Under a moonless, star-seeded sky Ichigo lay with Orihime on an empty stretch of beach. It was after midnight and the muggy air was still, holding onto the insufferable heat of the day. Under him, the sand was fine and cool and soft. He listened to the surf, the sounds of cars in the distance, her breathing. That other life he had, the other world where the dead waited and half of his friends lived, seemed very far away.
Ichigo heard Orihime gasp and sigh suddenly, and his eyes went back into sharp focus. Something had streaked across the sky. "Did you see it? The shooting star?" she asked, her voice soft, almost a whisper.
"Yeah," he said keeping his own voice low. "Yeah, I did."
He felt her scoot up to his side, and Ichigo dug his arm under her shoulders so he could roll her up onto his chest. Her weight was comfortable and familiar, and there was only one way they could get much closer, though that might get them arrested for public indecency. Something like that would be extremely embarrassing, not just for the obvious reasons; they were also staying with one of Orihime's college friends for the week of the Tanbata festival in Hiratsuka. Then again, it was pretty dark, and they were a good distance from any of the hotels and the recreation center.
"Guess what I wished for," she said, smiling down at him, her long hair gathered over one shoulder and sweeping against his neck and shoulder. Ichigo wanted her, and he knew she knew it by the way she was sucking on her lower lip. His loose hand absently stroked her side, and he must have tickled her a little because she squeaked and wiggled against him.
"How many guesses do I get?" he said and tried not to scowl, but Orihime's mind always operated a little left of center. There was no telling what answer might result from such a wild imagination.
"One," she said, and giggled in his ear.
Ichigo considered his options, as a wrong answer in this situation could have serious repercussions. "Can I change my wish to more guesses?"
He could see Orihime's eyes glisten as they widened and she sat up a little, almost escaping his grasp. "You made a wish?"
Tugging her back down, he chuckled. "Sure. That's what you do when you see a falling star." He wasn't really sure where he'd picked up the notion, though he suspected his sisters had something to do with it. Stargazing never held much appeal to Ichigo. He supposed Orihime's interest in it could be tied to her name; the name of a goddess, the name of a star. It fit her and it didn't. "Do you want me to tell you?"
"Oh no, no! You don't have to do that," she laughed, and waved one of her hands in dismissal.
He sighed, knowing that she was often as bad as he was in admitting there was something she wanted for herself. "I wish that there's never rain on Tanbata ever again," he said, with a small smile.
Orihime stared at him for a moment, either surprised or disbelieving. "Does that mean you're not going back?"
"Not exactly. I've worked out an agreement with the Council," he said with some displeasure. There had been a lot of yelling on his part and the pulling of strings. He hadn't really understood in the beginning how fortunate he was that he had Renji and Rukia on his side, as well as Byakuya Kuchiki's respect. It helped him immensely in his dealings with the bureaucracy of Soul Society, once they'd come up with the ridiculous notion that he shouldn't be allowed to run around loose.
"An agreement?"
"By the time you're done with medical school and have your internship, my team will have the rest of Hell back under control. I'll have a lot more freedom. As long as there isn't an emergency, I can come and go from Soul Society as I please," he said.
The pencil-pushers in Seireitei would keep him trapped there for the remainder of his mortal life if they could. They'd have his soul for the all of eternity, he could at least have the miniscule sixty or seventy years that it would take for his human body to wear out. If Urahara hadn't screwed with that too.
"I see. About two years then." Her voice was still soft, and she didn't sound sad. Resigned maybe. They both had known it would be a while before they could have anything like a normal relationship.
"We're still doing it faster than they said we could. Ukitake said cleaning up Aizen's mess and getting all the damned back where they belong would require decades." The only reason it wasn't taking longer was that many of the purified hollows whose spirits ended up in Soul Society, after the invasion of Hueco Mundo, became shinigami. This swelled the ranks of the Gotei 13 significantly, though it was odd seeing some of his former enemies wearing shinigami black. One of them even ended up a captain.
"I remember," she nodded, wearing one of her sunshine smiles. "Are you still going to get your teaching certificate when you're back?" she asked, alluding to a conversation they'd had a few weeks after graduation. At the time he had been tying up loose ends so he could go to Hell.
"Heck yeah. The Council can't stop me – now that he's back the Spirit King isn't in any hurry to retire - I'll play ball when I'm good and dead. There are kids out there who've never even heard of King Lear," he said with a growl. Orihime giggled at his enthusiasm and his bravado. Impulsively, he rolled them over and pushed her lightly back into the sand, his lips already pressing against hers.
