This is one of my favorite stories, so I'm going back and editing it for grammar mistakes. I will most likely add another chapter about how Rukia first heard the song.

Disclaimer-I do not own Bleach or the song 'My Immortal'.


I'm so tired of being here,

Suppressed by my childish fear,

The two stood before each other. Ichigo was both frighten and sad. His spiritual pressure finally vanished. His ability to see spirits was disappearing. In only a handful of minutes, he will never see Rukia again. She was joking around, but her words wounded Ichigo. Ichigo didn't know this, but Rukia was trying to cover her own fear.

Her first human friend would no longer see her, but she would see him.

And if you have to leave,

I wish you would just leave,

"Just because you can't see me doesn't mean I can't see you," Rukia teased.

"Then why don't you leave!" Ichigo thought. Instead of saying what he was thinking, he politely stated, "Take care."

She smiled sadly when Ichigo widened his eyes in surprise. She was starting to disappear from his sight. "I will."

Only a few seconds left before she would no longer be there. With the snap of a finger, Rukia was gone. Not knowing if she would hear, Ichigo said the words she didn't want to say to him when he had his powers and was trying to save her from being executed.

"Thank you."

'Cause your presence still lingers here,

It felt like the time when Rukia ran away except she wasn't in danger. For some odd reason, no one outside his group of friends remembers her. In hopes of making Ichigo forget about her, they never said he name when speaking about her and eventually they stopped talking about her all together.

But how could he forget the person that changed his life? The person that gave him the power to protect his family?

One day during class their teacher, Mrs. Ochi, called their names to take attendance. "This is odd," she spoke out loud to herself. "Why in the world is this name here? There is no one by the name of Kuchiki."

The mention of her last name wounded Ichigo's heart. That little word is all that was needed to make him long to be a soul-reaper once again. After Mrs. Ochi got over her confusion, she called Ichigo's name. He didn't respond. The reason being that he was no longer in the room.

And it won't leave me alone,

Everywhere he turned, Ichigo was painfully reminded of the time Rukia spent away from her real home. Everyday since she vanished, he would take the long way home from school. Meaning he walked past the lake, the graveyard, and the ice rink.

The ice rink was the last time he and Rukia spent time together. Ichigo thought it was hilarious Rukia didn't know how to skate despite her zanpakuto being an ice type. Ichigo had the best time of his life there and it was his most funnest and favorite day.

The lake, thought there is no specific memories, was full of the times Ichigo had saved Rukia from death. Every single time, he would be there to catch her.

The graveyard, oh the memories that fill it. One word summed the strongest memory of this place, Grandfisher. It was the nasty and horrible hollow that can transform into someone from anybody's memory. Rukia didn't have her powers then and Ichigo was only a minor. That was one of the few times Rukia had caught Ichigo.

He longed to be able to go back in time, where everything was simpler. Where he still had his powers. Where Rukia was still by his side everyday.

These wounds won't seem to heal,

This pain is just too real,

The scars Ichigo carried for months felt like they reopened. One day he had to know if they were.

He was in front of the bathroom mirror without his shirt on. The muscle he had developed had shrunk slightly due to the training he stopped doing. The thing that didn't change was the scars. Out of anger, he grabbed an object that was closest to him and attempted to cut it open.

It gave him a reason to wear bandages again.

There's just too much that time cannot erase,

One day, Orihime offered to heal the scars to where they would no longer be there. He refused. He didn't say, but he wanted them to stay as a reminder that he was a soul-reaper. It was a reminder that Rukia was not a dream.

Even after six months, he can still remember everything about the Soul Society. The enormous building that was meant for the Head-Captain's squad to the Shiba household. Not wanting to forget anything, he drew all the Squad Barracks when he couldn't sleep at night, which was almost everyday.

Ichigo caught himself drawing a picture of Rukia smiling at him. He started throwing away each one he did after he drew Rukia giving him her powers, the thing that started everything. Somehow the pictures would be back on his desk. That's when he decided to put them in his closet, but he threw away the same picture again. It would somehow manage to find its way back.

Maybe, it was a sign.

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears,

He remembered the time when everyone, but himself forgot about Rukia. Even she lost her own memory. Those two kids went through a lot to see and get to her. The kids tried to posses her, but Ichigo managed to save her.

Afterwards Rukia cried her heart out when they died before her. The screaming of the rain couldn't compete with her. But Ichigo was there, silently helping her get through it.

When you'd scream, I'd fight away all your fears,

There never was a time where the two weren't around for each other. When Rukia screamed when Yammy threw her in Huenco Mundo, Ichigo was there to catch her.

And I held your hand through all these years,

Even though they have only known each other for a few months, it felt like years, centuries. Ichigo remembered his time as a soul-reaper, but not his life before. He could never imagine a time without Rukia. But, sadly, he was living it now.

