A/N: Thank you for your amazing support! Huge thank yous and hugs for: my reviewers— NaruHinaFanboy, hikari-hime 01, Mitsuki Sakura, Detritus Doll, princess-my, Raye1084, and DancerGrl16 --my subscribers— Darth Hawk 32, Elphaba85, Raye1084, sgal, and NaruHinaFanboy --and my fav-ers—Raye1084, NaruHinaFanboy, and Gothic Sweetheart. Also, yet another enormous thank-you!!! to the community IchiHime ~*Five Lifetimes -- One Love*~ for adding this fic, and also my other IchiHime fic, "Our Favourite Strawberry".

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Chapter Three: All We Have Is Now

Orihime sat on Ichigo's bed, waiting for him to come back. Almost right away, he'd left the house, presumably to say what good-byes he could. She didn't blame him for wanting to be alone, but it was so hard, watching him walk away. She wanted to spend every last moment she could with him, though she knew it was selfish; she didn't care. She wanted him with her, now and forever; she wanted to make sure that sundown never came.

An insane idea hit her. What if she could make sure? With her ability to reject fate, could she perform it on a large enough scale to stop the whole world? She stared out the window; the western horizon was molten orange in the west, and the sun was sinking dangerously low.

Orihime aimed her crossed palms at the sinister orb. 'I reject!" she pronounced firmly.

Her reiatsu flowed through her, sharpening her senses exponentially. She could actually see the sun's movement, continuing, in infinitesimal amounts, to slip lower.

"I reject!" she cried, louder. The room shook with the force of her power, but there was no change.

"I REJECT!!!" she screamed, desperate. But something inside her reached a breaking point and snapped; her reiatsu drained away, and her senses returned to normal; actually, her vision was going blurry and black around the edges, and her mouth was dry and she was dizzy and she was pretty sure she was falling…

A pair of arms, lean and slender yet rock-hard with muscle, grabbed her, and she slowly recovered her senses. She looked up to see none other than Ichigo.

'Orihime," he demanded, "what the hell were you doing?"

'I was trying to—stop time," said Orihime. She realized right away how foolish that sounded. He's going to tell me that was stupid.

But he didn't. "Orihime…you know your powers can only reject events around physical space, not time. Time…time in its entirety is something that is not meant to be turned back or stopped. For the sake of existence, it has to keep moving forward." He paused, and sighed. "What were you thinking? You could have died of exhaustion."

"I don't want you to go," said Orihime softly. The simple, albeit a bit childish, words said it all. Then she burst into tears.

He put his arm carefully around her shoulders. "I know," he replied. "But I'll be okay. And so will you. You've got your whole life left to live." His mouth twisted into a sardonic smile. "You'll probably forget al about me, in the end."

"No!" cried Orihime, and Ichigo started, thrown by her vehemence. "No, no, I could never forget you, Kurosaki-kun. For as long as I've known you, my life has changed for the better and you --! You are my everything, Ichigo – I love you."

Oh my god! She thought. I said it! I can't believe I said it; what will he say now?

There was a long pause. Finally, Ichigo responded.

"I was afraid of that."

What?! Thought Orihime.

"Orihime – do you have any idea how unique you are?"

"Um…" Where is this going…?

"You see things as they are, but you never stop looking for the best in people and hoping for more. You are generous and empathetic and passionate about everything. But, more than that – you need me. I'm 'one who protects' and I need to be needed. You're not helpless – you've got powers I can never get close to – yet you still feel you need me. I can't get away from that. That, and everything I said before. And because you're smart. And…beautiful."

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod…

"What I'm trying to say is…I love you, Orihime. I was going to tell you…someday. Stupid of me – I'd always thought I had all the time in the world, even though I should know by now that's never how it works. And, with what just happened…the last thing I want is for you to get hurt. And that's the only reason I was hoping you didn't love me back. Because – I won't be here to protect you anymore…" He trailed off, turning his head away at the same time.

Could it be…? Is he trying not to cry?

"But I do love you," said Orihime, "very, very much. And I had to tell you, because I would die if I never got the chance, and it would haunt me forever if you never knew…I'm sorry if I --- hurt you…"

Ichigo gave a soft, mirthless chuckle. "You, hurt me, Orihime? You could never do anything…" His gaze came to settle back on her for a moment, then he took her in his arms and kissed her. Orihime twined her arms under his, pulling him closer, and resting her wrists on the back of his neck, trailing her fingers through his vivid orange hair. Her heart was racing; her blood surging through her veins. She surprised them both by suddenly crushing her hips against his and attempting to steer him toward the bed.

Ichigo broke off the kiss and placed his hands on her shoulders, gently holding her in place while he took a step back. "Orihime…" he started.

"I want you, in every possible way, before you have to –"

"I understand that," he replied, "because I want exactly the same thing. But, Orihime – this is going to be difficult enough for you as it is. So I'm not going to let you tie yourself to me in that way when you're never going to see me again."

"I don't care!" declared Orihime.

"You know that's a lie as well as I do," Ichigo said quietly.

"I just – want to be with you," said Orihime. Then she got another idea. "That's it! I'll – I'll join you there."

"What?"

"I'll – commit suicide –"

"No!" hissed Ichigo ferociously. "I want you to live a full and happy life and find someone who loves you almost as much as I do. I won't let you throw everything away like that, just for me – I swear to god, Orihime, if you die for me, I'll kill you!"

The passionate ludicrousness of this statement sent Orihime into laughter and tears at the same time. Ichigo wrapped his arms around her again, but she could feel his shoulders shaking slightly.

"Ha," she heard him say thickly. "I'm supposed to be the strong one. But look at me now."

She tilted her head back and saw it: one single, perfectly round tear, glistening like a diamond, spilled over Ichigo's eyelashes and trailed down his cheek.

Orihime sobbed harder, and they both held each other as though they would never let go.

But they both knew that, very soon, they would have to.