A/N: Hello! Welcome all to the final chapter! And prepare yourselves: fluffiness lies ahead! LOL Anyway, I have nothing new to say, so I won't waste your time! Hope you enjoy this one!

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to rich people. I am broke. See the difference?

Second Chance

Chapter Fourteen: Forever and a Day

"Oh, I'm so sorry we couldn't go celebrate last night," Rangiku was saying as she walked with Orihime through the market. "I really wanted to, too!"

Orihime smiled, hoping it came across as purely understanding, and said, "It's alright, Rangiku. I can certainly understand that you were busy."

Rangiku paused, turning to properly face her, and one eyebrow arched high over her forehead as she asked, "Did Ichigo help you celebrate?"

Her cheeks were immediately crimson as Orihime stuttered, "R-Rangiku!"

Feigning innocence, Rangiku replied, "What? It's just a simple question…I mean, if he's any kind of a boyfriend, he ought to have helped you celebrate, right? You worked really hard renovating those infirmaries."

Orihime swallowed, attempting to control her flustered reaction, and nodded as she said, "Yes, of course! In fact, it was his idea for me to take a couple of days off before I start on my house."

Rangiku's grin was plastered firmly in place as she returned her attention to the stand of fresh fruit before them and said, "Oh, I'm sure you didn't take any convincing for that. I mean, the longer you put it off, the longer you get to live together, right?"

"We're not living together!" Orihime defended quickly, absently reaching for a pack of strawberries in the hopes that it would look like she wasn't focused entirely on the conversation.

The older woman was laughing now. "Right, right, of course; how could I forget? You're living in the guest room across from him."

"Exactly," Orihime replied with a nod.

Rangiku's grin was full of mischief as she looped an arm around Orihime's shoulders and said, "Orihime, between you and me, are you really still living separately?"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Orihime asked in an attempt to stall. She really wasn't comfortable talking about what Rangiku was asking about, but she was also opposed to lying unnecessarily.

Lowering her voice conspiratorially, Rangiku said, "Well, how often do you eat dinner together?"

"Every night…" Orihime replied slowly. That wasn't the question she'd expected, and it was making her nervous.

"And how often do you sleep in separate rooms?" Rangiku continued without missing a beat.

"Um," Orihime began, her blush returning. "Well…usually."

"Recently?" Rangiku pushed as she half-dragged Orihime down the line toward the vegetables, arm still around her shoulders.

Orihime swallowed again before managing, "Th-three nights ago…we slept separately…."

"Three nights ago, huh?" Rangiku repeated. As she picked up a head of lettuce and turned it around as if she were inspecting it, she said, "So you've spent the last two nights in the same bed, then."

It was getting harder and harder not to think about everything that had happened the night before, and Orihime had to drag in a deep breath before she mumbled, "Yes."

Leaning closer to whisper her next question, Rangiku asked, "Have you gotten him naked yet?"

"Rangiku!" Orihime squealed, her face burning once more as she turned wide, horrified eyes at her friend.

Rangiku laughed and released her, feeling as though she'd tormented her younger friend enough for the moment. "Okay, okay, I won't ask any more questions!" But she couldn't resist one small, additional comment and so, as she turned to sift through something else, she muttered, "Sounds like a 'yes' to me, anyway."

Orihime barely resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands – which were carrying bags of food. I knew I should have asked Rangiku if we could put this off for a couple of days.

Ichigo broke from the renovation group long enough to shake off some of the excess grime and check in on Orihime. She was in her office, as he'd known she would be, and she smiled brightly at him when their eyes met.

"Hey, Hime," he greeted with a smile of his own.

She stood and rounded her desk, meeting him halfway across the office and stepping into his arms. "Hi," she murmured as she looped her arms loosely around his shoulders.

He leaned in and stole a kiss, his lips lingering over hers as his hands splayed over her back. He hadn't seen her since that morning, when he'd had to leave before she was finished preparing for the day, and he was a bit disturbed by how much he'd missed her.

When they pulled apart she asked quietly, "Have you been busy today?"

"Yeah," he replied. "It looks like I'll be busy longer than usual, too, so you might have to eat without me. I don't want you going hungry."

