~~OO! I felt the need to share this with the people who are actually still reading this—I'm on my third novel! WOOTAGE! AND my English teacher knows publishers/editors crap like that so, YEAH, I might be a real author. Oh, and my novels are much better than this. Believe it or not I wrote this like three years ago :-/ Wellll R&R and Kaien will huggle you! xD

Rukia's POV:

The next morning I heard laughter which woke me up. I saw Ichigo and Kaien, sitting and leaning against tree trunks, one knee up, letting their elbows rest on it. One murmured one thing to the other, and the next thing I saw was booming laughter erupt from their mouths. I smiled at the sight of them.

The sun showed its face behind the clouds, looking down at us as if saying "Good morning!" The blue color of the sky showed it's color like no other day. It was a vibrant blue that showed me nature was truly an amazing creation.

I got up, yawned and stretched, then walked over to Ichigo. "Good morning, Ichigo-sensei!"

He laughed and said, "Good morning Rukia-chan."

I saw Kaien looking up at the sky, the smile no longer plastered on his beautiful face. I decided to ignore it for the time being.

That afternoon we were all gathering around the campfire. It was chilly outside and i was wearing a jacket that Kaien-sensei gave me when he saw I was shivering; but it wasn't more like a "give", he actually threw it over my head and walked away. Nevertheless, it showed me he cared.

The heat of the burning fire danced around my skin, it actually hurt a little, but i didn't mind.

Kaien-sensei was looking away, while his sword was leaning against his shoulder. No one was really speaking—I guess Ichigo was too sad, and so was everyone else. The strange thing is that Histugaya always talked, yet, here he wasn't, either.

Then, even though i knew I would feel stupid, I decided to break the silence. I cleared my throat, and everyone but sensei looked at me. "I...was..um...just wondering why we were all so quiet...?"

Ichigo just gave a half-hearted smile, "It is quite awkward, isn't it?" I just nodded shyly. All of a sudden Eiri-sensei walked out of the bushes and sat down beside Kaien-sensei.

"Talk to her," He said. I blushed and my heart raced. Was Kaien-sensei actually childish enough to give me the "silent treatment"? Kaien-sensei just smiled, a rather sly smile.

"I know what you're thinking, Rukia...no this is not the silent treatment..." Everyone burst out into laughter, while he left me completely embarrassed.

I blushed, "I wasn't thinking that!" I lied. Kaien can be such a different person sometimes; one minute he ignores me, the other he teases...

Kaien's POV:

Eiri-sensei leaned closer and whispered to me, "Are you taking her or not?"

I clenched my hand in frustration. Anger and confusion was flowing through my body. I didn't know what to do. Of course I wanted her with me on the trip, but i didnt want her in danger.

"Why can't she just be obedient and do what her Sensei says? Why does she have to complicate everything?" I said more harshly than I should have.

A silent breeze swept over us, making my hair dance to the wind. The only sound was of Eiri Sensei's breathing of smoke. Our eyes were locked, and to break the silence he chuckled.

"What?" I asked.

"You know you want her to go..." He said.

"Well, of course, but i just dont want her to be in danger," I replied.

He nodded, "Did'ja know she was angry at the moon?"

My head snapped up in confusion. I smiled and said, "What?"

He chuckled then shook his head, "Never mind."

There was a short pause. Everything was silent.

I just shook my head and gave up, I walked away from sensei and the others, out of this little camp area.

My feet moved, taking me to a place where I didn't know the whereabouts of. I just kept walking to get the stress out of my head. Everyone might think I'm overreacting to this whole Rukia situation, but, I can't imagine a life without her. It would be an empty pit of darkness with no sun to scare it away. I lost my family already, I didn't need to lose the rest of my heart.

Sooner or later my feet took me to this dark section of the forest. All the tops of the trees were ambushed with leaves, accumulating so much that it covered the sky. I heard a movement and turned around, grabbing the hilt of my sword.

Then the creature came out of the bushes...it was a squirrel nibbling on an acorn. Boy did i feel like an idiot...

The adorable squirrel continued to nibble on it's little acorn. "Heh...cute squirrel..." I said mainly to myself.

All of a sudden the "cute squirrel" hissed at me running toward me, rabidly. What the hell was that? I started to run away, "Not cute! Not cute! Rabid!" I screamed. "HOLY CRAP!"

I screamed, running. The squirrel was psychotic! It's red eyes were flaming at me! Wait...what the hell was i doing running away from a squirrel? I turned around, took out my sword, and stabbed it into the ground right when it was about to "nibble" on my leg. "HA! How do ya like that, squirrel?"

