(7/27/14)

It was the best feeling in the world, running with him on the wind, ignoring everything behind.

His eyes were on the three men ahead of them, not knowing that her eyes were on him.

In his mind, there was only the philosopher's stone. In her mind, there was only him.

She wondered if she would keep chasing him for the rest of her life, yet she didn't mind it one bit as long as he was there for her to chase after.

They only rested a bit at night when the three men took a brief break, and Ichigo went off to pick some fruit for both of them. They got water during the day if they passed some river or steam on the way.

It was surreal, Orihime thought as she rested her head on his shoulder. She still couldn't believe that she had run away from home, with her best friend, in the search for the philosopher's stone, not knowing if such a stone even existed. Though she felt guilty for leaving home, and letting her brother and Ichigo's father worry, she couldn't stop the rapping beat in her chest. It was exciting, she had to admit, it was beyond any of her fantasized adventures. Besides, she told herself, it was their first hunt! The philosopher's stone was their first hunt! Sure her brother and his father wouldn't scold them much after they knew that they did this to become stronger.

What troubled her was not the journey itself, but what would they do if they got the philosopher's stone? She couldn't still understand death very well. After Ichigo's mother's death, she had gone and asked people around about death and if there was a way to revive the dead. Instead of hiding it from her, the adults thought that it was for the best that she was equipped with enough knowledge to stop her from doing something stupid. Some of the wisest men and women in her village told her stories about fools who thought they could do the impossible. The answer was yes, there were many ways to revive the dead, but none were successful, or more precisely, none of what was created from those attempts was close to be a human, but the price to pay for those attempts was extremely expensive.

Orihime looked at Ichigo through her eyelids. He was breathing evenly. He looked like he was sleeping soundly, but his body was on the alert all the time. He was extremely sensitive to sounds, especially sounds from his prey. A small movement from the three men was enough to wake him up. He was a hunter by birth; extremely talented.

She had been told from the elders that while Ichigo was a nature hunter, she was a nature healer. Her sensitivity to the feelings of those around her, her awareness of her surrounding, her tendency to take care of others, and her intelligence made her fit to study herbs and potions.

Of course, there was limit to her ability even if she was to advance in her study to become a healer. There were wounds that were incurable, and of course she couldn't revive the dead.

Orihime sighed, and snuggled her head into Ichigo's neck. They were humans, after all, and there were always limitations for humans.

Alchemists and Mages were those who made several attempts to break that limitation, to challenge the rule of nature; one of those attempts was to revive the dead. No matter what methods they used, there must always have a sacrifice. A life for a life: that was the rule, and usually in the process, the conjurer lost his soul too. But the real tragedy was that a body was nothing without the soul, and the most that the Alchemists and the Mages could do was to revive or transform the body, not the soul. In another word, what they created was nothing more than an empty vessel.

Orihime curled her hands tightly.

But Ichigo was a stubborn boy, he wouldn't listen to her no matter what she said especially when it was related to his mother. He would do it anyway even if he knew the consequences. He was the type who would only learn when he experienced it.

What should she do?

Should she be a loyal friend and follow him regardless, bearing with him all of the misfortunes and miseries that would fall upon him?

Or should she betray him at the end, taking the stone away from him, destroying it and turn his entire obsession over the stone into hate toward her? Then at least he would be saved from his own destruction.

XxXxXxXx

Something poked her cheek lightly, and she opened her eyes to meet Ichigo's brown orbs. Realizing that he had been staring at her the whole time, she blushed and curled her knees next to her chest.

"I'm sorry." Ichigo stammered, his face bright red, "I-I j-us-just wanted t-to f-feel f-feel y-uo your ch- cheek. Did I wake you up?"

She shook her head shyly and looked at the sky. It was still dark and the three men from afar were still sleeping soundly. They were sleeping on a huge tree again. It was rough resting their backs against the trunk and the leaves, but it was the good thing they were small and the branch they were sitting on was big enough for both of them.

