Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I am making no money from this. I also do not own any of the quotes I use in any chapter.

This story is a prequel to my "After The Winter War" series.

Author's Notes: This story will contain spoilers for the latest chapters of the manga, well, sort-of. If you know…um…how to say this… if you know how and why Ichimaru Gin dies then you're good. Although I change the circumstances quite a bit to fit my series. I had long suspected something similar to what happened, and did indeed write my series with that possibility in mind. So now I can write the story I've wanted to write, although things will happen very differently so it's not really much of a spoiler. I figure my stories follow the storyline up to around the point where the ring of fire around the three ex-taicho goes out, and from then on it's all me. (As such, I don't describe too much of the fighting, but refer to certain points and assume my readers will know what's going on. I apologize to those of you who are not up to date.) I refuse to copy how the Winter War is ending in the manga, and have come up with a new (and I hope interesting and believable) way for things to work out. It's also given my muse the kick in the butt she needed to start helping me again, cause I can tie this in with the IchiHime story in my series that I've tried to write the next chapter of over a dozen times and kept deleting. No, I'm not dead. No, I have not stopped writing fanfic. I've just had the mother of all writer's blocks. I'm hoping that within a few weeks, when I'm done with this story, that the next chapter of "I'll Stand By You" will finally be written.

Okay, now, this piece jumps around between memories of the past and the present, so to make you less confused: the "present" is in normal text, anything in the past that is being remembered is in italics. Also, I've got lots of song quotes cause I love doing quotes and there were some awesome ones for this. They are in normal text, but obviously separated from the story. Apologies to those who don't like quotes in their stories. Here goes nothing….

For Her Smile

By Lady Callista

Chapter 1: First

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Oh - you can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for

I can't help it - there's nothin' I want more

I would fight for you - I'd lie for you

Walk the wire for you - ya I'd die for you

Ya know it's true

Everything I do - I do it for you."

from "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" by Bryan Adams

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

He stood calmly within the circle of fire.

The two men he'd been conspiring with for over 100 years stood just as calmly, with the eyes of the one shifting constantly to watch the battle that raged beyond them.

But he didn't care about the battle. His thoughts weren't racing ahead to what would happen soon. He wasn't already basking in the glow of an assured victory, as he was sure his two companions were. No, rather than being in the future, or in the here and now, his thoughts were completely in the past.

Except for one reiatsu in the here and now that he was keeping track of.

For that one reiatsu was the reason he stood on this side of the fire. That one reiatsu was the reason for everything he had done for over one hundred years. And if it faded and died, then everything he had done had been for nothing.

Ichimaru Gin stood calmly while his thoughts flew through the past, remembering the first time she'd smiled at him.

And wishing that there was a way for him to see her smile one last time.

Part 1: Smile (First)

OoOoOoOoOoO

Light up your face with gladness, hide every trace of sadness

Although a tear, may be ever so near, that's the time, you must keep on trying

Smile, what's the use of crying? You'll find that life is still worthwhile,

If you'll just... Smile

from "Smile" by Judy Garland (at least that's the one I know, I believe lots of singers have done this song, not sure if she was first or not.)

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

They had both looked like children, of course, but Gin had already been in Rukongai for almost twenty-five years when he first met Rangiku.

He barely had a single memory from those twenty-odd years, because they hadn't mattered once he'd met her. Still, bits and pieces came back to him at the oddest times.

He knew that he had always been different from the other children. He knew that no one had ever really liked him, and he knew that he didn't really have feelings in the way that other people did. It was like all his emotions were numb, because there was no reason to live and nothing mattered anyway.

An image of her the first day he'd met her, the day that had meant so much to him that he'd made it her birthday so that they would always celebrate it, floated past his mind's eye.

He'd given a girl a fruit, thinking that if she was hungry like he always was then she must have the same power he did. Maybe she would like him. Maybe she wouldn't think he was crazy.

And then she'd looked up at him shyly as she finished belting down the persimmon.

Understanding what she didn't ask, he'd told her he knew where there was more food.

And the girl who'd later told him her name was Rangiku had looked up at him, and smiled a beautiful smile that had lit up her entire face.

