Final Chapter is here!

ARSLOTHES: I know.

AnimeA55Kicker: Quick and shoot to kill. Heh.

PRedatorPuck: It is now.

GoingGone: Your opinion.

Harbinger of Kaos: Read and see.

Lightningblade49: Hmmm.

donovan123456789: heh.

clw123cat: hahaha

BlueShard20: Aizen is gone for good.

AnAddictedReader: Thank you.

the unsung antihero: heh

Tonlor: Of course.

ZeroSquadSephiroth: Thanks.

Shigure Toshiro: Thank you.

Selias: lol

sabery: Read and see.

LongPastMidnight: Indeed

ahsanrox: of course

sagar hussain: Read and see.

michaelsuave: Thanks.

Black Bankai: Thanks.

Akutsu Junya: Read and see.

Mistletainn: Hmmm.

TazalTerminals: Yep.

Enjoy!

Rukia hummed to herself as she hopped through the trees, climbing a steep slope overlooking the woodlands. She was careful as she did so. If she ruined the kimono she was wearing to the ceremony, her sister would likely have her head—member of the Kido Corps or not.

She reached the top of the cliff to find Renji in front of the graves he had made for his fallen friends, showing off his Shikai. He managed to get it to act like a whip, but he hadn't perfected it yet. It occasionally lashed out in a different way than he intended and ended up hitting him, but he avoided tearing his outfit so far.

"Porky, we're going to be late if you don't hurry up." She stood next to him and crossed her arms. "If we aren't at the shrine by the time the ceremony starts Hisana-nee will have our heads on a platter. What have you been doing for the last four hours anyway?"

"I wish you'd stop calling me that," he said, resignation in his voice. He knew she wouldn't, so it was more out of habit that he said it rather than an expectation. "And I'm trying to manifest Zabimaru."

"You can't force it to manifest," she told him. "Honestly, didn't you learn from when you tried getting Shikai? It nearly killed you."

"It didn't try to kill me, it was testing me." His sword reverted from its transformed state and he sheathed it. "And there's nothing wrong with going for Bankai. I know that I'll achieve it one day, so there's no point in not shooting for it now."

"Except for the fact you still haven't mastered your Shikai," Rukia pointed out. "That's probably why Ichi-nii refused to tell you what it would be like, so you didn't try to force it like this."

Renji grumbled under his breath at that, too low for her to hear. It had been about three years now since that day, when that Soul Reaper came and released the Hollows upon their district before turning into a monster. Ichi-nii defeated them all and told them to get the people to safety while he ran off to the world where Hollows came from, talking about balancing the flow of souls or something like that.

He returned a day later, slightly worse for the wear, and then sat them all down to talk about it. He was from the future and all of that, but more importantly he knew both Rukia and Renji from when they were adults. She wasn't really all that bothered about it, but it seemed…

Well, it was weird from her point of view. He was just a teenager when she had been over one-hundred years old and she gave him her power to make him like her. Somehow she just couldn't see him being younger than her. It conflicted with what she knew and that created a sort of discord that left her not too interested in knowing about that timeline.

Renji, on the other hand, wanted to know as much as he could. But Ichi-nii outright refused to tell them what their future-selves were like. He said that while he liked them, they wouldn't be the same people. To tell them would be the same as brushing away who they were becoming now, and that wouldn't be fair to them.

"Come on," she said. "If we use long distance Flash Steps, we should make it in a few hours."

Then she jumped off the side of the cliff and made for the district not too far away. Most of the buildings had been wrecked during the fighting, with thousands dead from the Hollows and the blasts from the abomination that the Lieutenant had transformed into. But, over the years, things had been getting better.

The attack was a sort of wake-up call, giving a lot of people the chance to start over with their lives. Tetsu, whose mother was one of the victims, had taken it upon himself to start the reconstruction alongside Ichi-nii. They had rallied others into doing the same while they were still in a state of shock. Now, years later, the district was looking renewed and invigorated with people working to rebuild it into something great over the ashes of the old.

