Here you have chapter 14, so happy with how it turn in english. And I must thank Kuroi-Cho-Tsuki-Chiro for her huge work of translation, as always, perfect.

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Guest (Thank you so much, I so happy that you like it) I am unwritten- I am undefined (Yes some discussion between the two is overdue, you will have some answer in this chapter) McFluttyLie(Thank, I hope you like the rest ;) Noctis Vee Caelum (Thank you so much for your king word, it touch my heart, enjoy the next )

Now, disclaimer are as before and enjoy!

CHAPTER 14: DON'T LEAVE ME

Rukia regained consciousness slowly. Her vision was still hazy and swimming, but she saw a strange pink light all around her. It was so soft and so warm. And there was a smell of flowers. What was that? The light began to disappear gradually. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a black and white silhouette; it rose and stretched. What was he doing? In any case, there was only one person who could create such an atmosphere as this. Her eyes adjusted and Rukia saw clearly now the number six on his haori.

"Nii-sama, forgive me. I've failed you."

"It was not your fault; you were not yourself."

Byakuya had not left the tent yet; he didn't leave; Rukia didn't want him to leave. She needed to keep him talking.

"Is everyone alright? The hollow…"

Byakuya sighed internally. He had intended to leave when Rukia started to wake. In fact, he had done so each time, save for today; today, he didn't have the strength. He had wanted to wait, to be sure, to see the light in her violet eyes. Once Rukia began to open her eyes, he had intended to steal away quietly, but apparently he had not been quite fast enough. He had meant to use shunpo. It was too late now.

"Your second dance killed them all. Relax, Rukia. Everything is alright now."

As Byakuya lifted the flap of the tent, a small hand reached out to him desperately:

"Stay…please."

Byakuya turned and Rukia's timid gaze met his before she looked at the ground.

"You must sleep, regain your strength," he said.

"No, I…I don't want to sleep. I don't want to relive that nightmare."

"Maybe you need to speak about it?"

The silence lasted a moment. Though Rukia hadn't answered, he returned to her side.

"Ah, that's right, I forgot," she said: "I made a promise."

"To whom have you made a promise, Rukia?" Byakuya asked, intrigued.

He saw his sister's gaze come to rest on the zanpakuto at her side. She tried to get up. Unable to bear seeing her so weak, he knelt again, silently cursing his lack of resolve, and helped her sit up by supporting her back. Then Rukia grasped her sword and removed it from the sheath.

Byakuya was overcome by a sudden awareness. What kind of promise had she made, by kami? He was partially reassured when she laid the weapon down on the sheets. She reached out to him, but all at once, he saw her blush furiously and she hesitated. She took a deep breath and bowed as best she could:

"Nii-sama, I humbly ask you if you would place Senbonsakura against Sode no Shirayuki." He raised an eyebrow at this unusual request. "She would like to speak with him if that's alright."

Hesitating a moment, Byakuya did as she said. He made a note to himself to ask Sen for all the details later. When he removed his own sword from its sheath he saw that the snow zanpakuto had taken the form of its shikai, immaculate and white with a long ribbon. Magnificent! He looked at Rukia. "She's waiting for him," she said.

Only a few seconds after Senbonsakura was placed on the sheets, he began to glow, at first faintly then with a clear, pink light. Byakuya looked at Rukia. He thought it might be a good moment for her to explain herself. He had a few pieces of the puzzle, but was struggling to put them together. By chance, Rukia understood the question he'd not yet asked: "You see, Nii-sama, when you helped me take back control, I was in my inner world with Sode no Shirayuki. There was a storm. And to convince her to let me release that wave of ice, I promised her that I would bring her to your zanpakuto, to reassure her."

"About what?"

"That what we saw in the dream was not true."

"Senbonsakura was in your dream?"

Byakuya was a little confused. Why was his zanpakuto in Rukia's dreams?

"Indirectly he was. You…you were there too."

