Proposal

"If you must die, I'll envy even the earth that wraps your body."–Albert Camus

It was snowing.

In the Human World, it would have been…December? At least, that's what Ran called it at lunch the other day. Momo never really gave it much thought until she brought it up, but it was true. She couldn't ever remember anything from her previous life as a living, breathing human.

Not even the feel of snow.

Despite having no memory of it, Momo somehow knew that she had loved the snow then just as much as she loves it now. There was something special about it, so noble and serene, so delicate yet freezing cold to the touch—it reminded her of a certain someone.

Looking up at the darkened sky, she smiled. He had surely grown into a fine man, all the female trainees fawning over dear Captain Hitsugaya was more than enough proof of that. He had gotten much taller, his build beautifully maturing along with his incredible power and unshakable mind.

Her chest swelled up in curious ways each time he made time to see her. It could be during training, or showing up unannounced at lunch. It didn't actually matter, so long as he kept making up those silly excuses just to come by and see her.

He had always been different from the rest of them, perhaps even royal in a way. Toshiro had always been kind enough to reassured her that, no matter how much of the sky he would manage to conquer, she would always have a place next to him. She would always be welcomed in his world of ice and stillness, and nobody else in the entirety of the world would ever replace her, that was how she had always felt around him.

A single snowflake fell on her reddened cheek, swiftly melting into water and caressing her skin all the way until it finally merged with the frozen ground.

"You're gonna get sick, you know."

Momo closed her eyes and gently touched the remaining drops of moisture lingering on her face. She giggled. How very predictable of him.

Not a full second passed before she heard his blanket fall to the wooden floor, his steps slowly getting closer to where she was sitting.

"Come back to bed, Momo."

There he was, eyeing her with his signature curiosity and that something she was still afraid to name, even after all this time.

"Is that an order, Captain Hitsugaya?" She teased, looking up at him. He suddenly blushed and Momo once again failed to understand how that had still been possible, considering they finished making love no longer than half an hour ago.

"Don't call me that!"

Quickly fixing his composure, he sighed. Giving in, Toshiro sat down behind her and tenderly wrapped his long arms around her delicate torso. With a gentleness allowed only for her, he placed his chin on top of her head, taking in the sweet scent of her chocolate-brown hair. She welcomed his embrace by closing the distance between their bodies even further, now fully captivated by his tenderness.

"What are you thinking about?" Toshiro asked, as if sensing she had started needlessly overthinking again.

"Besides the way your fangirls will react when they see you at training tomorrow? Nothing much, really." She teased again, nuzzling up against his muscular chest, tracing over a rather noticeable love bite. She heard him lazily snort into her hair, pulling her closer to shield her from the cold.

"You always seem to be preoccupied with the silliest of things—"

Momo felt a strange yearning explode inside of her heart, the kind that feels like flying.

"It's always been you, Shiro. Only you."

She said, voice maybe above a whisper. Momo raised her head to fully take in the depth of his bright turquoise eyes. They looked as if they possessed a light of their own, intricate hues of green and blue dancing against the paleness of winter.

He was just so beautiful.

Taken aback by her unexpected confession, Toshiro looked at her, his pale eyes softening with indescribable warmth. He gently lowered his head and took her lips with his own as he had done numerous times before, except each and every time felt just like the first, with trembling breaths and unspoken promises understood only by the two of them.

Toshiro had somewhat gotten used to this new pace between them, but there were times when Momo would manage to catch him off guard with her piercing eyes and her unwavering words, just as she had done tonight.

It all started about six months ago, when everyone gathered to celebrate something he couldn't be bothered to remember. Much to his disapproval, alcohol was present that night (Rangiku had wickedly arranged it behind his back), and everyone became too loud and obnoxious for his liking.

It had been just another typical night, watching all the mighty Captains and Lieutenants embarrass themselves without a care in the world. All until Momo showed up, with her cascading hair (way longer than he remembered), her dazzling eyes, her pretty full lips and contagious smile. Damn it.

Their relationship had been repaired long ago, hell, they were full on adults now and he was proud to say he had become as tall as Renji now. It had only been…a bit awkward between them. And with each stolen glance, Toshiro had become painfully aware he managed to outgrow everything but his childhood crush for Momo.

She had become achingly beautiful. By far the most beautiful woman he ever laid eyes upon. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one to notice, as Momo started receiving infuriating gifts and shameless offers from (too) many soldiers.

It happened that night too, the very moment she entered the room. All kinds of eyes fell on her petite form, drunken men gawking at her innocence.

Something snapped inside of him then, forcing him to rush to the entrance, take Momo by the hand and just get her the hell away from all those lascivious stares.

They somehow ended up in his quarters and what started out as a timid conversation, lead to a wholesome, heartwarming, tear-jerking rekindling, to a kiss, followed by something neither of them had ever expected. Something he had always wanted.

Something more.

That was the first time they slept together. It didn't take long before it became an often occurrence, until it became a daily occurrence, until everyone basically caught on to what was going on.

Tonight was no different. Momo visited him during training earlier in the day, and while he had far more important things to worry about than a bunch of silly teenagers fighting for his attention, Momo's behavior surprised him.

She had kissed him, right there and then. In front of his Squad Members. In front of everybody. And then just…left.

