[Edited]

The Moon That Embraces The Sun

Chapter –2

Since ancient times, there has been a belief that the Emperor who rules over Karakura was the Sun, while the Empress was the Moon. It was based upon the word of the celestial hall, a place where shamans reside. They were known as vessels of god, relaying the future of humans through the visions they foresee.

Centuries ago, the celestial hall was assembled for the sake of protecting the imperial family. Saving them before it was too late so that the imperial lineage will not be broken. Marriages were based on their predictions too. They searched for the one with the fate of taking the burden of becoming the Moon, Emperor's divine protector and source of strength.

There were a lot of eligible ladies that matched, fit perfectly with the Emperor. But not just anyone can be the Moon. In a world where hunger for power is greater than love, eligibility will not save the Sun. No matter how much they deny, how much they try to take the Moon away from the Sun, they will only be helping them to get closer.

Fate had decided long ago, the destiny of the Moon and Sun.

~0~

Rukia was walking down the hallways of the humongous palace. It was her first day and she was learning her way while two attendants led her to the dining chambers. People bowed their heads low as they passed her. It was nothing new. She was a lady to begin with; receiving such esteem was nothing new for her. But Rukia was no fool. She knew it was only a handful of people who actually regard her as the Empress, who bow in genuine respect.

Last night had been a disaster. Her nightmares grew worse. She was grateful that her sleeping chambers were right next to His Majesty's and not a shared bedroom. Otherwise, he might have thought badly of her. Their impressions yesterday at their wedding hadn't been the most pleasant.

Of course, his beauty faltered her for a moment. But it was only for a moment, very shot-lived indeed. He looked kind on the outside, but he was a beast inside. Maybe it was just her and because of their forced marriage.

She felt the same. But she decided not be bitter of their situation and actually try to make their marriage work. It wasn't like they could divorce whenever they wanted. An imperial marriage cannot be broken.

Until death do us part.

Rukia repeated the words she recited at the altar. She held back a snort. It was rather annoying. A lady like her, form the eye of a commoner had everything the world had to offer. But she was empty at heart.

There wasn't a single thing she wanted. Her mother, Lady Hisana Kuchiki had been killed ten years ago, diminishing the light of hope within her. Her father, Lord Byakuya Kuchiki had never spoken a word to her since then. She had her suspicions that it was because he blamed her for his wife's death. She wasn't his wife alone.

She was her mother too.

And she took half of her with her.

You're so wrong, father.

She grabbed the skirt of her dress until her knuckles turned white. Rukia had always been a lady that could perfectly mask her emotions, just like her father. But there were times she couldn't hold everything in. There were times it became so heavy she felt like she couldn't get up anymore.

There was no shoulder to lean on.

Hence, the need to be independent forced her to shut everyone out. She had herself, what else did she need? Being with others only hurt them and her. And the guilt wasn't something she could shoulder.

Losing a life wasn't a joke.

She had already witnessed so many deaths, while she stood watching them draw their last breath. Rukia willed away the source of her nightmares.

Breakfast was over before she even knew it. Of course, the emperor didn't join her. She expected nothing more. From the way they glared at each other, Rukia knew he would take deep measures to keep himself away from her.

One of the two attendants followed her when she asked for a walk. She needed some fresh air. Staying within the walls of the palace was suffocating her.

The attendant, whose name she learned as Nelliel, a beautiful green haired woman, led her to the imperial garden. The flowers were beautiful and Nelliel was a girl she could use as comfortable company. The girl was very outspoken, which was a quality she liked very much and she explained the many flowers in the garden.

They came to a halt by some trees that were larger and gave off more shade than the ones they passed. It made her wonder just how large the garden alone was.

She stood staring at the magnificence of nature. Rukia had no idea how long she had been lost in her thoughts but the sun was already high up in the sky. It must be noon, she thought.

Rukia stood up from where she had unconsciously sat on the grass and dusted her dress off. She was about to turn back to the castle when something caught her eyes. There were no guards to be seen but what was His majesty doing in the garden?

