Disclaimer: We've already been over this.

So They Thought

They all thought that Ichigo Kurosaki would be the one to kill Aizen Sosuke. Toshiro Hitsugaya even, after what that insane schemer had done to Momo Hinamori. Hell, for a while there were even some bets that Gin Ichimaru would turn the tables in the last moments and stab Aizen in the back.

At any other time, Shunsui might've laughed.

Now though, he didn't find the circumstances nearly so amusing.

He knew, just knew that something like this was going to happen. He should have known. He was old enough to know that you don't just ignore that uneasy feeling in the back of your mind, especially when your raw instincts have saved you enough over the years.

It just made everything so much worse.

He felt it before he saw it, and he knew even at that moment that he might be too late. Still, he pushed on through the battlefield, downing hollows, Arrancars, and whatever else got in his way as he went. There wasn't anything in the world that was going to stop him from going.

He had just been with Jushiro and watched Tousen fall.

He was worried for a minute because his old friend had started to cough violently, the tremors shaking his body. He hadn't interfered in the fight though, as he promised Juu that he wouldn't. His friend had pulled through in the end with the aid of Sogyo no Kotowari's bankai, and Shunsui hadn't been that relieved in a long time. Then again, that was before he felt it.

Jushiro's bankai had taken a lot out of him however, so he was forced to join Retsu and some of the rest of Division four near the wounded. There wouldn't be much more fighting for him. Shunsui himself had brought him there, so his oldest friend was there to bare witness to the look that passed over his face when the energy first sang to him.

With a look of understanding, Jushiro nodded and he fled the scene.

---

The place was painted red everywhere he looked. He didn't want to think of all the soul reapers that would not be returning home with them because he didn't know if anyone was even going to survive. The war had heightened from light skirmishes to an all-out bloodbath, and until today, Shunsui knew enough to tell when they were losing.

There was no lose the battle-win the war philosophy out here. There was just one battle now, and whoever came out on top would be the ultimate victor.

It was in the event of the tide of battle turning against them that the Captain Commander had decided to pull all those that had stayed behind in Soul Society out to the front lines. There were only a few unranked Shinigami that had stayed still to defend Seireitei and Rukongai if need be. The rest were now here.

There was a rumor going around that the Commander himself was going to the palace to oversee it's defense, just in case. Everyone knew the forefront of the battle was here, but it wasn't a bad idea to be prepared.

Still, Shunsui wanted to scowl, and if he wasn't so preoccupied, he would have. There was a reason why some had stayed behind, and it irked him that so many more were being thrust into a battle they were not ready for.

There. That pulsing energy had flared up again. One reiatsu that would never leave the imprint in his mind. One that he would rather not have here, among the blood, the death, the sorrow.

Nanao.

Her reiatsu flared up again, and with it his heart. Another energy clashed with hers, and Shunsui was sent into an inner panic attack as he raced towards the source. He knew what she was doing here, so he wouldn't say that he didn't, but he didn't have to like it. They had always fought back to back, and the fact that he wasn't now guarding hers was enough to send a painful shock through him.

A flare of kido exploded near him, and he caught a flash of white as he flew by. Toshiro met his eyes for a brief moment as he looked, and Shunsui didn't miss the sympathy in his eyes. The frosty captain himself was fighting alongside Momo, who had recently joined the ranks just as Nanao had. He knew that both of them were masters in the demon arts, but they shouldn't be here.

He didn't know how stable the girl was at the moment, but he figured as long as Toshiro was with her that she'd be just fine. If she went to him or if he went to her, he didn't know. He supposed it didn't really matter though, as long as they were both there. Those two had a long history. A bit like Gin and Rangiku, who he knew the latter and gone and sought out the former a short time ago.

Even like he and his Nanao-chan…

He didn't have much time to dwell longer on that thought, for in another instant they were out of sight and pushed from his mind. He could feel the Kurosaki boy clashing with someone in the distance over to his left, but he didn't bother to seek him out. There were more important things happening. Besides, he was sure the kid would be perfectly fine.

---

He passed more comrades as he rushed, thanking whatever other entity there was out there that some of them had made it this far. For how much longer they would last…it was anyone's call.

He saw twin blurs ahead, and in a second of stillness he caught sight of both Soi Fon and Yoruichi in Shunko form, taking down opponents left and right. He always thought that the two were rather alike. Slightly behind them, he also spotted the tell-tale striped green and white hat of Kisuke Urahara, Benihime slashing her way through opponents like paper. That surprised him for a bit, but then again, he knew the man must feel some guilt for what was happening around them.

If only, if only, if only.

Then, there was laughter as he neared his target, and he was shocked to a halt for just a moment at the scene before him. With his coat flapping in the gusts that he had just created, there stood Aizen. There was a wild look in his eyes as he summoned another whirlwind, reminding Shunsui of a berserker. His free hand glowed with the deadly energy as his other held Kyoka Suigetsu.

