Simply Deep

Chapter 10: Without You

Ginrei Kuchiki was an old man. He had retired for the explicit purpose that he may live out the rest of his days in peace and tranquility. So that he could see his daughter Hisana and her husband continue to trek across the globe. So that that he could watch his grandchildren Byakuya and Rukia grow into the fine adults they were now. So that he could watch as Byakuya took his place among the Kuchikis before him and took over the family business. So that he may one day see his great-grandchildren before he left the world of the living.

Nowhere in Ginrei Kuchiki's great plan of serenity did it include listening to Rukia and her flame-headed boyfriend argue about how whether or not to spell Christmas out or abbreviate it as "Xmas." From the short interactions that Ginrei had with Ichigo Kurosaki every now and then, he still did not know much about the boy. He knew that he was loud. But then again, so was Rukia. He knew that he was brash. So was Rukia. He also knew that Ichigo Kurosaki cared very much for Rukia. Rukia also cared very much for him.

It appeared as though the two belonged together. They fit together remarkably well.

Byakuya, however, could care less about that. Byakuya was the big brother and all he saw was another male hovering over his baby sister. Ginrei just sat back and enjoyed watching the terse interactions that the two men made with one another and Rukia trying desperately to get them to talk civilly. He found it rather amusing.

"Grandfather, what is wrong with them? Why are they so pig-headed?" Rukia asked as she sat down next to her grandfather. She was covered in either cookie or cake batter and she looked exhausted.

That was one thing Ginrei also prided himself on; making his family work. During the holidays, he gave every employee a vacation. That meant that they were on their own when it came to Christmas dinner. Thankfully, Rukia was a good cook. Byakuya was all but banned from the kitchen and fit to do nothing but wash dishes (something he hated). The microwave even hated Byakuya.

"They are remarkably alike, if you look closely. Young Kurosaki says everything Byakuya is THINKING. That is the only difference. Byakuya knows how to hold his tongue while Kurosaki does not; much like Hisana." Ginrei checked the time. "Isn't Yoruichi supposed to be coming? I heard she was bringing a guest."

"Yoruichi Shihouin? I didn't know you invited her," Rukia said.

Byakuya entered the room. "Grandfather did not. I did," he said curtly, indicating that he was not going to explain why he did. "Along with Urahara, she is bringing Soifon. I was led to believe Soifon has a date as well."

Rukia clasped her hands together. "Well, we all have guests now!" Then she thought about it for a moment. "Wait, Grandfather, you don't have a date. Neither do you, Brother. You can be Grandfather's date."

Before Byakuya could refute that, Ichigo's voice was heard from the kitchen. "Rukia! Rukia your rice is starting to boil over!" he yelled.

"Then turn it off, numb nuts!" Rukia got up and ran towards the kitchen.

Ginrei shook his head as the doorbell to the penthouse rang. He started to rise to go answer it, but Byakuya held up a hand. The old man rested easily back in his seat as his grandson walked off. He smirked to himself; between Soifon and Byakuya, he did not know who hated Kisuke Urahara more.

The holidays are always so entertaining, he thought with a small chuckle.

Byakuya answered the door. The first face he saw was not one he wanted to see. He would have given anything to see cat-like golden eyes and a mischievous smile. What he got was a man with pale blonde hair in a dark green elf's hat with a bell, eyes hidden from the world, with an equally as mischievous smile on his face. Yoruichi was standing slightly behind him, giggling with a red Santa hat on.

"Hi, Byakuya! Merrrrrry Christmas!" Kisuke Urahara said happily.

Yoruichi came around Urahara. "Are you gonna just stand there or let us in, Little Byakuya? It's cold in this hallway and I have guests," she said.

Byakuya clenched his teeth together. "Right this way." He stepped to the side, allowing them entry. He nodded as Soifon passed him. She nodded back. A much taller man that looked no older than Ichigo or Rukia was behind her. His hands were tucked safely in his pockets and he had a scowl on his face that was deeper than any Soifon could cook up. Byakuya closed the door behind them.

After greeting Ginrei, Yoruichi pulled Soifon to the kitchen. She saw Ichigo moving around the kitchen, obediently helping Rukia out. She crossed her arms and smiled. "Well, isn't this sweet? I wish Kisuke was more like this. You've got a keeper here, Rukia," she said.

