Title: The End of the Line

Torture: Humilation

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Character/Pairings: Ichigo, Rukia; Ichigo/Rukia

Rating: PG

Summary: The cursed ones don't have many choices.

Warnings: The sequel to the Ichigo/Rukia seperation piece I swore I would never write: Hide and Seek. Stupid plot bunnies. Also, this story features the theory that someone will have to pay for Orihime bringing the dead back to life - in this version, it is the formly dead who must pay the price.

A slow breeze brushed against the robes of the assembled Captains as they held the watch over the dying Commander General Yamato.

The moon shone full, its light gracing the old man's features and revealing to all the shadow of a once great First Division Captain. His fellow Captains sat around him and waited. The Soul Reaper to the Soul Reapers would be coming soon, always on the moment when the spirit lay between life and death as the Seventh Division Captain had learned time and time again.

Several of the other Captains had cast him several disapproving looks as he started tapping his foot impatiently against the hard wood, but he paid them no mind. There was only one thing running through his head at the moment.

'She's coming, she's coming, she's coming.'

XXX

"What do you think you're playing at?" Her voice only just barely hinted at just how furious she was.

He grinned. It felt like he was lifting a large box full of bricks. His chest felt heavy and his lungs were struggling to move as blood spilled forth his tortured body. His opponent lay dead only a few feet away. "You're late, Rukia. I was almost worried that you weren't going to come."

"Ichigo. You have to stop this. It's insane. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

He could almost roll his eyes at her. "No. I just need a little help to visit your world."

"You need to stop, Ichigo. He doesn't take kindly to people ending their own lives." Her hand touched his face, ghostly fingers glimpsing over his warm cheeks. He reached out and touched the white sleeve of her robe. The blood on his hands refused to stain the fabric.

"Rukia…"

XXX

It was a well-known fact that Captain Kurosaki of the Seventh Division was a man who chased after Death, who longed for it, who regarded it as one does a lover. And maybe he had every right to feel that way. There was a story that was whispered into the darkness of the night, a story filled with love, passion and tragedy. It was a story that focused largely upon the life of Captain Kuchiki's lost sister, Kuchiki Rukia, the woman who had made Captain Kurosaki the man he was today.

Her name was only mentioned briefly in the History books, stating how she was the one who had given her power to Kurosaki Ichigo; how she had housed the Hogyouku in her soul; how she was the first Soul Reaper to ever kill an Espada; and how she had one day disappeared off the face of the Earth one sunny day in Winter, never to be found in any world.

It wasn't very hard to realize that Captain Kurosaki was in love with this missing woman. Many a time when he was being healed after another reckless fight that would almost kill him, he would start holding a heated conversation with 'Rukia'.

Captain Kurosaki was chasing Death.

XXX

"I'm going to save you Rukia."

"You can't, you fool." Her eyes were full of sadness. "It has been decided by Him." She smiled ruefully. "After all, Ichigo, the Dead were never meant to walk the Earth again, it's better this way."

He grabbed her hand. "Do you actually think that I would just let you go like that if I had some way of saving you?"

"Ichigo."

"I'm going to convince him Rukia to let you go. I'll find a way. Rukia, I lo-" Her lips were now on his.

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Her voice was low and dangerous. "Even you can't go against what the King of Heaven wills."

"Rukia. I promise."

XXX

He could hear it now. The faint footsteps on the wooden boards, the slight chill in the air. This was it, the moment when he could see Rukia again in her forever cursed state of existing in between the world of the Living and the world of the Dead - Soul Reaper of the Soul Reapers, who answer directly to the King of Heaven, the one who had cursed her in the first place. There was a hush as the figure's face became clearer and clearer.

It wasn't Rukia.

Wearing dark robes, the former Arancar paused before Yamato. The bone of her mask caused several Captain's to grab their zanpaktous. She ignored them, her eyes focusing only on Yamato.

"It's time to go."

"Where's Rukia?" Ichigo was by her side in an instant, his spiritual force crackling.

His former enemy turned to him. "I have a message for you, from my cursed sister. She says it's time to move on."

XXX

"This is the last time Ichigo. You have to stop this."

"Rukia, stop being an idiot. If this is the only way that I can see you, then I'm prepared to pay the price."

"Utter damnation?"

"What? Rukia, what are you talking about?"

"This is goodbye, Ichigo."