Author's Notes: My answer to a fanfiction challenge on LJ. Ichigo/Rukia.

Open Window

He left the window open for her every night.

It wasn't out of habit, it was something he consciously did before he went to sleep. Yuzu bugged him about it, saying he was going to catch a cold. Karin thought he had finally gone crazy. Nothing they said deterred him. His fingers against the cool glass, he'd slide the pane over and look out at the star-painted night, wondering where she was and what she was doing. If she was on her way back to him.

Hhe had had to leave her in Soul Society, even after all they had gone through. But she had promised him, Rukia had promised. The same Rukia that followed orders with mindless obligation and had never, in all the time he had known her, once let him down.

I'll come to you. I promise. Just wait for me.

It had been a month since he had walked away from her, trusting her to fix the ends of her tattered and used life. He had no doubts that she would do it too. He just... He just wished he could be sure she was being taken care of. If there was one thing he had learned in all their adventures, it was that she silently worried about everyone except herself, downplaying her own heartache unconsciously, ignoring it as if it were trival.

He never wanted to see her cry again.

So he wanted the window to be open for her when she returned, like an open door welcoming her home. He had made up the bed in his closet, realizing once again how small she had to be to fit in there comfortably. Not that he was going to let her sleep there again. He had better places for her to be.

That night he lay in his bed, feeling a sort of odd tension in his chest, like a spring about to be unleashed. He couldn't fall asleep, tossing and turning under the sheets and annoying himself.

It was only when he heard light steps on the windowsill that he understood why.

Her violet eyes shimmered at him as he sat up and she offered a small, wry smile.

"You waited," she said. For once he had no snappy comeback and could only ease the muscles in his face in exchange, as close as he ever came to a true smile.

"Yeah."

They stood there staring at each other, memories flashing across their irises, and then Ichigo held out his hand, an invitation.

"Close the window, idiot. It's getting cold."

The End.