Ok, so I decided it was a good idea to update today, since I probably wasn't going to get anymore reviews. Though I'm still a bit put off that I have only seven reviews per chapter (and only in the last two) while 13 people have this fic in their alerts and 20 have favorited it. Not very logical if you ask me, but I guess the only thing that really counts is that you liked the fic.
So here it goes, the grand finale (I hope so). It's also the longest chapter in the whole fic...I briefly considered breaking it down into two parts but then realized you wouldn't be very happy with me if I did that. So here it is. Enjoy.
Dying to Live
It was mid-afternoon already and Rukia was standing before Capt. Ukitake, giving the daily report on patrols and squad training. High on her arm she could feel the comfortable weight of the lieutenant badge; she still felt giddy every time she reminded herself of her position, no matter however long or short a time she'd had it.
"Very well Rukia-san…" Ukitake began talking as she finished her report.
If he said anything else she didn't noticed, for right then a sharp pain took over her senses, making her knees fold underneath her and only a quick move of her arms prevented her from crashing fully into the ground.
"Rukia!" Ukitake called out, very worried.
"Kuchiki-fukutaicho!" She barely heard Kiyone's and Sentarou's cries.
'What's going on?' She asked herself.
Quickly the violet eyed shinigami began checking herself, nothing seemed to be wrong, and yet the pain just wouldn't go away; it took her several tries before she finally managed to push it to a corner of her mind, at the same time realizing what it meant.
"Ichigo!" She screamed as she jumped onto her feet.
Ukitake watched her oddly, confused by her sudden cry. The two third seats on the other side ended up on the ground, having moved too fast away from her at her sudden jump.
Rukia in that moment wanted nothing more than to shunpo out of the office and in the direction of the closest Senkaimon as fast as her power could take her; but she retained enough sense of self to realize she still had a superior to answer to.
"Ukitake-taichou." She spoke, taking deep breaths to ignore the sharp pain while not fully blocking it. "My deepest apologies. I know this is highly inappropriate, but I need to ask you for leave, right now." She winced slightly as she realized the pain wasn't ceasing, that couldn't be good. "I'm really sorry for my offense sir, but it's an emergency."
"An emergency…" Ukitake repeated, watching Rukia carefully. "And it somehow involves Kurosaki Ichigo…I thought you hadn't gone to see him in years."
"I really don't have time to explain right now, Ukitake-taicho." Rukia replied through gritted teeth. "Trust me that I haven't broken any rules, not lately. Something's wrong with Ichigo, I can't tell you how I know, only that it is the truth. And I need to hurry."
Ukitake still didn't understand half of what Rukia was saying, but she knew his fukutaicho and trusted her enough to believe her.
"Go Rukia-san."
That was all she needed, a fraction of a second later she was gone.
Moving at speeds that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago, Rukia got to the Kuchiki estate in record time. She knew it would be far easier to use her position to order the servants to open their private Senkai gate than wait for the 12th Division to authorize her pass through the official one. She didn't have the time.
*How bad is it?* She turned her voice into her own mind.
*It's bad Rukia, very bad.* A voice answered her softly, for the owner knew how much this situation pained the young shinigami.
*I had had a bad feeling all day, I just would have never imagined it would become something like this…* Rukia half-admonished herself.
*None of us could have known Rukia, you cannot blame yourself.* The same voice said.
*Ichigo won't like it if you blame yourself.* Another voice added. *Whatever it is that has happened, there's nothing you could have done to stop it.*
*I know it's just…* Rukia didn't even know what to say.
*All you can do now is hurry.* The same voice told her. *Remember, whether the time has come or not, you cannot be late…We cannot be late.*
*I know.*
Right then the Senkai Gate finally opened and Rukia jumped into it, right as she felt her older brother's energy approaching; he probably wouldn't be too happy with her, but it couldn't be helped. Time was running out, she had to hurry.
.-.
Kurosaki Ichigo, once the most powerful shinigami to exist, was in that moment laying on the floor of a small candy store, an awful wound on his stomach and a growing puddle of blood beneath him, his own blood. He was just laying there, unable to help himself in anyway; as bad as the pain was, he knew he'd been through worse, granted, it had been a long time ago, but the thought was enough to keep him focused.
The shrill cry of a girl brought him fully back to his senses.
"So…ra…" he called out in a very low voice.
"She's alright sir." An old woman, the clerk of the store, told him as she approached him. "My son is holding her and the little boy."
"So…Souken…" Ichigo whispered.
"Your children are alright young man, they're safe." The woman reassured him. "You just need to hang on until the medics get here. They won't be long now."
"Not…my kids…" Ichigo managed to whisper as he tried to move his hand.
The old woman watched with a mix of sadness, and confusion as the young man managed with great difficulty to fish his cellphone from his pants and handed it to the old woman.
"Ishida…" She heard the young man whisper. "Ishida Uryuu…father…"
And that's as far as he got, before losing consciousness.
The woman barely had enough thought to hold onto the cellphone as the orange-haired young man let go of it. The phone had some blood on it, from when it had been held, but the woman managed to ignore it and, with some effort due to her trembling hands, opened the contact list. There were so many names she feared it would be impossible to find the right one, but she did.
"Hello…" The woman almost gasped when, upon hearing a reply, she realized who exactly she was talking to. "Sir, I know you don't know me, my name is Maname Izumi, I own a little candy store downtown, I'm calling you from the cell of a young man…I suppose that is his name, he didn't have time to tell me…He asked me to call this number, said you were the father of the two children with him…Yes, they're alright, Kurosaki-san not so much…he's been shot…Ishida-sensei?"
