Little spikes of his bright orange hair dared to cover his light, honey brown eyes. They were staring up at the purplish blue sky, a pang of sadness in them. He missed her. He missed all of his friends, but her the most. She was the one that he had grown closest to, the one who was with him nearly every day of his life since, well, she basically stabbed him with her sword.

She had given him the offer to kill the creature that was known as a Hollow to protect his family, and he took it. Ever since then, his life was a spiral of ups and downs, threats coming from all directions, threatening to kill him and his friends. He had one option - grow stronger and protect.

And that he did.

He defeated his biggest threat - Aizen. But it had been the ultimate cost - of his Soul Reaper powers. He gradually lost them, day by day, fight after fight, a little more of his powers escaped him, and soon, there was nothing left.

Ichigo Kurosaki was drained out.

With a sigh, he folded his arms behind his head, grass prickling his hands, and tickling his back through his shirt. At least, he thought, almost scornfully, I got to see her before they disappeared completely.

He had gotten to see her big, nearly watering dark violet eyes staring up at him, a distraught look on her face as she felt his powers slip from whatever was left to a big fat zero, and then she was nothing but air.

"Rukia," he tried her name. He couldn't help the sad smile that crossed his face because of it. Her name brought so many memories, so many that were once good, and now bad because he could never relive them with her.

"Rukia Kuchiki," Ichigo repeated, a bit stronger, and a whole lot fiercer this time. He thought for a second, mulling over what to say - if she could hear him. "I wish you were here."

He could have said a lot of other things - I miss you. I want you. I love you. But saying, 'I wish you were here,' pretty much summed up all three of those in five words.

If she was hear, she would give him an almost cheeky, but affectionate smile and laugh, "Idiot." He would smile back, and then they would be in silence. Ichigo wished he acted sooner.

He stared at the sky a little longer. It was growing darker - a deep shade of blue and purple, and Ichigo couldn't push away the thought that it matched her eyes.

Violet. A dark violet. It was close to her eyes, but it didn't match them completely. Nothing could match her eyes. They were playful around friends, a mischief glint in them, and around leaders more mature looking and serious - though that 'Rukia' look, (Ichigo liked to call it), never left them.

Thinking about her made him come to realization. Of course he had realized this before, but this time, he made a promise to himself - and everything else to him that was important, that the next time he saw her, he would tell her right out. His feelings would be spilled, and he would take whatever reaction he got.

"Rukia Kuchiki," Ichigo whispered, suddenly sitting up and flattening his hands out onto the grass, "I'm in love with you."

Silence. Not even a bird chirped, nor a cricket. It was just... blank. Lifeless. Had he killed the world with his declaration?

"Idiot," he heard her murmur. "I already knew that."

Soft, warm little hands gently pushed him back down, and he felt a warm presence next to his body. He slowly turned his head, begging, praying, hoping-

Rukia.

"Rukia," Ichigo repeated, his voice cracking. He stared into her eyes. Those eyes. They matched. It was her! "Rukia!"

Ichigo grabbed her face with his free hand, (that wasn't being laid on), and kissed her full on. Her lips felt just as soft as they looked, and she tasted just as good as he dreamed of. She kissed him back, almost eagerly, and when they pulled apart, it was in sync.

"You came back." It wasn't a question. He stared at her.

Rukia gave him an almost devilish smile as she gazed back affectionately, adoringly. "Of course I did."

There was a few beats of silence, and then Ichigo went to speak, "Rukia... I-"

"I heard, Ichigo. And I told you-" her smile grew, "I already knew. I love you, too, dummy."

His expression contorted to one of playful annoyance at being interrupted, and then even that disappeared as she went in for the next kiss.

"I'm not going to leave again, Ichigo. Not ever."

Both of their lips met once more.

/\\\

BAM! K. I adore IchiRuki. Seriously. It gives me warm little butterflies that only leave when I see an IchiHime story. I hope you liked this. Review if you want. I like feedback. Feedback is cool.

Also, I hope this wasn't too confusing, and Ichigo was sort of... 'lovesick' in this, so he acted a bit out of character. I tried to place Rukia in character the best I could. I actually really liked the way this story turned out.

If anyone cares for music, I listened to 'Arrivals' by Silverstein while writing this up. That's where the title came from, too. ;)

~Funny Mouth.