And Then There was Silence...

Kaien stood up and smiled. He looked around at the crowd of people he did not know. "Ichigo." Kaien grinned even wider. "The first time I met you, my thoughts were, Damn! He is a handsome young man!" The crowd chuckled. "And that orange ..hahehair! Whats up with that?!" Guest cackled loud and kaien took a breath. "But, I have learned a lot about this young man. In my time of sickness, he was caring enough to bring me some wonderful reading material." The crowd of people awed and Ichigo smiled. "He is a great friend...and i am grateful to have met him." Kaien looked over at Ichigo and winked before taking his seat.

The next person to speak was Byakuya. As he stood, all the chitter chatter stopped. Some folks even gasped when he stood up and looked at Ichigo. The entire room held their breaths.

"Ichigo, I thank you for inviting my clan to your party." Ichigo nodded in acknowledgement. "Your father actually asked me to say a few words in your honor, I had to do a lot of thinking to find something good to say about you." Ichigo chuckled lightly. "Instead of saying a few words to praise you, Im going to tell the people of Karakura Town a story about you." The corner of his mouth pulled up in a smirk. "About ten years ago the Kuchiki Clan and the Kurosaki Clan sat down for a dinner. Little Ichigo had just turned Eight. Queen Masaki asked Ichigo to refill my wine glass. He walked up to me hold his cup of juice and said to me, may I be given the honor to refill your glass? I nodded and watched the young boy try to hold his juice in one hand and pour my wine with his other. Long story short, minus all the anger. He spilled his juice on my white scarf." Laughs were heard and Ichigo covered his face in embarrassment. "He apologized and said 'Please don't hate my dad or mom'. It was rather strange to hear him say such words, when I asked what made him think i would, he replied. 'I dont want my mistakes to hurt them'." Byakuya looked directly at Ichigo. "You clearly love your family and friends, and its obvious you are willing to do anything and everything you can to help them in any way possible. Dont forget about you." Byakuya sat down and took a sip of his wine. Everyone applauded.

Isshin stood up. "Thank you Noble Kuchiki for your kind words. Now we will heard from the guest of honor himself." Isshin patted Ichigo on the back and took a seat beside his son.

Ichigo stood up at looked around at the smiling faces. "Um..Thank you all for your kind words. Um.. I'm sorry I spilled juice on your scarf Byakuya." He smiled then looked down at his plate of food. "Um.. I really want to thank you all for coming..it means a lot to me." Ichigo looked at everyone and bit his lip. "Um.. I didn't really have anything planned out..I was just going to say thanks and sit back down. But uh.. everyone said a lot of nice things...and it really got me thinking." Ichigo looked up and his eyes fixed on nel and grimmjow who were pointing at rukia with their eyes and fingers. Ichigo looked at Rukia who was staring up at him with curiosity. He glanced at his father who was smiling wide and talking to his future daughter-in-law.

Ichigo's heart began to race and he suddenly felt hot in his clothes. He swallowed and looked down again. His mind was racing around a track as several thoughts piled in. Ichigo scratched the back of his head.

"Um..when I was little, my mom would always say one day I would find the perfect wife." Ichigo looked down at Orihime and grabbed her hand. "She said we would be like the black sun and the white moon. We would be meant for each other. She promised this girl would stop the rain in heart." Orihime squeezed Ichigos hand and people awed. "I hope you all can understand that love is a powerful emotion and when you love someone you will do anything to be with them."

Ichigo looked at Orihime then at Rukia. He opened his mouth to continue, but stopped. Is this what he really wanted to do? Was he ready to face the consequences that followed the words that were about to pour from his mouth? He looked at his dad. He didn't want to embarrass him or Rukia.

Ichigo inhaled deep and exhaled to calm his nerves. His hand was shaking but Orihime did not notice. She was caught up in the moment of Ichigos speech.

"That being said...I have say.." He looked at Orihime and placed his other hand over hers. "I can't marry you Orihime." He gently grabbed the ring upon her finger and slid it off. "I'm sorry."

And Then There was Silence. everyone's jaw dropped. Eyes bulged out. No one could believe their ears. The silence made Ichigo want to shit bricks sideways! He wanted someone to say something!

When the ring was completely off Orihimes finger he held it tightly and released her hand. Her eyes swelled up with tears and she turned red. With a shaky hand sh reached out and took one drink to finish her whole wine glass. She stood up with a heaving chest. Her eyes pulled together as she glared at Ichigo.

"I'm sorry Orihime." Ichigo said again.

She looked into the towns' people's' eyes. Slowly she reached over and wrapped her hand around Ichigo's wine glass, brought it to her lips and gulped it down. Then she placed the cup down and looked directly at Ichigo.

SLAP!

"How dare you!" She shouted.

SLAP!

"Your not doing this." She said.

Ichigo grabbed her shoulders. "I dont love you."

"How dare you make me feel like a fool!" She whispered angrily. "Infront of the whole town!" Her face burned red and her jaw set. She turned around out of his grip to look at Karin who was sitting beside her. She grabbed a cup of water and turned back to Ichigo.

She looked at the water before chucking it into Ichigos face.

Everyone remained silent.

Orihime looked into the crowd before pushing past Ichigo and running out of the room.

Ichigo looked at his father who was red from ear to ear.

"Dad I-"

"Why Ichigo..why would you do that?"

"I can't marry a woman like her. We have nothing in common!" Ichigo cried. "I dont even like her."

Isshin looked at the guest who could obviously hear their conversation.

"A king needs a queen. What are you going to do without one." Isshin said through his teeth.

"I will find one..but it wont be her. You never ask what I want or how I feel! You only do what ou think is best!" Ichigo pinched the bridge of his nose. "Its fucking insane! How the fuck am I supposed to be 'me' if you make every decision for me?!"

Isshin had no words. He knew his son was right. Isshin looked at his son, he didnt realize how fast he had grown up. He did not need him to make his decisions anymore.

"Dad, I cant marry her."

Isshin nodded. "Then who?"

Ichigo looked at Rukia then back to his dad. Isshin did the same.

"Her?" He whispered.

Ichigo nodded and smiled.

Isshin loved Ichigo. That was his son. His little boy. He mentally kicked himself for acting like an asshole to him the past few weeks. He returned back to Ichigo's hopeful look. He needed to be a father and stand by his son.

"Okay." He said.

Ichigo smiled and released a breath he didnt even realize he was holding in. He looked at Rukia and opened his mouth to speak...

Authors Notes

Dun dun dun! Hello my lovelies! Thank you for all your support and reviews! It means so much! I hope you all are liking what i have written :) Please dont be afraid to review, this story is almost over D: but i thank you all for your support:D Love you lots!