.-.
In the Karakura General Ishida Uryuu, one of the youngest and most talented doctors of the country was in that moment taking a break, enjoying a cup of coffee in the longue. His shift was almost over, he only had to make one last round to his patients and make sure there were no emergencies; he smiled to himself at the thought of his wife: Inoue-Ishida Orihime waiting for him, she had finally learnt how to cook; he also thought of his children, four year old twins: Souken and Sora.
Life was good for him, and for all of his friends. It had been years since there had been any serious emergency regarding the spiritual world. True, there were still more hollows going to Karakura Town than in any other place in the planet, but with him, his wife, their friends, Ichigo's sister and those from the Urahara Shoten, they were more than enough to keep things in order even with no resident shinigami.
In fact, things had been so peaceful that if it weren't for Tatsuki's insistence that they train a bit during their bimonthly meetings he might be running the risk of rusting. Still, considering it meant they were all fine he wasn't about to complain.
So deep was he in his musings that he almost missed the sound of his cellphone.
"Hello, Dr. Ishida Uryuu speaking." His almost-joking voice turned suddenly very formal, something was wrong, even with no spiritual warning to go with it he just knew it. "Excuse me Maname-san, but why are you calling from this number? Where is Kurosaki Ichigo?... What do you mean he couldn't tell you?... Are the twins alright?... What has happened?... He what?" he cursed both mentally and verbally. "Please do what you can meanwhile Maname-san, I'll be there as soon as I can…"
He closed his phone with a snap, coffee forgotten and rushed to the main desk.
"Ishida-sensei?" the receptionist had never seen him like that.
One of his colleagues was there, about to check out, and looking at him with absolute shock.
"Omura-san, can you cover for me?" Uryuu asked. "I only have one last round left."
"Sure, but what's the emergency?" Omura asked.
Never before had Ishida Uryuu asked to be excuse early, whatever was going on they knew it had to be huge.
"One of my friends was shot, I don't know the particulars." Uryuu began explaining as he took off his white coat and replaced it with a dark, warmer one. "It seems he's in a very bad condition, and my children were with him."
"Go, go." Omura told him immediately. "Want us to send an ambulance after you?"
"It might be a good idea, though I'm sure the woman who phoned me called one already." Uryuu replied. "I just really, really need to get going."
The receptionist and doctor signaled for him to get on his way already. They understood the need to help a friend, and they had never before seen Dr. Ishida like that, whoever this friend of his was, he was very important to him.
As soon as he got in the car Uryuu put his phone on speaker and called his wife:
"Orihime…" He began.
"Oh Uryuu, hello! Are you getting off work early?" His wife inquired, confused yet happy.
"Not exactly. Listen, there's been an emergency." The last thing he wanted was to dampen her mood, but there was no choice.
"Spiri…" She began, confused.
And he knew why, she hadn't sensed anything, neither had he; there had been no real spiritual trouble in so long…but then again, this wasn't really spiritual in nature.
"No, it's Ichigo. He's been shot…"
"Oh my god! What…" She began babbling incoherently.
"Orihime! Please, you need to focus. I need you to call everyone. I'm on my way downtown right now, I'll need the rest of you to track me down."
"Shouldn't it be better if we go to the hospital?"
"I…" how could he explain to his perpetually happy wife that he didn't believe their friend was going to be getting to a hospital? "I think you should better follow me."
"Alright…" she was subdued now, understanding the graveness of everything. "I'll call everyone. We'll be there as soon as possible."
"Very well."
"And Uryuu…please, do everything you can for Ichigo."
"I promise you Orihime."
.-.
Kurosaki Ichigo blinked wearily, wondering what had happened for a few seconds. Until, piece by piece, it all came back to him. He and Rukia had celebrated another anniversary of their meeting in the Winter-scape just a few days ago, and soon their other anniversary, this one of the day they had met, would take place.
It had been ten years since that first, almost fated meeting, on a night where he had learnt that there was more to the spiritual world than the ghosts he saw everyday, there were shinigami, hollows, and a whole other world called Soul Society; the very same night he became a part of that world…only to lose it a little over half a year later. He'd felt so comfortable being a shinigami, like he'd been born for that life (and maybe in a way he had), he didn't think he would ever be able to get over it. And yet he did, though it wasn't because he missed his powers any less, but because he'd gotten back the one part of that life he knew he couldn't live without: he had gotten his beloved violet eyed shinigami, his Rukia, back.
Since that night they had been meeting almost every night, except the few times he'd stayed up way too late while in college or when she was sent on a late patrol. Eventually he'd gotten used to sense her, even when they couldn't actually meet; and as painful as it was for him not to be able to be there, by her side, he at least felt happy to remain in contact with her.
They had promised to wait a lifetime for each other, to live to their fullest, but never accept another by their side that wasn't each other. And they held onto that promise. Ichigo knew Rukia was now the lieutenant of the 13th Division, had been for a few years now; and she had also explained to him that when the Kuchiki Elders had tried to have a marriage arranged for her, her older brother had refused them, arguing that she was already promised to someone. Rukia was quite sure Byakuya knew she was waiting for Ichigo, even if there was no way for anyone to know the two had remained in contact. Rukia hadn't been sent to the Transient World very often in years, and she never used a gigai when there. In fact, the last time she'd been in Karakura for more than quick hollow extermination was for the Ishida twins' births a little over four years before.
