A/N: Don't worry, there'll be action in the next chapter. Right now, in the short amount of quiet time they have, our guys are having to deal with some issues. I've got up to chapter 6 in second draft-type format, and I'm tweaking the story daily. I'm debating whether or not to continue the story past what I have written as of now. If I do, there may be longer waits between updates. As long as you'll bear with me, I'll do it. :)

As always, please review. I can take anything you want to dish out.

Disclaimer: Bleach is not mine, but the story is.­­­

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Chapter 4

He looked down at her just in time to see her Soten Kisshun ripple and waver. He started moving before he could see it disperse. Then she fell forwards, barely catching herself with her forearms to protect her burned hands. Inoue nearly passed out from sheer exhaustion and pain, and Ishida was right there.

"Inoue-san!" his concern for her clear in his voice.

She clumsily waved him off and poised herself to continue. Her body swayed as she fought to regain her balance.

Rukia was already examining her with limited kidou available to her after healing Kurosaki. "It couldn't be helped," Rukia let an exasperated sigh escape as she looked her over. "I told you to let me do it." She grabbed Inoue at her wrists. "Inoue, you're going to stop now." That was an order.

"But..." Inoue started.

"No buts, Inoue, you can't keep this up," Rukia scolded. "You will rest. Now."

"Please, Inoue-san," the quincy practically begged her. "Rukia will finish with Kurosaki. He'll be fine."

Their gazes met, and Inoue's eyes grew under Ishida's stare. There was a reluctant, barely noticable nod of her head in the affirmative. The girl looked so defeated as she attempted to get to her feet, but her legs were like jelly so she sunk back down to the hard floor. She was sheer embarrassment and fatigue as she looked at Rukia and Ishida for help.

Without thinking (if he had thought about it, he would never have done it) and careful of her hands, Ishida lifted Inoue gently into his arms.

She didn't have to keep on healing him after a certain point. Rukia offered to take over. Why does she sacrifice herself like this? He studied her hands, which she awkwardly held palm-side up on her stomach. He winced when he saw the blisters and red blotches covering them. Why do you do this, Inoue?

Ishida already knew why. It was the just way she was, so caring and selfless. It was one of the reasons he loved her so much. She'd done the same for him in Soul Society, blocking him from injury when they fell from the sky after they succeeded in entering the Seireitei. He had bandaged her up while she was unconscious from protecting the both of them from the fall.

She always put herself last so it wasn't surprising that Inoue had protected him at her own expense. He felt so inadequate knowing that he hadn't done that for her instead of the other way around, especially because she was injured because of it. He made a promise to himself right there that he would protect her from then on.

Ishida remembered being with only Inoue while searching for Rukia. It was sweetly torturous, divinely painful. If he didn't die in battle, that delicious agony was destined to kill him.

He'd nearly come out of his skin when she began to undress in front of him to change into their "borrowed" shinigami uniforms. Getting them was a great plan on her part; Ishida had to admit he was genuinely impressed. She was truly smart, third overall in her class, even if she was prone to having some rather peculiar thoughts and ideas. The concoctions she brought to lunch were sometimes downright scary. Yeah, she had her moments, her quirks, but Ishida loved that about her, too: the dichotomy always intriguing him, keeping him on his toes.

He couldn't capitalize on having her to himself, though, when they stormed Soul Society. They were there for a reason--to rescue Rukia--and his satisfaction was secondary to that. He couldn't help but wonder what would have happpened had he opened up to here there. She probably would have completely ignored me while daydreaming of Kurosaki, Ishida thought ruefully.

"Ishida, bring her over there," Rukia pointed to a spot free of debris and walked towards a pile of clothes off to the side.

He carried her a little ways away from Kurosaki where Rukia had indicated. Inoue had kept her head down, her eyes from view the entire time. She thinks she's useless again, Ishida thought. When will she realize she's important to... us?

In the depths of his heart, that last word was me.

The shinigami returned with her Nii-sama's cloaks. As Rukia folded one into a pillow and placed it on the ground, Ishida laid Inoue down gingerly and proceeded to unfold the other cloak. He laid it over her. She rolled over onto her left side and tucked herself into a ball: she was sleeping immediately. Ishida smiled a little, thinking Inoue was Inoue even in the way she slept. He didn't want to disturb her rest, but he stayed a brief moment, straightening out the cloak and just watching her sleep.

He observed Rukia starting to slowly bandage Inoue's hands. Ishida would have stayed until Inoue awakened if they were alone, but he couldn't handle the scrutiny (real or imagined) of his friends had he shown that much concern for her. He was sure carrying her already raised enough suspicion.

The quincy decided instead to see how Kurosaki was coming along. He saw the Abarai and Sado were about to do the same.

The injured shinigami's back was propped up against a smooth section of stone in the ruins of Las Noches; Ichigo was too weak to sit up himself. He woke shortly after Inoue collapsed and felt horribly guilty. Before he could say anything, Rukia saw right into his soul and told him to stop blaming himself, that Inoue was a big girl who could make her own decisions.

