Hello~ This chapter is slightly shorter but I had a bit of trouble with it. Also...I really hate this site's formatting sometimes. If it looks weird it's because I gave up trying to fix it. -.-

Disclaimer: Bleach isn't mine, but this story is.

Pairings: IchiRuki, others thrown in for fun.

Nightmare

Ichigo eyed the written name before shrugging. "Whatever."

Rukia smiled slightly before stopping the glow. "Go to bed, Ichigo. We've got a ways to go yet so you'll need your energy."

"'M not tired," he mumbled but laid down anyways. Rukia pretended to go to bed as well but when she heard his breathing fall into a pattern of sleep and his reiatsu began to leak out even more she sat up. She watched Ichigo silently. It was probably lucky that he was in Soul Society at all considering it had taken his soul a while to arrive.

When Rukia went to get the bread she had also asked the baker more about Ichigo. He had died a month and a little over a week ago but he'd only been in Soul Society for a month, maybe a bit less. Most souls went to Soul Society within a day, some of the one with considerable reiatsu took a couple of days. It had to do with the density of their soul, so to speak.

She had never heard of a soul taking as long as Ichigo's had to arrive. If it took that long…they normally didn't arrive at all. Some souls simply got lost. A memory-less Ichigo is better than none, she decided.

Rukia was not unaware of the fact that her bond with Ichigo was deep. She had felt intense fear any time he fought and deep sadness when he was injured. She felt his death more keenly than she had Ukitake's death. That in itself was unusual; Ukitake had been like a father to her. So, yes, she knew Ichigo was important to her, but why?

Rukia noticed a Ichigo's expression change while he slept and she frowned. He normally had a peaceful expression on his face when he slept but he was scowling at that moment. "A dream?" She asked the night air.

Ichigo was in a house. His house. He wasn't sure how he knew that since he was fairly sure he'd never seen the place before. He was on the floor with his hands trapped behind his back.

"Can't you hear its loud-ass voice! Ain't that the monster!" He yelled at a familiar woman. Rukia sat in front of him, confusion showing in her eyes. She began to ask him something when a haunting scream interrupted her. Her expression gave way to surprise and she was immediately on her feet.

There was a crash and a human scream from downstairs and Ichigo knew that his family was in trouble. He found he could move his arms freely again and ran downstairs.

Then the scene changed and Rukia was standing between himself and a monster. She was protecting him, getting injured because of him. She pushed the Hollow back with her sword before collapsing on the street, blood from her wound soaking her Shihakushou.

"You fool…"

The next moment he was standing in front of Rukia, hands wrapped around her katana. "I'm…Kurosaki Ichigo." He helped her thrust the sword into his heart as the monster charged at them.

Ichigo bolted upright suddenly, glancing around him. No home, no family, no monsters…but Rukia was there. She was looking at him with concern. His breathing was heavy and his hand drifted towards his heart to make absolutely sure that it had been just a dream. It was so realistic.

He didn't know what scared him more…the fact that he was the cause of Rukia's injuries in his nightmare or that he let her stab him. That he had to try and figure out which was worse scared him even more.

"Ichigo?" Rukia asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine." Did she really expect a different answer? No, not really. It was Ichigo after all. What he asked next did surprise her. "Do I know you?"

Violet eyes blinked in surprise and she frowned. "Um…."

"I mean from that…Real World or whatever. Did I know you there?" Ichigo clarified.

Rukia's eyes widened and she looked away for a moment. "No."

"You're not lying?"

"No, I'm not. I've never met you before." She met his eyes that time and he seemed to accept it. "Now go back to sleep Ichigo."

Despite the rapid beating of her heart and her runaway thoughts - Did I give something away? Did he remember something? - Rukia turned her back to him and laid down to sleep.

Ichigo had to wait a while to settle his nerves before going back to sleep. There were no more dreams that night for either of them.

They travelled in awkward silence after they woke. It was so quiet aside from their footsteps that they could almost hear their thoughts.

