Author's Note:
Hi all! It's good to be back with you again so soon!
This idea was nagging at me, and I just couldn't get it out of my head until I wrote it down, lol.
So, I want to be clear that I claim no ownership of the original story that this part finishes.
One of my favorite authors is CrazyAce'n'PokerFace, and I absolutely love their story collection 'Frozen Moments'. There is an intended ten-part series in it called the Silence series, with nine out of the ten parts posted. They (CrazyAce'n'PokerFace are siblings that work on their stories together) haven't updated it since 2013, and, while I still hold out hope that they will return to finish it one day (I have been following it independently since 2015, before I joined FF officially), I have decided to create my own ending to it for others to enjoy, and at least give some kind of closure, lol. I know this ending can't and won't replace what the original authors intended, but I hope you all still enjoy it, anyway. I have tried my best to replicate the original writing style, though I'm sure there will be some differences. I can already tell you that it will be longer than one of CrazyAce'n'PokerFace's chapters, since I tend to be long-winded, Lol.
CrazyAce'n'PokerFace: If you ever read this, I hope you like it, and feel that I've done your amazing story justice! Please come back to finish the series! We miss you!
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy my own version of Silence: Part ten!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. All credit goes to Tite Kubo. All credit for the Silence series and all OCs in the original story go to CrazyAce'n'PokerFace.
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x. reckoning
She is all of twenty-six when everything comes full-circle.
On the one-year anniversary of Toushirou's leaving, Rukia suddenly shows up at their door with a deep frown on her face, and worry in her eyes.
The young noble doesn't greet anyone. Instead, she heads straight for Ichigo and Isshin, and pulls them into the kitchen to talk to them alone.
An hour later, her brother and father tell her, Yuzu, and Orihime that they need to go back to Soul Society with Rukia, and they'll be back in a couple of days.
They don't tell the girls anything more before disappearing into the night, and leaving Karin with a tight knot in the pit of her stomach.
She spends the rest of the evening pacing around the living room, holding Haru, while Yuzu and Orihime try their best to calm her down.
It doesn't work, of course, but she's grateful that they're trying. "Look guys, I appreciate the effort, but you're really not helping. Something's wrong, and I know it's about Toush. Why didn't Ichi-nii tell me what's going on?"
She continues pacing as her sister and sister-in-law watch her with concerned expressions on their faces; while Sora sits on his mother's lap, and Yuzu holds Natsu. "Karin, I'm sure they had a good reason for not telling you. I know it's hard, but you just need to be patient, and wait it out."
She knows Yuzu is right, but that still doesn't stop dread from settling into her heart, and replacing the happiness and peace she'd finally found since Haru's birth.
Sighing, she turns to her remaining family. "I know, Yu…I know you're right. I just…I have a sinking feeling that something bad is happening."
Yuzu and Orihime exchange worried looks as she resumes her path back and forth on the carpet.
She continues pacing and thinking until late at night; long after Yuzu and Orihime give up on trying to distract her from her own anxiety. It's two in the morning when she finally decides to get some sleep.
A few hours later, she's woken up by a knock on her bedroom window, and her brother is staring at her through the glass; still in his Shinigami form.
Karin springs out of bed in a flurry, and flings the window open in a panic. "Ichi-nii? What the hell are you doing back already? Weren't you supposed to be gone for a couple of days?"
Ichigo is staring at her with enough sorrow and pity to shake her to her core. "I don't have time to explain right now, but I need you and Haru to come with me back to Soul Society. Please, Karin; it's important. " he says, as she nods wordlessly in response before rushing over to her bureau, grabbing some clothes, and praying to every god she can think of that the fear that's settled in her stomach isn't an indication of what awaits her in Soul Society.
She's dressed, ready to go, and at the front door with a still-sleeping Haru in five minutes flat.
Looking at her brother intensely as he opens up a senkaimon, she battles against her nerves, and asks him the question that's burning in her mind, "Ichi-nii, what the hell is going on? Why are you bringing me to Soul Society, and why does Haru need to come? That's probably the worst place for her to be, under the circumstances."