She took a step forward, against her heart and the frame of a purple haired lady came into view. She was wearing a fine gown and Rukia knew she was of noble blood.

The Emperor shook his head and placed a hand on the back of her head and waist and embraced her.

Why wasn't she surprised?

Not only had he warned her not to try anything funny to gain his attention but he was going to a woman behind her back? This was scandalous. Didn't he know the consequences of his actions? It wasn't like she cared about him having other women. There was no love between them and she could care less about what he does.

"Don't utter a word of this to anyone." She ordered Nelliel who stood beside her, her eyes wide. "Understood?" Rukia said putting a little force to her tone when Nelliel didn't reply.

"Y-yes, your highness." She bowed and Rukia turned around, walking back to the castle, oblivious to the electric blue hair of Grimmjow right above them, on the tree Rukia was sitting under.

~0~

The first thing he did after waking up was search for Lady Senna. He only wore a tunic made out of sheer white cloth and a pair of black breeches tucked into a pair of black boots. He was a married man now and his attire should be more formal than that. But his wife didn't even cross his mind as he wandered around the palace, hoping to find Senna somewhere. He didn't even bother to check if his wife made it to the first day of married life. He could care less if she died sometime around the night.

What he needed to see right now was Senna. He needed to see if she was alright. A stupid thing, but what else can he do? Elope with her? He would be sent to hell and back by the Imperial court. The councilors were just old fools who were too stubborn to accept the new changes that came with time. And they say to respect the elders.

The word elders probably hold more fear than the word Emperor.

But he will show just what an Emperor is if Senna was hurt. He'd show hell to his wife. She was after all the reason he was compelled to part from the love of his life.

He ignored the palace attendants asking him to have breakfast. Grimmjow later helped him in searching for lady Senna. They found her at the imperial garden and Grimmjow happily climbed up the tree, watching for any intruders.

Besides, he could take a good nap. And that nap was what prevented him from noticing the arrival of the Empress.

Ichigo shook his head when Senna asked if he was okay. He couldn't utter a word to her. There was a lump in his throat that restricted him from speaking. Every time he tried, it would tighten and he was left with nodding shaking his head as answers to her questions.

So, he hugged her. She was so petite, his whole frame covering hers. The woman was too kind. She never talked about how she felt, only spoke of how he was doing.

He heard the ruffle of dried leaves and jerked his head towards the source to see the retreating back of his wife, her attendant bowed low as she followed behind her.

Ichigo glared at Grimmjow. The warrior only gave him a sheepish smile in reply but there was something odd in his eyes.

~0~

"Never speak about this?" Ichigo asked, eyes narrowed and arms crossed at his chest as he leaned against the table in his office.

"Yes." Grimmjow replied.

"Her majesty has a heart. And the sky is green." Ichigo said and burst into laughter.

"I don't think there were any other intentions behind her words." The blue haired man said, recalling the look on the Empress's face. It looked like she said it out of consideration towards the consequences of his actions, not to gain a rank in his majesty's heart.

After all, if the relationship between lady Senna and the Emperor was discovered, her ladyship will be tortured and removed from her title as Lady along with banning entrance to the imperial palace.

According to the law, it was an act to hinder the growth of the imperial family. That was also why the imperial family does not have concubines like other kingdoms.

His majesty, the Emperor was an only son. He could understand the reason behind the harsh law. But it wouldn't be fair on his majesty. His heart would be broken. And that was why he was going to give his honest opinion.

Grimmjow didn't want to see him in heartache.

"It will be best to stop talking with Lady Senna, your majesty."

"It will be, won't it?"

Grimmjow slowly looked up at the orange haired emperor, unable to hide the shock he felt.

"I can't bear to watch her get hurt." He said in a whisper but Grimmjow caught in the silence. "I can't allow them to hurt her."