Ichigo for his part had finished high-school with grades had enough to guarantee him a partial scholarship for college. He'd studied psychology, as he had explained to those who asked, he did enjoy things besides fights. He'd ended up as a high-school counselor, while giving some defense classes in Tatsuki's dojo a few nights a week. He'd moved into his own flat after beginning college, and even though his friends had tried to pair him up with some girl or another a few times, they could never convince him. Eventually they stopped trying. He'd been best man at Orihime's and Uryuu's wedding, five years earlier, and been chosen as the twins' godfather when they were born a year later. Most recently he'd been best man to Chad's own wedding, to Tatsuki no less! Last he knew she was a few months pregnant.
That morning, he began remembering, Orihime was going to accompany Tatsuki to her first ultrasound, Chad was working; Ichigo had offered to take the twins out for the morning so his friends could go to the doctor on their own, without having to worry about two kids getting bored. So Ichigo had taken the twins to the park, though instead of wanting to play with other children their age the two had insisted on Ichigo telling them stories of his adventures. Being the children of a quincy and one of the most powerful living humans to ever exist, it wasn't unexpected that the children had been able to see spirits since they were very young. Their parents had made sure to explain everything to them, the good and the bad (to the extent a child's mind could understand at least); they just loved hearing stories about the time their parents and 'uncles and aunts' had fought monsters. They of course were never told the more gory details, the kind that still gave the adults nightmares at times; just enough for them to be content, and to keep seeing their family as heroes.
So Ichigo had taken the kids to a nearby bridge, and began telling them of the time their father had insisted on competing with him to see who could better protect the town from the monsters. The twins had heard that story before, of course, but they loved it all the same.
A few hours later Ichigo took them for some ramen for lunch and afterwards the kids insisted in some dessert so Ichigo thought it would be a good idea to go to a nearby candy store. He knew the place for his mom used to take him there some afternoons after his karate class. Once there the four-year-olds immediately chose their favorite candy and Ichigo himself chose a few things, both for himself and his friends; if Orihime was anything to go by, he knew Tatsuki would begin having strange cravings soon enough.
They were on their way to the cashier when suddenly Ichigo's trained senses warned him something was wrong. He might not have any spiritual power anymore, but he'd fought a war once, and there are things that are never forgotten; he noticed when two men entered the store, looking too stiff for it to be normal, one was almost trembling. Then he saw one of them take out a gun, directing it at the cashier at the same time he ordered her to give them all the cash. The other one meanwhile was looking around the store, looking for other costumers.
Ichigo didn't even think. He just let his instincts rule him as he pushed the kids back behind a nearby display. He pulled an attendant who was close enough and then pushed him through the ground before the two assailants could notice him, covering his mouth to stop him from crying out.
"Listen to me." Ichigo told him in a very low voice. "I need you to do exactly what I tell you."
"Are you here to rob us?" The young man, younger than Ichigo, asked in fright.
"No, but two others are." Ichigo was dead honest. "I had to pull you down before they saw you, or us."
"My grandma…" The boy gasped.
"Don't worry." Ichigo reassured him. "I'll do what I can. You have a cellphone?"
The boy just nodded.
"Very well, call the Emergency number, tell them what's going on. And try not to be heard by the ones over there." He turned to the twins, who had crouched at the same time as him. "You two, I need you to stay here with him, don't make a noise."
"Uncle Ichigo is gonna beat the bad men?" Sora asked in a very quiet voice.
"Yes, uncle Ichigo is gonna beat the bad men." Ichigo agreed with her. "Souken, look after your sister."
The boy just nodded, very seriously, it was at times like this that it became obvious, more so than usually, just how much like Uryuu he was.
"You," he turned back to the boy again. "If something goes wrong I want you to take them and run, you understand me?"
"Yes sir." The boy didn't bother trying to contradict him.
With a deep breath Ichigo kissed both children's brows and got on the move. He crouched low, moving through the small alleys of the store, until he managed to get behind the man keeping guard. He hadn't seen him handle a gun yet, and Ichigo hoped he didn't have one.
The wait was excruciating, too used he was to just jump into the action and fight like a crazed man. But he no longer had the kind of power needed for that; and there were more lives at stake than just his own. He had to think about the twins, the young boy and the old woman who owned the store.
Once he was sure the assailant wasn't about to turn in his direction Ichigo leapt over him, using his body weight to tackle him to the ground. They made enough noise when they fell, so as to call both the other assailant and the old woman's attention.
"Get down!" He screamed at the woman.
The woman did as she was told, hiding underneath the cash registry, at the same time the assailant turned his gun on Ichigo.
The orange-haired man punched the assailant underneath him, knocking him out and then rolled to the side at the same time a shot rang out through the store.
A muffled scream was heard through the store and Ichigo imagined it had been Sora, and that someone had tried to quiet her.
It took a few seconds for the pain to catch up with Ichigo, the bullet had scratched his side, it wasn't life threatening, though it hurt like hell; and yet, he knew he couldn't allow it to take him over, he had to stop the second assailant, before he tried to hurt his godchildren, or the owners of the store. So, focusing on the memory of all the hard battles he had fought before, he allowed the adrenalin to fill him, to push his body forward again.
Two more shots rang out, the first one Ichigo managed to evade, but the second hit him right in the middle of the stomach. Knowing his energy was running out as he lost blood Ichigo gave himself a mighty push and managed to deliver two kicks, one to the assailant's hand to make him loose his gun, and the second to his side to make him stagger, one last uppercut and the man was down.
