Weeell ... I know fireflies are SO overdone, but I had this half written out for months, and finally finished it. :D And since I have my last story for A Story A Day already ready to go, I decided to post it in here.

Anyway, it's cute and fluff ... and fluff ... kill me now ...

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters.

FireFly

"Ichigo, what's that?" Rukia asked, pointing her thin hand toward the brief flash of light in the ever-darkening sky. Ichigo looked over from staring at the stars and smiled slightly as he followed Rukia's gaze.

"Firefly," he said simply, putting his hands behind his head as he watched Rukia stand to her feet. She smoothed out her jean mini-skirt and walked forward, trying to grab the firefly in her hand. It flew away without an effort, leaving her to run after it in the night air. Ichigo shook his head and continued to watch her as she tried to catch the firefly again and again.

It was a beautiful night. The moon was full, casting an eerie glow across the grass and lighting up their surroundings ever-so-slightly. The stars, which had just started coming out, were filling the beautiful sky and the fireflies were adding to the light by glowing for a second before their light went out, smothered out by the darkness.

It used to bother him that they ever stopped glowing; his mother had said that something beautiful should never stop being beautiful.

So ... why did the fireflies stop?

"Help me."

Ichigo turned his head to the voice and smirked when he saw the slightly annoyed look on Rukia's face. She was standing beside him, her hands on her hips and her face set in determination. Her raven hair was blowing in the wind, and her intense violet eyes were pierceing into his.

"Fine. What do ya need help with, dope?" he asked, sitting up. Rukia kicked him in the arm before saying,

"I want to catch one of these 'Fireflies'. Help me."

Ichigo shrugged and stood to his feet.

"Ya know, we should be getting back soon. You have no idea what kind of ideas my dad is probably cooking up about us being out past dark."

"Who cares? The fireflies are beautiful and I want one," she said, reaching out to grab another one; it flew away as she sighed in annoyance.

"You can't keep them forever," Ichigo said, reaching out and carefully taking one of the fireflies out of the air. Rukia's eyes went wide as he cupped her hands in his. He carefully prodded her hands open, and let the firefly into her slim fingers. She gasped as she stuck her eys up to a small hole she had made in her hands to see the firefly glow. But it didn't.

"Ichigo, why isn't it glowing?" she asked, opening her hands up. The firefly flew away into the night.

"Stupid, you let it go," he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he watched the firefly fly out of sight.

"Because it wouldn't glow," she said, reaching out to try and grab another one. She failed at least five more times before Ichigo stood behind her and took her hands into his.

"Ya can't grab wildely at them. Be quiet; gentle. You have to go slow," he said, fitting her hands in his so when he moved his fingers, hers would move, too. Then, he slowly moved her hands to grab a nearby firefly. "See?" he said quietly. He found himself smiling at the look of pure happiness on Rukia's face as she watched the small firefly glow up in her hands.

"It's beautiful," she said, the light from the firefly reflecting in her eyes as she stared in wonder at it.

"Yeah ... but it won't last forever. It's light will someday die ... although something beautiful should stay forever."

Rukia looked over at Ichigo, an amused look on her face. Ichigo noted the look and smirked, saying,

"My mom told me that. I used to catch fireflies with her all the time."

"Ah," Rukia said simply, opening her hands to let the firefly go again.

"Why'd you do that?" Ichigo asked, frowning as he watched the firefly blink a few times before dissapearing for good.

"Because something that beautiful shouldn't be kept trapped. It should be free." Then, as an afterthought, she added, "Can I call it Chappy?"

"What? The firefly?" Ichigo asked, staring up at the moon. Rukia nodded and Ichigo shrugged. "Doesn't matter," he said, sighing as he watched the fireflies continue to light up the sky. They only lit up for a second, then it was gone. If you wanted to catch one, you would have to follow it everywhere; you had to really, really want to catch it. It had to be something you wanted to do on your own, or else you wouldn't be able to do it.

Something beautiful shouldn't be locked up or trapped. It should be free ...

Ichigo smiled.

The fireflies were ... just like Rukia.

(Cries) I told myself I was going to write something sad ... I wanted to ... I NEED to ...

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