Prompt: Christmas
Summary: Gin reflects on Las Noches
Genre: Romance/Angst
Characters: Gin, implied Rangiku
Pairings: Implied RanGin
Word Count: 200
A/N: Author takes requests :D ...and does not own Bleach.
Dead sharp wind blew bitterly against his skin. Grains of sand nipped at his eyes, attempting to penetrate the squinted lids as they squeezed tighter and tighter. This dead world, void of hope and life, reminded him of that place. The dry sun packed earth grinding his feet, the dust dancing in his mouth, the brown trees dotting the land.
It reminded him of Rukongai. The Hell within Heaven. But...
The stone clicked under his boots as he strode down the dark, unfeeling corridor, sleeves swaying smirkingly. Las Noches, with the snowy sand, the dead trees, and the dark skies was exactly like Rukongai at Christmas time. A Hell. But...
There was childish laughter, scraps of scrounged up gifts exchanged by the timid fire, smiles and hugs that echoed across and rebounded off the thin wooden walls. That small rickety shack was his salvation.
Their salvation.
So why, if Las Noches was so much like Rukongai, why was this place so cold? Why was this land of eternal Christmas time so empty? Silver hair tickled his cheek as he smiled.
There was no Heaven, after all. Only hell and salvation.
And this desert was purgatory.
There was no Christmas here.