The Tales of Lilies: Lily of the Guardian

A/N: I… I can't even describe how… sorry I am. I don't even know what to say…. But at least, I updated at last, right…? *squirms*

Warnings: GRAMMAR ERRORS, OOC, OCs, AU, yaoi (boy x boy love), fluff, possessive!Protective!Rivals!Bya&Ichi.

"Speaking"

Thought/dream/flashbacks

PLEASE enjoy…!

Chapter 16: The Finished Puzzle

"Hey! Why you got your arms all comfy around Renji, huh?!" Ichigo yelled at Byakuya, who looked at him indifferently and then smirked smugly. Ichigo's mouth twitched at that, a vein popped on his head. Renji looked back and forth between the two, looking as confused as ever, while the other occupants were looking at the trio with mirth.

Yoruichi leaned a little to Soi Fon and comically moved her mouth to the side so that her voice could be heard louder, making her like a gold fish and said," I can't believe the cutey-head can't understand that he has two super hot guys fighting over him… And I thought it's an all girls dream to be in his position," Yoruichi snorted to at an effect. Soi Fon blushed at her and looked down, Ahh~ Yoruichi-sama… Being this close to you is my only dream~!

"Pfft…" Just like that, all the people snapped their head to the source of the surprisingly-sounded-like-a-suppressed-laugh sound. It turned out to be Gin. His shoulder shook because of the force of the laugh, and the fact that he was suppressing it was not helping. He wiped the tears from his eyes and looked up to see the room looking at him.

Kisuke coughed a little and said, "Well, then. Now that we all are here, let's go down to business shall we?" The others nodded their agreement and straightened themselves; Byakuya, Renji and Toushiro sat on the floor like the others. Unsurprisingly, Ichigo moved a bit so that he was right next to Renji, so that made him sat in between Ichigo and Toushiro, much to Byakuya's dismay.

"Now, would you care to tell us how did you get all those wounds?" Kisuke asked Gin, who turned into serious mode immediately. Gin coughed," Well, I guess I should start from the reason I betrayed Soul Society, then," he began. The others were silent, watching the man as he was about to tell them the truth.

"I never did. I mean, I never betrayed Soul Society," Gin said. Gasps were heard at that," Could you please explain more, ex-captain?" Toushiro asked quite rudely. Gin smiled bitterly at that, but didn't reply, instead, Renji did it for him," He is about to, my dear impatient taicho." Toushiro blushed and looked away while grumbling incoherent words, while Byakuya and Ichigo were seething quietly when they heard Renji called Toushiro 'His dear impatient taicho'.

Gin coughed again, getting the people's attention once again and continued his explanation, "As I was saying, I never betrayed you. I was pretending then, in front of all of you, fooling everyone, even Aizen and the soutaicho. I never thought they would be fooled like that, but they did, my acting in front of all of you worked out quite nicely."

"Why?" Kisuke asked. Gin looked at him and said darkly," I want to kill Aizen."

"What?" Ichigo barked. "What the hell are you talking about?" Toushiro demanded. Byakuya moved silently next to Renji, so that Toushiro moved away, and put his arms around Renji when he felt the slighter man trembled at Toushiro's loud voice. He glared at the said person, who looked quite guiltily at Renji. Ichigo silently cursed the dark-haired captain.

"Geez, why is everyone treating me like a fragile china? I'm quite capable of taking care of myself, just because I'm trembling a bit, doesn't mean I'm gonna break! I was just feeling a bit cold!" Renji huffed; he was getting sick of everyone treating him like a doll, even over trivial things. He was just a bit cold!

"I apologize; I didn't know being vulnerable affects you that much." Byakuya said softly, looking slightly guilty, but doubtful of Renji's earlier statement. There's no way the red-head can take care of himself in THAT condition. Then Byaukya continued," But then, if you really are cold…" he put his arms around Renji again and held him tightly in his warm embrace, making Renji blushed hotly and Ichigo fisted his hands and growled at Byakuya.

Renji huffed and leant back to Byakuya after seeing that it was no use for him to struggle and sighed," I just don't want to feel weaker than I already am in this condition… Anyway, please continue, Ichimaru taicho, sorry I interrupted you." Renji said apologetically at Gin.