"It's alright…" Ichigo spoke out loud as he held onto his bleeding stomach. "You're safe."
Suddenly he could no longer stand, his legs stopped holding him up and he fell down.
As if through a fog he could hear Sora screaming for him, and imagined the boy was having a hard time holding her back, it was a good thing Souken had turned out to be so much like Uryuu, he would be able to help.
"Young man…" He heard another voice called.
It was the old woman. She was standing right beside him, an expression of horror on her face, he imagined it was due to his wound…must be really bad then.
Ichigo began going in and out of consciousness, and he barely managed to muster enough energy to make sure the twins were alright, hand his cellphone to the woman and tell her to call Ishida Uryuu, he wasn't even sure if he had managed to explain to her who Uryuu was. Well, she would be finding out soon enough either way…
And so, after losing consciousness one more time Ichigo found himself in the middle of nowhere. It was the same place he found himself in every time he followed his connection to Rukia and yet was unable to reach the Winter-scape, all black, white and red around; except that it was different this time, it was falling apart. It was as if the red, that upon closer look seemed form some kind of spiral around him, were unraveling, and with it so were the black and white surrounding him. It's not like there was anything else around besides those colors, he wasn't actually sure how he knew everything was collapsing, he just did; and he also knew it could only mean something very bad was going on.
"Ru…kia…" He called in a broken voice, he wasn't sure if he had spoken just in his mind, or out loud, and in that moment he didn't care.
He was still connected to her, he knew that much, he could still sense her; he could sense her total panic, and the adrenaline as she pushed herself forward. For an instant terror filled him as well, was she fighting at the moment? It took him a second to realize that, no, she wasn't fighting, she was running, as if her life depended on it, or maybe it was his?
He understood it then, she knew he was dying, just like he usually knew when she was in a fight, or had been hurt; she knew and hurrying to him. Did she expect to be able to save him? Or was there something more? Something related to the colors all around him, to their unraveling? Was he in danger of more than just dying?
.-.
All around town phones were being answered, strangled gasps heard, just moments before people would abandon whatever it is they'd been doing and rushed to downtown Karakura.
Tatsuki barely remained coherent enough to scream at her assistant to keep things in order and cancel her yoga class for that evening; Orihime had just dropped her at the dojo (she and Chad had a flat over it) and now she was in a rush once again. She was lucky that one of her friends thought of driving by and picking her up or she would have never made it on time.
Orihime had called for Keigo as soon as her husband had hung up and asked him to drive her and Tatsuki. She still had enough presence of mind to track her husband down, being the best one at sensing reiatsu out of the three of them; though she doubted very much she would have been able to drive, distraught as she was. The same could be said for Tatsuki, though, in her case, the pregnancy had her hormones in such a frenzy it was even worse.
Chad had barely even told the group in the studio to keep working before rushing out. Most people believed the emergency to be related to his wife and he really didn't have the time to clear that out. While he no longer was part of a group he still liked music very much, which had brought him to work in a music studio, helping young people who, like him once, dreamed of being famous musicians. He had a car, though being already downtown he decided it would be faster to track down the others on foot. And as he ran he couldn't help but wonder what mess Ichigo had ended up in the middle of now, and why hadn't be been able to be there for his friend this time.
Mizuiro had said some very rushed apologies to the women he had been having a very nice late lunch with, explaining he had an emergency and dashed out. He was the one farthest from all of them, in the house of one of his 'girlfriends'. He just floored the pedal on his car and hoped he would get where he was needed soon enough. He was a very relaxed man, but even he knew that for Orihime to be that hysterical, something had to be very, very wrong.
At the same time in the local junior-high, for reasons no one could understand, a black-haired girl had just dropped to her knees screaming her brother's name. Her auburn haired twin had rushed to her side, the look of total panic on her face enough to confuse those around them even more. And yet there was no time, Karin knew it, and just by looking at her sister's face, so did Yuzu.
Truth is none of them ever imagined they would be in such a rush, not again, not after the war was over. It wasn't supposed to be that way. There was peace, they had won, hadn't they earned some nice normal lives? Apparently they hadn't, if what was going on with their friend was anything to go by it. They just hoped to make it on time.
Uryuu was the one closest, and yet still several blocks away, and traffic wasn't making it any easier. He was about to let out a frustrated growl when he suddenly noticed a dark form dashing by his side; so fast that hadn't he possessed heightened senses due to being a quincy and his training during the war he would have never noticed it. It took him a second more to realize just who that had been.
"Kuchiki Rukia…" he whispered to no one in particular. "After all these years, you're back. But what for? To save Ichigo, or to take him away?"
So bright Uryuu was, had always been, and yet he forgot the last option: that she might be there to save him by taking him with her…
.-.
"Kurosaki-san…Uncle Ichigo…"
He could hear voices calling him, as if they were very far away. He was almost sure the woman was trying to convince him to hang on, that the paramedics would be able to save him. He knew better, having been in a war, having died more than once, he knew what it felt like; and he knew that this was even worse than some of those. He wasn't worried about dying, or afraid of it, not really, after all, he knew what was waiting for him on the other side, and in a way it was more than what he had been living with for the last nine years…what he feared was not knowing what the disaster going on inside his mind meant…
"Ichigo!"
That voice, it was different, didn't sound as far away as the others, and there was a ring to it, a strength in it…he knew precisely who was calling him now, as he also knew this was one call he couldn't ignore…
Using all the strength he had left he pushed himself in the direction of that voice, and of the soul he knew it belonged to. For a moment he felt as if he couldn't move, as if he had no strength left, and then…it was over.
