Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters. Song: Concrete Angel by Martina McBride. Thanks to Crystal for beta'ing! Also, I do not own Fakir or Ahiru from Princess Tutu.

A statue stands in a shaded place,
An angel girl with an upturned face.
A name is written on a polished rock,
A broken heart that the world forgot.

Concrete Angel — Ch. XXV

March 14th, 8:40 PM

Ichigo sighed deeply as he stared at the large, very bright arrangement of chocolate boxes. He had to get Rukia something, and time was running out quickly. It was nearly nine at night, and Rukia had been sending mini-glares at him all day, as if she hadn't eaten half of his gift on Valentine's Day.

But he supposed that, even if she did, he still had to get her something on White Day. Maybe a box of chocolates, or candy... or something.

"Arrrrgh!"

Gripping his head in both hands, he let out a huge, annoyed sigh and slumped to the floor in front of the chocolate arrangements. Several other men that were last-minute shopping for their girlfriends/wives gave him a sympatheic look. One laughed and said,

"Just get her a box of chocolate, man. She'll like it no matter what."

Ichigo gave him a look of thanks, but then said, with a sigh, "She doesn't like white chocolate, and that seems to be what half of everything in this store is. The ones that are filled with... fillings... give her a sore stomach, and there's not any normal ones left. Do ya think she'd mind if I just got her a stuffed bunny?"

The man laughed loudly, shrugged, and went back to looking for a gift himself.

And Ichigo was left alone in his thoughts again.

Giving up, he stood to his feet and grabbed a box of chocolates for each of his sisters and then grabbed the last chocolate filled bunny—which he was sure Rukia would never eat—and sat them all down on the counter.

When his total rang up to seven dollars and thirty-two cents and he reached into his wallet for the money, he realized that he'd forgotten said wallet at home.

The store was closing in seven minutes.

And his house was at least three miles away.

Gripping his head in his hands, Ichigo screamed loudly. But before the man behind the desk could do anything more dangerous than sigh loudly and tap his fingers on the counter, the man from before, who was laughing hard and deep, slapped a ten dollar bill in Ichigo's distressed hands.

"That's for you, man. I don't need it as much as you do."

Ichigo, blinked at the money, surprised, then said slowly, "Um... thanks..."

After paying for the chocolates and pocketing the change—which the man, Mytho, told him to keep—he walked out of the store with a smile on his face. But then... then he saw the time.

"Oh, crap! Rukia's gonna skin me alive!"

He took off at a run and didn't stop running until he landed on the doorstep to his house. He was breathing hard, and he couldn't believe that he'd possibly run three miles in less than twenty minutes.

But when he opened the door, he saw Rukia, hands on her hips and her lips set in a firm line, sending him a mini-glare.

"Where were you?"

"Um... out?"

She sighed deeply, rolled her eyes, then hit him over the head with her cooking spoon.

"I know that. Oh, by the way, are you ever going to give me chocolate?"

Her eyes were hopeful, but Ichigo knew he couldn't let her know that he'd picked up her gift after eight at night, hadn't payed for it himself, and that he had run home like a mad man to even give it to her before bed.

"Um... we'll see."

He dashed up to his room, and Rukia tried to glare after him, but as always, it somehow turned into a smile.

"Stupid strawberry."

She turned back to making her cookies.

March 14th, 9:45 PM

Rukia was walking from the bathroom back to Ichigo's room when he caught her hand and pulled her out onto the balcony. She blinked in surprise, then frowned.

"It's cold, idiot. I want to go inside—"

She was silenced when Ichigo placed his large, warm coat around her shoulders. It almost completely engulfed her, and she found no reason to complain as she stared out into the beautiful night. The stars were bright in the dark sky, and the snow on the ground glittered in the moonlight.

"Soo..." Rukia started, grinning. "Did ya get me chocolate?"

Ichigo groaned. He knew she was bound to ask it again, because he'd given Yuzu and Karin their presents earlier—to which his father had complained loudly, asking where his was—and he'd prepared. Smiling, he pulled a small, wrapped bundle out from behind his back.

"Tada!" he said triumphantly, grinning as Rukia took it, a smile on her face.

"Yay! Chocolate!"

She looked at the bunny with wide, violet eyes and then happily ate its ear off.

"Yummy!"

Ichigo stared at her in wonder and blinked a few times.

"Wow. I was sure you weren't going to eat that because it would be 'Bunny Murder'," he said, shrugging as Rukia continued to nibble on the bunny's ear.

"It's not murder if the bunny isn't real," Rukia said, turning to look out at the sky again. "Besides, if I didn't eat it, you would. And we can't have that, now can we?"

"Well, you got that right!" Ichigo said, smirking as he reached over and took the bunny's foot off, popping it into his mouth before his elfish girlfriend could throw a fit on him. She pouted up at him, but didn't comment as she leaned back and sighed happily.

"It's different now, than it was before."

Ichigo frowned at her comment, then said, "I should hope so."

