Orihime was the first to snap out of it and react. Ichigo hadn't realized that she'd been shoving him away until she pushed him down onto the ground. She wanted to scream at him, tell him how horrible it had been to play that trick on her. But she was in just as much trouble, really. No matter how much she wanted to scream at Kurosaki-kun, tell him just what was running through her mind, she felt tears come on instead. She chose to run past him to the door throwing it open. She only looked back for two seconds at Ishida who hadn't moved before the tears came down harder and she choked back a sob while turning and escaping the scene.

Kurosaki was too happy at that moment to notice that he was the only happy one. He turned to Ishida, still on his butt where she'd pushed him.

"She remembers me, Ishida! She's all better. Isn't it great?" Ishida looked up at him helplessly, before coming back to himself. He took a breath to steady himself as he began to clean up the mess that was left of Inoue's lunch to give himself a moment. He'd known she was going to remember, even if it was supposed to have been in five days, he had known. So it shouldn't have been as shocking as it was to him. But of course, there were painful questions he wasn't ready to ask. How long had she remembered? Was it Ichigo who had finally pushed her to remember or had it happened earlier? Had it happened when she'd had that nightmare? He admitted, after dreaming of their life and then realizing you were in a one sided love would be a nightmare. But she had stayed by his side, started acting strange but more like herself.

"Hn. She's back to normal," Ishida said finally, packing away the lunches efficiently. He strained but managed to make his response neutral. Ishida was not a people person. Which is why he left the rooftop next without any goodbye and left the school without looking back. He was going to be not just alone but also away from people until he could recover his wits. Any person who figured out that he was sad about her recovery would be sure to tell him how horrible it was. So he decided to suffer through it alone, the way he knew best.

Inoue had quickly secured Tatsuki and had made an excuse to go home with her early. When they finally arrived at Inoue's apartment and settled down Tatsuki spoke.

"So you remember now," She said. It was a statement, not a question. One that laid her heavy with guilt. Somewhere she'd known it was wrong to lie and pretend that nothing had changed but she had thought for just a little while that maybe she could make that dream a reality. She realized now that she had wanted to do so at the expense of a friend.

"I used Ishida," Orihime began, not bothering to hold back the tears streaming down her face. She stared forward, knowing Tatsuki wouldn't judge her harshly for it, but might suggest some way for her to make things better. "I pretended to not remember, because it seemed so much easier that way. But I never thought about his feelings."

"What do you mean?" Tatsuki asked, a little lost.

"He was pretending to love me and be the person I thought he was until I got better. And he was so kind about it. I used him to make my life easier. It was just so nice being loved... I didn't want to stop. I was so selfish," She said, sighing. Inoue had never faced a problem of this magnitude between her and a friend before. Tatsuki watched, thoughtfully.

"So do you remember everything that happened before?"

"Most of it, yes. Why?"

"Because you said something to me, Orihime-chan, that I really think you meant. You shouldn't be sad. It's only natural to want to be loved. Ishida is reasonable, if you ask him for forgiveness and just explain it to him he will probably understand. Sure, you made a mistake. But everyone does," Tatsuki said, resting a hand on the table passively.

The last thing the lone Quincy expected was hearing someone break into his apartment. He sat up in bed, getting ready to pull his bow. He heard a crashing noise in the living room as the intruder knocked over the table. When he picked up her unique reiatsu, he calmed his hands. How had she managed to come in, and why had she chosen to break into his apartment at this time of night? He inwardly sighed, he wasn't ready to deal objectively with her yet. Even so, ignoring the fact that she had likely hurt herself on the table would be just cold. So with great reluctance he went into his living room and switched on a lamp to find an embarrassed Inoue Orihime on the floor holding her pained leg. He could see the window behind her was pried open, and raised his eyebrows in concern. He lived on the second floor. He had to remind himself about the fairies quickly, and figured it out. He never had thought to lock his windows, being off the ground. It was a good thing she was the only one who had fairies that could hold her up while she opened the window. He moved into the room and pulled one pant leg up to check that she hadn't cut herself.

