Their Last Kiss

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"What are you thinking about?"

Ichigo looked back down at the quiet grey eyes gazing up at him. He smiled softly and brushed back a strand of silver hair. "Our first kiss."

"Really?" Orihime weakly lifted her delicate hand and grasped his calloused one. "I was thinking about the same thing."

He lifted her hand to his lips and softly kissed it. "Seems like only yesterday."

She chuckled softly…and then louder when his fluffy, white eyebrows furrowed. "What the hell are you laughing at, woman?"

His scowl gentled as she smiled up at him and squeezed his hand. "You sound so old and nostalgic, Ichigo."

Ichigo snorted. "I am old and nostalgic."

She shook her head against the pillow. "No, you've never been old. You're still the same orange headed young man with the face of a thug and a heart of a hero."

He cocked a brow at his wife of sixty-five years who had always seen right through him. "What are you rambling about? I'm a grumpy old man who just wants to live in peace," he denied.

Orihime giggled softly. "Oh yes, that wasn't my grumpy old man who drove thirty miles last week to his great-grandson's elementary school when he heard they were bullying him and nearly beat up the other kids in the process of lecturing them. Mm, yes. You just want a life of peace."

"That's different."

"Of course it is. Well then what about-" Orihime was cut off by a fit of coughing and Ichigo's face turned panicked as it took over her body.

"Hime! Help! Help! We need-" The coughing stopped abruptly and Orihime lay there in the hospital bed, catching her breath. Again, he brushed the hair away from her face. He felt the fear and despair he tried to suppress when she was around engulf his heart and seep into the lines in his weathered face. God, he could almost feel the life draining out of her. And yet the light never left her eyes. They were quieter now…tired…but her light and her spark were still there.

"Ichi…go."

"Shh. Shh, Hime. Rest."

Her little grey eyebrows furrowed, her wrinkles deepening. "No…I don't want to rest. I can rest when I'm-" A tanned hand on her mouth quickly stopped the next word before she said it, agony already tightening its grip on his heart. Her eyes spoke a soft apology to him and he lowered his hand, his eyes staying on hers. They looked at each other, speaking as only two people who have lived together for decades can speak and completely understand.

"Ichigo," she finally said, breaking the silence. "Do you really think we'll forget everything when we reach Soul Society?"

His lips pressed into a thin line. There was no way he could every forget her. It was incomprehensible. How could he forget about all of his friends? How could he forget about all they had been through together? His children. His grandchildren. His great-grandchildren.

His wife.

His soulmate.

His best friend.

Their first kiss. Their first date. The first time they made love…although he'd rather just remember the fourth time when he finally got the hang of it. Their first fight. Their first child being delivered when he'd nearly strangled their doctor. The first manga she published. The first time he'd lost a patient and he cried on her shoulder.

Everything they'd been through. The hard times. The good times. The everyday life times. The extraordinary times.

How could either of them forget all of this? How could he ever forget her?

Screw Soul Society and Death can kiss his ass.

"No," he growled. "There's no way I'm forgetting about you."

She studied his determined face for a moment, his amber eyes blazing as strong as ever, and she felt peace. Somehow, some way they would find each other again. She wouldn't lose him. They'd overcome the obstacle of Death before, and they'd do it again. She was sure of it.

Her lids suddenly felt so, so heavy. She was so tired. Her fragile body seemed to melt into the stiff hospital bed. "I'm so tired…Ichi…"

The lump that seemed to never leave his throat these days grew and hardened as his heart knew what was coming even though his mind didn't want to acknowledge it. How could he go on living after she was gone? Yes, he had all their children and grandchildren and he loved them fiercely, but he just didn't know how to go on with everyday life without her. How could he go back to their house? It was so big. So empty. So glaringly frank that he was without half of his soul. It wasn't a home without her. Right here, right now, in this cramped hospital room, he was home.

He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "It's okay, Hime. Just…just go ahead and sleep."

She struggled to lift her lids and look into his eyes. "Can you…stay a little…longer…Ichigo?"

