DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything of Bleach, especially characters. What I own is the plot and the few OCs that are established in this story.

B/N: HELLO READERS! Here's another update~~. I tired to time this review to come out the same time as the last chapter of Bleach. Want my opinion? Read my A/N at the end of this chapter.

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If Ichigo learned one thing about pregnancy, it's that it definitely changed a woman.

His father warned him one day when he went to pick up vitamin supplements for Orihime at his old house, and Ichigo rolled his eyes at his father's rather obvious observation. Of course there were gonna be changes. He noticed small bits here and there about Orihime's behaviour and appearance, especially now he dug himself out of that mental hole that occupied his mind weeks earlier.

Orihime, while always in good spirits, had ceased her usual routine of morning sickness and now began acting, well, more like herself. She exclaimed she was much more energetic, and from the doctor checkups with his dad, her health and the baby's had remained the same.

In terms of appearance, you had to take a second glance to see the change. Her front was expanding, now a small bulge doting her low stomach, to which he noticed how often she caressed and stared at it on early mornings. She did it when she thought he was still asleep, and she would also get a tape measure to see how much she grew. It was endearing yet amusing to watch her do that, and seeing her under the pale morning light while his form was hidden under the bed covers… his heart felt lighter, feeling blissful for the moments of simplicity. Even how she looked at him, now with that barrier between diminishing away, she was much more open to talk about the baby, and continuously and animatedly blabbed how she swore Chibi-chan recognized their voices already.

He noticed her appetite, a very large one he might add, had increased "triple in size", as Kon put it nicely. She would continuously snack throughout the day, and when she came home, there was at least something she was munching on, whether be pretzels, cookies, chips, anything really. But oh kami her taste in food had gotten worse. If people thought her food choices were strange before, surely they would barf at the sight at what she ate now. It got to a point where Ichigo couldn't even look at the food she ate at dinner. It made his stomach queasy and rippling in anxiety.

But oh, the pregnancy has definitely brought out a side in her he didn't know she had. In fact multiple.

Orihime was a naturally sensitive person to events and situations – even physically he felt she could bruise like a peach – yet this pregnancy has heightened that level to new unexplored territory. He vaguely remembered the parenting book telling him woman's breast get…larger, and more sensitive, and damn it was true. When they were sleeping, she yelped when his forearm grazed her breasts, pouting and whimpering her discomfort. And like he said, her breasts were larger (and it was difficult not to notice), and Kon gladly absorbed that change happily. Tch. perverted bastard.

Emotionally though was a whole other story.

"Ichigo!" Kon sprinted into the bathroom, jumping on the male who was currently showering.

"Kon! What the hell?!" He ripped the toy off his face, his forehead seething in anger. "You better have a damn good reason –"

"I do!" he wailed. "My goddess is crying~! And she won't tell me why!"

That snapped Ichigo out of his musings. He quickly dropped the toy as he stumbled out with a hastily wrapped towel at his waist. He staggered to the living room, seeing his wife making that weeping face she did whenever something happened.

"Orihime!" his hair was soaking wet, water dripping from his form and staining the floor. "What's wrong Hime?"

She whimpered, eyeing her husband with large wobbling eyes. "Ichigo-kun~"

"Yes? What's wrong?"

She threw herself on him, pointing hysterically at the television, and he followed her hand. "It's…it's – !"

"A commercial." He said, confused at the situation. "Uh, what's wrong with it?"

She shock her head venomously. "The puppies Ichigo! Those poor, poor puppies!"

It clicked. His worry washed away with a mild eye roll, good humour in his voice. "Hime – "

"W-We gotta help them Ichi! We have to a-adopt them!"

"Hime," he patted her back, feeling tears soak into his dress shirt. "We can't do that."

She continued to weep miserably. "Why not?"

"What space do we have here? Besides, we kinda have a pet already."

It was silent for several seconds.

"B-BUT KON DOESN'T COUNT!"

"Hime – "

"We have to donate." She pulled back, and it baffled him how moments ago her soaking helpless face was replaced with slightly hardened eyes. "You can't say no."

It took a moment for him to reply. "I-I wasn't. But how much?"

"A gazillion."

"That's not even a number."

