Thank you for your patience and your reviews! Here you have another chapter. The next update might be sooner since i'm already working on the chapter... i'm talking about next week or so...

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49. I thought of how beautiful she looked in that blue purple dress

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"It hurts...my head..."

A soft mumble was heard from the only bed of that room and Inoue got up immediately approaching it.

"Are you alright, Kurosaki-kun?"

He blinked for a couple of times and with a hangover expression her looked around as if he didn't understand what was happening around him. One moment later though, those confused eyes fell into a speechless and sad expression as he remembered the entire show he had put the other night.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be silly!" Inoue cut in with a sweet and cheerful voice. "Thank God you're safe!"

"I hurt you last night, Inoue..."

"Kurosaki-kun, please don't try to bring this upon you. I was the one coming in front of you...I knew what i was doing!"

He put the blanket aside and stood up, but he couldn't face her. The feeling of guilt and shame was making him wish to burry himself six feet under the ground. He was supposed to protect his family not to attack it. And moreover what for, all this? For someone who tricked him! For someone who thought he was meant to be with, but who married somebody else eventually!

"I'm going to tell the others that you're awake! I'll bring breakfast too!" Inoue added with the same cheerful voice and left the room.

"Don't... bring... them!" he suddenly said. "I'll come downstairs later... just give me a few moments..."

Inoue tried to force a smile in order to hide her worry and she silently left the room.

When he found himself alone again, he raised his chin and looked at the clear morning sky beyond the window.

The feeling of guilt was too strong to be able to forgive himself for losing control over losing Rukia. No matter what his feeling were, he will never put his family in danger again because of them. Therefore, It was decided: he will never see Rukia again. Never!

He slips his hands on his pocket and took out the ring with the Kuchiki seal on it: Rukia's engagement ring. The real one...

"She's getting married anyway..." he whispered to himself. "One more reason for our paths to not cross again"

A couple of moments later he got off the bed and slowly went downstairs. Apparently everybody was in the kitchen: Isshin, Karin, Yuzu, Inoue and Ishida. It was hard to face them so for a while he stood at the top of the stairs and listen to their conversations. This way he found out that Inoue and Ishida came back in order to have the wedding ceremony. That Ishida designed and sewed Inoue's white dress... and that Yuzu and Karin will be her bridesmaids.

"Does anybody wants to see the dress?" Inoue suddenly asked.

"But isn't bad luck to wear it before the wedding?" Yuzu asked.

"There's no such thing as bad luck!" Ishida cut in.

"Then should i bring it?... We left it in the car..." Inoue added.

No, he couldn't face them yet so he took a seat on the stairs and closed his eyes as he listened to their careless words. Then, at some point he heard someone ringing the door's bell. Taking by the weight of the steps, Isshin must have gone to get the door. But then he heard him stopping speechlessly in front of it . Curiously, Ichigo also got up and went downstairs to see what was happening.

"It's... Rukia" Isshin said and he appeared to turn pale.

Ichigo froze.

"And she's... pr..."

But he didn't wait for his father to finish his sentence and ran to the door with a ruthless and angry expression.

"Ichigo wait! Listen to me! She's..."

"Step aside!" Ichigo warned. "I'll handle this!" he added as he held the Kuchiki ring and opened the door. He was angry, exhausted and certain that he wanted to end this once for all. He was decided to look into her eyes for the last time. But then he saw a waving blue- purple dress and once more he feared his own feelings.

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When she arrived at Urahara shop, the ex-captain looked at her as if he was expecting her.

"I was wondering when you were going to appear." he said. "Last night has been quite tough, no wonder Ukitake sent you."

"Nobody sent me." she answered with a low voice and she showed him that she was not wearing her zanpakuto anymore. His eyes widened. " I no longer have any connection with the Soul Society... so no matter what happened last night if it's related to the shinigami world i have no longer the right to know about it as i no longer have the ways to protect it. "

Urahara looked at her as if he was able to read her mind and then he added:

"Your choice was related to your instable reiatsu?"

She just bow her head.

"It's just like his. Does he know yet?" he added.

This time she smiled.

"Urhara-san, i need your help"

"I know you do... but this time a gigai won't help you. You need a human body, just like Isshin."