Rukia, rolling her eyes, hit him in the stomach. "No, not that. I mean... even here. It's more quiet. When I first came here, the tension was strangling. It was hard for me to even look out the window, but now... I feel like I need to get out into the world. I want to go to a carnival—I've never been to one, but neither of your sisters will stop talking about the one they went to on their school trip—and I want to ride a ferris wheel, because people say that you can see the whole world from the top if it. I want to see the US, I want to do things. I never got to go out with friends or anything like that. I don't want to sound depressing or anything, by the way, but I want to see Japan. All of it, or at least more than my backyard, the hospital and school."

Ichigo gave her a small smile.

"Well, I can take you to a carnival, and we can ride the ferris wheel. Seeing the US might be a little hard, but I'm sure that some interesting places in Japan would settle your curiosity."

Rukia smirked. "You'd take me to a carnival?"

"Ah... sure. As long as you wouldn't mind my family tagging along. I mean... we only get a carnival through this town about once three or four years, so it's special to the twins and my insane father. I don't know when the next one will come through town, but it shouldn't be too long..."

Rukia laughed a little as she rubbed her cold nose.

"I wouldn't mind. As long as your father doesn't decide to jump off the ferris wheel or try and raid the cotton candy stand."

"Oh, he's done worse, believe me. And put that scarf back on; it's freezing out here, idiot."

Ichigo pulled her scarf up for her as she rolled her eyes and gripped the handle of the door leading back inside. She bounced happily into the warm air and Ichigo followed her, yawning deeply. His frantic search for chocolate earlier that day had made him pretty darn tired.

So, as soon as he'd changed into his pajamas, he flopped onto his bed and fell asleep, Rukia's head on his arm as she snored quietly.

March 15th, 3:13 PM

Ichigo sighed and slammed his locker shut. School was over, he was tired, and his stupid Math teacher had given him a whole crap load of homework. A fact that Rukia was very quick to point out as she waved her two-page pile in his face.

"Yeah, well we can't all flirt our way out of fifteen pages of make-up homework. Just because I missed a few weeks—OK, a lot of weeks—doesn't mean that I have to get a whole ton of homework and you don't!"

Rukia just giggled as she walked with him out of the school parking lot. They'd been back in school for nearly three weeks now and he was getting used to the homework load. Fifteen pages every three days.

"Oh, and I didn't flirt. But since I was the one who had a real reason to be gone, I didn't get as much work. The fact that I'm smarter than you helps a lot, too."

Ichigo growled at her and she stuck her tongue out at him before running ahead. Sighing and groaning, he followed her.

Silence followed them for a while as soon as Ichigo had caught up with her, and the silence stretched on until the were about half-way home. Finally, it was broken by Rukia.

"Hey... Ichigo?"

"Hmm?" he asked, yawning blankly.

"I think I can forgive him."

It took him a minute to understand what she'd said, then he frowned deeply.

"What the hell?" he asked, his voice more firm and rough than he'd meant it to be. "Why? He hurt you, he doesn't deserve to be forgiven. Ever."

"Why not? Doesn't everyone deserve a second chance?" Rukia asked softly, he fingers clasping her backpack tightly. "I... I know he hurt me. I'll never forget it, and I'll always be afraid of him. But... still... wouldn't I want a second chance if I ever did something wrong?"

"Rukia..."

"But I don't know how to tell him. He came to me that one time."

She stared ahead of her, unaware of Ichigo's glare. His eyes were fill of hate, and he knew that it wasn't fair to feel such anger toward someone who had nothing to do with the crime he detested so badly. He should be staring at Byakuya with such hate, not the girl who he'd seen go through so much pain.

"I used to love him. He was my favorite, and I was closer to him than my sister. Then... things changed, and Hisana-nee was my favorite. We grew apart, and he soon became like my father. I thought I hated him, and I still might. I know I don't love him anymore. But he deserves a second chance."

"How about a second chance in jail?" Ichigo asked, spitting the words from his mouth like poison. "I don't care if he's stopped doing wrong, he still deserves to rot in jail for what he did in the past. He's running from the law, and we shouldn't be helping him. If I see him again, Rukia, I'm turning him in. No questions asked, and I don't care if you hate me for it."

Rukia nodded and bit her lip.

"You'll never forgive him, huh?"

He shook his head. "Never."

She didn't say another word as they walked, and he didn't either. She knew that, in saying what she had, she'd strained their relationship a little. It was nothing that would break them apart, but she knew how he felt about her brother.

"You can forgive him if you want. It'd probably make him feel good before I beat him to a pulp and hand him over to the police," Ichigo said quietly, opening the door to the house and stalking inside.

Rukia stood in the doorway, letting the light breeze ruffle her hair as she sighed.

He would never understand.

In fact, she didn't quite understand it herself.

Why was she forgiving him? She didn't know, but it felt like the right thing to do. But at the same time, it almost seemed like the worst thing to do.

Maybe... maybe... she just didn't know.

March 15th, 4:30 PM

Rukia yawned as she sat down on the park bench. She was tired; why had she even come? Ichigo had to take Yuzu and Karin to the park for a school soccer practice—how had Karin gotten Yuzu to play in the first place?—and she had tagged along because she was bored, and the fact that she would have been alone with Isshin, who was hyper on five cups of coffee, helped her make her mind up.

