After Ten Years - Chapter 7

As Rukia brushed her teeth that night, she felt tears flood her eyes once again. She couldn't stand the Soul Society anymore. She had to get out and back to the Real World as soon as it was possible.

'We're leaving the Soul Society as soon as Homura and Shizuku graduate...' Rukia leaned on the threshold and announced to Ichigo, who was lounging on their bed in his pajamas reading a book. He looked up sharply.

'What about our positions in the Squads?' He asked, 'There's no way in Hell the Head Captain, or even your brother, are going to let you go. Me? I'm disposable, expendable, anything you wanna call me, in their book... They'll be glad to see me go, I guess, and give a real Soul Reaper my position. But they'll never let you go permanently... Face it Rukia, you're too valuable.' Ichigo concluded, sounding depressed.

'Well...' Rukia thought for a moment. 'First of all, I wasn't planning on leaving the Soul Reapers for good. But I'm fairly sure that I'll be able to get clearance from someone to at least get transferred there. I'm sure Captain Ukitake or my brother can pull some strings to find an assignment for me...'

Ichigo thoughtfully thumbed through his book. 'I guess that might work... Do you think the kids would want to go back?' He finally asked.

'I know they would...' Rukia sighed. 'You can look in their eyes and see. They don't like it here... I'm not sure if they ever did.' She finished, flopping down on their bed. 'Why did we ever think that bringing them here was a good idea? I think we just have ourselves in more of mess than when we were back in the Real World.' She groaned.

'What mess back there?' Ichigo asked as he curled his arm around her shoulder. 'But, please don't keep beating yourself up about it all...' He consoled her. 'There's no way we could've know what being here was going to be like for them. We certainly didn't know how Rena was going to be... We just it would be a good opportunity for Homura and Shizuku to train at the Academy. You want them to be Soul Reapers, right?'

'Not if it means that they have to put up with all this bullshit...' Rukia concluded.

Ichigo nodded and they sat in silence for a few moments. Ichigo went back to his book.

Rukia felt something well up in her chest. 'Do you think Rena will be okay? Was tonight just a one-time deal, or was it genuine? I'm not calling her a liar, I'm just-'

'Her tears were real...' Ichigo interrupted. 'She's only a kid; I don't think she knows what to feel. It's only natural for her to be jealous. Maybe Yuzu and Karin would've been angry at me if they knew I had cool powers and they couldn't... Actually, that never even occurred to me until just now.' He finished. 'I think we just need to keep an eye on her, and just show her that she's really not different.'

'You think?' Rukia asked. Ichigo simply nodded.

'I'm pretty sure...' He finally reasoned.

Rukia sighed again and tried to smile. 'How we haven't perfected this 'parenting' thing yet?' She asked him playfully.

'We?' Ichigo scoffed playfully back. 'I think I have it down. You just need to relax a little more, that's all...'

'I'm tired and stressed-out beyond belief; don't make me hit you... I promise, it will not be pretty.'

Ichigo scoffed again and returned to his book. 'I'm terrified.' He added sarcastically.

Rukia rolled her eyes, and then suddenly realized that her husband was actually reading. This was strange for him; he hardly ever read in bed. When he did read, he usually read a book from his childhood on the couch under his favorite light.

'What the hell are you reading?' Rukia asked him incredulously.

'A Kido textbook...' Ichigo said simply, thumbing through a couple of pages. 'I never actually learned any of this crap, so I figured I had better at least learn what I can of the terminology. Bakudo's, Hado's, it's all so confusing. I don't even know all their names or what they do, only the ones I've seen you use... But that one Aizen used that day was pretty sick, too.'

Rukia yawned loudly. 'I know that you wanna learn some of it, but it's like, quarter after 'late'... Do you think we could have this conversation after a little less tiring day?' She asked drowsily, her eyelids beginning to droop.

Ichigo shut the book, set it onto the nightstand, and turned off the lamp. 'Sure...' He said as he got under the covers and pulled his wife down next to him, keeping her close. He heard her sigh contentedly, as if she was falling asleep.

'Did you remember to floss?' He asked her playfully. Rukia, who was practically asleep already, only let out an exhausted groan.

'Goodnight then...' Ichigo chuckled.

Rukia mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep.

