Theme: We all float on
A/N: Alright. So, there is a very humongous AU warning to go along with this one. It's a branch AU, starting from the point when Ichigo loses his powers, and it assumes one very important thing: that those powers never returned, and he lived out the rest of his life as a normal human. I've been wanting to write an Ichigo death!scene for some time now, so here it is.
I'm definitely a hardcore Ichiruki shipper. But sometimes soul mates don't end up together. 'Nuff said.
Anyway, enjoy! I'm not sure how well I've done with this one, and it's a bit of a stretch for me, so let me know what you think!
~Song
How to be Dead
She hardly recognized him.
The frail frame swathed in stark white sheets, with its faded eyes and wrinkled skin—surely it must belong to someone else? But no, there was that trademark orange hair, bleached with age though it was.
How old would he be now? Eighty? Ninety? Time was perceived differently in Soul Society, where people did not age as quickly. Twenty years by that reckoning was long enough to encompass an entire human lifespan in this plane.
The machines next to his bed kept a steady record of his mortality. She did not need their assurances; his soul was already wandering. It floated, unaware, above the hospital bed. The Chain of Fate still connected it to the mortal body, but the final like was tarnished with age and spider-webbed with cracks.
The slumbering soul was incongruous with its body. The soul showed no signs of age; firm skin, vibrant hair. She smiled. It was so like him—even old age and death couldn't break his spirit. He was a young soul trapped in an old body.
A vase of flowers on his bedside table drew her attention. Freshly cut, they still retained the bright color of life. The card that sat beside them was inscribed with a neat, flowery script. She wondered, bemused, how he'd chosen to live his life. The ring on his left hand told her he'd been married. Probably the damsel-in-distress type—Orihime, maybe? She'd certainly have satisfied his need to protect.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the connecting link began to crumble without warning. It started out slowly, but quickly gained speed. The fragments dropped onto his chest for a moment before they dissipated into nothingness. The deterioration took only a few moments. With the sole connection to life severed, the chain clinked, sliding off the bed with a silvery hiss to swing freely. The only lament of his passing came from the emotionless machines as they emitted one stretching, mournful note.
He stirred, opening his eyes to this realm. "Ichigo," She called him. His attention, drawn by the sound of his name, fixed on her.
"Rukia." His eyes told her he was pleased to see her. The gaze held until he looked away a moment later to examine the body that had so recently been his. "It's about time," he commented, sparing the scene a single cursory glance. "What took you so long?" He sounded somewhat irritated as he looked up at her.
She had no answer to give that would satisfy him. He would not appreciate hearing that the research division of the Gotei Thirteen had searched long and hard for a way to return his powers, nor that she had stayed away because she could not stand the pathetic loneliness of coming back when he could no longer see her.
"Whatever, let's just get this over with," he grumbled after a moment of silence.
She grinned, pulling her zanpakutou from its sheath. In a single fluid motion, she pressed the end of the hilt against his forehead. The flat portal opened below him, and he began to dissipate from the feet upwards.
"Rukia." She met his steady gaze. "See you there."
"Yeah. See you there."
So. Don't you just love (insert preferred Ichi pairing)? Let me know in a review!
