Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor any of the characters affiliated with the anime and/or manga.
Summary: To the Common folk, she was an ethereal beauty; the royals called her a monster; but to the Prince, she was his most prized possession.
They said she was a myth, just some story created by the common folk to scare their small children into obedience, and to the disbelieving royals of Kurakura, the story was just that and that was how they wanted it to stay. There was no monster that lurked hidden within their King's palace ready to flay the flesh from their bones, but rumors and stories always tended to excite even the most sensible of imaginations. On some nights, when the moon was at its fullest, many claimed to have seen her. Swirling violet eyes that could haunt even the sanest man's memories and pale skin like moon light alighted her features. They said she danced with abandon through the majestic woods ringing the palace walls bringing anyone who would see her to their knees, her seductive smile the last thing any living person would witness. And yet, the only person to have ever seemed to tame the wild beauty seemed to be the Prince. Inside the dimly lit walls, it was a soft whisper of his powers over the moon goddess; almost a boastful story to those drunk enough in the taverns to tell it. They claimed that she was on the run from a woeful creature through the forest when she came across him, a young man just reaching his teens and out to prove his worth. Her blood stained the grass blades below as she stood in front of him, exhaustion at its peak. Unable to go on, she bowed to the young Prince and offered to him her blade as a sign of surrender if he could just spare her life. Taking the blade, the young Prince fought the creature for hours until the moon faded and the sun came up, its rays caressing the dead creature's body. The Goddess humbly thanked him but instead of returning her sword, he kept it and trapped her with in the forest forbidding her to leave. Rumors had him falling madly in love with her while others claimed it was because she become mortal for allowing a human to use her powers. This was the wide spread story of how the Prince came to have….
His Most Prized Possession
The cool stream felt great on her tired feet. She had been running for hours with the rabbits in the small glean not far from her small cottage. She enjoyed spending her time with them the most. The small creatures were so fluffy and fast, but the one she loved the most was a gray faced, white bodied female that seemed to be the leader of the group. She was the one who cared for and watched for the young. The one who kept them together.
Rukia sighed in contentment as she closed her eyes and slowly leaned her back on the bank allowing the sun to warm her skin. A shadow caressed her features and she slowly opened one eye to see a man standing over her, his orange hair a predominant feature that he was the Prince. She closed her eyes again. "What is it that you want Ichigo? Can't you see I'm resting."
Said man bent over here balancing on the balls of his feet studying her face. One long finger reached out and ran from the base of her soft hair line to linger softly on her lips. "Can a man not visit his beloved in his own forest? You have been chasing those rabbits again."
Rukia reached up and gently pressed her hand to his kissing his open palm. "They are a great enjoyment to me Ichigo. I love to watch them." A soft smile played on his face as he watched her slowly sit up to kneel in front of him, her violet eyes steady on his amber ones. Her fingers reached out to touch his face and slowly caress his features. Slowly bending towards him, her soft lips meet with his in a gentle kiss. "Welcome back my Prince." Rukia found herself once again in his warm embrace as he placed butterfly kisses down her face and neck.
The words were not out right spoken, but he knew that she had missed him. That was the words he longed to hear the most from her. Rukia normally fought him on every stance he could imagine from how to build to a sturdy stable to what soap to use for clothes washing, yet his six month absence seemed to have nullified her temperament for the time being. He pressed her closer to him as his lips meet with her in a passionate kiss. He dreamed of this on those cold and lonely nights as he finished training the troops located in the mountain regions of Kurakura.
His father's health, as of late, was not well and so he was sent abroad to show his powers and fighting skills to prove him worthy enough for the throne. But the only thing he recently wished to be worthy of was the love and want of a short ethereal beauty he had saved at fifteen from a creature that she called a Hollow.
Pulling from him and breaking the kiss before it got too serious, Rukia stared into his eyes and smiled as her hands played in his hair. "You seem a bit lost in thought Ichigo. Is there something on your mind?"
"Rukia," how was he going to tell her the news that she so longed not to hear. "You know the reason for my training and going abroad so much recently." He paused to see her acknowledgment. "My father is getting on in years and wishes to retire peacefully. I will be turning twenty eight in a few weeks and at this celebration I will be pronounced King. It will be harder for me to leave to come to see you. I was hoping that you would finally consent to coming to the palace with me."
Rukia stood up abruptly and turned her back to him. She had heard the rumors about herself. How she was a blood thirsty monster. Why would she wish to live among these same people when she could have the rabbits and glean to herself? Feeling his hands on her small shoulders, she allowed him to continue. "Rukia, I know you love your freedom here, but you can't keep living the life of an Old Maid alone in the forest. Something could happen to you and I will be unable to stop it. I wish you would see reason and come back with me."
She slowly untangled herself from his arms, eyes staring down at the bubbling stream. "I would not fit in there Ichigo. I'm not even supposed to be here. You know that."
An exasperated sigh left her companion as he stood beside her. "Rukia, if I would have known that I would have taken every ounce of your power that night, I wouldn't have done it. I know you must regret..." He cringed at the sting on his check.
"How dare you presume idiot! I don't regret that night!" If he didn't know better, he could have sworn that he heard tears in her voice, but since her head was still downcast, he couldn't be sure.
