A/N: And I'm back!

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A long chapter because all you readers out there are awesome!

Disclaimer: Bleach = Not mine.

Enjoy!


Chapter – 5

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Thump.

Orihime set aside the thick book that she had been reading that day and recalled the instructions she had received three days ago. Aizen had paid her an unwanted visit to inform her of his order that she remain in the palace. From that day forth, all her monarchial powers had been stripped. She only had the permission to stay within the palace and her status as a Princess. There would be no guards provided for her safety and she had no ladies-in-waiting any more. She would be provided with food and clothing but she had to care of herself since no servants would answer to her and would only enter her quarters for cleaning them. In addition to that, she was only allowed to visit the library and the palace gardens and she was banned from wandering about other areas of the palace.

She was a prisoner in her own home, a bird in a golden cage.

She'd been sitting on her bed since it was late at night and she slipped between the covers after blowing out the candle nearby. Her days had been boring, bland. The first was spent finally giving in to her sorrow. She didn't have to stay strong for anyone since she had been alone and she'd let herself weep for the loss of her country and all the lives that were going to change. But that had only been for the first day. She couldn't afford to lose hope. Yes, at this point, her one and only hope – Ichigo.

The sheets swished, shifting as she turned to her side, thinking of her new husband's absence. Orihime hadn't seen him since that one night that they were supposed to have spent together. He had told her that he was going to be away, going around, setting up offices and establishing new laws. Taking over a new country was work, after all. She tried hard to keep all the thoughts away and let sleep claim her but with no success. Something stirred behind her and she reflexively turned to see what it was when a hand clamped over her mouth.

Widened gray eyes met familiar deep brown and she relaxed a little. He removed his hand. She opened her mouth to speak but he held a finger against his lips, signaling for her to keep quiet, so she did.

'Follow me.' He whispered and she obliged.

She gathered that this was no social visit since he was dressed as he had been when she'd first seen him, with the same black sleeveless shirt stretched over his chest along with dark pants and boots. His sword hung at his side from the belt on his hip and a dark, commonly worn turban was tied around his head, shielding his hair, with one of the sides pulled across his face to hide his face. A cloak was tied about his shoulders.

She blushed, thinking of the modest but thin nightdress that she wore. It was a pale blue, with long sleeves and a square neck. The dress reached just below her knees, exposing her shapely calves, slim ankles and pretty feet.

'Here.' He said, handing her a cloak. 'Put something on your feet and cover your head.'

She was more confused than ever but she did as he said, sliding her feet into a pair of slippers and used a plain scarf to cover her head as most women in the country did.

He had walked over to the balcony that was attached to the room and stood there as if waiting for her.

'Are you scared of heights?'

'No. But what are we doing?'

'Something better than staying cooped up here.'

He hooked a leg over the banisters and she drew in a shocked breath.

'We can't! Aizen has forbidden it.'

She noticed that he didn't chastise her for addressing the Emperor by just his last name. This made his next words make more sense.

'And I never cared much for rules or Aizen.'

'But there'll be so much trouble!'

'Only if we get caught. Which we won't. Have a little faith, Orihime.'

She could tell he was grinning at her and that made her decision. She smiled at him and walked over. It had been the most pathetic experience of her life, these past days that she had been stuck in one room. So whatever was out there and wherever they were going, it had to be better than that.

Orihime watched as he swung his other leg over and jumped to a branch of the huge tree that grew right outside the balcony. Within minutes, he'd reached the grassy ground. He looked up at her, standing there on the balcony The room was on the second floor. Didn't matter.

'We have about ten minutes because the guards are changing. Climb on the edge.'

She did as he asked and threw him a questioning look.

'Now what?'

'Do you trust me?'

Tatsuki had always said that she was too believing so this must be one more such instance. And she did. After all she had seen and heard, she trusted this man.

'Yes.'

'Good. Now jump!'

Her eyes grew wide but she took a deep breath and flung herself off the balcony. She landed in his outstretched arms as he caught her and enclosed her in an iron grip. There was a heavy pause as their eyes met and her hands landed on his shoulders for support. Time seemed to stretch as he observed just how beautifully her eyes sparkled in the moonlight and she noted the way his muscles flexed around her. Then he blinked, breaking the moment and set her down carefully.

