Author Note: Hello, everyone! We're back! Welcome to the seventh installment of Where Angels Fear to Tread. We hope you enjoy it!
Normal = prose, italics = thoughts or inner conversations.
Warning: Though the main pairing is HitsuKarin, there will be mentions of IchiHime, RenRuki, JintaYuzu, and a whole bunch of other couples. In addition, there will be violence and death and lots and lots of blood. If you don't like, don't read. Thank you.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. They belong to Tite Kubo. However, if there was an alternate universe where I do own Bleach, I will promptly give my left arm to switch with my other self. :)
Chapter Seven: Farewell of the Black Bride
+++Karin+++
The minute the gates closed shut behind us, Ichigo unceremoniously picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder.
"Hey!" I shouted.
"Shut up, sis," he muttered. "We've got to get you to Orihime so she can look you over."
"Put me down!" I said, thumping his shoulder for good measure before sliding off of him and placing my hands square on my hips. "I told you, I'm completely fine!"
The group abruptly burst into loud, raucous laughter, a sudden release of the tension that I'd sensed hanging over them since the impromptu battle had ended. Even Ulquiorra had a faint smirk on his face as he raised a brow at me.
"Oh, no doubt, my lady. Of course you're fine—as fine as you were after the battle at Takahiro, and the one at Itaku, and the siege at Sordun, and even the skirmish a few weeks ago at Aravel," he said dryly, deliberately naming instances when I'd been seriously injured or extremely fatigued. Of all the people in the group, he had the most experience with my tendency to, ahem, understate any damage I'd taken, but the others weren't far behind.
Tatsuki rolled her eyes at me in agreement. "Come on, Karin, we know you better than that! You Kurosakis are all the same—the louder you say you're fine, the more injured you really are." She aimed a pointed look at Ichigo, who scowled in reply.
"What the hell's with that look, Tatsuki?" he said.
"I think she's remembering all the times we've had to sedate you to get you shut up and stay still long enough for Orihime to save your bleeding ass," Renji said, grinning widely.
Chad nodded solemnly, Uncle Kisuke lifted a fan to hide his knowing smile, and Izumi continued laughing loudly.
Despite myself, I found myself exchanging wry smiles with Ichigo. They knew us far too well.
"Okay, so maybe we can be a bit…unreasonable about injuries," Ichigo conceded.
"Understatement of the century!" Izumi said, before waving at someone behind me. "Yo, Ishida!"
Glancing over my shoulder, Uryuu was indeed jogging up to us. "Greetings, Ichigo, everyone," he said, nodding. He turned steel-blue eyes on me. "Karin, I'm glad you've been returned safely. My father remains on the battlements with the other Quincy, keeping an eye on the Seireiteians, but he's instructed me to—"
"—make sure she heads to the hospital?" Uncle Kisuke said. "Tell the worrywart that everything's under control. I'm here, after all." He waved his fan in a magnanimous manner. "He can go shoot some more Seireiteians and nearly start a war. Meanwhile, I'll try to ensure that the whole treaty doesn't fall apart."
Uryuu rolled his eyes as he walked over and draped his cloak around my shoulders. "The man was fine. The shots were meant to be nonlethal for a vampire or a familiar. Now, let's get you home, Karin, before Uncle Isshin really panics. I like the castle having a roof."
"Hmmm," Orihime said, her glowing hands hovering in front of my chest. "Looks like everything's fine. Nothing that a bit of rest won't cure. Lady Rukia knew what she was doing." The glow faded from her hands and she said in a louder voice, "She's fine! You can all stop worrying now!"
The curtain in our little corner of the hall set aside for the healers was pulled aside, and it seemed that everyone from my blubbering father and tearful sister to the equally weepy Pesche and Dondechakka piled in.
"Those Seireiteian bastards! Did they hurt you, Karin?" Jinta said.
"We oughta send them packing!" Ryohei said.
"Except the busty one! We should hold her hostage!" Keigo said.
"Keigo!" Nel replied, with a startled chuckle.
"What?" he replied. "I like blondes."
Everyone else groaned.
"Who cares? You're alive!" Yuzu said, throwing her arms around me.
I rolled my eyes. "Of course I am. You'd have felt it if I died."
"Still! You had us so worried! I thought you just went for a walk, but when you didn't come back, I thought something awful had happened to you! That maybe you'd tried to assassinate the Seireiteians or something."
I scowled. "Yuzu, I'm not stupid."
She gave me a disbelieving look that I greatly resented. "You went for a walk without telling anyone, got attacked by Hollows miles away from the castle, and managed to implicate your own fiancé in your kidnapping. How was any of the above not stupid?"
"Because none of it would have mattered if Uncle Ryuuken wasn't a paranoid bastard."
"Forgetting Uncle Ryuuken's paranoia—again, how is that not stupid?"
I crossed my arms and huffed. Everyone else started laughing.
Looking around at my friends and family, all of them happy and relieved at my safe return, I couldn't help but feel mournful: I was going to miss this, all of this, so, so much.
"Hey, you okay, Karin?" Ichigo asked worriedly, peering at my face.
I smiled at him, masking my sudden pang of sadness. "I'm just fine, Ichigo."
"Alright," Orihime said, shooing everyone out. "You've seen her, she's fine, and it's time to let her get some rest. It's going to be a big day for her tomorrow, and the day after that, too." The look in her eyes was full of mingled understanding and sorrow, but she smiled anyway to try and cover it up. "Father, why don't you and Ichigo and Yuzu help Karin to her rooms? I'll have the servants bring up a late breakfast, and we can eat there while Karin rests."
"Fantastic idea, my beautiful daughter-in-law!" my father exclaimed loudly, also doing his best to act as normally as possible. He walked over and scooped me up.
I thumped my fists half-heartedly against his chest. "Put me down, Dad. I'm not an invalid; I can walk."
"Nonsense! As your father, it is my solemn duty to carry you around as your noble steed! Ichigo can carry Yuzu, and we can race!"
My siblings and I exchanged amused looks. "We haven't done that since we were children, Daddy," Yuzu said.
"All the more reason to!" His arms tightened around me, holding me close.
"Alright," I said, putting my head trustingly against him, breathing his familiar scent in. "You win. Just no racing." I placed a hand around his neck, burying my face in the curve of his shoulder—Yuzu was right. It had been years since he'd carried me. I didn't realize how much I'd missed it, and all the other comforting assurances of my childhood, until just now, when I was about to leave them behind forever.
My father carried me up to my rooms, Yuzu and Ichigo following behind, and his heartbeat underneath my ear lulled me softly into sleep.