He had decided right then and there that there was something to live for after all.

For something in her smile had sparked an emotion in him for the very first time.

And Gin knew that from that moment on his life would be devoted to making her smile. He hadn't cared about life for himself, but maybe he could learn to care about her.

He'd tried to devote himself to a cause before, but it had never worked. Because he hadn't actually cared about how it turned out. And for the first time, he did.

Her smile had been rare in those first few months, but his heart had seemed a little warmer every time something he did brought it out. He remembered taking her to the little house he stayed in, with the apple trees in the yard and the persimmons he'd started growing. He remembered them talking, and how the shy, frightened little girl slowly grew to trust him. To like him. No one had ever liked him before.

Then his memories shifted, and he remembered the first time he'd seen her cry. He hadn't realized at the time just how much those tears would affect his life.

Part 2: Touch (First)

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

The moment I saw you cry, I wanted to hold you, I wanted to make it go away

I wanted to know you, I wanted to make your everything, all right...

From "Cry" by Mandy Moore

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Gin sauntered towards home, the bag over his shoulder half-filled with the vegetables he'd spent the afternoon liberating from various places. Now that he had to find enough food for two people, even his skills were being put to the test. But it was nice to have a challenge again.

And it was nice to know Ran-chan would be waiting at home for him. Part of the reason life had always been so boring was that he was always alone. No one had ever liked him, no one had ever been willing to hang out with him. Maybe they had all sensed there was something off about him.

He didn't know himself what it was, but he knew that he was different. He'd seen other children running around, playing games and laughing with each other despite the fact that their lives should have given them no reason to laugh. He'd seen them stand up for each other, and help each other.

He didn't understand why they did it, but he was trying to learn. Maybe if he was more like them, then they'd like him too.

So he brought food to Ran-chan, and it made her smile. He told her stories, and listened to hers. He was slowly learning that certain things he could do or say would make her smile as well, or even make her laugh. He didn't smile or laugh himself, still didn't really understand why she did, but there was this… this sort of twisting feeling inside him whenever she smiled. And it was more than he'd ever felt before.

He turned a corner, almost home now, and unable to understand why his heartbeat had accelerated slightly. Nor did he understand why his heart dropped into his stomach when he heard her scream. Still not understanding, Gin began to run.

He didn't notice as the bag containing their precious food fell from his shoulder, opening up to allow carrots and peas to scatter over the ground. He didn't see the tiny red-haired boy who darted out of the shadows to grab the food, even though he almost tripped on him. He saw only the door to the house he and Rangiku lived in, and the fact that it stood open. Although it wasn't much protection, she always closed it when he was gone.

Gin skidded through the door, gripping the frame in both hands to help slow him and turn into the house. What he saw made him freeze briefly, as another feeling he'd never experienced flooded into him, then he charged into the room.

He took out one of the boys who had Rangiku cornered before they even knew he was there.

The memory blurred after that.

He knew he'd seen red. He knew his blood had pulsed as he shoved the boys away from her. He knew that when it was done, two of the boys, both limping and battered, had dragged the third away. He had never bothered to find out if that boy had lived or died.

But while it was going on all he had known was that he had to protect her.

And he remembered that as the boys limped away his arms had suddenly been filled with a shaking, crying young girl.

"Gin, oh god, Gin…" Rangiku cried as she clung to him, her head buried in his chest. It didn't occur to her that in the almost six months they'd been together, she had never deliberately touched him, nor he her.

It did occur to Gin, who at first had absolutely no idea what to do with the crying girl currently attached to his chest.

The rage, for he'd heard the emotion described and it perfectly described the way he'd felt, had faded away when she touched him. But now he was feeling something else he couldn't describe. And that something made him wrap his arms around her back and hold her close.

"I've seen them around before, but they were scared of you." Rangiku said in a voice choked with tears. "I think they saw you fight those other boys last week, and… But you weren't here. And… And they…"

"Did they 'urt ya, Ran-chan?" Gin pulled her away from him with his hands on her shoulders, looking her over from head to toe. There were bruises on her face, and her lip was cut open and bleeding slightly. Her pants were filthy, evidence of her being pushed down in the dirt, and there was a long tear down the side of her shirt that showed…

"I… I'm okay." Rangiku mumbled, confused by how he suddenly turned his face so he wasn't looking at her. Then she glanced down at her clothes, and on a gasp her hands flew up to try and hold closed the long rip in her shirt.

