Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: We're getting close to the end now. Another time jump has occurred, and we're now two years into the future from where the story started, and one year after the previous two parts. (Oh, and those of you who have read No Warm Memories will recognize the opening scene of this chapter, but it was necessary to include it for those who have not read it before.)

With that in mind, I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on what story I should do next. The two main contenders in my mind are Ichigo/Orihime and Renji/Rukia. I can easily do either story next, and was wondering if people had a preference. A complete list of the stories I'm going to write is also on my profile, so if you prefer a story other than one of those let me know. Comments on this can be left in reviews for this story, or just drop me a PM.

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 14: When Dreams Shatter

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"And still I dreamed he'd come to me, that we would live the years together. But there are dreams that cannot be, and there are storms we cannot weather."

"I Dreamed a Dream" from the Les Miserables musical

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"It's still hard to believe that it's been two years since…" Rangiku let her comment trail off as she noticed a Jigokucho flying towards the center of the room. A moment later the voice of Kotetsu Kiyone filled the suddenly silent room.

"Urgent notice to all members of the Gotei Juusantai, multiple Gillain and at least two Adjuchas have been reported in Karakura Town, Japan. Divisions Four, Eleven, and Thirteen are ordered to report to their barracks and await their assignments. As all taicho and fukutaicho are currently together, expect these assignments to come very quickly. Again, multiple Gillian and…"

The room was suddenly in chaos. Rangiku noticed Ichigo fly in, and a moment later the humans vanished through a hurriedly opened gate.

"Order, order!" Yamamoto-soutaicho called out, "Now, as there are Adjuchas, I will need at least one taicho and fukutaicho…"

"I'm going."

Rangiku was unsurprised to hear the voice of her taicho, and her eyes caught Rukia's as they both called out, "We're going."

"You are no longer Juusanbantai." Kuchiki-taicho spoke to his sister. "The human world is no longer your concern."

Rukia glared at him. "Well then, Kuchiki-taicho…demote me."

Rangiku was already following her taicho towards the Senkaimon that had opened in the corner of the room. She spun around to face Byakuya as Rukia joined her in front of the gate. "I'll bring her home."

"Bring yourself home as well." He mouthed, and she saw heat flash through his eyes for a moment.

Rangiku smirked at him, nodded with a sassy twist of her head, then turned and ran through the gate, unsurprised when Renji fell in a step behind her.

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It was nearly midnight by the time Rangiku arrived back in Seireitei the second time. She'd been back briefly nearly an hour before, but then Hitsugaya had sent her back to Earth to let Ichigo and his family know that Karin had arrived safely in Soul Society, and that her memory was intact.

At least someone got a happy ending, got to openly be with the person they loved.

Her feet froze and her breath whooshed out. She almost heard the door she'd locked two years ago sliding open.

She was in love with Byakuya.

This wasn't really a revelation, she'd known for a few months less than two years that she could fall in love with him. She had mostly done so.

But she'd realized something as she was holding her crying taicho a few hours ago. As he cried over the death of the girl he loved, she'd realized that she would cry over Byakuya just as much.

She'd once thought that because she was afraid of being in love with him that she couldn't be. Because love was supposed to make you feel happy. But love could make you hurt too.

She'd also thought she couldn't be in love with him because she didn't want to be, because she knew it would be a disaster.

But over the past two years she'd realized that love wasn't like a new kimono. You couldn't try it on to see how it looked, and then discard it. You couldn't even just look at it on a mannequin and admire it, and then walk away. You didn't have a choice once you saw it.

Once you started to fall in love with someone, there was no going back.

Hitsugaya certainly hadn't chosen an easy relationship, but then again maybe he'd had as little choice in the matter as she had. You couldn't always choose who you fell in love with.

But after two years, she could admit to herself if no one else, she was growing tired of hiding. Especially since no one else was anymore. Almost all of her friends had paired off, and everyone was so happy for them. They all fit so well with the people they'd fallen in love with.

In some ways her and Byakuya didn't fit at all, though maybe some people would say that they were a clear case of opposites attract. Yet beneath the faces they showed the world they were more similar than anyone knew.

"Rangiku." A soft voice cut into her thoughts, and she noticed Byakuya standing in the shadow of a tree, right outside the Juubantai barracks she had been heading towards.

She looked around reflexively to make sure no one would see them talking, but the streets were empty and there were no lights on in the barracks. She headed over to him.

"Everything turned out alright?" Byakuya asked as she moved to stand beside him.

"Well, Ichigo's little sister Karin died, and it turns out that Hitsugaya has been dating her these past two years, so he brought her to Seireitei with all her memories intact, and at the moment they're probably cuddled up on his couch, rejoicing in the fact that they no longer have to hide their relationship." Rangiku summed up, adding the last in as close to a teasing tone as she could manage. Somehow it came out more sarcastic than anything else.