Rukia's head snapped towards Yoruichi and she turned red. "Oh, well, Ichigo is just really helpful. That's all," she said.

Yoruichi nodded and stepped forward. "Well, he can be helpful elsewhere." She grabbed a towel and hit Ichigo with it. "Out! Let the women take over from here. Go and make nice with the men. I'm sure you'd get along with Kisuke," she said.

"Yeah. EVERYONE gets along with Kisuke..." Soifon mumbled.

Ichigo walked out of the kitchen, mumbling to himself. When he saw the other four men congregated around the living room's coffee table he quickly took the only "safe" seat in the place: next to Urahara. The jolly man immediately extended his hand to Ichigo, a wide smile on his face.

"Kisuke Urahara. You are?"

Ichigo blinked a few times and took Urahara's hand. "Ichigo Kurosaki," he said.

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow. He glanced up. The name he heard could not have been right. He looked across from him and saw Ichigo talking nervously with the Urahara guy that Yoruichi had brought with her and that Soifon wanted to murder. It only took Ichigo a single glance to realize that Grimmjow was sitting across from him, next to Byakuya.

Rukia entered with a tray. "Who wants egg..."

Grimmjow and Ichigo stood at the same time, shocking the small woman. "YOU!"

"Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring ting-tingling too. Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you. Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling 'yoo hoo!' Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you!" Gin and Rangiku sang drunkenly.

Toshiro rolled his eyes. It's a wonder they can remember the words right, he thought as he switched the cookies out. Why am I doing all the cooking?

"Need some help?" a sweet voice asked from behind him.

Toshiro looked up and saw Momo Hinamori standing there. "Sure." He stepped out of the way, handing her some mitts in the process. He looked back over to Rangiku and Gin as they continued singing loudly and slightly off key.

"They really love each other don't they?" Momo said as she took the cookies off the sheet. She noticed the strange look Toshiro was giving her. "Don't look at me like that. It's so obvious. Why else would they make complete fools of themselves together like that?"

"Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy cozy are we. We're snuggled up together like two birds of a feather would be. Let's take that road before us and sing a chorus or two. Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you!"

Momo giggled. "That verse actually matched them perfectly," she said. "They'd be nothing without one another."

"Nonsense." Toshiro set the cookies out. "They just look like a couple of drunk fools. They always get drunk before Christmas dinner. Then they just get more drunk when Hisagi, Kira, and Renji get here. And I'm stuck washing dishes."

"Shiro, you are such a Scrooge!" Momo said. Her response to that was an evil glare. "Who thinks of the good times in such a negative fashion? You're young! Live it up!" Momo took his hand and pulled him towards the floor where Gin and Rangiku were.

"Momo, what are you doing?" Toshiro tried to wriggle from her grasp.

"I know you know the words. We had to sing them in school. So, SING," Momo said dangerously.

Rangiku turned and noticed the two. She sat her eggnog down and tapped Gin. He did the same. "Wanna join in?" Rangiku asked. Momo nodded with a smile. "Ya gotta have some eggnog to sing with us!"

"I'll..." Toshiro practically had the stuff shoved down his throat. He coughed a bit; it was alcoholic eggnog. "Figures," he mumbled.

"Lessee... Where were we. Gin?"

"Second ta las' verse, Ran," Gin said as he snuggled her neck.

"There's a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy. When they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie. It'll be like a picture print at Currier and Ives. These wonderful things we remember all through our lives!" Momo sang proudly and Toshiro sang while looking less than pleased about it.

"Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring ting-tingling too. Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh together with you. Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling 'yoo hoo!' Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you!"

"Ish lovely weather fa a shleigh ride togetha wit' ya, Ran," Gin mumbled incoherently.

"Take me on dat ride, Gin," Rangiku said just as incoherently.

This caused Toshiro and Momo to look and see what the two were doing exactly. Their eyes widened and they immediately rushed to leave the room. Momo was holding back giggles while Toshiro was trying desperately to clear his mind of the mental picture.

"I will never forgive you for this."

"Come on, Ulquiorra! Where's that Christmas spirit?"

"I look like an idiot."

