A/N: Welcome back everybody! I hope you'll all forgive me for making you wait to learn what Urahara discovered last chapter! LOL But the wait is over, so go read!

Disclaimer: Bleach is still not mine.

Soul Mates

Chapter 12: The Most Powerful Force I

Kisuke Urahara smiled as he watched Ichigo repel Chad's attack with Orihime's Shiten Koushun. Uryuu had snuck around behind the young Vizard and was aiming a counterattack, taking perfect advantage of his opponent's distraction. But before the attack could be released the shopkeeper lifted his closed fan into the air and called, "Time-out!"

The combatants froze.

Chad was on one knee, breathing heavily and wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.

Uryuu was standing on a large rock, arms poised and bow taught.

Ichigo was standing between them, Orihime's shield still in front of him and one hand gripping tightly to Zangetsu's hilt.

All three of their heads swung, wide-eyed, toward Urahara at the unexpected interruption.

Chad stood, his armor vanishing. Uryuu lowered his arms, dissolving his bow, and jumped to the ground alongside his friends. Orihime's shield dissipated and Ichigo stuck the tip of Zangetsu into the hard dirt.

"So sorry to interrupt," Urahara called as they collected themselves.

Ichigo's surprised expression shifted flawlessly into anger as his jaw tightened and his scowl deepened. Without a word he began stalking forward.

Urahara seemed to recognize the dark look in Ichigo's eyes and he asked carefully, "Now, Ichigo, why are you giving me that look?"

One flash-step brought him within striking range, and Ichigo swung his fist forward without hesitation. His fist collided with Urahara's face, knocking the older man backwards and off of his feet.

Remembering Orihime's earlier request not to kill the man, Ichigo kept his feet locked in place and lowered his arm to his side. If he pursued it any more he might very well do more damage than he thought he should.

Pushing himself to a seated position, Urahara rubbed at his face tenderly and asked, "I'm afraid I'm not entirely sure what that was for."

"You owe Orihime an apology," Ichigo growled.

Urahara stared up at Ichigo for a long moment, but the confusion in his eyes quickly faded to understanding. His hand fell into his lap and he looked away before he said, "I see. So you finally heard about that, did you? I suppose I should be amazed it took so long."

"I shouldn't have had to hear about it," Ichigo snapped. "You should have apologized at the first chance you got."

Taking a deep breath, Urahara nodded and pushed to his feet, wiping off the dust from his clothes. "Of course," he agreed. "Apologies have never been my strong suit, however…I am sorry."

Narrowing his eyes at the shopkeeper, Ichigo added, "And you'll never even think of saying something like that to her again, right? Not because you know I'd kill you, but because you know you'd be wrong."

Urahara turned a barely-formed smile toward Ichigo, but when their eyes met the expression faltered, and the former Captain bowed his head. "Is she listening?"

"To every word," Ichigo replied shortly.

Keeping his head down, Urahara said, "I am truly sorry, Orihime. I should never have said that."

Ichigo locked his jaw as he waited to gauge Orihime's response. The apology was hers to accept.

"Thank you, Ichigo. Would you please tell him that I accept his apology?" Orihime replied after barely a moment. She didn't seem to be exaggerating her feelings or hiding anything; simple honesty was all that exuded from her.

Releasing a breath and forcing his muscles to relax a little, Ichigo said, "She accepts your apology."

Urahara straightened and nodded faintly. And then his laughing smile returned and he exclaimed, "I'm impressed! I thought for sure when you found about that that you'd put me in a wheelchair!"

Glare returning easily, Ichigo grunted, "Don't think I didn't think about it."

"Is there a reason you wanted to talk to us?" Uryuu asked as he and Chad walked up to them.

Chad silently held Zangetsu out for Ichigo, who took the sword with a nod of gratitude and strapped it over his back.

"Ah, yes," Urahara assured them, nodding again. "I believe I may have found an explanation for the situation, as well as a solution!" His exuberance faded again and he returned his eyes to Ichigo's as he added, "But, I warn you, the explanation might be uncomfortable to hear."

