A/N:

Since there are some comments urging me to continue this story, I think I should do something to repay the kind encouragement that I have received from my readers. Thank you all who read, review, and support this story so far.

Big thanks to jylener22 who has helped me tremendously with this chapter and the story as a whole.

(6/23/14)

"Inoue, Inoue…"

Orihime woke up from her long dream, facing Ichigo sitting across from her at a table. She looked around. They were at a restaurant in the village. How did they get there?

She rested her forehead on her palm. For some reasons, she felt extremely fatigued, and her memories were a mess.

"Are you ok, Inoue?" Ichigo asked worriedly, trying to reach her, but she slapped his hand before he could do it. She was still slightly angry at him for interrupting her dream when it was at the most important part. At last, she felt like she could find out the truth behind her curse, but Ichigo spoiled all of it before she could discover what actually happened.

Ichigo withdrew his hand reluctantly. He seemed to hide his hurt well for he immediately smiled at her, "you know what, Inoue. You haven't changed at all. You are daydreaming the whole time we come here."

The friendlier he was, the more irritated she felt. His over friendliness, light temper, and high tolerance was not how she remembered him. He was hiding something obviously, and his politeness toward her was the proof of it.

"I don't like you." She said frankly, seeing how he would react.

He was totally taken back by that statement, and his face couldn't hide it. Immediately, her anger was evaporated. It always amazed her how he could always lighten her mood so well, though part of her was pleased that she made him take his mask off.

"I'm sorry." Ichigo said sorrowfully.

"What are you sorry about?"

He cast his eyes down the floor, "you really don't remember anything do you?"

"Won't you tell me?"

"I… " he said regretfully, "I can't."

"Fine, then get out, don't talk to me anymore." Why did she tell him something she didn't mean to? She wanted to be nice and gentle with him, her long lost friend, probably her only friend in this world. But something about him, something around their past kept roused anger and hate in her blood, and she couldn't control her emotion though she couldn't remember what he had done to make her hate him so much.

"If you desire so…"

"You're such a coward."

"Yes, I am a coward."

Her eyes widened. He was much more brave and honest than she had remembered him, to be able to admit his flaws this frankly. Her tension died out, and she reached her hands to him, "I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun, I'm sorry I'm so rude to you."

Ichigo smiled back, "I'm happy that you trust me enough to be rude around me."

Orihime laughed, delighted at his earnest yet blunt remark.

"It's good to see you laugh again."

"I haven't laughed for a long time, very long time." Orihime said softly, her fingers moved up and down the handle of her tea cup.

"Yeah, I haven't been this happy for such a long time too. I have a feeling that for the past nine years since I last saw you I have lived in a maze. I spent every second of my time trying to find a way out that I have no time to look at the world, or to have any perceptions about it, or to realize any feelings of my own but this terrible emptiness of getting loss and the intense desire to see you again."

"I see, you have been caged in the prison of time". Orihime murmured to herself. She, after all, was also a prisoner of time. And she didn't know who was the luckier: She, the one who had suffered and struggled during the entire endless time she had lived, or Ichigo, who still had absolutely no idea that he had lived for five hundred years, not just sixteen years. One who had the awareness, yet her awareness only lead to more pain, and one who had no awareness, yet his unawareness spared him the horrid acknowledgement of his own fate.

"Wow, and look how the world has advanced without me knowing anything about it. Things have changed so rapidly." He looked around him in amazement. "What is this kind of drink?" He pointed at his cup of tea, "it's slightly bitter yet absolutely refreshing to drink."

" It's an aromatic beverage, a new kind of drink that was introduced to us from China. Now it's a favorite beverage to drink after meal."

"What is China?"

Orihime tried to supress her giggle. He was so cute in his own ignorance. "It's a faraway land east of us."

"Wow, this China country sounds really wonderful. Do you want to go there with me?"

"Sure." Orihime said before she could think. Indeed, if she thought just a little, no way she would agree to this sudden offer that seemed to come out from nowhere. Yet, even she could feel the way her body shook in excitement. She couldn't wait; she couldn't wait for the adventures, the fantasies, and the ultimate joy of freedom that was promised by going with him. Of course she would say yes every time he asked, like the good old day.

A sharp pain on her head, and she massaged her forehead with her hand. She felt strangely dizzy and fatigued.