His eyes followed the mini maelstrom towards it's target, only to have it dissipate in a flash as another reiatsu countered it. When it had cleared, his eyes fell upon the worn form of his Nanao-chan. Her hair had fallen out and her uniform was rumpled and torn in too many places to count. He could still see her lieutenant's badge from here though, and it miraculously didn't have a scratch on it, like it was a symbol of her valiance.

Her glasses were gone with her hairclip, and he found that she really didn't need them to see. He saw the fire behind her eyes, one that she used to keep hidden behind panes of glass. He could feel the increase in her power, and he wondered how long she had used restrictors on herself. As far as he knew, she had glasses since she had came to the Eighth. Perhaps her power had been too rampant as a child.

He wasn't moving towards them yet, as everything was happening so fast. His thoughts, their actions, the ups and downs of power. He couldn't help but feel a little pride as he watched her hold her own against the enemy of all Soul Society. Then his spirits plummeted, knowing that a master she may be, but invincible she wasn't.

The worst of his fears was confirmed right before his eyes.

Aizen had switched to his zanpakuto and charged her, and she barely brought hers up in time to defend. She was no slouch with it, but she favored it less than her kido. Shunsui dislodged himself from the spell he seemed to be under to get closer. Even if his flash was one of the best, he still knew that by the way she was struggling to keep up that he wasn't going to make it.

Then it happened, and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it.

She allowed for a small opening. He knew it wasn't on purpose because his critical lieutenant would have made sure there were no errors had she been in her normal state. It only took a fraction of a second for Kyoka Suigetsu to slam through her middle, taking Shunsui's breath along with hers.

He was still closing in on them as he watched her gasp and still, taking a look over Aizen's shoulder. He could've swore that she smiled for a moment as their eyes met before Aizen took a backwards step and let her slide slowly off his blade. She fell to a heap on the ground and moved no more.

Shunsui briefly wondered if this was how Toshiro had felt when he watched the madman do the same to Momo. This emptiness. The pain that rippled through him in waves. The all-consuming rage he felt. He wondered if Rangiku felt the same as he watched her run her blade through her former love, watched the tears roll down her cheeks as she did so.

Aizen turned slightly then, taking notice of where she had looked before she fell. He caught sight of the advancing captain and grinned, enjoying every moment of his torture.

Something inside Shunsui snapped then, and what happened next was a blur.

He didn't need to call out Katen Kyokotsu into it's released state, either that or he didn't' remember. All he knew was that he could feel the surging wind around him and for once in his life he let the bottled aguish and rage consume him in battle.

Bankai.

His zanpakuto and he were one being, both lamenting on their fallen lieutenant.

He knew he loved her. There was never a doubt.

---

When he next came to, Aizen's body lay a short way off. Dead.

None of that mattered though. Only his Nanao-chan. He was next to her in an instant, looking for any signs of life within her. He had almost gave in to despair when he felt a tiny flicker of her reiatsu in response to his being so near.

He brushed the hair away from her unhidden eyes as she painfully and slowly opened them enough to see him. She tried to smile slightly, and he couldn't help the small one that graced his face in answer, no matter how broken it was.

"Nanao-chan." He murmured quietly, as if any sudden movement or loud noise would sever the thin string tying her to life. He brought the hand that was brushing through her hair down to cup her cheek, thinking how not funny it was that she wasn't batting him away like she used to.

"S..Shunsui." She reached up slowly to hold his cheek in her own palm, and at the sweet notion he couldn't hold back the choked laugh that came though for a second as a tear rolled down his face and onto her hand. He had not shed tears in too many years to count.

It hurt.

It just hurt. It hurt knowing that she was only saying his name like that because they were in this moment. It hurt that he wasn't fast enough to stop the sword that pierced her. It hurt that he wasn't strong enough for them not to need their reserve soldiers, that she had to come here because he wasn't good enough.

And it hurt much more than any pain he felt because of Lisa. Of that much he was absolutely certain.

He was faintly aware that he was saying he was sorry over and over again, but only because Nanao had brought a finger to his lips to silence him. He had her head cradled in one of his larger ones, and he could only stare at her pained-but-smiling face, unaware of the increasing stream of moisture running from his eyes.

"Always…together."

At a different time, he might've twisted that into something suggestive. At the moment though, he knew she was talking about the battlefield and how they always watched together. He didn't know exactly why, but a small tremor ran through him at the thought. She couldn't have known that things would turn out this way, that she would be the catalyst to the start of the end of the war. Undoubtedly, when others realized Aizen had fallen, the rest would fall soon after.

