Characters: Aizen, Rangiku, Gin
Summary: She crouched over her dead lover's body like a shield as he approached. Spoilers for 416. AU.
Pairings: GinRan
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for Deicide arc; AU
Timeline: Deicide arc
Author's Note: As you'll probably gather by reading, this is an AU "what if"; specifically, what would have happened to Rangiku if Ichigo hadn't shown up when he had? I hope you all like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Thank you Gin, Aizen muses to himself, for giving me what was necessary to evolve—something to fear.

And thank you for being so gracious as to die, so there is nothing else left to fear.

Evolution is free to proceed unchecked. Evolution is free to be taken as far as Aizen wishes it to go—and he never wants it to stop. Aizen will take evolution on and on until worlds upon worlds become nothing more but playthings and all the mysteries of God are known to him.

And all he needed was for Gin to try to kill him. This is why he kept the boy on for so long, even knowing the truth of what lurked in Ichimaru Gin's heart, that he wanted to see him dead. There was never any hope—this much Aizen has always been certain of—that Gin would be able to kill him past a certain stage of evolution, but still, Gin would be able to help him, even when he was trying to hurt him.

It was all so simple, from the start.

Now, Gin is dead, out of the picture and no longer a threat, and Aizen is free, totally free, with the shadow cast away from him.

His eyes narrow as he stares beyond, drinking in the world with new, better eyes, eyes that can see further and more clearly than any Aizen has ever had before. There's just one more thing to take care of.

Tall, golden-haired Rangiku… Ah, she has been a thorn in Aizen's side for over a century, if only because of her relationship to Gin. Though she doesn't know it and likely never will now, she is what drove Gin to all of the lengths he has since gone. For her, he deserted Soul Society. For her, he has plotted and connived and cherished within his heart a desire to kill Aizen Sousuke for over a hundred years.

And, the strength of the bond between them is such that, when Rangiku showed up in Karakura Town, Aizen couldn't say he was surprised and he knew exactly why she had come. She had come for Gin.

All terribly romantic, but it provides a small, slight problem, one that Aizen will have no problem rectifying.

Rangiku has no greater chance of killing Aizen than Gin did, but the cycle of revenge has the potential to become so troublesome. Aizen can remember the long decades where he had to always be careful to make sure Gin didn't get him with Shinsou while his back was turned—at that point, Gin probably could have killed him. The solution is obvious.

Ice blue eyes meet his from across the rubble. She crouches over her dead lover's body like a shield as he approaches, zanpakuto in hand, as the blade rises, higher and higher, and catches the light of the sun in a brilliant nimbus of unforgiving light.

"This will only take a second," Aizen murmurs, and Rangiku says nothing, only braces her body for the blow.

He was right.

It only took a second.