Toshiro remembered seeing a very annoying smirk splattered all over Rangiku's face, as if she knew something he didn't. He remembered being particularly displeased by the quiet gossiping, too. There was no place for drama in Hitsugaya's Squad. Have they never seen two people kiss before? Was he working them too hard, or were they just lame? Ridiculous.

He wasn't mad, and it wasn't like it was much of a secret anyway. Discretion hadn't exactly been a top priority for him and Momo. And Toshiro had been teased about his soft spot for the charming brunette for as long as he could remember. It was bound to happen eventually.

He was just curious as to what pushed her to react in such a way, it wasn't like Momo to be so bold. It intrigued him.

It was around 9PM when he opened the door to find her standing there, puffy eyes and reddened cheeks. She looked absolutely adorable.

His earlier curiosity had been quickly replaced by a feeling rather unfamiliar. Jealous? Momo? Momo, as in the one and only girl he had ever looked at, the one and only person for whom he would die for. It was selfish, he knew, but it made him extremely...happy. Because now she understood how he had felt for his entire life, almost.

(And he now knew exactly what to say to have her all flustered and red for him.)

Jealousy brought along possessiveness, amongst other things, and Toshiro very much enjoyed seeing Momo hot and bothered because of him. It didn't take too long before they found themselves tangled between sheets.

Now, in the aftermath of it all, he had woken to an entranced Momo, with her eyes glistening, as if making out the individual shape of each and every snowflake that deserted the sky. She teased him, he blushed and then he heard her say something that made his entire being tremble with emotion. Now that he thought about it, he had never told her, had he? How for him there was only her, too.

"I love you."

Momo chuckled, lazily raising a hand to tame a white strand of his hair.

"I know. You know what else I know, Shiro? That tomorrow we're gonna go to The Human Realm. I want some chocolate," she smiled, but then her eyes started watering.

Was that melted snow, or...?

"And I love you," she confessed.

They kissed again, slow and painful, conveying everything words could never be enough to express. How could so much love be trapped in a single kiss?

"Marry me, then."

"W-what?" He had startled her, and she watched him cautiously. Momo didn't take too kindly to those kinds of jokes.

"Don't give me that face, you heard me. But that's right, I just remembered something. I don't need to ask for your permission, it's already decided. We're getting married whether you want to or not."

"Well, since it's an order and all, who am I to defy you?"

"Oh shut it."

It was snowing. It was freezing cold outside, but for the very first time in his life, Toshiro felt spring take over his spirit.

It was warm.

It had never been that warm before. An overwhelming feeling stole control of his senses and before he could fully register what just happened, he felt something brush against his cheeks.

"Don't cry in front of your subordinates, Captain. They may get ahead of themselves and start thinking you actually have a soft side." She spoke, wrapping delicate arms around his neck.

He couldn't wait a second longer, and swiftly took her body into his arms. He carried her to the bed and placed himself above, his forehead resting on hers while pristine blue pierced through autumnal amber.

His breath was shallow and hers was too. The tension between them was almost palpable, the air filled with a visceral need for nothing else but each other.

"As your wife, do I get to give out orders too, Captain?" Momo whispered, a familiar pressure building in the lower part of her abdomen.

"Anything you want."

"Make love to me, Toshiro."

And he had, in fact he may even go as far as to say he not only made love to Momo, but he fucked her aswell. And she had begged and whimpered and moaned into his greedy touch, giving herself to him over and over and over again.

They gave into each other all night, touched and kissed and licked and pushed and moved and cried together and nothing but the snow stood witness to the magnitude of a love between a man and a woman.

Morning came to find Toshiro outside, with his shirt lazily opened and eyes fixated on the sun.

"Captain, Captain! I'm terribly sorry to bother you at such an early hour but we have a situation, sir! Lieutenant Hinamori is missing, nobody has seen her ever since the incident at your training grounds, sir!"

Well that was a bit unusual. Nobody really dared to disturb his privacy.

"And what incident might you be referring to?" He lazily retorted.

"W-w-well I-uhm. T-the reports s-say that Lieutenant Hinamori k-k-kissed you, s-sir. I'm so sorry for my imprudence, you may punish me however you see fit, sir!"

"The reports say that, huh."

Toshiro spared him a glance before nonchalantly moving his eyes back to sky again.

"Mrs. Hitsugaya is not missing, she's merely asleep. Tell Rangiku to keep her nose out of my business. Now, I do believe my fiancée is feeling rather lonely all by herself, so I am going to go and change that. Make sure you write that down in your report. Don't bother me unless you have something of actual importance to say to me."

"Y-yes, sir! Forgive me, sir! I wish to congratulate you on the wonderful news! We have all been waiting—"

"I said you are dismissed!"

After the poor soldier ran away, he exhaled and lazily ran a hand through his silver hair. All of a sudden, an uncontainable laughter overtook him. Had all of his dreams really become a reality? Does that actually happen? For someone like him...Momo had always been a dream.

Glancing back at her sleeping form, a gentle smile appeared on his lips.

He would never let her regret it.

hi!

so i love these two to pieces. i've decided to mark this as on-going, since i plan on developing a some sort of drabble story, depicting them in different scenarios. the chapters won't necessarily have any relevant links between each other, but those that will will be marked as such so don't worry.

review?