His hands still on her shoulders, he locked his eyes on hers and started to kneel down. They were still in the corner she'd been driven into, which was also where she normally slept, wrapped in the only blanket they had.

They knelt on that blanket now, and Gin reached over by the wall to grab a bag he'd put there just the other day. He'd been collecting scraps of clothing and other fabric for weeks now, knowing that it was going to start getting cold soon. He'd thought that somehow they could make more blankets from the scraps.

He reached into the bag now, pulling out the first thing he found, which turned out to be a long, wide piece of pink cotton. He wrapped it gently around her shoulders, and she drew both sides together over her chest, covering the tear in her shirt.

"I… I know I'll get in the way if I go out with you. But if they come back while you're gone…" Her eyes were huge, tears still shimmering in them, but they were filled with trust. Trust that somehow he would find a way to keep her safe.

Gin reached out and watched her eyes get even bigger as he trailed a finger lightly over one of the bruises on her face. A single tear fell from one of her eyes, and he wiped it away gently. "Don't ya worry, Ran-chan. I'll teach ya how ta fight."

And teach her he had, Gin thought with slight pride as he watched her leave her taicho after a few words, and face off against three who looked like women. Although he had taught her well, he watched the fight with concern. For it did not seem like she could win.

And the longer the fight went on, the more concerned he became. If Aizen realized that he was worried about her, however, everything he'd done would be for nothing.

Part 3: Kiss (First)

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Our first kiss won't be the last, our love's too deep to end that fast

And good things come to those who have to wait.

I believe it's only time that keeps us from the thing divine,

and when it's here you know I'm gonna say lay it on my lips!

from "First Kiss" by Mandy Moore

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Although his face showed nothing but it's normal bored smirk, inside Gin was getting more and more worried. She couldn't win this fight on her own, not… Gin was shocked when a reiatsu he'd never expected to feel again was suddenly beside Rangiku. He hadn't expected the owner of this reiatsu to still be alive, certainly hadn't expected her to join the fight.

And the fact that Hinamori-kun, who had been "made so she couldn't live without Aizen," was alive and fighting made him even more sure that Rangiku would do just fine without him.

For he'd done the exact opposite with the woman who loved him that Aizen had. His number one goal had been to make it so she could stand, and live, on her own.

No… that wasn't exactly right, Gin realized as he recalled her standing back to back with her taicho earlier, the same way she now stood with Hinamori. Their fight seemed to be paused for the moment while the three bitches they fought argued amongst themselves.

She had too many friends to ever have to stand alone - what he'd done was try to make sure she could stand without him.

Although he did miss the times when he'd been one of those friends who stood with her.

"Gin." Rangiku knelt beside his sleeping form, her heart beating too fast. "Gin, wake up." She whispered as she grabbed his shoulder and shook him.

Gin startled awake, hand grabbing for the wooden stick that was always beside his bed. His hand gripped it, yet he froze when he realized it was Rangiku beside him. She leaned down further, putting a hand over his mouth as she whispered in his ear, "I woke up, I wasn't sure why at first. But I heard them in the alley. There's at least five of them, I can feel them."

So could he, now that he was awake and aware.

"They tried the door, realized we had something jammed against it. They're trying to figure out how to get in." She breathed in his ear, innocent of how her closeness was affecting him.

Gin sat up, pushing her a little ways away from him so that he could think. There was nowhere to hide in the small house, and the only window opened into the alley not far from the door where the boys were plotting. There was a back door, the door into the yard, but if there were more of them back there…

His thoughts trailed off when she reached past him, gripping the second stout stick that lay beside his bed. The one she used when they trained together.

"You can't take five by yourself." She whispered, her eyes trailing over to the corner she slept in, where her clothes lay neatly folded beside her rumpled blanket. On top of them was the scrap of pink fabric he'd once wrapped around her, the fabric she'd turned into a scarf she always wore. It reminded her of the night he'd wrapped both it and his arms around her, and made her feel safe. That had been almost a year ago. "I remember everything you've taught me."

