Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters, Tite Kubo does. I am simply writing this for my own amusement.

Chapter 25

Responsibilities

Rukia woke late in the morning. Sitting up groggily, she rubbed her eyes and looked around. She was back in their room, back in that horrid bed, and dressed in her pajamas. She spotted their suitcase sitting on a chair, it was open and looked nearly completely packed.

A dull ace had settled behind her eyes, and she rubbed her head sleepily. For some reason her thoughts seemed unusually foggy. Grunting softly, her hand left her head and rubbed her stiff neck, but it stopped when she suddenly felt a chain around it. Looking down she spotted the long silver chain hanging down into her top. Unable to remember where such a thing came from, she pulled on the chain and beheld the sparkling gem dangling from its end.

In an instant, all the memories from last night came flowing back to her.

Unable to even draw breath, the stone fell from her numbed fingers.

Byakuya…

Then, as if by magic, he suddenly slipped into the room.

"We're going home today," he said, his voice monotone and free of emotions.

She was unable to even respond back. She simply stared at him.

He then ignored her as he moved around the room packing up the last of their clothing. She missed seeing the few light pink marks on his neck, marks her lips had left on him last night.

"Alright," she finally muttered, getting out of bed, "we already over stayed our time here, Berdine will have gotten sick of us by now."

"I mean we're going back to the soul society today."

Rukia looked up at him in surprise. "But we still have more days left here."

"I changed our flight time." he said, breaking her stare by turning his back on her and walking to the door.

"As soon as we touch down on the coast a taxi will be there to take us straight to the airport."

"But, I don't want to go yet!" she was getting all upset all over again, last nights embarrassing moments getting over shadowed by this news.

"I have already made the arrangements."

"But, Byakuya!" she moved over to him reaching for his hand. He responded by jerking his hand away and turning away from her.

"Hurry up and get dressed," he said coldly, "Or you won't get anytime to eat breakfast before our flight back."

She stood watching, stunned as he disappeared out the door, slamming it a bit to hard in the process.

"Byakuya," she whispered to the now empty room. Traces of tears already reforming in her still red swollen eyes.

"How was last night?" Berdine chirped happily, as Byakuya entered the kitchen alone. "Must have been a big night, you're up so much later then normally…" the woman trailed off as she finally caught sight of Byakuyas face.

"What happened," she asked her face loosing all traces of humour.

"None of your business," Byakuya muttered, picking up a slice of toast from the table and moving back towards the doorway.

The woman's eyes hardened. "If you did something to hurt-"

"Don't make me repeat myself," he muttered darkly, giving the woman a hard glare.

She stared boldly back, unfazed. "Don't give me that. I haven't known you that long but even so I can clearly tell that you're upset about something. Berdine turned. "I'm going to find Rukia."

Byakuya turned and grabbed the woman's wrist.

"Stay out of this," he said, his voice deathly quiet.

Her hard glare matched his. "I will not let you hurt that girl, even if it means getting involved myself!"

"IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" Byakuya finally exploded, letting her go.

Berdine blinked in shock, then recovered rather quickly. Had Byakuya been in a better mood he probably would have been impressed by her firmness.

He turned and was almost out the door when Berdine grabbed Byakuya by the collar and slammed him up against the wall.

"I thought I heard sobbing last night," she hissed, her eyes hard. "At the time I though it to be my imagination, but now seeing you like this with those black rings under your eyes and that look on your face…If you did actually do something to hurt her I'll-"

"What's going on?"

Both turned at the sound of Rukia's voice.

Byakuya actually felt a flash of fear at the sight of Berdine's eyes when she finally beheld Rukia. And indeed the sight of her was more painful to Byakuya then anything Berdine could have done to him.

Seeing her red and puffy eyes, hurt so much more then even taking Gin's blade… simply because he knew it was all his fault. Her pain had been caused by him, and at that moment Byakuya felt lower then even the dirt beneath his shoes.

A sharp blow across his face brought him back to his senses fast, and the next moment he found himself on the floor, the side of his jaw aching painfully. So Berdine did end up hitting him after all.

"Don't!" Rukia cried, running to him.

"Don't touch me!" Byakuya shouted as she reached down to help him. She edged back, fear in her eyes. "Byakuya," she whispered his name, agony obvious in her voice.

Berdine's big fist caught him again and slammed him against the wall. He could have easily over powered her, but at the moment he didn't much feel like it. In fact with the way he was feeling at seeing and hearing Rukia in that state, the only thing he wanted and deserved was to be hit again.

"You stupid bastard!" Berdine shouted in his face. "What's wrong with you? She loves you and I'd have to be an idiot to not see that you also return her feelings. So why are you pushing her away?"

"Please let him go," Rukia cried, trying in vain to loosen Berdine's hold on him. At that moment though she was being ignored by both of them.

Byakuya stared hard at the woman, her fist was digging painfully against his collar bones, making breathing difficult, but somehow he didn't seem to really care.

"You do not understand our situation," Byakuya replied his eyes hard.

"Who cares about your situation! If there is something getting in your way then remove it, change it, or hell run away from it! Love is special, you can't just abandon it!"

"WE CANT!" Rukia cried.

Berdine stared at the pair.

"Let me go," Byakuya said his voice carrying an edge to it that even Berdine in her worked up state couldn't ignore. She let him go in a huff.

"Fine," she finally hissed. "Throw your future away, throw your love away, live the rest of your lives alone and in pain, what do I care! You're just a bunch of strangers to me anyway!"

