I'm getting really excited for what happens in the next couple of chapters, so I'm attempting to write ahead. Let's see if I can stay true to my word...

Thanks to IchigoMoonCutter, G27forever, fireworks1820,
Tituslepetitlion, Go NINERS LOL (I don't really follow football haha. Frankly, I couldn't care less.), Anya Seneca Primrose, guest and avatarfan82 for reviewing the last chapter!

A special thanks to Tituslepetitlion, who corrected me on the French translations! THANK YOU! :D

As usual, a huge thanks to everyone who is reading, favoriting, and following! You all are legit the best!

Disclaimer: I don't own Tite Kubo's Bleach. I only own my OCs, Hisana II, André, Gigi, and Gerard as well as this plot.

Rukia and the kids continued to walk to the nearest bus station. The hot French sun beat down on their backs and made the luggage that they were carrying about ten times heavier than it was when they began. Rukia began to feel a little sleepy as she walked, but she forced herself to keep her eyes open. It simply wouldn't do to look like she wanted to curl up into a small ball and admit defeat. She left her sham of a life with Gerard, and she sure as hell wasn't going to quit before she even left the town, however, that didn't mean she couldn't complain about the lack of sleep in her mind.

'Stupid, why didn't you sleep on the train like your children?' she mentally berated. 'You just have to have an overactive thought process as well…'

The kids were beginning to feel tired as tired as Rukia felt even though they slept on the train ride. Gigi and André began to lag behind as did Hisana. Hisana blinked several times, looking as if she was going to fall forward. She gripped Gigi's hand a little tighter than she normally would have to try and stay awake, making Gigi squirm a little. She soon found herself giving up; it wasn't worth fighting with her elder sister about it.

André suddenly stopped walking, making Rukia and the girls pitch forward slightly. Though it was an effective way to get them to wake up, that was not the intention.

Rukia sighed as she tried to put on her best kind smile. "Baby, André, what's wrong?"

André rubbed his eyes, yawning. He stamped his foot and crossed his arms over his chest. "Mama! I'm tired! Can't we go home and sleep?"

Gigi nodded in agreement but soon recoiled under Hisana's pointed stare. Hisana figured that what André said was the last thing Rukia wanted to hear. They all knew their mother had a remarkable amount of patience, but it was drastically cut short when she was already irritated or tired. Hisana suspected that between the fight that ensured the night before combined the lack of sleep, Rukia was not the happiest person on the planet.

Rukia tried to think of something to tell André that didn't sound too harsh or blunt, but she just couldn't. She didn't want to tell them that they would probably never go back home or that their father didn't even love them enough to fight for them and keep them with him or even that it would be a long time before they made it to Paris, let alone Versailles. She took a deep breath and tried to organize her thoughts as she gazed into her only son's indigo eyes.

"'Dré, remember what Tonton told you when we last visited him?"

The toddler placed a finger on his lips, his eyebrows knitted together in deep concentration. "Don't laugh at the pictures of him in a ponytail?"

Rukia covered her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter. To this day, she couldn't wrap her mind around the image of her older brother-in-law wearing his hair in a pony-tail. She knew that it was long enough to be put into one, but he had never put it in one since he was a teenager.

She caught Gigi and Hisana's eyes, glad to see she wasn't the only one who found the child's words amusing.

"No, but do remember that when we go to his house. Tonton told you that sometimes good things take a while to come. Right now, I'm not sure when we'll be at Tata Momo's house. Just keep an open mind. I know you're tired - I am too, but we can't stop now. Look, how about we wait until we get to the train station that will take us to Paris. That'll be a long trip. Won't it be nice to sleep for a long time?" she asked with a large smile.

André's sleepy eyes lit up at Rukia's words. He nodded excitedly and gripped the bag he was holding, ready to keep walking. He believed that the faster they made it to the train station, the faster he would be able to sleep again.

