"Alright! We all know why I've gathered both all the Captains and their Leuitenants here today, and a few extras along who know the couple very well in order to celebrate this exciting new development" Captain Commander Kyoraku all but squealed to his fellow members of the Gotei 13.

"My friends, it's time! Earlier today, we gained a new addition to our ranks. Captain Abarai has successfully given birth to a healthy little girl, fathered by a proud Leuitenent Renji Abarai of Squad 6. Introducing the future of the soul society, Abarai Ichika!" He bellowed proudly, followed by a quarry of excited gasps and cheers.

The doors opened, followed by a beaming Renji and Rukia, and a sleeping Ichika wrapped tightly in her arms. She, along with Renji, was grinning from ear to ear as they made their way down the line of excited eyes ready to lay on the face of the new generation of soul reapers.

First up was Captain's Kurotsuchi and a newly reformed young Nemuri. Renji and Rukia stopped, a little hesistantly, offering the Captain a look at their new baby.

Nemuri tugged on her Captain's robe, and looked up at his face with wide eyes.

"What is that?" She said in a loudish, wondering voice, making her captain wince from the unneccesary volume.

"It's a baby, you fool. You began like this when I created you" He said, his voice somewhat softer than it would have been in the past. He stepped forward, looking upon the baby's face. He stared for a good minute, scanning and evaluating the child.

"Fathers hair huh" He muttered, making Renji glare at him.

"Something wrong with that?" Renji muttered back, making Rukia glare at him slightly, and he knew she was inwardly scolding him about respectful conduct to a Captain.

Before the Captain could retort, the little girl started to stir in her mother's arms, causing all eyes to gaze upon her face as her eyes fluttered open. Gazing up at the painted Captain with her mother's shining violet eyes.

"Mother's eyes" He muttered again, his eyes wide, and his voice something Rukia thought was akin to soft. Nemuri was on her tiptoes, staring at the baby in wonderment.

"She's small huh, master Mayuri?" Nemuri said, still holding onto her Captain's robe for support on her toes.

"Quite" Mayuri said, suddenly coming out of his stupor. He looked at the proud new parents and stood up straight.

"Congratulations, Captain. And you, Leuitenant Abarai, it seems as though you have finally done something useful in your lifetime, very well done" And he was back. Renji snorted, whilst Rukia bowed slightly, well… As much as the after-labour-pains allowed her to, in thanks.

"Thank you, Captain Kurotsuchi" Rukia said gracefully, and they proceeded to go down the line to Captain Hitsugaya, Captain Hirako, and of course Leuitenents Matsumoto and Hinamori.

Rangiku and Momo were nearly dying with excitement as the couple made their way over with the now cooeing and fully awake baby.

"Oh my gosh, Rukia-chan! She's so cute! Can I hold her?!" Rangiku squealed at her friends, making Rukia giggle at her eagerness.

"Me next!" Momo joined, her eyes shining as she looked at the pink cheeked, crimson haired baby.

Rukia handed Ichika over to Rangiku and Momo, whilst their two Captains looked on with blank faces at being pushed infront of.

"And we're supposed to be the superiors" Shinji muttered, looking at Toshiro.

"Women" Toshiro grumbled, looking at the two women in annoyance.

"Oh! Shiro-chan, she's almost as cute as you were when you were young" Momo squealed in delight when she finally got her turn of holding Ichika. Toshiro, of course, turned red and sputtered at his girlfriend.

"Momo!" He yelled in protest, all the while Renji and Shinji held in their laughs.

"Aw, good job Rukia-chan. Ichi-chan's gonna be a knock out when she's older, and with the help of her Aunt Ran-chan she'll break hearts all over the Seireitei. Yes she will! Yes she will ~" Rangiku cheered, cooing at the little baby.

Renji sweatdropped and piped up in defense of his daughters innocence.

