Written for deathberryprompts' weekly prompt, 'you came back'. In light of Ichigo echoing Rukia's words about despair in the recent chapter, this seemed fitting.
Empty
by hashtagartistlife
"You came back."
"Of course I did." Ichigo grins, pulling her to him by her waist, and Rukia is helpless to resist him.
"I – I thought you were – dead," she chokes, the words more of a sob than she meant them to be, and he pulls her in closer. She buries her face in his chest and inhales his scent.
"Never stopped me before," he breathes, stroking her hair, and she lets out a strangled noise that's half laughing, half crying. "I'll always come back to you, you know. By whatever means necessary."
Something tugs painfully in her chest at that; tears fill her eyes, blur her vision. She looks up to find him smiling down at her tenderly, and in that instant, she crumbles. "Ichigo, Ichigo—"
She reaches up, but he's gone.
"Ichi—?"
It's dark. Kuchiki Rukia blinks once, twice; she's disoriented, her night vision coming slowly. The air around her is horribly cold. She sits up slowly, shaking the sleep from her limbs.
Her bed is empty, and Kurosaki Ichigo is nowhere in sight.
She shudders in a breath; holds her arms around herself, as if to keep from disintegrating. She slips out of the bed, shrugs into a nightgown; her footfalls are silent as she walks to the crib in the corner of the room.
There's an infant sleeping in the crib. His hair is a brilliant shade of orange, unmistakable even in the darkness, and behind his closed eyelids, Rukia knows his eyes are a deep violet. Gently, so as not to disturb him, she picks him up and holds him close. Silent tears roll down her eyes and soak into the hair that resembles his father so much.
Kurosaki Ichigo never got to see his son. Rukia tries not to think of this as she cries