4. Summer's flame

Ichigo's body was dragged at an inhuman speed. His physical face smacked into dirt, sticks, and rocks. All four of his limbs shook randomly making him appear like a literal rag doll. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a slope in the direction of the tie's movement.

Seconds later, Ichigo's body rocketed in the sky while his body's fell into a majestic swan dive.

A red blur appeared just in time to catch the body. "Oh. I did not think this through." Ruby was unable to stop the momentum and was speeding to the ground as well.

"Do you ever?" Ichigo questioned as caught her as she fell. "You would've been a Ruby pancake."

Saying some quick thanks, she dusted herself and huffed, "Well, I wasn't the one swan diving by the neck." Noticing his annoyed expression, she whistled, "It could've happened to anyone, really though."

"Right." Ichigo was thoroughly unconvinced. He returned to his physical body. Grimacing, he stretched his aching body.

Ruby smiled as she jogged ahead of him. Just past the forest they had been traveling was a steep cliff. She came to an abrupt stop as two slabs of stone came into view. Her eyes were drawn to the etched words on them. She could scarcely believe her eyes.

"What's wrong?" She heard Ichigo's voice ring behind her.

She didn't know quite what to tell him. A mixture of thoughts raced through her mind as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Her hand reached out and caressed the surface of the bigger stone before shifting over to the smaller stone. Slim finger sank into the indentations of the engraved words

These were gravestones.

Faintly, she heard Ichigo kneel by her side.

"Ruby Rose/ Death Bows His Head and Weeps." It was oddly soothing to hear Ichigo's gruff reading of her very own epitaph. His attention turned to the bigger gravestone, "Summer Rose/Thus Kindly I Scatter."

Scenes barely out of reach bombarded her mind. She could faintly remember a woman with dark hair and silver eyes smiling kindly at her. Nothing else truly resonated with Ruby. That hurt more than anything.

"My life before Kisuke is a blur. When we finally get a way to get here, I find out that my mom is gone. To make things worse, I'm dead to what family I have left. I can see it now, 'Hey Mr. Rose, you might've thought your wife and kid were gone, but guess what I'm you daughter.' It'll be a miracle if he doesn't call the loony bin. " Ruby felt her throat growing dry as tears stung at her eyes. She roughly wiped her tears.

She felt momentarily startled when larger hands pulled her own hands away from her face. Laying them on her lap, Ichigo gently held onto them. As warm arms wrapped around her, she nestled backwards, eyes never leaving the gravestones.

Ichigo's deep voice entered her ears. Its tone mixed with both sorrow and understanding, "I know it hurts, but you can't give up. You were sick of being in the dark, and you'll have to accept that not everything will be sunshine and roses. " He rolled his eyes as she made a quiet snort before continuing, "If you stop now, you'll always regret not learning more. You're her legacy, memories or not."

Ruby nodded dolefully.

Sighing, he stood up and walked closer to Summer's gravestone. Clapping his hands and closing his eyes, he spoke, "Thank you for everything you've done for Ruby. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have ever met her. I hope I can bring your wonderful and beautiful daughter happiness in the future. She's a bit of a klutz and a blabbermouth, but she's kind, spirited, and determined. What I'm trying to say is that I love her and I'm sorry I never got to meet you."

Ruby rushed to her feet, her hands waving around in embarrassment. "W-What are you doing!? What are you saying!?"

His reply was a soft smile as he held her at arms length by the forehead. "Wasn't I clear enough? I. Love. You." Each word grew increasingly smug.

To her annoyance, her heart raced and face flushed. It was embarrassing to hear him say such things frankly and out loud, even when they were alone. And it didn't help that the smile he was wearing made him look so darn handsome.

"I love you, too." Her statement was much more shy, but sincere. "I'm sorry for freaking out on you."

"Don't be. This is an emotional adventure for you. And Ruby, it isn't your fault that you can barely remember your mother. I'm the same. Every year it's harder and harder to really remember my own mom. It can't be helped, we were too young. Besides that doesn't stop us from loving them. Right?"

"Right." Fidgeting, she took one last glance at the graves. She swallowed thickly, "Thank you, for everything. Mom. Let's go, Ichigo there's more things I have to find out. Maybe your tie can lead us to the next spot," she finished teasingly.

"We're taking the scenic route this time. I don't trust these clothes. Who knows what else that crazy guy has installed into these." Ichigo crossed his arms indignantly.

Ruby gasped, as though this was the first time her boyfriend had expressed less than complimentary sentiments towards Kisuke. "He isn't crazy. He's a genius in every meaning of the word. Some of his inventions just have kinks at first."

"That's reliable, especially from his biggest fan."

"But his inventions are amazing, especially his work in weaponry." She began to walk with a spring in her step.

"I noticed that you didn't deny the biggest fan statement."

"S-Shut up, Ichigo. Pick up the pace, I don't want to be here all day."

Ichigo smiled in relief.