"No way! No ones getting their greasy hands on my daughter. She'll be too powerful for any idiot guy to match her" Renji spoke, smug grin and arms crossed.

"Oh yeah, judging by the parents she'll be a force to be reckoned with" Shinji said with a smile, boosting the parents ego by a thousand.

"Of course she will!" Rukia said, taking back her little girl and hugging her close, an ear splitting smile across the new mothers face.

They moved on to, in Rukia's opinion, the most important person in the line, besides the head captain himself, of course.

"Nii-sama… May I present our daughter to you… Your niece" Rukia said softly, Renji standing beside her at all times. Rukia moved her arms so that her brother could get a clear view of her baby. The child looked straight up at her uncle's stoic face, bright violet orbs met stormy grey ones as they stared at each other.

It was silent for a long while, the room filled with nothing but peaceful air as the family had their moment in the noble way.

Rukia looked worriedly to her husband, who had his eyes set on his Captain calmly. Knowing the way his Captain thinks and acts, more so than Rukia, who was worried and tense at her brothers reaction. She began to panic.

"Rukia" His deep baritone voice suddenly cut through her thoughts and blew them to a stop.

"N-Nii-sama?" She asked in a small voice, almost frightened to make much noise.

"Each time I believe that I could not be any more proud of you than I currently am, you prove me wrong" He said, his voice going that little bit softer, but still as strong and noble as ever.

Rukia's eyes began to fill with tears, and they spilled over her porcelain face, and made dew drops on her long, thick lashes.

"Thank you, Nii-sama" She all but sobbed, bowing her head and leaning against Renji, who was smiling serenely.

"Congratulations, Lieutenant Abarai" He said formally, to which Renji nodded and thanked him for.

"W-would you like to hold her, Nii-sama?" Rukia said through her soft sobs of joy, to which Byakuya didn't quite know how to respond. He looked to Renji, to which he nodded firmly, grinning proudly, an arm around his sore and tearful wife.

"I would be honoured" And with that, the baby was gently placed into the waiting arms of Byakuya. He admired her eyes, which he saw more of Hisana in than even Rukias own violet orbs, glad that her obviously family characteristic has been kept throughout the generations of Hisanas family.

He also admired the crimson hair, which was just a shade darker than her fathers, giving it a lovely shine which he thought was as beautiful as all of the roses in his gardens. He admired his little niece silently as she smiled up at him, gurgling softly and reaching her hands around the ends of his hair and grasping his robes.

Rukia stood there, arm in arm with Renji, looking on proudly at her brother and darling daughter, seeing the rarest smile on her brothers face and the cheeky grin of her daughter made her feel like she was floating on air. It made her feel so proud, as if this was the greatest thing she had ever accomplished in her entire life. She couldn't believe she had gone this long without Ichika in her life, even though she had only been properly in it for no more than 12 hours. Not even a full day and she couldn't bare to be without her.

Eventually, Byakuya relinquished his hold on his niece, and handed her back to Rukia, bidding her a further congratulations and "see you at the manor" which she interpreted as a "bring her to me later so I can hold her more".

They moved downward, to the rest of the waiting Captains and Lieutenants, and a few more of their friends, including the fearsome squad 11 Captain and his subordinates, Lieutenant Madarame and 4th seat Ayasegawa. Along with Squad 4, whom Captain Kotetsu had decided to bring along her sister and Hanataro to see the baby, even though they had already seen her in the delivery room a few hours after she had given birth. They had already showered the baby with presents and well wishes, and lots of cuddles.

"Cute kid Renji" Ikkaku said, unable to resist the cuteness of the new baby girl.

"Why, she's absolutely beautiful! Perhaps more so than me, it's almost impossible that an ugly brute like you managed to father such a sweet gem, Renji" Yumichika babbled, positively in love with the new child. He was instantly whacked upside the head by Renji as a reply.

In reply, the baby started to wail, much to the horror of the three stooges, and Rukia herself who, been a new mother, had not had to deal with this yet.

