Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, or any of the Bleach characters used in this fic. They all belong to Tite Kubo: the genius behind the captivating manga that started it all. I only own any of my original characters that I choose to include, as well as any of my own original plot ideas.
Leave My Heart Behind
Prompt: You are always with me...
A/N: Written for LJ.
She'd never progressed so far as to love him, but she had cared for him more than she'd ever cared for anyone at the time. He hadn't treated her like she was royalty because of her name; he had, quite honestly, treated her like crap. He hadn't been the kind of man to care much for the rights of the nobles, let alone that she had been adopted as one. That was what she'd liked about him. Instead of walking on eggshells for her, like so many others had, Kaien had simply laid down the law, expecting her to follow it.
The man had treated her like she was a comrade, a subordinate.
Sparing him from a painful death had been the least, and only thing, she could do. Had he survived the horrid encounter with the Hollow that murdered his wife, perhaps she would have been able to thank him properly.
Even now, years after Kaien's death, and months after she'd faced the Espada who had stolen his face, she was still unable to forget him. On the darkest and coldest of nights, she could feel the heat that had spread over her hands as his body hung limply on her blade, his fading arms encompassing her trembling form. Even were she to live as long as the captain-commander, Rukia doubted she'd ever forget Kaien.
He had trusted her to remember him, to think fondly of their short time together as friends. The man she admired had gone so far as to entrust her with his "heart," his final words of farewell echoing therein:
"Thanks to you, I can leave my heart behind."
As minor as Kaien was, he was a pretty likable guy.