Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters.

A/N: This is based on the shonen-ai oneshot 1001 Years I Love but I put up a few changes so that it'd have it's originality and if you don't like yaoi then please leave. I warned you, so no flaming.

"Where am I?" Groaning quietly, Ichigo got up and looked around. He was in a cave. "Wait, the last time I was awake was when I was trying to kill the beast, but before I knew it I got... caught..." He's shocked remembering that he was pounced on by the creature before he could act.

The rumored panther creature who killed a lot of people in the village. They promised to give a huge award to the person who will be able to kill it. He gave it a shot so that he could provide for his family, and before he could capture it he was the one captured instead.

"Oh no, what do I do? I'll be killed. I have to get out of here!" He panicked, looking for his sword. Before he could get a hold of the hilt, the creature appeared in front of him. It was really big, as they called it man-size. The blue eyes were very threatening, the look making Ichigo petrify out of fear.

It growled with an echoing voice, "Don't worry, human. I will not kill you immediately." Slowly, the orange head started to reach for the sword. Just a little closer and he'd kill the beast there and then. But halfway it started to transform into a human. It is actually a he, he has unusual blue hair and eyes. He is muscular and he's also as others call it, half-naked.

"A human?" No one ever told him that that thing was also a human being. "I'm lucky I got to capture a stubborn woman. Those are the ones I love the most." Ichigo was too much horrified to hear the other say 'woman'. The half-panther spoke again. "Yo. I'm Grimmjow, and I live here on the mountains."

Licking his lips he walked towards the orange head. "So, in this form, it's a little less scary right?" Those pointed dangerous teeth were that of a hungry predator's.

"Back off, you demon freak!" Ichigo yelled, grabbing the sword hastily and pointing it at the bluenette. "Take a step closer and I'll kill you!" He shouted, his hands shaking. The latter frowned at this. "What the hell? Who said I was a demon?"

With a swipe of his hand the sword went out of Ichigo's hand and fell on the hard ground. "Don't worry. If you do something for me, I will spare you." He smirked, leaning close to Ichigo and licking a little of his face. The orange head flinched. "What do you mean 'something'?"

"If you don't know, it's mating season. Since the past, my kind mates with women to have children. And I chose you to be my mate so that is why I kidnapped you." Ichigo got mad that he thought he was a girl. "Are you stupid? I'm a guy!" A girl? Is he that stupid? "A guy? But you have the qualities of a girl."

"WHAT?" Ichigo asked angrily, at the point of completely losing his temper. "Slender figure, fair complexion, silky hair, pretty face... those are what a girl has." Ichigo lost it now. He was really ticked off that he couldn't help but smack Grimmjow on the face.

This made him glare fiercely at him, clawing him deeply on the chest. Blood gushed out, and Ichigo bit his lip to prevent from exclaiming in pain. "You have guts to hit me. I don't care if you're a girl or not. I'll rape you then kill you and devour you." He growled threateningly, and clawed Ichigo's top off.

"!" He gasped when his upper body was bare. Soon he was already touched with lust everywhere, and he groaned. His toes curled from rage, pain and a little of pleasure, and his fingers clawed onto the ground. After a while he was taken, the feeling of being entered was somehow, different. But he was doing it with a beast, so it was bestiality.

And the feeling of that made him shed tears, and Grimmjow felt weird at the sight of those pearly drops going off his brown eyes. "What's wrong? Is it really that painful? Or are you afraid of being killed after this?" He taunted, and Ichigo narrowed his eyes, his teeth gritting.

"Idiot. Even if I tell you why I'm crying, a merciless animal like you would never understand! I don't care for how long you have lived, but just because you can take the form a human doesn't mean you can feel what we feel. You're just a beast!" He sobbed loudly, covering his body while looking away, his eyes shut.

"You..." He hissed. But sensing danger nearby he could not finish his sentence. He transformed back into a panther and left the cave, Ichigo stayed there, traumatized from what happened.

The next day, Ichigo was still in the cave; insomniac, cold, hungry and wanting to go back home already. He couldn't escape even though he had the chance. If he did, the panther would just follow him and kill him or even worse, violate him again.

His sword was right beside him. If Grimmjow comes back, he could lunge at him and kill him there and then, then he could be back in the village with his family and everything would be peaceful and problem-free once more. But somehow, there's something about the beast that is keeping him from taking his life.

Grimmjow came back in human form, holding some fruits. "Finding these was a pain, but I know you people eat these kinds of food. So help yourself." He sighed, throwing the fruits at Ichigo. The latter refused to at first, but after a loud growl from his stomach he reluctantly took five juicy grapes and ate it.

"Hey, why do you hate me that much? Do you have a grudge or something?" Ichigo glared at that question. "Isn't it obvious? You kill people and I came here to kill you. But I failed." He said. "Man, I don't get humans at all. You think I kill them and eat them because I want to?"

