Okay, so this is the 2.0 version of Rukia's Requiem. I didn't change much, mostly grammar and all that jazz. For those who have read it, feel free to give it another go consider how much time has passed since I updated the story. I finished editing the entire story today (finally), and hopefully within the next few days I'll be able to post a new chapter!

Please be patient with me a little longer, and know that your support is all I need to finish the story :)

Prologue

Rukia breathed in, struggling to fill her lungs.

Pain radiated through her right arm and side, making it even harder for her to focus on the task at hand.

She couldn't understand how things turned out so bad. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Sure, they knew the mission would be a difficult one, but not nearly impossible.

She looked at her remaining men around her; most of whom were leaning against something, trying to stop their own bleeding. There were about ten men still standing, but Rukia knew they wouldn't be enough to defeat the enemy.

They had been tracking him for a while, and finally caught up to him. Everything they needed to know about him was given to them before they departed, but his powers had grown immensely in the amount of time that passed since they received their orders.

Rukia ducked as he swung his blade at her, only narrowly avoiding the collusion.

As fast as lightning, she took the opening and swung her blade out, slicing through the man's cloak. He screamed and turned around, one of his long arms flying into Rukia. She braced herself as she crashed into a nearby rock.

Slowly she pushed herself onto one elbow, coughing out the blood that filled her lungs.

Bracing herself against the rock wall, she was able to climb to her feet before picking up Sode no Shirayuki. Rukia was well aware of the fact that she only had enough strength left for one big attack, but she didn't see any other option at this point in time.

Slowly she lifted her Zanpakutō.

"Hakka no Togame."

Chapter | One

Rukia stepped from the Senkaimon, anticipating the smell of the human world; she missed it, a lot actually. There was something about it that made her nostalgic, but she couldn't pinpoint the source.

Once the gates closed behind her, Rukia rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath. The brisk autumn air filled her lungs, almost feeling like it was flooding her veins. She had gotten used to overwhelming heat, used to the feeling of drowning in an ocean of fire.

Rukia pushed the memories from her head, refusing to let it take over again.

Quietly she started walking, tugging at her scarf until it covered her mouth before shoving her hands into her jacket's pockets.

She made quick work of the park, not bothering to take her time since she wanted to get the greetings over and done with.

Her first stop was supposed to be Urahara, but she figured it would be quicker to just stop by any one's house on the way there.

Needless to say, there were quite a few places to stop by.

The sun was sitting low in the sky, throwing shadows over Rukia's path. She watched them as they passed by her, occasionally looking at her own over her shoulder. It was another thing she had seen rarely on her last mission.

The first person's house was Orihime's. The quaint little flat didn't look any different than before she had left.

She walked up the stairs and quickly found Orihime's room number; standing in front of it for a little while. Finally she mustered up some courage and knocked three times. There was a loud shuffling from inside and the sound of someone colliding with something.

Rukia heard the safety chain being put into place before the door was unlocked. It swung opened just enough for Orihime to try and see through, a few strands of bright orange hair slipping through the crack.

There was a moment before her eye widened, and Rukia took it to mutter, "Hello."

The door slammed shut, followed by the noise of metal against metal.

Seconds later Orihime opened the door and threw her arms around Rukia.

"Rukia!" she exclaimed along with this motion, practically suffocating the smaller girl with her… um… assets.

Rukia smiled to herself before Orihime let go, glad that she was at least missed.

The orange-haired girl pulled away, standing awkwardly in front of Rukia.

"Wanna come in?" she asked, stepping back to give Rukia space.

Rukia thanked her politely before stepping into the small apartment, taking off her scarf and starting to unbutton her jacket.

"Oh, here, let me help," Orihime said before reaching out to pull Rukia's jacket down over her shoulders.

Rukia spun around quickly, putting her hands up over her chest, "No, I'd like to keep it on if you don't mind," she said.

Orihime looked at her strangely for a moment, but didn't pursue her curiosity.

They both sat down on the couch, trying to get over the already awkward situation.

"So, how have you been?" Rukia asked, hoping that talking would loosen Orihime up a little. It appeared to work, because Orihime's features seemed to soften a bit.

"Things have been fine, but two years sure can change your life," Orihime said, observing the wall in front of them.

