Ichigo x Rukia, part 2.

The 13 court squads were alive with the hussle and bussle of preparations for the wedding. It had been an age since the seireitei had a wedding and even longer since that wedding was between two captains. Both the Shiba clan and the Kuchiki clan were just as active with preparations for what is to come. The Shibas had been tasked with the fireworks and celebrations for before, during and after the ceremony. The Kuchiki clan had funded the entire event and had even prepared the food and decor present for the wedding itself. The two to be wed however were separated as is normal human custom but also in shinigami custom. Due to both of them coming from noble houses, (Ichigo was technically a noble since his father was a part of the Shiba clan.) the pair of Rukia and Ichigo had to be separated for over a week until the wedding would occur. Dressed in a traditional dark wedding kimono, Ichigo wears his haori over his shoulders without his arms through the sleeves as his hair is tended to by his close friend Uryu.

"I never thought I'd see the day where you asked me of all people to fix your hair Kurosaki." Uryu comments in his typical snide fashion, pushing his glasses up his face with his middle finger. "Then again. I don't know why you were so adamant about it earlier."

"Because you made me look like my insane father Ishida. That's why." Ichigo grumbles, though remains still as Uryu continues trimming the unkempt hair of the new captain.

"You could at least give me a thank you. Orihime cuts hair about as well as she cooks. Last time she gave me a haircut I had to shave off all my hair." Uryu complains. "I'm surprised you haven't said anything about me joining the gotei 13."

"Why should I? You're in my division after all. Shunsui and the central 46 had discovered that it'd be best if we try to make amends for what the former soul reapers had done to the quincies. Besides you're kinda the only one left aside from your dad so the amount of hollows you kill wouldn't affect anything in the grand scheme of things." Ichigo responds with his typical stupid grin on his face.

"If you're trying to make me feel better about taking orders from you, Strawberry, then you're not helping." The quin-igami responds deadpanning at his friend. "Inoue and I have been married for close to 65 years now though I guess time means a lot less now that we're in the soul society."

"Rukia and I dated for 65 years because of her brother's decision to have us wait to be wed until I finish my time in the human world. We agreed that would be when I turn 80 and since my soul chain was severed by Urahara I don't age outside of my formerly human body so Urahara made me a gigai that didn't age like my soul form. You know what I did with that old thing?" Ichigo responds, causing Ishida to arch an eyebrow.

"What?"

"I gave my old body to Kon so he can live his own life. I just told him don't do anything illegal and he should be fine. Figured it was the least I could do since he was in the body of that stuffed bear for almost 7 decades." Uryu scoffs when hearing this from Ichigo.

"You gave that perverted mod soul a body of his own and then left. Are you out of your mind?! He's a pervert."

"He and I had a long talk beforehand and he promised that nothing of the sort would happen. Besides, I still have a way to spy on him." Ichigo comments while holding up his former substitute shinigami badge. "He has a necklace version of this that I can monitor what he's doing with, that way I don't have to worry about getting arrested by any humans in my gigai if Kon does do something illegal. Which I doubt he would."

"I hope I can trust your judgment on this one, now you owe me big time. I spent a lot of time working on Rukia's dress for today." Uryu scoffs before Ichigo hands him a fist full of cash, the Quincy man stares at it for a brief moment before counting it.

"Don't say I never gave you anything. Now quit your whining and let's get ready, you're the best man you know, or have you forgotten?" Uryu's snarky remark ears the eire from Ichigo's eye, however before the new captain can hit him, Uryu is gone and had left the new captain by himself.

"I take it you're nervous?" The voice of the eyepatch sporting head captain greets as he enters the squad 5 barracks where Ichigo is getting ready for the wedding. "If it makes you feel any better, every man in the seireitei was nervous before their own weddings."

"This coming from Gotei's immortal bachelor?" Ichigo smirks seeing his old friend. "But yeah, I'm very nervous. What if Byakuya tries to interject?"

"I'm not even going to be asking that, besides you and I both know how that fight would end. The elder Kuchiki face down in the dirt and the both of you even more lacerated than the documents we send through the paper shredders." The old captain chuckles before taking a seat next to the newly appointed captain. "I brought you a wedding gift, oh and there's another thing that I need to tell you about before we head to the ceremony."

"You didn't have to get me a gift." Ichigo comments but all the same raises an eyebrow at the older captain as he produces an elegant bottle of Sake from within his robes. "Jeez this thing looks more expensive than my entire barracks. How did you get this?"

