Name: Before The Rain
Rating: T
Genres: Drama;Romance
Word Count: 2887
Pairings: Ichigo/Rukia; Maybe Ishida/Orihime
AU?: YES!
Summary: Before the rain there is always darkness . . . He was a slave. She was a noble. Rude, rash and ignorant, he reopens scars from her past. But somehow he heals them, too. She should have never met him, but fate works in weird ways. So does love . . .

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters.

Before the rain . . . there's always darkness. — Me

Before The Rain

"Where are you going?"

Rukia stopped in her tracks as the voice of her older brother cut the silence. She turned around, wincing.

"I'm going outside, Nii-sama. It's too stuffy in here," she said, sighing.

Her older brother eyed her, then turned on his heal and left the room, not speaking another word. Rukia, happy that he hadn't told her to stay inside, quickly exited the house, determined to get where she was going fast. But the quickest way to do that. . .

. . . the quickest way was through the slaves stable.

Taking a deep breath, Rukia stopped outside the stable and thought about going through. If she didn't take the short way, it would take her another thirty minutes to get to her destination. If she did, she would be where she was going in a matter of minutes. Going through the stable was easy, but frightening; but then again, if she went around it, her walk would be longer and harder.

Through, she decided.

Pushing open the door, she began running quickly. No one even looked up to see who it was; they were too used to having people patrol through the area and yell at them.

But she never did that; she hated mistreating the people in here. They were humans, too. They were humans just like her, and if she was in their place, she knew that she wouldn't like being treated badly. So, instead, she was kind to them, and spoke to whoever would stop and even look at her.

She didn't like it inside the stable, though. Most of the people working inside were too beaten or sick to do any harder work, or were new and started out easier.

Rukia was concentrating on getting out of there so badly that she didn't notice the hole on the floor that she was usually so cautious about. Her bare foot caught in the hole and she fell face forward onto the ground. Her hands stopped her face from ramming into the ground, but her ankle hurt pretty bad and her hands and elbows were scraped up.

Wincing, Rukia tried to sit up. She had successfully pulled herself into a sitting position when she heard a quiet voice speak to her.

"Let me help you up, ma'am."

She quickly looked up into the face of an orange haired teenager.

He must be new, she decided. He was too young to have been anything but new. The youngest slaves they usually took in were twenty or older. Well, there were younger ones, but they were mostly girls and worked inside the castle, cleaning and cooking.

"T-thank you," Rukia said quietly, taking the offered hand.

He pulled her to her feet, his own large hand covering hers completely. As his rough, scarred hand enveloped hers, she felt a blush rise to her face.

When she was standing on her own two feet again, she smiled at him, looking him in the eye for the first time.

"Thank you," she said again as she brushed some dust off her skirt. He just nodded, smiling the smallest bit before disappearing.

Rukia was too busy trying to get some dirt off of her skirt to notice where he had gone to, and when she looked up again, he was no where in sight.

Smiling, she starting moving again. She walked this time, not in a hurry to leave.

She hoped she would see him again sometime . . .

Rukia smiled as she walked across the soft, bright green ground. The small blades of grass tickled at her bare feet as she walked, but she didn't care. She was in her own world, away from all the pain and the darkness. Away from the screams she heard at night. Away from the crying and hurting that she saw everyday as she walks past the slave's stables. Out here, in her special place, she was alone, and she was free.

Clasping her hands tightly behind her back, she silently walked along for a while, letting the gentle November wind blow her soft, black hair all around her face. Her bright violet eyes glowed as she watched the birds fly from one tree to another and the small, cuddly bunnies lead their babies quickly away as her quiet footsteps approach, threatening the tiny creatures. She came upon a small stream and leaned down beside it, letting the silent waves flow over her pale skin.

After a few minutes, she dropped onto her back, her eyes straying into the bright blue sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight, and the birds were flying happily overhead. Whether it's to a new home that won't freeze as the cold creeps up on them, or just back to their homes in her world.

Rukia sighed as she heard footsteps approach. Flopping over onto her stomach, she rolled her eyes as she looked up into the face of her childhood friend, Renji. He just smirked as he towered over her.

"So, this is where you go to everyday," he said, letting his eyes flow across the beautiful landscape.