Ichigo doesn't respond right away; just guides her into the senkaimon, and walks with her down the corridor of the dangai until he feels she's calmed down enough to hear the whole story. Glancing over at her, he finds she's looking at him with an intensity he's never seen before; and he realizes that his sister is much stronger than even he realized.
So, he decides it's time she knew the truth.
Sighing, he turns his attention back to the corridor in front of him as he begins to speak. "This won't be easy for you to hear, Karin, so you need to prepare yourself."
Karin nods in reply; more than ready to finally have answers to what's been going on this past year.
Seeing her nod, Ichigo continues. "When Rukia told us that they were leaving for a year, and that everything would be just fine…she wasn't being honest with us. Toushirou told her not to tell us the truth of what was actually happening. Our friends tried for months to save him, but it didn't work, and he's been held in a high-security prison since he returned to Soul Society. Not only that, but the entire Gotei 13 has been placed under something similar to house arrest. Karin…" he trails off; closing his eyes with sorrow, because, as mad as he had been at the captain for what he did to his sister, now that he knew the truth, he was eternally grateful to the white-haired man for sacrificing himself to keep Karin safe.
Karin grabs his arm with her free hand, and squeezes it tightly; urging him to continue, because she's desperate now. She's desperate to find out what's happening to her best friend.
She watches as her brother takes a deep breath, and opens his eyes again as he speaks. "I never knew, but the punishment for a Shinigami loving a human is death…with his own sword, and by his own hands. Either that, or death to the human. Toushirou left, and went back to Soul Society, so he could take the punishment instead of you. He told Rukia he'd rather face whatever consequences there were, himself, than subject you to them. He told her that he didn't regret the choices he's made, and that he was determined to be the one who pays for them. Not you. Never you. He's trading his life for yours."
For the first time in months, Karin feels tears prickle at the edges of her eyes and run down her cheeks as her heart heals and shatters all over again, because she knows for sure now that he does love her, and he's still hers just as much as she is his. He's still putting her first, he's still suffering alone, and she might be on the brink of losing him forever because he was trying to protect her.
She grabs her brother's hand, and yanks him along at a fast clip; wanting to get through the dangai, and into Soul Society as quickly as possible. "What else, Ichi-nii? There has to be more."
Ichigo nods, even though she can't see it. "Yeah, there's more. Captain Ukitake thinks it's unlikely that the death penalty will be carried out, both because things have already changed so much since I came into the picture, and because Toushirou is an incredibly talented and powerful captain that they don't want to lose; but there's still a possibility. He's been on trial for two days, and Rukia's been attending to monitor how it goes. Long story short, it hasn't been going well, so she came to get me and Dad to see if we could improve the situation. The Central 46 and head captain Yamamoto are hearing final testimonies today before they pronounce a final verdict. This might be his last night he gets to spend alive, and I wanted you two to at least have the chance to reconcile before…well, before the worst potentially happens."
"And Haru?" she asks, because she still doesn't like the idea of bringing her daughter into what she's sure is a hostile environment. Yes, she'll have Ichigo and Goat-chin there, but that only makes her feel slightly better, given that there are hundreds of Shinigami awaiting them.
As they reach the end of the dangai, and cross over into Soul Society, Ichigo let's go of her hand, and reaches for his sword; making sure he's ready to defend his sister and niece, if necessary. "He deserves to see his daughter, at least once. He has a right to know, Karin…and I'm also hoping that maybe having her there will remind these monsters that there's more to life than their damned outdated, archaic rules. You don't have to worry, Dad and I will protect you both, and so will all of our friends. We've already made sure of that."
Karin nods in reply as she starts walking with her brother towards a large walled city, which she assumes is the Seireitei. She recognizes the place from some of Toushirou's stories. "Let's hope you're right, Ichi-nii."
Feeling nervous, but determined not to show it, Karin looks up at the large walls that surround the city, and mentally prepares herself to face the man that left her with nothing but a note, and a broken heart, a year ago – the man she'd been longing to see again ever since.
