The first chapter to this fic is from my one-shot story "Broken." I wanted to yurn this into a longer story, so I took "Broken" and am going to use it as the baes of this story. The song used for this chapter is "Broken" by Seether, off of their album Disclaimer. I do not own Bleach, and this is not a scene from the Anime or Manga. 'Nough said.

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Pain.

That's exactly what he was in. Pain. By the time he realized that no one would find him, he had nearly gone numb. All he could do was feel his blood trickling down his body, out of the numerous gashes in his chest, stomach, and back. All he could do was feel his life slipping away, death trying to overcome him. All he could do was feel the burning in his chest every time he took a breath. All he could do was feel remorseful.

I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh.
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away.
I keep your photograph, I know it serves me well.
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain.

He still hadn't told her. Why hadn't he? He wanted so badly to tell her. He could have told her after he rescued her from Soul Society. He could have told her after school. He could have told her on one of the many lazy Saturdays while he watched her draw her horribly sucky drawings.

Right now, he would have given anything to be able to be back in his home. He wanted to be in his room, to be able to kick his crazy dad in the face, to be able to throw Kon against the wall, to be able to lay in his bed and stare at the bland, white ceiling. More than anything, he wanted to be able to hold Rukia and tell her that he loved her.

How could this have gone differently? He had decided not to wake her when the order from Soul Society came. She had looked so peaceful, so he would let her sleep. He had gone out to fight the hollow. The hollow was Grand Fisher. It had led him deep into the woods, far deeper than he had ever gone. It had mocked Ichigo, telling him that he would go after Rukia when he was finished with him. He was determined to kill it, to send it to hell for hurting his sisters, for killing his mom, for threatening Rukia.

Then it changed so fast, so quickly. It had caught him off guard and drove a sharp tentacle into his body. As soon as he stood up, another attack, then another, than another. It went on like this for about fifteen minutes before he couldn't move. Yeah, it hurt like hell.

'Cause I'm broken when I'm open.
And I don't feel like I am strong enough.
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome.
And I don't feel right when you're gone away.

"Ichigo?" His head weakly turned towards where the voice was coming from. It sounded like Rukia's. "Ichigo Kurosaki, you had better answer, or God help me I'll kick you into next week!" Yep, that was Rukia all right.

He could hear someone walking towards him, but he was too weak to call out.

"I-Ichigo?" Rukia took one look at his bloody body and ran towards him. She kneeled down next to him, on the verge of crying. "What happened to you? Why didn't you tell me that there was a hollow?"

"Didn't…wanna wake ya." He tried to smile, but ended up coughing up blood instead.

"You idiot." Rukia wiped her eyes.

"Y-you're crying." Ichigo weakly lifted his hand and cupped Rukia's face. "You s-shouldn't cry…over me." He used his thumb to wipe off a tear that was running down the side of her face.

"Why did you try fighting Grand Fisher by yourself?"

"'Cause…he th-threatened to go after you when he was…through with me. I had to protect ya." Ichigo could feel blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth.

"Look at you, Ichigo. He messed you up." Rukia wiped the blood off of his face with her sleeve. "You should've woken me up."

"Couldn't. Ya looked to…peaceful." Ichigo cracked a slight grin. 'Go on. Tell her.' "Rukia, I-" Ichigo cut himself off when he broke into a coughing fit. "I've…gotta t-tell ya something."

"What is it?" Rukia wiped the blood spats off of his face.

"I-I love you."

Rukia broke down and buried her face in Ichigo's chest, sobbing. "Ichigo, I-I love you too." Ichigo wrapped his arms around Rukia's waist and smiled. He had told her, and it gave him the greatest feeling in the world. He stroked he hair, "Shhh, it'll be alright."

The worst is over now and we can breathe again.
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away.
There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight.
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain.

Rukia look up at Ichigo and wiped her eyes. "I love you, Ichigo."

"I love you too, Ru-" Ichigo was cut off when Rukia placed her lips onto his. They stayed like that for a few minutes. Rukia finally broke off the kiss and laid her head back onto Ichigo's chest. That was all that mattered to the both of them. They knew that they loved each other.

'Cause I'm broken when I'm open.
And I don't feel like I am strong enough.
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome.
And I don't feel right when you're gone away.

'Cause I'm broken when I'm open.
And I don't feel like I am strong enough.
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome.
And I don't feel right when you're gone away.