"I have some connections, and it's tradition for married captains to be given a bottle of sake by the head captain. That particular bottle has been aged for five hundred years. I would know, I helped make it." He laughs to himself. "On to the topic at hand, your wedding will have two portions, the ceremony itself where you two exchange rings, drink from the same dish of Sake and kiss. Afterwards you and Rukia will go through soul bonding," This statement causes Ichigo's face to turn red. "Not that kind my boy, it's a special kido that links your inner worlds together, on top of that your Zanpakuto spirits will be wed as well as you two."

"Hold on, how does that work? Zangetsu is two spirits?"

"We'll just have to wait and see, but if they're anything like my Katen Kyokotsu, they will fuse into a single being like the two of them can. If you don't mind me asking, what do your spirits look like? What's your relationship with them?"

"Er... well, one is the manifestation of my Quincy powers that have blended with my shinigami powers and he looks like a younger version of Juha Bach. The other is basically just me but completely white aside from his sword and eyes. His eyes are black and yellow, like that of a hollow's. But, they're more mentors and the elder Zangetsu is more like a father figure than anything else. What about you?" Ichigo asks.

"Katen is a petite loli of a spirit, she's very quiet and speaks through Kyokotsu. She on the other hand... let's just say that she'd give Rangiku a run for her money in terms of looks and bust and leave it at that." The elder captain winks. "I've already spoken to Rukia about what is to come, and she is quite excited and as nervous as you are. She says Sode no Shirayuki is looking forward to seeing Zangetsu."

"I think we've talked enough, time to get over there right... where is it exactly?" The head captain laughs at this statement from Ichigo before patting him on the shoulder.

"It's at the Kuchiki Manor, the attendants at the front will give you directions to the garden." Kyoraku replies before standing and stretching. "Well come along then, you don't want to leave your blushing bride waiting do you?"

Ichigo hastily follows the elder captain out of the building, blitzing across roof tops with the use of shunpo. The beauty of the world of the afterlife expanding on for miles and miles around. Since the end of the war with the quincies, the head captain has spent the last 50 years fixing up the soul society. The slums that once were the rukon districts are now beautiful cities fitting of the afterlife. Ichigo himself had a hand in rebuilding and restoring the rukon districts this had gained him quite a bit of notoriety in the outer districts. Now that he is a captain, hundreds of potential soul reapers are flocking to the shinigami academy in hopes of serving in his division. Ichigo smirks seeing his work in the afterlife before continuing on to the kuchiki estate. The headcaptain and Ichigo land their last shunpo in front of the main gates of the kuchiki estate. The well dressed servant out front bows upon seeing the two of them and Ichigo takes in the sights of the decorations around the estate.

White and black balloons cover the outer gate of the entrance, as well as bouquets of roses of the same colors. The edges of the black roses are trimmed with a deep crimson red and Ichigo almost laughs seeing the similarity between that and himself. Before them, the pathway towards the garden filled with pink sakura petals and the petals of white lilies along the red carpet. "Byakuya really went all out didn't he?" Ichigo thinks to himself as he's led towards the garden itself. Upon passing through another gate, he's greeted by his father and his sisters already there for him. In front the red carpet transitions to white as the petals also change to now be the black and white. Shunsui walks past the new captain and continues onto the podium in front of the altar. To the right, Ichigo sees Shinji playing a traditional wedding sanshin softly as he's motioned by his father to head down the aisle and await Rukia.

Shortly after he gets to his spot at the end of the Aisle, Byakuya has Rukia at his side. His arm interlocked with hers as he escorted her down the aisle. The bride elegantly walks alongside her brother. Her kimono a white so pure it looks like it is glowing with its own light. Despite this, Ichigo can still make out the snowflake patterns along her gown. A large white oval wedding veil atop her head fit with a crown of snowflakes around Rukia's head. Now beside Shinji, Lisa produces a traditional Japanese flute and begins the bridal procession ballad. To Ichigo it feels like an eternity as he watches Rukia elegantly walk her way down the aisle. That eternity was that of a few brief moments before she takes his side by his left and the two are motioned to kneel before Shunsui.

"It is very rare for a wedding to be held in the gotei 13, and even rarer for one to be between captains. The new Captain of Squad 5, Kurosaki Ichigo is to be wed to Captain Kuchiki Rukia of squad 13. In the wake of multiple wars and heavy hearts from the loss of friends and colleagues. We are here today to witness this union of immortal love, uniting the black sun and white moon. In tradition, before the couple is to be married the spirits of their Zanpakuto will also be wed." Shunsui announces before extending his hands towards Rukia and Ichigo who are kneeling before him. "Bakudo no 1000 Tamashi no Rengo." Shunsui's hands begin to glow a soft blue before the two before him also begin to glow.

