A/N: A quick update. I got a busy month ahead of me so I'm trying to get this story done in the next week. I hope you enjoy.

Sleeping Princess and the Worried Protector

Ichigo was on his knees panting from the amount of reiatsu that had just flowed through his body. He could have never expected that it would have been that intense. His body was still shacking and calling him an idiot even though a few minutes had already gone by. How Orihime gained so much power from one person was beyond him at the moment. The only comfort that he could get was that her reiastu was now stabilizing.

"Orihime!" He turned to see Tatsuki running towards them, concern etched into her face. As soon as she got to them she went to her close friend's side and started to look her over. Checking her for any wounds, a pulse and to see if she was still breathing. To her relieve, Orihime was fine. Their other friends began to encompass them to see Orihime for themselves and to release their own worries. All of them were still stressed out from the reiastu that had bore down on them, but none of that mattered to them, just as long as their friend was safe. Their peaceful reunion was soon interrupted by the senior soul reaper.

"That was very stupid," Hayato said. He was quickly met with several angry glares. "Stupid in the sense that you were likely to get killed in that action. However it was very brave and admirable, which counts in the end." He let out a sigh. "Unfortunately you only delayed the inevitable."

"What are you talking about," Ichigo struggled ask as he was still trying to catch his breath.

"You may have stabilized her reiatsu at the moment but it is only a matter of time before Orihime's reiatsu reaches critical mass again." They all turned to face their sleeping friend and felt that he was right. Slowly but surely her reiatsu was rising.

"What are we supposed to do," Tatsuki asked in worry. Hayato contemplated his options for a minute. He took in a deep breath when he found that he really had only one option. He slowly stepped forward; he walked past everyone without looking at them and got on to his knees by Orihime's side.

"I can place a seal over her. This is the only way but with some drawbacks." They all looked at him with questionable stares, their protective natures for the princess taking over.

"What kind of drawbacks," Uryū asked?

"She will lose all the power she has gained. Her soul reaper powers and the full potential of her own powers."

"So she will not be able to use her powers anymore," Chad inquired? "Like Ichigo when he lost his powers?"

"No. She will maintain the power she had before Hoshi gave her powers to your friend. She will even be able to still build up her own powers."

"If it will save her do it," Tatsuki said after she thought about it. Hayato placed his hands a few inches above Orihime's chest, one hand resting over the other. A blue glow began to emanate from his palm. Small particles of reiatsu began to fall down to her. He began to sweat from the strain that he was putting himself through.

"Are you going to be alright," Ichigo asked noticing the pressure Hayato was going through. "You don't look so good."

"This is not as easy as it looks." He continued his work. There was so much reiatsu in the goddess' body that it was taking him longer than he expected. A glow began to surround her body, the first indication that his technique was working. "You might want to cover her up."

"What," was all Ichigo could say in response? He looked down and noticed that Orihime's armor and cloak was disappearing, however nothing was taking their place. He quickly took of his shihakushō off and draped it over her body while trying to ignore the blush spreading across his face. He missed the smirk that crossed Tatsuki face.

"See something you liked?"

"I didn't see anything," he yelled at her. Now his whole face was red.

"You better keep it that way," she said with a tone that said she would hurt him if not kill him. She may want them to be together but she didn't want things going too fast.

"I'm done," Hayato announced as he took in deep breaths. He stood up and staggered away towards a tree. The others crowded around their sleeping friend.

"Orihime," Ichigo called to her. He gave her a gentle shack. "Hey, you can wake up now." The only response he got was the slow rise and fall her chest. "Orihime wake up."

"It may be quite a while before she wakes," Hayato said as his back slid down a tree. "Her body has gone under a significant amount of stress. From the infusion of reiatsu to losing control of her power to the sealing of her powers."

"How long until she wakes up," Ichigo asked?

"Could be days, weeks, or even months." With each word he said his voice got weaker.

"Hey man, are you alright," Keigo asked? As if to answer his question Hayato's body began to glow and reiatsu particles began to escape his body.

"Not really," he said with a smile.

"What did you do," Uryū asked astonished?

"It took everything I had to place that seal. I did say there would be drawbacks didn't I."

"She would have never of wanted someone to sacrifice themselves for her," Tatsuki stated.

"She wasn't in a position to say anything."

"Why would you do this," Ichigo asked?

"She is young, she has a long life ahead of her. She also still has all of you. I on the other hand have lived for a very long time and have nothing left. The least I could do was give my life to save hers."

"Thank you," each one of them said to him. He gave a nod before he burst into light and the particles rise to the sky before disappearing.

She walked down the hallway of the quiet floor of the Karakura Hospital towards the room her best friend was laying in. It had been a week already since the battle in the forest. But it felt like it had been a lot longer. So much had happened since. It took them time to get back to Karakura while transporting a comatose Orihime. Once they got back to town they decided that it would be best to keep her in the hospital where she could be carefully monitored. It took some convincing but Uryū's father accepted and put her somewhere where they could quietly watch over her.

