Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters!

Midnight Cookies

Rukia sighed, putting the book she was reading down on her light green blanket as the thunder cracked outside and lightning flashed across the sky. The small room that she shared with Yuzu and Karin was lit up for a moment, then went completely dark except for the small night-light Rukia was using to read. Turning her gaze from the storm outside, she focused on the other two sleeping girls in the room.

Karin was tossing and turning in her top bunk bed, which her father had gotten several months ago when he realized there was no way in hell that they were going to fit three beds into the one room, and Yuzu was whimpering slightly. Smiling softly, Rukia pulled herself out from under her soft quilt and walked over to Yuzu's bed, sitting down on the edge of it and putting her small hand on the girl's shoulder. Yuzu's eyes snapped open and she gasped before she recognized Rukia.

"Rukia-c-chan?" she asked quietly. Rukia nodded, sitting down on the bed beside Yuzu as the little girl moved over to make room.

"What's wrong?" Rukia asked. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Yuzu nodded, her dusty hair shaking at the action. She said slowly, "It was about... Ichi-nii. He was fighting something at our mother's grave. I dream about it often," she said, her eyes meeting Rukia's.

"Well, Ichigo's fine. He's sleeping in the very next room. There's no need to worry, OK?"

Yuzu nodded and then laid back down on the bed, letting Rukia tuck her in. She said,

"Rukia-chan... I can't sleep in thunderstorms. Can I stay up with you?"

Rukia nodded. Then, a smile came to her face and she said, "Why don't we make cookies?"

Yuzu's eyes lit up and she nodded happily, getting out of bed and standing to her feet. She was in her pink kitty pajamas, and she didn't bother changing out of them as she walked quietly with Rukia, who was wearing a two-piece, blue set of pajamas with bunnies and footies, to the door. A voice stopped them as they were about to walk out of the room.

"Wait!"

They both turned around to see Karin, wide awake and sitting up.

"I want to come, too."

Rukia smiled and nodded, motioning for her to come forward. It wasn't often that Karin let her emotional side show through, but it was apparent that she didn't want to be alone in the dark room.

The three girls walked quietly down the stairs, past Ichigo's room in which they could hear him turning in his sleep, and into the kitchen. When Yuzu flipped the light on, Rukia plinked several times in order to get her eyes used to the sudden light. She then turned to Yuzu, a large grin spreading over her face. She said,

"Now, where are the cookie recipes?"

Yuzu was bouncing happily as she ran over to the cupboard and pulled out a recipe book. She set it down on the table, and as all three girls shifted through it, even Karin's eyes were glowing.

"So, which ones should we make?" Rukia asked after each girl had chosen their favorite kind and set the different recipes out.

As she spoke, thunder roared outside and Yuzu jumped, grabbing onto Rukia's shirt sleeve. Karin rolled her eyes at Yuzu's reaction but even she looked a little shaken.

"Here, Yuzu, let's make the ones you choose. Are you OK with that, Karin?" Rukia asked, looking over at the raven haired girl over Yuzu's head.

Karin could tell that Rukia wanted to do that to make Yuzu feel better, so she nodded her head and they set to cooking. Yuzu also put on some music to distract herself from the thunderstorm outside. Soon, flour was everywhere, chocolate chips were being eaten randomly from the small bowl that Yuzu had put aside, and the kitchen was filled with laughter as Karin and Rukia had a contest to see who could get more chocolate chips out from under Yuzu's watchful eye.

Karin won, having done it before, lots before while Yuzu was cooking. She had gotten a total of thirteen chips while Rukia had gotten ten.

"I win!" Karin said, happily smirking at Rukia, who playfully stick her tongue out at the tom-boy twin.

Yuzu glared half-heartidly at them both and dumped the chocolate chips into the mixing bowl and finished the dough. Next, they set to making small, ball shaped pieces and setting them on the cookie sheet. Once they were in the oven, Rukia sat down on the floor beside the stove and Yuzu sat next to her, gripping her hand as the thunder rolled outside. Rukia smiled and put her arm around Yuzu, who cuddled to her side. Karin sat down, too, but across from Rukia and Yuzu.