Orihime looked at Ulquiorra in the mirror. She straightened his little collar on his elf costume. Then she straightened his hat. She shook his bell and smiled. "I think you look adorable. Now stop frowning and looking like you're going to your death. We're going toy drop off a few toys and then Harribel is going to pick us up," she said.

Ulquiorra glared at her. "At least your costume is... decent. I look ridiculous," he said.

Before Orihime could say anything, Dr. Kotetsu came through the door. She took one look at Ulquiorra and smiled. Then she looked at Orihime. Orihime was dressed in her own version of a Santa dress. "You two look adorable. Are you ready? You toy cart is upstairs."

"Yep. I just need Ulquiorra to stop frowning. He'll scare the children," Orihime said, nudging Ulquiorra.

When the two got upstairs, a filled cart was waiting for them. The first box Orihime picked up was addressed to first room on the hall. She knocked on the door. When she heard nothing, she slowly pushed it open. "Merry..."

Two little boys zoomed past her. Their giggling could be heard throughout the floor as they ran past nurses at top speed. Orihime could only watch. She had seeming set demons free. Luckily, the pediatric ward was nothing but a gigantic circle. When the boys came back, Ulquiorra intercepted them easily by their collars.

"My, you two are fast. Why did you try to knock me down?" Orihime asked as she approached them. "I shouldn't give you the gift Santa brought for you..."

The boys shook their heads immediately. "No! We'll be good," one of them said.

"We promise," the other said. They were obviously twins. They grasped hold of each others hands and their eyes began to water. Orihime immediately felt her heart breaking. Ulquiorra simply rolled his eyes and sat them on the floor.

"I'm Santa's helper, Orihime. That's Santa's OTHER helper, Ulquiorra. Who are you two?"

"I'm Sogy. This is Koto," one of the identical twin boys said.

"Well, Sogy and Koto. It looks like I have two gifts here: one for Sogyo and one for Kotowari. Is that you?" The boys nodded quickly. "Okay. You can't open them until I leave. And no more running around being naughty. Promise?" Orihime held out her pinky fingers. The boys took them and squeezed.

"Promise!"

Then Santa's two helpers continued down to the next room. A girl with only one eye answered the door. The rest of her face was covered as well. Her eye darted between Ulquiorra and Orihime.

"Kyokotsu, who is it?" another voice asked. The girl stepped out of the way, revealing another one-eyed girl with curly purple hair. She smirked at Orihime and Ulquiorra. "I'm Katen. That's Kyokotsu. She doesn't talk much."

Orihime nodded. "That's quite all right. I'm used to silence. I have gifts for the both of you." Orihime faced Ulquiorra. He handed her the gifts for the girls. They were tiny boxes, possibly jewelry of some sort. "Merry Christmas, girls."

"Merry Christmas," Katen said. Kyokotsu nodded to both Ulquiorra and Orihime.

They were halfway through the gifts (Orihime had come into contact with a boy who bore a strange resemblance to Ichigo), when Santa's helpers heard a lot of screaming and yelling coming from one particular room.

"No! I don't wanna! Not again! No!" It was a girl. Right after screaming, she went into a violent coughing fit.

"Haineko, you have to. It's the only way..."

Something crashed against the wall. It sounded as if the girl had thrown something. "I said I'm not doing it! Now go away!" she yelled.

Orihime looked down at her list. "Haineko" just happened to be next. She listened to the nurse's try to console the girl some more, but nothing was working. Finally, Orihime stepped forward, a bright smile on her face.

"Hello!" she said loudly. Everyone turned and looked at the college student dressed like a young Mrs. Claus. "I have a gift here for... Haineko. That wouldn't be you, would it?" Orihime asked.

Haineko blinked a few times. She coughed a little while nodding. "Yeah, I'm Haineko. Where'd the gift come from? What's it for?" she asked.

"It's Christmas! Who cares what it's for! However, I don't think Santa would like it if I gave the gift to someone who hurls lamps across the room." Orihime motioned towards the fallen lamp. She began approaching Haineko. The nurses moved out of her way. "Now, tell me what's wrong and we'll see if we can think of something."

Ulquiorra watched with interest. Orihime had only been told to give out the gifts, but she had been helping the troubled children along the way. She knew how to talk to them. She knew how to get through to them. It was amazing to see.

