Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
THANKS FOR ALL THE LOVE, FOLKS! 3500+ HITS, 63 FAVORITES, 79 STORY ALERTS, 32 AUTHOR FAVORITES - AND THIS IS JUST ACT I! YOU GUYS ROCK! Author notes and requests at the bottom. -njx
Rukia looked around. She was standing on a hard stone floor. It was gray; the color of cement but smooth like polished granite. The azure sky above was clear, and there was no wind. There was no sun, but it seemed to be illuminated by warm sunlight. There was nothing but hard stone floor for miles, and Rukia was unsure of where she was or what had happened.
"...Masaki-san...?"
"Welcome, Kuchiki Rukia from Inazuri."
"...Where am I?"
"In a dimension where only truth exists."
Zillions of thoughts crashed through Rukia's mind. "Why are you here?"
"This ring instructs the wearer using the form of the person who last wore it."
Oh. Well, okay then. That was unusually direct for an ancient magical artifact, but she wasn't going to voice that particular observation at the moment. "What are you supposed to tell me, then?"
"I am supposed to show you your history of fate."
"Uh, 'History of fate'?"
"I will show you. Come, let us see through the Eyes of Fate itself."
The world around Rukia was replaced with hundreds of millions of images crashing through her cranium. The sky and earth became a swirl of cinema, billions and trillions of memories whirling together, jamming them into her brain at a breakneck pace. Her five senses were completely overloaded as she had the sensation of swimming through the past, each thunderous wave collapsing against her consciousness; flooding her understanding of the universe with pictures and thoughts that only could have come from an omnipotent force that existed between dimensions.
It seemed like hours before Rukia had finally gotten used to the firestorm of images being shoved behind her eyes. When she finally seemed to have an understanding of how to navigate this world of thought, she focused, and glimpses materialized. Images flashed. She could see the great form of the incredible zotokai; Dikita Kuranaya, Guardian of Mask and Wing. The spirit with Kaien-dono's voice and face.
Her vision blurred into the past, and she could see herself through the eyes of another, although she did not know whose eyes they were.
How did Kaien come back as Kuranaya? Was it because she freed him from the espada's grasp?
No... that being wasn't Kaien. It was something else entirely. Rukia knew this for certain - she could feel it. It wasn't Kaien-dono's reiatsu. Even while under Aaroniero, Kaien's signature was preserved. Kuranaya was someone else. Something else.
Images of Kaien bleeding on her in his last moments spun in front of her. She could see her tears from the eyes of the moon, the eyes of an ant on the earth, the eyes of Kaien himself. She could feel the sensations felt by the bacterium on her hands as his life's fluid seeped out around the single-celled organism. Rukia heard his voice with her own ears, feel the sounds vibrating in the air as though she had echolocation, and recalled his parting words from within Kaien's own mind.
Her thoughts were instantly severed from the harrowing memory as Rukia remembered the last day of vice captain's training. She remembered how unique that day was. The day she felt Kaien-dono's spirit in the air. The day she achieved bankai, breaking Sode No Shirayuki's fixation over her past, overcoming her hesitations, fears, and anxieties; huffing in Ichigo's face and telling him that she could take care of herself.
Ichigo. Images of her turning him into a shinigami. Stabbing him through the heart. His inability to control his own reiatsu so that even his unreleased katana was as big as Zangetsu's constant shikai form. Soul infusion. Her powers fusing with his; her heart's crimson thread passing through the blade and into his soulcore.
Rukia smirked at that last thought. How could someone let them stab them through the heart? He must have been crazy.
Kuranaya.
A melding of zanpakutou.
The breakdown of boundaries.
A zotokai.
The common thread between Rukia and Ichigo.
The common crimson thread.
The soulcore. The heart of man and woman. The domain they had in each other's hearts.
Hearts. Ichigo's heart. Pierced. No one lets someone stab them through the heart.
Unless....
Kuranaya.
Ichigo - how old was...?
Dikita Kuranaya. The common thread. His face. His voice.
When... Kaien...... when did...?
!
***
Rukia's consciousness returned. It was if not a single moment had passed, and the pervasive gazes from the Gotei 13 elite were surrounding her.
Fresh tears of joy streamed down her face. "You're a member of the Four Houses," she sniffled.
Gasps echoed throughout the room. Yoruichi and Kuukaku, however, shared the same cocky smile that Ichigo had.
"I stabbed you through the heart," she announced proudly, recalling that fateful day.
The captains and vice captains all looked a bit nervous, but Ichigo's smile didn't falter. In fact, it beamed brighter. He continued to hold her hand, twisting the ring around her finger. It fit perfectly. She fit him perfectly. Fate fit them perfectly.
Rukia's voice fell soft. "Then---- then I found you fifteen years later in the world of the living and did it again. Ichigo-- you---- you were Shiba Kaien."
Ichigo didn't wait for the shock to set in amongst the officers standing beside them. "Marry me, Kuchiki Rukia. Let no one ever have a reason to question us again."
