~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~

By - ByaRukifan

Timeline: After Aizen's defeat

Pairing(s): Byakuya/Rukia

~Chapter Six~

Rukia awoke as the light of the sun hit her eyes. When she awoke the first thing she felt was Byakuya's breath on her neck and his arms wrapped tightly around her. She looked down at his sleeping face and couldn't help but smile.

'Nii-sama looks so peaceful and....beautiful...when he sleeps.' Rukia thought, unable to lie to herself about how beautiful she thought he was.

Rukia let one of her hands venture to his face and lightly wipe a stray strand of hair from his face.

"...Rukia..." Byakuya muttered in his sleep before nuzzling his face closer against her neck and pulling her closer to him, causing Rukia to retract her hand and look down at him in surprise.

Rukia smiled, but not even a few seconds after that did she let out a few quiet coughs that were painful to her throat. She looked at Byakuya to make sure she hadn't disturbed him and was relieved to she she hadn't. She momentarily wondered why she had coughed and why her throat was hurting.

'It was probably just a random thing...I'll feel better later.' She assumed, 'I also don't feel too well...Maybe I haven't gotten enough sleep.'

She looked out at the caves opening to see it was still rather early, 'Guess I have time to get a little more rest. Maybe I'll feel better when I wake up.' She decided before cuddling up against Byakuya again, finding comfort and a feeling of safety in his embrace. She shut her eyes and in a matter of moments she drifted off again.

–

The sun continued to rise as the next hour passed and Byakuya awoke. He was awakened by Rukia's soft coughing. He looked down in slight concern but was unable to suppress an almost silent gasp when he noticed bruises on her neck. He guessed she had gotten them from the man that had choked her, his hold must have been tight enough to cause the bruises to appear. He gently took his hand from its position on Rukia's side to glide over the bruises. Rukia stirred as she began to wake up, causing Byakuya to retract his hand and place it on her side again.

Rukia awoke with a small cough and blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the light. She looked up at Byakuya to see him looking down at her.

"N-" She began to say.

"Don't talk." Byakuya interrupted, knowing it would hurt her to speak. "Your neck is bruised, so don't speak for now." He answered when he saw her confused expression.

He then moved to get up but as soon as he did Rukia's hand shot out to grab him by his sleeve and pull him back down into the same position he had been in before. He looked down at her in surprised confusion before he saw her frown and shake her head.

"Pl-please stay...Cou-ld ack! Could w-we just stay...here f-for the day?" She replied hoarsely, going against his order of not talking because she feared he wouldn't understand. "I...D-do-"

"Alright...but only if you stop straining your voice." Byakuya said, cutting her off. "You need to rest your voice or it will only get worse."

Rukia stared at him for a moment before nodding, letting him know she understood. Byakuya's eyes widened slightly when Rukia; who was blushing slightly, slid back under his arm and cuddled back up against his side before closing her eyes. Byakuya noticed her blush and wondered slightly why she was, he noticed she tended to blush quite often in his presence or even at the mere mention of him. One thought came to mind on why, but he quickly shook it off.

'It's the only answer I can fathom though...anything else wouldn't make sense...'

He was unable to help but wish his assumption was correct. For a long time now he couldn't hide the fact that his feeling for Rukia had grown to become something that wouldn't be considered the feelings that a brother would have. He kept his feelings deeply hidden though, because he considered them impossible. He thought it was an impossibility that she would ever feel the same way.

Byakuya looked down at Rukia to see she had fallen asleep again, 'I guess those first couple of days of no sleep finally caught up to her.' He guessed silently.

Since he wasn't feeling tired at all he just he just sat there, allowing Rukia to sleep. After a moment though he looked down at her again and was unable to stop a smile from slipping. To him, she looked so peaceful and beautiful as she slept. He brought his hand back up to her face to brush a strand of hair from her face before placing it on her side again.

He turned his head to look outside. He could see that most of the ground and grass were wet with rain water and that there were numerous puddles everywhere. He figured it was for the best Rukia wanted to stay here for the remainder of the day, seeing as how they could avoid getting filthy for no reason because of the mud...That and Rukia needed the rest.