"Karin? Karin, wake up."
"Hmm?" I said, blinking sleepily awake. Yesterday I had done nothing but rest as my family kept me company, even taking all their meals in my room, and my muscles felt tight with disuse. I stretched, feeling my joints pop and my bones creak. "Whazzit?"
"It's morning. The day before…well, you know," Yuzu said, sitting down on my bed and taking my hand gently. Behind her, Orihime was going through my closet and pulling out a plain white dress, even as Nel walked in with a tray of food. "You've got a lot to do."
I sat bolt upright, suddenly realizing what she was talking about.
It was the morning of the day before my wedding, and in Karakura, that meant one thing: it was time to say my farewells.
"Oh," I said. "Yeah, I remember. Is everyone—are they—" I blew out a breath, trying to get my thoughts in order. "Who am I supposed to see first?"
There was an order to these things. A normal bride or groom would simply visit all their extended family, and maybe a few close neighbors and friends, if they were moving to a distant town. Even if they were just moving to a house down the street from their childhood home (Yuzu was literally going to move from one wing of the castle into another once she married Jinta), they'd still make the visit to say "farewell," since they would no longer be so-and-so, daughter or son of blah-and-blah—now they would be someone's wife or husband. They would be saying goodbye to their old life and identity, laying any previous troubles or doubts to rest, and receiving tons of presents and gifts (usually set aside for them as part of their dowry or groom-price), before starting their new life.
As a princess leaving for Seireitei, this similarly meant a visit to all my beloved family and friends—I'd just be visiting them in their capacities as leaders of their factions within our government, too. So that meant doing it hierarchically, which could be confusing in Karakura, since you had people like Orihime's grandfather, who absolutely refused to acknowledge the fact that he was an earl, and people like Ulquiorra, who technically outranked most nobles while also having no rightful power in Karakura, as he was from Hueco Mundo.
Just thinking about it was giving me a headache (though apparently Seireitei's hierarchy was three times as complicated, and people would actually care if I made mistakes, so there was that to look forward to—not).
I sighed. I'd never paid attention in etiquette class to the fine nuances of wedding traditions; I always thought I'd have time for it later, when the war was over and I could actually court someone properly. Or, you know, be courted. Either way worked. Not that I knew much about courting, either, come to think of it.
That was one point in Prince Hitsu—in Toushirou's favor. No messing around with flowers or awful poems, like Jinta had done, or awkward confessions and terrible dates with my father and Yuzu stalking the couple, like with Ichigo. Just a wedding, nice and simple—what I'd always wanted when I was younger. I smiled faintly at the thought, pulling my knees up and hugging them. Nel placed the plate before me and smiled back, and the subtle tension in my room lessened slightly as she and Yuzu and Orihime realized I wasn't going to throw a raging fit.
"You'll be starting at the lowest ranks and working your way up," Orihime said, laying the dress at the foot of my bed and handing a comb to Nel, who began brushing my hair. "So that means formally receiving the representatives from all the villages and estates, and the different heads of the guilds here in Karasu."
I smacked Nel's hand away from my hair. "Hey, I can do that myself!"
"Karin," Yuzu said, frowning. "It's a tradition for the bride to be prepared by the women in her family both today and tomorrow."
"Really?"
She and Nel rolled their eyes as Orihime giggled quietly. "Yes, really. Goddess, if I knew letting you be the dastardly villain trying to kidnap the bride in our childhood games meant you'd be this clueless before your own wedding, I'd have put my foot down and insisted you marry Uryuu like I wanted you to," she grumbled, opening the jewelry box Orihime handed her and perusing the selection of bracelets and rings.
"Why not Chad?" I said.
"Because I was marrying Chad, remember?"
"Didn't you marry Renji most of the time?"
"No, Renji was my secret lover whom I had to put aside for the sake of preserving the kingdom," she said matter-of-factly.
"Goddess, your fake-weddings were always so complicated. Thank the Night that I don't have to worry about this."
She paused while placing a ring on my right hand. "Do you really mean that?"
I took a deep breath. "I really mean it. The prince…he's not so bad."
Yuzu smiled tremulously at me, her eyes tearing up. "Good. I'm glad." She dropped my hand and hugged me fiercely, getting herself under control before letting me go and grinning widely to mask her lingering sadness. "See! I told you it wouldn't be so terrible! And he even saved your life already, just like a real hero."
I scowled as Nel chuckled, the vibrations of it tugging at my scalp. "Excuse me, but I saved his life, too."
"And promptly fainted like one of those helpless maidens you're so fond of disparaging," Nel pointed out.
I scowled more. "I closed a Garganta! Give me a break!"
"Sorry, Karin, we already gave you one yesterday," Orihime said, winking at me.
"Mmhm! Now, tell me more about Toushirou! Izumi said he was utterly gorgeous, if you like exotic looks, and even Tatsuki said he had a nice butt." Yuzu grinned.
My mouth fell open. "Yuzu!"
"What? I tell you about Jinta's—"
"Stop! Stop! I don't need to hear it again. Prince Hitsu—Toushirou—he—he's a good fighter," I finished lamely.
"Oooh, a good fighter! That's like Ichigo-speak for really smoking hot. And you're already calling him by his first name only. Good, that's good. I'm happy to see the gossip vine is accurate and thriving," Yuzu said playfully.
I moaned and buried my head in my hands, refusing to come out as Nel and Yuzu and Orihime continued talking and teasing me mercilessly, all the while getting me ready for the day.
As soon as Nel and Yuzu were finished, Orihime gestured me to stand, which I did, then placed the dress over my head, turning me around and doing up the buttons. When that was done, she knelt down and slipped plain, sturdy white slippers on my feet. She stood and took the circlet of silver that Yuzu handed to her, looking me solemnly in the eye.
"Hail the Lady Karin, daughter of King Isshin and Queen Masaki, sister to Crown Prince Ichigo, Crown Princess Orihime, and the Lady Yuzu. Hail the Lady Karin, Second Heir and First Mage of Karakura, leader of the Third Council. Hail the Lady Karin, defender of the helpless, protector of the weak, beloved of all her people," she said, placing the circlet on my head. She named me thrice in the old way, stating all the things that I was, all the things I would both take with me and leave behind, my old identity to become part of the new, forever changed.
She put her hands gently on my shoulders and drew me into a hug.
"Farewell," I whispered into her ear, my first goodbye of the day, but not the last.
"Wow, kid, I can't believe you're really getting married. And before me, too!" Mizuho said, thumping my shoulder good-naturedly.
