Sorry for the late update but I've been busy with school and my betas are busy with work and such...

Anyway here's the next chapter.

I don't own KHR or Bleach

34. Fight to Italy

The walls and ground around Yamamoto had a rocky texture and a door as tall as the cavern he was in sat at the end opposite to him. Ahead of him were four pillars and a shadowy figure stood in the center of the pillars. He walked closer to the pillars and as he came closer and closer, the pillars began to glow and shone upon the person standing at the center.

"Rukia?"

Rukia turned around, a small smile on her face. The door behind her creaked open bit by bit, darkness flowing out to wrap its tendrils around Rukia. She moved her lips, no sound was heard, but his eyes were trained on her lips and he read, "Goodbye… Takeshi."

Yamamoto sprinted forward, trying to reach Rukia. She extended her hand, reaching out to him, her slender fingers stretched out, and he thrust out his hand, but just as their fingertips were about to touch, the darkness swept Rukia away. The door began to close, the darkness taking Rukia in. He ran as fast as he could, praying he could reach her in time, but it was too late. Before the darkness engulfed her entirely, Rukia turned her face towards him and gave a small, sad smile. The door swung closed and shattered to pieces and everything faded into black.

Yamamoto woke up in a cold sweat, the dream still haunting him. He quickly sat up, one hand clutching his hand. He'd had the same dream for several days in a row. It felt as if his dreams were trying to tell him something important. He got out of bed and decided to have a morning practice to forget the dream. He opened the top drawer of his dresser and took out the pendant that Rukia had given him during the ring battles. His mind flashed back to the memory that was still fresh in his mind.

The sun's dying rays illuminated the two figures that sat together on the bench in the park; Yamamoto and Rukia. It had been a few months since the ring battles had ended. There was a question Yamamoto wanted to ask Rukia, but every time he was about to voice it, there was someone or something that interrupted them. But, finally, he'd found his chance. Now, there was no one to interrupt them, so he took this chance to ask his question at last.

"Rukia," Yamamoto said, "Why did you give me this pendant?"

Rukia glanced at him before returning to gaze at the orange sky. "Because the metalsmith I bought it from told me it was for someone special."

"But, why did you give it to me on that day before your battle and tell me goodbye?"

Rukia was silent for a moment, searching for the right words to say to him. An uncomfortable silence filled the air. Rukia let out a small sigh and leaned against him.

"I wasn't sure if I could fight my opponent that day. I thought if I gave you something, my heart would always be with you. You know, just in case I di—"

Soft lips prevented her from finishing her sentence. The sweet and gentle kiss lasted for a long minute. Their lips parted, both of them slightly out of breath, and a small blush decorated their cheeks. The awkward silence filled the air once more, until Yamamoto broke it.

"I don't want you to talk like that anymore, Rukia. Remember what you told me once? 'I have you and you have me.'"

"But—"

"No buts, Rukia. I don't want to hear you talk like that anymore." He hugged Rukia tightly.

"I'm…going to…s-suffocate if you d-don't let me… breathe," she gasped out. Laughing, he let her loose to give her the chance to breathe. Rukia looked up into his eyes and saw that they were filled with worry.

"Takeshi, keep that pendant. It will serve as our connection to each other. No matter where you are, I will always be with you."

A big grin appeared on his face as he put on the pendant. Once he finished changing clothes, he left his room, closing the door behind him.

x-x

Rukia woke up a little earlier than usual. She was worried about the dream she had the night before. Deciding that she couldn't go back to sleep, she stood up from her bed, careful not to wake Nel up. She walked to her dresser and took out something she hadn't seen in a long time: her sketchbook.

In the two years that had passed, she had lost her reason to draw. When she was by herself, the only way to vent her emotions, her solitude, her need of someone else, was in drawing. Now that she had that warmth that she'd been longing for, the sketchbook was simply forgotten. She flipped through the pages filled with people and places.

"Rukia, what are you looking at?" Orihime asked.

"This sketchbook that I've forgotten."

"Do you need to draw again?"

"I don't need to, I don't feel alone anymore."

