A/N: Hello again!

Thanks so much for all the reviews, faves and follows!

To my first Guest reviewer – Your comments on Aizen made me laugh so hard. Thanks for the review!

ryosuke – I'm glad you liked it! I will now proceed to use the only Spanish word that I know – gracias! :)

reader101 – Thank you very much!

On a side note, Mr. and Mrs. Kurosaki is now complete!

Enjoy!


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Chapter – 8

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The hallways led from one into another until Ichigo was almost certain he was in a maze instead of a palace. And yet, the Princess knew exactly where to go. Her long hair fanned out behind her as she ran to wherever it was that she wanted to go and he had to speed up to keep her in sight. He was forced to duck around a corner as she came to an abrupt halt in front of an old stone wall. He'd thought it was a dead end but to his surprise, Orihime suddenly bent down and pushed at a particular brick. There was a click of gears and a part of the wall shifted back and smoothly slid away to reveal a hidden doorway.

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Orihime ran up the familiar steps with the help of the small lantern that she'd brought with her. She pushed open the double doors at the top of the stairs to enter a well-furnished and tastefully decorated bedroom and fought against the onslaught of memories that surged as she passed through the room. Pushing through a second set of doors of glass, she emerged onto a wide stone balcony that overlooked a magnificent view of the city and was only brightened by the starlight. The young woman rested her hands on the edge of the balcony, letting the cool night air blow over her as she tried not only to calm her rapid breathing, but also her flaring anger.

The only reason she hadn't flung her goblet of juice into the wicked Emperor's face was because she'd been raised better. Besides, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of having got to her by retaliating. A sudden flickering in the distance caught her eye and she gasped. One by one, each of the houses in the city below were illuminated by soft blue light as the citizens of Karakura set out earthen lamps in their windows, in which these unique fires burnt.

The Princess's pale fingers gripped the rough stone wall so tightly that her knuckles turned white as wave after wave of abject misery and loss crashed over her. Her throat constricted painfully as she thought of all the innocents that would suffer in her absence. She wasn't leaving by choice but that did not lessen the pain. These were her friends, her people and now, they had no one to protect them. And yet, the showed their faith in her through this gesture.

Trying to maintain her composure, she walked over to one end of the terrace and brought out a bottle and an earthen pot, which she placed the edge of the balcony. With trembling hands, she poured the contents of the bottle into the earthen pot and set them alight. A bright, luminescent and blazing blue fire sprang to life and shot towards the heavens. The next moment, as it did every year, a unified shout rang out from the city.

'Long live the Princess!'

Orihime couldn't take it anymore.

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The orange-headed man watched in shock from his position in the dark behind the open glass doors as the Princess sank to her knees, her face in her hands and her sobs echoing in the breeze that passed while tears spilled unchecked from her eyes. It was truly disheartening to see her like this. Even though he'd barely known her for a few days, no matter how difficult or apathetic situation, she'd always held her head high and never shown any weakness. But now . . .

As if a bucket of water had been splashed in his face, he realized that she had finally allowed herself to give into her sorrow because she thought she was alone. Feeling like the worst kind of man for standing there and spying on her, he turned to leave and give her some privacy, which was when his shin banged against a low table and an involuntary grunt of pain escaped his lips.

Bloody son of a

'Who's there?' her clear, frightened voice rang out.

Cursing his luck, he stepped into the light. He knew that he was caught and he wouldn't run away. He heard her startled gasp and he slowly raised his head to meet her gaze. She hastily wiped away her tears and swallowed before she questioned him.

'How did you get here?' she asked.

'I followed you. I thought you were in some distress by the way you ran.'

'Oh.'

'What are you doing here? What just happened?'

Even though she tried to keep them at bay, her tears traitorously traced a glistening path down her cheeks and she turned away from him sharply to go stand by the edge of the balcony once again. Ichigo waited for a moment for her answer and then thought that it was time to leave, judging by her continued silence. But she spoke, halting him in his tracks.

'My brother.' She said.

'What?'

'Today is the day my brother died.'

His eyes widened and he took slow, measured steps as he came to stand behind her. He hadn't even known that she had a brother.

'He was much older than me and was almost like a father. He was also a beloved king. I lost him in a riding accident.'

She paused for a moment to turn to face him before continuing.

'Every year since his death, the people light these fires to show their sorrow. But these lights are also a symbol of their continued faith in me and my reply is a promise. A promise to protect them, to work towards their prosperity and to be responsible for their welfare. This promise was broken the moment Aizen set foot within these walls.'

Her eyes were hollow and wet. And he did not have any words to answer her with. Except for these.

'I'm sorry for your loss.'

It was difficult for him to say that. He'd learnt a long time ago that it was better not to feel and it took effort to give voice to his sympathy for her. For a long moment, an empty silence stretched between them.

'Thank you.'

It wasn't forgiveness, but an acknowledgement of his apology.

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They stood there for quite a while, simply letting the cool breeze and silence wash over them until she spoke.

'I don't know if you know this, but I'm leaving tomorrow.'

She thought that since they had decided upon being friends, he should at least know her whereabouts.

'What?'

'Aizen ordered it.'

'Son of a two-faced jackal!' he cursed and her ears burned. Nevertheless, she posed her next question.

'Will you come tomorrow?' she meant to ask it normally but it came out sounding like a plea instead.

'I . . . don't know.'

'Oh.' She said and her shoulders slumped dejectedly. 'Well, I guess I had better be leaving.'

'Right.'

'Until next time, then.'

He looked at her, at her reddish-brown hair that shone in the moonlight, at her simple pale blue dress that fluttered against her curved frame, at shining gray eyes and felt as if something had shifted in his fates.

'I'll be there.' He said and she stopped in the doorway to look at him before disappearing through the glass doors.

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'I thought I'd find you here come morning.' An insufferable drawl sounded about the room and Ichigo grit his teeth in frustration even as he tried to maintain a smooth expression.

'Well then, Uncle, I guess you know why that is.'

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Orihime slogged along the dusty path – if it could be called that at all – in the blistering heat, praying for a miracle, just as she had been doing for the past two hours of this torture. She recalled how that morning had gone and once again mourned the fact that her new Uncle-in-law was a despicable, foul and stingy man.

After being informed by the leader that Aizen apparently had neither soldiers, nor a palanquin to spare "for the tantrums of a spoilt princess", she had stood in front of an impassive squadron of soldiers while they waited for her to mount the horse she was standing next to. Her palms sweating, she had gulped and tried to keep her nervousness at bay. But of course, she had soon realized that it was utterly impossible for her to learn how to ride a horse in the span of five minutes. The soldiers waited about half that time before riding off, taking the horse with them and leaving her to trudge along in their wake.

Which brought her back to the present, where she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She thought of what the Prince had told her the previous night and sighed in frustration. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, because she did, but it was Aizen after all. There was no way he would let him –

The sound of a horse's hooves approaching fast drew her out of her reverie but before she could do anything but yelp in surprise, strong hands lifted her from the ground – and placed her sideways in the saddle.

She looked up sharply and her gaze met a familiar pair of intense deep coffee-brown eyes.

'But how –?'

'I told you, I'll be there.'

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A/N: And there you have it! Hope you guys liked it. Lemme know your thoughts and please review!