Ten Songs for Deathberry
Song#1: Romeo and Cinderella – Vocaloid
World: AU
Rated: M (for sexual references – no lemon, though, because I'm not comfortable in my skill to write lemony anything)
Summary: Ichigo and Rukia learn through the years that it isn't finding the person you love that is the greatest challenge – it's fighting to keep them, despite the world's efforts to keep you apart. Rukia, daughter of the corrupt and dangerous Kuchiki family, and Ichigo, the son of the man keeping the Kuchiki's from enforcing their own law upon Karakura.
Disclaimer: IF I owned Bleach, I would fill it with so many IchiRuki moments, which would make it lose its original awesomeness. So Tite Kubo owns it. (I sure wish that he'd include some sort of *cough* romantic IchiRuki scene *cough* in it though…)
A/N: (The title is, obviously, the song!) The English version of the song this fic was inspired by was used in the writing of this fic, and if you want to have a listen to the version that I used for inspiration, PM me your email or something. A big thank you to my friend Jin, and her friend Eugene, and their whole band for making the version that I was listening to while writing this thing. It is, admittedly, pretty long (even by my standards…har har). The scenes are not necessarily in chronological order (A LOT OF FLASHBACKS), because that just takes the drama from the whole thing, right? But hopefully, you'll get the basic gist of it. This is my first IchiRuki fic, too! I've been practicing with TT fanfictions, and after 300 IchiRuki fanfictions and a LOT of thinking and soul-searching…I have finally been able to deliver a somewhat decent IchiRuki fic! This one basically (subtly) says the reasons why IchiRuki is my eternal OTP. I will go down with that ship if I have to. I'll cling onto it like the barnacles of the Titanic. I'll hold on for as long as there is oxygen in the air. I'll –well, you get the point, right?
On a random note, I have decided that I'm going to watch Episode 342 in the hopes that (maybe) I can go through the whole episode without crying (I highly doubt it, though; the first time I watched it, I could barely go through a week before I remembered it all over again every day, which meant that I was crying almost every day…crazy, I know, but Ichigo and Rukia are so perfect for each other that it moves me to tears).
Enjoy, R&R, blah blah blah. I'll shut up now.
.
.
Please don't let our love turn out into a tragedy like it was for Juliet,
Take me away into your arms – it's all I ask of you.
The rain meant a lot of things to the pair that stood under it. It filled the space that separated them, even though it signified the beginning of the events that led to this particular moment, when every drop that hit the ground echoed the sound of their breaking hearts.
I say goodnight to both my father and my mother,
They have to be able to dream of one another
I think it's time for all the grown-ups to go to bed.
She lied for him, and he stole for her. She lied about her night time ventures to her parents – they couldn't know that she had a friend like him.
"Where are you going, Rukia?"
"I have to deal with a few loose ends for school, father."
"…Very well. I'm proud of you…for finally accepting my legacy."
He stole moments for her, picking them out of the air and handing them to her on a silver platter.
"So why are you dragging me out here at night? You should've told me to bring a jacket, idiot, before we came all the way up here."
"Stop complaining, you annoying little midget. Just look up."
"…It's…beautiful."
"I never got to share it with anyone. I'm glad I get to share it with you."
She relished each and every one.
She forgot that the rain meant death and the end. She almost forgot that that man from her past died in her arms in the rain. She forgot that it was raining when she left him a second time, near-death, on a street. He made her forget.
And even though he never said anything – neither of them did, really – she made him forget that that woman, who was the only woman who had loved him before she came, perished in the rain in a shower of blood. He forgot that it rained when she left him to accept the fate that she resigned herself to, even if it was only because she tried to help him.
"Thank you…you stopped the rain."
"That's my line, idiot. You stopped the hurricane."
Enchanting caramel that carries sweet illusions,
My crossing legs that bring on sexual confusion
How farther will I let you go on a sinful night?
