Author's Notes: Spoilers up to manga chapter 170. My take on the end of the Soul Society arc.
The Long Way Home
There was a battlefield between them, a river of blood and broken swords, and yet he could see only her. She stood yards away, white robes stained and ripped, the light of her last demon art fading from her hands as her eyes found his, dark violet and swirling with emotions that hit him like a bucket of cold water.
It was over.
Breathing heavily, muscles aching, he buried Zangetsu's point into the ground, bandaged arms throbbing, his whole body blood-splattered and protesting. His own pain was distant though when compared to the raw anguish on Rukia's face as she gazed at him, something quivering within her.
He grinned at her in an attempt to lighten the tension. "I told you I would save you."
What he didn't expect was the soft sound that left her lips, halfway between a hiccup and a sob. Lowering her head, she ran to him, throwing her slim arms around his waist and almost knocking him backwards; a tiny hurricane of ebony hair and thin features. The moment her body touched his, something raw and aching within his heart healed instantly, staggering him. Eyes wide, he threw her name to the wind.
"Rukia…"
Her head was buried against his chest, the ragged ends of his trench coat flapping wildly around her and all he could think was that she was much too skinny, hadn't they been feeding her?
"You're alive," she whispered tearfully. "Thank you."
The creases in his forehead eased and he circled an arm around her shoulders, breathing out every battle, every wound, and breathing in something new and fresh. Then his fingers brushed the collar around her neck and his hold on her tightened, making her look up at him.
It was hard to admit, even to himself, but he had missed those eyes.
"Idiot," he murmured roughly. "Of course I'm alive. You didn't think I would lose, did you?"
She sniffed and he realized that tears had been caught in her eyelashes. He hated it when she cried. It reminded him of the moment he had first seen her do so, hanging on that damn execution block before he'd freed her. She had been ready to give up then, to die quietly, to leave him.
He would erase that feeling from her if it took him forever.
She didn't answer him, just smiled slightly, heart-breakingly, her hands tightening on the folds of his coat.
"Ichigo…"
He tilted his head, calm and content, the feel of her skin under his fingers. "Hmm?
"Please, take me home?"
His eyebrows rose slightly and his breath hitched in his chest, almost hurting him. Home. Did she mean it? She wanted to go…with him?
Her head came to rest against him again, her voice shaking. "I want to go home. I want to go back." Her tone dropped, almost too low to hear. "Please, take me away from here…"
Closing his eyes, he slipped his other arm around her, unused to seeing her this way. He wanted to say something, to tease her, draw her out of this terrible pit of sorrow and guilt.
But it wasn't the time and he found he didn't have the energy. Bowing his head over her, he hugged her to him, feeling good and whole for the first time since that rainy night not so long ago.
"Rukia…" he said, and she felt his voice rumble under her hands. The pads of his fingertips brushed her cheek gently.
"Aa, let's go home."
The End.