Ok. This whole Rukia situation has got me nuts. I'm talking and running away from a rabid squirrel.

The squirrel saw my blade and ran away. How odd...and random.

With that weird picture out of the way, I continued walking, but a little more paranoid now.

I looked around, making sure i knew where i was going and how to get back. Luckily Eiri sensei had the fire lit so i could trail back by scent—knowing him, he probably did that on purpose.

Now that nothing was here to make my train of thought ride away, I thought about it and figured out i was actually...mad at Rukia. Though it's childish, i was actually unpleased with her...so does that mean...we're in a fight? I'm too old for that! Though I'm only nineteen...but still...she was making something that could be so simple so...difficult. Geez...i give myself way too much time to think.

After I tried for hours to figure out was was really going on in my life, I ran back to Sensei and the others.

I found Ichigo sitting in the shades, the darkness of the shadows of the trees blacking out his eyes.

I stood above him and said, "Deep in thought, are we now?"

"Well, we are going to Hueco Mundo tomorrow, I can't be calm." His never even met mine when he spoke.

I nodded and said, "And you know what sucks?"

He chuckled, "What?"

"I still don't know if I'm bringin' Rukia with us, and we're leaving tomorrow."

He looked up at me and said, "I think Hueco Mundo is way too dangerous for Rukia...Hitsugaya at least isn't afraid to fight."

I sighed, "But still, I dont wanna bring Hitsugaya either."

Ichigo stood up and put an arm around my shoulders, "You're thinkin' about this way too much, dude. Calm down...relax!"

I shrugged his arm off while he kept talking.

"Rukia just wants to be with you, and she's brave!"

I sighed, "Yeah but-"

Before i could talk, Ichigo started to jump up and down, "FOOD! YAY!" He ran over to Eiri-sensei who was cooking fish.

"Thanks for being here for me, man..." I said to myself as i walked over to join them,

Hitsugaya was biting the fish to pieces when i sat down beside him. He looked like an animal that just got up after hibernation and ate food for the first time. "Calm down, you're gonna get sick!" I chuckled.

"FOOD!" Was his reply. A chuckle left my mouth one again. It's amazing what food can do to a man.

Rukia was biting down like a human, for once. She looked at me through the corner of her eye and continued eating. I turned my head from her vision and merely sat and waited.

Night fall finally came, which was a sign saying that Hueco Mundo awaited us tomorrow. Everyone was asleep, except for me and Rukia .

I guess this was the moment where we had to work things out. I would have to drop her off to Byakuya tonight if I decided she couldn't come along.

I walked over to her, a little reluctant. I sat down beside her as she turned her head so she couldnt meet my eyes. "Hey..." I said.

"Rukia isn't here right now, leave a message after the beep. Beeep..." She said.

I laughed, "I love your sense of humor."

There was a short period of silence.

"Rukia," I finally said. "Do you really want to come along with us?"

She laughed a cold laugh, "Isn't it kind of obvious? I thought the great Kaien was supposed to be a genius..."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Excuse me?"

Rukia sighed.

I took another awkward moment of silence to contemplate my decisions. It really seems as though she's really mad, she's being a big back-talker. "Ok, Rukia. I thought about it...you can't come along."

Tears immediately accumulated in her eyes. Her head snapped at me and she gave me the coldest glare that sent chills through my spine. "Whatever. I don't care. Being alone with you for about a month would be torture anyway."

I laughed.

"What? You think that's funny?" She screamed.

"Rukia," I chuckled, "I'm kidding. You can come. Besides, i couldn't stand being away from you for a month."

The death glare faded into a smile. "Idiot! You scared me!"

I opened my arms wide signaling it was time for a hug. Rukia bent over and embraced me.

"...So would it really be torture to stay with me for a month?" I asked, a little surprised how that actually offended me pretty bad.

"No! 'Course not!"

We both sat in silence for a while, then met eyes and laughed everything off.

I helped her up, and still clutching hands, walked over to the campsite.

The moon showed it's face high in the sky, signaling it was time for us to go to bed. There was a long journey awaiting us, all of us. Who knows what the world might bring us? It was time for us to shut our eyes and embrace the possibilities awaiting us. Rukia and I looked at each other, knowing what we were thinking. Hueco Mundo was waiting, and it was not going to be friendly...

~~This is the part where we all go "Aww" simultaneously. Friends at last…again. And you're probably confused on the whole "three years ago" thing. LONG STORY. And I'm too lazy to type it hehe ^_^ anyway, accidentally move your hand to the review button and press it and accidentally type a review ;)