"You don't like the syringe." Orihime watched the girl nod. "When I was younger, I hated it as well. But, I used to close my eyes and think of something to take my mind off the pain; something silly or something that made me happy. Like a samurai fighting robotic cookies that want to take over the world," she said. "Can you picture something like that?"

Haineko closed her eyes. "Yes. It's me as a cat-woman in a land of ash that I can control. I'm sure that sound pretty stupid." Haineko opened her eyes. She noticed that the nurse was patching her up. "What happened?"

"See? You didn't even feel it," Orihime said with a smile. She held out Haineko's gift. The girl took it. "Merry Christmas, Haineko."

Orihime walked back over to Ulquiorra. He was giving her a strange look. It was hard to place it because it was one he had never given her before. It was not a disdainful look or anything. It was a kind look; an appreciative look. It made Orihime feel special. She put her hands to her face to hide her blush and kept walking.

Harribel was indeed waiting for them when they returned to Ulquiorra's room. Since Orihime was the first to walk in, her outfit did not come as a surprise. She figured Orihime would dress for the occasion. However, when Ulquiorra walked in dressed like an elf, Harribel's lip twitched ever-so-slightly and she had to lower her head to keep from laughing.

"On time, as usual, Harribel." Orihime looked at Ulquiorra. "Are you going to change, Ulquiorra?"

The look on Ulquiorra's face was all the answer Orihime needed.

Orihime knew from hearing vague bits and pieces of conversations that Harribel lived on the other side of town and a fair distance from the university and hospital. She had no idea that she lived on the edge of town. She lived even further away than Nnoitra had lived.

Harribel's home took up a whole block. It looked more like an office building than a house. There were several cars surrounding it. However, Harribel got the one spot that led to the garage. She got out and looked at the path that needed to be shoveled. Her left eye twitched and she stalked to the front door in the snow, Orihime and Ulquiorra following.

"Ulquiorra, you're not supposed to walk in the snow," Harribel said, not looking back at him.

"I'm fine," Ulquiorra said firmly.

Harribel turned and looked at him. "Suit yourself." She was not going to argue with him. Her philosophy was that people learned from experience. If Ulquiorra fell and broke his legs again, it was his own fault. He would heed her words next time.

When they made it inside, Orihime looked around. The place was lit dimly, but she could see bright lights coming from not too far off. Harribel held out her hand for her coat. Orihime hastily removed it. Harribel disappeared, leaving Ulquiorra and Orihime standing in the enormous foyer.

"This is where you grew up?" she whispered, walking around timidly.

Ulquiorra placed his hands in his pockets and followed her around. She seemed so engrossed in what he saw a simple place. "No." He watched her turn to face him. The words were on her lips. "Would you like to see where I grew up?"

"But we just gave Harribel our..."

"We will not be gone long." Ulquiorra held his hand out. Orihime took it.

Harribel jabbed a very large man in the ribs. He turned and faced her. A nervous smirk came to his face.

"Tia! You're back! You're back so early, too," he said.

"You seem surprised about that, Yammy. I thought I asked you to shovel the path. Tell me why there is still an abundance of snow there," she said.

The one known as Yammy sighed. "I'll go do it."

"Thank you." Harribel looked around. She heard fighting coming from the kitchen. She walked in to see five girls arguing over who was cooking what, how to cook what, and who was in whose space. She sighed and walked forward. "Ahem!"

All five turned immediately and gasped. "Harribel!"

"How is dinner coming, ladies?" she asked, knowing it was probably a fruitless question. She could probably walk in there and fix the mess they made in less than an hour and dinner would be done, whereas it would take another three with them.

"Wonderful, Harribel. We'll be ready to eat in no time at all," Apache said.

Harribel nodded. "Good. Don't let me down. I'll be back to check on you in thirty minutes."

Harribel made her way to the second floor, immediately dodging Yachiru and Lilynette. She rolled her eyes. If Yachiru was here, so was Kenpachi and his group. That also meant Nnoitra was here. Then Harribel blinked. If Nnoitra was here, that meant that he was probably with Nel. She started for the third floor and immediately went to Nel's room. She bypassed knocking and opened the door.

Nel kicked Nnoitra off of her just as Harribel opened the door. She sat up and straightened her red sweater and smiled at Harribel. Harribel rolled her eyes. She shut the door and continued her way up the stairs. She finally made it to the fifth floor and to the only room there: her room.

