Author's Note:

This is a little different from what I usually write. I have never even considered scuffling my way down this path before, so I hesitantly offer up this first instalment for a one-off story that can be taken as part of my Serenity series, but as a future segment. Or you can simply see it as a stand-alone venture, it fits either way. Also, it has other chapters drafted, but it'll depend upon the reception of this part, and the reactions to it as to determine if I'll post the completion of this particular story. Again, I am way, WAY out of my comfort zone here. I do not write much in the way of major AU, and at all in this sort of AU. This is set after the Winter War arc, but I am disregarding the Full Bring and Quincy War arcs.

I'm hoping it's not hated.

(Fractured Serenity chapter 4 is in the works, I'm just having a few difficulties playing around with the wordplay and layout. It'll appear as soon as I can fix it.)

Glossary:

Italics~ conversation with ones Zanpakutou.

-….- around sections of certain text, meaning these are long memories that are part of the story line. Like a story within the story. Smaller, related memories will not be adorned with this treatment.

Disclaimer(1): I do not own, nor to I make any claims to, Bleach and/or its characters and storyline. I am simply a late-to-the-party fan who enjoys fanfiction, both reading it and writing it. The only profit I make from this is the knowledge that I may, perhaps, encourage others to venture more into the Bleach Universe by helping to keep the fandom alive alongside the thousands of other fans.

Disclaimer(2): This disclaimer is simply for those who read the following to know, I will not tolerate trolling or flames in either review of PM. I understand that there are many people who hate Ren/Ruki, but what I don't understand is if you don't like that why read it? I always name my pairings in both my summery as well as on the filter option. If you don't want to read this Ren/Ruki fic (and it is most definitely that pairing) then I suggest you click the back button. Thank you.

Tranquility.

The Seireitei had finally reinstated itself to a former level of security. Not quite the fortress it had once been, its flawed armor and capability to produce traitorous residents were now common knowledge amongst the populace of the Rukon and further widened the animosity and general mistrust between Shinigami and resident soul. Hollow attacks, especially amidst the outer districts were still commonplace, though the monsters that breached the dimensions were treated as little more than a minor annoyance, a lamb amongst wolves. Unseated officers, even probationary rookies, were dispatched to eliminate such nuisances in pairs as it was no longer deemed necessary to dispatch ranked soldiers for simple disposal duties, not now that Aizen was secured in his incarceration.

The dangerous man was buried in the darkness of the lower depths of the prison chambers buried beneath the Maggot's Nest. Here he was to remain for countless thousands of years, though the more likely scenario was that his sentence would be carefully forgotten about after a dozen or so centuries, leading for his punishment to indirectly last for all eternity.

And with that, a time of near tranquility would descend upon the soul society.

Tranquility. It is a word seldom used, despite that its meaning, the sense of completeness, is so desperately sought. It is that delicate blossom upon the precipice of balance and peace within the world and one's own self. It is placidity, serenity and stability all wonderfully intertwined with one another, and one not without its own dangers. It is the ultimate nirvana sought by man and soul alike, one that has drawn many an entity into its carnal embrace over the countless years, and yet, driven a great many more into the realms of madness.

For one such individual, it seemed as though it would be her fate to fall into the latter category.

Or so Rukia Kuchiki's exhausted mind dramatized. She sighed and raised herself from her futon, shivering lightly as the thin sheets slipped away with the movement. Another long and sleepless night loomed ahead of her, despite her exhaustion; this one now totaled three in the last week alone. Tugging a light kimono over her sleeping robes and pushing her bare feet into her house shoes while she knotted the sash over her middle, the petite raven tiptoed past the still sleeping figure sprawled across the shared futon. Soft snores rose as the long strands, which were usually so neatly braided at night, cascaded over the pillows that had been hastily bundled under a head. Shadows cast from the windows playing over the large figure, their darkness muting the bright crimson to a mahogany brown in a rippling dapple pattern.

