helllllloooo there readers- this is amazing for me, isn't it? To have another (albeit short) chapter out within a few days of publishing another chapter. Well, enjoy! This is short, just to warn you ahead of time.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. If you don't know that by now...

Chapter 8 1/2: Reflections

Ichigo and I wandered around the garden some more after we kissed. I skimmed my hand that wasn't intertwined with his over some rose bushes and thought about how lucky I was. I had Ichigo now for myself, and I had Momo and Soi Fon behind me one hundred percent on everything as my best friends. Orihime was dealt with at school- I hoped. She hadn't bothered me tonight yet, but that could have been because she was too drunk to care. Hisana had died, but I had become stronger as I recovered from her death. I had more now in my life than I had ever had before.

Maybe I was just getting emotional, seeing as I was HOLDING ICHIGO'S HAND in a rose garden. Those kinds of stereotypical, rom-com worthy romantic scenes always seemed to make me tear up a little. Walking with the guy I had loved for so long could do that to me.

We didn't need to speak. Every once on a while, Ichigo would lean over and press a light kiss against my hair, but that was it. We just focused on the warmth of each other's hands surrounding ours as we lost track of time wandering. He didn't even feel the need to be his normal, obnoxious, chatterbox self, which was in and of itself amazing.

In the silence, I could hear the pounding rhythm of Ichigo's heartbeat, fluctuating in time to my own. My heart felt as if it would burst out of my ribs in my happiness, and from the way Ichigo was grinning a head above me, he could hear it too.

The only thought that marred my feelings of happiness was that Byakuya was still in the hospital, and he was still sick. I frowned. I had gone to visit him a few more times in the past week alone, and he had still, surprisingly, been in the same condition. He was still weak, coughs racking his chest, face paler than normal. He still wasn't back to being Byakuya. At least the doctors had let me see him though.

It really was worrying, seeing my strong older brother in such a state. He had never let an illness get to him like this before. Most of the time, he was too proud to admit he was sick at all.

The silence that surrounded Ichigo and me began to scare me as I continued to think. What if Dr. Unohana was right, that day in the hospital? What if Byakuya still really couldn't be cured? Panic, once again, settled in quickly. I had never panicked like this before Byakuya got sick, not even when Hisana was dying.

Whenever I was in the hospital room with Byakuya while he was asleep, I spent time staring at the heart monitor. Just staring. I thought it was fascinating, scary, and a little sick how my brother's entire life was displayed on some tiny, beeping screen. That monitor always worried me. If my brother died in his sleep, would it show that on the monitor? Would I have to see his heart stop right in front of me?

Now I was frightened again. The amazing kiss I had just had slipped from my mind, to be replaced by the darkness settling in over the garden. Puzzle pieces, connecting my fragile mind together, continued to fall out of place. I was slipping again, thinking of my brother dying. He couldn't die on me.

Maybe it seemed a little overdramatic, but I had already lost Hisana to an illness. I couldn't lose Byakuya too. Byakuya's death would hit me harder than any event in my life before, simply because he was such an irreplaceable, immovable fixture to me. Just the thought of a life without him seemed impossible and far away.

As if he sensed my distress, Ichigo squeezed my hand a little tighter. I gave him a grateful half-smile and turned my face back towards the ground. Ichigo seemed to understand, and kept a tight grip on my hand to keep my thoughts from flying away.

The warmth from his hand and the knowledge that his body was so close to mine finish up the night gave me that spurt of courage to keep walking through the garden doors and back into the dance hall. He helped me up the stairs in my silence and calmly escorted me back onto the floor. The moment we stepped onto the floor together, he looked me in the eyes and asked me, "My lady, could I have the honor of this dance?" He had always known just when to lighten the mood.

Now I was dancing with Ichigo, not with my date, and the thought made me strangely giddy. Within a few seconds after he asked me, we were fast dancing and bouncing to the beat together. He still hadn't let go of my hand.

Renji had found a still-drinking, still gorgeous Tatsuki in the corner and had pulled her away to dance, I caught him wink at me when he found my eyes and saw who I was dancing with. Over Ichigo's shoulder, I gave him a grateful thank-you wave. And then a have-fun wink. Replying with his huge, shit-eating grin, Renji pulled Tatsuki away into the crowd. I watched the two of them be swallowed up by the hordes of people until I could no longer see them.

Leaning my head into Ichigo's shoulder, I could feel my senses clicking into high-alert gear. I could smell every drop of cologne clinging to his tux. I could almost taste his breath lingering in the air as he exhaled. I could see every different shade of orange hidden in the mess of his hair.

Listening again, I could just distinguish the insistent 'thump' of his steady heartbeat over the pounding of the music surrounding us. I moved my head so that my ear was positioned over his heart to catch every move it made. The sound was calming, the thrum of a well-oiled machine doing its job to the fullest.

He felt me smile into his chest, and took a hand off my waist to ruffle my hair slightly. At this point, I didn't care that my hair was perfectly styled at the beginning of the evening.
My phone rang, interrupting the moment. I just barely heard the annoying ring over the music. Checking the caller ID, I realized it was Yoruichi. "Why would she be calling me at this time? Seems kind of weird."

I pressed the talk button, and heard Yoruichi breathing on the other end of the line. "What. Yoruichi, I'm kind of having the most important night of my life right now." Ichigo jabbed me for being rude. "What?" I whispered. "It's true."

She didn't even playfully insult me back. My blood ran cold and my heart pounded harder with her next words. "Come to the hospital right now. Byakuya wants to see you."

OOOO cliffy! Short and sweet.

This 1/2 chapter idea kinda just popped into my head, cuz I didn't have enough material for a full chapter but wanted to publish this...Meh. I don't really think I needed to explain that. You guys probably already guessed why I chose a 1/2 chapter.

I just wanted to tell you guys (AGAIN) how much I love all of you. EVERY PERSON WHO READS OR REVIEWS THIS STORY MAKES ME FEEL SO HAPPY!

Anywho, you will probably not see another update for a little while, since I am going back to school and will not have much time for writing. But I will keep jotting down ideas and frantically typing whenever I have a spare moment. I will update the soonest I can. Please wait for me! :P And Thank YOU!

Love,

sparkleflower

P.S. Please review.