They didn't plan it the first time. It was raining then, too. They took shelter in his home. His sisters and his father were gone for the day. The storm prevented them from coming back sooner.
"I…chi…go, we….w-we shouldn't be…"
"Do you really care?"
"…N-no…"
"Then I don't, either."
Neither the Black Sun nor the White Moon minded.
Screams of pain to take it easy, won't you bite me gently?
Don't you dare forget that I'm not ready quite yet
It's because of my mom that I've been acting sweetly and nice to you
Her mom saw him a few times, during those rare moments when they weren't arguing and he was actually doing something nice for her. Her mom implored her not to push away the only friend she had made in years.
"Ichigo-kun is really special to you, isn't he?"
"He needs someone to beat some sense into him now and again."
"I'm sorry for our family being the way it is, Rukia. But…if you really do care about him, I think you should cherish the time you have left before we have to go again."
She was glad she listened…even though she knew that she was going to have to end it.
But sometimes, it was hard not to critically wound their then-fragile relationship. He was a rash, arrogant man and she, a cultured yet short-tempered girl. Their first meeting had been accidental. Who knew that when he helped that girl pick herself up from the pavement that they would be pushed together, time and time again? But she helped him save his family. She allowed herself to be imprisoned by her father in her own home for a whole month because of her single act of defiance. And he visited her, in secret, talking to her through the walls.
"Do you really have nothing better to do, you fool?!"
"Well, you must be very bored without me."
"Your idiot head is so full of your ego that it's probably as big as an air balloon, so I don't see how you can possibly sneak past the guards."
"My friend Renji helped me out."
"…You better not be getting into trouble, or I'd have to kick your ass, Strawberry."
"The feeling's mutual, midget."
He learned how to sneak past guards and scale impossibly tall, brick walls during that month.
All the things that I don't know, how they enchant me so
But isn't that normal or at least how it go?
Show me all your feelings, I'll let you in my heart
Oh, if only you knew this from the start.
They weren't big fans of words, but the silence between them spoke volumes of the things that they knew about each other. A simple look, a small glare, a light shove…even insults and punches and kicks took the place of the words that they never had the courage to speak.
They were stubborn enough not to be the first one to say anything. It continued like that until they realised, during his month of wall-climbing and her month of talking to the wall in the bathroom, that they needed to say something, as if the words would disappear if they didn't grab a hold of them and made sure that they were said.
"Ichigo, I –,"
"Rukia, I—,"
"—I love you, you idiot!"
They were in sync, saying the same thing, on the same night, when she was released.
I feel so in love just like Cinderella
I scream my love for you while leaving you my glass shoe
I pray to God for time to come to a halt before the evil can come, leaving us both at fault
They were children when they first met.
It was in a sandbox, where their friendship grew. He gave her a friendship necklace, and he was given a bracelet in return. While the necklace soon became too tight for her to wear, she made sure that she still had the pendant wherever she went. And when the bracelet couldn't fit his growing wrist anymore, he made adjustments to it so that it did.
"Make sure you don't lose this, okay? Keep it forever, or I'll beat you up!"
"…Okay."
They were torn apart during their first year of friendship. A year, they thought, that seemed to last longer, each day filled with the innocent happiness of a child. Her parents found a more promising business venture, where they could use their Yakuza empire to their advantage without worrying about police officers who still had integrity. His father was one of those police officers.
"Papa, no! I need to get to Rukia!"
"No, Ichigo, listen. Her parents are very bad people…"
But he saw the pendant glinting on the base of her neck, and she saw the bracelet peeking out from under his jacket.
"I can't believe you kept this, Strawberry."
"I needed you to keep me out of trouble somehow, right?"
And it became easier, because after nine years of being apart, they had found each other again. Even if they would be pulled apart for a month a few weeks after they found each other again, there seemed to be nothing that kept them from each other for long.
