The Lion Is King

The Lion Is King
(AU)
The little bunny continued to hop freely in the large, open yard, pausing momentairily to look at a freshly bloomed daisy, wen all of a sudden a large and majestic lion ran by and caught the scruff of the rabbit's neck between his teeth and took off back in the direction he came, being carefull to keep a tight hold on the creature without hurting her, he rushed into the house and up the stairs, ungracefully depositing the tiny rodent on the large, blue-sheet covered bed and hearing a sqweak of disaproval from the fuzzy animal, he then rushed down the stairs again and pulled the door to a close, no longer a lion but now a grown man who sported bright orange hair and a yukata of equal color, along with cinamen colored eyes and long legs as he sprinted up the stairs to find that there was no longer a rabbit sitting on his bed, but a petit girl with wavey black hair, a wite yukata, and giant purple eyes, "Wat were you thinking?" he snarled at her, she crossed her legs and then crossed her arms over her chest and pouted, "I just wanted to stretch my legs..." she mumbeled sadly, he sighed, he hated it wen she had to go and be all cute and sad on him... starting to feel guilty for taking away her exercise he leaned over the side of the bed and licked her cheek a few times in a sighn of apology, "Your neck's ok right?" he wispered, she wiggled away and turned towards the window, "Yeah..." she muttered unhappily, he sat next to her and pulled her into his arms, but she didn't budge, "I'm sorry Sweetie," he murmmered, placing his head in the crook of her neck, "I just wanted a little exercise! My legs were getting kinks in them!" "But you can exercise plenty INDOORS, there's lots of room for you to roam around and stretch your legs," "No there isn't! Check out a rabbit care guide once in a wile, they ALL say that rabbits are OUTDOOR creatures, we can't stay cooped up inside a den like you lions can, it's suffocating! Our very NATURE is freedom and hopping around in the sunshine," "Well MY rabbit can be INDOORS, you no very well how dangerouse it is out there, I don't want you to get hurt," "I WON'T get hurt! Just because I'm a rabbit doesn't mean I'm weak!" "I no I no, but there are predators out there who rabbits simply CAN'T fight off Rukia, wat if some huge fox came by and wanted a snack huh? You may be able to outrun the best of them, and kick me in the teeth on your worst days, but foxes are very sly and very stealthy and very strong, and wat would I ever do with you hm?" he asked rhetorically, placing a gentle kiss on her collarbone, she snorted and tried to shrug him off, "It isn't fair..." she muttered, "You can go out and roam all you please...." "No I can't, if a human were to come around I might as well be dead, they have guns and things, bunnies they don't mind, lions they fear," he said, "But humans are humans, they're foolish and clumsy and you could EASILY defeat them if need be, I'm just a ... just a rabbit.... I have so many natural predators... why can't I be something else?" she muttered sadly, he frowned, "Rukia... there's still time.... your potronouse isn't set in stone until midnight on your twentieth birthday," "Great, I have an entire two days to change my potronouse... it isn't easy to do that I hear," he shrugged, "I don't see why you're complaining, you make a good rabbit, and rabbits are EXCELLENT breeders," he said with a smirk, she normally would have flipped around and smacked him for that comment but she was too depressed at the moment and instead rested her head on the windowsill, he sighed and tugged on her a bit more sharply, pulling her into his lap and leaning back against the head board, "I don't get it," she muttered, "Hn?" "Why did you choose me?" she asked quietly, "You're a lion Ichigo... you're the king of this town, you could have anyone you wanted, so why did you choose me? Just some tiny, little rabbit...." "But you're MY tiny little rabbit, I don't love you for your potronouse Rukia, I love you for you as a person," he said, placing a kiss on her forehead and bringing her down into a cuddling position as he drifted off into a light nap, she snorted unhappily, rabbits never napped... her luck that she'd be stuck with a lion who's only priorities were sleeping, eating, and the occasional marking of territory...