The blue glow around Rukia and Ichigo encompases their entire bodies before flowing behind them and swirling on the ground. The petals along the aisle begin to swirl around in three different cyclones of reishi. The light and petals beginning to float upwards and fill out humanoid forms as it increases in height. The first to manifest shatters the light and sends the petals floating away, with icy yet beautiful light lavender hair dressed in an elegant white kimono almost as beautiful as Rukia's own is Sode no Shirayuki. The spirit of her sword. Next to her the two others manifest simultaneously, the taller of the two figures shatters out of the bright light much the same as Shiraiyuki did. His tall dark robes covering most of his body, a hood raised and covering a cleanly shaven face with no blemishes or marks. The other turns the pure reishi around him black as it congeals and is sapped into the spirit. A tall imposing figure of a vasto lorde with a black horned helm atop his face towers over the second spirit beside him. Clad in a pure white shihakusho with tufted fur around his wrists, and neck with long claws on his hands and feet stands the other spirit within Ichigo.

"Yo... It's been a long time, Ichigo. I was beginning to think you forgot about poor old me." The masked zanpakuto spirit greets as he lifts mask exposing a perfect reflection of Ichigo's face aside from ghost white skin and black and yellow eyes. "So what's the occasion? You finally marrying the queen? It's about damn time."

"Silence. I will not let you ruin this." Zangetsu scolds before smacking the hollow on the back of the head. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Sode no Shirayuki." The hooded spirit greets before lifting his hood off of his head. His long black hair down past his neck and his icy blue eyes gazing into that of the queen of winter's own. He lifts her hand up to his lips and kisses her hand greeting her.

"All the bleeding hearts unite. So, why did you bring me out here? Just to rub your wedding in my face?"

"No you fool, you and your other half are to be wed to my Zanpakuto. Now stop screwing around and fuse with him." Rukia scolds, glaring at the tall hollow.

"You expect me to fuse with tall dark and moody over there? I'm already the steed of the king why the hell do I have to fuse with him again. Fuck off." The hollow shouts, but a sudden unearthly chill runs up his spine. "On second thought... let's just get this over with. This time i'm in control."

"You act like I'm enthused to fuse with you."

"You have five seconds."

"Fusing ma'am!" Zangetsu panics

With the last statement from Rukia, both spirits flash white as the start to disintegrate into spirit particles. The mass of light amasses into a new human figure, it being the fused being of White Zangetsu. The side of the spirits head is covered with a crown of the black mask, one eye black and white and the other it's normal blue. The white shihakusho is now trimmed with a black fur. His right arm is normal and his left is that of his hollows.

"My apologies, my queen." The echoing vice of the hollow yet calm and refined like that of Zangetsu. "Shall we begin?" he asks, taking her hands in his. The two zanpakutos sit on their knees next to their wielders.

"In the light of everything that had happened, we now take the first step forwards in moving on from the blood war. Today we start this chapter with the union of Kurosaki Ichigo, The Hero of the Winter War and Kuchiki Rukia, The Princess of Winter and of the Kuchiki clan. The two captains are to be wed alongside their Zanpakuto. Zangetsu The Piercer of the Heavens and Sode no Shirayuki The Arctic Night. Kurosaki Ichigo Captain of Squad 5. You may now say your vows." Head Captain Shunsui begins, through his speech, the audience gives their unwavered attention to the soon to be wed couples.

"Rukia. My White Moon. Without you I would not be here today. I'd have died to that hollow that night when you gave me your powers. From then on everything I did was with you in mind. Taking on the entire soul society, defeating Aizen, your memory kept me going when I was without my powers. You saved me again and restored my powers as a soul reaper when all I had left was stolen from me. I only wish that I can repay the hundreds of times you've been there for me by being with you forever." With a soft smile on his face, he raises a hand and wipes a tear from Rukia's eye.

"Ichigo 'Strawberry' Kurosaki. The Black Sun. Looking back on all these years we've been through ups and downs and even died a couple times." A few of the audience members laugh uncomfortably after hearing this. "To this day, I can't believe I found my soulmate in his own bedroom. To think our story started with me walking through your wall, ignoring you yell at me then have you kick me to get my attention. Despite our silly start, you sacrificed everything to protect me and your family. You sacrificed your humanity to come to the soul society to save me from the Sokyoku. Put your life on the line, fought and defeated several ranking officers, three lieutenants at the same time and both Kenpachi and my brother just to save me. You sacrificed your powers as a soul reaper to protect the world as we know it. It was only right that I would be the one to restore your powers. After all your sacrifices, I would be the one to restore what you lost and I will be your anchor, your white moon." She smiles back to him, raising a hand to cup his cheek.

