This one flows a little less than the previous, but... I still like it. I put all my heart into writing it too.

Anyway - happy birthday, Tropic! Um... It's a... late... present. But still. Here's for you ^^

For Tropicallight

To: Kuchiki Rukia, Kuchiki Estate, Seireitei

From: Abarai Renji, 6th Division Barracks, Seireitei

About: I wrote you a poem

Hey Rukia! Remember the pond song from when we were kids? I wrote you a poem about it. Here it is:

There was a song
Do you remember?
A song we sang
In the slums years ago

It warmed our chests
And warmed our hearts
It helped us hold
Through the wintery storm

And it went:

"There's a pond in the gardens
Outside of the house
You can't see it from here
But if you go at night
In the back by the wall
You'll see, it's a pond
Of silvery light..."

The song would keep us alive
When the lack of water and food
Turned us to twigs
Or dirt-covered ghosts

And we sang:

"There's a pond in the gardens
Outside of the house
You can't see it in daylight
But if you go at night
By the plum tree
You'll see a star rise
From a silvery sea..."

Years later we got our uniforms
And never again did we sing the song.
The two of us
Probably forgot.

Forgot that such a long time ago
We had needed a song to stay warm
And look like anything
But twigs and ghosts...

Then you were taken in
And we grew apart.
That's the point at which
We stopped saying 'we'.

I got taken into the Fifth,
Kicked out to the Eleventh,
And transferred to the Sixth
Without hearing from you.

All this until the day
I carried a stack of paperwork
To my Captain's residence
Just a few blocks away.

It was practically dark
And the Moon was clambering
Over the ten-foot wall
When I heard an angered yell...

So I slipped through the night
In the back by the wall
And to my surprise, saw a pond
Glittering in silvery light

Its surface shimmered
And a figure arose
A water lily on her head
Released Zanpakutou in hand
Complaining loudly
About slippery ice...

And so I sang:

"There's a pond in the gardens
Outside of the house
Where bunnies like to play
You can't see them right now
For they are on the Moon
Making mochi like they always seem to do...
But when they do come down
Don't look at them straight in the eye
For if you happen to make them frown
Their gaze will freeze you, so don't ever try..."

...Aaand that's where the poem ends, because seriously. I know I maybe shouldn't have sneaked up on you but you didn't need to throw that icy blast at me. It kinda broke the moment too.

Note: I don't mean to upset you, just take this as advice from someone who's known his Zanpakutou's name longer than you – don't ever practice in Captain Kuchiki's gardens. Sister or not, he'll still be upset if you mess stuff up.

Anyway, hope you liked the poem. See you for the mission tomorrow. Have a nice evening.

– Renji

Yeaaah... So... I actually got the term 'icy blast' from Elsa's "Let it go"... No comment