~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~

By - ByaRukifan

Timeline: After Aizen's defeat

Pairing(s): Byakuya/Rukia


~Chapter Nine~

'Chirping?...Crickets? Wha-' Byakuya slowly began to wake up in a tired daze. 'Ah, why am hurting...' He wondered as he felt sharp pains coming from his chest down to his left side.

He tried to lift his head to find out where he was , but he was just too exhausted to do so. Instead he let his eyes roam around the surrounding area. He could clearly tell it was night time, 'How long have I been out?'

He felt himself lying on a soft fabric that was lying on to of something hard. Everything began to come back to him then. He immediately tried to sit up but only ended up lying back down because of the pain. He moved his hand down to feel the wound and found that it was covered by bandages...but the blood was slowly leaking through it. 'I must have reopened it...' It was then that he realized that his chest was exposed to the night air, his entire torso was completely bare. 'Who could have done all thi-' "Rukia..." He realized.

He shifted his gaze around to find that she wasn't there, after realizing that he was back at their camp sight. "Where is she...?"

"You're awake!" A familiar voice chimed in a relieved tone.

He turned his head to the side to see Rukia standing in the entryway to their little 'camp home.' He noticed that she held many apples in her arms that he guessed she had gone to gather while he was unconscious. Byakuya then studied the expression on her face and saw that she looked like she had been...crying.

"Ru-"

"You reopened your wounds!" Rukia exclaimed with a frown before she placed the apples on the ground and made her way over to his side.

She began removing the bandages and her frown just grew.

"What's wrong?" Byakuya asked.

Rukia looked over to him, "After you passed out I brought you back here and healed your wounds as well as I could. I could only close it slightly though since I had used most of my strength just to get back here." She explained, "Now it's just going to have to heal on it's own...which may take awhile since we're both exhausted."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, it's yourself you should be worrying about." Rukia replied, unable to give a small smile.

"You need to rest." Byakuya told her as he examined her tired expression.

"What abou-"

"You're exhausted, Rukia. You need to get some sleep."

Rukia just turned her gaze to the ground instead of moving. She stayed that way for a moment before standing up and walking over to her bag, which was located near the apples, and began going through it. She took out, from what Byakuya could see, some medical supply and a rag before she made her way back to his side.

He was about to ask what she was doing before he saw her beginning to wipe away the blood that surrounded his wound with the rag before she proceeded to dress the wound with the bandages and gauze she had.

"You shouldn't move around much, alright? If you want this wound to heal up faster..." Rukia advised in a serious tone of voice.

Byakuya noticed that she still looked worried and distressed because of his injury. He lifted his hand to caress her cheek in attempt to give her some comfort. Rukia's shoulders started to shake slightly, which told Byakuya she was crying or at least trying to stop herself from doing so.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned.

Rukia lifted her hand to lie on his hand that was on her cheek, "I'm...I'm so-sorry. You...You're hurt because of me....again."

Byakuya's eyes widened as he listened to her before he used his thumb to wipe the tears away from her face. "There's nothing to apologize for, Rukia. I just want to keep you safe."

Rukia clenched her teeth together in order to stop crying.

"It's alright. I'm sure I'll feel better by tomorrow." Byakuya said soothingly, trying to comfort her. Rukia looked up at him through her tear filled eyes. Byakuya hated seeing her like this, hated seeing her upset. He gave her a small, reassuring smile, "Come over to my other side and lie down."

Rukia hesitantly gave a small nod before crawling over to the other side of him to lie down. Byakuya wrapped his arm around her as Rukia cuddled up next to him. She laid her hand and head on his chest, only then remembering that she had taken off the top part of his shihakusho earlier in order to get to his wounds. Byakuya felt her tense up and could easily tell what she was nervous about.

"It's okay, Rukia. You need to relax....I usually sleep without a top on anyway." Byakuya explained with a small smirk.

"O-Okay..." Rukia said, nodding against his chest before shutting her eyes.

"Thank you, Rukia. For helping me."

Rukia felt a little better as she began to wake up, though she did still feel a little exhausted. She looked beside her at Byakuya's sleeping form and smiled. She was happy that they were safe and that Tatsuo didn't know where they were hidden. Rukia shifted her gaze to the sky momentarily before switching it back to Byakuya. She figured he'd probably be asleep for a couple more hours.

