Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Dark Nights

Chapter 7: To Heart, From Soul

Rukia sighed, tapping Ichigo's shoulder a couple of times telling him to let her down. "Ichigo, I can walk from here, you don't need to carry me on your back the whole trip." she said and he slowly let her slide off.

"But you know it would be quicker if I just flash stepped the rest of the way." he said offering her another piggy back ride.

"No," she said putting a hand in between them and shaking her head. "I'm starting to get numb from the waist down, and walking a bit won't hurt Ichigo," she said with a smile, not wanting to be such a bother to her friend.

Ichigo saw through her lie. "Rukia, if you feel like you're being a bother, you're not." he said. "The last thing I would even think of you is to be a bother." he said truthfully.

Rukia again declined his fffer. "No," she said. "After all, the main town isn't that far, I could already see it from over the hill." she said truthfully.

"I thought we were heading to the safe house first." Ichigo said, furrowing his eyebrows downwards and giving Rukia a concerned look. "It would be safer if we head down there first Rukia." he said.

"But what do we have there that is so important?" Rukia asked already knowing the answer. "It would just be a waste of time, after all, I regretted not searching for you the first time I came here, and this time I'm not going to let anyone stand in my way, you and I are going to find Toshiro." She said looking off into the direction of the town. "No delays," she said.

Ichigo nodded in understanding, but still he felt so uncomfortable with everything. Shouldn't of Rukia told the others were they we're heading? Or maybe planned something out first? Why head so recklessly into battle when she still had five weeks in time? "Rukia," Ichigo said debating whether or not to tell her about Toshiro's run away. "You know Toshiro ran away for a reason, right?" he asked. "He did put it in the letter, no?" he asked.

Rukia gave Ichigo a questioning look, "No, he didn't," she said and quickly became worried. "Ichigo, do you know something about it?" she asked softly.

Ichigo closed his eyes in frustration and scratched his head. "Well..." he grunted staring into Rukia Violet eyes once more."Toshiro did say something about the Bloody Moon not showing itself this year, he said lots of his people were going to die if he didn't show up." he said.

Rukia bit down on her lip. "As in 'Bloody Moon' do you mean 'Red Moon'?" Rukia asked remember something about the topic when Toshiro first revealed to her that he was indeed a werewolf.

Ichigo nodded.

"But why does he need to show up, I know he said that if the Red Moon didn't show he could die, but he said it like he didn't have to worry about it for another year or two." she said covering her eyes with her hand trying to remember the details. "Even if he showed, what could he do to stop it?" she asked herself.

Ichigo shrugged sighing softly and putting a hand to her shoulder. "C'mon." he said. "We won't figure anything out by just sitting around." and with that, Rukia gave him a thankful nod and began their slow walk to the main town.

Ichigo was willing to face anything to protect Rukia from harm's way but why it was so difficult to tell her straight in the eyes what was happening. He didn't want to hurt her, but he didn't want to lie to her either, wouldn't it be safer just to go alone? Yet, Rukia would be too stubborn to just sit and wait for the best.

XXX

Once Ichigo and Rukia entered the start of the main town Ichigo could sense Rukia's mood changing to an uncomfortable silence as she became more aware of her surroundings. "What's wrong Rukes?"He asked.

Rukia shook her head, "N-Nothing," she said weakly watching the people pass her by and inching closer to Ichigo in fear of the last time. "Hey, Ichigo..." she muttered. "Don't I have to stay close so the others won't notice I'm a... um... well you know."

Ichigo look at her with confusion for a while, and then it finally dawned on him. "I see, and who told you that Rukia?" he asked with a chuckle knowing his Spirit Pressure was already masking her sent as a human from the first time they entered the world.

"Well, when Toshiro and I came here looking for you, he told me to stay close, but I still went off on my own and..." Rukia's words disappeared slowly remembering the scar that she still carried on her shoulder. She desperately tried not to look Ichigo in the eyes.

