The Kido Corps had done it. The seal had taken effect. Everyone together had been enough to weaken Aizen. Kira dropped to his knees among the cheers of his comrades, exhausted. He turned to the hospital Squad 4 had set up, now bursting at the seems. He ran with the last of his strength to Akane, to his sister, to tell her it was over, that he was sorry, that he hadn't know, that if he had... Hope bloomed in his heart. Maybe they could live together as brother and sister again. Maybe they could just erase all of history and start a new...but when he reached her side, he knew in an instant that she was already dead. Her lips, curved in a slight smile, were blue, and the blood had stopped dripping from her wound. She could no longer hear his words of apology.
He stood beside Akane's grave, the dirt strewn with the fresh flowers he and his friends had brought. Hisagi stood beside him, silent. There was nothing he could say to help Kira, and he knew it. It was like Kira was losing family all over again, only this time he had been there, and could have stopped it.
Akane had been honored as a true Shinigami of Soul Society for her final act. Partly for Kira, and partly because the girl who had lost everything still had enough determination in her heart to fight against the monster that had tricked her. Kira wanted to tell his sister she was the reason Aizen was back in prison. He wanted to tell her so much, but he couldn't. A single tear slide down his cheek, the only sign of the ache in his heart. Shinigami didn't cry. Hisagi looked away so his friend wouldn't feel ashamed. Kira placed an old picture of their entire family on the grave. It had been the only thing he'd been able to find in their house. He'd kept it all these years, looking at every morning when he woke, and every night before he went to sleep. Now it was hers, the family she'd always wanted.
