...

...

...

Will you hold me now?
hold me now, my frozen heart
kiss my lips and maybe you can take me to your world for now...
I can't be alone right now.

...

...

(The next day)

...

Rukia awoke the next morning, feeling exhausted and... sensitive. Her skin felt like it was burning as she shivered under the blanket, blinking sleepily. It was a cold morning- it always was in the winter time.. but not this morning. Despite the weather her body hummed with heat- too much heat. It felt dizzying.

All she could think about was Ichigo. How he'd kissed her last night. The feeling of his hands on her waist, on her back.. the way his warmth radiated from his body when she was in his embrace. Agh. She hasn't felt like this in years.. arousal. Love. Desire. Her face burned red as she bit her lip, closing her eyes in a weak attempt to relax. It had taken every ounce of self control she had to bid him goodnight and close the door instead of inviting him inside. She hadn't wanted him to leave her there alone. She had wanted to take him by the arm to her room and make love to him the way they had in the royal realm almost 18 years ago.

As she rolled over with a tired sigh, glancing at her clock. 10:00. She'd overslept- although it was Saturday, so it wasn't like she had somewhere to be. Ichika wouldn't be home until dinner time, so she would have some time to herself.

She got out of bed slowly, dragging her feet as she went to wash her face and teeth before returning to her room. She sighed and picked up the dress from her vanity chair- she'd been so tired yesterday she hadn't even bothered to put anything away. She hung the red number in her closet and crawled back into bed, not desirous to go downstairs or eat anything yet.

Ichigo... she still couldn't believe it. She'd kissed Ichigo. Or, he'd kissed her...! It was too much. She couldn't believe it. Her hand raised to touch her bottom lip softly. Her cheeks burned red, and Rukia flipped over, pushing her face into her pillow in embarrassment at herself, wondering how he must be feeling.

There was no way she could ask him that, but if she had, she would've learned Ichigo had woken up in a similar, if not more heated state of arousal than she had, requiring a cold shower and partially failed attempts to not think about kissing her and having his hands all over her.

What did this mean for them? Did Ichigo want to be with her? She wasn't sure how to feel about that. She DID want to be with him- she'd known since the war ended that she loved him... but loving someone did not automatically mean you should be with them. She sighed, closing her eyes and curling up closer into a ball, pulling the blanket around her tighter. Did he even want that?

It felt... too soon, somehow. He must need more time. Maybe he's worried about you getting away? Rukia scoffed at that idea. Like I'm about to go find someone else. There's no way he thinks that.

And what about her? Can I live with it if he just wants to be friends? She laid there in silence, thinking about what that would mean. But he had been the one who kissed her. What would that make us? Friends with benefits? Ugh.

I could, she decided. It doesn't matter what he wants from me... I'm fine with all of it. But if he does want to... to be with me someday... he needs more time. This would be his first Christmas and new years after his divorce. Perhaps it would help him to put things in perspective once he got to spend it with his son, sisters and father.

He had asked her to spend it with him- Christmas eve and day- but she'd refused. He ought to spend it with his family, and it would be awkward for her to attend, though he'd pleaded that his sisters and dad would be thrilled to have her over. But she reminded him of Kazui, and he had been forced to agree that maybe more time was needed before going and introducing his son to her... even if they weren't actually "dating" yet.

She didn't get to see Ichigo for the next three days- he had Kazui was home from school with the flu for all three days, and Ichigo was too busy. Instead, they spent their free time on the phone with each other. She felt relief that neither of them felt awkward after what happened. Maybe they could just let their relationship grow naturally?

Friday arrived, 3 days after the party. Rukia had brought some paperwork home with her, having decided to get ahead of it since she had extra time. She hadn't realized how much time she spent with Ichigo; it didn't even feel like time passed when she was with him.

She sat at her desk, rooting through all of the papers scattered around and sipping from a tea cup, only pausing in her thoughts when her phone vibrated on her table. She reached across the table and picked it up, glancing at the lit-up screen.

