As of today, I have reached the old age of seventy-five. And being that today was my birthday, my family had come to visit me to celebrate. I got to see my two wonderful daughters. The oldest already has a little girl who is five years old. She is a joy to have around and her laughter is one to be felt with such happiness. I missed my girls so much, they have been doing well with their lives. So well that they haven’t gotten to see me as much as they used to. But seeing them today made me happy. This day was one very interesting day.

As I was sitting in the living room in my rocking chair watching some television, I noticed that my bedroom door was open. I heard a little fumbling around in there so I went to check it out. It turns out that my little granddaughter had been messing around in my closet, playing with my old shoes and trying on my old hats. She laughed and giggled as she saw my old photographs of when I was younger. “Grandpa…” she said to me “who is this funny looking boy in the picture?” as she pointed to my photo. “Believe it or not sweetheart but that’s me.” I said while I picked her up and sat her down on my lap. “And who is that pretty lady next to you grandpa?” she asked “is that grandma?”. “No sweetheart, that isn’t your grandmother…” I replied. “That is a girl I knew a long time ago…before your little butt was born” I said as I smiled and went for my old Soul Reaper gear in a hidden space in the back of the closet.  I pulled out my black robes and my very old sword and blew the dust off as I wiped it clean. “WOW! Gran-Pa that is a big sword.” She said in awe as I leaned it against the bed. “This isn’t just a sword sweetheart, this is a special weapon called a zanpakutō.” I told her while she touched it. “A zan-pack-wha?” she said. “A zanpakutō,” I explained. “I was a Soul Reaper before I met your grandmother, and this is the weapon they used to kill these bad things called hollows.” She had a blank stare on her face. “Grandpa are you lying? This seems like a lie and mommy says that lying is bad.”. I chuckled and said “Yes your mother is right…lying is bad. But I am telling you the truth my dear.”
“Grandpa…tell me more about that pretty girl in the picture.” She demanded. “Ha…okay little one settle down.” I said as I laughed a bit.

“Okay sweetheart sit down and I will tell you about her.” I said.
“Okay Grandpa, I’m sitting. Now please tell me.”

“The girl in the picture, like me, was a Soul Reaper as well. And she was a good Soul Reaper too. She taught me everything I know about killing hollows and-…”
“What are hollows grandpa?”  She asked.
“Well hollows are like monsters with white ugly masks that attack other souls. But did you want to learn about the hollows or the girl in the picture?”
“The girl then” she said happily as she sat up straight.
“Okay then…where was I? Oh…She was a good soul reaper. She was fast and strong, and very very  pretty. Of all the soul reapers I have met, she was the most beautiful of them all.”
“I agree too grandpa Ichi. She was very boo-tif-fwell” she said while she struggled with the word.
“I know little one I know. Now unlike you and me, she grew up in the Soul Society, which is like heaven. It’s a place where everyone goes when they die. Their souls get transported to Soul Society. I don’t know much about her childhood though but I know that she was adopted into a family by a man named Byakuya Kuchiki.”
“So he became her daddy grandpa?”
“No sweetie he became her brother. She was adopted into the family. Byakuya was a strange man and we never really got along well. But that didn’t matter. She was still her own person and still made her own decisions. She was a headstrong person. She made quick tactful decisions in a split second, and was a very respected member among the Soul Society ranks.”
“She was famous too grandpa?” she asked.
“No my dear, just respected. She wasn’t by any means famous but she was well known. She had a temper on her though, any little bad comment would set her off. She was especially sensitive when it came to her drawings as her skills were less then impressive. I believe you could draw better than her sweetheart.”
She laughed and giggled.
“But other than that she was a very nice girl. She came into my life when I was fifteen and I remained close to her ever since. I eventually grew to love her as time passed on. And when she was to be executed by Soul Society, me and a couple of my closest friends went to save her.”
“You loved…her? Grandpa? But you said that wasn’t grandma…how can you love her and marry grandma?” she asked in angry tone.
“You will learn this one day, little one, when you find love of your own. You will discover that you will have many loves in your life, but the first one will always remain in your memories.”
She was silent. “Then if you loved her grandpa why didn’t you marry her instead of grandma? Why do you still have this picture of you and her.”
“Because sweetie these are the only things I have left to remember her by that are close to me. I keep this picture to remember the good times we had shared and why I am still here today. I didn’t mention this before but, this girl you speak of saved my life and the lives of my father and sisters. I can’t just forget about her. I remember her as a way to thank her for what she has done for me and as a way for her to forgive me for what I had done to her.”

Saying that made my eyes start to tear up as I began to remember those horrible memories. I tried to control my sobbing and crying but eventually I gave in. Tears were running down my face as I looked at my sword and that picture. I didn’t cry hard but enough to make my granddaughter worry about me.
“Don’t cry grandpa…what happened to her, why isn’t she still alive with you today?”
“Because sweetheart, I killed her. I killed her with that very sword you see before you. That day made me retire from being a Soul Reaper. Seeing her body and the damage I caused made me retire. I could no longer be one of them as I would only remember…Her. To this day I regret doing what I did. And to this day I still wonder did I do all that I could have to prevent her from dying.”
“Why grandpa? Why did you kill her?
“I didn’t mean to but it happened. Her body was taken over by an evil hollow, and he had lied to me. He lied and said that when he entered her body, that she was no longer herself and no longer apart of either the real world or the spirit world.”
“Grandpa I am sure you did the right thing. She would not have wanted to be a bad person controlled by a hollow thingy.”
“By the way Grandpa…what was her name. You never told me her name.”
“Her name was Rukia. Rukia Kuchiki.” I replied.
“But that’s—.”
“---I know sweetie, that is your name as well. When your mother knew she was  pregnant with you she asked me what was the most beautiful name I could think of. I said ‘Rukia’”