Part 1

"C'mon, Onii-chan! It's gonna start soon!" Yuzu pulled his hand, dragging the athletic 19-yr-old along the sidewalk.

Beside him, Karin smirked, trying not to enjoy the way their sister was enthusiastic in spite of being 15. Her perpetual joy was all that mattered on this day. Their father was at a conference in Tokyo for the week, and school was on break for the spring. The rumor was that the American president was coming to their town just to celebrate the Cherry Blossom Festival, but for whatever reason there was a huge parade straight down main street just before the festivities kicked off. It was towards this that the blonde Kurosaki twin was pulling her siblings.

"Alright, Yuz, alright. We're coming." Ichigo laughed. He didn't get much time to spend with his sisters anymore between college classes, and purifying Hollows. Though he had help with both, there just weren't enough hours in the day, and he'd been bouncing back and forth between Soul Society and the Living World regularly for the last two months trying to iron out a peace treaty between the Shinigami and the half-Hollows. All in all he was enjoying the week off with his sisters, even though it was almost over.

"Ichi-nii?" The quieter of the two girls cocked her head to gaze with a heavy look up at her brother. He quirked an eyebrow, and she asked, "Can you take us to the building over there?" She pointed to a spot under a sakura tree to the side of the pavilion where the special guest speaker was going to declare the festival open after the parade.

"Sure." He smiled and wrapped an arm around each of them, then Flash Stepped across the parking lot that served as the performance space.

It wasn't much later that the floats, marching bands and crowds of celebrating tourists that had flocked to Karakura Town for the occasion made their way down the street. Poppers exploded, confetti rained, music played, clowns tumbled and juggled, pretty high school girls dressed in sakura themed dresses waved from atop representative floats for each of their schools, and the government officials were pulled down the street in an open-topped carriage drawn by two ceremonial white horses. The crowds cheered and shouted, welcoming the foreign dignitary and generally throwing the biggest party Karakura had ever seen.

The parade circled the block, lining up around the outside of the parking lot so the carriage could bring the officials to the pavilion for the speech. The sun shone down on the place as though the Spirit King Himself was welcoming the foreigners, birdsong filled the air as the marching bands quieted, and the crowds began to pack into the parking lot. The American president stepped up to the podium, raised his hand in greeting, and all Hell broke loose.

There was a loud pop and someone screamed. Then people began to panic. Scary men in black dress suits swarmed over the politicals, rushing them away from the scene. Police tried to pinpoint where the gunman was raining shots across and through the crowd. Even the sun seemed to hide as the light around the area dimmed.

For his part, Ichigo's first thought was to cover his sisters. He threw himself between them and the parking lot, shoving them both into the tree. He smiled at Yuzu, who was clinging to Karin, and then he froze. Pain erupted from the middle of his back and his eyes went wide as his body jerked in a concave arch towards them.

Vaguely he heard someone close to him scream, and he thought that it might have been Yuzu. He felt something warm soaking through his shirt in the front. That was odd—hadn't he been hit in the back? The sunlight was fading, sounds getting further and further away, and somehow he was hot in spite of knowing that the day was cold enough to garner a jacket on top of a sweater. Then he felt the sensation of falling and that was it.

Her brother's body arched back and Karin expected him to pop out like he always did. When he didn't she couldn't move for reasons that had nothing to do with his weight on top of her. Wasn't that what was supposed to happen? Shinigami used gigai to walk around among Humans, and that's what Urahara-san had said Ichi-nii's body was these days. That meant that when the psycho who'd shot him killed his body he'd pop out the back and be fine, in his shihakusho, wielding that giant butcher knife and ready to kick ass. So why wasn't he?

She felt lost, adrift with no anchor. A small hand clutched her shirt, and she was pulled down to the ground. A gurgling sound brought her attention to the blonde hair to her side. "Yuzu!"

"K—Karin-ch—chan!" Tears poured down her sister's face, but worse, blood ran down from her ear. Her pigtail on that side was gone and the blonde hair was matted to her head. Her eyes were unfocused and rolling back as she tried to cling to her twin.

Then Kurosaki Karin, the strong twin, screamed.

A police man heard her and he called several of the EMTs who were now flooding the scene over to the bloody trio. Empty dark brown eyes stared out from the embrace of a blanket and white-knuckled hands clung to a cup of rapidly cooling tea as a white sheet was pulled over the heads of her siblings. Why didn't they get up? Where were their souls? She knew about the Soul Society. She knew about Pluses and Hollows. She knew about Shinigami. So, where were they? Didn't they need a konso to pass on? Or was she so insignificant in their lives that they could just cross over without her? And where was Daddy?

"I need to get back to her! She's going to be terrified! Byakuya! Renji! Toshiro, c'mon!" Ichigo stood in front of the main Senkaimon, his shihakusho stained with his own death blood. Behind him, dressed in her own shihakusho Yuzu clutched the scabbard of her brand new Zanpakutou.

"Ya know we can't let ya through, Ichigo." Renji frowned, and rubbed the back of his head. "Trauma like that triggers Death Sense in most Humans. If ya went back there now, ya'd have whole bunches of people thinking they were goin' crazy cuz they saw ya die protectin' yer sisters—well, sister."

