A/N: I do not own Bleach or anything of Bleach. But I'm sure you all new that already.

Hello, Goodbye, & Forever

By angelwings1

Chapter 1 – Graveyard Shift

There wasn't much to call the night unnatural. There was the usual blue moonlight drifting across the yard. A gray cat was tracking a mouse through the brush and a young couple was heading towards home after a small interlude at the local diner. There even was the neighborhood dealer looking for his next stash by the bus stop. It was a scene of simple nightlife on the twinkling city's outskirts. Normality at its best.

Yet, there was something in the air that hinted towards a disturbance to that normality. Maybe it was the way a chill ran up the couple's spines hurrying their steps. Or perhaps, it was the way the cat suddenly streaked off towards her owner's house, the opposite direction the mouse was running. Either way, there was a whisper in the chilling night that made the darkness all the more black and haunting.

A silhouette shifted from behind one of the trees and the night drew in a shrill breath. The shadowed figured slowly drew towards the overhead streetlight. The flickering light washed over the petite woman's pale face and shiny black hair, catching the shine in her locks. Her indigo eyes stared pass the wire fence, looking into the enclosed yard of headstones. Her face was tight with irritation.

She was definitely not part of the scene that played in the city's night. First, her clothes were all wrong for the twenty-second century. Her black kimono and hakama were a flashback from a handful of centuries backwards. Second, she had a sword tucked in her white obi—not the standard handgun. Third, her eyes that shined bright in the dim overhead light were too sharp for a girl of fourteen. Last and most important, most people weren't able to pass through fences as if they were passing through thin air.

Rukia passed soundlessly through the rows of headstones. Her purple eyes scanned her surroundings, almost daring someone to jump out at her. There didn't appear to be anything watching her from the shadows, but she could never be sure. Besides, if she got caught off her guard she would never hear the end of it. Her background never gave her room for flaws, especially with her relations to the living world and her shiny new badge tied around her left forearm. That's why she would hurry along, finish her shift, and get back to the Soul Society before anyone noticed her little detour to the graveyard.

Reaching the stone steps that would lead to the second level of graves, the Shinigami carefully checked over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being followed. Her eyes strayed to the couple disappearing into the nearby duplex. Her face momentarily softened before returning to its previous hardness. She bent her knees and pushed off from the concrete, soaring into the air. Her dark clothes fluttered and she looked like a bird sailing over the dozens of steps. When she lined up with the second level, her feet stretched down to hit the concrete. She took three footsteps, than repeated her previous motion of pushing off the ground and gliding over the next section of stairs. She played grasshopper all the way up to the fifth level.

When her feet landed on the second to last level, she allowed her weight to sink her back to the ground. She straightened slowly and scanned her new surroundings. The wind changed directions and blasted towards the petite teenager. Shockingly, her clothes and hair were unaffected. She scanned the row of graves, undisturbed by the breeze.

Her eyes focused on one of the headstones and immediately her feet heading down the pathway. Her fingers drifted to her sword handle as she sensed the spirit energy pulsing ahead of her. The spirit ribbon was familiar, but lately, there had been rumored hollows who had been able to copying spirit energy. Last week, a trio of lower level Shinigamis had been lured into a trap when they had been searching for a lost friend. They had been totally taken by surprised and the Soul Society had nearly lost another three students. Rukia personally didn't believe the spirit ribbon was a fake, but she didn't want to take a chance. She stayed on her toes, ready for what awaited around the hillside of stones.

Tentatively, she rounded the corner and studied the space that bore the soul signature. Her hand immediately dropped when she saw the lonely woman. The white strands streaking through her once rich, black crown and the evident wrinkles tugging at her scowling face were the visible evidence of seventy years long passed. Her sad eyes, however, spoke of something deeper than age. The way she clutched a worn black baseball cap or the way she stood so stiffly over a cluster of headstones, it all told of heartache only recently visited. No, it wasn't the setting that tipped off the shinigami who was attentive to detail. It was the fact that she knew the graves that sat in front of the elderly woman without even looking at the names carved in the stone. The spot was special to both of the women.

