I totally understand if you all hate me. I kinda hate myself too for not updating this story. I have been working on other short stories though, as you may or may not have seen. If not, check them out.

I've decided to end this story in one chapter. I've got a four page plot-line for a new story, and I'm still working on it. Check out my profile for more info.

Enjoy the End!

Rukia's POV

"Mae, Sode No Shirayuki." Renji doesn't notice me, until a circle of ice forms around his feet. He pushes away, and Yorouchi tries to knock him out. He glows a bright red then Yorouchi is thrown back from his rise in spirit power.

Dammit, I missed and Renji was standing before us, head down. I remembered training with him, and I know his powers inside out. His stance reawakened an old memory from days gone past.

"Rukia! You'll never guess what just happened!" I stood there, waiting for him to tell me. He said nothing, just looked at me with his excited-puppy face.

"Weeellllllll… what is it?" He jumped in the air then grabbed my arm and dragged me outside. "What the hell, Renji? Just tell me!" I hadn't seen him this excited since we got accepted into the academy. I was getting a little excited too.

"Watch!" I started to protest but he held his hands into the air, silencing me. I put my hands up in defeat, and sat on the grass. What was left of it anyways. The training grounds of the academy were kind of, worn.

I watched Renji in interest. He stood his back to me, his head down. He took out his sword, and my eyes widened. Did he really…

"Ban… Kai."

"Ban… Kai."

Aw, shit.

He had a long distance zanpaktu. Yorouchi and Urahara knew this, so they back-flipped and shunpo-ed out of range. I knew that wouldn't work, so I tried a different tactic.

I decreased the distance between us. He didn't notice me because he was firing Zabimaru at Yorouchi as she shun-poed in a circle around him just out of range. She was distracting him. His mind was in a haze, he wasn't himself. I suppressed my reistsu, sealed my zanpaktu and sneaked closer, always staying behind his back. I didn't want to hurt him. He was still my friend after all. Yorouchi and Urahara had no such qualms. Already Urahara had landed a strike on his shoulder, and he was bleeding. Urahara seemed fine.

I jumped on his back, and was quick to execute my plan.

"Renji, I need you to listen to me." I kept my voice soft, and he jumped at the contact not expecting me. He turned to strike, but I clung to his back too tightly.

"Listen, Renji. Calm. Down…" He was still turning and striking, but he was slowing down. He stopped and looked ahead, his head held high. His breathing was labored.

"You have to stop this. You're being unreasonable. I know you love me, but I don't love you. I love Ichigo. You can't stop the world from changing. You can only control what is in your power," By now he had thrown his sword to the ground which was quickly confiscated by Urahara. Yorouchi left to go get some backup. Bu I didn't notice any of this. I jumped off his back, and turned him to face me. He looked over my head, never actually looking at me. "Please Renji, just look at me."

His eyes flicked down, and then slowly rose till they met mine. He looked scared, and now that all the anger had left him, he looked vulnerable, but still on guard. His eyes always did betray his feelings like a book.

"Thank you…" I manage a weak smile and he bear-hugs me. I feel hot tears on my shoulder and he silently cries. I notice the large group of guards encircling us. Renji whispers in my ear.

"Thanks." He gets pulled from me and he shows no resistance. It's like he's given up. It pains me to see him like this, but there's nothing I can do for him.

The guards leave and only Urahara, Yorouchi and I are left in the basement of the 12th division lab. Yorouchi puts a comforting hand on my shoulder before leaving.

"Rukia, you should get some sleep. Come, I'll take you back."

"Thank you, Urahara-taicho. But I'll be fine." I leave him alone in his basement. I'm not ten feet from the door and walking under the skies when I hear "Eureka!" I giggle to myself, and walk the rest of the way home replaying the last hour's scenes in my head. I hadn't expected to sleep as well as I did that night.

In the morning Urahara came to see me.

"I have good news for you, Kuchiki-san!" I look over at him, giving him a death glare. It didn't stop him at all. Maybe I was losing my touch.

"Yes ma'am! I have something for you! Close your eyes!" I cross my arms and face him, but I didn't close my eyes. Not when I was around him. He jumped around like he had to pee and pleaded till I complied.

"TAA-DAAAAH!" I open my eyes, and I get a face full of boobs. My boobs. I didn't have boobs. It took me a minute till I realized I was looking at my gigai, and that Urahara made some "modifications."

I didn't have boobs.

I sweat dropped, then took the gigai and stormed out. I was ecstatic that I was finally going to see Ichigo, not so much about the new, you know.

"AREN'T YOU GOING TO SAY THANK YOU? I DID IT FOR YOURS AND ICHIGOS LOVE LIFE—" I threw the closest thing that I could get my hands on, and that happened to be a large book. It hit him square in the nose.

"PERVERT!"

Later that day I slipped into my gigai and went to the world of the living. My hands were sweating and clammy, and I couldn't breathe. Was I, nervous? I was never nervous. Well, hardly ever.

I approached his door. I lay my hand on it, just feeling and remembering when I used to live there and all the good memories. Doing laundry, cooking, and when I threw Ichigo a surprise birthday party. I laughed to myself and was about to open the door when I hesitated. Should I knock? I wasn't sure then I heard a sound above me to the left, the sound of a window opening. I flattened myself against the house. I looked over, and I briefly saw orange hair zipping back into the room. What… I leaned forward slowly, and apparently he had the same idea. We stared at each other for a couple of seconds, when both of our faces break out into immediate smiles.

