Title: A Stone In Hand
Author: Lorkster
Rating: General
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach
Note: AU fic: Written for the GiveAway to celebrate Ichigo's birthday on DB...happy birthday, Ichigo.
~A Stone In Hand~
It is said that when it rains, it pours.
This was just one of the many thoughts that ran through Kurosaki Ichigo's mind as he stood looking out the window at the pouring rain, coming down heavy and fast while thunder boomed overhead in the dark sky.
The room in which he stood was cold and dark, bare, except for several large boxes that had been recently packed. It had been the most painful of tasks, and one he had put off for many days before a sudden fit of grief and rage had forced him to confront this room and keep box up everything.
After all, she would no longer need them.
At this thought, the tears he had held back for several weeks came and Ichigo slammed his fist against the glass, ignoring the sharp pain that sprung in his hand. It was nothing compared to the wound in his heart.
Rukia, his heart screamed as his breath fogged up the glass.
It was not his fault, they said, and yet he blamed himself each day for what had happened. If only he had been on time, as he had promised, perhaps he would have saved her. If only he had excused himself from the drastic meeting that had dragged on and on, he would have gotten to her before it all happened.
The shock and pain he had felt as he hurried to leave the hospital only to meet his wife being brought in by the ambulance was one thing that would never leave him. Everything else had blurred as hands had struggled to hold him while others worked on her.
She saved a child's life, they had said, in an effort to comfort him. A careless child who had wandered into the street.
Ichigo sunk to the floor, sobbing loudly and heavily.
Fool, she had admonished him with a weak smile when he finally reached her and took her hand. No one had intruded.
They had already known the end was inevitable.
In the midst of his tears, his eyes landed on two large boxes that remained unsealed. Without even thinking, Ichigo crawled towards them, crying as he did so.
One month later and he still grieved, refusing to let anything of hers be moved. One month of darkness and grief, of holding back angry and sad tears, of wishing it had all been a terrible nightmare that he would somehow wake up from, but the cold side of the bed that greeted him each morning was a painful reminder of the reality.
He roughly kicked one of the boxes and it turned on its side, sprawling its contents onto the bare floor. The sight several drawing pads worsened the pain he felt. The words 'Master Plan For Ichigo's Birthday - Do Not Peep!' leaped out at him in bright writing, written with a colored marker. He closed his eyes briefly then opened them.
Lying on top of the drawing pads was an unidentified object wrapped in a white cloth. He reached for it and unwrapped it. Within the cloth lay a smooth white stone.
"See this?" she asked, holding up a small stone for him to examine. As they had walked along the beach, she had excitedly been gathering the weird stones and holding them up for him to comment. But of all the stones she had gathered, none looked as smooth and unblemished as this one. In a word, it was perfect.
"So?" he asked grumpily, very unwilling to admit that it fascinated him.
"Pay attention," she playfully hit his shoulder then pointed at the stone once more, "it is beautiful, isn't it? No imperfection, no scar, no stain-a perfect stone. Yet perhaps it has been hit by the waves many times, or scratched by other stones and rocks, or covered with mud and rubbish, but it comes out looking like this." She turned it in her hands and for an odd moment, he was certain it glittered as the sun's light hit it at different angles.
"I am keeping this one," she announced suddenly and emptied the basket that had held the other stones she had been collecting. "Even among all this, I managed to find one unblemished one. It would make a wonderful present for you, wouldn't it?"
"No," he muttered, looking at his watch.
She hit him with a basket then ran, laughing loudly as he chased after her.
Ichigo turned the stone over in his hand, smiling faintly through the tears. Even though she was gone, she still managed to reach him.
Happy Birthday, Ichigo
Thank you, Rukia, he thought, as more tears fell from his eyes. and though the young man held a plain white stone in his hand, in that moment, it felt like the greatest jewel of the world was his.