Now, I have to escape just like Juliet did
Oh please don't call me by that name, we aren't the same
Things were never really easy, not at all. He was training to become a police officer. She had only come back with her parents because they wanted to strengthen their hold in Karakura. She did not approve of her parents' positions in society – her father, a hotel magnate and a big Yakuza leader, and her mother, a woman who could bring a person to their knees without needing to resort to threats (a big asset in her line of work as a politician) – but it was all she knew.
She couldn't ask him to follow her when they threatened to leave again. He was better; he had morals. She didn't.
It's not okay, please I just want you to stay,
Because without you here, what is there for me to do?
He did not want her to leave. He hated her for being his weakness. He was seven years old when she left him. He thought that he'd gotten over the loss of his best friend, his companion, the one who could read the words he wanted to say without him actually saying them, holding his thoughts open like he was just one of her books. He beat himself up for not being able to 'protect' her from those men that took her away. Nine years later, it seemed that their time apart only strengthened their bond.
"I've missed kicking your ass."
"And I've missed towering over you."
"You never towered over me before, you abnormal giant."
"Yeah, but I like the feeling that it gives me."
"You won't be saying that when I kick you."
Being together was easy. Their lives weren't.
A few weeks after being with her, he was threatened by her father. He didn't listen, and she had to step in. She was gone for a month, but he was determined not to let her go as easily as he did all those years ago.
"I'm sorry you had to be there when my father's men…did that…"
"I'm not."
"You must be disgusted at me. I can understand if you don't want to look at me…"
"I would always want to see you. Don't you dare think differently."
They bid their time.
He knew that he was lost without her. She was his light. His weakness, and his strength, all at the same time – he was a crippled man without her.
So if I cry, would you always be right here by my side?
They only cried together once.
"God, I'm so sorry, Ichigo, I didn't know…I'm sorry my father…did that…to your mom…"
"Me too, Rukia…me, too."
Neither let the other get down to such a level that their stubbornness just wouldn't work against the tears threatening to spill. But when it all became too much, their soft sobs and shuddering breaths were the only ones that kept them from breaking apart entirely.
I try so hard to look like I'm older than my age
He always mocked her for being a midget. She bit back by saying that his height was unusual and abnormal. He never actually expected her to dress up for him when he said that they were going on their first official date.
"You clean up nice, Kuchiki."
"What, are you worried that I'll steal the spotlight from you, you egotistical jerk?"
"I wouldn't mind."
Nevertheless, he was pleased when it rained and no one was at home that day.
I wear mascara to conceal the fact I'm in rage
I promise you I'll be a good girl from now on.
She never wore make-up since that day. He asked her not to; why would she want to cover up her actual face with fake things? She wasn't fake and so there was no reason to hide behind insincere facades. But when she did wear make-up, he knew that something must be bothering her.
"As long as you keep insisting that you're anything but beautiful…no sex is allowed."
"But –what –I don't—f-fine then! See if I care!"
He made love to her again after a whole week of not doing so. He had abstained to drive a point home: that she didn't need those things to look beautiful, and she didn't need those things to prove her self-worth to him, because he already held her in such high value.
"I see you stopped wearing make-up."
"Shut up and kiss me, idiot Strawberry."
The lesson worked.
There's no one here to stop me from the things that I do
I want your love so why don't you come please me, you fool?
He was her servant. Not literally, but she treated him like he was, whenever she was in the mood. She was mad when he abstained from sex, but she understood his reasons, and it was one of the countless reasons why she loved him. He knew that words had as much worth as her spleen: they were there, but they had no actual purpose. They didn't talk about their feelings very much, but he knew what she thought about herself, and corrected that to a point that she was actually forced to re-think things.
"I swear, Ichigo, if you don't take me to bed right now, you won't get the chance to do so for a year."
She made him promise not to hold out on her like that again, and he made her promise not to think of herself as the worthless person she had once thought she was.
How farther will we be able to cross the line?