Orihime sneezed. One downfall of sleeping on the tree was that they caught all the coldest drafts. A warm arm wrapped around her shoulder and pulled her closer to his body.

"Are you cold?" He cast his eyes down, "I'm sorry. I know you have it tough. It's all my fault…"

"No," Orihime shook her head, "it's my choice. This is what I want." She rested her head on his shoulder. I just want to be by your side, and for that I'm willing to do anything."

"Thank you, Inoue." Ichigo murmured and hold her closer in his arm.

The two sat in silence until the sun ascended slowly over the horizon.

"It's beautiful." Orihime said. "I wish we could see the sun rise like this every day of our lives."

"Sure," Ichigo said, not seeming to think much about it.

Orihime blushed, "really?"

"I don't see why we couldn't do it."

Orihime felt her ears and her neck burned in embarrassment, "but Kurosaki-kun, thing might not be the same when we grow older. We might not be allowed to be close to each other like this." Orihime stammered, "Adults have their own rules."

Ichigo scratched his head in confusion, "Why so? What are the rules? Why can't we be like this when we grow older?"

Orihime bit her lips, "I don't know." Her whole body felt strangely hot, "but my brother said when I grow up, things will change, even he will not be with me forever, much less you, just a friend."

"You mean that death will separate us?" Ichigo said, sadly.

Orihime intertwined her fingers with his, "even before that. My brother said that I will have my own family, and my own world that not even he or you could enter."

"You will have a family of your own?" Ichigo said, his voice was down, "and you will not let me in?"

She hugged him, feeing incredibly sad. The thought that he would not be in her life tore her heart up. Tears warmed her cheeks against his chest.

"Come on, don't be so sad." He said after she was calming down. "I don't want to be part from you either, but I just don't understand why I can't be a part of your life when we are grown up?"

"Brother said one day I will get married, and that man is the only one who I will spend the rest of my life with, the one who will take care of me, and there will not be room for anyone else."

"And why can't I be that man?" Ichigo said with a pout.

"Uhm," Orihime rubbed her nose with the knuckle of her index, thinking, "I don't know if a best friend is eligible, let me ask my brother."

"Then…" Ichigo faced bright red as he stammered, "If I am eligible, will you marry me when we grow up?"

"yeah, I guess… as long as we can be together, I don't mind marrying you."

"Then when can we get married?" Ichigo asked, his voice sounded excited.

"My brother said we are allowed to get married at the age of sixteen."

"Sixteen huh? That means it's eight more years."

"Yeah," Her body was burning even though it was still cold in early morning. Talking about such topic was certainly wasn't her things, and she didn't feel very comfortable thinking and talking about something she really didn't understand so well, but Ichigo seemed to be interesting in it, and she didn't want to spoil his mood.

"What will we do when we get married?"

Orihime coughed, "have children, I guess."

"Oh, that? That's easy, just a little bit time consuming."

"Really? Do you know how to make children?"

"Of course, my father told me all about it when I asked him how he and mom have babies," Ichigo said proudly, "all we have to do is planting."

"Planting?" Orihime laughed, "that's so easy, I thought it'd be much more difficult than that, but how do we plant?"

"Uhm," Ichigo paused to remember what his father said, "I will provide the seed, and you will provide the land."

"So do we have to water and fertilize it every day?"

"Uhm," Ichigo scratched his head, thinking hard, "I didn't see my father and mother do any watering or fertilizing, but I guess they have to do it somehow, otherwise, I don't see how it's going to grow up and become a baby."

"And then we just pluck it out of the land? But I didn't see any babies being plucked out of the ground."

"Uhm, I get the land is inside you because my sisters got out of my mother stomach."

"Oh, wow, having babies sounds easy but it's such a mystery. But if it's such a simple task, why can't we do it now?"

Ichigo shuddered, "I don't know, my father hasn't told me how to get the seeds yet."

"Oh, I see, but then why can't we have lot of babies at the same time? Why do people only have one at a time, and having twins is called a miracle? Don't we usually plant a lot of seeds at a time?"

"That's a good point. I'll take note and ask my father about it later."