"Mmm...Ichigo. I'm glad you came back."
He kissed her until he ran out of breath and she was breathless, embraced her, one arm behind her head, and then pressed his face into her hair, catching the scents of salt and jasmine. Her arms were already wrapped around him, hands diving into the pockets of his jeans. She goosed him lightly through the fabric, making his pelvis buck forward into her.
"Ack! Calm down Hime, there's plenty of time for that. Anyway, I would have been an idiot not to take you up on the invitation. I doubt we'll have another chance to rest for a while. After Renji and Chad get healed up we're going back in," he admitted.
Before Ichigo could go for another kiss, she caught him in the chest with her open palms, and pushed him far enough off of her that his shadow didn't completely cover her face. "Are you going to guess my wish?" she asked, still wearing that secret fond smile that he knew she saved for him. He wasn't going to get out of this by changing the subject.
He realized then that he knew what it was already, and why it was a wish. "You want to come with us." Orihime's decision to stay in the living world after how hard she fought, and how important she was to their ultimate success against Aizen, had come as a surprise to them all. The war had changed them, but perhaps Orihime had changed the most.
Years ago Rukia told him in confidence that Orihime said that she wanted to stop living in denial of the crap hand in life that she'd been dealt – not in those exact words, but that was the gist. She wanted to come to terms with the pain in her heart, so she could help people instead of feeling sorry for herself. Those living, mortal men, women and children, who were sick or suffering that she could heal. Now she was well on her way to becoming a doctor.
Every moment he thought he couldn't admire her more, she turned around and made his heart swell again with pride. It was hard to ask her to turn away from her commitments, but he needed her and her skills so badly.
"Er, yes."
He grinned in excitement. "You changed your mind?" She had always been welcome to join them, make their team whole again.
"I want to but-" Her voice trailed off, biting her lip.
His face fell, as he crouched over her propped up on his hands. "Hime-"
Orihime waved her hands in front of her. "Ahaha, it's just a wish. A silly thing. You said it yourself that you'll finish this, and you know I believe in you." She tugged him down by his neck and his hands lost leverage, his full weight falling free and knocking the breath out of the both of them. She laughed as he eased up, and then they rolled around in an undignified manner. This quickly escalated to the removal of clothing, and Ichigo unabashedly set to exploring every soft, warm inch of her.
Once the initial frenzied rush to join their bodies had been achieved, he tried slow down and pay more attention. To the shuddering hitch of her breath, her soft moans as she moved over him, arched under him. Her touch was shearing from his mind all thought of Hell and the horrors that it contained. For a few moments he could forget that he had to return to that place, and that there was always a tiny chance he would never see her again, her head thrown back, ecstatic and panting and beautiful under the stars.
In the darkest depths of his soul Ichigo had felt the desire before to claim her and keep her for himself, hiding her away from the world and anything that could harm her. Which was stupid and impossible and selfish and unfair, not much better than Aizen imprisoning her in a tower. He could however, make love to her until she gasped his name like a prayer.
This was better than some misguided desire for possession. He belonged to her as she belonged to him, and they anchored each other in the roughest storms of life. Ichigo couldn't ask for more than that.
Later as they dressed, he heard her laugh. "Penguin print, how cute! I wonder how they got in my sleeve though?"
He looked up at her from checking the time on his phone. 3:36 am. "Huh?"
"I found your boxers," she said waving them in front of her like a flag.
Ichigo scratched the back of his head. "Oh, heh, I wadded everything together, I think. It's kind of all a blur now," he laughed. They hadn't even parted yet and he already missed her.
She sighed and gave him a content smile as she tossed them over. He caught them before they hit his face, but still got sprayed with sand. Ichigo gasped and spluttered and he knew he heard an amused titter escape from her throat. He brushed himself off with one hand and watched Orihime buckle her white sandals back on. The boxers he stuffed in his pocket. He was going to take a bath as soon as they returned anyway. He had sand in places he didn't like to think about and she probably did, too. If she wasn't too tired, he hoped she'd join him.
"Orihime," he said, trying to think of how to word this. They still had a few days before he went back, he might be able to convince her to go back to the Spirit World with him.
"Hmm?" She was finger-combing her hair, and he came over and put his hands on her shoulders.
"You know, I believe in you, too. I want you with us, we-"
She put a finger on his lips, her mouth quirking up. "Let's wait and see if it rains tomorrow."