Author's notes: Hello! Sorry it took me so long to update. I had this chapter posted over at Bleach Asylum but for some reason never updated the Fan Fiction version! I am so very sorry :(! But it's true what the other writers say, reviews do help me to write faster. It's not so much that I want the ego-stroking, because believe me, my ego gets enough stroking! It's about the feedback that we grave. We want to hear the reason why you chose to subscribe to the story, what you love, what you hate! It helps me getting better :D. But anyway, to make up for missing an update, I have two chapters for you tonight!
~Twan
They were walking through the Forth Division gardens. It had been several months since Isane sat beside Ichigo's bed for 3 nights. During that fight, Rukia got gravely injured. "Kurosaki-fukutaicho, thank you for meeting me here." Isane started as she guided Ichigo to the bench. "Please, Isane, call me Ichigo. I'm a fukutaicho just like you. No need to be formal." He smiled friendly to her. She nodded, "Very well, Ichigo." She swallowed for a moment. "The reason I asked you to come here is about Kuchiki Rukia-san. She is not doing well."
Ichigo's eyes went wide. He brought Rukia in a month ago with complications after a battle they had both be involved in. Rukia had taken a blade to the stomach. The others that had accompanied them had healed her enough to bring her to the Forth. She had been in a coma since then and Ichigo had been beside her bed every day. "Her injuries have proven to severe for us to heal…" she continued. "We can't wake her from her coma either." Ichigo looked at Isane with shock. "What I'm trying to say is that you should probably say your goodbyes…" Isane nodded and got up. "I'll be my in my office." And with that she excused herself.
There he sat, beside the bed, holding her hand. "Rukia…" he whispered, squeezing her hand. "I'm sorry, Rukia." Tears rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you, sorry I wasn't able to keep you safe." His voice got louder and louder as his frustration grew. "It should have been me!" he slammed his fists down on the table, shattering it. "Why couldn't I protect her!?" he shouted.
Isane's hand fell on his shoulder. "Ichigo…" she whispered to him, allowing her reiatsu to poor out, the calming sensation meeting his angry reiatsu. The mixture of reaitsu finally calmed Ichigo and she took him in her arms as his anger gave room for sadness grief. "Ichigo, you were her protector, but you are forgetting something." She whispered as she held him. His anger started to spark again. "And what did I forget?" he asked. "She was just as much your protctor as you were his." She answered in her calm voice.
A sigh escaped between Ichigo's lips as Rukia's soul was slowly reincarnated. When Ichigo looked up from the hug with Isane he looked upon an empty bed. He was just speechless when he let go of Ichigo. He took the necklace he gave her from the dresser and walked towards the door. "Thank you, Isane." He said softly before disappearing.