"Berdine," Rukia whispered. "Is that what happened to you-"

"GET OUT! Get out both of you!" she cried. "I don't ever want to lay eyes on you both ever again!"

"But-"

"Come Rukia," Byakuya said pulling her away from the now distraught woman.

Rukia shot one hateful glance his way before running out of the room.

He stared after her for a moment, that look sending more pain through his body, before leaving the room as well. He paused for a moment though and turned back to Berdine.

"I don't know your past, as you don't know mine, but sometimes it's best to just let things go. I don't know what to say really to make you think better of us, but I just want you to know that despite what you think of the situation, this ending between Rukia and I really is for the best."

"Who is telling you that you can't be with her when you return to your home?" Berdine said looking up at him, tears hanging on her lashes.

Byakuya stared at her.

"Whoever it is, is wrong," she said. "If it's your family, her family, some weird foreign law, or something that runs much deeper than I can even comprehend, just remember that love is special and is above all that. Don't throw the chance of being happy away just because of something like that."

"I, we both, have responsibilities."

"Is that more important then being with the one you love?"

Byakuya stared at her, unable to come up with an answer.

"Good bye, Berdine," he finally said. "Thank you for being so kind to us."

She grunted slightly, staring out the kitchen window for a moment.

"Good bye Rukia and Byakuya Kuchiki. I pray you find your right path."

Rukia walked to helicopter pad in a state of numb shock. Byakuya walked beside her, but to her he seemed a lifetime away. Suddenly the Byakuya she had fallen in love with over the past days was gone and replaced by the old emotionless one.

He offered her his hand to help her up and she took it. It still felt like the same warm hand that had touched her so tenderly just the night before, but now she felt nothing from that hand.

"Thank you nii-sama" she said her voice flat. She turned away from him and settled in her seat, not noticing his shocked and pain filled expression. It only lasted a moment, before a grim determined expression replaced it.

...

"We're about half way back," the pilot said, trying to break the rather uncomfortable silence.

Both Rukia and Byakuya hadn't said a word to each other since they had left and nearly an hour later the silence was beginning to get stifling.

"Hmm, that's odd."

Rukia looked up and watched as the pilot repeatedly press a button on the dash board.

She watched still as he frowned and pressed something else. A strange feeling suddenly began to wash through her as he pushed the button a second then a third time.

"Flight 25 to headquarters, I am reporting a small operational error."

Rukia glanced over to Byakuya who was watching intently.

She looked back and found that the pilot was now quickly pressing a lot of different buttons.

"Is something wron-"

Her voice was cut short when the helicopter suddenly gave a sharp lurch.

"Headquarters, I am reporting a mechanical malfunction. Requesting assistance!"

Rukia stared, watching as the man's panic began to grow.

"Headquarters? Do you read me? Headquarters!"

It seemed as if she was in a different body looking on the situation through eyes that weren't her own.

She beheld Byakuya's now concerned expression as he question the panicking pilot. She watched as the pilot made some frightful gestures.

The helicopter gave a shuddering shake.

She watched as the smoke began to billow out from the machines engine. As if in a complete daze, she watched as suddenly the ground grew closer and closer. The tops of the tall tropical trees looming bigger and bigger.

She watched as Byakuya abandoned his attempts of helping the pilot and she watched as he began searching their immediate surrounds looking for something. What it was she couldn't begin to imagine.

The helicopter gave a third hard shake and suddenly she saw the bright flames.

It was the sight of the fire that finally brought her back from her shocked stupor.

"Byakuya!" she cried reaching for him.

"There's no extra parachutes!" Byakuya cried to the pilot. Who didn't seem to be listening anymore, having apparently fainted.

"Byakuya!" she cried panic setting in.

The helicopter gave a another shudder and suddenly the fire flared.

"BYAKUYA!"

He did the only thing left for them then. Grabbing her around the shoulders, he pushed the door open with a huge burst of strength, strength a normal human would have never had, and pulled her through the open door, his arms tight around her body.

The last thing Rukia heard was wind in her ears and the scraping of metal on metal. She never heard the loud deafening explosion only meters away from them. The force of the blast pushed them sideways through the air for a moment before gravity began taking them down again. Byakuya's arms clutched her tightly, his grip steady and unchanging.

The last thing she saw then was a pair of regretful dark eyes. Eyes that held so much hope for the future, eyes that regretted how things had turned out, and eyes that held so much more life in them then what they had yet been given.

Then, with a sickening crash, breaking off branches as they fell, they landed and Rukia knew no more.

Sometimes it takes the loss of something to make us understand its true value. Then it's only after it has disappeared do we realize what it truly meant to us. It's a sad way to find out the truth, but sometimes, in the end, it's the only way. I am pained to think such things, but in the end, sometimes, it must be this way.

Thanks very much to all my reviewers last time: Mia .aka. Michan, Pizzicato, CielDoll, Scarlettsky, JulieBookLover21, aangfan, Pamila De Castro, Black Burning Heart, btalover, sleepy girl, mochiusagi, anon, AkuRokuTurkTrainee, Gerychi, D-Rouge, Reckoning Day, YuzurihaNoRyuu, Firebirdever, aria, chappy31, and vicky73 (x5) it's thanks to you guys that I got in the mood to post this now! ^^

The next chapter should be posted soon. (I hope)

Next chapter title: The Day the World Fell Down

All I will say is that I had tears running down my cheeks as I was typing it out.