Ichigo sneaks them both into the city without too much difficulty, and they meet up with Isshin outside the Central 46's chambers.
Thankfully, Haru has been napping the entire time, and remained quiet in her mother's arms.
When Karin sees her father, she gives him a small hug, before looking at him with probing eyes filled with concern. "How's everything going in there?"
Isshin sighs, and crosses his arms over his chest, "Not good. I didn't think it would come to this, but Toushirou may get the death penalty, after all. Rukia thought that a testimony from me and Ichigo might sway them towards a more merciful decision, but nothing's worked so far. He's had so many people speak up for him, but that bunch is pretty stubborn. They won't relent easily. If he weren't a captain, and you two weren't more than friends, I'd be more optimistic, but they seem determined to make an example of him."
She nods somberly in response as Isshin puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, and Rukia joins them outside.
The noblewoman is surprised to see her, but there's a small smile on her face. "Karin, thank you so much for coming. I wasn't sure if you would, but you're probably his last hope now."
The knot in Karin's stomach gets tighter as the weight of the situation hits her full-force. She may be all that stands between the man she loves and death.
And, hell, she's not gonna let him die without a fight.
A new resolve that she's never experienced before emerges within her, and she's determined to give all of those miserable bastards a piece of her mind. It may not do any good, but, dammit, she's gonna have her say, nonetheless.
The crew manages to slip into the back of the room without attracting much attention, though some of the Shinigami are looking at the unfamiliar woman standing next to the substitute and former captain with suspicion; wondering who she is.
It's crowded in the building, with easily more than a hundred people present, so Karin hands Haru to Rukia, and pushes herself towards the front with Ichigo and Isshin in tow.
When she finally gets clear of the mass of people, and catches a glimpse of her best friend, it almost breaks her all over again.
Toushirou is standing in the middle of the room next to two big, burly guards; dressed in a dirty and torn white prisoner's robe. His hands and legs are shackled, and his wrists and ankles are raw and bloody from the metal restraints. He's thinner than she remembers, and he doesn't look up at any of them; keeping his gaze focused on the floor.
His eyes are dull, and emotionless, and it takes all of Karin's self-control to stop herself from crying again.
Now, she's furious. These jackasses are going to pay for this.
Since they were early, they wait for any and all remaining people to take the stand either in Toushirou's defense, or to criticize him.
All of their friends take the stand, and make sure he knows that they have his back, and that they don't think this is right.
They plead with the Central 46 to be merciful.
The bastards don't even look like they're listening to them.
Okay, now she's ready to murder someone…preferably them.
They stay the entire day, and Toushirou never once looks up at the crowd. He looks broken and resigned, and Karin can't stand to see her brave, strong, proud Toushirou like that.
Finally, the trial is coming to a close, and head captain Yamamoto asks if there is anyone else who would like to give a testimony before he and the Central 46 retire to consider their verdict.
Everyone in the room is surprised when a young, pretty, raven-haired girl walks over toward the stand, and crosses her arms over her chest as she faces the judges.
There's fire in her eyes, and the head captain raises a quizzical eyebrow at her. He doesn't recognize her, but he can tell she's human. "State your name."
Karin locks eyes with the old man, before looking back to the forty-six people seated behind him, glaring at all of them with a defiance that the head captain recognizes as a signature trait of the Kurosakis. "My name is Karin Kurosaki."
Toushirou's head snaps up faster than lightning as he stares at her with wide eyes, and a stunned expression.
What the hell did she think she was doing?! And who the hell brought her here in the first place?!
"Karin?! What the hell are you doing here?!" he asks, as fear for her safety completely encompasses him, and he tries to take a step towards her, before one of the guards grabs his shoulder to stop him.
Karin can see the panic in his eyes, but she smiles at him, and ignores the heavy stares of everyone else in the room. "Rule number two, Toush. We suffer together, remember?"
She holds his gaze, and all at once, the last year of pain, suffering, and separation fades away.
She can see it. It's as obvious to her now as it was the first time she recognized it.
