Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters! Thanks to CrystalRaindrop007 for Beta'ing! Yukiko is pronounced: You-Kee-ko

A child born of love. A Child born in the snow.

Before The Rain — Epilogue

Ichigo smiled as he looked out the window and watched the snow fall slowly to the ground. It caught on the window and melted, the tiny, crystal-like droplets racing to the bottom in a race that none of them won.

It had been eleven months. Eleven months since he had married Rukia and they had moved out into the village. Sure, she missed her friends and family, but they were doing fine and he had a steady job to support them. It was actually easy after what he had been going through every day.

Sighing happily, Ichigo turned from the window and watched Rukia as she slept. She was curled into a small ball on their bed and covered with the large quilt, her black hair pooling out beneath her face. He watched as her chest rose and fell with each breath, and his smile widened.

Meeting her was the best thing that had ever happened to him. She had saved him in more than one way; she had saved him from himself and she had saved him from a life of slavery. She had given him a life to look forward to, and he wasn't going to waste it.

Turning his gaze back to the window, Ichigo let his thoughts wander to his sister. She was still at the castle, working for Byakuya, and she said that she was treated nicely, as were her friends. And he had had news from Yuzu that Orihime and Ishida were offically together. Though how far could you trust the secertive whisper of an eleven-year-old?

But he knew for a fact that Hinamori and Hitsugaya were married; he had been at their wedding. And as of three months ago, they were expecting their first child. Ichigo had commented that he hoped the baby wasn't as short as Hitsugaya, and Rukia had kicked him. She had a soft spot for short people, as she wasn't exactly tall herself.

"Shorty," he whispered, the compliment amied at the peacefully sleeping woman -girl?- in the bed.

And, as if Rukia had heard him, she moved around in the bed and snuggled deeper into the quilt, trying to protect her body from the cold draft coming in through the window.

Ichigo closed said window and walked over, sitting beside her on the bed and reaching out to play with the tiny hand of the newborn baby laying in between them.

Yukiko Hisana had been born two and a half months ago, weighing seven pounds and five ounces. She looked exactly like Rukia; the small, soft baby hair on her head was completely black and her eyes were bright violet. She was a rather small baby, but, according to Unohana, had not been born early. She was fully developed, so Rukia had been pregnant with her for nine months.

She had been concieved the first time that Ichigo and Rukia had ever made love. Rukia called her a snow child, as she had been concieved while it was snowing outside, and had been born in the same conditions on September 19th. It had been raining earlier that day, but as Rukia went into labor and Ichigo rushed her to Unohana, the rain suddenly turned to snow. It hadn't snowed for a month and a half after that, and no one was quite sure what had caused the snow, as it was quite out of season.

They had named her Yukiko because it meant Snow Child, or Child of Snow

But as the tiny baby moved around in her sleep, Ichigo smiled and brushed her soft hair back on her head, reaching down and pulling the footies on her fuzzy over her tiny, pink feet. She stuck her tongue out in her sleep for a second, then opened her bright violet eyes, staring at Ichigo as she kicked her feet back and forth sleepily. He grinned as he picked her up, but it was soon appearent that she was hungry; something he couldn't help with.

Ichigo reached over and gently shook Rukia's small body.

"Yukiko's hungry, Rukia," he said gently, smiling softly at her as she looked up at him blurrily. She nodded and reached out, taking the small baby from Ichigo and pulling up the shirt of her two-piece pajamas. Ichigo moved behind her as she fed Yukiko, and let her lean against him. Her head slumped on his chest and she let her free hand search out his on the bed. He kissed her hair before reaching out his hand to rub his fingers across Yukiko's tiny back.

"She's so small," Rukia said slowly, watching as Yukiko curled and uncurled her fingers happily as she ate.

"Yeah. She takes after you."

Rukia would have kicked him if she were in any position to do so

"But she's our snow baby, and I don't care how small she is as long as she's healthy and happy," he said, his voice muffled in her hair. "She's our baby snow girl."

Rukia smiled.

As he watched the two most important girls in his life, Ichigo felt his heart swell with happiness. A year ago, he would never have imagined this happening. It was just by chance that he had met Rukia . . . and it was just by chance that they were able to get married, and it was just by chance that Yukiko had been concieved the very first time that they had made love.

But he would do anything in the world for these two, and he would give the world to them if they asked.

And in the future, when Yukiko would begin to walk, he would be beside her to help he stand as she fell. Just like he had been for Rukia.

"Our snow baby," Ichigo said once again, letting a simple tear fall from his eye as he watched Yukiko; he loved her so much.

And before the rain there is always darkness, but the rain can turn to snow, and the snow is the most beautiful thing in the world.

THE END!

I'm actually happy with how this turned out. Besides the 'My Gosh, it's soo short' thing, that is. :D Hope you enjoyed this whole story and I hope you'll continue to enjoy my stories as I write them!

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