Thank you all for your reviews! I'm glad you liked the fight as much as I did. This story is officially my longest (in terms of word count) and most popular (in terms of reviews, favorites, and alerts) so I really want to thank you all for that. It means so much to me. Ok, on with happier things.

Hitsugaya awoke in a room in 4th squad. It was dark outside. He didn't know how long he had been out, but that wasn't his concern at the moment.

"Haruka!" he exclaimed. He tried to sit up, but found that he was still too weak to do so.

"Yes Onii-chan?" said a voice beside him. Hitsugaya turned his head to see Haruka sitting in a chair next to his bed. She was beaming at him.

"Haruka, are you alright?" Hitsugaya asked with concern, but Haruka waved away his question.

"I knew you would recover!" she said excitedly. "Karin said you would."

"Kurosaki?" Hitsugaya asked in disbelief. "She was here?" Haruka smiled softly.

"She saved your life Onii-chan. And mine. She appeared right after you blacked out and used her bankai to kill that weird man in about two seconds. Then she healed you on the spot and carried you back here." Hitsugaya was floored. Karin had a bankai? When did she get that? But that wasn't what shocked him the most.

"She saved me?" he asked, more to himself than to Haruka. "After everything she said to me? Why?" Haruka sighed and shook her head. Boys were so stupid sometimes.

"Because she loves you Onii-chan," she explained. "Trust me, I can tell." Hitsugaya was about to protest, to say that no, she was in love with some 4th squad member named Hanataro, when he heard the voice of the man in question sound just outside his door.

"Kurosaki-san!" Hanataro said breathlessly. "You're still here?" Hitsugaya held his breath. He heard a soft giggle.

"Hanataro-kun," Yuzu said sweetly, "we're dating now, so please call me Yuzu."

"You sound like Kurosaki-san," Hanataro mumbled and Yuzu giggled again.

"See, now that's just confusing. So it's Yuzu ok?"

"Alright then, Yuzu-san," Hanataro replied nervously. More giggles.

"I guess that will do for now," Yuzu said happily. Their voices became fainter and Hitsugaya could hear their footsteps echo down the hall.

"The letter was for Yuzu?" he thought and almost slapped himself. Of course it had been for Yuzu! Hanataro was shy, patient, and soft-spoken, everything Karin wasn't and Yuzu was. Yuzu and Hanataro were the perfect couple while Karin…well, she just couldn't stand people like him. Hitsugaya berated himself for letting jealousy overwhelm his sense of logic. Clearly if he had taken a moment to think about it, he would have seen how absurd his thought process had been. But if that was the case, he realized excitedly, then Karin wasn't actually attached to anyone! She was still his! But then he remembered that, despite having saved his life, she still wasn't speaking to him.

Haruka watched the multitude of emotions play across her brother's face and realized that he was having a very important internal conversation; one that she didn't need to be a part of.

"I'll let you go back to sleep now, Onii-chan," she said and stood to leave.

"I just slept all day!" he protested, but for some reason, he was still exhausted. Haruka smiled at him.

"Karin said that you needed to sleep to recover from all your blood loss. She said that if you woke up at all, it would only be for a few minutes. I'll come see you again tomorrow." She smiled again, then left the room. Hitsugaya wanted to process his thoughts a little longer, but weariness overcame him and he was asleep within minutes.

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

When Hitsugaya next opened his eyes, it was morning. Sunlight streamed in through the window and illuminated the soft white sheets on his bed. He felt much better than he had the night before. He turned his head and gasped. Sitting in the chair that Haruka had occupied the previous evening, was Karin. Her head rested on his bed, mere inches from his own. Her hair flowed over her face and onto his pillow, and there was a little drool forming at the corner of her mouth. Hitsugaya reached out his hand and lovingly drew her hair off her forehead and placed it behind her ear. He didn't know what she was doing there, but he didn't care. She was here, and that was enough.

Hitsugaya watched her sleep for a little while. Finally, she stirred and groaned.

