Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, or any of the characters used in this fic. They all belong to Tite Kubo. I only own any original characters that I choose to include, as well as any original plot ideas.
Maelstrom
A/N: Alternate events; pre-Winter War; "Like fragile ice, anger passes away in time." - Ovid
It had snowed late that night and into the morning, waking her from her perch on the office sofa with a bright, white light. The sunrise was as cold as the blue gleam in her captain's eye.
"It's done, Matsumoto," he whispered, biting his lip. "There's nothing left."
For weeks, this had been his lone fear. That, one morning he'd wake to go see her, see Momo, and find a storm waiting for him. A storm that would never really go away.
He turned his back on her, silhouetted against the white world that peered through the window. The captain was smaller somehow, likely from late nights spent in the girl's room, talking her unconscious mind and body through the days and medical procedures. She'd seen it on his face each morning he came to the office. The hope that, the next time he visited, she'd open her eyes and speak to him again.
Pale hands hung limply at his sides, not at all with the anger she had envisioned to come on such a dreaded day. No words, no physical signs of the fury that she knew was there.
"We were supposed to go home together, Matsumoto. Like we always did. Once each season, we'd go home... to all thse old, familiar places."
Rangiku sat up, leaning over the arm of the sofa, chin resting on her hands. "What will you do now, Captain?"
"We'll go home together, of course." His hand moved slowly, fingers gently touching the frosted glass. "One last time."