"And why the heck did you do that Rukia?" he asked in disbelief a bit angry at her for acting so stupid.

Rukia became tenser. "Well..." she muttered. "I somehow had a gut feeling that if I put myself in danger, you... you would come and save me, then I could have found you and we could have all go back home..." she said softly.

Ichigo then realized his mistake in the words he chose. "Rukia, what would make you do something so stupid for me?" he asked. "Honestly, I fear that your gonna end up being so selfless, that your gonna forget what you really want." he said. "Rukia, other people have to deal with problems, you can't save everyone." he said.

Rukia gave him a weak laugh. "Silly me, huh?" she said.

Ichigo smiled and snuck his hand into hers, stitching them tightly with hers and keeping her close. "But once in a while..." he said, "You have to let others protect you." he said.

Rukia was finally able to look up at him, her mouth open slightest and her heart emptied from all pain. She wanted to say something, maybe even protest, but the way he look at her, so serious yet still carrying a soft smile at the same time, it was almost indescribable.

"Don't look at me like that, Rukia." he said with a small flick to her forehead and a chuckle. "You know I always come up with the most awesome catchphrases, look I even got you speechless." he said.

Rukia blushed madly anger starting in her veins. "Damn it Ichigo, your one hell of a cocky Soul Reaper!" she said.

Even though they argued, they never once let go of the other hand.

Thinking of the time Rukia was attacked got a thought stated in her head. Rukia didn't want to rely on Ichigo so much, she wanted to be able to defend herself, and for herself.

Even if Ichigo didn't approve of it, Rukia wanted to learn how to be some sort of help, and Ichigo would probably scold her later but, what if she asked Shirayuki to lend her some powers.

After all, Shirayuki was bound to have some tips, or maybe she could even tell why Rukia can't access her powers, or maybe... just maybe, Rukia could learn to control the powers of Dark Rukia.

Even if the thought got her a bit scared, she was willing to travel to the extreme to find a way to protect the ones she cared about. Rukia didn't want to be such a nuisance all the time.

"Hey Rukia," Ichigo said. "I got a spot, we both have two separate rooms and I promise I can hide your sense with my spirit pressure." he said coming out of an old motel that they were apparently going to stay in.

"That's great..." Rukia said with a half smile trying not to lose concentration on her thoughts. "I think I'll head up and take a nap, thanks Ichigo." she said grabbing her key and memorizing the number.

Ichigo sighed. "Don't think about it too much Rukia, you don't want to end up doing something you'll regret..." He muttered knowing everything that was probably going through the little Kuchiki's mind.

Rukia stared at the ceiling, outlining the cracks in the roof with her eyes, and wondering if she should contact Shirayuki. If she did, what would be the cost? And if she didn't she would just stay a useless carry on that pulled down their friends. So was a little sacrifice worth it?

'Yes.'

And Rukia jumped off her bed grabbing the keys and running out the door. She needed a safe spot to talk to Shirayuki, or at least she needed a place where it was quite and no one would check up on her.

So she ran into a small forest right outside the motel running in with silence, trying hard not to step on small branches and make a sound. She made sure she didn't wander too far, but just enough so that she was away from any kind of life that could kill her.

"Ok." Rukia said with a small sigh. "Shirayuki, can I please talk to you for a bit?" she called out, turning her head up to the sky to catch sight of the moon. The sky was a beautiful midnight blue, stars barely showing themselves and the attention all on the moon, but it was as if the moon didn't want the attention at all, it hid herself behind the fog.

"Rukia."Shirayuki said appearing in front of her and breaking her staring spell.

Rukia heart skipped a beat as her head turned so fast she thought it would snap off. "Shirayuki!" she said trying to cover up her shock. "Sorry, I spaced out." she muttered embarassed she was found in a dumb state.

Shirayuki smiled. "I see."She said, but Rukia already knew that her Soul Spirit was just teasing her. "So you wanted to speak to me?" she asked with a small smile.

