Disclaimer: Pretty sure I don't own Bleach...
Chapter 5 – Old Wounds
Rukia ended up staying in the clinic for a week. Little by little, she was able to hold down her food (though if she ate too much she did throw up). Ichigo was careful to see that Rukia's portion of food was kept small. Isshin said that it wasn't much, and they shouldn't get their hopes up; an ultrasound had revealed that the baby wasn't as big as it should have been by that point in the pregnancy. And while Rukia tried, she couldn't help but feel just a small bit of happiness. Maybe things really would be okay.
"How do you feel?" Ichigo asked when he walked into the clinic that night. The first thing he noticed was that her face was now full of color. And she looked like she'd put on a little weight.
"Not bad, actually," she pushed herself into a sitting position, "I mean, I've been better, but..."
He nodded. He understood. "Your dad said we shouldn't get our hopes up," she rested a hand on her stomach, "But I can't help it. I have a good feeling about this Ichigo"
A small smile played around Ichigo's lips. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "Yeah. I do too"
Orihime stopped by the next day to visit. Ichigo pulled her aside before she went in to visit Rukia. "Don't mention anything about Yukio," he warned her. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Rukia doesn't know?" Ichigo shook his head, and Orihime frowned.
"Why didn't you tell her? Doesn't she deserve to know?"
"I don't wanna scare her, okay?" Ichigo shoved his hands into his pockets, "She has enough on her mind right now"
Orihime softened. A little. "I won't say anything, don't worry"
That didn't stop Ichigo from hovering just outside the door, listening to every word Orihime said. But he didn't have to worry; the only thing they talked about that came close to being about males was Uryu (and Ichigo wasn't sure he really considered him a male). Orihime had a good time showing off the ring he had bought her. "We're gonna wait until after college, of course," she added quickly, "But...he said he didn't wanna wait that long to propose"
Great. Even freakin' Ishida was faster than Ichigo. He and Rukia were having a kid, and he still hadn't thought about proposing (okay, maybe he had thought about once...or twice...a million times...in the past five years).
Orihime stayed for about an hour, and when she finally left, Ichigo couldn't help but notice how much more...alive Rukia looked. As if seeing one of her friends had been exactly what she needed. And maybe it had been.
It was around seven or eight in the morning. Ichigo stirred and yawned. What in the world had woken him up?
Because Rukia was still in the clinic, he was still staying in his old room. He looked around now, trying to figure out what was wrong. Then he realized; there was someone else in bed with him.
Jeez, deja vu, he thought as he looked down and saw Rukia's sleeping form. When the hell had she joined him? And more importantly, why wasn't she in the clinic? "Ichigoooooo!" Isshin's voice rang through the house. Ichigo, wondering what the hell could be wrong, darted out of bed and downstairs.
"What the hell's wrong?"
"Rukia's gone!" Yuzu said, sounding fearful, "We went in to check on her and-"
"She's in my room," Ichigo ran a hand through his hair. That was why they were freaking out?
"What?" Isshin said in a disbelieving voice, "Why?"
"I dunno. Apparently she got lonely," Ichigo turned to go back upstairs. "And Dad? Shut up, it's too early to be making all that noise"
When he walked back into his room he saw Rukia was just waking up. "Well, you succeeded in giving my dad a heart attack," he sat down next to her, "Good job"
She blinked. "What?"
"Everybody flipped when they saw you weren't in the clinic"
"Oh," she ran a tired hand over eyes. "Sorry. But I missed you"
He smiled, leaned over, and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "It's okay"
Rukia was finally allowed to go home. She was no longer throwing up everything she ate, and now looked much stronger than she had before. Isshin warned them that something could still go wrong (she was still in the first trimester, after all), but they didn't let it get them down. Sure, there was a chance something could go wrong. But there was also a chance that everything would be all right.
Ichigo sighed in his sleep. He was home again. Rukia was back by his side. As far as they could tell, their baby was going to live. It really did seem like everything was going to be okay.
But as he opened his eyes and saw Rukia, who was laying next to him, his heart sunk lower than a stone in the water. She was awake, and had tears in her sharp, violet eyes, which were trained on his chest. "Rukia?" she didn't look up at him. "Rukia, what's wrong?"
She continued to stare at his chest. It'd been hot out last night, and he'd opted against sleeping with a shirt, going instead for just a pair of sweatpants. Now he was beginning to wish he had worn a shirt, because Rukia was starting to scare him. "Rukia, talk to me. What is it?"
Silently, she reached out a slender finger and ran it along one of the many scars on his chest. It was the one her brother had given her on a rainy night, five years prior. But she couldn't possibly know that...could she? "Rukia..."
"That's my fault," she said quietly, her finger still tracing the scar, "That's all my fault. I might as well have been holding the sword that gave it to you"
"That's not-"
"Yes, it is," the simple, quiet way she spoke stupefied Ichigo into silence. "My brother...that's from the wound he gave you. Because you tried to stop him from bringing me back. It's my fault. You nearly died, and it's my fault"
Okay, now she was really scaring him. He wasn't used to Rukia talking like this, wasn't used to hearing her voice so strangled with guilt. He knew pregnant women were supposed to have mood-swings, but this? Ichigo made a mental note to wear a shirt every night until the baby was born, no matter how freakin' hot it was. "Rukia, look at me," she didn't. Annoyed now, he grabbed her finger (which was still tracing the scar), and pulled it away from his chest. Then he reached out his other hand, cupped it around her chin, and tilted her head up so they were eye to eye. "It's not your fault, okay?" he said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice, "You didn't tell your brother to try and kill me, no more than you told me to try and rescue you. In fact, if I remember correctly you told me to go home. The point is, I got the scars because of my own stupidity, or because of someone else. None of them are your fault, Rukia. Understand?"
Her eyes fell away from his as she closed them, and after a second she whispered, "Ichigo?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you ever...sorry that I came here?"
Oh yeah, he was definitely wearing a shirt to bed from now on. "Of course not," he said at once, "I love you Rukia, you know that"
"But if it wasn't for me, you'd be able to live a normal life"
"Che, who wants to be normal?" he reached over and pulled her closer to him, "I'm happy just the way I am Rukia. As long as I have you, I don't care how strange my life is"
She didn't look at all reassured. "Rukia," he said in a firm voice, "Listen to me. I'd be miserable without you. All right? If it wasn't for you, I'd be miserable right now. So don't ever say that my life would be better without you. Got it?"
She bowed her head and rested against his chest. "I'd be miserable without you too," she whispered. Ichigo could feel the tears slipping down her cheeks onto his chest. He tightened his grip around her.
Only seven months left. He was going to wear a shirt through each and every one of them.
Author's Note: Ah, love happy endings. Okay, maybe this wasn't happy per say. But hell, it was better than the way the last chapter ended. Anyways, now you know why I published the last chapter, despite how much I hated it. And I would once again like to apologize for that chapter, because I still feel it was very sensitive issue. But, moving on...
To all of you who are probably saying, "Rukia was so freakin' OOC it was unreal!", I have three words: get over it. She's pregnant, she's gonna have mood-swings, and I don't want all her mood-swings to be her screaming at Ichigo, otherwise we'll never know when she's having mood-swings, considering she does that anyway. Oh, and I realize my chapters are rather short, compared to how long the chapters in "WHLN" were. But for some reason this story doesn't type out as easily as "WHLN" did /shrugs/ Anyways, got my 100 goal last time /squee!/ so this time let's call...120 or above. Anybody think that's too high? I could make it lower...but I really don't want to...anyways, review, please! - Sam