"Can you even believe it's been a little over two years since you left?" she asked Rukia, well more like stated it.

Rukia sighed, "Yeah," she said, not believing two years had passed in the human world since she left.

Orihime started telling her about everything after that, mostly pointless things, but Rukia liked it. It almost made her feel like she wasn't gone all that long.

"That's pretty much it," Orihime said, much more relaxed than about an hour earlier.

Suddenly, Orihime quickly lifted her arm and checked her watch, jumping up when she saw the time.

"I'm going to be late!" she exclaimed, looking around the room for something.

She finally sprinted over to the kitchen table and picked up a little box. The box was wrapped and tied up with a bow, which led Rukia to the conclusion that Orihime was late for someone's birthday party.

"Rukia, where are you going after this?" she asked, jogging in place while she waited for Rukia's answer.

"I guess I was going to stop at everyone's houses," Rukia said, placing her hands on her lap.

"Oh, you probably won't find them there," Orihime pointed out. "It's Uryu's birthday today," she continued, "All of us are going to his house to celebrate."

Rukia thought it over for a moment. True, it would get the greetings over even faster than she initially planned, but she wasn't sure if she could handle seeing the whole group at once.

With a sigh, she decided to just rip the Band-Aid off.

"Do you think it would be okay if I came along?" Rukia asked, still not sure if it was the right choice.

Orihime's eyes seemed to brighten at Rukia's request, and the next moment they found themselves running down the street.

Uryu lived in a pretty fancy part of town, so their trip included walking a bit, and then flagging a taxi that would take them to his house. For a moment Rukia thought she was underdressed, but then she noticed that Orihime was wearing about the same thing.

It wasn't until they were walking up the driveway of Uryu's house that Rukia started to get nervous.

She thought about what she would tell them while in the taxi, but the words seemed to slip off her tongue as the house came into view.

The taxi stopped, bringing Rukia's nerves to an all-time high as she and Orihime climbed out and started towards the mansion-like house.

Music and voices radiated from inside; obviously it wasn't just their merry-little-band of misfits that were attending the party. Uryu's dad must have invited a lot of people.

"Orihime, I'll come inside in a little, please don't tell anyone I'm her yet?" Rukia asked, her nerves getting the better of her for a moment. Orihime looked at her with understanding eyes and knocked on the door only after Rukia had slipped around the house.

Rukia heard the door being opened and Orihime greeting someone, but the door closed before she could hear who the other person was.

Hesitantly she walked further around the house, hoping there might be a backgate of sorts. To her luck there was one, but the house was so big that Rukia felt like she walked about two kilometres before she reached it.

To her further luck, it was unlocked and Rukia slipped in with no problem.

The back garden was huge and, almost as beautiful as Byakuya's, Rukia thought as she walked through it. There were roses everywhere, and with the moonlight it looked like they were glowing. Rukia found the nearest bench and sat down in it, hanging her head back. She knew she was simply postponing the inevitable, but she couldn't help herself. She was terrified of seeing everyone again.

The music from inside had changed to instrumental music, some of which Rukia recognised. She imagined everyone standing inside, wondering what they were talking about.

Finally she pulled herself together and started looking for the back door. She found it easily enough and went into the house. Not all that sure where she was going, she figured the music would be the best sound to follow.

A few hallways and too many wrong turns later, Rukia found herself standing in front of a set closed double doors. The music was coming from the other side, mixed with the clatter of cutlery and the laughter of people.

It didn't sound like a speech was being made, so Rukia pushed the doors open and went inside. No one seemed to notice her entrance, and it put Rukia a bit more at ease.

She was so caught up in looking around that she didn't notice a man in a black suite approach her.

"Excuse me, Miss, may I take your jacket and scarf?" the butler asked; one arm behind his back and the other extended towards her.

She quickly gave him her scarf and, after a fierce inner battle, decided to shrug off her jacket as well.

She hugged her body before pinning her arms to her, her flimsy black blouse hanging loosely around her frame, but that wasn't something worth noticing compared to her hair.

Her raven hair, that once tickled the nape of her neck, hung all the way to the middle of her waist. For some reason she hadn't cut it while she was away, but she liked the change.

She tugged the piece of hair that used to hang in her face behind her ear. She almost hadn't recognised herself without it when she first got back to the Soul Society. It really had been her signature look.

