A/N – Hi everyone! Okay so this is the first fanfic I've ever posted. I'm sorry if it's a little rough, but it's only the first chapter, so please bear with me. ;) Please feel free to leave reviews, thanks!

Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach those rights belong to the awesome Tite Kubo. I also do not own Horizons by Puscifer, that belongs to them. I, myself own nothing except this story.

Dust devil swept you away
My recollections are all that's left of you
Swirl and sway without me

His piercing gaze locked onto hers as he reached for her.

She paused only for a moment before she extended her hand in return.

Only this time his hand didn't turn to ash.

He snatched her hand tightly in his and drew her toward him.

Orihime sat up breathless and covered in a cold sweat, how she'd woken up every night since she returned home. It was always the same puzzling dream, but she couldn't figure out what it meant.

It had been a little over a month since the war with Aizen ended and everything was back to normal, except for her. She couldn't go back to how things were before, not after what she had been through. As much as Orihime loved her friends, they would never understand. She couldn't let them know how guilty she felt about needing them to come to her rescue. She went there with the intentions of saving them, not the other way around.

Orihime laid in bed for a few more minutes and debated if she should even get up yet, she had another hour to go before her alarm clock was going to go off. Finally, she threw back the covers and decided to get started with her day by making some breakfast. After she made a quick trip to the bathroom, she begrudgingly made her way into the kitchen and started to pull ingredients out of the cabinets.

A little while later, she locked her front door and descended the steps that led to her apartment. Once she reached the sidewalk, she was met with her usual morning greeting.

"Hey Orihime!"

Orihime with her smile in place, turned and waved to her friend Tatsuki.

"Morning Tatsuki-chan."

Tatsuki was her best friend since childhood, there was no one Orihime trusted more in the world than her. She was tall, with an athletic build and a head of messy, short, black hair. Since it was December, they were both wearing their winter Karakura High uniform. There was no snow today, but it still managed to be rather cold outside, so Orihime had added a fluffy, pink scarf to her outfit.

"Orihime, are you feeling all right? You look a little tired, have you been sleeping enough?"

Orihime gave a nervous laugh and placed her right hand behind her head.

"Tatsuki-chan, I'm fine, I promise. I was just up late studying, after spending as much time as I did on make up work before, I don't want to fall behind again."

Tatsuki eyed her suspiciously for a moment before she decided to let it go. She let out a soft sigh as they started to walk in the direction of their school.

"That better be the reason you're not sleeping at night. You know, if you ever need to talk about anything I'm always here for you," Tatsuki said.

The problem was she couldn't talk to Tatsuki, as much as she wanted to, she hadn't told anyone the details of her stay in Hueco Mundo. Orihime couldn't tell them about her time there, with the Espada that had collected her, and kept her company. The cheerful girl began to slow her pace as she got lost in her thoughts. Tatsuki continued to walk until she realized they weren't side by side anymore, so she paused to turn around and gave Orihime a puzzled look.

"Orihime? Are you sure you're okay? You seem more spaced out than usual."

"Gomenasai Tatsuki-chan! I think I might have fried my brain a little last night from studying so hard. I won't study as much tonight and try to get to sleep at a more reasonable time," she said with a nervous giggle.

"Yeah, yeah, you need to snap out of it before you walk into a pole or something," Tatsuki grumbled in return.

"You're right," Orihime said. "I need to start being more aware of my surroundings, be on guard for enemies, like killer robots with laser beams!"

Orihime drew herself up to her full height, put a determined look on her face, and marched up to Tatsuki's side.

Tatsuki chuckled. "Orihime, sometimes you are so strange even to me."

At this remark the fiery, redhead stuck her tongue out at her dark haired friend.

"Come on Tatsuki, we're going to be being late if we don't get moving!"

Upon entering the classroom Orihime and Tatsuki greeted their friends Yasutora Sado, Uryū Ishida.

"Morning Sado-kun, Ishida-kun!" Orihime exclaimed.

"Hey Chad, Ishida," Tatsuki stated as she drifted past them and headed to her desk.

Yasutora Sado or "Chad" to his friends, was a muscular teenager with chestnut hair and eyes, and a permanent tan due to his Mexican heritage. Uryū Ishida however, was not as tall as Chad but lean with neat, black hair and bespectacled, sapphire eyes.

Chad acknowledged them with a slight nod.

"Good morning Arisawa-san," Uryū said. "Inoue-san, don't forget that the handicrafts club meeting is canceled today."