Rukia laughed at her son's antics. She glanced down at Gigi and Hisana. Both had exhaled slowly when they saw their brother's sudden adrenaline rush. Rukia knelt so that they were all eye-level. "Girls, I promise you; when we get to Tata Momo's house, you can sleep all you want, but we'll never get there if we stay here."

"Mayan, how do you keep going? Aren't you tired? " asked Hisana after yawing. She covered her mouth and blinked several times. Gigi clumsily rubbed her eyes and looked up at her mother expectantly.

This was another question that Rukia couldn't find the answer to on the spot. She tapped her chin for a moment. As she searched for a proper answer, she glanced at Hisana and was reminded of her late sister. Then the answer came to her. "I think of my elder sister."

"Tata Hisana?" they both asked incredulously.

Rukia nodded proudly. "I think of her when I feel like I can't do something or the thing that I have to do seems impossible. When I think of her, it's like I can do anything I set my mind to, and it's because it feels like she's watching over me."

The girls stayed silent for a moment. Rukia wondered if her spiel on her elder sister had gotten through to them when Gigi hesitantly asked a question.

"Is Tata watching over us?"

Rukia smiled while reaching forward to ruffle her dark brown hair. "Of course she is. She's watching over all of us. You, Hisana, me, André-"

"Even Tonton Byakuya?"

"Especially Tonton. Tata loved Tonton."

The girls nodded before standing up a little straighter. Now they felt like they had the strength they needed to persevere and keep walking. Rukia also stood up a little straighter and gripped André's hand and the luggage.

She felt a lot more confident now that she remembered Hisana. Hisana wouldn't have wanted them to give up before they even got anywhere. She would be the one who would be smiling and laughing the entire way, not even showing a shred of sleep deprivation.

Just keep walking, and always know that you'll never walk alone.

It was now 5:45 pm and Ichigo was standing in front of the stove while Chad and Uryuu were sitting at the dining table.

Ichigo was holding a wooden spoon, poking at the contents in the pan - fried rice. Chad was working on lesson plans for the next day at his guitar shop. He was working on a way to include a trivia game into the lesson. Trivia games were apparently Yuichi's favorite kind of game. Uryuu sat with his textbooks and papers in a neat and orderly pile at the table. His attention was on his laptop, where he was writing his essay for his economics class.

Ichigo poked his head out of the kitchen, glancing at his silent roommates. His hazel eyes landed on the brightly colored pieces of paper that most likely consisted of Chad's trivia game. He smiled gently at Chad's effort to befriend his pupil. What person didn't want to make a kid happy? Ichigo sure as hell did. A small frown replaced his smile when he remembered Karin and Yuzu.

He exhaled slowly, shutting his eyes and pushing the thought out of his mind. He opened his eyes and turned to Uryuu, who was typing away at his laptop. Raising an eyebrow, Ichigo made his way around the table so he was standing behind Uryuu. His left eye twitched slightly and his mouth hung open a little. "Uryuu, you're the only person I know who can write a seven page plus paper on microeconomics."

Uryuu let a small smile appear on his face as he pushed his glasses up. He continued to type his paper, occasionally glancing at the neatly handwritten rough draft that lay next to his computer. "My paper is supposed to be fifteen pages, which means I've still got a long way to go."

Ichigo sighed, rubbing his temple. "Only you would say something like that. I took microeconomics when I was in college, and it's the driest subject ever. I don't understand how you have more than four pages of information."

"What can I say? You always did say I was into the things that no one liked."

"That's because you like to shoot arrows in your free time. Most people I know like to laze around when they've got nothing to do."

"Not everyone is like that, Kurosaki."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and returned to the kitchen. He promptly lowered the heat and stirred his fried rice, thanking god that it hadn't stuck to the bottom of the pan. As he was taking it off of the burner, he heard Chad's slow and deep voice ring out.

"Next time, don't leave the kitchen for that long," said Chad.