The first farewells had progressed quickly, a formal broad acknowledgement of the various representatives in the grand hall of the castle apparently sufficing for the majority of our towns and cities and guilds. I also genuinely thanked them for the huge caravan of gifts they'd brought with them, touched that my people would give me so much when we were all suffering so harshly. (Uncle Ryuuken had smacked the back of my head and told me not to be a stupid girl. Aunt Yoruichi had tickled my sides and basically said the same thing. Uncle Kisuke had merely chuckled behind his fan.)
Then I said farewell to the members of the Palace Guard (excepting Tatsuki—she'd come later) and the castle servants, all of whom had watched me grow up and helped raise me. The head cook had given me a copy of her recipe book, identical to the one she'd given her own daughter, she told me tearfully. The gardener had given me seeds from my daisies to grow in my new gardens in Seireitei, silently pressing them into my hands. The guards had all given me various weapons or pouches of coins, plus bawdy, ahem, "advice" for how to keep my husband, cough, well…"happy."
I blushed just thinking about it.
Now I was bidding farewell to the minor nobility, the weaker vampire clans and human nobility made up of the descendants of familiars and Vaizards—though how "minor" the Asanos and the Kojimas were was debatable, since both houses were ridiculously, obscenely wealthy. I knew for a fact that the only reason Mizuho hadn't married yet was because she was waiting for a match that would bring her the most advantageous business assets and trade concessions—though there was also proper "flavor" to consider, since she was an Asano.
"Here! This is our gift to you," Mizuho said, placing a surprisingly heavy chest in my arms. I grunted from the effort of holding it. "Whoops! Sorry. Forgot that monster physical strength isn't one of your primary Gifts," she said cheerfully, stating the truth; my strength was enhanced, but nothing on the level of Jinta or Ichigo. Since Mizuho also possessed the similarly freakish strength common to descendents of familiars, I felt this could be forgiven.
"No problem," I said. "What is it?"
"What is it? What is it, she asks! Only the most prized of all our selection, bottles of extreme essence that the very best connoisseurs would literally kill for!" Keigo said dramatically.
"Lord Asano means to say that they are gifting you with the best blood they have," Mizuiro said matter-of-factly.
"What?" I said. "Really? Wow, thanks, Mizuho!"
"Mizuho! What about me? There are several bottles of vintage Keigo in there, even some from before I hit puberty!" Keigo said indignantly.
"Whoa!" I said. "Mizuho, are you sure? Those things cost a fortune!" I would know; as some of Ichigo's closest friends and members of his Guard, I'd grown up with Keigo and Mizuiro as secondary big brothers, just like Chad, Uryuu, and Renji were, and was well aware of the lucrative aspects of his family's business. Both Keigo and Mizuho admittedly smelled delicious, the result of selective breeding for the best "flavor." After Karakura liberated the familiars, they'd made a killing selling their own blood as a commodity, and branched out to tracking down and hiring the tastiest of humans, witches, werewolves, etc., to sell as special vintages, as well as running the blood donation sites and making sure everyone was healthy and well-compensated for their trouble. In Seireitei, they'd probably never be allowed to have titles; in Karakura, even Uncle Kisuke acknowledged their importance.
Believe it or not, Keigo was just that tasty.
"Don't worry about it, kid," Mizuho replied as Keigo spluttered. "Oh, we even included a bottle of Renji."
"Renji? You mean from back when he was a human?" I hadn't even known there were any bottles of him left. He had been me and Yuzu's favorite snack when we were kids, a delicious blend of spicy and sweet, though Ichigo had tended to hoard him and even tried to buy all his bottles after he'd turned him. In the here and now, I grinned delightedly. "Mizuho, if I'd known you'd be giving me free blood, I'd've gotten married ages ago."
She winked at me. "That's the spirit, kid."
Mizuiro cleared his throat to draw my attention, and then nudged the chest by his foot. "As the owner of the finest establishment of bars and restaurants in Karakura, and the joint business partner of the Asanos, Mizuiro House has decided to gift you with the finest set of both gold and silver dinnerware we have to offer. So when you entertain your many new Seireiteian friends, you can entertain in style."
"Uh, thanks, Mizuiro," I said, hugging him. I wasn't really planning on doing much entertaining, but it was the thought that counted.
He smiled at me knowingly. "Perhaps you can even open a bottle or two of my blood while you're at it. See if the Seireiteians wouldn't be interested in a few trade ventures now that the border is a bit more open and relations are friendlier. I've included contracts that offer you a significant cut of any profits from the trade agreements you send our way."
I smiled back, finally getting the hint. "Goddess, Mizuiro, owning a quarter of Karakura isn't enough for you? You have to own half of Seireitei, too?"
He shrugged. "They're getting you. Fleecing them for all they're worth is a poor consolation prize."
I hugged him again, even tighter this time. "Farewell, Mizuiro. I'm gonna miss you."
Keigo and Mizuho threw their arms around us, too, piling in for a group hug. "Don't worry, kid," Mizuho said as Keigo blubbered and wailed. "When the trade negotiations pull through, we'll be on the first caravan there. This won't be goodbye for long, we promise."
The leader of the Witches' Coven, mentor to Sora Inoue, Orihime's brother, before his death at Aizen's hands, Orihime's own predecessor to the title of High Priestess, and grandmother of one of my closest friends, set down her teacup with a nearly inaudible clink. "Ah," she sighed contentedly. "I find that good cup of tea can always help put one's problems in the proper perspective."
"I guess," I mumbled. I wasn't really a fan of tea, being fonder of coffee.
"You'll understand when you're my age," Sawako Kuronuma said, smiling gently. She took my hand. "I know this marriage isn't what you wanted, but if you persevere, everything will be fine."
"Is that an actual prediction?" I asked, curious. Certain witches were prophetic, especially powerful ones like Sawako, and it would be nice to have an assurance that things would be alright.
She laughed. "No, that was never amongst my gifts, though thankfully my granddaughter is stronger than I am, and she's actually decent at scrying. Telling ghost stories and teaching others was more my forte."
"But everyone said you were always able to predict who would marry whom!" I said.
"Not really. I just tended to encourage people and tell them that they could do whatever they set their mind to; the rest worked itself out on its own."
"Isn't that the Goddess's own truth," one of the other senior witches, Chizuru Yoshida, cackled. "You were the best good luck charm ever, Sawako! Karin, if you ever have problems with that husband of yours, you just find Natsuko, and she'll give you an awkward, heat-felt pep talk that'll make everything clearer, just like her granny here."
"Did that really help when you had problems with Ryuu?" the last witch in the trio, Ayane Yano, said dryly.
