Hi everyone,

This is a one-shot that takes place in the current Bleach arc. It's a fluffy IchiRuki reunion that can only happen in my fangirl dreams. I wasn't going to post it but I thought since I wrote it I might as well because someone might like it. =p

**World of the living**

All of the fullbringers were defeated with the exception of Ginjo and Tsukishima who fled when they realized it was a no-win situation.

It was late in the night and the group of shinigami currently at the world of the living gathered at Urahara's shop. Ikkaku and Kenpachi were leaning against the wall of the medium-sized room while Toshiro was solemnly looking out the window by himself. Gathered around the table were Renji, Rukia, Byakuya, Isshin, Ichigo, Urahara and Yoruichi.

Urahara was currently getting Ichigo up to date on the motives behind the fullbringer's real intentions when the part about him getting his powers back came up.

"So why were you the one who stabbed me?" Ichigo asked turning his gaze to Rukia.

Byakuya uncomfortably shifted in his sitting position and tried to fix the scarf he no longer wore, Ikkaku snickered, and Renji looked away shaking his head. They couldn't believe how dense Ichigo was in certain aspects of his life.

"Well..." Rukia wanted to explain but felt a little awkward doing so. The reason why she had been entrusted to do it was too embarrassing for her to say in front of all these shinigami and she didn't want to get made fun of. She also wanted to keep up with her image of a serious member of the Gotei 13.

"In order to not reject the reiatsu of the sword you needed to trust the person stabbing you without hesitation." Isshin said in an unusual serious tone that still surprised his son. "After talking it through with Urahara there was only one person we knew you trusted unconditionally."

"Since shinigami powers come from your soul, you basically needed to be able to let the stabber deep within your soul Kurosaki-kun, and I don't think any of us fine men could have done the job." Urahara explained.

Ichigo tried to hide the small smile making its way to his face because of the automatic feeling of joy he felt at what Urahara and his father had just explained. Rukia looked away pretending not to notice it.

"That and we knew how compatible you two were from the first time Kuchiki transferred her powers to you." Yoruichi said with a smirk.

"You moron...I still can't believe you got involved with such shady people." Renji said changing the subject.

"Sorry, if I would have known this would happen I wouldn't have done it." Ichigo answered rather gloomily as he looked away from the people sitting at the table.

Everyone in the room felt the intoxicating aura surrounding Ichigo. They knew him well enough to know that if he was his normal self he would have had a witty retort against the redhead.

"Kurosaki, there's no need for regrets. Soul Society has given you the power to fight back again." Toshiro said joining in on the conversation.

"Maybe he needs another kick from Rukia-chan." Isshin said with a wink trying to cheer up his son.

"From the look on his face during their conversation at the rooftop I would say he wanted more than just a kick." Urahara said with a wide smile as he fanned himself.

"I don't believe this is the time to be making such childish remarks." Byakuya said giving Isshin and Urahara his icy trademark Kuchiki glare.

"Lighten up, will you Byakuya-bo?" Yoruichi said teasing the noble.

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes and decided to go back to staring out the window.

The conversation soon started taking a different turn than was intended. Byakuya became annoyed and decided to stand and walk away from the loud people around the table. Rukia decided to head out to get some fresh air; Renji and Ichigo followed.

Outside the store…

The three friends stood outside staring at the indigo sky in silence for a few minutes.

"Stop worrying so much, we have your back." Renji said with a smile as he roughly patted Ichigo's back. He could sympathize with Ichigo because he knew how it felt to not be able to help the people you care about.

"Fool. Your friends and family will be fine too thanks to Urahara." Rukia chimed in.

"Yeah" He said unenthusiastically trying to meet her avoidant eyes.

After several minutes of noticing the way Ichigo kept looking down to glance at Rukia Renji felt like the third wheel that he usually was. His friends hadn't had any time to speak privately since the fight so he decided to leave the pair alone.

"I gotta go ask my taichou something, see you guys in a bit." Renji said and walked back inside.

Rukia decided to go sit on the wooden ledge and Ichigo followed. They sat quietly in the darkness deep in their own thoughts for a few minutes.

"I thought you would never come back." Ichigo finally said with a somber tone.

"You idiot!" She said sternly keeping her gaze on the sky, "I'll always come back when you need me…I told you once before, and if I recall correctly I also told you not to make me repeat myself." After a few seconds of waiting for him to retort she turned to look at him. He was just sitting there thinking and looking at the empty street.

"Why didn't you come to visit this whole time?" Ichigo finally asked rather boldly.

"I had a lot of things going on." Rukia said giving him the most generic answer she could come up with.

"For almost two years?" Ichigo said annoyed as he got up to stand in front of her to give her an intense gaze. He knew that even if she tried to lie with words her eyes would always tell him the truth.

"Clearly you can tell I was busy the whole time!" Rukia said in her same hard tone. She was trying to guard her feelings and keep things from getting too deep. She then went to smack him but he caught her tiny wrist.

