Slowly he wandered through the park. He was so damn tired but like always, he once again couldn't sleep. Today it had been exactly one year since she had gone away.
As so often he couldn't stop thinking about her, how they had met in this park for the first time. He had spent the best weeks of his life with her. However, the worst day of his life so far had taken place here in this park as well. That had been the day, when she had had to leave him.
Silently, he looked up into the dark sky which was barely lit by the moon. He could actually feel that soon a storm would rise up.
That day it had been just as warm and humid as today.
Dear God, how much he missed her. Why had she needed to move so far away? He had known her for not more than four weeks and just two weeks and a half of those had been spent together. Yet he immediately had felt it in his heart that she was the one. It wasn't love at first sight, but maybe at the second. Unfortunately when he had noticed this, it already had been too late.
Too late he had noticed how beautiful she was and how much he liked and lusted after her. Her, with that astonishing quick-wittedness and inner strength. The way she was tolerant and caring as well. As on the day he had told her about his mother's death and that he believed to be at fault, he had cried again, even if it had been really embarrassing. Yet she had simply embraced him and told him that anybody who would give everything up for the ones they loved, could not be stopped [in his] from doing so. Her simple words had lifted him more than any others that had been said to him before.
Still somehow the same had happened to them. They too were to be parted and he, and at least he also hoped Rukia as well, wasn't at all prepared to let the other go. Almost forcibly they were separated. That day, he realized that you couldn´t be prepared for everything. Sometimes fate was against what you deeply wished to have.
Ichigo stopped at the solitary street lamp near the bench on which they always had sat. Gently the first cold raindrops started falling on his face. First, it was only soft drizzling but soon it grew harder. Yet Ichigo just stood at the bench and watched how the sky cried. Some drops hit his flushed cheeks and ran down. He also wanted to cry. He wanted to cry because of this burden, which pressed him down, squeezed his young heart and tortured his soul. Yet Rukia wouldn't want that. So he would be strong for her. Rukia would scold him if he would give in and start crying now.
Like on that special day.
Silently tear drops fell from his eyes while she just held him in her arms and consoled him, before she suddenly pushed him back, grabbed his shoulder and looked into his face, "What kind of man are you? Crying like a little school girl!" Though he caught sight of the wet glimpse she brushed out of her own eyes before she fully had faced him.
She looked at him with compassion and admonishing all the same. In this moment he had noticed it. Noticed how much he liked her and how much he needed her and how much he lusted for her.
Her wonderful tempting mouth caught his eyes and he magically felt drawn to it. All by himself he wanted toplacehis lipson hers. Gently he had touched her cheek, drew her even closer till their lips met in a soft light kiss.
First, he was afraidthat she wouldpush himaway again. That he would see refusal in her wonderfully expressive eyes. However, this damn urge made him pull his arm around her waist and look deep into her charming deep-blue eyes. And what he saw was simply stunning - astonishment, excitement…and expectation. Rukia seemed to have harbored the same feelings for him that he has for her. Like she wanted and desired him from the first moment.
Oblivious of his own doing, Ichigo opened his lips; his tongue moved forward and gently touched Rukia's. Almost immediately her mouth opened and welcomed him with joyful movements. Then she buried her delicate hands tenderly in his orange hair. The world around them seemed no longer to exist and both ignored the strange looks of the people around them and continued kissing as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do in a public park.
Ichigo sighed and closed his eyes and it seemed to him that he could feel her soft lips on his again in this moment. He noticed that the rain drops had started to fall more and more violently out of the sky, running down his face in streams. Ignoring this, he dreamily brushed over his lips.
Rukia was the first and only girl he had ever kissed. Even with his seventeen years Ichigo never had been interested in any other girl than Rukia. All the other girls only had been shallow and annoying. For him love was not something you played with, so he had decided to wait for the right one. Which had been Rukia and he now couldn't imagine kissing any other girl.
When they had parted she had said, maybe they could meet if her father would allow it - when school was going well. At the beginning they had mailed each other almost every day but at one point her replies had stopped.