Her face shattered the façade, and she pouted, verging on tears again. "Are you saying I'm stupid?"

"What? N-No! Not at all Hime!"

Her teeth were chattering. "You do! I can tell when you lie! You're lying!" she cried once more, pushing herself away from him. Even mucus appeared on her pitiable face, dripping from her nose. "I don't believe you!"

How the hell did this happen? He too snapped up, trying to usher her to relax, but it definitely didn't help. He swore he could hear his father laughing at his situation in the distance, and his usually hardened son feeling lost and flustered.

"Orihime! Please listen to me!"

"I can't believe it!" she began running off to the bedroom. "I'm married to a man who thinks I'm stupid!" she slammed the door.

"A-And a puppyhater!"

Ichigo simply stared dumbly at the scene that unfolded in front of him, the sweatdrop evidently appearing on his forehead. His eyebrow twitched in distress, remaining still as his gaze fixated where she ran.

Kon immediately started laughing, throwing his body around in hysterics, chanting how this was payback for all the times Ichigo was cruel. As much as he wanted to hit Kon, (and nothing ever stopped him before) a small part of him was right. Maybe this was what he deserved for being an ass to his wife.

"Uh, Hime." He called, realizing his dripping state. "Could I at least have my clothes?"

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Perhaps it was a few days later she switched her mood again.

Waking up, he noticed a strong delicious smell emitting from outside their room. He figured Orihime was already up, cooking away something, and as he slugged to the door to open it, it was like he was slapped in the face.

The hallway was covered in flowers. He didn't know where the hell they all came from, but there were even some on the ground. He walked cautiously to the kitchen, and sure enough, saw his wife singing loudly with a joyful smile.

"Ichigo-kun~! My love! My darling husband~" she spun around, pressing a kiss on his cheek before placing a flower stem at his ear. "Good morning~"

"Uh," he dumbly blinked. "Morning."

"Ichi love, I had the most wonderful dream!"

"You did?"

She giggled, continuing to dance mindlessly as the pot boiled.

"We had seven children."

He chocked. "Seven?"

"They were named after colours of the rainbow!"

"We are not doing tha –"

"Oh! And we had a floating castle, with talking cats as our waiters."

"I don't even like cats – "

"Ichi!" she clung onto his arm. "You have to make it happen! Oh please, Chibi-chan will love it so! And I will too." She gasped in relaxation. "W-We could get a mecha car to fly to our house!"

"What?"

Her face contorted into a furious pout. "Promise me!"

"Okay, Okay!" he quickly replied, his hands slightly defensive. "I will try to get it."

Orihime stared at his quaintly, then without warning threw herself onto him, making him fall over.

"I knew you would do it for me Ichi love!" she kissed his cheeks. "I love you, I love you, I love you!"

"O-Orihime! The food!"

"Hehe, catch me again!"

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On a Thursday afternoon, when he surprisingly had the day off, Ichigo decided to get dinner, picking up food from their favourite take-out spot in downtown Katakura. Having no car, he took a bus and made it within thirty minutes, the stop landing a few feet away from the shop.

The bell dinned when he pushed open the door, and thankfully, the spot wasn't busy today. It was small, not even having a large enough space to eat, and it was partially run down, but neverless, the food here was phenomenal, in terms of taste and price. There was only one person at the counter, and immediately Ichigo recognized him.

"Ishida?"

The Quincy partially turned, no sense of surprise etching in his voice. "Kurosaki." He greeted.

The Substitute Shinigami walked beside him, standing with his arms crossed as he stared at the menu above.

"You order here too?"

He lifted his glasses higher to the ridge of his nose. "It's not exactly exclusive."

"No, just, didn't expect you here." He continued, shrugging. "I thought you were more into other food."

A brief pause. "Unlike you," he retorted, "I like to enjoy a variety."

Ichigo scoffed.

While the two men continued to look at the menu, Uyru turned to his rival.

"How's Inoue?"

He narrowed his eyes. He figured it was habit of Uyru to call Orihime by her surname, (they had known her for more than six years), but now the married man didn't know if it was actually out of habit he said or something to irritate him.

He dismissed the thought. "…She's fine. Getting better." The orange-haired man returned a gaze to the Quincy. "She doesn't have anymore morning sickness, but she has uh, other stuff to deal with."