"I'm not going anywhere." To prove his point he struggled to lie next to her in the small bed and she giggled softly as his bones creaked and groaned. "Quiet you," he mumbled, shifting stiffly until he was against her frail, sheet covered body and an arm was draped protectively across her waist.

Orihime smiled a little and linked her trembling fingers through his. She wished she had the strength to lift her arm and run her fingers through his white yet still spiky hair one last time, but the last of life was draining out of her quickly now. She thought of her family and hoped they wouldn't grieve too much. Her eldest son had scowled at her when she suggested a cheerful marching band with dancing bears at her funeral. But she had caught her youngest daughter looking very thoughtful, and all of her children had a particular weakness to her little girl (who wasn't so little anymore, having just celebrated her fiftieth birthday) who was the most like herself. So maybe she'd get her dancing bears yet…

"Quit thinking about that marching band."

Grey eyes flicked back to her husband's amused face. "It's a good idea and…and you know it," she said with a small pout, not in the least surprised at her husband's intuition.

He smiled and kissed her shoulder. "Whatever you say, dear." He chuckled when she pursed her lips at her most hated phrase.

She studied his laughing eyes and the deep grief that already lay underneath and silently prayed that he would have strength and that he wouldn't be lonely. All of her children would offer to take him in, but she knew he would wave them off. He was too proud and independent.

"I love you," she suddenly said.

His face became unreadable, even to her, as he lifted slightly to give her a soft kiss and then looked into her eyes earnestly. "I love you."

Her eyes started to slowly fall shut as a content smile rested on her lips. Ichigo watched her sleep for a moment, reluctant to let his eyelids fall, but his old, tired body refused him and he soon fell asleep beside her.

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"Is Dad still here?"

"Yeah, I don't think he's left all week except to run by the house a couple of times."

"That's Dad for ya, always with the protecting addiction."

"Like you're one to talk."

"Shut up!"

"Quiet guys! She might be asleep!"

A solemn hush suddenly fell over Ichigo and Orihime's children who were now turning grey, some attempting to stop the clock with hair dye, their own wrinkles etching into their skin. The paused before Orihime's hospital room and then the eldest slowly made his way into the room, followed by his younger siblings.

"Oh my goodness!"

All stared at their parents who were holding hands on the thin bed, quietly lying next to each other…and completely still.

"Are they…?"

The eldest son swallowed hard and walked closer to the bed. Even without his medical license, he knew. But he checked their pulses just to make it real. He released his father's wrist and nodded.

Heavy silence filled the room. Slowly, tears started to roll down a few cheeks. Finally, the youngest daughter softly spoke. "It's all right. It's okay. They…they were soulmates. This is how it should be… They look beautiful, don't they?"

Her brother folded her into his arms when the lump in her throat choked her sudden sobs. "Yeah…beautiful…"

Hours later the youngest daughter fiddled with the ends of her auburn hair and looked at her big brother with big amber eyes.

He sighed and nodded, pulling his little sister in for a hug. "I'll put in a call for the dancing bears."

"Don't forget the mermaids and the marching band."

"Mermaids? I...okay."

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And of course they found each other in Soul Society and spent centuries together. What kind of person do you think I am? D:

Have any of you seen Big Fish? That movie reminds me so much of Hime. Kind of where the random funeral idea came from XD

Oh, and the death scene may look like I stole it from The Notebook, but Nicholas Sparks totally stole it from my brain! Okay not really...maybe just great minds think alike (hahaha, look at me comparing myself to Nicholas Sparks. Just call me Stephanie Meyer *facepalm* I enjoy Twilight, but she really needs to simmer down...anyways...). Since I was little, this is how I've always wanted to die, in my sleep on the same night as my husband when we're older than dirt (which reminds me, they're 90 in this). Yes, I was a morbid child xD. But not in like the depressing or creepy morbid...I was more of a realist and a romantic rolled into one...I don't know...it's weird...and I'm rambling...OKAY!

I've got a bunch more drabbles, but I need to revise them a little :D