Still, the subsitute shinigami was relieved to see Inoue safe and everyone else had made it according to the oath they took in the beginning of their journey. He was glad they were with him, even if it meant the guys were going to do their share of ballbusting.

"Ichigo," said Chad, still slightly concerned, "you were beat up pretty good."

"Oi, Kurosaki, you let that Espada give it to you, eh?" Ishida chimed in sarcastically.

Ichigo got riled up as always, a vein popping out on his forehead, and glared at Ishida with one eye twitching, "GODDAMN IDIOT! You don't see him up and around, do you?" He coughed, grabbing at his chest wound, which wasn't fully healed, while never taking his eyes off Ishida. The quincy smirked, satisfied Ichigo would be just fine.

"I don't see you up and around, either, Strawberry. Hurry up and get rested," teased Renji. "We're tired of protecting your ass!"

Ichihgo's face grew bright red at that remark, and Renji was going to make some crack about a tomato and a carrot, but he was interrupted when Rukia stormed over.

With no hesitation at all, Rukia shoved Chad and Ishida with one hand each and turned with tiny balled up fist, which landed square in Renji's stomach.

"IDIOTS! Do you see Inoue trying to rest over there? With you carrying on over here, just how is she supposed to do that?" Rukia laid into them all, her face twitching. "Ichigo is going to be fine, as you can see, not that you act like you care, so get yourselves back up there and keep watch!" Rukia left in a huff to go back to Inoue and put the finishing touches on her banadages.

Renji sulked his way back to the top of the crater, and Ishida stole a glance at Inoue, almost as if he wanted to go check on her, but decided against it and followed Renji. Before Chad joined them, he knelt next to Ichigo.

"You worried me, Ichigo. All of us... especially Rukia."

Ichigo peered up at him, saying nothing.

"Your reiatsu was gone, and Zangetsu was shattered," replied Chad quietly. "You were about dead. Rukia had to help Inoue bring you back." He explained the details of his healing, the way Rukia linked up with Inoue and her burst of reiatsu at the end without divulging Rukia's emotional outburst. That was her story to tell should she choose to tell it.

Ichigo blinked and peered down at his zanpakutou, remembering Zangetsu's battered state. Well, at least that confirms it, why I feel both of their reiatsu in the healing of my wounds.

Chad continued, snapping Ichigo from his thoughts, "There was no trace of your reiatsu anywhere, but Rukia wouldn't give up. She finally found your reiatsu, even when," Chad's voice ever so slightly hitched, but he cleared his throat and continued, "even when Ishida couldn't, and he told her you were gone. We all thought that was it, and I don't know where she found the resolve to keep searching, but she did. I truly don't know how she felt anything at all, but she fought to find you, and she did."

"Rukia's the reason you're still here," he finished matter-of-factly.

"Thanks, Chad," was all Ichigo could think of to say. The big guy merely nodded and walked back up to his post.

Rukia, who called him idiot all the time, who was always laying into him for every little thing, wouldn't give up on him. He was by all accounts dead, but she was just that stubborn. Why did you keep looking, Rukia? What did you think you could do? Don't get me wrong, this time I'm grateful you're so damn pigheaded.

She was always worried about him, too, which really annoyed him. Even if he didn't already know, Ichigo could tell just from the look on Rukia's face when he woke up that this time was worth worrying about, but for Chad to actually say something about it, about his condition, about what lengths Rukia took...

Chad wasn't one to waste words.

He peeked over at Rukia while she checked on Inoue. She moved so gracefully (he was always reminded of falling snow when he watched her). She tended to Inoue so gently, as if she had missed her calling and should have been in Sqaud Four.

People thought Rukia was cold and aloof, but she had a soft, feminine side if you took the time to see it. She built up walls, barriers, mountains to hide it, teased and hit like the guys, but Ichigo could always see right through her.

In this moment, her fragility flashed like a beacon before him and made his chest tighten; how small she was in a world where enemies scraped the sky. You couldn't help but want to protect someone so petite, so...

Ichigo let out a sigh, Someone so broken. There was the thinly-masked pain Ichigo couldn't miss when he looked into her eyes, the pain he longed to ease for her so badly--the pain he knew all too well. Ichigo hated that she was so like him, hated his fate was her fate, as well--he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy. Even when she presented him a rare, breathtaking smile, some unknown torment was lurking beneath the surface, preventing her from experiencing true joy.

It was probably why she knew exactly what to say to him, what to do when he was having trouble.

Rukia caught Ichigo staring at her, raised her eyebrows and gave him a cutesy little smirk before she turned back to Inoue. Ichigo noticed, in that split second, instead of drowning in misery (oh, it was still there--pain like that never truly leaves), Rukia's eyes were positively luminous, dancing. In fact, she glowed.