Uyru arched a brow. "Such as…?"

The cashier called the men again, this time Ichigo striding up and ordering. Uyru watched the two calmly, and seconds later, his comrade returned, exhausting a sigh with a minor shrug.

"Hormones." He finally said.

A very light smirk contorted on the Quincy's mouth. "Having trouble Soul Reaper?"

He felt that burn. Usually a colourful response was in his nature, but not today. Because he knew he was right.

"…Yeah." He admitted slowly, and for once he was confiding in someone other than his dad about Orihime's pregnancy. "Well, it's not trouble or anything, but she just has mood swings. Extreme ones. Comes randomly."

"Well, Inoue has always been an empathetic person. It's enviable she would be more sensitive to that around her, and the pregnancy would only heighten that."

"…And your point?"

"Well," he cleared his throat. "There's not much you can do. You only support her, dote to her needs, and try not to die."

A light chuckle. "Guess that's true."

"And what about her health? With the Obstetrician?"

"The appointment went well. The one you recommended she said was real nice."

Uyru nodded. "Nagahama-san excels at what she does. In her field for over ten years. Also a mother herself. I see her children sometimes at the hospital."

"You must work a lot if you see her kids." He stated.

"Of course. I'm apprenticing there. I'm there as often as a full time doctor."

"Speaking of which…are you done med school yet?"

"Three more years Kurosaki." He frowned. "Were you paying attention?"

He grunted, more of amusement than anything. "Sorry."

"Hm. I don't blame you." He turned ahead, smirking. "You're forgetful. Makes sense you don't get your reports done."

Twitch. "Picking up a fight?"

"Nonsense. I don't pick fights with hooligans."

He rolled his eyes.

"But other than that…are you two well?"

Ichigo raised a brow, slightly curious at Uyru's sudden inquiry. "Uh, yeah. We had…a small drawback, but we're good now."

"…Was it about the baby?"

It was quiet for a bit, with Ichigo barely moving and his eyes hard on the menu.

"Yeah." He muttered, for once relieved about Uyru's introspective nature. "It actually was."

Uyru didn't reply immediately. He was partially surprised by Ichigo's reveal, as it would usually take more convincing to get the Shinigami to start talking personal matters. Neverless, he didn't let his shock etch his facial expression, remaining composed as usual.

"Ichigo," he stated, using his given name to bring attention. "You and Orihime have been together for almost five years, and known each other since middle school. You both went through a lot, and for the two of you to last so long despite the war… I believe you are able to overcome any obstacle that is thrown. Yes, the baby is a large step to your relationship, but I'm confident in you both."

"Relationships are difficult, they're no walk in the park. It's stressful, anxious, confusing, distressful, frustrating. Yet at the same time, they can be peaceful, loving, comforting, exciting. Relationships…" he paused. "They're one interesting dilemma."

Ichigo watched his friend cautiously, noticing a different gaze in the Quincy's eyes.

"Does this have to do with Haida?" he queried.

Surprisingly, Uyru laughed. It was short, but Ichigo felt he heard several emotions through those seconds of sound. But definitely the strongest was bitterness. Straight up bitterness.

"It involves a lot of things Kurosaki." He quietly answered.

They've known Kyōko since high school, and how those two met was through the friendship of Orihime. From what he recalled, they did hang out ever so often, but more so in a group setting than anything. It wasn't until they entered collage that Orihime suspected something was up with those two. Apparently Uyru would be flustered(that itself was weird) around Kyōko, and she teased him endlessly, placing him in situations that made Orihime squeal happily. Honestly, Ichigo didn't believe any of it, and breezed it off as mere coincidences. Kyōko told him once that Uyru was 'amusing', but he didn't think it would lead somewhere. Hence, the substitute Shinigami was damn shocked when he heard the two began to date, (heck, he didn't realize Orihime's feelings for the longest time). It was then the two couples hanged out a lot, doing that "double dating" thing for awhile. Ishida and Haida were probably dating for two years when Ichigo propped the question to Orihime, and in a year, married her. It was then he recalled after the wedding those two suddenly broke off, and it surprised everyone. Even to this day he had a vague idea what the heck happened to those two.