Orihime giggled. "Thank you Ishida-kun, I would have wondered where everyone was."

"I kind of figured, that's why I reminded you," replied Uryū.

"Come on Orihime, the bells about to ring, we need to take our seats," Tatsuki said.

Orihime turned to Tatsuki and nodded before she headed to her seat. She placed her book bag on the floor and reached into it to pull out her notebooks and a pen. While she waited for her teacher to begin the day's lesson, Orihime's eyes wandered over to Ichigo Kurosaki's empty desk.

Too bad Kurosaki-kun couldn't come back to school yet. I know he just woke up a couple of days ago, but it hasn't been the same without him here. I know Kuchiki-san's been staying with him like she usually does and she's probably standing over his bed, yelling at him to get up and-

"Don't make a fuss about everything. It's annoying."

She turned her gaze away from his desk to look out the window at the green trees in the distance and her thoughts wandered off to man with a pair of emerald eyes. She remembered how his eyes were the only color to comfort her in a world of nothing but black and white. Orihime blinked, shook her head to clear her thoughts, and turned her attention back to her teacher.

Orihime walked home alone after another quiet day at school. It was now mid afternoon and it had started to get a little chillier out, so she headed home at a quicker pace than usual. She made sure her mind didn't wander too much by making a point to keep her attention focused on her surroundings. She looked into store windows as she passed by, or glanced at the strangers that flowed around her.

After all that happened, thank goodness that things worked out for the better, I don't even want to think about what would have happened if we had lost.

At this thought, she frowned and let out a soft sigh,"come on Orihime," she said. "Time to cheer up and start moving forward."

She then lifted both of her hands and used her pointer fingers to force her cheeks up to form a smile. At that moment an elderly woman passed by and gave a strange look. Orihime blushed at the old woman, quite embarrassed that she was caught in her peculiar actions, and hastily continued on her way home. It seemed like she only walked for a few more minutes before the stairs that led up to her apartment came into her view.

The redhead unlocked her front door, stepped in and removed her shoes. She tossed her bag on the couch, strolled over to the shrine on a shelf by the kitchen, and knelt in front of it.

"Good afternoon Onii-chan," Orihime said as she knelt in front of the shrine. "My day wasn't very eventful, except at lunch time when Chizuru tried to hug me a little too long and of course Tatsuki-chan knocked some sense into her." She giggled as she thought about the incident and offered a quick prayer before she lifted herself off the floor.

"It's way too early for dinner, so I guess I should start on my homework," she said to herself.

Orihime turned away from the shrine and headed off to retrieve her bag. The redhead grabbed it, walked over to the table to remove the necessary materials and began to work on her homework for the evening.

A few hours later, a loud growl from her stomach startled her from her homework. With a deep blush on her face, she sprung up from her seat on the floor and bolted toward the kitchen.

"Oh my gosh! I completely forgot to make dinner!" she cried out to herself.

As soon as Orihime hit the kitchen, she started to tear through her cabinets like a tornado, she yanked open drawers, and checked her fridge three times. She discovered that she had nothing to eat but bean paste and a loaf of bread.

Guess that's what I get for not stopping at the store on the way home, I should have at least grabbed a snack or something.

Orihime grabbed her lackluster dinner, drifted back to her seat at the table and turned on the tv. She flipped through the channels for a few seconds before finding something interesting to watch. As she began to eat, there was a sudden knock at her door.

Hmm, Tatsuki didn't say she'd be stopping by. I wonder who it could be?

Orihime bounced up from her seat and crossed the room towards her front door, on the way she began to feel a little apprehensive about who it would be. Just as she opened the door, her fear washed away and her curiosity replaced it. No one was there. Without warning, there was a shout from down by her feet.

"Hime! Come quick, I need your help!"

Orihime gawked at the small child with sea green hair looking up at her. Her large, storm colored eyes were filled with tears and she had an indisputable, broken Arrancar mask on her head.

"Oh my gosh! Nel-chan, what in the world are you doing here? How did you even get here?" she asked.

"Nel opened a garganta in the park. I'll tell you everything later, we have to hurry and help Grimmjow. C'mon, we don't have time!" Nel shouted.

"Grimmjow? What do you mean-"

"Later! We gotta go now!" the child wailed as she flew down the steps and took off in the direction of the park.

Orihime launched herself down the steps two at a time to catch up to the quick girl. As she hit the ground, she bolted as fast as she could toward the park. All the while, her thoughts were in complete disarray with panic about what kind of situation she was getting involved in.