They had been close to being found out once at school. She told him to control himself, but it seemed that the period of time they dubbed as 'No Sex Week' took his toll on him as well.
"I…chi…go…s-stop…"
"Relax, no one's around."
"Wait…did you hear that?"
Suffice to say, Keigo had been beaten within an inch of his life to…encourage him…to be silent about the whole ordeal. Rukia instigated another No Sex Week, and even though it was painful to limit themselves, it taught them the important lesson of refraining from engaging in sexual activity on Rukia's desk after school.
Now I know that this is true, that I'm in love with you
The pain is killing me as I am screaming my pleas.
I think you know by now that my father doesn't seem to like you much.
Byakuya Kuchiki was well-known for his scathing temper. They both knew what the cold, calculating man was capable of. He had ordered the hit on Ichigo's mother because of his father's so-called 'insubordination'. In fact, Ichigo's father was the only one 'standing in the way' of whatever Byakuya – who allowed himself to be called Senbonzakura – attempted to achieve.
When news of their renewed friendship reached his ears, he knew he had to move to get rid of the boy quickly…and subtly. The attack on the boy was a warning that neither of them paid any heed.
Rukia would have understood it if Ichigo never wanted to see her again, as much as it pained her. But it seemed to be that he was the only one in the entire world who didn't look at her as a Kuchiki, or as the daughter of a Mayor, or the daughter of Senbonzakura; he looked at her as the individual that he knew she was. He baffled her; he ruffled her feathers and pushed her buttons and rubbed her fur the wrong way. How was it that they fell so hopelessly and unceremoniously into each other's arms, time and time again?
I can see your hands reach out as I begin to pout
And now I see it clear, you really love me my dear
She told him that she didn't have long until they left again. He reached for her hand and smiled in that sad way, and looked at her in the way that he would never look at anyone else.
And finally, he used those words again. He never stopped telling her. He told her that she shouldn't feel obliged to say it back, but she didn't feel like that at all. She just wanted to tell him, and through saying those things, she dreamt that it would be enough to keep their hearts tied together. It just so happened that whenever she wanted to tell him, he merely beat her to it.
Take me far away so we can make love Romeo,
Oh won't you fulfil my fantasies?
In her eyes, he wasn't the scowling, scary 'delinquent' who terrorised the school. He wasn't the one who got into fights – that he didn't even start, he thought bitterly – because of his hair or his myth-based reputation. He wasn't the one who everyone thought had a dark future ahead of him, despite his grades and his aspirations to actually help people.
"Why aren't you scared of me, Rukia?"
"Why should I be?"
"Well…I'm taller than y – Ow, okay, geez, I was just trying to make a point! Anyway, people say that I scare them."
"You're not trying to, are you?"
"…No…?"
"Then I don't see the reason why they should be afraid of you! I think you're just a big softie. Like this ice cream...I don't need to pay you back for this, do I?"
"No, but I wouldn't mind if you did. I can always use the extra money…"
"To what, buy a new face? You know I won't let you. Seeing you look different would be an insult to the amount of time I've spent trying not to gag when I look at you."
"…Thanks."
"No problem."
That was what he was to her: ice cream. Annoyingly enough, it didn't bother him.
Because that day, he saw her kiss that ice cream more times than she kissed him. He wouldn't mind being touched by her lips that many times.
So I'll just run away like Cinderella
I'll scream my love for you while leaving you my glass shoe
I pray to God that you'll come searching for me,
Save me from all my fears while I run away and flee.
They had an argument, once. They said the wrong things.
Words, when wielded by the two of them, were explosive. Neither of them found much use for them, but when they used words to actually fight, words became deadly. While their words rarely had any use but to allow them to push each other's buttons, those could quickly turn ugly in the wrong place and the wrong time.
"Why are you even here, Ichigo?! Don't you hate me?! My father killed your mother! Her blood is on his hands, and…and he passed that to me!"
