A/N. Ok guys, this is my first attempt at a fic, so I would love it if you´re gentle with it, I kinda love this baby of mine. Of course criticism are welcomed, but please let it be a constructive one.

This is dedicated to two wonderful friends, who are the true creators of this writing.

One, who´s no longer among us, but that I´m sure he´s in a better place and looking out for us.

And the other one, whose help in this painful path is being such a bliss, that I´m able to smile and be childish again. The one that brought my strength back.

Thank you so much, both of you.

I love you.

Disclaimer: I don´t own bleach, Kubo-sensei does, and I´m sooooo thankfull for that!! His mind and his work is fantastic!!

--

From the ashes.

"It´s cold... so cold outside. The rain falls on her skin savagely, every drop of water stealing the little heat that remains in her body. Not that she´s left with much... The only part she feels warm is her right shoulder and her arm, as well as that side of her torso. But that´s only because the blood runs wildly like the rain. As if trying to run away from her, taking her life along with it.

Slowly, but surely, she feels herself begin to loose consciousness... even though she refuses to fall, to lay on the cold pavement... she just allowed herself to kneel, otherwise she knows she would´ve fainted a while ago. But she knows she can´t stand it much. The darkness haunts her, teases her, knows she´ll be soon part of it... knows she can´t resist.

She clutches her wounded arm tighter, even painfully, as if the pain would stop the bleeding... as if it would stop the other pain, the one coming from her heart.
Her breathing comes heavily, she´s, at this point, gasping for air, but it´s just her body. She´s not that interested in air anymore.

Clutching her wound tighter, she feels her heartbeats grow faster. As a fighter, she has some medical knowledge, so she knows she´ll soon enter into a state of shock least she does something to stop the bleeding. But her body feels numb, and her mind starts to wander into memories... of good ones... and even of bad ones...

In a breath, her head spins, and the darkness approaches, forcing her to use her unharmed hand to crouch even further and support herself on the pavement, inhaling deeply to stop the spinning of her sight, of her senses. But as she feels the cold kiss of the rain, and the water forming around her being, something warmer stirs inside her.

Like a thunder, like an explosion, that is building from her core...

Something that stops the chills on her back, the trembling of her hand, the spinning of her head

It´s like a vibration from her lungs, that goes along with her heart, in rhythm with her breathing, which becomes deeper and steadier

like a purr that becomes a hum that becomes a vibration. And suddenly, it´s like a roar, scaling from her lungs into her trachea and onto her throat.

Strong, steady, and deep.

It suddenly becomes a scream as she raises her head in confrontation towards the sky, and into the night, into the falling rain that´s trying to shun her down

The scream lasts almost a minute, and it ends in a gruff of exhaustion.

But now her eyes are afire, daring, dangerous.

She clutches her wound again, and starts gathering her kido left, invoking to at least close the wound, even if only enough to survive...

Or to die honorably...

And as her kido surrounds her body, her mind clears, her eyes focused on the figure in front of her, and her will prompts her exhausted legs to rise up, with only one thought in mind:

She would not be defeated there.

She owes it to him.

A grin, more like a smirk, is drawn into her opponent's savage face, and something like a dark light, like frightening lust, shines behind those black eyes, those yellow pupils…

"Aah...Rukia-chan..."

He licks his lips, excited in anticipation for the battling to come … and a little bit aroused by the fierceness of the shinigami in front of him.

He laughs a maniacal laughter that sends shivers down her spine, and without warning, he shunpoes towards her, clashing his sword against hers and making her arms tremble with the power of the strike. Her shoulder bleeds anew, but she´s too concentrated on his hands, his sword, that she pays no mind to it, no mind to her shaking body… she doesn´t want to know if it´s out of exhaustion or fear.

Another attack, and she barely meets his speed against the last blow directed to her neck, the swords meeting in a lighting strike, and the sounds become thunder that completely overpower any other sound, bringing her even more into the battle… into defeating HIM, to bring back those brown eyes that should be instead of the frightening yellow.

In a clash of the swords, their heads get close to each other, and she meets defiantly those so hated eyes, so loathed pupils of the beast in front of her.

