A/N: Oh god. Fluff. I hope I did somewhat of a decent job at it xD There are a lot of flashbacks in this chapter and I'm not sure how I well I incorporated them. Recent flashbacks will be in italics, and older ones will be labeled with 'flashbacks'. There's a lot of background information but I did the best I could to make it worthwhile to read. Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows! They are what encourage me to keep writing :)

I do not own any copyrighted material unless stated. Only the story is mine.

Chapter Two: Sun

The rain began to beat down on him even harder as he treaded his way back home. He was probably going to get sick, but he didn't care. He stopped in his tracks. Rukia is dead. He tried to register the words in his mind one more time before his legs finally moved again, slowly.

Ichigo froze. He knew Urahara was a jokester but he would never treat so lightly the subject of the death of a shinigami. And it was Rukia, not just someone he knew. He studied Urahara's face carefully, and he saw that it was filled with sorrow, regret, and pity. Nothing about this was a joke. He could tell he was telling the truth. Still, his mind refused to believe it. There was no way that the girl he saw earlier was someone other than Rukia. She was his best friend and he'd definitely be able to tell the real one from someone who only looked like her.

"Your information, for once, is wrong," Ichigo stared him in the eyes. "I know that girl I saw earlier was Rukia. Where the hell did you hear that from? Tell me." Although he tried to suppress the anger in his voice, it was a demand; not a request.

Urahara shook his head. "I'm sorry," he replied again. "They wanted to keep it a secret from you, since they knew that if you'd have known… you'd… have a hard time recovering. You were very close to her, and she was very close to you. It's a shame that things unfortunately turned out this way. The girl you saw earlier was merely someone who greatly resembled her. I've been told that there are roughly 100 people in Japan who look exactly like you. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if you managed to come across someone who looked like her. I'm sorry, Kurosaki-san, but it's the truth. I have to refrain from telling you the details of her death, since Kuchiki-san has requested it of me."

Kuchiki-san... Byakuya specifically told Urahara not to tell him of his best friend's death that he never knew about till now? Of all the things he thought Byakuya to be in the time he's actually gotten to know him, he would have never chosen the word 'heartless'. But if everything Urahara was saying was true, no other word could describe his doing such an act. How dare he? He was Rukia's best friend and anyone who knew the both of them could see that fact was clear as day.

"Tell Byakuya to get his ass over to the living world now," Ichigo demanded, not requested, again.

"I'm… afraid I can't do that."

"Why? Would you be going against his request again?" Anger got the better of his tone this time.

"Because no one knows where he is," a sharp voice cut in as she swiftly entered the room. "I understand that you're upset, but you need to understand that not everything is about you. This is why we weren't supposed to tell you in the first place," Yoruichi shot a hard glare at Urahara. Urahara remained quiet.

"Who…? Who else knows about this?" Ichigo asked a bit softer this time.

Nothing but the sound of rain outside filled the room. Yoruichi and Urahara remained as still as stone and said nothing. Ichigo clenched his eyes shut and shook his head.

"Everyone knew but me, huh? Since I lost my powers, I'm of no use anyway, so they decided what would be the point in telling me when I couldn't come back to visit her or do anything about it, right? Well," Ichigo slowly stood up. "You're all wrong. Rukia is alive. I saw her with my own eyes today and I will find her again and make her remember. I don't know what kind of kido she's under if she doesn't remember any basic combat or even my face, but I'm going to make her remember." Remember me, he added in his head. "I'll come back soon with Rukia soon enough and prove you all wrong."

The events of today weighed heavily down on Ichigo's shoulders as he approached his front door, soaking wet to the bone. The first thing he would do the next morning is find Rukia. Show her pictures of them together, tell about their past battles they've fought together, talk about all the people they knew. She'd remember for sure, all she needs is a little reminder. He opened the door and stepped in after shaking some of the moisture off of his body. The strong smell of delicious curry brought him back to his senses, and he steadily made his way upstairs.

"Onii-Chan, you're soaking wet! Are you okay?"

"I told you to be home in an hour. Man, why doesn't anyone in this house listen to me? Sometimes I feel like I'm the only normal one. And I see dead people."

"Son," his father stopped him midway up the stairs with his uncharacteristically stern voice. "Where have you been?"

He must be my dad for a reason after all, if he knows something's up with me, Ichigo grimaced. Ichigo didn't even meet his gaze. "Urahara's."

Although Ichigo's back was still to him, Isshin nodded. "I see. How did that go?"

"Fine. Just fine."