Her smile was so wide, and her tears so pure, that Kuchiki Rukia burst out a laugh between her tears. "Kurosaki Ichigo, if my first kiss is in front of all these people, I swear I will make you wear a Chappy hat to the wedding."
The hall erupted into cheer. Even Byakuya was applauding with a sly smirk on his face.
Ichigo didn't take his chances with a kiss, but scooped her up in his arms and spun around. She clutched his neck in mock terror, blushing in embarassment; but he ignored her very vocal protestations as he had never been more happy in his entire life.
Kyoraku broke out into song - something that Ichigo had never heard before, but everyone else seemed to know. Within seconds, almost everyone had joined him. To his utter shock, even the normally bland Sasakibe sang, and he actually had a fantastic voice.
Ichigo put Rukia down and she looked at him with happy, yearning eyes. He could barely hear her over the mirth, but he could easily tell what she was saying, just from mouthing the words. "I love you, Idiot."
"I love you too, Midget."
She rolled her eyes, and then sunk into his arms to feel his warmth.
"Hey, if death really isn't the end, then that may not have been the very first time we met. Maybe we've been linked together for a lot longer.
"I can't say for sure, but I think that once a bond is formed, it never disappears. So even if we forget everything, we'll be joined together again someday."
~ Kurosaki Ichigo to Kuchiki Rukia;
one of the last scenes in the third Bleach movie, "Fade to Black, I Call Your Name"
And thus the white and black swords fall - Fate's Curtain closes, for here endeth Act I.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Hey everybody! Liking the adventure so far? I am! And the good news? It is far from over.
Quick special thanks to two authors of epic tales that have been both an inspiration and a great encouragement:
the spunky and gifted Alliryan and her tale 'Hell Butterfly',
and the illustrious and amazingly talented Fading into the background for 'Skeletons in the Closet'.
These authors - dare I even say comrades - have wonderful stories that I encourage everyone to read. There's no way I could have written 450 pages of fanfiction without first knowing that there were others out there as crazy as I am. ;D
AUTHOR'S NOTES FOR REAL THIS TIME
1. There is tons of evidence to suggest that Tite Kubo will eventually reveal that Ichigo really is the reincarnated Shiba Kaien. There are clues both obvious and subtle littered throughout the canonical manga, and although the 3rd Bleach movie, Fade to Black, is not canonical, Kubo had much heavier input into it than he did the first two. It seems obvious to me that this quote from the end of the movie is a clear plant from the mangaka himself.
In fact, I planned this particular reveal AGES ago. Those of you who are curious, go back and re-read Save This For Kuchiki. If you remember Rukia's last day of vice captain's training, you'll remember that she feels Kaien-dono's spirit in the air - that was the day that Ichigo came into Soul Society. After being separated from him for six weeks, the reintroduction of Ichigo's reiatsu nearby felt significant - but she was so wrapped up in the emotions of her lieutenantship that she unconciously mistook them for Kaien's. There are several other tip-offs in that story and in Save Me, Kuchiki, too. So I've actually been planning this particular reincarnation bit for a long time. Consider going back and reading those stories with what you know now.
2. Speaking of, it should now be clear why Dikita Kuranaya in Save Me, Kuchiki looked like Kaien. He's the common thread between Rukia and Ichigo - Kaien's soul was bound to both; rereading the portion of the manga where Kaien describes the bond between two people as 'heart' should clarify this. In fact, my whole zotokai idea came from watching the aforementioned Bleach movie, Fade to Black. Rukia gave Ichigo her powers, then he gave her back his; thus the 'melding' of powers and bidirectional soul infusion; etc. In the end I decided to build my tale around only the canonical aspects (e.g. only soul infusion from Rukia to Ichigo), but the idea came from that movie (which I loved and adored and watch all the time).
3. Everyone by now is completely curious to hear me talk about my 'Ichihime' gag. Anyone who follows my stories know that I take the time to market them a bit, crafting flashy bylines for each chapter release, putting 'next chapter' teasers, try to update at least once a day to keep you all salivating, etc. When I thought about the fact that my series is clearly so IchiRuki oriented, I figured I wanted to woo the IchiHime crowd a bit. I had a female OC that needed a name, and 'Ichihime' fit perfectly, so I did it. Although you may find it a lame play, you have to admit it's a clever strategy to attract readers. :)
That being said, Banzo Ichihime has much more to contribute to this story; don't think that because she was named after a marketing trick that her role won't be serious. Anyone who remembers that Tori was originally in Save Me, Kuchiki and then played an important role in this story should be proof: it's not worthwhile for me to bother creating OCs that I won't use well. In fact, anyone who's read the first two tales in the Kuchiki Salvation Trilogy knows that lieutenant's badges are not trivial items in my stories. So stay tuned. I've had a lot of fun crafting Ichihime's character, and I'm not about to let that go to waste.