What felt like seconds later, (in reality was actually four hours later), Rukia and Ichigo woke up sharply to a blood curdling scream from down the hall.

'Wha!' Rukia exclaimed as she sat up, drawn abruptly from her sleep.

'It's Rena!' Ichigo slurred as he grabbed Rukia's hand and quickly dragged her out of bed and down the hall, where they found Rena crying into her pillow.

Rukia's sleep-slowed mind was finally working at full processing power; she immediately rushed to Rena's bedside. Thumping footsteps sounded from the other room, and soon, an equally worried looking Homura and Shizuku burst into their sister's room.

'What's the matter?' Shizuku asked urgently from behind his tussled hair.

'Yeah, is Rena alright?' Homura added.

'She's fine...' Rukia told her older children. 'I think she may've had just a bad dream or something.' She said as she held Rena in her arms, trying to console the young girl's heaving sobs. 'Go back to bed you two,' She added with a tired smile. 'You have school tomorrow.'

'Are you sure?' Homura and Shizuku asked in unison.

'We're positive...' Ichigo affirmed gently as he sat down beside Rukia and Rena. 'Go back to bed.'

Homura and Shizuku let their eyes fall, but were still worried for their sister. The quickly and quietly left the room.

'Did you have a bad dream again?' Rukia asked gently, stroking Rena's dark hair.

Rena only nodded amidst her sobs. Rukia sighed deeply. Rena had bad dreams a lot. Rukia couldn't figure it out. A doctor had come and he checked her out. He told Rukia and Ichigo it was possible for their daughter to have a recurring 'night-terrors', as he called them. The doctor said he almost wanted to list it as a rare medical condition. Rukia and Ichigo did not allow it at all, and that put an end to that. Rena's terrors weren't anything serious or life threatening, just inconvenient for Rukia and Ichigo. It didn't make any sense to Rukia... Rena had never had this problem in the World of the Living.

There wasn't much of anything Rukia and Ichigo could do for their daughter, except try and talk to her.

'You're okay now, don't cry... Daddy and I are here now.' Rukia whispered comfortingly.

Rena only continued to sob, but Rukia could tell that she was slowing down.

'It was just a dream sweetheart...' Ichigo offered. 'Do you want to talk about it?'

Rena, whose head was still buried deep in her mother's shoulder, shook her head 'no'.

'Do you want a glass of water or something?' Rukia asked.

Rena shook her head again, still sniffling. Rukia had only one other option that usually worked whenever Rena needed calmed down. She cleared her throat.

'I want you to know who I really am...' Rukia sang quietly, but clearly. 'I never thought I'd feel this way towards you,'

Rukia felt Rena's body relax, but still she continued. This was her favorite song (Life is Like a Boat, by Rie Fu), and she liked to sing.

'and if you ever need someone to come along, I will follow you and keep you strong.'

As Rukia continued to the Japanese lyrics, in moments, Rena was back asleep.

'You make me wanna strain at the oars, and soon, I can see the shore...' She finished as she laid Rena back down and covered her up. Rukia stood up from Rena's bedside and noticed that Ichigo had almost fallen asleep lying next to her.

'Ichigo?' Rukia asked expectantly.

'I'll just sleep with her tonight, okay?' Ichigo slurred through his shut eyelids.

Rukia sighed her agreement. 'Okay...' She surrendered tiredly. 'See you in the morning.'

'Night...' Ichigo slurred again as Rukia turned off the already-dim light.

As she walked out the door, Rukia heard Ichigo slur one last time.

'You can sing real pretty...' He sighed.

Rukia only smiled and staggered back to their room and the comfy bed she knew was waiting for her. When her head hit the pillow, her eyelids shut, not to open until the next morning.

-XX-

The next morning, Rukia poured herself the biggest cup of coffee that she could muster. She needed the caffeine. She sat at the diningroom table sipping her drink, enjoying the warm liquid down her throat. Homura and Shizuku had left for the Academy, Ichigo had gone to the Squad Five barracks for the day, and Rukia didn't have to report to Squad Thirteen for a number of hours. Captain Ukitake was very understanding about Rukia wanting to stay as close to home and away from the office as possible, even though many of the other Captains weren't.

