(no subject)
Title: A Waiting Game
Warnings: Rukia, Orihime, Ichigo, some other people, and Relationships
Disclaimer: A legal piece of crap which says, with as many super-long words as possible, that I don't own what I write about.
Notes: I don't write lots of bleach, but this practically begged to be written, so..
If things continue to go as seems to be planned, Rukia is going to loose him someday. No, not even ‘some day’, but rather ‘soon’. She has been trying desperately to prepare for the inevitable. Not to say that she hasn’t seen it coming since their first meeting.
After all, Ichigo is human (sort of) and she is shinigami. They will never be able to trully coexist. But despite her forknowledge, she still fell for the boy. Fell hard, fast, and subtly enough not to realize it until he conquered the impossible and saved her. But he is human.
Maybe, if he had been shinigami already, there would have been a chance. (Well, he is shinigami, but he’s also human and that makes all the difference because she is dead. And he’s alive.) She knows her feelings are reciprocated, in his usual clumsy way, and she thinks she might love him all the more for that.
But, again, he is human and she is shinigami. His place is in reality whilst she is an established member of Soul Society (and no matter what onii-sama does, she knows that she is close enough to her Ban Kai to taste captainship). She refuses to have him wait for death to taste love when even she has that much experience. Not the sort of passionate love that humans pride themselves upon (the one that he might be responsible for in her), but the slow kind that grows with experience. It may not be as impressionable, but it is just as strong in its own way.
Besides (and an odd sort of pain always hitches in her chest when she thinks this, no matter how adamant she may be on this plan falling through) Ichigo has Inoue. Inoue is perfect for him; she can read him well, and she will always, always support him. The girl might not have what it takes to get him out of his more major slumps, but she could always run to Tatsuki for help and with the new situation that had popped up?
Rukia has never lied to herself. Ichigo is as much in love with Inoue as he is in her. No, maybe more so? After all, it was obligation that drove him after her; an obligation to the woman who had given him the ability to protect his family from the supernatural. There is no such obligation driving him to rescue Inoue, just pure emotion. More emotion than if the other girl were just a friend. These two rescues are very different; Rukia's had been one fulfilling a debt of honor, while Orihime's was born from love. So he can be Inoue's prince charming, (And Inoue being Inoue will refuse to just be a damsel in distress; she will become stronger than anyone would have thought possible.) And Rukia will be able to trust her with Ichigo.
The two of them are good for each other.
(And if Ichigo falls into a slump, Inoue can always call on Tatsuki, who's known Ichigo long enough to be able to beat sense into him before he can dive too deeply into the realms of self-pity and indulgence. So it's a fail-safe plan. Really, it is.)
So it tears Rukia's heart out, but it won't take much for Ichigo to fall. He's half in love with her already, a benefit from Inoue being one of his closer accomplices. (Rukia doesn't quite know what to call his team; Chad, Orihime, and Ishida. Yes, they have all become quite close, but do they consider each other nakama yet?) So all Rukia has to do is step back and let nature take its course.
He has all his life to live, and she will have all of his death to be with him again. She knows he will still be Inoue's then, but at least he will be around. And, as they say, there is always a chance. A chance she will not hesitate to take when the time is right. Inoue will understand, especially since Ichigo's already on his way into falling so deeply in love that they will never truly part; a princess and her protector forever. (Too much of Rukia wants to cry at that thought, and too much of Rukia hopes that this is anything but true.)
Besides she has Renji (and her captain, and her aniki) to fill the void while she waits, and trains, and tries desperately to master the paradox of forgetting(remembering) every detail.
Warnings: Rukia, Orihime, Ichigo, some other people, and Relationships
Disclaimer: A legal piece of crap which says, with as many super-long words as possible, that I don't own what I write about.
Notes: I don't write lots of bleach, but this practically begged to be written, so..
If things continue to go as seems to be planned, Rukia is going to loose him someday. No, not even ‘some day’, but rather ‘soon’. She has been trying desperately to prepare for the inevitable. Not to say that she hasn’t seen it coming since their first meeting.
After all, Ichigo is human (sort of) and she is shinigami. They will never be able to trully coexist. But despite her forknowledge, she still fell for the boy. Fell hard, fast, and subtly enough not to realize it until he conquered the impossible and saved her. But he is human.
Maybe, if he had been shinigami already, there would have been a chance. (Well, he is shinigami, but he’s also human and that makes all the difference because she is dead. And he’s alive.) She knows her feelings are reciprocated, in his usual clumsy way, and she thinks she might love him all the more for that.
But, again, he is human and she is shinigami. His place is in reality whilst she is an established member of Soul Society (and no matter what onii-sama does, she knows that she is close enough to her Ban Kai to taste captainship). She refuses to have him wait for death to taste love when even she has that much experience. Not the sort of passionate love that humans pride themselves upon (the one that he might be responsible for in her), but the slow kind that grows with experience. It may not be as impressionable, but it is just as strong in its own way.
Besides (and an odd sort of pain always hitches in her chest when she thinks this, no matter how adamant she may be on this plan falling through) Ichigo has Inoue. Inoue is perfect for him; she can read him well, and she will always, always support him. The girl might not have what it takes to get him out of his more major slumps, but she could always run to Tatsuki for help and with the new situation that had popped up?
Rukia has never lied to herself. Ichigo is as much in love with Inoue as he is in her. No, maybe more so? After all, it was obligation that drove him after her; an obligation to the woman who had given him the ability to protect his family from the supernatural. There is no such obligation driving him to rescue Inoue, just pure emotion. More emotion than if the other girl were just a friend. These two rescues are very different; Rukia's had been one fulfilling a debt of honor, while Orihime's was born from love. So he can be Inoue's prince charming, (And Inoue being Inoue will refuse to just be a damsel in distress; she will become stronger than anyone would have thought possible.) And Rukia will be able to trust her with Ichigo.
The two of them are good for each other.
(And if Ichigo falls into a slump, Inoue can always call on Tatsuki, who's known Ichigo long enough to be able to beat sense into him before he can dive too deeply into the realms of self-pity and indulgence. So it's a fail-safe plan. Really, it is.)
So it tears Rukia's heart out, but it won't take much for Ichigo to fall. He's half in love with her already, a benefit from Inoue being one of his closer accomplices. (Rukia doesn't quite know what to call his team; Chad, Orihime, and Ishida. Yes, they have all become quite close, but do they consider each other nakama yet?) So all Rukia has to do is step back and let nature take its course.
He has all his life to live, and she will have all of his death to be with him again. She knows he will still be Inoue's then, but at least he will be around. And, as they say, there is always a chance. A chance she will not hesitate to take when the time is right. Inoue will understand, especially since Ichigo's already on his way into falling so deeply in love that they will never truly part; a princess and her protector forever. (Too much of Rukia wants to cry at that thought, and too much of Rukia hopes that this is anything but true.)
Besides she has Renji (and her captain, and her aniki) to fill the void while she waits, and trains, and tries desperately to master the paradox of forgetting(remembering) every detail.