Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Ah crap, I need to go grocery shopping now.

The Girl on the Dock

A girl stood on the dock watching the choppy ocean water sparkle and shift under the moon's blanket of light. A drizzle of rain fell, threatening to burst into a storm at any second, but the girl seemed to care less as she stood seemingly hypnotized and motionless staring at the dark horizon.

"What a waste." Ichigo frowned at the scene from his perch on the abandoned and crumbling lighthouse. He'd seen many a forlorn and overdramatic human throw themselves into the sea. He pitied and envied them simultaneously as he was cursed to face his immortality for just over a century now, and they so easily threw their lives away.

He watched the girl continue to wither internally and he wondered if he should take advantage of the moment. She would be an easy meal. Whether she was willing or not, it seemed likely there was no fight in her. Under normal circumstances, the fight was what Ichigo looked forward to the most, but the rain made him lethargic and only the taste of warm blood coursing through his system could console him.

In the breadth of a second, like the wind itself, he was on the beach. He didn't want to surprise the girl by appearing on the pier next to her, for Ichigo wasn't fond of fishing. Instead he let himself be heard as he slowly approached her immobile form silhouetted by the moon.

Her hair was jet black made only darker by the rain soaking down each tendril. Her skin was pale, almost as pale as his but it looked enticingly soft. Ichigo's fangs grew without any effort at the thought of tearing into that tender flesh. She was a bit smaller than he'd thought, but nothing about the smell of her was childish. She was a woman, a woman in pain, a woman looking for escape that he would gladly offer.

He waited for her to turn, to face him and give him full access to her appearance, but she didn't. Her eyes were glued straight ahead and even with the cold rain and ocean splash drenching her now, she didn't shiver or sway or give any indication she was anything other than a statue on the shore.

Ichigo applied pressure to his next step, forcing a board to creak and the dock to slightly shake under his foot and he knew there was no way she could not be aware of his presence. Agitation prickled his skin as she continued to ignore him and deny her face. He considered for a second to forgo any pleasantries and simply attack and take what he wanted, but finally her body moved and she faced him.

His jaw dropped.

She smiled.

"I finally found you. Ichigo."

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115 Years Ago

Ichigo's lungs heaved and his heart pounded as he raced haphazardly through the maze of dense forest. He clumsily grazed the rough bark of a tree and hissed as the wound on his arm bled more profusely. He cursed to himself knowing he'd just made himself an easier target.

"Fool."

Her voice was barely a whisper in his ear before he felt her icy grip on his good arm fling him into thick brush. Ichigo rolled further than he thought and realized the bushes and rocks were concealing a small cave in the side of the mountain.

Rukia appeared before him like a shadow from the rocky walls and instantly covered his mouth before he could speak. She kept her eyes on the entrance, watching for any sign of his pursuers before pushing him further into the dark.

Ichigo tried to control the sound of his breathing as his eyesight failed in the pitch black and he relied on Rukia to guide him gently to the very back of the cave. Only then did she drop her hand from his mouth, knowing he understood the need for quiet. He felt his heart thumping madly from the adrenaline and Rukia's closeness as she tended to his wound. They had to get rid of the smell of blood.

He held back a noise when he felt Rukia's tongue swath over his skin. He felt the smooth tips of her fangs glide over his arm as she thoroughly cleaned him and closed his wound. In the dark Ichigo's' eyes closed in contentment. He'd practically begged for Rukia to taste him, to bite him, to turn him into what she was. But she had refused every single time.

When he felt her mouth leave his skin, Ichigo opened his eyes and reached for her blindly. He found her shoulders and quickly cupped her face leaning in for a kiss. He caught her hair as she turned away.

"I told you to keep out of sight and trouble." She hissed angrily. Ichigo saw her eyes glow red, whether from her fury or from the blood, he wasn't sure. "If you think getting yourself killed will convince me to turn you, then you're even more of a fool than I thought!"

