A/N: Spoilers are very light and only up to recent Japanese anime release events, though even those are almost non-existent. Please be gentle as this is my first fic. Constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged, but flames will be used to reduce heating cost this winter. Please read and review. Yes, I know terrible, terrible, terrible pun. Don't worry, you'll see what I mean soon enough.

The night sky loomed overhead with patchy clouds alone obscuring the midnight blue and twinkling lights in Karakura's sky. A gentle breeze blew the scent of flowers through the cool spring air. It was a normal night for Ichigo Kurosaki. No, normal isn't the right word. It was more like typical. What's normal about a seventeen-year-old shedding his body and fighting spirits that threaten the very lives of those around him?

Chad, Ishida, or even Inoue could have handled the puny mess of a hollow Ichigo had crushed without breaking a sweat, but it was his job as a shinigami representative, for what little people recognized it, after all. Life had become dull after the war, but it wasn't unwelcome except for one thing. That raven-haired midget that he couldn't get off his mind at times like these was missing. Though it was hard to admit, even to him, it had become obvious in her absence to everyone. Her recuperation in soul society after the war had taken six months at this point and each day seemed so much grayer than it had those vibrant days he had as a "substitute shinigami" with Rukia constantly at his side. She was annoying, condescending , a terrible artist, and useless with anything modern, but there was just something about her that was elegant yet down to earth, so strong and yet so helpless, perfect and imperfect.

As these thoughts rushed through his head as he stood atop Rukia's favorite telephone pole perch, he reached within his uniform, fumbled, and pulled out the phone device Soul Society had decided to let him have as a reward for his work during the war. They called it a reward, but it always seemed like a petty thing even though Rukia had assured him it was a greater honor than he realized. It's not as if he was doing it for a reward anyway. He just wanted to save everyone, however simple that wish was. Ichigo turned that phone over in his hand what must have been a thousand times thinking about calling her like he had done what had seemed like a thousand times before, but his pride and the earful Rukia gave him every time he called her stayed his hand. She told him to leave an injured person to rest and whatever other nonsense she had concocted for him. He could have visited her in person as he had gained permission to enter Soul Society with an appointment anytime he saw fit, which he guessed was a bit better than the phone alone, but something told him it wouldn't be a great idea right now. Not only would Rukia scold him, but Kenpachi would probably hunt him until he left, though his sense of direction not being the greatest was definitely in Ichigo's favor.

Rukia Kuchiki never meant to meet that stubborn, thick headed, orange haired young man that had haunted her dreams. Why'd he have to walk into her life? Why couldn't he have stayed still and let her do her job. Why did he have to be so strong willed? These and a million other questions flowed from her mind and kept her awake at night just staring at the moon from her room in the Kuchiki Estate. Here she was treated like a princess, and every whim was taken care of. It was so… boring. When she was with Ichigo things seemed so much easier, so much more real. He didn't care about her nobility, her status, or her brother. He saw through that icy exterior and bit by bit changed her world as much as she had his, though less obvious in the moment. It was cozy and warm like that little closet she had grown to love… She shook these thoughts from her mind dismissing her feelings as just some passing thing, but they always came back. How could she surrender her mind to her heart? There was simply no way it could be true, but it lingered in her mind like an earthbound whole, but she couldn't get it to move on as quite as simply.

Her orders had come down with the completion of her therapy. She could have had any post she chose, but she chose to be near him. Why? It wasn't just about knowing each other and having friends there, because she had friends in Soul Society and could have done a more respectable job than babysitting some sleepy little town. Was it because there was something more between them? Why would he even come to her mind otherwise? Why did she turn pink when Captain Ukitake had launched a knowing, "I see" at her orders. Why couldn't she bare to see him when she was weak? He had that way of making her feel a little helpless whenever he stormed out in front and "protected" her. She could have done as well without him, but he always insisted like one of those manga heroes. For as much as she hated that way he had about him, she couldn't help but lo… No, she wouldn't admit it even to herself. She stepped through the gate and approached a partly cloudy night sky over Karakura Town to view someone already standing on her favorite spot fumbling with something in his hand. Her heart warmed a bit to see that orange mess that covered the top of his head.

She knew that she'd used it before, but it was just too perfect with Ichigo not looking in her direction. As he turned around, she gave that trademark smirk and said, "Long time no see Ichigo." The look on his face was priceless and she couldn't help but giggle a little. As she descended from the gate onto an adjacent roof, he followed her looking a bit like an orange-haired carp. After regaining his composure from that weird entrance, they exchanged pleasantries.

