Author's note: Hi guys! I'm back! Yeah, I updated all Winter Break except for this story – so I'm just working on this right now. I'm thinking about chopping it off in 5 more chapters. At least that'll get this done and over with.
Also, I've noticed something interesting, a lot of people have been more, and how shall I put it? A bit angrier at me every time I put a chapter up. Oh well. You guys are entitled to your own opinion.
Infertile Love:
Rukia tapped a finger on chin as she looked at the arrangements of flowers placed in front of her for the Winter gathering they were doing in a couple of days. Rukia gave her decision to flowers that had been filled with white, blue, and purple.
"These will be perfect for winter colors. See to it that we get a hundred of these decorated into the gathering and dining hall. You are dismissed." Rukia got up and left the room. Rubbing her forehead a little bit, she had been stressed lately from all of the planning. Rukia put a hand on her still flat stomach and sighed.
Having her little chat with Orihime seemed to be for the better. Orihime took heed of Rukia's words and had backed off noticeably. Rukia still noticed the envious and malicious glares, but Orihime took no action against Rukia.
Everything seemed at peace, for once.
Rukia turned around to walk back into the house when she felt her face hit a hard chest. Rukia backed away and saw Ichigo waiting for her with a smile.
"Why aren't you wearing more clothes?" Ichigo asked as he draped his black haori over her shoulders, she rolled her eyes with a bit of amusement.
"Don't you remember? I'm fond of the winter season, and you should be inside, sending out invites for the Winter celebration next week." Ichigo sighed.
"Can't you just do it for me?" Ichigo pleaded with a sweet tone, Rukia put herself against him as he wrapped his arms around her.
"You are too lazy my dear husband." Rukia teased, Ichigo gave her a pouty look and she began laughing.
"Come inside, you don't have to do anything else out here, right?" Ichigo asked, Rukia shook her head.
"I was about to come inside actually." Rukia felt herself being lifted off of the ground as Ichigo swung her up into his arms.
"Great, because I wanted to spend some time with you." Ichigo whispered as he began carrying her inside of the house and to their room.
Orihime watched from far away and felt her heart crumbling. Her fists clenched in anger, she felt so envious of Rukia's and Ichigo's newfound love for each other. All she wanted was for Ichigo to give her his heart.
"You know, watching will only make things worse." Orihime whirled around to see Ulquiorra staring at her with his hands tucked in his pants.
"I need to figure out how to break them up again." Orihime whispered as Ulquiorra looked straight at her.
"Give up, there's nothing else you can do anymore. It's obvious he's never going to return to you." Orihime's nails dug into the flesh of her palms in anger.
"I can always try." Ulquiorra closed his eyes.
"You could always take me up on my offer to be my wife." Orihime stared at Ulquiorra with sadness; she swallowed the lump in her throat.
"I only love Ichigo." Ulquiorra scoffed at her words.
"Oh yes, so that's why you came to visit my bedroom for the past few weeks late at night." Ulquiorra felt a sharp pain in his cheek as he opened his eyes to see Orihime's red face.
"I only love Ichigo." Orihime insisted as her teeth ground together. "You will not speak of our activities ever again." Ulquiorra began walking past her.
"If that's what you wish, I wish you the best of luck in love. You're going to need it." Ulquiorra walked away and Orihime forced herself not to look at the back of his head as he walked away. The tears stung her eyes.
"I'll never love you Ulquiorra. Ichigo is the one for me. I'm sure of it. I'll steal Ichigo away from Rukia. "
Meanwhile:
Rukia felt Ichigo's finger run down her spine gently, his fingers feeling the indent of her vertebrae. Rukia shifted so she could face Ichigo. She smiled at him as she yawned.
"How long was I asleep for?" Ichigo wrapped an arm around her as he brought her close to him.
"Only half an hour. You didn't sleep long." Rukia nodded as she saw a board with ink and paper on it, Ichigo was working on the invites. Rukia reached over and took the board in her hands and she picked up the brush and started working on the invites.
"I see your handwriting is as sloppy as ever." Ichigo propped his face on his fist as he lay idly, watching Rukia's bare form working on the invites.
"You know I never cared for things like handwriting." Rukia laughed quietly as she faced him.
"I can tell." Rukia watched Ichigo's eyes soften as he stared right back at her, and his small smile had disappeared into a frown. "What's the matter?" Rukia asked as she turned around to face him completely. The blankets slipped away from her, revealing her all natural form to him.
Ichigo ran a hand through his spikes and sighed as he looked away from her.
"Sometimes I look at you now, and all I feel like an idiot for leaving someone as perfect as you. I don't even know what I was thinking. I didn't even understand fully that I hurt you when I brought Orihime in the household and made her my concubine. I feel so guilty for being the purpose of you being unhappy with your life as my wife and heading this household." Ichigo admitted, Rukia extended her hand to lay on top of his.