Before anyone would notice, Rukia took her long hair and tucked in into her shirt, trying to create the illusion that her hair was still short. It would be too hard to explain to people why her hair had suddenly grown so much.

She wasn't sure who she wanted to see first, but when she saw Uryu she figured he was as good as any, even though they were never really close.

"Happy Birthday," Rukia said as she came up behind him.

Uryu must have tried to place her voice, but turned around when he couldn't. Rukia knew that among the rich it was rude when you couldn't greet your guests by their names. His eyes widened momentarily, but he quickly caught himself.

"Rukia, welcome back," he said, a small smile playing on his lips.

Rukia returned his smile and they started talking. Neither of them were big on conversations, so they stuck to the basic need-to-know topics. Uryu told her a bit more about the spirit issues than Orihime had. Apparently not much had been going on, the hollow activities was pretty quiet. Rukia listened in silence, absorbing any important details.

Their conversation was cut short by a, "Rukia?" from somewhere near them.

They both looked around and saw Chad coming towards them.

"Chad, hello," Rukia said as the giant piece of a man stopped next to her. "It's been a while," Rukia continued when it was obvious that Chad didn't plan on saying anything else.

"Yes, I hope you've been well," Chad said, looking down at Rukia, even though she knew she had become a bit taller. She considered the question for a second, not sure if they truly needed to know the story behind why she wasn't really all that well.

"Yeah, I've been great," Rukia said, putting a smile on her face.

Chad and Uryu didn't seem to notice her little glitch, which was good for her. After that things became even more silent between the trio, so much so that Rukia almost hugged Orihime when she joined them.

"Oh, Uryu, Ichigo says he's on his way," Orihime said, holding her glass of champagne with both hands. It was pretty clear she couldn't hold her alcohol.

Rukia's heart skipped a beat when she heard Ichigo's name spoken out loud. She had tried desperately to keep him out of her thoughts until she had to go see him; they didn't exactly part on the best of terms.

"That damn Ichigo, I told him he would be late if he didn't plan ahead," Uryu said, using his free hand to press his glasses further up his nose.

Rukia wondered why it was that Ichigo was late, but at the same time didn't want to know.

She stood silently and listened as the three of them chattered on, talking about things that Rukia wasn't part of. She expected as much, but for some reason it still hurt to know she missed two years of their lives.

Uryu, Chad and Orihime were in the middle of discussing their universities when a loud bang from the hallway interrupted them.

Everyone in the room stopped and stared at the closed doors, wondering what was causing the ongoing commotion. Rukia instantly knew what it was, and by the looks of her three friend's faces, it was clear that they knew too.

The doors opened just as a young man pulled an older man into a head-lock, yelling at him to be quiet. Two younger girls slipped into the room and made for the furthest corner, almost as if not wanting to be associated with the scene.

Ichigo and his dad finally noticed that there was an entire room of people looking at them, which caused Ichigo to drop his dad.

"Always have to make a scene," Uryu muttered angrily before handing his glass to a nearby caterer. Then he stomped over to the door, apologized to his guests, and closed the doors behind him.

The conversations quickly started up again and soon the room was as lively as ever, but when Rukia listened carefully she could hear Uryu yelling at the two Kurosaki men.

Rukia and Orhime glanced at each other before giggling.

Ten minutes later the doors opened and Uryu came back in, followed by a very ashamed looking Ichigo. Mr. Kurosaki wasn't with them anymore.

Rukia stared at Ichigo, her heart racing in anticipation of the moment that he notices her. He looked older, and not just because of the time that had passed. There was something about the way he held himself, something that wasn't there before. He had also grown his hair out a bit, just enough for his frindge to kiss the collar of his shirt.

He still hadn't noticed her, and the anxiety was eating her up from the inside out. One half of her wanted to scream his name, but the dominant part froze her altogether.

At the last moment she couldn't take it anymore. She looked around for any exit that didn't cross Ichigo's quickly advancing path. Luckily he and Uryu seemed to be caught in a deep conversation.

"Rukia? What's wrong?" Orihime asked when she noticed Rukia's head spinning in many directions.

"I can't, I need to get out," Rukia muttered to herself, but it was too late.

"Rukia," she heard her name, said so softly that it could have been a whisper.