"Well, why the Hell weren't you idiots there! I thought this kind of thing was registered, that any time there was a major loss of life Shinigami were stationed specifically because of how likely it was that souls dying in a situation like that immediately jump into being Hollows!" He searched the faces of some of his closest friends, each of them showing their displeasure in different ways.

Byakuya's quiet voice answered, "Because there was a Shinigami present."

The orangette rocked back as the implication hit him. "Ya left the whole thing to me? Without warning me! The fuck!" He swore, glaring at each one in turn.

"Believe me, Kurosaki. The last thing we expected was for you to be one of the casualities." Toshiro couldn't look him in the eye. His girlfriend was the one they were leaving in the Living World on her own after just having witnessed the deaths of both her brother and her sister.

Just then the Senkaimon opened behind them and a blue-haired streak pushed past the Shinigami to gather the orangette and his sister into his arms. "I just heard, Kitten. Want me ta go git her?" The deep voice was thick with emotion.

"You'll do that, Grimmjow-san?" Yuzu's voice squeaked.

"O'course, Pussycat." He nuzzled her blonde hair, now back in two ponytails. Then he turned to the Shinigami. "Ya gonna let me go? Er am I gonna hafta rip a Garganta ta git outta here?"

Byaukya and Renji stepped aside, but Toshiro crossed his arms and glared up at him. "Take me with you." A raised blue eyebrow is all he got.

"A word of caution, Jaegerjaques?" Byakuya raised a hand, "If her father is already there, you may not bring her back here."

"Feh! Ya Shinigamis give me no credit. Didn't I leave Ichi ta live his life?" The blunette rolled his eyes and shoved the Senkaimon open with Toshiro on his heels.

The trip was short, and both were quite solemn upon their return. Toshiro immediately Flash Stepped away from where Rukia had joined Renji and Byakuya with Ichigo and Yuzu. Grimmjow, however, grabbed his mate into a bone crushing embrace, murmuring apologies into his ear. It took him several minutes but eventually the former Sexta took a deep breath to report to the other Shinigami.

"Isshin was there. So were Urahara an' his brats. Karin was traumatized er somethin' cuz all she was doin' was jus' sittin' there starin' off inta space. Isshin an' Urahara were talkin' about somethin' with 'er ability to see spirits. Like the opposite o' that Death Sense that Cap'n Sicky was tellin' us 'bout at tha meetin' tha other day. She can't see nothin', nor sense it. Snowball was standin' right in front o' her an' she couldn't even feel him when he shikai'd those flowers he does." He shook his head, "And her eyes, Kitten." He shuddered.

Ichigo ducked his head to look his lover in the eye, "What, Grimm?"

He glared at the ground. "That fire she had—it's gone. It's like starin' inta a pair a black holes." He fell silent until Yuzu touched his arm, looking up at him scared and almost crying. He pulled her into his arms, "M'sorry, Pussycat, she's gotta live her life wi'out ya now," he said into her hair, as her shoulders shook with new tears.

Part 2

Time marched forward, years hardly mattered to the dead. The treaty was finished, establishing a 14th Division under Ichigo for half-Hollows of both sides. The three Visored who retained their captaincy served as 3rd through 5th seats in the 14th. Grimmjow was given Vice-Captain rank under Ichigo, and their primary mission was to patrol Hueco Mundo, keeping the Living World safe. Yuzu immediately entered the Shino Academy and upon graduation was given a seated position in the 4th. In the Living World Isshin and Kisuke did what they could to keep life going after the disastrous day that stole half of the remaining Kurosakis. The bastard who'd thought to try and pick off the American president was caught and tried for manslaughter on two counts; one for Ichigo's body, and one for Yuzu. And, of course, Karin grew up.

And Toshiro Hitsugaya watched her do it. He watched her graduate high school. He watched her enter University, studying law enforcement. He watched her graduate first with a Bachelor's degree, then a Master's. He watched her join the Karakura police force and quickly rise in rank to chief of police before she turned 35; the youngest ever elected in Japan. All this time he watched her go through life. Alone, and if not happy, content with it, though her smiles never reached her eyes. At least until she launched her political career. Coming up through the police force was just one step on her road, and doing that had given her the foundation she needed to be trusted in government. But to break into the national races she had to be seen as a woman as well as a warrior. So, he watched her court and marry a man from Tokyo who had connections to all the right people.

She ran her first major political campaign while expecting their first child. Voters saw this as the perfect example of what they country needed. She was strong, independent, had gone after her goals and achieved them within the natural window for having a family. Now, as she ascended to the highest ranks of officials in their country, she had begun her family, balancing both beautifully. Her bid for first female president of Japan piggybacked on her son's life.

Toshiro watched from a distance, never getting any closer than her bedroom window. Sometimes he was sure she could sense him because she'd turned toward him in her sleep, and pull the covers up like she was cold with a soft smile on her relaxed face. But after she was married, he stopped coming to her window. It broke his heart to watch, but he couldn't do anything else.