This was also the only day of the week that Rena's tutor didn't come, so Rukia let her sleep in. She figured she had a traumatic night... The thought of Rena's recurring night terrors make Rukia's heart fall for her daughter even more. Not only was Rena trying to battle fierce emotions, but was also fighting herself most nights.

Gentle footsteps on the hardwood floor made Rukia jump slightly. She looked up from her coffee cup and found Rena, still in her pajamas, pulling out a chair across from Rukia at the table. Rena silently sat down and rested her elbows on the table, propping her cheeks on her fists. She looked absolutely exhausted.

'Did you sleep any better last night?' Rukia asked gently.

Rena shook her head. 'Not really...'

Rukia sighed dejectedly. Why poor Rena?

'Normally, when I wake up crying like that, I don't really remember what made me cry; I don't remember what scared me... But this time it was different. This time, I could remember clearly what I saw in my sleep.' Rena continued, taking her head off of her hands and tracing the grain of the table absentmindedly with her finger.

Rukia put her coffee cup down and listened intently.

'I saw you, Homura, and Shizuku. I don't know exactly what you were doing. Then this guy wearing a Soul Reaper robe, then a white long coat overtop came towards you three. I don't know what he wanted, but I knew I didn't like him. He felt shady to me.'

'Did you see his face? Did he look like anybody you knew?' Rukia asked, trying to help Rena decipher her dream.

Rena shook her head. 'He had longish brown hair, he held something in his hand, but he crushed it and it flew away in a powder. Then he drew his sword and started to sneak up on you three. I called for you to watch out for him, and that he was right behind you. You didn't hear me, so I screamed louder. I tried to run, but I couldn't. I would pick up my legs to run, but I'd just fall down. I felt so helpless.' Tears started to well in Rena's eyes. 'When you three finally did turn around, it was too late... With his free hand, he drove it right through your chest, Mom. You died in seconds, and he threw you body to the ground.'

Rukia felt her own tears now.

'As your blood flowed to the ground, I screamed even louder than before.' Rena still continued. 'Homura and Shizuku drew their swords, but it did no good. He cut through them both just like that.' She said as she snapped her fingers. 'I couldn't move at all then. I felt like I was tied up. I watched in horror as all of your blood pooled together and rain began to fall. Then he walked right by me. He looked at me, and I fell straight to my knees. I couldn't look him in the eye. I heard him say something, then another guy came and started hacking your body, Homura's, and Shizuku's. First your arms, and then your legs. I watched it all. I couldn't look away, and I couldn't close my eyes. It was like I was glued. Finally, all three heads came off. That's when I screamed again and finally woke up. It was so horrible Mom...' Rena choked. 'I can still hear your screams...' Rena looked back up to her mom, and found that Rukia was crying.

'Mom?' Rena asked. 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you... I didn't mean to upset you.'

'No,' Rukia sniffed as she wiped her tears away. 'I'm glad you did. We need to bear pain together. Like a family ought to...' she finished. 'The best thing for both of us to do is remember that it was just a dream, and that it was all pretend. The man you saw isn't even alive anymore.'

'You know him? How?' Rena asked.

'It's a long story I never wanted to tell you...' Rukia sighed.

'Will you tell me now?' Rena asked. She saw Rukia divert her eyes. 'Please... I deserve to know.'

Rukia finally surrendered. When the entire story detailing Aizen's rebellion, the hell he put the Soul Society and the World of the Living through, Aizen's demands concerning Homura and Shizuku, and finally his death by Ichigo's hand, Rena emerged a somber person, and they both felt just a little bit stronger.

'Just don't tell your brother and sister...' Rukia finished. 'It's something I wanted to keep them from, so they could enjoy their lives and yours...' She tried to smile. 'Did you want something to eat?' She asked. Rena shook her head and went back to her thoughts. Everything her mother told her was overwhelming. She couldn't believe why they wouldn't have told her. She thought to her brother and sister and hoped they were having a good day at the Academy. They deserved it...

AN: Done! At 2 o'clock in the morning on a schoolnight, it's finally done! :D Hope everybody likes it! Don't worry about Rena, she will emerge from the story all fine and perfect! Night-terrors are actually a 'semi medical condition'. I have a friend that suffers from them, so it's legit, for all of y'all's information. :] Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! YOU GUYS ROCK! Feedback Please!