"I knew red would suit me."

He ran the ribbon through his fingers, letting the bright color dance before his eyes. She had been right; the color had suited her; accenting her form as if its only purpose in existing was in her adornment. Ever bright and passionate, red was something that stood out in any backdrop, never allowing itself to go unnoticed; vivid, and unforgettable--just like Senna had been. In fact, the color did not just compliment her well; it described her perfectly.

Red. It had been everywhere the day they met--first appearing on the Blanks--their heads, like strange pixie hats, stained vermilion, starkly contrasting with their willowy, snow-colored bodies. The leaves, which coated the ground, and danced through the air, reflected it as well; accentuating the centerpiece they clung to. They followed her every movement, gracefully mimicking the movements of the girl who made steps in the sky, in a perfect pas de deux with the wind.

Senna. The color seemed to radiate from her; most obviously from the obi she wore, twirling brightly with her form, as she performed her aerial ballet. Even as she returned to her gigai, the presence remained; her aura as brilliant as the long belt around her shihakoushou while she capriciously continued in her terpsichorean ways--expertly performing another tarantella around the many questions she was being asked. The only insight she gave them was in the form of a complaint, fidgeting with the garish yellow ribbon that had been tied around her violet locks, before dancing away and disappearing in a grand game of hide and seek.

When she reappeared to him that evening, where yellow had once sat, red now was entwined. Once again, the color had followed her.

He closed his eyes with a sigh, the image painting itself across his mind's eye. The florid ribbon had been the first thing he'd noticed upon seeing her. It hadn't just been because she'd accidentally shoplifted that he'd bought her that ribbon. He had bought it also, because it suited her in a way he couldn't describe; the color seeming as much a part of her as her heart and soul. Any other color upon her hair would have seemed alien; almost wrong. It was just something about her.

As the time he spent with her progressed, more and more did he feel this way--her spirit that same vivid, passionate color that now crowned her.

Red. The pinwheels of the festival spun in time, each of them dyed in a bright cerise hue, a beautiful, almost breathtaking sight. All around, the festival booths silently sung the refrain, the color splashed upon everything in view. All around, it surfaced, making the scenery quite striking; but all paled in comparison to the original red, still embraced with violet, that stood amazed at what she beheld.

While she may have been astonished at the world around her, nothing there was more astonishing than her.

He shook his head at the memory that surfaced next. It wasn't only there that the color was significant.

Red. It had been all around him, pouring from his form as the strange man had dragged Senna away. It dripped from him as he reached for her, watching the shinigami that had first come for her chase her kidnappers. It stained the ground below him as he saw her vanish, his form falling quickly to earth.

Red. It was the shade of his haori's lining, as he moved with Zangetsu, released into the state known as Bankai. It was in the faces of the Blanks he tore asunder just to reach her. It bound her to the altar that was destroying her.

Red. It fell, like a sick rain, while his shinigami 'comrades' fought to save one they'd tried to imprison. It drizzled from each blade, pattering across the landscape, every slain enemy adding another wave of precipitation.

Red. It bled from his face and chest as he continued to fight. It bled from his blade as the world crashed down around him, the valley falling apart from the ministrations of Soul Society. It bled from his soul as he ended Ganryuu, and resurfaced--the one he'd vowed to protect now within his embrace.

Red. It bled from her words, as she proclaimed she would not allow him to die. It bled from her hands as she forced the worlds apart. It bled from her soul, as she sacrificed herself for one she'd vowed to protect.

Red. It glowed from his heart, as he gave her the existence she had been searching for.

Red. It scintillated from her spirit, as she vanished from his back, finally at peace.

His eyes stung, the heat of tears now burning within them. Through the haze, he looked down once more at the ribbon. Red. The color truly had described her life. Fleeting as it had been, its significance was such that it would never be forgotten, vibrant and beautiful within his mind, even though he had been meant to forget her, his memories of her disappearing with the Blanks as it had for everyone else. It had never faded, staying as bright as the ribbon she had worn in her hair, that he now held within his hand.

Silently, he bowed his head, eyes closing in a reverent expression, as he brought the ribbon to his lips, kissing it softly.

She had been right. Red had suited her.