Orihime pouted for a moment, before smiling and shaking her head as she looked away and admitted, "Actually, Rangiku's stealing me tonight, anyway. Remember when she said we should have a cooking party some night when Toushirou was out with work? Well, he's out tonight, and she wants me to celebrate finishing the infirmaries…."

Ichigo chuckled and pressed his lips to her forehead before saying, "Sounds like it'll work out, then. But don't let her drag you into anything too crazy, alright?"

It was her turn to laugh as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'll try, but it won't be easy." She was silent for a moment before she added softly, "Promise not to work too hard tonight, okay?"

He tightened his grip on her and lowered his lips to her hair before he murmured, "I promise, Hime. And I'll come by to see you again in the morning, since I won't see you tonight."

"I'll hold you to that," Orihime teased as she snuggled into him.

It had been late, as Ichigo had known it would be, when he'd finally gotten home that night. He caught only three hours of sleep before the sun was shining onto his closed eyes and dragging him back out of his slumber. Tiredly, he trudged to his bathroom and soaked in a scalding, relaxing, bath before dressing for another day.

With everything they'd accomplished the day (and night) before, the majority of the work that loomed ahead of them that morning was interior. Ichigo, Rukia, Rangiku, and a few of the others focused on taking care of the inside – putting up decorations, placing furniture, and cleaning up the mess that had accumulated from the rebuilding.

The remaining volunteers – including Ikkaku, Renji, and Byakuya – took charge of finishing up the outside work. The grounds needed a lot of clearing up, as there was a lot of left-over debris from both the explosion and the renovation. The garden Orihime had kept off of her back porch had been lost in the fire, and so Ichigo had also insisted on starting a new one for her.

They worked through the morning, pushing themselves and running about in order to complete their task that afternoon.

And then, shortly after two o'clock, they quite suddenly found themselves without any more work to do.

"I guess," Rukia began, her eyes skimming over the field behind the recently-painted back porch, "we're done."

"Finally!" Rangiku exclaimed, slumping dramatically onto the grass. "This was a lot more work than I thought it'd be."

Toushirou cocked an eyebrow at her from where he stood at her side. "And what did you think you'd be doing?"

Ichigo tuned out their conversation as he turned around and ran his eyes over the building for the hundredth time. Rukia was right – they were done. The house, which only a few days before had been more memory than reality, stood tall and proud once again.

He was glad to have accomplished his goal, and he was happy because he knew Orihime would be thrilled to have her home back.

But it was a bittersweet happiness, because it meant she would actually be farther away from him. Although, he realized silently, there's a solution to that, too. It was a crazy idea. But he'd been accused of worse things.

"Well, I think that's everything," Isane said as she started for the door to Orihime's office. She offered her friend a smile and added, "Have a good rest of your day, Orihime."

Orihime smiled back, saying, "Thanks, Isane; you, too. And say hello for me?"

"Of course," Isane promised.

Behind the Squad One Lieutenant, the office door slid open and Ichigo stepped in, pausing when he saw her and nodding. "Afternoon, Isane," he said.

The elder Lieutenant smiled and nodded in return. "Good afternoon. Don't mind me, I was just on my way out; it's good to see you, Ichigo."

Ichigo inclined his head but said nothing as she slipped from the room.

"Ichigo," Orihime called as her door slid shut quietly. When he turned his attention to her she smiled faintly and asked, "Is everything alright? I wasn't expecting you until later."

He grinned and moved forward, walking around her desk and pulling her up, into his arms. "Everything's fine," he assured her. He bowed his head, then, and captured her lips in a fierce, hungry kiss.

Orihime nearly whimpered beneath him as she curled her hands into the fabric of his shihakushou. His hands were burning her hips even through the multiple layers of clothing that separated them, and for a moment she wondered how wrong it would be if they moved to the couch.

It was at this point that she reluctantly dragged her lips from his, and her arms rose, sliding around his shoulders loosely as she leaned her head against his shoulder. His arms tightened around her in return and she smiled faintly. But whatever she might have been about to say was lost when her fingers lifted to sift through his hair, and she discovered that it was damp, as if he'd washed it recently.

Confusion curving her lips into a frown, she asked, "Ichigo…why is your hair wet?"

