Disclaimer: Bleach is obviously not mine!

….

"Mommy!" the four year old infant cried to her mother, "Daisuke hit me again! It's not fair!" Being a single mother was getting its toll on Rukia. She loved her children very much. They were the best thing in her entire life. But dealing with four year old twins wasn't an easy thing to do, not at all. 'One year' she thought. What had she done wrong, surely she couldn't have done anything wrong, and she never messed with peoples live at all, so why was this happening to her, why now, when her children depended on her. She wanted them to look up at her as their idol, she wanted them to follow her steps, but how could they, they were so young and innocent, they couldn't see the pain she was going through, it was as if the world had turned its back to her, 'Or was it me who turned my back to the world?' That was the question. Why did he leave them a year ago? She loved him, and he loved her, that's what he had said. But there was one thing one small thing she knew, one thing that she didn't want to remember. It was her, she had caused this.

"Daisuke, don't hit your sister." Her voice was stern, but deep inside she was tearing up.

"But mo-om!"

"No whining, Daisuke." God, how she wished to hug them and kiss them and tell them that everything was going to be alright. Even though she knew it was wrong, to hide this from them, she still kept up with the idea that he would someday return. 'Oh! How I miss him'

"Daisuke, if father were here he would have punished you."

"Daddy wouldn't have done that, I know he loves me!"

That was all it took for Rukia to break down. She had to cover her mouth with her hand and close her eyes tightly, so she wouldn't cry. "Children, go to your room. It's getting late." She clearly remembered how both, she and Ichigo, would walk them to their room. She would sing them a song, and they'd fall asleep. Ichigo then would bend down and kiss them goodnight. It had all been perfect, up until he received that phone call.

As Rukia slowly walked to her room, she remembered his smiling face at seeing their baby twins. She could barely hear his voice saying, "I would like to call my baby boy Daisuke, I think it's a cute name. Hey, what about Ai for our baby girl? I absolutely love it! Do you like that idea, Rukia?" That was one of the happiest moments of her life. Ichigo changed her life forever. When she entered her bedroom, she turned on the lights and stared at her room. It felt so cold and the bed looked so lonely without him. 'C'mon Rukia, get a hold on yourself, he will come back…someday not far away'. That night, in her cold and lonely bedroom, she dreamt of the day when they first met.

…..

A 17 year old Rukia was sitting in a swing. She looked up at the sky and saw the clouds getting darker, threatening to rain, but she just didn't care. She wanted to stay in that park forever. She didn't want to return home, not now, when things were so critical in her family. Come to think of it, it has always been critical in her family. Rukia was the youngest of two children. As she grew up, she kept noticing that her parents favored her older brother. She loved her brother, but she just couldn't stand being around him. Rukia felt that her mother just simply hated her. Her father loved her, but it wasn't enough, at least not for her. She felt so lonely, so abandoned in this world. At nights, she would cry quietly, wondering if God really existed, surely, He must have something in storage for her life. She wasn't sure though. Rukia sometimes thought that if God really existed, then she wasn't one of His favorites. It didn't help that she didn't have much friends. She didn't make friends easily, and the last ones she had hurt her feelings greatly. She didn't have anyone in her life to hug her, be with her, and hold her. When she would cry at nights, she so wished that someone, anyone, would come and sit at her side, keeping her safe from any harm, but her wish never came true. Until that very day.

Rukia could feel the raindrops hitting her skin lightly, but, again, she didn't care. She closed her eyes and wished for everything to go away. She couldn't stand the loneliness anymore. 'I wonder… if I committed suicide, what would everyone think, would they even care or even remember that I was once alive, I don't think so, so why not try now?' As she was going to stand up and meet her death, a soft voice called to her, little did she know that that voice was of the person that would change her life forever.

"Um, excuse me, you better get home, you're going to get sick if you don't get out of the drenching rain in time." She felt the rain stop, so she opened her eyes slowly and saw a man, a bit older than her, maybe a year older. She looked up and saw an umbrella, 'Like I thought, rain doesn't stop so suddenly, silly me.' She thought bitterly. Rukia looked up at his face; catching his eyes she saw him staring back at her with a blush on his face. His eyes where the most beautiful shade of amber she had ever seen, it didn't help that amber was her favorite color, so yeah, she loved his eyes. Her own where a strange shade of blue. Whenever she saw herself in the mirror, she swore that her eyes had a violet hue. "My eyes are unique," she would say, "at least one good thing in my life." She kept looking at him and noticed he had flaming orange hair. 'Wow, orange hair, I wonder if it's as soft as it looks.' She shook her head, and told herself to forget that comment.