'Come. We have to be careful.' He said as he took her hand, oblivious to her blush and led her away.

They snuck through the empty palace with as much stealth as possible. Twice he pushed her against a pillar, shielding her body with his own as they waited for guards to pass, leaving them undiscovered. That was twice that his gaze met her own and she felt his thudding heartbeat that was as fast as hers. Finally, they exited out a deserted rear entrance, where behind a wall, a horse waited for them.

It was a tall, black stallion with a handsome mane and a white crescent moon shape on his forehead.

'Beautiful.' She breathed as she affectionately ran her hand through the horse's hair. She yelped as she was suddenly lifted up by two strong hands on her waist and Ichigo sat her sideways on the majestic beast. He hoisted himself up in front of her and took the reins in his hands.

'Wait!'

'What?'

'I – I don't know how to ride!'

He turned to look at her.

'What do you mean? You haven't ridden a horse?'

She nodded feverishly, her head bobbing up and down.

'I tried to learn when I was younger but well, I'm pretty clumsy and I fell. I was almost severely injured and from then on, Tatsuki forbade me to ever ride again. It's been palanquins for me ever since.'

In a bold move with which he surprised even himself, he pulled her arms around his torso.

'It'll be fine. Just hold on tight.'

He gave a small shout and the horse began to run, the wind rushing past them as they gathered speed. She blushed horribly but her fingers clenched in his shirt.

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The full moon shone on them and the stars twinkled as the horse galloped through the sands of the desert that they were passing through. In some time, Ichigo tugged on the reins and they halted. He jumped down and lifted her off the horse and her face grew warm at the feeling of his hands on her waist again.

'We're here.' He said and she looked to see where 'here' was. Judging from what she knew, these had to be the soldiers' barracks. There were white small tents sent up in rows for each person and there were medium sized white ones scattered here and there for meeting up.

He took her hand again and she realized that he probably didn't even realize it. For some reason, she felt a sense of companionship at the simple gesture.

She pulled off her head covering, mimicking him as he took off his turban and led her to one of the medium-sized tents. She looked at him questioningly and he scratched the back of his head sheepishly with his free hand before pulling the flap open.

'My friends won't let me live if they don't meet you.'

Her eyes widened in shock. Friends?! She wasn't prepared! But he obviously didn't hear her inner turmoil as he dragged her in.

Turned out that there were many more things that she wasn't prepared for.

'Yo! Look who's back!' a deep voice sniggered and she peeked over Ichigo's shoulder to see a tall man with bright red hair and black tattoos over his face as he sat on the threadbare carpet that covered the floor. Almost immediately after he had called out, the rest of the occupants of the tent turned their attention to them.

Ichigo growled something unintelligible under his breath before pulling Orihime out from behind him.

There was a deafening silence before the crowd of about fifteen to twenty people breathed in collectively. After that, an even more deafening noise broke out as the group cheered and hooted and comments were hurled at them.

'Well done, Ichigo!' a short but elegant-looking black-haired woman grinned at the two orange heads.

'He really gets all the luck.' A brown-haired man wailed, which caused Ichigo to irritatedly mutter 'Keigo.' under his breath.

'I didn't think it was possible.' A man with glasses remarked as he pushed them up his nose.

A very tall, dark, brown-haired man said nothing but gave the royal couple a thumbs up.

'Well, what do you know?' A bald man snickered and was given a scathing look by a man with feathers in his hair who said, 'A true beauty. So rare.'

There were a few more people who chose to remain silent and give her appraising glances.

By this time the Princess's face bore very close resemblance to a tomato because of all the scrutiny she had received and she was sure that her voice had disappeared somewhere.

Apparently Ichigo had noticed.

'Shut up! You're embarrassing her.'

'We don't have to. You're good enough for that.' The red-haired man remarked which caused the crowd to snigger until the black-haired woman smacked him upside the head.

'Sorry about that. We have a lot of idiots here.' She said as she gave Orihime a smile, which was nervously returned.