The ginger remained silent when he emerged from the kitchen, carrying the pan. He placed it in the center of the table, which made Chad and Uryuu organize their papers into a neat and orderly pile. They each shoved their work into their respective bags and tucked them away from the table. Ichigo handed the plates and forks out before sitting down.

They silently dug into the fried rice. For a while, the only sounds were of the forks that occasionally clinked against the bottom of the plate and quiet chewing from the three men. Ichigo hoped that his incident at work as well as Senna's call wouldn't be brought up at the table. His eyes flicked over to his raven haired roommate, praying that he wouldn't bring it up.

Just when Ichigo was almost finished with his dinner, Chad's voice broke the silence. "Ichigo, I was going up to my room, and I saw that the picture of the stuffed lion you keep on your desk was on the floor of your room. I went to go pick it up, and I saw that the frame had cracked. What happened?"

Uryuu looked up from his plate, his eyes resting on the ginger, making Ichigo mentally panic. He tried to come up with an excuse, any excuse, he could have given Chad to get him off of his back. His heart raced, and the room suddenly felt ten times warmer than it should have. "Oh, um, I must have knocked it over or something by accident."

He prayed that it was a believable excuse and that Chad wouldn't ask anything or think between the lines.

Fortunately for Ichigo, Chad noticed the look on Ichigo's face and the way his shoulders were slumped forward. Chad's dark eyes flicked back to his half empty plate. "I think there's a spare frame in one of the closets."

"Oh, I'll go change it after dinner."

The three men sat in complete silence, each feeling an uncomfortable tension in the air. After cleaning up and washing all the dishes, they retired to their respective rooms for the night.

Ichigo walked into his room, and picked frame up, running his fingers over the shattered glass, wary of the jagged edges. He sighed and placed it back on his desk, walking to his small dresser to change out of his jeans.

"Shattered," he whispered. "Just like my past."

Just as he said shattered, a memory flitted into his mind - the one that he had tried to forget for fifteen long and agonizing years. His hands clenched around the pair of pants he was holding, his knuckles turning ghostly white. His face slowly drained, and his eyes seemed to lose any sort of life. His heart began to pound in his chest as if the memory he was reliving was happening before his eyes.

"Mom, you really don't have to come to the bank with me. I can take the money out by myself," Ichigo said feeling slightly annoyed at the fact that his mother didn't seem to trust him with the menial chore.

Masaki laughed as she grabbed her purse and keys as well as her jacket. She ruffled Ichigo's ginger hair and slipped into her flats. "Of course you can, but I have a few errands to run, so I might as well head out with you."

Ichigo's eyes softened at her words, and he started to feel a little guilty for what he said earlier. He knew his mother didn't mean any harm with her words.

He would be going to college that year and, unfortunately for his mother, it was a college that was pretty far from home. Ever since he had gotten his acceptance letter she would go out of her way to spend every minute she could with him before he had to leave home.

He smiled and opened the door. "Alright, Mom."

They had gone to the bank first, since it was closer to the house. They walked into the bank, catching sight of the long lines before them. Ichigo mentally groaned, his shoulders slumping. "Mom, the lines are huge. We'll be here forever."

She smiled at her son's impatience. "I don't know - sometimes the lines move faster than you think."

"I highly doubt that."

The line moved slowly, prompting Ichigo to pull his phone out after about ten minutes of waiting. Masaki pretended to look annoyed. "You children are so dependent on your technology and high-speed! Ichi, do you remember a time before all these newfangled gadgets and instant results?"

Ichigo continued to play with his phone, a smirk pulling at his lips. His mother would always poke fun at his impatience and the technologically advanced world that made him that way. He feigned shock and tore his eyes away from his phone. "There was a world before that? How did you all survive?"

Masaki's eyes twinkled as they moved forward. "We all survived because we had willpower and other things to occupy our minds. Tell me, when was the last time you read a book?"

"I finished Hamlet last week."

Masaki rolled her eyes at her son. "A book that wasn't a requirement for English class or any class."

