Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters! Thanks to CrystalRaindrop007 for Beta'ing!

If you slip . . . I'll catch you. And if you fall, I'll help you stand. Trust me . . . Trust me, and let go . . .

Before The Rain — X

Rukia quietly opened the door to her house, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw her brother sitting in the chair in the living room directly in front of the door. He was sipping a cup of tea, and he looked like he had been sitting there for quite some time. Rukia stepped inside and, after pulling her snow-covered boots off, walked into the living room, her cheeks still bright red from the cold.

"Hello, um, Nii-sama . . ." she said slowly. She sat down on the chair opposite to him when he motioned for her to.

"What, pray tell, were you doing outside at two O'clock in the morning?"

Oops. She hadn't realized that she had been with Ichigo that long.

"I-I was . . . I was . . ."

But she was unable to form words. Her mouth opened and closed a few more times before Byakuya answered for her.

"You were with him."

It was a statement, not a question.

Rukia just nodded, biting her lip and folding her hands in her lap as she looked down at the ground. Byakuya took a deep breath, and was about to speak again when suddenly Rukia found her voice and blurted out,

"I love him!"

Byakuya was surprised, and showed it a little as he watched his sister blush deeply. She spoke more softly after that.

"I love him, Nii-sama, I know I do. I don't want to get married, either. I don't want my life decided for me by other people. I want to make my own choices and decide on my own who I love and who I don't. And . . . and . . ." she trailed off and bit her lip again, wondering if she should tell her brother of Ichigo's asking her to marry him. He had been serious about it, as he had shown her somewhere past midnight when he had kissed her so passionatley that she had lost all sense of reason and would have went further if Ichigo hadn't stopped them again. Finally, she decided to tell Byakuya. "And I know that it probably can't ever happen . . . but . . . Ichigo asked me if I would marry him."

This time, Byakuya showed his surprise by dropping his tea cup. The liquid inside the cup spilled out all over the white carpet. Rukia winced and wound her fingers together as she bit her lip harder.

She drew blood she bit so hard.

"What did you say in response?" Byakuya said calmly, reaching down to pick up his cup once he was past his initial surprise.

"I told him yes," Rukia said firmly, her voice not shaking this time as she stared into her brothers eyes. He had once again put up his emotionless mask, and she couldn't read his expressions. Instead, he stood to his feet and said,

"Go to your room. We will talk tomorrow."

And he walked out, leaving Rukia alone.

She started shaking as she walked back up the stairs and into her bedroom. As she lay down on her bed, she let her fingers linger on her lips; she could still feel Ichigo's lips on he own after nearly an hour. It wasn't a feeling she would easily forget. When he kissed her, he was soft, yet demanding and passionate at the same time. This mix of emotions always left her breathless and a little more than slightly flushed. Whenever he pulled back, she could barely breathe, so when he had reached his hands under her shirt and caressed the soft skin of her stomach and back, she was sure she was going to explode from everything she was feeling.

Then, he had stopped. She hadn't wanted him to; she wanted him to continue, but he told her that he wouldn't be able to stop if he didn't stop then, and it was the second time in two days that they had nearly gotten carried away.

Dropping her hand back to her side, Rukia climbed under her quilt, not bothering to change into her bed clothes, and fell to sleep easily, dreaming of a better life where there wasn't pain and suffering.

Only love.

"Rukia! Wake up!"

Rukia groaned and rolled over in her bed, pulling her pillow over her head to try and keep out the voice of her over-happy cousin.

"Come on, Rukia, there's someone waiting outside the window for you!"

Rukia sighed and threw off her quilt before walking over to the window. She half groaned, half smiled when she saw Renji standing on the ground, his red hair a mess in his usual red pony-tail. When he saw her, he frowned.

"You look like crap."

"Stuff it, will ya?" she said, frowning. "Go away. I'll be down in a bit; I have to change."

Renji shrugged and walked off, and Rukia turned back inside and began changing out of her clothes from the night before to replace them with a light brown skirt and a pink sweater. After pulling on a pair of thick socks, she sat down on her bed and let Hinamori do her hair.

"So, how did your meeting go last night?" she asked, a happy edge to her voice. Rukia rolled her eyes, but found a smile coming to her face, anyway.

"Well . . . I had fun," Rukia said simply, reaching up to brush a strand of hair out of her face; it fell right back.

"Did he kiss you?"

Rukia raised an eyebrow at her cousin, but nodded anyway.

"Has Hitsugaya-kun kissed you?" Rukia asked, feeling it only fair that if Hinamori got to poke her about something, then she would poke back. Hinamri turned bright pink.

