"Rukia" a soft voice called. Rukia looked around and saw a young girl.
"Rukia" the voice repeated. The girl's lips didn't move. "Rukia…take my hand" the voice said. The child held out her pale hand.
"W-who are you?!" Rukia called nervously.
"Take my hand" the voice said again, in the same sing-song voice. Rukia reluctantly took the girl's hand, afraid of what might happen.
There was a blinding light and suddenly the white room was replaced by flames. Rukia slowly looked around, observing that the buildings looked very similar to where Ichigo lived.
Then she spotted something else: Ichigo, on his knees, with a knife in his gut.
"Ichigo" she whispered.
There was chanting and children's laughter.
"Ichigo" she said louder, trying to talk above the noise.
Ashes…ashes…they all fall dead
Ichigo fell to the ground, his eyes losing all emotion.
"Ichigo!!!" she yelled, running to his body.
"Rukia" another voice called. This one sounded familiar, similar to the voice of the man in front of her. She looked around, frightened. The little girl disappeared, as well as Ichigo's corpse. Everything around her was going blurry.
Rukia woke up in a cold sweat, looking around, panicked. She looked up and found herself gazing into Ichigo's eyes, which were now filled with concern.
"I-I-Ichigo!" she cried, wrapping her arms around his neck.
He looked at her, confused. This normally outspoken ex-Soul Reaper was now like a small child in the dark, trembling uncontrollably.
"Rukia?" he asked.
She looked up at him, about to say something. She opened her mouth to speak but all that came out were sobs. He put his arm around her and began stroking her hair.
Now it was her turn to give the confused look. This was totally out of character for Ichigo.
"Mind telling me why we're in this awkward situation?" he asked bluntly. That was more like him.
"Huh?" she asked.
"You were saying my name in your sleep. But it wasn't like 'Ichigo! Oh Ichigo!' It was more like I was dead or something" he said. Hearing that was like a knife in Rukia's gut. She physically winced in pain when he said this. "If you're gonna have good dreams about me, better be good dreams" he added.
"Pervert! Any dream I have about you is bad" she snapped. On the outside she was disgusted, but on the inside she was thanking him for being with her.
To be in his arms was so serene, to feel his warmth was so relaxing. Blushing, she snuggled closer to him.
Ichigo tightened his grip on her. As awkward as it felt, he had to confess he enjoyed it.
"So…what happened?" he asked. She thought back to the dream and was filled with pain again.
"It…it's nothing important. It was just a dream…I don't know why I got so worked up about it" she said, looking away from him.
"Rukia…tell me" he said, his voice deepening in seriousness.
"Ichigo…promise me you won't die" she whispered, her eyed welling with tears.
"Is that what happened? Did I die?" he asked. She looked out the window, at the full moon, as a tear rolled down her face.
He turned her face to his and lightly kissed her, causing her to blush.
"There's no way I can die, as long as you're alive. Remember that the next time you have a bad dream" he said.