Title: The Ties That Bind
Author: Boats and Birds
Chapter: #2
A/N: Right. To my two reviewers (SOB! Only two! Why only two? Does the world hate me? Okay... deep breaths. In. Out. I'm over it! ... SOB!). How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
1) You reviewed.
2) You're awesome!
3) You reviewed.
4) You're awesome!
So, here is the next chapter. I will be updating regularly now that I know there are people who actually like this. Please review if you love me.
2:
Messiah
Ichigo knew. He liked to think he had known the moment it had happened, because the birds had ceased their song. And it seemed to him, that though it was still day, the land was cold and dark. And he knew. He knew because of the ache deep inside him. He knew because of the feeling in his chest, as though a Hole had been ripped right through.
And he wondered to himself, just how much he had taken for granted. He had spent his entire life fighting for his home, protecting it, and her, from the evil that threatened to devour them. And yet, he had failed to protect the more precious of the two, when She needed him the most.
He was a fool. He knew that. He wasn't a brave and perfect hero, who did everything right and never failed to save everyone, no matter the circumstances. He was just the opposite. He made mistakes. Deadly mistakes. Mistakes that cost him the lives of people dear to his heart. But he couldn't think about that. He couldn't dwell on the past, when there were so many things wrong with the present. He couldn't, wouldn't lose another person he cared about. It had been bad enough when Rukia had been taken. That had been like an ache inside his chest that wouldn't go away, not until he saw Rukia and knew that she was safe, and he was the one who had saved her. This... this was like something inside him that he hadn't noticed had gone missing. But it was important. And now that it was gone, he realized how much he needed it. He had saved Rukia, he would save Orihime too, and anyone else who needed saving for that matter.
Yes, he knew the horrors that awaited him in the land where shadows reigned. He knew that, strong as he was, it wasn't enough. That was the reason he had become so strong in the first place. So that no one would have to die because of him. He knew he wasn't a superhero. He knew he couldn't protect everybody in the world. This knowledge slowly poisoned him on the inside, this helplessness.
One of his dear friends had been stolen, from underneath his very nose, and he had done nothing to stop it. He knew it was most likely to late. He didn't know why his enemies wanted Orihime. She could be dead already. And he was afraid. He had to admit it to himself. He didn't want to die, he had a life to live. And he was going to go willingly into a wasteland ruled by a Black King with a blacker heart who happened to have a God-complex the size of Tokyo. The thought of entering that hell willingly, facing that soulless monster Aizen, cased fear to build inside him until he could taste it.
Fear
But if he didn't at least try to save her, how could he ever live with himself? He was selfish, so selfish it sickened him.
Courage
His friends were all that was left to him now that his family was gone, he would protect them; he would save them. He would rescue Orihime, because she was important. To him, to everyone. His friends were all he had now, all that mattered to him now. Rukia, Chad, Uryu, Renji... and her. Orihime. The one that he hadn't been able to protect. His gentlest friend, trapped in a place that no one had ever returned from alive, a land where Nightmares lived and walked and breathed; living beings.
One revered, one hated, yet the line between the two is blurred
The thought made his blood boil, and his vision bleed with a red haze. He wasn't going to lose this time. His resolve was strong.
Because courage is not the absence of fear
He would save Orihime. He would be the Knight in Shining armor. He would bring her and all who helped him safely home. He would rescue the princess or die trying.
It is the strength to overcome it
End.
Right. There we are then. Hope all of you like it! The moment you review, there will be another chapter. Till then, no more. Not even a drop of a new chapter. Cue Evil-Laugh. Wait, hang on, my evil laugh sucks... Cue Never-Mind. Anyways, my point is, please review my ducklings, I beg thee! Press that enchanted button! Good things will happen!