"'Course it did!" Chizuru insisted. "And it helped Kento get off his butt and propose to you, didn't it? And now he's been Mr. Yano for over ninety years! With our Natsuko's help, Karin here can expertly train her Mr. Future Kurosaki into a nice husband in no time flat!"
Witches were matrilineal, so husbands took their wives' last names. Chizuru in particular tended to forget that everyone else did it differently. I smiled into my teacup as Sawako giggled and Ayane rolled her eyes.
"Did you say something about me, Great-aunt Chizuru?" a familiar voice said as the door slid open and Natsuko Kuronuma walked in. Her straight hair fell in a smooth, shiny, black waterfall to her hips; it was currently braided and held back by butterfly ornaments emblematic to her family, though a few strands framed her red eyes. She smiled at everyone in the room and moved to refill all of our cups with the pot of fresh tea she held in her hands.
"Hey, Natsuko," I said.
"Hi, Karin," she said, sitting by me once she set the teapot down on the low table, and folding her hands in her lap. "How are you feeling?"
I shrugged. "Could be worse. Definitely better than I was a few days ago."
She nodded thoughtfully, in tandem with the other, older witches. It was funny how the witches could do everything harmoniously without much effort. "That's a relief," she said softly. "I was worried about you."
I winced. "Sorry, Natsuko. I've been pretty selfish these last couple of days, and it's not as if I'm going to be the only one leaving my home behind. You sure you want to come with me?" I asked.
She smiled earnestly as Chizuru said, "Of course she's coming with you! You think we're gonna send you into the middle of Seireitei without a witch or a priestess? At least with Natsuko you'll have a two-for-one deal, plus she's one of your best friends, so that's really a three-for-one! Damn if we won't be sad to lose her, though." She slapped her knee. "Hopefully she makes up for it by finding a nice young warlock in Seireitei. The bloodlines here are getting kinda thin; we could use some new blood."
Natsuko blushed and Ayane scowled, saying, "Stop embarrassing the girl!"
"I am not!" Chizuru protested.
"Yes, you are! Honestly, how Ryuu puts up with you, I'll never know." Huffing, she turned to me and pushed forward a small, lacquered wooden box. "Here, Karin. This is the witches' gift to you."
Opening it, I found an assortment of magical and medicinal herbs and potions, and slips of paper with elegant witch-glyphs painted on them. Pulling one out, I could feel its magic resonate strongly with mine.
"We worked on some of those talismans and charms for years," Sawako said quietly, placing her hand over mine. "They and the herbs will help keep you safe and sound, and hopefully healthy and happy."
"That's all we've ever wanted for you girls," Chizuru said.
"Look out for each other," Ayane said. "All of you—Nel, Ulquiorra, Tatsuki, Renji, Uryuu, Izumi. And you and Natsuko, too."
"I will," I promised. "I'll look after them all."
"And we'll look after her," Natsuko said, her voice soft, but firm and steady all the same.
"I know you will," Sawako said. "I know."
"Would you all PIPE DOWN?!" Izumi yelled. She reached down and grabbed two yipping pups by the scruff of their necks, shaking them until they transformed back into human shape. "AND NO SHIFTING IN THE HOUSE! DON'T MAKE ME TELL YOUR GRANDMOTHER!"
"Tell me what?" Lady Kuroda, head of the messy, rambling, loud Clan Kuroda, the largest and second-most important werewolf clan in Karakura (and subsequently all of Enalma, since all the werewolves had migrated here post-Schism) walked into the house.
The chaotic movement and cacophony of voices, laughter, shrieks, and barks abruptly stopped. Vases were hastily set back down onto shelves, knives hastily shoved into drawers, drawers hastily shoved back into tables, tables hastily pulled off couches, and couches hastily pried off of stairs.
"What in the Eight Forests are you all doing? I leave for an hour to check on a few of our stores, and I come back and see that bedlam has broken loose in my own house, on the very day we're meant to say goodbye to our beloved princess?" Lady Kuroda said, her voice dangerously low and quiet.
Every werewolf in the vicinity flinched, even Izumi. "Night help us," she whispered to one of her many younger sisters, "is Dad in the house?"
"I think he's helping Chad get the gift ready outside," her sister whispered back. "Didn't want the rest of the family to have to deal with it when he could do it himself. You know how thoughtful he gets."
"There's not gonna be a family left to be thoughtful for if he doesn't get back inside soon," I muttered, eyeing the ominous way Lady Kuroda had started tapping her foot.
"You…" she started saying, her voice eerily menacing.
"DAD!" shrieked everyone else.
"What? What did I miss?" Lord Kuroda said, walking in through the town house's back door. He looked around. "Hmmm. Oh, welcome home, Riko."
"Is that all you have to say, Jun?" she said.
"Well, yes." He kissed her on the cheek.
She smacked him. "Look at the state of the house!"
"Considering that the whole clan hasn't been in this town house since we bought it eighteen years ago, and that the children hadn't even started having children back then, I consider it a blessing that it's even standing at all. We're not made for closed spaces, Riko," he said logically, calmly. "Besides, once Teppei gets here tomorrow, he can take all the young ones for a nice, invigorating run. Have them play ball, or fetch, or something appropriately wolfish."
Riko harrumphed, but subsided in her killing aura. "My idiot brother is good for that, I suppose," she admitted grudgingly.
The rest of the clan let out a relieved exhale, crisis safely averted, and started pouring into the wide, spacious living room, arranging themselves in a loose semi-circle.
"Well, get in there," Lady Kuroda said, gesturing towards the seat left intentionally blank for me. I sat down, pressed on all sides by werewolves. Chad and Izumi were the last to squeeze in, the latter's parents having gone to get the present.
"Oi! Brats! Make room for the Alpha, dammit!" Kuroda yelled, her voice coming in loud and clear despite the scarf she always insisted on wearing. Her silver eyes gleamed menacingly, the bits of spiky black hair visible under the cloth only heightening the effect. Not even the garish orange of today's scarf (she had a different scarf for every day of the month, and all of them were hideous) could detract from her expression.
The youngest pups obligingly parted to let Chad sit down amongst them, then piled on top of him contentedly. "Chad! Chad! Chad!" they chanted happily.
"Hey, that's your Alpha! Show some respect!" Izumi commanded.
"It's okay," Chad rumbled. "I like them. They're cute at this age."
"You big softie," Izumi grumbled. "I love them, but they drive me crazy sometimes." She sat next to me. "You got enough room to breathe, pup?" the older girl asked me. She was of an age with Ichigo and the others, and a particularly close friend of Tatsuki's. The two of them together had been some of my most efficient combat teachers.