Gin smiled at him and continued on his story," It's just that… Aizen hurt Rangiku, and I will never forgive him for that. So I pretended to be loyal to him all this time, and it was the reason I joined the Gotei 13, to execute my revenge on Aizen Sousuke. He was a snake that one, he knew how to act in front of all of you all this time, tricking even the soutaicho to believe him. But just like a snake too, he has small brain, I guess, because he fell on my act too." Gin smiled to himself at that. The whole time, everyone was silent, listening to every word he said, storing every surprising new fact he told them about where his real loyalty lies.

Then the smile on Gin's face vanished, and replaced by a frown," But Aizen was a smart man too, after all, he was the 5th division ex-captain… All these years I've acted as his loyal right hand man, and he believed it too, for so long. But only a few hours ago, just because of a tiny slip, he knew all about my plans. And quickly put actions into it, he tried to kill me. I was lucky enough to open a gate to the human world just as he was about to give his last blow. I've wondered since, if he was actually letting me go, and that he had a plan for me in the future…" he trailed off.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'a tiny slip'?" Renji asked.

Gin smiled," We were, as usual, all alone on his throne room and we were talking about… some stuff. Anyway, when he said in a very rhetorical manner that he will carry out all his goals with the Hogyoku, I accidentally asked what would happen if the Hogyoku was stolen from him."

"So? You only asked 'if' the Hogyoku WAS, doesn't mean he—Wait. You wanna steal the Hogyoku?! From HIM!" Toushiro gasped; shocked that Gin would actually go that far to protect Soul Society. The large amount of hatred to Gin was slowly ebbed away within Toushiro even though he was still in denial.

"Yes, Aizen was smart like that. He noticed it too, like you Hitsugaya taicho, that I want to steal it, because he knew how much like him I was, a sly snake, and quickly put pieces together and realized that I was playing a part all along. But he never knew why i did that, he only knew that i wanted to steal the hogyoku and kill him, he never knew the reason behind that. The rest, you know what happened to me after that." He finished.

"Unbelievable." Soi Fon said in awe. The rest of the room was silent, but we all know that they were all as amazed as Soi Fon; who knew that the man they thought betrayed Soul Society, was actually playing a part all along to get his revenge on Aizen for hurting... Rangiku?

"Well, that's enough for today. We can continue this tomorrow, besides, there were no hollow in the area as Inoue-san said before. Also, it's late at night and Abarai-kun, you haven't eaten have you? Let's continue this tomorrow; all these tensions are making my old body tired." Kisuke said, getting up. Ichigo snorted at the last line but quickly reminded that, yes, Renji hadn't eaten anything since he came from Soul Society, and that was all that mattered for that moment, for both Ichigo and Byakuya, of course.

Ichigo was about to help Renji up, but Byakuya was already holding Renji up and pulled his wrist to follow Byakuya. That just made Ichigo more and more pissed at the stoic captain.

After Renji had eaten, he was quickly sent to bed because his face was very pale and he was very tired, and he drifted off to sleep.

*****Dream*****

Renji was standing right in front of the slightly ajar majestic gate from his earlier dream. The gate with the work of art of Haruka and another unknown person but seemed very familiar.

"Ahh, Haruka. I almost forgot about that guy."Renji said to himself.

Suddenly, there was a snicker and someone growling. Renji knew that growling, sound, it sounded just like… Haruka! So he must be here somewhere, Renji thought.

He then stepped inside the gate and found himself in a large and long hallway. It was only a plain white hallway, it was bare and nothing was in sight. With curious determination, Renji broke into a jog to the end of the hallway.

Then he came down to a fork. There were three different hallways leading to different places, but in one of the white marble tiles just before the fork, he saw a note lying on the white tiled ground; tiny enough to slip out of sight, and white enough to be concealed by all the whites surrounding it. He picked it up and read the note.

"If you really are the red flower, then use your all-seeing eyes to find the truth that lies within."

Still confused, Renji read the sentence over and over, feeling a headache coming in. The red flower? Renji had never heard of that before. He tried to digest every word in the note. The red flower. Renji was the red flower. Deep down, Renji knew he was. With a determined look, Renji closed his eyes and let instinct did its job.

