Title: Losing the Light

Author: icedragongurl

Fandom: Bleach

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Shirayuki/Zangetsu

The first time he saw her, was when Ichigo's life had been changed; When Rukia's sword pierced his chest transferring her powers to him. In his world that had been eternal night, waiting for acknowledgement, there was a flash of white. She was that flash of white, for an instant she lingered there in his world, eyes wide in stunned silence. Horror painted upon her pale yet elegant features, as if she could not believe what her shinigami had just done.

He stared at her, never had he seen anything like her, hair that was an icy blue, her piercing eyes the same shade. A kimono that was white against her ivory skin with some soft green and pink, everything about her was pure and untouched. She was absolutely the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his entire existence. Her name lingered on his lips, the connection that both of their wielders created unknowingly had bound them together as well.

She was essentially everything that he wasn't, he was forged from, and lived in, darkness. Like the New Moon in the sky, delivering no light to those on the earth below; while she was the essence of the Full Moon, strong and blindingly bright. His eyes watched her with such curiosity; she was terrified, like a stray rabbit before a hunter. The environment so strange to her eyes she wasn't sure if it was truly real, such never ending darkness was frightening. It was nothing like Rukia's soul, which was world so white and pure it could blind one's eyes.

He slowly moved towards her, she took a step back and shook her head; as if to tell him not to come near. Pausing, he stared at her from behind his sunglasses, and she could feel his eyes upon her skin. She shivered lightly, not from the cold for that was something she was used to. No, not the cold, she shivered because of how sharp his eyes were they were the eyes of a predator that was wise beyond its years. Slowly he reached a single hand out towards her and in a gruff voice he spoke.

"I will not hurt you."

That was something she had understood from the first moment she appeared in this realm of eternal night. That though he was like staring a panther in the face, he was not vicious of cruel like other zanpakuto spirits that she had brushed across. He was a mature and rough kind of spirit with a deeply mellow and sad soul.

After a moment of hesitation she reached out and accepted the offered palm, he brought her closer to him. So that she had to angle her face upward to look into her eyes. There was such loneliness, she realized, in his brown orbs, how long had he been in this place? No contact, not with other spirits, not even with his wielder. How had he managed to keep himself sane? She wanted to ask him so many questions, but she felt it would be rude. Instead she opted for introducing herself, for it would not be polite not to introduce oneself to their temporary host.

"My name is Sode No Shirayuki. I am Kuchiki Rukia's zanpakuto"

She said it with her facial features set in courage, though she was in a world that was not her own, she was learn to adapt even if was only temporarily. At first he showed nothing on his face, and then slowly, one corner of his mouth lifted into a small smirk. His hand was warm in her naturally cold small palm, seeing as she was an ice centered spirit, her body temperature was always rather chilly. Again he spoke, his voice was rough and deep,

"I know."

Was all that he said, of course he knew her name, just as she knew his. As their wielders fate were bound to one another so was their own. His curt response didn't seem to please her; in fact she was rather annoyed. Removing her delicate hand from his rougher one, she placed them both on her hips. He was surprised, but it gave way to amusement, he peered at her from over his orange glasses.

"It's polite to give your name. Unless you're so sheltered you know nothing of manners."

She snapped at him. He moved so fast that she didn't have the time to react; his powerful had rested upon her lower back. He swept her backwards as if he was going to lift her off her feet and into his arms. Shirayuki's eyes widened in shock, his face was so close to hers, so close, closer then she'd ever let anyone else before. Her lips were slightly parted a cold breath leaving her, as he leaned his face in. The shadow of facial hair gentle scratched against her cheek as he whispered in her ear.

"I'm Zangetsu, Kurosaki Ichigo's zanpakuto."

He pulled his face back away, so that he could give her a rather masculine smile. Shirayuki found all her nerves frazzled as she lost herself in his eyes. His black cloak surrounded them, clashing with her stunningly white kimono.

