"Mommy, it's raining!"
She looked at her son who was standing by the window, one palm against the windowpane. "Cold," her son said.
"Rain.." She'd known it was raining; she'd heard the patter of it on the rooftop, but it hadn't registered in her mind. She gazed at her son, watching as he followed the trail of a raindrop on the windowpane with his finger.
Slowly, she walked over to the boy. "You know, your father didn't like the rain."
The boy looked up in surprise. She could easily tell that expression on her face and wasn't too shocked by it. After all, she rarely ever talked about him.
"Why?" her son asked.
"…It reminded him of things he didn't like to remember, sad things that happened in the rain." She sighed softly.
"Oh." Her son looked back out the window. "The sky is gray, isn't it? Maybe that's also why Dad doesn't like the rain."
He doesn't really understand, she thought, gazing tenderly at her son. He's still young. It's not time yet.
"Maybe," she said, kissing the top of her son's head. She turned to go to the kitchen.
"Mommy…what's Dad like?"
She froze, her breath caught in her throat.
"You know..I've never seen him. When I ask Uncle Ishida or Aunt Inoue or Uncle Byakuya, they tell me the same thing: 'He's not here right now. Mommy will tell you when you're a little older. Don't ask her yet, she'll tell you when she wants to.' I don't understand at all! But I promised them I wouldn't ask you about it." She heard him move a little. "But I want to know where Dad is. Everyone at school has a dad. When they ask me why my dad never comes to fetch me, I'd tell them that Dad isn't here right now, just like Uncle Ishida and Aunt Inoue and Uncle Byakuya told me. My friends would laugh at me sometimes. It makes me sad."
She could hear the sad note in his voice, almost heard his too…
"Mommy. Can you tell me now?"
Before she realized what was happening, her knees had buckled beneath her and tears were streaking down her cheeks. Her son's frantic call barely went through her head. She could feel his small hands clutching her.
"Mommy? Mommy!"
She tried to control her tears, the emotions in her crying heart, but they just wouldn't stop. She held herself, weeping as memories resurfaced in her mind.
"Mommy! Please answer me!"
Something in her son's desperate cry made her look up instantly. Through her watery eyes, she saw he son looking back at her with tear-filled eyes.
"Mommy?"
"H-hey, baby. Don't cry." With a trembling hand, she wiped the tears running down her son's cheek. The boy sobbed.
"You can't cry too, Mommy!" He imitated her, wiping her tears with one sleeve.
"I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry.." She pulled her son into her arms, both still sobbing.
"Your dad..." she began quietly, whispering in her son's ear. "H-he's..not here anymore."
"W-what do you mean?" The boy pulled back, studying her behind his wet eyes.
A tear dropped down her cheek, her throat felt constricted. "He's gone. He's never coming back." Her voice became a tiny squeak, one she was sure he would have teased her about.
"Never coming..back?" The boy's eyes widened slightly.
Her nod was stiff. "Yeah.." She buried her face into her son's hair, the same color and texture as his father's. "I'm so sorry.."
"W-what are you sorry for, Mommy?" The boy tightened his hold around her. "I-I'm sure Dad didn't mean to..I-I mean..i-it's not your fault he's gone.."
The tears escaped once again from her eyes. He doesn't get it.
"I-I'll protect you, Mommy. If Dad can't do it, then I will." He looked fiercely at her, a determination that rivaled even his father's. "I'll protect you forever, Mommy!"
I'll protect you forever, Kuchiki Rukia.
His voice echoed in her head as she gazed at her young son. Both the voices, his and their son's, mingled together in her head.
"I'll always be..."
...there for you...
"...Mommy."
...Rukia.
"I love you forever!"
I'll always love you.
She cried freely now, pulling her sobbing son in a tight embrace.
"I love you too...both of you," she added in a silent whisper.
The rain continued falling, pelting Earth relentlessly.
The new memory in the rain carved itself into the minds of both mother and son.
.end.
A/N: It was raining when I wrote this, ages ago. Sudden inspiration. Didn't actually plan it to go in this way, but I like it.
I don't know about the readers, but I almost cried doing this. LOL I found it funny when I realized that! Ichigo's speech sort of tugged at my heart. I loved writing that part.
Tell me what you think. If I made you cry (or even if it managed to pull out some sort of emotion from you), then I'd love to know. X)