AN: Hey everyone! :D

Well, today's is Toshiro Hitsugaya's birthday, hooray! I wrote this up for Renealexa, from deviantART, for her birthday, which was four days ago. Anyway, I apologies in advance for any OOCness (out of character) in any of characters. Hope you enjoy the fluffs! :D

Disclaimer: I own this tea cup, this piece of toast, this present for my mum, this present for my dad, this jolly spirit I'm in, this hairbrush, this globe and that black nail polish over there, Tite Kubo owns BLEACH.

Long Awaited Present

Turqoise eyes opened to the snow covered scene outside his window. The white snow had fallen gently over the Seritei moments ago, and the white clouds slowly moved on in the sky. He slowly sat up and yawned. '…I can't help but wonder if I'm forgetting something…'

"Taaaaaaichooooo!"

He cringed hearing his drunken lieutenant as she raced in. She stopped as soon as she saw he was up. "Taicho! Happy birthday!" She swayed as she came closer and hugged him tightly.

Within seconds he was losing air, and fast! But one thought lingered in his mind as his 'death' approached . 'That's right, it's my birthday! How did I forget that?'

"I can't believe it's that time of year again! My little taicho is growing up, oh so dramatic!" she said with dramatic tears racing down her face.

Hearing 'little', Toshiro had the strength to pull away from her death hug. He growled and yelled "Who are you calling little, Matsumoto?"

Seeing the error in her words, Rangiku put a hand over her mouth. "Oops, I forgot, you're nearly my height now!"

It was true. Toshiro had some major growth spurts and now he was nearly the same height as Matsumoto. Not only that, over the years, he looked a lot more mature. He didn't have much of the childish appearance anymore, but some it remained in his eyes and his jaw.

Sighing, he folded his arms. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Rangiku drunkenly gasped. "Can't your favourite lieutenant wish you a happy birthday, taicho?" Suddenly she produced a sake bottle out of nowhere and began drinking greedily from it.

"Since when have you been my favourite lieutenant?" he said rolling his eyes.

The drunken woman stopped drinking and grinned. She slurred "That's riiiiight…Hina-chaaan is yooooour favourite, isn't sheeee?" Then she over-dramatically impersonated Hitsugaya "Oh Hinamori, I looooovvvve you soooo much! Please, I need yo-"

"Matsumoto!"

She turned back to her captain. She saw a small, pink blush creeps its way to his cheeks, but the room suddenly got colder. Going on her instincts she ran out of the room. "See you soon, taichooooo!"

Hitsugaya groaned in annoyance. 'Some old habits never change…'He got out of bed and quickly changed. He left his room feeling a little bit more at ease. 'Maybe she's already gone drinking, again…That still means paperwork…'

He opened the door and sighed knowingly. 'Yep, some old habits really do never change…'

Rangiku was nowhere in sight. He made his way to his desk to see no paperwork. He frowned and looked around the room. He checked everywhere; under the sofa, under his chair and desk, in the shelves, in Rangiku's hidden sake stash, next to the—wait, hidden stash?

"Hitsugaya-taicho? May I come in?"

He looked toward the door. "Come in…"

The door slid aside to reveal a member of his division with a large, black coloured bag over his shoulder. He looked to be struggling with the load.

He said, obviously struggling "Seventh seat Kōkichirō Takezoe...This arrived for you today, Hitsugaya-taicho." He placed the bag on the captain's desk. It landed with a large 'bang'. The white haired captain could've sworn his desk was going to snap in two from the weight of it.

Kōkichirō spoke up, managing to regain his breath after carrying the heavy load "I'm not sure what exactly is in it, Hitsugaya-taicho, but Matsumoto-fukutaicho told me to bring it up as soon as possible."

Kōkichirō bowed his head in respect and ran off. The whole time Toshiro stood in shock. He looked at the large bag, his curiosity running wild. Knocking him out his shocked state he opened the bag. "W-W-Wha?"

In it were what seemed like hundreds of presents, all different shapes and sizes. He noticed there was a note attached to a silver wrapped present with 'Taicho..' written in big, bold writing.

He took the note off the present, unfolded it and read it:

To my great taicho,

Happy birthday! I made sure that this got to you first thing as soon as I left; it's from all your friends in Sereiti...well, some of them anyway. Most of the presents here are from admirers, you know what I mean!

Anyway, I've also made sure that you don't have any paperwork today. This is my little present to you, taicho, so don't even think about going to look for the paperwork, you won't find it anywhere.