Rukia paused, her hand braced upon the outer door of her private wing of the Kuchiki manor, and turned her gaze back to the sleeping man, her lips twitching fondly as she quietly slipped from the room and into the warm night. Her small feet padded silently along the sleek oaken porch that edged the grand estate and Rukia allowed her thoughts to wander as her fingers slipped around her elbows and her legs carried her along an instinctual path. She still felt the soft flutters in her chest whenever she caught sight of his face, relaxed in sleep where he was free to relinquish his responsibilities and romp in whatever paradise his resting mind conjured. Rukia's path lead her away from the main house now and coaxed her out into her brother's gardens where the generations old plum trees still bloomed and his immaculate koi ponds lay.

She seldom managed to slip from his side without his notice when she found it difficult to sleep, usually she would find herself peering into tired blinking eyes and a gentle hand would tug her closer, held until she was lulled into slumber by his strong rhythmic heartbeat. But not tonight, tonight her husband had dozed off within moments of her settling beside him, it was then, in that knowledge that she decided Renji must have been particularly exhausted this evening. Her heart beat a little faster at that thought. Renji, the rough little boy she had known since forever, her best friend and partner in crime in Inuzuri and her protector and colleague as a Shinigami of the Gotei thirteen was now her husband. She still felt it to be a wonderfully fabricated dream, the way that her heart skipped with his every smile and swelled with every stolen tender moment at his side.

-It was during the aftermath of the Winter War, as the Seireitei and its remaining Shinigami celebrated their victory and mourned the loss of friends and colleagues alike; that a stricken Renji had managed to coax the young Kuchiki from her protective brother's side and offered to share in her own grieving. As the pair slipped out into the Rukon together, uncertainty had flared in her heart. Renji held his body unnaturally rigid, his jaw clenched and working as he led her back to their former home in Inuzuri and guided her to the hill that had marked the end of their lives in that miserable town. He was hurting; Rukia could see it in his movements, in every paranoid glare that the man swung at the beggars and drunkards that lay prone in the dirt at his feet or came too close to bumping against him as he moved. She could feel it rolling off him in waves, it stained his reiatsu, and she could read it in his guarded eyes as clearly now as she had when they had lost their childhood friends.

Their lost friends, her chest clenched hard at that thought. Ichigo. Why was it seemed as though were forever loosing friends and family? Why was it that yet again they were the last two remaining? When they finally stopped and her half shuttered eyes moved tenderly over the small grave markers from so many years ago, Rukia understood. It was here that Renji had stopped, turning to face her as he presented her with a length of braided red leather from within the folds of his shihakusho, the strange strap that had crossed the former substitute Shinigami –and true hero of the Seireitei- about his chest, holding the fearsome Zangetsu to his young shoulders.

Rukia's eyes, glimmering with the wetness of unshed tears, met his own grief darkened orbs as he nodded wordlessly not quite trusting himself to speak just yet. Ichigo was, though not dead, gone from their lives and he had felt it necessary to honor him as one of their own, something which he knew Rukia would also feel. Ichigo had been a friend to them both, a student and a rival, he had become a valued comrade, their sword brother, and the loss of him from their world pained the pair as much as it would have if the young man had indeed perished under the blade.

Though his absence from the soul society was noted by fellow Shinigami, his lost spiritual pressure had left a yawning chasm in their souls. Rukia's unique bond with the fledgling Shinigami, born of her own powers, had been severed. Try as hard as she could, the reiatsu was gone, and she could no longer remember how his scent had tasted no matter how determined she was to recall it. Renji had lost a kindred spirit. Their relationship, though explosive and sometimes aggressive, was the closest to a sibling bond Renji would ever know. He had felt the living boy to be more as his kid brother than friend. They had bickered and laughed together, fought and bled together. Renji had taken his share of blows for the boy just as Ichigo had for him. He was as much a part of their little makeshift family as any of the boys they had run with as children, and it made sense that Renji wanted to add a marker for Ichigo to stand with the others.