Ichigo reached for her again, this time succeeding in pulling her close. "I wasn't trying to fight. I wanted to talk to them."

He felt her sigh against his chest and shake her head. "You reckless, incorrigible, idi-." By her third insult he found her mouth in the dark and kissed her. The usual cool porcelain of her lips was overshadowed by the warm metallic taste of his own blood. Despite her anger, Rukia willingly wrapped her arms around his head and her fingers threaded his hair as their kiss intensified.

He didn't understand her adamant refusal to transform him. He only wanted to be by her side. There was no point in keeping a beating heart fresh and pumping in his chest when she'd already captured it for herself.

Ichigo pulled back to tell her that once more, but the thought died when Rukia was yanked out of his grasp and a grip like forged steel tightened around his neck. His feet lifted from the ground, and just as quickly as he was tossed inside the darkness, he was hurled out into the moonlight.

His back slammed into a tree trunk and a groan escaped before the hand on his throat returned and cut off any sound and all air.

"Don't do this!" Rukia commanded desperately. Ichigo squinted from the pain and opened his eyes just enough to see Rukia cast several other vampires into trees themselves. The hand squeezed him tighter and Rukia stopped when a wheeze was forced from his windpipe.

Ichigo scratched fruitlessly at the arm seizing his body in midair as if he were nothing but a mutt being handled by its master.

The vampire holding him spoke decisively, sending shivers of dread down Ichigo's spine. "There are consequences for this behavior Rukia."

Ichigo watched her stiffen for only a second before her posture straightened and her chin rose stubbornly in resolve. Ichigo thrashed in terror as Rukia let the circle of vampires coil tighter around her small figure. He met her eyes between their tightening formation and watched her mouth her last message to him.

"I'm sorry Ichigo. You'll have to wait a little longer."

He couldn't even scream her name before the circle closed and a spray of dark blood squelched out across the dirt and trees.

Bubbling tears and lack of air blurred his vision until the last thing Ichigo's human eyes saw were that of Rukia's murderer leaning closer to his neck.

"This was what you wanted wasn't it? Insolent human boy."

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"R-Rukia...?" Ichigo was frozen in shock. His memories had ripped him back to the moment he'd lost her, his punishment for wanting what was forbidden. But in front of his eyes, several lifetimes of wishing and grieving later, was the woman who'd died for him. Had his heart been alive and beating it surely would have stopped right then.

The rainclouds had finally burst and torrents of water fell around them. Ichigo's voice was almost lost in the roar of the downpour. "H-how? How are you...here? Now? Alive?"

She looked exactly the same. Ichigo berated himself internally for not noticing the similarities earlier. But seeing her eyes finally, again after so long; the deep violet color that was so palpable he could swear he felt her gaze as she smiled at him. Ichigo couldn't help but continue staring as she spoke.

"I was a vampire enough lifetimes to know we'd find each other again." Rukia blinked the rain off her long eyelashes as if they were falling tears. "You've always been an impatient fool."

Finally Ichigo regained his ability to move again, and rushed towards her purely on reflex to grab her arms. She didn't fight him or push him away, but there was nothing defeated about her inaction. She welcomed his rough handling as he felt her skin for the first time since the century ago that he lost her.

Ichigo could smell the blood pumping through her, he could feel her adrenaline and excitement pulse wildly as he insured every one of his senses that the woman in front of him was not only Rukia, but a live Rukia. His hands wrapped around the back of her neck, feeling her carotid artery with his thumbs, he pulled her flush against his body feeling her chest expand with each breath and shuddering sigh. Ichigo sank to his knees, boldly ripping the buttons of her dress before he pressed his face flat against her chest.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Her heartbeat drummed in his ears like a song. He could close his eyes and gladly listen to her rhythm forever. It only took him ten decades, but Ichigo finally understood why Rukia hadn't wanted to change him.

She was alive.

And Ichigo would ensure it wasn't wasted.