"What?" Ichigo didn't get what Grimmjow meant by that. "I kill them only because they are after me. But, I don't like killing people at all. Especially eating them. Whenever I do, I feel like I wanna throw up and I feel weird on the inside. But I don't know what that feeling is."

"I think you are regretting what you did. You do those actions then you feel guilty about it, like you wish you never have done it." Ichigo saw that this beast may have emotions after all and is not just a beast. He felt guilty himself for thinking of that. "That's what regret is? Humans and emotions really are complex. But I guess you're right about that." He didn't sound angry or irritated unlike his usual tone.

Grimmjow clicked his tongue, holding his arm tightly. Ichigo wondered what was it, and saw that he was cut deeply on the shoulder. Feeling sorry for him for the first time, he approached him and took an orange, squeezing the juice out of it and dabbing it on the wound. "Hey, that stings."

Ichigo stayed quiet and continued treating it. For the first time felt like the ice in his heart just melted, because of a human. And about yesterday, he regretted doing that to an innocent person like him. He only realized that when he learned what was regret.

He didn't want to do that to Ichigo again, he owed Ichigo for being this gentle to him despite what he did. No human before ever treated him like that.

Two months since...

Ichigo bathed himself in the lake, his hair was a little longer. But Grimmjow said that it suited him anyway so he didn't cut it. The water was cool and refreshing as always, he felt energized whenever he'd take a bath here. Once, when he was bathing there Grimmjow sneaked up on him and pounced on him, much to his anger and he splashed a lot of water so that he would stop 'playing' with him. That was an embarrassing yet funny moment.

"From that day, he turned gentler, and nicer. He can be a little rough sometimes but not to the point that it gets on my nerves. I never knew that there was this kind side to him, and I was entirely wrong about him."

But he had to take a bath alone, since Grimmjow is of the cat family and they are very sensitive to water, even though in human form. He wished that for just once, the bluenette would bath with him together. "It's really depressing to be alone..." Ichigo sighed. When he rose out of the waters he put his kimono back on and saw the half-human just nearby, getting fish with a pointed stick. He was trying to get fish the way 'humans do it'.

Looking at the basket he caught three and they were pretty big. He continued watching with a gentle smile on his face as he tried getting as much fish as he can before evening. "He... became gentler... that's good..." He breathed in the fresh air and saw that as the sky got darker, the water started glittering from the moonlight.

Fifteen fishes were caught, and a small fire was made to cook them. Ichigo snorted as Grimmjow ate his share raw, not cooked. "What can I do? He's a half-panther and they eat their food raw. Looking at the distance, he saw a part of his village from far and missed his life there.

Not that he didn't like living with Grimmjow but of course who wouldn't miss their old life? "Hey, I think I should go back to my home..." A low but angry growl interrupted him. "No! I won't allow you to do that." Ichigo was surprised about this, it made him seem a little... possessive. He didn't want him to leave, ever. He wanted him to stay there on the mountains, with him for eternity.

"What should I do? My family and the others are worried sick right now, and who knows what could happen? But even if I tell him about this, he wouldn't understand what I'll say to him." He thought before falling asleep, with the bluenette cuddling him close and breathing softly.

Riding on the large panther's back, they passed through so many oak trees and went to the tallest one where they could see it all so clear. Grimmjow said this was one of the few places where he could really be at peace, where he could chill.

Since the reply he got last night, he could not get the 'going back to the village' thing off his head. He wanted to go back because he didn't want to worry them anymore. But also, he knew that if he ever left Grimmjow then he would be lonely again, maybe forever. And the thought of that was very heartbreaking.

"I could go back and visit once in a while, wouldn't that be okay with you?" He asked, looking at those blue eyes searching for something, looking at the whole place painted like a picture in front of his eyes. But he still refused. "No! I don't trust humans that easily. They lie. The others said the same thing and yet no one ever came back."

"Everyone... betrayed him?" Pity was on his tea-colored eyes. "No one, whoever they are, whether it be man or beast wanted to be with you... and living for a long time alone... I can't exactly describe how that feels." It was sad, being lonely. Him being a lively person he never felt that feeling of being lonely.

"Up until now, you were alone; no one cared about you. I wish I could make up for all those time when you felt isolated, unwanted." He whispered to him, their hands squeezing. "It doesn't matter anymore, now what you're here..." Ichigo was touched by how honest that was.

"But wouldn't it be better if I was a girl?" That was the sole reason why he was there on the mountains. Because Grimmjow thought he was a girl. "I don't care about that anymore. When I first saw you, I was very amazed to the core that I didn't care about the consequences that would happened if I captured you."

Simple words, simple sentences yet the meaning was very deep. Through their hands connected together, they both felt a heavy beat with a different type of sound, as if the sound was happy and enchanted.