So, together, they had silently scraped up an earthy mound, neatly arranged a ring of small stones around the pile and wooden peg that they had driven into the center before wrapping the worn leather braid around the stake. It twisted and wriggled in the wind, the last tangible proof that the youth had ever been a part of their lives, a last flicker of memory for them to hold on to.

Afterward, as they admired their handiwork, Rukia had subconsciously edged closer to Renji. She leaned, huddled into his towering frame and drew one of his large, now dirtied, hands around her shoulders as she pressed her tear streaked face into his warm side, feeling his silent sobs shudder through him. After a mere moment of contact the warmth was suddenly gone and Rukia blinked in hazy shock before she stiffened and felt his weight press against her instead. Glancing down, she found his fiery red mane dominating her view of him as his face burrowed into her. Renji had fallen to his knees and wrapped his long, corded arms around her thighs, holding and clinging to her desperately.

She brushed her fingers across the tips of his hair, running her nails gently over the shell of his ear and along the thick line of his neck, surprised to find him trembling as he screwed up every last ounce of courage he had and finally explained, through shaking words, how he felt for her. Rukia's heart stilled. He had feared losing her in the war, had felt her reiatsu falter and diminish in Hueco Mundo and it had seemed to him almost as though his very soul had been torn in two. He was finally voicing that he didn't want her to leave him. He wanted her by his side. He wanted her for his wife. He had, at last, after almost 60 long years, reached out for her and Rukia suddenly found herself reaching back for him.-

They had wed that spring.

Rukia paused atop of the little oriental bridge that arched across the thinnest part of the intricately linked koi ponds and leaned her arms over the railing, sighing softly as she recalled the simple ceremony that had taken place right here in these gardens, her eyes shuttering in contentment. The way the plum blossom petals fell around them as their hands were bound together in their union, dancing in the light spring breezes. How complete she felt knowing that, despite the agreement that her name would remain as Kuchiki, she was Renji's wife. Her lips twitched at the memories of the small collection for colleagues that she now called friends as they smiled their approval. The hooting calls of Renji's old drinking buddies from his bachelor days as Hisagi punched him in the arm and Ikakku mussed the neatly groomed tresses that fell around his former students' shoulders and growled how it was 'bout damned time,' before shoving the youth's head away. She loved it all, but the small, proud smile that graced her brother's lips as he had congratulated the pair had meant the most to her.

Even before lashes parted, drawing her away from pleasant memories, her eyes lowered to the glassy water alerted to the tiny splashes, the ripples of excited fish that moved in a small gathering beneath her feet. Smiling fondly at the slippery creatures that rolled over one another in their delight, Rukia reached a hand inside her kimono sleeve and drew from within the folds a small, folded handkerchief.

"Yes, yes." She chuckled as she carefully untwisted the fabric and revealed a generous pile of pellets that one of her brother's staff slipped to her that evening before she had excused herself for the night. "I have food for you." She cooed lovingly to the elegant fish as another flash of red mottled on black breached the surface in an excited lurch. Since it had become known that the young Lady Kuchiki was finding rest elusive and that she often spent her sleepless hours with the koi, it had become common practice to prepare a small amount of the creatures feed for her should she find herself unable to sleep.

With elegance that seemed natural to her, a small portion of the pellets rained upon the pond's surface, bobbed once as they rode out a single ripple, before vanishing into a hungry koi's gaping mouth. Rukia couldn't help but laugh as the usually graceful and serene animals tumbled about each other, like children, in obvious delight. Again she scattered a small handful of pellets and again the fish snapped up the morsels before they'd even settled upon the water. "You're so greedy." Rukia scolded them gently as the final portion was tossed out. "It's enough to make you wonder if Byakuya feeds you enough during the day." She murmured the final part as she folded herself over the railing once more. Her lashes lowering over her midnight dark eyes as watched the creatures slowly disburse, almost as though they already knew the food was gone and had lost interest in their visitor now that her gifts settled in multiple bellies.

