Chapter 5: Fading
"It's that bad? Hurry up. Finish it."
She couldn't believe it.
"Frustrating, even in the end."
It wasn't happening. There was no way.
"And to think…"
She looked out at him, her eyes wide and full of tears. No matter what she told herself, it really was happening. She was there, staring, and he… he was dying.
She had seen it all. The whole battle, she had been on the sidelines, helping out her nakama in any way that she could. Except, somewhere deep inside, she had silently been hoping it wouldn't end like this. She had been hoping, praying, for a miracle. For someone to stop them, or for them to stop themselves. Anything. But if she really had to chose which one would win… well, if you had asked her, she would have answer Kurosaki. But now that it was him who was the winner… she wasn't so sure that's what she wanted. She hated herself for it, betraying him like that, but…
How can you be afraid of someone you love?
The question had been popping up the whole battle. Each new stage, when the opponents got more and more deadly, she had asked herself again. The most frightening part, was that even when Ulquiorra's appearance was that of a demon's, when the Arrancar was at a level of power that could crush her with the slightest move, it wasn't him she feared.
It was Ichigo.
How can you be afraid of someone you love?
Now, the gruesome battle was over. And she was dying inside.
His eyes were looking right at her. "And to think, I was finally starting to take an interest in you humans." In your hearts.
He slowly lifted a hand, reaching out to her, and asked the question that he had asked before. She had been unable to answer previously, but now… "Are you afraid, woman?"
She didn't have to hesitate to answer. "No. I'm not."
She found herself reaching out to him, trying to touch his hand, where he now knew his heart resided. That sentence, so small and un-put together in comparison to all of his eloquent speeches, was hauntingly beautiful. "I see. This. Yes. This thing in my hand is the heart."
She stretched her arm, if only a little farther, as she reached for his hand. For his heart. If only she could close her fingers around his hand, then… then…
Her hand slipped through his. She reached again, grabbing, trying to hold onto something solid. Panic rose up in a wave of nausea within her stomach, as she tried to reach him.
The last she saw of him was the calm expression he wore as what was left of him reached out to her, the sight seen between the fingers she had stretched out to him.
And then, he was gone. Nothing more than ashes.
And damn her heart for knowing it too.
"No."
The tears she hadn't noticed earlier started coming harder, faster.
"NO!"
But it was too late.
He was gone.
~)o0o(~
After he disappeared everything was a blur. They were fighting, and running, and there was death, and her friends were hurt.
Running, fighting, running, hiding, escape.
It was just as they were about to escape Hueco Mundo that it happened. The crumbling palace walls of Los Noches were faster than Orihime and her shields could only hold up so much.
"Orihime, look out!"
Then the darkness came.
How cruel. He grasped his heart… just in time to die.
Pure darkness.
And then…
Silence.