The Look.
He still loves her. She still loves him. They're still best friends. They're still a team, and they're in this together.
He wants to cry, and run over to her, and kiss her, and hold her, and never let her go again; but because he's being restrained by these damn guards, he gives her what he can: he returns her smile with one of his own; filled with just as much love as he's always felt for her, and always will.
She revels in it for just a moment, before she's brought back to the situation at hand when Yamamoto slams his cane into the ground, and looks at her with anger in his eyes. "So, you are the human that has caused this situation? You're either very brave, or very stupid for coming here. How dare you show your face. The only reason you should be here is to take captain Hitsugaya's place for execution."
Karin glares back at the old man with enough ferocity to send any average person running away in sheer terror.
She may not have any Shinigami powers, but she has a presence and force about her that is extremely hard to find.
Yamamoto finds this interesting.
Very interesting.
Karin shifts her glare from the head captain to the Central 46 as she braces herself, and lets all of her pent-up anger, brokenness, and vitriol from the past year flow out in her words. "This is only a 'situation' because you bastards refuse to accept reality, and realize that things are changing. Hell, things have already changed so much that it makes this whole thing look like a sham! What you're doing is cruel, and wrong. No one should be punished for caring about someone else, and you hypocrites don't have a damn leg to stand on when it comes to 'non-interference', either. You were the ones who got my brother involved in this world in the first place, so you better damn well take the consequences of that! If it wasn't for him, there wouldn't still be a Soul Society, and all your heads would be on spikes around the Seiteitei. Toushirou's been a faithful and loyal captain of the Gotei 13 for more years than I've been alive, and yet you think you can lock him up, and treat him like an enemy all because he committed the great crime of falling in love with someone who wasn't one of you. That's absolute bullshit, and you all ought to be ashamed of yourselves! He's a better man than any of you could ever hope to be! He's always done his best for the Soul Society, and he's always put others before himself. He's the most trustworthy, dependable, and loyal person you'll ever have in your ranks, and you should be thankful to have him. Hell, with the way you've treated him this past year, you should be on your knees begging for his forgiveness! A word of advice: don't repay loyalty with betrayal. It's never ended well throughout the course of history, and it won't end well for you now, either. I'm only going to say this once, so listen very closely, you retards. Let. Him. Go. Or I promise, there will be consequences that will make you regret the very day you were born."
Her eyes flash with unsuppressed rage as the Central 46 looks back at her with deep scowls on their faces. They're definitely angry, but she's pissed off at them, and they're gonna know about it.
She's not afraid of them, either. She's spent far too much time feeling afraid this past year, and she's so done with it.
The entire room is quiet, before Ichigo, Isshin, and Rukia started clapping; with Matsumoto, Momo, and Renji joining in, before over half of the room erupts in applause.
Karin holds her gaze on the stone-faced group of leaders for a moment longer, before looking back at Toushirou.
That familiar hammering of her heart returns with at least twice the intensity it originally had.
He's looking at her as if she's the best thing he's ever seen. Like water to a man wandering in the desert. The very air he breaths.
In that moment, she knows what she needs to do next.
The Shinigami cease clapping as she abruptly leaves the stand, walks over to Rukia, takes the now-moving bundle of cloth from the petite woman, and makes her way over to a visibly stunned and speechless Toushirou.
Some guards try to stop her, but Ichigo and Isshin are at her side in an instant, and they back off.
Even the most stupid among them know not to pick a fight with the substitute Shinigami and his father, unless they want to end up in the 4th division hospital.
Head captain Yamamoto begins moving towards her, but Ichigo gives him a pointed look that screams 'Go ahead and try it, old man. I dare you', and the head captain stays put.
While he's not afraid of the substitute in the least, he is rather interested now. He'll wait to see how this plays out.
Toushirou's gaze flicks from Karin to the bundle in her hands, and she smiles softly at him. "There's someone you need to meet."
She holds his gaze, and gently hands him the baby wrapped in a blanket he recognizes as the one he gave her for a Christmas present five years ago. "Say hello to your daughter, Toushirou."
