~Ciego del Cielo: Blindness of the sky~

Summary: They say unearthly beauty is the devil's temptation to mortal hearts. A snare for the weak and fall for the righteous; to love one such as that, is an unforgivable sin.

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She knew better than to wonder how it had happened, there wasn't a reason for it nor way for them to see, to understand why, just why she loved him.

A monster, they said. A demon sent to enchant and lead astray the righteous from the sacred path. Hypocrites, they were, blinded by their foolishness and hate, unable to see him for what he really was; not a man yet not a demon either, He wouldn't harm them, she had no doubt, for all his appearance of coldness and unyielding cruelty; his hand had stayed at her word.

"You'll regret this," the Elder of the village had warned.

Coward as he was, like so many others had gathered at the boundaries of the settlement where the forest grew thick and the trees still held mystery. From there the road hidden in the narrow glen and twisting trunk would take them away, far away, she hoped from the persecution her brethren brought about.

"I won't," she answered, with as fierce a pride any other steadfast woman possessed. Her eyes turned once from them, to the east where the sun set in a halo of gold, darkness crept fast and the shadows lengthened, elongating into a man, fair of pale cheek with eyes that burned with unholy poisonous light.

He had come to take her away.

The villagers gasped in collective fear, the stale air profuse with the rank stench of their bodies, home from the fields and rice paddies in the outlying areas. Calloused fists clenched iron farmers' implements, but she had no fear; they could not harm him.

He was quiet, surveying them all without so much a flicker of surprise in narrow green eyes. He knew he didn't have to ask if she was ready or not, the anticipation in her manner said it all. "Rukia," he said, and at once she stepped from the shade of the Elm and to his side.

The Elder repeated his entreaties one last time, urging her to realize the madness that had taken a hold of her mind and to fight it, "it cannot last! Listen to reason, child! You are of different worlds—"

"I've made my choice," she said firmly, looking at them each in silent turn, before she rested her head against the blackness of his cloak. The weight of his arm settled like a familiar pressure around her, his voice rumbling softly, a warning, "leave us be."

A whipping wind tore throughout, tearing at loose breeches and woven shirts, faces averted, they missed the shadow that ran with the wind, away into the deepening night.

~~~*~~~

"They will hunt us," he said

The stars were out over a plain field, sky and homely earth melding into one. She felt like she had never truly seen their beauty before.

"I know," her voice was soft as she turned to look at him and found arms wrapping protectively around her.

"Do you regret it?" his lips were cold on her forehead, but she leaned into his embrace.

"No. Why would I?"

"I cannot give you what a human could. You will never have peace as long as I'm here." He sounded almost aggrieved and her fingers searching; touched his cheek.

"I wouldn't have peace if you weren't here."

~~~*~~~

She wearied easily and she resented the weaknesses of her body…and mortality. To always be together was her fervent wish; time and eternity separated them. A millennia of experiences had darkened his eyes and embittered his soul. She was still young and full of life, life that was so easily frittered away until the years might pass, seeming to be nothing to him, and she would wither away like a dying flower.

Her heart ached at the thought.

To always be together…couldn't they be?

~~~*~~~

"Do it…please," she knelt, her head tilted, exposing the sweet unmarked skin of her throat. He sighed, silently enfolding her body onto his lap.

"Is this…what you truly wish?"

"Yes."

"To always be with me…never to see the changing of the sun and be forever in this night?" His hesitance startled her; did he not want to be with her?

Did he not love her?

Slowly, mistakenly believing in something else, she rose up quietly from him.

"Rukia?"

Her cloak flapped low upon the ground, her footsteps pounding into the misty woods. She didn't care what others thought, she didn't mind, she could take it all if only for him. But if he…

Ignoring his calls after her, she ran deeper, branches tearing at her and snagging her hair, letting it become unbound and stream behind her. In a clearing of moonlit ground, as her pace slowed and she passed beside a great Oak tree, rough arms grabbed her waist and pinned her arms.

She struggled but only momentarily, a scream burst forth from her lips unbidden, his name:

"Ulquiorra!"

It was then that the gleaming tips of arrows aligned tightly against drawn bows met her horrified eyes and she realized what she had done.

~~~*~~~

Silver was fatal.

Arrows released, soared through the immutable darkness, one finding its mark deep within his heart. Her anguished shriek angering the one who held her as he drew his palm across her face, tossing her aside.

"Shut up, woman! It's only a dead demon."

Her eyes glared, burning with hatred. On the ground her hand swept across the broken fletching of an arrow. Voices came from the surrounding woods, those of her brethren mingled with the roughened tones of the hunters. She crawled to his side, the arrow hidden in the folds of her skirts.

"I love you," she said quietly.

The village Elder walked into the center of torchlight, "come along, child. We're taking you home."

She looked up once, saying calmly, tearlessly, "I made my choice," and plunged the whole of the barbed silver tip into her own heart.

~~~Finis~~~

AN: Don't own Bleach. Ahem, thank you for reading and reviews are appreciated.

Note: about the title, that's a rough translation since I'm not so good on Spanish.