With that, Rukia put away the sketchbook in the closet and pulled out a yellow sundress with flower figures along the bottom hem. She took a quick shower and got dressed. Deciding that it was too early for breakfast, she decided to go for a walk instead.

x-x

Rukia was by the river looking at the sunrise. It was the last time she would see the sun rise in this small town, she thought. She watched the clouds drift by while she lay on the grass, the blue sky bending with the soft yellow, orange, and red of the sun.

"Rukia, we have to go back soon," Orihime reminded her.

"I know." She stood up, brushing off the grass stuck to her dress. She heard someone approaching, the shuffling of the grass a giveaway. She turned around to see Yamamoto smiling at her.

"Yo, Rukia."

"Morning, Takeshi," she greeted

"What are you doing out here at this hour?"

"Just watching the sun come up. What about you?"

"Just going to get some practice," he replied.

"You know, this reminds me of when we met the first time," Rukia said, after thinking for a minute.

"Yeah, it was here, the same place, wasn't it?"

Rukia nodded. This is what she liked about their relationship. It was simple but honest; she could be herself around him. She knew he wouldn't judge her, and for that, she loved him with everything she had. And she knew that he loved her the same way.

"Are you ready for our trip?" he asked.

"Yeah, I can face my past, as long as you and the others are behind me."

He held her hand to reassure her that everything would be okay.

x-x

Rukia and Grimmjow arrived at the airport ten minutes earlier than planned, so that they could get their tickets more quickly. It was a little difficult at first, with Nel not having a passport, Nel got her passport, thanks to Reborn, and everything else she would need in only a day. While waiting around a small shop inside the airport, Nel ran to the windows to look at the planes outside.

"Onee-chan, are we really going on those planes?" Nel asked excitedly.

"Yep, were going to get on one of those planes. Please don't wander around too much, or you're going to get lost."

"Okay, onee-chan."

Rukia watched Nel run back to the window, then spotted Grimmjow coming back from the registration. He sat next to her to wait for the others.

"Are you ready?" he asked her, knowing well her dread of going back.

"Yeah," Rukia muttered quietly. "So much time has passed… can we really free ourselves from Nii-sama?"

"Not with that attitude we won't."

"But I'm... afraid."

"Why?" Grimmjow raised an eyebrow.

"I don't want anyone getting hurt because of me."

"No one will get hurt."

"But—"

"If you say something else, I'll beat the shit right out of ya," Grimmjow snarled. Rukia's eyes widened, but she got the point. He could be scary sometimes, but she knew he really cared about her.

Ten minutes later, Tsuna and the others showed up, even Hibari. How Reborn convinced Hibari to come to Italy with them, Rukia would never know. Kyoko and Haru also came along for sightseeing. She wasn't sure if they really wanted to go sightseeing, or if that was just some excuse.

All of them boarded the plane that would lead to them to the next step of their lives, and Rukia's future.

x-x

After a boring, grueling, painstakingly long flight, the gang reached the Italy in one piece. Excluding the fact that Hibari wanted to bite to death everyone on the plane for crowding. Or that Gokudera and Lambo couldn't stop arguing during the flight, which resulted in Grimmjow stepping in to stop the fight. Unfortunately, Gokudera got out his dynamite and caused a panic on the plane. Shouts of "he's got a bomb!" rang out through the plane as the passengers panicked. Tsuna and the others weren't allowed to get on any commercial plane ever again.

"Thanks to you two, we're banned from the airports!" Rukia scolded Gokudera and Grimmjow.

"Shut up, you crazy bitch," Grimmjow and Gokudera grumbled simultaneously. Yamamoto had to restrain Rukia to stop her from killing the both of them.

"Maa, maa everything turned out okay," Yamamoto laughed, trying to calm her down.

"Well, I guess," Rukia agreed begrudgingly.

Once they got out of the airport, two cars pulled up in front of them. Men in black suits got out of each car and took everyone's luggage and loaded it in each car.

"Greetings, Vongola the Tenth, Guardians, and Panther King. We have been expecting you," one of the men in black greeted. "The Ninth asked us to pick you up from the airport."

"So where is Vongola manor located?" Grimmjow asked.

"It's near the outside of the city. We shall take you to the manor and, with permission of the Ninth, we will take you to the city to sightsee."

"Sightsee?"

"This is your first time in Italy, correct? The Ninth anticipated that you might want some free time."

"Oh."

