly numbing with a sharp strike. Everything grew muffled.
Time slowed.
Something was falling on his face.
Is it..raining?
A low wail sounded from somewhere, so heartbroken..
He pried his heavy eyes open ever so slightly.
"Ran..gi..ku.." he breathed, as soft as a feather.
Her hair, so long that it hung on either side of their faces, shielded them from the outside world, from the war that continued on.
"Gin.." she whimpered, bringing her pale hands up to stroke his face gently, to wipe away any of his imperfections that still remained.
"I..almost..had..him..Ran.." he replied softly, wanting to reach up and touch her cheeks, to wipe away those tears and to fix everything.
"Al..most.." he repeated, feeling the slow creeping of ice encasing him.
"Don't. You're going to be fine." she snapped.
His lips curved into a barey noticeable smile.
"Not this time, Rangiku."
"NO! Don't say that! You'll be fine! Unohana taicho will heal you, and you'll come back to Soul Society! You'll come home, Gin!"
He couldn't even shake his head. He knew that the Captain of the Fourth wasn't here.
He was leaving again, but this time, he wasn't coming back.
"Ran.." he gasped as his vision flickered.
"G-Gin.." she sobbed, her tears falling onto his face, feeling like the soothing pace of the rain in the fall. She realized it. This time, her protector wasn't coming back. He wasn't coming back home with her.
He wasn't going to comfort her when she was in pain.
He wasn't going to tease her, or laugh with her, or touch her, ever again.
"Don't..Don't leave me Gin." she begged. "Don't leave me here all alone! I need you! Come home with me! Don't leave me!"
"Ran.." he sighed, making a final effort to move his head to stare into her beautiful eyes.
"I'm sorry. For..give..me.." he gasped out as his vision flickered again.
NO! I have to tell her..I have to tell her! I HAVE TO TELL HER NOW!
"Lo..ve..you...Ran..gi..ku.." he fought against the darkness, his tears now finally spilling over.
I'm sorry! I don't want to die! RAN! I DID IT ALL FOR YOU!
"Gin? GIN!"
"GIN!"
Rangiku cried out his name, panicking when he showed no signs of responding.
"No.." she cried, clutching at her heart with bloody fingers.
His blood.
Her breath couldn't get through to her lungs: she felt like she was choking on it as she desperately heaved, as she held him, tried to get the cold body that had been everything to her to do something.
Anything.
Her chest felt like it was being torn open, something stabbing into her soul and breaking everything in its way. Throwing her head back, she let out a chilling howl of pain, cradling Gin and screaming out her loss.
"Matsumoto-chan, why do you look so sad?"
"Matsumoto-chan, don't worry. I'll protect you."
"Matsumoto-chan."
"Matsumoto."
"Rangiku."
"Don't cry, Rangiku. It ruins your pretty face."
"Don't worry. I'll be there."
"I'm coming back tonight. Calm down."
"I'm going on a mission to the World of the Living tomorrow. I don't know when I'll be back."
"Can't make it. I'm busy."
"Gotta go. I'll talk to you later."
"Rangiku. I gotta work right now. Come back later."
"Rangiku, I'm fine."
"I'm sorry. Forgive me."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
She lowered her head, breathing in the smell of copper and death, so different from the scent of rain he'd always carried.
"Sorry isn't good enough this time." she growled, beating his still chest with a fist. "Sorry isn't going to bring you back!"
"Sorry won't replace what I've lost!"
0-0-0-0
She was silent as they brought her his uniform.
She was silent as the people she called friends tried to get through to her.
She was silent as she mourned the one man who had protected her.
She was Rangiku Matsumoto.
And she had lost the one thing that meant everything to her.
0-0-0-0
It had been a few years since that fateful day.
She had still not spoken a single word.
She had spent the last few years remembering this man.
The only one who had protected her as a child.
Who she had trusted so fully, with her very life.
Who she had given her very heart to, and then lost, like so many others over the passing of time.
She stood in front of his small grave, the grass long and swaying gently in the summer breeze.
She kneeled before it, gently pulling her pink scarf, the one he had always complimented, off of her neck.
She wrapped it around his grave gently and tied it there with a single knot.
Then she stood, and bowed.
"Goodbye, Ichimaru Gin. I think I can finally begin living again." she whispered, a faint smile on her lips.
Then, without a single glance back, she walked away, into the light of her life.