He reached out and brushed his hand over her cheek. "It was your idea to hide our relationship in the first place."

Rangiku sighed. "I know. I thought I would be okay with it, and I was for a long time. It was kinda fun sneaking around behind everyone's backs. But I wish I could walk down the street holding your hand. I wish I could talk to you without having to check and make sure nobody's around."

"Rangiku…" Byakuya whispered.

"And it…" Rangiku almost hadn't interrupted him, but now that she had started she couldn't seem to stop the words. "It was so nice waking up with you this morning. So nice to have fallen asleep with your arms around me."

He was silent for so long that she ran her fingers lightly over his cheek. "Byakuya?"

The mask that had started to rise again dropped suddenly, and she could see the emotions raging on his face. "Rangiku, come back to the mansion with me. Fall asleep in my arms."

Rangiku gasped, not understanding what he meant. "But if anyone sees me…"

"Let them see." Byakuya whispered as he leaned down to kiss her. "I don't know what the family will do, but I grow tired of this deception as well." His lips covered hers, a brief but warm kiss, and then he took her hand in his and tugged on it gently. "Come."

Not questioning the miracle that had just occurred, Rangiku grasped his hand tightly and walked beside him down the silent street.

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The next morning, a still mostly asleep Rangiku rolled over to cuddle into her lover, and encountered only empty blankets. Her eyes popped open, and it took her a second to remember that she was in the Kuchiki mansion.

Byakuya had walked hand in hand with her into the mansion, ignored the stares of guards and servants alike, taken her into his bedroom and locked the door behind them.

She rolled to her knees beside the futon, stretching her arms over her head as she glanced around the room. There was a yukata lying at the foot of the bed, and she slid it on with a yawn as she stood to wander around the room. It was Spartan, yet the simplicity of it drew her gaze to a single picture on the wall, a tranquil painting that made her think of Byakuya's meditation garden. As she approached the wall to get a better look at it, she heard voices coming from the room obviously next to this one.

Barely taking a second to debate the ethics of eavesdropping, she put her ear to the wall.

"Do you think I would dishonor myself by keeping Matsumoto as a lover? A mistress? You're wrong." Byakuya's voice held no emotion at all.

Rangiku stepped back from the wall rapidly as she heard the door open, and she managed to keep her face blank as a maid came in with a tray containing breakfast for two. Another was right on the first one's heels with a beautiful, and from the look of it antique, tea service.

"Where shall we set this up, Matsumoto-sama?" The first maid asked, her eyes on the ground in front of her.

"Um…just on the bedside table is fine." Rangiku said quickly, wanting them gone so she could continue to eavesdrop on the next room. She was surprised to see them at all, the one time she'd eaten here with Byakuya he had made it seem like he always had breakfast in the dining room, and considering they knew the family wouldn't be happy with the obvious conclusion that they were lovers she hadn't excepted to have breakfast delivered as if she was an honored guest.

The maids set up the trays quickly, and when they asked if they could do anything else for her she shook her head, grateful when they didn't insist on staying. She leaned back into the wall as soon as they left, and wished she hadn't.

"Don't you dare compare her to Hisana." Kuchiki's voice was flat, and to her it sounded angry. "The two of them are nothing alike. Hisana was quiet and gentle, the perfect wife."

Rangiku leaned away from the wall again, unable to stop the tears from pooling in her eyes. She crossed to the bed and sat down heavily, staring at the breakfast that should have been a celebration of the fact that they weren't hiding their relationship anymore. Instead it seemed now to be a last meal before they were no longer together.

It made his seemingly abrupt decision to take her home with him and stop hiding their relationship make perfect sense.

It was certainly an easy way for him to stop seeing her, she realized sadly. Take her home, have the family order him to stop seeing her, let them think they were the ones convincing him that she could never be the wife Hisana had been, and then let her go her merry way.

She had been able to tell for the past few months that he was growing more and more dissatisfied with their relationship, but after last night she'd told herself that he had simply becomes as tired of hiding it as she was.

The fear she had squashed, that he was merely growing tired of her, now roared up full force.

Quickly wiping the tears from her eyes as she heard the door to the other room slam open and then shut again, Rangiku leaned back on the bed, her eyes on the door.

Kuchiki-sama entered quietly, although his eyes immediately went from her to the tea set by the bed, and she thought she saw both fear and rage in his eyes before his face returned to its perfect mask. The one he hadn't worn around her in nearly two years.

"Unfortunately we do not have time for breakfast. I have many things I need to attend to this morning." He said in lieu of greeting her.

Rangiku rose to face him, putting a seductive smile on her face. "Surely we have time for something." She said as she got closer to him, sliding her hands up his chest.

He captured her hands in his own and stepped away.