He would only jeopardize her life with every minute spent beside her. He was torturing her with just by thinking about her, dreaming about her. The best way to protect her is to let her go, though his heart will always belong to her.

"Bring Senna here." Ichigo ordered. Grimmjow stood straight and bowed before pulling the doors open and walking out.

Ichigo paced in the room, brushing his thumb on his chin every now and then, as if in deep thoughts. He stopped at once when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

His heart beat quickened as the door began to open ever so slowly, torturing him. He was dying to see her face but why was Grimmjow being such a tease? Maybe they can stay alone longer? A tiny smile broke on his face at that thought but it disappeared the moment he saw who was at his bedchambers.

"Empress." He said stiffly.

"Your majesty." She bowed before entering, tilting her head at her attendants to leave.

They closed the door and Ichigo felt anger coursing through his body, seeping from every pore. What the hell was she doing here, with that ice cold expression on her face?

"May I ask –"

He was cut off by a knock on the door.

"I have completed the task, my lord." It was Grimmjow's voice.

Ichigo glared at his wife before grabbing her upper arm and pushing her behind his changing screen.

"Utter a word and I'll force you to bite off your tongue and die." He hissed and shoved her into the wall.

He walked back to where he was standing before and gave the permission to enter.

Lady Senna walked in; wearing a maid's dress and Grimmjow closed the door behind her. He was smart, that man. If his parents were to see her, then it'd create great chaos and worse if anyone else saw her entering his chambers.

"Senna." He breathed and rushed into her open arms.

"Your majesty." Senna wrapped her arms around his shoulders, burying her head in the crook of his neck. "Why have you called me when we met only a while ago?" she said in a low voice.

"I have something to tell you." Ichigo pulled her away, staring deeply into her eyes.

He brought her to his bed and made her sit there. He crouched down on the floor, leveling himself with her and placed his hands on her knees.

"We…" he noticed that it was harder to say it directly to her. "…should…" a finger was placed on his lips and Ichigo looked up into her eyes.

"If you're going to tell me to leave, then, your majesty, I have to oppose you." He watched the tears brimming at the corner of her eyes.

"If they discover, by any chance, if they discover, they will torture you." He said in a whisper and kissed her knuckles, forgetting about his wife behind the changing screen.

"They will remove you from your title and banish you to the outskirts of the capital." Every word was hard for him to say, it took all his willpower to force them out.

"I don't care. If I can be with you, no amount of torture will be able to break me down." Senna said softly, taking one hand out of his grasp and cupping his cheek.

"There will be nothing in this world that will stop me from becoming your woman. I will take that place beside you, you majesty. We can bend some laws."

Ichigo shook his head, leaning into her touch. She doesn't know. She doesn't know that an imperial marriage could not be broken like that. In case the Empress commits treason, then she'd be removed from her title and will be…killed. But he wasn't going to frame her, kill her when she's nothing but innocent.

"We can't do that." He said, lowering his head to her lap.

"But you're the emperor." She said. There were many laws and many things about politics Senna didn't know about.

Clearly, she doesn't befit the title of an Empress. But he wasn't going to admit it. He was too stubborn to admit any of her faults.

Ichigo stood up, forcing back the tears that threatened to fall.

"From this moment onwards…" Ichigo began in a firm tone.

"Your majesty!" Senna stood up abruptly, knowing exactly what he was going to say. "Don't." tears spilled on her cheeks that broke his heart.

"What we had…" but Ichigo didn't stop. He needed to do this to keep her safe, to keep his love for her alive and well. "…is over. We will never meet again. Goodbye, my lady."

"Your majesty!" Senna shut her eyes close and shouted, trying to stop her tears. "Please." She shook her head, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Please leave." Ichigo said, on the verge of crying.

"Your majesty!" Senna cried harder. "Don't do this. Please, I beg you. Don't abandon me."

Abandon me… Ichigo repeated. It hurt but he had no other choice.

"Leave." He said again. "This is an imperial command."