He felt serene and at peace. Even when he closed his eyes, white light always shined in the middle of his darkened vision, as if never wanted Renji to be at complete darkness. The small light danced around in his mind, radiating warmth in his heart and in every corner of his absolute existence. Finding peace was a hard job for him once, but now, he felt as if peace was the one to look for him. And most of all, he felt power. Power that neither he nor no one else had ever before. Not the power of brute strength, nor the power that a powerful shinigami had. It was a power beyond everything he could ever imagine, the power of the gods themselves. Wisdom, all-seeing, infinite mind, and a heart to contain even the universe itself. He could only felt awe at the power he felt within himself.

When he opened his eyes, they turned to a very bright blue color from the usual warm chocolate, and turned his head to the right. He saw a glint of light on one of the tiles leading him to the right direction of the fork. His eyes turned back to normal and he walked closer to the small glint of light he just saw, footsteps as light as feather, graceful, even more than a feline. He kneeled on the ground and saw that the tile was slightly off. It was a little thicker and brighter than the other tiles. He then reached said tile and tried to lift it with his fingers.

With surprise, Renji actually pulled the tile off its place and set it aside. Renji gasped at what he saw inside.

A lily.

He slowly touched it and with a very familiar touch of electricity, he knew it was the lily he saw on the flower field, and on his captain's flower bed. He lifted it at sniffed the flower.

Renji never smelled anything so good in his life. It was the most wonderful smell ever. The flower began to glow along with his body, and slowly the petals' white color faded and turned into a faint red color. Renji loved that color. Something tingled in him, and he knew that he was changing again. He silently hoped that he didn't actually turn into a girl.

Unconsciously, Renji walked down the hallway where he found the lily, until he reached a place that took his breath away.

It was a garden. With billions of lilies of any kind and color! A small river was flowing on his left and he looked behind him to find that there was no hallway there. He put that aside to take a look at his beautiful surrounding again. The small river went to an also small water fall that ended on a large spring. The prefect picture of Nature's beauty.

He was standing in the middle of a very neat path way which led him to a white and beautiful pavilion. He walked down the path to the pavilion, to see his next surprise.

He saw two men there. Haruka and the man he saw on the gate. They both were smiling very warmly at him and suddenly, he felt tremendously happy and he just wanted to embrace both men in front of him.

"Renji." Haruka called his name warmly and held his hand out for Renji to take. Renji took the hand and walked to the middle of the pavilion. Suddenly Hruka and the other man held him tight on their embrace. Renji felt so happy that tears came trailing downfrom his eyes and suddenly he remembered something.

"Shizuka…" Renji whispered faintly, but the men that held him heard it loud and clear.

The still unknown man looked at Renji and smaled at him. He caressed Renji's cheek with his finger and said softly," I know you'll remember me…"

So the man's name was Shizuka… Renji felt very familiar with it.

Haruka smirked," Okay, he remembers… Geez, just don't whine anymore!" he commented.

Renji blinked and tilted his head, confused with what Haruka just said. Shizuka noticed this and put his arm around Renji's shoulder and said," It's nothing Renji. Haruka just thought that you won't remember me. Ever. Well, he's wrong." He finished with a mocking smile to Haruka.

"So the sound I heard just then, was actually you guys? But how can I hear your voices from that much distance?" Renji asked. "Oh, it's because we were not always here, we were watching you, hime. The sound you heard was… a small slip up." Haruka explained rather sheepishly.

"Anyway, I bet you still don't know what you really are, right?" Shizuka said knowingly, which earned him a nod. "Well, it's okay, because you're about know."

Renji opened his ears and listened to what Shizuka and Haruka were about to explain.

"Renji, to put it simply, you're a Lily. A Lily is, a heavenly being that's very rare, even on the most, you can say, 'exclusive' parts of Heaven. Now the Heaven is very different from where the souls would go when they're dead, that are either Soul Society or Hueco Mundo, where hollows live. A heaven is a place where only the holiest beings exist, namely, gods and goddesses. A Lily is formed only when the most powerful gods and goddesses commit their love to each other, just like a man and a woman could make a baby." Renji blushed at the last part and Shizuka patted his head softly.

"Anyway, a lily grows from an infant to adult, just like a human would, but the huge difference is, a Lily would always maintain a very clean and innocent mind and soul." Haruka finished.

Renji was still lost for words. He even stuttered when he spoke,"Y-you can't… you can't possibly s-said that… I'm… that being…? Is that why I'm changing inside out?" Shizuka and Haruka nodded at that.

