Miracle – XI

The snowy, icy wind stung Rukia's half-closed eyes. She tilted her head upwards a little, squinting her eyes. The road ahead was nothing but white though. She couldn't even tell if she was going in the right direction. Shivering from the cold, she pulled tightly at her jacket, wrapping it more securely around her small body. She pushed on, hoping and praying this was the right way to the Kurosaki house – in this weather, one lost all sense of direction.

The world spun before Rukia's eyes and at the same time a particularly sharp wind blew, assaulting her lungs. She doubled over coughing, and her knees hit the ground. "N-No," she managed to choke out through chattering teeth, "Can't...stop..."

She sank her hand deep into the snow as she pushed herself up, then pushed said hand into her pocket in an attempt to get some feeling back into it. That didn't work out too well. Still shivering, she pushed forward, keeping her head bowed against the snow, wishing she had grabbed a hat and gloves. Too late for that now though; she doubted she could even find her way back to her house if she wanted to.

She hadn't gone far when another gust of wind slammed into her. She stumbled and fell into a snowbank she had been walking by. "No..." she whispered as she closed her eyes closed, "No...Ichi...go..."

Ichigo grabbed the phone on it's fourth ring, grumbling about how no one else seemed to know how to answer. "Hello?"

There was a moment of silence, then a fragile-sounding voice said, "Is this Kurosaki Ichigo?"

The voice – a female – didn't sound at all familiar. "Uh...yeah. Who's this?"

"Oh thank God," the woman said, "This is Kuchiki Hisana. Have you seen Rukia?"

Ichigo blinked. What in the world? "Kuchiki-san? No, I haven't seen her since school today..." he found this to be a rather odd question. He looked out the window. There was a blizzard going on out there, surely she would be home. "Why?"

Hisana said, in a distressed voice, "She had a fight with her father and she ran to her room, I guess she snuck out the window when Byakuya and I were talking...he's out looking for her now, but he just called and he said he couldn't find her...I thought maybe she'd go to your house..."

"Why would she come here?"

"Well..." Hisana sounded hesitant now, "The fight was...well, it was about you, really"

Ichigo looked out the window again. The snow was flying. The wind was blowing the limbs of the tree outside the window. They looked like they were ready to break off at any moment. Ichigo's hear was beating fast now. "Kuchiki-san?"

"Yes?"

"Do you really think Rukia would come here?"

"It's the only place I can think of. I'd say she'd go to her friend Miyako's if the two weren't fighting..."

That was all it took. The phone flew out of Ichigo's hands as he darted into the front hallway and started throwing his jacket and boots on. "Ichigo?" Isshin had been standing by the kitchen door, listening to his son's end of the conversation. Ichigo ran out without answering his father's unasked question. Isshin picked up the phone his son had dropped. "Hello? Who is this?"

Ichigo shielded his eyes as he started pushing his way through the snow that came up to his knees. He hadn't realized the storm was this bad. Of course, watching it from the window and actually being out in it were two different things. Ichigo swore angrily. "Dammit Rukia...if you're out in this, I'm going to kill you. What kind of idiot goes out in weather like this?"

What kind of idiot? Kuchiki Rukia, of course. Only someone as bone-headed as her would go out in a blizzard. Ichigo swore again, suddenly hating this entire situation. And the worst part was, even in his own neighborhood, he felt completely lost. The blizzard really threw off a person's sense of direction. And if he was lost, Rukia – who lived blocks away – would never be able to find her way around.

"Dammit!" Ichigo swore and kicked angrily at snow pile, sending the white powder flying. It was almost ten at night. This wasn't how he had planned to spend his evening. But then again, things didn't always work out as planned.

Kuchiki Byakuya didn't worry. He was sometimes curious, often wondered about things, and maybe at times he was a little inquisitive about the nature of something. But worry? Kuchiki Byakuya didn't worry. Worry wasn't necessary. It was a useless emotion, one that would bring no peace to a person's mind, would not help in a situation, would not do anything, except distract a person.

And yet, somehow...he was worried. Worried for the safety of his daughter, her health. He didn't like the feeling of worry, didn't like the way it made him feel. He could only remember three or four other times he had been truly worried. And – ironically enough – the last time had been for Rukia as well.

-:-:-:-:-Flashback – Ten Years Earlier-:-:-:-:-

Byakuya sighed as he tapped away wearily at his keyboard. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, Rukia had a tendency to toss and turn in her sleep, especially when she was sick. But Hisana could never say no to the little girl (nor could Byakuya for that matter), so of course, she'd been allowed to stay with them last night.

"Kuchiki-sama?" Byakuya blinked as his secretary's voice rang through the speaker next to his phone, "Your wife is on line one"

Byakuya grabbed the phone and picked it up as he said, "Thank you. What's wrong Hisana?"

Hisana spoke in an extremely quiet voice, even for her. "Byakuya, the doctor called about half and hour ago"

Byakuya blinked again. Doctor? Oh. Right. Rukia was sick. Wow, he really needed some sleep. "And? What did he say?"