The thing laughs again. "He´s not coming back, Rukia chan" he whispers closer to her ear, which distracts her a little, but just enough to give him space to send her, in a push, screeching into the pavement… a moment enough to slash into her torso. Although it´s not a deep cut, it still sends her painfully into her knees again, but her sword is drawn backwards and lurches forward with her, putting all her weight into it and succeeding on clashing again into his sword… and making him give a few steps backwards. Although it´s not much, his gaze tells her he´s taken aback by it, and it gives her a little bit of reassurance. Not everything is lost.

But the smirk returns, and with his left fist he punches the tender wound and she crouches, only to be met by his knee on her chin, which sends her high into the air.

He jumps and meets her in mid air, hitting her in the pit of the stomach and accompanying her to meet the ground, which gives the blow a more intense momentum, taking out all the air on her lungs. While he laughs, standing beside her, she gasps desperately for air, clutching Shirayuki with all her might.

"You know, Rukia-chan?" he says. She hates her name coming from his voice… those lips that have said her name so many times, and that she got to love so much, now making her almost nauseated for the vipering ring on that voice.

She feels him approach, and gathers her strength to look at those loathsome eyes, to show him she´s not defeated yet. He gives her a smile full of… hatred? Confidence? Lust? And with a sudden movement, his right hand clutches her throat in a firm grip, chocking her, closing his other hand on her wrist that holds Shirayuki, and brings his face close to hers, "You look so beautiful with those ragged clothes… that I could eat you alive. Right here. Right now." he whispers in her ear, smelling her hair at his pleasure, while she fights savagely against his grip.

But, being a skilled fighter, and knowing her body perfectly, she takes advantage of her short size and frees a leg, striking his sides with her knee and hearing a cracking sound that tells her some ribs got broken.

He screams at the sudden pain, letting her go, and she rolls immediately away from him, gasping for air.

"You bitch!!" he yells with hatred "I was going to be gentle on you! But now it doesn´t matter what you do! You´ll be MINE no matter what and I´ll make sure you plead me to end your suffering!! I swear!"

He charges against her, giving her barely time enough to raise her blade and block the blow, which sends her backwards into a wall. He corners her into the wall, giving her blow after blow of his sword against hers, shunning her, pinning her body into the concrete for the force of the strike, making her tender wounds bleed profusely, and opening new ones on her back, the rock digging into her flesh.

´He´s toying with me´ she reasons, while she feels waves of terror raising on her heart with every blow.

In the last strike, she crutches suddenly and uses the wall to prompt herself forward, escaping in a matter of seconds from his trap, while she extends her right arm and uses the momentum to open a wound on his side.

Shirayuki tastes his blood at last.

Only, the cut is not deep enough to stop him, so he turns fast enough to take her almost by surprise and, although she´s able to stop the sword, the kinetic of the stroke pushes her backwards, following the force and making her stand for a split second with her back against him. A second too late to turn, he slashes on her back, on her shoulder blades, making her body arch backwards while her eyes open wide in surprise and pain as she falls on her knees again.

´Ichigo…´

She closes her eyes as her body is drawn towards the ground, and Shirayuki starts to slip from her fingers.

"Where do you think you´re going?" a voice whispers on her ear as she feels cold arms surrounding her from behind. She flinches at the touch, nauseated, but the monster´s hand has closed on her wrist again, breaking it with a movement, forcing her to let go of Shirayuki, while he moans, feeling her bleeding back against his body and holding her torso with his other arm. She struggles against him while his lips travel on her neck and she suddenly feels the pain of his fangs on her tender flesh, his hands, now free, ripping off her clothes and feeling her breasts. She feels she´s going to vomit.

His grip gets tighter around her, his nails and teeth digging into the flesh of her breasts and neck, drawing blood, while hers produce a red path on his arms, desperate to get away from him, humiliated and nauseated by his proximity and his intentions. She screams in impotence but it only arouses him even further, making his advances stronger, more daring, until she hits his face hard with the back of her head, breaking his nose and blinding him for a instant, but enough to give her a moment to get free once again. She jumps forward, facing him, finally vomiting while he recovers from the blow.