Everyone separated into two groups. Grimmjow, Rukia, Chrome, Yamamoto, and Hibari rode one of the cars. Kyoko, Haru, Tsuna, Gokudera, Ryohei and the kids rode in the other vehicle. Rukia looked out the window, drinking in the sight of the buildings around her as the car drove on. With each mile that the car drove, Rukia felt her dread growing. Soon, it would all come to an end.

x-x

The cars drove into the countryside, the only thing Rukia could see was hills and meadows. There was nothing there really, but it was peaceful sight.

'When are going to get there?'she pondered.

"We're almost there." The driver replied, as if he had heard Rukia's thoughts. Sure enough, Rukia and the others saw the large black iron black gates with the Vongola crest on them. The gates slowly opened and the cars drove into the driveway. Vongola the Ninth and ten maids were waiting outside in the front doors.

"Bienvenito, Vongola Decimo." The maids bowed lightly in unison. It was actually kind of creepy...

Rukia had never seen the ninth before. He looked like a kind old man, using a scepter as a support. But Rukia felt tremendous power coming from the scepter.

"Welcome to Vongola manor, Tsunayoshi-kun and Guardians." He greeted.

Grimmjow strode in front of everyone else, looking at the Ninth face to face. There he did something that Rukia thought he would never do; he kneeled before the Vongola boss, his katana on the ground.

"Now, now. You don't need to show such formality, Panther King." The Ninth smiled kindly. Grimmjow slowly stood up, picking the katana off of the ground. The blade was surrounded in a blue aura for a moment, before it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"Now, I welcome you to Vongola manor." The Ninth repeated.

"So, why did Grimmjow kneel in front of him, Rukia?" Yamamoto whispered in her ear. Grimmjow showing respect was something strange to see.

"I'm guessing it's only a formality. To make himself look good to the public eye." she explained.

After the brief introduction, Tsuna and the others entered the house. The maids had carried their belongings off to their respective rooms, scurrying away as they entered. Rukia was amazed at the interior of the mansion. From the Victorian style furniture that she caught a glimpse at in the living room, to the staircase in front of them with the handrails curved outward of the entryway, it was as if the building itself was giving a welcome to them.

"This is amazing! Right onii-chan?" Kyoko said as she started to walk upstairs.

"Amazing to the extreme!" Ryohei agreed, jogging up the stairs ahead of her to check out more of the mansion.

"Please feel free to relax in your rooms. Come down to my study in an hour." The Ninth ordered.

x-x

Rukia entered her room; she and Nel were amazed at the size it. It had a couch, a glass coffee table, a king -sized bed against the wall, and a mini bar filled with different bottles of alcohol. Rukia made a note to keep Nel away from that.

Nel saw two glass doors leading to the balcony. Rukia was right behind her, making sure she didn't get into anything she wasn't supposed to. She looked outside, and the view was simply breathtaking. Meadows and hills stretched as far as the eye could see, there was a pool was right below them, and a labyrinth of flowers on the left. Truly, it was a sight worth sketching, but she didn't have the time for that.

"Onee-chan, are going to stay here?" Nel asked.

"Yes, that's right. Hey, how about you go and find Lambo and I-pin and get permission to use the pool, Onee-chan has something to do first, okay?"

Nel nodded enthusiastically and ran out of the room as fast as she could, leaving Rukia by herself.

"What's wrong, Rukia?"Orihime asked.

"Nothing, it's just...we're so close to the Kuchiki manor. It makes me want to avoid going outside."

"Don't worry about it We're on Vongola grounds, so Kuchiki members besides you and Grimmy shouldn't be allowed to enter."

"You're right. There's no point in worrying about it right now. Let's go downstairs and meet the Ninth."

With that, Rukia allowed herself to temporarily forget her worries and headed downstairs, closing the door behind her.

x-x

Rukia strode down the long hallway and headed downstairs to the large living room she had spotted when they first arrived. As she reached the stairs, she caught up with Ryohei.

"Onii-chan!" Rukia called out.

"Hey Rukia, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just want to talk to you for a little bit."

As they walked downstairs, talking on the way, Rukia was thinking about how much Ryohei had matured in the last two years. He still had his extreme attitude, but with less yelling. Rukia's ears thanked him for that. She felt a slight pain in her back, but she ignored it and continued to talk with him.

