A/N: if its not already obvious, this was inspired by linkin park (my favorite band), and I don't usually write romance. Ash never does, so my turn to change it up. She will beta though... Er co-author I guess since we share this account. Either way, enjoy! XD
I couldn't believe it. Bested by a human turned shinigami turned hollow; it certainly was not how I pictured my second demise. Even Aizen-sama would never be capable of standing against that monster, at least not without a fully awakened hogyoku in his command. Not that it truly mattered in the grand scheme. I felt like my nonexistent heart had been destroyed a second time, as if I couldn't catch the breath that I no longer required in my dead state.
"Do I frighten you, woman?" It was all I could think to say, likely due to my own fright and frayed nerves. Orihime was about to lose both of the two men that meant the most to her, and it was all my fault. While Kurosaki had survived, he had also compromised a lot during our battle; the princess's horrified face was more than enough proof. She was terrified of him as a hollow. It was a side of him she wasn't used to seeing, whereas, I was hollow when she met me. From me, it was expected.
And now, he'd killed me, and she would likely be the only one to truly grieve for me. And I was a coward who couldn't even tell her the truth.
"I am not scared"
As she reached to grab my crumbling hand I silently prayed to whoever was listening; I prayed for her to finally find real happiness, the kind denied to empty beings like myself.
That was what drew me to her. I could see the pain and tears behind her lonely facade of forced happiness into a heart much like my own empty hole. She was grieving and surrounded my despair, but she remained strong and kept her smile to protect the feelings of those she cared for. I mentally berated myself; after all, it was my fault that the tears she held back for so long were finally leaking through the carefully monitored dam of her will power, it was my fault that she shed such tears for such as lost cause as myself. In those last moments, I wanted nothing more than to hold her close against myself. I cursed the nonexistent breeze that swept the ash and dust that was my body away. Away from her, away from the one thing that filled the emptiness deep within my long forsaken soul; I had been changing, acting kinder and more protective since I first laid eyes on her in that park, trying to exude the same strength of will; I just wasn't Orihime, and couldn't ever be her. But, at least I could pass knowing that she saw through my facade as well, that she knew I felt the same way she did, that despite not having a heart I had found it in me to fall in love with those compassionate grey eyes and that kind-hearted smile. I knew that my odd loved was returned, and that she wasn't going to let this bring her down. And most of all, I was glad she would be there to remember me, and that her gentle nature would forget all the rest of the stay here and remember the way I looked at her in this moment. I felt at peace as I washed away to the void.
My only regret was that I hadn't been more kind to her. I hadn't loved her enough, hadn't truly shown her that I had cared; but then again, hollows like me cannot comprehend most emotions, nor understand the proper course of action to display those petty, positive emotions. Not even when the one we loved most was so obviously dead inside with the weight of unbearable sorrow covering those frail shoulders.
And once my body completely faded, I shed one simple tear that turned instantly to ash, never to be witnessed by the woman for whom it was shed. And I faded, never to see her again...
A/N: I almost cried as I wrote this...