Gin considered the situation quickly, weighing in the determination in her eyes. He might be able to take five by himself, but if he failed…

"If they take me down, run." He said softly as he pushed his blanket away and gripped the stick he held with both hands.

"Somehow I don't think you'll be running if I fall." Rangiku replied as she gripped her own stick more firmly.

"Not the same." Gin replied. "I don't care if I die, but if you do…"

"But if you die who'll protect me?"

It wasn't said with cunning or anger, but with real fear behind it. Fear that Gin never wanted to hear in her voice. He nodded, and they both rose to face the door just as it began to shudder. The boys outside had obviously decided they didn't need to be subtle.

"It's not like when we're one on one." He said hurriedly even as he allowed her to step up beside him, noticing that even though her eyes showed fear she held the stick the way he'd taught her, angled to protect her body. Her feet were shoulder width apart, one slightly forward, her weight balanced on the balls of her feet so she could move quickly.

"We need to keep them separated, take them down as quickly as possible." She breathed, proving that she did indeed remember everything he'd taught her. "If they come all at once, go for knees, legs. Heads. Take them out of the fight till we have time to deal with them."

"Follow my lead." Gin said with a nod to show her that her words had been correct. The accent he'd been affecting for years because he liked it was completely forgotten. It had been forgotten the moment he woke and saw fear on her face, but it was only now that he noticed it. He didn't know if she'd noticed or not, but at the moment it didn't really matter. "I'll try to at least hurt them, make sure not more than one comes at you at a time. Watch my back. Don't let them surround me."

Rangiku nodded as she shifted her stick to her right hand, her left arm hanging loose at her side, ready to block, or to strike. Her voice was grim as she replied, "If I take down more than you, I want a present."

"If you take down more than me, you'll have earned it." Gin said just as grimly.

A sudden rise in her reiatsu pulled him out of his memories, and he watched as her fight began again. Although even with Hinamori at her side, he wasn't sure she could win.

His hand slid towards Shinso, and he wondered if he would be able to get out of the ring of fire the soutaicho had cast. Because if she died in this fight, then everything he'd done was pointless.

He knew her well enough to see the fear hiding behind the courage in her eyes, and even though part of him continued to watch the fight, the rest of his mind flew back to the past.

"I so deserve that present." Rangiku said with a smirk as the last of the bullies ran off into the night.

Two were still unconscious on the floor, and between the two of them they managed to drag them out onto the street. Not really caring what happened to them, they left them there, then worked in tandem as they closed and re-blocked the door, then picked up the small overturned table. Rangiku saw a glint on the floor as she moved, and moved closer to the window to pick up the silvery chain that lay beneath it.

"It must'a fallen off one of 'em." Gin commented, and when she didn't remark on the change in his accent he assumed she either hadn't noticed or didn't care.

"To the victor go the spoils." She quoted, her voice no longer low and intense as it had been before the fight.

She seemed almost happy, and as he continued to study her face he noted both pride and confidence on it. She had indeed been helpful, he realized. Not only had she not gotten in his way, but she'd kept him from being surrounded. One of the two unconscious boys they had dragged out had been knocked out by her, and as he ran through his memories of the fight he realized that there were at least two times where she had kept them from jumping him from behind.

"You did good, Ran-chan." He said quietly, moving towards the bucket of water they always kept in the corner. His throat was so dry.

"Th…thank you."

She said it softly, and as he raised the dipper from the bucket to drink he couldn't help but look back at her. She stood in the wash of moonlight from the window, looking more beautiful than anything he had ever seen. Her face was pinched in concentration as she studied the chain she'd found, and her skin still held a light sheen of sweat from the fight.

And when her face took on a peevish look the words left his mouth before he was even aware he'd thought them, "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

She froze. "What?"

Gin coughed. "I said, what's wrong, Ran-chan?"

Although her face flickered through several expressions he wasn't able to recognize, it finally settled into a slight smile in an otherwise blank face. It was what he called her 'happy mask,' and it was the face she wore when she didn't want him to know if something was bothering her.