It would have been far too expensive to call or to visit her. He also was short on time because first he had graduated from high school and now he was at college. Truth be told, a long distance relationship wouldn't have fit with his schedule either. Yet the pain of living without her, nearly felt unbearable.
Slowly, he opened his eyes but he couldn't see clearly because his vision was blurred from too many drops of water in his eyes. He needed to blink a few time to see clear again while in the distance another loud rumble sounded.
He really should hurry home before the storm grew worse. After all it was already half past ten. Another sigh escaped his lips. Hands in his pockets, he stood up, turned around and was about to stomp towards the city center, when he saw a petite figure on the other side of the flower beds.
What other idiot was standing around in the pouring rain at the park at the middle of the night besides him? He blinked again several times to clear his vision. It was a young woman, not tall but slender. She had short hair but he couldn't see the color but it must be something dark. And those big eyes were almost like…Rukia's.
Could it be? Was this his Rukia right over there? Bewildered, he stared at the woman. Then it hit him like a bolt and he wiped the rain drops and tears once more.
That was Rukia! His Rukia Kuchiki stood there and looked wistfully at him with those wonderful eyes. She had become more beautiful, had cut her blue-black hair even shorter. Her eyes seemed to be even bigger than one year ago. Although he stood about fifteen meters away from her, it was as if he could lose himself in those deep blue oceans. His legs moved on their own and carried him over to her. Halfway Rukia also started moving.
Soon she would be with him. Soon they would be safe in the other´s embrace. Now only half a meter separated them from each other. When they met, Rukia moved on her tiptoes, lifted up her arms and wrapped them expectant around Ichigo's neck.
It still was raining but none of them cared about it. They were just happy to be able to hug the other one tightly.
Nervously he swallowed the lump in his throat. With a small smile on his face he placed his arms around her waist and leaned down a bit to draw her even closer to him. Only too happy he felt her petite arms around his neck.
"Rukia" he whispered against her lips. Greedily she bridged the last inches between them and pressed his mouth to his.
Ichigo returned the kiss vehemently, literally glowing with passion. Again and again he sucked her lower lip into his mouth and nibbled at it yearningly. Rukia responded only with increasingly loud sighs as she tousled through his longer, wet hair. After she left, he stopped cutting his hair. His appearance hadn´t mattered to him anymore.
Her hands went from his head to his spine and down to his waist. There she shoved them under his shirt, stroking over his bare skin up to his broad shoulders.
Now Ichigo´s hands started wandering as well. One of them holding her neck while he deepened the kiss, the other one laying on her ass, lifting her up a bit. Rukia pushed herself up and wrapped her legs around his waist.
He grabbed her and pressed her body against his before he closed her mouth with his again and pushed his tongue deep into her wet cavern. Eagerly he explored every corner and tasted her unique irresistible flavor to the fullest.
However, Rukia didn't allow him to gain the mastery in this game. Soon she sparked a fierce battle between her tongue and his. Her hands were still under his shirt and then she stroked over his chest as their tongues still played around.
Then slowly and completely out of breath, he let her down again and they broke a little from each other. Yet they still held each other close.
Ichigo looked deep into the dark blue eyes of his Rukia, while he gently stroked over her cheek with his thumb. Rukia looked back at him, leaned her forehead against his, talking in a deep breath of his tart scent. He just closed his eyes and whispered her name once more.
"You're back. I can't believe it," he hugged her as if he never wanted to let her go again.
"My brother has built a house right over there," she explained and pointed behind her, where there was indeed a huge new building. "He married not long ago, and moved there with his wife, Hisana," she continued, while she gently kneaded Ichigo's wet neck. It poured cats and dogs and from time to time there was a flash or a rumble of thunder. Neither of them really cared or seemed to take notice.
"And he offered to let me to move in with him," she began, looking firmly into his brown eyes. "So if you want me to stay here…"
With disbelief Ichigo stared at her, "do you even have to ask me that? Of course I want you to stay here," he said happily, pressing her even closer to him before he took a deep breath of the moist scent of her hair. "God, you don´t believe how happy that makes me. I don't want to lose you ever again," he said, burying his face now completely in her dark hair. Rukia kissed him briefly on the neck, "I love you, Ichigo," she said, smiling happily.