"Don't worry, it's in the past. I think I've been the happiest right now with you than I have been with my entire life. Even though I'm still in the process of forgiving you, I still love you more than anything. I've loved you for the longest time Ichigo, even as best friends, and now lovers. I'll still love you." Ichigo moved his hand from under hers and gripped her hand gently as he ran his thumb tenderly over the smooth flesh of her hand.
"I'm really sorry Rukia, I know I messed up." Ichigo said quietly, Rukia leaned down to kiss him fully.
"It'll be okay. You've been good to me for the past months, I can see you're trying to show me that you regret what you've done and that you want to make it up to me. I see the effort, and it's not being dismissed." Ichigo nuzzled the crook of her neck and pulled her close to him so her backside aligned up with his chest.
"I'm glad; I just want to show you that I love you and only you." Ichigo kissed her shoulder blade and intertwined their fingers together. They just laid there in comfortable silence for the rest of the afternoon.
2 Weeks later:
Winter Celebration:
"You do realize you're going to rip out all of my hair if you keep on pinning my hair wrong." Rukia joked as Ichigo tried to stick in the last hairpin to Rukia's elaborate hair style.
"You know what, I'm a man, and therefore I shouldn't have to deal with this kind of shit." Ichigo grumbled as he finally got the last pin stuck in place. Stepping away from Rukia so Rukia could check the back of her hair, she gave it a small nod of approval and got up. Turning around she faced Ichigo.
"Ready for the celebration?" Rukia asked as she went to fix and straighten Ichigo's robes and haori so they wouldn't look lopsided.
"I'm always ready for company my dear." Ichigo held out his arm as Rukia lightly clutched it.
"Well then, lead the way." Ichigo and Rukia exited the doors to their bedroom and began walking to the main dining room. They opened the doors to the main dining room and a smile came across their faces as they saw the crowd of people they had invited all conversing with each other. Rukia and Ichigo turned to each other.
"See you when we all start eating?" Ichigo asked and Rukia gave him a knowing smile.
"Of course." Rukia stood on her tip toes; Ichigo leaned down to kiss her before they took their separate ways.
Rukia saw Ichigo already mingling with his crowd of friends and Rukia made her way towards her friends.
"Hello Rukia!" Rangiku, one of Rukia's best friends jumped out of the small clique of women talking and gave Rukia a bone crushing hug.
"Oh your party is just spectacular!" Rangiku said as Rukia gasped for air between Rangiku's rather large chest.
"Oh why thank you," Rukia choked out.
"Oh stop it Rangiku, you're choking her!" Another voice called out, Rukia felt relief as Rangiku was pulled away from her by Nanao.
"Thank you Nanao." Rukia brushed off her elaborate kimono and smiled at all of her friends. "I'm so glad you all came." Momo, Rangiku, and Nanao nodded back with bright smiles.
"Of course! Now, what is this surprise you said you had?" Momo asked and Rukia winked at her.
"You'll know after dinner. Tea?" Rukia asked as a servant came up with a platter of snacks and tea. Rukia seated her friends and herself at a small table where a servant began setting up. Once they were all comfortable, Rangiku rested on her palms and lay back a little.
"So, do you still have that concubine around?" Rangiku asked causing Rukia to shoot her a withering glare.
"How do you know that?" Rukia asked, Rangiku gave her a defensive look.
"It's been the gossip around all of the nobles; you surely couldn't have expected that it wouldn't get around." Rukia took a sip of her tea.
"I didn't expect, I hoped. Well, if you must know, I and Ichigo have patched up our marriage, so she's just here as company I guess. I think Ulquiorra has taken quite the interest in her though." Momo nodded.
"Well I'm glad, last time I was here things were hostile between you, Ichigo, and Orihime." Rangiku sat up and her face lit up.
"So that's her name! I've wanted to see what her name was for the longest time!" Rangiku exclaimed and Rukia stuffed a pastry in Rangiku's mouth.
"Well, my relationship towards Orihime has been…rough and stressful." Rangiku munched on the meat pastry in her mouth.
"I'm sure she doesn't mean any harm." Rangiku swallowed the last of the pastry and saw Rukia shake her head.
"Unfortunately the last few months have been torture. She's been trying to take my place as Ichigo's wife, but I've talked it out with her and she's desisted since then." Rangiku shrugged her shoulders as she felt somebody tap her on the shoulder. It was Rangiku's husband, Gin.
"What's wrong Gin?" Rangiku asked as Gin held out his arms and presented their newly born son to her.
"Take him, he won't stop crying and I've tried everything to comfort him." Gin said as Rangiku scoffed and took the newborn in her arms.
"Maybe it's because he realizes what a horrible father you are," Rangiku then brought the newborn up to her and face and cooed, "Isn't that right Akatsuki?" Gin rolled his eyes playfully as he kneeled down to kiss Rangiku on the lips.
"Yeah, yeah, I love you honey." Rangiku separated her lips from his and smiled.
