Author's Note: My name is Jules and this is my very first fanfic haha. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters!

Chapter 1: Aftermath

Orihime woke up that morning feeling happy. It had been a week since the Winter War with Aizen and the arrancar ended, so things were finally going back to normal. During the past week, Orihime had gotten apologies from Rangiku, Rukia, and Captain Ukitake. Rangiku felt that since she was crashing at her place, she should've protected her better. Rukia had apologized for leaving her during their training session to go and fight. Captain Ukitake had apologized to Orihime for not escorting her himself. Orihime, being as kind as she is, simply told them it wasn't their fault and that she was okay, so they shouldn't worry. Was she okay though? The girl had been brought to another world under the orders of Aizen- the scariest man ever known. Also, she couldn't help but blame herself for everything that has happened. Ichigo and the others had been careful that past week, making sure not to remind her of anything to do with the war. They believed she would be traumatized by everything that happened to her.

All of the shinigami went back to Soul Society, except for Rukia. She decided to stay in the world of the living to help with the hollows that they didn't have a chance to kill, due to the war. She also wanted to stay and make sure Orihime was transitioning well into her old life.

Orihime got out of her warm bed to get dressed into her uniform. She missed the uniform and was excited to have her first day back to school today. As happy as she was, she was also nervous. She knew everybody, including her best friend, Tatsuki, would have many questions for her. Orihime wasn't sure if she was ready to answer Tatsuki, or what lie she was going to use for everybody else. Either way, she smiled and started making breakfast.

Since she was gone, everything she would need for an odd meal was expired, and she didn't go grocery shopping yet, so she had to eat a simple and plain bowl of cereal.

"I wish I had some wasabi to go with this. Maybe even some honey," she muttered under her breath.

After breakfast, she slipped on her shoes and headed for school.

"This is going to be a long day," she thought to herself.

When Orihime entered her classroom, she was quickly bombarded by her teacher and classmates.
"Inoue-san, where have you been!? You missed a few lessons, but with your intelligence, you should be able to quickly make it up. Your grades haven't been affected at all either," said Orihime's teacher.

"Sorry! I was really sick haha…"

"Well I'm glad you are feeling better," said her teacher, walking away to her desk.

"Orihime."

Orihime turned to look at her best friend. Believe it or not, the two girls haven't seen each other during the week Orihime has been back. Orihime wanted to avoid the questions she would surely be asked for as long as she could. She wanted to tell her everything, but had always been scared that Tatsuke would start fearing her.

"Tatsuki… I-"

Before she knew it, Orihime was being hugged dearly by her best friend.

"I was so worried about you… I didn't know… when Ichigo and the others were going to bring you back…"

Orihime's eyes widened as she went to look her friend in the face. Tatsuki could tell she was surprised by her knowledge of everything that that was happening.

"Yeah, I know everything," Tatsuki said, smiling kindly at Orihime.

At this point, both of the girls' eyes were slightly tearing up and they were now laughing.

The bell rang and everybody was sitting in their seats waiting for their teacher to begin the lesson. Orihime tried very hard to listen to what the teacher was saying, but found herself unable to stop spacing out. She stared out the window, watching the clouds move.

"ORIHIMEEEE!"

Orihime turned around and was suddenly grabbed by her loud friend.

"Ch-Chizuru-chan," Orihime said, surprised as always by the loud girl.

Ichigo and the others watched as Chizuru took Orihime to go eat lunch with the other girls in their group.

"Do you think she's alright?" Rukia asked, keeping her eyes on Orihime. She still felt guilty over the girl's kidnapping.

"I'm sure she'll be fine now that she's back," Ichigo replied, also watching the orange-haired girl as she ate.

"I hope you're right…"

School was over and Orihime walked home with Tatsuki. She had promised to tell the girl everything from when she was gone. Tatsuki already knew that Aizen ordered her to be brought to him since Urahara told Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro the night they followed Ichigo. She wanted more details to the story though.

The girls had finally settled themselves in Orihime's house.

"Alright, this is going to be a long story," Orihime said, nervously playing with the hem of her skirt.

"I'm ready to listen." Tatsuki replied, noticing her friend's nervousness.

The girl was determined to hear her friend's story, and Orihime was ready to finally tell her best friend the whole story, including the moments she spent with the green eyed espada.

Author's Note: Well, there is the first chapter! I have like 16 chapters done already, but was too scared to post them until now. :3 I hope you guys enjoy this! If anybody actually reads this, I shall start out updating every Friday! I already have 10 chapters typed and ready to go, but I think I should pace myself! :) Anyways, please review! Or don't, it's fine; I don't even understand what a review is yet- I'm new to this, okay!?