"God dammit, Renji! You upset her!" Rukia snapped, struggling to get her child to be happy once more.

"I-it wasn't my fault! These two are the ones who were being idiots and disturbed her!" Renji protested, waving his hands about the air, panicking along with his wife.

"Hey! What did I do?!" Ikkaku yelled indignantly. The three began fussing over the child, stressing both the child and Rukia out even more.

Before anyone could step in to help, the goliath of a Captain stepped forward.

"Can I hold her?" He asked, his giant hands held out for the baby, making the men faint and Rukia to freeze like a deer in the headlights.

"C'mon, I used to have a kid… Sorta" Kenpachi said, scratching his head at the thought of what Yachiru actually was. The child was still wailing, and before Rukia could say anything, Kenpachi had gently taken the baby from her grasp.

The parents watched in horror as the giant Kenpachi of Zaraki brought the baby girl up against his shoulder, one hand holding her up by her legs and the other rubbing circles on her back softly.

Rukia was dumbfounded, whilst Renji, along with Ikkaku and Yumichika, were floored.

The child ceased her crying and began to play with the bells attached to the Captains hair, and soon she was cooing and giggling along whilst she played with her new giant friend.

"C-Captain Zaraki, that was amazing!" Rukia beamed, looking up to Kenpachi in awe as he handled their child professionally.

"Tch, Yachiru used to be the same. Whenever she'd get fussy I'd just pitch her up here and she'd be fine after a while" Kenpachi said, showing his shark-like teeth in a grin at the young mother, which terrified the men, but warmed the mothers heart.

"Thank you!" Rukia said cheerfully as her fellow Captain handed the baby back to her after a little more time of holding her.

"Don't mention it. Congrats, you've finally made a man outta Renji" Kenpachi growled, grinning at Renji who was still in a frozen stupor.

"Y-yeah" He muttered, unable to recover.

They moved on from… Whatever that was, and came to the last few people waiting to meet their little one.

Soifon held her for a while, absolutely refusing to let Lieutenant Omaeda near the girl.

"We don't want you catching idiocy from that big lump of lard now, do we?" She cooed to the little baby, all the while crushing her Lieutenants face under her foot.

Captain Soifon also gave the little girl a stuffed plushie of a black cat, saying that it will bring her good fortune to have a plushie modelled after one of the greatest Shinigami of the Soul Society.

Captain Otoribashi was gushing over the small baby offering her heaps of gifts and compliments, and Lieutenant Izuru congratulated his friend Renji proudly on their new addition.

Captain Tetsuzaemon Iba tried to convince Rukia to let him put sunglasses on the child, saying it would make her look cooler.

His offer was declined.

Captain Yadomaru was, like all the females of the Gotei 13, absolutely delighted with the baby, eager to hold her and compliment Rukia on her successful birth and carry.

"Excuse me, I helped ya know" Renji said, irritated that Rukia was getting all of the credit.

"Oh please, what did you do other than provide the sperm? Basically no work at all, you lazy bum" Lisa scolded, making Rukia smirk at Renji and Renji to sulk behind her. He wasn't stupid enough to take on any woman, nevermind two Captains.

"Ahhhhh Kensei! Look at the baby~" Lieutenant Mashiro piped up when they made their way over. They didn't have a choice really as Mashiro had been yelling "Us next! Us next!" for the past half an hour.

"Pretty cute, huh Captain?" Lieutenant Hiragi added, smiling down at the baby that was now in Mashiro's arms.

"Yeah, congratulations you two" Kensei said coolly, bowing his head slightly in recognition.

"Ooooo Kensei, look! She's smiling at me! Can we have one?" Mashiro said excitedly, looking up questionably at her Captain.

If Kensei was drinking water, it would be all over the hall by now.

"W-what?!" He stuttered, alarmed at the sudden question.

"Come on, we can make one of these easy peasy" Mashiro chirped, making Shuhei and Renji blush and Kensei to pale.