Ichigo's scowl deepened again, for an entirely new reason, and he asked, "Uncomfortable how?"

"Let's just say 'it's personal'," Urahara replied pointedly. He let his words hang in the air for a long minute, watching Ichigo's eyes narrow and his jaw clench before asking, "So, would you like to hear it now, or later?"

Narrowing his own eyes, Uryuu asked, "What good would it do to put it off?"

Glancing sideways at the Quincy, Urahara smiled and said, "Well, it's possible Ichigo might like to have a different conversation first."

Ichigo dragged in a long breath. I should've known this damn situation would bring that up.

"Yeah, you should've," the hollow teased knowingly.

"Um…bring what up?" Orihime asked carefully. "Is something wrong?"

Ichigo's eyes closed for a second as he swallowed and replied, "Not exactly. Hang on a sec, Orihime." He looked up at Urahara then and said, "Yeah, let's wait. I'm gonna need a few minutes."

Urahara inclined his head. "Of course, of course," he replied. "We'll just wait for you upstairs, then. Take your time." Gesturing for the others to follow him, Urahara turned toward the ladder and said, "Come on, gentlemen, let's give them a little privacy!"

Uryuu and Chad exchanged a hesitant look before turning their attention to Ichigo.

Ichigo had already turned and was walking away, pulling Zangetsu from his back as he headed toward a previously-undisturbed pillar.

And then realization dawned and Uryuu's eyes widened. It was that kind of personal. He dropped a hand on Chad's shoulder and said quietly, "Let's go with Urahara."

Even as he materialized in his inner world, Ichigo found himself hesitating. He had always wanted to avoid this conversation. What if there's another way? Maybe if they just waited another day or two…but there was no guarantee. And what if there's not? That was a risk he couldn't take.

Orihime deserved to live her own life; more importantly, she deserved not to be saddled with his.

"Ichigo?" Orihime called over to him, concern evident in her voice as well as her expression. She was standing before her favorite window, hands clenched in front of her chest as she watched him worriedly. A light breeze danced through, then, ruffling her hair and the skirt of her white dress.

He swallowed and looked past her, to Zangetsu. "Old Man, would you mind giving us a few minutes?" It was probably a pointless request, since both the zanpakutou spirit and his hollow knew how he felt. But this wasn't the kind of conversation that lent itself to an audience.

Zangetsu nodded once and turned, walking toward the edge of the building before vanishing entirely.

"You gonna ask me to leave, too?" the hollow challenged, crossing his arms and lifting an eyebrow.

Ichigo turned an easy glare on the fiend. "Yeah," he said.

For a moment, silence stretched between them.

And then the hollow's arms dropped and his expression shifted into a pointed glare. "You better not screw this up, King." He vanished in a flash-step a beat later.

"What's going on, Ichigo?" Orihime asked slowly. There was still concern in her voice, but it was joined now by confusion. She couldn't imagine what he would want to talk to her about that required such blatant privacy.

Ichigo took another deep breath and allowed himself to walk forward, so that there was only a comfortable distance between them. "There's something…that it's time for you to know."

The obvious question lit up her eyes, so Ichigo didn't wait long for a response before saying, "I know you heard what Urahara said; and I'm sorry it's coming up like this."

He was stalling and he knew it. Hell, she probably knows it, he lectured himself. But it was hard – so hard – to say what needed to be said.

Orihime's eyes drooped slightly as she studied him. It couldn't be more obvious that he didn't want to talk about whatever it was that he was about to tell her, but for some reason he felt it was necessary. And as confused as she was, the feeling that was quickly overtaking her was actually concern. She couldn't put her finger on the emotions running around in his eyes, but they didn't seem like good ones.

She pulled her lip between her teeth subconsciously as she wrapped one arm around herself, her other arm hanging at her side. The soft breeze returned, passing around and between them and dislodging a few strands of her hair.

Ichigo was still trying to find the right words when the breeze blew some of her hair into her face, and before he knew what he was doing he was reaching out to tuck it back.

