Author's Notes: Requested Ichigo/Rukia. Spoilers for Soul Society Arc.
Apocatastasis
He couldn't sleep the first night they came back. Sitting there in his room that seemed suddenly small and unfamiliar, he could only watch as Rukia dreamed in his bed, her small body curled up in a way he had never seen before. Ever since her days in his closet, she had been a light sleeper, constantly on the alert for danger. Now she slept defensively, knees almost up to her chest, a serious look on her face.
It ticked him off.
They were home but nothing was the same. They had come back and she was there, with him again, but he couldn't seem to align himself, to realize that it was over and she was still alive. He didn't want to look at her and see what they had done to her, what her time in the white tower had done to her. She must have slept so fitfully there, forced to be ready at any moment to be taken off to her own execution. Ichigo wondered if she would ever dream easy again.
Frowning, he rose from his chair and crawled into bed with her. She woke instantly, indigo eyes wide and almost panicked, one hand reaching up to touch a collar that no longer graced her neck. His expression flattened and he touched her shoulder before she could say anything, his hand pushing against the curve of her collarbone like an anchor to reality.
"It's just me," he said quietly, maintaining eye contact until he was sure she had heard him. He dropped unto the bed, pulling her back down with him, her delicate frame tucking itself under his arm. She said nothing as his arm encircled her waist, pressing her more firmly against his side.
"Go to sleep," he told her, his own eyes drifting shut. "Everything's alright now." He hesitated only a moment before finishing, "I'm here."
Rukia exhaled softly. "I know."
They slept until well after dawn.
The End.