"Onii-chan, are you sure you want to be a guardian?"

"oh that?" he lifted his right had and looked at the Vongola ring in his middle finger. "I've decided that a long time ago."

"But you might have to give up some of your goals."

"Maybe, but having a path to follow without hesitation is what a man is searching for, to the extreme! I promised I would protect you and Kyoko, and I will."

Rukia couldn't believe that Ryohei matured this much, but it should be expected with age. The rest of the walk was a quiet one, there wasn't really anything to talk about. Suddenly Rukia felt the sharp pain on her back returning, she fell to her knees from the pain.

"Oi Rukia, what's wrong!?" Ryohei sounded alarmed

"It…hurts." Rukia muttered painfully. Her head was pounding, and heard voices whispering in her mind.

"The ritual must be done…"

"The call of the shrine maidens…"

"The crystal lock…"A small yellow lock with a crystal shaped like a four-leaf clover flashed in her mind.

"The family crests…"

"The gates to oblivion…"

"No escape…"

Rukia couldn't keep consciousness any longer, she let her surroundings fade to black. Ryohei rushed to her side, picking her up bridal style. He felt something warm on his hand, coming from Rukia's back. He held it up to look at it; it was blood.

"Rukia, hang on to the extreme!" he rushed her to her room quickly, forgetting all about the meeting.

x-x

Yamamoto, as calm and patient as he was, hated waiting. It was driving him insane just waiting for an answer to what had happened to Rukia. A few minutes after Rukia's collapse, Ryohei had rushed to the study where everyone had gathered to tell them what had happened. That caused the meeting to grind to a halt, and everyone quickly headed upstairs. Now, they were all waiting on the diagnosis of Rukia's ailment.

"Shit, lawn head, what happened to her?" Gokudera growled. Ryohei didn't answer, he just kept staring at the hand where he had felt Rukia's blood.

"No use, he's out of it." Grimmjow replied. While he appeared calm on the outside, he was worried about Rukia. He figured that by appearing calm ,the others might calm down too, but it wasn't working.

"Rukia…" Yamamoto muttered.

Luckily, Nel was with Haru, Kyoko, and the kids, or else the sound of Nel's cries would be heard all over the mansion. Chrome and Hibari remained quiet, but each was scanning the room.

"Dammit, that bastard Shamal has been in there for two hours already! When is he going to come out?"

"Gokudera-kun, calm down. You're not helping in the situation." Tsuna said, but in his head he wondered that same thing.

"My apologies, Tenth."

As if to answer Gokudera's questions, the door opened slowly. Shamal emerged, looking grim.

"What's wrong, Shamal?" Reborn asked. The doctor just stood there quietly, as if stalling for time. Yamamoto ran out of patience. In a swift movement, he grabbed Shamal by his collar and looked him in the eye. The others in the room looked on, shocked at his action.

"Tell us what's wrong, now!" his carefree smile was gone, replaced by someone that the Guardians had only ever seen in the heat of battle.

Shamal calmly freed himself from Yamamoto's grasp and let out a tired sigh.

"I'll tell you what's wrong, but before I do I need to ask some questions. Did Rukia seem alright when you guys arrived to Italy?"

"She seemed fine..." Chrome said shyly.

"Has she done any training?"

"No, we haven't done any proper training in weeks." Grimmjow responded.

"This doesn't make sense." Shamal moved to the side, allowing them access to the room. "It's better for you guys to see what's wrong yourselves."

Everyone entered the room, eager to see what was wrong. What they saw left them speechless. Rukia was lying on her stomach. She had no clothes to cover her back, but that wasn't what bothered them. What shocked them greatly was the burn on her back. The burn was located on the bottom half of her back, taking the unusual shape of a bird engulfed in flame.

"What the hell!?" Grimmjow was the first to break the silence in the room

"What happened to Rukia-san?" Tsuna asked

"That's what I can't figure out. If she didn't do any training and if she was fine when you guys arrived, then why does she have that burn on her back?"

"You're the doctor, figure it out!" Gokudera snarled

"You said it yourself; I'm a doctor, not a psychic." Shamal dismissed.

"Now what?" Yamamoto asked.

"I cleaned the burn already, I need Chrome-chan to stay to help me put bandages on Rukia."

