Jeez, why is it I always seem to start my stories with someone remembering a dead person they loved? In Their Wings it was Fang thinking of Max, now I have Rangiku reminiscing about Gin. Even I think it's depressing…..*sigh…* Anyways, this first chapter is kind of like a tribute to Gin, who died, and Rangiku, who loved him…I dunno. I guess it's kinda like a lament or wutever. I wrote it because I love Bleach so I had to write some kind of fanfic for it, and the part where Gin dies was really sad, both in the anime and the manga, and altho I didn't cry I was really touched…and I wish he hadn't died…..
okay sorry. touchy-feely time over. crap. I don't get like this often…anyway, read on…
PS: for u ppl who watch the English subs/dubs, Shinigami = Death God = Soul Reaper, got it?
PPS: I know this chapter is kinda short, but I tend to be like that with all my first chapters, so just so you know my next chapters will be a lot longer, 'kay?
PPPS: I don't own Bleach, although that would be incredibly cool and I will someday, I swear.
PPPPS: if you want a SPOILER for the next chapters in this fanfic, read the words below in small print, if ya don't wanna spoiler, skip to chapter one. but lemme tell you, knowing the spoiler is WAAAAY worth it!
Okay, so, the spoiler: Gin isn't dead. I loved him too much to just kill him off so he comes back to life. Well, not comes back to life exactly, but basically you find out that he never really died, just…almost died. If ya wanna find out more, put me on AuthorAlert so you can read the next chapers!
Frozen Like Ice
Chapter 1: Won't Cry Anymore
In a training ground just out of Seireitei, with the sun just breaking over the edge of the horizon, Rangiku Matsumoto stood back in the shadow of the trees, watching a young white-haired boy with large, piercing ice-blue eyes train with his sword. White-blue waterfalls burst from the tip of his blade and curved through the air, then solidified into frozen cascades of ice that would hang there forever, slivers of the golden sunrise glittering in their cold cores, freezing this moment in eternity, until they were destroyed by their creator.
The boy sliced his sword through the air in front of him in a wide, graceful arc, and the icy columns shattered into millions of sparkling pale-blue crystal shards. They hung there for a moment, in the air, and then fell to the ground around him, slowly sinking into the dry, dusty earth of the training ground.
He really was skilled, she thought. They didn't call him a prodigy for nothing. He was so young, but already Captain of the Tenth Division. Her captain. Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro. She could still remember that day, over a hundred years ago, when she had found him, still unaware of his powers, confused and scared. He had come so far since then. So, so far. She was proud of him. He was like a little brother to her. Except a little brother who could act very serious and annoyingly mature sometimes, and who you teasingly flirted with and who could boss you around.
But he wasn't really a boy, of course. Not in human years, anyway. He had lived for a long time. He was just younger than the rest of them. Not to mention short…!
Now he slashed and cut in front of her at an invisible enemy, his eyes shining with determination and intense concentration. She knew that his fight with the Espada Halibel had left him painfully aware of his shortcomings, and now he was set on training and training until he made himself even more powerful than before.
The battle against Aizen and his army had had that effect on many of Soul Society's Shinigami. She knew for a fact that Renji and Hisagi were both training with their Zanpakuto somewhere right now, not to mention Captain Zaraki Kenpachi and Third Seat Madarame Ikkaku of the Eleventh Division, who were currently beating the crap out of each other right outside the door of their barracks. Well, actually those two probably didn't count, since they beat the crap out of whichever unfortunate person they could find on a regular basis.
All the same, everyone was busy doing something or other right now, whether it was training or paperwork or healing others' injuries from the battle or healing from their own injuries from the battle. Everyone had done their share in fighting to protect Karakura and Soul Society, and they were all helping out now, as Seireitei slowly recovered from the battering it had taken ever since all the trouble with Aizen and his Hollow army had started. Everyone had done their part, everyone except her. She had been totally useless.
For all her tough talking and acting, right from the beginning, when Gin had left with Aizen, she couldn't do a thing to stop him. Then right at the end, when Aizen and Gin had advanced into Karakura Town, she had been powerless to stop them. When they had gone after Ichigo's friends, she had been powerless to stop them. When Gin had pulled her away from the confrontation, she had been powerless to stop him. When he had knocked her out with Shinso, his Zanpakuto, she had been powerless to stop him. And when Aizen had killed Gin…she had been powerless to stop him from doing it.
Gin… He was the reason that she had ever had any joy in her childhood, he was the reason why she had ever become a Shinigami, he was the reason she was still alive. But he was dead. Dead, because he had tried to protect her, but when it was her turn, she hadn't been able to protect him. Dead…and it was her fault.
She remembered his face as he lay broken on the rocks, his life flowing out of him in streams of blood…The image would be burned like fire forever in her mind. God, Gin. If only you hadn't left. We could have had so much together. We could have had a world of our own… Oh, there was so much we still hadn't done, so much we still hadn't said. And now none of it will ever happen.
She never had been able to ask him, ask him truly, why he had done it. Why he had left her. Why he had betrayed them. Well, she had asked him, that last day that she saw him, but he had never answered her. Never helped her understand. He'd died before he'd had the chance.
