Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach in any way! All copyrights of this series goes to Tite Kubo.

Author's Note: Gah, another update of The Healing Heart! Yes! Thank you everyone for your patience and special thanks goes to my awesome reviewers: yumi-2121331, Ryu Eiyuu, j cloud xD, icyangel27, becomeafan, k a y - t h i, HoneyFlower15, lil'sayuri-chan, serenity095, maili-chan, Samantha, SMILES208, applestoapples, KnowledgeandImagination, Ai Angel, fayfan, sweet miracle 'michu 17, HyourinmaruIce, monkeywinz, Ougon 22, athfdrizzle. Okay, I've done enough torturing with you all. It's time to find out what happens to Momo and how Toshiro is going to react in this chapter. Happy reading!

LEGEND

"Talking.""Thinking." Dreaming or Voice Message by Miyuki Hitsugaya.

The Healing Heart

Part II - Hardships and Love

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Tears for You

"Itoto-chan!" Hitsugaya opened his eyes to see his older sister and his parents standing from a distance and calling out to him. With a smile on her face, she raised an arm up and waved. "What are you standing there for? Let's go!"

He cracked a smile and began running after them, but for some reason, he couldn't catch up. Actually, he's drifting farther and farther away. Toshiro extended a hand out to them. "Onee-chan, Oto-san, Okaa-san, wait!"

As if he is a roadrunner, he finally caught up only to freeze on the spot. Down on the floor are the bloody and broken bodies of his loved ones. Shivering with fear, he took a step back. After quickly turning around, he ran in the other direction.

"No, they can't be dead! It's not true!"

"What's wrong Shiro-chan? Why are you running?"

Recognizing whose voice it belongs to, Hitsugaya stopped and turned his head to the side. Standing in his nearby presence is the sixteen year old teenager. "Hinamori...my family; they're dead."

"It's natural to lose your loved ones. Besides, it's all part of the circle of life. Of course, my death is also natural."

"Your death, but...you're not dea-"

All of a sudden, she disappeared.

"Hinamori?"

Looking around, he began searching for her.

"Hinamori!"

After calling out her name several times, his back bumped into something. Hitsugaya turned around and suddenly saw the raven haired girl lying in her hospital bed resting. All of a sudden, the heart and lung monitors used to keep her alive began playing a long echoing beep sound.

Realizing what's happening, he placed both hands on the edge of her bed and yelled, "No please don't Hinamori; don't end up with the same faith as my family. You deserve another chance at life!"

The long beep continued to ring in his ears as he grabbed her arm and starting nudging her.

"Hinamori! Hinamori!"

"HINAMORI!"

He yelled as he sat up from bed in cold sweat. For a few minutes, Toshiro took steady breaths, trying to settle down as he scanned the area. He is in bed inside his recently completed bedroom. After checking his watch, which is sitting on the small table next to him, he confirmed the current time. It is three o'clock in the morning.

"Shit..."

He placed his feet down on the mattress while his arms were raised. He wrapped them around himself, trying to resist the fierce shaking in his body.

"It won't happen; it will never happen. She's going to be alright; she just has to be," he muttered to himself. "The nightmare is only a figment if your wild imagination, that's all."

Hitsugaya closed his eyes.

"Daijobou, there is nothing to worry about; nothing at all."

Shortly after when the shivers left his body, Toshiro let out a soft sigh and pushed the blanket aside. Turning his body to the side, he got off the bed and walked up to the window. Looking up at the night sky, he saw the bright moon shining down on him. Noticing his cell phone has finished charging on the table, he unplugged it from the charger and held it up. After flipping it open, he pressed a few buttons and played one of his sister's voice messages.

What's wrong Toshiro? You can't sleep because you had a nightmare? Just close your eyes and don't think about it at all. The next thing you know, you're going to wake up to see the light of day again.

He pressed another two buttons before listening to another message.