The entire room falls completely silent as the captain carefully takes the bundle from Karin, being mindful of his restricted movement from the shackles, and stares wide-eyed down at the little girl in his arms.
She's the spitting image of her mother, and he tries desperately to suppress the tears he knows would be flowing down his cheeks if he didn't have the self-control that he does.
However, when his daughter opens her eyes, and looks up at him, he does feel a tear finally roll down his face.
Staring up at him are his own eyes, and he suddenly feels the brokenness in him start to mend. Other than Karin, he's never seen anything more beautiful.
How did the two of them make something so perfect?
A soft smile, and awe-struck wonder overtake his face, and he feels genuine happiness for the first time in a year. "What's her name?" he asks, as he looks back up at Karin.
She has a smile on her face, too, and he can tell that this baby has healed more than one broken part of each of them. "Haru," she replies, as she walks closer to him, and gently smooths down the baby's growing mop of midnight black hair.
She finds his gaze a moment later, and it tells her everything he isn't saying.
I love you so much more than I ever thought was possible, and I'll never regret that. You're the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me, and I'm so thankful that I have you.
Ignoring the stunned stares and hanging jaws of everyone else in the room, and wanting to stick it to the jackasses seated on their thrones of judgement just a little bit more, she leans in, and gives him a gentle kiss.
It's not long, or intense, or anything like their first kiss, but it holds just as much weight.
She knows that the entire room is probably reeling, and her brother and father and friends are all smiling, and the head captain and Central 46 are probably furious, but she doesn't care. Let them gawk and stew.
She rests her forehead on his; watching him as his eyes remain closed, and he looks more peaceful, and calm, and happy than she's ever seen him.
There's a small smile on his face, and this is the Toushirou that she remembers.
This is her Toushirou.
When the baby in his arms starts squirming and fussing, it breaks them out of their momentary peace, and Karin takes Haru back from him to rock her gently, and whisper soft little nothings to her to quiet her down again.
Everyone in the room is still processing what they just witnessed when the head captain raises his cane, and brings it back down onto the ground with a loud crack to reclaim control of the situation.
"I think we've all seen quite enough. Court is adjourned until 8:00 am tomorrow morning. The Central 46 and I will retire to consider our decision. Take captain Hitsugaya back to his cell, and escort Miss Kurosaki and her family to their quarters for the evening."
Watching sadly as Toushirou is led away from her, and brought out the back of the building, she reluctantly follows her brother and father to the front doors, where a member of the 1st division is waiting to bring them to their resting place for the night.
Her brother and father tell her how proud they are of her for standing her ground, and not letting those stuffy old bastards intimidate her, but she doesn't pay much attention to them.
Instead, she holds her beautiful daughter close as the sensation of bottomless fear takes a hold of her once again.
Please god, don't let this end the way I'm afraid it will.
She can't sleep, she knows she's keeping her family up, and she knows there's nothing more that she can do; but that still doesn't stop the anxiety and fear that's once again overtaken her as she paces in the living room just outside their bedroom doors.
After four hours, Ichigo can't take it any longer, and tells her to go get Haru. She grabs the baby, and they make their way over to the prison in the dark of the night; the stillness outside eerily unsettling.
Ichigo manages to persuade (or threaten, depending on how you look at it) the gatekeeper into letting them in, and they proceed to Toushirou's cell.
Matsumoto's already there, and standing guard with Byakuya while Toushirou looks mindlessly out the narrow, barred window for what may be the last time. They've taken his shackles off for the first time in weeks, to let him have at least one night of relative freedom before his final verdict the following morning, and he's wrapped some makeshift bandages around his raw and bleeding wounds.
When the door to his prison cell opens, his gaze turns to the person standing at the opening, and shock overtakes his face for just a moment before he runs over to her.
He doesn't realize until that moment how much he's ached to have her back in his arms; as he pulls her as close to him as possible, and she clings to him like a lifeline.