Rukia nodded. "I want to have powers. I don't want to be protected anymore." Rukia finally said, after rehearsing the lines in her head over and over. "I want to be my own burden." And Rukia's eyes were never so serious and so passionate ever before, and Shirayuki saw that instantly.

Rukia saw Shirayuki's face soften in a sad way, then the corners of her mouth tightened into a serious stare. "Rukia, there is only one way to have your own powers, and I don't think—"

Rukia shook her head. "I know." She said. "And I'm prepared to do whatever it takes." she closed her eyes and took in a silent breath reopening them as she exhaled with a smile. "Even if I have to lose myself to Dark Rukia for a while." She said.

'I'm glad you are so into this.'

A chill ran down Rukia's back as the cold voice of Dark Rukia shattered her thoughts. But she gathered her courage and answered. 'Well, it's the only way I can keep myself from getting others into my problems.'

'Smart girl.'

And Rukia blushed from embarrassment at the complement, giving Rukia and whole new perspective of her Dark-Self. "So, are we gonna pop into my head and figure this out, or are we gonna start practicing right now?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Shirayuki let out a small smile, wondering how she got stuck with such a strange human. "Ok,"and Shirayuki grabbed Rukia's shoulders. "Let your mind go, and trust me with the bottom of your soul."

Rukia nodded and closed her eyes. "I will always trust you."

Rukia listened to the rustle of the leaves, and the beat of her heart. She almost shivered when the cold airbrushed her skin, and even with her eyes closed she knew, for that very second, the moon showed itself for a small while. After that, she felt a small heavy feeling on her body until her body went light and she felt like she was floating.

"It's fine now Rukia, you can open your eyes and see your soul." She said.

And so Rukia opened her violet orbs in one swift movement, only to her shock that the supposed "Soul" was made of pure snow. "This is my… soul?" she asked in complete awe. It was beautiful, the snow was of the purest white and the sky was a soft, silver mist shade that gave off radiance. The pale trees had the flowers of Cherry Blossoms but it was as if they were painted the color r of a Blue Bonnets. But one thing that caught me was the lake, it was made of solid ice and the line that separated snow and ice was very clear, it was as if it was sacrid land.

"This is like your inner world," Shirayuki said. "Right now you are your soul." She said. "The only way you can be in your inner world is if you let your soul take over." She said.

"So wait, what happened to my body?" Rukia asked remembering the heavy feeling she felt. "Don't tell me you left it there…" Rukia asked in horror.

"Well not exactly, you see… well I'm not sure… let's make this quick ok?" Shirayuki said with a nervous smile.

Rukia nodded in agreement.

Shirayuki held up a arm and pointed to the frozen lake. "There." she said pointing to the distance. "I want you to stand in the middle of that lake and listen carefully, I don't want any questions."she said solumly, but even if her voice showed no fear Rukia could tell in her eyes, they showed great worry and sorrow.

So Rukia did as she was told, and without protest or doubt she marched over to the barrier that separated ice and snow. She crossed hoping her hesitance was unnoticeable and she watched as the ice below her stayed it's perfect shape.

Once Rukia thought she had made it to the middle she looked back at Shirayuki, not aware about how far she traveled until actually seeing the distance with her own eyes. "Well, what's next?" she asked, her voice echoing the solid world.

"Take off your shoe's." Shirayuki answered. "And toss them towards me."

Rukia gave her a bewildered look, but remembered the rule. 'Right... no questions.' she thought assuring herself. She brought her foot up to her hands and slipped off the tattered, black Converse, her socks meeting the ice. Surprisingly the ice wasn't cold, it was almost dead, as if it was drenched in its own sadness, but Rukia dismissed the thought, toss the Converse.

"I want you to close your eyes once you see the mist, and don't open them until you hear the command." Shirayuki said and vanished, leaving only snow-dust to be carried by the wind.

