Another 3am special!! It sux but review anyways!!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or nothing cool for that matter. Except for my imaginative mind...
Rain Pours Hearts
Black despairing clouds settled over the slumbering town. Bucketfuls of splattering fat drops cascaded from the inky sky, flooding the streets and casting their ruckus to the inhabitants of the town. The thunder startling the once blissful dreaming resident into a sweaty bundle of startled gasps and pounding hearts, but those who slept soundly paid the noise no mind, not even waking to the peals that echoed off the towers or the blinding blue streaks of lightning. But those were a rare few who could dismiss such hullabaloo and sleep in complete comfort.
One such individual did not exist in the room inhabited by the Kurosaki twins and a certain raven-haired shinigami. Yuzu had crept unquestionably crawled into her sister's bed, the two trying their hardest to get some sleep. Rukia was staring at the ceiling, watching the bright lights dance around the room. As the storm finally subsided somewhat, she watched with amusement as the two finally had their eyes closing, sleep tugging, beckoning for them to return. Right as her own eyes began to close was when she heard it...a mournful noise that chilled her to the bone. Cracking an eye open, she observed that the twins had finally drifted and hadn't heard the noise. She slowly got out of bed to investigate, careful to not wake the twins, and wrapped a robe about her shoulders. With bare feet she slipped into the hallway and quietly made her way toward the living room.
A flash of lightning lit up the room for a moment sending eerie shadows scurrying. The noise was nearby. It was barely audible now but Rukia had acute hearing and she picked her way near the stairs. Suddenly a hand brushed her arm! She spun about in alarm only to find Karin and Yuzu blinking sleepily at her. Rukia clutched her hand to her chest in relief.
"What are you yawn doing up...Rukia-nee?" Yuzu asked curiously.
"Nothing Yuzu, Karin, you should go back to bed now." She didn't what to worry them and besides they hadn't slept at all well. "I just needed a drink of water." A bad lie she could see, since the look on Karin's face clearly showed her disbelief but she dragged a sleepy Yuzu away back to their room anyways. Satisfied, Rukia crept up the stairs toward the sound. It was defiantly louder now. Could it be?
She peeked through a crack in the door to his room, lightning once again illuminating the darkness. She saw a figure on the bed, moaning in heart-wrenching agony. Something tugged at the shinigami's heart as she heard him cry out at the phantoms of his nightmares. Soft yet agonizing cries filled her ears. She pulled the robe tighter around her as she slipped inside his room, flipping on his bedside lamp, unsure of what to do. He was obviously reliving the pain of his past experiences. As she neared his twitching form, stepping gingerly over pillows long since flung in his sleep she gasped. He was crying!
Steady tears flowed down his face twisted in agony and remorse. His lips emitted a sob so bitterly painful, combined with his sweating shaking state so unlike him Rukia felt tears spring to her own eyes. She couldn't take it! Gently she placed her hand on his arm, his body tensed, still shaking from raking yet soft sobs. "Ichigo," she whispered shaking him
gingerly. "Wake up!" His eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly in alarm, eyes darting wildly, searching for something that was not there.
"Ichigo!' The pain and horror emitting from those amber eyes nearly killed the woman. The sight was unbearable. He looked confused for a moment. "R-rukia?" Then suddenly he felt his face and realized the tears that flowed there. He looked away quickly, embarrassed and ashamed for her having to see him like this.
His nightmares caught up with him and he rolled over facing the wall, pulling the covers over his shoulder, his back to her. The only sound in the room was the pattering of raindrops and the faint roll of distant thunder. "Ichigo...are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
Again she placed her hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture, hurriedly pulling it away when she realized that his body was shaking again. She could barely make out the strangled sob he emitted. For once, the raven-haired girl was at a loss. She had never had been in a situation like this, and never had she realized how distant Ichigo really was.