Ichigo yawned quietly and rolled over, expecting to find a small body resting in his arms, however, at the startling find that the bed was empty, he opened his eyes and sat up, "Rukia?" he called, sniffing the air and snarling at the fact that her scent was no longer in the house, he quickly looked out the window and scanned the yard, finding that she wasn't there either, "Crap... that little rabbit is going to get herself killed!" he growled loudly, hopping up and shedding his orange yukata in exchange for normal clothes so he could be better concealed in his search for his bride-to-be

"How do I do it?" Rukia asked, staring holes through the purple-haired woman in front of her, Yoruichi sighed and leaned back, putting her arms behind her head, "You should be proud of your potronouse, rabbits are usefull in this world," "Yeah as dinner for a fox or a nice pelt," Rukia muttered ruefully, she truly did love rabbits, both the normal ones and her kin, but she wasn't meant to BE a rabbit, she was meant to be something else, an animal of prey, not one to be preyed upon, Yoruichi leaned forward, "Now, Rukia, does this decision have ANYTHING to do with the fact that you're marrying a lion?" Rukia shook her head vigerously, it was Ichigo who pushed her over the edge but it wasn't him who made her want to be something she wasn't, "No, I want to get stronger for myself, I want to become something stronger, I want to be able to stretch my legs freely without having to survey the area for anything that could eat me first," she growled, placing her hands in her lap, she had discarded her yukata for a simple blue dress, "I want to be strong," Rukia wispered honestly, Yoruichi nodded once, "I understand, not everyone is happy with their parent's choice for who they would be," "I don't really think it's fair to just assume wat your child is going to be..." Rukia wispered, "But that's the way it is, come with me and we'll see if we can fix your problum," Yoruichi offered, Rukia nodded once and went with her, 'I refuse to give my children animals who will be preyd upon like lambs and rabbits, my children will have their todums read first,' she thought as she followed Yoruichi

"Wat do I have to do?" Rukia asked, staring at the empty training room, "You have to defeat an enemy to gain that enemy as your potronouse," "How do I do that?" Yoruichi handed her a large red bracelet, "Snap this around your enemy's neck, it'll release your potronouse and lock in your new one," she nodded slowly, waiting paitently as the door opened and a large, beautifull snow leopord walked out into the room and towards her, "A snow leopord.." she breathed, feeling an immediate connection between herself and this beautifull creature, gulping quietly, she took a step forward and then broke into a run, eager to change her fate before tommorrow, wen the clock would strike midnight watever animal she was would be locked in, perminantly, and she didn't want to be stuck with a rabbit no matter how much she loved them, it wasn't right, it wasn't HER, as she approached the beautifull cat she started to wonder how Ichigo would react to the change, but she forced the thoughts out of her head, jumping forward and being swatted away by the powerfull paw of the great animal, she quickly recovered from the attack and ran forward again, the great cat dodging her and roaring loudly, Rukia closed her eyes, deciding to rely on her rabbit spirit one last time, she used the powerfull back legs that her rabbit would give her and sprang forward, maneging to tie the collar around the beautifull snow leopord before her, in an instant she had fallen to the ground and in her arms was an adorable wite rabbit, she smiled and stared at the little animal, "Thank you for helping me little rabbit," she wispered, kissing the bunny's forehead, "I promise I'll give you a better home than you had before," she wispered

Ichigo panted as he continued to run forward, cringing at the fact that it had started to snow, "I guess I'll just have to rely on my spirit..." he muttered, preparing to transform, wen suddenly a familiar scent tickled his nose, he looked to his right and saw a tiny rabbit leaping towards him, neeling down, he held his arms out and allowed the bunny to leap into his open arms, "You aren't Rukia," he told the rabbit blandly as he stood back up, sensing that his lover's presence was near, he took a step forward and from the trees walked a beautifull snow leopord, her powerfull legs leading her forward in greater, faster strides than her rabbit legs ever had, "Rukia..." he wispered as her beauty overtook him, a dull glow surrounded her as she no longer walked as a snow leopord, but now as the girl he was going to marry, beautifull black hair draped over thin shoulders, a wite and black spotted yukata incasing her petit frame, purple eyes staring at him as thin, creamy pale legs lead her forward, "This is your new form?" he wispered, "Do you like it?" she asked, taking the rabbit from him, "I... Rukia your form doesn't matter at all to me as long as you're still Rukia... but yeah... I defintly like it," he said, she smiled, "Good," "The only problum is that I can't carry you around in my mouth anymore," he said sadly, she smirked, "Ahhhhh that's one thing about being a rabbit I WON'T miss," she laughed as they started walking back to the house, Ichigo frowned and shifted his weight, "Not funny..." he muttered, "I'm seriouse, you no I hated it wen you did that," he "hmphed" "So is this little one your potronouse?" "WAS, now she's just a normal rabbit," Rukia corrected him, "We're keeping her, I think she deserves a good life don't you?" "Absolutely, so wat's her name?" "I think I'll name her An-Ying," "That's a cute name," "Yes, I no," she agreed, turning with him as they started back towards the house

And so the lion fell in love with the rabbit.....