Hisana sounded very upset. It had to be something bad. "It's...It's not really something that seems right to talk about over the phone..."

Oh yeah. It was bad. "Just tell me Hisana"

"Rukia..." Hisana took a deep breath, "Rukia...has Leukemia, Byakuya"

It took Byakuya a second to fully process this. The last word didn't get through until almost a full minute after Hisana said it. "Wait...what?"

"Byakuya, please don't make me repeat it," his wife sounded close to tears now. Byakuya took a deep breath, trying to calm himself a little.

"Oh...God..."

"What...Byakuya, what are we going to do?"

"I – I honestly don't know," Byakuya sighed and rested his head in his free hand, "Hisana, does Rukia know?"

"Unfortunately," Hisana still sounded distressed, "She was just waking up when he called. She's terrified now, I finally got her to fall asleep about ten minutes ago. She's so scared. All she keeps asking is if she's going to die. Do you have any idea how hard it is to hear an eight-year-old ask if she's going to die?"

Byakuya could imagine. Not that he wanted to. "God...Rukia...poor Rukia..."

Byakuya wasn't much of a person for pity. It wasn't useful. But at that moment, pity was really the only thing he could do. He was too far away to be of any comfort, to his wife or his daughter. "I'm coming home," he knew that would be a surprise to Hisana. He was right.

"You're...what? No, Byakuya. I mean, you don't have to-"

"I know I don't. I'll be home in about ten minutes," and with that, he hung up, feeling confused and torn. How in the world had this happened? He closed his eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted. He didn't want to face home, all of a sudden, didn't want to face Rukia. But he had to be there, and he knew it. So he stood up and prepared to head home.

-:-:-:-:-End Flashback-:-:-:-:-

Byakuya realized what he had been thinking. "Jeez..." he muttered to himself, "Hisana was right, wasn't she?"

He wasn't sure if that thought amused him or aggravated the hell out of him. He settled for letting it do both, and continued scanning the streets in sidewalk through the snow that was piling up on his car (despite the fact he was moving). Kuchiki Byakuya didn't worry. But at that very moment, he was worried. Very, very worried.

"Dammit!" Ichigo slammed his fist against an icy telephone pole, then swore even more loudly as he danced around in the snow, howling in pain. "Ow, ow, ow!"

He massaged his knuckles gingerly then flexed his fingers, checking to make sure absolute nothing was broken, but pushing forward at the same time. It had been half an hour, at least, since he had gone out into this God forsaken storm, and he had yet to see hide-nor-raven hair of a certain midget girl.

Ichigo pulled tightly at his jacket, wishing his toes would regain some feeling so he could do more than stumble through the icy snow that was piled a mile high on the ground. "Rukia where are you?" he asked quietly. He felt as if he had been all over the neighborhood (though that was probably an exaggeration), and stillhe hadn't found her.

Just as Ichigo was beginning to feel really beat, a small mound of snow attracted his attention. It was mostly like every other mound he had encountered so far, except for one thing; he could make out a small spot of black. His heart stopped. "Oh...God..."

He dropped to his knees and thrust his already freezing cold hands into the pile. It took a minute, but finally he came upon the small, shivering, slightly blue form of Kuchiki Rukia. "Rukia," Ichigo drew the girl into his arms. Her hands reached up and clutched weakly at Ichigo's jacket. "Oh God..." Ichigo whispered. He slipped his jacket off at once, ignoring the frigid air that hit his bare arms, and wrapped it around Rukia. Hang on," he muttered, "Please just...hang on. If I can just remember how to get home..."

He stumbled up and turned in the direction he was pretty (a little) sure he had originally come from. His sense of direction sucked in good weather. In bad weather? He and Rukia were both completely screwed.

A sudden noise his attention. Rukia was twisting in his arms, coughing. Ichigo, careful to keep moving, raised a hand up and touched it to her forehead. Somehow, even though she practically felt like ice, he could tell her forehead was burning up. Great. Fever. Never a good thing. "This is so not good," he muttered as he pushed his way through the snow. It was like pushing through rocks. "Rukia, please – please don't die..."

It felt like an eternity before the sign for the Kurosaki Clinic came into view. It was a dim blue sign, but at the same time it stood out against the bright white snow. Ichigo, his teeth chattering, was renewed by the site, and actually managed to run-stumble. Rukia was shivering worse than ever against him, despite being wrapped up in his jacket. "Just a little further..."

As he got closer to the house, he made out two small forms pressed against the living room window. Karin and Yuzu. They were supposed to be asleep, so of course they weren't. They both darted to the door as soon as they saw Ichigo and wrenched it open. "Ichi-nii!" Yuzu cried, "Where've you been, Daddy's worried – is that Rukia-chan?!"

"Where's Dad?" Ichigo didn't mean to be so harsh with his little sister – Yuzu was sensitive after all – but he didn't have time to listen to this.