"We will be, Nanao-chan, after this is all done and over with. After this you better believe that I'm not letting you go for anything." He stroked her cheek lightly as he responded, trying to convince her that he was serious. There would be no more running from him after this.

He watched as she moved her head slightly from side to side, a negative motion. He caught the glint of moisture forming at the corner of her eyes and brushed them away. He wouldn't think of what she was suggesting without words. He wouldn't.

Her own tears fell faster than he could wipe away then. He started to panic then, feeling some of the tenseness fall out from her muscles, and not in the good way. It was in the giving up way.

"Nanao, no. Don't you dare." He moved so he was better in her sight, made sure that her eyes were on him as he said it. She needed to know. She couldn't just quit.

"I love you, Nanao. For so long. So long." He clenched his eyes for a second before opening them again to look at her.

He knew by the look when he met her eyes that so did she. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. She was the most beautiful he had ever seen, even when she clipped her hair and hid behind clear frames. He loved her, and he couldn't just watch her go.

She caressed the side of his face one more time before he felt the strength leave it. The limb fell limply to her side after, and her eyes slowly slid shut. Everything seemed like it was in slow motion.

"Nanao!"

She didn't respond to him, and his panic grew. She shook her a bit, but he could no longer get anything for an answer.

"Nanao, get up! You can't just give you like that!"

He did something he hadn't done in a long time. He prayed. He told himself he would do anything to have her back in his arms as she should be. Anything to take all of this away. He wasn't a fool though. He knew all the groveling in the world wasn't going to bring her back.

His mind was being overloaded as his hysteria grew by the second. He continued to yell, not caring if his voice was too loud and too hoarse to be considered normal. He didn't care if a thousand of his enemies came closing in on him in that moment.

Nothing mattered.

He saw the darkness closing in around his eye sight as his body succumbed to the weariness and stress he was under. He fought it tooth and nail, clinging to Nanao, knowing that if he fell now, when he got up, if he got up, she would not be there.

The last picture in his mind was of a smiling face and beautiful indigo eyes. Then everything went dark.

---

The faint buzzing of machinery and the smell of antiseptic were the first things he was conscious of. Then there was a shuffling of people, and he was aware of someone standing over him. He peered one eye open, and met the worried ones of his best friend. Looking away for a moment, he noticed that he was indeed in Fourth.

"How are you feeling, Shun?" Jushiro spoke softly, knowing of some of the things he must be going through.

The other man just groaned in response, a murmured Nanao the only thing said.

It was obvious that Shunsui wasn't going to say anything if left like this, if the few minutes of silence between them was any indicator. Shunsui heard Jushiro sigh and made no motion to correct it. He felt a prickling behind his eyes again as the memories came back to him. He couldn't bring himself to care.

Jushiro must have noticed this because his next words caused him to pay attention.

"We found you curled next to Nanao, Shun. You wouldn't let go, even in your unconscious state. It was…" He sighed again.

"She's…" Shunsui couldn't bring himself to say it, as if the very words would make it more true than they already were. He watched Jushiro shake his head.

"No, Shun, you old fool. She's not dead."

Shunsui went absolutely still. He took one breath, then another, and another before looking up at his white-haired friend.

"Jushiro," He ground out unhappily. "If you're joking I swear on all that remains holy that I-"

"No. I'm not. If you can get up, Retsu said you could go see her. She's stable now."

He shot up much faster than any man in recovery should be able to, even if he had just passed out. He was sure there were enough scars to last him a lifetime. Still, that wasn't going to stop him. He looked over at Jushiro, and that same look of understanding passed through them as it did before.

It was him. They had followed him after he left. They had saved her. The silent news almost sent him into shock once again. He flashed him a look of eternal gratitude, which Jushiro just smiled at. Shunsui then disappeared from the room. Now that he was focused on it, he could faintly feel her.

The door was slid open rapidly, and he didn't bother to shut it as he stood shock still in the doorway, meeting her eyes.

There. She was there.

It took him no time at all to cross over to her and sweep her up in a kiss. He poured everything he had into it, his sorrow, his pride, his joy, his love. He was filled with an overwhelming elation as he felt her hands shifting up to his hair as she returned the gesture with just as much feeling.

He broke apart just long enough to take a good look at her. She was smiling again, with silent tears running down her face. The words he never thought he'd hear left her lips and he knew in that instant he could die a happy man.

"I love you too, Shunsui."

Then he kissed her again, and he didn't care who happened to be watching.

-Fin

I wanted to cry. I really did. But it gives me a headache, so I didn't. I couldn't end with a sad ending. I'm a sucker for happy ones. It was still a bit sad though. The only story I've made that can go under the Angst category. I know it's not SotS, but it wouldn't leave me alone. And if I dont leave like now, I'm going to be late for class. I'll let you decide if it was a waste of time.

Good, not good? Let me know.

--KG--