Wow, I actually got reviews! That makes me seriously happy, because I'm never quite sure whether I'm hitting the right notes with my writing. Plus it proves that people are reading this, and that makes me even happier! Thanks so much and please carry on letting me know what you think, good or bad.

I apologise for the slow update – I try for once a week, but I'm now deep into writing up my thesis (I'm a biology PhD student) and my brain is filled with science, so I haven't been able to write anything without going into a thorough analysis and discussion of all the ways in which I'm wrong. Which didn't really seem appropriate for this…

This chapter and the next are more 'scene-setter' type chapters – for those of you waiting for a major development in story, stuff will start to happen more in chapter 4. I've always been more a character piece writer than a plot writer, so this is a change of pace for me :)

Also you have been warned, there is a sappy romance flashback in the middle of this chapter, which I apologise for but the story took on a mind of it's own and it seemed too appropriate for the characters for me to delete it. I blame it on the thesis stress, my mind was clearly trying to escape to a land of fluffy bunnies and white clouds. or should that be the other way around?

Anyway, sorry and try not to choke on the fluff.


It feels funny to be walking through Karakura again. So many familiar streets, familiar people, familiar places.

It seems funny because he's not here.

Rukia feels a shiver go through her. It was true. She'd come here sometimes since Ichigo's disappearance – to see Orihime and the others – but she'd always found it strange, empty somehow, without the presence of the bright-haired teenager who had gotten under her skin so very quickly.

I'm a Kuchiki. I'm not supposed to get attached, she reminds herself for the thousandth time.

It really hadn't worked with Ichigo. He was obnoxious, argumentative, always a scowl on his face and hands in his pockets. Such a teenager. But he cared – really cared – about people. He'd do anything to protect the people he cared for. And she, used by now to the cold echoing halls of the Kuchiki mansion and the even colder voice of her adopted older brother, had found a warmth in that that she'd forgotten.

He was the first person in a long time who'd accepted her, just for who she was, without her family or her roots getting in the way. He and his friends had made her belong. And whether she liked it or not, she'd found that she did care about him.

Just care about him?

She shakes that thought out of her head with a grimace. It was true in some ways – she'd never been quite sure of the extent of her feelings toward the teenager, as if there had always been some potential for something more. But she had dismissed it, since he was human, and young, and had a life to live. And then he had disappeared, and the war had got worse, the battles harder. She had lost friends, everyone had. But Renji had always been there, and the friendship she'd thought they'd lost had come back with a vengeance as they relied on each other more and more for comfort and support in the difficult times.

But it had been different from before – he wasn't the gangly unproven kid, and she wasn't the midget street rat. They were adults, and she couldn't help but notice how powerful he was now, how his muscles had filled out, how he moved with real confidence and a sure smile. That had been followed by the realisation of how strong he was when he held her, how she liked the smell of his skin, the tickle of his long hair against her cheek.

But again, she had ignored it. After all, they'd been friends forever. And then he'd nearly been killed in an espada attack, and she'd realised that she wasn't just afraid of losing her best friend. Her feelings ran deeper. And still she'd kept quiet, afraid of his rejection, afraid that he just saw her as his annoying kid sister. Until he'd finally, haltingly, told her he wanted to be more than friends.

She smiles at the memory, the blush on his face, his eyes looking everywhere but at her, his obvious frustration as he tried to find the words to tell her what he felt.

*flashback*

"Rukia, I… you know I'm not that great with words and all that, but there's… there's something I gotta tell you… so… y'know, bear with me, ok?"

She'd looked at him, surprised. It wasn't like Renji to be so serious. When he'd asked her to meet him here in the park she'd assumed it was just the usual, a walk and some food and a couple of drinks, a way to ease the tension before a battle, two friends helping each other relax.

"What is it?" She'd asked him softly, unable to stop the slight touch of fear in her heart. Was it something bad? Was something wrong? Was he being posted away – or sent somewhere dangerous?

He won't look at her, staring away over the lake they're sat in front of, staring at his own fingers, twisting in front of him, or staring at the ground – anywhere but at her.

"I…" he begins, then stops, shaking his head in obvious frustration. "I… look, there's been a lot of rough stuff happening lately. The war and everything. And… that's been bad, but… you and me, we've gotten to be friends again. And that… that's great. I mean, really great."

She smiles at him. "I always knew you were soft."

He chuckles, but it sounds forced, and he still won't meet her eyes. "But… there's kinda… something else." She frowns, and he takes a deep breath, as if to steel himself. "I know you and Ichigo were… y'know, close. I dunno how close. So, I always kept my mouth shut, even after we started being friends again, cuz I didn't wanna put my foot in it or get in the way or anything…"

"Renji, what are you saying?" Rukia can feel her heart speed up, butterflies in her stomach. Why was Renji talking about getting in the way of her and Ichigo?

"I…" He sighs in frustration, scratching at the back of his neck as he does when he's annoyed. "Look, what I'm trying to say is, well, I like you. More than… as a friend. But I don't know how you feel and if you don't feel the same way then it doesn't matter and we'll never mention it again and…"

"Renji." She interrupts him, reaching for her hand as he continues to talk nervously. And for the first time he actually stops and looks up at her, and she sees his blush, sees the nervousness in his eyes, and the affection shining beneath the fear.

"So, y'know… how about it? You and me, I mean?" he asks, pretending to be lighthearted even though she can feel the tension in his grip that tells her he's terrified of what she'll say next.