(1) New text message
From: Ichigo
hey. u busy this evening?

Rukia couldn't help but to smile at that- a thought that made her want to roll her eyes at herself. She had been worried it might be awkward for him after they... kissed on Friday- and it still could be once they saw each other in person again- but she didn't care. That was a risk she was perfectly happy taking.

From: Rukia
not really. what's up?

From: Ichigo
Mind if I come over for a bit? like around 5. Kazuis going to practice today so I can leave

From: Rukia
ofc not. see u then

He did arrive just as scheduled, her doorbell ringing at 5:08. Rukia stood in her kitchen doing the dishes, her long hair put up with a hairclip. She had decided against changing out of her sleep clothes- he'd already seen her in a short slip the first day he showed up at her door.

"It's open!" she called out from the kitchen, hearing the door open as she placed the last cup in her dishwasher.

"Hey," she heard Ichigo call out from the living room. Rukia wiped her hands on a towel and went out.

"Hey-" she began, but paused when she saw him. He stood there in her living room, and was cutting a very large box open with a knife. "Oh... what's this?"

"You'll see." he said, and smirked at her with a teasing glint in his eyes. Rukia raised an eyebrow.

"There's a dead body in there isn't there. Who did you kill?"

Ichigo bit back a laugh, unable to get mad at her today, "Very funny. You should be grateful, lady. I came all this way with this thing."

She chuckled, watching as he stood up then and lifted the thing out of the box carefully, and Rukia's jaw dropped.

It was... a Christmas tree. An eight foot tall, snow-flocked Christmas tree.

"Oh," she whispered, staring at it in disbelief. Ichigo sat it up and slid it into the stand, straightening the branches out so they would look proper. "What do you think? I figured I could go with a taller one, since your living room is pretty big.."

She didn't answer, and he glanced behind her. "Rukia? What do you think-?"

He froze when he saw her expression. Her blue eyes were shiny with what could only be tears. When he spoke, she suddenly looked from the tree behind him, to Ichigo himself, who was know standing there frozen with a horrified look in his eyes.

She let out a tiny sob and covered her face with her hands, embarrassed to be crying in front of him. Ichigo crossed the room in a moment, his hands on her face.
"Rukia, what? You don't like it? I'm sorry, I should've asked you- I-I get it might be too... too forward-"

She shook her head, and Ichigo felt helpless before she said, "It's not that- I... It's beautiful. Thank you."

His expression relaxed in realization as he sighed with relief, running a hand through his hair, "Oh, ok, good... you nearly gave me a heart attack,"

She let out a little airy sob-laugh, "I'm sorry.. I was just... surprised."

"Well, that was the goal," Ichigo hummed. He regarded her for a moment before reaching out, catching a tear rolling on her cheek with his finger. "Come on, I brought lights and everything. We could set it up right now if you want."

"Ok." Rukia wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, "Oh, I should make some hot cocoa. Do you want some?"

"Sure. I'll just put the lights on and then you can add the ornaments how you like."

Rukia paused, "There's ornaments too?"

"Well, yeah, you didn't think I just brought you an empty tree, did you?" Ichigo said with a laugh as he reached his hand out, taking hers. "C'mere, I'll show you,"

He pulled her forward, putting an arm around her waist gently, an act which Rukia found herself somehow not being phased by as he pointed down to the floor, where a box sat, "See?"

"Oh," she said softly, gazing at the contents, which were a variety of gold, silver, and white Christmas ornaments in different shapes. "Wow, they're pretty."

"There's these three, as well," he said, picking up the bag the box had been in.

He reached in and pulled the first one out. It was a clear glass ball with a little white rabbit glued inside next to some tiny trees. As he handed it to her, she admired how there was tiny snow inside that was loose and moved around with it.

She said nothing but was transfixed, shaking it gently to move the snow around. He smiled lightly at that. "It's from dad."

She looked to him in surprise, "He knows?"

