READ THIS PLEASE! IMPORTANTE! :DD bahaha

AN: So, people, this is my first story, and that means: recommendations are appreciated, but not criticism and flaming. I'd really love it if you gave me good reviews instead of bad! :) *looks hopeful*

Okay, I know the first chapter is reaaaaaaaaaaaaally long and reaallly explanatory in one part, but bear with me, okay? I promise, they'll have a much more reasonable size once I get all my info together. :D

Summary: Rukia is given a chance to meet her family again in the world of the living 150 years ago, and most importantly...her sister. Ichigo and Renji volunteer to go with her, and what ensues is a mixture of happiness, love, heartbreak, grief, anguish, and twists and turns the whole way. Enjoy and review! :) (Trust me, it's a lot better than the summary)

Okay, I hope you guys like! Remember: they SHALL be shorter soon! hahaha thanks!

It started out pretty normally, he supposed. All he was doing was enjoying his 1:00 nap, when suddenly, something kneed him hard in the stomach.

"Oof!" a startled Ichigo rolled off the small mattress and hit the floor, hard. He looked up to see two laughing, violet eyes staring at him. The more he focused his dizzy vision, he could see that they belonged to a pint-sized girl wearing a long black robe.

She grabbed his shoulders and began shaking him. "Wake up, you fool! Ichigo! I said WAKE UP!" she hollered in his ear.

"Argh! I'm awake already, Rukia!" Ichigo jumped up from his position under Rukia and pinned her down.

"Now…" he growled impatiently. A"What do you WANT?"She glared and, lifting up her foot, kicked him in the chin.

Now rubbing a sore chin, Ichigo looked at Rukia annoyingly. She flopped down on the mattress, a serious look on her face. "Ichigo…" she said.

"How long do you plan on staying here?"

Ichigo's eyes widened. He looked around Rukia's small Shinigami quarters, finally resting his eyes on the silver clock that hung above her bed post. It was the kind that showed you the date and time. It was Monday, July 26, 2010, 1:07 p.m. Wow. He hadn't intended on staying in the Soul Society long, let alone 5 days. He had only wanted to visit Rukia…well, no, just see how, uh, things were going there. He had planned to come back on Saturday, but the days and nights were becoming a blur.

Rukia leaned back and crossed her arms behind her head. "I'm not trying to kick you out from here, you know. In fact, it was nice of you to come check on me." Ichigo looked down, trying vainly to hide the small blush that formed on his cheeks. "Were you worried yet again?" Rukia smirked.

"No!" he said, his blush getting redder. "Er…you just always get yourself into a heap of trouble, every time I turn my back. You're like, in need of a personal babysitter." That earned him a punch on the arm.

"Well, then the only reason I'm asking is because Captain-General Yamamoto wanted me to." Rukia looked at him uncertainly.

Ichigo stood up. "Say what? Does he want me gone or something?" Ichigo was a bit confused. What did he do to make the Captain-General angry?

The small Shinigami stood up next to him, and Ichigo couldn't help but laugh when she only came up to his chest. "I'm going to ignore that…" she grumbled, and he smiled. "So? Is this about that wall I broke a hole through yesterday? The exact place where Renji was supposed to be standing?" "You were both being idiots. And don't say that!" Rukia cried, and Ichigo held his hands up in surrender. Don't tell me she likes him, he though angrily. Wait. Why am I angry? It's not like I actually care who Rukia's interested in…

Said girl sighed, and continued. "I don't think the Captain-General wants you out; maybe he just needs to know." "For what?" Ichigo implied suspiciously. "I don't know, for a mission, or something!" Rukia threw her arms up, and Ichigo groaned. "Then what do I—"

Just then, a black ball of light began manifesting between them, interrupting the orange-headed boy. He jumped back, but Rukia stood there, focusing on it. The ball began glowing, and sprouted wings, finally assuming the form of a solid black butterfly. "A Hell Butterfly..." Ichigo breathed.

It shocked him when they both began hearing a female voice echoing from the insect. "All Shinigami Captains and those ranking must immediately report to Captain-General Genryuusai Yamamoto's office for an urgent meeting at 13:15 hours. We are to discuss some relevant information on the machine. Dismissed." The butterfly ceased its speech and in a flash, it was gone.

"Huh…" Ichigo scratched his head, and looked at the clock. "1: 13. What was that about?" He turned to Rukia for an explanation, but saw one wasn't coming. Rukia was staring straight ahead, her fists locked at her sides, her large eyes wide.

"Rukia?" Ichigo worriedly peered down at her, and she snapped. Grabbing his arm, she began hauling him towards the door of the room. "Agh! Rukia, what the hell are you doing?" the teenager cried, but Rukia just insisted on pulling harder.

