Author's Note-Hey guys, just wanted to say thanks for reviewing, as well as adding me andor this story to your favs list. Just wanted to give you a heads-up, this story is going to be as you might have guessed a bunch of meories that Rukia and Ichigo share. At the end of each Chapter, the view will shift back to the future where the kids and parents will comment on the memory, and eventually some friends might come over and contribute their own memories. Well, that's all I really had to say, except enjoy and review at your leisure.
Disclaimer-The only thing I own is my created characters, along with my imagination.
Remember When Chapter 1-He Realized
Ichigo didn't know exactly when he had realized he liked Rukia as more then just a friend. Some people liked to call him dumb, and just maybe he was, or rather had been. There had been many instances when he thought he might feel something more.
When he first saw Rukia, he had felt relief. Pure and strong relief. And gratitude as well. She had just saved him and a little spirit girl from a Hollow. She had looked so graceful and sureal, flying through the air and slicing up the Hollow in one swing with that beautiful blade of hers.
When she had barged into his room as if she owned the place, he had thought she was arrogant. And so, he had kicked her, plain and simple. When she had bound his arms behind his back and drew on his face, he had wanted to kill her, and espically to wipe that smug grin off her face. When she had been wounded he had felt guilt, overwhelming bone crushing guilt.
But when she had plunged that sword into his chest and changed his world forever, he had felt joy. Yes, he knew that that emotion was not right for the time, place, or situation, but he couldn't help it. He now had the power; the power to protect everyone, and it was all because of her.
When he saw her in school the next day it was safe to say he was shocked. Shocked out of his mind. And it didn't help one bit when she put on that fake schoolgirl act. He hated that; when she put on that fake smile and talked in that sugary sweet and sickening voice.
He wondered why nobody else could see just how fake she was being. After forcing Grand Fisher away, Rukia had been his pillar of strength. When he had felt at his weakest, she had been there for him to lean on. Well, technically when he had actually leaned on her they had both fallen, but you get the point. And then everything had come crashing down when Byakuya and Renji had come to take her away.
When he failed to stop them, he felt helpless. Only after she was gone did Ichigo begin to appreciate her pressence. Sure, the last two months had definately been chaotic, but he wouldn't rather have it any other way. And so he trained; he trained to get stronger, he trained to surpass Byakuya, and most importantly, he trained to save his love.
When he had seen the Sokyoku ready to annihilate her, anger had filled him. Strong heavy anger, dense like fog. It had consumed him; consumed him with the need to protect, and the strength and speed necessary to do so. And he had saved her.
Or had he. Aizen took him out with little efert, and then made him watch as he painfully extracted the Hogyoku from Rukia's body while torturing her psychologically. And in those moments again he felt helpless. But the worst thing had been Gin. Just sitting there immobilized, filled with horror as he watched Gin's sword shoot at her. Byakuya would never know just how grateful he was for what he did that night.
And then had come their first goodbye. The first emotion to fill Ichigo upon finding out Rukia's decision to stay had been anger. He had come all this way, tackled all those obstacles, and fought all those people just so that she could stay? He didn't think so. And then there was disappointment. He would have to go back to his borring life and face the world without her, his partner, the girl he lo... liked. And finally, was acceptance. He did not own Rukia; she had the right to do whatever she saw fit.
And also, if he really thought about it, it would be safer for her here, and she might be able to finally recover her powers. And so he had said goodbye with a heavy heart. But both he and she knew that it would't last. As time and battles went by, he found himself increasingly filled with many foreign emotions. Fear and anger were the most common; he felt both when he saw Rukia come back with Orihime from fighting Bounts with blood on her dress, when he had found her badly beaten by Yoshi, when Grimmjow had impaled her, when Grimmjow had almost taken her head off with a cero, when he had felt her spiritual pressure drop drastically after her fight with the ninth Espada, and when he had seen Yammy violently throw her.
Overprotectiveness was another feeling. He had always been reasonabley protective of his family and friends, but his protection of Rukia reached new levels. He was forever getting called an overprotective fool, and getting death glares for his troubles. But he didn't mind, because he would always be there for Rukia, whether she wanted him there or not. And finally, there had been jealousy, and over the stupidest things. He got jealous over Renji, Ashido, the mention of Kaien, Keigo, and sometimes even Kon. That's when he knew, he was loosing it.
The exact moment he realized the depths of his feelings came sometime after the war. It had been soon after he had regained his powers. That had most certainly been the darkest erra of his life. The facts that he hadn't been able to protect anyone, and that he now felt useless every day had not been the worst part. No, the worst part was loosing his Rukia. When she had faded from his sight, it had felt like a part of his soul had been ripped out.
But when she had reappeared, it had felt like a piece of him that had been missing for some time now, had just returned and made him whole. And no matter how cliche it sounded, it was true, the rain in his inner world had finally stopped. Orihime had come up with the idea to throw Ichigo a celebratory party for regaining his powers and Rukia had agreed to help her.
