A/N: Finally it is here! My new story that I announced in 'Identity'. As I've said, this story is somewhat of a prequel and yet a sequel to it, but I think that it can be read alone. The timeline of this story is set prior to 'Identity'. Big thanks to Blacksilo for being my beta and editing my story! (The M rating is for the language and fighting in the later chapters.)

Disclaimer for the whole story: I don't own Bleach or anything, just my ideas.

Prologue

Rangiku awoke to the loud noises of a brawl downstairs, the inn she was currently resting in had very cheap prices. There was no actually problem with any price for her but it had become a habit for her to conserve money. She sometimes still had the urge to spend money on her whims but managed to restrain herself most of the times, as for the other times… They are better left to imagination.

Several bangs vibrated through the walls and Rangiku tiredly got up.

[What's going on…?] Rangiku hazily thought.

The crew she was with had just finished a raid the other day and was enjoying their short vacation here in Rukongai. She had gotten back to the inn very late after her shipmates had dragged her off to a bar.

Getting on a ship was pretty hard for women and the seamen were not always keen on hiring their female counterpart because it might bring disaster to the crew. Though there were several ships that did not adopt such policy these were more of the rare kind.

However for Rangiku, it was not too hard to get by; her figure did quite a bit of the job and her skills contributed to her reputation as well. 'Scarlet Goddess' as she was called. Why? Simply because she made men turn their heads when she passed by and cause their noses to bleed when she walked up to them. Large breasts and a curvaceous body – her alluring figure was even more accentuated by her dressing skills – it made it very hard for men not to fall for her. There were several times where she had been almost raped, had she not the strength to fight them off. Nowadays, men knew to keep their distance from the beauty and to not offend her.

Now after tiring herself out, Rangiku decided that she should be able to sleep as much as she wanted this time. She didn't want to sleep at the ship where the crew was going crazy and asked the captain to go ashore to sleep at an inn. She hadn't expected being woken up by the ruckus downstairs. Of course she could not complain since it was already past noon outside but she was still ticked off at the disturbance. She shook her head to free her sleep clouded mind and grabbed her stuff before walking out of her room to descend the stairs.

[There goes my beauty sleep…] Rangiku inwardly groaned.

Curiosity won her over in the end. She wanted to check out what was going on and –if needed– smack some sense into the people causing it. As the dining hall entered her view, what she witnessed surprised her in more ways than one. She halted her descent.

Below were a group of men going at a young woman with short black hair. The girl simply whipped out her sword's hilt and knocked the men down to the floor. She was being merciful by not slicing off their necks instead. Graceful swings brought down six men to the floor – unconscious – within a short span of time. But that was not the only thing that surprised Rangiku. To be more exact, it was the girl's face that surprised her. It seemed so unusually familiar. Rangiku trembled slightly as a name appeared in her mind.

"Momo…?" she uttered the name in a half-calling-out-way.

The young lady's head turned into Rangiku's direction.

"How do you know my name?" the girl scrunched her eyebrows together in thought, "Wait a second…"

Rangiku waited for the girl's response as she herself was not sure of the girl's identity. Suddenly the black haired girl's eyes brightened up.

"Rangiku…? Is that really you, Rangiku?!" the girl's voice jumped a pitch higher as she repeated Rangiku's name with joy.

Recognition spread in her eyes as a wide grin appears on her face before she stepped towards the stairs.

"My goodness, Momo!" Rangiku also beamed and rushed down the stairs to give the black haired girl a tight hug.

"Oh my god, Rangiku! I didn't expect to see you here of all places!" Momo cried out with glee as tears started to fall from her eyes.

"Shhh… Don't cry," Rangiku stroked Momo's head while holding back her own tears.

She let go of Momo and suggested, "Let's go my room and talk it out, 'kay?"

Momo nodded and followed the big busted girl.

#####

"I didn't expect to meet you here of all places," Momo shook her head as she wiped away her tears.

"I could say the same," hearing this caused Rangiku to giggle.

"Ah, I really miss the times we hung out together. I'm so happy to see you again," Momo sighed as she relived those memories in her mind.

"Yeah," Rangiku agreed, "Remember the time when we went shopping and saw that gorgeous dress? You stumbled after gawking at it and that super handsome guy caught you?"

Momo blushed at the memory.

"Rangiku! Stop that! That was a long time ago! We never got to know who he was and don't you have him already?"

Rangiku fell silent after that.

"Ah, I-I really sorry! I didn't mean to – I mean forget about it! I didn't say anything and you don't have to answer anything!" Momo panicked while seeing her old friend's smile and shoulders drop.

"It's fine," Rangiku reassured Momo, though she was saying it more to herself, "I haven't seen him for so long already….. I'm pretty sure that he has a girl already."