When she looks up, the sight is frightful: his face is full of blood, hers mixed with his own, and the smirk and the look he gives her speaks of one thing: of lust and murder. He gives a step towards her, but suddenly staggers, clutching his eye as in pain, and swinging his sword defiantly, but towards no enemy. At least no one visible to her.

"Stop!" he yells "I won´t let you!!". She hears him grunt and yell to something… someone?

"I…I-Ichigo?" she asks to the beast, feeling the changes in his reiatsu. ´My God!! Ichigo is still there! I can still reach him!!´

The beast screams and suddenly stands still, completely motionless… she dares not to move either. Until the maniacal laughter reaches her ears.

"Aww Rukia-chan… it seems to be that the King doesn´t like it when I touch you like that" he snickers.

He jumps forward to meet her blade, clashing with all his might and sending her up in the air, she barely able to keep her body straight. He strikes once more and her body trembles. Her arms are shaking and every blow sends vibrations run through them. But she´s determined to bring him back, so she swings Shirayuki once more towards him, searching for his torso, making him give a step back again, all the while locking eyes with him.

"Ichigo" she yells. Like a command, like she´s talking with her dearest friend. "You idiot! I know you´re still there. I know you can beat him. Come on, Ichigo!" She calls him with all the attitude and the pride she can muster on her words. The ones she knows Ichigo know has hers. "Come back to me…" she whispers her last sentence, as a plea.

Another clash of the swords and the monster gives a step back, feeling Shirayuki´s cold and shallow kiss on his side in a split second of distraction. That doesn´t slip Rukia´s attention and she lurches forward, even more confident that her friend is just behind those eyes.

But the monster stops her blade and sends her backwards with the blow, smirking.

"I know what you´re trying to do, Rukia-chan" he snickers "but that won´t do you any good. The King is asleep again, and won´t come up. But I can understand you, you know? After all, he loves you too much to let himself be bothered by the taste of your blood."

"What are you..?"

His smile grows wider. So, she´s registered his words after all… "Yes, Rukia-chan. Or didn´t you know? Hadn´t you noticed before? He loves you. He´s been in love with you for quite a while"

"What… In..? How…?"

But she doesn´t finish the sentence, for she feels her torso being torn apart by his sword, the monster taking advantage of her ward being lowered by the intensity of her confused feelings. Blood scatter everywhere, and everything comes in slow motion. She even remembers when Ichigo was fighting her brother for the first time, how slowly he seemed to be falling into the ground. And now she understands what he must´ve felt in that moment… She sees Ichigo bleeding tons when Aizen cut him almost in half, during his futile attempt on her rescue. Know she knows how he felt… and she sees him, lying on the ground in front of her, bleeding, while he watches how Aizen impales her with his arm, helpless…. And she understands how defeated he must´ve felt… ´I failed you, Ichigo… I´m sorry… I couldn´t save you…´

But her will hasn´t faltered, she feels her body reach the ground, and commands her hand to hold onto Shirayuki, but her fingers disobey and let the sword fall. She wills her legs to move, but they are deaf to her orders. She pleads for her eyes to remain open, but they start to shut down, enwrapping her on darkness, as a deep coldness spreads throught her body.

´Is this what it feels like to die?´. How ironic, she´s already dead, but she doesn´t know how it feels.

"Rukiaaaaaaaaa!!"

She feels the pressure of the reiatsu before she hears her name being called. "Ichigo…" she whispers, and forces with all her might her eyes to open, her sight taking a moment to adjust into the… light? A black luminescence surrounds her, a strange black that sends deep red beams around her, and she sees the body of the monster staggering back and forth, both hands clutching his eyes, the sword thrown on the ground. The flickering reiatsu is overwhelming, but she feels that caress of her friends´ reiatsu, even if only faintly, "Ichigo!" she barely is able to yell, but she turns around and crawls, screaming orders to her members… she has to reach him!! "Ichigo! Ichigo!!" She leaves a path of blood behind her, and her body seems to be against her, almost disobeying her. But her hands reach in desperation in front of her, willing by themselves to touch him, to know he´s back. To make sure he´s alive.

She feels the reiatsu flicker again, changing it´s form into the darker one "No!! please!! Come back! Ichigo!" the dark reiatsu stays, but unstable, she feels Ichigo under it, fighting still. Screaming a warrior´s cry, she pushes herself forward with all the rest of her strength and manages to hold him by the waist, her legs barely standing. "You can do it! Ichigo! Defeat him!! FIGHT HIM, IDIOT!!"