Luckily her hand seemed to know what to do. It brushed the hair away from his face, revealing a face contorted with choked sobs. What was he dreaming about? Again and again her hand followed a course all its own. Stroking the teen's hair and murmuring incoherent phrases of comfort. Lightning danced across his features. He tensed again but did not shy away from her touch.
"Ichigo, you can tell me. Don't be ashamed of pain." He let out an escaped gasp, shuddering, tears flowing again. Rukia felt guilt for upsetting him again but she encouraged him to speak when he was ready. She sat at the edge of his bed, perching atop the pillow where he rested his head. Her other hand found his and squeezed it as she continued to stroke his hair a bit awkwardly. "T-the pain!" he cried out suddenly. "I-it hurts so much!!" Rukia waited patiently, understanding that talking about his emotions was something very difficult for him, and she understood that he'd rather not say anything. His eyes were squeezed shut.
"The pain of losing her! I-it...hurts." Rukia now understood perfectly what was causing him so much pain. "She was everything to this family and I-I couldn't protect her..."He muttered through clenched teeth."Every time it storms...it all...comes back."
Rukia felt a pang of sympathy for her friend. "Every night since it happened...for two whole years the nightmares...haunted me! And now...they have come back...because..." he paused before continuing. "When it rains I seem to lose...so much!" He looked startled now, as if he had just said something he wasn't supposed to have said aloud.
Rukia was confused, she peered into his face. "What do you mean?" Ichigo closed his amber eyes for a moment, before opening them, continuing with a steadier voice. "On the day that my mother died, part of me died too. I couldn't protect her, I was ashamed. My family was in pain because I couldn't protect the one thing that held us together..." The steadiness faltered. "Instead she protected me."
Rukia felt closer to understanding him now, the anguish he lives with everyday. "I relive those weeks hopelessly looking for mother along the river where she died...in the rain...finding her dead body over mine...in the rain...she protected me..." He was looking up into her eyes now."The day you were taken...how you...left me...to die for me, protecting me. I thought I had died...again." Rukia's eyes widened. "How can I live with the rain
always pouring down on me, always taking something away? To protect me?" She felt his hand clench.
"Rukia...I never told you when I saved you...that you helped stop the rain for me. You gave me the power to protect. And even though I am forever doomed to relive the past...I can still live...because you're here, alive with me." She squeezed his hand and her eyes softened, letting a tear fall from her eye. "Rukia, thank you..." He looked away embarrassed, his faced tinged in the darkness. "You just did it again..." It was then that Rukia looked out the window and saw that the rain had indeed stopped.
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Karin, Yuzu, and the 'Goat-chin' all stood just outside the door, all with tears in their eyes. They had trailed Rukia and heard every word. Yuzu was shocked at the pain her brother had so desperately hid deep inside himself to protect her and Karin. Karin was amused at the way Rukia and her brother responded to each other's touch of comfort. And Isshin...he saw it all. He was proud to say that someone could fill in the spot in his son's heart that he could never fill. That Rukia was a very special woman indeed. Needless to say that the last statement was soon proven true. The three eavesdroppers nearly fainted when they saw what happened next.
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"I-ichigo I...had no idea of all that you'd been through and endured." She commanded her hand to let go of the blushing youth's. "Thank you for telling me..."
An awkward silence filled the room both a bit overwhelmed with all they had just been through and spilled. The girl started to climb off the bed but a hand snatched hers, making her stop. Ichigo sat up, eyes still slightly damp and watched as tears fill up in her violet ones.
He looked concerned. "Rukia, wait what is it?" The girl looked away. "Nothing you baka. You just... helped me realize something." Ichigo still had her delicate hand in his.
"What?" She suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck; Ichigo blushed furiously and was very much startled. "Rukia?!" She pulled away slightly so she could look into his eyes. "Ichigo...I...have to tell you...that I..." Her eyes were different somehow. How strange it was that on one rainy night secrets flowed like the raindrops from the sky...
TO BE CONTINUED
me muy evilo ;) Review gomen...