A/N Only a little bit dark imagination with Sora when he thinks of the original fairy tales. Enjoy!
Fairy Tale
Sora Inoue is not superstitious by nature. Nor did he believe in coincidences.
Having been brought up in that hellhole for the first eighteen years of his life by abusive parents, an alcoholic father who vented the frustrations of his personal failures by belting his son and a prostitute for a mother who had nearly sold her daughter to pay a debt, Sora was understandably a realist by the tender age of fifteen.
Yet even he had to admit the similarities were uncanny.
When he first saw the flaming halo of hair belonging to his newborn sister, which the nurse had just placed in his arms, he had been entranced. When her stormy grey eyes opened, to the horror of the whispering nurses muttering nonsense about bad luck, he knew he was ensnared. His first thought was Ariel. From her hair to her eyes, and finally to the smile and sweet gurgle she emitted, fingers reaching upwards trying to swipe at his bangs, when she first saw him, Sora thought his baby sister resembled the little mermaid.
Such was the resemblance he had almost been sorely tempted to name her after the Disney mermaid princess on her birth certificate. But he wanted a name more special for her, already thinking ahead to potential teasing she might experience in the future from such a name. Even then, he could not bear the thought of his imouto hating him even if it was for a petty reason such as a name.
No. She will have a proper name. A special name … fit for a princess.
Because that is who she is in Sora's eyes – a princess.
So as his mother complained to the nurse, the doctor, and anyone in the listening vicinity about the birth stretch marks, Sora's mind was hard at work, thinking of the right name for his younger sibling.
Princess…princess…princess…
He wanted her to carve her own destiny, to step out of the shadows of uncaring parents and any future hostile elements, and emerge, like now, forever smiling and happy. And he will help her, as far as possible, because Sora already knew that this tiny bundle of life, swaddled in the hospital's cotton pink blankets, is more important, will forever be more important than his own.
And it was just as the nurse was handing the pen to his mother to complete the necessary paperwork for the birth certificate, it hit him.
The perfect name.
He had grasped the nurse's wrist tightly, startling the poor woman, while his other arm securely cradled his baby sister.
Marveling at the strokes he formed on the page, Sora looked at the name that took form.
Orihime.
Orihime Inoue.
The legendary Weaving Princess of the Stars whose perseverance and faith enabled her to meet her love for only one night of every year.
Looking back, Sora would wonder from time to time if he might have made a mistake in placing such a meaningfully-heavy, destiny-heavy name on his sister. After all, he knew that the original fairy tales did not have happy endings, unlike the current Disney versions, which he read to his sister night after night.
The original Little Mermaid, despite the beauty of her voice which entranced the sea creatures and Merpeople in the courts under the glittering waves, would die voiceless and away from home. Her love for the human prince would not be recognized, usurped as she would be by the wrong human princess. It would only be her redeeming love, not to stab the prince with the enchanted dagger, which saved her from turning into sea foam, lifted instead into the sunlight as one of the Daughters of the Air.
Likewise, the renowned Weaving Princess of Tanabata would suffer loneliness for 364 days for her mortal Cowherd, pining to be reunited with him, only to be torn away once more when another cycle of day and night fell.
"Onii-chan! Onii-chan! Is it bedtime reading, yet?"
Sora looked up at the approaching blur of lithe limbs, sunshine hair and bright, grey eyes, a sight which never failed to make him smile regardless of how tired he was after a long day at work.
"Yes, Hime-chan. What do you want to read tonight?"
And as Sora flipped through the dog-eared, worn pages of the Collected Book of Fairy Tales from the library, planning to read to Orihime Cinderella and the Sleeping Beauty, half his mind on slashed heels of wicked stepsisters, bloody glass slippers, truth-telling ravens, hundred-year old briar roses and maleficent dragons, he knew he had made no mistake.
His Orihime, so bright, so intelligent that Sora did not need to help her with homework apart from a minimal guiding hand in History, so faith-keeping that she alone could light up his spirits on the nights when money was scarce to the point that they were left alone in the dark because of outstanding electricity bills, and so, so beautiful, would know when the time is right, when harsh Reality intrudes on her Haven of Imagination how to fight back and survive – no, she would do more than survive, she would Live.
Because she is much stronger, braver than him than she is even aware of. Whatever darkness and Shadows will reach for her may bend, but never break, her.
She will be one of the few who can walk the path of Light while still touched by the Darkness.
She will be one of the few who can stare Reality in the eye, but take comfort from her dreams and Imagination.
She will be ready when Destiny calls.
So for now, now on this chilly autumn evening, just between the two of them, let that cycle start once more.
"Once upon a time…"
Sora Inoue can rest in peace because his sister Orihime will live up to her name.
End:
"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em."
Twelfth Night, Shakespeare
A/N There are never enough fanfics about the strong brother-sister bond between Sora and Orihime.
I have another one in mind… but only if you review for this one!
Once upon a time… *sigh* I never did own Bleach.