Happy Birthday Tuli-chan~! I really hope you enjoy this part of the story. ;)
Wedding of Hearts and Worlds
Byakuya slowly knelt down onto a single knee, bowing his head for a moment as he presented a small box. On the inside, was a beautiful silver ring with tiny white gems along the band, and a single round diamond in the center. As the moon shined down from above, the jewel itself almost reflected it to the point of looking like a mirror to the pale orb in the sky. Then, as he slow tilted his head back up to gaze at the utterly stunned expression of Tomoyo, he said the few words he was wanting to say since they met.
"Will you marry me?"
Immediately following this, Tomoyo herself smiled widely with tears of happiness. "Yes~!" she called out, dropping to her knees and just hugging Byakuya tightly.
Said man accepted her hug with his own, to which he then brought Tomoyo into a kiss. The pair just embracing one another joyfully, not wishing to separate at all as they drifted off into their own world. At the same time, Amaterasu watched all this in silence together with Yuuko. Though, the dual ruler of Nihon seemed somewhat concerned, her eyes shifting down in deep thought.
"Not to worry, your Highness." the witch began as she slowly began heading to the side of the vast garden this scene was taking place.
"We'll make sure the wedding is one to remember." Yuuko continued with a small smile, offering a quick wink toward the other woman.
Whom followed after her as the pair headed back inside Nihon's castle; "I know we will...but it certainly won't be easy. Not to mention, there are people whom will likely view this as a chance to assassinate her." Amaterasu stated silently as they walked together through the halls.
"So it not only needs to be the perfect wedding, we also need to keep everyone safe." she added, turning toward Yuuko as if asking for the witch's help without actually saying it.
Though the woman was quiet for a moment, she offered a slow nod in response. "I suppose we'll see how things play out." Yuuko whispered mysteriously, almost as though she were saying this to herself.
"In the meantime, you should focus on the wedding. As there will be much to plan and do." she hummed in a teasing manner, giving a quick wink.
Amaterasu sighed briefly from this, yet she nodded her head in response. "True...and knowing Tomoyo, she'll be a perfectionist toward all the decorations." she stated with a sigh and sweat drop.
Despite saying this however, the woman had no idea how right her guess would truly be. As, just a few days into the planning process, Tomoyo was bringing in droves of people for the decorations. Yet even this wasn't enough, as she herself also got involved by making her own ornaments and trinkets. And since the wedding would be taking place in the same garden in which Byakuya proposed, there would need to be a lot of decorations to fill the space.
But while Tomoyo was hyper focused on her duties in organizing the wedding, Amaterasu was taken aback by the fact that Byakuya was even more intent. Him being in charge of obtaining everything that would be needed, including meals for everyone, and even the seats for their guests. Unlike his soon-to-be wife however, the man was only able to help through buying or paying someone else. Though, the sheer number and quality of things he bought was almost overwhelming. Byakuya being determined to spare no expense for this wedding, even if it bankrupted his whole family.
"You don't think this is a bit...much?" Ichigo questioned with a sweat drop as he looked to the dozens of individuals rushing around the gardens with tables and chairs.
Each of which were made from the finest woods, and held cushions stitched from the softest fabrics possible. Everything looking like it was too fancy, even if it was the wedding for the ruler of the world. As the man turned toward the orange-haired teen, Byakuya simply huffed in response. "Not at all." was all he responded with.
"Right..." Ichigo sighed out while shrugging briefly; "...anyway, why did you call me here again?"
Byakuya looked to the teen once more, almost appearing as though he forgot the reason. However, he gave a nod of his head and glancing to the side, where a large ritual alter was being set up. "I want you to help in constructing that." he claimed in a firm tone.
The young man blinked to this a few times, noticing that Renji was also helping to put the alter together. "Um...sure, I guess." Ichigo uttered out, feeling a bit confused of why Byakuya would ask Yuuko to bring him here for such a reason.
As the orange-haired teen began assisting with this construction, he butted heads with Renji many times. The two disagreeing about the order in which things should be put together, yet they were quickly silenced as fists hit the backs of their heads. "Idiots! Nii-sama wants it put up by the end of the night! So stop your fighting and get back to it!" Rukia declared in a huff, crossing her arms.
With this, the pair quickly returned to work, despite their grumbling about how the other was at fault. Halfway through though, Rukia noticed her brother heading to the side to check on other preparations. Taking this opportunity, she pulled both Ichigo and Renji to the side. "Don't talk too loudly." she started, in a low whisper.
"I have a message from Tomoyo-Onee-sama." she continued, briefly looking over her shoulder.
"She wants you both to serve as Nii-sama's groomsmen, alongside Kurogane-dono. He brought you both here to ask, but Tomoyo-Onee-sama figured he would be too proud to do so. So she's requesting it on his behalf." Rukia finished, glancing around quickly to avoid possibly being heard or noticed.
The two men just stared at her for a moment before turning to each other and then back to the petite woman. "Are you sure he'll let us?" Renji asked in a worried tone.
"Yeah...I get the feeling he'll immediately try to push us away the moment he'd see us." Ichigo added while sweat dropping heavily, likely from the mental image of this.
"I know Nii-sama might not appreciate it at first, but I'm sure he'll be really grateful afterwards." Rukia stated with a somewhat hopeful expression.
"Plus, it's a request from Tomoyo-Onee-sama." she claimed, to which the two simply gave a slow nod of their heads.
"Yeah...and I think Byakuya would be more upset with us if we refused a request from her, than he would if we didn't listen to him." Ichigo concluded, shrugging his shoulders as a sheepish smile curled his lips.
Renji blinked a few times, his eyes shifted downward in thought before also nodding his head in response. "You're right." he stated with a smile of his own.