Rukia blinked in dismay. 'Mist?' she asked herself 'what mist?-'as soon as those words crossed her mind she saw the patches of ice start to crack, and she swallowed her breath when tainted black smoke rose from the ice, melting it and breaking it. Rukia was frozen scared, wanting to shout for help, wanting to run, but she couldn't find a way too. The mist grasped Rukia and as more showed itself it seemed to hunger for her.

'Let the darkness taste your soul...'

Rukia tried to break away from the darkness, snapping herself out of her spell and panicking with screams and whimpers. The ice cracked, and so Rukia fell, not into water, but under the ice shell was pure darkness, like a cage holding back a monster. Rukia felt tears blur her vision as the last spec of light coming from the snow paradise disappeared. And so she closed her eyes.

She heard nothing. She felt nothing. For all she knew she was still getting swallowed by the darkness. Though it wasn't so scary anymore, and even if there was still darkness, it was her darkness, so it was as if she knew every part of it.

But then again...

"Hello Rukia, you closed your eyes a little bit late, huh?" A figure appeared, blurry yet she could still make out her mirror-self.

"Stop it,"Shirayuki's scolded materializing next to Dark Rukia.

Rukia was shocked to see how much Dark Rukia looked like her, same hairstyle, same feature, the only thing that was different was the grey-colored hair and the grey eyes. She wore and white Shinigami uniform with a yellow belt, and the inside of the torn up outfit was painted a blood-reddish color.

Rukia snapped herself out of the staring spell and looked straight at Dark Rukia, "So what do I have to do first?" Rukia asked.

A large smile cracked over dark-Rukia's mouth and she started to laugh at Rukia's courage. "Well first," she hissed. "let me tell you that your soul is getting divoured by darkness as we speak." she paused hoping to get a reacting from Rukia. "You have darkness inside your soul, me in other words, and the Darkness that is eating away your Soul is looking for me." She said.

Rukia nodded. "So what?" Rukia asked.

Shirayuki sighed.

Dark Rukia snickered. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that every time you try and use your powers, you're venerable to the Darkness." She said. "Once you get to a certain point of power, the thought of increasing that power will take over and you can't stop it once your there. You will be the Darkness and won't have any control over what you're doing, if you lose yourself to that Darkness then it's all over." She warned.

Rukia flinched at the thought of hurting her friends, and she looked up at Dark Rukia once more, "Are you part of that Darkness?" Rukia asked.

Dark Rukia closed her eyes and for the first time, gave Rukia a soft smile, sadness spilling over her eyes. "Not at all," she said. "Actually, I was a child when I first met your mother-"

"Shut up!" Shirayuki hissed.

Dark Rukia looked back at Shirayuki. "Oh cool it," she said waving her hand dismissively. "I'm not going to spill too much," she said. "And plus you don't fall under the category of a "true" Soul Spirit anymore, so why are you so worried?" She asked.

Shirayuki cringed. "Even if that's true, it doesn't mean they were wrong about letting others know about the past." she said.

Dark Rukia turned back to Rukia. "When I was a child, I was about the same age as your sister, Hisana," she said, "And I quickly became friends with Byakuya and Aizen after that." she said. "And once Byakuya admitted his feelings for Hisana, Aizen grew jealous, I noticed it quickly." She said. "And so, he tried to kill Byakuya, and I stopped him, and well, I didn't die, I just stayed cursed in this body, in your body." she said.

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows, "So that's why you killed Aizen?" she asked remembering the picture of Hisana, Byakuya and Aizen in the photo she found in the closet.

Dark Rukia laughed. "Oh I didn't kill him," she said. "I just sent him to the Hell region, you see, when I was cursed into your body I couldn't kill, my scythe," she held out her hand and a scythe with a hilt of white and a blade of red, appeared in her hands. "was stained in my own blood."

