SS1: Canon, no deviations up until current arc, though filler arcs/episodes and movies are counted as canon.

SS2: Mostly canon; Ichigo and the other returned from Hueco Mundo before the war with Aizen started, and were there during the battle. Not so much of a massacre, and Ichigo goes on to become a doctor in the world of the living after losing his powers, disregarding the Fullbring arc and everything that comes afer.. ["Happy" ending type canon]

SS3: Mostly canon; Ichigo arrives late to the battle with Aizen, and nearly everyone is dead. Though they manage to defeat him, Ichigo is killed and becomes a shinigami while Soul Society falls apart around them due to how many Captains died, Yamamoto included. Disregards the Fullbring arc and everything that comes after.. ["Bad" ending type canon]

SS4: The unofficial "title" for those random one shots that don't fall into a continuum, or those that fall into a timeline all their own but not into one of the above mentioned Soul Societys. If a specific SS is not requested, this is where the request prompts will go. So, expect to see a lot of this one. :3

On that note, however, I've got a request to you, my readers. As you probably undoubtedly know, authors run on reviews, and working authors write stories. I'm no different, but don't mistake this as asking for reviews. What I'm asking for is prompts. Requests for things you'd like to see these two get into. I have a list of over 700 prompt words/sets to play off of, but I still run on your feedback/suggestions. So, please, don't this mondo wall get in the way of submitting a prompt. It will be loved and written no matter where it comes from. I promise. :3

Title: Wishes

Prompt: Paper Cranes; Ichigo hears about the tradition of paper crane folding and wonders to himself what someone would think is important enough to sit there folding 1000 cranes. He turns to Toushiro to get an explanation and wonders what the little captain would wish for.

SS2; in-relationship

Rangiku is the one to bring up the topic; Ichigo has come by for a visit on one of Toushiro's off days, but he can't find his boyfriend in any of his frequent haunts, and Rangiku takes pity on the substitute when she seems the utterly broken look in his eyes.

"He's in his quarters. Probably folding cranes, too." At his confused look, she smiles.

"It's a tradition. If you fold one thousand cranes, you can make a wish and it'll come true."

Despite his continued confusion, Ichigo thanks her and heads off to the Squad 10 barracks. Sure enough, Toushiro is seated at a small table in his sleeping quarters, folding squares of paper into intricate patterns. The tiny captain obviously knows Ichigo is just standing in the doorframe and watching him, but he doesn't say a word and they stay in that comfortable silence for a small amount of time until Ichigo steps into the room and sits to watch. The silence is broken for momentary greetings, but it returns not long after it leaves and Ichigo doesn't mind at all. He just moves slowly until Toushiro is sitting in his lap and he's got his arms wrapped around the tiny captain's middle with his head nestled in the snow white spikes he's so fond of ruffling. He watches for a while longer, taking note of all the complex folds and the small, half-healed paper cuts on Toushiro's fingers. Toushiro has taken wounds much worse than this, but for reasons that mean more than this. So Ichigo sighs, not understanding the reason for all this.

"What's worth folding all those cranes?"

He was speaking to himself more than to Toushiro, but the man in his arms just shakes his head, still folding the crane even as he subtly leans into Ichigo's embrace.

"A lot of things can be worth it, Kurosaki. Some wish for peace, or the health of a loved one. Others are more personal." Try as he may, Ichigo can't get Toushiro's wish out of the little captain and he lets the issue drop when Toushiro decides to teach him how to fold the cranes.

The next day, Orihime goes missing and Ichigo chases after her into Hueco Mundo. By the time he sees Toushiro again, things have been shot to hell and he's being forced to hand the tiny captain to a healer before charging after Aizen. He forgets all about cranes and wishes and hopes and peace during that fight, but when Rukia tells him the outcome of the battle, all he wants to do is rush to the Soul Society and hug his boyfriend with all his might and never let go.

But he can't. He's no longer a shinigami and he can't follow her back. He's trapped in his own tiny little world with an aching heart and hands that can't protect anymore. Hands that can't do anything but clench into fists late into the night, remembering holding a tiny body flush to his chest so the little captain could finally rest. For the next six years, Ichigo throws himself into his studies to become a doctor; even if he can't protect, he can heal. He eventually moves out of his father's house and into a flat nearby the hospital, a quiet little place that only his friends and some of his patients know about.

So when one day Ichigo opens his door and finds Toushiro standing there, paper cut hands and all, he can't help but stare. It's like time itself has stopped, and they both stare at one another for what feels like eternity. Toushiro is still as tiny as he always was, with eyes far too wise and tired for a man of his stature, but Ichigo is taller, older, and just maybe a little wiser. The moment is broken when Ichigo grins like a lunatic, sweeping Toushiro up into his arms and spinning him around with reckless abandon. The fact that Toushiro doesn't do much more than offer a token protest and instead wraps his arms around Ichigo's neck to hold on for all he's worth tells Ichigo that something is wrong, but he doesn't rightly care at that moment.

And it's not until after dinner that he actually even thinks to ask. It takes two cups of tea and threats to toss him in a hot bath to get an answer out of his little captain, but when he does, Ichigo is almost pleasantly surprised.

"A permanent station in Karakura. They want me out of the way for something."

Maybe it's just an excuse to get rid of him. Maybe it doesn't mean anything at all. But Ichigo really can't bring himself to care. Toushiro is in his arms again, and as he carries him up to bed, Ichigo is too ecstatic to care about anything else. They don't do anything but cuddle and just enjoy being together again that night, too warm and content despite the six year distance that lays between them to do anything other than sleep in each other's arms, but the night has to end eventually and Ichigo eventually wakes to see that Toushiro is already awake. The little captain is leaning up on one elbow, having reached over in the pale morning light to find the worn paper crane that Ichigo has kept there for the years since he was a reckless sixteen year old with a blade and a need to prove himself in one hand and the need to protect in the other. But none of that seems to matter anymore as Toushiro turns, feeling more than seeing that his boyfriend is awake, and he tilts his head to the side.

"You kept this?" Ichigo nods; of course Toushiro recognizes it. It's the first crane Ichigo ever folded under the captain's tutelage. He'd left it in Toushiro's quarters when he'd been called back to the World of the Living, but it had still found its way back to him.

"Yeah. Rangiku-san got it and gave to Rukia, who gave it to me. It got me started on making a wish." Toushiro blinks surprised teal eyes, before he smiles faintly and returns to his place against Ichigo's chest. They lay in a comfortable silence for a long while more before Toushiro speaks again.

"What did you wish for?"

"For this. To see you and hold you again." He hadn't spent sleepless nights just lying in bed; he'd studied and stuffed his head with knowledge, and then he'd folded cranes. In just over four years, he had enough to make his wish. So it had taken two more years for it to come true. He didn't care now, and as Toushiro smiles that smile he'd saved for only when he and Ichigo were alone, there's only one question left on his mind.

"What about you, Toushiro? What was your wish?"

"You."