Title: Falling Through the Pages.
Rating: PG
Fandom: Bleach
Pairing: None, maybe slight IchiHime if you squint. Orihime-centric mainly.
Disclaimer No, and it depresses me.
When she was young, her brother read stories to her every night. Tales full of beautiful princesses locked in towers and guarded by fire-breathing dragons, with handsome princes and heroic knights braving death to rescue them. They were all so romantic and perfect, and she loved nothing more than the sound of her brother's voice coaxing her to sleep. At night, her dreams would be filled with knights in shining armour and puffy-suited princes. And they would rescue her in her little dream-world and there they would fall in love and live happily ever after.
Childlike perhaps, but she believed that's what would happen. She did.
It was on a rainy summer morning that that dream suddenly shattered. Her brother had died, on the year that she turned twelve; and now she was alone. There was no one to protect her or read stories to her anymore. Every night, she would cry: for her brother, for herself, for the silence she couldn't bear.
Slowly, slowly, she stopped believing.
Then she met Tatsuki, and the world became a much brighter place again! Tatsuki was like a prince, a knight in shining armour, and protected her from all that tried to hurt her. She was grateful, she was happy. She did fall in love with Tatsuki-chan, as her best friend and, funnily enough, bodyguard. But it wasn't quite enough.
High school was when her vision changed.
It changed when she saw Ichigo, a rugged boy she had a crush on at the time, do something incredible. It changed when she saw him charge bravely into Soul Society with no real regard for his own life; and all for the sake of a friend. She was captivated by Ichigo. He was like a knight, except she wasn't the princess.
It was then that she finally knew what love felt like. It wasn't a matter of waving a handkerchief or galloping on a horse. Love was… a careless glance, a half-hidden smile, an accidental touch or a stuttered apology.
It wasn't like the fairy tales.
She had fallen in love, but he hadn't been her knight or prince or whatever you want to call it. He was just a boy. And she was just a girl. Her feelings weren't quite as requited as of yet but that was okay. She had willingly taken the fall, and didn't really expect anything more.
It was all okay because watching Ichigo had made her realised the most important thing. She didn't want to be one of those princesses anymore. No, she would gladly put on the rusty heavy armour and poke scary beasts with a big shiny sword than to look pretty in a fancy dress. Because she knows that more than anything now, she wants to protect. Protect Tatsuki-chan, protect Kurosaki-kun, protect all her friends and nakamas, and make her brother who's watching over her feel proud of his little sister.
It was, Inoue Orihime believed, a reason to fight and live on. Not just for them, but for herself too. Her dreams may not be filled with gallant knights or fields of roses anymore, but instead they were full of love, laughter, and hope.
Yes, the fairy tales may have worn off, but her story has just begun.
13.07.07
Author's Notes:
Again, not quite the theme I wanted to portray. God, I am terrible at ending stories. The last paragraph took the same amount of time as the rest of the story if that gives any indication.
This is slightly different to my normal stories, more general than romantic, but I don't think my attempt was too bad. Although it has been so long since I've written non-plotty things. Criticism is highly encouraged! As well as praises and simple adoration, heehee…
Thanks for reading!