"But isn't there a government that is suppose to take care of that?" Rukia asked. "Toshiro said there's a Council so shouldn't they have taken care of Aizen a long time ago?" she shouted seeing it wasn't fair for Dark Rukia.

Dark Rukia smiled. "There are Four Region's and they all hold up different Governments. You probably already know the Soul Society, where Ichigo is from, Hell, the place where I sent Aizen, Central Kingdom, which is where your body is presently, and Eclipse, where Toshiro is from." she said naming the Regions. "The Governments from each region are all different. Shinigami's and AURA are some of the people who work for those Governments." she said.

Rukia shook her head, "But that's not fair!" she said. "If everyone is separated then how come they all live together? I mean what if someone was murdered in Central Kingdom, but the killer escaped to Eclipse, the Eclipse Government wouldn't do anything because the murder didn't happen in their territory!" she said.

Dark Rukia messed up Rukia hair. "That's the way it is," she said. "But we're not here to talk about politics, I just wanted to explain the way it works here." she said. "Oh, and now that we're back to the topic about your future powers, you can't access them without unlocking ours." she said.

Shirayuki nodded. "That's something we share in common, both out powers have been sealed." she said. "Right now, you haven't used you powers yet, so you need to let your body adjust, so once you break the seal, don't use your powers, you'll make yourself a prey to the Darkness." she said.

Rukia nodded. "So how do I unlock you powers?" she asked.

Shirayuki gave her a big smile. "You already have," she said. "When you fell into the Darkness and let it taste you Soul, that's when we got our powers back, that how Dark Rukia brought out her scythe." she said.

Rukia looked at her in awe. "That's it?" She asked. "No pain? No tests?" she asked.

Shirayuki put a hand to Rukia's shoulder. "Trust me, carrying the Darkness inside your Soul is more than enough pain." she said, straightening up her back. "So, when you open your eyes, hopefully you body is still intact."

"Shirayuki don't even joke like that!"

Shirayuki laughed and slowly vanished into a blue dust that masked itself as diamonds, and rose to the sky.

Rukia turned to Dark Rukia, she too, slowly vanishing. "It was nice to meet you." she said holding out a hand. "Now I can finally see you pain, and I don't fear you," she said. "So thank you, if you didn't show me what true pain was like, I probably wouldn't be able to understand my friends more, and I am ready, to experience more of that pain." she said. "That's because now, I have friends that I can go through it with."

Dark Rukia smiled putting her hand on Rukia's. "No thank you, for giving me the chance to meet you." she said. "Plus, now I know there are other's like me, your orange-haired friend has Darkness in his heart too, I believe his name is Hichigo, but he is one heck of a arrogant basturd." she said and Rukia laughed. "Bye, see you on the other side." and so, she too, vanished into the beautiful sparks of ice.

Rukia looked into the darkness round her, she closed her eyes, and counted to three.

1…

2…

3…

"So the human finally decide to wake up." And Rukia found herself hostage to a woman with black hair, tied back into a braid, and no expression. "I have to take you back to AURA." She said.

Rukia cursed under her breath. "What are you talking about?" she asked remembering AURA was a Government, but to which Region?

"Humans aren't allowed in Central Kingdom, so choose, A) You can come with me, devoid of any difficulty, or B) I can slaughter you," she said again without any emotion.

Rukia shook her head, getting still to frozen to stand up. "I don't know you!" she said. "So why would I do what you say?" she asked her expression turning solemn.

The woman stepped closer dropping the sleeve off her shoulder, showing her mark. The mark was four letters, bolded, and in a dark blue color that said, 'AURA' in capital letters. "My name is Nemu Kurotsuchi," she said picking up her sleeve, "I am Vice Captain to squad 12, in the Central Kingdom." She said.

Rukia bit her lip. 'If she attacks me, do I dare use my powers?' she asked herself. 'Should I just go with her?' she thought.

"Ten more seconds for your reply." She said holding out her right hand like a weapon. "I cannot let you escape, it is my mission."

