Orihime stumbled through the brush weakly trying to find help of any kind. Her already tattered dress caught on most of the low tree limbs. Her hair was a mess and full of twigs and leaves. She soon tripped over a rock that was covered by the foliage. She fell to her knees and caught herself with the palms of her hands. Orihime sat there panting and crying. This was too much for her to handle.

Orihime had been on her way to the neighboring kingdom to be wed to their prince. She had not met him nor had any recollection of what he looked like, his age, or personality. During her travel, her caravan had been attacked by ruthless bandits. They killed her entire guard right before her eyes. Orihime managed to escape thanks to her hand maiden who sacrificed herself. Orihime had begged her not to, but she paid no heed to her princess and gave her life.

Orihime laid there for what seemed like hours before she heard the sound of a cow. She lifted her head up and noticed a field not too far off. She pulled herself to her feet and limped towards the clearing. Upon arriving she looked around. There were quite a few crop fields, a herd of cattle, sheep, and horses. Also among the sights was a small village. Feeling her spirits lift some, she walked as fast as her leg would allow and passed through the field. She felt her energy drain from her almost as fast as it came, that by the time she emerged from the field she was on the verge of collapsing.

As she emerged there were several people sitting around a small fire in front of a building eating. They all noticed her and looked at her in confusion.

"Help me please…." Orihime managed to get out before she collapsed to the ground.

***

Orihime stirred from her slumber almost a day later. She slowly opened her eyes to find a girl no older than 12 sitting next to her bed side sewing. The girl put down her sewing as soon as Orihime opened her eyes.

"You are finally awake. Wait one moment I'll be right back." She stood up and ran out of the room yelling 'Papa!'

The girl returned shortly with a tall grizzly looking man in tow. He had a firm but gentle look to him. He came and sat in the chair next to her bed and took her chin in his hand gently. He looked at her eyes as though to confirm something. Once satisfied, he lifted up the covers from her legs, and that's when she noticed a bandage around her left leg. The man began to remove it as the girl went to a counter and retrieved a bowl of water with a rag.

The man began to clean the cut on her leg and re bandaged it. Once he was satisfied with his work, he leaned back in the chair and began asking her questions.

"How are you feeling?"

"A bit tired and some pain." She managed to get out seeing as her throat was parched.

The man noticed his is turned to the girl. "Yuzu please go fetch some water." With a quick 'Yes Papa.', the girl was off. Turning back to Orihime he could read a question that was plain on her face. "My name is Kurosaki Isshin; I am the Leader of this town along with the doctor. You collapsed right outside this building yesterday. Now may I know who you are?"

"I am Inoue Orihime."

"Well now, this is quite a surprise." He leaned forward. "What is someone of your status doing out here, none the less in your condition."

"My caravan was attacked by bandits. As far as I know, they killed everyone. I managed to just barely escape." She whispered mournfully. "I ran for as long as I could till I stumbled upon your village."

As she finished speaking, Yuzu appeared again with a jug of water. Isshin took the jug from her and poured some into a cup for Orihime. He slid his arm under her shoulders and lifted her up while holding the cup up to her mouth. She flushed a little at the contact but drank the water greedily. Once she was done, he pulled the cup away and sat her into a sitting position.

"This is my youngest daughter Yuzu. She will be taking care of you."

"Don't hesitate to ask for anything." She smiled happily.

"Thank you." She smiled lightly.

"Oi, Yuzu." A male voice called from outside the house. "Are you bringing back that jug anytime soon?"

As he finished speaking, a young male around Orihime's age entered the room in nothing but a pair of pants. Orihime could feel the blush appearing on her cheeks at the appearance of the teen. His skin reflected slightly with sweat and a small amount of dirt on toned body. He noticed her sitting there starring at him.

"I see she woke up, who is our mystery woman?" He asked as he walked over. He was surprised how beautiful she was compared to the condition she was in when she first arrived.

"This is my oldest son Ichigo." Isshin introduced before standing up and pushing him out the door again. He guided him several feet away before stopping and speaking to him. "Ichigo, we have to be really careful about this situation. She is Inoue Orihime, the princess Inoue Orihime." He firmly said. "We can't let any of the villagers know who she is seeing as the hostility most have around here for royal families. Her caravan was attacked by such people."

"So what are we going to do? We can't just walk up to the prince and say 'here she belongs to you.' That would mean death for the entire village."

"We make a trip to the royal city here in a few weeks, we will take her with us and she can go up to the castle herself and he will have no idea who was involved. I will have a talk with her about what is going to happen. In the mean time, I want you to keep an eye on her when she is out of the house." Isshin folded his arms across his chest.

"Alright, but remember we can't be coming to her every beck and call." Ichigo stated.

Isshin nodded and lead the way back to the house. Once inside he threw a shirt at his son before heading over to sit next to Orihime who was eating something Yuzu had prepared.

"Orihime, you will have to forgive the informality, but it needs to be done because quite a few of the villagers don't care for royal families. You see our Prince, Aizen, is none to kindly to his subjects and that has created hostility. We have to handle the situation delicately, I know it's asking a lot, but for the next few weeks till we head to the royal city, you'll have to pose as a commoner."

Orihime looked at him with a very confused face. "So anywhere I go in this kingdom, unless it is in the palace my life is in danger?"

"Pretty much." Ichigo stated leaning against a wooden pillar.

"What exactly do I have to do, to act like a commoner that is." She looked down at her hands.

"We won't require too much of you, just cooking, bringing water around to the workers in the field and caring for the children." Isshin stated. "That is once your leg is healed. While you are down, you can just tend to sewing."

Orihime sat there staring at the bed sheets contemplating her situation. She didn't really have a choice unless she wanted to venture out on her own to find the royal city. That option didn't seem really appealing at all to her. She looked up at Isshin and nodded her head. "I'll do it."

"Alright then, you'll be staying with us. We will move you into the actual living part of the house." Isshin instructed. "Yuzu will show you all that you need to know."

Orihime nodded and squeeked when she felt someone lifting her up. She looked up and saw Ichigo picking her up.

"Wai-what are you doing?" She exclaimed.

"Moving you to your room; unless you want to stay in the hospital part of the house."

Orihime blushed and put her head down as to hide her face. 'He's very strong….maybe it's because he works so hard.' She was brought out of her thought when Ichigo set her down on a different bed.

"T-thank you." She whispered, still not looking at him. She noticed something out of the corner of her eye and looked over to notice that he had squatted down next to her bed to look at her.

"I know it's going to be rough trying to fit in around here, but if you have any troubles just say something to Dad or me, we'll get it fixed." He looked in her eyes as he stated this.

Orihime nodded, her blush getting darker. Ichigo gave her a grin and patted her on the head as he stood up and left. She watched him leave and then looked around the room, she defiantly had a lot to get used to.