"Ichigo," Isshin said in a tone that Ichigo couldn't help but turn around and face his father to. "You know you can tell your old man anything. If you ever need help, I'll always be here," he said in a softer tone.

A drop of water from Ichigo's chin landed on the floor. "Yeah," he spoke gruffly. "I know. Thanks, Oyaji."

Ichigo dried his freshly washed hair with a towel as he stared out his window. There was supposed to be a nice view of the moon today, but with the sudden rainstorm, it was impossible to see five feet in front of you. Ichigo could faintly make out the outline of the telephone pole that stood tall amidst the pouring rain. He smiled at the thought – that was the place he saw Rukia for the first time. He sat up straight on his bed and stared at his closet. It looked so small to him – how did that midget ever fit in there? He softly smiled at the nostalgia as he got up from his bed and opened the closet door. He pulled out a large box and opened the cover. The last time he saw the contents of this box was two years ago when he stored them away – he didn't know what compelled him to keep all this stuff, but he did. Just in case. Just in case I got my powers back. Or just in case… Rukia… came back.

The first object that immediately caught his eye was his substitute shinigami badge. It looked like a dull wooden toy without its constant flickering that alerted the presence of nearby hollows. That was the only thing it was ever good for, seeing as no one in soul society actually knew that it was a badge of authority. He remembered the amateur shinigami who considered himself 'elite' – Imoyama-San, was it – thought he was lying when he showed him the badge. He sighed. He saved soul society and the human world a mere two years ago, and now he was living as a normal seventeen year old again as if none of it ever happened. He couldn't even see spirits anymore.

The second object he grabbed was Kon – or at least, the empty stuffed animal shell that was left of him. The last time he had seen him, they were saying their goodbyes when Kon announced that he would reside in soul society where he would help some of the scientists of the 12th division study mod souls from the abandoned Project: Spear. A mod soul working in the Gotei 13 was something that had never happened before and generally would be looked down upon, but Urahara had put in a good word for him to Kurotsuchi (meaning he could perform all the tests he wanted on poor Kon).

He shuffled through more of his belongings, and grabbed a smaller pink box that was designed with Chappy the rabbit stickers. He hesitated for a moment before opening the box – it contained all the dumb, cheesy, happy pictures of him and Rukia together. No one but him even knew of the pictures' existence, and he felt a bit guilty he was looking through them alone. I'll show her these tomorrow, and she'll probably beat me for keeping pictures of her without her permission. He pulled out a specific picture from the bunch and smiled at it.

flashback

"It's a bit embarrassing, I suppose," Rukia blushed as she looked at all of the people gracefully skid around the skating rink. "My zanpakuto is ice-based and I can't even glide over it properly."

Ichigo shrugged. "No one's good at anything on their first try. You gotta keep practicing to get better."

Rukia nodded and smiled. When she opened her mouth to speak, a fog of her breath was visible in the cold weather. "That's what Kaien-dono would always tell me."

Silence and the faint sound of skaters filled the air. Ichigo gave a long, hard stare to Rukia. "Oi," he called. Rukia lifted up her head.

"What?"

"Do you miss him?"

More silence and blades hitting ice.

Rukia faced down again, sighing softly. She seemed fascinated at the fog made by her breath – or maybe she was just prolonging her time to think about her answer. Her serious face disappeared into an annoyed one as she rolled her eyes at Ichigo. "No, I don't. What do you need to know that for anyway?"

Ichigo shrugged. "I dunno. You always get this sad expression on your face though, whenever someone mentions him."

Rukia faced the ground again. Ichigo sighed and sat closer to her. He placed his hand over her shoulder and motioned her to look at him. "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Whatever happened to him… it wasn't your fault. I know you were involved with his death somehow, but you can't shoulder the blame."

"How did you know I was involved?" Rukia asked in a quiet voice.

"Because," Ichigo sighed into the air. "You get this pained expression on your face. Like you're reliving that incident. I know that expression all too well."

"Ichigo, you have too much faith in me. You don't even know the whole story. It was my fault at that time-"

"No, it wasn't." Ichigo stared at her in the eyes. "I don't know this Kaien guy, but I'm pretty damn sure he wouldn't want you to live your life in regret because of one accident that wasn't your fault. You have so much more ahead in life, and I'm sure he trusts that you're strong enough to get over that. You need to forgive yourself – not because of whatever happened that time, but because you've been emotionally abusing your heart all these years, blaming yourself." Ichigo took a long sigh again. "I'm actually… being a hypocrite saying all this."