They then had to explain what happened to everyone; to the Shōten gang and Isshin. They then had to make an excuse to the school and their classmates to cover what happened. All they could do was tell them that Orihime had been in terrible accident and was left in a coma. The only person they told the truth to was Chizuru; who, to their surprise, took the news quite well.

Tatsuki continued her walk, carrying get well cards from her classmates, until she reached the door to her friend's room. She hesitated to walk in. In the week since she was there Orihime had shown no signs of improvement; it was hard to walk in and see her in such a state. She took in a deep breath and pushed the door open and she was not surprised to find that someone was already there. She saw Ichigo sitting at Orihime's bedside. It was like he had hardly moved the entire week.

"Ichigo," she tried greeting him. She only received a grunt in return. She went to the table on the other side of the room to set down the cards. When she turned around to see her friends she saw a depressed looking Ichigo. "Ichigo, none of this is your fault."

"I should have been stronger," he said with a disdained voice. "If I had been stronger she wouldn't have had to go so far for us to almost losing her life." Tatsuki clenched her fist in frustration. She was about to smack him when she noticed the time.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"School."

"I'm not going."

"Yes you are!" She grabbed him by the back of his collar and began to drag him out. "Because Orihime would want you to."

"Good morning Ichigo." He looked around the classroom that he just entered looking for the sound of the familiar voice. But there was no one. Had he really grown so accustomed to the good mornings he always received that without her he was just start hearing things. The rest of the day would go by uneventful and he would soon return to the hospital to the sleeping princess' side.

Three more weeks had gone by and Orihime's condition still hadn't changed. While Ichigo sat at her side the others had gone to Kisuke to see what he could do to help. But the former twelve squad's captain said it would be better for her to recover naturally. Everyone was starting to get tired of Ichigo's worrying and beating himself up that they felt they had to do something.

"Ichigo you need to stop this," Rukia told him. She didn't get a response back. "Look none of this is your fault. Orihime went through all of this in order to protect us."

"She shouldn't of had to. I should have been stronger. I should have been able to protect her." Suddenly he felt a fist burry itself into the side of his face knocking him off his chair.

"You idiot! She wants to protect you just as much as you want to protect her. Sitting here and moping about how you should have been the one protecting is insulting." After venting her frustration out Rukia stormed out of the room. Ichigo picked himself up from the ground and sat back down in the chair.

None of them will understand. He thought. I can't lose someone again.

I must have fallen asleep. Ichigo thought to himself. On something strange. Whatever he was sleeping on felt prickly, but where ever he fell asleep felt warm.

"Time to wake up," a voice called to him. He chose to ignore it and oddly felt like burying himself into whatever he was sleeping on. There was a sigh and footsteps leading away from him. Soon those footsteps returned and he felt a cold liquid fall all over him. He shot up and coughed trying to catch his breath.

"What the hell!"

"It's about time you woke up. I didn't bring you here so you could sleep." He looked up to see a silver haired blue eyed woman wearing a white kimono.

"Who the hell are you?" He looked around to take in his surroundings. He was lying in a grass field bathed in a thick fog. "Where the hell am I?"

"All in due time." She turned around and began to walk away. Ichigo was hesitant at first but soon followed. They eventually came to a calm river. At least he now knew where the cold water came from. The mysterious woman seemly walked across the river without her feet going under. Ichigo on the other hand had to walk through the knee high river. Once he was out he saw that the woman was standing by a stone slab. Someone was lying on it. "Welcome to Orihime's inner world." Ichigo looked around the still foggy world, finding it hard to believe that he was in Orihime's soul. He then took noticed to who was lying on the stone slab. It was none other than a sleeping Orihime.

"How am I here," he asked as he slowly approached the sleeping goddess.

"I brought you here so we could have a little chat."

"Just who are you?"

"I am Hoshi… sort of."

"Hoshi? You're the First Soul Reaper. The one who gave Orihime all that power."

"The one and only." Ichigo took a swing to which Hoshi dodge as if his fist her going in slow motion. "Alright calm down." He took another swing, this time she didn't dodge. She brought up own hand and his fist made contact with her palm; she quickly closed her fingers around his hand and twisted his arm. "I said calm down."

"If you hadn't given her your power she wouldn't be in a coma right now."

"I warned her that she could die if she took my power. Besides if she hadn't taken it you and all you friends would be dead right now." She let him go once she felt his muscles relax.

"Why her?"

"Because she was the most promise. Her powers are beyond anything I have ever seen." There was a moment's hesitation before she continued. "She also knows what it is like to lose a sibling to hollowfication."

"What did you mean when you said you were sort of Hoshi?"

"I am a fragment or a shadow of the real Hoshi. I am the side effect you could say that the process of infusing mine and Orihime's powers."

"You're the one who influenced her during the battle," Ichigo stated as he watched over the sleeping Orihime.

"Most of it."

"So you were controlling her."