"Why can't you admit that it was never your fault? You had nothing to do with that, damn it!"
"I did! If…If I wasn't friends with you…"
"Don't you dare say that you regret meeting me, Rukia Kuchiki. Don't you dare use those words."
It was the silence that brought them together. Few words needed to be said to repair the damage that a lot of words had caused.
"I'm sorry."
"…I don't forgive you."
"W-what? Why?!"
"Because I was never mad at the person I held closest to my heart."
Well, I'm sure that Cinderella was lying herself
It's not an accident, she left her shoe on purpose
When they first kissed, she tried denying that it was nothing more than an accident.
He had seen her looking at the ice skating rink while he was walking her home. She probably didn't even realise that she was looking at it with that longing look in her eyes, and he understood; she didn't exactly have a normal childhood.
"What are you looking at?"
"I was just thinking…about how nice it is to be normal."
The next day, he surprised her by dragging her all the way there after school. She tried telling him that she didn't know how to, and that she didn't ask for him to take her there anyway, but he shrugged it off and practically dragged her in the middle of it all.
She stumbled and slipped, but he caught her, as he always seemed to have the habit of doing.
"Ichigo, wait! Don't go too fast!"
"Don't worry, I'll catch you."
They shared that moment when they knew that it was simply the right time. They leaned in at the exact same time, like they knew what the other wanted.
But their friends had been there.
That day wasn't the day that they had their first kiss.
But there were words that should have been penned down as hints of their true feelings. He wanted her to gain a feeling of normalcy from all the fighting and imminent death threats. She wanted him to catch her – not that she would ever admit it – because his arms were the only place where she felt safe and…normal.
I understand that she and I are the same
Oh I just want to be loved, so no more playing games
So just look for me, and then you'll soon find what you seek.
He was the type of sadness-ridden boy who grew up to be a passionate man. Whatever it was that he did, he always put his all into it. The deepest, darkest depths of the unknown universe were his limits. And much to her annoyance, he never seemed to stop growing into a better man. She envied him for that.
At the same time, they would exchange insults and bicker like it was the very air that kept them alive.
In the middle of all the violence and outward roughness, there was the soft interior of their beating hearts…that only the two of them saw through their petty arguments. It was the thing that made them so unique and special, and everyone who saw their bond made sure to tease them about how neither of them saw what they already held in their hands.
Oh won't you just take a look and see what I have hidden in the corners of my heart?
It was his birthday when it finally happened.
It was an accident, a one-in-seven chance that the bottle would point at her. The other five people in the room grinned at them with the smiles that they had been directing their way ever since they had met. It was like they rigged the bottle. But that was impossible, and so, they all only summed it up to Fate.
"N-no way…!"
"L-let's just get it over with."
And in a closet, no matter how cliché it was, they shared their first kiss.
Can't you see that it's filled with all of my dirty thoughts and all my needs and my wants?
Sometimes she had to beg.
Sometimes, he had to.
Either way…both found a way to infuriate the other to the point where all words were plugged by heated kisses and scathing touches.
I want you to fill me up until I burst out forth and give in to my desires.
She wanted him so much at times that she began to wonder how she could have denied him before.
"Ichigo, s-stop being…"
Then he opened his mouth and ruined the mood.
"Che. No way! When you blush and you make that face… it looks funny on you."
But sex wasn't the only thing that she wanted. She wanted his strength. She wanted to be as strong as he was. Despite knowing how selfish she was being, she wanted to be worthy to stand beside him when the time came, and support him when he was simply weighed down by the world. She wanted to be able to lend him the strength that he needed, whenever he needed it.
And he wanted her vulnerability. He envied her for being able to trust. He was jealous of the way she wanted him, but in a way…he knew that she was his greatest vulnerability, and that scared him, too.
I'm drawn into ecstasy, oh how I feel so free, please tell me what it could be.
