Chapter 3: Orihime Awakens

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
Warning: Angst!

Days Later….

For what felt like the longest time, Orihime Inoue was at peace. She felt no pain, no misery and no regrets. It was like she was slowly floating away in a sea of endless dreams. Though she had no conscious mind anymore memories of her former life slowly flashed by….

Being raised by Sora, meeting Ichigo for the first time, her friendship with Tatsuki, being saved by Ichigo from her hollowfied brother, journeying to the Soul Society to save Rukia, her almost-kiss with Ichigo, meeting Aizen and restoring Grimmjow's arm, seeing Ichigo who'd journeyed to Hueco Mundo to save her, watching him fall from the tower with a gaping hole in his chest, seeing him victorious against Aizen, her life as a baker, watching Ichigo struggle to regain his powers, going with Ichigo to save the Arrancars in Hueco Mundo, going with everyone to the Soul King's palace and finally fighting alongside Ichigo during the battle against Yhwach, where she would breathe her last.

Her thoughts turned to Ichigo and for the first time since her death she felt pain. She loved Ichigo, even in death. But she was content, somehow knowing that Ichigo had defeated Yhwach and knowing that somehow he would overcome the sadness that followed her death.

Then a voice called out to her. Who it was she had no idea, but it felt comforting, like the voice of a gentle parent. "Orihime…."

And then she opened her eyes.

The first thing she noticed when her vision cleared was that she had returned to the exact same spot where she had died. She looked around to see the ruins of the Soul King's palace, with nobody in sight.

The second thing she noticed…was that her body wasn't all there. She looked down and saw that only her top half had formed her lower half a trail of mist, like she had become a literal version of a ghost. Her top half had no clothes, but her chest was covered by a white glow, obscuring her nudity. "Where am I?" she called out. She looked down at her hand and saw that it was transparent. "What am I?" She'd never heard of anything like this before in the time she'd come to know of spirits.

Deciding that staying here would give her no answers, Orihime floated down the steps, hoping for any signs of life. "Weird. Ichigo won. So why hasn't anyone cleaned the place up?" she wondered aloud. Her face brightened when she saw the back of one of the Squad Zero members, Osho, who was ordering a group of masked soldiers. "Excuse me! Mr. Osho! It's me, Orihime!" She reached to touch his shoulder…only for her to pass through it. "What?!"

Again and again she tried to touch the bearded monk, only for her hand to pass through him like it wasn't there at all. Sighing, Orihime floated past him and went over to the edge of the platform looking up at the night sky. She didn't know what was happening, she only knew one thing.

She just really wanted to go home.

…And then she was home.

Orihime blinked in confusion when she realized that she was no longer in the Soul King's palace, but rather at her apartment. "What the? I'm home?!" she looked around at the darkened hallways and smiled. "I'm home…." She was glad to see that for now, her belongings had been untouched. But she still had no idea how she'd become a spirit that couldn't make contact with other spiritual beings or could transcend space.

She went over to the couch and floated down on top of it, not knowing what she should do. She couldn't talk to anyone so she couldn't ask what was going on with her. She only knew one thing for sure now that she was back in her own world.

She wanted to see Ichigo again.

But then a thought came to her when she realized she did not have her hairpins anymore. "I wonder…." She put her hands to her heart and concentrated with all her might. Her body glowed gold briefly before her Shun Shun Rikka sprites appeared before her. "Guys! You're ok-"

"YOU IDIOT!" Tsubaki roared in her face, trying to grab at her hair only to fly right through her. "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO AND DIE?!"

"I'm sorry," Orihime said, staring at the floor. "I tried my best but…I wasn't able to help Ichigo at all…."

"Nonsense!" Lily objected. "It was only because of you that his Bankai had been restored. Had you not been there, this world would've been doomed!"

Orihime looked up and for the first time felt better since she awoke from her eternal slumber. "Guys, do you know what's happening? Why am I like this? And how exactly are you still here if I'm dead?" she gestured to her ghostly body.

Tsubaki crossed his arms. "We've no idea. Your guess is as good as ours. But you're definitely dead, though why you're a translucent spirit is beyond me. And we are a part of you, no matter where you are, we'll always be there."

Baigon turned to speak. "Orihime, what are you gonna do?"

Her hands balled into fists as she drummed up her determination. "I want to see Ichigo. Even if he can't see me I want to see him."

Lily pointed to the door. "Well you're in luck, because he's outside your door."

Gasping, Orihime floated off the couch, her sprites disappearing, as Ichigo slid in through an unlocked window, the boy in his Soul Reaper form. Orihime smiled when she saw her friend alive and well. "Ichigo…" Despite knowing better, she reached out to touch his face, only for the boy to walk through her. "He's so close…and I can't even let him know I'm here…."

Fighting back tears, Orihime followed Ichigo as he ventured throughout her apartment, curious as to what he was doing here. She followed him until she found herself in her bedroom, watching Ichigo pick something up off her nightstand and sit on the bed, turning on the lamp to get some more light. Orihime was horrified to see that the object in Ichigo's hands was her diary. "No! Ichigo!" her hands went to her face as she looked away embarrassed. "Don't ready my diary!"

