The End of Death and Strawberry

Another war was over. Another goodbye. She stood in front of him at the gates of Seireitei, giving him a small smirk.

"Take care of the human world for us, okay? Don't go screwing things up."

He stared into her, looking so much older than his seventeen years. "Rukia."

"And take care of your dad, wherever he ran off to. He needs you. And Yuzu and Karin must be growing up…"

"Rukia."

"…And Inoue and Ishida and Sado. Make sure they grow to their fullest potential. I won't let—"

Ichigo muffled the rest of her sentence by enveloping her small body in his Shinigami robes. He didn't need to say anything. Words would erode it. They stood there, him breathing in her hair and her breathing in his skin.

She realized this was the only time they had ever hugged. After all these years.

When she could breathe the air again, Rukia had tears in her violet eyes. She blinked them away in the next second and gave him that special Ichigo smirk again. "You know, I'm actually due for a vacation right about now. Know any closets available?"

It was his turn to smirk. "Just one bunny drawing and I'm kicking you out."

She didn't stay in his closet.

You would expect them to be more chaste. For people who took years to even hug, they wasted surprisingly little time in ripping each other's clothes off.

"It's the after-war effect," Rukia giggled one night, drawing circles on Ichigo's bare chest afterwards. "Everybody has all these hormones after a long and disastrous battle, and they need to find a way to get rid of all the tension. It's why there are so many babies after a big war."

He laughed. "This is different. Some parts of me wanted this even back when I kicked you that first night."

"Really? I just thought you were impulsive and foolish."

"What was that?" Ichigo climbed on top of her and pinned her wrists at the sides of her head. "Wanna say that again?"

"I'll never give you the satisfaction!"

From downstairs, Yuzu and Karin heard bickering, then what sounded like moving furniture, and finally thumping and loud moaning. "Ichigo!" Rukia could be heard crying out from his bedroom.

His sisters exchanged glances and blushed. Not that it was anything new. Ichigo and Rukia's bedroom escapades were par for the course in those weeks.

But, like all things, those weeks came to an end with alarming speed.

Rukia watched Ichigo put on his pants one morning for school. "I have to go back to work," she mentioned. It was meant to come off as a casual observation, but it silenced the room.

Ichigo came over to the bed and brushed the disobedient strand of hair out of her eyes. "I'm sure it can wait a few more days. They're probably just focusing on rebuilding Seireitei right now. I'm sure the—"

"I can't be Isshin," she blurted out. And there it was.

"I'm a Shinigami. I walk among souls. I have an entire life there. And you're alive. Even if there was some way you could be a Shinigami in Seireitei, how could I ask you to give up your entire world?"

Ichigo gritted his teeth. "There has to be a way."

"Yes, if I were willing to be stripped of my vice-captain ranking in the Gotei 13 and my royal family. Do you think I, a Kuchiki, could do that?"

"So, what, are we just gonna give up and pretend we never meant anything to each other?" he asked, looking more and more pissed off as Rukia continued.

Instead of answering his question, Rukia took his hand and whispered into is ear. "Shower with me."

And all thoughts of school were forgotten.

He held her up against the shower wall, her legs wrapped around his waist. Their foreheads touched as the water fell on their skin, creating streams and rivers down their limbs. Rukia held Ichigo's neck and kept her eyes closed, taking him one last time.

When it was over, they stayed. Their tired souls let out a final gasping breath.

When all else is forgotten, they will always have the memories in the rain.

Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach, the ending would be very different.

Author's Note: I don't want to go on a rant here, but I honestly just don't understand. If Kubo really wanted Ichigo with Orihime, why did he create all those Ichigo/Rukia moments? Even the last chapter just felt Ichiruki. Nothing makes sense, and we're all hurting a bit. So here's something to either ease the pain or make it hurt more!