Disclaimers, etc., see chapter one

Opening Theme: Hanabi by Ikimono Gakari

Ending Theme: Life by Yui

Bleach: Cross

By Eugena

Chapter Eleven: On His Deathbed

THE PAST LIFE – CROWN PRINCE ICHIGO'S ROOM

Ichigo Kurosaki looked on at another who looked like himself. He felt the movements of the other person as if it was his own.

The prince threw his dress sword on his bed. He sat down beside it, anger dripping through his pours. "Why? Why did he do this? He never asked me."

A knock at his door.

"Come!"

A young servant girl he did not recognize entered, followed by a tall woman in a robe, her face hidden.

"My lord," addressed the servant, "may I present the honorable Princess Shirahime." The servant bowed to him and allowed Shirahime to pass her.

The prince stood at the mention of her name, his mouth slightly agape. "Shirahime? Shirahime." He had never believed this would have been the one his father would have chosen for him.

Shirahime stood across from him, fearful of his reaction.

"Please accept her, my lord," the servant begged. "Please take care of Shirahime."

"Enough, Senna," Shirahime said.

"Sorry, my lady," Senna apologized and bowed low to the ground.

"Please leave us," said the Prince.

Senna rose and left, closing the door softly behind her.

"I didn't think it'd be you," the prince said. Although he could not see her face well behind her veil, he thought for a moment he saw her tears. He reached up to wipe them from her face, not yet touching her skin. With his other hand, he lifted up her veil, finally looking into her piercing blue eyes. They were full of sorrow. He kissed her, hoping to ease her pain. She didn't return his kiss or push him away.

"Hey," he said. "We don't have to do this."

"I have no one, my lord. I have only you."

"I won't abandon you," he swore. He kissed her again, hating himself for giving into his base feelings.

"Stop it!" screamed Ichigo Kurosaki, "Stop hurting her. Can't you see what you're doing?"

The Prince looked up, hearing the voice of his future self through his confusion. "Forgive me," he said, and turned away from Shirahime.

Shirahime reached out to him, turning him back to her. Her lips trembled, prepared to say words she did not mean, but her voice did not come through. She looked away for a moment. She turned back. "I am to be your wife. Whatever you want from me will be yours."

oOo

BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH

Ichigo Kurosaki left the world of the past life, now in a limbo in his current time, wavering between life and death. "Shirahime," he said. He pondered the woman he had seen, yet he had never seen her before in his current life.

"Ichigo," said a long lost familiar voice. He turned to see his mother, looking the same as the day she died, except she seemed content. No expression of shock or cold death played on her face. "Ichigo, I am so proud of you, my son." He felt the embrace he had not felt for a very long time. He cried freely with her. He relished the feeling of being in her arms again, fully willing to let go of this life.

His mother heard his thoughts. "No, my son. It's not time for you."

"Mother, I haven't seen you in Soul Society. I want to be with you again. I don't care where I have to follow you to."

"It's still not your time. Am I the only one you want to be with? Be honest with yourself, Ichigo."

"Ichigo." He had heard that voice before. He turned to it and his mother faded away. The girl Ichigo met not long before he met Rukia appeared before him. She held out the flowers he had given to her. "Thank you for your kindness, Ichigo."

"Ichigo." Kaien Shiba appeared before him, although Ichigo did not recognize him. "Don't give into Fate's will, Ichigo."

A woman sprinted up beside him and took his hand. He recognized her face from the vision of his past life. A veil from his memory fell away. He had seen her another time, too.

"Senna."

She was the memory rosary, although no one remembered her. How did she end up here?

"I lived to serve my princess, Ichigo," she answered him. "I came back to the human world to see you and to save you."

"But why?"

"You are Shirahime's prince, Ichigo. You lived a long time ago. You had a life with her, with us, long ago. Keep searching for the truth, Ichigo."