"There is a door for a reason, Inoue-san." Her leg seemed alright, she mused as he examined it, but she seemed to be having heart problems instead. It was these heart problems, she insisted that were responsible for what she blurted out next instead of her perfectly planned apology. She'd been polishing the apology until it was amazingly perfect and had fallen asleep only to wake up and find night had fallen and she hadn't yet apologized. The cat she'd called Boots walked into the room yawning. It looked at her with a look that surprised her, it was as if the cat thought the window sneaking was absolutely normal and that she was supposed to be there. So she had decided later that it was a mixture of the cat staring at her and her heart problems that ruined her perfect apology.

"I'm having your baby," She blurted out. It was petty of her, and she regretted it the moment it escaped her mouth. Fearing retribution, she didn't look at his face until she heard him laugh.

"Then you shouldn't be breaking into apartments in the middle of the night," He answered. He'd been there when she had read one of her random books and heard her ranting about how it was such a wonderful ending but unrealistic. Which is exactly what he was laughing at now. When he finally calmed, he could see she was too embarrassed to take it back. "So what are you going to do about this baby?"

Inoue, a little hesitant, tried to keep her focus. She hadn't actually expected him to react that way. She fiddled for a moment with her hands before answering with another heavy layer of guilt.

"I was thinking we might keep it. You wouldn't have to marry me or even date me, but I think it might be a good idea to perhaps live together," She said, her heart seizing with fear at his silence. What was he going to say? Even yes wasn't an answer she could handle right then. Roommates wasn't a bad arrangement, really, but it seemed heartbreaking. He studied her features, which made her more nervous and he could see it. Suddenly he knew exactly how this other Ishida had been able to approach her, and felt that he was sure that person had always existed in himself. He'd just never known it.

"We could try dating. Once the baby is born, I'll marry you." Orihime felt herself turning very pink. She absolutely hated it when he caught her off guard with these things. It made her feel like she was playing a game where the first person who blushed lost. And perhaps she had lost. But there was no sense in not trying for a tie.

"That sounds good." And to even the battleground, she pulled him in for a kiss. For their first kiss. Most people dated for a little while, and then kissed. But not Ishida and Orihime. That kiss started it.

(A/N)

Disclaimer: Even though they're cute- I don't own them.

Aufera: Hey... um... can I have the cookie now or do I have to get the epilogue up? I want the cookie. And yeah, the epilogue is for the public reaction. I thought I might put the other reader's hearts to rest first.

Ashari: I'm shocked out of my seat you didn't get the first review for the last chapter. But even so, you were absolutely right. I got a lot of sleep last night and took a long walk today to iron out the kinks for the new chapter. Well, that and I had to run normal errands. If only I could make fanfiction for a job, my life would be so much easier. Sort of. Except my editor would be in my face with rusty kitchen knives. In fact, I'd be dead already.

TheJoker'sAce: I'm so tempted to say yes, but that would make this fanfic unsuitable for anyone under 18. So I'll leave it to your imagination. Though it always brings a smile to my face when I get one of your quirky reviews.

Sheepsama13: Thanks for the encouragement and especially the praise. Kita likes praise. Though this short is about 200 words shorter than I meant it to be, I decided at the end that everything I wanted done was done so there was no need to throw anything in. Throwing in random make out session would take away from the sweetness so it was never an option.

Animelover00094: I've actually recently finished reading Twilight. And somehow, I get the feeling if you sent Twilight characters after me I might not mind so much. But not Edward. Because I gave my heart to Jacob, or possibly Alice. I wonder if I could have both. It would be like "Hey! Look! I have a vampire girlfriend and a shapeshifting wolf boyfriend! Yay!". Wow. That would be a great story idea. For another web site, built for older viewers, of course.

Malindorie: Well, your wish has been granted! A quick update! The epilogue needs more thought has it is the last chapter and my vocal teacher always said: "Use your best song last, because it's the one they'll remember!". So it might not be tomorrow that the new chapter goes up. It could be three days to a week.

Tomas Hydraxus: See? It didn't kill- oh. Wait. Sorry. That never usually happens. Except for Mondays. I hate Mondays.