"Aarggh!! You bitch!! Let me go!!" the monster yells at her, still in pain, still clutching his eye with one hand, using the other to clutch her shoulder, digging his fingers on her flesh and pushing her away. But Rukia is determined to save him and, ignoring the sheer pain, she holds him tighter, intertwining her wrist into his clothes so that, even if she faints, she´ll be still attached to him. Defiantly, she looks up and locks eyes with the monster.

"Let him go!! ICHIGO!! FIGHT HIM! COME BACK TO ME!!" she commands with all her strength, her lungs burning for the effort.

"AAAAAHHH!!" the monster screams in pain, arching his body backwards, the black reiatsu enveloping them like a wall, and making her blood dance around them. She feels herself faint, and burns the rest of her reiatsu left, combining it with his flowing one.

"Ichigo, I… please, come back to me. I love you." She feels herself enwrapped by a warm feeling that comes from within, and her reiatsu glows a bit brighter, even more beautiful. The hand on her shoulder lessens the grip, and she starts to fall from his waist, already blind, already unconscious…

And the black envelops it all.

Then, suddenly, a bright, white light blinds her, forcing her to open up her eyes, and she feels warm all around her, and notices that strong arms are wrapped tightly around her body, while she feels warm breathing on her neck that sends shivers down her spine. She then looks down to have her sight filled with spiky orange all around. She tenses, but immediately feels the beloved reiatsu, and relaxes on his embrace. 'Ichigo…' she smiles at recognizing him, and he suddenly looks up, feeling her movements. "Rukia!!" he yells, and hugs her tighter, crying on her shoulder, dampening it.

"It´s ok, you idiot!! Let go! You´re chocking me!!" she yells at him, while tears run down her own face. He´s come back to her.

"Oh my God, Rukia… I thought you had died! I thought that thing had… that I had…"

Oh no. She knew this would happen. But it never mattered. She could deal with it, as long as he was alive and well. She disengaged herself from him rudely and grabbed him by the collar, bringing his face close to hers and locking eyes. This was going to be hard. And she knew it. Ichigo was blaming himself already for her wounds, which, now that she noticed, had stopped bleeding, even if they still hurt. 'It seems he´s finally got a hold on medical reiatsu'. She smiles, proud of him for this.

"I´m sorry… Rukia… it´s my fault…" she stops his words with a direct blow on his chin, which sends him backwards into the ground. He raises with his elbows on the floor, looking at her, surprised by the sudden action.

"Idiot. I don´t need your apologies. I´m alive. You are back. That´s all it needs to be said."

"But Rukia!! I…" she punches him again, this time breaking his nose. "What the fuck!! What the hell are you planning on doing you midget!!"

She snickers "Taking some revenge of course." And suddenly, without warning, she holds him, bringing his ear close to her heart. "I´m happy you´re back, you idiot. Please, don´t scare me that way again. And I forbid you to talk about this later on." She states that last remark tightening her hold on him, almost chocking him. He looks up and meets her eyes, which are full of unshed tears. He understands that look, her need of him without she having to voice it. Her need as strong as his need of her. He smiles, understanding, and then gets up, bringing her with him and carrying her bridal style. She screams, surprised by his action.

"What in the world you think you´re doing, you moron!!"

He ignores her. "Very well, midget. But this time it´s gonna be my style. I´m taking you with Orihime, for it seems you´re weak enough to even walk, and I don´t want you to faint on me. I swear I would leave you alone on the ground."

"How dare you!! You´re the weak in here!" but as she bickers with him, she grips his clothes and makes herself comfortable in his arms. This surely wouldn´t be a bad ride at all.

"Yeah, whatever you say, midget."

He walks the path back home, both silent, feeling each others comforting presence. For they know that, in this bond of theirs, words are just on the way.

--

So? What do you think? Please notice that English isn´t my first language, so I´m aware that I´ve made some mistakes, but I swear I did my best! Hope you like it as much as I enjoyed it. And please review!! That could lead me into actually draw something about it!! ;P