FORGET ME NOT

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I've been away for a while. I ended up with carpal tunnel so bad in my right wrist, it required surgery, so the keyboard has been my nemesis for a couple months. But what better way to return than a new story! Yay! Thank you all for being patient with me. So… this one's a bit different than my usual stuff. I hope you really like it. As my faithful readers know, Ichigo is my absolute favorite Bleach character because… well, just look at him. Lol. But if I had to pick a second favorite, (or third fave, if you count Ichigo's smexy hollow as the second!) it would be Renji. He's just yummy. So here's one with a big beautiful dose of Lieutenant Abarai! Don't worry though, Ichigo isn't left out in any way, shape, or form… ;). Enjoy! On with the story!

Chapter 1: Just a Dream

Morning rays threatened to pull her from her dream. She fought against them but she could feel consciousness tugging at her mind. It's so damn hot in here! No, she had to hold on just a little longer….

"Damn." She muttered into her pillow. She rolled over and looked toward the intruding light. You did it again, Kay-Lynn! She thought, Can you not just remember one damn dream?!

The dream was always so chaotic and she never could remember much of it upon waking, but she always remembered those eyes. They were nearly tattooed onto her heart. Intense, dark, and almost wicked. She would have called them brown if not for the slight flecks of rusty amber. Just brown did not do them justice. She had memorized those eyes.

She laid on her bed staring out the open window for a moment. Why did she always forget the rest of that dream? And why did she always dream it? For as long as she could remember, it had been a constant in her life. Every night, she'd lay awake for hours trying to think of anything else. Trying to force her dreams to go in a different direction. Hell, she'd even take an embarrassing dream like going in public naked. For Kay-Lynn Moragahn, that would be a nightmare. But no, it was always the same. The swirling chaos. The lights and sounds around her that she couldn't quite remember. Then, waking with nothing in her mind but those sinfully beautiful eyes.

"That's enough of that!" She growled. She always got so worked up trying to remember anything of the dream. She would lay there forever if she didn't force herself out of the bed, right now! She groaned as she swung both legs over the bed and grabbed her robe off the headboard. Not that anyone was around to see if she did walk around her house in just her nightshirt, but it made her feel better to cover up. She never liked feeling exposed. Just one of her many insecurities.

She lazily walked down the hall to the bathroom and sat on the side of the tub. Her mind just wouldn't cooperate with her this morning and kept falling back into thoughts of those eyes and the man that owned them. Why couldn't she remember his face? Was it as arresting as his eyes? She imagined it was. She fantasized about how ruggedly built and brute-like he may be, or maybe he was lithe and well-toned like a snake in his movements. Maybe she had it all wrong and he was a terrible beast of a man and his eyes were his only saving grace.

Maybe he was someone from her past. The past she didn't know. Everything before the accident was hazy. She remembered her childhood but just barely. It was like watching a slide show in her mind. Random pictures of a state-run orphanage, then countless foster families. She knew she had graduated high school but couldn't remember anyone specifically from that time in her life. Then the accident. She remembered it had been raining. She remembered seeing a bright, blinding light and then feeling as if she'd been ripped apart and slowly put back together but nothing else. When she woke up in the hospital a few days later she was informed she had evidently been struck by a passing car. She wished so badly she could remember her life before that.

Was the man from her dreams important to her somehow? She just didn't know but she always asked the same questions each time she dreamed of him. Damn it! She would never get anything done at this rate. She turned and started the water for her bath. This was going to be a very long day!

LATER… IN THE SERETAI

"I don't understand, Captain." Renji sighed. He was always getting weird assignments, but this one really made no sense. "Why do we need to protect this specific human so much? It's not like it's a new idea, a human having strong spiritual pressure. We've seen it before."

"Yes," his stoic Captain replied, "but she is different than the substitute soul reaper and his companions. There is no explanation for her power or any proof that she is aware of it. With spiritual pressure that immense, it is sure that we are not the only ones who have taken notice. I do not have to tell you the kind of danger she is in because of that." The raven haired man never looked up from the file in his hands, but a slight scowl creased his porcelain features. He did not wish to explain his orders to his subordinate.