Ichigo chuckled against her, pressing a light kiss to her temple before reluctantly pulling away and looking into her eyes. "It's wet because I washed it not that long ago. Actually, Hime, I was hoping you could come with me – there's something important I need to show you."

"Oh," Orihime began, surprised by his unusual request and feeling even more confused. She nodded anyway and added, "Of course."

He took a single step backwards and caught one of her hands in his. "Good," he said with a lopsided grin.

Here we go, he thought as he guided her out of her office.

It had occurred to him that she might not be so thrilled about what they'd done. He doubted she'd been looking forward to the manual labor and exhaustive work that would have been required, but what if she'd been looking forward to having a little creative control? What if she was actually disappointed instead? He could only hope that she liked the end result.

Orihime, for her part, was thoroughly confused as Ichigo proceeded to lead her deeper into her own barracks. She had absolutely no idea what he could be taking her to see. Did something happen? It didn't make sense – as Captain, surely she would have been aware of any arising situation, right?

But he said everything was fine, she remembered. So what could it be? The questions only continued mounting as they moved through familiar hallways at a calm, but purposeful, pace.

And then they rounded another corner, and it occurred to Orihime that they seemed to be heading to her private home – or, at least, where it had once stood. But by the time this realization settled, Ichigo had stopped, and her feet had come to a stop as well.

The hallway dead-ended, as it always had, to an open courtyard which housed a single building.

Long ago Unohana had had a separate building built in the back courtyard, in order to have a living space that was slightly separated from her work space. Orihime had, of course, inherited this building as her home when she had taken over the position of Squad Four Captain. It had been this building that had been utterly destroyed by the bombs and resulting fire in the chaos from a couple of months before.

But now, clear as day, a building that was nearly identical on the outside to the old one was standing in the courtyard. It was covered in an obviously-fresh coat of paint that matched the other buildings of the barracks.

Ichigo squeezed her hand slightly, reminding her that he was still there, and said quietly, "I know how upset you were about losing your home…. I hope you don't mind."

Orihime swallowed, her eyes brimming with unshed tears, and looked up at him with a matching smile. "Ichigo…you did all this?"

"Well," Ichigo admitted, jerking his thumb toward the building again, "I didn't do it by myself."

Obediently, Orihime turned her attention back to the building, and was amazed to see the group of their peers walk into sight from either side. She sucked in a surprised breath and her free hand flew up to cover her mouth.

"We did the inside for you, too," Ichigo added.

Orihime blinked, one tear escaping to trial down her cheek, and turned to quickly lean up and plant a kiss on his lips. Then she tightened her grip on his hand and started forward at a brisk pace, eager to see the inside of the home she had been given.

When she was close enough, Rangiku moved forward and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her away from Ichigo as she pushed her towards the two front steps that led up to the door. "What are you waiting for? Get inside and see what we did!"

Orihime had wanted to take a minute to thank everyone, but she was more interested in seeing the rest of her house, and so she allowed Rangiku's eagerness to rush her up the steps. Rangiku and Ichigo both fell back as she stopped at the landing, and she realized that they wanted to give her a minute to take it in all on her own.

Taking a deep breath, Orihime reached out and opened the front door.

Her mind was everywhere as she looked around. She stood in the entry for a long minute, absorbing the sight before her.

The front door opened – like her old one had – into a large sitting room. There were two sofas, one on either side of a simple but elegant coffee table. There was an ornate, brick fireplace along one wall, and in front of the fireplace was a large throw rug covering the floor. Two large windows on the far wall framed her back door, and through the windows she could see the railing of a good-sized back porch.

The kitchen and bathroom were in the same places – roughly – that they had been originally, and the doors were open so that Orihime could easily peer inside. They were properly furnished, and a quick look told her that her kitchen was even fully stocked.

But she was especially intrigued to note that the house was actually a little bigger than her old one, and it had an additional bedroom. The new bedroom was smaller than her old one, though not by much, and only basically furnished.

The other bedroom, in almost the same place of the previous, was larger than her old one. It had another large window against one wall, and a door that led to the back porch. The porch itself was larger than its predecessor as well, and when Orihime went to the railing she noticed that her garden had also been restored.

