Disclaimer: No, don't own bleach.
Star and the stray dog
He didn't expect seeing her here, never thought the Kuchiki would mingle with them common souls. But there she was, standing among the festival goers, so near, and yet so far.
Rukia.
Was that really she? They had said their abrupt goodbye only a few months ago, and there she was, changed almost beyond recognition. Gone was the little street rat finding her meal in trash cans, the divinely beautiful lady standing with the powerful young lord and surrounded by an army of servants was a perfect picture of an aristocrat. She had transformed into a Kuchiki, the ugly duckling had turned a swan.
He should be happy for her, she finally got a family, she no longer needed to worry about her next meal, her future was secured. She had made the right choice. Wise girl, his Rukia. Why then was his heart screaming that it was all wrong? Why was he itching to pull her away from all those grand things they vowed to achieve. Maybe it was the anger he felt for the man who took her away, maybe it was the smile that was gone from her face, maybe it was the inadequacy he felt inside, but most probably, maybe it was the fact that she was no longer by his side, forever out of his reach, out of his life, like a star in the sky, seen only on some rare nights.
Like tonight.
Yes, tonight was special. He finally graduated from academy and got into Gotei 13. It was a night he has dreamed of many a time. In those dreams he would celebrate with her, buying her something with his first paid check, something like a pair of shoes, or clothes without hole, or maybe a comb. It would have been his first present to her, symbolizing the end of the hard road they walked together, would have been…
Now that he was down here, and she up there, sitting among the moon and stars, in a dress no way a rookie like him could afford, what could he give her now?
"Leave her alone, for her good, and yours."
He turned and walked away.
"My lady, I have bought the flowers you wanted."
Rukia accepted the bunch of jasmine from her maid, taking in their delicate fragrance.
"I don't know you like flower," Byakuya turned slightly to look at her.
She touched the flower gingerly, an image from some far away memory brought back to mind, of a red-haired boy, covered in bruises from falling down a tree, holding out a single yellow jasmine, looking tender and arrogant at the same time.
That was the first present anyone had ever given her.
"Yes, nii-sama, they're my favorite."
End.