Rukia debated whether making herself known. She didn't want to disturb the woman's solace, but she was concerned. That's why she had crossed two cities to get to the graveyard. She knew the woman would be here, staring at the graves of her family.

Luckily, the shinigami's decision was made for her. The elderly woman head swiveled towards her and teary eyes focused on the short ebony clad soldier. There was a bit of recognition in her blurry eyes, but no warmth surfaced.

"Hi, Rukia," she mumbled dejectedly. She didn't sound happy to see her, but she also didn't sound like she was asking for the shinigami to leave.

The petite woman looked at her with a blank expression, "How are you, Karin?"

The elder's face turned back to the graves, "Lonely."

Her whimsical voice carried on the wind, sounding odd in the shinigami's ears. She shook her head to rid of the odd echo. Gradually, Rukia walked over to the woman. Karin stiffened slightly as she approached, but soon relaxed.

"You know you don't have to feel that way," Rukia reminded gently as she came alongside her. "You still get to see everyone. We haven't forgotten you."

"Being visited by someone and going visit someone are two different things," Karin replied bitterly. She shuffled nervously on her feet. "I know there are things going on that I can be a part of and I accept it. I just wish I didn't have to wait around for someone to come see me. I wish there was a way I could make the initial connection. I wish I could say 'I came by to see you', instead of waiting to hear it."

The other woman shamefully looked at her sandaled covered feet. It had been too long since her last visit. She shouldn't have waited two weeks after Yuzu's passing to check on Karin. Stupid Soul Society and it's paperwork for getting a pass to the living world. She should have done what Ichigo would have and came to see her without the proper legal documents. After all, she had broken the rules before. This should be another one of those times.

She knew she had a million excuses to explain why no one had visited her in the last weeks. Yuzu was still new to the Soul Society and learning the ropes. Isshin had tried to come by, but a low class soul didn't help getting through the red tape any faster. He had spent too long tracking down Yuzu to dedicate proper time to getting a one day pass.

And, poor Ichigio was swamped from the recent activity of the hollow faking soul ribbons. Not to forget to mention, he had been slacking in his paperwork so bad that he had an entire mountain range building inside of his office. With two captains breathing down his neck for effective results, the Captain of the Thirteen Division was having a very difficult time pulling away from the Soul Society unnoticed. Rukia haad watched helplessly as he was caught more than a dozen times with his foot halfway through the gate between realms.

Ichigio had been too stubborn to ask her to check up on his sister. He had believed his duty to see Karin first. He felt like he failed like to be the dependable older brother by sending his wife to console the lonely woman. Even so, Rukia had caught the worried glances he had given her whenever he got caught trying to see his sister. She knew the look when he wanted her to do something for him, but was too stubborn to say it. Rolling her eyes, she had silently obliged him, even though she had planned to see Karin even before he had mutely requested his wife's help.

It didn't make her feel any less guilty. Rukia couldn't even a muster a simply 'I'm sorry' because she knew it was too late. Maybe in the Soul Society she could get away with a simple apology because emotions were suppressed in the rank of Shinigamis, but in the living world things weren't so easy. Rukia knew it from her previous years of hiding out in the humans' community.

"I know there is no excuse I can give you," Rukia began gingerly. "If I was you, I would feel betrayed that no one—"

"No its okay, Rukia," Karin quickly interrupted, her tone no longer wavering. She faced her sister-in-law with a familiar expression of determination. "I understand that there is a great deal blocking everyone from coming to see me. It's a blessing in itself that I ever get to see any one of my love ones after they've passed away."

Rukia wasn't able to reply. She understood what the woman was saying, but she could tell it wasn't enough for Karin. She felt like she had been left behind. She had been the last in her family. Even her husband had passed a few years back. The only ones left were her and Yuzu's children and grandchildren. As the last one her age, Karin was feeling the press of solitude.

"Will it be soon?" Karin suddenly questioned with eyes back on the grave.