"Thanks, Rukia-chan," Yuzu said.

"For what?"

"For staying up with us," Yuzu said sleepily, laying her head on Rukia's shoulder. She smiled.

"You're welcome. I had fun."

They were silent for a while, the only sounds in the house being the clicking of the cookie timer and the music that Yuzu had put on. Then, a catchy song started playing and Rukia stood to her feet, pulling Yuzu up with her.

"Yuzu, do you have any socks like Ichigo's?" she said, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Like Ichigo's? No, why?"

"Because when you wear them you can slide across the kitchen floor really easily. It's fun. Come on, let's go steal some of his socks."

Karin grinned and Yuzu smiled as Rukia led them up to Ichigo's room and silently opened the door, quietly stepping inside.

Ichigo's room was a mess. Clothes were thrown across the floor and his school books were cluttering up his desk. Rukia stuck her tongue out at the mess, and, stepping over a sleeping Kon, walked to Ichigo's dresser and opened the top drawer, pulling out three pairs of socks.

As she was about to close the drawer, Karin, who was standing beside her, found the photo that Ichigo always kept in his dresser. It was of him and Rukia, standing side-by-side on the beach, both in their swimming clothes. Rukia was soaked and Ichigo was holding a towel over her shoulders. And since he had no shirt on, you could clearly see the scars on his chest.

Karin looked at it for a second more before putting it back and following Rukia out of the room, not even noticing the twitching stuffed lion on the floor that was muttering 'Nee-san' under his breath.

Once they were out of the room, Rukia handed Yuzu and Karin each a pair of socks, then pulled a very large, loose pair on over her pajama feet before quickly walking back into the kitchen where she proceeded to slid across the floor, almost hitting the wall but managing to stop herself.

Yuzu and Karin began slipping across the floor, and if anyone had walked in, they would have thought it was an ice skating rink. They slipped past each other, into each other, and all across the room. By the time the cookie timer went off and sent them all sprawling into a pile on the floor, they were giggling so hard they could barely breathe.

Rukia quickly took the cookies out and put the new batch in, setting Karin and Yuzu down at the table with the fresh plate of cookies and glasses of milk.

Once the cookies were in, Rukia joined them. Finally, Karin asked,

"Rukia-chan, where was that picture in Ichi-nii's dresser taken?"

Rukia looked up from her cookie and said, smiling, "It was taken at the beach on our class trip... three months back. He had just thrown me into the water and I guess he felt bad because he gave me his towel. Ishida took that picture and gave it to Ichigo because he said he felt back about keeping it."

Karin nodded and didn't speak again, but Yuzu asked happily, "Do you love Ichi-nii?"

Rukia chocked on her cookie and a smirking Karin patted her on the back until she could breathe again. Once she had her breathing under control again, she said,

"Love him? Love is a very strong word, Yuzu."

Yuzu seemed the think for a minute, then said, "Do you like him as more than a friend, then?"

Rukia seemed deep in thought for a minute then said, "Yuzu... I think I've fallen. And Ichigo helped me up."

Leaving the two girls confused, Rukia left to check on the cookies, which were done.

Just as she was about to walk back into the dining room, she saw Ichigo leaning up against the doorway, wearing a white T-shirt and blue striped pants. He was smirking slightly, his arms crossed over his chest. Rukia froze.

"How long have you been there?"

Ichigo just shrugged and watched Rukia take the cookies from the cookie sheet and laid them on the counter. He walked over and smiled gently, his scowl still in place, and said,

"Long enough."

"Long enough what?" she asked, taking her oven mitts off and setting them beside the cookie dough bowl as she set to making new dough balls.

"Long enough to to know you must have gotten into my room to let Karin see that picture."

Rukia froze for a second then said, hesitantly, "And?"

Ichigo shrugged, walking over to her and looking over her shoulder. He said,

"Can I have a cookie?"

She hit him on the head with the wooden mixing spoon.

I just had to end it like that. (Evil smile) So, what did you think? Please leave reviews and drop back in tomorrow!

Please Review!