Series: Bleach
Characters: Ichigo and Orihime
Theme: Just a little story I wrote for the FLOL Tanabata contest. It takes place during, or rather after, the Ichigo/ Ulquoirra fight.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters. They re all Kubo Tite's...though i do wish and fantasize that i own Ichigo and Renji, and Grimmjow and Ulquiorra...ok ok...getting away here...
A/N: I edited it because the first effort was a bit rushed but I still know its a little 'off'. Needless to say, your comments and criticisms are welcome. Please enjoy!
Just for this moment…
She's had time to think about it, daydream about it in the dark loneliness of her 'room', a prison really. But it still didn't prepare her for when their eyes did finally meet again.
He was bruised, battered, beaten up and it had taken all she had not to cry but she hadn't. She hadn't sprung a tear, hadn't let him know how it was tearing her apart to see him so battered for her…
But she couldn't have held them back when she was ripped from him yet again. It was so unfair, she wanted to scream to the world…She had wanted to tell him so much…to tell him to grab Rukia and Renji, and Sado-kun and Ishida-kun and run…tell him to save himself because she wasn't worth it.
So much…
Yet all that comes out of her mouth when they meet again in the tower is his name, a reverent, hopeful whisper that she could not hold back for as much as she wants him to go, to protect him, she is still so very happy that he stayed, that he's come to save her, that they've all come to save her…
And so, she holds herself back now, her eyes never leaving the two fighting forms.
The battle is vicious and fast. The swords clash and clang against each other rapidly, sparks flying, the sound of battle filling the room.
She can barely see them but she stands there still, feeling useless like before but knowing in her heart and her mind, without even understanding really, that this was a fight she should not interfere with…no matter how much she wants to protect him.
She wraps her arms around herself, forcing her body to stay still when every fibre of her being is pushing her to run there…to run into the fight and stop him from getting injured again.
Her eyes close at the memory of his bloodied body, the hole in his chest she struggled to heal…
The fight drags on a bit but finally there is a loud explosion and the area fills with smoke and debris. She starts to move forward, afraid of what she'll see yet needing to know.
She almost falls over in relief then when he appears from out of the smoke and dust. He is still wearing the mask, his robes in tatters and bleeding profusely from several wounds, blood trailing down from his chin under the mask, his hands still tight on his sword but she thinks she may never be happier to see him than she is at that moment.
He can barely stand and it takes her a while to realise what he is doing as he starts forcing himself forward, moving towards her in unsteady staggers. She stays frozen though, waiting and holding herself back again from running to him, understanding he needs to do it for himself even without him saying so for despite everything, Kurosaki-kun is still so proud...
He takes a few steps and then some more and then, unable to stay up any longer, he starts to fall.
Her body reacts instantly then and she is there to catch him as he falls though they both end up on the ground rather painfully. She struggles with his weight, holding him up and dragging him towards the wall but finally, she gets there and he is sitting, his battered body slumped against the wall but his eyes are closed, his body too limp and her alarm rises.
"Kurosaki-kun….Kurosaki-kun!"
Her voice fades in and out of his fluctuating consciousness. He knows he is just about passed out from the injuries but he cannot allow himself to give in just yet. There is still something he has to do.
He lets the mask start to fall away, blinking as her face comes into his vision, blurred and dull, but he doesn't need perfect vision to see her concern or the tears that silently creep out from the corners of her eyes.
His fingers itch to wipe them away but he can't even begin to make the movements to carry out the simple action. His whole body hurts and there isn't even enough energy in him to cough up the blood filling his mouth much less lift his hand.
It's okay though, he tells himself. Everything is okay as long as she's alright.
He'd arrived on time and she was safe and he couldn't have asked for more. She was still here with him.
And yet, it seemed too good to be true.
Maybe he was still caught up in a dream while the reality was they had yet to find her…
Maybe he was just dreaming it all….dreaming she'd found him, healed him, and cheered him on despite her fear during his match with Grimmjow…
Maybe he was even hallucinating.
His eyes search her face as she hurriedly tore at the white uniform she was wearing in an effort to make strips to bind his broken body.
She seemed so real…
But he needed to be sure. The overwhelming urge filled him.
He had to be sure and so, with all the energy he could find, he grabbed the hand closest to him and pulled. She landed into his body with a soft oomph, unable it seemed, from her lack of response, to actually analyse what was going on.
He pulled her closer, feeling her warmth seep into him as he tried to assure himself that she was real, that she was all right.
It was kind of ridiculous, this reason he knew, since he was the one whose life force was staining the ground beneath them crimson, but he wasn't worried for himself. He was worried about her and, feeling the warmth of her body so close to his in reassurance of the fact that she was here, that she was alright, all he could do was clutch her to him even tighter, using her warmth to burn it into his brain.
She wasn't an illusion or a figment of the imagination that had haunted him at every turn until he'd seen her again.
It makes him reluctant then, uncharacteristically hesitant, to let her go now that he is holding her. He just cannot let his arms loosen even though he understands now that she is real.
Maybe he was afraid, he figured, afraid in some way still, that if he let go she would disappear as she had in his dreams. Afraid that if he let go, she would just fade into nothingness and he would wake up in the world where she no longer abided…
A world that was confusingly, for him, empty without her.