He gave her once of those bodies in which she could have lived for years just like any other humans and with the thought that she was about to start a new life, she put on a blue-purple dress and walked all the way to the Kurosaki residence. She ring the bell and heard a pair of steps approaching. She hoped it was Ichigo. Then she heard those steps stopping. Her heart began to beat fast. Another pair of steps approached... and the door finally opened.

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When i opened the door, i thought that no one told me before how cunning a woman's heart can be and how i wished i never fell in love... I also thought of how beautiful she looked in that purple dress...and that she was going to marry someone else.

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When he opened the door i thought that now, for the first time in my life i will be home. I was thinking of him and truly meaning of the word "family"

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"Ichigo!" she hissed with her most brightful smile.

"Rukia..." he intoned with a toneless voice.

She frowned. Something was wrong. Was it because she wrote him in the note that she will be back soon and she returned to days later? Was he angry about that?

"I'm sorry it took so long..."

He didn't say anything.

"But now i'm back!" she added with an encouraging smile.

"Back?" he suddenly said with an cocked and distrustful eyebrow. "Back to get this... I suppose." he added and raised his hand showing her the Kuchiki engagement ring.

She froze. She looked inside the house and she saw Isshin behind him. He had a guilty expression on his face.

"Why?...Why didn't you gave me time as i asked you?" she whispered with a trembling voice as she looked into the eyes of the one she hoped would have been her father in law.

"Take back your ring, Rukia! Take it and go back to your husband!" Ichigo said coldly.

"Ichigo!" she whimed. "Please let me explain to you!"

"What is to explain? Aren't you engaged to Byakuya? Weren't you promised to him even when we were together?"

"Ichigo..." she whispered.

"Tell me! Can you deny it?!" he snapped.

"Ichigo... it's not how you think it is..."

"Can you deny it?" he asked this time on a calm and cold voice and she bowed her face.

"I came back, Ichigo... i came back because..."

"As i thought. You cannot deny it... so please, leave now."

"Ichigo, let her finish!" Isshin suddenly cut in with his eyes fixed on Rukia full of worry.

"Leave." Ichigo insisted.

"Ichigo... please listen..." she tried, but the same moment Inoue's voice filled the hallway as she came downstairs with Karin and Yuzu behind her.

"So what do you think?" she asked with a cheerful voice as she made a pirouette dressed in a white wedding dress. Everybody turned to her and Rukia's eyes widened shocked.

"Kuchiki-san!" Inoue suddenly said as she noticed her in the doorway.

"You're getting married..." Rukia stated with a voice of someone who had just woke up in a dream.

"You're not the only one to get marry, Rukia..." Ichigo added with the same cold voice.

Rukia starred for a couple of seconds at the beautiful white dress and then at the speechless expressions of Isshin, Yuzu and Karin.

"I understand..." she finally said and bowed her head for a moment as she was trying to clear her thoughts. She bit her lip and added:

"Congratulations..."

She took she ring from Ichigo's palm and after she added a mumbled 'if you'll all excuse me', she turned around and walked away trying hardly to not look back. Soon she heard Ichigo slamming the door and that sound hit her harder than any other enemy who tried to kill her before.

'Stupid! Don't look back! Don't look back!'

But she couldn't refrain and she looked back. She thought it would be for the last time. That's when she saw Isshin running toward her.

"Rukia!... Rukia, stop!"

And she stopped. She didn't know why, but she did. She never felt more embarrassed and she never made a fool out of herself as she did this morning. There was no reasonable argument for which she'd stay there any longer...and yet she didn't have the power to get away from that place. Therefore, she stopped and starred at the one man that could have been her father in law, running in her direction as she was the last train to catch.

"Rukia, please don't go like this! Ichigo is angry! A lot happened last night and partly is my mistake so please don't go like is! Come back and i will try to fix this for you. Let me talk to him."

Rukia looked at him with wide eyes, blinking at every three seconds as is she wasn't able to understand the language Isshin was using. She was recognizing the man in front of her, but his voice sounded so strange along with the entire place that was surrounding her.

"I wasn't even supposed to be here, wasn't i?" she mumbled with a strange voice as she looked around.

Isshin frowned worried and carefully approached her.

"Rukia are you alright?"

She suddenly turned to him with a forced smile.