Have a great day!

-Rangiku Matsumoto

P.S: The present this note is attached to is NOT from me!

To finish the letter was a big, red coloured kiss mark, and few love hearts.

He sighed and muttered "Thank you, Matsumoto...So typical..." However, he was actually really glad he didn't have to do any paperwork today. He sat down in his chair and pulled out the first present. He sighed and thought sarcastically 'This could take a while...'

Momo quickly walked towards the tenth division with a large smile plastered across her face. 'It's Shiro-chan's birthday today! I hope he remembered this year, he completely forgot last year. I don't see how he could've though...'

She too, over the years, had noticed how much more mature looking the tenth division captain had become. To her, he was almost as handsome as Byakuya. As for her, though she was more grown up looking, and her hair wasn't always in a bun as it use t be, she managed to retain her personality, and the nickname she gave to Toshiro. Even though he was more grown up, he would always be here little 'Shiro-chan'...

After the winter war, it had taken a long time for her to go talk to Toshiro. She was so scared that he didn't want to see her after the accident. She was worried that he didn't see the accident as one at all. When she had managed to gather up the courage to go talk to him, he she knew the truth and that they had both moved on.

As she got closer to the office her nerve suddenly got to her as well. 'I'm so nervous. What if he doesn't like my present? But...I have to tell him. Even if it is the worst surprise present in the world, I still have to try.'

"That's the spirit!" she heard her zanpukto cheer.

She smiled hearing Tombiue support. She reached for the door and knocked gently.

"Come in," she heard from inside the office.

Her smile widened and she slid the door aside. "Happy birthday Hitsu...Wow, they're so many presents, Hitsugaya-kun!"

The tenth division captain looked up from unwrapping what felt like his thousandth present. "That's Hitsugaya-taicho, bed wetter."

Ignoring her embarrassing nickname, Momo rushed to his desk and looked at all the presents he'd received. She was completely stunned "They're so many, you're so lucky! Are these from your admirers?"

He nodded. "Most of them."

Suddenly the fifth division lieutenant was filled with a heavy feeling. Her smile drop for a fraction of a second but rose again, looking slightly false. "My, you're really lucky to have so many admirers."

"I don't see how," he replied.

Momo thought he didn't understand why he had admirers. Why wouldn't he? He was handsome, smart, strong and, to her, nearly the perfect man.

He spoke again."But I must admit they did know what to get me."

There were a wide variety of gifts. From clothes to charms to miniature sculptures, everything looked so valuable and expensive. As Toshiro reached in the bag for the next present, Momo examined one of the presents. A charm necklace, it's turquoise stone that hung off the black cord in the shape of a snow flake. 'It's so beautiful.'

She examined other presents similar to the necklace. The sculptures were something to gaze in awe at. Momo was amazed at one of them that was literally made out of ice. It was sculpted in Toshiro's image with Hyourinmaru in his dragon form. Toshiro was 'suspended' in the air with his zanpukto pointed towards the platform of the statue. The dragon looked fiercely towards where the sword was pointing, looking as though it were about to dive towards its opponent and crush them.

"This is so amazing…" Momo said in awe.

Toshiro looked up smiling slightly. "Yeah, I guess it is. I have to admit it's one of the most original ideas for present I've received. It's gonna be hard to maintain though…"

Seeing the smile on his face and hearing what he had just said made Momo realised the heavy feeling in her body.

She was disheartened.

She looked around at the amazing gifts the tenth division captain had received, her only thoughts being that her gift was nothing compared to all of these. They were all pricey and beautiful in their own way. Her gift would be dull to him, something he'd throw away right after receiving it.

"What did you want to see me for again, Hinamori?"

She lost her train of thought and concentrated on the captain again. "Oh, I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday and…" -'Is there any point in me giving my gift now? He already has so many and now mine looks ...pretty tacky.'- "...that's it. Happy birthday, Shiro-chan! I'll see you at your party tonight!" With that said and done, she rushed out of his office.

Toshiro looked on after her puzzled. He noticed something as he replayed their interaction through his head. He looked down to the next present he was about to unwrap.

She hadn't given him a gift.

He recalled that every birthday he had had, Momo would give him a present. This year...she hadn't done so. Why was he making such a big deal about it though? Why did he care? It's not like he wanted these presents anyway, or at least, a few of them. He appreciated that people were thinking about his birthday, deep down.

