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DEATH, STRAWBERRY, AND HAPPILY EVER AFTER

Kuchiki, oops, no. Kurosaki Rukia

He was a human, and he was hopeless and utterly in love with me, a shinigami.

"So, this is what's it like to feel old…" I murmured a few choice words under my breath as I pressed a hand against my back. I was only "forty-seven" (in human years of course) and I felt my body was not as robust as it was years ago.

He was grinning at me, his eyes fixed on my mouth. Over the years, tiny wrinkles creased around my eyes but I honestly did not mind it. However, completing simple tasks, like running around and jumping off buildings, weren't as easy as it used to be.

"Do you regret it?" I heard beside me.

I twisted my head around to face him. The night was stale and dark, but there was light enough to distinguish him from the shadows. His body was still taut, but bigger. His naked legs were tangled in the navy sheets that were too cold until our bodies melded and mingled. But I still preferred to just lie atop his chest, as he was still the warmest thing I knew. "Regret what?" I finally asked, my eyes on his toes that began to wiggle.

My husband let me straddle his lower abdomen while he shifted his body to adjust more comfortably beneath me. My fingers traveled upwards, to his face, and then into the mass of orange hair like a comb. His hair was sometimes stiff but soft, nice to touch. I knew he loved when I played with his citrus locks and how I rubbed his scalp with my fingertips. I began to massage gently, and I smiled when he answered in soft moan.

When I stopped, he looked at me. "Do you regret being human?"

Slowly, my gaze fell to my naked breast. The coldness made my nipples pucker, but I wasn't giving any thoughts to that.

"No. I don't. What other option did we have? I wasn't going to rob you being a human. And don't say that like I—or we—abandoned being a shinigami anyways."

He was quiet for a moment, allowing his hands to roam on my hips and up to my waist. I loved it when he touched me like that; just mapping out the skin. "I was just making sure, because sometimes…feelings don't last this long." His eyes seemed darker in the night, like rich chocolate that I wanted to taste.

"Are you trying to tell me something? Are you insinuating that I don't like you anymore?" And I couldn't help but smile wider.

His chuckle was soft. His smirk was on the edges of arrogance. "No. I know your feelings towards me."

"Oh yeah?" My voice held qualities of a challenge and of sarcasm.

He nodded as eyes glanced upwards to the perked nipples. "Yeah." His tongue glided over his lips, wetting them in anticipation. "I'm sure you know mine."

"Yes, I do. What did they say when you asked nii-san to marry me? 'Oh, he's crazy.' 'Or just crazy about Kuchiki-san.' " The pad of my thumb caressed his lower lip, eyes locked with his. "And how could I forget the whole, 'you're mine, you belong to me' fight?" I pressed my body against him, my lips finally tasting his. My fingers massaged more deeply in his hair and he groaned.

"How much time do we have?" he asked, knowing that he was referring to our teenaged kids. His voice already became husky. He was always so eager.

Sexy dolt.

"Twenty minutes at least."

I kissed him harder this time, tugging at his lip before kissing down to his collarbone.

"Tell me again."

I could feel the rumble of his voice against his chest, the vibrations of it tickling my lips as I kissed around his throat.

I rested my ear against his chest, over his heart, and could perceive the thumping and the beating. "I am a shinigami." Effortlessly, Ichigo maneuvered me underneath him and my back touched the warm sheets. I could feel the excitement growing and coiling inside of me. "And I am utterly and hopelessly in love with you." Arms encircled his neck as he came close to kiss me again. Two inches apart, I finished off, "…a human." I couldn't help but laugh in his mouth, "Sometimes an idiot," in the most playful tone I could muster.

He laughed with me, almost growling as he flipped me under him. We kissed, we touched, we loved. And I showed him that I did not regret it at all.

I did not regret saving him.

I did not regret the beautiful children he gave me.

I did not regret staying with him.

I did not regret letting him protect me.

I did not regret all the nights we shared together.

I did not regret all of the fights we had.

I did not regret the life he gave me.

I did not regret anything.

I do not regret anything because I didn't want to live in a world without Kurosaki Ichigo, my husband.

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People change. Circumstances change. Relationships change. But even after many decades, they both still agree that a world without him, a world without each other just wasn't a world worth living.

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End

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Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading. Special thanks to Lendra-chan and Lapse in Judgement again for edits.