Stay with Me


Chapter 6


The fact that they had been engaged since they were children did not ensure that things were ready, especially after Ichigo went to war and then the separation occurred. The only thing that was ready was the design of the dress, and that was because the queen had a lot of free time during the war and spent much of it planning the dress that Rukia would wear.

Rukia knew that the kidnapping was kept a secret, the hunters and anyone involved in it were paid not to say anything, and made to swear on their own lives that if they spoke, they would be immediately beheaded.

Rukia would become a princess and she didn't need any more rumors in her life.

The ball went as planned, more for appearances than for the sake of celebration, and Ichigo was there along with the other suitors. His ribs were sore and he had a slight limp when he walked from being beaten by Rukia's father, but he was there and didn't leave her alone for more than three minutes, making it clear to everyone that he was with her.

For several weeks they were tracking the rumors, but no one talked about the kidnapping, but about the wedding and how unusual it was that after the engagement ended, they were together again.

The kinder rumors said it was a love story that developed late, emphasizing that the distance made them realize how much they loved each other. The most aggressive rumors had it that she had bewitched the prince in some way they couldn't quite make out yet and that's why he had been after her until she agreed to be with him again. And the most infamous said that she was pregnant and that's why they were getting married.

Every time she went to the Palace of Roses, she could see how the other court girls turned their gaze to her belly, as if they expected there to be a baby in there but Rukia used to ignore them as much as she could.

It was one of those times when one of those girls had the nerve to talk about it in front of her as she headed towards the queen's room to talk about the wedding. Rukia always had her dose of patience with those girls, but it had already run out on her.

— The strategy worked for you, didn't it? — Asked a girl who seemed quite annoyed, and who Rukia could recognize as the girl from the garden. — I never would have imagined that the perfect "Miss" Kuchiki would have been able to sleep with the prince only to catch him after he dumped her. How did you manage to get into his bed? Was it at your house or the King's Palace? Does your father know the kind of person you are?

Rukia knew she could ignore her but she didn't want to let those words go unpunished, besides she was sick of that girl. The twin girls had told her that this girl had been after Ichigo ever since the king had said he would find him a wife, and that she would show up near where he was all the time.

The twin girls also corroborated Ichigo's version about the flowers, because one day before everything was ruined, he had asked their permission to cut some since they planted the dahlias.

— I think I heard wrong. Are you talking to me? — Rukia stopped in front of that girl, who was accompanied by two other girls. She was alone at the time. — Do you have any idea who you're talking to?

— You listened well. — The girl took a step towards her, ignoring the last question. — It's obvious that you...

The girl didn't finish speaking because the next thing that was heard in the hallway was the sound of a slap so hard that the girl ended up on her knees on the floor, with a hand on her face and an expression of surprise.

The girl couldn't believe what had happened.

— I'm not supposed to repeat this because we're all supposed to have been given the same upbringing, but I'll do it anyway. — Rukia smoothed out the skirt of her dress a bit, as if hitting that girl had wrinkled the fabric. — The next time you address me in this disrespectful manner again, I will have you thrown out of the Palace of Roses, is that clear?

The other two girls immediately lowered their heads and curtsied, and Rukia went from there to the queen's chambers to continue with the wedding preparations. There was at least a month to go before they gave her the first dress fitting and they were still making the lace that the skirt would wear.

That dress would be something they would talk about for weeks, in the queen's words, and from what Rukia had seen, it would be.


If Ichigo hated something about this whole situation, it was that Rukia refused to move back to live in the Palace of Roses and that made him have to go to the War Palace every time he wanted to see her.

Ichigo knew that it was part of his punishment for not having treated her well at the beginning and he had to put up with it, what he couldn't tolerate was having Hisana with them during visits, at meals and in whatever activity they were doing. Having Hisana around only meant one thing: he couldn't kiss Rukia.

He had kissed her many times since he had brought her home, but they were quick, short kisses, the sneaky kind when Hisana wasn't looking, but he wanted more.

He always ended up wanting more because Rukia left him with a sense of need that burned his soul.

The last time he had kissed her with all the pleasure of taking it slowly, was when they were on the horse the day of the kidnapping. It was also the first time he left a red mark on her shoulder as revenge for hitting him and the first time he heard her moan.

Rukia's little moan had caused him to have sleepless nights and fantasies that included Rukia in his bed, on top of him, and under him. It had never happened to him, until he heard Rukia moan in that way that he could only classify as "delicious".