His fingers brushed her skin and again their eyes focused on each other. He gently swept her hair from her face, but he couldn't quite pull his hand away. Her skin was so warm and smooth beneath his fingertips.

He was so absorbed in the feeling that he didn't even realize he was speaking until it was too late as he said, "You are so beautiful."

Orihime's eyes widened at the unexpected compliment. Her cheek was warm and tingling beneath his touch and her heart was hammering wildly against her chest at his murmured words. And she wanted, more than anything, to simply bask in the praise he'd offered without looking any deeper. But she couldn't; his tone, the strange, unidentifiable look in his eyes, his barely-there touch – it all screamed that there was a catch.

He didn't know where the words were coming from now, but it seemed that he wasn't done saying ordinarily-embarrassing things. And his hand refused to pull away from her skin. "Most of the time," he began quietly, his eyelids drooped and his thumb rubbing gently, deliberately, over her cheek, "all I want to do is wrap you in my arms and let the world pass us by."

Despite her best efforts, and despite her hesitation to accept his words at surface-level, she felt the hope building up within her. How many times had she dreamt of conversations that started like this?

Ichigo recognized the hope as it slowly began to light up her eyes, and, conversely, the sight of it made his words fall away. It took a frightening amount of effort to add, "But I can't."

He pulled his hand away as the words fell from his lips, but he held her gaze.

The hope stalled for a beat before fading quickly from her eyes, replaced with confusion and a tinge of fear.

All of those things were dancing in her voice as she breathed, "Ichigo…." But she didn't know what to say. She didn't know what he was doing, what he was saying, and she had no idea how to make it better.

But the pain in his eyes was obvious for the beat that they continued to hold hers.

And then he looked away.

He turned entirely from her and walked several steps forward, putting a little space between them and keeping his back to her. He couldn't look her in the eyes for what he had to say next. He didn't know how she would react, and he'd hate himself if he hurt her, but it had to be said. She had to understand.

Even so, he had to force the vile words off of his tongue as he said, "It doesn't matter how I feel; I can't let myself get any closer to you, Orihime." His fists clenched at his sides as he found himself glaring at the tall, blue building across from him.

The breeze kicked up again, a little more insistent and a little colder than before. The emotions swirling inside of him seemed so much more intense than the last time he'd had this conversation with himself.

Of course, this time was different. This time he was saying these things to her. This time these words could change his life in a very permanent way – and not for the better.

"W-why would you say that?" Orihime asked hesitantly. Her confusion was evident in her voice, but it was secondary. Her words were watered down, as if she were already fighting back tears.

If he was going to hurt her – and, at this point, it was obvious that he was – then he figured he might as well give her an honest answer. So he said, "Because I'm terrified of what could happen to you. I don't trust him not to hurt you. And if I keep my distance…then you're less likely to be standing beside me the next time I lose control."

"Ichigo," she repeated, more solidly this time.

She was obviously going to say more, so he cut her off. He needed to say it while he could.

"I know it sounds like a lame excuse," he admitted. "I know there's not even a guarantee that there will be a 'next time,' but that's not a chance I can take. It would only take one screw-up. One time; one chance; one minute. That's all he would need. And if you got hurt because I was too selfish to let you go…." He paused, swallowed, and added, "It would kill me."

His words hung in the air for a minute when he paused again. But he took a deep breath, ignored the unfamiliar lump in his throat, and managed, "I love you, Orihime. But I'm too dangerous."

She knew he intended to say more, but she had heard enough. So she moved into his direct line of sight, forcing him to look at her, and she reached out and grabbed both of his wrists firmly. He was going to hear what she had to say. And then, if he still chose to break both of their hearts…at least she would know she'd tried.

"Ichigo," she began firmly, "it's your turn to listen to me now, okay? You've spent the last few days squashing just about every insecurity I've ever had, so now I'm going to return the favor."

She paused, offering him a reassuring smile, and said, "I'm not even going to try the 'it's my life, so it's mine to risk' argument, because I'm sure that's only going to work once per lifetime. But that's okay, because I have a better one." Her hands squeezed his wrists subconsciously before she added, "Hollow would never hurt me."