"C'mon, Mom, I read The Hobbit not too long ago."

"That doesn't count - you were going to watch the movie."

"Oh, that doesn't count either?" he asked with a devious smile on his face. "There are more rules?"

His mother smiled, seeing a lot of her husband in her eldest child. "Fine, I'll give you The Hobbit."

She watched him tap away at his phone and then at the line ahead of them. As much as she liked spending time with him, she knew that he would rather be doing something else than spend his day waiting in line. "Hey, why don't you leave this to me? I'll withdraw the money, you go out or something."

Ichigo looked up and pocketed his phone. "C'mon Mom. I'm not a little kid anymore - I'm perfectly capable of waiting a little longer, even if I did grow up in a world of technology," he added with his signature smirk.

Masaki sighed at her son's stubborn comeback. Someday his stubborn nature would hurt him. "No, really. You leave this to me."

Just as Ichigo opened his mouth to respond, they heard something screech and slam against the wall. They whipped their heads around to see what happened. A man wearing dark-colored clothes and a dark-colored hat that almost obscured his eyes and was holding a gun to a young woman's head. Tears smarted out of her wide eyes, indicating how fearful she was of the man who could end her life in a matter of seconds.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN. GET DOWN AND NO ONE WILL GET HURT," the man roared menacingly.

Ichigo felt his heart race as he listened to the man's words. "Mom, get out of here," he whispered. "I'll be right behind you."

"Ichigo, I am NOT leaving you behind," she hissed, crouching low to the ground just like everyone else.

"Mom, I'll be right behind you!" Ichigo replied desperately. "Just leave!"

"EVERYONE STAYS SILENT!" shouted the man drawing closer, the woman still his prisoner.

"Ichigo, you have a clear way to the exit. Get a head start. I promise you I'll be behind you," Masaki said hurriedly.

Shots were fired through the air, making everyone shudder and look around apprehensively.

"GIVE ME THE MONEY OR EVERYONE DIES!"

Everyone cringed at the squeal and screech of the door to the vault. Whoever was being yelled at for the money was obviously a nervous wreck, as would anyone in their situation.

Ichigo was beginning to grow worried for his mother's safety, and he couldn't understand why she wasn't listening to him. "Mom, get out. NOW. You can't just leave Yuzu, Karin and Dad!"

"Ichigo, do not speak that way. We'll make it out. Just wait until the man turns away from us. You will leave first, and don't try to argue with me. You've got your whole life ahead of you."

He bit his lip and prayed they would be able to escape in one piece. He nodded, throwing a furtive look over his shoulder. The man was scanning the room with hawk-like eyes, trying to catch anyone who was moving.

Shots were fired again.

"I TOLD YOU ALL NOT TO MOVE. ANYONE WHO MOVES WILL DIE."

"H-here's the money, sir," the bank teller said shakily.

The man snatched the money from the teller and let go of the woman. The woman gasped, her hand flying to her chest to calm her racing heart. The man kept the gun in his hand as he counted the money. He muttered to himself, looking up.

"Thanks for the money," he said with a sickly smile. He aimed the gun at the teller and swiftly pulled the trigger. The resounding thud of the teller's body hitting the ground effectively scared everyone.

Ichigo fearfully glanced at his mother. "Mom, we have to leave. NOW."

Masaki furiously shook her head, silently telling him that if they attempted to escape now they would surely be killed.

The robber made his way back to the front doors before turning around. He aimed his gun at no one in particular and pulled the trigger several times, making the civilians cower, tremble and shut their eyes. There were a couple of thuds from the bodies hitting the ground, prompting the remaining people to shudder. The man swiftly pocketed his gun and dashed out the door.

Ichigo opened his eyes and uncovered his head. He looked around, searching for his mother. His heart stopped at the sight of her body a foot or two away from him. She was on her side, her golden hair looking like a tangled mess. He knew what had happened, but that didn't stop him from racing over to her and turn her around. He felt light-headed when he saw the growing crimson spot on her shoulder.