Ichigo, meanwhile, was oblivious of Orihime's presence and began to read. He'd spent all of the money he'd earned from Ikumi to pay for Orihime's apartment, wanting to keep it the way it was when she left it before she'd died for as long as possible. Every night, after finishing his patrol, he'd come to this place and try to connect with his lost friend in some way or another. The first night, he'd discovered her diary and had begun to read it a little bit at a time, attempting to find some form of solace in Orihime's words.

"Dear Diary. Today, I had a funny moment while I was at work. I pulled a piece of garlic bread out of the oven and saw that a large spot on its center. It was so funny! It was shaped like a strawberry. I laughed and set it aside for Ichigo to see tomorrow. Hopefully I won't get hungry tonight and eat it!

Ichigo seems to be holding up ever since he lost his powers. I keep wanting to confess how I feel but I just don't know the right moment. I'm sure that if I can just get him alone I can tell him without chickening out. I just gotta keep up a positive attitude, just like what Tatsuki said! Oh well…there's always tomorrow!

P.S. I really wish Chizuru was stop squeezing my boobs. She tends to squeeze a little hard…."

Ichigo didn't read anymore, the pain too much to bear. The diary slipped out of his hands as he cried, unable to read anymore. His chest hurt too much, as if his heart was being gouged out by a rusty carving knife. He lay back on the bed and curled up into a ball, inhaling Orihime's scent from the bed linens. "Orihime…he whispered, wishing she was here with him.

But she was. Orihime couldn't hold back the tears herself when she saw how much despair Ichigo was in. She thought he'd be strong enough to go on, that he could move past her death. But he was tearing himself apart with guilt, making her feel horrible that she was the cause for his sadness. "This isn't fair!" she whispered, her hands over her heart. "I'm right here…and yet I can't do a thing for him!" She reached for Ichigo, hoping against hope that she could touch him, to let him know that she never blamed him for anything. "Ichigo, please don't cry…" she whispered, tears falling down her face only to fade before they hit the floor. "Please…."

As she reached out for him, Ichigo turned over onto his side, exposing his short Zangetsu blade. He'd removed his longsword when he'd entered the apartment but he kept his shortsword on him in case a hollow attacked. Orihime noticed how one of her hairpins was attached to the hilt and reached for it, maybe thinking that she could summon one of her sprites to talk to Ichigo. It was her hairpins after all. When she reached for it, two things she hadn't counted on happened.

The first was that she could actually touch the sword. Her hairpin gave a tiny gold glow as her hand brushed against it.

The second thing was that she was no longer in her apartment. She blinked when cold rain pelted her before realizing she could actually feel. She looked down and saw to her amazement that she actually had a physical body. She saw she was dressed in the white outfit that Kisuke had given her. Looking around, she saw a sight that was beyond perplexing sight.

"…Why am I standing on a skyscraper sideways?"

She saw what looked like an inverted landscape, tall skyscrapers on their sides. Orihime shivered as the rain continued its downpour, drenching her. "Brrrr! What's going on?" she asked, clutching her arms as she shivered. "Hello? Anyone? Is anyone out there?" she called out….

Ichigo was half asleep, still trying to find peace from Orihime's soothing scent, when he heard a voice. "Hello? Anyone? Is anyone out there?"

The distraught boy bolted awake and looked around. "That…that sounded like…." He ran throughout the apartment, desperately searching for the source of the familiar voice. "Orihime! Where are you?" he called out. When he heard nothing, he returned to the bedroom and sat down, burying his head in his hands. "Great, now I'm going insane."

"Why is it raining in here? Brrrr! Hello? Is anyone here?"

Ichigo blinked, realizing that the voice was not coming from around him but from within him. Scrambling to try to steady himself, Ichigo pulled out his short Zangetsu blade and laid it across his lap, performing Jinzen and entering his inner world. He'd gotten quicker at it during his training with Osho, so within seconds he'd entered his inner world.

He didn't need to open his eyes to feel the rain coming down on him. He looked around and saw that his inner world was under siege by a terrible thunderstorm, the result of his inner anguish. He cupped his hands and called out. "Hello? Orihime, is that you?"

"Ichigo…."

The boy whirled around and in an instant the rain stopped. Standing before him was Orihime Inoue, who was looking at him with tears in her eyes. "Ori…hime…." Ichigo couldn't fight back the tears as he stared at his friend. "Is that…really you?"

Smiling from ear to ear, Orihime cried tears of joy as she ran over to him. "It's me. I'm here, Ichigo."

Ichigo did nothing but hold Orihime, crying his eyes out as he embraced her, never wanting to let her go. He didn't care how this happened or why. All he cared about was that Orihime was in his arms again.

He'd deal with what came afterwards later. For now, he only wanted to keep holding his lost love in his arms….

To be continued

A.N.: …DAMMIT! WHY CAN'T I STOP CRYING?! *Storms off to find a box of tissues….*