Hn, still can't sleep huh? I guess I have no other choice, but to get out of bed, go to your room, and knock you out cold. Hehe, I was just kidding...if I had a nightmare, I would start counting sheep. It always helps getting me back to sleep; you should try it some time. Anyway, oyasumi.

After letting out a sigh of defeat, he used a finger to close the cell phone cap. "Onee-chan, I don't think your advice is going to work on me this time. I fear that the last part of my nightmare might become a reality."

The bell rang which told the students of Seireitei High School that classes are over for the day. Running through the crowded hallway, Rangiku went to the locker room to find her former neighbour changing his shoes. "Hey Hitsugaya!" she exclaimed, getting his attention. "Let's go somewhere and chill out with the gang!"

Toshiro closed his locker and draped his bag over his shoulder. "Sorry Matsumoto, I already made plans. I'm going to visit Hinamori today at the hospital."

"Again?" asked another voice. The teenagers turned their heads to see Renji, Kira, Hisagi, and Ichimaru joining them. The red headed teenager further commented, "You really have nothing else better to do, don't you?"

It is when his emerald-teal eyes soon turned his gaze away from his friends. "That's not it; it's just..."

"Daijobou Hitsugaya, Renji is just being a butt head," Matsumoto replied. In response, Abarai turned his head to the side and gave her a stern look which she obliviously ignored. "We won't stop you from visiting her. Besides, she's your sister and important friend, right?"

After listening to his former neighbour's words, Hitsugaya tilted his head forward and gave them a short nod.

"Be sure to tell her that I said hi," Kira said.

"Same here," Hisagi agreed.

"I will," the young prodigy replied.

"Let's go everyone; it's time to leave Hitsugaya to do his thing," Rangiku said as she and the others began leaving.

"Make sure not to do anything harmful while you're alone with her," Gin said, grinning with amusement before walking off.

Toshiro immediately shot him an icy glare. "Uruse Ichimaru..."

"Bye bye!"

"See you tomorrow!" the female student greeted, waving good bye.

"Later," Renji said.

"Bye Hitsugaya," Hisagi added.

"Talk to you later," Kira said.

"Ja ne," Hitsugaya quietly replied once he was left on his own. With that said, the white haired teenager left the school building and made his way over to Seireitei Hospital.

Along the way, he passed a flower shop. It is the same shop that Obaa-san usually goes to buy for his sleeping friend. It is also the same place where he bought the white lilies for his biological family. Stopped in his tracks, he turned to the side and looked at the different flowers that are displayed.

He remembered his grandmother telling him once when Momo was a child, she would always bring home flowers of different kinds to her family: from petunias to daisies. To her, flowers are the things that bring her and the people around her great happiness.

Toshiro let out a soft sigh and stepped inside. If possible, maybe he could bring some of that joy for himself and for her.

"Hey, it's me again," Hitsugaya said after entering Momo's hospital room and closing the door behind him. Walking up to the raven haired girl sleeping in her bed, he pulled up a chair and sat down. "I've got you something."

With both his hands slightly raised, he showed her a bouquet of flowers he purchased at the flower shop a while ago.

"They're red chrysanthemums (1). I know...you'll like them."

For the next few moments, he didn't speak. All he heard was the sound of the heart and lung monitors beeping as they did their job to keep her alive. He watched the now healed girl rest as if she's sleeping beauty from that fairytale that his sister once told him about. In that story, the princess fell into a deep sleep after her finger was pricked by the needle of an enchanted spindle wheel waiting for her prince to come by and wake her up with his true love's kiss.

Toshiro closed his eyes and let out a sigh of defeat. Stories like that only happen in the world of imagination. Opening his eyes once more, he started talking to her. "A few things has happened while you were here, Hinamori. We're near the end of the semester. So, we're preparing for our final exams for the grade."

He placed the bouquet aside on the small table before resuming his attention to her. After putting his hands together, he tilted his head forward.

"Time flies by so fast, doesn't it?"