"But, Capt. Kuchiki, I…"

"That is all, Lieutenant Abarai." Byakuya raised his eyes to Renji's. It silenced the young man but he could see the defiance behind his eyes. He sighed. Such a head strong man. Why does he infuriate me so?

"Yes, Captain." Renji bowed to his superior. What an ass! He knew better that to press for more information though. Maybe he'd have better luck asking someone else.

"Who is coming with me on this assignment? If she's in such danger, I'll need a team, right?" He hoped he'd be able to pick who would go with him to the world of the living. He was used to going to Karakura Town alone and if things turned bad, he had his friends there to call on but this human was not in Karakura. He'd need back up he could trust in the new environment.

11th DIVISION BARRACKS

"What? No, absolutely not!" Ikkaku Madarame shook his head at his former squad-mate. "You always try to drag me and Yumichika off on your insane missions with you and I get left out of the big battles when things go wrong….. AND they ALWAYS go wrong, Renji! You're crazy if you think I'll get myself involved in any more of your assignments." The bald man leaned back against the door of the Squad 11 barracks. He smiled weakly at the Lieutenant but shook his head again. "Not this time, man. Sorry."

Renji growled in frustration, "You're telling me that two seated officers of the infamous squad 11 are backing down from a challenge?"

The door behind him swung open and Ikkaku landed not too gently at the feet of the elegant 5th seat. Yumichika Ayasegawa looked down at his friend. "That position is rather unbecoming, Ikkaku." He purred in his unique sing-song tone. He gracefully stepped over Madarame and looked Renji square in the eye. He reached a long slender hand up and rested it on the red head's shoulder. He never thought the other man was that attractive. Cute, maybe, but beautiful like me? Of course not! Such a shame, too. Renji does have the most beautiful eyes... Ugh, some other time.

"So, Abarai, you were saying we'd back down from a challenge?"

KARAKURA TOWN

"Why are we here, Kisuke?" Ichigo brooded over the cup of coffee his was given upon arrival to Urahara's Shop. It was never a good sign when the crazy former captain called him and his friends to come for a visit. And it was way too early in the morning for his antics. He just hoped whatever it was didn't involve too much effort. He really hadn't been sleeping well thanks to those weird dreams he'd been having lately.

"That's what I've always liked about you, kid. Straight to the point. Alright, here goes. You three have been asked to help Renji out on an assignment and because it's here, in the world of the living, I'm relaying the message."

"Here? In Karakura Town? I haven't felt anything strange. What's the assignment, and where's Renji?" Uryu Ishida asked, feeling uneasy at the thought of a threat he couldn't sense. He was usually very adept at feeling any change in spiritual pressure. He knew beyond a doubt that the red headed soul reaper was nowhere near here. He would have been able to sense his hot headed temperament from miles away.

"He's still gathering men and supplies in the Seireitei. He'll meet us later." Rukia spoke softly from the other side of Ichigo. She felt the substitute's spiritual pressure flare. Uh oh. She knew he'd be upset that she already had information and didn't share it with him.

"You knew?! Rukia, why didn't you say anything to me? And exactly what the hell is going on here?" He hated when they left him out of the loop.

"Ichigo, please. Renji asked me if we could help and I told him we would. Don't give me that look! The reason Uryu hasn't sensed anything here is because this is not where the threat is. It's in America. Arizona to be exact. We'll have to go to the Soul Society and meet Renji. Then we'll find the girl." She said, exasperated at the orange haired man beside her. There's that flare again, his temper is ridiculous!

"What girl?" Ichigo and Uryu proclaimed in unison. "Somebody explain this to me, please!" Ichigo's face was starting to flush. What the hell had Renji gotten them into this time?