–

Over half an hour passed before Rukia started to wake up again. She sat up as best she could as she rubbed her eyes before opening them. When Rukia looked up to see Byakuya staring down at her she immediately blushed and shifted her gaze down in hope that he hadn't seen her blush. His expression turned into a confused one as she hid her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Rukia shook her head in embarrassment as a reply.

The truth was, when she had looked up at Byakuya she had been reminded of the dream she had just had. In the dream she remembered that Byakuya and her had been kissing. She knew why she had had the dream, but she didn't want him to know about it; though her attempts at hiding her emotions had obviously failed.

Byakuya could tell something was up, but he knew he wouldn't get much of an answer since Rukia couldn't talk without feeling pain. Reluctantly, he let the subject drop.

Rukia looked up to face Byakuya again, her blush still clear on her face. She had a smile on her face and gave a slight shake on his arm as if she were trying to ask him something.

"What is it?" He asked in questioning tone.

Rukia sat up slightly, her hands sill on Byakuya's arms. Suddenly, Rukia climbed over him and pulled him outside. She didn't know why but she felt a little braver today, much like she had when she had stood up to Byakuya to heal his injury the previous day.

Once they were outside Rukia leaned down, with Byakuya's arm still in her grasp, before grabbing a stick that was lying on the ground. She had pulled Byakuya down with her to where they were both squatting on the balls of their feet. Rukia then proceeded to use the stick to write in the dirt.

"I know this forest, I never told you but when I was young I used to come here to take walks and stuff when I felt like being along. I sometimes even spent days here in this forest during my walks." She wrote.

Rukia then scribbled that out once she knew Byakuya had finished reading and she began writing again.

"I know a great place nearby with a view that also is near a clearing where fresh and juicy berries and even some apples growing."

Rukia looked up at Byakuya to study his expression. After he was done reading he turned to Rukia.

"Lead the way." He said before giving Rukia, much to her extreme shock, a small smile.

Rukia almost even fell back in surprise, but Byakuya grabbed and pulled her up before she fell. Rukia tried to express her surprise using her hands but Byakuya took a hold of them.

"It's not like I don't have the ability to smile Rukia." Byakuya explained, slightly amused. He had taken the chance to show more emotion in front of her and he was surprised at her reaction.

Rukia was still blushing, she blinked a few times before giving a slow, single nod. She then smiled back at him before taking his hand and pulling him in the direction she was trying to take him but he stopped her. She looked back at him in confusion.

Byakuya pointed back to the small cave, "We have to get our stuff." He replied simply but still smiling at Rukia, making her blush in embarrassment at her forgetfulness as she watched him get their things and come back to her.

When he was at her side, he took the chance of slipping his hand back into hers; causing Rukia's face to go even redder before she tightened her hand around his and started walking.

To be continued...

PREVIEW to Chapter 7:

Moments later, Byakuya felt Rukia tug at his sleeve before running forward. He guessed they had arrived at the spot she had told him about and when he looked forward to view the spot and was unable to stop himself from letting an almost inaudible gasp slip.

There's Chapter Six and the preview to chapter seven! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I added the preview so it will hopefully make up for the shortness of this chapter. THANK YOU all for the wonderful reviews, you wouldn't BELIEVE how happy I was to actually go passed my goal! Even though it was only three reviews passed that still means a lot to me.

ALRIGHT, NEWS TIME

I'm trying to come up with a decent plot to my next ByaRuki fic.
If ANYONE (Doesn't matter how many, I'll need multiple people to help) is willing to help, PLEASE PM ME so I can give the small details of what I'm trying to do.
I'm really hoping some of you can help me spark my ideas again. I want to start on the fic as soon as I'm done writing Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon and by the pace I'm writing it at it won't be much longer. So please PM me if you want to help, I would greatly appreciate it.

Please, Read and Review!

Just Remember, NO FLAMING!