Rangiku's right hand wandered to her chest where a ring hanged upon on a golden necklace. She touched it, trailing her fingers along the round shape before letting go.

"But you've probably have it harder than me, huh?" Rangiku suddenly looked up, "You've been waiting and he hasn't been found after all this time. He was – no – is your first love, right?"

Sadness also entered Momo's eyes but turned into hope as she answered, "…There have been rumours about him reappearing again. Do you remember Prince Hyorinmaru?"

Rangiku thought about it for a moment before responding.

"Not really. His disappearance was a long time ago. I only met him a couple of times during the balls and dinners the adults held," Rangiku said and then something clicked in her mind, "Don't tell me that yer lookin for him?"

Momo nodded shyly at her old friend's question whose eyes widened in return.

[Right on the spot, eh?] Rangiku inwardly sighed.

"So who's the guy who looks like him?"

"The Captain of the Ice Ring."

"The Captain of the Ice Ring… Hmm. Well, the description may fit, but since I don't remember very well…." Rangiku nodded slowly as she spoke.

A short interval appeared in their conversation until Rangiku finished her musings.

"Fair 'nough," she stated, "How long?"

"How long?" Momo echoed.

"How long have you been doing this?"

Momo counted the days in her head.

"Two months."

"How much have you gathered?"

"Not much. They seem to zig zag over the sailing charts however they like."

"Right, they're pretty hard to catch or get a hold of. Suddenly they're here but the next thing ye know is 'poof' they're gone."

Rangiku nodded again and folded her arms together.

"Lemme help you out."

"Huh?" Momo dumbly replied, "How can you help me out?"

"I'm a pirate."

"What?!"

"That's why I said that I want t' help you out. I know that when my family was about to get slaughtered, your family helped us out. I know that you begged your parents to help us out. Your father told me. We were able to safely get away only 'cause o' you, so I want to return the favour."

"Eh?! It was supposed to be a secret!" Momo was shocked and whined, "Dad~!"

"No complainin' about it now darling," Rangiku patted her friend's hair who sulked.

"You know Rangiku, at first I didn't recognize you at all. You've changed so much, so why do I still look like this?!" Momo grumbled.

"Woah there, girl. Don't go all frustrated on me," Rangiku laughed.

"You are taller and you have a beautiful figure now! How many cups larger is that?!", Momo didn't stop criticising her glamorous strawberry-blonde friend who was starting to feel cornered, "The only thing that didn't change so much is your face and hair length!"

"Oh come on, Momo," Rangiku sighed, "You've changed as well. You've grown taller since I last saw you. Your hair's shorter. You're prettier. Your cup size… grew–"

"I heard that pause!"

"–and you have a beautiful body proportion for your height! You look like a doll! I really want to cuddle you!"

Rangiku pulled the younger girl into a tight embrace.

"Wah! Stop it!"

Momo couldn't shake Rangiku off and felt her whole body sway violently to the tall girl's turns – left and right.

When Rangiku let go, Momo fell back on the bed, exhausted and almost suffocated.

"Your bubbly personality did not change though. I'm glad," Momo gave a soft smile which her best friend returned.

"Have you eaten already?" Rangiku asked after a while.

"No."

"Wanna go grab lunch?" Rangiku suggests and stands up.

"Sure."

#####

"Ye know that you need t' get famous to have people's attention on you. Tis the basics," Rangiku lectured as she ate her potatoes, eggs and meat, "The Ice Ring's crew consists of only the best, I've heard. The captain seems to value quality."

Momo honestly nodded along and absorbed every bit of information as she ate her soup with bread.

"Are you famous, Rangiku?" Momo interrupted her friend.

"People call me Scarlet Goddess."

"...I can imagine why…"

"Now don't get depressed on me again Momo!"

"I got it, I got it," Momo replied weakly.

"…"

"…"

Thinking of something, Rangiku breaks the silence.

"Hey…" she says.

"Hm~?"

"Wanna team up with me?"

"Team up?"

"Yeah, team up as in becoming partners. You can get more famous that way. I've been building up my reputation for years."

Rangiku puts her hand on her chest proudly.

"Hmm," Momo sunk into deep thought as she contemplated her friend's offer.

It was unexpected help for the black haired young woman who had plunged into the dark side of the world head first. Although she had training in things like dealing with thugs or resist being swept up in the pace of others, and learnt all she could about seamanship and seafarers, still, her experience did not amount to much.

"Hey Momo, what were you doing before this?" Rangiku asked as the question suddenly popped up in her mind.

"I was a knight," Momo automatically answered.

"What?!", Rangiku shouted out in surprise and immediately lowered her voice before speaking again, "That job's tough. If you had to go through the hellish training I've only heard of, then you are more than prepared to face the stuff here, but given your past… I guess it isn't too new to you, is it?"