"Bleh. You two are so damn cheese. Just fuck already." The Hollow portion of White Zangetsu gags at the mushy lovey dovey scene. However before Rukia can turn and punch him, Zangetsu's other hand taps himself on the shoulder and punches the Hollow Ichigo portion of himself in the face. "Shut up and don't ruin this or so help me I'm going to shove Nozarawashi up your ass Sideways so it's the whole fucking thing at once."

"Those two sound like a lot of fun to have in your head." Sode no Shiraiyuki smiles, getting Ichigo to audibly sigh at their antics.

"You have no idea." Ichigo groans. "Zangetsu. Enough. You two can argue after the ceremony."

"Without any further interruptions. Ichigo, take the ceremonial sake bowl and drink from it then pass it to your bride." Kyoraku instructs motioning for Nanao to pour the sake into the dish. The head captain lifts the cup with both hands perched on the tips of his fingers.

Ichigo accepts the small wide cup gently taking it from his superior, being careful not to spill the contents of the near brimming glass. He hesitates for a moment bringing the glass to his lips and drinking half of the contents. Being careful not to consume all of it. The spiritually infused alcohol from the sake not even leaving a tingle in his throat. The sweet floral taste of the infused sake the only notes he detects from the liquid. Turning to his bride, he gently offers her the cup. She takes it from him with a slight bow before bringing the dish up to her lips and drinking the rest of the contents. She offers the bowl back to Kyoraku who takes it and passes the dish back to Nanao. She repeats the process of filling the glass and returns it to the head captain. He now extends it to White Zangetsu who graciously accepts the dish. Copying the motion from his wielder Zangetsu drinks the contents before passing the rest to Sode No Shirayuki. She bows to him and accepts the glass before finishing the contents. After returning the glass to Kyoraku he instructs them to stand.

"If any here has a reason why these two should not be wed. Speak now and feel the wrath of the fifth squad captain's bankai." Kyoraku jokes, getting a few laughs from the attendants and other shinigami. "Kurosaki Ichigo. You are marrying into a noble house of the Soul Society. As is custom, you have been asked to accept the surname of the house you are marrying into. You will be addressed as Captain Kuchiki from this point forward and your name will be Ichigo Shiba Kurosaki Kuchiki. Now, do you take the princess Rukia Kuchiki to be your lawfully and soulfully wedded wife?"

"I do." Ichigo responds.

"Rukia Kuchiki. Do you take Ichigo Shiba Kurosaki, the savior of the Seiretei and soul society to be your lawfully and soulfully wedded husband? You will also be known from now on as Rukia Shiba Kurosaki Kuchiki."

"I do." Rukia says calmly.

"Zangetsu and Sode no Shirayuki. Do you accept the union of your wielders."

"I do." Shirayuki responds in a calm polite manner.

"I don't have a choice otherwise. I'm in." White smirks.

"I do." Zangetsu answers in a firm tone.

"As the head captain of the Gotei 13. I now pronounce you Man and Wife. You may kiss the bride." Shunsui declares.

Turning to Rukia, he lifts the tsunokakushi off of Rukia's head revealing a tiara made of ice that twinkled like diamonds. Wrapping his arms around her he closes the gap between her and himself. Rukia pressing up to the tips of her feet to compensate for Ichigo's height over her. Tilting her head to the side, the gap between their lips closes as the two gently make contact. Zangetsu raises an eyebrow to Shirayuki upon seeing them before grinning his hollow grin. Before she could react, Zangetsu wraps an arm around her back and spins, dipping her down to the ground and kissing her with much more ferocity than Ichigo did with Rukia. Upon seeing both couples kiss the audience begins to cheer and clap in favor of their union. As the Black sun and White moon become one, above them the sun and moon do the same. The moon eclipses the sun blaneting the landscape in the awe of the black sun.

"And here I thought you'd be a bit of a stiff like Rukes and her brother. But you're a good kisser my snowflake. I think we're going to enjoy you~" White Ichigo flirts after breaking the kiss with the Zanpakuto.

"Hichigo. Save it for the honeymoon. There's an audience here." Ichigo himself silences his sword after breaking his own kiss with his bride. With a smirk Hichigo complies and stands Shirayuki back up, her staggering slightly from his ferocity from the kiss.

The two new couples turn and embrace one another facing the audience allowing the Seireitei bulletin and Shinigami Women's Association to get the pictures they had requested before the marriage. Once the congratulations and cheering had died down, the couples walk back down the aisle and under the arch of flowers. Once passing under and out of the exit of the Kuchiki manor. They disappear in a burst of reishi, using shunpo to make their escape to their honeymoon.