Prompt: 28 May 2008; Can't you show me nothing but surrender?
Character(s): Rukia, Sode no Shirayuki
Summary: They haven't spoken in far too long, and doubts have been allowed to fester.
Spoilers: Post Soul Society Arc
Notes: I am not a member of the lj community 31 Days
Rukia knelt in one of Division 13's training rooms. It was late enough at night—or early enough in the morning, depending on perspective—that the area was silent and devoid of other presences. Sode no Shirayuki, bare of sheath but still in sealed form, lay on the floor directly in front of the young shinigami, but she made no move to touch the blade.
To a casual observer, it was a simple meditation. But if one could see inside Rukia's mind, they would know that it was so much more. For inside her mind, Rukia reached for her zanpakuto spirit.
"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I'm not worthy of wielding you. I'm sorry I had to be saved. I'm sorry I gave up. Please, Shirayuki, please give me another chance!" Rukia would not weep, nor would she beg, but she was not Kuchiki enough to keep the plea behind her teeth. There was no answer, nor had there been one for the past week.
Seven days since Ichigo had saved her and returned to the living world. Seven days since she had begun a more intensive training than she had ever done before. Seven days since she had tried to contact her zanpakuto. Seven days without even a whisper. It was… unbearable.
"You're pathetic, Rukia," she told herself. "Unable to do anything. You can't even talk to your zanpakuto spirit anymore."
"That is quite enough," the familiar biting tone interrupted her pity party. Rukia looked up, relieved to see the familiar elegant form. "If all you are going to do is wallow in your misery, I see no need to come here, but if you are going to descend into sheer idiocy then I suppose I have no choice."
"What do you mean by that?" Rukia demanded, pride stung. She was not wallowing. Okay, so she was indulging a bit, but she figured she had that right, considering everything that had happened recently.
"If all you can do is say 'sorry', then you have learned nothing. If you are going to convince yourself that everything that has gone wrong is your fault, however, I suppose I will have to disabuse you of that notion," Sode no Shirayuki sneered. "Choice and free will, Rukia of Inuzuri. You took that from no one, nor should you ever. They chose to come, just as you chose to give up." The spirit slowly, deliberately turned her back on the shinigami. "If you continue to choose surrender, as you have so often in recent times, then we have nothing more to discuss."
Rukia stared at her zanpakuto's spirit as the feminine figure began to glide away. "Wait!" she cried. The spirit did not so much as slow down. Rukia gritted her teeth and stood up. "We're not done yet!" she told her spirit's back. "We still have a lot to do! There is war coming, and I'm not running! So come back here and fight!"
Slowly, the spirit looked over her shoulder.
Abruptly, Rukia came back to herself. Slowly, she reached a hand out and picked up her blade. Just as slowly, she came to her feet. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"