title. nightmare's abyss
author. chokoberri
summary. it was just a dream or was it? hurting heart, salty tears and the warmth of his arms. it haunted her even until this day.
word count. 1600
a/n: this is for my beloved best friend. she is so cute and sweet and idek what id without her honestly like ajfdklajsda so hope you like this babu! also want to thank my other babu, my hime to my ichi, for editing this piece of shit. xD lol ty both babies for being in my life!
._
Her scream pierced the night sky, shattering the stars. Her salty tears spilled down her cheeks. Eyes raw with pain reflected the full moon. She was lost. She was broken. Bruises adorned her body. Cuts scarred her skin. She was hopelessly lost and the only thing that had kept her going was now in front of her. His body was unresponsive. His eyes empty. His hair stained with his own blood.
Her hands shook as she reached out to him. She called his name. She scooted closer with each word that escaped her lips. Kurosaki-kun? Kurosaki-kun? Her words were fragile. They were soft like the wind that pushed her copper locks against her wet cheeks.
She grasped the fabric of his kimono. It was cool to the touch. It felt good against her fingertips. She clutched it desperately, calling his name again. And again. And again. He wasn't answering. He wasn't even looking at her. He was staring at nothing.
She tried again. This time she cradled his broken body in her arms. One arm let his neck rest against it. Her hand caressed his bloody cheek. She had closed his eyes, the teen just couldn't look at those empty pools any longer. He was full of life. Full of kindness and determination. Those eyes had protected her many times in the War and now, they were nothing but mirrors reflecting her own torn soul.
Kurosaki-kun. It came out as nothing more than squeak. Her voice was gone from screaming so much. Screaming for him to stop, screaming at herself to do something. To protect him. Alas, she couldn't do anything. All she could do is sit idly by like some doll and watch the man she loved, her protector, die right in front of her. Kurosaki-kun.
She rocked back and forth. Her hair fell like waves down her shoulders, dropping against his scarred chest. More salty tears came but they weren't of sadness or anger at herself. They were of despair. Because he was gone. He was gone forever.
She couldn't take the reality of the situation. She had to try. She had to help him. She couldn't live without him. She needed him.
She repeated his name many tears fell faster. Her sobs became louder. Her body shook more harder. Her hairpins glowed a beautiful color, much matching the color of the sun when it shined so bright. It gleamed brightly as it hovered over the lost lovers, making their wounds slowly disappear.
She rested her cheek against his, tear drops dripping against his cheeks. Her hold became tighter. She didn't want to let him go, she couldn't let him go.
"K-Kurosaki-kun, I'm so sorry." she whispered against his lips. A harsh wind blew against her, making her hair fly in different directions. It made her shiver as she pressed her swollen lips to his. This was their first kiss. She had been such a fool to wait. "I'm sorry." she whispered again.
_.
A loud gasp rang out loud as milk chocolate eyes flew open. She bolted upwards, gasping for air. Her eyes were filled with an expression of fright and a bit of despair as she jerked her eyes around the room. She couldn't remember when she had had such a horrible dream. A dream that felt so real.
She clasped her hands together, resting them against her chest. She tried to stop shaking. Her hair was plastered to her cheeks and forehead. She kicked off the covers almost instantly, bringing her knees to her chest. It had all seemed so surreal. She didn't know what was real and what was not.
Her hands went to her head, gripping the strands. She had failed him. She wasn't strong enough to protect him. She had sat idly by and let him die. The love of her life. Her knight in shining armor. Her shinigami savior.
"Orihime?"
Her eyes that she had closed tightly sprung open again but this time to look at the man in her room. Short, spiky orange hair. A muscled chest. Broad shoulders and a concerned look in the eyes. It was him. He wasn't gone. He was here with her. He was here.
"Kurosaki-kun?" she breathed and dropped her hands. She felt it hard to breathe. It was like someone had a grasp on her lungs and was squeezing it. She couldn't move as he walked towards her, carefully. She told herself to stop shaking. To stop the tears that were like water at the edge of the dam. She was about to lose it right in front of the person she tried to stay the strongest for.
Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed as he placed fingers around her wrist. He lowered her arm. He could feel her shaking. Her fear was overwhelming him as he sat softly on the bed. She was in a state of shock and he didn't know why. Possibly a bad dream. Perhaps a full-blown nightmare. He didn't know but he did know one thing. And that was that she hadn't called him "Kurosaki-kun" in months.
He ran his fingers down her arm until he took her small hand in his own. He squeezed it softly and gave her a gentle smile. He needed to be careful. This was the way she had been months ago before the War with the Quincies. Right after the War with Aizen. Right after he had lost his shinigami powers.
"I'm real," he let her know. The look in her eyes scared him. It was full of grief, despair and fear. He hated that look because he knew where it was from. It was from not being able to protect her. It was because he hadn't been there. It was from that time when she had been taken away from him.
Her eyes grew teary. Her lips pressed together tightly to keep it in. Her small shoulders shook with each sob that came out. His other hand gently held her shoulder, the pad of his thumb going in circles of comfort. She had been so broken and it cut him like a knife whenever it came back to haunt her.
Pulling his hand away from her shoulder, he placed it in front of her. Much like he had when he had rescued her from from the sixth espada. He gave her the same smile. The smile that showed he was finally here. He was sorry he was late but he would always place his life on the line so she would be okay.
A sob escaped from her as she threw herself at him. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, her body pressed up against his. He immediately wrapped his arms around her small form. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his hand going up to rest on the back of her head. His fingers entangled themselves in her never ending locks, gripping them gently to show her that he was here. They were both alive and he was okay.
"I thought... It was so real... I..." she tried to talk and he let her try. She had probably had one of those dreams. The dream that he was dead and she failed to protect him. It was like every other dream she had and he had a feeling it came from deep down in the dark depths of her self-consciousness.
"Orihime, I'm here." He reassured her as he held her. She was clinging to him. Holding him desperately. He could feel the tears drop against his naked shoulder. He could feel the despair falling off of her like hot water dropping against his skin. "It was just a nightmare. I'm fine."
He felt her pull away only to rest her forehead against his. Her hands rested against his cheeks, her fingertips brushing against his skin. He cupped her cheeks with his larger hands so he could lift her face up a bit. He wanted to look into those scared eyes and assure her.
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here." Ichigo promised as he kissed her gently on the lips. Both of their eyes closed to relish in the sweet moment before she pulled away. She lifted her hands off of his face and wrapped her arms around his abdomen and rested her cheek against his chest, where his beating heart was.
Her eyes stared at the wall, the ceiling... anything she could look at but him. She still felt the fear scraping at her heart with its claws but she felt at home with his arms around her. She loved him and she had almost lost him. She wanted to grow stronger and protect him like he always did with her.
She felt him wrap his strong arms around her. She felt him rest his chin against the top of her head. It was that moment when she was finally able to close her eyes because of what he said to her.
"Sleep, Orihime. I'll be here when you wake up."
That time she did go to sleep. She dreamed of rainbows and teddy bears that had Kon's face on them. She dreamed of unicorns prancing together and her robot friends shooting off rocket launchers with each other like fireworks. She dreamed of the blue men that held hands and danced around a big box of chocolate. She dreamed of him holding her and never letting go which was funny because even in her dreams, she could feel his arms around her.
Protecting her from the villains in their world and the bad guys in hers.
._