His
words kept running through her head, like children at play.
They
dove into the deep subconcious recesses of her mind, only to
resurface instantaniously.
Of course, she'd had plenty of time to
reflect in this comatose state.
Though as time passed, she felt
she was drifting further and further from an answer.
Hitsugaya...
Toushiro... Shiro-chan's protectiveness of her, his avid concern and
evident rage, her own fury had blinded her to it.
But now there
was surprise.
Why had he acted the way he did?
Momo wished she
could do something, anything; clench her hands into fists, curl up,
cry, anything to let out her frustration.
But, alas, a prisoner of
her own body, confined to her mind, she could not.
Her mind
was restless.
She craved his prescence, desired his touch.
It
would bring her comfort and peace, settling her thoughts, if only for
a short while.
She could not read him like an open book any more
than she could decipher her own true feelings.
The two of them had
been close for so long.
When Captain Aizen had stabbed her, she
had been sure she would die.
And these thoughts, memories with
Hitsugaya, filled her head.
Hinamori had no sense of
time.
Minutes, hours, days, weeks, perhaps even months, they all
melded together, flowing in an endless stream.
There was no way to
tell them apart, or even how fast time was passing for her.
She
drifted in and out of dreamlike states, often unable to seperate
reality from what her imagination conjoured up.
She felt alone and
isolated.
She could seek no solace.
Gradually she sensed
another prescence approach; a familiar prescnece.
A small hand
took hers, grasping it gently but securely.
"Momo..."
The voice whispered, full of emotion.
Momo was suddenly, acutely
aware of her heartbeat.
He had come and she rejoiced, euphoric.
He
squeezed her hand softly and she longed to cry out to him - "I
love you".
She wished for it with every fibre of her being -
"I love you".
She wished for courage to reveal her
feelings - "I love you".
Her lips would not move.
The
hand caressed her cheek.
"Momo... I love you".
And
the spell was broken, she awoke.
She tightened her hand around...
air.
But a ghost of his prescence.
She let out a cry of anguish
as tears flowed from her tightly-shut eyes.
"I love you"
she finally said aloud.
The words he would never hear.
Because
she would never have the courage to tell him.