Ichigo gently puts a sleeping Haru down on the small bundle of blankets in the corner of the cell before he, Matsumoto, and Byakuya walk out of the room, and let the two of them have some privacy, and a long-overdue conversation.
Just like at the dance all those years ago when he showed up to be her date, and put Shusuke in his place, Karin breathes in the scent of cedar, and sweat, and everything that's so uniquely Toushirou, and it's more comforting now than it ever has been before as she buries her face in his neck.
This. This is what she's been longing for all this time.
This is everything she's been missing.
She pulls back just enough to look at him, and he closes the gap between them almost instantly.
He kisses her deeply, but tenderly, as both their eyes fall closed, his hand comes up to hold her face, and hers fist themselves into the front of his tattered robe.
He feels like a man who's been starved of oxygen for years, and is finally getting his first deep breath of fresh air.
She can feel the last pieces of her formerly broken heart knit back together like it had never been shattered in the first place.
When they separate, he holds her gaze with his own, and gives her a smirk that reminds her of simpler times from not that long ago. "Your self-confidence, and complete lack of concern for personal safety, never ceases to amaze me. It's both admirable and concerning."
She smirks back at him with playful eyes, and runs her fingers gently through his disheveled hair. "Shut up, Toush, you know you love me."
"Yes, I do," he replies, and she swears it's the most sincere and honest thing he's ever said to her.
The rustling of fabric pulls their attention over to a now awake and squirming Haru, and Toushirou releases Karin so she can walk over to the little bundle, and pick her up.
She feeds her, and lets Toushirou rock her in his arms; and once Haru is asleep again, they talk.
They talk for three hours, and Karin tells him about everything that's happened since the night he left.
She tells him how it felt when she woke up that morning, and he was gone.
She tells him how it felt when she found out she was pregnant.
She tells him about the pregnancy, the birth, and how she'd begged Ichigo to get him, and bring him to the hospital when she felt like she couldn't do it without him there.
She tells him how much she's missed him, and that she loves him.
She watches his face during every conversation, and sees the waves of pain, sadness, longing, and excitement with every story she tells him.
When she's done, he tells her what it's been like being a prisoner this past year, and about how they'd been bringing his paperwork to him in his cell to keep him occupied.
He tells her about how often he'd lie awake at night looking at the moon, and imagining her smiling face, or her teasing remarks, or how it felt when he held her in his arms.
He tells her about how he watched her sleep the night he left because he knew what would happen next, and he was desperate to hold on to her for as long as he could.
He tells her how it felt writing that note when he left, knowing that the Shinigami were already on their way to kill her if he didn't turn himself in first.
He watches as tears form in her eyes, and fall down her cheeks, and he pulls her into his arms.
He tells her that he loves her, and he doesn't regret the decisions he's made; but he does apologize for putting her through so much, and breaking their unspoken rule.
As soon as he says that, she swallows his apologies with a kiss that's passionate, and desperate, and full of everything she wants to say, but can't find the words to. The unspoken message rings loud and clear to him though: she doesn't regret her choices, either. She loves him, and she always will. She doesn't blame him, and she doesn't want his apology. She just wants him.
So, he kisses her back with just as much passion and desperation; hoping that she understands that he'll always be hers, no matter what happens.
When Ichigo returns the next morning with the head captain, they find the three of them cuddled up, and sound asleep in the corner of the cell. Toushirou is holding Karin and Haru in his arms, while Karin's head is resting on his chest.
Ichigo smiles softly at the trio, before opening the cell door with an unfortunately loud squeal.
At the sound of the noise he's grown accustomed to over the course of the year, Toushirou looks up, and meets the substitute's gaze with pleading eyes.
Please take care of them, they tell the orange-haired man, and Ichigo nods wordlessly.
Gently, he rubs Karin's arm with his hand, and her eyes blink open.
At first, she's smiling and happy – until she catches a glimpse of her brother in her peripheral vision, and reality slowly sets back in.
Her smile changes first to a look of pure anguish, followed by a resigned frown. Looking up at beautiful blue eyes that convey everything he's not saying, she brings a hand up to cradle his face as she closes the distance between them.