Rangiku sighed, looking away from him because she knew she couldn't keep the pain and sadness off her face. "When should I return? I was thinking we could have dinner…"

"I will be very busy for the next several weeks." His voice was still quiet.

"Weeks?" Rangiku spun to face him, her face back under control. If she hadn't heard what went on in the other room, she would have been confused by his suddenly pushing her away, but she understood it completely.

His family had decided she was not suitable, which wasn't a surprise to her. They had both known that would happen, it was why they'd hidden for so long. The fact that he had said she didn't compare to his first wife had surprised her. She knew she was very different from Hisana, but it had seemed like he liked her for who she was. Apparently not. Or maybe he had in the beginning, but had just grown tired of her. "So what you're saying is its been fun, but don't bother coming back."

"Be reasonable, Matsumoto." Kuchiki-sama said with a blank face. "Surely you can agree that this has run it's course."

"It has?" Rangiku asked in a dangerously quiet voice.

"Come now." His voice was as expressionless as everything else about him. "Surely you did not expect this to last? I told you that my family wished me to remarry someone they felt worthy of me. You knew we were merely enjoying ourselves."

"I knew no such thing." Rangiku's own mask was back in place, showing nothing but slight amusement. She was so emotional that she failed to notice how he stressed a few words of what he said. "But I suppose that your opinion is the one that matters, isn't it Kuchiki-sama? But will you allow me to say one thing?"

Kuchiki-sama raised an eyebrow.

Rangiku glanced towards the wall, knowing his advisors might be eavesdropping on them as she had been doing a moment ago, then stepped a little closer to him and lowered her voice for his ears only. "It's true you never promised me anything, but I never pushed for it either. As much as I came to dislike having to hide our relationship, I understood the reasons. Until last night, I never asked you to make the relationship public, and I've never asked for marriage or anything like that. I understand that I can't really fit into your life. I could never be your perfect Hisana."

Kuchiki's mouth started to open, but she stopped him with a finger on his lips Whatever he had to say at the moment, she didn't want to hear. Then without a change in expression she slapped him across the cheek, and got to enjoy seeing his eyes widen in shock.

"But this wasn't casual for me." Rangiku said with a quiet rage. "I may have had no right to expect this to last, but I wanted it to. And you let me in way too much for me to believe it was just sex for you. I'm sorry I can't be who you want, but you could at least have had the decency to tell me the truth about why you're ending this. I won't make a scene, Byakuya, or go spreading rumors. But I'll always remember that I fell in love with a liar, and with a coward."

Rangiku spun on her heel, walking rapidly away from him. She walked through the house, the yard, and the gate with a blank face.

Then three things happened at once.

The sound of the gate latching behind her echoed in her head, her tears started to fall, and she took off running.

She didn't think about where she was going, just about getting there as quickly as possible so that no one would see the tears she couldn't stop from falling.

She didn't stop running until she was far from Seireitei, staring at an old apple tree. Still crying, she reached a shaking hand up to pluck a fruit from the tree, then collapsed at the base of it.

After a moment she reached a hand to the ground beside her, using a small burst of reiatsu to break a kido she'd cast two years ago.

Her tears started falling harder as the kido broke, and with a trembling hand she picked up the neatly folded haori and pulled it carefully into her lap, her fingers tracing absently over the three horizontal lines inside the chevron.

Several minutes passed before she spoke, her voice still rough from crying. "Do you remember when we'd sit here, eating apples and dreaming of being Shinigami? It seemed so far away…seemed like such a big dream. Two Rukongai street rats, trying to become the elite of Soul Society. But we made it, didn't we? I wonder if you knew that I never would have made it without you."

Her fingers continued to trace the three lines, over and over, and tears continued to fall down her cheeks. "Everything I ever did was so that I could stay near you. When you became a taicho, I was so happy for you. You'd finally made it; you'd reached your goal and gone as far as you wanted to go. I didn't realize until it was too late that it wasn't enough for you. I mean, I knew I wasn't enough for you, but…"

Her tears fell harder now, and she clutched the haori to her chest like a child would hug a favorite teddy bear. "Why am I never enough for the men I love? You and Byakuya are as different as night and day, and I wasn't enough for either of you."

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"Don't dream too far. Don't loose sight of who you are. Don't remember that rush of joy.

He could be that boy. But I'm not that girl."

Elphaba in "I'm Not That Girl," from the musical "Wicked"

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TBC…..

AN2: No one kill me just yet please, the next chapter will be from Byakuya's perspective and will explain things more clearly. Oh, and sorry if this kinda seems to have come out of no where, but I really didn't want to write several chapters worth of half fluff/half angst, where nothing happened but the stolen moments they had together and long scenes of solo introspection as each of them grew more unhappy about having to hide the relationship. I think I put in enough of Rangiku's thoughts here to make it not too sudden, and Byakuya's chapter will explain how he came to this conclusion at the same time as Rangiku did.