Renji looked at the flower he was still holding with wide eyes,"Wow, this is… very unexpected. No, I think I already expect this but… I just—"he was cut in the middle of speaking and felt a pair of strong and warm arms held his entire body, as if shielding him from the rest of the world. It was Haruka, he could tell.

"It's okay Ren'ai, I understand how you feel."Shizuka whispered softly.

"Ren'ai?" Renji asked. His name is Renji, not Ren'ai which sounded suspiciously like a girl's name.

"Yup, it's your real name. Akayuri no Ren'ai. Basically meaning you're Ren'ai the Red Lily." Haruka explained.

"I-I'm not gonna change into a girl, am I…?" Renji asked, afraid of the answer. Oh no, as it was, people already recognize him as a girl, he DIDN'T wanna change in to the real one!

Renji heard Shizuka and Haruka snickered, trying their best to contain the laughter, but failed miserably and ended up laughing very loudly, causing Renji's face to flush in anger and embarrassment. How dare they laugh at Renji's misery!

"Hey, stop laughing!" Renji yelled and then pouted.

Shizuka caressed his cheek and pinched them lightly,"You're really cute aren't you, hime?"He said while grinning ear to ear.

"Of course you're not gonna be turned into a girl! It would ruin your image as a pure innocent soul." Haruka told Renji while still snickering softly.

Oh. So he wasn't going to change in to a girl. Renji sighed in relief at that.

"But, why would turning into a girl ruin my image?" Renji asked curiously.

Haruka then said," because whether you believe it or not, a girl, in most men minds, is the symbol of… um, well, adult thing, y'know." He finished the last part unsurely, because he really didn't want to talk about that with Renji around.

But Renji understood what Haruka was going to say, even though he really couldn't grasp what the word really mean.

"Okay, so..?" Renji then asked, urging Haruka to continue, but Haruka was still out of it, so Shizuka offered to explain to him.

"Because of the complication Haruka just said, you cannot be a female because as a Lily, you must stay pure, even in other people's mind. Now as a boy, most people won't think of you as something dirty and tainted, most of the time, after all, most boys grow out in mind longer than girls thus be more, generally speaking, innocent, so problem solved and not everybody wants to think dirty thought of a boy, being a Lily just add another reason people can't think dirty about you. But it really doesn't matter whether you're a girl or boy when you're a Lily though, coz you'll have to stay pure no matter what, and it's our job to protect you from being tainted." Shizuka finished and shrugged. He was quite sure what he just said was rubbish and even he didn't remember what he just said.

"I'm… still a little bit confused but, I think I can grasp the concept." Renji finally said, smiling softly at the two beings. Renji still couldn't believe how accepting he was to all the explanations the two men were providing him, but he didn't think of that too much, he had been thinking long enough, his head was tired.

"Tired, hime?" Haruka asked while smiling gently, took hold of Renji and let him rest on his broader body. Renji nodded sleepily. Shizuka smiled at this and caressed Renji's hair, massaging the scalp gently.

"It's okay, hime. You've been through a lot, you can rest. We'll protect you, now rest." Shizuka whispered softly to Renji's ear, and with that, he fell asleep.

*****EndOfDream*****

As the beautiful red-head slept on, two heavenly being watched him, both with smiles tugging on their lips; Renji was just too cute.

Renji rolled over in his sleep, clutching a fluffy pillow while talking softly in his sleep. Looked like he got another dream, and by the sweet smile, anyone could tell it was a nice dream for the red-head.

"Tai…cho… ehehe, mmm…" Renji muttered softly, a small cute laugh could be heard, making the two heavenly being smiled even wider.

"Yeah, we'll protect you, Ren'ai…" one of them said quietly.

Then suddenly, light engulfed the two handsome beings, and in their place, were two beautiful swords.

This chapter is finished! Yaaay!

*silence*

I'm soooo sorry okaaayy? I know I just can't act as if I did nothing wrong, but, I don't know what to say! There are billions of reasons and excuses I wanna tell you guys, but I just don't know where to start, or if you would believe me!

But one of the main and major reasons; I've got a mega ultra super ultimate writer's block! It was HORRIBLE!

And I know this chapter might not deliver my apology to you guys quite right, to be honest, I just feel as if there's something off in this chapter, like in the chapters before, but I just couldn't place it! So I'm sooorryyy if this doesn't satisfy you guys!

But please REVIEW!