— Has my mother already told you the date for the wedding? — Ichigo asked as they were having dinner that night, with Hisana at the same table as them.

— Yep. — Rukia moved her spoon to prevent him from stealing a potato cube from her with his fork. — It will be in three months, in autumn. The dress is almost ready and the invitations will be sent in two weeks.

— Three months?!

Ichigo stopped trying to steal food from Rukia, which had become a habit for them because she also did it with the excuse of "you don't like this, so I'll eat it". It was Rukia's way of telling him that he had to guess what she didn't like.

— And I wanted it to be in winter but I didn't want people to think that I was copying Princess Miyako.

Rukia seemed so calm as she spoke that Ichigo didn't know if she was joking to torture him or was serious. He had discovered a vengeful side to Rukia that, as bizarre as it was, he liked a lot.

— I can't resist that long. We will get married next week and you will go with me to the Palace. — Ichigo said, completely serious and determined not to wait any longer to marry her.

— Your Highness, you must follow the protocol and wait for the indicated time for that wedding to take place. — It reminded him of Hisana, who was there, silent and watching all the movements they made.

If Ichigo touched Rukia's hand for too long, Hisana would let him know.

— I don't care about protocol… Lady Hisana.

Ichigo was upset and impatient, and Rukia started laughing at that.

— We are getting married in three months. If I waited for months for you to return from the war, you can wait a little while for the wedding.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at her, reaching for his fork and stealing a potato from her before speaking.

— For now.

Rukia simply shook her head and stole a piece of meat from him.


Rukia wanted to get married, she wanted the big party and she wanted the bridal procession to leave the Palace of War to the Palace of the King, but the idea of getting married in a week was tempting.

She still remembered how warm Ichigo's hug was when they woke up in that cabin, before she realized the whole situation, and she wanted to feel it again. She also wanted to kiss him again because she liked the way he kissed her, as if he wanted to devour her in that kiss.

A part of her hoped that Ichigo wouldn't do something crazy again like the night of the kidnapping, but another part of her hoped that Ichigo would appear under her window and take her with him.

A week after that premature wedding threat, Rukia received a bouquet of white roses with a letter signed by Ichigo that said "open the window". The situation was implicit in that simple message, he was going to steal her for one night along with everything the night implied, but it all depended on whether she wanted to be stolen.

Rukia was thinking all afternoon about that invitation, but in the end she put on a pretty dress and opened the window. When Ichigo appeared under her window, she made sure no one saw her leave the house and rode off with him on the horse.

She was nervous and excited about what they were about to do, because she knew what would happen that night.

— You have to return me before dawn. — Rukia whispered, feeling Ichigo's strong grip on her belly as they rode.

— I will, but first...

Ichigo took the path to the town and came to the temple of the Deities where a soldier was waiting for them. This puzzled Rukia a bit because she didn't expect them to go to the temple at that time of night.

— What are we doing here?

— First we are going to get married. — The soldier helped her off the horse and then Ichigo got off. — It will be a legal and blessed marriage, secret... but blessed. If you're going to be my wife, it will be as it should be.

Rukia turned completely red at that statement and Ichigo grabbed her chin to make her look at him. She could see the determination in his eyes, willing to marry her before taking what she was voluntarily about to give him.

Her heart was pounding so hard that Rukia felt like it would jump out of her chest at any moment.

— Rukia... If you don't want, we can go back to the War Palace.

Rukia looked at Ichigo for a second before quickly agreeing to get married that night. Ichigo smiled and was about to kiss her, when the Priest came out and cleared his throat, causing them to quickly move away from each other.

— Everything is ready, your highness.

Ichigo nodded and took her hand as they walked into the temple together.

The place was empty and practically dark, only the candles lit at the feet of the Deities broke the gloom. Ichigo walked with her hand in hand until they were in front of the central statues and the Priest cleared his throat once more.

— Oh! True, this is missing. — Ichigo turned to see his subordinate, who handed him a white cloth that gave little sparkles in the candlelight, and a white ribbon. — You can't be a bride without this.

Rukia understood what Ichigo had in his hands and felt her eyes begin to fill with tears. She was excited by how stealthy and at the same time, how prepared their wedding would be.

Ichigo placed the veil on her head with shaking hands and the Priest tied their hands with the ribbon.

— Where did you get the veil? — Rukia asked in a whisper as the priest got ready to start the ceremony.

— Kaien and Miyako. — Ichigo whispered with a slight blush on his face. — They know about this.

