This is a reworked version of the original prologue. It isnt that much different, it has just been switched to 3rd person PoV and I lengthened it a little. Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

-Song:Dead Inside by Skillet.

"Rukia…" The name slipped from his lips before he could stop it and the young woman in question paused in mid stride to turn and look at him. Magenta orbs sparkled uncannily in the light of the dying sun. As his name slipped from her lips Ichigo felt his throat swell and his breath caught. He stretched a hand towards her, desperate to touch her one last time before she faded from his life.

"We knew this time would come, Ichigo." Even though her words and expression was stoic, Ichigo could see the melancholy in her eyes and her bearing. Her retracted his hand and pressed it tightly against his thigh. A sudden pain made him uncurl it and he stared blankly at the bloody semicircle on his palm.

"Ichigo," He looked up in time to see her take a step closer. "Give me your hand." Obediently he held it out for her and she gently cupped it in her own. His hand dwarfed her own as she softly drew the tips of her fingers along the lacerations. There was a soft violet glow and sudden warmth as he felt his skin begin to knit back together, prickling uncomfortably as it did so. When she went to pull away he gripped her petite hands tightly and gently tugged her towards him.

Wrapped in his embrace Rukia found herself wishing that she didn't have to leave, she wished that something would go right in her life for just this once, and that she would never have to let go of this. It had been decades since she last had a home or a family like she had found in the Kurosaki's. It had been decades since she had truly felt loved, appreciated. Of course she knew that her nii-sama loved her, but for once, just once, she would like to be able to feel that. She would like to know in Soul Society the type of home and family that she had found here. To have to leave this, to leave him was almost more than she could bear.

With a hand on his chest Rukia made to pull away from his embrace. For a long moment Ichigo's arms tightened and he refused to let go of her as he pulled her tightly to him, but after a moment his grip slackened and she managed to pull away while she still had the strength to do so. She knew, somehow, that if she had stayed in his embrace any longer she would not have been able to pull away.

"Ichigo…" There must have been something in her voice, something that upset him in some way or another because he tensed. "Don't," He murmured, "Don't say what I know you are going to say."

Rukia's brows furrowed in confusion, "Don't say what?"

A deep sigh escaped his lungs. When he finally answered it was in a whisper, so soft that even she, who was standing mere feet away, had to struggle to hear him. "Don't say goodbye Rukia. I don't want to hear those words tonight."

Tears pricked at her eyes when she heard him utter those words. "Then what should I say, Ichigo; what do you want me to say?" A shudder wracked her body and she squeezed her closed her eyes tightly to hold back the tears building there. Rukia started as Ichigo gripped her chin tightly and tilted her head backwards until her eyes met his. The fire in his amber orbs warmed her from the inside out.

"It isn't over, Rukia. This is not goodbye. I don't care how long it takes or how many rules I have to break, but I will find you again." His lips curled in a sad smile. "That is a promise." He let go of her and Rukia took a step back and turned to the side, hiding her now free-flowing tears from his view.

"I trust you, Ichigo. I will be waiting." She turned back to look at him. "And remember this: even though you cannot see me doesn't mean I am not there. I will always be there. I will just be, well, out of sight for a while."

"You know what they say, Rukia: out of sight, out of mind." Ichigo laughed as the petite brunette growled softly before sighing. A companionable silence took the place of conversation as the two friends simply took each other in, committing to memory the face and appearance of the person they both knew they would not see again for some time.

When Ichigo suddenly started Rukia knew that it was time. She knew that she was slowly disappearing from his sight, like dust blown away in the wind. To him it must look like she was deteriorating, breaking down into nothingness. It was for this reason that she did not pull away when he reached out and caressed her cheek. The moment she disappeared from his life was a moment that she would never forget. The comforting pressure of his fingers against her cheek suddenly disappeared and in its place was the horrible tingling cold that came with touching any other human as his hand drifted through the now unoccupied plane of space that he was a part of. The life of a human, a full blooded honest to Kami human… and it hurt. It hurt so much to see him and know that he couldn't see her.

Ichigo seemed lost as he stood there, staring blankly at the space where she had once stood, the now unoccupied air that his fingers drifted through. Somehow he knew that she was still there, he could sense it, like there was a little radar in the back of his head, or a voice whispering to his subconscious. So it was weird to not be able to feel her. If someone was there, they should be there right? But instead his hand grasped nothing but air. She was gone, here, but gone… she was in a different world, a parallel world that he no longer had access to. The aching in his chest was unbearable; it felt like someone had ripped out a piece of his soul. There was a sense of numbness, like he was missing some vital part of his life, something that he needed to function but did not need to exist. He didn't feel like himself anymore. Something was missing.

He was aware of his friends standing behind him. Originally it was only he, Uryuu, Inoue and Sado but over the course of his and… of his goodbye three others had joined them: Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro. He had felt them approach and he was sure that she had as well, as paranoid as they had become over the last few months. He could feel the pity of Mizuiro and, surprisingly, Uryuu. He could sense the sadness of Inoue and the confusion of Tatsuki, as well as her gratitude. He could feel Sado's concern over his friend's well being, both of them, Ichigo could tell, and the sadness of her leaving. Keigo was busy lamenting over losing 'his Rukia-chan', but Ichigo could tell that he was sincerely sorry for him, even if Keigo was trying to hide it.

He could tell when she moved. His head snapped to the side when she did so and he could tell that his friends were confused by his actions. Uryuu even looked at him strangely, as if questioning his abilities to see. He ignored all of them. "Rukia…" Ichigo paused and took a deep breath. "The next time I see you, you had better be at least a Lieutenant, understand?" His soul leapt slightly, and he could feel an echo of amusement. He turned to see Inoue, Uryuu and Sado all smiling at him. It was Uryuu who finally spoke.

"Well done, Kurosaki."