As the two turned to Rukia in clear agreement, all three jumped briefly in fright as they heard Byakuya's voice from the side. "What are all of you doing?" he questioned in a firm tone.
"Working!" was all the two men called out before returning back to putting up the alter.
At the same time, Rukia offered a bow to her brother, whom raised a curious brow to his younger sibling. As the day went on however, the preparations were slowly coming together. The date of the wedding being in one week, yet it already looked as though it could be the very next day. Each decoration Tomoyo wanted was in place, all the seats and tables were set up. All that was needed, were the kimonos for both the men and women.
For Tomoyo's outfit, she enlisted the help and opinions of multiple other women. Amaterasu, Sooma, Rukia, Unohana, and even Yuuko, had all shown up to help her pick out the perfect shiromuku. Midway through their search though, they all paused while looking to Tomoyo wearing the third kimono she tried on. "This is hopeless." Amaterasu muttered out, lowering her head in a sigh.
"It truly is." Yuuko added with a nod in agreement.
"She's..." Rukia began before groaning loudly.
"...just too pure for any shade of white!" Sooma finished while pouting.
As Amaterasu and Yuuko nodded in agreement, Unohana just blinked a few times in response. Her gaze then shifting toward a confused Tomoyo as she had her head tilted cutely to the side. Letting out a sigh, Unohana then came up to the young woman and offered a soft smile. "Here, let me help you pick something out." she suggested, to which Tomoyo smiled in response and nodded.
"Thank you." she said happily, yet nervously as she truly wanted the perfect shiromuku.
For Byakuya's kimono on the other hand, he attempted to just go by himself, yet a few of the other male Captains came along. Both Kyoraku and Ukitake being the main ones leading the shopping trip, as they were the most excited for the man. While Toshiro simply hung back to Byakuya himself, both of them shared a shrug while watching and listening to the two men talk about what color would be best.
Upon hearing about Byakuya's marriage, Kyoraku and Ukitake had taken it upon themselves to try and set everything up. Them even attempting to throw a bachelor party for him a while back...
Byakuya's eye twitched a bit in seeing a large party with all manner of people inside his mansion, uninvited. "Bankai." he muttered just before the area was filled with sakura petals.
...it didn't go very well. Thankfully, now that they were in a public place, it was less likely that he would be wanting to cut them.
Despite it still being something Byakuya was considering, he just let the two keep pulling him along in their excitement. All the while, Toshiro just sighed heavily along with Byakuya himself. "Shall we leave without them?" the white-haired captain suggested, earning a nod in agreement from the larger man.
With a swift moment, they headed off on their own way to find the right kimono for Byakuya's big day.
Which almost seemed to come too soon, as people began to gather in the garden. But while there was talk and conversation at first, everyone practically held their breaths in anticipation once the ceremony actually began. All eyes locking onto Byakuya, whom arrived in a dark blue wedding kimono but with his Kuchiki haori over it, as well as the usual kenseikan on his head. While his features remained stoic and unmoving, there was the ever so faint curl of his lips that formed a perpetual smile.
There were few in the crowd who noticed this, but only one of them had plans to tease him about it later. Yoruichi herself just grinned widely as she gazed to the man proudly; "Looks like Byakuyago is all grown up." she hummed softly, wiping away a tear from her eye.
As the man stepped up onto the ritual alter, he turned to notice Ichigo and Renji standing near of Kurogane, all of them wearing similar kimonos as him. Though his eyes narrowed a bit on the pair, his gaze eventually met Rukia's on the other side. Her just offering a nod and soft smile, to which Byakuya merely returned her nod in acceptance. Him receiving similar expressions from the other two bridesmaids; Amaterasu and Tomoyo's best friend Sakura.
But in that moment, as if the whole world went quiet, everyone immediately turned around.
There, standing with a radiance that could never be matched, was a happily smiling Tomoyo. Her wearing a white shiromuku, but with a series of purple crescent moons along the lower half, representing her status as Tsukuyomi. Though, despite the beauty of this outfit, it was Tomoyo herself that made everyone silent as they just watched her approach Byakuya. Said man simply staring dumbfounded, his demeanor utterly shattering as he watched his soon-to-be wife come up beside him.
Once the couple locked eyes however, they didn't ever look away. Even when they began the ritual, they continued to share this gaze. Even when assassins showed up, they continued on through the ensuing fight as Ichigo, Renji and Kurogane defeated them. Even when a group of Hollows appeared because of the connection between the two worlds, they just continued.
Regardless of the danger, regardless of whatever came their way. Both Byakuya and Tomoyo remained entranced with one another, not even noticing or realizing the things going on around them. All else fading away, as there was only each other.
But as the ritual came to an end, the pair shared their first of many loving kisses as a married couple. This receiving a great applause from the entire crowd, despite some of them being injured or with somewhat torn clothes. With that though, Byakuya and Tomoyo began walking back down the isle, still lost in their gaze.
As they walked, they didn't even see the large monster appear in their path. It being attracted by all the commotion going on, yet just when it was about to attack, it was swiftly sent flying away from the pair. Though Amaterasu was ready to rush in to take care of it, she couldn't help but blink a few times to the large man that was Kenpachi. Said Captain being the one to handle the creature, to which she looked him over briefly. "Interesting." she uttered out silently before turning back to her sister and Byakuya.
Both of whom finally looked away from each other to gaze around to everyone still clapping, to which they offered a thankful wave to them.
"And they lived happily ever after." Yuuko hummed out, a mysterious smile on her features.
"But it's hardly the end." she added with a wink and soft chuckle.
And there it is, the happy couple are finally married. I was thinking of doing some hijinks and such, but I felt like it was okay without any. Though, they likely would have centered around the shopping part to be fair. XD Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this one Tuli-chan~. And if you have any requests for what the next one could be, let me know. ;)