It still troubled him that Momo hadn't given him a present. Why was he expecting her to? It's not like Momo can give a present every year. But that was the problem. Momo had always given a present every year.

Maybe she was giving it to him tonight. Yeah, that's probably it. Why was he panicking again?

He smiled slightly at the thought and continued to unwrap his presents. Moments passed by...and then suddenly something clicked in his mind.

He suddenly straightened.

He dropped the present onto the desk.

His eyes went wide.

"Happy birthday, Shiro-chan! I'll see you at your party tonight!"

A vein popped in the side of his head.

"What party?"

Hours later Toshiro found himself in his office with all his belongings and desk cleared aside to be replaced by large tables with food and drinks presented fancily, a large stereo booming music out, balloons and streamers hanging from the ceiling, a huge birthday cake in the middle of the room, what seemed like more than five hundred shinigami's crowding his office and yet-to-be-drunk Rangiku running toward him. "Taicho, you're here!"

'I go out of my office for one hour, and it has turned into a party where half of the people are already drunk. How in hell is that possible?' he thought. He realized however that this was Rangiku we're talking about. Knowing her she organized this whole thing and somehow managed to get help.

He angrily turned to his lieutenant. "I thought I said no parties!"

The woman pouted back at him. "Aww, taicho, can't you have a little fun for once? I went out of my way just to prepare this whole party for you, and I even didn't go out to get drunk two days ago so I could add the finishing touches to my plan. Besides, with all the hard work you've done this year, you deserve a party, don't you think? As it is, Hinamori-chan will be here soon, and she'd want to see you having fun."

Toshiro considered it for a moment. His lieutenant waited patiently for his answer. He sighed looked back at her his anger now subsided. "Fine, but everyone has to be out of here by not later than twelve, okay?"

And for the second time that day, the white haired captain suffered a near death experience.

"Thank you, taaaaaaaichooooo!" Rangiku shouted and hugged her captain tighter.

The night wore on, and surprisingly, Toshiro found he was enjoying himself. He stayed away from the sake, he got more presents from his admirers and few good conversations from the most unlikely of people. However, while this was all good, he noticed Momo was nowhere to be seen. He really wanted her to be here with him. Without her here his birthday felt different. It was strange, but when he thought about it, without her with him on this day, his birthday just seemed like any other day. Why was that?

"We both already know the answer to that, master…" he heard Hyourinmaru from inside his head.

"I suppose..." Toshiro said aloud.

"Time for cake!" Yachiru exclaimed, jumping around like a hyperactive kid.

Everyone gathered around Toshiro and the large, white and blue layered cake. Each layer was lined with candles that Rangiku was lighting. As she continued lighting, Toshiro heard all his fangirls scream and cheer for him. Her heard the door open and was happy to see who it was. "You finally got here, bed wetter Momo."

Momo stopped in her tracks hearing the dreaded nickname. "Not in front of everyone, Hitsugaya-taicho!"

"Well, then start calling me Hitsugaya-tai-"

'Wait, did she just call me "Hitsugaya-taicho"? This is new...and somehow it doesn't suit,' he thought with a frown. "About time you started calling me that, Hinamori."

Ignoring him, she came skipping to his side before joining the crowd around him. He turned his attention back to the cake. Wasn't there an old tradition with cakes? The kids in the district use to do it on their birthdays. What was it…?

"Hey, taicho, you gonna make a wish or not?" Rangiku exclaimed wanting to get a move on.

There it was! You make a wish as you blow the candles out. As stupid as it seemed, Toshiro went into thought as to what he could wish for. Even if he looked and acted more mature, he seemed to retain some of his childish antics. He knew what he wanted to wish for.

"Like I'm going to do something so childish, Matsumoto…" With that he blew out all of the candles, the wish intent in his mind.

Everyone around him clapped or cheered. Then Rangiku handed her captain...his zanpukto? "Now, cut the cake!"

She was expecting him to cut the cake with Hyōrinmaru. Sighing and rolling his eyes he asked her "Matsumoto, do you have any idea what that blade has cut through?"

"I cleaned it for you!" she said shoving the sword into his hand. "And I cleaned it really well too! So please…cut the cake!"

With a reluctant sigh, he sliced the cake. There was more cheering and before he knew it everyone had a piece of cake. However, he wasn't interested in cake. Far from it…'Where's Hinamori?