Ichigo, who was sitting on the swings close to his sisters, waved and called out,

"C'mon over here, Rukia!"

She shook her head and smiled. She liked her spot by the pond and all the little ducks very nicely, thank you very much.

Speaking of the ducks...

"Ahiru! Get back here now!"

Rukia blinked in surprise when a young boy with intense green eyes and messy black hair—looking to be fourteen or fifteen—ran past her in pursuit of a small, yellow duck that was quacking in such a way that it seemed like she was laughing at him.

Rukia cocked her head to the side.

"Ahiru? Duck? Who in the world names their duck 'duck'?(1)" she wondered quietly. The boy, who had screeched to a stop and was now holding the wiggling duck in his hands, walked over and said,

"That's her name. I didn't name her, she named herself."

Weird kid.

"By the way, I'm Fakir."

She smiled. "I'm Rukia."

He nodded and sat down beside the lake, putting the duck by his side as he reached into his backpack to pull out his paper and pens. It was just then that Rukia noticed his fingers; they were ink stained and scarred. She asked,

"You write a lot?"

"Uh huh."

He didn't look up at her as the duck hopped into his lap and snuggled close. Her little blue eyes seemed to follow what the boy was writing, and Rukia shook her head.

Weirdest couple she'd ever seen.

"What are you writing about?"

She knew it was probably a little rude to interrupt people while they were writing, but she was honestly curious about the boy and his duck. He seemed closed off, but at the same time, him and his pet duck seemed years younger than they probably were.

"I'm writing a story of betrayal and forgiveness. I've never tried anything like it before, so I don't know how it'll turn out. I usually write happy stuff, because that's what Ahiru likes."

"She reads?"

"Uh huh. Sometimes I read to her, though. She doesn't like having to follow what I'm writing and erasing, and re-doing. I imagine it'd be a little hard to follow."

Rukia nodded.

"If you don't mind, could you tell me a little bit more about your story?"

He nodded, and even though it seemed like he had a barrier put up around himself and a hardness in his eyes, he seemed happy and carefree.

"It's about a brother and a sister. They fight a lot, and one day, the brother—who is older—hurts his sister badly... he betrays her. Near the end of the story, he asks for her forgiveness and... actually, that's where I'm stuck. I don't know whether to have her forgive him or not. But Ahiru wants me to, and I want it to end that way, too."

"Well, I think it would be a good ending. She should forgive him," Rukia said, her smile slipping.

Just like I should forgive Nii-sama.

"I know. But... he hurt her badly. How can I write it without my story seeming... wrong?"

"Just follow your heart. If, in your heart, that's how you want it to end, end it that way."

Just like I should follow my heart.

"I don't want it to have a sad ending. I know a lot about sad endings, and if I'm going to write stuff, why should it end bad?"

Rukia shook her head.

"It shouldn't."

The boy nodded and turned back to his work, his pen flowing over the paper quickly now, like the words could seem to write themselves fast enough. The duck watched happily, and would quack every now and then, stopping the boy from his writing. He would look over what he'd just written, scrape a few lines out, and re-write them, thanking Ahiru when he was done.

Rukia shook her head at the pair and stood to her feet. She noticed Ichigo's gaze on her and waved happily before she began to walk around the pond. There were lots of ducks, and even a lot that looked like the one, Ahiru, from before. But none of them had the same sparkle in their eyes that she'd had. She was a special duck, indeed.

"Hey, Byakuya-nii... wherever you are... I just want you to know... I can forgive you now. I know it's the right thing to do, even if Ichigo hates you. So, even though you hurt me and even though I know I'll never love you the same way as I did before... I forgive you."

The wind blew through her hair, the birds chirped, and the young boy, Fakir, jumped up happily as he finished his story.

But nothing compared to the peaceful look on the face of the man who had been watching the young girl for so long. He had her forgiveness now, and whatever happened in the future, he knew that his baby sister would be all right.

And, before truning away, he watched her finally run back over to the orange-hared boy. They both smiled as he stole a small kiss, and as she fell happily into his arms as the wind blew through their hair.

Byakuya smiled. He knew his sister was loved in a way that he couldn't have ever given he. She would be happy, and her life would be full.

...And he knew it would be better if he was never a part of her life again.

The End
(Turn to 'Epilogue')

(1) Ahiru means "Duck" in Japanese.

PS. Fakir and Ahiru come from an Anime called Princess Tutu. My friend, Crystal, told me to go watch it even though it was weird, insane and... even more weird. But I'm personally a fan of shojo and the whole love triangle thing, so I loved it. It's... unique. It's different, but it's awesome! I suggest people watch it! Fakir is OOC, by the way. But this isn't a crossover; just an idea taken from another show. So I'm forgiven.

PS2: Sorry for taking to long to update! Geez. But if you've ever followed any of my stories, you know that I take forever near the end. Sorry again, but the next update will take a long time, too!

Anyway, about this chapter... it was weird. It just came to me, and I wrote it down. I hope you like! BTW, one maybe two more chapters after this.

Please Review!