She feels his eyes close as she kisses him for what may be the last time, and commits every detail to memory.
No matter what happens, he'll always own her heart, and she's glad about that. He's her best friend, her better half, and the father of her child. He'll always be hers, she knows it, and she holds on to that with both hands to help her through.
When they separate a few moments later, she tells him that she loves him, and he says it back to her before gently kissing is daughter's forehead; handing her back to her mother.
He gets up, head captain Yamamoto puts the shackles back on him, and they walk out of sight.
Her brother gives her a grieved and sympathetic look, and she holds her daughter just a little bit tighter to her.
He'll be alright, she tells herself, because that's all she has left to combat the mindless, bone-numbing terror that she hasn't felt since she found out she was pregnant.
The Central 46 chamber is full to bursting as Shinigami cram in to witness the verdict, but she makes sure she's front and center alongside her brother and father.
She can feel her heart rate speed up as the Central 46 and head captain Yamamoto take their seats, and Toushirou is brought to the middle of the room.
She finds his gaze, and tries to give him what she hopes is a reassuring smile despite her own growing anxiety.
Toushirou notices, and sees his daughter looking at him, and the chaos around them, too. He notices that she inherited his calm, self-assured, and observant personality, which makes his heart feel lighter even under their current circumstances.
The corners of his lips move to form just the faintest hint of a smile, and Karin feels herself relaxing. She still doesn't know how on earth he can steady her, and make her feel like it will all be okay with such a small action; but he can, and she's more grateful for it than he'll ever know.
She doesn't remember much of the trial, just her anxiety increasing rapidly with every second that ticks by.
Yamamoto lists off Toushirou's 'crime', and the potential punishments that could be carried out; and she holds her breath as the old man looks from the Central 46 to Toushirou.
Karin can see the resolve in his eyes, his self-assured look that Haru inherited, his steady air, and she wonders yet again how one person can be so captivating.
There's a pause, and a hush falls over the entire chamber.
A moment of silence passes.
No one is speaking, or breathing, or taking their eyes off of the head captain, and Karin wishes he'd just read the damn verdict already, because the suspense is killing her, and –
Yamamoto reads the verdict, and she collapses into a shaking and crying heap. Toushirou's knees hit the floor as he, too, collapses to the ground with a disbelieving and shocked look on his face.
Before she has time to think about it (because hey, thinking is over-rated sometimes. Toushirou is the thinker, not her) she gets up off the ground, hands Haru over to Ichigo, and bolts towards Toushirou; launching into him so hard she knocks him over as she laughs, and cries, and holds him as tightly as she can.
She knows it probably looks like she's lost her mind, but she doesn't care. He's safe, he's going to live, and he's going to be with her.
She hears him laugh in happy disbelief as well, and almost the entire chamber cheers.
No one saw it coming that Karin's incredibly insulting and fiery speech to the Central 46, and revealing of hers and Toushirou's baby, would actually persuade the old men to change their minds...but it did.
Her passion, determination, and nerves of steel impressed them, and they knew she wasn't entirely wrong in her points, either. When they found out that there was a baby in the picture as well, and witnessed the interaction between the captain and the young Kurosaki girl with their child, they decided that it wasn't acceptable to take the child's father away from her.
So, the agreement that Toushirou had to sign off on was that he would retain his captain's position, but stay in the world of the living. He was to travel back to Soul Society every morning to attend to his duties, and return to his family every evening; just like any normal father and husband in the human world would do for their job. That arrangement would continue until Karin's natural life was over; when, at that point, he would return to Soul Society with her.
Yet again, it was a Kurosaki that came in, and shook everything up. Ichigo had started the change years ago; and now, Karin was making her own mark.
When the guards come over and remove his restraints, Toushirou feels like a more fitting metaphor can't be found. He gets up, pulls Karin up with him, and kisses her with so much passion, and excitement, and joy that she loses herself in it, and almost – almost – lets it get out of hand, before she pulls away to look into his clear, beautiful, shining blue eyes.