"Are you better now?" Ichigo asked, unsure where to take this conversation. (Then again, he was the one who mentioned Haida's name). "Like, have you talked to her at all?"

"We have. Twice." He fixed his glasses.

"And what was it?"

"Move aside, which was at Sado's party."

"Okay…"

" An Your keys, when she visited me at campus."

Ichigo cringed. He knew Haida could be cold, but even then this was harsh from her. And Uyru's demeanor suddenly changing to a stiffening rock made this situation even worse.

"Are you…" he rubbed his head, knowing he wasn't the greatest with articulating his thoughts, but still, he continued on, "You still pissed at her?"

"She was more angry than me honestly." He evenly replied. "But I don't think we're 'pissed' at each other anymore." Uyru bellowed out a defeated sigh, mirroring a tired old man who was at the end of his life. "Kurosaki, things just don't work out. We're both too career focused to care about anything else. She has her path, I have mine. Knowing her, she has moved on well to focus solely on her teaching career."

"Applying that to yourself Ishida?"

A dry chuckle. "Who knows."

"Number thirty-two!" a brash voice boomed from the counter. "Your order! Number thirty-two!"

Ichigo glanced at his paper, seeing he was thirty-three. By the time his eyes looked back up, Uyru was already collecting his order, turning his heel towards the door.

"Yo. Ishida." The man stopped, partially slanting his stance to get a glimmer of an eye at Ichigo.

Ichigo shoved his hands into his pockets. "Thanks for the advice."

He turned his gaze ahead once more. "You're welcome Kurosaki."

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When Ichigo got home, he was already bracing himself with another mood swing. Locking the door, he eyed their apartment, but it quiet, save the television on playing the news. Even Kon was absent. Tch. Perhaps he went out.

He knew she was there (he sensed her reastu) so he took off his shoes, waltzing down the hall to the bedroom and clicking open the door.

And there, sprawled lavishly on their bed, was his new wife, wearing nothing but her birthday suit.

"O-Orihime?!" he sputtered out, dropping the food that was in his hands. He stumbled backwards, feeling blood rushing south at the sight upon his eyes.

"Okaerinasai." she crawled on all fours, edging closer to the edge, angling her chest so he had a perfect view. "Ichigo-kun."

He swallowed thickly, sweat rolling down his forehead. "W-What are you doing?" he had to force himself not to look, attempting to pick up their dinner that was on the wooden floor.

"Waiting for you." She said simply, her body curved, accentuating her most prominent features. "Come to bed Ichi."

No, he could get pass this. He had to remain strong. "Hime, it's your uh, hormones again. And besides, I brought food. That tai place you like."

"No! I don't want food. And it's not hormones." She sat on her knees, hair messy and covering her left breast.

She pouted. "I want sex Ichigo."

Again, he dropped the bag.

"Orihime…" damn, this was hard to resist. Okay, he knew they were married. It's completely fine if they did it. (Nothing stopped them before). But still…

He placed his hands on her shoulders, staring at her face that looked incredibly beautiful, and her eyes, swirling full of desire and flushing cheeks.

He never thought he saw something so erotic before.

"We gotta eat first." He crocked weakly. "You have an opening shift tomorrow, and I still have paperwork to get done."

"Kurosaki-kun…"

Oh kami not that name. That drove him insane. This room was flaming red right now, and he was pretty sure he was erect.

Orihime looked up at him behind her thick lashes, and with her delicate hand, swept the ivory fingers down to her core, cupping it gently.

"Don't you want this Ichi?"

Oh damn he did. "N-No."

"Mou, why so shy Ichi?" she began stroking it, never leaving her gaze from his. "Come and claim me Kurosaki-kun."

He was on her the next second, kissing her frantically and she was just as passionate.

The food was forgotten for the rest of the evening.

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Ichigo was abysmal in sleep when he heard rattling from the kitchen.

He snapped open one eye, the king size bed empty from his companion. He sat up, fingers his hair in realization that Orihime was late night snacking again. He stumbled up, quickly snatching his boxers as he walked to the kitchen in complete darkness. When he got there, the only light emitting from their apartment was the fridge lamp, outlining his wife who fumbled with the snacks.

"What's wrong now?"

She continued searching, wearing his shirt and an underwear. "Ano, I'm looking for something sweet."