I nodded, dusting a few bits of fur from my clothing.
"Karin! Karin!" the pups yelled. "Is it true? Is it true you told the Seireiteians you were a Kuroda? Did you really? Huh? Huh?"
Kuroda rolled her eyes, though they were glinting with amusement. "Goddess take it, not you, too," she complained, knowing very well that I had done no such thing. "I already have half the werewolves in Karakura claiming they're a Kuroda whenever they get arrested or fined or something, and who has to drag her ass down and bust them out?"
"You do," her family chorused.
"Though they've stopped since you broke the last offender's femur," Rin, one of her sisters, pointed out.
"Still," Izumi said, "it was a pain while it was happening. Only Kurodas get to say they're Kurodas. All imposters should be prepared to have a very angry clan-heir on their hands otherwise."
"It was Lady Rukia's fault," I muttered. "She can read wolfscript, but only well enough to make out your clan's name on my bracelet, not the fact that it said 'Friend of.'"
"Ohhhh," the clan said in collective understanding.
"Fine," Izumi said, ruffling my hair. "But just this once, you hear?"
"It's not like I'll have chance to impersonate anyone after I get married," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Promise anyway," Izumi said.
"Alright, I promise."
Chad patted my knee consolingly.
"Where's Ururu?" I asked him.
"She'll say goodbye with Yuzu at the dinner," he rumbled, talking of the party Yuzu had prepared for me, inviting all the vampires of our age group: Ryohei, Pinta, Donny, Kazuya, Jinta, and apparently Chad's chosen mate, as well. All my closest friends that I hadn't yet said farewell to. Natsuko had been invited, too, but no doubt she would want to spend her last few nights with her family instead, since she was leaving for Seireitei to accompany me.
"Chad and I might come by later," Izumi said casually. "Ichigo's friends were invited, too, so Kon and the rest should be there."
"And maybe you'll finally find a nice human boy to settle down with, since none of the werewolves seem good enough for you," her mother said, entering the room. "I need grandchildren, Izumi."
Izumi scowled. "I have seven siblings, all of them already married with kids, and if they don't have kids yet, they're pregnant—"
"Ahem." Masashi cleared his throat pointedly.
"—or their wives are pregnant. You do not need more grandchildren."
Riko Kuroda glared at her. "You are my heir, and since your cousin is married to that nice Ururu Urahara, any child of theirs will be a Vaizard, so it's up to you to make werewolf babies! Your heir will also be his heir!"
Izumi glared at Chad, who simply shrugged. "Sorry," he said. "The Yasutoras aren't a very numerous clan."
"Only because you're all ridiculously brave and self-sacrificing," Rin said.
"Still. Izumi, as Chad's second cousin and closest relative, you're second-in-line for the position of Alpha if they die out, as are your children after you," Riko said, crossing her arms.
"Though of course one of Chad's children could marry one of Izumi's, and the bloodline would breed true and the Yasutoras could take their place as the Alphas once more," Jun pointed out. "No need to panic over the extinction of the clan as werewolves just yet."
"Great," Izumi mumbled. "You're already betrothing my nonexistent children with my nonexistent husband to the nonexistent Vaizard children of my cousin."
Riko smacked her with a rolled up scroll. "Stop whining and do your duty!"
"I'll do my duty when I actually find a man with balls enough to handle me!"
"Oooooh," murmured the peanut gallery.
"Shut up!" Riko and Izumi yelled.
Jun calmly ignored both of them and walked over to me, then unfurled a beautiful quilt and laid it on my lap. "We wove this for you," he said simply. "All of the werewolf clans contributed a square." He pointed to the various signs adorning each one. "This one is from the Iyenagas—the symbol for strength. The Torunes—the symbol for good hunting. The Kisaragis—the symbol for many healthy pups."
I laughed. "Many? It says twenty! I'm not having that many children."
"Eh, to the Kisaragis, twenty, many, there's not much difference." He smiled as the rest of his family howled with laughter, waiting until it died down before resuming.
"There hasn't been a werewolf in Seireitei since the Great Schism," he continued on a more serious note. "They killed all of the survivors left behind after the war. In the centuries since, we've grown strong and hale here in Karakura, and this place will always be home to us. But…the clan lands here are starting to get too crowded."
I bit my lip. Before the war with Aizen, this had indeed been one of the major concerns of the werewolf faction. There had been talks between the nobles in the Free Lands, the Schiffers and Tu Oderschvanks among them, and my uncle, Lord Zangetsu, the man who'd held the title of First Mage before his death. He'd been trying to arrange for some of our werewolf clans to migrate there…then Aizen had happened.
"Hopefully, this new alliance can allow us to purchase land in Seireitei. And with a Karakuran-born princess sitting on the Summer Throne as an empress, the prejudice we face may not be so perilous as it once was," Jun said.
I ran a hand over the fabric in my lap, recognizing it as the wedding quilt given to every new werewolf couple starting their own family—a reminder that even in marriage, they take bits of their old families with them, that they themselves were merely one patch in the greater whole that was their clan, and that each of the clans was one part of the Great Pack.
They were saying that I was part of their family—always had been, always will be. They were asking me to remember them, even when I left, just as they would remember me.
"Don't worry," I whispered. "Saying farewell doesn't mean forgetting."
Jun, Riko, Izumi, Chad—every werewolf in the room closed their eyes and sighed, the soft exhalation a low, solemn sound.
"I can't believe you're getting married! Goddess, how cruel must you be, to take away my first love?!" Shinji stepped forward and tried to fling his arms around me, only to be hit in the face with a sturdy, witch-woven sandal.
"Cut it out, you moron," Hiyori said. She eyed me. "Okay, Your Future-Imperialness, first thing you gotta know about having a husband is that they react best to violence. Find a nice, steady, pointy shoe, and use it regularly. Here, I got you your first pair." She handed me a pair of sandals identical to the one on her foot and in her hand.
I looked at Shinji, crumpled in the corner. "Are you sure about that? I've watched you hit him for years, and it doesn't seem to have affected him."
Next to her, Nanao snorted, pushing up her glasses. "Please, before you were born, he was much worse than he is now." The normally severe woman seemed more cheerful than usual, one of the few people in my party who was actually looking forward to moving to Seireitei. She and her sister had been especially close, and since she hadn't seen Lisa in years, this trip was one she'd been eager to volunteer for. As representative Vaizards went, she was a good choice—calm, steady, organized, efficient, and altogether less chaotic than some of the others tended to be.
I furrowed my brows. "Really?"
"Really."
"Wow…I can't imagine it. That's kinda scary."
