sandy badlands and the railroad

by ellonen

On a walk down the railroad, Ishida and Orihime discuss the legendary and notsolegendary wanderers who have walked the same path they now travel. IshidaOrihime

"Imagine it, Ishida!"

Orihime jumped down from the railroad she had been walking on and twirled beside Ishida. "There have been so many people walking on these tracks, walking to the burning sunset, making huge, important decisions, never to greet their lives the same way again!"

Ishida glanced at Orihime whose face was shining with a smile brighter than the (not necessarily) burning sunset ahead of them. Her eyes and mind were completely out of this world, racing somewhere beyond the places he could see.

"They walked these railroads just like us, and they never expected anything to happen." Orihime jumped to the railroad again. "Until BAM, their lives changed completely."

"Hmm. They were usually walking with the one they loved the most, weren't they?" Ishida pushed his glasses up with his index finger and focused his sharp eyes to the horizon, where really was nothing else but sandy badlands and the railroad they were following.

"Yes! You're completely right! I can't believe I forgot how important it is to walk with the one you love the most!"

Sighing, Ishida let out a half-hearted chuckle that resembled more a cough than a laugh. He couldn't help but feel incredibly lonely and happy when he was with Orihime - the girl was simply the most magical thing he had ever encountered in his life, Hollows and Shinigamis included. She was like a transparent Pandora's Box.

Everything in her was and was not secret.

And he loved to hear her tell her secrets to him.

Ishida stepped behind Orihime on the railroad and laid his hands on her shoulders. She grasped his right one with her left one and pointed at the flamingly orange sky in front of them with their hands, pulling him close to her. "See? There, above those clouds are the wanderers who came before us."

"Yes, I can see them."

"And the ones they loved the most."

"Yes, those too."

Orihime stepped down to walk next to Ishida. She took his hand in hers and repeated softly, "Especially the ones they loved the most. Because without them, the wanderers wouldn't have gotten anywhere."