Then it dawned on him, like a long forgotten memory emerging from the bottom of his subconscious. Rukia's reiatsu signature was tied up in his body from healing, but that wasn't all.

"So now what, Old Man? I stopped the damn storm in here, but I'm still hurting bad. I'm still dying, aren't I?"

"Ah, Ichigo, a little faith in your friends wouldn't hurt," Zangetsu chided him. "Do you really think they'd let you die here, that they wouldn't do everything possible to save you as you would them? As we speak, I believe Inoue is healing you. Do you not feel that?"

Ichigo could feel Inoue's reiatsu flowing through him, but initially thought he was mistaken because the warmth, the life he normally felt while under her shield was missing. Strangely, he could also feel Rukia's reiatsu working through his body.

"It isn't working, though, is it?"

"Faith, Ichigo."

What happened next astonished him. He found he could feel the bank of Rukia's emotion running through him along with her power. Ichigo could feel complete desperation, fierce sorrow marring Rukia's reiatsu. It was if she was dying herself except the power she was sending grew... and grew. Her reiatsu hit him like a jolt of electricity, a lightning strike to complete the passing of the rain.

"What's with this reiatsu?" he asked himself aloud, full knowing Rukia never let out a pulse that strong. It was then Ichigo realized the burning weight had been lifted off his chest so he could breathe.

There was something else about Rukia's reiatsu, something else interwined that left him feeling content, warm, alive...

Rukia, that obstinate little shinigami, found his reiatsu when even Ishida couldn't. She wouldn't accept his death and in all actuality, had brought him back to life, hadn't she?

Why didn't I notice this? Ichigo brought his palm to his forehead and rolled his eyes. I really am that dense.

Ichigo chuckled and laced his fingers through the back of his orange hair. The shinigami laid back with his head on his hands while a ghost of a smile played on his lips. He was going to have to have a little chat with that girl.

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Rukia watched over Inoue as she lay with the makeshift pillow of Rukia's cloak and Renji's cloak covering her. It would take some time for her to recover after the exertion of accepting so much reiatsu and healing Ichigo, so going anywhere would depend on how quickly she could get moving. Rukia contemplated having the group carry both Inoue and Ichigo to a different location to buy them some time, but decided against it as it would leave them all more vulnerable while moving. They had no choice to carry Ichigo for the time being.

She wasn't concerned yet, but they had to get moving soon. All sorts of Hollow and Arrancar or worse were still out there, and the size of the reiatsu earlier released from this area should act as a lighthouse to lead them here.

Rukia stood up and brushed herself off. She flashed to Renji atop the pile of debris.

"It's too quiet, Renji," she observed.

Renji peered down at Rukia, "I know. Something should have been here by now, with the kind of reiatsu you two put out." He thought for a moment and offered a theory. "Maybe they're all off fighting in the human world with Aizen?"

Rukia thought about this. "Could be, or maybe they're waiting, planning the execution of their attack." She scrutenized the horizion. " I don't like this. I just hope we're out of here soon enough that we don't have to find out who is right."

The winds of Hueco Mundo kicked up, whipping Rukia's shihakushou about her as Renji studied his longtime friend. It was funny; he was stronger, higher in rank than Rukia, but Renji still deferred to her. With Rukia you really didn't have much choice, but Renji liked to think he did it out of respect for her.

Renji stared down at his friend for a few moments while she was peering out into the distance. "That's not all that's bothering you, is it, Rukia?" Even when they were young scamps running amok in the Rukongai, Renji knew when she was troubled.

Rukia wasn't completely surprised at his inquiry, but it startled her nonetheless. "Renji?" she questioned, searching his thoughts.

He sighed heavily. "I guess I'll just come out and say it myself, Rukia, since you're too proud to bring it up. Just like a noble," Renji jabbed, watching Rukia scowl as he chuckled. He stopped, trying to ignore how painful this was for him, and sorted out what he was going to say. "We all saw what happened earlier so there's no need to hide it. That substitute shinigami is a pest and a pain, but you have feelings for him anyway. Why, I don't have a clue, but you don't have to worry about what any of us here think." He winked.

Dumbfounded, Rukia stood there gaping.

"Eh, Rukia," remarked Renji, "you look ridiculous with that expression on your face. Don't act so surprised."

She placed her hand on Renji's and smiled warmly. She didn't think she was searching for his approval, but now that she had it, Rukia was relieved. "Thank you, Renji." She turned to look down at where Ichigo lay and flashed down to him.

When Rukia left to go to Ichigo, and he was sure she wasn't watching, Renji's shoulders rounded as he hung his head for a moment, his flaming red hair standing out against the black sky. If he'd only followed his own advice, his friendship with Rukia could've evolved into something more, but he would always be a tramp without the courage to jump up and grab his star.

Renji swore under his breath, "If you ever hurt her, Ichigo..."