Name: Remembrance
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters in any way, shape or form! I make no profits from my fiction!
Takes off from the point where Starrk snags Orihime from Ichigo and Kenpachi just as she's about to heal Kenpachi. I forgot the episode T_T
Also for some reason I decided to buck the trend and use the Japanese honorifics for like…ONLY this. Go figure.
ENJOY!
"Sorry about this." He placed his hand on her shoulder, slouching a little.
"It annoys me that I have to do this but..." The two shinigami charged at him. He reached down and grabbed her hand.
"I'm going to borrow her." With the hiss of a Sonido, both he and the woman were gone, the two shinigami left in their wake, shell-shocked in a cloud of sand.
Orihime had NOT been expecting him. Not at all. She also hadn't been expecting him to take her to the other side of Las Noches with only a couple of Sonido. It was void of everything, the main battles going on around where they had just left. Starrk let her hand go after a second and stared at her.
She was petrified.
"You fear me." he stated, somewhat sadly.
"You're the Primera Espada." she whispered. "Of course I do" He should've expected that. He turned his back on her, looking over the edge.
"...I've been instructed to take you to Tower 5."
'So why am I here?' she felt like asking.
"...We've never talked to each other before, I think." he added uncertainly, glancing at her for confirmation. She shook her head quickly and meekly. He hummed, but said nothing more, returning to look at the vast fake sands.
"S-Starrk-"
"I don't think we're coming back." he said suddenly. Orihime fell silent. The Primera had scarcely spoken a dozen words to her the whole time she had been captive, yet now he was delaying direct orders just to be around her.
"...I know a death march when I see it, Onna. We are going to our doom. Aizen will be fine. We will not." He sounded almost angry. Almost. She'd never heard of, let alone seen Coyote Starrk in such an aware and chatty state. She doubted anyone, save his Fracción, had.
"The end of the Espada is drawing near." It wasn't said as a threat, more like an ominous prediction.
Silence reigned, but she knew he wasn't finished.
"...You were different. You were something new. You were life within death." She was surprised at his words, and his melancholy tone.
"Onna...never think that you did nothing by being here. Never think it was all in vain. You have made a difference. Maybe not in the War itself, but in its soldiers. You have changed the Espada. Every action you have taken, that we have witnessed and felt the resulting actions from, has changed us. You have changed the Cuatro and Sexta Espada, most definitely. And you have changed the Primera."
She looked at him with large, round orbs, pleading for her confusion to be cleared.
"Why are you telling me this?" He turned his head to look at her, steel meeting slate.
"Because, you are alone." He said it so simply, like it was as plain as the fake sky above them. Orihime's eyes widened in slight fear. Was it that obvious? She thought she'd covered up her cracks and internal holes. He turned to blankly stare out over the interior desert again.
"I am no stranger to it, Onna. I can easily identify it." She looked down, ashamed. She had thought that by fooling them into thinking they hadn't gotten to her too badly. What a joke.
"I have to take you to Aizen." mumbled Starrk. He didn't move. His level rumble of a voice was low, like a half whisper when he spoke again.
"Onna...Promise me something." Her eyes lifted, startled and curious.
"...Do not forget us."
She was startled. It was such a simple request. She had been expecting something well...difficult.
"If you remember, you aren't completely alone, and if you are being remembered, it works the same way. I think." he added, frowning. Orihime smiled.
"I'll never forget my experiences here. I'll never forget the people. I could never forget. Everyone's made an impression on me...Ulquiorra-san, Grimmjow-san...Starrk-san." She added with a slight giggle. He raised one brow in confusion eliciting an explanation.
"I've never seen someone sleep so much. Starrk-san has certainly left an impression!" He smiled in the corner of his mouth.
"Starrk-san...Even if you don't survive, you won't be forgotten. Whoever fights with you...they'll remember you as the most challenging opponent they've faced." She said, trying to cheer him a little, shuffling closer till she was beside him. He sighed.
"...But what if I don't want to be remembered for my power as the Primera Espada?" He looked at her.
"I want to be remembered as me; Coyote Starrk." He reached out tentatively and held her chin in his gloved hand.
"I want you to remember me like that." He leaned down a little and looked at her seriously.
"Promise?" She had a very faint red tinge to her cheeks, even as she nodded.
"I promise. You're not the Primera Espada. You're Coyote Starrk...and you sleep a lot." she added with a giggle. He smiled slightly, nodding before releasing her chin.
"Good." He turned around and glanced at the inside of Las Noches, just taking it in, while Orihime took him in. He was lonely.
With her new mindset of the Espada before her, she felt her fear fade away, as if shrugged off her back.
"...Starrk-san?" He grunted in acknowledgment, turning to face her slowly. He was completely caught off guard by the hug that enveloped him, her arms wrapping around his middle as she pressed the side of her head against his chest, just below his Hollow Hole. He froze, eyes wide, unsure of what to do.
"Arigato."
After a moment, he relaxed and curled over her, awkwardly returning the hug.
"You're not alone Starrk-san."
'...I'm not, am I? Not now, even if it's only for a moment.'
They separated after a few moments, her hand slipping into his and holding onto it.
"...I'm ready to see Aizen." Orihime's voice was steady and she was trying to muster all her confidence and strength. Holding Starrk's hand somehow made it easier. He nodded, then paused and leaned over her.
"Onna...thank you for giving life." he said, dropping a light kiss on her forehead.
She blushed and instinctively squeezed his hand a little tighter before he Sonido'd to Tower 5, Aizen, and his doomed fate.
Le done!
Hope you enjoyed it. This is only going to be a one-shot!
I dunno...something about this pairing really catches my eye. They're just...I CAN'T EXPLAIN IT!
Please Fav, review, whatever!