That wasn't to say things were perfect. Ichi-nii had to take it upon himself to help keep the crime down, using his clones to enforce it. And they had more than once fended off attacks from bandits to keep the people safe, at least until they could defend themselves. It was a full-time job on his part.

Heading out of the woods and into the district, there was a pop and plume of smoke that preceded the appearance of a young girl in the air above them. She had blonde hair that rose into spikes, with a streak of red matching Renji's own hair color near the roots of her forehead. There was a bright smile on her face as she fell down and clung to Renji, holding tight to him.

"Found you!" she cheerfully claimed. "I was looking all over for you when I heard you were back for your break, but I couldn't find you anywhere!"

"Homura, get off," Renji said, a look of fresh annoyance on his face. "We don't have time for this."

"Mister Abarai is right," said a young man who appeared in front of them in a swirl of dark smoke with a much calmer attitude. "We still have work to do today."

His name was Shizuku, the younger brother of Homura. He was taller than Rukia by a fair bit and pale in complexion, though his clothes were modest at the very least. He had lavender eyes similar to Rukia's, only his right one was covered by his dark hair that fell to his shoulders.

The two siblings had apparently met Ichi-nii during the time Rukia and Renji had been chased by the monkey-Hollow. He had found them again sometime later and explained to them that it was a Hollow possessing a Soul Reaper, but they didn't trust him either at the time.

Then, three years ago, they had come under attack by a swathe of Hollows only to end up being rescued by Renji. The save warmed them up considerably if they had been wary to Soul Reapers before, and they seemed to admire him to a great extent. Not to mention their teleportation ability helped greatly in transporting supplies and moving heavy things during the reconstruction, as well as transporting people to distant locations.

Homura stuck her tongue out at her brother. "I want to stay with Renji today. He's always gone."

"Because I'm a busy man." Renji finally managed to pry her off of him and held her at an arm's length. "Seriously, I don't have time to play with you today, Homura. I have to get to the 33rd Eastern District and it'll take me too long as is to get there before the ceremony. We can talk or play or whatever once I get back, if I have time."

"I can teleport you there!" Homura claimed. "Then we can stay together."

Renji blanched. Teleporting didn't sit well with him for some reason, but Homura didn't seem to take notice as she grabbed his outstretched arm. "Wait a seco—" With a poof of black smoke, they were both gone.

Shizuku sighed as he stared at the spot where they had been. "Mister Tetsu's going to be mad."

Rukia set a hand on his shoulder. "Relax. He'll understand. Today's a special day, after all. Speaking of which, can you give me a lift to the temple?"

"I suppose I can…." He set a hand on her shoulder. "Here we go."

Rukia braced herself. Then they vanished in a dark plume of smoke as well.

[-o0o-]

Ichigo was standing to the side, wearing a black montsuki wedding kimono and hakama as per tradition. Things had reached a new level of normalcy in his life now that he had accomplished what he set out to do. Aizen was defeated and he could dedicate himself fully to starting a family and working with Tetsu to improve the district.

There were repercussions to Aizen's death, from what he learned. The moment the Lieutenant died, his illusion over his subordinate following Shinji around was broken. One interrogation with his co-conspirator had revealed most of what he had told the man and what he had planned.

The investigation to root out others had gone on for some time. However, in the end, Ichigo and the kids' parts in everything were still hidden—and it would stay that way.

Now he was getting married. The ceremony was a little different than what he expected from a traditional wedding, what with the local deity being one of the arms of the Soul King, but most of it was the same—the priest would recite some words while purifying them, they would exchange vows, sip sake, and it was done.

"Nervous?" Isshin asked. The Captain had taken time off his busy schedule to attend of his own accord, not that Ichigo minded. After all, he was the one who had pulled some strings when he learned from Renji that they were planning a wedding. This Isshin may not have been his father, but it was symbolic in a way that he appreciated.

Especially since the Old Man was gone. With nothing left to teach him, the Old Man had melded back into being one with his Soul Reaper and Hollow powers. There was only Zangetsu now.

"A little," he finally said, right when Renji appeared with Homura. She had landed a few feet off the ground and Renji fell first, with her landing on top of him. He bit back a chuckle at the sight. "That's one way to get here on time."