"That you and I've been... talking?" Ichigo finished her sentence for her teasingly, "Yeah, sort of. He and Karin and Yuzu were visiting when the mailman delivered the tree to my house, so they kind of found out that way."

"Did they say anything?" her voice came out in a tiny, fearful whisper. Ichigo shook his head.

"No no... they just care about you, Rukia. They were mad at first, I guess they thought I was using you to mess around.." he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "But once I explained things they were fine. To be honest, they seemed rather appeased by it. Especially dad," he added that last bit with light sarcasm. "Said something about wanting me to be happy, and all that."

He reached into the bag again and pulled the other out. "This one is from my sisters."

He held it up by its gold ribbon, and Rukia blinked in surprise. It was a little crystal glass slipper with a tiny golden butterfly attached to the front.

"Is there a reason it's a shoe?" he questioned as he handed it to her. "I asked, but they said it was between them. Something about girls only." he rolled his eyes at that, but still had a smile on his face.

"Ah.." Rukia nodded, her expression soft as she recounted the memory. "It's the glass slipper, from Cinderella. It was the first movie I saw with them, back when I shared a room with them for a bit." she handed it back to him, watching him place it back in the bag carefully, "I remember Karin disagreeing with the choice- she said she wanted to introduce me to something called Shrek? But Yuzu said no way."

Ichigo laughed out loud at that statement, "Well, that was probably a good call on her part. Otherwise you might have gotten an ornament of a green ogre for your tree instead, or maybe a donkey."

Rukia chuckled in response despite not knowing the reference. "I'll have to call them to say thank you,"

"You should," Ichigo said gently, "They really miss you, you know. They've always considered you a sister. And you already know my dad thinks the world of you."

He admired how her cheeks turned pink at that statement.

"Ok," He said, and reached into the bag, "This is the last one."

He held it out to her, Rukia's smaller fingers taking the ribbon strap from him so she could hold it up herself.

It was a little crescent moon, made of periwinkle-colored, multi-faceted glass. The bottom corner of the moon had a little white star shaped jewel hanging from it, sparkling in the light.

"From me," he said quietly, and she found herself getting lost in his eyes. "Reminded me of you."

She held it up for another moment, admiring it with wide eyes before she walked over to the tree and hung it on one of the branches carefully before going back to him. She took his arm gently, pulling him down and kissing him innocently on the cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered, so quiet he turned his head slightly to hear her. "For all of this... it means more than you will ever know."

They spent the next hour or so working on the tree together, Ichigo draping the lights on carefully. He then curled up on the sofa with the mug of cocoa Rukia made him, and watched her contentedly as she hung the rest of the ornaments carefully, holding in a laugh at how concentrated she was. She retrieved the snowflake ornament she'd gotten from the party before from her bedroom window, hanging it as well.

When it came time to put the ribbon on top of the tree, he'd scooped her up at the knees like she weighed nothing and held her up so she could put it on the very top of the tree, Rukia letting out a squeal of surprise as he did so. The ribbon was finally put in place, Rukia dropping another kiss on his forehead in thanks as he put her back down on the floor, blushing at the gesture.

"Okay, I'm done. How does it look?" she questioned, taking a step back to look at her hard work.

"Hmm," Ichigo nodded, looking the tree over. "Very nice. Let's turn it on."

She moved to the wall and turned the lights off, before going to the windows to shut the curtains. She then returned to the tree, standing by in impatient excitement.

Ichigo nodded to her, and then plugged the wire into the outlet, which in turn lit the tree's light, and the extra fairy lights he had added up. Rukia marveled at it, amazed at how well it had all come together.

Ichigo sat back down on the sofa, curling up on one end and picking his mug of cocoa up as Rukia moved back as well. She sat next to him, picking her mug up as well.

"Ichigo," she said softly. He looked over at her as he took a sip from his mug, "Hm?"

"Thank you." she whispered back, cautiously leaning over. she rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes.

"You're welcome," he responded back, draping an arm over her shoulders carefully. Rukia moved closer to him, and the two sat together quietly, enjoying the beauty of the tree and each other's company.