I do not own Bleach or it's characters. This work is pure fiction, blah blah.

A/n: I realized something. Why I love AU: if it doesn't happen in the actual cannon, technically every last fanfic is AU. It might take place a little in the cannon universe, but from the moment you-and not the real author of the real story- start writing your own version....well, you get the point. That's why I love AU. It's all encompassing.

The title "Town Witch" was a joke to Orihime. In all reality, she was a fairly normal human, with no truly unnatural powers or abilities. There was no powerful magic, no black cat, no flying broomsticks lifting her silhouette to the moon, no pointy hats, no raucous cackling, no warts. She'd fall off that broom if she ever got it even a foot above the ground anyway. Pointy hats were more so a Christian thing and, as of late, she hadn't dealt with any wart inducing toads.

There were only her herbs and vials.

Going into town was a pleasure, but once she set up shop, it was always a bit tedious dealing with the townspeople, who all had a lack of understanding for her area of expertise. They needed her, but still considered her suspicious. They didn't really hate or fear her, but were wary of her products, no matter how they would be helped by them. The young woman would smile anyway, then tend to their illnesses. She considered herself lucky she wasn't burned or tossed in a cold river.

Her biggest problem had to have been the Father. For him, he needed an overly large palace of a church, white, pure, beautiful, but daunting all the same to the average little village. His monastery, in a way, corrupted the size of the village, towering over everyone like some sort of ever watchful sentinel. Always weighing the faults. Sinners, every one of them.

She yawned. Her scalp tingled. Shiver. At the moment, all she wanted to do was to go back home and sleep some more, too tired from the night before, which, in itself, was bizarre. How can a dream make you more run down and tired?

She pondered over the dream as she tended to her usual customers, going through the trivial motions of "hello," "how-are-you," "is-your-family-in-good-health?" that she always went through. The answers were always the same, yes, my family is doing well. Yes, such and such relative thanks you, yes. How much is this particular vial?

While this was the same rut, this sameness is what gave her sense of self. This is me, this is what I do, she thinks.

She frowned for a moment, recalling her brother's anxiety over her calling. He had disagreed so vehemently, threatening her that if she continued on with this nonsense, he would throw her out. I have to do this, brother, she told him, her heart brimming with conviction. He looked at her once, looked deep into her eyes, and understood, backing down with a defeated sigh. Instead of condemning her, he helped her. His pretty little sister, Orihime set off on her own.

She had returned a few years later, to a village she recognized but was no longer a part of. She refused to stay with her brother in the woods, too afraid to rely on him and show him that she wasn't competent enough to care for herself. She wanted him to be proud. It was the cruelest irony that her vast collection of medicinal knowledge couldn't save him from his the disease he had. Couldn't save him from his death…

In another hour or so, she would go to the orphanage and see what she could do to help out, she decided. And afterwards, she'd buy ingredients for cookies and fresh bread to make for them, maybe.

Today was shaping up to be a pleasant, peaceful day.

When she got home, she was utterly exhausted.

She hooked her bag on the back of a wooden chair and set a basket down on the table, taking out various items, fresh bread and cheese, flour and sugar, even a tiny bit of smoked meat and fish, which was a rare and wonderful treat for her.

Orihime was only a little concerned, however, that when she was in town, set up in her little stall, in the midst of the crowd, she had seen orange hair.

It simply had to have been a coincidence.

The only explanation was that she was going insane, and what with the dream and her brother's death, she didn't really think the loss of sanity was impossible…

She chalked it up to loneliness. She chalked it up to fumes. Something had addled her brain, must have, or else she wouldn't be this way…

…So what if she had seen that accursed orange hair? It meant nothing. Orange hair, while not really common, was still present in the town. He wouldn't be the only one. With this in mind, she played with a lock of her own hair with a frown.

As for loneliness, she had her garden…but when she thought about his arms wrapped around her, she felt warm. Very warm. She thought about how they made love and blushed. Her palm met her forehead. She had to stop this. She had to stop fawning over someone who was not real. Being a witch, she knew the limits of reality and magic and there was nothing like he was.

She stoked the fire and set her kettle before grabbing the watering can next to her door, heading outside, around to the side of her cottage.

Bright eyes watched her from deep within the forest, waiting for nightfall with patience. He had followed her throughout the day, making sure nothing bad happened to her. Always there to rescue the princess. She just didn't know it, not yet, anyway.

In a way, it was like she was still running. Still running from him, from her own power, from what past she had locked away. Running from the townspeople, from their understanding. Stupid girl. All she ever did was run. It was time for that to change.

He knew she was making up all the excuses she wanted in that silly little head of hers. It didn't matter. She'd know soon enough, his little witch. He'd already broken the seal on her dormant energies. Her birthright was sure to follow. He could picture it, a sleek black familiar or two, following her around, collecting knowledge for their mistress...

But there she was, running from her own perception. Running from her soon to be reality.

The demon stretched his long legs and leaned against a tree trunk, watching her titter to herself and the little creatures she found in her garden. Lizards, the occasional bird… He watched her finish and then head inside, her door still swung open. He watched her in the cottage, watched her emerge, pushing a small bit of dust and dirt out of her home with a broom.