Senna's cries stopped and she looked at him with wide eyes, the tears still falling.

"W-what?" she straightened her posture. "You can't do this to me, my lord."

Defying an imperial command meant treason. He wouldn't do that to her, would he?

It's the only way to save her. Ichigo reminded himself.

"Leave before I call the guards." Ichigo said in a firmer tone, braving himself to look at her in the eyes without crushing her in a hug and tell her that he was only joking.

Senna wiped the tears away and sent him a small smile.

"Alright, I understand." She said in a whisper and turned around. "Goodbye, your majesty." She said taking one last glance at him before opening the door and closing it softly.

His shoulders slouched. Suddenly, Ichigo felt very tired. It was as if a part had been ripped off him. It actually was.

"Such love brings tears to my eyes." A feminine voice spoke and Ichigo jerked his head up. His wife came out of the changing screen, her hands crossed and one corner of her lips tugged upwards in a cold smile.

That woman had been having fun of his situation in there and he couldn't believe he had forgotten that she was hiding in his room in the first place.

Anger he felt for weeks crushed down hard on him and before he knew it, he had the Empress pinned against the wall. She never blinked, just stared at him with ice cold eyes.

Ichigo slammed his palm on the wall beside her head; the pain barely registered in his mind as he stared into her eyes and inched closer towards her face.

She didn't flinch, didn't budge. And that had him fuming. She was a woman. Shouldn't she be cowering, begging to save her life?

"My lady, do not speak of Lady Senna as if she's lower than you. To me, you are the lowest. Lower than the dirt beneath my boots." He said in a seductive whisper, his breath fanning her neck.

He took one step away from her and looked away from her.

"You are pitiful, my husband." She said.

Ichigo turned to look at her, one perfectly shaped eyebrow rose, daring her to continue.

"She doesn't love you."

The moment those words were out of her mouth, Ichigo jumped at her like a predator hungry and in dire need to kill its prey right then and there.

"You…" he hissed. "…don't know anything."

Why in the devil's name was she chosen to be his Empress?

"You're completely fooled. You're blinded by your love for her to see what she truly is." Her voice began to rise. "As an Emperor you should be ashamed. Shouldn't you know how to differentiate between foe and ally? Didn't anyone teach you that, your majesty?

"Shut up." Ichigo gritted his teeth, his bangs hiding his eyes.

"Do you think the position next to you is given as easily as a gift?" Rukia didn't stop though. "Do you think just anyone can become Empress?" she asked. Not waiting for him to answer, she said.

"No! We're talking about the mother of the country. The one who protects you!"

"Is this position that important to you? To the point you're willing to accuse Lady Senna?" Ichigo asked with a chuckle. "What do you know?"

"I speak for my people. And having an Emperor who can't even differ between foe and ally…" she paused searching his eyes before continuing. "…is just disgraceful."

"On what proof do you accuse her?"

"My intuition has never been wrong."

~0~

A blonde woman poured hot tea in a cup, the smell of jasmine filled the air instantly. She smiled at the woman in front of her. She was one of the most beautiful women she had encountered in her twenty five years of life. Her auburn hair had the same shine from the first time she met her, about twenty years ago. The woman in front of her was in her mid-forties but there wasn't a single wrinkle on her fair skin. It was as if she was still twenty.

She could stare at her beauty for hours and not get bored, like everyone else in the country.

"I heard you had another vision yesterday." Her voice was soft, honey silk and most definitely the voice of a true beauty.

"Yes, your highness."

"Tell me Lady Rangiku. What do you think of my daughter-in-law?" the lady sipped her tea once and sent her a smile.

"The Empress is quite the beauty. She'd make a fine ruler. When she is beside him, the Emperor can conquer the world." Rangiku replied, her head bowed in respect for the mother of the Emperor.

"Did you tell me this as the head shaman or as a friend?" Her imperial highness, Masaki Kurosaki, the former empress asked, a playful smile on her lips.

"As the head shaman, my lady."

