Title: Remember
Rating: G
Pairing / Characters: Kurosaki Ichigo, Inoue Orihime
Word Count: 582 words
Warnings: Spoilers for the manga?????????????????
Summary: Ichigo remembers Inoue
A/N: A word of warning: I've never read the manga. Its almost a crime, but I don't know where to get my hands on it. I've heard some rumours of what happens in the manga, and that's where this came from…
REMEMBER, © OF JOSH GROBAN, TAKEN OFF THE TROY SOUND TRACK, 2004
FOR ALL THE ICHIHIME FANS…
Remember, I will still be here as long as you hold me in your memory
Remember, when your dreams have ended time can be transcended
Just remember me
For as long as they had known each other, her smile had kept him going when the world had fallen down around his ears. After his mother died, it was true that he had locked himself away from the world, afraid to love again for fear of what would happen, but whenever Inoue was around, somehow, somehow, he wasn't afraid anymore.
As clear as day, he could see her, broad, cheerful smile on her face as she followed him wherever he went.
I am the one star that keeps burning so brightly
It is the last light to fade into the rising sun
I'm with you whenever you tell my story
For I am all I've done
When Inoue told him about the Shunshun rikka bursting free of the star shaped hairpins she wore, Ichigo hadn't been surprised in the slightest. One of his earliest memories of her was the first night in the clinic, just after her brother's death, was of her telling him how much she loved the stars, and did Kurosaki-kun ever think that her brother would be watching her from somewhere up there…
Her acceptance of her brother's death, like her acceptance of her strange gift, made his heart ache whenever he thought about it.
Remember, I will still be here as long as you hold me in your memory
Just remember me
I am the cold voice in the cold wind that whispers
And if you listen you'll hear me call across the sky
As long as I can still reach out and touch you
Then I will never die
They had been through so much together, the two of them. From school, to Sereitei, through both life and death, but despite everything, the events that had swept the both of them away and left them bewildered, Ichigo had never realized how much he had come to rely on her clear voice, her stories and her laughter. When his own emotions threatened to overwhelm him, she had kept him grounded.
When it rained, she was his umbrella from the world.
Remember, I'll never leave you
If you will only remember me
Their last day together, Inoue had been so bright, so cheerful, that Ichigo had done everything possible to extend their hours together, until the two of them had ended up alone, in the park, sitting on the swings and watching the sun set. Ichigo had listened to her soft babble, his usual frown fading in the wake of her laughter. It had been the most spectacular sunset over Karakura but Ichigo hadn't seen a moment of it.
Nothing, nothing could have compared to the glory of Inoue's bright hair.
Remember, I will still be here as long as you hold me in your memory
Remember, when your dreams have ended time can be transcended
I live forever
So many memories… so many hours of so many days of so many years… for every tear, for every laugh, for every smile and frown that had meant so much to him… for the moments when they had comforted each other with silence…
Now she was gone, and he was alone, the only thing to comfort him being his memories of her. A lifetime of memories…
Ichigo dropped his head into his hands and cried.
Remember me
Remember me
Remember… me