"They are indeed fed well enough. Your offerings are more of a treat to the greedy fellows."

Rukia's eyes widened sharply as her chin whipped over her shoulder and she noticed for the first time, her brother striding confidently over to her. "That, and not disregarding the fact they seem to appreciate your company."

"Byakuya," she began before she pulled herself upright to politely bow despite the sudden twinge of protest from her belly. "Nii-sama, I apologize. I did not sense-"

The noble and master of the manor simply raised his hand to quieten her. "It is perfectly alright, Rukia. I felt you leave your quarters and thought that you may appreciate some company, so I decided to join you." He turned until he too faced the expanse of his ponds, his posture perfect as he held himself regally at her side. "You do not have to hold yourself in such an uncomfortable stance. Please, return to what feels comfortable to you."

Rukia nodded stiffly before returning to slouch on her elbows over the railings. "Thank you."

The two Kuchiki's gazed out across the waters and into the perfectly manicured gardens beyond in comfortable and companionable silence until Rukia felt her eyelids lower once more in ease.

"You are still finding it difficult to sleep?"

Rukia nodded, her chest swelling at the note of concern that was expertly shrouded by his noble indifference. It had taken almost fifty years and near execution for her adoptive brother to show her even a shred of interest, and another decade for her to be able to detect the glimmers of emotion that now laced his every conversation with her. "Yes. Though the unease I feel seems to be nothing more than simple anxiety."

Again, Byakuya paused before speaking, carefully considering his next words as expected of his heritage. "It is to be expected." He fell silent for a moment, face raised to the diamonds that glittered above them. His own raven hair, unrestrained by the lack of his kenseikan, tumble and twisted in the light, night winds. "You are taking the herbal tea as was recommended?"

Rukia smiled gently and nodded, amused by her older brother's subtle fussing's, which were of a more tolerable level than Renji's intrusive worrying. The Kuchiki siblings once strained relationship was definitely that of a distant memory.

"Perhaps some warmed milk and camomile would soothe you to sleep more easily than the tea. I shall instruct the staff of this in the morning." He lowered his chin once more and slid his gaze to the corners of his eyes, discretely observing his younger sibling as she leaned further over the low railing and watched a pair of koi dance through the waters beneath her, eyes shining in unrestrained delight as they took in the tight turns and sharp darting between the elegant dancers. "Where is Renji? Does he not accompany you when you are restless?"

"Sometimes," Rukia spoke gently, almost as though unsure if her voice would break the magic spell the fish held over her. The peace and serenity slowly descending in her mind and settling the buzzing thoughts that barred her from the rest she desperately craved. "But he's been so tired lately that he does not even stir when I leave the bed." She lifted her gaze to meet that of her brother, mirth tweaked her lips into a mischievous grin. "Whatever have you been making my poor husband do when he reports for his duties?"

Laughter twinkled within the steel grey eyes though his face remained expressionless. "Your husband, dear sister, is quite the taxation upon my nerves as of late. Anxious and full of tension, like an over-tightened spring. I have twice, so far, been subjected to him leaping from his seat, upsetting inks and papers before fleeing the office with his blade in hand, only for him to return an hour or so later more disheveled than I have ever borne witness to." Byakuya paused and tucked his slender hands into his robes sleeves as his lips flickered into the briefest and barest of smiles. "He then looks to me, his gaze holding mine and says 'Don't even… Jus' don't!' before he gathers up his mess and resettles to conclude his papers for the day."

Rukia snorted at the noble's attempt at Renji's drawling dialect. His elegant voice and properly trained tongue tripped over the hardened drawl in a valiant effort to relate the mangled words accurately to her. Beneath the formality of his complaints, Byakuya's fondness for his lieutenant and brother-in-law softened his words.

-Their relationship had not always been a friendly one; Byakuya had once felt uncomfortable when his replacement lieutenant had been revealed to be a brute from the Eleventh, a former street child and thief from the outer borders of Rukon. He was used to lower nobility filling his ranks in the Sixth, and now he was to entertain the prospects of a commoner mixed in with his men, as his second in command no less.

