Authors Note:

Yeah, it took forever. But I just felt this one needed to be on the end. So I'm adding it. I guess you could say that this is the true ending. Anyway. I hope you enjoy it and this is the last one. Thank You for reading.

The cooling air swirled around Izuru, soothing his insecurities as he at long last entered through the ancient gate of Squad Three's main compound. With a slow look, he took in the sight of the bold black writing on the wall – his blue eyes tracing over the three elegant lines. They were deceptive in their simplicity really, nothing more than a series of horizontal bars.

Yet they held so much more. Memories of the past, the happy days when he'd followed his Captain relentlessly. Bittersweet memories of the times when he'd wondered just what was going on and felt like he'd been left in the dark. Even the heartbreaking despair of being abandoned – it was all etched into those three lines.

"Lieutenant!"

Kira broke from his thoughts to watch an approaching figure run up to him, waving happily. It was a new member – or rather an old member he hadn't seen very much due to his recent absence.

"Oh. Hello Jiiro-kun. How have you been?"

"I've been good! But why ask about me? How are you? You had quite the ordeal there, eh?"

Kira nodded, allowing the youth to chatter on as they walked.

"We know everything so there is nothing to worry about, Lt. Kira. We were fortunate enough to find proof that it was in fact Aizen's bankai that we saw escaping instead of you. We know your ordeal as a prisoner of his must have been harsh – we commend you on your courage and continued loyalty and will reward you greatly for this…"

Loyalty?

Funny. That they should use that word.

Finally able to part from his subordinate, Kira ghosted through the building – moving expertly to avoid any other curious shinigami. His steps were quick and light, yet unhurried.

Where had he learned that? Kira wondered as he approached his door.

Oh yeah…the sparring he had done. Maybe it had affected him more than he first thought.

For a moment the man paused, then turned to look at the door behind him. The door that did and always would belong to his Captain. After a while of silent watching he entered his own humble apartment.

He had no more illusions, Gin would not be coming back.

Nor would Kira be going back to Los Noches.

The word Loyalty sprung back into his mind and for a while he sat on his bed, trying to put the pieces together.

"YO! Izuru!"

The blond jumped as Renji wrapped an arm over his shoulder. "Gotcha!"

"Renji-kun!" Izuru gasped, his face flushing with surprise. "What are you doing in Sqaud Three's zone?"

"I'm here to rescue you from yourself." He laughed, jerking his head toward the door. "C'mon, your shifts over right?"

With a look back at his squad – all of who happily waved him off – Izuru finally left. Or rather, he allowed Renji to haul him off by the arm.

"Man…what a wild time, huh?"

"Yeah…it's been rough."

"You've had it the worst." Renji spoke, slowing down now as they put greater distance between them and the headquarters. "I…feel so stupid."

Izuru blinked. "For what, Renji?"

"For letting myself get caught up in a lie. I really thought you'd betrayed us. When you were kidnapped, Aizen's gang staged an act where they made it look like you broke out of prison and ran off with them."

Despite his shock Izuru kept walking, making absolutely sure to act as appropriately as possible.

"R-really?" He exclaimed, trying to sound surprised when he felt bitter instead. "That's absolutely devious! I can't believe they'd do such an underhanded thing…"

"Tell me about it!" Renji fumed. "Using your good name and dragging it through the mud…"

With a sigh the red-head shrugged.

"Let's not talk about it anymore. I came over to help you relax – not remind you of the hell you just went through!"

"Right." Kira agreed with a nervous smile.

Once again in his room the young Lt.'s mind was filled with a dizzying flurry of thoughts.

"He thinks…it was an illusion?"

Renji had thought his seeing Izuru defect had been a trick of the eye. But that part had really happened. And the part about him somehow escaping imprisonment and making his way back to the Seireitei?

That was a lie. But Renji believed that was the truth.

"What's true is false, and what's wrong is right. That seems to be the way it works here." Izuru sighed. "So what does it all mean?" He asked himself, knowing the answer already.

He couldn't trust the court guard squads anymore. And his friends…they knew him. But they didn't understand him – so in a way trusting them was just as impossible. How could they support and stand by him when they didn't even know what he was and was not capable of?

In a strange way, Izuru was glad for the ordeal. It really had been an eye-opening experience. Now it was at an end though, he was back in his old home – working his old post and doing essentially what he had been doing before. It seemed that in fact the only thing that had changed was himself.

As he milled around his small apartment a tingle of energy made itself known. It was close and very familiar.

Moving quickly to the window, Izuru opened it to the winter air and searched the dark, starry night. A full moon above him shone down with it's sapphire light – bathing the countryside in a silvery white hue.

"Even that…is it really there?" Kira wondered aloud as he pinpointed the source of the energy. It was so faint he could be fairly certain that no one else had noticed Gin's presence. For a moment Kira stood, staring into the night and wondering if he should go to his Captain.

But then he shut the window, turned out the light and went to bed.

As he lie staring at the ceiling, trying to still his beating heart he felt the presence retreat back into the covering blackness.

In Izuru's mind, it was all quite clear now.

He was no longer the helpless man who cowered in the shadow of his leader – who was so afraid that he didn't see that there was no need for fear. Izuru had become more than a shinigami who could only follow orders – and who had been deceived into not seeing the flaws of the system he served. The time when he could walk among his comrades and think he understood them was past. He knew nothing about them, just as they knew nothing about him.

But he knew Gin.

He understood him. And most importantly his Captain;in turn, had learned to understand him.

This didn't mean he trusted him.

Izuru couldn't be sure of what Gin was planning, or what Aizen had in mind for the only place Izuru called home. And knowing that anyone was expendable for the sake of his desire was all the more reason for caution.

But now for the first time in his life Kira felt like he could stop shaking. He, at long last, had found his true path after all.

With crimson eyes Gin looked over the myriad buildings that formed the near impenetrable maze of the Seireitei's heart. He watched as his little golden butterfly came to the window, acknowledged his presence, and then disappeared. As the light went out Gin breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He wasn't smiling right now - in fact his face was utterly blank and emotionless.

But he was very very happy.