I'm sorry to everyone who has asked me to keep this story going, but this is going to be the last chapter. I just don't think I can take it anywhere else without ruining it. I'll just ask in advance, "please don't shoot me."
Karin was walking home from soccer practice when she stopped, smirked, turned to a nearby tree and called,
"Toush, you can't hide from me! Get down here!" Hitsugaya jumped from his branch and landed at her side.
"Still sharp as ever," he complimented.
"With your reiatsu?" she said incredulously. "Even Ichi-nii would have no trouble finding you. Now where's my kiss?" Hitsugaya smirked, then snaked his arms around her waist and kissed her. It still gave him a rush every single time he did it.
"Hey Karin," he said seriously when they broke apart. "I need to talk to you about something."
"Is it about your fight today?" she asked knowingly as they headed to the base of the tree and sat down. Karin may not be a shinigami anymore, but she would have to be an idiot not to notice the reiatsu bursts indicating that a major battle was taking place. Hitsugaya nodded.
"They're getting stronger. That Luppi Espada I fought should have died instantly with that attack, but he didn't. And we still can't locate Inoue Orihime. What I'm saying is…"
"You think you might have to leave soon," Karin answered for him. Hitsugaya nodded.
"We are in the middle of a war after all, and I am a taicho. I have my responsibilities in Soul Society and…"
"Stop Toush," Karin cut him off. "I get it. Probably better than anyone. You don't have to explain it to me. Go. Fight your war. Then, come back." Hitsugaya looked at her with grave eyes.
"That's just it, I don't know if I will come back. What if I die?" Karin started to laugh.
"You're hardly about too…"
"Don't overestimate my abilities Karin!" he interrupted her. "I'm at a serious disadvantage here. I honestly don't know if I'll survive."
"Wow, you've become rather confident in yourself," Karin said sarcastically.
"Cautious," he corrected her. "I know when I'm up against someone stronger than me, and this seems to be the case." They sat in silence for a few moments.
"So what are you going to do about it?" Karin asked finally.
"Train," Hitsugaya replied. "Get stronger so that I have a hope of winning this. And, I'm going to make a promise." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a gikongan and popped it into his mouth. Once he was in his shinigami form, he drew Hyourinmaru and held him out to Karin, exactly as she had done so many years ago.
"I'm going to swear to you on Hyourinmaru that I will survive the war and return to you," he said seriously, his face lined with conviction. Karin looked at him.
"Toush, is this really necessary…?"
"Yes," Hitsugaya stated firmly. "Yes it is." Karin wavered for a moment, then placed her hand next to his on the hilt.
"Then I accept your promise to me," she said sincerely, fully understanding how important this ceremony was. Hyourinmaru began to glow, a pale blue light that lit up the entire area around them. They heard thunder overhead, despite the fact that the day had been beautifully clear before that. A thin layer of ice crept its way out of the hilt and over their hands, freezing their skin to the sword. It remained that way for several moments, then splintered and cracked as Hyourinmaru's glow died down.
"We did it again," Karin said at last. "We made a promise no one is ever supposed to make."
"Yes," Hitsugaya affirmed. "But the last one was totally worth it." And with that, he leaned forwards and captured her lips in a passionate kiss.
oooooooooooooooo
It had been six months. Six months since Hitsugaya had made that promise to her. Six months since Ichigo, after coming home bloodied and bruised one night, disappeared without a trace. Karin knew they were off fighting the war, and the fact that she couldn't help out bothered her almost as much as their absence. But, despite her newfound memories, she was in a living body, and she wasn't a shinigami. So she was stuck in Karakura, without news, waiting. All she wanted now was for her loved ones to return, safe and sound.
It was evening and Karin was just getting ready for bed when she felt an incredibly powerful reiatsu outside. She gasped. She knew that reiatsu.
"Ichi-nii…" she whispered, rushing to her window sill and leaning out.
"Ichii-nii!" she cried, and her orange haired idiot of a brother looked up at her, still in his shinigami clothes.
"Yo, Karin, how is everything?" He jumped and Karin just barely managed to back up in time to let him sail in through her window.
"How have you…?" he began, but he was cut off by a powerful right hook to the jaw.
"How dare you disappear for so long without a word!?" Karin screeched. "Yuzu cried her eyes out every day and I had to go to sleep every night wondering if you were even still alive! How could you do that to us?!" Ichigo scratched his head awkwardly.
"Sorry Karin, but there wasn't exactly a mail box where we were." Karin was no less calm, but she had other questions to ask, and since beating Ichigo to a pulp would only hinder her interrogation, she refrained.
"So," she prompted. "Did you win?" Ichigo's face brightened up immediately.
"Yeah," he replied happily. "We won." Karin breathed a tremendous sigh of relief, but there was one thing that was bugging her even more.
"And, Toush, er…Hitsugaya taicho" she asked finally. "How is he?" The smile fell from Ichigo's face and Karin felt her heart drop right out of her body and through the floor.
"He and Aizen took each other out," Ichigo said finally. "Man, that kid was strong. I've never seen anything like it. Aizen didn't stand a chance. But the wounds that bastard inflicted were just too deep, and 4th squad was so taxed as it was…wait, how do you know Toushiro? I heard him and Rangiku-san talking about you a few times but the little brat wouldn't tell me anything. I don't know that I trust him around you. But I guess that's not really important anymore is it?" Karin's shock at hearing that was the only thing that kept her from bursting into tears. He was really gone. He hadn't kept his promise. He wasn't coming back.