"I told you not to be so aggressive." He said huskily as he looked at her and closed the last of the gap between them. Their bodies were almost touching and she could feel his warmth.

Rukia was for once at a loss of words. Since when did Ichigo become so bold? Not too long ago she was watching him as he crumbled into a broken man in front of her eyes.

"I couldn't do it…" She finally admitted the truth knowing that he wouldn't stop his interrogation until he knew the truth. "It was hard for me to see someone who I deeply care about go through such pain…we all thought it was best to let you live a normal human life."

"You what?" He said with disbelief and annoyance. He let go of her wrist and gave her his back.

"Me, your father, everyone else who cares about you. We didn't think it was fair that you had to go through what you did" She said.

He turned around to look into her eyes once again; in them she saw disappointment, sadness, and pain.

"I thought you knew me better than that." He said softly.

"I do know you. You're a stubborn, reckless fool who trusts too much!" She said and stood up. "You're also too impatient and sometimes don't know what's good for you." She said as her reiatsu spiked.

Inside the store…

Everyone felt the reiatsu spike from Rukia. Worried about his sister, Byakuya was the first to dash and glance out the window followed by Renji. Being the nosey shinigami that they were, Isshin and Urahara followed. Soon enough, all the shinigami were quietly spying through the windows on the unsuspecting couple.

Back outside…

"Well as far as I knew I was dead to you guys! And now that another threat shows up you guys finally show your faces!" Ichigo said angrily in a rather loud voice but his face was quickly slapped by the small fukutaichou next to him.

Out of all the times his short companion had abused him never once had she slapped him. He could only stare at her as her eyes flashed anger, sadness and everything in between.

"Do you think all of this was easy for me? Apparently you must not know me that well either." Rukia said and turned around to walk back in when she suddenly felt Ichigo's strong arms around her tiny frame.

"Don't…please don't leave." He said with a shaky voice. Her heart felt like it had been shattered in a million pieces. But in truth it wasn't her heart shattering, it was the barrier she had built around it.

When she first saw him crying on the rooftop she had felt the same pain but the adrenaline rushing through her veins as well as the responsibility of what needed to be done told her it wasn't the time to let emotions get in the way. She sucked it up and did what she did best, kicked some sense into the boy she cared the most about.

Currently, there was no threat that needed to be addressed and there were no prying eyes (that she knew of) watching their every move. She let her body relax into the warmth of her partner's embrace.

After their last painful parting she had come to realize she developed more than the friendship and comradery feelings towards Ichigo that she originally led herself to believe. Given the circumstances she painfully resigned herself to believe that these must be put to an end. She knew the complications of bringing them into their relationship should she ever see him again. All that mattered to her was that he was able to lead a happy peaceful life.

"I missed you, shinigami." He said softly.

Rukia turned her body to face him not breaking his embrace. She knew looking into his affectionate eyes would be too much so she decided to wrap her arms around his waist and lean her head on his chest instead.

"I missed you too, Ichigo." She said and heard his heart beat faster.

After a few minutes of embracing and showing their affection to each other in a way they never had before Ichigo pulled away slightly. He moved his hand to her chin and gently pushed it up to look into her violet eyes.

He could tell she was surprised at his bold actions and slightly scared of what they implied. He didn't care. He hadn't seen the girl he knew he couldn't live without in almost two years. He leaned closer to her until his warm lips were pressed on hers. The feelings his passionate kiss inspired washed away all the doubts and insecurities in her heart.

Even amidst yet another battle Ichigo was at ease. The rain had stopped in his heart the moment he was once again able to see his other half.

Inside the store…

The group of shinigami that had gathered around the windows to witness the whole scene had mixed reactions. Ikkaku didn't care much for romance so he had left as soon as he realized what was going on. Hitsugaya had also left to go train and be the one captain to actually do something productive for a change.

"Ha! It happened sooner than I expected!" Urahara said happily.

"That strawberry's got some guts!" Renji said as he tried to come back from the shock of what he had just witnessed.

"That's my boy!" Isshin said proudly.

"Kurosaki!" Byakuya said glaring at the former captain with dagger eyes.

"That damn Ichigo, he should be fighting like a man instead of fooling around…" Kenpachi mumbled and walked away uninterested.

Back outside the store…

Ichigo broke the kiss but kept his protective grip on Rukia.

"Do you feel that?" Ichigo said furrowing his eyebrows as he looked around in the darkness that surrounded them.

"That's nii-sama's reiatsu…" Rukia said worried as she looked around as well.

"Helloooo!" Urahara said sweetly as he waved from the window.

Ichigo noticed Byakuya's angry eyes zeroing in on him and his compromising position with Rukia. He knew tonight he'd have bigger problems than a bunch of fullbringers put together….

Hi again! Hope you guys liked the story and that it was fluffy enough =D. Thanks for reading and if you get a chance please leave some feedback.