Pairings: Kino Makoto/Inoue Orihime, Orihime/Tatsuki (past) and Makoto/Ami (past)
Notes: Unbetaed. I haven't watched much BLEACH, but fell in love with Orihime right away. This is mostly centred on the Sailor Moon universe. Imagine that Sailor Moon's last battle (post Stars) against Chaos was manifested in the fight against Hollows. She'd need help from someone who knew what they were dealing with and such did the BLEACH universe merge into the deal. Now the fight is over, the two dimensions have gone each to their own, but something remains behind.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I borrow and have fun.
Dedication: To my girlfriend who loves BLEACH.
Summary: After Ami died, Makoto's world fell apart. Then she met Orihime.
Sorezore no Elegy
After Ami-chan died, Makoto felt as if the world had fallen apart; every sense it once held to her having disappeared along with the blue-haired girl. Without Ami-chan's brains and shy, gentle ways not even peace mattered all that much.
And maybe it was the peace that had finally settled among them that made them fall apart, the five Inner Senshi, but Makoto suspected that it had less to do with peace than with the price peace had come with.
Because Usagi-chan had screamed and begged, trying to force the Silver Crystal to revive the Water Senshi who had sacrificed herself to purify the strange Hollows – the last strike of Chaos – but it did no good. No matter how much Sailor Moon banged her Moon Rod against the blood-red ground, Sailor Mercury didn't awaken, but stayed in the eternal embrace of death (where Jupiter couldn't follow her).
Rei-chan was more dignified in her grief. She stayed at the shrine for days on end, looking into the sacred flames and praying, tears cooling her cheeks. When she returned to the normal world once more, those tears had apparently extinguished the fire she had once been in control of. She was the first of the Guardians who lost her ability to transform.
Minako-chan went to the gym of their school every night when she couldn't sleep, sending one volleyball after another against the walls until her hands were too bruised to be of any use. Only when she'd exhausted her body to the point of fainting did she go home, knowing that at least she wouldn't have nightmares of Ami-chan falling… always falling…
Makoto, on the other hand, didn't cry, pray or rage. She went home to the apartment they'd shared and started decorating Ami-chan's altar. As she looked through her photo album for a picture to use she couldn't help finding it ironic that she knew the procedure so well… after all, she'd done the exact same things before, back when her parents died.
Yes, when Ami-chan died to ensure peace, Makoto knew that nothing would ever again go back to normal. Haruka-san and Michiru-san left Tokyo, taking Hotaru-chan with them. Setsuna-san returned to the future… and Makoto was left behind with a hole the size of her heart and no means of filling it up, because she – the one thing that had mattered; the important one – was gone.
When Ami-chan died, Makoto thought that maybe… maybe dying didn't necessarily need a reason. Disappearing without a word had its own kind of appeal.
Then she met Orihime.
They are different in every possible way. Each other's opposites, but also a reflection of what they both long for.
Makoto doesn't resemble the girl from Orihime's past at all; her hair is too long and the completely wrong colour, but the two of them share traits that make up for the differences in looks. Just like Tatsuki-chan, Makoto is physically strong and a born fighter. And just like Tatsuki-chan before her, Makoto has an almost inborn will (more of an instinct, really) to protect Orihime against the world. This recognition alone makes Orihime stay… that first night…
When Makoto watches Orihime sleep afterwards, she doesn't really see Ami-chan in her, but she has a weird feeling that behind the curvy breasts and the long orange-brown hair a spirit is hiding that could have been Mercury's soul mate. It's not until much later that Makoto will know that Orihime both shares Ami's intelligence and her gentle humour… for now, until the sun rises, it is enough for her to know that this girl (whom she recently only knew as a face among many; one of the strangers from another dimension who helped the Senshi defeat the Hollows) has felt the pain of goodbye.
They are different in every possible way, but one.
Their relationship develops slowly.
