Ichiruki: Never Give Up

It's scenes like this that make me remember how much I preferred Ichiruki to Ichihime, it reminds me of something I once heard.

"Who do you want? The princess who stands behind you or the queen who stands beSIDE you."

She's a fighter, she doesn't give up, barring her execution, but that was her accepting her death. It annoys me to no end Bleach's ending, I like Orihime, I do, she's a nice girl, and she's had her moments, but with all the power she had, she never truly used it, she lacked the heart of a warrior, and never belonged in battle, a great healer, but to me the power to reject phenomena, to reject reality, it's potential was never truly reached by her.

Rukia though has the resolve, the heart, she's a warrior who fights to the end and would do so alongside Ichigo, they had actual moments, and one of the saddest fights for me was between her hollowfied form and Ichigo. They had a deeper connection to me not only because she gave him the power to protect, but because she also made the rain go away, she freed Zangetsu's world. First Ichigo saved her and then she saved him from despair. They just had that bond, that unbreakable link that I'd forged from people who have fought with and for each other.

I believe that if Ichigo would have been paired with Rukia, he would've stayed in the Soul Society with her, and they both would've become captains of the Gotei. Ichigo fifth because of irony.

Plus I'd like to imagine that Byakuya would one-up Ichigo at their wedding by finding Masaki and bringing her to him.

They've been linked since the beginning of Bleach, and they should've gotten together, it just made more sense.

But instead it's the overused pairing of the hero and the princess, instead of a true King and Queen.