"... sleep," she murmured as she kicked off her shoes and lay down on her bed.

"A wonderful thing, isn't it?" a voice said from behind her.

"Shut up and move over, Starrk."

Orihime shivered as she stared at the little rundown apartment building. It was now boarded up and condemned. "So this is it?" she asked into the wind. She did not really expect an answer.

"Yes." Ulquiorra looked further down the street and pointed to a dark alley. "That is where Harribel first found Grimmjow and me, though. We were hiding from shopkeepers. We moved around a lot before she finally settled here," he said.

Orihime looked over to what was literally a hole in the wall across the street. She did not quite understand how two little boys could have survived on their own; especially as young as they had been before meeting Harribel. So far, Ulquiorra never talked about where he and Grimmjow met or how he came to be alone. She was almost too afraid to ask.

"You are cold. We should return," Ulquiorra said suddenly, breaking the silence.

Orihime nodded and followed him back quickly.

Ulquiorra had an abundance of people in his makeshift family. While he and Grimmjow had been the first, Harribel had no aversion to taking in more as the years had gone by. There was Yammy Rialgo, a rather large fellow who was prone to bouts of rage. There were the three sisters who fought all the time: Apache, Sun-Sun, and Mila-Rose. For whatever reason, they worshipped the very ground Harribel walked on. Menoly and Loly eyed Orihime constantly like they wanted to strangle her; Orihime could only assume that was because of her proximity to Ulquiorra. And there was Szayel Aporro Granz. Orihime only saw Szayel for at the most thirty seconds before he grabbed his plate and disappeared.

She was bombarded with questions as if she was being interrogated for a crime or on trial. It went on all through dinner until Ulquiorra put a stop to it with an icy glare. Still, Loly asked for one more question and Ulquiorra relented.

"When you first saw Ulquiorra, what was your first thought?" Loly asked.

Orihime raised an eyebrow. "Before or after he was hit by the car?" This earned a few laughs, but she was serious. Orihime had thought two very different things between that time.

"After," Menoly piped.

Orihime thought back for a moment. Everyone seemed to be hanging on her every word. She looked at Loly and Menoly. "That aside from the fact that he was bruised and bloody, he was beautiful," she said.

Not too much later, Orihime found herself wandering around the large house. It was huge. She knew it had to have many rooms to support so many people, but she never thought it held so many. The one thing she noticed was that it was kept so dark.

"I wonder what they would call this place if they gave it a name..." she thought aloud.

"Las Noches," Ulquiorra said in her ear.

She jumped about a mile in the air, almost dropping her gingerbread cookies. She faced Ulquiorra, frowning. Then she noticed that he was leaning against the wall. "You walked up all the flights by yourself? Ulquiorra..."

"I am fine. Stop your fawning over me." He stood up straight, though it obviously pained him. "We call this place Las Noches on account of it always being so dark. The only light in the hallways comes from candles and the windows. Follow me."

Ulquiorra led Orihime around the corners of the fourth floor. He came to a solitary door and opened it. The room was quite dusty and looked as though it had not been lived in for quite some time. Orihime could only deduce that it was his room, given its state. She watched him take a seat on the bed and stretch his legs out in front of him.

"Why do you try to hide your pain from me? I can see right through you, you know," Orihime said. She stalked over to him. "Is this your room?"

"Can you not tell?" Ulquiorra asked.

She shrugged. "That's true. It's so plain. It's so clean. It's so... you. I must say that when I imagined what your room would be like, I imagined white walls and black furniture," she said. She sat down on the black comforter on his bed. "I wasn't too far off. But, you do have this green blanket. You never fail to amaze me."

Ulquiorra looked away from her. "I like that color. I believe I'm also starting to grow a fondness for the color gray..." he trailed off.

"You're so lucky, Ulquiorra," Orihime said with a sigh.

"Lucky, you say? How am I lucky?"

"You have such a big family. Even if they aren't your real brothers and sisters, they're still like family to you. You've watched each other grow. I never really had that." She looked up at the ceiling. "That used to be my Christmas wish to Santa; a family. He always brought me a toy or something, though. I guess Santa doesn't make families."

"Santa doesn't make toys, either," Ulquiorra said. He watched Orihime wrinkle her nose at him. "He doesn..."

