Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. A/N: another Hitsu/Ruki one-shot. Enjoy.
Silenzio delle stelle: The silence of the stars.
Another day.
And another year had gone by.
He had lost count already to how many yesterdays had disappeared…
Another casualty of the Winter war, they'd said, she was brave and strong, intoned one of her friends.
She will be dearly missed, someone—he didn't remember who had eulogized at her funeral.
But what did they know?
His unshed tears he refused to show even as Kurosaki gave him a brief embrace and said sorry.
Sorry.
For what?
The Icy Captain of Squad ten stared blankly at the coffin as it went by; Matsumoto stood beside him and tried to squeeze his hand between her own.
No response.
He was blank.
He knew she was no longer there inside the fancy mahogany box.
The woman he'd fallen for was not there…not anymore.
…………………………………………………………………………
The years still pass.
The sun and moon still rise.
Day comes.
His feet wind their way up the hillside dotted with freshly blooming wild daisies…
And he remembers.
For an instant he's back in the past, she's laying there in the white flowers her raven hair a startling contrast.
In a minute she'll see him and--
"Captain! Captain Toshiro!"
Hitsugaya mentally shakes himself.
She was gone.
There was no possible way for him to be hearing her voice.
So then why was he--?
"Captain! I've been calling you!" She snapped.
Hitsugaya's turquoise green eyes snap open; Rukia was standing above him.
Alive.
Breathing.
And furious.
His little snow maiden was back.
He hopes it isn't a dream.
"R-Rukia? Is it really you?"
She's about to answer something smart when he suddenly pulls her down and hugs her tightly.
"I've missed you," he says over and over into her hair.
She doesn't answer and stays quiet.
For a long time they stay together in the field of flowers.
Words are meaningless.
Light begins to fade.
Darkness settles in like a heavy cloak.
The daisies close their heads and the delicate fragrance of the Moonlils wafts around them.
The tiny blossoms that bloom beneath the light of the moon; a rare sight even in Soul society.
Hitsugaya and Rukia sit up, she in his lap, his arms around her protectively.
Though she doesn't say it; he knows this night must come to an end.
The stars he notices are particularly bright tonight…he wonders if she's noticed them too.
There's something he remembers…he wanted to tell her something…before…
She died.
What was it?
If only he could remember…
It hits him suddenly.
Of course.
How silly of him to forget.
"Rukia, I love you," he says to the million stars glimmering in the sky.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
She's gone.
Only her last words are whispered in the wind.
"I love you too."
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
A/N: I almost made myself cry! Please review! ;-; --crying.