Rukia saw Byakuya raise an eyebrow again. She had said too much. She was silent for a moment. Did she really want to talk about this? She really wanted to tell him how she felt, but she was afraid, no, terrified at the idea of what it might mean or how he might react. She could not lose him, not after he had only just begun to open up to her, not after the nightmare she had lived through. Yet she could see from his expression that he would not be satisfied with an evasive answer. He really wanted to know. Rukia could tell him the truth; she need only cut out certain details. She closed her eyes.

"It was like the training this morning, it was bright and sunny; we exchanged several blow; it was…nice. Yet as soon as the storm started and the arrancar took hold of me, everything was darkness intercut by lightning. I heard your voice, mixed with the cries of the hollow all around us. Panicking, I ran away from something without knowing what it was. I kept on running; I didn't even know where I was going. The monsters were suddenly so much closer. When I saw that a hollow had come upon me, I took out my sword, ready to defend my life."

Byakuya saw the fear and the pain contained within each of those sentences. He was no longer sure he wanted to hear her final answer. Just as he was about to tell Rukia to hush and go to sleep, she started to speak again:

"As the hollow leapt at me, I felt it impaled on my sword. Reopening my eyes, I saw a flash of lightning. And I saw…that my blade had cut through not a hollow…but you."

Byakuya saw two drops of water fall onto the covers and he knew that Rukia was crying silently.

"The real nightmare started then. I slowly lowered you to the ground, taking out my sword. I pressed my hands to the wound, but the blood passed between my fingers. You were dying and there was nothing I could do. It was as if I had killed a part of myself. And everything happened so terribly slowly. You looked at me and… you asked me : why?"

At this point, Rukia hugged herself. What had happened next was too unbearable to recount and it was easy to understand why she had stopped. Beneath his mask of calm, Byakuya was in a dilemma. He saw Rukia's pain well enough. He had already watched someone die in his arms once and it saddened him that she now knew that pain too, even if this had not been real. But he saw equally how important he had become in Rukia's eyes. Realising what that meant made him feel dizzy. Once more, he realised, he was finding out a little more about Rukia. He didn't know anything about her past and, with the events that Renji had recounted, he wasn't sure he wanted to resurrect any more painful memories. But even so, in that moment, he understood the extent of his importance to her, even though he had never conducted himself in a manner that should merit such affection.

Affection? Yes, that was what he felt; that, and more besides. And he was happy to be feeling it. That was the conflict in him: seeing Rukia's distress, should he be deceive or rejoice in his sentiments? In any case, he could not leave things like this. Byakuya put one hand on her shoulder.

"Rukia," he said gently.

It was a little time before she had the courage to raise her head. Two tracks of tears ran the length of her cheeks. In a tender gesture, he swept his index finger across her cheek, wiping away a tear.

"Don't cry anymore, Rukia. It pains me to see you so unhappy."

Rukia's eyes widened. She had not expected Byakuya to say something like that to her. Speechless, she stared at him. "It's alright. You haven't her me," he said.

He had meant to comfort her, but his attempts seemed to be having the opposite effect because new tears rolled down her cheeks, but she no longer had the strength to cry so she just let them fall without trying to hold them back.

Suddenly Rukia did something that Byakuya had not expected. She began to be unsteady and fell against him. Thus stretched out across his knees and chest, he noticed just how much her small frame was shaking, crying out with the need to be delivered from her suffering. He gazed at her and wrapped his arms around her frail shoulders, drawing her closer so that he could rest his head on her shoulder. Suddenly he realised that Rukia was whispering something and he strained to hear.

"Don't let me sleep, Nii-sama. You'll die again. Don't let me sleep. Not all alone."

Byakuya could see well enough how tired she was. Her eyes closed of their own accord; her spirit sunk into unconsciousness. He had given her enough energy to sustain her; now she needed to rest if she was to have the strength to face the day tomorrow.

"Rest, Rukia. I'll stay close to you."

He waited a few moments and was satisfied to hear her deep and steady breathing; she was asleep. Yet despite that, Rukia still gripped his robes desperately. He tried to turn away and she followed him. Resigned, he lay down beside her.

Incredible, he thought. I'm Rukia's prisoner.

A slow smile formed on his lips as, in turn, he felt his heart ease. He held her small body tight against his own.