Everyone started to leave the room, only Yamamoto and Chrome stayed behind.

"Yamamoto, you need to leave this room too."

"I can't stay here?"

"She'll be fine. I may be a 'womanizer' like Hayato says, but I am a doctor first. I wont let anything happen to her."

Yamamoto nodded and left the room quietly closing, the door behind him. Shamal took out some sterilized bandages; glancing at Rukia's wound before looking at Chrome.

"Lets begin."

x-x

"Onii-chan what happened to Rukia-chan?"

It wasn't too long before Kyoko and Haru found out, but it how to tell them was the difficult part.

"We're not really sure ourselves." Tsuna tried to calm Kyoko down.

"Where's Rukia now? Haru wants to see her." Haru asked, both their eyes were filled with worry.

"Is onee-chan going to be alright?" Nel asked between sobs.

"She's in her room, sleeping. Dr. Shamal says that she needs her rest." Grimmjow explained as gently as possible to calm them down. "Why don't you guys make tea, and we'll be down there in a few." he suggested.

"All right." Kyoko and Haru walked out of the room ,leaving the others with lots of things to think about.

"So what were you going to talk to us about, Ninth?" Grimmjow asked.

"I was going to explain about the coronation ceremony when I retire, but then this happened. Lets leave that talk for another time. Right now it seems no one is in the mood for talking. I'll be in my study if anyone needs me." The Ninth explained.

"Ryohei, we need you to focus. Tell me what happened." Reborn asked.

"I…I don't know, we were just talking and she suddenly collapsed and started bleeding from her back. I don't know..."

"Constantly harassing sempai won't get us anywhere. All we can do is wait until Rukia gets better." Yamamoto said, though he sounded thoroughly depressed.

x-x

As Rukia regained consciousness, she slowly opened her eyes. The bright morning sun illuminated the room. She tried to stand up, but the pain didn't let her. On the coffee table, she spotted rolls of bandages and medicine.

"What happened to me?" Rukia asked aloud.

"I don't know, it's getting harder to reach you, Rukia."Orihime spoke.

"Is it because we're close to Kuchiki manor?"

"I'm not sure, but what happened to you and the problem that we have may be connected."

Rukia heard a knock on the door, but she couldn't even stand, let alone answer the door.

"Come in." she called out, feeling incredibly weak and frustrated. The figure entered the room, but it was the last person Rukia ever expected to see.

"Hi-hibari? What are you doing here?"

"Herbivore, what are you hiding?" he demanded.

"Huh?"

"You hide your fangs from everyone, even yourself."

"You have to elaborate on that." Rukia deadpanned. What was he talking about?

"Just something to think about." he answered.

"That doesn't make sense, what are you trying to say?"

"Fight me when you get better." He left as quickly as he arrived, leaving Rukia with a mountain of questions.

"What was that about?"

"Not sure, but you can never really understand Hibari-san."

"But what happened to me?" Rukia felt the sting on her back, the bandages made it hard to see what happened to her.

"I don't know, I couldn't see what was happening. It was as if my spirit was being locked inside your body."

There was another soft knock on the door, then a small clicking sound as the doorknob turned. Shamal entered the room with a bottle of pills.

"Good morning Rukia-chan" he greeted happily. Rukia had to be on guard, just in case he tried something funny.

"Morning, Shamal-sensei."

"So how are you feeling?"

"I feel a small pain on my back, and I cant remember what happened. Other than that, I'm okay, I guess..."

"That's not good. We were going to ask you what happened."

"Why does my back hurt?" Rukia asked.

Shamal let out a small sigh before reaching for a glass of water. He took out two pills from the bottle and handed them both to Rukia. She drank the water eagerly, not noticing the thirst before.

"Rukia, for some reason there is a large burn on your back."

"What?!" she nearly choked on the water.

"There is a large burn on your back. None of us are sure how you hurt yourself, but your body is slowly healing itself. You've been out for four days."

"Four days?!" she gasped.

"The medicine that I just gave you will help with the pain. I need to change your bandages again. Hopefully this will be the last day you'll have to wear them."

"Shouldn't it take longer?"