The party had been a blast; all of his spiritually aware friends as well as his family had been in attendance, hell even some Soulreepers had shown up. Rukia had looked beautiful wearing a light-blue kimono that complemented her eyes and had her hair pinned up with a bunny clip. However, their lives were never peaceful for long.
Wakomundo must have gotten the memo that Ichigo had regained his powers, because Hollows had come pouring in immediately after the party had ended. As usual, Rukia had had Ichigo's back, and had stuck by his side. Orihime annoyingly enough had the same idea, and so followed them as well.
The Hollows had been stronger then usual, and they were putting up a pretty good fight. Ichigo had been just letting go and exercising his powers, flash-stepping from Hollow to Hollow and slicing them up. He was doing good, and so had assumed that the girls were too. But when he had turned around, that notion was immediately shot to hell.
Orihime was pinned against the ground, her arms twisted behind her back as a Hollow stood menacingly over her. Her hairpins were strewn across the ground, now useless. Ichigo was about to rush to her aid, when he heard a cry of pain.
Spinning in the opposite direction, he saw Rukia wrapped up tightly in the tentacles of a large Insectoid-like Hollow. She tried to cut off a tentacle with Sode no Shirayuki, but he merely swatted it away, and proceeded to pierce her flesh with another one of his sharper tentacles, eliciting another scream from Rukia. To say Ichigo was torn was a serious understatement.
Orihime was his friend and she needed help, and he had sworn to protect his friends. But Rukia, she was more then just a friend, she was... She was... She was the girl he loved, and he was not about to loose her. Silently, he apologized to Orihime as he shot at the Holow with a battle cry. He just managed to slice off a tentacle right before it stabbed Rukia again.
"Let, her, go," he had said through his teeth. The Hollow had looked up at him as if he was crazy, and then he had laughed. The Hollow had tightened his tentacle, and a sharp crack could be heard folowed by Rukia's pained scream. And then Ichigo had snapped. Moving at the fastest speed he had ever used with anger pulsing through his veins, he had killed the Hollow in barely anytime at all, slicing him up into a million pieces. With the Hollow dead, the tentacle had loosened and Rukia had begun to fall from the air. But Ichigo had caught her, and cradled her slim body against his chest. "Ichigo," she had said weakly. "It's okay Rukia, I'm here," he said. She had lost consciousness after that, a contented smile now replacing the grimace of pain that had been on her face.
Ichigo had then rushed to Orihime with the purpose of her healing Rukia, only just then remembering the predicament she had last been in. Luckily, Uryu had shown up to save her, and the two were just sitting on the ground, the Hollow having long been dealt with. "Orihime, I need you to heal Rukia, I think that bastard might have broken a rib," he had called out. She looked at him, a flicker of disappointment painting her face for just a second. But then her expression flipped to one of concern. "Oh, sure bring her here," she had said.
Ichigo had laid Rukia gently in front of Orihime, and had watched as the healing dome surrounded her. Uryu had motioned to him, and Ichigo had reluctantly followed him a distance away from the girls so that they could talk. Ichigo already knew what it was about. It was no secret that Uryu liked Orihime, and he could feel a lecture coming on.
"Listen Uryu, I'm sorry about that okay, but I..." "Oh just give it a rest will you," he interrupted. "What." "Everyone knows that you love Rukia, and I'm just glad that you finally realized it. I'm not mad at you for what you did. Frankly, its a good thing. Now Orihime knows that you don't love her, and I do. So I guess what I'm trying to say is congratulations," Uryu finished. "Wow, thanks," Ichigo mumbled, a little embarrassed. And with that, they returned to their women. And finally, Ichigo knew for sure that he was utterly, completely, and totally head-over-heels in love with Rukia Kuchiki.
"Oh, Ichigo," Rukia gushed. She threw herself into his lap and wrapped her arms vise-like around his neck. "That was beautiful." she said burrying her face in his chest. "And true," he said wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her gently. "That was beautiful Father," Kiseki praised with a smile. "That was confusing," Hikari said frowning. "Yeah, definately unusual," Hoshi added.
"So, any questions?" Ichigo asked. "Did you really kick Mom?" Hoshi asked in wonder. Rukia frowned. "I sure did," Ichigo answered nudging her playfully. "Did you really tie Daddy up with kido and draw on his face," Hikari asked turning to Rukia. A mischivious grin spread across her face. "I sure did," she parroted. "It was the most fun I think I've ever had." The kids laughed while Ichigo looked offended. "Do your wounds still hurt?" Kiseki asked her mother quietly. Rukia smiled softly down at her, touched by her concern. "No, Orihime healed my ribs fairly easily, and all that's left of my stab wound is this little scar," Rukia told hr.
She pulled back her Kimono revealing a tiny teardrop scar adorning her shoulder. "Oh, that's good then," Kiseki said sighing in relief. "Okay keep going, I wanna hear another story," Hikari said excitedly. "Alright but now its my turn," Rukia said. "Now I'll tell all of you about when I realized." Taking a deep breath, she launched into her side of the story.