So I finished Bleach a few days ago... I needed more! Seriously, those stupid editors making Kubo-sensei rush things were jerks to him and the fans! So, I decided to write my own "epilogue" per se, right after the war. It's been a long time since I wrote Bleach, but damn, it felt good!
After the War
"Inoue, we have to go! You need to be seen by someone from the 4th Squad!" Rukia was saying, trying to coax Orihime into being moved away, but the young woman was having none of that. Her lips were pursed in concentration and her brow was furrowed.
"No, I have to wait for Kurosaki-kun, he might be injured and I have to heal him… He left without any healing, even after all the injuries he suffered…" Orihime replied, her eyes stuck to the portal that the guys walked through.
"You wanted to heal him in your condition? Are you crazy? You're barely breathing, Inoue! You can die if you're not treated correctly! We have to go!" Rukia tried to grab her once again, but Orihime put her foot down and looked at vice-captain with fiery eyes.
"I won't die, Kuchiki-san…" she said and then breathed deeply. "Rukia-chan, please!"
Rukia, at hearing Orihime calling her by her first name for the first time gasped in shock and her eyes shone brightly.
"You called me Rukia…"
"Please, let me stay for a little longer… Kurosaki-kun will be back soon, I'm sure of it." Orihime begged, her hand squeezing Rukia's in an attempt to have her understanding.
Rukia, still shocked at Orihime's words, sighed.
"Okay, Orihime…" she replied and smiled openly as an answer to Orihime's own smile.
"I like that…" the healer said softly, the air barely leaving her lips. Rukia bit her lip, ready to take her friend against her will if the need arose and by the way Orihime was starting to wheeze it was arising quickly.
Orihime started coughing suddenly, and Rukia held her to minimize the shocks of it, however, when Orihime's dirty white dress got even dirtier with blood, the Shinigami was tired of waiting and was having none of it.
Rukia's arms surrounded the bigger frame of Orihime and she was ready to lift her off the ground, when three spiritual pressures started approaching them.
"See?" Orihime whispered, her eyes glued to the portal and when three different feet appeared from the other side, both women sighed in relieve.
Ichigo, Renji and Ishida walked out of the portal, limping and being supported by each others, the blood and the dirt marking their faces and clothes in undescribing ways.
Ichigo looked around until his eyes fell on both girls. He was almost smiling when he realized Orihime's fresh blood on her clothes and in an instant was beside them and grabbing the girl bridal-style before Rukia had even time to utter his name.
"What happened?" Ichigo asked. "Why are you still here? Why no one took care of her?" he was observing Orihime's labored breath with an angry look.
"She didn't want to leave before you returned." Rukia explained and Ichigo sighed, too tired to discuss anything more.
Changing Orihime a bit in his arms and without saying anything else, Ichigo disappeared from sight in a heartbeat.
Rukia turned around to look at Renji and Ishida.
"Is everything alright?" Rukia asked and both guys nodded their heads to her clear relieve.
"He is gone…" Renji sighed and then just collapsed on the ground. "Damn, I'm tired!" he exclaimed, watching Rukia from upside down.
She snorted at him and then looked at Ishida with evaluating eyes.
"He is on our side." Renji clarified.
"I know that, or else you and Ichigo would bring him in a pulp…" Rukia replied, with her hands on her hips.
"Anyway…" Ishida coughed. "I think we should follow Kurosaki and Inoue-san…" the Quincy suggested and without another word the three of them started their short travel.
They met with Sado half way, the gigantic fighter limping from his right leg and blood running through his cheek. However when questioned by Renji he showed his familiar thumbs up. When his eyes fell on Ishida, he stopped for a moment, his eyes talking more than his mouth could and then he nodded, clearly accepting the Quincy's presence and showing him that they should let their talk for a later time. He clapped his old friend on the back and they restarted their travel.
"Where are Ichigo and Inoue?" Sado asked and Ishida quickly explained the healer's condition, apparently eager to let any tension dissipate.
Sado grunted in response, his head nodding according to Ishida's words.
When they reached the medical camp, a crowd of people was moving in every direction. They could see all the members of the 4th Squad performing kaidos, their hands illuminated by the green light. As soon as they walked into the camp, even in the middle of all the grunts and moans of pain, they could hear Ichigo's voice.
"What is taking so long? She is still bleeding! Do you need more reiatsu? I have a bunch of it! Where is Unohana?"
"Kurosaki-sama, please!"
They followed his voice and found Ichigo kneeling next to Orihime's head while a nervous Shinigami tried to heal her extensive wounds at the same that he tried to explain the situation surrounding Unohana.
Ichigo turned around at the same time Renji and Rukia traded a knowing look and Sado and Ishida had to look away to hide their smirks at his display of emotions. He noticed his friends and waved at them for a second, before his eyes rested once again in Orihime's closed eyes.
The group approached them and stood silently behind Ichigo.
"You should have seen her…" he said suddenly and the four of them noticed the tone of pride in his voice. "Her shield was strong enough to hold against him repeatedly and she healed me over and over… She was amazing!" Ichigo's voice darkened. "And because of that she almost got crushed against a wall…"
"Orihime is strong…" Rukia said softly.
"She will be fine!" Sado completed with certainty.