"Alrighty, we'll leave you to it" Renji said, taking the baby from Shuhei, as she had been passed on by Mashiro inbetween the whole "can we make one" debate.

Finally, the young parents rested at the top of the meeting hall, standing infront of their Head Captain, Shunsui Kyoraku and Lieutenants Nanao Ise and Genshiro Okikiba. Nanao, who was trying her best to be formal in the very important ceremony, was smiling at her friends and fellow (former in Rukia's case) Lieutenants as they carried their child to them.

Shunsui was barely containing himself as he caught sight of the little baby giggling and cooing up at her father, his excitement overwhelming his duty to be serious.

Both the parents went to bow low in respect, but Shunsui stopped them.

"Ah-ah, no need. Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself there Rukia-chan, seeing as your body has been through a tough time already" He said kindly, waving a casual hand at them to relax.

The couple responded with a very dutiful "yes sir" and a proud smile at their Captain.

"Can I see her?" Shunsui said excitedly, near enough jumping up and down on the tips of his toes. Rukia and Renji smiled at each other, before Renji stepped forward with his daughter in his arms to meet the Head Captain.

"Head Captain sir, may I present my daughter. Ichika Abarai" Renji said proudly, his voice clear and strong as he introduces his daughter to his commanding officer.

Shunsui smiled at the proud father, and bent his face down to Ichika's eye level.

"Why, hello there little one. Aren't you a beauty?" Shunsui said in glee, whilst the baby looked into his eye, melting his heart.

"Ichi-chan, your name reminds me of someone y'know, someone really great. You have very strong parents you know, and you're gonna be brought up by a great family, with lots of uncles and aunts. They all came here to see you, as you've kept us all waiting for some time now. Ne, Ichi-chan, when you're old enough, uncle Shunsui will take you to your first bar_"

"That's quite enough of that!" Shunsui was cut off by a whack to the head by a very dominant looking Nanao.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I won't let that rouge lead you astray… I will also protect you from Rangiku as your idiot head captain here will more than likely team up with her to sneak you out to a bar" Nanao cooed to the little girl, receiving a whine from both Shunsui and Rangiku.

The baby just giggled in delight at the sight of the silly man being knocked down by an strict little woman. Rukia sweat dropped, and thanked Nanao for looking out for her, and also apologised to the head captain for being on Nanao's side.

"Awh, do you have to be so mean to your husband, Nanao-chan?" Shunsui whined; now up from his place on the ground, rubbing his now swollen head.

"When at work we are simply fellow shinigami under professional circumstances… I will tend to you once we're off the clock" She said in her usual professional voice, though the last part made Shunsui gleam with joy, the majority of the room suddenly felt their faces flush at the intimate indication.

"May I?" Shunsui asked, getting back to business. Renji and Rukia both nodded knowingly, and Renji gently handed the baby over to their head captain, whilst he closed the ceremony.

Holding the baby up in his arms for the rest of the room to see, Shunsui proudly finished the welcoming ceremony grandly.

"Here it is, the future of the Gotei 13 and the next generation in a line of successful and strong shinigami, we will help to guide her in the right path to help her become a fine shinigami that protects the souls of the living and her comrades of the Gotei 13, and the fellow souls of the Seireitei. I give you Abarai Ichika, the daughter of Captain Rukia Kuchiki-Abarai, and Lieutenant Renji Abarai, Niece of Captain and the head of the Kuchiki Clan, Byakuya Kuchiki, and the next generation of the name Kuchiki" He proclaimed proudly, followed by the celebratory cheers and yells from the room of Captains and Lieutenants of the Gotei 13, as they come together to celebrate the first child born in the Seireitei for over a thousand years.

To many in the Gotei 13, this child was a symbol of what they had fought for after the many wars they had seen and fought together. They were looking forward to seeing her grow and helping her become a fellow shinigami.