Pairing: GinRan (HitsuRan if you squint)
Rating: K
Warnings: Angst. (Not. Even. Kidding.)
General Notes: This takes place about a year after the Winter War, and takes into account all events up to the current place in the manga. (So basically, spoilers might follow.)
Silver Snow
XOXO
The weather was odd in the Soul Society. They had had a ridiculously hot summer, and now winter felt like fall. There was a bite in the air, sure, but there was no snow. The temperature had yet to fall below freezing.
But heaven forbid that that should stop the Shinigami.
Most of the captains and vice captains had taken it upon themselves to decorate their divisions in honor of the holidays. (The most notable exceptions being Divisions 11 and 12. The tinsel wouldn't last long in former, and no one really wanted to get too near the later.)
Rangiku Matsumoto had been the biggest perpetrator of these plans, and for weeks she had been amongst all of the divisions helping to tack up tinsel or put up Christmas trees. But the auburn haired beauty rather readily avoided the third division, something that it's current overseer Izuru both understood and expected. Her short captain had watched her, with her ever-present smile still firmly in place, bustling about the Seireiti with all the proper festivity. He had seen the sadness in her eyes that the smile couldn't cover, and he quietly cursed the silver haired fox that still had her heart in his cold stiff hands.
The sun had just set on Christmas eve. The former Ryoka had just entered through the gate, and Orihime had waved at Rangiku, who was perched upon the roof of the 10th division. She had waved back, but then she had fallen to starring at the sunset again. The air was cold, but there was still no snow. Rangiku finally forced herself to leap down onto the ground. Then she whirled around, her face suddenly bright, and pounced on Orihime.
"Orihime-chan! I've missed you!" She exclaimed, and then the rest of the conversation flowed just as it had a year and a half previous when Rangiku and her captain had lived in the young girl's house. That was before many things, death the least among them.
The next few hours were a whirl of warmth and laughter. Presents were exchanged, Shunsui tried to corner Rangiku under the mistletoe, Rangiku tired to force Orihime and Ichigo under the mistletoe (the embarrassment was palpable.) But eventually the heavy clouds of memory were too much and Rangiku slipped away.
Hitsugaya found her sitting on the roof again, starring up at the now cloudy sky. He sat down next to her and said nothing. She finally turned her face towards him and gave him a smile that was more obviously forced than any he had yet seen on her.
"Ne, Taicho? Shouldn't you be inside?"
"No." He said simply.
They both returned to starring at the sky. It seemed like hours passed, but in reality, it was only a few minutes. Finally, the lightest dusting of snow began to fall. She starred up into the almost silvery flakes, tears beginning to gather in the corners of her eyes.
"It never goes away, does it."
Hitsugaya shook his head. "No. And there are some days when you'll wish you had never known him." He sighed and laid a hand on her shoulder. "But someday, maybe you will be proud to carry his memory."
"I guess I always did wear my heart on my sleeve." She said as she laid her face on her legs.
"Yeah." Toshiro began to rub her back gently. "You always did."
XOXO
A/N: Ok, so the second to last Shiro line is a reference to a line Beckett says in "A Death in the Family," which is an episode in the first season of the amazing show Castle. Just saying.
Next note: Wow, I'm really sorry for abandoning you guys. I haven't written anything in forever. But here you go. A nice Christmas themed fic with one of my favorite pairings ever: GinRan. (It's kinda sad that Gin doesn't actually show up in it, since he's my favorite character.) I kind of wanted to write a happy fic, but it just didn't happen. I'm sorry. Maybe I'll write something happier later. I do have time to spare since I'm trapped in a car for three days.
Merry Christmas/Belated Hannukah/Whatever else you might happen to be celebrating. I love you guys.
The Girl in the backseat with a laptop,
Amagake
A/N (2): Ok, so I finally got to a place with internet and realized hey, I just wrote a one-shot for Love Moves in Mysterious Ways. But oh well. 'Cause I'm publishing this anyway. Enjoy. :D (Besides, who doesn't love GinRan? Don't answer that.)