"Inoue, are you ok?"

" I'm ok. Maybe I just want to have a good sleep." She said weakly. "There is an Inn nearby. Let's go there."

XxXxXxXx

He was so gentle the way he helped her to lay on bed and pulled the blanket over her chest.

The light was out, yet he was still sitting on the ground, next to her bed, pressing his sword on the ground. 'Just like a knight watching over and protecting his princess, she thought.

But this was no fairly tale. He was no knight and she was no princess.

The wind came through the opened window brought a strange scent that sent her into a deep sleep; a sleep about a forgotten dream.

She remembered that scent; it was the same scent on that night when she crept over a huge branch of tree, opening her ears for a conversation of three strangers.

She remembered it now, it was the scent of pine.

()000000000000()

"I have to be honest that I find the idea of a philosopher's stone is absolutely absurd."

"What is so absurd about a stone that brings wealth and immortality; a stone that can even revive the dead? It's a dream of any mortals. It's the only bridge between humans and Gods. "

Ichigo's body shook slightly and his eyes were intensely focusing on the three men.

"That's exactly what's so absurd about it. Its existence alone breaks the balance of this world. In order to gain something you must sacrifice something else of equal value (1).Then how can you think there's such a stone in this world without any sacrifice?"

"How do you know that there is no sacrifice?"

"I couldn't imagine a sacrifice that was worthy to make such a stone."

"Let's say there is such a sacrifice, which is not totally impossible. Could you count how many disasters have fallen upon this earth? If your theory is true, that "in order to gain something you must sacrifice something else of equal value" then what are the gains from those disasters? Don't you agree that people are sacrificed for nothing?"

Aizen looked at Gin, but he just shook his head. "I don't know, Aizen-sama, what is your theory?"

"My theory is that," Aizen continued, "there are things that are sacrificed without any specific gains. Therefore, to balance the world, nature has accumulated those sacrifices into a stone that permits boundless power to those who will find and possess it."

Gin shook his head again, "Even if your theory is true, and let's say such a stone exists, but then following the rule of nature, for you to obtain such power, you have to give up something of equal value." Gin looked at Aizen in the eyes, "Aizen-sama, do you have such a thing? And if you do, are you willing to trade it for the philosophy stone?"

There was a brief silence, then Aizen said, "Gin, let's say there were huge sacrifices offered to create the philosophy stone, then why should I give another offering? Wouldn't it contradict with your theory of equivalent exchange, since there would be double the sacrifices for just one gain?"

Gin laughed deep in his throat, "Aizen-sama, don't tell me that you're naive enough to believe that you can get a philosophy stone for free, or…." Gin said slowly, "maybe that you just lie to yourself. But Aizen-sama, let me tell you this, no matter how many excuses you use, you will have to pay to get what you want, and you will have to pay dearly for the philosophy stone. Even so, do you still want it?"

"There is nothing in this world that I desire more than time, and there is nothing in this world that I deem more value than it. So yes, if I have to pay for it, I'll pay with everything I have."

"That's a serious commitment unless you are not aware of what you have."

"I do aware of what I have and what I am capable of. Therefore, I will do anything obtain what I desire."

"Bravo, Aizen-sama." Gin clapped his hands playfully, "It's a right thing that I follow you."

"Sorry to disrupt you two," the third man who hadn't opened his mouth through the whole conversation suddenly raised his voice, "but the witch has begun to make his move. I think we should follow him through."

"That's right Kaname. That's enough break. Let's go."

The three men quickly packed their things and left, and Ichigo slid himself swiftly down the tree too.

"Kurosaki-kun, where are you going?" Orihime climbed down the tree as fast as she could, calling out for Ichigo.

"Inoue, you stay here until morning. I'm sure your brother will find you, or you can find the way out yourself."

Orihime grabbed his arm, "Kurosaki-kun, where are you going?" Orihime asked again, trying to contain tears welling from her eyes though part of her knew the answer.

"I will follow them. I have to find the philosopher's stone myself." Ichigo's body was shaking quietly, like he was trying hard to keep from pushing her hand away and running like a mad man after the three strangers.

"Kurosaki-kun, please…" Orihime sobbed, she used every single ounce of her strength to tighten her grip on his arm, "please…. Please go home with me, and forget all about what we heard."