"He uh, he actually wanted you to have something," Ichigo said awkwardly. "He told Rangiku-san right before he died, and because she couldn't leave Soul Society right now, she asked me to bring it to you. I don't know why on earth he wanted you to have it, but…" Ichigo reached behind his back and pulled out a sword. But it wasn't his zanpakto. It was Hyourinmaru.
"Rangiku-san ordered me to get this to you at all costs," Ichigo continued. "Although I can't for the life of me figure out what Toushiro thought you were going to do with it. You know, a shinigami's zanpakto is supposed to disappear when they die. No one could explain why Hyourinmaru didn't do the same…"
"Please Ichi-nii," Karin croaked. "Please, leave me alone for now." Ichigo gave her a puzzled look, then shrugged.
"Alright," he said. He gave her one last look of concern and confusion before disappearing out the window. Karin sat on her bed in a daze, staring at the sword she knew so well. And though she tried to fight it, the tears that had been threatening to fall finally leaked out.
"I hate you!" she told the sword as her tears dripped onto the sheath. "You come into my life, bring me all these complicated feelings and memories that I was living just fine without, steal my heart forever, and then die! I hate you!" Suddenly, anger overwhelmed her grief.
"I HATE YOU!" she screamed, throwing the sword out the window. The broken glass shattered all over her room, and as Karin huffed and puffed, she suddenly realized what she had done. Racing out of her room she ignored Yuzu's concerned look, ducked under her father's arm and bolted out the door. After a minute or two of searching, she found Hyourinmaru, stuck in a bush.
"I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely to the sword. "I just…miss him, that's all. But Toush promised me he would come back. I came back. So maybe, one day, he will too. And until that day comes, I'll wait for him. Because I love him. He waited for me. So now, I can do the same."
oooooooooooooooo
Thirty Years Later
Kurosaki Karin pushed away her completed paperwork and sighed. No matter how many years she did this for, she could never get used to all the office work. The dojo was where she really wanted to be. And Matsumoto was no help, as always.
After dying suddenly in a car crash at the age of eighteen, Kurosaki Karin had been welcomed back into the Gotei 13 immediately. With her memories intact from both her two previous lives, it was decided that she didn't have to waste time going through the Shinigami Academy again. Besides, Soul Society was in desperate need of taichos, and Karin already had bankai. So she had finally taken up the mantle of 10th squad taicho, a position she had died for once already. Everyone thought it was fitting and Karin wasn't complaining; she liked Matsumoto, even though she couldn't possibly explain why. And although it was a little strange at first, since Matsumoto had once been her direct superior, things seemed to work out quite nicely between them.
Karin loved her life in Soul Society. The living world had been fine for a spell, but she really felt at home here in Seireitei. Heck, she could fight with a sword everyday! How amazing was that! The only regret she had about dying was that she had lost Hyourinmaru in the process. She had asked Ichigo about him when he came to visit, but Ichigo insisted that the sword had disappeared upon Karin's death.
Karin sighed. She had to take Kiyone shopping for her wedding dress that afternoon. Again. No matter how many times Karin told her that she was not the right person for the job, and that Sentaro would be much happier if she showed up in her underwear instead of a dress, Kiyone was adamant. She wanted Karin's help as she tromped from store to store, day after day, and there was nothing Karin could do about it. Downing her last bit of tea, Karin picked up Kamikaze and stood to go. But she was thwarted in her desire to leave the office when her hyperactive fukutaicho burst through the door.
"Taicho!" she sang cheerily.
"You're late Rangiku-san," Karin said with a smirk. "I already finished the paperwork." Matsumoto pouted.
"Oh, that's really a shame!" she said without conviction and Karin chuckled.
"Hey taicho," Matsumoto chimed. "Have you seen that Academy student? The one they're saying is taicho class after his first year?" Karin shook her head.
"I've heard rumors, but that's all. Frankly, I'm not sure I believe them."
"Well, I just saw him for the first time myself," Matsumoto continued. "Handsome young man. White hair, green eyes, and they say his zanpakto is an ice dragon. You don't think…" but Karin was already gone. Matsumoto smiled happily.
"If Hitsugaya taicho thinks he's getting his squad back once his memories have returned, he's got another thing coming. Karin taicho will fight him to the death over it. Although, that might be fun to watch."
oooooooooooooooooo
Sometimes, there is a friendship so strong, it lasts multiple lifetimes. Sometimes, there is a love so powerful, it traverses universes. What happens to a shinigami when he dies? Can you really die again? Wasn't he dead to begin with? Is there a Soul Society for those that die in Soul Society? Or is life a never ending wheel, destined to revolve for all eternity, recycling dead souls into new bodies, with a new life, a new face, a new name? We may never know the answers these profound questions. They are beyond the realm of human comprehension. But two lovers, who persevered though time, distance, and death, to finally reach their happily ever after, may begin to provide us with some insight.
The End (Sigh)
I've got to admit, this chapter came out of nowhere. I sat down to write your standard, 10 years later kind of thing with flowers and bunnies (not exactly, but you know the kind of sap I mean) and an over protective Ichigo, but for some reason, this came out instead. I can't believe I killed Hitsugaya, I never in a million years pictured myself doing something sacrilegious like that, but in this case, I think it actually worked. I mean, he came back right?
Anyway, thank you all a thousand times for your love and support. This has been my most well received story, as well as being my longest, and I thank each and every one of you for keeping me going. This wasn't always the easiest story to write, but your amazing reviews made me grin so manically that I worked as hard as I could to make it meet your expectations. I hope I succeeded. Thank you again, I love you all!