"Mm hm," Rukia replied quietly, pulling herself into a sitting position and reaching across the grass to pull up a small, pink flower. She tore off one of the petals as she sighed happily. "Guess what?"

"Hm?" Renji asked, not really paying attention.

"I met a new stable boy today. He helped me up when I tripped," she said.

Renji sighed.

"Rukia, come on. You really can't keep making friends with the slaves. Someday, they'll be gone, for whatever reason, and getting attached isn't going to help," he said, rolling his eyes. Rukia just continued to smile.

"Don't call them slaves. They're no different than you or I," Rukia snapped. "And I'm not attached. I just said he was nice. I want to know his name . . ." she trailed off, a far-away look in her eyes.

Renji sighed again. Then, to get of the subject of the slaves, said,

"Your brother sent me looking for you. Apparently, he wants you home before dark tonight." Renji dropping down beside her, his red hair blowing slightly in the wind. She didn't look over at him as she wiped the dew that had accumulated on her hands off on the knee-length skirt which pooled out around her small legs. Renji continued, "You will be home on time . . . right?"

"Maybe," Rukia said, smiling as she stood to her feet and knocked the access dust off her skirt and thin white sweater. "And maybe not."

Renji sighed as she ran off. He knew that she wanted to be left alone. In her short fifteen years, she always did like being alone. He didn't know why, but she would tell him someday, like she always did. Shaking his head and hoping that Rukia's crazy brother wouldn't kill him for coming back with a half answer, he began walking away.

As hewalked on the path through the thick trees that lead back to the castle, he sighed again, looking back to see Rukia walking alone in the knee-length grass.

The pretty, golden sunset was casting a beautiful glow across the sky, but all he noticed was her. She was standing in the middle of a huge field, her light brown skirt blowing in the wind and her hands grasped together behind her small frame. Her raven hair was blowing in the light wind, and the few stray leaves that had still to fall off of their trees were blowing back and forth on their bare branches, some falling desolate to the ground around her.

Smiling to himself, he walked off, his tall, lanky body disappearing in the forest that surrounded the castle.

She would come home. No matter how late, she would be there.

And she would never change.

Rukia looked up into the sky again. She loved watching the sunset. She loved the beautiful colors that it dished out, and she loved the blessed darkness that followed; like a dark blanket being thrown across the sky, telling everyone that it was time to go to bed.

But she loved staying awake at night. The stars were beautiful, and they gave her something to think about, something to get her mind off of the screams of pain coming from below her window as she listened to the slaves being mistreated.

The stars were like diamonds hanging in the heavens. Before her mom had died, she had told a four-year-old Rukia that stars were the souls of your loved ones, and that, when she died, Rukia could pick out a star and then look at it every night so she would forever remember her mother. And she had. She had picked out the most beautiful star in the sky, because her mother was the most beautiful, kind woman in the whole world. And every night, she would sit at her bedroom window and stare out at the star she had given to her mother.

"Mommy, are you really a star?"

That had been what she had asked her mother so many years ago. How could a four-year-old wrap her mind around the thought that when mommy died, she would be a star? But when her mother had passed away only months later, she had shut herself up in her room every night and had stared out into the night sky, wondering if the mommy that she had loved so much was as close as the stars.

But she was closer. Her mother was still in her heart.

"I know you're there mom, so will you guide me? Will you help me through this maze called life? Will you help me live?" Rukia asked quietly, smiling as the golden rays of the sunset dissolved into the ever darkening sky. The stars were beginning to come out, and she wouldn't leave her place until the one she had given her mom was there.

Sitting down onto the grass, Rukia pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees.

At four years, she had been dressed up in fluffy dresses and had been taught to act like a princess should. Her brother had always laughed at her, for he got away with a lot of things, as he was not a lady.

But she had always ignored him, because she was with her mommy, and that had been what she loved most. When her mother was gone, it had been just her, her brother and father. But then he passed away, too. When she was ten, he had died, leaving a eighteen-year-old brother to take care of his little sister. And he had done a good job.

"I promise I will try and be the lady you always wanted me to, mom. But there is no way I'll wear those god-forsaken dresses you used to stuff me inside of," Rukia said, laughing quietly as she stared up at her mothers star. "I love you, mom."

Rukia smiled and waved before standing to her feet and skipping across the grass.

