Author's Notes:// So here I sit, it's 11pm, and I'm not asleep. That's rare for me. But I've been feeling the itch to write, so here's another musing story, this time centered around Kuchiki Rukia as she's about to be killed by Sokyoku. Notice, parts of this may become more relevant to Rock Musical Bleach than to the manga, since I haven't read this part in a loooong time. Forgive me? xD
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters therein. All belong to the amazing Kubo Tite.
Faces
The seal breaks; the bonds securing Sokyoku's halberd to the execution platform snap and whirl around the weapon as it prepares for its victim. A victim who, for once, is not shouting their rage at their death, nor are they weeping for the life they are about to lose.
Kuchiki Rukia faces Sokyoku calmly, peacefully accepting her fate as she watches the fiery executioner form. She thinks not of whether it will hurt, or what the after-afterlife will be like. No, she is preoccupied with things much more important.
She says she has no regrets. She says she has lived a good life. She lists the things that have made her life so: Renji and his friends. Byakuya-niisama adopting her. Kaien-dono showing her the way. And then Ichigo trying to save her.
Even though she told him not to. It was really in his nature to be rebellious. No matter what she said, reverse psychology or not, he would do whatever he thought was right. Completely ignoring the opinion of other parties involved. And he was headstrong enough to get away with it.
Didn't mean she had to like it. But still...
The fiery bird flies fully formed in front of her, and she watches it with semi-dry eyes. As she thinks back over those four things that made her life worthwhile, the three faces of her close comrades stick out in sharp relief.
She focuses first on the face of Shiba Kaien, because his seems most vivid. Perhaps that's her conscience's way of dealing with the weighty guilt? Perhaps this could be considered her atonement. She had pierced him with her sword, and now she would be pierced by the criminals' executioner. A life for a life, so to speak.
His face fades with that realization, and now Abarai Renji yells at her to fight, to do anything but sit back on her ass and wait for death. On other occasions, she might have smiled. She might have smacked him and called him an idiot. Rarely did she ever heed his advice, and she certainly wasn't going to start now.
She finds herself hoping that he won't blame himself. He did what he had to do: turn his back on her. She had committed a crime, in spite of years of training to follow Soul Society law, and had then knowingly evaded returning to Soul Society. She had prevented Renji from killing Ichigo, had tried to run to Ichigo when she believed she'd caused his death. It was Renji's job as a fukutaicho to turn his back on her and let her be left to death; he should have never turned back to her and battled Byakuya.
Finally, the only face left is the mirror of the first. Kurosaki Ichigo smirks at her. He thinks she's remaining still because she knows he'll come. In truth, she's praying that he is far, far away, and that he will not come anywhere near the execution platform. She prays that she won't see his face again, not the real thing at least, and the notion that his face will be the last thing she'll see causes tears to rise in her eyes. Fine. For this moment, right before her death, Kuchiki Rukia will admit to herself that it's nice to see his face. She will admit that she's glad his face was left standing alone, to give her a sort of peace in this last of moments.
"Thank you, Ichigo," she says softly, voice lost in the roaring of Sokyoku's flames. "Good-bye." Her eyes flutter closed easily, and her body relaxes in anticipation of the killing blow.
But nothing happens, and she wonders if it could have been that easy. Death couldn't possibly be that painless, but there was no chance she was alive. Slowly, ever so slowly, she allows her eyes to open again, and there is Ichigo's face, still inches away from hers, except...
Except this face has a body attached.
"Yo, Rukia," he says, and he's blocking Sokyoku's million zanpakutou with only Zangetsu. She blinks, unable to stop the second tear from sliding down her cheek,
"Ichigo...!"