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Usually, she came to see him off. Izuru wasn't terribly concerned when Momo didn't come to say goodbye to him on his way out the gate for his 3-day mission. Even if she was his lover, Izuru knew she had stayed up until about 4 the previous night finishing paperwork. She was probably still asleep at this early hour.

He did miss her kiss and her soft, "Come back safely," though.

-

That was why Momo thought she would die. She didn't say what she always said to him whenever he went on a particularly dangerous mission without her. "Come back safely," was Momo's failsafe; she felt that it was a promise she made with him, and it was a promise he wouldn't break.

Without those words, it seemed all the more horrible as Shuhei stood before her in her doorway, his face contorted with grief, with two words wrenching themselves from his taut lips, "Izuru died."

Momo believed it, too. She knew some bereft lovers went into deep stages of denial when their dearests departed, but she knew this to be true because she hadn't made him promise.

She nodded numbly to Shuhei. She understood. She didn't want to understand. Her heart was still beating. She wanted it to stop.

After losing Aizen, Momo thought the worst part of her life was over, especially when Izuru came to her with promises of undying love.

But it had only just begun.

She slithered out the window and as her feet hit the ground, broke into a sprint towards the 3rd Company. He was dead. He was dead.

Momo sprinted into his bedroom, slamming the door open as she stumbled through the meticulously-kept chamber to his chest of drawers. All his valuables were with his socks, a trait Momo found--had found--absolutely adorable. She ripped the top drawer open, and her trembling fingers found his Lieutenant's badge, the shiny oak slipping though her fingers.

Her fingers found another item, this one a miniscule, satin-covered box, inside--a ring. Izuru had wanted to propose to her. Momo knew she would have said yes without a moment's hesitation, but now--

She gagged just a bit as her breath quickened with her sobs, increasing in volume. Momo collapsed tearfully onto his bed, her seeking fingers clutching desperately as they wrinkled the neat duvet.

The noises Izuru heard when he entered his living quarters were urgent and familiar. He had held her when she cried a million times, and that sound was forever ingrained on his memory.

He hated that sound.

Dashing towards his bedroom, he found her, curled up into a hysterical ball on his covers, kissing his badge in sheer despair.

Shuhei had pulled him into a tight hug at the gates, explaining in bewilderment that they thought he had met the same fate as the rest of his team. His eyes had darkened, and he had said, "Momo--" and that was all Izuru needed to hear. He ran to the 5th Squad, and finding that she wasn't there, immediately came to his place of living.

And there she was, sobbing her heart out onto his bed.

Izuru immediately scooped her up, one arm going beneath her knees as the other went behind her shoulders. He pulled her quickly to his chest, taking a cleansing breath of her before he strode over to the squashy armchair he kept for reading.

Momo, on some level, realized that someone who smelled exactly like the duvet and the socks and the badge and the ring had gathered her lovingly into his wiry arms and was cradling her closely, but she thought it was a dream.

Because Izuru was gone.

The sobs came again.

"I'm sorry I worried you," Izuru whispered into her hair. "I'm sorry I made you cry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Momo cried even harder, leaning into him.

"And I'm sorry I almost died," he kissed her hair lovingly.

Almost.

Almost died.

Izuru was alive, Izuru was holding her, this wasn't a dream. She hiccupped as she stared up at him. Her eyes were wide and sparkling with tears, and her face was a glistening mask.

Izuru tenderly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear as he leaned down to slant his mouth against hers, soft and gentle.

Momo's arms shot around his neck, pulling him closer as she opened her mouth against his, kissing him desperately.

Izuru's movements were patient and gentle as his arms went securely around her, though he impetuously flicked his tongue against her soft lips for a mere moment.

"I t-thought you were dead…" she told him, pulling back.

"I know," Izuru leaned forward, his arms tightening for a moment as he kissed her deeply. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, thank God," she whispered, biting his bottom lip. Her hands curled desperately into his hair. "I d-don't know what I'd have done…"

"Don't think about it," Izuru kissed the soft juncture of her neck and shoulder, his movements growing slightly more urgent. "I'm here and I love you."

"I'm here and I love you."