Rangiku coughed, tasting more and more metallic crimson with each rasping breath. Haineko's blade lay shattered at her side, the hilt hung limply in her hand. She looked up at her attacker, the one who promised he'd never hurt her, watched her own blood drip agonizingly off of Shinso's blade, her own life force bleeding out before her eyes.

She had provoked the fight, they both knew that much. She's come to Hueco Mundo with the intention of defeating the Espada and bringing Aizen to justice, Gin was a memory always lurking just out of sight and out of mind, but undeniably there. But that all changed when she saw him. Her hurt and anguish tore through her reason and resolve, bringing a red haze to her vision, she wanted retribution for her heart break.

Gin had dodged her attacks, trying to talk some sense into her, "Easy Ran," He'd say, holding his hands up in surrender, "I don't wanna hurt ya, my fight's not with you."

But she couldn't let it go, she'd already instigated the conflict, it was too late to back down now. And then she'd made the fatal mistake: She landed a hit.

The stretched smile left his face, replaced by a frown, his eyes opened, revealing the red irises she'd seldom seen in all the years they'd known each other, "That was a mistake Ran. Ya shouldn't have done that…Shoot to kill…Shinso."

And then the fight was over, quicker than it had been started.

Rangiku felt the bite of steal as Shinso's blade pierced the tender flesh of her abdomen, slicing through vital organs and arteries with each pass. First her lungs, then stomach, liver, appendix, the only thing he spared was her heart, only she wished he hadn't, the pain she'd felt there had been overwhelming since the day he defected from the Soul Society, from her.

And now she lay on the sands of Las Noches, her blood turning the sand around her gritty, her vision fading in and out. Gin looked at her and sighed, his face contorting into that strained grin he wore so often, "Oh Ran…" He breathed as though exasperated.

He turned with a flourish of his robes, no longer able to bear the sight of her dying, one of the only people to take the time to see past his cynical smile and love him for who he was, if he could call it love, it wasn't an emotion he'd had much experience with during the centuries he'd been alive.

"Gin?" She called out, coughing violently.

"Gin!" She rasped when he didn't turn at first.

He stopped, unable to face her even now as she called out to him on the brink of death, "Yeah Ran?"

"I'm sorry if I've let you down…if I was the reason you had to leave."

Gin sighed, the smile fading from his features yet again, "It was never you Ran, don't think like that."

"Then why did you leave?" She asked, he could hear the strain as she fought to stay alive.

Looking back on his actions, he honestly couldn't say why he'd chosen to leave in the first place. He shook his head, "I just had tah, ya know?"

"No…I don't." She said weakly.

That made sense, neither did he.

He turned around to face her but it was too late, her eyes were glassed over, her chest still. Against his better judgment, Gin walked back over to her and closed her eyes, taking her beloved necklace and slipping it into his pocket, he'd wronged her in life, he wouldn't do the same in death.

"I wish I could'a held on just a little longer…" He said quietly.