She heard his deep sigh and watched as his feet shuffled. "Think about it for me Rukia...please. I'll come back in three days time for your answer."
"And what if I answer no?"
She turned round to his retreating back as a soft breeze filtered through the clearing. He stopped in his tracks and turning his head with a smirk, "Then I'll have to persuade you otherwise."
"No! No! This can't be happening!" Eye brows furrowed in consternation as smoked tumbled from the openings in the palace workshop. Springs and loose wirings could be heard among the squelching mechanics that had just abruptly come to an end. Ichigo sighed and ran a hand through his short orange hair. He was just returning from a very frustrating, in more ways than one, meeting with Rukia only to be stopped by the chaos just occurring through his castle gates. Guards ran back and forth with pales of water to quench the already blossoming flames while a tall person in green stumbled from the doorway. Ichigo lurched forward to grab the man before his face met with the ground.
"Urahara, are you okay?" He maneuvered said man to sit down on a bench a few ways from the now smoldering building, the guards just standing around at the lost cause. Ichigo mentally noted the additional cost he would have to speak to the treasurer about. His thoughts returned to the man in front of him after an indignant snort.
"Well, I have all of my appendages but my creation blew up! Oh poor Bettie!" Ichigo's eye twitched.
"You named your machine?"
"Well of course. She was my latest creation and baby. How could I not. It would be abominable."
"What exactly were you working on any way." Ichigo stated as he handed a striped white and green hat back to the man.
Urahara paused as he slapped the debris and dirt from it. "Well, I was hoping to have a machine to fly." Urahara didn't have to look up to know that his Prince was rolling his eyes upwards. "If I could create a flying machine, it would open many doors to other worlds. Can you imagine the face on the great Samurai God Byakuya when I go knocking on his gates?" Urahara chuckled. He felt when his prince tensed.
"And what, pray tell, would you have to talk to Byakuya about?"
"Such disrespect Ichigo. Samurai God Byakuya brought to us the art of fighting with honor and laws many centuries ago. If not for him, you wouldn't have an ounce of honor in your bones." Ichigo ignored the use of his first name. He had known Urahara since he was a small boy as his father was really good friends with the man. Very few could say his name as common as Urahara did on a daily basis.
"I don't care about that mess. I'm sure I'd have honor with or without that old legend." Ichigo caught himself digressing to childish behavior but did nothing to correct it.
"Well, don't let Lady Rukia hear you say such things about her brother. It would break her heart." Ichigo snorted. He highly doubted that anything could remotely shake that woman's heart in regards to her unearthly family. She barely spoke about them although he did catch her every now and then staring to the heavens with a concerned yet fearful emotion in her eyes. He wondered if she could hear them, but knew that was an improbability. He had stolen all her powers by accident to defeat the hollow after her unknowingly sealing her fate as a human until said powers returned. He hoped fervently that they never would or she would leave him, and that was something his heart was not ready to allow.
Urahara sighed and got up from the bench. "Well, I guess you will have to report this to your father." Ichigo nodded. He was not yet King so his father still had to be updated on what was happening.
As he turned to leave, a hand on his upper arm stopped him. "So have you decided yet on your little Goddess?" Ichigo's eyes narrowed. Urahara was the only person who knew about Rukia and that was completely by accident. He was out testing one of his inventions when he had stumbled upon them a few months back in the full heat of passion. Ichigo tried to explain her away as just a maid but Urahara knew better. The man had a way of knowing things. How? Ichigo didn't know but thought Urahara would be more proficient as the local psychic than the scientist.
"I'm assuming that your silence is one of frustration. Lady Rukia seems the type to choose her paths wisely. Just be patient with her Ichigo." Ichigo stared after the man as he made his way over to the crumbled building. Sighing, all Ichigo could do was scratch his head and slowly walk towards the palace entrance.
Rukia shivered as a cool breeze flowed through her open window. How odd since it was mid-summer. She got up to close her window when she was suddenly taken in by the beauty of the moon. It seemed so close that she could touch it. Reaching a small pale hand out towards the floating object, she couldn't help but to feel the electricity dancing in the air. With a quick intake of breath, she withdrew her hand and slammed the shutters leaning against them with all her might. Violet eyes took in her small cottage and few belongings. She had to flee. She could feel them coming for her, the energy bouncing off the air like waves. She was powerless and unable to stop them should they try to harm her. Maybe she should have taken up Ichigo's offer...No..she shook her head solemnly. She had messed his life up enough already by just forcing her way into his existence. She grabbed a nearby bag and started stuffing it with clothes and food. She wouldn't leave tonight, but would wait till morning. Her decision weighed heavy on her shoulders, but she would do it. She would make the journey to her brother's temple and pray for forgiveness. Maybe then, she could save Ichigo and his people from the onslaught she could feel developing in the air.
A/N: Please forgive any spelling/grammatical errors. It's been a long time since I've really sat down and wrote a story, so I'm very rusty. I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter of this story. I have many other stories planned out, but this is the first to be posted. I, unfortunately, can not tell you when I will be able to update as my Internet connection is sketchy at best, but I will try to update in a timely manner.
Thank you!