"We have…to get to…that…meeting!" She said between pants, and as they pushed out the door, she broke off running, dragging him by the scruff with her.

Ichigo flailed, but soon it seemed clear that she wasn't letting go, so he gave up and simply laid back as she pulled. For such a small stature, Ichigo was surprised she wasn't tired yet. "Why is this meeting so important to you?" he questioned as they zigzagged through halls of gaping Shinigamis. "You're not even a ranking officer."

"I know that," she snarled, and her passenger rolled his eyes. "But I can still come!"

Ichigo raised his eyebrows. "What makes you so sure of that?"

"Because…" Rukia sounded extremely bored of this conversation. "They sent us a Hell Butterfly. If I don't have a rank, it means that—" Ichigo's eyes widened. "I do!" he finished. He may not have an official rank as a Shinigami, but that badge Captain Ukitake issued him made him ranked as a Substitute Shinigami. Rukia smiled back at him. "Yep!" and Ichigo couldn't help but smile back. She had one heck of a smile. Although…

"That still doesn't explain why you actually want to go to this meeting."

Rukia stopped running, and Ichigo slid forward, almost crashing into her. "Oi, what's the big idea—" he started, but from the look Rukia gave him that could've killed a weaker man, he shut up. Beckoning with her hand, they pressed up against the wall to avoid the swarms of Shinigami captains and officers entering the Captain General's meeting room.

When she didn't answer him, he added, "…Or how you're going to get in."

Rukia smiled and simply stated, "That's where you come in!" and Ichigo could only stutter out a "…What?" before she pushed him into the room right in front of the closing doors.

The room was extremely crowded, seeing as the Hell Butterfly had called all captains and ranking officers. Rukia hid behind Ichigo's back and pushed him silently to the end of the room, where they had some free space and enough room to watch the meeting.

Ichigo sighed. So this is what she had in mind for me… he thought as he grumbled to himself. Rukia shushed him, and he turned around to look at her, glad for the mixed conversations between others to cover them.

"Rukia, you're not answering any of my questions. First off: how are you going to hide? The captains and Captain-General can sense spiritual pressure. Next, why did you need to come here? What is this "machine"? I'm not kidding; what is it? What does it have to do with you? Is the only reason you needed me is for you to hide behind?" Ichigo was particularly angry at the last question, and spit it out.

Rukia looked up at him, and to his surprise, her eyes were pleading. "Please, Ichigo, please…I'll explain it later. Just let me do what I need to do now," she whispered, finally looking at the ground. Ichigo's expression softened and he turned back around. "…Okay," he grudgingly replied. He felt Rukia behind him glance up in shock, and suddenly remembered the time he had told her about his mother dying.

―Flashback—

Ichigo panted hard, running as fast as his feet could carry him down the stairs. A small raven head was panting just as hard, keeping up with him the whole way. They both felt the reiatsu of a large Hollow, most likely looking for food. Ichigo knew that Hollows had an ugly habit of looking for weak food. And Karin and Yuzu were easy targets.

He did not look at her.

She did not look at him.

Neither of them spoke, until he finally worked up the courage to say, "You're…"

She remained emotionless.

"…You're not going to say anything?"

Her reply startled him, though physically he did not show her. "If I asked, would you tell me?"

Ichigo looked at her.

"It's your problem." Rukia adjusted her pace evenly. "A deep…"

"…deep…"

"…problem." He stared at her intently, raising his eyebrows. "I have no right to know," she continued. "I have no method of stepping into the depths of your heart…without it getting dirty." Their simultaneous steps echoed on the hard pavement. "…So I'll wait."

At this point, she finally looked at him, her gaze neither sympathetic nor remorseful. It was strong and clear. And she smiled a sincere smile.

"I'll wait. When you want to talk, when you think it's okay to talk, then talk to me. Until that time…I'll wait," he mumbled, closing the door of his memories.

Those were the exact same words Rukia had said to him that day his sisters were attacked at his mother's grave. He had been so expectant of her to ask, to dig into his heart without permission…but she didn't. She understood, and she respected his decision. She would wait.

…and so would he.

Rukia looked as if she were ready to cry when he turned his head to her again. "Ichigo…you—" she began, but was cut off when the Assistant Captain of 1st Division, Lieutenant Sasakibe, spoke the first words. Ichigo turned around sharply.

"Shinigami! You were called here today by Commander Yamamoto for this important meeting concerning all Captains and ranking officers. Although I do not have to power to check and make sure every single one of you are here, I will hold you to be just, and that you have taken the Soul Society's word that this is relevant information." He paused, and pushed his hair back. "Now then, we begin – sir? If you would so kindly proceed," and Lieutenant turned and looked at his predecessor, the Captain-General. The old man grunted in assent, and shifted in his enormous chair.