"Tell us about it," Kensei said, placing his elbow on my shoulder and leaning on me. He handed me a whetstone and a knife in a scabbard. "Here. Mashiro and I got this for you. Well, I got you the knife, she got you the whetstone. This is, of course, in addition to the huge pile of gold coins we all chipped in and had sent to the castle already."
"Yup!" Mashiro said, throwing her arms around me on the other side and squeezing my ribs until I wheezed.
"Hey, idiot, would you cut that out? She needs her lungs to work if she's gonna marry what's-his-face," Kensei said, pulling her off.
"Noooo," Mashiro said, flapping her hands. "Lemme go, I wanna hug her!"
"Later," Kensei said firmly, allowing Love and Rose to each present me with their gifts: sheet music from Love and a calligraphy set from Rose.
Finally, Hachigen, Orihime's kindly grandfather, handed me a watch. "And this is my gift to you. There are protective enchantments on it. If you wind it back thirteen times, it releases an impenetrable barrier."
Everyone else blinked at him. "Dude, we said get her something useful and functional," Hiyori said.
He looked perplexed. "That's what I did."
"We also meant non-flashy," Nanao clarified. "None of our gifts were magically enhanced."
"Oh. Why not?"
"Because it's traditional!" Hiyori said, waving her arms around. "You give the bride small items she can use in her household!"
I snickered. "It's alright, Grandpa Hachi. The witches gave me talismans and charms. You're in the clear."
"Wait, they did? But aren't they really big on being all humble and simple and elegant and traditional, too?" Hiyori demanded.
I pulled out one of the elegant, simple talismans Natsuko's grandmother and the other witches had given me, written in neat, traditional witch-glyphs.
"Oh," Hiyori said. "I see."
Love snorted. "They've got us there."
Shinji scowled. "Well, we can't help it that Vaizards are naturally flashy."
I laughed, and hugged and thanked each and every one of them, telling them as I said goodbye that I wouldn't have them any other way.
"Where is your Guard?" Don Kanonji asked me.
We were sitting in the temple, in the same room where he taught me, Yuzu, Jinta, Ururu, and the other boys how to meditate, currently leaning on the comfy, plush cushions he was so fond of. If Orihime hadn't also been the Crown Princess, and Natsuko the future leader of the Witches' Coven, they'd be here saying their goodbyes as priestesses. If Sora had still been alive, he would've been here, too…
Sora, Uncle Zangetsu, Mizuho and Keigo's parents, Chad's grandpa, Tatsuki's mother, Uryuu's grandfather, Renji's friends, Ulquiorra and Nel's whole families…so many people were dead because of Aizen. So many of their ashes were stored within these walls of peaceful, hallowed stone. Sitting here, I hoped my sacrifice would buy the peace they had given their lives for.
I shrugged. "It's the heart of the city. It's safe. Besides, it's traditional for the bride or groom to make the journey alone, and all my Guards are people I have to say farewell to, anyway. Since everyone's here for the wedding, I don't have to leave Orihime's barriers to say farewell to anyone. It'd be different if I was marrying somebody Karakuran. Ha, I'd probably have had to go on a month-long grand tour of the whole country like Orihime did."
He chuckled. "How fortunate, then, that all your loved ones have gathered so conveniently in one place for you to say goodbye."
"I guess." I picked at a few stray threads on the pillow. "I wouldn't have minded a whole month to say farewell, though."
He nodded in understanding.
We sat in silence for a few more minutes.
"…aren't you going to give me a gift?"
He smiled at me. "Oh, well, if you insist." He handed me a simple drawing of Ururu, Jinta, and I draped all over him, all of us doing the ridiculous little pose that he insisted helped relax the mind and body.
I laughed at the sight of it, tracing my fingers over our smiling faces.
He placed his hand atop my head. "I've already given you all the gifts I have to give—a willing heart, eyes to see the impossible, imagination to get you through the darkness, laughter to get you through the sadness. Now it's your turn to give them to someone else."
I turned to hug him and, for the first time that entire day, cried.
"This is for you," Nel said, handing me a familiar book.
"Nel, no," I said, protesting. It was the beautifully illustrated manuscript of fairy tales that I'd adored as a child, casting myself the princess or knight in shining armor, riding to the helpless maiden or kidnapped prince's rescue. Nel had lent it to my mother, who often read it to us when she'd been alive. As far as I knew, it was the last existing copy—the rest had burned in the purges when Aizen had taken over Hueco Mundo. "I couldn't possibly take this."
"Of course you can!" Pesche said, bringing in a tray of muffins, Bawabawa nipping at his heels. "Lady Nel wants you to have it!"
Dondechakka nodded emphatically, seconding his best friend's statement. "It's your favorite book," he said. "We want you to have the best things. We've even included bookmarks, and put protective spells on it, and everything."
"Just take it," Ulquiorra said. "Unlike certain uneducated idiots I could name, you'll actually treat it right."
I squinted at him. He, too, had a book under his arm. "Wait a minute, is that—"
"—'The Complete Guide to the Dragons of Enalma,' by Yamabuki Keikain? Why, yes, it is." He placed it in front of me.
I gaped at him. The Free Lands had been famous for their libraries and information networks before the invasion. As members of some of the oldest families, Nel and Ulquiorra had had access to some of the rarest books in the world, and when fleeing, they'd risked their lives to bring as much of their personal collections with them. To give me books from their libraries was the greatest sign of love they could show me. "I—"
"Just take them!" Nel shouted, practically shoving them in my hands, her usually calm personality giving way to the excitable demeanor she sometimes showed when she was nervous or happy. "It's the least we can give you."
"Alright, alri—oof," I said, suddenly cut off as Nel pressed my face into her chest. "Can't. Breathe."
"Sorry, sorry," she said, still not letting go. "It's just…you're growing up so fast."
Ulquiorra placed a tentative hand on my shoulder, physical contact never coming easily to him unless he was manhandling me for my own good. "We simply—we want—you can always count on us," he said, then paused. "Although I must tell you in all fairness, if you let anything happen to either of these books, I will personally tell everyone in Seireitei about the time you were fourteen and tried to turn your brother into a pig."
I laughed. "I will do my very best, then, to make sure that never happens."
He smiled faintly. "Good girl."
"Out of curiosity, my dear, how filthy rich are you at the moment?" Uncle Kisuke asked, waving his fan languidly. "I saw wagons full of gold enter the castle today, presumably from the direction of the Vaizards'."