Slowly, she got off of the rock and walked towards the cliff's edge. 'I wonder how everyone back in the Seireitei is doing...' Her mind quickly shrugged off that thought though when her stomach growled. "Guess I need to eat..."

She made her way over to where her bag and the apples were placed. She took one of the apples from the small pile before walking over to sit down beside the small pond. As she ate her mind drifted to the days before Tatsuo had attacked them. She placed her fingers lightly on her lips, unable to stop a soft smile from appearing. She could hardly believe that that moment had really happened. 'It was like a dream...' She couldn't believe that Byakuya had the same feelings for her as she did for him.

"Rukia...?" She heard her name being called.

She turned to see that Byakuya had woken up; earlier than she had expected. She smiled before she stood and made her way over to him. Byakuya smiled when Rukia was at his side before he slowly, and carefully tried to sit up. Rukia frowned worriedly and tried to help him so he wouldn't be in too much pain. He winced some as he moved, but relaxed when Rukia helped him lean back against the smooth rock wall.

"How are you feeling?" Rukia asked.

"A little better." He replied with a small smile, "How long have you been up?"

"About twenty minutes. I didn't wake you because I wanted you to get as much rest as possible."

"Did you go off on your own last night while I was still unconscious?" Byakuya asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Rukai looked down with a frown, "I did."

"That was extremely dangerous, Rukia...You could have been hurt or...worse...What if Tatsuo had come back?"

"I'm sorry..."

He looked down at her before moving his arm to wrap it around her shoulders and pulled her to lay her head against his shoulder.

"I just don't want anything to happen to you....You..." He hesitated, making Rukia look up at him. "You just mean too much to me to just lose."

Rukia's eyes widened at his words before she gave a small gasp at hearing Byakuya hold back a wince, the pain becoming too much for him. She helped him slide back down into a lying position on his back.

"Thank you." Byakuya told her once he was comfortable.

"Is there anything you need?"

"Nothing that I can think of."

Rukia nodded before getting up and walking towards the small apple pile. Byakuya watched her curiously, wondering what she was doing as she went to get something out of her bag.

After a few minutes he saw Rukia put a knife, that she must have brought with her, down next to her bag before standing. When she turned around he saw a cup in her hands as she walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"You need to eat something." She said with a small smile.

Byakuya nodded and looked down at the cup questioningly.

"I used the knife to cut up and crush one of the apples so it would be easier on you to eat." She explained before proceeding to carefully lift his head off of his haori, that Rukia had placed under him the night before to use as a pillow, and put the cup to his lips. It was only when the taste of the crushed apple hit his tongue did he realize how hungry he actually was. Rukia smiled happily when Byakuya started eating. She knew he was hungry even though he never said anything about it. She silently wished she had more than just apples, but she really wasn't comfortable with killing any animals.

"Thanks." Byakuya told her once he had finished off the crushed apple. "...What in the world would others say if they saw me now..."

Rukia grinned, "They wouldn't say anything because I'd shut them up before they uttered their first remark."

Byakuya smiled before bringing his hand up to place it on the back of Rukia's neck, pulling her down and planting a soft kiss on her lips; making her smile grow and causing her cheeks to turn a light shade of pink.

Rukia's smile turned into a frown though a moment after they broke apart, which made Byakuya frown as well.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"What...What's going to happen once we return home?"

Byakuya smiled before pulling her back down to kiss her again, "I was hoping things could continue like they are now."

That made Rukia smile before she leaned down to rest her forehead against his. "I wish I were stronger...If I was I could heal your injury and you'd be all better."

Byakuya moved his hand from the back of her neck up to stroke her hair. "It's alright. Just give me a few days and I'll be fine."

Rukia then lied down next to him, resting her head against his chest.

"Alright." She said, giving a small nod to let him know that she understood.

To be continued...


There's chapter nine! I actually got this chapter typed out last week because I got super bored. Now I'm probably gonna be bored pretty much the whole weekend because I don't have a chapter to type up. I may start working on chapter ten, I'm not sure.

Well, I don't have much to say so I'm just gonna end the author's note here.

Please, READ & REVIEW!

Just Remember, NO FLAMING!