WHEN THE SNOW FALLS
by Yih

Chapter Twenty-two
Breakfast in Bed

To say he was furious would be an understatement, Byakuya was beyond anger and he was wondering why Takahiro – usually the reasonable Elder – was deciding to be unlike himself as Byakuya had ever seen him. Byakuya had waited through the rest of the meeting, listening to them discuss the qualifications that Rukia's future fiancé would need to have before they moved on to the things that they had the grounds to make decisions on like landscaping, building a new temple, or organizing better stipends for widows.

Then again, he should have known that this day would come, he thought as he stared out his window at the full moon. When he had arrived home, he had sensed Rukia's presence and he got the feeling she wanted to see and talk to him. And he would have enjoyed immensely spending time wit her, but he was too agitated by what had been discussed at the meeting that he had deliberately avoided her.

Rukia was asleep now and Byakuya was regretting the fact he had ignored her when it was obvious that seeing her, touching her, talking to her would have made him better than thinking about this incessant problem. And it was going to be a problem, Byakuya knew, a very big problem.

He didn't know what to do, not without coming forward about their relationship and he had a feeling that they wouldn't accept it – and it was going to be more of a battle than marrying Hisana had ever been. Because this time, it wasn't just him marrying a commoner – he would be technically marrying his sister.

Byakuya clenched his fist and slammed it down on the table. What was he going to do?

-

The next morning, Byakuya woke up especially early and uncharacteristically went to the kitchens and sat there while he watched the cooks and their helpers prepare the lavished breakfast he had ordered especially for Rukia. Once they were done putting everything on the tray in a beautiful arrangement, Byakuya held out his hands to take it, knowing it would surprise them as much as it did himself that he wanted to do something subservient as serving Rukia her breakfast. He hadn't even done this for Hisana.

Byakuya paused outside of her bedroom, wondering if he was being overly sentimental and far too affectionate, but he wanted to do this and what was so wrong about that? Ginrei, his grandfather, had never been a demonstrative man and Byakuya had learned to follow his lead without ever thinking about if that was the way he wanted to be or not. Hisana, quite timid in some ways, had always freely showered her affections on him and he had liked that – no, he had loved it.

He slid the door open carefully, balancing the tray so that nothing spilled, and froze at the doorway when he saw that Rukia was awake and sitting on her bed in her sleeping robe, which was hardly the proper attire for him to see her in. He almost turned away to walk out, but she looked his way and he was trapped by her beautiful eyes.

"Byakuya…" she said and smiled.

It brought a small smile on his face to hear her say his name and to see that smile on her face, the smile that he only saw her give him. "Good morning," he said and stepped into her room. "I brought you breakfast."

Her eyes widened then and he felt warm inside at the pleasure he saw in her violet irises. "I had the cooks prepare all your favorites, or at least, what you particularly seem to like eating."

Rukia didn't look at the tray, her eyes were focused on him. "It's perfect," she said. "Thank you."

Byakuya nodded and set the tray on the bed. He stood there awkwardly, not really knowing if he should take the liberty and sit in her bed with her or if he should sit on the floor. He didn't know the protocol. Actually, there was no protocol because it was decidedly improper for him to be in a young woman's bedroom. He supposed it was okay because she was his sister… how ironic that the relationship that made their being together in the way he wanted was what made this moment acceptable.

Byakuya looked down when he felt Rukia's hand grab his. She tugged on it and let go, patting a spot on the bed next to her. "Sit down and eat with me. There's far too much for me alone."

It was far too much period of either of them to finish, but he had gone a bit overboard telling the cooks exactly what he wanted – probably because he needed everything to be perfect and when he was nervous he tended to overdo things.

"Do you ever dream?" Rukia asked in between the not-so-small bites of food she was eagerly eating.

Byakuya was having more fun watching her eat than eating himself. Maybe because her face was flushed with happiness and she was enjoying the food more than she ever had before.

"I dream at times."

"I had a pleasant dream last night," she said, sliding her eyes sideways to him.

How had it already been a year? It seemed like no time at all had passed, but a year was nothing in the lifespan of a shinigami. It was like a week for a human and yet it felt like he had been with Rukia for a very long time, even though he had been with Hisana for much, much longer.

"What did you dream of?" he inquired.

"Of you," she said softly, not looking down as he thought she would. Instead she leaned forward and he bent his head down instinctively and they kissed.

It was different than the sweet kisses they had shared before. Rukia wrapped her arms around his neck and he pushed her down onto her bed, covering her body with his own as he languidly kissed her lips, then let his lips trace a path down her cheek to her neck where he sucked on her soft flesh softly so he wouldn't leave a mark. He kissed up the same trail and kissed her lips one more time passionately before he drew away, only to find that he couldn't back away when she pulled him back for one more kiss and one more kiss.

He didn't know how many kisses they shared that morning. He lost count and he was late to work, but that didn't matter.

Byakuya couldn't be bothered with any worries when he was so absurdly happy.

-

A/N: Now I need some help from you guys, who do you think Rukia should be "engaged to marry" and why? I'm interested in hearing what you guys think! Thanks!

I'd really really appreciate if more of you would review. I hope you enjoyed this "fluffy" chapter. We don't seem to have too many of them and I think it's good for the development of their relationship. Although a year might seem a long time to you and me, I think it would hardly be anything to Byakuya (maybe more so for Rukia b/c she's younger).

P.S. The fictional story I'm planning on writing, I might end up turning into a Bleach-AU just so I can play around with the world for a bit. I'm not really sure, but I have handwritten some pages and it's been interesting to say the least. Those that PM and/or reviewed telling me they were interested I'll probably send you a little something soon so you can tell me how you like it or not. Thanks!

Released: 1/22/2009