"Kurosaki-kun," Orihime pulled his shelves, "they are moving."

"Let's go, Inoue."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Orihime opened her eyes with a shock, her body quivered in cold. The wind had beaten the opened windows ferociously against the wall. It was still quite dark outside. Orihime tiptoed around the sleeping Ichigo and closed the windows.

As she went back to her bed, she had an urge to have a closer look at her childhood friend. Kneeling, she placed her hands on her floor and leaned closer to see his face. Through the dim light from the moon outside the windows she could still see clearly his strong features. She smiled. Even when he slept his trademark scowl was still on his face. Though he had grown up not as handsome as she might have hoped, there was something about him drew her regardless. What was it, she wondered? Was it his ever scowling broad forehead? Or the pale cheeks that would burn in red when he was embarrassed or angry? Or the tempting lips which were parting lightly? Orihime leaned closer, her eyes glued on lips. She licked her dried lips.

Her heart beat fast and she had to take slow deep breaths to calm her nerve. She looked away.

Her eyes cast on his hair; hair that bore the ferociousness of the sun, just like him: stubborn, hothead, and would fight to the end of the world for his belief. Her hands were shaking, and she couldn't stop it. She did what she always wanted to do, a long time ago.

She raised her hand and slowly buried her fingers deep into his hair; then she slowly ran her fingers along it, feeling its silky texture on her palm, and the way it illuminated under the moon on the back of her hand. It was so beautiful, she couldn't help it; she gently kissed it with her trembling lips.

"You are ogling me, and now you are touching my hair."

Orihime startled and fell her back down on the floor. Her throat was dried, and she couldn't find a word to excuse herself.

"Are you ok, Inoue?" Ichigo asked worriedly and he gently helped her got up.

"I…I…" It was hopeless. She was caught red handed. There was no word that could explain it. Or should she tell him that it had been centuries, and she hadn't been this close to another male? So it was only nature that she wanted to touch…something…anything. It was the result of long years of solitude and nothing else.

Ichigo just smiled, and waved his hands, "Don't worry about that. I had been staring at you all the time when you were asleep. Besides," he looked down, putting his hands in his pockets, his cheeks burning, "I'm glad that you still find me attractive enough to ogle me."

"You are arrogant." Orihime said, trying to defend herself "it's not that you are attractive," Orihime cast her eyes on the floor as she lied, "it's just that…There was a fly on your hair, and I was just trying to get it away." She raised her head up to him with a teasing look on her eyes, "besides, I have seen much better looking men than you."

"Did you," Ichigo paused, his voice trembled slightly as he continued, "Did you find someone to your liking?"

Taken back by his question, Orihime bit her lips. She felt like a betrayer, a betrayer to Ichigo, a betrayer to Ulquiorra, a betrayer to herself. How could she forget about Ichigo and their oath and fall in love with Ulquiorra? And now, for just a moment, how could she forget about Ulquiorra and hold feelings toward Ichigo again? She felt like crying. No, she would never forget Ulquiorra; there was no one would ever replace him in her heart, not even Ichigo. After all, she had loved Ulquiorra for five hundred years. She only knew Ichigo for three years, and had lost memories about him for most of her life. Even now, she couldn't even remember everything about him. For her, he really was just a stranger. She didn't even know whether he was a foe or a friend; that what he had been telling her was the truth; that he didn't mess with her mind and create an illusionary childhood friend. She knew that there were some Mages who were capable of altering memories and controlling their victims' feelings and mind.

"I see." Ichigo sighed and tried to hide his disappointment, "I wouldn't blame you if you met someone else. I…"

"I'm not meeting anyone right now." Damn it. Why did she have to deny it? Why couldn't she tell him that she was in love with someone else even though that someone else was dead? That she didn't trust him. That she didn't love him….

"Really?" Ichigo said, hope lit up his face.

Orihime nodded, smiling.

Ichigo sneezed. He must be cold too.

Orihime took his hand and led him to the bed. "Come here, sleep with me, like when we were little."