Their introduction had been no smoother an experience for him when presented with Abarai. He had cast a critical eye over the youth, scrutinizing every line and angle as one would when inspecting a new hound, looking for faults and imperfections without mercy. The boy was so young, barely more than a century and a half, but he was strong. Tall and wide with battle ready muscles that quivered beneath a slightly tanned and scarred pelt. Byakuya had disproved of the vicious looking markings that adorned the boy's forehead and much of his torso from what could be deciphered from the way the shihakusho gaped at his throat as he lowered his head respectfully and introduced himself politely He also disliked how the boy would meet his eyes with a familiar edge to his own, as though they had encountered one another before. A gentle reprimanding flare of reiatsu and Abarai's eyes lowered once more, leading Byakuya to disregard the nagging feeling that he did indeed know of this youth.

Their relationship had remained somewhat terse until Rukia had come to him while he recovered from Ichimaru's attack. Renji had, just that morning sat upon the stool in the corner of the room, carving some sort of trinket from a wooden block in silence; happily ignoring the pain fogged steel grey eyes that watched him with caution, almost as though the Rukon stray belonged there at his captain's side. A faithful watchdog.

When he had left and Rukia timidly took up his former post, she had hastened to explain why Renji had come after her, why he had drawn his sword against his superior, hoping to sway her brother from possibly demoting him from his position as lieutenant. As the wounded noble listened to his younger sister's words, Byakuya's opinion of his rough and tumble lieutenant had begun to alter. He found it easier to understand the man's actions, his defiance, and his fury aimed at his captain, as well as finding it more difficult to defend his own. And once Unohana-taicho deemed the nobleman fit to return to his division, Byakuya made careful efforts to further understand the boy from the Rukon. He took the youth on as a student, without knowledge or consent on Renji's part of course. Byakuya trained with his lieutenant almost daily, strengthening Renji's flaws in his technique as well as his own. Learning how the younger man moved and adapting both their techniques to compliment and protect the other.-

Byakuya glanced to his sister as she yawned softly, pleased to notice that a great deal of tension had dissipated from her small frame, though it seemed clear that she was no nearer retiring for the remainder of the night. "It is pleasant tonight." He sighed softly, encouraging her to meet his soft gaze before he ventured a delicate suggestion. "Ideal perhaps, for a visit to Hisana's shrine. I know that you have not since the beginning of the war and I'm certain that your sister would love to hear some of your news." He readied himself for the pain to flash across night sky eyes at the idea.

Instead Rukia offered him a gentle smile and slipped her small hand beneath the crook of his elbow, delicate fingers curled into the silk of his kimono. "I think that would nice." She said softly as she allowed her brother to guide her away from the ponds, leaning against him as she stepped from the ornamental bridge. "There is so much for me to tell her from these last fourteen months."

Idly her hand that was not gripping Byakuya's arm, slid over her middle, paused and then smoothed out the fabric. The older Kuchiki nodded, not missing the unconscious gesture she made as they walked the path toward the manor. His lips twitched as he lifted his gaze toward the building that loomed ahead. "Indeed, there is."

The floral scented incense billowed from the thin metallic strand in her fingers. Rukia wrinkled her nose as her eyes watered slightly at the sudden intense aroma that filled the room. Waving her hand through the cloud of smoke to disburse the scent a little more evenly the younger Kuchiki sibling carefully thread the branch into the ornate holder, fashioned into that of a small tree, as Byakuya slid open both the shoji doors and revealed the tiny personal garden to the shrine.

"This was Hisana's garden." Byakuya explained softly and Rukia admired the simple beauty of the carefully tended white sand, the way the willow trees shielding branches kissed the ground and brushed papery fingers over the delicate flowers that slept. The sweet sound of the nightingale drew Rukia's eyes to a stunningly crafted cage where the tiny and pretty little bird sang so elegantly at the centre of the space. "She loved sitting beneath the willow in warmer weather, so I like to let her see it when I visit her."