"What do people call that emotion? To feel affection for a certain someone? That feeling that makes your heart flutter like the beats of the wings of a butterfly? To be attached so much that you feel flustered? To be happy just at the sight of that person?"

Love... How can such an emotion exist...

No one loved you, and that was all what you wanted... to love and to be loved...

Love really is a treasure that people should carry in their hearts...

Lying down on the floor of the cave, Ichigo was locked in a warm embrace, everything was so quiet that they could hear the beats of each others hearts. "Hey, could you stay here? I don't need to have children... just to have you here with me is enough..." That request. It made Ichigo tense, the bad kind of tense. He remembered that even though his life with Grimmjow was great and happy, there was still his life in the village.

"What are you talking about? That's insane..." He said in a shaky tone, breaking free from the half-beast's hold while looking away. "Why does it matter? I..." He grabbed Ichigo's shoulder but was shoved away. "Stop it!" He forced himself to shout.

"Hey, I've been thinking about this for a while, but since I am not truly a human it has been disgusting you. Am I wrong about that?" He growled threateningly. "No, that's not the truth..." But the bluenette's anger stopped him from saying any more. "Liar! You don't want me to touch you, even go close to you. You're scared, aren't you? Because I'm a monster."

"That's not what I'm scared of. What I'm truly scared of is my own feelings... my own heart..." He was conflicted, to why would he feel that way towards someone who is a beast and a man at the same time. It was hurting him somehow.

"This wasn't what I wanted. Not this." He was trembling from so many emotions. He was at the point of shedding tears again. "Why are you crying again?" He set his anger aside and showed deep concern. "What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything... That's not the point!" Ichigo said loudly, trying his best to not cry. "It's just, please you have to let me go back home, Grimmjow! Please!" He was surprised to what Ichigo said, he really was serious and painfully honest with what he said. "Alright..." Was all he could answer.

I have to go back to reality, to where I really belong... to sanity...

In the middle of the forest, Ichigo walked farther from the mountains, going nearer to his home with the sheathed katana in the grasp of his hand. "Don't worry, I'll go back and see you once in a while; I promise you as a friend." His voice was cracking.

"Sorry, Grimmjow. But I can't stay with you forever. I'm a human. And like what you said before, humans lie. That includes me." Grimmjow was still following him, looking hurt and confused. "And it would be nice if you would fall in love with a beautiful girl..."

"I'm afraid. If this goes on, I might end up loving you so deeply... so romantically..."

"Do you hate me, because I'm not a human?" Ichigo's desire to cry grew stronger from this. He didn't want to cry in front of him, not because of pride but because of guilt. "Hate you? How could I hate you? Even though you're a half-animal, and moreover a man..." Now he couldn't help it. He had to push him away, for both of their sakes.

He stopped walking and he clenched his fists, taking one big gulp before talking in a cold voice. "Grimmjow, would you stop following me? Don't push yourself. You'll never be a human no matter what so just give up! I can't spend the rest of my life with somebody like you! Go back to where you belong; you don't belong here."

He glared and his voice was not shaking, but he didn't want to say that. It was the only way to stop him, he thought. But that drove a large spear in Grimmjow's heart, it hurt more than any physical wounds he received. Heartbreaking, upsetting, he felt like he was destroyed in the inside.

"Ichigo, that hurts..." He muttered, as for the first time a tear flowed down his cheek. Then another fell, his eyes were wet like a waterfall. Ichigo was shocked by this, he never expected a reaction of Grimmjow crying. Horror and regret filled him that he was frozen.

"No, I don't want this to be the end. I don't want this to be our true farewell. But if you really want to go back, then please..." He took the sword and placed it to his torso. "...kill me."

"Kill?" The terror was in his voice. "If I die by your blade, then my soul will stay with you forever. That's what I want. If I have to die to be with you as long as the world is still living, then I will die for you." He smiled sadly while unsheathing the sword and placing the blade on Ichigo's hand that was stiff. He closed his eyes, ready to get slashed fatally.

But he gasped quietly when he was hugged tightly. "Don't ask for something like that..." Ichigo sobbed, hiding his face beneath the broad shoulders. "Sorry, Grimmjow. I'm sorry." He felt those warm drops, and let one last tear fall before hugging him back. They pulled back after a long time of being in each others' arms, and they pressed their lips against each other, deepening the kiss the longer it lasted.

"I love you... so much..." They finally broke free from their embrace after what seemed like eternity. Ichigo took Grimmjow's hand, their warmth connecting from the gentle touch. "Let's go there together. I promise I'll protect you no matter what will happen." And they walked out, back to their new home. To be happy together, forever... come what may.

For a human to fall in love with a half-beast, it was unique.

For a panther to love a human, it was a legend.

- THE END -