Orihime took a deep breath as she turned around on her porch to look up at the building again. She knew she'd missed having her own home, but finally having one again made her realize exactly how much she'd missed it.

"So," Ichigo asked from somewhere behind her, "what do you think?"

She turned around to see him – and everyone else – gathered in her backyard. A large, bright smile lit up her face and she easily declared, "I love it! Thank you all so much!"

Rukia smiled from where she stood between Ichigo and Renji and said, "We were glad to help."

Orihime was running her fingers along the back of one of her new sofas, a soft smile curving her lips, when a familiar spiritual pressure settled behind her. An instant later two strong arms had wrapped around her waist and pulled her back, into a muscular chest. Her smile brightened and she leaned into him, letting her hands fall over his.

"Thank you, Ichigo," she said softly. "This is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"You deserved it," he replied quietly. "I was happy to help."

With a soft laugh, Orihime said, "The way I heard it, this whole thing was your idea. In my opinion, that's a little more than 'helping'."

Ichigo pressed a kiss to her temple, his lips tipped up in a small smile.

After a moment, he said, "I am sorry I had to lie, Hime."

Orihime tilted her head into his, saying, "There are different kinds of lying, Ichigo. Not telling me about this is okay; sometimes you have to lie to keep a surprise a surprise. So don't worry about it."

His arms tightened around her and he accepted her words silently. The time had come, he knew, but he didn't want to spoil her moment, either. And as nervous as he'd been about the house, he was infinitely more nervous about what he was going to do next.

"I love you, Ichigo," Orihime said on a sigh as the fingers of one of her hands danced across his forearm.

It was amazing how that simple sentence managed to completely smother his nerves.

"Orihime," he said quietly, "there's one more thing…."

"More?" Orihime asked, shifting her head so that she could look up at him without actually pulling away. She couldn't imagine what else there could be.

"Well," Ichigo began, "while we were working on the house, I kept thinking about how much it would mean to you to have your home back. But then I got to thinking that that means I won't have you so close anymore, and if I'm being honest, I really don't like that idea."

Orihime's eyes drooped slightly as she listened to his words. He wasn't saying anything that hadn't already gone through her mind at least once, so she opted to wait until he was done before responding. She could only hope that something he said would give her something useful to say.

He had to pause to swallow as his nerves attempted to take over once more. "I could only think up one decent solution," he admitted. "And I don't know…I mean, I can understand if you think it's too soon, but…." He trailed off again, closing his eyes for a moment before he pushed ahead.

Taking a deep breath, Ichigo pulled his arms back and gently turned her around so that he could look into her eyes. He slid his hands up until he was framing her face, his thumbs rubbing tenderly over her cheeks.

"Orihime," he began again, "I know we really haven't been together very long, but I love you more than anything, and I never want to be apart from you. So…will you marry me?"

Orihime couldn't breathe as her fingers curled slightly in his shihakushou. She was lost in his eyes, and all she could see was sincerity. Every word he said, he meant, and every word he said came straight from her own heart. There was only one answer.

She smiled, and a single tear slipped from the corner of her eye, landing on the tip of his thumb, but she ignored it and said, "Yes. Oh, Ichigo…of course I will."

He smiled and pulled her back to him, lowering his head to capture her lips in a gentle kiss. His hands threaded through her hair for a moment, before sliding again down her back and holding her tight.

She tangled her fingers in his hair as their lips moved together, tongues barely touching.

It was a long minute before they pulled apart, and Orihime smiled laughingly as she said, "I'll make you a deal."

"A deal?" Ichigo asked curiously, one orange brow lifting to match his tone.

Trailing one finger along the length of his jaw, Orihime explained, "I promise to love you forever, no matter what happens, if you'll promise the same."

Ichigo grinned and leaned forward until his forehead was resting against hers, and he replied quietly, "Forever and a day, Hime."

The End

A/N: Well, there you have it – the end of the story! Yes, that's right, no epilogue – I just couldn't figure out one that satisfied me quite the same way ending it here satisfied me, so here it ends. And now I'd like to thank you all for reading (and reviewing) this story! So: thank you for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoyed it! And, perhaps you're feeling so motivated by the end of the story that you just can't help but review one more time? LOL

Until next time! ^_^