"Please to make your acquaintance, Sode no Shirayuki." With that he placed a chaste kiss upon the back of her small ivory hand. She was dumbfounded; no one ever acted like that to her, even Senbonzakura was always very polite to her, even though he felt a sort of attraction towards her. It was sadly one-sided. Zangetsu was polite, yet at the same time…he managed to cause her stomach to clench in anticipation.

A blush tinged her pale cheeks, trying to recover from her embarrassment; she pulled her hand away from his. Shirayuki tried to make it appear as if she was uninterested, even though he was thee most fascinating of all the spirits she'd ever met. He stood there looking down at her with a pleased smile, a small sparkle in those eyes that were hidden by the glasses. Although she was flustered, Shirayuki got on her tip toes and got close enough that their noses almost touched.

"The pleasure is all mine." She said with a smirk, and he did something that seemed like it didn't truly suit his face. The dark zanpakuto grinned, in a very masculine manner.

It was inevitable that he would fall head over heels for the ice type zanpakuto, she dwelled in his world for only a week but in that week he got to know all the little quirks that even she never realized that she had. He knew had to get under her skin, how to make the icy skin flush pink. Zangetsu had gotten used to her being around. Little by little his dark world became brighter with her around, until finally there was a blue sky that seemed to never end.

He enjoyed her presence; being able to run his fingers through her long hair, smell her scent of snowfall and evergreen. He had been content being alone before he saw her light, now he had no idea how he'd survive once she faded out of his realm. It was selfish of him to desire her to remain with him, and so when she would leave he would accept it. Watching as she stood at the edge of one of the buildings. She stared out silently, but when she heard him approach, Shirayuki looked in his direction and smiled.

Never had he seen anything more beautiful then Sode no Shirayuki. He bit down on his cheek to refrain from saying anything that would be stupid and ruin the moment. Zangetsu stood beside her; he crossed his arms, knowing that he couldn't trust his hands otherwise. Suddenly she looked up at the sky, reaching her hand outwards as a rain drop landed on her palm. In confusion she glanced back at him, slowly the rain began to fall.

He watched her as she seemed amazed, meanwhile he felt his wielders sorrow and knew why he cried. Inside he was torn horribly, wanting to say something but the words died in his throat. He brought her under the safety of his cloak. He tried to keep her dry, even if it was pointless because the water would seep into their clothes. The rain soaked everything that it touched; he knew that the cause of his pain was the loss of Kuchiki Rukia, the girl that Ichigo had fallen for.

Losing someone you love and care for was never an easy thing to do. He knew because he was suffering from it right now. The knowledge that she would leave very soon was torture upon him. He locked eyes with her icy blue gems. It was like an out of body experience as she leaned onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his own. His arms came to wrap around her to hold her close to him. The kiss was sweet and innocent, with the small bite of cold that was her trademark.

When she pulled away her eyes was apologetic and loving at the same time. She whispered against his lips,

"I'm sorry…" then she vanished. Her spirit was gone from his realm, all he had left was the linger warmth upon his lips. He was stunned silent. He had known that she was going to leave him, he hadn't thought it would right then. Zangetsu was left alone in the rain suffering along side his master. Suffering in the pain of losing the ones that they had loved.

He knew it was her the second that she'd entered the physical realm, even as Ichigo asked who she was, how she knew Rukia's abilities. When Ichigo attacked her with his attack his heart broke piece by piece. She was cold like the ice she controlled; there was nothing to her that was the woman he loved. The Shirayuki he cared for was warm under her icy layer. She loved her wielder with every fiber of her being.

She would never attack Rukia or Ichigo; Zangetsu wished that he could have had his own physical form. So that he could break her of her trance and bring her back to the right state of mind. He couldn't do such thing. All he could do was scream her name as his wielder struck out at her. Scream her name until he could yell no more. In that one moment he'd felt the weakest he'd ever been in his entire existence.

End