"Not to mention the furniture, decorations, tableware, weapons, jewelry, etc., etc. that the townspeople and villagers sent," Aunt Yoruichi added, winking. "It's a good thing that the Crown Princess is entitled to her own wing in the palace, otherwise you'd have nowhere to place all your stuff. And this isn't even considering the gifts you'll get from the Seireiteians."
I wrinkled my nose. "Why would I get gifts from them?" Surely the Seireiteians had a similar custom to ours, and Toushirou would receive his fair share of presents. Did they think so little of Karakura that they wouldn't expect my people to adequately provide for me?
"In Seireitei, traditionally all wedding gifts belong to the bride. The groom is even expected to pay for the wedding," Aunt Yoruichi explained.
"I nearly went bankrupt when I married your aunt," Uncle Kisuke said, grinning at the memory.
Aunt Yoruichi rolled her eyes. "If you recall, we eloped. The wedding cost a small pouch of gold at the most."
"Is Toushirou paying for our wedding?" I asked anxiously. In Karakura, expenses were usually covered by the bride's family. It seemed wrong to have the wedding here and expect him to foot the bill.
"In the interests of diplomacy, we've decided to split the costs—which are nowhere near as expensive as your brother's wedding, considering we've had less than a month to plan this thing, though Yuzu has tried her best to beggar your father," Uncle Kisuke said.
"Like always," Aunt Yoruichi said with a smile.
I grinned back, shrugging. What else could one expect from Yuzu?
"Now," Uncle Kisuke said, exchanging a look with his wife, "we need to talk about your magic."
I stilled. "The dark magic?"
He nodded. "You know that you're not supposed to use it—" he began to say.
"If this is about Aravel, it was only the once! People were going to die otherwise; I promise I wouldn't have used it unless—"
"Karin." Aunt Yoruichi reached over and held my hand. "We know. We trust you. But it was still a risk you couldn't have afforded to take."
"If Aizen finds out that you're a dark mage, he might very well kidnap you for that alone, never mind your status as princess," Uncle Kisuke said. "Sending you to Seireitei has the added bonus of keeping you safe—thanks to the late Princess Haruka, he can't set foot within its borders without dying."
"Not that he wouldn't send people after you anyway," Aunt Yoruichi said.
"I know," I said, looking down at my clenched hands. How many times had I been told, from the minute my elemental magic had been revealed as darkness, that it was too dangerous to use? Not because there was something wrong with it, or me, but because dark mages were few and far between, their powers quick to mature and terrible when roused, and unique because, out of all mages, they alone could double their strength when killing another of their kind.
I was one of two living dark mages in Enalma.
Aizen was the other.
Killing me would make him one of the most powerful mages in history, and it's not as if I would even be the first dark mage he'd murdered—that distinction belonged to my uncle.
"After killing Zangetsu, his powers nearly tripled," Uncle Kisuke said. "If he got his hands on you, he'd be near invincible."
I winced, fingers rubbing the bracelet my uncle had given me years ago, before my mother's death, before his murder, before I'd ever heard of Aizen. Back when nothing bad had ever happened to me or my siblings. I hadn't worn this bracelet in years, but Yuzu had slipped it on today, and it had felt strangely appropriate, wearing this reminder of happier times as I braced myself for an uncertain future. "I know," I repeated. "I promise I won't use dark magic unless the situation is dire."
"I'm afraid that's not enough, Karin," Aunt Yoruichi said. "You see, it's not just Aizen you have to worry about. After Aizen murdered Crown Princess Haruka, Seireitei began seeing all dark mages as inherently evil. To reveal yourself as a dark mage would be tantamount to suicide, and would probably result in the dissolution of the treaty—they're that paranoid about it."
I glanced between the two of them, shocked and angry. "Are you kidding me? I know they distrust dark magic, especially after the Shattered War and the Great Schism, but did they really make it a crime punishable by death?"
"Yes," Uncle Kisuke said. "Your future husband seems particularly touchy about it, as well, so our gift to you is a warning—never use dark magic in Seireitei, not until the war is over, and not until you've secured your place by giving Prince Toushirou an heir."
"Promise us, Karin," Aunt Yoruichi said. "I'll be there to help guard you, but we need you to promise." She looked straight into my eyes, gripping my hands tightly in her own, her face as grave as I'd ever seen it.
I swallowed, deeply unsettled despite myself. "I swear," I said solemnly. "I swear it by the Goddess, by the Dark of the Night, by my mother's grave, by my father's name, by my brother's strength, by my sister's soul. I swear it by all that I am and all that I would be."
"So mote it be," Aunt Yoruichi said softly.
"So mote it be," Uncle Kisuke said, looking away from our joined hands as if the sight pained him. He cleared his throat, trying for his usual teasing tone and almost—almost—managing it. "Now, you should head on over to Ryuuken's house before it gets any later. You know how tetchy he gets about punctuality."
I nodded and stood up to leave.
At the door, Aunt Yoruichi pulled me into hug. "Farewell," she murmured. My throat was too tight to reply. This wasn't a real farewell in the traditional sense of the word—she'd be coming with me, after all—but soon we wouldn't be rowdy aunt and boisterous niece. We'd be future empress and her trusted advisor, duty coming first, affection second.
Uncle Kisuke simply took off his hat and placed it on my head. I put my hand on the brim, shocked.
"It's your other gift," he said, smirking. "Starting tomorrow, you'll be a crown princess. You'll need to dress in style."
I grinned back. "Of course."
Uncle Ryuuken cast the hat on my head a withering look, but didn't comment. He handed me a silver necklace, the five-pointed Quincy cross hanging from the chain.
"Keep this on you at all times, and even my fool of a son could track you all the way to the Free Lands," he said.
What he didn't say was, Wear this at all times, and I'll be able to sense you, even in Seireitei. Wear this at all times, and we'll always be connected.
He didn't need to.
"To Karin!" Yuzu said, raising her glass high.
"To Karin!" my friends echoed, raucous and already more than a little drunk.
"To her strength!" Ryohei shouted.
"To her deviousness!" said Pinta.
"To her temper!" Donny roared.
"To her hilariously bad plans!" yelled Kazuya.
"To her really rockin' bod!" Kon slurred.
Yuzu elbowed him and saved me the trouble of having to smack him myself. "For Goddess's sake, who handed him a glass of Keigo's blood?" she demanded.
Everyone burst into laughter as Keigo himself sheepishly raised his hand.
From my seat on the raised dais as the guest of honor, I looked over the assembled guests and smiled. This day had been good for me; tradition or not, I was actually prepared to admit that it wasn't completely stupid. It was…nice, having one last goodbye, one last night where I was just me, sister and daughter and niece and friend. Not princess, not future empress, not wife-to-be. Just Karin.