He glanced at the clock, groaning. "At two in the morning?"

"Yes."

"Hime, we have snacks. I bought a lot for you."

"I know you did Ichigo-kun." She sighed, closing the fridge. "But I really want *Apollo. I can't find the packets though."

He flicked on the light, this time checking the cupboard. "It's right here."

"Oh, I know that." She stood up, fixing the oversized shirt she borrowed from Ichigo. "I want the blueberry flavor."

"That one?"

"Hehe, hai." She bashfully revealed, itching her head. "B-But it's okay Ichigo-kun! I can wait till morning!"

He frowned at her. "So you'll go back to bed?"

"Uh, ano-"

"Cause I know you. You'll stay up, and when I'm not looking, you'll go out and buy some. It's too late for you to go alone."

"H-How do you know I would sneak out?!"

He smirked, inching his head towards hers. "You're holding your wallet."

She blinked, eyes owlishly seeing the pink item in her hands, grasping it tightly.

"Oh."

"Look," he grabbed his hoodie by the door, throwing it on, not even bothering to find a shirt. "I'll go get it. Stay here and wait."

"But Ichigo-!"

"Nope. Not changing my mind." He slipped on his shoes, already opening the door. He snatched his wallet and out of habit grabbed his Substitute Shinigami badge, shoving them both in his sweater pocket. "I'll be back soon."

"Ichigo-kun!"

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The street lights dimmed lazily under the night sky, and Ichigo was the only person who was strolling at this late hour. He got to the nearest convenient store and to his annoyance had none of his wife's desired flavor. He then went further down the block and once again, another hindrance appeared – the damn place was closed.

Sighing gruffly, he idly wondered what store in their area would be open now, and possibly having a large selection of treats. It was odd because Apollo wasn't an uncommon treat, but the flavor she wanted was something of a rarity.

He walked two blocks down and found another store, and entering it, he prayed this location had it. He quickly strode to the snack aisle, and under his narrowed eyes saw the quantity of Apollo. And – fucking finally – saw the blueberry flavor. Not a moment of hesitation he literally grabbed the remaining stock and went right up to purchase it. The cashier had a curious look, arching a brow at him, but honestly Ichigo didn't give a shit. So what if he looked like a sweat tooth? If it would Orihime happy then damn him trying to please her. And besides, he knew her appetite. One would not last a few minutes! Still to this day he wondered where the hell all that food goes.

Once he was cashed out, Ichigo wasted no time by returning home as soon as possible. He was really damn tired (having sex twice wore him out), and he was not looking forward to waking up a few hours from now, dealing with his boss and her antics.

But when he turned the corner, he saw a flipping Hollow standing at the curb.

He frowned. Really? Now there had to be one? He was in the motion of grabbing his badge when the Hollow snapped its head to him, and barely a moment passed it charged.

Ichigo moved on instinct. He sprinted to his left, throwing the badge onto his chest before turning into his Shinigami appearance. With barely any effort he swung zanpakuto onto the Hollow's chest, getting a direct hit. The Hollow screamed, staggering backwards, and Ichigo then suddenly realized his fucking body was where the Hollow was falling back to. With no time to waste he sprinted across, grabbing his physical form before leaping upwards, attempting to find a suitable place for it. The Hollow tried to follow, jumping upwards as well, but Ichigo simply kicked it down with his foot, making it still when it reached the ground. After hastily throwing his body over a wall, Ichigo strike down with a final stab, right at the Hollow's center point. Finally, the Hollow vanished away, leaving only speckled dust and raspy screams of agony of being purified.

Ichigo sighed, gliding down and returning back into his body. Once he did, he only grimaced further, because kami, his back ached. Because of his lacking consideration for his body, he was now covered in cuts, leaves in his hair, and tattered clothes. Well, at least he didn't have anything important on –

Uh, wait a minute. He blinked. Where'd the bag go?

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Orihime was sitting on the couch watching a show when she suddenly heard the keys rattling at the door. She eyed the door, expecting to her husband, but as soon her grey irises laid on him, she jumped up in fumbling shock.

"Ichigo-kun!" she was exasperated, running towards him. "W-What happened?!"