"Yuzu, I don't want to wake up yet," she murmured, and the sound that came out of Hitsugaya's mouth was as close to laughter as it ever got.

"Sorry Kurosaki," he said amused, "but I'm not Yuzu." Karin bolted upright.

"Toushiro!" she exclaimed.

"Good morning," he replied, the smirk that was almost a smile spreading across his face. "You know, I'd ask you what you were doing in my room, but I can clearly see; drooling on my bed."

"I don't drool!" Karin said angrily, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. They stared at each other for several moments, then Karin lowered her eyes.

"Toushiro," she said seriously. "I'm so sorry. I was an idiot and I…"

"Don't," Hitsugaya stopped her. "You saved my life. And my sister's. That's apology enough." Karin still didn't raise her head.

"I was such a fool," she said painfully. "You're the most important person in my life and I pushed you away over something so stupid…"

"I thought I told you to stop," Hitsugaya replied. He put a hand on her chin to raise her head and saw tears glistening in her eyes.

"You aren't the only one who was guilty in that fight. I was too. We were both wrong. So stop," he said, staring at her sincerely. Karin nodded and smiled gratefully.

"Actually," Hitsugaya said, suddenly nervous. "There's something I want to tell you. When you weren't speaking to me, I realized something important. Something I guess I've known for a while but was too stubborn to admit. Karin, I…"

"Ok, now it's your turn to stop," Karin insisted, and Hitsugaya's eyes opened wide with surprise.

"Oh," he said, a flush appearing in his cheeks. "Forget it. I'm sorry I said anything…"

"I thought I told you to stop," Karin echoed his own words. "I didn't stop you because I don't want to hear it, I stopped you because I don't need to hear it." He looked at her expectantly.

"You're not a sap," she continued. "And I'm not either. So can we please skip all the mushy stuff and just get on with it?" Hitsugaya's face broke into a grin. Not an amused look of annoyance or a smirk just pretending; a real grin. He remembered exactly why he loved Karin so much. He closed his eyes and leaned forward.

And missed.

Karin burst out laughing as she felt Hitsugaya's lips brush across her cheek and land on her ear. She fell off her chair onto the floor, grabbing her stomach as she rolled around on her back, laughing so hard she thought her face might split in half. Hitsugaya was beet red.

"Oh, Toushiro," Karin stuttered, still howling with laughter. "You can kill a hundred hollows in one shot, run your squad with an iron fist, and bring Aizen Souske to his knees, but you can't manage to coordinate yourself enough to land a simple kiss!?"

"Shut up!" Hitsugaya mumbled, thoroughly embarrassed. "I've never kissed anyone before…" but he stopped midsentence. It was understandable as Karin had hoisted herself off the floor and straddled him in one fell swoop.

"I haven't either," she admitted with a grin. She closed the gap between them and this time, her aim was dead on. She pressed her lips to his and they both felt the rush as passion for each other flowed through them. Everything that had happened, their fight and misunderstandings, melted away as they wrapped their arms around each other and held on for dear life, their lips locked together in the sweetest battle either of them had ever been a part of.

After a while, they pulled apart, and Karin lay in the bed, snuggled up next to him, his arm wrapped protectively around her. This was exactly where she always wanted to be; as close to Hitsugaya as possible. In the midst of her bliss, Karin remembered something.

"Hey, Toushiro," she whispered.

"Hmm?" he asked softly.

"You called me Karin," she said playfully. Hitsugaya smiled and wondered vaguely if he would be doing that more often from now on.

"Yeah," he admitted. "I guess I did."

Aww, it's so sweet I'm getting zits. Anyway, as promised, this will not be the last chapter. There are way too many loose ends to tie up with the rest of the family, and besides, this story was so depressing for so long it deserves to be happy for a little while longer. I think there will be two more chapters after this one.

Also, to thank you, whoever ends up being the first reviewer, and thus this story's 100th reviewer, gets a one-shot from me (other people are welcome to submit ideas as well. Maybe they'll end up in the sequel!)