"So… How have you been?" Ichigo muttered as he rubbed the back of his head and seemed to follow an imaginary butterfly off to the side. She swore he had to have the itchiest head she had ever seen.

"As well as can be expected." Rukia said as she looked down at the roof with a softness and frailty in her voice. She felt guilty for pushing him away during her therapy, but she couldn't let him see her like that. She hated feeling helpless. If he had seen her like that, he would have worried so much about her and she didn't want to burden him with anymore than she had forced on him with just entering his life.

The awkward silence was cut by the ring of the phone alerting them to a menos emerging nearby that was predicted to appear in five minutes. Everything else just dropped away and it was like old times again, a little too much so. Ichigo bent over slightly to let Rukia have a ride on his back, but was quickly reminded that she wasn't in need of his assistance. When I say reminded, I mean he was kicked in the butt. Rukia laughed and darted away followed by an irritated and embarrassed Ichigo.

The menos peeled back the sky and was welcomed with a defeating slash from a Getsuga Tenshou. Ichigo hadn't had much in the way of a challenge lately even with the menos. They were like sitting ducks compared to the Espada.

Just as the situation calmed down and the two were beginning to relax, the phone rang a second menos emerged behind Ichigo. Rukia pushed him out of the way and unsealed her zanpakuto. He had hidden in the wake of the previous menos and was biding his time, waiting to emerge. Rukia used first dance from Sode no Shirayuki and the menos was frozen solid in a column of ice reaching to the sky. Her victory was not without price though as the menos managed to deliver a slash to her arm before the ice encompassed him. A shocked Ichigo caught her as the ice shattered along with the hollow.

Ichigo shook as he rushed Rukia to Urahara's Shop at a shunpou that seemed almost a match for his bankai. It was the only place he could take her to be healed. He cursed himself for not learning any healing techniques and swore up and down that he'd change that. As they started away, the gathering clouds began to drop their moist cargo.

Rukia just stared up at Ichigo marveling at the sudden change in the young man she knew so well. He was a complete wreck. She hadn't seen him like this since before he conquered his hollow. Her injury, though gruesome looking, was only superficial and was nowhere near as painful as it looked, but he cradled her as if tomorrow would never come.

They arrived at the shop and after some treatment Rukia lay on the tatami staring at the wall. She heard the door slide open and felt Ichigo approach from behind her.

"I'm sor…" Ichigo started.

"Shut up idiot" Rukia cut him off. "In a fight people get hurt and you can't feel guilty for those that jump into battle fully aware of that", she said deliberately. "If I wasn't okay with the risk I wouldn't be doing this." she trailed off.

"I'm sor…" Ichigo started as he kneeled at her side.

"It wasn't your fault. It was my own negligence." she rumbled haughtily as she turned over with a wince.

"Because you stopped the rain in my world", he shouted to a confused Kuchiki. He continued, "I've been… no, more like we've been through a lot since that night you came into my life. We've had our share of laughs and more than our share of tears, but still, I wouldn't change a thing, not for the world. You irritate me like no one else can and never let me help when it's something important unless I force my way through, but you're the one that haunts my dreams. I've missed your voice, our arguments, the way that single bang of hair droops in front of your face and even your terrible drawings."

Rukia kicked his shin at the last statement, though not as hard as usual.

After rubbing his shin, "You gave me a chance to gain power to overcome my foes and my past and for that I'm eternally grateful, but more than that I'm grateful that you are you. The times you have been away have made me realize just what you mean to me. I can't believe I'm going to say this but I lo…"

She sat bolt upright wincing as she cut him off with a finger across his lips. "Don't say it then, idiot", she said as she looked away to try to gain some kind of control over herself. Ichigo wrapped his arms around her softly, and gently whispered, "Call me an idiot, but I do love you Rukia."

Before she could recover her senses, she caught her lips and her voice betraying her and whispering," I lo.. love you too idiot."

As they sat there in deafening silence filled with a thousand voiceless confessions, the rain slowly dragged to a halt leaving only the dripping off the roof to disrupt their perfect silence. The quiet, unusual for those two, wasn't an awkward one, but filled with such joy that they were lost in it.

A black haired little girl slid the door closed from the crack it was open and brought the tea back to the kitchen with a slight smile on her face. She wouldn't want to break such a special moment for them and had no doubt that her green clad friend would tell Kurosaki's father if she let slip what she had seen. She was sure that was the last thing either of them wanted, so she said nothing of it.

Rukia sunk her face into his chest and thought to herself, "Maybe letting your heart conquer you every once in a while isn't such a bad thing after all."