Then that melted away as well, and a look of childish annoyance bloomed on her face. It was a look that perfectly fit her features, at least from what little Gin remembered from when he'd been human, but it was odd to see on the face of someone he knew had been in Rukangai for almost 19 years. The fact that she looked about 12 notwithstanding.

"There's no clasp. It must have broken. I want to wear it, but…" Rangiku mumbled, believing she must have heard him wrong the first time. She'd heard what she wanted to hear.

Because it was stupid to think that he thought of her the same way she did of him. He treated her like a little sister, and as she remembered having several older brothers when she was alive Rangiku knew exactly what she was talking about. Every once and a while she'd think she saw something else in his eyes when he looked at her, but he so rarely showed any emotion that it was difficult to tell. Sometimes it seemed like he didn't have emotions the way other people did.

Gin moved over to his corner of the room, and she heard the scraping of wood on wood as he shifted one of the boards in the wall of the house. When he came back to her, one hand was behind his back, and he wordlessly held out his other hand for the chain.

Rangiku dropped the chain into his hand, her head tilted in curiosity.

Gin turned his back on her as he studied the chain, noting that the clasp was indeed gone. But the end where it had ripped off still held a link larger than the rest of those on the chain, and was bent open. It should be just big enough to fit…

Gin opened the hand he had fisted, and looked at the large silver ring he held. He'd found it at least a dozen years ago and hadn't known what to do with it, but had kept it for some reason, even though he'd kept almost nothing else of the spoils he'd had access to over the years. Now he attached it to the large link at the end of the chain and used his fingers to press that link closed.

Turning back to Rangiku, he reached over her head to put the chain around her, then pulled the one end of it through the ring he'd attached. He continued to pull on the end of the chain until the ring was nestled in the hollow below her throat, and the chain trailed into the V-shape left by her yukata. "You'll have ta be careful, it might fall, but…"

Her hand caught his as he pulled it back, and she kept their hands linked as she adjusted the chain until she could see the ring when she glanced down. "It's beautiful."

"Well, ya said you wanted a present." Gin replied, his throat dry despite the water he'd just gulped. Her eyes shifted up from her new necklace when he spoke, and he found himself unable to look away from what he saw in them.

Gin forgot about everything. He forgot about the boys who had attacked them. He forgot about the whispers he'd been hearing on the streets that a couple of the Shinigami had been seen in the woods the other night doing strange things. He forgot about the fact that no one had ever liked him. He forgot about how lonely he always was.

For the moment, there was only Rangiku. Only the girl who looked at him with affection in her eyes. The girl whose lips were only inches from his. Without thought he leaned down slightly and laid his lips over hers.

Rangiku's breath hitched as he kissed her, but she didn't try to push him away. Instead, the hand that had been holding her own necklace turned tentatively and rose to rest on his shoulder.

Gin slid his arms around her, pulling her unresisting body flush with his as he deepened the kiss. It felt so right to hold her. To have her pressed against him.

And when he had to pull away to breath, he rested his head against her forehead. And seeing both arousal and confusion in her eyes, he managed to say, "I'm sorry. I… I shouldn't have done that. I… I forgot not to…"

Rangiku had only smiled that smile that lit up her entire face. "If I'd known that was what it would take, I would have put us in danger and then proceeded to kick ass months ago."

Gin was jerked roughly out of his memory as he felt the sudden drop in her reiatsu, and his heart stopped beating as her side was sliced open and she began to fall towards the ground.

TBC…

AN2: This is both an odd style of writing for me, as I rarely do memories in this way, as well as my first try at doing POV: Gin. (Not that I'm really writing him the way he's generally written though, lol) Also, one of the things that always bothers me in fiction is when I'm reading a memory that somehow has more than one perspective in it. As these are Gin's memories, he should not know what Rangiku is thinking or feeling. But I'm used to writing in 3rd person omniscient with a mix of kinda-first person, and I really wanted to play with Ran a bit more. Sorry if it seemed weird to anyone. If you didn't notice: I win! I made you care enough about the story that the technical details of writing didn't matter. Anyways…

Please, please, please, let me know what you think.