There was a short pause.

"It has been almost three months since you fell into a coma. Since then, your friends and family came to see you. Amongst those people, I'm the one who visits you the most."

He then let out a short laugh.

"It sounds weird, huh? I'm wasting all mine time to see you when I could have been using it to hang with my friends and such..."

There was another moment of unspoken words.

"Why are you still sleeping like this? Why can't you wake up already?"

Momo didn't respond to his questions as he expected. Suddenly, he bit the bottom of his lip and turned his head to the side. After trying to resist it, Toshiro resumed his attention to the sleeping peach and started saying all the things he has kept inside for so long.

"I-I'm getting sick and tired of this; it's exhausting to keep waiting for you."

He raised his voice at her.

"Sometimes, I even question why I keep doing this. Coming here to see you all the time always puts me on an emotional roller coaster! I always have to do my best to hold back these feelings in case I lost myself." Suddenly, he stood up from his seat and yelled, "Having you in my life is bad for my health!"

Hitsugaya soon turned his attention away from Hinamori.

Shortly, he quietly sat down on his chair again and whispered, "Well, that's what I would say if I wasn't your friend. However, you are and a very close one too. In the end, I tell myself that the main reason I'm here for you is because I love you..."

During this time, his eyes became so watery that tears started to trickle down his cheeks. However, that didn't matter to him; his heart is currently in aching pain.

He looked directly at the sleeping body and confessed, "Yes, I love you Momo Hinamori and as weird as it sounds, I probably always did. You have become a very special person to me. You are the one who helped me recover and move on in my life. You are the one who is able to make me smile. You are the one who is able to stand by my side and listen to what I have to say. Whether it be the joys, the sorrows, the anger, or the plain irritated, you...you were always there for me no matter what."

The white haired teenager then began wondering when was the last time he had shed tears for someone. It wasn't back then when his sister broke his favourite toy, when he got lost in the mall, nor when his pet fish died. Oh yes, the last time he allowed himself to break down into tears is back when he was eleven years old: the day when he found out that his parents died and his older sister sacrificed herself to save his life. He took a moment to wipe the tears away with sleeve of his uniform shirt.

Toshiro pleaded, "Please Momo, don't keep me hanging and give me an answer. Are you going to live or are you going to...leave this world?"

He wiped his tears away once more.

"Sorry...for sounding so desperate. It can't be helped that you're stuck in that condition," he said. "You're probably getting sick and tired having to listen to all the things I have said. I-I should have been more patient and considerate."

Hitsugaya turned his head to the side to see the time. Noticing that it's getting late, he resumed his attention to her.

"Well...I better go home now. I'll see you again tomorrow."

The fourteen year old teenager stood up from his seat. He turned around and began walking towards the door. After he opened it, he took one last look at the sleeping raven haired girl. He closed his emerald-teal eyes and let out a sigh of defeat. Just he is about to leave the room, he heard a soft voice call out his name. "Toshiro..."

All of a sudden, his eyes shot open while his feet stopped in its tracks. He slowly looked over his shoulder to see the peach girl looking at him, showing her the all too familiar chocolate brown eyes. "M-Momo?"

She let out a small smile. "Hey..."

"...You're awake."

Japanese Word Translations and References

Itoto-chan - Younger Brother, Onee-chan - Older Sister, Oto-san - Father, Okaa-san - Mother, Daijobou - It's Alright, Oyasumi - Good Night, Uruse - Shut Up, Ja ne - Good Bye (informal/casual)

(1) Red Chrysanthemum's flower meaning is I love you.

Author's Note: *Shudders* Ergh, what a nightmare he had and the minor breakdown was a little harsh on his side. Whatever, all that doesn't matter anymore because she's finally awake! Yay! *throws confetti into the air* Hinamori is finally out of her coma! Hurray, it's time to celebrate! Woot! xD Please review to read what happens to them next in chapter thirty! Thanks.