He told her, once, that he would love her even without the sex. That he was drunk on her very presence…and she was his greatest addiction. She hit him and told him to stop talking like a crazy man.
"I need you, Rukia…"
"Idiot! You don't need me; you're perfectly capable of standing up on your own! Or had I chosen a weak man who is crazy enough to disbelieve the fact that everyone knows that he's strong?"
He knew that that was her way of saying that she felt the same.
If I lose you I wouldn't know what to do.
Her father caught them a few nights ago. There was nothing incriminating about the situation at all: they were simply having a nice dinner to celebrate their first anniversary as a couple. He had finally taken her to a nice restaurant, even though such romantic notions were lost on them both. He figured that it was only symbolic, and for once, they should try and act as a normal couple, despite their agreement that society's definition of normal was overrated.
"…Anyway, Rukia…I have an announcement."
"Are you pregnant? Have you finally accepted your true calling and got a sex change? Because you know I don't roll that way…not that I'm against those people who do, but…I just don't do that thing!"
"Har har. Very funny. But…that's not it. Promise you won't be mad."
"Ichigo…?"
"Promise."
"Fine. I promise. But you know I can't really be mad at you –,"
"I'm going to start training as a cadet next week."
"You…wait…w-what?"
"You promised!"
"I'm not mad! I'm just…shocked….So you're going to be a police officer, huh?"
"Wait…you're not mad? You don't think it's silly?"
"You idiot! If this is your dream, then I'll support you! Why would I think your dreams to be silly if I know that you can do it? I know you can do it, Ichigo! If you start doubting yourself…that's when I'll be mad at you. You don't give up. That's the man I know that you are."
"What about your…family…?"
"It doesn't matter."
"But –,"
"Didn't I say that it doesn't matter?! I love you, you fool."
"But you love your family, too! I can't…I can't ask you to choose."
"We'll find a way."
"…Yeah…"
He smiled at her, and she smiled back. It was something that they shared. They would cross that bridge when they got there, they thought. But the bridge was going to be crossed far too soon.
But her father had planted a spy to follow her, one of his goons. He reported back to Byakuya, and the night that she came back from her date, the smile disappeared from her face.
Her bags had been packed for her.
My happiness seems to be stored in a box
I need to find a key so I can open the lock.
Then, it began to rain. She told him, and he reacted violently, as she predicted he would, making baseless threats about standing up to her father. He told her that he would save her again. But she knew that there was nothing to save her from, if it took Ichigo's life. He had even wanted them to run away. They knew that they had enough skills and education between them to survive and remain hidden. She wanted an answer to all their problems, just as much as he did, but their answers were elusive, locked in some sort of unbreakable safe.
"I know we can. I trust in us. But I can't risk it…"
"What are you saying?! Why can't you?!"
"Because it would mean losing you! I can't…I can't lose you forever…"
"You won't! I won't put you through that."
"Maybe not on your own, Ichigo, but this is bigger than any of us. This is bigger than you. I can't…hurt you like that."
"But you'll be hurt, too. I said that I'd protect you, Rukia. Please, let me try. Don't go."
"Don't! Don't…come after me! If you do…I'm never going to forgive you."
Because she knew that if he did whatever reckless, senseless, violent thing he wanted to do, it would mean that she would never get to forgive him as much as she wanted to…because he'd end up as just another victim of her father's ire. He would be in the ground, and she would never get to forgive him. She would never hear his voice again, or see his amber eyes, or run her fingers through his orange hair, or trace each beautiful feature on his face with her lips.
I'm scared in pain, but I won't cry out in vain
The thought of you hating me, I know it couldn't be.
He was scared of losing her. He knew that it was going to happen, sooner or later; it seemed that Byakuya was an impatient man and wanted it to happen much, much sooner.
He held onto her. He knew that she would forgive him, no matter what she said, but he had to respect what she wanted. He didn't understand why she would risk their love for his safety; hadn't he proved to her that he was capable of taking care of them both? But it was their passion that led to this. It was their passion for life and for love that threatened to tear them apart. Yet…their lives were so intertwined with each other that he doubted if he could move on.
