I do not own Bleach, or its characters.
Rukia was running down a large tunnel, holding her zanpakuto ready for battle. She really didn't know where she was, or how she got there. All she knew was that the enemy was about, and she had to be careful.
Reaching a fork in the tunnel, she heard the sound of battle coming from her right. Turning, she she began running towrds the sound. Eventually, in the distance, she saw a large room. Inside the room, she saw Ichigo and Aizen fighting. Aizen was beating Ichigo, badly. As she began to run towards them, Aizen knocked Ichigo down on the ground. Panic began to well up in Rukia as she saw Ichigo, cut and in an obvious amount of pain, unable to get up as Aizen walked toward him.
"You're weak," Aizen said before he raised his zanpakuto to impale Ichigo.
"No!" screamed Rukia right before Ichigo was impaled. However, in the next second, Rukia heard a keening, piercing laughter. Rukia let out as a gasp as she saw a form covered in white holding Aizen's zanpakuto right above its heart.
"You think that I would go down so easily?" asked the thing as it began to laugh. Rukia recognized the thing as Ichigo's hollow. Within the taunting tone, she could hear the ghost of Ichigo's voice, and his orange hair remained, just elongated until it reached his waist. With its newfound strength, it threw Aizen across the room. Standing up, Rukia gasped again, Ichigo was completely encased in the white shell of a hollow. His normally brown eyes stared yellow and black from the eyeholes, and the leering of the mask was a cruel caricature of his normal, soft smile. Flash stepping to where Aizen lay recovering on the ground, the Ichigo-hollow impaled him on Zangetsu. Laughing manically, it decapitated Aizen and then walked to Rukia.
"Rukia, happy to see me?" said the Ichigo perversion as it leered at her, "I couldn't let that weakling get us killed, so I took over."
"Ichigo, I know that you're in there, come out," commanded Rukia with a strength that she did not feel.
"He'll come out when I say, I'm King in here now," said the hollow, then, cocking its head as if listening to something, "what's that, Ichigo? You wish to speak with her? Only if you tell me who is in charge now?."
"Ichigo, you can't give up control, you have to take over."
Looking at Rukia, with the sneer still on its face, the hollow replied, "Oh, he gave that up. It's not coming back. Now, he survives at my pleasure, and as long as I can torment you with him, I will have pleasure." It paused, then said, "Very well, Ichigo, you can come out and play, for a little while, hahaha!"
"Rukia," Ichigo's voice was weak, "kill me now…I want to die…"
"No, Ichigo," Rukia flashed back to Kaien, she could not do this again, not with someone who had come to mean even more to her than Kaien ever did, "you can keep control, you can fight it."
"Now, now, don't encourage the little girl to do anything so rash," the high voice of the hollow came back, "you see, I am the one in control here." With that, the hollow suddenly appeared behind Rukia, "You look so delectable, my dear. He feels the same, you know. I am theperversion of everything that he is; he loves, I lust. I lust for you, to consume you, to overpower you. You are mine." As Rukia turned to face him, the hollow stepped back. "Argh!" it screamed, "Get out, I am in control, I will do what I want."
"Rukia," Ichigo was back in control, "I can't keep control, you have to kill me."
"I can't, Ichigo," said Rukia, desperation evident in her voice, "there is so much that I didn't say, didn't do. I couldn't…I just…Ichigo…" Reaching towards her, Ichigo dropped Zangetsu and grabbed Sode no Shirayuki. "You have to, Rukia. Please, if I meant anything to you, do this, for me and the world." With that, Ichigo put Sode no Shirayuki right over his heart.
"No! What are you doing?" Ichigo's hollow was regaining control. Out of instinct, Rukia plunged her sword into the hollow, who had previously been her friend--her love, Ichigo--with tears in her eyes. As she did, the hollow gave a piercing scream right before its mask shattered. Looking up, Rukia saw Ichigo's brown eyes watery with tears, right before they closed and he fell back onto the ground.
"Ichigo, why? Why did you make me do this?" cried Rukia as she held Ichigo's lifeless form.
Rukia awoke, sweating, with tears in her eyes. As the time for the final showdown with Aizen approached, she had been having the same dream more and more frequently. The idea that Ichigo's hollow would consume him, and she would have to kill him frightened her more htan anything else in the world.
Quietly, she crawled out of her bed and got of the closet. There, lying asleep in his bed was Ichigo. She just had to go and make sure he was there, he was real, and he was all right. He slept without a shirt, so she could see all the scars on his body from the many battles he had endured. With a sad sigh, she sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked so peaceful, so restful asleep, she thought. Gently, she put her hand on his arm, just to make sure he was there. She just sat there, awhile, looking down at her lap, thinking of her dream.
A groan from the head of the bed brought her out of her thoughts. "Rukia, what are you doing?" asked Ichigo.
Blushing, Rukia just looked at him for a while, unable to find a good excuse. "Are you all right?" asked Ichigo, bafflement and some concern showing on his face. Perhaps it was from having the dream so many nights, perhaps she just trusted him more than she would admit to others, Rukia told Ichigo about her dream, omitting the part about her loving him.
When she was done, Ichigo reached up and pulled Rukia into an embrace. She was a bit shocked, but found that being in his arms comforted her.
"Rukia, I would never do that to you," Ichigo finally said.
Looking up at his face, Rukia saw the shadow play on them, bringing out the set jawline and the determination in his eyes. "How can you be sure?" she asked.
"Because I would never allow that thing to put any of my friends in danger," replied Ichigo resolutely, "and, because I promise to always be there for you. I'll protect you, no matter what. You're special, Rukia, you mean a lot to me." Ichigo finished his last sentence with a blush on his cheeks.
Normally, Rukia would protest that she didn't need protection, but right now she, to, was blushing. "Well, you mean a lot to me to, baka," she replied softly, "could I spend the rest of the night here? I don't want to have the dream again." She looked down as she said this, there was no reason why sleeping by Ichigo would stop the dreams, but she felt it would. It would reassure her that he was here, that he wasn't a hollow that she had to kill. In response, Ichigo tightened his hold on her, and Rukia slept peacefully for the rest of the night.