"Why?" he heard her whisper then, coming cognizant of her hot tears soaking in and mixing with the blood dampening his dark robes, "Why did you come? You shouldn't have come…why?"
Her broken whisper caused his brows to knit in confusion. Why was she asking that? Shouldn't it be obvious why they had come? But maybe she needed to hear it he realised quick on that thought and so he answered back, hoping his voice would tell her what he needed her to know.
"We all came to save you," he responded then, "We came to take you home."
His words had the opposite effect though as her tears fell harder, each shudder trembling through him as if conducted from her small frame. He felt it again then with each shudder, the feeling of helplessness. The same feeling that had filled him that day when he'd first known.
"Inoue Orihime has gone to the Arrancar side, either abducted or…it is thought that she is already dead."
Dead…
Even now the words haunted him and his arms tightened reflexively around her. But her warm body next to his is reassuring.
"You shouldn't have come," she whispered brokenly again, breaking into his thoughts, "You shouldn't have come to save me…I'm not worth it…everyone is injured…because of me…"
Anger rages in him at her words but instead, he forces himself to calm down for there is something that he must say…
"I'm sorry," he whispers to her then, and her teary eyes lift to his in surprise, "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from any of this. Even though I promised…"
He is unable to finish even though he's rehearsed it in his head so many times as he ran through the corridors of this place trying to find her. The words now seem too simple….too inadequate to explain the way he had felt on her disappearance, the emotions running through him now…
He knows he's never been good with words though, especially with her, so he isn't surprised at his failure but he still needs to tell her, still needs to make her understand so he bravely chooses the one route of communication in which he might have a chance to express himself and painfully lifts his other hand to her face.
She looks up, surprised at his touch and his hand slides under her chin, dampening with her tears, his eyes never leaving hers, watching as her own widens with each inch he moves closer but then their lips touch and his eyes close and he cannot see her anymore, so he just lets himself feel instead.
The kiss is clumsy. It's awkward and shows their inexperience. Yet is sweet, poignant and painful at the same time as they both try to communicate the words that they cannot say.
"I'm sorry," his lips communicate again as they slide over hers.
"It's okay," hers respond as the move under his hesitantly, "It isn't your fault."
"But they shouldn't have gotten to you," he responds as his lips press harder in the desperation of the feeling. "I should have been protecting you but I didn't even know…"
She responds in kind, pressing back into him, but there is no clear message. It's as jumbled as she is feeling right now, confused and fearful for she starts to fear that it isn't real. Kurosaki-kun is not kissing her…
But she can taste him so clearly on her lips. She can taste the heavy metallic taste of his blood, the essence of him beyond that and feel his warmth on her lips and she knows, it's not an illusion. It's not a dream. He really is here.
Her heart soars.
Finally, he is here with her and she wonders if this is what it feels like when rain finally hits the desert, when Orihime and Hikeboshi reunite on that one fateful night…
It occurs to her then that she really might be in a fairy tale for it still feels too good to be true. Perhaps she really is like her namesake, a princess only destined to meet her true love for one night and he will disappear when she opens her eyes.
But she is not willing to let go just yet and so she squeezes her eyes shut tighter and lets him cling to her the way she longs to cling to him, feeling perhaps that though she would like to be selfish, he needs this more than she does.
And perhaps she is right but he cannot find the words to tell her so he continues to kiss her, pulling her closer to deepen his hold on her, to reach into her soul with his lips.
And when he feels her open for him, he doesn't hesitate. He sweeps in and takes it all, everything that she offers to him- peace, rest, friendship, love…home…
He can taste it all- her jumbled feelings, the salt of the tears that continue to fall down her cheeks, her anguish and confusion. He takes it all in and tries to tell her what he still cannot say. It's still not enough when he pulls away and lets his forehead rest against hers, feeling her breath in tiny puffs against his face but he's too tired to continue and the pain is tearing at him harder than before.
Even so, its okay he thinks. When they get home…together…he'll try again to tell her. He'll tell her and he'll make sure she never leaves his side again.
"Ku-Kurosaki-k…" she begins but he stops her with a small squeeze of her hand, the hand still in his and gives her a small smile.
"Later," he says as his eyes start to close, his body starting to fade away, "Later. For now…I just need to rest…just for a little while…and then we'll go home…together."
Home…it sounds like heaven to her but then he his pulling her close again as if afraid again that she will disappear when he closes his eyes and she stops thinking, for his arms are heaven and home and everything in between to her.
"Stay here," he whispers then, his eyes already closing down, "stay with me… don't disappear again. I can't…another eternity…it feels…to see you again. So…don't go…"
The words are jumbled but she hears them clearly and her foolish tears start again.
She isn't worth it, this pain she brings to him, the trouble she has caused for everyone that came to save her, but for now, she still can't deny him anything and so she stays, her white robes staining with his crimson blood, her head on his chest, legs tucked uncomfortably beneath her in the beginning glow of her healing shield.
She stays because he asks and because she wants to be selfish just this once…because she's never felt so warm in a long time or safe…
He might still disappear when her eyes open again, she understands, but for now, she just wants to stay with him for as long as she can. So she closes her eyes as she breathes him in, blood, sweat and all and prays to all the gods in heaven, just this once, just for this moment….