She wanted to get home quickly, because the slaves were going to be out soon, and she hated passing them. They looked so weak and sad. She wanted them to be free, as she was when she went to her special place, but she knew that they couldn't be free. She loved talking to them during the day when they did their light work, but at night . . . at night, they were worked so hard several had died over the years. And she hated seeing them in so much pain.

Running as fast as her bare feet and small legs could carry her, she quickly approached on the house.

She was about to walk inside when she heard yelling. There were several voices; at least three. And she recognized one of them as Renji's, and another as her brothers, but the third voice . . . she couldn't tell. It was strong, determined, and loud. But it also sounded familiar.

Walking over to where they were coming from, inside the horse stables, she saw Renji on the ground, nursing a bloody lip and a black eye. She gasped at the sight of him, but let her eyes wander to her brother, who seemed unhurt, and then to the third occupant of the room.

He was young, maybe sixteen or seventeen, and sported a head of bright orange, spiky hair. His brown eyes held anger, and he was straining against the hold of the guards.

Rukia gasped.

He was the boy that had helped her earlier!

He himself was nursing a bloody nose, a black eye and asorted cuts and bruises. Rukia winced at the sight of the young man; he was worse off than Renji, and he would, no doubt, be beaten that night for his actions against the other two men.

Tears sprang to Rukia eyes as she watched another guard walk up and punch the boy. He couldn't react because he was being held by both arms. She felt herself moving, and before she even realized what she was doing, she had stepped in the way of the boy and of the guard. The guard, who was about to punch again, lowered his arm and attempted to move Rukia out of the way.

She didn't move.

Her mom had taught her not to hurt people, and she didn't want this boy hurt, either. He was a younger slave; probably the youngest in a while. He couldn't have been much older than herself.

"You don't have to protect me," the boy mumbled, not moving his eyes to meet her gaze as she turned around to look at him.

"I-"

But her reply was cut off as her brother walked over and took her arm, trying to lead her away. As she looked back, she realized that Renji had already been taken off, probably to the castle nurse.

"Rukia. Go back to the castle," he said firmly.

But Rukia didn't make a move to go. She was still standing in front of the guard that had been trying to hurt the boy.

"Don't hurt him!"

Her brother's eyes narrowed.

"Rukia," he began. "You can't make friends with every single slave that-"

He was cut off when Rukia yelled,

"Don't call them slaves! They're just like you and I!" It was the first time she had ever yelled at her brother. She winced, sure he was going to yell back at her or something.

But he did nothing. Instead, he just walked calmly out, talking back to the guards,

"Watch her. But don't hurt the boy."

They nodded and dropped the boy to the ground. Surprised, he fell straight onto his bottom and didn't even bother with trying to get up again. He mumbled a small 'thanks' under his breath as she leaned down beside him, reaching her hand out and gently fingering his bleeding and bruised face.

He gasped as her small, cold hands ran over the rough, scarred skin of his face. She just smiled at him, then placed her hand over his cut cheek. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The boy was surprised, and when she opened her eyes, she was still smiling.

"Wha . . ."

Reaching his hand up, he fingered his face, only to find it completely healed.

"You . . . you're a . . .

Rukia smiled as he trailed off, still fingering his now-healed face.

"I'm a Healer, yes. Here, let me see your eye and nose . . . "

The boy held completely still as she placed her hand over his bloody nose and closed her eyes again. A pleasant feeling took over him as he felt the pain go away. When she finished, she quickly healed his eye and the cuts and bruises scattered on his face.

"T-thanks . . ." he said, running his hand over his face. Rukia just smiled and stood to her feet.

"I have to go now. Will I see you sometime?"

The boy just nodded as he stood to his feet, too. He was too slow, however, and was roughly yanked up by the guards. Rukia smiled again and began walking off. He called out to her,

"Wait!"

Rukia stopped running and turned around, the smile still on her face.

"What's your name?"

"Rukia. Rukia Kuchiki. And you?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki."

She nodded and waved again before running off into the darkness.

Ichigo smiled as he was hauled back into his stable.

Well, at least if he had to live like this with freaky tattooed, red-headed men, there would be someone he could talk to. He sure hoped he could see her again.

Well, what do you think? Again, it came to me, and I had to write it down. Was it terrible? Good? Bad? Great? Hmm?

Please Review!