"Mom," he whispered, not believing it.

He gently shook her, praying she was simply unconscious, but she didn't seem to respond. Tears began to run down his cheeks, not caring if anyone saw them. His fingers closed around her wrist, desperately searching for a pulse. He grabbed fistfuls of his hair when he couldn't find one. He shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, wanting it to be himself who was on the floor instead of his mother.

"MOM!" he shouted with hot tears leaking out of his eyes while hugging his lifeless mother's body to him. "Mom," he whispered softly. "I'm sorry - I'm sorry I killed you."

When he came to his senses, he found himself sitting against his bed with a slight headache. He winced softly when he gingerly touched the back of his head and felt a lump there. He pulled his knees to his chest, feeling tears claim his vision. The raw pain in his heart dominated any other feeling he had.

His life was never the same after that day at the bank, and he knew it wouldn't be. His father, upon finding out, kept telling Ichigo he was glad he hadn't lost a wife and a son in the shooting, but Ichigo felt the symptoms of survivor's guilt. He felt that his father was keeping his true feelings about the aftermath of the shooting bottled up.

He soon convinced himself that his family was tiptoeing around him when it came to the shooting and that him staying under the same roof triggered memories to everyone. As soon as he felt he was emotionally stable, he packed his bags and moved out of his childhood home, determined not to remind his father and sisters of his mother's death.

He hadn't spoken to his family since then, and it was for their own good. Why would they want to associate with their wife and mother's murderer?

When he came to France, he made sure to keep his past on the down-low. When he became friends with Uryuu and Chad, he told them that his mother died. They didn't know the full story - almost no one did. The only person who knew about his mother's death was Senna.

"Ichigo, you can't blame yourself for what happened. That man didn't need to fire his gun!"

His head was in his hands, presumable to hide his tears from his girlfriend. She carefully ran her fingers through his hair and looped her arms around his neck. She softly kissed his cheek. "Ichi, it's not your fault. Stop blaming yourself."

"Senna, I as good as killed her," he croaked back. "If I listened to her and left when she told me to maybe she wouldn't have died. She would have still been alive."

"That would have made things worse - you would have died as well. That man would have noticed you guys leaving and killed you both."

"Well, maybe that would have been better! I wouldn't feel like a miserable excuse of a son and brother!"

The first couple of years without his mother were hard on him. He kept seeing flashes of the day at the bank in his sleep and would bolt up in the middle of the night, sweating and gasping for breath. He frequently thought of what would have happened if he had been the one to die in the shooting instead of his mother. He believed everything would have been better than it was now.

It had been fifteen years since the shooting, and Ichigo had healed a lot since then. A lot of it was because of the people he met and the environment he was in. Whatever it was, he was happy he didn't have to see his mother's dead body in his sleep again.

But it seemed that he was returning to those days.

He grabbed his pair of pants with shaky hands and tossed his jeans on the floor. He pulled his comforter over his head and shut his eyes.

"Senna's wrong. Dad would never want to hear from me. Hell, if I was him, I wouldn't want to hear from me."

He turned over on his side and glanced at the picture of the stuffed lion. He reached out and took the frame in his hands again. This time, he turned it over and popped the back of the frame out, revealing a small wallet-sized picture. He scooped it out of the frame and placed it next to his pillow, feeling little comfort from the picture of him with his mother.

Sleep would be hard to come by tonight.

Rukia counted out the bus fare, cringing at the amount of money she had left. She barely had enough for the next bus, and they hadn't even left Meaux yet! They would have to stop at an ATM in Paris. She could only pray Gerard hadn't closed her account somehow.

She found her seat next to her children, feeling slightly better seeing André finally get the nap he wanted. She pulled him closer to her, making sure his head was resting on her shoulder. Gigi was also dozing off on Hisana's shoulder. Hisana yawned, trying to keep her eyes open. Rukia nodded at Hisana, signaling to her that it was alright to sleep. Hisana gave her mother a small smile before shutting her eyes.