He was there when her daughter was born via C-section halfway through her second term as president. He was there when her husband started sleeping with his secretary because she hadn't quite gotten back her pre-motherhood body after the second child. He was there when Isshin left his gigai for the last time, and he watched her mourn, knowing that she'd all but forgotten about her years hunting Hollows with the strange kids from the candy shop down the street. He was there when her kids grew up and she moved from Japanese politics to international politics, leaving her hometown and her husband behind for a job at the United Nations. And he was there when, almost 80 years later when she died.

He opened the Senkaimon straight into her retirement village room where her son and his wife, children and grandchildren held her hand, and her daughter leaned against the wall trying to be brave for her life partner, who was sobbing. The air in the room immediately chilled with his reiatsu, and sleepy dark brown eyes creaked open to stare into his icy blue ones.

"You came." She croaked, her voice rough from years of speeches.

Her daughter caught her breath in her throat, and the youngest of her grandchildren, an inquisitive boy with honey-colored eyes and a mop of bright orange hair, stared at him asking his mommy who the funny man with white hair was that walked out of the screen door to nowhere.

Her son tried to reason with her, being a practical man. "Mom, of course we came. We're your family."

"No." She shook her head and smiled, her lips dry and cracking. She reached her hand out to him with tears in her eyes, "I thought I'd dreamed of you, Toshiro."

"Benny, she's talking to people who aren't there." Her son's wife whimpered, clutching her husband's arm. The man's jaw grew tight, understanding the implications.

"Of course I came." He brought the frail, paper thin fingers of her hand to his mouth. "Did you think I would miss the most important day of your life?"

"No." She closed her eyes, too tired to keep looking at him.

Everyone held their breath as time seemed to slow down. Unseen to most in the room, except for a young orange-haired boy who climbed up on the bed against his mother and grandmother's wishes, Toshiro drew on a glove similar to Rukia's with the imprint of the flaming skull on the back. He reached gently into her hand and took her soul's hand. Standing from the bed he drew her from her body just as the heart monitor began to beep in a single monotone. Her daughters-in-law gasped at the same time and clung to their spouses, tears streaming down their faces. Her granddaughter placed a hand on her mother's back and looked sad. But standing in front of Toshiro, dressed in a shihakushou was the Karin Kurosaki who had melted his heart, though a few years older.

"Kami but you're a sight for sore eyes, Toshiro." She hugged him close, tears welling in her dark eyes.

"You have a lot of people waiting for you, Karin." He half-smiled, already mourning the special relationship he'd had with her over the years. As soon as they stepped through the gate she'd be swamped by Shinigami who had been missing her, and gone would be the nights where Toshiro could sit outside her window and watch her sleep.

She couldn't keep the waver from her voice when she asked, "Are you one of them?"

"No." He answered immediately, but he caught her chin in his hand before she could look away. "I haven't missed you, because I never left." Her eyes went wide for a moment before they closed as he captured her mouth with his.

Outside of their bubble, her descendants had gathered closer to the bed, mourning her, most of them crying. Except for that one little boy, who tugged on his mother's shirt where he kneeled on the bed next to Greaki's corpse. "But, Momma, Momma, Greaki's not dead. She's right there. Kissing that white-haired man. I see her. There." He pointed, but his mother just ran her hand through his hair.

"Sure you can, Ichigo. Sure you can." The woman sniffed back her tears, trying to stay strong for her young son.

Toshiro spared a glance at the boy when he opened the Senkaimon. He almost left but leaned down to be eye level with the boy. "Ichigo was it?" The orange head nodded. "Make me a promise? Always follow your heart when it comes to the important people in your life, no matter what anybody else says, ok?" The orange head nodded again, and Toshiro ruffled his hair. "Good boy. I'm gonna take your Greaki home now, ok? Bye, Ichigo. Grow up strong. Remember, your name means 'One who Protects'."

Bright honey-colored eyes watched in the opposite direction of everyone else in the old woman's room as a door that led to nowhere appeared in a flash of bright light and disappeared after his great-grandmother and the funny man who knew his name walked through it. He clutched his mother's skirt and vowed, in the seriousness of all little children, that he was gonna protect his family, just like the white-haired man said he should.

On the other side of the Dangai the little boy's namesake snatched his dark-haired sister up in a crushing hug seconds before their father did the same thing. There was much laughing, and hugging, and introducing of people as Karin Kurosaki rejoined her family and claimed her birthright. A party was called for, and everyone moved off to begin celebrations, but right before she was swept away, Toshiro snagged her wrist.

"Kurosaki Karin," He began. "I have watched you from afar for so long that I simply cannot bear to spend another moment without you." He wrapped his arm around her waist, and drew his hand from her wrist to cup the side of her face, as he captured her mouth again in a toe-curling, bone-melting kiss. "Spend eternity with me."

They parted a moment later. Her eyes sparkled when she said, "Gladly."

A/N: Shino Academy is the name of the Shinigami academy. Consider it a pet peeve, but I can't stand when people write about something that has a name and don't use it, making up their own instead of looking it up. XD Sorry if that sounded ranty. It was brought to my attention by my WONDERFUL beta that some people wouldn't recognize it if I didn't explain.