"Yes, but we're not talking about me here," she said quickly. "What was it like?"

Rukia sighed. She was never one for girl talk, but she didn't have anyone else to talk about Ichigo with. So, she decided, what the heck?

"He's really gentle. He makes me feel . . . alive," Rukia said, reaching up to twist the stubborn piece of hair in her face between her fingers. "This might sound stupid, but I love his hands." Rukia blushed as she said the last sentence.

"Nope! Not stupid at all," Hinamori said, finishing with Rukia's hair. Rukia stood to her feet and began walking to the door. Hinamori said softly, "Did he really ask you to marry him?"

Rukia stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"You heard me talking with Nii-sama?" she asked. Hinamori nodded.

"I didn't mean to listen . . . but I was out in the bathroom, and I heard you come in . . . and curiosity got the better of me, I guess. So did he?"

Rukia smiled gently.

"Yeah."

"And?" Hinamori said, following Rukia as they walked out the door.

"I said I would. But I don't know how it will ever happen."

"You'll find a way, I know you will. At least . . . you're thickheaded enough to find a way!" Hinamori said, whooping happily as they walked down the stairs, pulled their boots, hats and gloves on before walking outside. Rukia met Renji at the gate to the house, and, before opening it, asked,

"What are you doing here?"

Renji smirked.

"What a way to greet your friend. Can't I just visit?"

Rukia shook her head. "You could, but you never do," she pointed out. Renji shrugged. He then asked to speak to Rukia in private and Hinamori nodded, walking off and leaving them alone.

"Renji . . . what are you really here for?"

Renji's smile dropped.

"I wanted to ask you to reconsider what I said. I - I love you Rukia, and I would like to ask you to marry me, because if you say no, you will end up marrying someone you don't know, and . . . and wouldn't it be better to marry someone who loves you? Besides . . . over time, couldn't you learn to love me, too?"

Rukia smiled sadly.

"No, I don't think I could, Renji. I really don't. You're a good friend, but besides that . . . I'm sorry, I really am."

Renji didn't speak for a moment, but when his eyes came up to meet hers, Rukia nearly gasped at the anger in them.

"It's because of him isn't it?" he growled, his hands clenched into fists. Rukia stepped back a little, glad now that she hadn't opened the front gate. Within seconds, the overwhelming anger that had built up inside of him was gone. He said, "It is, isn't it?"

He asked his question more forcefully this time, and Rukia backed away even more. She said,

"Renji . . . it's not because of him."

"Don't freakin' tell me that he hasn't been kissing ya! He's been making you believe lies; dammit; he's a slave!"

"He's not a slave, he's just like you and me and I love him!"

Renji stepped back, a little shocked at her outburst. She watched the emotions filter across his face; he finally settled on surprise and anger.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"I love him, Renji, and nothing will change that," Rukia said, her voice shaking now. "I love him."

And with that, she threw open the gate and ran past him, not stopping to look back as he yelled after her to come back. She didn't stop when she heard Hinamori's voice joining Renji's, and she didn't stop when she heard them beginning to run after her. She needed to warn Ichigo; now that Renji knew that she loved Ichigo, he would go after him.

When she reached the slave stable, she immediately ran over to his stall. Today, most of the slaves didn't work in the morning or the afternoon because the few that were working were bringing large equipment to the fields and some people had died getting in the way of them. So, if Ichigo wasn't one of the few working, she could find him easily.

When she did find him, he was standing in his stall, talking to Byakuya, who was standing outside. Quickly ducking behind a large slab of wood, she quietened her breathing and just listened. Her brother couldn't have gotten there long ago; he had been in the house when she had left, and if he had walked out of another entrance the second she went outside, he could have been here for a max of ten minutes.

"Kurosaki, I was awake when my sister slipped outside last night."

Rukia gasped quietly. Why was her brother talking to Ichigo about this? Why not to her?

"Kuchiki-sama . . . I - I asked her to meet me last night; please don't give her trouble."

Rukia frowned. She had asked to meet him last night.

"Why?" Byakuya asked, not moving from his spot in front of Ichigo's stall. When Ichigo didn't answer, Byakuya said, "Am I to understand that you asked for my sisters hand in marriage last night?"

To Rukia, now, it sounded rather crazy, a slave asking a noble to marry him, but Ichigo didn't outright answer Byakuya's question. Instead, he said,

"I love her."

It was a simple answer, but held much more than any other words could.

"I want my sisters happiness, but you realize that this can never happen?" Byakuya said, his eyes gazing deeply into Ichigo's. Then, Ichigo said two simple words.

"Why not?"