4. There are most definitely LOTS of unanswered questions that you're pinging me about. I promise you, they will all be answered (at least I think they will). Everybody is asking me about Nanao's place in the plot. Just wait, we'll get there. We haven't even scratched the surface with Byakuya yet, and Ukitake hasn't even had his day in the sun. Don't even get me started on Kiyone; she's not done yet either. Hell, even Kotsubaki gets some love.
This tale is EPIC. After all, Ichigo and Rukia are getting married. You don't think I'm going to write a wedding in here? There's a whole lot of stuff that's gonna happen, and all of it is gonna be AWESOME. And if you think you've been told everything there is to know about that ring, well let's just say you don't know the half of it. Also, there is lots of great comedic moments coming, too - some so side-splittingly funny that you'll regret it if you miss them.
5. As with Save This For Kuchiki and Save Me, Kuchiki, the titles have multiple meanings; even though they are titular quotes in each tale (this one being no exception). You'll see a lot of this play out over the story. I encourage those of you with more academic perceptions of literature to see if you can find all of the hints I've layered in.
6. I apologize about the language. In my first two stories, I tried very, very hard to keep the language as clean as possible. You'll notice that I always tend to avoid overly crass language, especially if I'm not in the middle of verbal or mental dialogue, since I firmly believe it's a crutch to good storytelling. I've always tried to describe things with a fairly mature air, but this story has some raw emotions (as well as Ichihime's ultra-punk character) that necessitate some harsher language to provide the right flavor. I will say now that I will continue to try and avoid it when I can, but expect a bit of indecent language from time to time.
7. I have no idea how people write for Momo Hinamori. I just cannot get her character right. She's supposed to be a close friend of Rukia in this story, so I felt obligated to include some chummy-pal time between her and Rukia, but man, that is so tough. So if I bomb out on Hinamori, please forgive me.
8. Yeah, I'll say it again: in this story, Nanao Ise is most definitely not a wuss.
PLEASE GIVE ME DETAILED REVIEWS FOR ACT I. In specific, I want to hear opinions/feedback on as many of the following as you have patience for:
1) Did you like the Ichihime-is-not-a-bad-guy twist, or was it lame?
2) The Ichigo-is-the-reincarnated-Kaien twist: predictable, mind-blowing, or I-possibly-expected-it-but-wow-that-was-so-amazing-anyway? Tell me what you thought!
3) What did you guys think about the twist with the ring? Like it? Hate it? Whatever? That cliffhanger with Masaki actually killed you, didn't it? ;D I just knew I wanted a grand WTF moment in there to prolong the suspense. I had actually considered using Hisana for that piece, but Hisana had some screentime already and Masaki was just waiting for some; so when the idea came to me I knew it would be perfect for throwing everyone for a loop.
4) Plot twists in general - as you can tell, I've done a lot of misdirection in the story so far: who was the real villain? Byakuya? Nanao? Ichihime? That question hasn't been quite answered yet, but my intent was to keep this from being overly predictable. Most "Ichigo & Rukia Get Married" stories are predictable at best, so I wanted this one to keep people on their toes. Did the misdirection work at all? Were you ever fooled? Do you like the weaving in-and-out of mystery? The greatest compliment you can give me is to tell me that, "OMG, I never have any idea of what's going to happen next!" because that lets me know that the drama is good enough to blow your mind.
5) Do you guys like the Crossover Cups, or am I just wasting words here? Sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it. It's a hit-or-miss thing for me, but I'm curious to know what y'all think. If the rest of you all hate it, I'll retire them, but if you like them, I'll keep up with them.
6) Important: Although Act II will have a relatively narrow cast, Act III will have nearly everyone in it. Although I have written the whole story, I wanna do y'all a bit of service and make sure I cover the character you want to see; and there's still plenty of time for edits. (Although regardless of whether or not you ask for someone, most characters will be in Act III anyway.) So, for example, if you're a _____ fan and want to see more of him/her, well, NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO TELL ME!
No promises, but I'm doing this for you guys; 'cause y'all like to share the love so much. So if there are any Rikichi fans out there (you have to be kidding me, right?), speak now or forever hold your peace. Just to clarify: I'm not afraid to make inside jokes to the anime, but this trilogy follows canonical manga history; so if you ask me for Ririn or Cloud or Princess Rurichiyo, you're outta luck, buddy. :)
7) Comments on technical execution: writing style, word choice, phraseology, etc. Contrary to popular belief, English is not my primary language. In particular, I don't get much critique about my writing style, so it's hard to know what to improve.
I'm sorry I don't have time to respond to every review comment, but I'm too busy editing stuff to get it up for you to read quickly; so I'm sure you'll forgive me. :)
Peace out - next, we begin Act II.
Don't be surprised if I take a day between updates, it will be coming soon, I promise.
Don't be surprised if the story shifts focus a little bit.
Don't be surprised if it starts off a bit slow.
And most of all?
Don't be surprised if Act II makes you crave for more.
-njx