"In the kitchen, wait-" Karin darted into the kitchen to find their father, who was currently talking on the phone. She dragged Isshin out a second later. The man's mouth dropped when he saw Rukia shivering in his son's arms.

"Ah...Hisana? I think we've got your daughter...yes, definitely your daughter...I'll get back to you," he hung up quickly and took charge, "Ichigo, bring her into the clinic. Yuzu, get extra blankets, I know we have some hanging around. Karin, turn down the heat in the clinic-"

"What?" Ichigo asked in disbelief. Karin looked doubtful about her father's orders for her as well. "Dad, she's freezing-"

"Exactly. Bring her into an overly warm room and her body will go into shock. You don't want that,do you?" Ichigo had to admit, his father had a good point. Apparently Karin thought so as well. She moved to quickly to do as Isshin had told her. It was one of those rare times that all three kids were actually willing to do as their father told them. Ichigo followed Isshin into the clinic, tightening his grip on Rukia, who was still shivering terribly. "Don't worry," Isshin had seen the look of worry in his son's eyes, "She'll be all right. Put her into that bed over there, go on..."

Ichigo was reluctant to relinquish his grip on the girl, but he knew it was for her own good. He laid her down carefully just as Yuzu stumbled in, weighed down by ten or twelve assorted comforters and blankets. Ichigo grabbed one and wrapped Rukia's small body up tightly. Yuzu moved to help as well, and after a second Karin joined them too.

For some odd reason, it took Isshin half an hour to determine what Ichigo had taken five seconds to; Rukia was sick. Very, very sick. Well, okay, more than usual. "I don't know what to do right now," Isshin admitted, "I don't know if she's allergic to anything, so I don't want to give her medicine. We'll just have to wait for her parents to get here. They must be taking it slow, hope they didn't crash..."

The snow outside showed no signs of stopping. Ichigo had to admit, he was starting to worry too. It had been awhile...

But just as ominous thoughts were starting to cross Ichigo's mind, the sound of the front door opening reached his ears. "Three guesses who that is," Isshin stood up and left to greet Rukia's parents. Ichigo could just make out Hisana's low, distressed voice. He sighed and looked over at his sisters, who were standing against a wall.

"You two better head to bed," he said, "The chances of this snow actually canceling school are slim, ya know"

Yuzu and Karin nodded and quickly scampered out. They'd barely left when Kuchiki Hisana entered. Isshin was still talking with Byakuya, apparently.

Ichigo stood up to follow his sisters; one, he still had school tomorrow, and two, this didn't seem like the right place to be. It was more of a family thing. But Hisana caught the action and said, with a small smile, "You can stay if you want. I think she'd like you to be here"

Ichigo paused at the door, then turned back. Well, he really didn't want to leave...

"Your father told me you went out to look for her," Hisana said as Ichigo sat down again, "You didn't have to do that, it could have been dangerous, especially on foot. I didn't mean to make you go out, I just wanted to know if you'd seen her"

"S'all right," Ichigo muttered, shrugging, "Cold doesn't bother me all that much, not really"

"Well, still," Hisana smiled as she reached a hand out and ran it through Rukia's raven hair. "She likes it," Hisana answered Ichigo's questioning glance, "She was born with a full head of hair, and I used to love playing with it. When she cried, it always made her feel better. After that it just kind of became a habit. Whenever she was upset about something, or scared, this always made her feel better. She still likes it, and old habits don't seem to die as hard as they used to"

Ichigo smiled, but before he could say anything, Rukia began coughing. He looked down at her, alarmed, but after a minute the fit ended. Hisana moved her hand down to her daughter's forehead, and frowned. "She has a fever"

"For some reason it took my dad half an hour to figure that out," Ichigo rolled his eyes as he allowed his fingers to dance absentmindedly over Rukia's hand. He pulled away when he saw Hisana was watching him though. She was smiling mysteriously. "What I don't get," he said in an attempt to fill the suddenly awkward silence, "Is why she ran out. She knew it was bad out there, what was with the rebellious thing?"

"Because, unfortunately, that's who Rukia is," Hisana said with a sigh, "She's a stubborn person who, no matter what, has to have things her way," at that moment, Byakuya walked in, with Isshin right behind him, "Not much different from certain people I know..."

"I don't know what she's talking about, but if she's emphasizing words, it can't be anything too kind," Isshin muttered, "Ichigo, go to bed, it's almost midnight"

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, standing up, "'Night"

He gave everyone a sort of wave as he left, and certainly didn't miss the glare Kuchiki Byakuya threw him. Still a lot of hard feelings there. But Ichigo didn't care. The only thing he acknowledged as he left was the small form laying in the bed next to Hisana.

Please be all right...Rukia

Author's Note: Uh huh...yeah. So, basically nothing happened. Don't worry, I know. Oh, and I'm in the process of redoing the Prologue (probably be up late tonight or tomorrow), because I realized today that it completely sucks. And...yeah. Just review, kay? My final goal for this story is 350. I don't see it happening, but hey, I can try, right? — Sam