SOMEWHERE IN ARIZONA

Kay-Lynn was finally on her way home from work. It seemed like she had been off in her own little world all day and couldn't concentrate on a thing. Now, sitting in traffic, she was day dreaming again. She tried to think of a new character for the story she'd been trying to write but she just couldn't come up with anything. She had the hero and his love interest all planned out but she needed to give him some competition. A man like the one she had written about so far would have no problem getting the girl but that wouldn't make for a very good story, now would it? His competition had to be equally as brave and handsome as the hero. He had to be someone the reader would fall in love with and be just as conflicted by their love as the poor girl involved.

Hmmm, he would be someone you'd like to be friends with, but with an intensity to his emotions that makes you want to chain him to your bed post. Heh, yeah, you've written too much smut lately. She thought to herself.

A series of loud car horns and screaming from behind her brought her out of her thoughts. She looked in the rear view at the long line of cars. "Hey, give me a break! The light's still red, assholes! God, I hate this city sometimes. Wait….." Something shimmered directly behind her car. She squinted for only a second before it came into full view. "What the hell is that thing?"

The creature was easily 10 feet tall and looked to be covered in a mix of feathers and fur. It wore a pale white mask with black eyes, tribal markings in bright yellow down both sides, and had a long sharp beak. Oh, God! I really have lost my mind! What is it? She thought just as the bird-like monster reached out with its impossibly long arms and buried its razor sharp talons into the trunk of her car.

I'm going to die! This isn't my imagination, and Big Bird's possessed brother is going to kill me! Kay-Lynn quickly jumped from her car just as it was flung away. The monster leaned down and opened its beak. The sound that escaped was a sickening wail that shattered windows and set off car alarms all down the street. Her whole body trembled in fear but her feet wouldn't move. Run! Run, you idiot! She scolded herself but still, she stood paralyzed. She helplessly watched as those ghastly talons began reaching for her.

"What the hell is she doing?" Ichigo yelled. "Renji, we…." He turned but the red head was already gone. Renji now stood in front of the girl on the street below. It was a low level hollow so he knew Renji could handle it. The question was why it had attacked the girl in broad day light in the middle of the street. True, hollows at this level didn't have much intelligence and most humans wouldn't be able to see it, but something was off here.

Renji made quick work of the nasty hollow by severing its reaching arm first then flash stepping to slice its ugly face in half. He landed again in front of the girl and watched the monstrosity fade into dust. "Are you alright?" he asked, turning to speak to the girl.

Kay-Lynn couldn't make herself open her eyes. "I….. I'm fine, I think." She had closed her eyes when the man with the sword had appeared, unable to deal with what she was witnessing. A sense of fear she'd never known before over took her. "What is that? And who… who are you?" She squeezed her eyes tighter, afraid of what she'd see if she opened them again. It was too much. She felt like she couldn't catch her breath.

Renji saw the panic written in her features and he couldn't blame her. That was a pretty nasty looking hollow. He stepped forward and placed his hand gently on her shoulder. "It's gone now, you can open your eyes." He spoke barely above a whisper.

Kay-Lynn slowly obeyed him. First one eye, then the other. Relief flooded her as she looked at the vacant spot where that thing had stood. She exhaled deeply. Had she been holding her breath all along? She looked at the man standing in front of her. Crimson red hair, and tattoos covering most of the skin she could see. He was breath-taking. Someone she would write into one of her stories. His lips looked so soft and his eyes…. Her breath caught. "It's you" She breathed as her knees gave way and her head swirled. A curtain of darkness descended and she knew nothing else.

A/N: So whadda ya think so far? Hope you guys like it. I'm trying really hard not to make Kay-Lynn a generic Mary Jane but she's pretty special. I've got some big plans for this girl so I hope the poor thing's up to it. Let me know in the review section what you're thinking so far. Make some predictions… I love to hear where you think the story's gonna go. It tells me if I'm leading you down the right path or not. If you spot any mistakes, call me out. This first chapter isn't beta'd. Also, there's a poll up about what to do with Dream a Little Dream. If you've been following it, I am sorry that I haven't progressed. I am well and truly stuck on it, so check out the poll on my profile and vote to help me decide where I go with it from here. Thanks again, and as always, I love ya'll!