"Thank you for protecting me, Toush," she says, and her own eyes reflect a joy and happiness he's never seen before.
It makes him smile as he leans in, and kisses her again. "No, thank you for protecting me."
Five years passes in the blink of an eye, and before Karin knows it, Haru is running around the house with a little wooden sword as she chases her cousin Natsu, and Sora follows after them; all of them laughing and yelling.
Her father got her the sword for her birthday last week, and she couldn't be happier about it.
Karin just hopes she can keep her daughter from smashing everything that isn't made of steel.
As Haru got older and older, it became clear that she inherited her father's intellect, and natural talent in swordsmanship. Even at four years old, she was picking up sticks, and having mock-battles with Toushirou in the backyard.
It makes Karin smile to watch those father-daughter bonding times between the two of them, and she sometimes can't believe that there was ever a time when he wasn't here with them.
As she finishes making lunch for the kids, her two-year-old son comes running over to her, and hugs her leg; a big smile on his face.
Karin smiles down at the little boy who boasts his father's snow-white, gravity-defying hair; blue eyes, and facial features; and rubs his head before she instructs him to go sit at the table.
Obeying his mother, he makes his way over to a seat, and pulls himself up; fidgeting as he waits impatiently for his sister and cousins. Kurōn may have been Toush's clone from the moment he was born, but he definitely took after his mother in terms of personality.
Karin just hoped that he didn't also inherit his father's natural talents, or she'd have to do a much better job of damage-proofing the house.
Finishing with the last of the sandwiches, she turns towards the kitchen entrance, and smiles at her better half; who's leaning up against the doorjamb with a smirk on his face, and laughter in his blue eyes.
Smirking back at him, Karin turns back around, and grabs two of the plates filled with sandwiches, chips, fruits, and veggies; setting them down on the table as she walks back to the counter to grab the others, and gestures to the laughing mass of children who have made their way out back. "You're in charge of rounding up the gremlins, Toush. Can you tell them it's time for lunch?"
She doesn't hear him leave his position on the doorjamb, and walk up beside her, but when she turns to open the fridge, she almost runs into him.
It takes her a moment to recover, but when she does, there's a playful smirk on her face. "Geez, you couldn't come up with a better way of getting my attention?"
Rolling his eyes in amusement, and smiling lovingly down at her, he leans in and kisses her tenderly as one of his hands comes up to rest on the side of her now noticeably pregnant belly.
He still can't believe that just five years ago, he'd been ready and willing to die so that Karin could live. He never thought he'd see her again. He never thought he'd have a family, or a future, with her.
Now, just five years later, she was his wife. They had a home, and two beautiful children; with another on the way.
Life had thrown so much at them, and they'd somehow managed to make it through. Not only had they made it through, they were thriving.
Every day, he wakes up next to her, and he feels even more gratitude than he did the day before. She's his better half; the one person who knows him better than anyone else, and the one person he trusts with everything he is. She's his one weakness. She owns his heart, always has, and he knows that she knows it.
And oh yes, Karin does know it. She can see it every time he looks at her. She can feel it every time he touches her.
She may or may not use it to her advantage at times; and he may or may not choose to pretend like he doesn't notice, but it doesn't bother him. In fact, he enjoys the teasing, playful banter, and any other creative way she can think of to try and coerce him into letting her have her way.
And she belongs to him, totally and completely. She knows that he knows it, too, and there's no lack of subtle hints, or tugging on the string he ran around her heart all those years ago. Just one look, one word, and she comes running. He's memorized everything about her; every look, every gesture, every movement. He can tell what she's thinking or feeling before she puts it into words, and even though she should find it scary that he knows her so well, she doesn't.
She loves it, because she knows Toushirou's always there for her, and doing his best to keep her happy and content. He loves her, and she loves the way he loves her. To her, it's a testament to what they had to endure to get to this point.
Their story could have had a very different ending, and they're both so happy and thankful that they've ended up exactly where they know they're supposed to be.
(It's always darkest before the dawn, they say…
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…and out of their darkness came a dawn brighter than they could have ever imagined.)
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