"Then, tell me what you foresaw yesterday." the playfulness was gone, replaced by seriousness and barely visible fear.

"Going near the Sun will attract disasters the Moon can barely handle. But fate will force her to stand beside him and protect him. No matter how terrifying it all is, the Sun can overcome anything with the Moon by his side." Lady Rangiku Matsumoto, the head shaman said, her face void of the usual smile.

"But…" she looked up and the former Empress leaned forward. "…If only he has the Moon by his side."

There was brief silence before Lady Rangiku spoke again.

"The disasters have already started."

~0~

Lady Senna sat behind a desk, biting her thumb with a frown on her face. She stopped chewing and her brows knitted together as she recalled what had happened today. She was unable to get a wink of sleep because of that good for nothing Emperor. He dared to force an imperial decree on her. If he considered the love between them, would he be able to throw her out like that?

It was just low.

Just because he got a beautiful bride, that doesn't mean her role in his life was over. There was more, many ways she could become his, take the position next to him and be his woman for the rest of her life. She needed to go back to him. She needed to be at his side again.

She will go mad if she couldn't.

It wasn't something she wanted. It was a desperate need, like a drug that kept her sanity in check.

There was a knock on the door and Senna glared at it. A brown haired man walked inside, his hair slicked back.

"What can I say? I am disappointed in you." He said and Senna's glare intensified as she turned away from him.

"Go away, uncle Aizen."

"Seeing how you called me uncle, I see you're not that mad." Lord Aizen Sosuke, one of the members of the imperial court said. "I only need a couple of weeks and you couldn't hold him for that much?"

"You have been telling me that for the past year. Your weeks turned into a whole year!" she slammed a fist on the desk.

"If you had been good, he wouldn't have forced am imperial decree on you. Such love." Lord Aizen chuckled in amusement. "That naïve little brat actually fell for you. I don't know what he saw in you. He got a beautiful wife a day ago but he still went running back to you."

He laughed madly.

"Your naivety will destroy you, you majesty!" he spread his arms widely.

Senna glared menacingly at him.

"Rot in hell, Aizen." She hissed. "Get out of my room. I'm done playing your little pawn." She screamed and threw the contents of her table at him.

"Leave!" she screamed from the top of her lungs. Her throat hurt but she didn't care.

She was angry. At first, it had been to help her uncle who took her in after her parent's death with his plan she had no idea about. He had asked if she wanted to be the Empress. Of course, little naïve Senna agreed. But she had no idea how deep and dangerous her uncle's plan went for him to take a whole year. She learned his secrets and began to fall for the Emperor along the way.

"You love him." Lord Aizen sated.

Senna glared at him again through her disheveled hair.

A murderous aura surrounded the brown haired lord as he walked out of her room and slammed the door shut.

~0~

Rukia was furious. She stormed back to her room in so much anger she couldn't remember ever feeling. Just how stupid was her husband actually? She had always been good at reading people, her intuition had always been spot on. And everything about lady Senna screamed danger. How could he not feel anything when she was near?

Rukia snorted inwardly.

That's because he was madly in love with her. She thought with a roll of her eyes.

Rukia never remembered speaking so much in her life. But the every time she saw the Emperor, it made her want to snap at him and squeeze the life out of him.

He was good at heart, she could see that. But he was being blinded by a love that will only put him in danger. He was being irrational. And to think he even said the position of the Empress was more important to her.

Steam literally radiated off her head as she changed her attire and lay on the bed pulling the soft covers to her neck.

Why did she even care?

He could do whatever the hell he wanted for all she care and get himself killed. And she could go back to her home, live peacefully and die as a happy old woman.

A/N: Did I update too soon?

A very special person asked me to update and I just couldn't say no.

Thank you minna-san for your reviews, favorites and follows. I was like jumping up and down ^^

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. So, let me know your thoughts. And give me some suggestions to improve this story.

And I'm sorry for the mistakes. ^^

Ja!