Rukia glanced out of the window, going over her plan for the billionth time. She would, first, go to Momo's house so the kids could visit Momo, Renji and Rangiku. Then she would get directions to Byakuya's house. Her eyes widened slightly when she thought of her brother. In all of her haste, she had completely forgotten to tell him she would be coming to stay for a while. The prospect of telling Byakuya what happened made her cringe again, but she still reached into her back pocket for her phone and clicked on the home screen button.

Her heart was caught in her throat when she saw that she had gotten a text from Gerard. Her fingers were shaking as she clicked on the message icon on her phone.

Thought you could escape me, Rukia? Well you thought wrong. I made sure to close your account, and don't think I don't know where you're going, which is why I also made sure to make the way to your precious 'Nii-sama's' house as hard as I could. Face it, Rukia. You'll have to come back to me eventually. It's almost inevitable.

Give up while you can.

Her face drained of any color it might have had before reading the message. Knowing Gerard and his stubborn nature, he would no doubt stick to his word - he intended to make her life hell from this moment on. She slumped forward in her seat, feeling hopeless. Now she didn't have any money source and the road to Byakuya's house wouldn't be smooth sailing. If there was a god on Rukia's side, it wasn't doing anything in her favor.

She shut her eyes and exhaled slowly, trying to think of what to do. Taking into effect that this train ran from Meaux to a little town that was not too far from Paris, she thought she would try to walk the rest of the way to Momo's house.

Her gaze flicked over to her children, whom were sleeping peacefully next to her. She instantly covered her face at the sight. She was turning out to be a horrible mother. What good mother doesn't have money to support her children?

Right after berating herself for not having enough money, she berated herself again for not getting another car when she had the chance a few years back. Nope, she just had to be thinking economically when she told Gerard no to her own car.

Really - what the hell was I on when I told him that? Stupidest mistake ever.

A tiny voice responded to the last remark she made in her mind.

No, the stupidest mistake you ever made was loving Gerard.

She sighed, knowing the voice was right. She thought back to his message and began to wonder why Gerard was trying so hard to get her to come back home. He had already made it clear that he didn't love her anymore. Why did he tell her to give up while she could?

After a few minutes of thinking she slapped her forehead, wondering why she hadn't seen it earlier.

"That asshole! He doesn't want to go through divorce because of the division of property and the child support! Oh, what I would do to that wine-loving bastard…"

But she couldn't do anything to him. She didn't have anything except her children and the few possessions (mostly clothes) that they had in their suitcases.

Possessions…

She held her left hand up and examined the diamond ring that adorned her ring finger. Her heart beat faster with the idea that formulated in her mind. If she sold her wedding band, she might have enough money to make it from Paris to Versailles, assuming she spent it wisely.

She took a deep breath as her fingers touched the band of the ring. "C'mon, Kuchiki, you can do this," she muttered over and over. Her fingers shook, but she managed to get the ring off of her finger. It lay in the palm of her hand as she assessed how much she could get for it.

"Hmm. I remember the box it was in was from a well-known jewelry store - I'm assuming this is about €1,000 to €1,400. That should be good for a couple of days in Paris. Oh, but will I have enough for the ticket to Versailles?"

She bit her lower lip, trying to work out the math. If she got a good deal on her ring, she would be able to have just enough money to get to Versailles by train, but she could not afford any screw ups.

She pocketed the ring and glanced at her children, which only reaffirmed what she thought before.

They come first. I can't mess anything else up for them.

Yay for moving forward! I know a lot of you are like, "*sigh* WHEN WILL THEY MEET?" I assure you that they WILL meet. I'm aiming for a chapter before ten.

On the other hand, this was a very dramatic and rather depressing chapter for poor Ichi. :( Reviews and constructive criticism will make him feel better! ;)

Brownie points to whoever gets my "wine-loving bastard" reference! :D