At first, they simply sleep together, pretending not to hear how the names they whisper against sweat-slick skin only rarely sound anything like "Orihime" or "Makoto". Feeling the touch of a gentle, female hand – even if it is that of a stranger – eases the pain, and that's enough for them both. After all, neither of them is asking for anything more than a second or two of oblivion.
But slowly, ever so slowly, Orihime begins staying until morning, pressing herself against Makoto's tall frame in the bed which is probably too small for two. Makoto lets her, since the way Orihime mumbles in her sleep reminds her of a time that was less lonely.
The first time they eat breakfast together is both awkward and perfect at the same time. They share an uncomfortable silence as Makoto prepares the rice, and it isn't broken until the moment Orihime takes her first bite, enthusiastically praising Makoto's cooking in a way that reminds Makoto way too much of Usagi-chan. They chitchat their way through the rest of the meal, Orihime doing a funny impersonation of a Hollow cooking which makes Makoto laugh (for the first time since Ami stopped being a part of her life); so hard that it brings tears to her eyes.
The first night they spend together without having sex lasts an eternity as Orihime tells Makoto of her brother who stayed with her even after his death. In return, Makoto talks about her parents (as much as she remembers about them) and about growing up mostly on her own. They share so many words that the hours become seconds and when they fall asleep come dawn – worn out from talking – their fingers are tightly interlaced.
Months pass by before they mention their abilities to one another, even though they've both seen the other in action. After all, they are from two different realities and their powers mirror their respective spheres, but as Makoto listens to Orihime's explanation about her hairpins, she understands exactly why Sailor Moon didn't hesitate to let these people join in their battle. Orihime's gift is truly beautiful, she realises as Orihime demonstrates it, earning herself a beating from the most aggressive of the spirits.
For the first time since she found out that she could no longer transform, Makoto calls her transformation rod and feels the familiar weight of it in her palm. As she remembers her journey from being plain Kino Makoto to Sailor Jupiter, the consequences of Ami-chan's death fully hits her. It's not only that the Senshi are no longer i Senshi /i or that Usagi-chan will be on her own if the enemy should ever return… it is the realisation that the very aspect of her life that Ami-chan was such a great part of has disappeared between her fingers like sand.
Makoto hasn't cried even once since Ami died, but now she does, unable to hold the tears back anymore. Orihime doesn't ask any questions; she only snuggles up against her until the sobs tearing themselves out through Makoto's mouth are absorbed by her soft body. As Makoto does her best to bite back her pain, Orihime shares the memory she has of once losing her powers, unable to help the people she cared about…
"You'll find them again," she whispers to Makoto in her light, sweet voice. Makoto doesn't know whether she is talking about her powers or the people she cared about… not because it really matters.
They are different in every possible way, but one. They have both experienced loss.
Orihime tells Makoto of Tatsuki-chan. She tells her of how Tatsuki befriended her and protected her and waited for her. Makoto recognises a piece of her own story in Orihime's words and it encourages her to share the many recollections she has of Ami-chan. Of how bright she was and yet how clueless she could be at times, despite her brightness. Orihime listens and makes the appropriate noises and when they look at each other – after the need to express themselves has (finally) died out – they see a reflection of something beautiful in each other's eyes.
The first time they make love without calling someone else's name, it feels like betrayal.
Orihime cries herself to sleep and Makoto can't find it in herself to reach out to her, because the hole that Ami left has begun to be filled by the redhead's presence and she's not sure if that's a good thing or not…
Come what would be their one year anniversary if they called what they share a relationship, Orihime has practically moved in with Makoto. In their home there's always someone missing, emphasized by the four altars standing side by side near the wall opposite the windows of their living room, but they've realised that it doesn't really matter… because whenever Orihime awakens from a pleasant dream in which Tatsuki-chan's eyes are still so full of life, only to realise that Tatsuki-chan's eyes will never again open to the world, Makoto is right there beside her, ready to hold her close with her strong arms as they both mourn the women they loved and lost.
They are different in every possible way, except that when all comes down to it… they are really rather alike.