Rukia peered over her shoulder as her brother returned to the shelf within the shrine, his eyes softening as he too lit an incense stick, inhaling deeply the smoke before he found a complimenting spot on the holder to rest it. He lowered himself to his knees and wordlessly offered Rukia his hand which she took, balancing herself as she joined the tall raven on the floor. She fussed with her clothing for only a moment, arranging the fabrics so they didn't crease but pooled elegantly around her instead.

"Are you comfortable?"

Rukia nodded wordlessly, bringing her palms together and bowing her head as she joined Byakuya in a silent prayer before the portrait of a gently smiling Hisana.

After a few minutes both Kuchiki's raised their heads and lowered their hands to their knees. Eyes meeting for a moment before Byakuya gave her a single encouraging nod. The smaller woman, almost identical to the figure in the portrait took a quiet breath to steady her nerves before speaking.

"I'm sorry sister," she began softly. "I know that I haven't visited you in a while, I hope you can forgive me for that." She paused then and glanced to Byakuya at her side. He held his elegant pose, dark lashes resting on his cheeks as he meditated and remembered, basking in the hidden personal memories of his wife that he held safely in his heart. Rukia lifted her eyes to the smiling portrait once more, her cheeks flushing a little in guilt at her negligence to visit more often. She inhaled to settle the churning in her stomach, unsure of the cause, was it the excitement of her news of the guilt for her absence?

"There is so much to tell you that I don't even know where I should begin." Her eyes lowered to her hands as they toyed with the edge of her sash nervously and she fell into a gentle silence, her shadow dancing along the walls as the naked flame of the candles flickered. She felt Byakuya's reiatsu brush hers in encouragement and she smiled softly. "Peace has returned to the Seireitei, we still have a lot of repairs and work to complete, but it shouldn't take very much longer before everything is how it should be." Her voice softened. "I'm glad for that. I'm glad that the dangers are over for now. It frightens me sometimes, to think how the enemy was once a comrade. How he was capable of deceiving us all. If not for Ichigo, we would have all perished."

A disapproving sound from Byakuya's throat caused Rukia to pause and glanced at him, meeting his steely gaze hesitantly. "Is this truly the subject that you wish to discuss?"

Rukia shook her head and lowered her eyes. "No, but I felt that she should know."

"Would you not perhaps prefer to tell her of more pleasing events and leave the more unpleasant recounts to me?"

A tight smile as her hands balled her sash's tail between them. "Yes, but I don't know how to tell her without feeling like a silly little child." One hand dropped its hold on the silk and scuffed across her eyes, catching a tear of frustrated fatigue that escaped the corner. "I can't do it. Not like this. I'm exhausted."

Byakuya rose slowly and stepped toward the shrine, breaking off the curling embers from the incense sticks and rubbing the fragrant powder between his thumb and forefinger without uttering a word. His fingers traced over the portraits edges tenderly, his eyes tracing the images features as his fingers had once the corporeal form, before he carefully slide the latticed panels closed and whispered his endearments to his lost wife.

Rukia struggled from her knees and wrapped her arms around herself awkwardly as tears of shame filled her eyes, blurring the image of Byakuya as he snuffed out the candle flames. "Brother, I…" she gasped a sobbing breath. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to cause you insult, I just… I-"

"You have no need to apologize, Rukia." His voice, though soft, was genuine. He turned just enough to meet her shuttered gaze. "It is perhaps a little too late of night to be visiting a relative's shrine. Come, I shall return you to your wing, you need to rest."

She nodded as she hiccuped out a small, broken sob, letting Byakuya steer her from the room and onto the veranda that would lead them back to the main body of the manor without complaint.

End Author's Note:

So… uh, yeah. I look forward to hearing if you guys want me to continue this. And props to anyone who can figure what I'm planning.