Rukia felt ambushed, but she told herself that she would have a word with her brother-in-law and sister-in-law later.

The priest called their attention once more, they both made the sign of the Deities over the heart and the ceremony began. Rukia was nervous, but she was happy and if no one found out, no one would get hurt.

That night was their night.


Rukia felt that her nerves were going to kill her and that instead of a wedding, there would be a funeral. Those weren't the thoughts of a bride on the most important day of her life, but nerves had gripped her several days in advance and made her nauseated every morning.

She was a whirlwind of emotions, as she went from nausea to hunger and then back to nausea. She had even thrown up a few times from her nerves. Added to that, the scolding from Hisana, who was helping her get dressed inside the War Palace, was not helping her.

— Rukia, you shouldn't have eaten so much the last few weeks, the dress doesn't fit you.

Rukia didn't have time to reply to that scolding, instead she dashed off in search of a container in which she could empty what was in her stomach.

All the breakfast had been left at the bottom of the vase, which was the first thing she found.

— Rukia!

Hisana moved closer to her and began to rub her back to comfort her, although Rukia felt that a simple pat on her back would not help her face the day.

Rukia didn't know why she was so nervous. She and Ichigo were supposed to have already gotten married, they had spent their first night together and they had repeated it several times when Ichigo would sneak into her room.

It had been a secret wedding, but it was legitimately blessed by the Deities because they received the priest's blessing and their names were recorded in the marriage book. There was no reason for her to be so nervous.

Rukia kept her face close to the vase until the nausea subsided and her stomach felt better, and she washed her mouth until the bitter taste of vomit was gone from her tongue.

— Rukia, are you okay? Did you mess up the dress?

— I'm better now. I had never been so nervous. — Rukia checked her dress, afraid that she had ruined it because of her nerves, and was relieved to see that everything was fine. — It wasn't ruined, but I think it's going to fit me well now.

Rukia tried to laugh a little but Hisana was still worried, so much so that she didn't relax until Rukia assured her for the third time that everything was fine and that she was just nervous.


Ichigo was at the Deity temple within the Royal Palace grounds, dressed in all the Second Prince's honors and with Kaien at his side, waiting for Rukia so the ceremony could begin.

Kaien was happy and kept looking at Miyako, who had a very noticeable belly that showed her pregnancy and smiled while caressing it absently. Ichigo was certain that if it weren't for Kaien being his best man, he would be sitting with Miyako fulfilling her every pregnant whim.

Ichigo wondered if Rukia would be too demanding when she was pregnant and for a moment lost himself in that thought. They were still some time away from having children, but he liked the idea more than he wanted to admit.

— I think she's already here. — Kaien's voice made Ichigo stop thinking about pregnant Rukia and focus on the bustle outside the temple, which had filled up and he hadn't noticed. — Congratulations on your wedding, little brother. And you know, break her heart and I'm going to break your legs.

— I love you too Kaien.

Kaien laughed and patted him on the back before everyone took their place so the ceremony could begin.

Ichigo smirked as he watched Rukia slowly walk down the aisle to the altar on Lord Kuchiki's arm. She looked incredibly enchanting, like the moon goddess from tales or like the most beautiful vision any mortal could experience before ascending to the paradise of the Deities.

The dress was beautiful, but the veil was much more so. He had seen it when Miyako gave it to him the night he secretly married Rukia, but he hadn't been able to appreciate it the way he was now.

Ichigo was completely in love with Rukia, and was completely lost in the vision of his wife until the Priest cleared his throat to get his attention so he could say the vows and promises. He didn't know when the entire ceremony had taken place, but he took the ring and placed it on Rukia's ring finger as he recited those words he had learned for that day, ending with something that was entirely his own.

— I will love you until the end of my days, in this life and in all that come.

Rukia had a beautiful blush on her cheeks that didn't disappear either when she said her vows and promises, or when they finally kissed in front of the altar and the guests.

— Until the end of my days, in this life and in those that follow. — Rukia whispered after breaking the kiss, and Ichigo kissed her again.

Ichigo felt like the luckiest man in the world because Rukia had chosen him, given him a chance and stayed with him.

He was grateful to the Deities for that and he swore in front of them, silently, that he would never make her cry again. He would make up for all the damage he did to her and dedicate his life to making her happy because she deserved that and more.

The End.


Ichigo went from "I don't want to marry her" to "we got married in secret".

I hope you liked this story and its ending.

See you later!