Ichigo was thinking about his dream. Rukia was thinking about Ichigo's question and silence. Finally, Ichigo broke the oppressive silence. "We can move faster than this," he offered.

Rukia merely shook her head. If they went faster they risked getting to Seireitei at a decent hour. Normally that would be a good thing but she didn't really want to risk running into anyone who knew Ichigo…which was essentially everyone in the Gotei Thirteen. "No, this pace is fine."

There was silence again for a bit and Rukia wondered, If I hadn't lost my powers and needed his skills would it have been like this between us? I don't know what to say to him.

"You said you needed me…why?" Ichigo asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"We had a war recently. A lot of good people died," she responded, unable to quite keep her remorse out of her voice. The man next to her had been one of the casualties.

"I'm sorry."

You have nothing to be sorry about, Rukia thought bitterly, it was my fault for involving you in the first place. "It's just the price we had to pay to win. A lot of people survived."

"That's bullshit," Ichigo ground out. She made it sound like sacrificing lives for the greater good was okay.

"That's what it means to be a Shinigami. You accept death, you don't fear it."

"So basically you're afraid of life," he observed carelessly.

Rukia paused for a half a second before she actually laughed slightly. "Considering we're already dead, to become one of the living means we must die in this world." So, essentially, that was true.

It took Ichigo a moment to work out what she said but when he did he chuckled too. What a twisted world. "Tell me more about this war."

So Rukia explained about Aizen's betrayal, the fights with the Arrancar, and about Aizen's eventual defeat. Occasionally Ichigo asked more about certain battles. He had the oddest sense that he understood the Shinigami Rukia talked about. "So, who killed the bastard?" Oh yes, she'd conveniently left out Ichigo's participation.

With an inward sigh she said, "A great man."

"What happened to him?"

"He died."

"So you mean he lives," Ichigo stated, a faint smile pulling at his lips.

"No. I mean he died. He was a human, one of the living. Soul Society owes him a lot."

Ichigo was confused. If Shinigami are meant to protect the humans then why did a human save all of Soul Society? It made no sense to him at all.

They travelled again in silence, only occasionally breaking the slightly more companionable silence that fell between them. They never had relied too much on words with each other; actions had always been more than enough. They did so enjoy their bantering though.

"Yeah, well, your hair is funny. How does it manage to stay up like that?"

"How should I know? At least I'm not a midget."

"I am not a midget. You're just a freak."

"You're jealous."

"Of a talent-less lug like you?" Rukia did her little glowing ball trick again to prove her point.

Ichigo scowled. "I have talent. Just because I haven't learned it yet -"

"You can't do it."

"Wanna bet?" He asked confidently.

He raised his hand and began to focus…only to be hit in the back of the head. "Let's keep going. You'll learn at the Academy anyways," Rukia told him.

"You're just afraid I'd be better at it than you," he muttered. She shook her head, though there was a fond smile on her face. Banter came naturally to the two and was rarely ill-intentioned.

When they finally did get to Seireitei it was late evening and the sun was setting. Good, Rukia thought, At this time most people will either still be working or long gone at the bars.

"So this is Seireitei," Ichigo mused as they walked one of the lesser used paths towards the Academy. No harm in being extra careful to avoid people. Rukia simply nodded as she focused on the sudden flare of reiatsu ahead.

What was he doing there?

"We're taking a detour," she told Ichigo. He looked a little surprised but followed her.

"Is it about that…that energy spike or whatever?" The orange-haired teen asked.

Rukia blinked and nodded. "You felt it?"

"Yeah." His seemingly permanent scowl deepened. "You have it too, but it's kind of hard to tell right now."

Rukia was pleased. "That's because I'm suppressing it. Too many other people around with strong reiatsu for you to really notice mine."

"I see…." He was even more curious about whoever that strange reiatsu belonged to.

So, for a little something different...y'all get to have a say this time to make up for the slight cliffy. ;) Who do you guys want to meet up with Ichigo and Rukia?