Orihime hit Ulquiorra with a pillow off his bed. "You're such a spoilsport; the supreme mood-killer. I believed in Santa until I learned the horrible truth. I also believed in the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny."

"And pixies and sugar make the stars twinkle at night," Ulquiorra murmured only to receive another pillow to the face. He grabbed Orihime's wrists and wrestled her down on the bed. "You will stop assaulting me with the pillow, woman."

"Then stop ruining my childish beliefs," she said.

Ulquiorra frowned slightly. "You are not one to be childish very often anymore," he said.

Orihime thought for a moment. "You're probably right." It was then that she noticed their position and his proximity. He did not seem to have a problem with it. In fact, he seemed rather comfortable, holding her in position. "You can let me go, Ulquiorra," she said.

Ulquiorra looked at her wrists and immediately released them. He glanced back down into her eyes. "I did not hurt you did I?"

She immediately shook her head. "No. No, you didn't. It was just," she blushed, "awkward."

"You must find being in the vicinity of me awkward. You flush like that quite often whenever you are around me." Ulquiorra got closer to her face. "Usually, I don't really need to say much. A simple fleeting look is all it takes."

Now Orihime was sure she was red as a tomato. Before she could say anything to refute Ulquiorra's words, he was rolling away from her and standing. She sat up quickly, wondering what had just happened. Then she looked up, seeing him heading for the door. Orihime bit her lip, squeezing the edge of his bed.

Let go of the bed and move your feet, Orihime. You can do this! she yelled at herself. She nodded and pushed herself up.

Ulquiorra barely had time to register that Orihime was walking up behind him before she turned him around. She rose up on her toes and kissed him with all her might. All he could do was stand there wide-eyed. She pulled away, looking just as confused as he did. She even looked slightly embarrassed.

"There. I did it." She glanced up at him and smiled nervously. "Okay. Bye-bye." She started to hustle away from him.

Ulquiorra shook out of his daze and reached for her hand. It was his turn to pull her back to him. He looked down at her red face. "You have flushed again."

Orihime fiddled with her hair around her ears. "Well, I just did something very foolish and I'm sure I made an ass of myself. Did I just say 'ass?' Oh dear! Now I'm cursing like a sailor. Look at me. Now I'm even nervous. I ramble when I'm nervous. Damnit! How do I acknowledge that I'm rambling and nervous and continue to do it? Did I just say 'damnit.' I'm STILL cursing? Someone sho..."

Ulquiorra kissed her. He cupped her chin before drawing back slowly. "Please cease this chattering," he said. He watched her nod with her eyes still closed. Shook his head and kissed her again.

"Yeah okay. So it's what? Twelve pipers pipin', eleven lords a-leapin'..." Hisagi asked drunkenly.

"Naw, naw, naw! Ya got it all wron'!" Gin sat up a bit off the cushions he was on. "It's twelve drummas drummin', ele'm pipers pipin', ten ladies dancin..."

"NINE ladies dancin'..." Kira corrected. "It's ten lords a-leapin'. Then it's eight swans a-swimmin'..."

"I tink it's seven swans a-swimmin'," Renji murmured.

"Then wha's eight?" Gin asked, sounding sad. "Ran? Ran?"

"Oh for the love of..." Aizen stood up and looked at the drunk men who were sprawled over his cushions, the lone female (Rangiku) already passed out over Gin and Hisagi. "It's twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and..."

"A SAKE BOTTLE TO PUT IT ALL IN!" the four drunk men yelled.

"... a partridge in a pear tree," Aizen murmured, sitting back down to his tea and cookies.

"Mer' Chri'mas, Aizen!" the four men yelled.

Loving you's made me whole
Now I belong
I found my heart
Promise me we'll always stay
The way we are today

What kind of world
Would it be without you
I couldn't breathe without you here
What kind of world
Would I see without you
I can't dream without you here

"Without You" – Christina Aguilera

AN: Yeah, this chapter is probably so sweet you've got cavities. Seriously, the cotton candy (fluff) is ridiculous. And I made Hisana Byakuya and Rukia's mother. Please don't stone me. And Happy Holidays. Anyone who's read my version of "Twas the Night before Christmas" knows that the day this chapter was published was my birthday! :)