When he opened his eyes again he had no problem recognizing the one before him, her hair was a bit longer, and there was that badge on her arm, but other than that she hadn't really changed that much.
"Hey…" He called softly.
He was shocked when she didn't answer the same way; but before he asked he noticed something else, the weakness was returning. A look down confirmed what he already knew, he was dead, his body was on the ground, the old woman kneeling next to him, shaking his shoulder, trying to wake him up, though it was useless and a part of her knew that already.
Before him stood his beloved shinigami, though she didn't look exactly happy to see him, instead she looked serious.
"What's wrong?" He asked, confused, this wasn't the kind of reunion he was expecting.
"Look at yourself Ichigo." She indicated in a very low voice.
He noticed it then, he was becoming translucent; he was a ghost already, why was he disappearing altogether now?
"This isn't good is it?" He asked, dreading and yet already half-knowing the answer.
"No." She replied. "You have no spirit strength whatsoever, therefore you're vanishing."
"Definitely not good." He mumbled. "Does that mean this is it for me? I'm gona die, be gone, no afterlife for me?"
"Not as long as it depends on me." Rukia answered, a line of steel in her voice.
"Huh?" Ichigo didn't understand, what could she do now?
"Do you trust me Ichigo?" She asked, dead serious.
"You know I do, with my life, or existence now." He answered in the same tone.
With no explanation she drew her sword, resting the tip of it against his chest. A motion that reminded them both of a night ten years prior, of the night everything had begun…
He didn't make any questions. He really had no idea what she was expecting to manage with that, and yet he would never question her decisions; like he had said, he trusted her totally.
"Very well," He spoke, trying to lighten the moment. "Let's do this, shinigami."
"My name isn't shinigami." She told him with a half-smile, realizing what he was trying to do. "It's Kuchiki Rukia."
"Kurosaki Ichigo." He replied in the same tone he had that time.
He laid his hands over her in the pommel of the sword, ready to help her drive it through him. And then she changed things:
"And hopefully soon I'll be Kurosaki Rukia."
There was no time for him to reply to that statement, as the sword went through him.
.-.
The first thing Kurosaki Ichigo noticed was that he was back in the white, black and red space. Though this time he wasn't alone, his beloved stood before him, and, to his surprise, there was a red cord keeping their hands joined.
"Where are we?" He wondered, not fully noticed it had been spoken out loud.
"A sort of limbo, a middle point between our souls." Rukia answered.
"This place was falling apart last time I saw it, a few minutes ago." Ichigo pointed out.
"I know, I could feel it." Rukia replied. "The thing is, when you won that last battle against Aizen, you sacrificed all your spiritual energy."
"I know." Ichigo began.
"No." She interrupted him. "This is about more than giving up your shinigami powers. Have you never wondered why you couldn't even sense spirits after the war ended? You were able to see them before becoming a shinigami, you should have retained that part of yourself even after losing that other power."
"I just thought it was all part of the package."
"It wasn't that. You lost all your spiritual energy in that attack. Urahara and your father got you back into your body just in time, before you vanished." She sighed. "Ichigo, shinigami or not, a spirit cannot survive without energy…"
"So you mean I would have vanished completely if oyaji and Urahara hadn't gotten me back into my body…?" he was shocked. "But then that means this is the end. I'm dead, I'm done with! Did you know?"
"To answer the last question first yes, but it's not over yet, and I told you it wouldn't be as long as it depended on me."
"How can this depend on you?" He suddenly opened his eyes wide. "You didn't just sacrifice your powers to me again, did you? Please tell me we aren't going to get back to square one."
"Would it be that bad?"
"Well," he sighed. "Not really, I mean I'm sure I would be able to save you if I needed, but I really would prefer not to have to fight half the Gotei to get to you."
Rukia couldn't help but giggle.
"Don't worry, I assure you I haven't given you my power." Rukia reassured him. "I'm just giving back what rightfully belongs to you…"
Before he could ask another question he suddenly saw something different behind Rukia, it was the Winter-scape, and three figures were standing there, figures he knew perfectly well. He had just opened his mouth again to speak when two of those figures leapt in their direction, passing by Rukia's sides before impacting against his chest.
For a moment the greatest pain filled Ichigo, the kind of pain he had only felt once before, many years before, while at the bottom of a very deep hole…
Seconds later it was over and he realized he felt different, stronger and, almost younger. Looking at himself he realized the reason for the change, he was wearing a shihakusho, like he hadn't in so long…on his back he could feel the comfortable weight of Zangetsu and hanging from the side of his head a white mask with red markings.
"Zangetsu? Shiro?" He called.
"We're here, Ichigo…" Both voices answered him at the same time.
Ichigo raised his eyes to look at Rukia again, shock, gratefulness, joy, love and many other emotions fighting to take precedence in his face.
"Thank you…" Was all he managed to whisper.
Rukia just smiled.
.-.
Uryuu was the first to arrive at the candy-store, he immediately went to kneel next to the bloodied body and it took him just a few seconds to confirm what he had feared already: Ichigo was dead. Then why wasn't his soul around? And where was Rukia for that matter? She should have arrived before him, she should be there with Ichigo. Unless she had already left, taking him with her…but no, she wouldn't do that, they wouldn't leave without allowing everyone else to say goodbye.
"Ishida-sensei…" He heard the old woman called. "Is he gonna be alright?"