"No. It was more like I was giving her advice. Although our power infused one could dominate the other. Most of the fight while she was in shikai my power was the most dominate. That was why my brother couldn't touch her. I knew each move he would make and passed that knowledge onto Orihime. But when she activated her bankai that all changed. Her power far exceeded my own."

"What about the seal that Hayato placed on Orihime? Did you make him do that?" She remained silent for a few minutes.

"I would have never asked him to sacrifice himself for anyone, including myself. He always seemed to be so focused on my wellbeing that he never considered his own. And he passed that care on to Orihime." She took a deep breath after remember what he did to save Orihime. "The seal is not perfect but it is good enough to keep her reiatsu from going out of control again."

"What do you mean it's not perfect," he asked in concern.

"She'll maintain a small about of her soul reaper powers. But not even close enough to give you even her shikai." She felt it, her time was almost up. She took one last look around her surroundings. "This place can be quite beautiful when she is in the right state of mind. Now for the main reason for why I brought you here."

"And what would…" He didn't get a chance to finish as Hoshi's fist collided with his face. "Ouch! What the hell was that for?"

"For being an idiot. You really need to listen to your friends more and stop bearing all that weight on your shoulders." She began to fade away. "And you need not worry about your girlfriend." She laughed when she saw his face turn red. "She'll wake up very soon. Her body just needed the rest." When she disappeared, Ichigo felt himself being gentle pulled out of the world.

He woke up in the hospital room set aside for Orihime. He picked his aching head up from the bedside table.

"I see you are finally awake," some said from the other side of the bed. He turned to see Tatsuki looking at him with a stern stare.

"Sorry."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Sorry about the way I've been acting."

"Wait, what did you just say," she asked astonished.

"You and the others are right. I'm being stupid about this." He looked down on the sleeping auburn haired girl and smiled. "I should go home. I'm sure I've made my sister worried enough." He got up from where he sat and began to leave the room.

"Alright… uh… see you later then," she said still a little confused by his sudden change.

Another week went by, but this one was by far the easiest one with Ichigo not acting like a "depressed moron" as Rukia had put it. The whole gang had gathered in Orihime's room having a casual discussion when a sudden shift under the sheets caught their attention. Orihime squeezed her eyes shut and then slowly opened them. She slowly took in her surroundings and then smiled at all her friends.

"Hey there," Ichigo greeted her with a smile.

"Hey," Orihime said back in a tired voice but still smiling. "How long have I been asleep?" They all looked at each other wondering how to break the news to her.

"Well Orihime, you've been in a coma for five weeks," Uryū said deciding it would be best not to dance around the subject.

"Is that all… Five weeks!" Orihime sat up quickly, she soon regretted it as her head began to spin and she fell to her side into a pair of strong arms.

"Hey, take it easy," Ichigo said gently. "You just woke up."

"But I've been asleep for too long." Her eyes began to get heavy. "I don't want to fall asleep again." She couldn't stop her body's will as she slipped back into unconscious.

She woke up to a dark moonlit room. She could tell that she was still in a hospital room based on her surroundings. She felt some movement next to her. When she turned she found Ichigo waking up from where he sat.

"Hey there." She blushed realizing that he was the only one in the room with her.

"Hi," was all she could say in response.

"How do you feel?"

"Tried," she said with a yawn. He smiled at her response.

"Yeah, you might be like that for a while. You'll still recovering."

"How are the others doing? Did they all make it out okay after the fight?"

"Yeah. And it is all thanks to you." He gave her a proud smile. She smiled back but soon began to feel sleepiness take over her. "You should get some rest so you can be up and about in no time." It took another week before Orihime could stay awake for a long period of time. When Ryūken felt that she no longer needed the assistance of the hospital he gave her the okay to go home under the condition that she would be supervised for another week. Somehow everyone but Ichigo had an excuse that made it incapable for them to watch her the whole week. For some reason he didn't mind.

"Sorry we can't stay longer Orihime," Rukia told Orihime as she and Renji were preparing to leave. The group was just outside the hospital waiting for the cab that Ichigo had called to take Orihime and himself to her apartment.

"It's okay Rukia," Orihime said from the comfort of her wheelchair that Ichigo had insisted she stay in outside while she recovered so she would collapse and injured herself. "I understand. So don't look so guilty okay."

"Alight," Rukia said with a smiled. She just has to always be considerate of others, doesn't she?

"I want to thank you Orihime," Renji said. "You saved my life." The two soul reapers left soon after. The cab arrived and took Ichigo and Orihime to her apartment. Ichigo assisted her up the stairs to her apartment door. Once inside he began to help her towards her bed when she tripped over her own feet. Ichigo was quick to catch her. He wasn't however quick to let her go. They just stood there, rooted to the spot as they drew closer to each other.

A/N: I kind of struggled with part of this story. I wanted Rukia and Tatsuki to get Ichigo what of his depression but I also want him to meet Hoshi. I hope I found a proper balance between the two. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Only one more to go. As always I'm open to suggestions for improvements to my writing.