Ok. Just to make things clear, I don't mean to offend anyone by this story and I'm very very very sorry if it does. But if it does, please don't read it. Oh, it's AU, and if its too confusing, please let me know.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, unless you're talking about Chlorine Bleach, which is used to chlorinate my pool…..

Zu den Sternen

(To Kiss the Stars)

Chapter 1:

Entscheidung

(Decision)

Don't worry. We will come for you.

Kuchiki Rukia rolled over clutching the still warm bed sheets to her chest, repeating the sentence over and over in her mind.

We will come for you.

It had been two weeks since her mother had whispered those words to her before silently ushering her brother out the door.

Two weeks had seemed like 2 eternities.

She was not going to be able to survive for much longer. She was running out of food and there was no money for more. She couldn't even leave the house for fear of death.

It was all his fault.

'Well, it was,' Rukia scowled in the darkness. He was so condescending, so evil.

Hitler.

Munich, Germany

May, 1941

The sun was shining brightly, and the weather was warm. The absence of the loud trilling noises of the birds was the only sign something was amiss. Although, amiss was not the right word for it. Amiss didn't have a strong enough connotation attached to it.

It was 1941. Hitler was at the peak of his power and it seemed that nothing could be done to stop him. The only escape for the Jews, those like Rukia, was to leave the country. Or death. Whichever came first.

There was a loud knock on the door. Her mother motioned to her and her brother, and they both got up with careful practice and headed to the back where they stepped through a door and found themselves in a small windowless room. It was dark, with a few blankets, a candle, and a small pile of non-perishable food. Her mother pulled the curtain back over the small cubby and shut the wall behind her, until there was nothing but a thin strip of light along where the top of the door should be.

"Hello?" Rukia heard Lise's voice through the wall as she opened the door.

She laughed morosely, though it was a quiet laugh and barely distinguishable from the slight rustling sound as they all settled in, and glanced at her brother beside her on the floor. They were squished, once again into a small room in the interior of a small apartment in the middle of the city.

"Shush," her brother whispered quietly. "They might hear you!" Rukia felt the familiar fear seep through her stomach. Her brother was right. She was putting her whole family in danger by speaking. She fell silent, and didn't move, save to reach out to grab the soft material of her mother's sleeve. It was quiet for a moment until a male voice filtered through the wall to where they were sitting.

"What did you say your name was?" the voice was deep and scratchy, with a very prominent German accent.

"L-Lise," a female voice, that of Lise shook as she replied to the man.

Rukia could picture in her mind what was going on outside their dark prison. She had heard of it happening often, though it had never happened to her personally.

The man was a Nazi officer wearing his crisp clean uniform. His hair was dark and plastered to one side, and he was clean shaven with small beady eyes that peered accusingly around. His hand hovered constantly to his hip where he kept his gun. He would not hesitate to use it if need be.

Fear settled like a stone in her stomach.

Then there was Lise, her blue eyes wide with fear, her blond hair draped messily around her shoulders. She would be shaking, trying as hard as she could not to let her face betray her as she lied about who-what was hiding in her closet.

Rukia moved to get up, shaking. She had to do something for Lise! Her mother threw out an arm to stop her, and Rukia knew that on the other side of the darkness she was shaking her head.

"Lise? Rhymes with what you are telling me now!" The man chuckled softly, though there was nothing funny with the situation.

"I'm telling you the truth! Why would I lie to you? Why would I risk my life to protect a-a Jew?" Lise said the word with such contempt that Rukia almost believed she meant it. Everyone but those practiced in the art of catching lies would have missed it.

"I still don't believe you. Though, perhaps if you are telling the truth I might have some use for you," the German soldier snickered and stepped closer to their hiding place his boots clacking on the hardwood surface. "If you aren't lying, then you don't mind if I have a look around?" it was not a question and Lise knew it.

"Go ahead," her voice shook.

The boots clacked on the floor in a rhythmic pattern. Rukia's breath caught in her throat. Then, as suddenly as it started the clacking stopped.

"Well, I guess you were telling the truth," Rukia imagined Lise letting out a sigh of relief. "But that doesn't matter. You're coming with me anyway." He reached out over the table knocking over a glass in the process. The glass fell to the floor and shattered. Lise screamed.

"Shhhh…" The soldier scolded. "Don't scream. I'm going to take you away from here. If I don't you will die. This area is going to be bombed soon and the whole city turned to rubble." Lise gasped.

He grabbed her arm.

Lise screamed again.

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO! LET ME GO!" There was a loud bang and then a thud as Lise fell to the floor. The German let out a deep laugh and left the house slamming the door behind him. Rukia turned to her mother whose nod was nearly imperceptible in the darkness.

"We have to get out of here," her mother said.

Something had gone wrong. There had been a mistake in the plans, and for some reason, a reason Rukia would rather not know, she had been left behind.

And now she knew what she had to do. She had to get out of the country at any cost. Except her life. If it was going to cost her her life, she would rather die here at the same spot as Lise, instead of in a cowardly attempt to run away. But if the option was life, well she'd most definitely take it.

She took one more chance to survey her surroundings and check on her supplies. If she rationed, she would have about enough for another week. Maybe less. She couldn't leave and come back for fear of discovery. There was no other choice.

"I'll leave in the morning," she said softly to herself. She brushed her dark hair back from her face and headed for the small cubby to pack up her meager supplies. She had barely crossed halfway across the room before there was a knock at the door. Her stomach fell. She was going to die. There was no way around it. And now that it really came down to it she didn't want to.

The knock sounded again.

Rukia shivered.

A male voice came through the door.

"Lise?"

Ok, so what of it? Repeat or delete?

GoddessoftheWaters