"But didn't you say that it will not be the same when we grow up? That we wouldn't be allowed to…" Ichigo stammered and flushed.

"It's ok." Orihime said, patted on the bed for him to lie next to her. Reluctantly, she pulled the blanket up to cover the two of them. She knitted her fingers and placed them on her chest. A tremble coursed through her body, it made her aware of her wickedness. She knew that she shouldn't want to be close to him, but she couldn't stop herself. She was curious, curious ever since she regained fragment of her memories about him… What would it feel like… to…love….Kurosaki...Ichigo?

"Is it better?" Orihime asked, facing Ichigo, trying to distract herself from her inner guilty.

"Thank you, Inoue."

"I was just always wondering," Orihime started, "How has your life been?"

Ichigo shuddered, "I have been travelled around, searching for you. Most of the time, I was lost in the forests or mountains, so I had to hunt for food and sometimes used the furs for clothes." He scratched his head, "There was a time though, somehow I was sent into a ship, then it was crashed and I got lost in the mid of the oceans for months."

"Then how did you get back?"

"I lived on a huge piece from the ship and fished for food. After a while I landed on a deserted island. For a while, I lived on that island and built myself a boat. Then I set out for the sea and finally reached shore on a strange country. I had wandered around that country for quite sometimes…then reached another country, wandering around it for quite sometimes." Ichigo stopped, his eyes suddenly met her. Orihime could see the doubt in his eyes. He must, finally found the flaws in his belief, that he couldn't have lived for just eight years, that there were more years than he was able to count with his fingers. How long he was still in his denial, she wondered.

"Anyway," he looked away, "It has been fun, and yeah, I have traveled a lot, and lost count of time."

"You didn't have a calendar with you?"

"No, I never took one with me, and sometimes I was so lost that it was impossible to be aware of my surrounding, time included."

"Why are you so lost?" Orihime moved her body closer, her eyes searching his, "as I remember you have an excellent sense of direction."

"I…" Ichigo paused, for a moment she thought his eyes went bewilder, but then they regained their sharpness, and he smiled at her, gently "I traded it for something more important."

Orihime knitted her eyebrows, she didn't like where the conversation was headed, "what was so important that made you traded your sense of direction for?"

"Something very important," suddenly he touched her cheek with his hand, "something that I treasure even more than my life."

"Sometimes I think that you value your own life a little too short."

Ichigo put his hand away, "That is not true. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here, now, to meet you."

Orihime searched for his hand and put it in hers. It felt warmth and pleasant, holding his hand under the blanket. "Then always value yourself more than anything else."

"Why you are so nice to me?" Ichigo suddenly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close to him. His breath on her lips made her felt weak and dizzy, "Even when you don't remember everything about me?"

"I…" Orihime trembled. She swallowed her saliva. She trailed her fingers across his chest, surprise of how muscular it felt under her hands. "When I regained memories about you, I knew, deep inside my heart, that you are the person whom I care for the most; and that no matter what happen, you will always be my best friend."

Ichigo pulled her into a deep hug, "thank you, Inoue."

It felt so reassuring, so relaxing in his arms that she began to feel asleep again. She sniffed. She had closed the window but there was still that smell again. A smell of fresh pine…blended with something smelled sweet, like a scent of a flower, but she couldn't put her fingers on what kind of flower. Was it from Ichigo?

Whether it because of the hug or the scent, she felt extremely fatigue, and her eyes were so heavy. She knew that it was a good idea to have a good sleep, yet some voices in her head told her to stay awake. If she was awake, she could still be in his arms. She still could be assuring that this was not a dream.

"Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said weakly, her eyelids were heavier each second passed, "please, keep me awake. I don't want to fall asleep."

"Shussss." Ichigo kissed on her head, and it felt so good that she couldn't gather enough control to fight over the sleep. "Go to sleep, Inoue. You need to rest."

"But I don't want to," even she could hear her voices faded in the air, "I'm afraid the kind of dream it could lead me. I don't want to…dream…," her words died of one by one, "to…remember…the…past…"