"I won't hate you if you continue to live your life without me, Ichigo. In fact, I expect you to."
"…I'll live it, Rukia. But you have to know that I'm doing it for you. And you have to promise me the same."
"…Of course I will. I'll see you again soon, won't I?"
And he smiled, because he knew that it was the truth. No matter what they did, no matter how despicable they became, they would always find each other.
It was this faith that proved as the proof of their love.
That night, she went home with him. Both made sure that they would make love to each other fiercer and more passionate than they had before. It was through their actions that they knew.
They simply knew.
Well my mom and my daddy don't care about me,
They aren't different yet, they are the same as can be
She once saw her parents in their joint office as a child. They were both working hard, taking calls, signing papers. But she didn't miss the small glances they gave each other, as if they thought that if they didn't do that, the person most precious to them would disappear. She wanted that same love with someone as she remembered it growing up; she wanted someone to look at her that way. She wanted someone to always give her the time of day her parents never gave her.
She wanted someone to always look up, once in a while, and see her looking back.
She tried telling her parents that if they were together, why can't she and Ichigo be? She knew the answer.
They both gave her the exact same answer. They had their own versions of it, of course, but they were the same. Just as she and Ichigo were the same, no matter how opposing they seemed to be.
On her last night, she took her bags and left.
I'll stop my lies and I'll be true to myself,
I'll just stick to the facts; I'll drop my golden axe.
He found her, soaked, after walking in the rain. He was about to tell her off, but the smile on her face was the first thing he noticed. It was the smile that promised their future. The second thing he noticed was the bags.
"Rukia…?"
"I want to be with you, Ichigo."
"…That's all I needed to hear."
"So…?"
"Change your clothes, Rukia. We're leaving."
So if I keep lying like Cinderella,
I know I'll meet the fate that she alone had to face
I'm really scared, and have no clue what to do
But I hope I don't end up just like her too
So before that happens won't you come and rescue me?
Two years later, they got married.
"No ceremony? Are you sure?"
"Fool! You already spent enough money on the ring. And…you know that I don't mind…"
"One day, Rukia. One day, I'll give you a proper wedding. I promise."
"…Okay."
Five years after that, Rukia managed to end up with a small girl in her arms, reading to her at night. Ichigo had become a paramedic, and wouldn't be back for a few hours. She smiled as her daughter yawned after the end of Cinderella's fairytale.
"Mommy?"
"Yeah?"
"Why did Cinderella leave a shoe behind? Won't the other shoe be lonely?"
"She left it behind…because she knew the prince would give it back. They loved each other, remember?"
"Oh, yeah…just like you and daddy love each other?"
"Just like that."
"So are you Cinderella?!"
"Ha ha, shh…it's a secret."
"Does that make me a princess then?"
"You're our princess, honey. Now go to sleep."
She tucked her daughter in bed and gave her a kiss before going to prepare her tea. She wondered, for a moment, what would have happened if she hadn't decided to finally take her life into her own hands. Not that it had been her life, even then; it was Ichigo's, too. She wondered where she would be right at that moment, if she would be pointing a gun at a filthy subordinate rather than drinking tea waiting for her husband to come home. She wondered if she would have spent those past seven years lying to everyone – including herself – about how she was okay and moving on.
If she hadn't ran away and decided to truly intertwine her fate with Ichigo's, would she be as happy as she was now? Probably not, she thought. Ichigo probably had a shot at happiness anyway, and she thought herself as selfish sometimes from taking him away from his family. When they were ready, they might go back, when they felt safe enough.
But he risked that chance to save her, even though he knew that she would just tell him off for saving her, no matter how much they both knew she needed it.
And she risked everything to accept his heroic act, because she knew that he was too stubborn to listen to her anyway.