Renji forced himself up and stood at attention before the Captain of his squad. He had ultimately been taken in by Isshin's division upon graduation, though he had not been made a Seated Officer yet because his Shikai was underdeveloped.

It was almost certain he would though, eventually. He just needed to take it slow and let things play out naturally.

"At ease," Isshin told him. "We're not dealing with ranks or anything today."

Rukia and Shizuku appeared not a minute afterwards. The landing was solid, and her behavior was a clear contrast to Renji's. She looked practically giddy as she held onto the tall boy, shuddering.

"It feels like every part of me is tingly," she murmured before righting herself while Shizuku blushed at her praise. Her eyes spanned the chamber but didn't find who she was looking for. "Where's Hisana-nee?"

"In the dressing chamber," Ichigo said. "It's been hours since she's gone in there, but she won't let us in to talk to her before the wedding since we're all male and that's supposedly bad luck. Could you make sure she's alright?"

Rukia nodded and vanished in a Flash Step as Tetsu, who had been admiring the construction of the temple, approached the pair of siblings. "Have you two finished your assignment?"

Shizuku scratched his cheek and looked away. "Ah, about that. We were planning to, but Miss Kurosaki and Mister Abarai needed transportation so—"

"I wanted to hang out with Renji," Homura unashamedly admitted, cutting off the excuse her brother was weaving. Her brother promptly buried his face in his hands in shame.

Tetsu rubbed the bridge between his eyes. Somehow, Ichigo got the impression he was struggling to deal with her because of her maturity level being closer to a child rather than adult. His limited experience in that field was no doubt where the majority of the friction came from.

Ichigo intervened. "If you asked ahead of time he would have probably cleared your schedule."

"I don't know ahead of time," she pointed out. "He never tells me when he's coming home to visit; I have to learn after the fact."

"I can send you his schedule if you want," Isshin offered, amusement in his eyes. "He could use a little more fun. I have enough serious people in my division as is."

"Really?" she asked eagerly.

Renji shook his head and silently begged him not to. Ichigo knew he couldn't deal with someone who was even more chipper than Rukia. Sure, he was used to her antics. But that took him well over ten years to this point and they were like siblings.

Isshin gave her a thumbs-up anyway. "You got it."

Renji slapped his hand over his eyes, whispering low enough that Ichigo barely heard as he wondered why all the hyperactive girls flocked around him. He had no answers for him.

[-o0o-]

Hisana primped herself in the mirror for the umpteenth time within the changing room, wondering if her appearance was appropriate. The wedding was starting soon and she was having doubts about… well, almost everything.

Her hair had grown down to just past her shoulders over the last few years, with two tails coming down to sit on her collar and a third one that ran right down the center of her face and came to a stop just past her eyes. She couldn't help but wonder if she should have brushed the bang over to the side or cut her hair short to resemble how Rukia's looked. Then again, Ichigo said he liked her hair long like this, but was he just being nice or did he mean it?

And then there was her outfit. Instead of wearing a traditional shiromuku kimono, she had opted for a custom kakeshita. It was a slight shade of blue and fuchsia, patterned with white, pink, and lavender cherry blossoms.

She had chosen the cherry blossoms because they held meaning, symbolism about the transience of life. Her life was comparative to a mayfly next to the kids and Ichigo's, and she would very likely die before any of them did. That was a fact that she had come to accept, and the flowers represented how she wanted to spend every second of her life with him, whether it was another hundred years or a thousand.

"Hisana-nee," Rukia called, popping into the room. "The others want to know if you're re—"

"Your hair is a mess, and are these dust stains over your kimono?" Hisana immediately started fussing over the smallest details of her outfit. It was just a nervous reaction, a way to keep busy with how worried she was about everything going smoothly.

"My hair doesn't matter, I'm not the one getting married here!" Rukia pointed out. "Speaking of which, why aren't you in the main hall? Ichi-nii is worried!"

"I'm just a little nervous," Hisana admitted. "I can't help it."