Ichigo's POV

Nothing was happening today. I sat in my room just like any other day. I was bored out of my mind and I decided to open the window and I leaned out of it, like I always do. The air smelled so fresh, it reminded me of… I saw movement and my head snapped down to the door. I saw her, and I quickly leaned back in. Wait, that's not right. I couldn't see ghosts… Slowly I leaned forward again and there she was. The one I'd been missing all these months. Both our faces break out into grins, and I turned to run downstairs. She met me halfway and we embraced each other for the first time in what felt like years. I inhaled her scent, crushed her to me and laughed in disbelief. She giggled too, and we look into each others eyes. I was about to kiss her, we were leaning in for the crucial moment, when a loud booming voice echoed in my ears and in the caves on the other side of Karakura.

"RUKIAAAA-CHHAAAAANNN! OUR THIRD DAUGHTER HAS RETURNED!" He lifted her up in the air and spun her around crushing her almost in half.

"DAD STOP YOU'RE HURTING HER!" But Rukia only laughed. He put her down and Yuzu ran into her arms, crying as well. Only not quite as boisterous and faked as Goat-face. He was rolling on the ground sobbing. I kicked him in the balls and he only cried harder. Rukia and Yuzu were talking.

"Rukia! You came back?" She threw her head back and laughed.

"Of course I did, silly! I couldn't be gone forever!" She hugged Karin's shoulders whose smile seemed genuine.

I just leaned against the wall and wait for the tearful reunions to be done with. Goat-face recovered and he herded the girls away telling them "Ichigo needs to be with Rukia alone now. He hasn't gotten laid in months-"

Rukia and I both threw something at him, and we both had dead on accuracy. Karin and Yuzu had to carry him away, and they decided they needed fresh air and left for a walk. I stand alone in the living room with her. I noticed something was a bit different, but couldn't quite put my finger on it. She must have noticed my confusion so she saved me the trouble.

"It was Urahara's fault to add the boobs. I could've made him change them, but that would've taken too long…" Now that she said it, they did kinda stand out. I chuckle and walk to her, taking her in my arms. She was home now.

Rukia's POV

He walked towards me, and I ran into his arms again. His smile was so beautiful, and not many people got to see it. We kissed, and spent the next few hours talking, and doing, uh, other things. After all, we hadn't seen each other in months.

When the Isshin and the girls return, we eat supper and laugh just like the old days.

4 MONTHS LATER

We stand together, awaiting the trial's hearing. Ichigo stands beside me. They never did succeed in finding a way to regain his powers, but Urahara worked extra hard on a special gigai that allows his human body to become a soul for a temporary time. He was working on one to last indefinitely, but it wasn't complete yet. At best, it could last two hours. If worn too long, the gigai would absorb him and he would become a normal soul for good.

It was worth risking it for this. I wanted him to be with me when they read Renji's trial results. The whole room was quiet, the air was tense. Finally, someone spoke.

"Welcome to trial 349826, Abarai Renji. He is being charged with the following accounts; 2 murders in the first degree, Using Kido for inappropriate reasons, attacking without proper provocation. How does the jury find?"

I clutched to Ichigo's arm. I knew they're going to call him guilty, which was very true. I just didn't want to believe the last few months really happened. He tightens his grip on me. I closed my eyes, not wanting to watch.

"On the charge of murders in the second degree we find the defendant, guilty. On the charge of using Kido for inappropriate reasons we find the defendant, guilty. On the charge of attacking without provocation we find the defendant, guilty."

I knew it had been coming, but I still couldn't stop the sob that made its way out of my throat.

"Abarai Renji, I hereby sentence you to 200 years in the Maggots Nest. Adjourned." With that final crack of the mallet, I broke down and Ichigo had to take me out.

"I'll do it, Ichigo. You're right." The first night I had been back he proposed that I come back to live in the human world, for good. I hadn't been sure, but there was too much in Soul Society that I couldn't take anymore. Knowing that Renji was going to be spending the next few hundred years in jail, I knew I couldn't stay there. He looked at me and smiled. I smiled back, and I knew we were going to live a long and happy human life together.

I had decided to keep my new "modifications." They kinda grew on me after a while. Ichigo didn't seem to mind…

EPILOGUE

Excerpt From The Best-Selling Fictional "Where Home Is" By Kuchiki Rukia.

"I never regretted doing what I did. I visited Renji a few times, but never got to see him free again while I was alive. I gave up my powers as a shinigami and lived as a human for the rest of my life like Isshin did.

Ichigo and I died in a car accident at an old age. Our children were old enough to live on their own, and we still miss them. Now we are living in the first district of Rukongai as normal souls. Having ties to the Gotei Thirteen had its advantages.

When Renji was released we were all there to greet him. Now he has retained his position as lieutenant under Nii-sama. I'm happy for him. I'm happy everything worked out.

I'm home now."

Well that is a nice long chapter for you. Review and let me know what you think. Apologies if there's anything about the court ruling I got wrong. I'm not a lawyer; I learned all I know from Law and Order. XD

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