It reminded exactly why I was getting married tomorrow—it was to protect all this.
"You doing alright, Karin?" Tatsuki asked, cocking an inquisitive brow at me.
"Yeah, though I could use another glass of Mizuiro," I said.
She made a face. "Blech. I don't know how you can stand the stuff. Kojima's a great guy, but flavor-wise, I think Keigo's actually got the drop on him."
I shrugged. "True, but Keigo's too sweet to go with cake."
Renji materialized on my other side, a glass of blood in both hands, one of which he gave to me. "Bottoms up, baby," he said affectionately, downing half of his.
I scowled. "I am thirty-eight years old," I pointed out. "That meant I stopped being a baby over two decades ago. Two. Decades."
He shrugged. "You'll always be a baby to me," he said. He nodded at the pile of gifts behind us. "You like the soccer ball I got you? Not sure they have them in Seireitei, but I figured I could always just build you goal posts when we get there."
"Yeah," I said, grinning. "Thanks, Renji." I punched him in the arm.
"Bet you like my gifts better, though," Tatsuki said. She reached over and held up a set of ornate, heavily decorated knives—they looked almost like mere show pieces, at least until she unsheathed one and neatly sliced through the roast pig on the table.
"Whoa," Kuroda said, walking up to us. "Those are some beautiful knives."
"I know," Tatsuki said smugly. She smacked Izumi's hands when she reached out to touch one. "Nuh-uh. You can have a set when you get married."
Kuroda scowled. "Damn it, has everyone been talking to my mother?"
Keigo snorted. "More like she's been talking to everyone." He sat down next to Tatsuki, followed by the rest of Ichigo's Guard and half of my own.
Mizuiro smiled beatifically next to him. "I must say, I'm almost glad you're leaving, Kuroda. At least this means she'll stop looking at us like potential suitors for you."
Izumi gagged as Tatsuki and Renji roared with laughter. Chad patted her consolingly on the shoulder as Ururu and Jinta approached me with their own personal gifts—a shield from Jinta and brass knuckles from Ururu.
"I see Dad gave you the hat." Jinta nodded at it, perched on my head.
"And here I was, hoping it meant you'd killed the man and pried it off his corpse," Uryuu said dryly. He looked approvingly at the necklace I wore, with its gleaming Quincy cross, then handed me a long, thin rapier.
I raised a brow. "A Seele Schneider blade? Uryuu, you shouldn't have."
"It's the least I could do," he replied.
I put it next to the giant teddy bear that was Chad's present to me as a member of my Guard (as the Alpha, the patch on the quilt that read "Protection" was the one he had Uryuu sew for me). Then I ignored Uryuu's stiff posture and wrapped my arms around him. "It's the day before my wedding," I said as he tried to resist. "That means everyone gets a hug, even prissy vampire advisors with steel spikes up their asses."
The room erupted in laughter. The noise subsided, however, upon the entrance of my father. Everyone straightened and immediately bowed as he stepped into the room.
He waved a hand in dismissal. "No need for formality, we're all friends here." He grinned at me, the expression as goofy as usual, though my heart twisted because I knew that it was partly an act.
"Hey, Goat-chin," I said.
He opened his arms wide. "Hug for me, too?" He winked, obviously expecting me to deal him my signature knee-to-the-gut maneuver.
Instead, I threw my dignity to the wind and tackled him with a huge bear hug, cracking his ribs and burying my face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me just as tightly, pressing his face against my hair.
Everyone else began quietly exiting the room, giving us privacy. Yuzu ushered them out, and then closed the door behind Orihime and Ichigo as they walked in.
"Hey, guys," I said, smiling at them over my dad's shoulder. "In a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Karin, the ice princess of Karakura, is calling for a Crazy Kurosaki Kerblammy Group Hug."
Yuzu laughed and Orihime giggled, and Ichigo rolled his eyes and said, "Whoever in the nine hells named it that ought to be blasted by lightning." But they all drew close and joined us anyway, so we were a tangle of arms and elbows and knees, the comfortable jigsaw that made up a family.
We ate dinner that night, the last one we would have together as a family for a long time, probably years if I thought about it. We laughed and talked and reminisced, sharing embarrassing stories and telling jokes and making sarcastic comments. I fended off my father's attack on my barbecue, and Yuzu scolded Ichigo for not eating enough vegetables, and we all suggested crazy combinations for Orihime to try, and then blanched when she ate them all without flinching.
And afterwards, after Orihime gave me a pair of earrings her brother had given her—They're diamonds see? So they shine as brightly as your dreams.
After Ichigo handed me a poem he'd written about me—Fierce mind, brave soul, a loving heart my sister has.
After Yuzu wrapped a lovingly knitted scarf around my neck—It gets colder in Seireitei…and I know you don't like perfume, but I sprayed it with mine so it smells a little like home.
After my father placed a ring on my finger—This was your mother's. Orihime has her wedding ring, and Yuzu will get her engagement ring, but this is the ring I gave her when I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. She would have wanted you to have it.
After that, when tears started dripping down my face and my chest was heaving with sobs, none of them said a word, but silently sat there and wept with me.
"Good night, Karin," Yuzu said, snuggled up in bed beside me. It had been years since we'd slept together like this, not since before the advent of our third decade. But tonight was an exception. Tonight was the last time she would ever have the chance to do this. So we curled up on our sides, back to back, fitting together as closely as we could.
"Goodnight, Yuzu," I replied, my eyes sliding shut.
"Sweet dreams," we said together.
Today I said my farewells. Tomorrow I would say my vows. And in the days ahead, I would leave all that I loved behind.
Endnote: Okay, the wedding is in the NEXT CHAPTER. We promise! It's just…world-building and necessary characterization had to happen in this chapter, so we had to push the date back again (this chapter was nearly 10,000 words, people, take it as a consolation prize and please don't hurt us). But now plot REALLY starts happening! :D
Thank you for reading this chapter, and thank you to everyone who's reviewed/alerted/favorited this story and/or us. :D
Special thanks goes to the following people for reviewing the last chapter: Fan, Devilishduck, BeInfinitexx, Silverpearl2, D-Grayman-Fan, ael fyragh, hitsukarin4lyf, Twistedkorn, yinyang98, Kat, Eekhoorntjes, chiharuSAICHI, Furionknight, buon I qua, Hakkuchi, FlyingLikeAButterfly, Cecilia Haunt, Black Rose, MisplacedWit 7, and a Guest! ;) You guys make our day! :D (If we have forgotten you or spelled your name wrong, please tell us and we will correct the error immediately.)
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