Ichigo nodded to his friends' words, but only when Orihime finally opened her eyes, Ichigo's frame sagged in relieve. By instinct he grabbed her hand.
"Hey…" he said softly and the young woman smiled at him.
"I knew you would come back…" Orihime said softly and Ichigo nodded to her words.
"I couldn't let an old man like that kick my ass…" Ichigo scoffed with a smirk.
"I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun…" Orihime whispered and Ichigo looked at her with confusion. "I couldn't go with you to end the fight…"
"Inoue…" Ichigo sighed in exasperation. "You did everything in your power! You put your life at risk for me! Anything else and you could have died! You were brilliant back there! Thank you for saving my life!" and Ichigo bowed to her shocked expression.
"Kurosaki-kun!" she squealed and rose to a sitting position.
"Inoue-sama, hold still please!" the Shinigami tried to pull her down, but she was stronger and until Ichigo rose his head she kept pushing his dirty sleeve.
"Oh!" Inoue saw for the first time the group behind Ichigo. "You're hurt!" she noticed Sado's bloody face, Rukia and Renji's bruises and Ishida's hurt arm and before Ichigo could reproach her, she pushed him away, against Ishida's legs. Ichigo looked at her hurt, thinking she wanted him away, until he felt her healing powers over them and the warm he always associated with her.
"Inoue-san!" Ishida admonished her, but Orihime ignored him. Only when she saw their unblemished skin did she let herself fall against the pillow and finish her own healing. The Shinigami healing her was looking at her with round eyes.
"That's Inoue for you!" Ichigo said proudly and once again took her hand in his, squeezing it.
Orihime looked at their hands for a few seconds, smiled softly and closed her eyes. She squeezed it back before the healing restarted. With each passing second her face was becoming rosier and the blood stopped pouring. Ichigo's smile grew according to her health.
When Orihime was completely healed again, she jumped to her feet quicker than their eyes could follow and before anyone could stop her, was immediately beside another injured one healing him or her. For a few minutes the group observed her golden dome do its work.
Ichigo shook his head in exasperation and walked towards her, kneeling beside Orihime and putting his hand over her shoulder, transferring part of his energy to keep her from depleting her own reiatsu too much.
The rest of the group smiled among them, until another presence joined them.
"They are something else, right?" Shinji said and they turned to see the captain walking towards them almost healed, besides having some bandages around his head and arms. "The princess and the fighter… Who would say, hum?"
"I would…" all of them said at the same time and Shinji chuckled.
"I just wished I had a camera to take a photo of his sappy face…" Shinji sighed in regret.
"And you didn't even see him bringing her here in his arms…" Renji snickered.
"NO!" Shinji replied, shocked and then roared with his creepy laughter.
Ichigo looked back to see the Captain laughing like a maniac and scoffed at this display of merriment, not having any idea that he was the target of said merry disposition.
"Well, I think we should make ourselves useful too!" Ishida exclaimed, trying to keep the Captain from making a bigger scene and looking around, the group separated to help treat who else needed them. The ones not able of performing healing kido run around with bandages and medication, cleaning wounds and disinfecting them, giving food and water to whoever needed.
When finally the ones that could be saved were saved and the ones that couldn't were taken away to keep from creating diseases, Renji, Rukia, Sado and Ishida met again, sweaty, dirty and tired and from then, they went in search of Ichigo and Orihime.
When they finally found them, they had to stop themselves from chuckling out loud.
Apparently, they spent long hours healing Captain Zaraki, so long that by the end of it, they apparently fell asleep against the gigantic man. Both Ichigo and Orihime were sitting against his frame, while their heads were resting against each other's. Ichigo still had a hand over Orihime's arm.
"Someone has a camera?" Renji asked through the corner of his mouth and Sado shook his head sadly.
"I'm going to stay here!" Rukia said and the guys looked at her. "I want to see Captain Zaraki's reaction when he wakes up!" she explained and they looked at her like she was crazy.
"No, I won't stay in any kind of closeness to that guy…" Ishida immediately said and Renji was quick to nod too.
Taking two blankets from a running Shinigami, Sado moved Ichigo and Orihime to a softer ground and covered them, keeping them close to each other.
Rukia and Renji were looking at the two of them with fond expressions.
"Am I the only one feeling like a proud parent?" Renji asked and Rukia smiled.
"It's weird to think about how they started and how far they got…" Rukia replied and her eyes also danced to Ishida and Sado that were already sitting against a fallen wall.
"Yeah… they were just kids and now…" Renji continued.
"They are fighters…" Rukia concluded.
"Maybe from now on they can rest and us too… I had a quantity of psychos that wanted to be kings worth a lifetime…" Renji said, and without another word crumbled to the floor and rest his head against his arms. "Wake me up when the world ends again…" he asked of Rukia, but before he could conclude, she was already lying beside him, looking like a cat.
"Good night." She said, closing her eyes and letting the tiredness of the days wash over her.
Close to them, Ichigo and Orihime slept peacefully, their fingers interlocked, in a promise of a strengthening bond.
When the next day, they wake up, there would be no stuttering words or uncomfortable silences, only the trust and care that only someone like them could find in each other. A squeeze of fingers, a small smile and once again an entire day of work, of mingling reiatsu to help other people, finding themselves closer with each passing minute.
Walking, with head held high towards their halcyon days.