Rukia started, "When they visit? I know your husband, Jiro, was getting pretty close to getting his visitor's pass. He should be by in the next week."

"No," the woman shook her head. "When will it be my turn?"

Rukia's heart squeezed.

"When will I die?"

"You know I can't tell you," the petite soldier quietly replied. "Even we Shinigami have our limits. I only know of a few oracles in the Soul Society that can foresee anything useful. Besides, there is no way I could get away with telling you. Living in the living world and passing my powers to human is nothing in comparison of telling a human the future."

Rukia saw Karin's expression drop even lower. She exhaled deeply through her nose and added, "Even so, Karin, you should remember that the time in the living world is nothing when you have forever in the here after."

The elderly woman tensed and looked towards her dead sister-in-law. She studied her for several minutes before she spoke. "I remember that day."

Rukia was startled by the response. She blinked rapidly as a warm blush spread over her cold cheeks. A small smile pulled up the elderly woman's face, her wrinkles even more apparent. "He reminded so much like Romeo. I know it's hard to imagine Ichigio been anything close to that blubbering character, but even so, it was still amazing to hear him say he would wait for you."

A mirroring smile appeared on the other woman's face as she remembered that one fight. She had bluntly told her husband to stop pinning over her and get on with his life, especially his dating life. It had taken all her energy to tell him to act like the man he was suppose to be. She didn't want to see him with another woman on his arm. She had wanted to be at his side, but the harsh reality of his heartbeat versus her nonexistent one was hard to ignore. It was even harder to dismiss the rules of the Shinigami whenever there was an elder brother keeping watch. Yet, even when they could not deny the wall blocking their deepening relationship, Ichigio had refused to seek a substitute for her. He knew if he did, then any other chance for a relationship with her would be gone. How would he able to pursue her after death when he had his wife following him into the afterlife?

Rukia had blushed a million shades at his determination. It had been overwhelming to hear. As far as she knew, she knew of no one else in the Soul Society who had been offered such loyal devotion from a living soul. Okay, so maybe there weren't a lot of Shinigami associating with the living, but it was still an honor none the less. She thought for a time that he might not be able to endure the separation with her increasing duties to the society after she made Lieutenant, but her heart had swelled ten folds by the time he had reached fifty years old and he still hadn't gone on his first date.

"Yea," Rukia whispered, bashfully. "That was a big day for all of us."

Kira stepped closer and Rukia was forced to lift her chin to keep eye contact. The elderly woman placed a warm hand on the Shinigami's shoulder. Oddly, her hand didn't pass through the ghostly woman. Rukia knew it was because of their high spirit energy.

"Don't worry, Rukia. I'll be fine."

The grim reaper soldier replied, "Please excuse me, but I'm going to continue to worry."

Karin's smile finally reached her eyes, "Thanks anyway."

Rukia nodded and dug into her inner pocket. The elderly woman watched with curiosity as she waited. She blinked in confusing when the other woman finally pulled her hand out of her pocket and held out a small compact with a white smiling rabbit's face on the pink plastic. Karin's eyes darted between the compact and her sister-in-law. "What's this?"

"It's sort of a like a video phone to the Soul Society, complementary of Urahara," Rukia replied proudly. She stood up a little higher when she saw the woman immediately brightened. "This way, you can reach us whenever you want. You don't have to wait for us to visit."

Karin eagerly took the small compact and turned it over in her wrinkled hands. Rukia waited till she opened the compact and revealed the colorful buttons on the inside cover. "Each button reaches one of our own compacts."

"Which one is which?"

Rukia's eyes twinkled mischievously, "You'll just have to find out for yourself."

Karin closed the compact and did something she rarely ever did. She stepped over the last few feet separating them and hugged the petite woman.

"Thank you," the elderly lady gushed softly, marginally tightened her hold. "You can't imagine how much I appreciate this."

Rukia gently latched her arms around her and thought back to the many years that she had been separated from Ichigio while she was held up in the Soul Society. She had gripped her own compact as if it had been her lifeline. She knew exactly what it felt to be alone in a sea of people. "Oh, I have an idea."