The force and determination in his voice sent shivers down her spine.

Byakuya said, "A noble cannot marry a slave. She has to marry one of the princes from the other noble families. If . . . if she could marry another, I would let her, because she seems actually happy with you."

Ichigo nodded, looking to the ground.

"I see. But I still love her and that'll never go away. And . . . Rukia, you can come out," Ichigo said softly, a small smile gracing his lips as Byakuya turned around to see Rukia standing from her position behind the board of wood. She smiled, a slight blush covering her cheeks.

"H-hello, Ichigo, Nii-sama," she said, bowing quickly to her brother.

"How long have you been there?" Byakuya asked. Ichigo answered for her.

"About three minutes. I saw her coming in," he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

They were all three silent for a few minutes, then Byakuya spoke.

"I shall leave you alone."

And then he left. As he walked out the stable door, Ichigo let his gaze fall to the ground again. Rukia shuffled her feet back and forth on the ground, then looked up into Ichigo's eyes.

"Hey, Rukia, how come you haven't been riding your horse lately? You used to ride her everyday," Ichigo asked, crossing his arms and leaning them on top of the stall door.

"She . . . um, she fell ill a few days ago and had to be put down. I-I didn't find out until yesterday, but I didn't want to bother you about it . . . and . . ."

Rukia was fighting to hold back tears. Her horse, Morning Glory, had been hers since she was four; she had been a gift from her mother, and Rukia wasn't quite ready to believe that she was dead. It hadn't sunk in yet.

"Well . . . can you let me out of here? I have something I want to show you," he said, motioning to the lock about a foot below where he could reach.

Rukia quickly looked around to make sure no one was looking, then undid the lock and Ichigo walked out.

Then, hand-in-hand, they ran from the stable and outside into the cold, December air. They didn't stop running until Rukia saw that they were within sight of the private stables. She began to slow down, and Ichigo turned to her.

"It's OK," he said, reaching over and kissing her gently on the lips. She smiled and gripped his hand tighter in hers as they walked inside the barn. She looked around, only to see that Morning Glory's stall was, indeed, empty. Ichigo tugged gently on her hand and led her into the inside ring where the horses walked and ran around when it was too cold to go outside or it was raining.

Rukia let go of his hand when she saw the beautiful, pure white horse in the middle of the room. Everything about her was white; her soft, beautiful fur coat, her mane, even her hooves. But on her head, right between her eyes, was a small, black, crescent moon shape. Rukia's eyes were wide as she walked around the horse, gently petting her. Ichigo stuffed his cold hands into his pockets and leaned up against the wall, breathing in deeply as he watched her.

Finally, she walked back over.

"She's beautiful," Rukia said, smiling. "Where did she come from, though? I've never seen her before."

"Ah. Well, I found her out in the woods one day when it had begun to snow. I've had her in here for about a week and a half. But since I was moved, I haven't been able to feed her and such, so I had Hanatarō do it for me; he was more than happy to. And Rukia?"

"Hm?" she asked.

"Ah . . . I was going to give her to you. And she needs a name."

Rukia's eyes went wide and she hugged Ichigo quickly.

"Really? She's mine?"

Ichigo felt a smile coming to his face as he watched her eyes glow with happiness. He nodded.

"Yeah. She's yours."

"I know what I want to name her," Rukia said, walking back over to the horse and petting her nose. "I want to name her Sode no Shirayuki. It means "Sleeve of White Snow"."

Suddenly, as soon as the words were out of Rukia's mouth, Ichigo grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her up onto the horse. She squealed as she flew through the air, but smiled when Ichigo climbed up behind her.

"Let's go for a ride," he said, leaning into her back and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"But she's not saddled and she doesn't have reigns," Rukia pointed out, leaning frantically back into Ichigo as he gave the horse a gentle poke to start walking. Sode no Shirayuki began gently trotting out of the stable, and as she realized they were in no trouble, even though Ichigo couldn't control the horse well, Rukia began to relax a little, and leaned forward on her horse, gripping Sode no Shirayuki gently around the neck.

Ichigo just closed his eyes and let the wind flow through his hair as they got out into the snow and the horse began running. His grip around Rukia's waist tightened as Sode no Shirayuki began running faster, and Rukia once again became a little frightened. Ichigo leaned over and muttered in her ear,

"If you slip, I'll catch you. And, well, if you fall, I'll be there to help you stand."

Rukia took a deep breath, leaning back into him, but not letting her grip on the horse go.

"Just let go. Trust me," Ichigo whispered. "I'll catch you."

Rukia smiled and let go.

"I trust you."

Sorry if this chapter was a bit jumpy!

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