But the seeming length of the time they've known each other doesn't change the slight feeling of relief, and maybe just a hint of pride, that swells in her chest when she sees he's still standing against the arrancar, just as stupidly brave and horribly cocksure as he had been when he stood against her brother the first time, the night she had been taken back to the Soul Society by her brother and his vice captain.
She still doesn't know, even after all this time, what compelled her to help him that night they first met. For all her talk of doing her duty, she knows that breaking the laws she was set up to protect is not part of that duty. She knows, had things not turned out the way they had, that she would have faced serious retribution for her crimes. And, at a certain point, she had been willing to accept that fact with a smile on her face.
But, Ichigo had known somehow, in that stupid way he always knew somehow without really knowing, that there had been some discontent in that acceptance, that hope to live that Ichimaru had wriggled free from her within her. And, with that passion he gave everything else that he believed in, he'd shown her that what she saw as ruining his life, he saw as a second chance, a way to protect his family in the way he could never protect the mother who had died in his stead.
She has to keep herself from smiling at the surprise on his face as she subjects Grimmjaw to the same treatment the other arrancar had received. It's just the same as when Ichigo saw her shikai for the first time. That jaw dropping just a bit, shock clear even despite the pain of Grimmjaw's blade.
She can't say how proud she is of him as she drops to her knees to use the same kidou she had used on Orihime so long ago. It's stupid, because here, when she should be so angry with him for abandoning his sisters and not going to that perverted merchant like he should have, she really isn't. It's just like before. It's always like before. Ichigo's so completely predictable about being unpredictable.
Just as she couldn't have predicted him breaking free of her kidou the night they first met, she still can't predict what he'll do. Whether it's going to these strangers for training or saving her from everything she's built herself up to be. The way he fumbles through life and somehow always comes out on top, the way he's driven himself to become more than just a boy with unnaturally high reiatsu, she can't help but feel a little proud. It's like seeing a kid grow up, only in this case it's a foul-mouthed idiot with no sense of self-preservation.
She doesn't need anniversaries to mark their time together. She doesn't need anything to help her remember those moments they shared. He reminds her of them every single second they're together. And, as the sound of ice cracking apart fills the air, she couldn't be prouder.