The people moved, so that there was room for Ichigo and Orihime to join them on the floor. The couple was offered food and drink and soon the group fell into casual conversation. She smiled and nodded as Ichigo made introductions, trying to memorize the names and faces.

The tattooed red-headed man was Renji Abarai, the brown-haired man, Keigo Asano. The one with glasses was Uryuu Ishida and the tall, dark one was Sado "Chad" Yasutora. The other two, the bald man was Ikkaku Madarame and the one with feathers was Yumichika Ayasegawa. They were all soldiers who served under the much-feared Captain of the Squad, Kenpachi Zaraki. The short, black-haired woman was Rukia Kuchiki, a noble and her brother-in-law was a court official in Sereitei. There were others too, but their names slipped her mind. However, she learnt that they were a wonderful group and were all close friends with Ichigo, whose title was uncared for inside of this tent. His name held significance not because he was the Prince, but because he was their friend. They were also very welcoming towards her and soon she felt as if she had known them for years.

Suddenly, music started to play and Orihime looked on in surprise. Three dancers took positions in the middle of the tent as their troupe members started to strum their instruments on the sides. The women wore tight red vests and loose red pants and their faces were covered by thin veils that only exposed their eyes.

'Is there going to be a performance?' Orihime asked Rukia, who was seated beside her.

'Oh yes.' She said and gestured to the woman who was at the center of the trio that stood, 'Apparently, she's quite a famous belly dancer and agreed to come here.'

'Hmm.' she nodded as the three women began.

They were graceful, their bodies moving fluidly to the song that played. It was an engaging and enthralling performance and all present held their breath as the main event was upon them and the woman in the center began to shimmy her hips faster and faster in time with the music. Then the song finished and she stopped as the crowed whooped and cheered, applauding her wonderful skill.

'There.' Said Ikkaku in a satisfied manner, 'Nobody can beat that.'

'That was beautiful, but I could do better.'

There was a shocked pause and then heads swiveled to the quiet voice of the speaker – The Princess.

'What?!' Ichigo sputtered.

Orihime's eyes grew wide and her face went up in flames as she realized that she had just said that out loud. After all, Princesses weren't supposed to have that particular skillset.

'Well,' Renji said, 'In that case why don't you perform – '

'It's getting late.' Ichigo said as he cut the red-headed man off, 'we need to be back at the palace soon.'

The crowd watched as he grabbed her hand and led her out the tent.

Rukia smirked to herself as she noted the proceedings. Ichigo may have got more than he bargained for.

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'So, belly dancing, huh?' He said, as they stepped into the room and closed the door, finally breaking the awkward silence that had grown between them on the horse ride back and as they had snuck back through the palace.

Her face reddened again and she turned to face him.

'Yes. Rangiku insisted that I learn.'

'You mean your lady-in-waiting? She insisted?'

'She did. She's actually very accomplished herself and she said that I should learn in case I have a cheating husband.'

The last few words very spoken in such a low voice that he almost missed them. But hear them he did and his face grew hot.

'For what? So that you can lure him back?'

'Oh, no.' the Princess said, her voice louder now and her eyes widened as she flailed her hands, 'Not at all. It was so that I could leave him and then join a troupe and then come back to perform. And then he would know what he missed out on.'

'I see.' He said in a choked voice, mentally making a note to stay away from this Rangiku person.

'Hmm.' She continued, 'But Tatsuki found out that I was learning and she was furious. And so, ever since then, she's kept a watch on me, making sure I don't do un-Princess like things.'

Orihime smiled softly as she recalled fond memories of her best friends.

'I never would have guessed this about you.' He said and she looked up to see a teasing light enter his eyes.

'Oh, there's lots you don't know about me.' She replied mischievously with a playful grin.

'Yes.' He said and then a sincere smile curved his lips. 'But I look forward to the day that I do.'

She couldn't help but blush vividly as she gave him a shy smile.

'As do I.'

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A/N: Tada! Anybody notice the little Black Beauty reference? And yes, I know Black Beauty has a star, not a crescent moon. But I thought that since it's Ichigo, it made more sense. Hope you liked the chapter! Lemme know what you think! Please review!