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 Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 11:13 pm
Rukia was tired. She'd spent weeks outside the Seireitei Valley proper, searching for any shinigami, with very little luck. She'd found Captain Hitsugaya, Vice Captain Matsumoto, and Renji already and sent them back. No one else.
She stared at the earth before her as she stumbled and fell to the ground, her vision fading from sheer exhaustion. Above all, she hadn't found Ichigo. There had been no signs of him, whatsoever. She'd seen too many who'd died the final death, but he didn't seem to be among those dead so far...but she felt sure that she would have found him if he hadn't died the final death.
Rukia shook her head, trying to keep her eyes open. It was no use. Despite her desperation to find him, and to not rest until she found him, she had run out of energy to keep up the search. The darkness of sleep born of exhaustion soon claimed her...depriving her of a sight that would have eased her fears.Ichigo had seen a dragon with a moonlit coat collapse through the trees and hurried to see who it was. Since whatever it was that had killed all the local dragons, he'd seen no sign of the living. He nearly panicked when he saw the dragon collapse, but when he saw the steady breathing of sleep, he breathed a sigh of relief that swiftly changed when he saw who had collapsed of exhaustion.
Rukia. Rukia had been alive. He'd been on his way to free her after she had been arrested, but she was free and she was alive. Ichigo lay down next to her, nosing her into a position in which her unusually small adult body could curl up within the length of his body. The warmth of her body filled him with the kind of happiness and relief that would have made any lesser dragon cry. Even though he would later deny it, as he drifted off to sleep, comforted and relieved by Rukia's small, warm body, a few tears of relief slid down his cheeks.
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 7:49 am
Rukia woke up when it was still dark, briefly. She was rather muzzy when she noted that she was curled up within the confines of a larger warm body. She snuggled closer, and the last thought that crossed her mind as she fell asleep again was, This dragon smells like Ichigo. He or she's got to be either Ichigo or one of the Kurosakis. Please please please be Ichigo...
When she woke up for real, the sun had already risen, and she was properly awake. She blinked and got up, stretching. It was only when she had finished stretching that she saw who had been wrapped around her all night and who was still asleep. Ichigo. Ichigo had found her last night and stayed with her. Relief and happiness made her cry and leap on him...which inevitably woke him up.
Ichigo had been having a nice dream that had included a few slightly pervy (and, therefore, slightly disturbing) elements when someone jumped on him and rudely woke him up. He was about ready to maul whoever had done that to him when he noticed that Rukia wasn't asleep next to him anymore. He instead settled for shouting, "What the hell are you doing, Rukia?! It's only sunrise, it's not like you need to wake me up like this first thing in the morning!"
Unfortunately for Ichigo, Rukia had clearly decided to be cheeky and mess with his leather strap and the mask he carried with him, throwing in another bounce or two for extra measure. "You know, I'm starting to regret staying with you all night last night!" he growled irritatedly.
Rukia stopped jumping on him and messing with his stuff. Instead, she got off him and moved to smack him across the face with her tail. "Where have you been since the Plague ended? I've been looking for you and everyone else everywhere, and it's a wonder I found Captain Hitsugaya, Vice Captain Matsumoto, and Renji!" She felt like shaking him, or smacking him hard across the face for being so difficult to find. All that did come out were tears as she tried to glare at Ichigo, remembering all the weeks spent searching for him.
Ichigo stared at Rukia. She was crying. s**t, what had he done? "Hey, hey, stop crying," he stuttered uncertainly and in a rising panic. "You found me, right? Isn't that what's important?" He was too flustered to point out that he was glad that she was alive, too.
"You're alive, you stupid idiot," she replied, starting to swallow her tears. "I thought you'd died the final death! It took me weeks longer to find you than any of the others!"
Damn. There was no stopping the tears now. She just cried and cried and cried. Ichigo uncertainly stood up and drew her face to cry into his mane while he arched his head over her neck protectively. They stood like that for some time, until Rukia stopped crying.
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 10:32 pm
It was Rukia who sat back first, after her tears and sobs had finally subsided. She studied him carefully, still so happy he was alive, evident in her soft smile. "We should be getting back to the Seireitei," she said quietly. "I'm rebuilding the pack, and we need everyone we can get."
Ichigo blinked at her statement. "Go to the Seireitei? What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you joining the Seireitei as a shinigami, which you should have done already!"
"Nope. Sorry, I'm not going."
"What the heck are you talking about? Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not. How in hell are you going to make me?"
Rukia paused a moment, and got the look in her eye that said she had a clever plan and the determination to pull it off. She pounced on him before he could get away and started wrestling him into submission.
"Owww, owww, get off!" he shouted as he squirmed, trying to get her off his back so he could fight back. Unfortunately, she'd just found his sensitive spot and started tickling him. He froze mid-flinch and collapsed in tears and unmanly giggles from the tickling. "Hey, hey, stop it, that tickles!"
Rukia grinned. She'd have to remember this later. "So, are you coming or not? We need everyone we can get, and you're the first one I've found in weeks. We might even need to breed to have kids to regrow the pack."
Ichigo stopped squirming and swivelled his head around to look at Rukia. "We need to have kids? Is the Seireitei really that bad off?" When she nodded, he sighed loudly and expressively. "I guess there's no other option. I'll come with you." As she bounced on his back again, giggled a little, and grinned her annoying victory grin that he'd rather missed since she'd been arrested, the pervy images from his dreams flashed across the screen of his mind, and it took a good head shake to eradicate the images.
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