Here's chapter 14, for those of you who are still interested in reading Western Princess. I apologize sincerely for the amount of time that has passed between updates. The past few months have been emotionally rough for me, and I had no inspiration whatsoever. But here is the 14th chapter for you to read and review.

Thanks to my awesome beta for editing this very quickly.

Enjoy!

Ichigo had made it back to his office by four in the afternoon. Upon not seeing Orihime in the house, he assumed that she had gone to see Rangiku. She hadn't left a note, however, which annoyed him. She couldn't just up and leave anytime she wanted to without letting him know where she was going.

Especially not now.

Ichigo scowled, pushing away the troublesome thoughts that had risen in his mind, and focused on the eleven year old boy sitting before him. Tetsu Oki had broken his arm a month ago after falling out of a tree he had climbed. Now, his arm was healed completely.

"There we go. Looks like the arm is as good as new." Ichigo smiled at the young boy.

"Wow, thanks!" Tetsu exclaimed, examining his arm.

"Now, don't go climbing any more high trees," the doctor cautioned.

"I won't, Sir." The boy's eyes sparkled mischievously.

Ichigo exchanged grins with the boy's father. "Take care now."

No sooner had the two of them left, then did a woman walk into the office. He recognized her as Rangiku Matsumoto.

"I need to talk to you, Ichigo," Rangiku said quietly.

He gave a slow nod and stood up, wondering where Orihime was. "All right."

The woman paced for a few minutes, and Ichigo felt himself becoming slightly concerned. What if something had happened to Orihime? Or to-

"Orihime's been kidnapped."

Ichigo blinked.

"It's my fault. I'm sorry. I didn't realize... I mean, I should never have..." Rangiku gave up and buried her face in her hands.

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked in a low voice. "Start at the beginning."

She lifted her head, staring at a spot over his shoulder. "The beginning, hm? I'm originally from New York City, New York. I ran away from home after my parents died. My father had arranged my marriage to an awful man, but I didn't want to marry him." She shuddered slightly. "I came west by myself. The stagecoach I was traveling on was robbed." Here her eyes took on a faraway look. "The men almost killed me, but someone saved me. His name was Gin Ichimaru." She ignored Ichigo's sharp intake of breath and continued on. "He killed the robbers, and I was so grateful to him for saving my life that I followed him around."

"Wait a minute," Ichigo interrupted. "Gin Ichimaru? One of the Las Noches?"

Rangiku nodded. "Yes, although I didn't know it at the time. I was twenty-one, young and impressionable. He was the same age, daring and mysterious. I was in love with him, and I thought he loved me in return." She gave a wistful sigh. "But then he left me four years later. No warning, no good-bye, nothing. I made it to the nearest town by myself and became a saloon girl." She grinned. "A year ago, I quit and moved here to start a new life."

"That's a nice story, but what does this have to do with Orihime being kidnapped?" Ichigo asked, though he had a feeling deep in his gut that he already knew the answer.

"Did you know that her brother had been murdered?"

"Yeah, she told me that a while ago."

"Did you know that she was hidden in a room and heard the entire thing?" Rangiku asked softly.

Ichigo froze. "No, I didn't."

"There were two men there, Ulquiorra and Grimmjow. Grimmjow was the one who pulled the trigger. He started to go after Orihime, but Ulquiorra persuaded him to let her go."

"How do you know this?"

"She told me. Of course, she didn't know their names." She hesitated. "But I knew someone who did."

"Gin." Ichigo stated flatly.

"Yes. He came to see me a few days ago. Grimmjow was here in town, disobeying orders, and he was sent here to take him back. I told Gin about what Orihime had told me. I had no idea that he would tell Grimmjow." The woman drew in a deep breath. "Grimmjow came to my house this morning, and ordered me to lure Orihime away to a secluded place. He said that if I refused, he would make up evidence to make Gin look like he was a traitor to the Las Noches." A tear rolled down her cheek. "I love Gin. I didn't want him to die."

"So you'd rather Orihime get hurt instead."

"I didn't know she would come alone! I thought that she would tell you, and you would go with her, or at least send someone with her." Her voice dropped an octave. "I tried to stop him."

"Where are they?" He growled.

"Probably at the Las Noches camp by now."

"Do you know where it is?"

She gave Ichigo a surprised look. "No, I don't."

He gritted his teeth. "Terrific."

"I'm sorry, Ichigo. I never meant for this to happen."

He whirled around on her. "If anything happens to them, it's on your head."

"Them?" Rangiku repeated slowly.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "She's pregnant. With my child." He turned his back. "I have to go get some men together to go after her. Go home."

Rangiku lowered her head and quietly walked down the path.

Ichigo's thought spun wildly as he raced towards town, riding Zangetsu. Why hadn't Orihime told him where she was going? Why hadn't Orihime told him that she had witnessed her brother's murder? Questions that only she could answer, when he got her back from the Las Noches.

If he got her back.

For all he knew, she was dead by now. Fury erupted inside of him. What had she been thinking? No, he corrected himself. She hadn't been thinking. That was why this was happening.

Now he had to find men who were willing to march into hell to get her back. He knew of one person who would not hesitate to volunteer. He steered his horse towards the blacksmith shop.

Thirty minutes later, Ichigo had thirteen men following him. Chad and Isshin were there, of course. Byakuya had allowed him to borrow Ikkaku and Izuru. Shunsui Kyouraku had also volunteered, although Ichigo firmly believed that he just wanted to be injured in hopes that Nanao would be there to nurse him back to health. Kisuke had even come along, much to Ichigo's surprise. He hadn't known that the creepy storekeeper even knew how to shoot a gun. Renji would have liked to come, but Ichigo had shot the idea down. He wasn't recovered enough to ride on a horse, much less worry about getting shot at. There were also seven other men who, upon hearing his problem, had said that they would go, too. The Las Noches was quickly becoming a thorn in everyone's side.

Ichigo had discovered the note Rangiku had sent to Orihime, and was relieved that at least they had a place to begin looking. Upon reaching the tree with the initials, they looked for any tracks indicating which direction they had gone.

Chad found the tracks first, and Ichigo was glad that his friend had come. Chad was skilled with tracking.

"This brings back memories, hm, Isshin?" Kisuke mused.

Isshin merely grunted, ignoring the curious glance that Ichigo was giving him. Kisuke said nothing more after that.

Actually, no one spoke after that. The atmosphere was tense. They all understood that none of them might make it back alive. The Las Noches was a mysterious group. No one knew how many members it had. That was why this mission was so dangerous. They were walking blindly into a hornet's nest.

And all to save that one woman from Virginia.