"I broke the engagement, did you know? I wanted to tell you this, but i didn't want for Ichigo to know because since i was coming back anyway and there was no reason for him to be hurt like this. Of course i would have told him after a few decades when he would have been an old man and the baby, already a grown up. We would have stayed on the porch of our countryside house, after a peaceful afternoon when our child and the grandchildren would have visited us. I would have suddenly told him: "Honey, did you know that before we got married i was engaged to Byakuya Nii-sama?" He would have started to laugh. Perhaps i would have laughed too, but then i would have added: "It was because of Renji. Do you remember that he told me that were planning to ask Inoue to marry you? In fact you were planning to ask me, but of course i didn't know that so i thought that you didn't love me and i accepted Nii-sama's proposal." He would have looked at me with a straight face and i would have got a little worried and added: "But when it all cleared out i broke that engagement! And i also broke all the ties with the Kuchiki family along with shinigami's one... only so that i could be with you and raise our child!" He would have continued to stare at me with that poker face which would have made me really worried, but in the end he would have said something like: "Rukia, i never thought you were that sentimental... Really! To fake an engagement just to make me jealous?" And after a few moments he would have added: " And honey... Byakuya?! Come on, i would have expected Renji, but Byakuya?! Don't you ever give me creeps like that!" After that we would have spend peacefully the rest of the afternoon, here in the human world, waiting for the days when our grown up child would visit again..."

Isshin wasn't able to say anything after this. He turned and looked back at the house, as if he was still hoping that Ichigo will make his appearance any time now.

"You see, Isshin? This is how i was imagining things..." Rukia added.

"Still, Rukia you can't leave like this."

"I wish i could blame you, but you see i can't. I had a choice. I could have said 'no' to Byakuya back then. I could have, but i didn't!" she continued as if she didn't even heard Isshin.

"Rukia, come to your senses! You have to tell Ichigo about the baby!" Isshin raised his voice.

Her eyes suddenly widened as if she wasn't expecting that.

"H-h-how did you know... a-about the baby?" she mumbled.

Isshing gasped with a tired voice.

"Come on, let's go back and solve this together... as a family. I will talk to Ichigo first. I will tell him about the engagement misunderstanding and you will tell him about that baby, alright?"

"How did you know about the baby?" Rukia insisted. " I didn't tell anyone yet. Myself, i was not sure yet."

"Well, you can be now. I know about these things. I knew from the first moment I opened the door and i felt a fade reiatsu over you. It was slightly similar to yours and Ichigo's, but moreover it was a mixture of both."

Rukia's eyes widened.

"Is that so obvious?"

"Not for someone who didn't see this before... and i did. This child is born out of two shinigamis."

Rukia didn't say anything and Isshin frowned as he slightly leaned over her.

"What i can't sense though, is your own reiatsu."

Rukia avoided Isshin's eyes.

"It's gone, isn't it?" he asked bluntly. "Your zanpakuto. Is sealed, right?"

Rukia bit her lips.

"And you came here to live as a human... or as half-human, such as i am so you can raise the child."

"By my judgment, this is the right choice!" Rukia snapped.

"I never said it isn't, but it might not be if you walk away and don't let Ichigo know the reason you're doing all this."

"Ichigo doesn't want to talk to me! He doesn't!"

"He will after he finds out the baby."

Her eyes widened.

"Rukia, you are pregnant with Ichigo's child. There's no way he won't listen to you!"

"That's exactly why i don't want him to know. RIght now he hates me and i won't stand the thought of knowing that he stays with me only because of the child."

Isshin opened his mouth to say something, but this time he didn't appear to find the right words. Rukia took back a step, ready to leave.

"Moreover, he might really be happy with Inoue..." she added and completely turned around walking away.

"Inoue is getting married with Ishida..." Isshin said on a soft voice and Rukia stopped for a second. She didn't turn, but she added:

"Please, don't let him know about the baby... i don't want to complicate his life more than i already did."

Atfer that she continued on furthering away with Isshin looking behind her and Ichigo who remained on the other side of the entrance door, hardly abstaining himself to not open it and run after her.

"After she left and i slammed the door i once more thought of how beautiful she looked in the blue-purple dress and that no matter how much I'd try i could never hate her...But i couldn't be with her either."

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Thank you and don't forget to review. And also if any of you will offer to beta this story for me i would be more than grateful! See you next time :)!