When the Snow Falls

by Yih

COMPLETE! When Rukia came into Byakuya's life, he saw her as an obligation. As time goes by, as Rukia entrenches herself deeper into Byakuya's world, will he finally see her as something more than just a promise made years ago.

1. Prologue

WHEN THE SNOW FALLS
by Yih

Prologue

The first time Byakuya laid eyes on Rukia, it was like seeing a younger version of Hisana and the emotions he thought he had buried since his wife's death a year before flooded forward. It hurt to look at her, to see how strong and vibrant she was and to remember how weak and pale Hisana had been. He had been tempted to turn his back on this whole incident and forget his promise to Hisana, but in the end he adopted Rukia into the Kuchiki family.

It had not been easy, the Kuchiki elders had vehemently protested against the adoption and it was like living through the ordeal of trying to make Hisana his wife again. He had prevailed, though and Rukia was now a Kuchiki. Byakuya paused outside of Rukia's room, which was on the opposite side of the mansion from his own living quarters. He glanced into the barest crack, where the sliding door hadn't been completely closed, and observed Rukia sleeping in a curled up position – just like Hisana.

Although much of Rukia reminded him of Hisana, he could already see that Rukia was as different as she was similar. Rukia had spirit where Hisana was sweet; Rukia was strong and Hisana was shy; Rukia had a backbone where Hisana would bend to the will of others. Perhaps their appearance, their circumstance, even their physical habits might be the same, but Rukia was tougher than Hisana and Byakuya knew that she would adjust to the life of a Kuchiki much better than his late, beloved wife had.

Byakuya slid the door closed and was he had walked outside of the mansion, he shunpo to where his parents, his grandfather, and his ancestors rested in their eternal slumber and he knelt down before them and swore on their graves that he would never break a law again – he promised this was the last time.

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A/N: I hope you like this. I'm not sure how well this will turn out, as this is my firstBleach fanfic, but hopefully you like what you've seen so far. I'll try to update on a fairly regular basis. This will be an AU and won't really follow the Bleach anime/manga. Where would you like to see this go?

Thanks for reading!

Released: 11/4/08