"I think I'd like that," she smiles at him, and sees first plain confusion and then amazement dawn in those red-brown eyes.

"You really mean it?" he asks, wonderingly.

"Yes, idiot!" She pokes him in the ribs for good measure, but he just grabs her wrist and then pulls her into a tight hug, pressing her small body against his.

"Fuck, Rukia…" he mumbles, face buried in her shoulder. "You don't know how long I've wanted to tell you… how fucking nervous I was that you'd laugh in my face…"

She runs her fingers through the scarlet ponytail. "Dumbass. You should have told me earlier. It would have saved us both a lot of worrying."

He releases her then, sitting back, staring at her. "You mean you… you liked me before?"

It's her turn to blush and look away. "Don't be daft. Why would I like you?"

"Rukia." He reaches, his fingers lightly touching her cheek just enough to turn her face back to him. And her heart-rate suddenly speeds up until she's sure it'll break from her chest, because he's so close, so close she can almost smell the scent of his skin.

Renji smiles at her, and it's almost shy, and she marvels at it. That she could make him shy. And then he leans towards her, and she's sure she's having a heart attack, and she can't breathe, and this is Renji…

And then his lips brush over hers, softly, hesitantly. Giving her ample chance to pull back and say 'no' before returning and settling, pressing more firmly. And… it doesn't matter that it's Renji. Except actually it does, because Renji is the only one she wants to be kissing her like this, and she can't believe they've never done it before, it just feels so… natural. Right.

He pulls back, slowly, reaching to brush her hair out of her eyes, looking at her with so much warmth. Her mind is still spinning. Is this real? Did that just really happen?

"I still can't quite believe it," he confesses, stroking her cheek lightly.

She doesn't quite know how to respond to him touching her, to him being so close. She wants to kiss him again but… she also wants to be able to talk to him, like a normal person. So, flustered, she does the only thing she can think of, and pinches him. Hard. He jerks back, a shocked look on his face.

"Well, you're not dreaming," she quips, and his look turns slowly from shock into a goofy grin.

"Guess not." He grins at her, rubbing her arm. "Though next time, think ya can find a less violent way to prove it?"

"You wish," she retorts, and it suddenly feels… normal again.

*end flashback*

She's happy, she decides. She does miss Ichigo, of course she does. But nothing could ever have been between them anyway. He was human. She was… well, dead. Some things were too forbidden.

Besides, there was Orihime to think about. The girl had been through such terrible things – abused by her parents, she'd been taken away by her elder brother Sora, two kids just trying to get along on their own. And then Sora had died in an accident, and she'd been left on her own, just a teenager, barely 14 years old, already having to survive on her own. And the girl was still so sweet, so generous and optimistic. Rukia had grown up with a crowd of rowdy boys, Renji's little gang, but she'd never really had close female friends before. Orihime had made her feel welcome, and the two of them had become close.

After Ichigo had vanished, Rukia had stayed with the auburn-haired girl while they searched for him, the two of them staying up late eating Orihime's unusual cooking and talking about… girl stuff. Setting the world to rights with the aid of ice-cream and red bean paste. With another girl, Rukia had found herself able to open up like never before, and Orihime had done the same.

Orihime loved Ichigo. Rukia had suspected it before, but every night as they talked, it became clearer and clearer. The way her gentle grey eyes would light up as she told stories about him, the shy way she blushed when Rukia mentioned him. Rukia never knew why the girl kept it such a secret. She was beautiful, clever, gentle and generous – any guy would want her. In fact, when she'd told Renji about it, he'd slapped a hand against his forehead in despair. 'That fucking idiot,' he'd groaned, speaking about Ichigo. 'How can he not notice a girl like that? Is he fucking blind as well as stupid?'

She grinned at the memory. As she recalled, she'd promptly hit him round the head for noticing another girl.

The loss of Ichigo had changed the girl. In some ways it had brought out her strength Orihime – Rukia had never seen her more determined than when they'd searched for Ichigo, and in the weeks afterward she'd begged all of the others to train her as much as possible.

'So that if he needs me, I can do more than just stand there stupidly,' the girl had explained. It was as if she really believed she was useless, just because her powers were of healing and defence, not attack like the rest of them. It was crazy, because her shun-shun rikka had saved them more times than any sword ever could.

Rukia longed to make her friend understand that she wasn't useless. Her strength was different from any of the rest of them – she seemed so vulnerable on the surface, so gentle, yet she took every terrible thing the world threw at her and smiled. She walked into Soul Society to try and rescue a girl she barely knew, even thinking she was weak, even thinking she would lose. She would do anything to protect her friends, and she had the kindness of heart to heal even their enemies rather than see them bleed.

It was the kind of strength Rukia sometimes wished she had, rather than a cold sword and blood on her hands.

However, the other changes hadn't been so good. Orihime had withdrawn more since Ichigo's disappearance, become more shy again, less confident. Renji had nicknamed her 'princess' from her name, and this last year that was exactly how she'd seemed – like a princess locked in a tower, there but somehow… distant.

Waiting for her prince to come back and rescue her?

And now, Rukia was on her way to tell her the news. That they'd detected Ichigo. That they were going looking. And that it was the princess's chance to go and rescue her prince.

n.b. 'hime' in Japanese means princess, hence Princess Orihime!

Thanks for reading :)

Wow, after all that scientific writing, this has been so nice to write!