A/N: Hey, sorry about the ridiculously long wait- but I'm back and full of great new ideas! I don't own Bleach. Please enjoy and review!

#1. Resolve

Renji watched as the woman he had slowly began to fall in love with was ripped away from him by a rich family. He watched as the tears brimmed in her onyx eyes, as his own stung and burned, his throat closing up in anger and sadness. He watched as the Kuchiki heir took her away in a grandly designed carriage. He watched through the window panes as that very same carriage drove away with Renji's heart, and then- the tears fell.

That day Renji Abarai swore to become a member of the 13 court guard squads and once he had finally built up his rank- he would defeat Byakuya Kuchiki and take back the love of his life, and those thoughts kept him motivated- he'd found his resolve!

Many years had passed since that day- Renji and Rukia were now both lieutenants for the thirteen court guard squads, however Rukia was in the process of execution. She had foolishly given her Shinigami powers to a human, and this was punishable only by death. It would seem that Renji was being punished that day as well as he, along with his captain Byakuya Kuchiki, had been sent to collect Rukia and take her back to Soul Society, where she would later be trailed and sentenced. That day should have been a happy day for Renji, he would be reunited with Rukia and tell her of his recent promotion to lieutenant- he would have told her how much he had missed her and of his plans to surpass her older brother and to finally win her heart. Instead he was reading out to her the conditions of her arrest and silencing her protests.

It was only with the small onyx-eyed female who had stolen his heart all those years ago held tightly in his arms that Renji realised his resolve had been false. All those years working to beat Byakuya was a lie, a cover up- a distraction. He knew that as long as this beautiful woman was alive, it would be his life-long duty to protect her from anything that would ever cause her harm. Renji realised he would rather die than to see the love of his life harmed, hell, he'd break inside just to see her cry! Now, as her head lay on his chest and with his arms wrapped around her fragile frame, and while she may never reciprocate his feelings, or while her brother may never allow them to be together, he was happy just holding there, safe against the world because as long as Renji was alive he was going to make damn sure nothing touched her. If she died- Renji was sure as hell to follow, a life without Rukia would be no life at all. It was only on that day with them both covered in his own blood, with Aizen and the rest of the captains and lieutenants fighting them did Renji realise- he'd found his new resolve.