Ishida just looked at her sadly, poor woman, having to witnessed such a tragedy. And yet, somehow, even without knowing the details, Uryuu knew that Ichigo had taken whatever risks he had to to save her, as well as the few others in the store.
"I'm sorry ma'am." Ishida said quietly. "He's gone."
The woman broke crying right then, mumbling about 'brave men' and 'young idiots' who shouldn't be dying before an old woman like her.
Uryuu just shook his head, if she had just known Ichigo…
The ambulance arrived right then, though Ishida informed them they were too late. Still, he left them to make the arrangements necessary to move the body while he went to his children.
The two young paramedics just looked at the retreating doctor in silence, everyone knew who Ishida Uryuu was; they were so shocked to see him there, until they saw two small children hurrying to his arms, the little girl still crying.
One of the paramedics cursed under his breath.
"What is it?" The second one asked.
"Haven't you realized it yet?" The first one hissed. "Ishida-sensei knew this man."
"Oh…" The shock was so great, the other paramedic didn't know what to say.
And really, what could they say about a man who had just had to confirm a friend's death?
Uryuu meanwhile thanked the young man for looking after his children, taking a moment to listen to his mumbles about how Ichigo had told him to call emergency and look after the children, of how he had fought against the second assailant even after having been shot.
Yes, thought Uryuu, that's exactly what you would expect from Ichigo.
"Uryuu!" His wife's cry brought his attention back to the present.
And there she was, standing right outside the candy store; it took a moment for the young doctor to realize their friends were keeping her back, probably so she wouldn't see Ichigo's dead body. They didn't need another reason for nightmares.
In the end Keigo was the only one to go in and help him carry the twins out while covering their eyes so they wouldn't have to see their dead uncle either.
"Tou-chan?" Uryuu heard his little whisper in his ear. "Is Uncle Ichi gonna be alright?"
Uryuu's heart almost broke right then, no matter how much they had explained to the two kids about their old lives, about their powers, how were they supposed to tell them their uncle was dead, that he was no longer a part of their world? And he couldn't even promise them he would visit, because he didn't even know what had happened to him!
The police finally arrived right then, and Uryuu used his position as a famous doctor to allow him, his family and friends to leave the candy store; in the end the police agreed that there was not much the children could tell them anyway, and they were too young to be in a place like that anyway.
Still, Uryuu didn't want to go far, not until he knew what had happened with their friend's soul, and where Rukia had gone, so the group as a whole ended up buying several coffees and sitting in an outer table of a nearby shop.
"Where's Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked.
Uryuu just turned his eyes to where the paramedics where moving a covered body.
"I know that." Tatsuki spat at him. "And you know that's not what I meant."
"I honestly don't know." He admitted quietly.
"I cannot sense him." Orihime whispered. "Or Rukia-san, and I'm almost sure I had sensed her a couple of minutes ago."
"Actually I saw her, she shunpoed past me a few blocks before I reached the store." Uryuu admitted. "But I didn't see either of them when I entered the store and…"
The low conversation was interrupted when suddenly the heads of half of those present snapped up at the same time, the rest imitating them a second later. They could all feel it.
"Uncle Ichi!" Souken and Sora cried out at the same time.
Several people turned to look at them, but then their expressions soon turned to pity, they had seen the two men getting the children out of the store where a young man had died, and they had no trouble guessing that was his name the children were screaming. They were right, though, of course, they couldn't have known the real reason why the children were yelling.
With a blinding flash…at least to those whose senses were attuned to the spiritual world, two figures suddenly reappeared at the entrance of the candy-store. They remained there barely a couple of seconds, apparently taking in what was going on, before one of them noticed the group's presence in the coffee shop, a small signal from her to the second one and they vanished from their spot, appearing right before the group of friends immediately.
"Uncle Ichi!" The twins cried out once again, this time in a lower tone.
"Hey everyone." Ichigo greeted them. "What an unexpected surprise…"
The others took a moment to answer, shocked as they were at their friend's appearance. And it was that not only was Ichigo dressed in a shihakusho…something they knew would happen sooner or later, and yet they had imagined it would wait until he actually returned to Soul Society…but there was the fact that he looked younger, no longer like the twenty-five year old man he had grown to be, instead he looked once again like a teenager, exactly the same as he had looked that day, nearly a decade ago, when he had lost his powers for the last time.
"I'm sorry if we worried you," Rukia spoke, being the first to notice how stressed out they all were. "It wasn't our intention."
"Rukia and I just had to sort something out." Ichigo continued. "Turns out that if I didn't recover my powers immediately after dying, I would vanish."
Uryuu nodded, apparently he had at some point considered such a thing.
"But I thought you lost all your power in the fight against Aizen." Chad pointed out.
"I lost all my energy, which I suppose technically amounts to the same thing." Ichigo replied.
"It's worse than that." Rukia cleared out. "Without spiritual energy he wouldn't have been able to keep existing, not even as a spirit."
"Then how?" Orihime was terrified at the mere idea.
It was something to know their friend was dead; at least they knew where he would be, and that they would be able to join him one day, but if he had completely vanished…
"He lost all his energy, but not the core of his power, not really." Rukia explained.
"That core, Zangetsu and Shiro, needed energy I could no longer provide, so they had to find it elsewhere." Ichigo continued the explanation. "In another soul…"
"Mine." Rukia went on. "All these years, Zangetsu and Shiro have been a part of my soul, slowly recovering, waiting for the time they could return to their rightful owner. We never imagined the time would come so soon, or in such a harsh way."