"Oh, right I didn't notice it was raining," she lied. She always knew that she was a horrible liar. The boy looked at her for a moment, and after a minute he started laughing. "What's so funny hmm?" She argued, putting her hands on her hips.

"Oh, nothing, I just can't believe that you didn't feel the rain. You are soaking wet!"

"Well, that's none of your business." She said hotly.

"Okey, calm down, if you want, you can stay here, under this rain, I won't interfere with your thoughts. Well, bye, I guess, see you around, if you want to, ofcourse." He stared at her for what seemed like whole two minutes, as if waiting for her to say something. He opened his mouth but closed it immediately. The boy looked at the ground, still hesitant to leave the petite girl he had encountered. He then started to walk the opposite way, seeming reluctant to leave her in such a state.

"Wait!" She exclaimed, and then lowered her voice a little over a whisper, wanting him to hear her, "don't leave me here, not alone." She watched him turn around, a mixture of disbelieve and happiness present in his features. His eyes were joyous, sparkling beautifully in the moonlight. He outstretched his hand towards her and Rukia looked at it for a while; the look on her face seemed a little startled.

"Hey, I don't bite, come on, take it, I'm taking you home." His voice sounded so calm and comforting, as if it were begging her to trust him. Almost immediately she refused. He looked at her closely, and what he saw broke his heart, she was crying. God only knew that he hated seeing a woman cry, it made him feel so weak and nervous. He walked carefully towards her and stood directly in front of the girl, his presence entirely comforting her. As slowly as possible, not wanting her to feel uneasy, he raised his hand and cupped her soft round cheek. Rukia let out a startled gasp, not believing what he was doing to her. The boy gently whipped her tears away; and only then did he realize how beautiful she really was.

Her big, watery violet eyes complimented her milky white skin perfectly. Her body seemed to radiate softly in the moonlight. Her round cheeks and her little cute nose had a soft red hue due to the cold weather. Her silky raven hair was slightly wet, and swayed gently in the winter air. He felt her trembling slightly, and fought the urge to hug her tightly to him and ask her why she looked so heartbroken. He stared deep into her violet orbs and deep within them he saw sorrow, hurt, and a tiny bit of hope. A wonderful hope he himself didn't know he had created in her. That tiny bit of hope was all it took for him to hug her as tightly as he could, never wanting to let her go, never wanting her to feel the same pain again. He was willing to protect her, a perfect stranger, and his perfect stranger. It was something in her that pulled him towards her, that made him willing to protect her from any harm, and he had yet to find out what it was.

He pulled away gently and caressed her face lovingly, as someone would do to a child, "Why don't you stay at my apartment tonight, and then we can figure out what to do in the morning, okay? By the way, my name is Ichigo Kurosaki." Rukia nodded slightly and replied a bit more confident, "Rukia Kuchiki."

Hesitantly, she allowed him to lead her towards his home; somehow she knew she could trust this man with her heart. All the way, both of them held hands, it didn't seem at all awkward to them, it just felt so right. In a comfortable silence they reached his apartment, and they fell asleep together, side by side. That night, the horrible nightmares disappeared, and instead she dreamt of the boy sleeping peacefully beside her, a perfect stranger, and her perfect stranger.

…..

Rukia was awakened by a gentle hand that was pulling her arm slightly, wanting her to wake up. She groaned happily, knowing well enough who that tiny hand belonged to. "Mommy, wake up." She opened her sleepy eyes and stared drowsily at her daughter, violet orbs met all too familiar amber ones. She was amazed at how alike her twins were to their father, Ai and Daisuke had her silky raven hair and Ichigo's mesmerizing eyes, but still, they looked so much like their father. Behind her daughter was her son, with a slight frown plastered on his face, no doubt annoyed at the thought of waking up so early in the morning. 'If only he were here with me, he would have rejoiced at the sight of our children, he would've laughed at seeing our son with the same facial expression he showed every time he was annoyed at something'.

Rukia got out of the bed, still not knowing the reason why Ai had woke her up. 'I swear, that child is still a mystery to me.' She went straight to the kitchen to make some breakfast for her children. In the meanwhile she turned on the TV, wanting to hear the morning news. Rukia grabbed a pan to fry the eggs, but hearing what the news man was saying made her drop the pan immediately, her hand went straight to her mouth as she starred wide eyed at the screen, making sure that what she was hearing was right. She heard her children come running to the kitchen asking what was wrong, but her thoughts muffled their sweet voices. A solitaire tear of happiness rolled down her cheek, and the only thought present in her mind at the moment was, "He's coming home, to me, to our children!"