Huffing out desperate breaths, he said nothing but simply lifting a crumpled bag.

"Got… your snack."

"But look at you!" her eyes were dizzy, taking in his appearance. "Why are your clothes ripped? Were you attacked?"

"Not…really." he laced his hands through his now messy hair, and glancing at his palms, he realized they were dirty as hell. Still, he gave the bag to her. "They looked better when I bought them. But uh, I checked. There's one box that's not crushed."

Orihime, while wanting to be partially angry that Ichigo went through all this trouble to get her snack due to her hormonal cravings, simply shock her head and cupped his jaw affectionately, laughing in front of a confused face of a husband.

He blinked dumbly. "What?"

"Oh Ichi," she smiled, kissing his lips. "You're too much." She gestured her head to the couch, the cushion surface still being illumed by the television. "Wanna watch a movie? And we could eat tai now, since we're not distracted."

As they settled onto the couch, food on their laps, (and Ichigo changed and healed) Orihime peered upward to her husband.

"But seriously, Ichi, what happened to you?"

"Uh, a lot of things. Let's just say Hollows and Candy don't mix."

"Eh?"

He kissed her forehead. "Love you."

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A/N: I have the next chapters outlined, but like I said, I REALLY want to finish my other Bleach story first. (Because uh, I have sequels to write bwhaha)

*Apollo: tiny, cone-shaped, chocolate and strawberry candies popular in Japan. Though strawberry is the most common flavor, Apollo is also available in blueberry and white chocolate.

So my thoughts about the last chapter….to be honest I knew it wasn't going to be good. The series was falling apart, and while it did pick itself up when entering the final arc, as it kept going there were so many inconsistencies about the plot, I was expecting a decent ending at best. But wow, just reading it, wow…it was worse than I expected. Literally all loops are still open (like where the hell is Isshin? Yoruichi? Urahara? Grimmjow? Nel? Yachiru? Ugh! What the fuck happened to Hueco Mundo since the Quincy takeover? What about the Quincys themselves? Is there anyone left? What about Ywach's goal to merge all the worlds? Like wtf? What would you get out of it? WHAT WOULD EVEN HAPPEN?

And…what happened to squad zero? WHAT ABOUT THE SOUL KING?! WHO IS IT DAMMIT!?

Okay, I guess the few GOOD things (loosely using this word) was Aizen reflecting the entire ordeal, but it still bothers me how he didn't bounce the fuck out after that fight. It would make sense if he like disappeared, became a hermit or something. But nope. Still trapped for eternity.

Ichigo ending up with Orihime was expected, but still, even that felt so random and rushed. And they literally act the same as before. Like, no affection? Show me something to indicate your relationship grew from the last 10 years. And I guess Rukia with Renji is cool, (I find them cute) but I'm confused on their kid. How do births even WORK in Soul Society? (is it even possible? Aren't they dead though? What about the process of reincarnation?). And it was kinda weird how Yuzu seems to have a brother complex. Like what? Where did this come from? And where's Kon? I swore I saw him like, once.

And then there are the kids…okay, I'm biased, I really wanted them to have a daughter (cause duh, I wrote a story about it), but neverless, their kid is cute. But I'm confused how THE FUCK he is able to disburse Ywach's reishi with his fucking hand. HOW OP IS THIS KID? And uh, how did he change into a Shinigami without a badge? Ughhhh…

I just remembered this too, we never got full answers about Orihime's powers. What are they? And what about that idea of Ichigo never returning to Soul Society due to his power? Where did that plot point go? Nowhere. Fucking nowhere.

Sorry, I needed to rant about the last chapter. I was just, ugh, so disappointed. I truly did enjoy this series in the beginning, and even till the end, I had this glimmer of hope SOMETHING will end well. Well fuck it. EVEN THOUGH I HATED THE END, I still like Bleach. Hence I will write my own damn continuation to satisfy my crazed mind.

UPDATES A/N ON AUG 22: Future reference, I will add the Kazui and Ichika in my universe. However I will have my own spin to their characters (wont exactly follow the canon) but hey, they would end up as the children. They won't come in for a long time though.

Thank you to all those who continuously read, comment and follow my work! (critique/suggestions are welcomed!) ^_^

P.S REVIEW!

Till next time,

IBG