Ichigo's eyes widened at her straightforward declaration. There was only confidence in her voice; no doubt, no hesitation. And he didn't get the feeling that she was intending to add a qualifier. But it just couldn't be that simple.

Swallowing, Ichigo found his voice again and said, "You don't know that."

Orihime shook her head lightly, obviously unsurprised by his argument, and she held his gaze. With an unwavering smile, she said, "Yes, I do. I've been living with him for almost three full days now. We don't sleep, we don't have separate rooms to lock ourselves away in, and Mr. Zangetsu isn't much of a conversationalist, so we don't really even have anyone else to talk to half the time. And, in all of that time, Hollow's never even been rude to me."

She waited a moment, hoping to let the argument sink in.

And then she added, "He just sat by and let me ramble off a bunch of name suggestions, even though he'd already asked to be called 'Hollow;' when I started crying, and he didn't know how to help, he called you; and when I slipped and almost fell off the side of the building, he caught me."

She paused again, still smiling, and gave his wrists another squeeze. "Does that sound like the kind of person who's going to kill me as soon as they get the opportunity?"

Ichigo was speechless as he stared at her.

She was right; his hollow had behaved the entire time she'd been stuck within him. And he'd had more than enough opportunity to make a move against her. When he thought about it the way she'd described it, he couldn't deny her point. His hollow – who exemplified all of his own worst characteristics – had been perfectly patient with her.

But did that mean he could dare trust that his hollow would always treat her similarly?

Then again, his hollow was a fairly straightforward being. If he was unhappy about something, everyone knew it. If he wanted to kill something – and he had the opportunity – he would at least try.

Orihime could see that Ichigo was arguing with himself, but she wasn't surprised. He'd always been fairly stubborn about things once he'd made up his mind. And, clearly, he'd made up his mind on this subject a while ago. There was only thing he hadn't counted on: her.

She absolutely refused to stand back and watch as he condemned them both to a life of heartache.

And she wasn't going to stand by now and let him think up a counter-argument, either. Not when she had one more revelation to throw at him.

She released his wrists, letting her hands slide down until she could wrap them around his fingers, and then she stood up on her tiptoes and pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek.

He sucked in a sharp, startled breath and froze the moment her lips touched his skin.

Orihime pulled back after a moment, ignoring her crimson-stained cheeks, and met his gaze with a smile. "I love you, too, Ichigo. You're the most important person in my life and you always will be. And, as a result, nothing is more important to me than knowing that you're happy."

She paused, swallowing heavily as a single tear slipped free, before adding softly, "So what am I supposed to do when I know that you're condemning yourself for my sake? Please…take that risk. I would rather live a short, happy life with you than a long life of misery and heartache without you."

"I…" Ichigo choked, overwhelmed by the surge of conflicting emotions. He had never expected her to return his feelings – especially not to the same extent. Knowing what kind of pain he'd be causing her if he stuck to his long-decided plan was changing everything. Everything except for what he worried about most.

"I couldn't live with myself if I hurt you," he finally managed, subconsciously lacing his fingers with hers to hold her hands in place.

Orihime's smile was soft and reassuring as she said, "And you wouldn't. As much as you hate to admit it, Hollow really is a part of you. And we both know that there is no part of you that would hurt me."

Ichigo took a deep, cleansing breath and let his eyes fall shut.

For so long he had been terrified of hurting her – of losing control and being helpless to stop his body from causing her some kind of deplorable pain. Never once had he considered that his hollow shared his desire to keep her from pain. But now he had to, because now he was being faced with too much evidence of that very concept.

And, when he thought back on it, his hollow never had outright threatened her. He'd threatened just about everyone else that Ichigo had ever associated with, yes, but not Orihime. And Ichigo already knew that they shared a mutual hatred for anyone who did. But his hollow had only ever gone up to the line of subtle threats (usually when Ichigo himself was having a particularly difficult time resisting her); he had never crossed over it.

Another realization hit, then. He trusted no one to protect her more than he trusted himself, and if that were true, then by association wasn't he also the safest person for her to be around?