"I love you too, now go on and play with your friends." Rangiku waved him off as Gin gave her a last kiss and walked off. Rangiku's touch instantly lulled the crying baby into silence.
"You're such a great mother." Rukia poured more sake for Rangiku and Rangiku smiled down at her child.
"It takes a lot of learning, but Akatsuki is so precious to me and Gin." Rangiku kissed her child on the forehead and cradled him in one arm so she could use a free hand to drink the sake Rukia had poured for her.
The group tenderly smiled at the child when a bell rang. Rukia stood up and the hall went quiet. Ichigo walked over and joined Rukia.
"We would like to thank you all for being here, dinner is being served now, thank you." The chattering started again as Ichigo faced Rukia.
"How was your chat with the ladies?" Ichigo asked as Rukia smiled at him as they intertwined fingers.
"Just girls being girls, don't worry about it." Ichigo bent down to kiss Rukia and Rukia elevated herself to meet Ichigo in between. Rukia looked to the side and saw her friends looking at Rukia and smiling. Once Ichigo and Rukia separated, Rukia saw that Orihime and Ulquiorra had finally entered in the dining room and blended in perfectly with the moving crowd.
Ichigo and Rukia began walking to their place at the dinner table and sat down at their respectful places as everybody did the same.
2 Hours later:
Dinner had gone over smoothly and Rukia had been requested to play on her Koto. Rukia had gotten up and moved over to where her koto had been placed. She sat down in front of it and took a deep breath before she began playing.
The dining room had settled into a calmer atmosphere as her Koto playing filled out the entire room and people began listening intently while making a small chat.
Rukia had finished her piece after several minutes and made her way back to the dinner table with an applause following her.
"All of you are so kind, please, that was not one of my finer pieces." Kyouraku held up his sake dish and laughed.
"Oh nonsense Kurosaki-san, that was one of the best pieces we've heard!" Rukia laughed as Ichigo filled up her cup with more tea and smiled at her. Ichigo cleared his throat loudly, capturing everybody's attention.
"I believe my beautiful wife wanted to say a few words to all of us." Ichigo said as Rukia nodded as she got up holding her tea cup. She nervously inhaled and exhaled while holding out her tea cup.
"Well, my husband and I are very glad that all of you could come out and celebrate the beginning of Winter with us. We are very pleased to see those that came tonight. I also waited for this occasion to tell my husband something that I've been hiding from him for a few weeks. I thought now was probably a good time to share since I want to share the happy news with friends. Unfortunately our families could not make it to this celebration." Rukia saw all eyes on her and felt extremely nervous as she turned slightly to face Ichigo.
"Ichigo, I've been hiding something from you in the past few weeks." Ichigo arched a brow at her.
"Rukia, please tell me it's not something bad." Ichigo said seriously, Rukia laughed slightly.
"It's quite the opposite," Rukia then turned away from him and faced their friends.
"Well friends, I am fortunate to tell all of you that I am now pregnant." Everybody's eyes widened and their jaws fell open. Rukia laughed nervously as she drank from her tea cup and saw Ichigo stand up.
"You're not mad at me right?" Rukia asked as she noted the silent crowd. Ichigo laughed nervously and slipped his arms around her waist.
"How could I be mad? I love you so much." Ichigo said as he lifted her up into the air and kissed Rukia on the lips. Their friends started clapping and shouting their congratulations to the happy couple.
Meanwhile:
Orihime looked at the happy couple. She was the only one who wasn't clapping or offering a congratulation to Ichigo and Rukia. Orihime felt hot tears slip down from her grey orbs and her lip started quivering. Orihime's nails dugs into the skin of her palms in anger and in bitter jealousy.
'Now Ichigo won't be in love with me anymore, I lost to her…' Orihime felt something pressed on her cheeks. She flashed to reality and saw Ulquiorra pressing his silk handkerchief to her wet cheeks.
"Thanks." Orihime muttered as she took it and began dabbing at her tears. Ulquiorra slowly clapped for the couple and then got up so he could whisper in her ear.
"You know where to find me if you need me." Ulquiorra stood up completely and then began making his way towards Ichigo.
"Congratulations to you both. I am happy for the both of you." Ulquiorra said as Ichigo nodded and smiled at him.
"Thanks Ulquiorra, it means a lot." Ulquiorra walked out of the hall and heard soft footsteps trailing behind him.
Ulquiorra turned around and saw Orihime standing there, her tears now splashing on her soft grey and blue kimono.
Ulquiorra held out his hand towards her, and wasn't surprised when Orihime crashed into him.
"Take me away." Orihime whispered as he took her hand and began leading her back to his bedroom.
From far away, Rukia kept quiet and saw Orihime and Ulquiorra walking away together, Rukia smiled, and was happy with the possibility that Orihime would probably never bother Rukia and Ichigo ever again.
Author's note: Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update, I just, I've just been lazy. Sorry guys ): But I'm glad I'm almost done with this story! Remember to review and leave me some love or a comment, thanks guys! (: