There's no greater sorrow than regret,
no greater power than love,
no greater gift than forgiveness-Unknown
In a cold, small room in the lowest level of an old grey stone castle the light of the waning moon cast though three very small windows reflecting off the old grey stone walls that had been worn smooth by the continual use of magic over the past couple of centuries. There was no sound of the typical night creatures that inhabited the area, no outside sound other than an occasional creak or moan of the castle settling under the cold night. The only sound was the slow rhythmic breathing from the room's sole inhabitant. She sat in the corner farthest from the cold wintry breeze that blew though the three tiny windows. She dressed warmly knowing she would be down there for a while but the cold was penetrating the several layers of petticoat and outer velvet of her dress. She was grateful for the quiet and solitude she was afforded during the time her master was on his "trips" but with winter setting in, the already cold room was becoming frozen. If she could see her fingers she knew they would be a sickly blue color. This trip was taking longer than any of her master's previous excursions and she was beginning to wonder if he had run into some kind of difficulty or had gotten lost like he did when he was a child just learning his skills in magic. Unfortunately if he did get lost there was nothing she could do to save him without it causing her death. For it illegal for a servant to perform any kind of magic while not in wartime or teaching. If he had just decided to not come back she would die a slow excruciating death from cold and starvation. The upper levels of the castle were off limits to her unless her master was in residence. Both the other residents and the castle its self knew better than to offer her any comforts while she was alone in the castle. She understood for it was the duty she was given when she was a child of seven years of age to teach, protect, and guide her master. She didn't understand it so clearly when she was first given to her master, a boy three months her senior, a spoiled self-centered child who only thought about what was best for himself not his people or his kingdom. She couldn't stand trying to deal with him; most of the time she just wanted to drown him. If the king, his father, had known what she had done to make him in to the man he is now some very severe punishment would fall on her shoulders, magical and other wise. But she was happy he had grown up to be the kind, caring, and gentle man he is. He cares about the land he lives on as much as the people he governs over. He performs his duty with steadfast resolution and knows what is needed to continue the line of the Gean Cánach. If she were to do it all over again she wouldn't do anything differently. Curling in to ball on the pallet her master had placed down here to afford her a little comfort while he was gone she began to shiver uncontrollably. "Jeea (- God in Gaelic) please don't let me die down here, please let Anni be alright," she prayed hoping God would hear her. Alone with her thoughts and shivering in the stark cold of the room for what seemed days she sat bolt upright on her pallet when she felt the air of the room shift. It seemed to swell and pulsate, it grew lighter and brighter quickly til it was almost blinding. Without warning the air popped liked a water balloon that was filled to full. As quick as the light appeared it was gone leaving behind a man that without the stabilizing presence of his magic crumpled to floor, panting. She quickly got to her feet although they were painful and numb and rushed to his aid. "Anni!" she said as she got to his side turning him over to look at his face. "Cold… you're so cold, why?" he said softly as she ran her hands over his body to check for any wounds, he had never come back so exhausted before. "Winter has come," she said to him relived when she found no wounds or blood. "Winter, how long have I been gone?" he said quickly regaining strength. "About three weeks our time, Anni I was worried, what kept you?" she said. "Aobh, how many times have I told you not to call me that especially here? I need to talk to Athair let's get out of this cold dungeon shall we." He said completely ignoring her questions of concern. "Aye sir but are you sure you should be moving around so quickly?" she asked doubtfully as she put her arm under his shoulders to help him stand. "Just help me up would you?" he answered curtly feeling in no mood to answer her questions. "I need to talk to father, I need answers." "Anni, but what hap….."she began to ask stepping away from him but stopped feeling the air get dangerous. "GO ….NOW!" he said with an edge to his voice. Feeling rather small all of a sudden she nodded in acquiescence and stepped up to him to put her arm under his to sturdy him and quietly helped him walk out of the cold room. 'He never been like this at least not since we were younger, Jeea what happened' she wondered to herself as they made the accent into the upper part of the castle in silence.
Ichigo found himself saddled with the difficult task of NOT skipping merrily as he walked to Orihime's apartment. He didn't know why he felt like(of all things) skipping like a school girl he figured it had to do with the fact he was at this moment the happiest he had been in a long while. He had been up all night long tossing and turning, telling himself not to screw up and smiling, a lot. Today was to be Orihime's first day back to school after being out for a week and Ichigo was bound and determined to not let her do it alone. Taking the steps to her apartment two at a time he suddenly felt her reiatsu spike then fall. He almost kicked in her door as he ran to her apartment but at the last moment decided against it and just pounded on it harshly. 'What if it was something silly like a mouse or a cockroach she wouldn't appreciate me just bursting in.' After pounding on her door a couple of times with no response he was seriously considering kicking her door down but then he heard her holler "coming" and felt relieved. She quickly answered the door looking disheveled, upon seeing who it was her face lit up. "Ichigo" she said feeling relieved and uber happy at the same time. "Sorry you woke me up, I must look awful" she said trying to push some of her hair behind her ear. "You look beautiful to me, but did you over sleep?" he asked her smiling. "Over sleep? Oh yea school" she said looking over her shoulder at the clock, "Whiskers, we're going to be late, please come in I'll be ready in a sec." She said as she stepped out of the way to let him by and quickly headed off to her room to change.
Just a few steps away from Karakura High School, Orihime suddenly felt a bit insecure knowing she would get a barrage of questions she would not know how answer. She was never good at lying. Grabbing her hand and giving it a quick supportive squeeze Ichigo looked at her as if to say 'it'll be ok, I'll be right here'. Just that gesture made her feel more at ease until he let go of her hand and lingered a little too long over her new mysterious scar. Grabbing her hand again and bringing her now closed fist up to his face to see if what he just felt was right. "Let me see, Orihime" he said his voice laced with concern. With a small sigh she opened her hand to a surprised look from Ichigo. "What happened?" he asked tracing the scar with his fingers, sending shivers up and down Orihime's spine. "Can you ask me later it's a long story, Please?" she asked him with a pleading look in her eyes. Unable to say no to that look, he surrendered. "Fine but don't think I will forget" he said to her as he placed a gentle kiss into her palm sending more shivers up and down her spine. "Thank you, Ichigo" she said hoping against hope that that was exactly what he would do.
Walking into class Orihime was received with hugs and as many questions as she was expecting. It was Tatsuki that came to her rescue when she noticed she was having difficulty coming up with an appropriate lie that would cover the situation. "Hey don't you guys think you should let up you're crowding her. It's difficult enough for her to be back in school when her aunt is so sick." With that everyone filed back to their own desks to make quiet conversation with their neighbors. Orihime silently mouthed 'Thank You' to Tatsuki when she nodded and smiled back at her, Orihime knew she would have to explain everything to her at some point today.
"Oh good Miss Inoue is back in class I hope she has a good reason for missing a week of school when we have so few weeks left."
"Sorry sensei I had to take care of a family matter it won't happen again" said Orihime a blush appearing on her cheeks at being called out in the middle of class. Looking over at Ichigo and at the smile he presented her was all it took to make the world feel right again. It was a quick exchange but it didn't go unnoticed by a few key people in the class. It brought a couple of knowing grins to the faces of their friends and also a couple of grimaces to the people who thought they were being cheated of their chances with the princess of the school. It brought one hateful thought to the one person in the class that had the most to lose from that one smile.
Thankfully the rest of the day had gone mostly uneventfully, Orihime had gotten her opportunity to talk to Tatsuki and explained everything that had happened over the past week. Tatsuki had given her the 'it's about damn time' look when she had told her about Ichigo and herself. The day ended quickly much to the happiness of Orihime who was ready to go home and spend some quality time between the covers of her school books to hopefully catch up on some of her school work. She hoped the rest of the school year could be as uneventful as today was although she doubted it would be. There were always unimaginable things going on around her. The walk home ended up being just her and Ichigo as Tatsuki had practice because of a tournament coming up at the end of the week.
"So tell me about this scar you got over night" said Ichigo out of the blue grabbing her hand and running his fingers over the scar. Inwardly groaning Orihime said "Aw yes, that. Um … Well….. well it is a long and boring story…. you sure you want to hear it?"
