Prom night.
She was sixteen. The day was a frosty January afternoon with peeks of sunlight stealing through the fluffy clouds and white puffs of breath escaping her lips as she talked excitedly about the dress she had seen in a store downtown. Ulquiorra only half-way listened. She needed a partner, someone to ask with her to the dance. That did not escape his hearing.
"Ulquiorra!"she snapped, finally noticing his preoccupation, "are you even listening to me?!"
"I am." he said levelly, turning his dark green eyes on her suddenly flushed face. Curious. She must have realized her coloring had nothing to do with the weather and quickly her cheeks were averted. It was sometime before she spoke again, this time with a question.
"Ulquiorra, do you...know how to dance?" her voice had become quiet and she was all but addressing the leaf strewn ground rather than look into his face.
For his part, his eyes closed and he remembered another's smiling, laughing face and long orange hair streaming out behind her as they spun around. "Yes," he said, opening his eyes once more to find Rukia openly watching him. "I used to with Orihime."
He did not miss the slight, pained expression that crossed her face. "I see," Rukia muttered, hunching down as if the cold were bothering her. He continued observing her quietly for a few moments longer until she spoke again, this time in an unmistakable tone of envy. "You really loved her, didn't you?"
It was a lie to say he hadn't. "I did."
"You do."
Again he was surprised by the conviction present in the girl's voice.
"It doesn't matter."
"Yes it does!" her outburst was unexpected. Her furious eyes rounding on him was something he didn't understand.
"How can I ask you to..." she faltered.
"Ask me what?" he had a feeling he knew however did not wish to so early crush her hopes.
"...Go with me to the dance." she muttered, looking askance.
For a moment in his mind's eye he could see a Gymnasium transformed into a glittering ballroom, couples whirling around in elegant wear and he and she among them. A night to remember, he wished in vain, silently praying to the Gods above for the impossible to become reality. Just one night. Just for her. Ulquiorra would have given anything to be alive at that moment. It was a foolish hope, he knew. Still...he couldn't bear to look into her face when he spoke next, "you know I can't, Rukia." He heard her shift slightly on the bench and she leaned forward, scowling, decreasing the space between them. "Why not?"
He wondered at her persistence. "Because..." he hesitated, but went on reluctantly sensing her waiting stare, "I've been long dead. You're alive, one of the living. I can't enter your world anymore." And, he added silently, no one can see me but you.
She was quiet and then abruptly she jumped up. "If you can't go then I won't!" she declared bossily as if her solution could conquer the gulf between them. Ulquiorra said nothing as he deemed it best to. For he seriously doubted she would heed a word of his.
~*~
Evening came. She didn't show. He hadn't really believed she would, for he was sure her father at least had dropped her off at the school. But just in case...he told himself, he stayed on an outer bench, a favorite of theirs, overlooking a particularly secluded area surrounded by trees. Hidden in the early darkness, he lay on his back, staring up moodily at the sky and few stars twinkling from under the cloud cover.
Rukia...he wondered how she looked. If she was as radiant--
"Hey, stranger." Leaves at the edge of the clearing crackled beneath demure silver pumps. Ulquiorra raised himself on his arms, looking to her silhouetted by moonlight and something else.
"You shouldn't have come," he whispered. She didn't answer, only held her hand out. He didn't ask why she had slipped away from the school to go there, didn't want to know who had accompanied her as her date. It didn't matter. Nothing much did when the veil was lifted and they were spinning, hand in hand, in step to music only they could hear.
~To be continued~
AN: one more chapter and then it's finis. Okay, now this is important. Would you like them to end up together (I can't give away details) but right at the end...? Please give me your opinion. :) Thanks for reading. No flames, stupid comments (you know what I mean!) or idiotic spammers!
Reviews are always appreciated! :)
