Author's Note: So here's another fast update!

Hey, so, I am not the kind of person to beg for reviews, but I'm going to be honest here. I know as readers you probably see writers all the time ask for reviews so they write faster- some even have quotas. I'm not going to make a quota, nor am I going to beg. I just ask that you take a minute or so to tell me how I'm doing. If you like, if you don't, what to fix, OOC, anything you'd like to say! Even if it's just one word. I honestly cannot say how happy reviews make me. So here's me asking politely: if you would, can you please take a moment to review my stories? Thank you even if you don't! I love any and all readers!

"Come on…"

She could hear the pleading voice from far away- yet she had no body to attach it to. She tried to swim out of the darkness, but couldn't move her body. It felt as though her limbs were tied to the ground- or whatever she was laying on.

"Don't…"

Don't what? She wondered what the voice wanted from her. Couldn't it see she was content here- floating in this invisible space? The darkness felt good to her; she felt safe. Maybe the voice was telling her "Don't get comfortable." Maybe it said "Don't leave." She preferred the latter.

She didn't want to leave- yet she didn't even know where she was. She tried to ask, but her mouth was somewhere else. Besides, the effort was making her tired- so tired. She just wanted to rest in this place forever. So instead of fighting the urge to find herself, she laid there.

"Please…"

This voice sure was demanding. What did it want? Couldn't it tell she was happy here? – where ever here was. She didn't have to think about… anything. She couldn't even think of something to think about. Having little to no clue about her own existence made it hard to focus on any one subject.

"Ru…" Ru? The voice faded. She tried to listen closer with the ears she wasn't sure she had.

"Rukia…"

The voice was getting louder- clearer. Rukia? Was that her name? Was the voice calling to her? Rukia was now aware somebody was calling her. Short-term images slowly leaked into her mind.

A large monster with porcelain claws.

A white mask.

She saw a blur of what she suspected was her own body from a third person perspective. It was in front of the monster- the hollow- she remembered.

There were so many… She tried to fight them all. She then saw him- smudge of orange atop a tall black smear. She saw herself appear between him and the hollow.

She then saw red.

She had to try and fight her way to the surface.

"She's moving…"

"Good, that's good. I'm moving," she thought. But it was far too loud. There were too many voices. Maybe Rukia was wrong. Maybe she didn't want to go back. There might be more hollows.

"Come on, Rukia. Wake up…"

No. Whoever these voices were, Rukia couldn't find her way to them. They were just too far away, and she was so tired… Can't they see she liked it here? Away from all the pain?

"She's not breathing…"

Rukia knew that meant she was dying. Something told her that was okay. Something darker told her she deserved it- for what, she didn't know. The image of the orange-haired man kept asserting itself into her mind. She tried to push it away, but it was mixing with the voices and the sounds constricting her.

There was a lot of noise now, and Rukia began to hurt all over. She felt the echoes of pain pulsating through her. "I wish they'd stop," she thought, "They're screaming."

"-higo! Wait!

…Higo…

"Ichigo!"

"Ichigo!"

Rukia's eyes opened and she felt her body bolt up, heart racing. The pain was excruciating, and the second she was up, she was being pushed back down.

"Rukia! You came back!"

"Thank the gods!"

Rukia was confused. "Ichigo?" she rasped. She couldn't find him among the throng of faces- Ishida, Sado, Urahara, Inoue… "Ichigo!" she breathed.

She felt a soft hand on her forehead and a calming voice. "Shhh, don't talk. Just stay still."

What? No. She didn't want to stay still. Where was Ichigo? What happened?

"Where's-"

"He's just outside, Ishida-kun is getting him."

Rukia gave a stiff nod and closed her eyes. She tried to relax, which ended up being easier than she suspected. "Oh,that'sgood," she slurred, the pain taking control of her mouth. "Tell him I'msorry… Sorryfor..." she gave a shaky, tired breath, trying to find the words, "Sorryfor beingfoolish."

"Of course."

Rukia closed her eyes, and before she succumbed to the darkness, she felt a rough pair of lips skim her forehead.

"Rukia…"