Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Raindrops On My Eyelashes ❯ Raindrops On My Eyelashes ( Chapter 1 )

Title: Raindrops on my Eyelashes

 

Rating: G

 

Spoiler Warnings: Chapters 179-181

 

Disclaimer: Bleach and it's characters do not belong to me.

 

Theme: I chose this theme from the Ichi_Ruki community on LiveJournal, so all my inspiration was from the hard workers who came up with the list of themes! This is theme #2 - raindrops on my eyelashes.

 

 

 

 

It was Ichigo's second day back and still nothing felt real. So much time had passed, so much had happened, but it still felt like a passing dream.

 

 

He was out laying in a deserted field, just basking in the rays from the sun, wondering when the life of high school, friends, girls, his family, would feel normal again. He was beginning to think that it never would.

 

 

His family had no idea that he'd been off in another dimension, fighting other shinigami, learning more than he'd ever learned in school or anywhere else, that he had been fighting so hard to save an ideal, just one single person, that it was disheartening.

 

 

He still remembered those words, those feelings from that day, in a field so similar, that he could almost hear her voice.

 

 

I've decided…

 

 

to remain here

 

 

Deep down, he'd always known her choice. Soul society was where her life, her family, her friends, her everything had been. He had never thought differently, but he had still hoped. It was what had made those foolish words slip from his mouth that afternoon. Telling her that the gate would be opening for them the next day, that they were leaving.

 

 

He had asked, in his own way, but she had refused.

 

 

He knew it was what was best for her, especially if it made her happy, but he still could not help but recall that first night after everything had ended.

 

 

 

 

Although, he had sustained some serious injuries, Ichigo could not stand to stay kept inside a moment longer. He had wanted some fresh air and to see the sky and the stars again because right then he had felt so far away from home.

 

 

When he had stepped outside of his room onto the porch, he had seen her sitting there, her short legs dangling over the edge and her head bowed. It had occurred to him then, that it looked as if she was carrying the burden of the world on her shoulders, she had looked so deeply sad.

 

 

Hearing his footsteps, she'd immediately jumped up and turned to face him. When their eyes met, they'd simply stood that way, connecting over a distance, for several minutes.

 

 

Finally, Ichigo could stand it no longer, and opened his arms to her. She'd closed the distance between them with a few small steps and laid her head directly over his heart, her arms burrowing beneath his robes to wrap around his waist, so that their bare flesh was touching.

 

 

He had buried his face in her hair, his lips pressing a chaste kiss against her temple and sighed, feeling as if everything he had done for the last difficult couple of weeks had all built into this one moment, this one act of gratitude and affection that made everything worth it. “Rukia…”

 

 

She continued to hold onto him with all of her strength, not wanting to let go, and spoke the last words of that night, “Ichigo, you're such an idiot…”

 

 

 

 

For a moment, it had felt like her arms had wrapped around him, thanking him once again, but it was just the memory passing over him like the clouds overhead in the sky. Had thought, that perhaps he'd heard her footsteps behind him, but it was just the beginnings of a rainfall.

 

 

He knew it had been the right decision for her, but he'd wanted to hear something so completely different.

 

 

Ichigo, I want…

 

 

I want to…

 

 

stay with you

 

 

But it was nothing more than the wind rustling through the grass in the field.

 

 

He felt such anguish well up in his heart, such a profound loneliness, that he even felt like he might cry…

 

 

But it was nothing more than the raindrops on his eyelashes.