"I don't see why," Rukia shrugged. "I mean, you got married in Ichi-nii's timeline, didn't you? How is that different than this? Was it because you want to be married into a family like that, with a big fancy house?"

Hisana shook her head. If anything, the only thing she didn't have doubts about was her love for Ichigo himself. He had told her of what her counterpart's fate was, as told by the Rukia of that timeline.

They had never met and she had abandoned her sister in the district, losing track of and searching for her over the course of a hundred years to find her again. Somewhere along the way she would have married a nobleman. But she would have kept searching, until she passed away from an illness running rampant in the district at the time. That nobleman would keep his word to find and protect Rukia a few years later, adopting her from the Academy and looking after her.

"I do wonder about that sometimes," Hisana couldn't help but admit. "Not for myself, but because of how much happier growing up could have been for you if you had the chance to be raised in such a place."

Rukia stared at her for a moment. Then she laughed, doubling over. "Oh, that's rich! Me, living like that? Hahahaha!"

Hisana crossed her arms. "Rukia, be serious."

Rukia stood upright and calmed herself down. "C'mon Hisana-nee, we both know that's not the type of life I wanted. I got you and Ichi-nii. That's worth more to me than being a noble and all… besides, I couldn't stand being all formal and stuff."

"Despite my best efforts," Hisana noted.

"In spite of them," Rukia corrected. "I'm following my own path rather than one that was laid out for me. I don't know how I would have turned out otherwise, but I'm glad for what I do have. Aren't you?"

She pressed her lips thin and nodded.

"Then what are you so nervous about now?" Rukia asked. "You and Ichi-nii chose this, so be happy and go for it."

That… was a ridiculously simple way of putting it, but it did the trick. The butterflies in her stomach vanished. Hisana hugged her sister and braced her tightly. "Thank you, Rukia. For everything."

Rukia returned the hug before pulling away. "Should I tell them to start the ceremony?"

Hisana nodded. "Right, let's do this."

[-o0o-]

The sun was high in the sky as the couple stood together, side-by-side, in front of the shrine priest as he muttered a prayer. The guests of the small wedding looked on in silence, with Rukia surprisingly trying to hold back the tears as it happened. It seemed to hit her at once despite everything they had been up to and how close they had been all this time.

"You okay?" Renji asked softly as the priest purified them with drops of water.

She nodded silently, brushing aside the tears. Her thoughts drifted over several theories as to why she felt this way. Maybe it was because she saw herself getting married in the future, or maybe it was because it was what she was supposed to do at weddings? The answer only came to her when the priest bade them to pronounce their vows.

"My life belongs to you," her sister said. "In sickness and in health, I vow to forever be your loving wife. No matter how long it takes, until my soul departs and is reborn, I'll join my hands in yours as your bride."

"And I'll take responsibility for you," he followed. "To make sure you're happy, to make sure you're safe, to give you everything you want. I will be there to support you and the family that we bring into the world. No matter how long it takes, until my soul departs and is reborn, I'll join my hands in yours as your husband."

Listening to them, Rukia realized that this was genuinely the first happy ending any of them had. She had been there at every point when they struggled and bled for the sake of others, but this was the only event in their lives that hadn't been tainted by something going wrong, like Hollows or madmen. It was a moment solely for them.

Seeing it made her realize just how long a road it had been for them, starting the night her sister and she entered the Soul Society. All the pain and suffering that the two of them specifically went through led them to this point, a moment of pure happiness that they struggled to reach against all odds. How could she not cry?

As the two exchanged drinks, Rukia couldn't help but let the tears flow out silently to not disturb them. Her heart wouldn't be able to handle ruining such a moment. So she watched as the pair sealed their marriage with a kiss, vowing to remember this moment forever.

No matter what was waiting for them in the future.

Author Notes: Well that is the end of the story. It is to explore a relationship between Hisana and Ichigo and with Aizen defeated the main conflict stopping it was resolved. Anyway I do hope you join this story. And continue the two other stories they are posted, which they are Naruto and FFVII aka Final Fantasy VII. Have a nice day.

P.S. The picture of Hisana wedding clothes is on the profile.