But you still have all of me,

Everywhere Ichigo went, he felt like a piece of him was missing. He tried to play it off; act like he did when Rukia was still there. It was a very horrible idea.

His sister, Karin, was able to tell he was faking. One day she called him out on it. That night she heard him crying in his bedroom over the lost of his friend. She found traces of blood on the bathroom sink after he was finished in there.

You used to captivate me by your resonating light,

Now I'm bound by the life you left behind,

Ichigo stopped going to Urahara's shop. There were multiple times when Chad, Orihime, or even Uryuu invited him to the shop. The answer was the same every time.

"I don't want to bother him."

The males knew better than that. Ichigo didn't want to see the place she visited all the time.

"Maybe next time."

'Next time' hasn't happened yet, and it has been over a year now.

Your face-it haunts my once pleasant dreams,

He didn't want to admit it, but when he did sleep, he couldn't stop dreaming about her.

The dreams are not what you think. They were merely memories of events that she was in. It starts from when he sees her at school for the first time.

He'd wake up in the middle of a pleasant memory, but when he'd go back to sleep, he is where he left off; almost like he was reading a book.

Your voice-it chased away all the sanity in me,

There was a time when Ichigo went hysterical. It was dinner time in Kurosaki house. Ichigo refused to eat causing Yuzu and his father, Isshin, to worry.

Yuzu tried to convince him take a bite out of something. In response when given a plate, Ichigo tossed it across the room like it was a frisbee. The dish immediately shattered on the impact of the wall. Isshin started yelling at Ichigo, saying that was no way to behave.

Like usual Ichigo did nothing to explain his actions. Then Karin said something that pissed him off.

"Come on! It's been over a year now! Are you still that upset your girlfriend dumped you?"

Instead of denying Rukia being his girlfriend, Ichigo lunged for Karin and began to choke the life out of took Isshin a minute or two before he successfully pulled his son off her. The look in his eye changed from rage to shock as Ichigo watched his sister breathing heavily. He ran to his bedroom and slammed it shut.

As he sat against the door, feeling hatred for himself, he heard Karin laughing.

"Why are you laughing?!" Yuzu screeched. "Ichi-nee attempted to kill you!"

Ichigo could visible imagine the smirk on Karin's face when she said, "But unlike anyone in this town, I got an emotion out of him."

"So you're going to keep risking your life just to make him feel a different emotion!" Isshin yelled at her.

It was quiet downstairs. Ichigo sighed. Before he walked to his bed, he could barely hear Karin say, "I'm risking my life so my brother can stay human. Right now he is acting like he is dead!"

These wounds won't seem to heal,

This pain is just too real,

There's so much that time cannot erase,

Thanks to Karin words, Ichigo started acting like his normal self. He started hanging out with his friends more. He participated during class. Most importantly, Ichigo started displaying emotion that wasn't sadness or depression.

A week after the dinner incident, before Ichigo went to his bedroom, as he just finished eating, he kissed Karin's cheek and whispered in her ear, "Thank you, for not giving up on me."

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears,

When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears

And I held your hand through all these years,

But you still have all of me,

During the day he was completely normal. It's the night-time that caused him the most pain.

At night, when Rukia would have a nightmare, Ichigo would let her sleep with him. It felt abnormal to not have someone sleeping beside or close to him.

He told no one about this unique pain. Strangely one night the pain just stopped and he was finally able to sleep in peace.

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone,

But though you're still with me,

I've been alone all along,

"Hey Ichi-nee." Karin greeted as she sat on the rail on top of the hill.

He smiled kindly at her. "I didn't know you come here."

She shrugged her shoulders at she kicked her legs up and down. "I sit here every once in a while to remember a certain someone. He liked to sit here because it brings back some of his old memories."

Ichigo stared oddly at his younger sister. "Who exactly is this someone your infatuated in?"

Karin punched his shoulder. "I'm not telling you! Maybe in a couple of years."

"Why then and not now?"

The look on her face changed from happiness to blankness. As she stared at the sunset she answered, "Because that is how long it will take me to get over him."

Karin jumped off the rail and started walking down the road, but not without saying, "Dinner will be done soon, might want to hurry up." Then she was gone.

Ichigo stared out to the sunset. A genuine smile grazed his lips.

"You may be gone," he called out to the wind, "but I'll never forget you."

Ichigo turned around and made his way done the hill. While he walked he hummed to a song that has been stuck in his head since Rukia left.

"When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears. When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears. And I held your hand through all these years."he sang softly.

Someone, somewhere sang, "But you still have all of me."

Ichigo smiled even more when he heard that voice. "You've loved that song ever since you first heard it. Isn't that right, Rukia?"


There! The story has been officially edited! I'm gonna work on the next chapter. I will have it up either today or tomorrow.

Please review!