NOTE: READ MY NEW STORY! COMING SOON! PLACES TO FALL IN LOVE! ICHIRUKI AND A FEW OTHERS!

Chapter: Healing

Shalan's Say: Mmmk… this story… has drawn me in… I like it… from here on out… expect high drama XDDDD and quite a few comments on the double standards that exist in today's society… especially with Byakuya around… XD I was listening to Stolen by Dashboard Confessional while I was writing the fluffy parts… they make me warm and fuzzy…

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Rukia stretched luxuriously, Ichigo's arms wrapped around her waist. She tried to get up but they only tightened and he nuzzled his face into her stomach. "Don't goooo…" he groaned and curled around her warm body. She laughed and let him snuggle up with her. "You smell good…" he grumbled from her neck and she wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you…" she buried her face in his hair. She had discovered that he was something of a snuggle bug and didn't like to leave a spot once he had warmed it up. "But we have to go pick up Byakuya in a few hours…" she chuckled and he bit her neck lightly.

"Yeah… in a few hours… I'm warm…" he complained and pulled her down so that their faces were even. She stroked the side of his face lightly and smiled. Ichigo let her kiss him tenderly before pressing their foreheads together. They had spent most of the day practicing a routine that Isabella had designed for them because they knew they had to get some work done. The nighttime was for them to do their own thing. They had stayed up part of the night watching the Grudge, after which he found he had to kiss the images out of her mind which led to them stripping down on the couch.

"Ichigo…" she laughed as he snuggled against her, his lips brushing her neck as he twisted them into a little ball. Her heart was so deeply entwined with his that she could feel it, she could feel the beautiful pull of his heart towards hers.

"Rukia… I think…" she turned her upper body to face him, her eyes locking with his amber. "I think I'm falling for you…" he whispered and she felt goose bumps rise across her body. He meant it.

"Ichigo…" she choked and he looked up at her, her indigo eyes were filled with tears and he pulled himself up so that his head was even with hers.

"Baby don't cry…" he stroked the side of her face gently, brushing her hair out of her face. "Don't cry…" his hand cradled her head.

"Ichigo…" she said again and the tears spilled over as she buried her face into his chest. He hadn't decided whether this was a good or a bad thing yet.

"Sweetheart…" he tilted her face up and planted a tender kiss on her lips and she smiled, "what's wrong?"

"You're too perfect…" she whispered. "You're this beautiful man, an older man, with a crazy body and a brilliant mind… what's wrong with you? There isn't anything… so why love me?"

"Because… I just do…" he pushed her hair back from her face. She smiled softly. "And there are a lot of things wrong with me… I'm pig headed and I tend to be really rough during practice… did I mention I spend a lot of money or worthless things like expensive cars and random trips to foreign countries… and I lost the woman I loved because of some freak accident…"

"All of that just makes you better…" she nearly laughed. "She must have been amazing…"

"I've been wondering though…" he looked out the window. "Does she hate me for moving on?" A hand touched his chest and he looked back at Rukia.

"If she loved you… then she wanted you to be happy… and if you're happy with me then she's happy for you…" she whispered to him. "His name was Kaien…" she looked down and Ichigo blinked, wondering where that had come from.

"Who?" Then he realized she was talking about the boy he always heard about but never met.

"Kaien… my boyfriend. He died from cancer earlier this year…" she whispered and he realized something else… that was why she had been crying… because she felt the same way he did. "I told him… that I wasn't going to lose my virginity to anyone else… four days before he died he made love to me… he was still strong… the cancer didn't seem to even be affecting him…they took him in to take the tumor out… he died on the operating table…" She paused as the tears overwhelmed her.

"So you weren't… I didn't think so…" his eyes scanned hers. "Why are you just telling me this all now?"

"I didn't think you would care…" she whispered and his face softened.

"Baby don't ever think that…" he pulled her into his grasp again and she let her cheek press against his neck. She felt another wave of hot tears run down her face. She hadn't cried like that since he had died. "And you've been fighting your way through all of that? Dancing and skating with me and going to school and doing everything you've been doing…" he bent his head down and pressed his lips against her hair, knowing that it wouldn't help the pain that she felt… but she hadn't had time to heal properly.

"It got harder to move on… every day something would remind me of him… then you came into my life…" she looked up at him and he blinked slightly. "You with your crazy orange hair and disregard for the rules. I thought you were going to be a pain… but as I got to know you… and as we skated and danced and lived together… I found that… when I was around you… it was easier to move… it was easier to move on…" she smiled almost painfully. "You… came in like a sudden burst of sunshine in my rain filled world… and it felt beautiful… for the first time in a long time… I was able to smile again. I could… see that something was still good in the world…"

"I don't know why…" he chuckled and pressed his forehead against hers. "I can't do anything… to heal your pain… all I can do… is tell you that I'm here for you… if you need me…"

"Thank you Ichigo…" she buried her face into his chest and he sighed. She had been holding all of that in… she really was an amazing girl… to think that she could struggle with her boyfriend's death and learning all of their routines… and going to school…

"If it helps… after my fiancé died… I shut down…" she looked up at him. "Yeah… I couldn't even keep moving… I didn't even leave my house for a year…" She chuckled lightly. "I admit… it was kind of pathetic… but… it had happened so suddenly…"

"I know what you mean… death never comes when you want it too…" she whispered and he nodded, resting his chin on her hair.

"No… no it doesn't…"

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"See look! There they are!" Bella waved as she stepped off the plane with Byakuya in tow. He grumbled something about oh great then followed her.

"Rukia!" He smiled and his sister threw her arms around his neck. "How are you doing baby girl?" He smiled down at her and suddenly saw a hand touch the small of her back and she drew away with a grin. Byakuya nearly scowled. He didn't like that Kurosaki around his sister.

"I'm doing amazing…" she smiled and Byakuya noticed how close she was standing to Ichigo, his hand on her hip, her back resting against the side of his body. His eyes flashed and Bella put a hand on his arm.

"How are the two of you doing?" She smiled and Ichigo shrugged.

"I'm doing fine…" Ichigo's voice was low and soft as his hand gripped her hip lightly. She leaned into the tender touch.

"Yeah…" Rukia smiled up at him and Byakuya let a low growl rise in his throat. "How are you guys doing?" Rukia asked Bella as they walked out to the car.

Ichigo smiled softly as he followed behind the other three… he was finally learning to heal…

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HELLO! That was a cute fluffy chapter… I'm no good at fluff. Sorry…

Shalan