Requested by mitsu-kun- where on earth you got the prompt 'ice-skating' from, I'll never know.
Rukia and Ukitake
Ice-skating
He patted her head, and told her that he had something that would cheer her up. Rukia looked up at her captain from where she sat, staring aimlessly into space. The death of her lieutenant had hit her hard, and the pain of it still lingered in the darkness of her eyes.
"Captain, you need to rest."
"No, no. Be quiet, put on something warm and come with me."
And so she did, moving in almost catatonic slowness and she fought to remember how to move (how to move when he was not watching her). An hour later, they arrived at the edge of a frozen lake.
"Captain, what's this about?"
"Here. Put these on."
She stared at the strange shoes her Captain had handed her, but put them on. She had good balance, so as she stood on them she managed to keep upright.
"Step on the ice."
She did so, and he pushed her, sending her sliding across the frozen surface, almost gliding but for the pinwheeling of her arms as she fought to stand upright. She gasped in surprise, but her face broke out in a smile, and she found herself laughing for the first time since Kaien's death.
Ukitake smiled to himself.
He'd missed that sound.