But she forgave him. She forgave him for everything he'd ever done wrong, because all the things he had done for her counted so much more. She thought back to the time when they were still children, that day when it all first started. The beginning of their new life as Soul Reapers.
She stood in the snow, her bare feet numb with cold, watching Gin where he stood with his back to her. The bone-chilling wind blew her strawberry-blonde curls into her face, and made the ends of Gin's tattered black Shinigami cloak flutter about his thin body. "Gin! Where have you been, Gin? I thought you were killed… But those are Shinigami clothes! Where did you get them…?"
"I've decided, Rangiku." Gin's voice sounded slightly unsteady. Or was it just the wind snatching his voice away from her? "I'm going…to become a Shinigami."
She stared at the back of his head, wondering if she had really heard right or if it was just another cruel trick the world was playing on her.
"I'm going to become a Shinigami…and change the way things are." Gin finally turned his head, his blue, blue eyes staring into her silver-grey ones. There was blood on his face. Why was there blood on his face? And why were there tears in his eyes? Gin never cried… "I'll fix it…" Now there was definitely a quaver in his voice. "I'll do what it takes so you won't have to cry anymore, Rangiku."
Gin…
She had known when he was dying. Maybe because her ties with him went so deep, maybe because some part of her had always know it would happen. But whatever it was, she had known. Known when Aizen plunged his sword though Gin's chest, sealing his fate, destroying any last hope of his survival. She had felt it when it happened, like a treasured part of her heart, suddenly fading away… like a painful wrench in her soul…it was what had jerked her back into consciousness.
She ran then, ran as fast as she knew how. But when she got there, it was already too late. She remembered again the last thing he'd said to her, as she leaned over his battered body.
"Damn, Rangiku…it didn't work. In the end, I couldn't make them pay for what they did to you. I couldn't fix things for you. I screwed up. I'm sorry." His face was wet, but she couldn't tell if it was from his tears or hers. Maybe it was both.
Then, he had died. Just…left. She wondered how it could happen, how someone so full of life just a minute ago could suddenly cease to exist.
God, her heart felt frozen, like the waterfalls Hitsugaya shot from his Zanpakuto. Ice-cold with the horror and pain of Gin's death. It hurt so bad she felt like her heart would break. Shouldn't it, now that the only person holding it together was dead? She hoped it would break. She hoped it would shatter into a million broken pieces, so she could die and go wherever Gin had gone. She didn't care what happened…she just wanted to be with him again. Kira had told her that the pain would go away after a while. That she would learn to get over it and keep living her life. But she knew it wasn't true. She knew to the depths of her soul that her feelings for Gin would never change or dull over the years.
No, I'll never forget you, Ichimaru Gin. How could I? It would be like forgetting about my own soul. It would be like forgetting about the most important part of me. Damn, it WOULD be forgetting about the most important part of me. Because you're the most important part of me, Gin. You're the reason why I've come so far, done so much, and I only wish I could've done it all with you. And now it's too late, isn't it?
SPOILER ALERT! (BUT ONLY A SPOILER FOR THIS FANFIC…)
Sheah (For those of you who haven't read my story Their Wings, Sheah stands for She-who-must-not-be-named, aka. my annoying but awesome friend, not to be confused with Voldemort): Nope, actually it ain't too late sweetie. Ya see, because of the amazingness that is FireBankai7, Gin isn't d –
Me (aka. FireBankai7) *yelps and claps fuzzy black pillow (see Their Wings chapter 2) over Sheah's mouth*: What? You're not supposed to tell the whole goddamn secret to the whole goddamn world! Jeez, that's what I get for discussing my ideas with you…
Sheah *totally mortified and speaking through pillow*: Omigod I'm so so so sorry! I just couldn't help it! It was just so great and so amazing that I just had to tell them that Gin's a – *this time FireBankai7 slaps duct tape over Sheah's mouth, to be on the safe side*
Me *: Gosh, way to ruin it for everyone, girl. You just can't keep a secret can ya?
Sheah *nods mournfully under duct tape*: Mmm hmff…
Me: Aww Sheah, do you want me to take the duct tape off?
Sheah *again nods mournfully under duct tape*: Mmm hmff hmff…!
Me: Aww, okay then. I'll take the duct tape off Sheah if you all review, okay? So REVIEW AND SAVE SHEAH FROM ETERNAL MUTENESS.
Wait! Wait: IMPORTANT NOTICE! (I added this later on after I first posted it.)Guys I really need help here. See, for the next chaper I am totally stuck right now. I have absolutley NO inpiration and for you math freaks story minus inspiration equals NO UPDATES! so PLZ PLZ PLZ guys help me out here. Just give me a review or message with suggestions on it. I DONT CARE WHAT THE SUGGESTION ARE! ANYTHING IS HELPFUL! So, yeah, plz, if you hav any compassion...or even any urge to find out wut happens next in the story...GIVE ME SUGGESTIONS! thanks.
Oh yeah, and btw, that whole part thats italicized in this chapter about when Gin first became a Shinigami, I took the scene from the Bleach manga and added things in and stuff. I just had to say this in case some idiot reports me for plagiarizing or something. Jeez, you'd think ppl have better things to do these days...