"She had to hurry back to me." Ichigo added. "Because she needed to return that power to me before I vanished."
"I nearly gave Ukitake-taichou a heart attack, and I'm quite sure Nii-sama isn't too happy with me right now." Rukia admitted. "But at least I got here on time."
All throughout the explanation the friends kept looking at one and then the other, again and again, it was almost like watching a tennis match, the way they were talking, complementing their answers, finishing each other's thoughts, and they didn't even seem to notice it!
"What?" They both asked, noticing the strange looks directed at them.
Right then Uryuu noticed one thing, or two actually: first it was Ichigo's wrist, while nothing of his physical self should have moved onto his spirit one, there he was wearing a modern watch, black with red-gold, and the spiritual-print was very familiar…the same could be said about the pendants hanging from a red ribbon around Rukia's neck.
Suddenly it dawned on him:
"Akai ito…" he gasped.
"What?" Everyone turned to look at him.
"Akai ito, or the red string of fate." Uryuu explained. "I had heard about it, but I always believed those things to be mere legends…"
"Yeah…not so much." Ichigo half-smiled.
Both him and Rukia took a look at their joined hands, while the cord that had joined them when they had both been in that limbo could no longer be seen, they could still feel the connection, stronger than ever before.
"You knew it, didn't you?" Uryuu asked, suddenly understanding so much. "All these years. That's why you were no longer depressed, and yet you never dated anyone. We thought it was simply that you couldn't forget her and yet…"
"How could I forget someone I had the pleasure of seeing every night?" Ichigo questioned. "Someone I could sense inside my soul every day, even when my body never could?"
So much suddenly made sense, to the quincy and everyone else; certain attitudes and actions Ichigo had taken in the last nine years, they suddenly understood the reason.
"Why did you never tell us?" Orihime asked, slightly hurt.
"If I had told you that I got to spend every night with the woman I loved with all my heart and soul, whom I wasn't supposed to have the ability to see, hear or feel any longer, what would you have thought of me?" Ichigo questioned in turn.
"I would have thought you were delusional." Tatsuki admitted.
"Or that you finally snapped." Keigo added.
"We knew we were fated." Rukia explained. "And so we promised to wait a lifetime to be together. Of course, I never thought that lifetime would come to an end so soon…"
"Still, things are the way they're meant to be." Ichigo added. "I don't have any regrets."
And really, how could he, when he was heading into the very best part of existence? An existence with his beloved, a forever by her side.
"Ichi-nii!" They heard a new scream.
They could all see 21 year old Karin and Yuzu hurry past the leaving ambulance, ignoring policemen and other passersby alike until they reached the group finally, immediately throwing themselves into their older brother's arms.
Chad moved from his position just enough so the 'curious people' around wouldn't notice that the young women were, for all intents and purposes, embracing air.
"Hey Karin, Yuzu, don't cry please." Ichigo whispered, embracing them back, directing a quick thankful look at Chad. "I promise you, everything is just right."
"How can it be alright?" Karin snapped. "How can anything be alright now?"
"You're dead onii-chan!" Yuzu wailed.
"Maybe," Ichigo nodded. "And yet I'm here, aren't I? Dead or alive, I keep existing, and you can still see me."
"Karin, Yuzu," Rukia called softly. "You need not cry. You know as well as us, death isn't really the end, just a change of pace."
It took a while, but finally the two sisters nodded and stopped crying. Karin had known about Soul Society, shinigami and everything else for years; Yuzu didn't know all the details, but as time passed her power had grown, finally allowing her to see spirits. Rukia was right, this wasn't the end, they would still be able to see Ichigo every once in a while, it would be as if he had moved out of town. And one day, they would be able to join him, and Rukia, in Soul Society. Yeah, one day they would all be together again…
.-.
A few hours later the group formed by friends and family arrived to the hospital. Isshin was there already, having been called to identify his son's body. He looked almost frantic as he searched through everyone's faces until his eyes laid finally on his son; some could almost believe he cried right then.
"It's alright oyaji, I still exist." Ichigo told him, knowing what his old man was thinking.
"I guess Rukia and you will be leaving now." Isshin whispered, making sure the doctors wouldn't hear him.
"Yeah, I just wanted to say goodbye." Ichigo admitted. "Make sure you knew I had survived."
"Thank you, Rukia-chan…" Isshin said as he embraced her tightly. "Like I told you nine years ago, you're a third daughter to me…"
And then he realized it too.
"You knew didn't you?" Isshin let out a chuckle as he looked at his son. "You knew she was there. All those years, all your changes in attitudes, it was because of her. You're connected. "
Isshin knew the hospital staff must believed him crazy, or that maybe he'd just snapped, after all, he'd just been told his oldest son was dead. He didn't care, he was too happy.
"I know you told me to die long after you." Ichigo declared. "But at least you could take in consideration that I'm going happy, with no regrets."
"I guess that even if they had been able to save you, you wouldn't have been as happy as you are right now." Isshin admitted.
Ichigo nodded, holding onto Rukia tighter. There was no way he could ever be happier.
"Very well." Isshin nodded. "Just one thing. They gave me this when they took me to identify your body in the morgue. Apparently it was in your pocket."
It was a black box.
"Don't tell me…" Rukia couldn't believe it.
"I've been carrying this thing around with me for so long, I had almost totally forgotten I had it." Ichigo admitted, taking the box into his hand as he turned to Rukia. "We made a promise nine years ago, and another one a year later. Now, finally, I can make good on both of them." He dropped on one knee for the second time, or the first, depending on the point of view. "The lifetime is over, the wait is over, and now, our eternity can begin. Marry me Rukia."