Ichigo swallowed heavily as he finally accepted Orihime's words.

His eyes opened again, finding her watching him patiently, and he offered her a small, faint smile as his expression softened and the tension rolled out of his muscles. "I'm sorry I'm such an idiot," he finally murmured. "I'm just so used to him threatening pretty much everyone I interact with that, even though I've always known he's about as protective of you as I am, it never occurred to me that that would mean he wouldn't hurt you."

Orihime smiled, something akin to laughter lighting her eyes, and she said softly, "That's because you're so protective of me, silly." Her smile vanished then, replaced by her serious expression, and she added, "And, just so you know, you're not an idiot."

"Tch," Ichigo grunted reflexively. "Oh yes I am."

"You are not!" Orihime insisted, pulling one hand from his in order to hold her index finger in front of his face for emphasis.

Ichigo arched an eyebrow, grinned, and captured her hand easily. Then he brought her slightly-curled fingers to his lips and began pressing light kisses along her knuckles. "Well," he admitted between kisses, "maybe not a total idiot."

Orihime deflated, her smile returning, and when he released her raised hand she pulled her other hand free of his and stepped into him, curling her fingers in his shihakushou and letting her head rest on his shoulder. "That's a start, I suppose," she allowed as her eyes closed.

His arms lifted, wrapping around her and tightening immediately. In that moment it was easy to forget that they had somewhere to be, and that Orihime wasn't technically where she belonged. In Ichigo's mind she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

Letting his head drop so that his lips were dancing over her hair and brushing, just slightly, against her temple, Ichigo murmured, "Forgive me?"

"Always," Orihime assured him.

It was another long minute before Ichigo released a breath and grumbled, "I suppose I should head upstairs and see what Urahara thinks he found. Maybe with a little luck we can get you back to yourself soon."

Orihime nodded against him, understanding his logic but hating the idea of moving just yet.

Ichigo shifted, pressing his lips to her temple, where she used to keep her hairpins, before reluctantly stepping back from her.

When their eyes met, her hands clasped in front of her waist, he asked, "Will you be listening?"

She smiled and nodded again, saying, "Of course."

He offered her a grin before he allowed himself to fade out of his inner world, knowing that as soon as he was gone Zangetsu and his hollow would return.

"Alright, what's this discovery of yours?" Ichigo asked, his words lacking the animosity that the others had probably been expecting, as he slipped into the meeting room a minute later.

He hadn't bothered retrieving his body, so he had to take a second to remove Zangetsu from his back before he claimed his usual seat across from the shopkeeper. And it was only as he settled that he noticed Rukia and Renji had re-joined them.

The table was fairly full, as Rukia and Renji were seated to Ichigo's immediate right, and Chad and Uryuu to his left. Yoruichi was lounging between Renji and Urahara, one elbow propped on her knee as she waited.

"Are you sure you're ready to hear it?" Urahara asked pointedly, his usual feigned exuberance gone from his voice.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed and he said, "That's why I'm here. So quit stalling and tell us."

Inclining his head, Urahara replied, "Very well, then! To make things simpler, I'll begin at the beginning. But, please, try to hold your questions until the story's done."

He paused, taking a long moment to make eye contact with each of his guests in order to be sure that they understood he'd been talking to all of them.

And then his eyes landed on Ichigo and he asked, "I assume you've heard the term before, but are you familiar with the actual concept of 'soul mates'?"

Several pairs of eyes widened at the question, including Ichigo's.

After a long second, Ichigo slowly shook his head. Well, if this is going where I think it's going, then that explains his warning.

Urahara nodded to himself, clearly unsurprised by the answer, and said, "Then allow me to enlighten you."

To Be Continued…

A/N: So…are we starting to get happy? I have to admit, I struggled a lot with whether or not to do the confession while Orihime was stuck in Ichigo's inner world. But I think I'm happy with the way this turned out! And, to that end, I hope you are, too! Now, before you go running off to hear Urahara's story, wanna take a second to review? Pretty please?