He wondered if she knew that her feet were hovering, just a teensy bit, above the ground as she stepped.

All he had to do for now was wait.

It was time to make the pact. All the greatest witches made the pact with a powerful demon, after all.

He thought of his family, and how his father had made a pact with his mother… Love was not truly supposed to happen between witch and consort, but his father could not resist his chosen witch, and now it seems like neither could he. Although it was what he wanted to avoid, something in his demon blood called to Orihime, his queen, like nothing he'd ever felt before. His desire felt imminent and unstoppable. Kind of like a natural disaster, he thought with a chuckle.

He watched her look up at the sky, at the sun setting over the treetops, at the rising moon. He watched with a smile as she wiped her brow and went back inside to set her fire. Poor little witch. It was indeed getting cold…

He licked his lips, thinking about the last cold night they shared.

Tonight, she would not be able to run from him anymore.

She lifted her head from her place at the chopping board to give a quick peek over at her cauldron, checking to see if the water was boiling. It wasn't quite there yet. Soon enough it would be and she'd have to add her ingredients. Her spell book was open on the counter in front of her, flipped open to the "Favorable Winds" potion. The potion itself was designed to give the user a day of monetary luck, be it in trade or in agriculture or even in gambling. It even cured those who were reputed to have no luck whatsoever. Favorable Winds being her highest selling potion, making a large batch every week or so to fill up the cheap flasks the villagers presented her was only too necessary. Potions like these, after all, were what paid for her way of life.

Tomorrow she would bring a few vials for her closest friend Tatsuki, along with some sickness remedies. Tatsuki worked in the brothel on the edge of town, closest to the forest. There were others around, but hers was considered the most profitable and respectable. Every whore in the area wanted to get in on the action. Tatsuki, who had once been a great captain of a ship, had disguised her gender aboard the vessel for years, having ruled with an iron fist. No one around could beat the woman in a fight, and everyone knew it. Her exploits were legendary, and although she was condemned around the place for her impersonation of a man, no one dared mess with her.

It was her brothel, after all, that was the best around. The third class dumps that would be the other choice for those men were rife with syphilitic whores. Who knew what else those women could be carrying?

So the townspeople put up with her. It was one of the reasons they had bonded: both were outcasts and frowned upon by the church.

Orihime lifted her cutting board over the now seething cauldron and pushed the minced ingredients into the brew with her knife. She watched, waiting for the exact moment when the steam turned periwinkle before taking it off the fire. With a ladle, she spooned the contents of the cauldron into a few jars. She tipped the rest into a cup, the fog streaming over the brim. She quickly grabbed the lids of the jars and covered them, for it was the fog that was most important. After capping them, she set them next to the grating of her fireplace, letting the mists cool slowly to a sort of softer shade of sky blue. That will take about an hour or so now, she thought, wiping her hands on her apron.

She took the cup and put it outside on the windowsill above her rose bushes. The periwinkle mists caressed each bud and leaf, turning even dying stems bright and lively. When the mist would stop, the brew cold, she'd pour it on her apple trees.

Orihime moved back into her kitchen, about to start a sickness potion when there was a knock at her door. Wondering if it could be Tatsuki, who'd been known to stop in from time to time when business was slow, she stepped to open the door to her visitor.

He stepped in. Her impossible fantasy.

He looked her deep in the eyes, and she felt a wave of anxiety wash away. Those wonderful eyes…

"We need to talk, Queenie." He walked in, pulling a wooden chair from the table to sit. He dragged the other chair around to his side and patted it in a sit-here-now gesture. She obeyed. When will these delusions leave me be?

"It's time we made the pact."

"Pact?"

"The blood pact," he paused, looking at her, "Come now, Orihime, don't tell me you don't know what a blood pact is."

She shook her head helplessly, "No, I don't know what you're talking about…"

He sighed, not really mad at her, but wondering how she could have undergone training, but not know the most important secret sorcery technique. Perhaps her mentor had meant to keep her from obtaining real magic.

"Look, as a demon, a devil, a spirit, a type of contract is made between those of my kind, and a witch. This is how a witch gains power. If you don't already have a pact, but can wield some magic, this means that you still have a lot of untapped potential."

He looked at her with a bit of a grin.

"What?"

"See here, Queenie, you were a princess the night before, but now you have your King!" He made a grand gesture at himself.

"I broke your seal last night. I took your virginity," he grinned, "which means that you and I have completed part of our pact, love."

She sat in shock, absorbing what he was saying slowly.

"It wasn't a dream," she exclaimed dumbly.

He leaned over to whisper in her ear, "No. Indeed it wasn't."

She shivered and held her breath.

"W-what's the second part to the pact…?"

"You're going to brew a nice little potion, and then you'll give yourself to me, little witch," he growled.

"All of you."

Well. That took significantly longer than I'd expected. So far I've got the story mapped out, so I know where the plot will go now. Only problem is writing the actual chapters. xD

Review if you'd like. I'd enjoy it.