The last he saw of Yhwach was that wicked smile surrounded by a fading reiatsu. His mind was blank, for a time. Then, once the gears really started turning again, they seemed to be on a loop of just four thoughts.
One. Yhwach knew his future, knew his future when he would be at his absolute happiest, and has promised that that would be the moment he would come back to take it all away.
Two. Rukia. Rukia made him happy. Well of course he had his family, and he had his friends, and they all made him happy, they were all important and he needed to protect them so that they could all be happy, too. But Rukia, she- she stopped the rain, she was his light, he thought maybe he loved her, she made him happiest. She was the most important. She was Rukia.
Three. She was a shinigami.
Four. He was still just a human.
He knew what he had to do, to defeat this final foe. To protect everyone. To make sure they were all happy.
And he felt like he would never taste happiness again.