Rukia looked at him with sad eyes. Suddenly, she knew. "Ichigo… I'm sorry…" Rukia began, but she really didn't know what to say after that. She felt horrible. "Ichigo." She faced him this time.

"Yeah?"

"You are the strongest person I know. Not just by power, but your resolve; your motive in everything you do. You never give up in your battles and that's why you win every single one of them. At least in my perspective. If it means fighting for your friends and family, there is no such thing as fear to you. Only dedication and courage. I am truly thankful that that I'm your friend. Your mom would be really, really proud of you."

Silence filled the air. No skaters remained since it was past closing time. The only source of light was a single street light that happened to be shining on their table. Ichigo looked at her through the light. He blushed.

"Oi, what's up with you? You're acting… nice," he lightly punched her arm. "Thanks, Rukia."

"Don't mention it."

They sat comfortably in the silence for a few more minutes as snow began to fall.

"Hey, Rukia?"

"Hm?"

"I think…" he paused. "Never mind."

"Huh?" Rukia stood up. She put her hands on her hips. "What were you going to say? I hate it when you do that."

"I was going to say that I think we should get home. It's pretty late, stupid, and it's snowing," he turned around so she couldn't see his reddening face.

"You were not! Your face was serious and everything! Tell me now, what were you going to say? I'll beat the answer out of you if I have to!"

"Yeah, I'd like to see you try, midget!"

Ichigo briskly hopped out of her reach as Rukia fell face flat on the ground. "Oww!"

Ichigo pointed at her feet. "Idiot, you didn't even take off your skates!" he laughed uproariously. "Jeez, this is too good not to get on film." He took out his polaroid camera and snapped a picture right as Rukia gave him the deadliest glare he had ever seen.

"You… are… so… dead… Kurosaki… Ichigo."

"I think the dead one is you, Miss Shinigami."

"Ichigo! Get back here!"

"Looks like you have some training to do before you catch up on me, short stuff!"

Ichigo raced down the paths towards his home. When he slowed his pace to make sure Rukia wasn't too far behind, he noticed the ghost of a little boy gradually fading away into the air. He felt the same happen with another ghost of a girl - one that he remembered putting flowers for - until he felt no presence of a spirit at all. He looked at the sky as his smile disappeared.

Rukia, I think this is our last night together.

Ichigo sleepily opened his eyes to the bright sun shining directly upon his face. He woke up from the floor, pictures from the previous night still in hand. He looked out the window and saw no trace of there ever being a rainstorm the previous night – all he saw was pure, golden sun. He panicked for a moment before he realized it was a weekend. I'm going to find Rukia today, he told himself. I'm going to find her and make sure she remembers me. He glanced at the calendar. His face fell. Today wasn't just another Saturday.

"Old man, do you have your cigarettes?"

"Whoops, I'll be getting those right now, my beautiful daughter!"

"Onii-chan! Can you carry this for me?"

"Sure thing, Yuzu."

It was that time of year again. This would be their eighth official visit as a family to his mom's grave. He remembered when Rukia was also included like it was yesterday – two years ago when the grand fisher hollow attacked his family. His dad had later told him that he had given him justice and was long gone, but he couldn't help but shake the uneasy feeling he got now whenever he came to the graveyard.

He lit the incense and bowed. "Hey, mom. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Only the soft April breeze answered him. Ichigo made sure his sisters and dad were out of hearing range before he continued.

"Mom, I really miss you. You're in Soul Society, right? I wish I'd have looked harder for you when I was there while I still could. Mom, I have to tell you something. And you're the only one I'm telling this to, since I know Dad and Karin will tease me about it and Yuzu will talk about it nonstop." Ichigo looked around more time and saw his dad and his sisters opening up the basket of food, and another girl at a grave several meters behind him. He continued.

"I saw Rukia yesterday. Urahara-san and Yoruichi-san think she's dead, but I know it was her. You don't think I'm crazy, right? I know the face of the girl I l-" he paused at his sudden choice of words. What… what was I about to say? Love? I don't love Rukia. I like her as a friend. Ichigo sat in silence for a few minutes before he got up. "I'll come back some other time when I find her and let you know how things go. Thanks for listening, mom. I love you."

Ichigo started to head towards his family who had already started eating. He sighed and stretched his limbs as he took a moment to gather in the nice weather. Today's going to be a good day, he decided. He noticed someone moving in his peripheral vision and glanced at the figure. It was the girl he saw earlier, paying her respects to her own loved one at another grave. The girl stood up before bowing again. Ichigo froze.

It was Rukia.