He soon spotted her near the door talking to Kira. As he walked over to her she laughed at what Kira had said. However…it wasn't her laugh. It didn't sound like her. Somehow, it seemed different. As if sensing the captain approaching, the blonde lietenant went rigid and walked off. Momo stood there confused. Her eyes turned to Toshiro as he got closer.

"Hitsugaya-taicho!" she said with a false smile.

Toshiro frowned at her smile. "Can we talk somewhere else?"

She looked at him confused. She wanted to ask him there was something wrong, but held it back. "Um…okay. Where do you…?"

She trailed off as the captain took her wrist and pulled her out of the room. She quickly looked back to see a few people staring at them. She blushed, looking away in embarrassment. Then everything became a blur as Toshiro flash-stepped them to the roof of the tenth division. The cold air hit her face sending a small chill down her spine. Her brown eyes gazed out at the lit up Soul Society. Under her she could hear the party music and everyone in the office. However, she turned her focus to Toshiro, who had now let go of her hand and has his back turned to her.

"What's going on?" he suddenly asked.

She frowned. "Huh, what do you mean?"

He turned toward the large expanse of the lit up Soul Society. He had a neutral look etched onto his face, something Momo didn't see too often. He spoke up "You've been acting strange all day. I only remember you acting like this years ago…"

Momo looked at him surprised by his attitude. She'd never seen him act like this before. Was she that obvious? Still, she knew she would have to tell him now. She turned away from him, placing a fist over her chest and spoke quietly "I apologize. It's just…Well you see, um, when I saw you with…The reason is my gift. I haven't…given you a gift is because…"

She tried to express what she meant. 'Why am I finding this so difficult?'

An awkward silence fell on them. The wind continued to tousle their hair and clothes, but neither of them moved to face the other. It was only when Momo gathered the courage to talk again. "It's just that…my gift is…pretty worthless."

At this Toshiro turned to his childhood friend who still had her back turned to him. 'What does she mean by that?'

"But I suppose…I'd have to give it to you sooner or later…so…Hitsugaya-kun can I…" She turned to him, a faint blush in her cheeks and her fist still placed over her heart. A soft look glazed over her eyes. She felt the blood heat up under her skin. She couldn't move. The words came out before she knew it. "Can I give you my heart?"

His eyes widened.

His heart skipped a beat.

'This is is…her gift?' He was too shocked to respond. All he could do was take a step towards her.

Momo bowed her head, her voice sounding disheartened. "I know…it's tacky, and worn-out. It's been broken so many times. And…it's been cut in two as well, but…I want you to have it. You're the only one I want to have it, no one else. I've been saving it for so long, and now I know I can give it to you. Even if you throw it away, use it or abuse it, I still want you to have it. I know that it will only be a burden to you, so if you don't want you can just-"

She was stopped when he pulled her to him. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her into a tighter hug. She was too astonished to hug back at first, listening only to what he was saying.

"Baka, do you really think I'm that cold?" he whispered in her ear. "You…you really think your heart is tacky? No…defiantly not. It's beautiful…and I've…wanted it for so long."

This truly shocked the girl. She pulled her head away from his shoulder to look at him. He pulled away to look at her, turquoise eyes connecting with chocolate brown.

"Hitsugaya…kun…I'm so glad," she said, a tint of red taking over the pink in her cheeks.

She faintly saw on the side his face that was lit by the lights of the Soul Society a pink tint in his cheeks. He fully pulled away from her, his hands entwining with hers and his eyes not looking away from her own.

Both leaned forward to each other, their eyes closing.

Their hearts leapt.

Their lips made contact...

...in a sweet kiss.

Both of their heads were whirling but neither of them wanted to pull away. Everything else seemed to disappear around them, forgotten and left out of the moment. It was a shame though that the moment was ruined when pulled away for air. It also only then that they noticed the snow falling around them.

Momo smiled and looked playfully at Toshiro. "You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with this, would you?"

He looked back at her and smirked, his hands leaving hers and coming around her waist. "Maybe..."

"Happy birthday, Hitsugaya-kun," Momo replied quietly with a sweet smile.

He leaned closer, his lips centimetres apart. "Thank you for the best birthday present ever, Momo..."

And with that, he closed his lips over hers in a more fervent kiss. Her hands rose up and her finger entangled themselves in his white hair.

It may have taken a long time, but the long awaited gift had finally been given.

And it had been lovingly accepted by the person it was always destined for.

The End

Thanks very much for reading, I hope you njoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :) If you have time reviews and comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks again!

Keep writing!

-Warrayfinson.