"Thank you, Chojiro. I assume all of you know this already, but I will run through it quickly once more," he boomed in his gravelly voice. "About three months ago, 12th Company's Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri began working on a project that allows the user to alter the dimensions of the time space continuum of the present Soul Society. Common knowledge is that aging is much slower here than in the real world. That is because of the rift in the continuum from different reaitsus in Soul Society, and also because everyone in this world is no longer living. Our konpakus (souls) continue to expand and grow, though our bodies do not. Even though it does not affect time that much here, it has always been a growing interest of the Court Guard Squads."

Even though Ichigo was still a little confused, he began to listen intently. He could feel Rukia behind him squirm with anticipation. This was getting interesting…

"Admitting it myself, I have always been fond of the past. There is a saying that the past is the profit to the future; information can ultimately be gathered, and forgotten things can be revived. In fact, there is something that I as Captain-General have been wondering about for some time. The only way to satisfy this strange curiosity is to assign a new mission."

The orange-haired Shinigami couldn't believe it. A new mission? This must be what Rukia was so worked up about. But he still couldn't understand how this "machine" fit into all of it.

"Captain Kurotsuchi's project has not been given on official name yet, so we are dubbing it "the machine." It is designed to transfer particles of reishi into a type of transportation that will allow the user to cross between balances of time. In other words: a time machine."

Murmurs began erupting all around Rukia and Ichigo. Rukia herself was silent, Ichigo noticed, and reached behind himself to hold her elbow gently. She flinched; Ichigo guessed she hadn't realized how tightly she'd been holding onto his robes. She relaxed a little, allowing the warmth of Ichigo's hand to calm her.

Ichigo smiled to himself. Rukia had probably never had anything like this before, had she, he thought. Her older sister, Hisana, had died before Rukia had met her, and even though things were in the clear with Byakuya Kuchiki, he didn't seem like the type to give affection openly. The teen's attention was drawn back into the meeting when everything became quiet again.

Captain General began to speak again, starting with "I know it may seem extremely unattainable, but Captain Kurotsuchi has attained it. Now, this is where the machine's functions are most interesting. Since it can possess the power to transport beings to and fro the midst of time, that makes it more so to transport beings to and fro their life and death."

There was a single 'gasp' in the room, and Ichigo's head spun. Life and death? Was that even possible?

A Shinigami to Ichigo's far right spoke up. "So…does that mean that if we had died after the time the machine sent us too, we could…be alive again?"

"CORRECT!" Commander bellowed, and the whole room shook. "The time destination for this machine is precisely 150 years ago. I would like to send someone who's been alive at that time. This mission is dangerous, and requires intent skill and physical ability. It really wouldn't matter whether you were alive or not, but it would be easier to communicate with humans from that time if you were. If I were to send someone who was not from that time period, they would still remain in Shinigami form."

"Captain-General, if I may…" Heads turned to the voice, and it belonged to none other than Kurotsuchi. "Go ahead, Mayuri," said Yamamoto.

Kurotsuchi cleared his throat. "Everything that the Captain-General has said so far is true. I have indeed created a time portal, and it will indeed revive someone's life, if only for the time being in the machine's space continuum. After the mission is over, you will be sent back to Soul Society to report the results. There is only one problem with this. The person that I need to gather the information must be quick, agile, intelligent, and strong. But, that cannot include the captains, vice captains, and 3rd-7th seat. So…we are here…to find a volunteer for the mission."

Ichigo suddenly couldn't stop himself, and blurted out, "You can actually volunteer for a mission? I thought that officers were assigned that." Everyone in the room turned to look at him, and suddenly Ichigo felt slightly embarrassed for speaking out of turn. "Kurosaki Ichigo…so you are still here," he heard the Captain-General mutter.

"Ah, Kurosaki. My feelings are mutual to see that you're still alive and kicking," Kurotsuchi sighed, and Ichigo had to grit his teeth from spitting out a retort. "Well. Not that it matters that much anyway. I still need at least one volunteer."

Ichigo snorted. Like anyone here was going to volunteer to go on some crazy, high risk mission to who-knows-where to who-knows-when, (well, technically 150 years ago, but he needed to catch up in his history anyway) for who-knows-what.

And then…

The most shocking voice of all rang in his ears.

A small girl dropped in front of him, bowing her head to Yamamoto.

"Commander Yamamoto! I, Rukia Kuchiki, would be honored to serve as your and the Soul Society's volunteer on this dangerous mission!"

To be continued…

AN: (again) So, how was it? Boring? Stupid? Ah-mazing! *prays for last one* Thanks so much for your consideration, and I will be working hard for the next chapter! :D Reviews are appreciated greatly.