"Inoue," Ichigo turned to face her, his eyes glowed, "listen Inoue, with the philosopher's stone my mother can live again. I will save her, this time, and I will bring her back."

"That is madness," she cried, "you cannot bring the dead back."

"Didn't you just hear what they said? The philosopher's stone can do it." Ichigo put a hand on her grip, "please, Inoue, I don't have time for this. I have to go."

" Didn't you just hear what they said? In order to gain something you have to give up something else of equal value."

"IS THERE ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD MORE IMPORTANT THAN MY MOTHER?" He shouted, roughly pulling his arm away from her.

"Your father, your sisters, your village," she added quietly, "me, and YOUR LIFE" she cried and pounded on his chest, "Don't tell me those are not important for you. You are giving up everything that is important to you to pursue madness. That's not what your mother wants."

"Stop saying like you understand my mother so much." He said quietly, "you are not her, and you will never be her."

It cut, it cut deeply and sharply in her heart, but she had to stop him. She had been told from the elders the fate of those who tried to do the unthinkable. "Kurosaki-kun, please listen to me, reviving the death is forbidden, no one has ever succeeded before." She rephrased what an old woman had told her, "and…and even if you success, what you create…" she turned her face away, trying to find words to say, "your mother might never be the same." She turned her face to him again, letting her tears flow freely down her cheeks, "Please, if you love your mother, please let her rest in peace. Please don't disturb her."

Tears rolled faster on her cheeks as she saw his cheeks, too, dampened in sadness, "Inoue, please stop. Please stop stopping me. I will regret for the rest of my life if I follow you home. I will spend the rest of my life hating you for stopping me."

He grabbed her arms with his hands, "I'm not as smart as you are. I do not understand what you are saying. But I will pay whatever it takes to bring my mother back. I don't see what is wrong, wanting to have the most important person in my life back."

"It's against nature. That's what's wrong." She said quietly, knowing that whatever she said, he wouldn't listen.

"I'm not you. I don't believe in the rule of nature. What I believe in is no longer in this world, and to find it, I have to go. I have to get my mother back. She is my world; she is the only thing I believe in."

Orihime wrapped her arms around him. It was hopeless. She couldn't stop him, yet she wanted to hold him tight, to hold him as close to her as possible, as long as possible. The fact that he hadn't pushed her away gave her a slim light of hope. If she could stall enough time from him, maybe she still had a chance to stop him, to make him give up.

"Orihime, please, please let me go." Tears continued to fall on his cheeks, "I couldn't continue to live in this torment, when everyday passed, I woke up and realized that she was gone, that… that I was the reason that she was gone." His heart beat painfully loud against her chest. "I lied to you. It's not my sisters whom I blame my mother's death to. I'm spending each second of this torturous life knowing that I'm the real reason my mother died. I always knew it, yet I just couldn't bring myself to admit it. Everyone knows it. It's the way I look that angers the Gods. If I can, I will shave my head, dye my hair, yet I can't because no matter what I do, I am still me. It's a part of me, and my existence alone is a curse."

Orihime held him tighter. She had the feeling that if she loosen even just one inch of her grip, he would slip away.

"Thank you, Inoue." He breathed against her ears, "for the past three years, you helped me forget who I am. I'm really happy, really, really…"

Ichigo was cruelly kind. He didn't leave her, but his words make her let him go. How could she continue to keep him when she knew how much he had suffered? He might stay if she insisted, but he would hate her. He would never be happy again. They would never be real friends again.

Orihime put her hands down. She had to let him go. She would lose him forever but at least there was a chance to see a smile from his face again….

"Thank you, Inoue." He turned his back and left, but she immediately grabbed his arms again.

Why hadn't she thought of this before? Why did they have to separate? Why did he have to go alone? Why did she have to stay home and wait?

Why couldn't they go together?

"Bring me with you," She said, and for the first time, she felt the fire burn in her eyes, the same fire that she had so admired from his eyes, "or I will hate you for the rest of my life."

A/N:

(1)This took the idea from Full Mental Alchemist's equivalent exchange: "In order to obtain or create something, something of equal value must be lost or destroyed."

Please review and bring some smiles to my face. I really need them to brighten my days.