Momo gave a bitter laugh. Being a knight involved killing upon orders or giving the order to kill. A 'Knight' was an honorary title given to militarily accomplished soldiers on mounts. Compared to your average soldier of the kingdom, a knight had to be superior in the art of the sword and riding. They had to be proficient with lances and shields as well as have the ability to command and construct plans to bring victory. In addition, high class conduct and language were a must. The biggest part of it was still killing for your beliefs – killing without hesitation.

"Something like that may not be new but it's not something you get used to – just something that you learn to shut out."

"I guess you're right," Rangiku sighed as she thought of herself.

[It's not like I didn't go through that stuff as well… Killing people, huh? In this world you can't live without tainting your hands.]

A gloomy silence descended upon the two women as they finished up their lunch.

#####

Rangiku and Momo did not leave the dining hall and instead talked about what they missed out on after the separation. They made sure to keep their voices low but talked joyously anyway. While they were getting a little heated in their past exchange, Rangiku stopped suddenly. She finally noticed the surrounding people's whispers as she caught her name in one of the conversations.

[What are they saying?]

Rangiku decided to listen more intently while urging Momo to keep talking because she had stopped to give her an inquisitive look. Momo immediately caught onto what Rangiku was trying and continued to talk about random things.

"… might be a friend of hers, ye know?"

"Me thinks so too, but I've never seen Scarlet with 'er before."

"Ain't that the Ruby lass? That clip's it, right?"

"Tis a joke, surely–"

"Oh shut up! Who cares about that? S'it her or not?"

Rangiku heard snippets of conversations here and there, but she got the gist of it.

[At least it isn't about the police arriving.]

"D'you have a nickname as well?" Rangiku asked as she finally turned her attention back to Momo, "I mean, like how I get called Scarlet Goddess."

Momo realized that there was no need to worry from Rangiku's relaxed appearance.

"A shipmate called me Ruby Princess when I decided to get sword embedded with a ruby because it matched my ruby clip," Momo answered as she pointed to her hair clip keeping the hair from the left side away.

"Ruby Princess?"

Momo frowned a little as her friend said her nickname.

"What's wrong?" Rangiku was curious about Momo's reaction.

"It should not be like this, but the 'Princess'-part really tenses me up. I feel like I have just been discovered. It unnerves me."

A helpless smile wandered onto her face as she answered the question.

"Hmm…"

Rangiku decided move on to something different. After a while, she muttered, "Ruby and Scarlet..."

Momo's ears perked up at Rangiku's words who seemed to be pondering over something.

An idea popped into her head and the younger girl joked, "We should call each other Scarlet and Ruby as nicknames."

Momo did not expect an immediate reply from her friend.

"You're right, why not – but people already call me Scarlet too."

Momo's laugh halted, she didn't think that Rangiku would actually take it seriously.

"We might as well call each other that – since you need to keep your identity secret, right?" Rangiku raised an eyebrow.

Momo smirked, "Well, you won't let me call you 'Ran' because that's his privilege."

Rangiku's cheeks held a slight tinge of red as she huffed: "I don't recall saying that."

"If you say so~" the black haired girl tilted her head as she feigned accepting the other girl's answer.

"Momo!"

"Right, that's my name."

Rangiku pouted but before she could say anything more, because a voice interrupted them.

"Scarlet."

Rangiku recognized that voice.

"Captain Tousen!" Rangiku turned around to face the dark skinned man.

Momo curiously turned her head as well to see the person calling Rangiku.

"Have a seat," Rangiku offered and Captain Tousen sat down on the third chair between Rangiku and Momo, "What brings you here?"

"Jus felt like comin' ashore since there's none on deck," he answered and gestured towards Momo, "And who's this young lady?"

Rangiku's eyes wandered to Momo.

[How do I introduce Momo?]

As if understanding, Momo gave a slight shake of her head.

[I see.]

"Captain Tousen. Let me introduce you to an ol' friend of mine," Rangiku started, "This is Ruby. The one people call Ruby Princess."

"Ruby Princess… The girl from Kurosaki's ship? I see," the black haired man nodded his head.

"Do you know Captain Kurosaki?", Momo asked.

"He is a famous person but as a persons – not too much. I recently met him though an' he told me 'bout yer fearlessness and dangerous swords."

"I am not that praiseworthy Captain."

"Don't humble yerself Miss."

The dark skinned man gave a slight shake of the head to emphasize his words.

"Captain Tousen," Rangiku said to get the attention back, "Could you take her up on yer ship? She's alone right now."

"Hmm," the captain thought about it, "Well, I guess I can if ye can vouch for her?"

"I am confident in her skills Cap'n."

Captain Tousen looked towards Momo and she nodded for confirmation.

"Then welcome aboard the Benihiko."

A/N: I hope you liked it. I will probably put up a chapter each week, but I can't guarantee it. Feel free to give your thoughts on this chapter.