He popped the black box open, revealing inside an exquisite platinum band, it had two small stones in it: one a topaz, the other an amethyst, but the most important was the beautiful red diamond in between those, the exact same shade as the string that bound them.
"I told you before, and I'll say it again, yes, I'll marry you, Ichigo."
Carefully Ichigo slipped the ring on her finger, and then proceeded to pull her body to his, crashing her lips into his. Both totally forgetting about the company, nothing but them mattered in that instant; that, and the fact that their eternity had just begun.
.-.
It was late afternoon when the Senkai Gate opened in the Kuchiki estate and the engaged couple stepped out of it. For a moment Ichigo wondered if Rukia had been wrong and had used the main gate instead of the Kuchiki one; Rukia, for her part, knew she couldn't have made a mistake, there was no way the main gate would answer to her when she had no official person to sue it. And yet, there were so many people there…Byakuya, Renji, Ukitake, Kyouraku, Unohana, as well as several servants.
"Good afternoon, Nii-sama, Ukitake-taichou, Kyouraku-taichou, Unohana-taichou, Renji, everyone." Rukia bowed deeply at them. "My deepest apologies for my inappropriate behavior in my sudden leaving, and for not following protocol."
Ichigo bowed as well, though he didn't say a word.
"Ukitake says you told him it was an emergency." Byakuya spoke formally. "While I see Kurosaki behind you, I don't understand how that amounts to an emergency."
"Kuchiki," Kyouraku admonished. "It's obvious the boy just died, and Rukia-chan knew that somehow. It's expected for her to worry."
"You've regained your powers." Ukitake seemed to be the only one to notice how significant that truly was, as he then turned to his fukutaichou. "Rukia-san…"
"Yes Ukitake-taichou, that was the emergency." Rukia explained. "I had to get there before Ichigo's soul vanished, he needed his power to keep existing."
"You didn't give him your power again, did you?" Renji practically cried out.
"No." Rukia shook her head. "I just returned what rightfully belonged to him."
Byakuya then took notice of the ring on his sister's finger, and against what anyone could have expected he reacted very calmly.
"I imagine the wedding will be taking place soon." He declared.
Several people, Renji included, gapped at him.
"Yes nii-sama." Rukia nodded.
"You don't seem surprised by these developments Byakuya." Ukitake pointed out.
"Akai ito." Byakuya pointed out simple, then, turning back to Ichigo's still gaping mouth he added. "Yes, I knew. Why else would someone risk their very souls to save someone else, especially someone they had known for such a short time? And especially, how else could anyone expect that someone to succeed against all odds? I knew there was only one way. Being the Kuchikis the one tasked to keep the history of Soul Society I knew such bonds to exist, rare as they might be."
"How long have you known?" Kyouraku asked.
"I suspected since the day I learnt he had regained shinigami powers and was invading Soul Society to save Rukia." Byakuya replied. "His stopping the Soukyoku with nothing more than his zanpakutou just confirmed it."
There was so much shock going around in the room, from many of them. And yet Byakuya seemed to have decided that was the end of the conversation for he turned to leave.
"Well, welcome to Seireitei Ichigo, again." Ukitake chuckled slightly. "Though I imagine this time it'll be on a more permanent basis."
"Thank you Ukitake-taichou." Ichigo nodded respectfully at him. "There's nowhere else I would rather be."
And really, there wasn't. He may be dead, but truth is, he hadn't felt so alive in so long…
He couldn't help but chuckle slightly right then, to his to-be-wife's surprise and amusement. But really, who could have ever imagined something like this? Who could have ever imagined that it would take him dying to actually live?
I swear this chapter just seemed to go on and on. First when I added Ichigo's nakama into the mix, and then the details on how exactly he ended up dying, and then I briefly planned for him and Rukia to just go, but it wouldn't have been fair for his nakama, and the same can be said for his family, and then I couldn't resist a proper proposal this time, and then those in Soul Society...so yes, more scenes just kept coming up. I hope you liked this.
I will admit I briefly considered this last chapter going differently, with Rukia being the one to die, and then reincarnate, but in the end decided that if I were to do this it would make the fic way too long and complicated...same as when I considered using chapter 424 and then threw the idea away. So, this is it. Only, if you're interested, if enough people ask me to (more than ten, please), I've considered writing a sequel to this, a short story (Au in regards to the new saga in the manga), about how Ichigo deals with his new 'life'. So, what say you?
One way or another I really hope you liked this. Please let me know, even if it is in a very short review. I just live for those. Tell me what you liked the most, what you didn't, and if there's something in particular you would like me to adress in the sequel. I'm open to suggestions so, yeah. I need to know your opinions people!
Thank you very much to those who have faithfully followed my work thus far. You've made me very happy.
P.S. If you like to read my Ichiruki fic, and you haven't read my Bleach OneShot yet, please do so, it's called "Choices of Life and Death" and it follows after Ichigo's fight with Ulquiorra (working under the assuption that the war is over, the Shinigami and their allies won, and in this one Ichigo doesn't lose his powers afterwards). Here I offer you a little piece of it, it's actually the summary:
"What else do you want me to do? I died for you!"
"You died for her too..."
"For her I died in battle. It was easy, I didn't even have to think about it. For you...it was a choice. I chose to die for you."
Once again thank you so very much for your presence. Hope to see you (or read you) again some day soon!
Ja ne!