"Normally when someone has second degree burns it takes several weeks to heal. But your body regenerates slowly by absorbing aura, so it cuts healing time by half or more"

Shamal sat on the bed, grabbing the bandages and the medicine ready. Rukia couldn't help but to feel uncomfortable. It wasn't that she didn't trust Shamal as a doctor. But she couldn't trust Shamal as a man.

"Rukia-chan how about a hug~" he chirped, in what she guessed was his attempt at lightening the mood.

"I'll you know this right now; if your hands go where they shouldn't, you won't leave this room alive." She threatened.

With that, the room was filled with an awkward silence, Rukia watching Shamal carefully.

x-x

Rukia walked downstairs and started to head into the kitchen. Looking at the different paintings and vases that decorated the halls she, wandered into the dining room.

"Rukia?"

She froze, looking around. Everyone was who was in the room stop their conversations and looked up as she entered the room. To Rukia, their stares were a little uncomfortable.

"Morning everyone." She greeted, almost ashamed to look at them. Nel was the first one to get up, running towards Rukia and hugging her leg.

"Onee-chan, are you alright?" she said between sobs.

"Yeah, I'll fine." Nel looked up as Rukia patted her head.

"I'm sorry that I caused you guys to worry."

"As long as you're okay." Kyoko commented.

"Haru is taking you to a cake shop around town later." Haru said, with hopes of Rukia actually going.

"That would be lovely." Rukia smiled, glad to be on the road to recovery.

Rukia took her seat next to Yamamoto and Ryohei. The meal was a silent one, with an occasion or two of Lambo bickering with I-pin. After breakfast, Rukia decided to go outside, seeing how it was a sunny morning. There was nothing like the scenery of the garden that Rukia saw the first day. As she entered the garden, she heard footsteps coming up behind her. She turned around and saw Yamamoto standing behind her.

"Yo, Rukia." he said dully.

"What's the matter, Takeshi?"

"I…nothing." he began, but didn't elaborate. Rukia frowned, getting a distinct feeling it wasn't 'nothing.'

"Takeshi, don't worry about me. Whatever happened to me wasn't your fault or Onii-chan's. If it relates to something, it might be the fact that we are close to Kuchiki manor. My feelings of happiness, my feelings of sadness, all of those feelings within me were just a little out of control and may have caused my aura to go wild."

"I just wish I could erase that pain in your heart." he said. Rukia sighed, taking his hand.

"You being here with me is more than enough. Soon I'll be free, and then I'll have nothing to fear."

x-x

A flame-haired, tattooed man sat at a desk in Kuchiki manor, bored out of his mind. Abarai Renji was happy with his position as the right-hand man. It was his honor to serve in such a distinguished position. But it was always filled with paperwork. Half the time, he wished that he could burn the documents, they just took up so much time and the task was so boring.

Lately though, he'd had a strange feeling about the family. Ever since Rukia, Orihime, and Grimmjow's disappearance four years prior, things had been really quiet.

After finishing the last pile of paperwork on his desk, he stood up and stretched, glad to be done with all the reports and documents. A knock on the door made him turn mid-stretch.

"Come in." he called to his guest.

The door opened and he saw a familiar figure standing in the doorway. The man was as tall as Renji, he wore a crisp black suit with an orange tie. What anyone within fifty miles would notice immediately about this man was his orange hair. It was even worse when the two stood side-by-side in a crowd. "Blending in" seemed to be a foreign concept to them.

"Ichigo, what brings you here?"

"I was thinking of going out for a drink, want to come?" Ichigo suggested.

"Nah, I was thinking of going to bed early." Renji refused, suppressing a yawn.

"Hard day?"

"No, but it was boring and I'm tired."

"Is something else wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"I was just thinking about Rukia's disappearance..."

"Its been what, four years? If the execution squad couldn't find her and Orihime, then…"

"Don't say it!" Renji growled. "I know they're still alive somewhere, my gut tells me so and my gut is never wrong! And if they are alive, then I hope they are happy."

"Yeah..." Ichigo agreed

"You know," Renji said after a minute, "I think I'll take that drinking offer after all."

"Well lets go, then." Both left Renji's office, closing the door behind.

If only they knew...

Beta-ed by: Grenouille-85

Author's notes:

If anyone wants to know the Bleach character ages in this story then visit my page. I'll post their ages and their position as they are introduced.