Rukia looked around for any sign of help. For any sign of Ichigo. 'I can't back out now, I still have to save Toshiro!'

"Time is up, do you have an answer?"

"I'm sorry." Rukia said with a smile of pain. "But I can't go with you, I have my own mission to complete." And Rukia snickered, kneeling on one knee for support.

"Answer analyzed," Nemu said. "Mission: Exterminate Rukia Kuchiki." The woman named Nemu said, grabbing Rukia by the hair and Picking her up off of the floor. Rukia watched in pain as Nemu's right arm started to spin like a drill, taking her time to inch it closer to her neck.

"Rukia!"

'Damn what took him so long!'Rukia thought smiling at the orange haired boy who was fortunately already in his Bankai mode and holding out his sword ready to kill.

Nemu turned to Ichigo. "Kurosaki, Ichigo. Turned into a Soul Reaper at age 15. Hair: Orange. Eye Color: Brown. Turn down offer for working for the Soul Society. Love interest: Rukia Kuchiki." She said gathering the information with one look.

Ichigo turned bright red. "Aw damn, your one of those Observers aren't you?" he asked scratching his head. "And you midget, didn't I tell you to stay in your room?" he asked.

Rukia smiled at him, thinking about the cute blush that ran across his face and taking a note to tease him about it later. "'bout time Ichigo." She said.

"You say that like you planed it."

"Well, I took my chance. And you did come after me, so you must've been worried about me." Rukia said like a question.

"I guess I was." He said and held his sword to his side, blade sky-ward. "Now, , please let my friend go, or I'll have to use force." He said.

Nemu stood up, her grip on Rukia's hair never releasing, and pulling her up with her screams. "Receiving orders: Take Rukia Kuchiki, and Ichigo Kurosaki to Eclipse Region alive. Bounty: 100,000 munny... Each."

Nemu let a smile slip, a horrible, evil smile. "Well... I wonder..." she ripped off Rukia's sleeve. "Oh lookie, a scar." and her finger outline the scar. "So you've been here before, Rukia?" she asked.

Rukia cringed, still in pain from Nemu pulling on her hair.

Ichigo cringed. "Let her go, you're hurting her damn it!" he shouted his grip tightening on his sword.

"Oh, I'm not hurting her yet," she said and held out her index finger, the nail growing sharper. "This would be hurting her." She put pressure on Rukia's arm, her nail digging into her skin and making her scream as she ran down the finger down vertically in a diagonal motion, and pricking two dots, opposite of each other.

Ichigo cringed.

"Nuisance."Nemu threw Rukia to the ground with force, causing Rukia to skid on the dirt-dry rocks, trying to get up with failure. "Threat: Kurosaki, Ichigo. Attack: Paralysis." And with that Nemu was the first to charge forward with incredible speed her hand sparking with electric sparks of so call 'Paralysis'.

Rukia watched in dismay. Ichigo desperately blocking the hand of AURA member Nemu, her speed to her advantage, even after Ichigo got shocked quite a few times he continued to fight. Rukia felt tears edge her eyes, is this why she wanted her powers? To just watch her friends suffer?

Rukia got to her hands, her scythe materializing into her tight hand as she pushed her scratched up body upwards. The scythe felt a terrible, familiar presence, but Rukia grasped it tighter, it losing the shape of Dark Rukia's scythe. She came up from her knees, the taste of blood in her mouth. She walked up to the fighting grounds, the scythe growing and growing into its knew shape.

"I'm getting seriously pissed off right now."

Author's Note:

Woohoo! Badass Rukia got her powers, but will she fall into the Darkness? Wait till next chatper (sorry this one took so long). My computer got attacked by a virus and it took a while to save it.

oh well~

Oh ya! Press the Review Button. Ya that one! No not that one... Yes you got it! Thanks ; D

bye peeps.

From: xXAnetXx ^^