"And why would I not want to know how my girlfriend got such a horrible scar?" asked Ichigo with a bit of mirth in his voice at the way she was trying to squirm out of telling him.
"Well I guess I would want to know too. But it is a bit confusing to me so don't be surprised if I don't make any sense."
"What do you mean, Orihime?" asked Ichigo the mirth gone from his voice and replaced with confusion and concern.
"I mean I was asleep when this happened yet I remember it like I was awake" she explained to Ichigo and began to tell him the basics of her dream leaving out the most embarrassing parts. "The weirdest part was I tried to reject the scar this morning and it wouldn't heal"
"So your dreams are hurting you now" said Ichigo with a bit of anger seeping into his voice.
Flinching at the tone of his voice Orihime let go of his hand and stopped dead in her tracks feeling the heat of her tears sting the corners of her eyes. "It's not like I asked for this to happen or really even wanted it to. I'm tired and I don't know why this is happening, I'm just so tired"
'Shit I've screwed up already' thought Ichigo as he mentally berated himself "Orihime I'm not angry at you, I promise, I'm just angry that you got injured to the point where you now have permanent scar and I know that wasn't your fault I just don't like the idea of you getting hurt at all. I think we need to go see Mr. Hat-N-Clogs and see if he can figure anything out for us."
"Ok. I'm sorry Ichigo I didn't mean to make you feel angry I think I've just had a long week and it's wearing on me and making me act strangely" said Orihime willing herself to see the situation from Ichigo's point of view.
'Strangely indeed' thought Ichigo 'she is defiantly not acting like herself' "It's ok let just get you rested and see if we can't figure out what is going on" said Ichigo as he grabbed her hand again and began walking towards her apartment.
"Athair I have been waiting three days to be able to talk to you what kept you" said Ankoku impatiently as his father entered his study.
"Patience mo mhac is anything ever that important?"
"Well this is certainly important"
"Don't keep me waiting spit it out if it is that bad"
"I couldn't touch her, athair I tried but it was like there was a shield around her"
"Well that is certainly distressing but it is not the end of the world you will just have to try again and not fail this time. Is that all?" said the king with a barely veiled flare of anger.
"There is something else, she has revealed her love for that other guy" said Ankoku said knowing the reaction he would get from his father but not telling him would end with more serious consequences.
"WHAT? You know what is riding on your marriage. Our family is dying if you can't get this done you will be the last of us all" yelled the king his anger very apparent and uncontrolled.
"I know father" was all he could say before his father began his torrent of reasons and lectures on why he needed to be able to get married and get his wife with child as quick as possible for the good of all his people. It was nothing he hadn't heard before and this time it was just making him angry. It was mostly anger at himself but when he left and made his way back to his own rooms he just wanted to scream. Slamming his door closed he made sure no one would bother him.
"Anni…" said a small voice from the room that was where he slept knowing it was Aobh he suddenly wished she didn't share his suite of rooms.
"Just leave me be, Aobh" he said a little more harshly then he meant to.
Walking in to the room seeing his almost defeated look she couldn't help but snap out of the funk she was in since he came back. "Feeling sorry for our self are we?" The evil look he gave her just fortified her resolve. Covering the distance between herself and him in a few quick steps she slapped him across the face. "I've been putting up with your piss poor attitude for near on four days and I'm tired of it. You won't tell me what is going on and I'm exhausted trying to figure it out. So if you won't tell me then put the attitude away. You aren't doing anyone any good by brooding over it. And you are making my life miserable. So either figure out what you can do to fix your problems or let me in on the secret and let me help you" said Aobh watching for his reaction before deciding she shouldn't care and turned to walk away but was caught by the wrist before she could get too far. He quickly pulled her into his arms and softly whispered "I'm sorry I know I've been a bear please forgive me. Life would be so much easier if I could just marry you." Wrapping her arms around him she looked up into his eyes and smiled. "Ah there he is, there is the man I remember."
A/N - just so ya all know the name Aobh is pronounced "eeh" like the long A sound, weird hu but it means fire and/or great beauty anyway I just love all of the reviews I get and would love, LOVE! to get more. Thanks to all of you who have read my story and continue to read it. All my love to you all, Sun.