A/N: Everyone! I'm so sorry! This has been the hardest chapter to write! And I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I haven't quit writing. I've just been a creative drought and in a debilitating laziness spell. Hopefully, it's over!

And for the readers who are still with this story (or any of my stories), thank you! Really!

"I'm home," I whisper as I enter our apartment.

"Welcome home!" She calls from the kitchen.

I hang up my jacket on the hooks, reminding myself to find a place to put the ring in the morning.

"You're still up?" I ask as I follow the sounds of rustling.

I see her with a frosting bag, carefully decorating a cake.

She hums in concertation.

"It's homework."

I raise an eyebrow.

"Well, Kansuke-kun will be taking a few weeks off for vacation, and he is trying to see who will be left in charge of the kitchen. I think it's down between me and two other people who have been there longer, but I think I have a good chance," she trails off.

I walk over to her, and she pauses as I approach. I drape myself over her, my chin resting on her head. "You'll get it," I assure her.

"How do you know?" she counters, her uncertainty leaking into her tone.

"Just trust me, you will."

"Will you make it up to me if I don't?" she asks as she turns in my arms.

Oh, that look.

One hand snakes around her hips, tugging her closer to me while the other hand cups her face.

"Well, that's not fair, Hime. Now I'm kind of hoping you don't get it," I jokingly remark as I press a brief kiss to her lips.

She snorts in good humor, but I kiss her again, longer. She leans into me, a whine in her throat as I pull back. She pouts at the distance.

I run my thumb over her bottom lip as my eyes wander over her flushed face, over her bright eyes.

"I love you, Orihime," I tell her. I watch her eyes brighten, her face reddens, her lips grow into a smile. "You," I pause as both my hands go to cradle her cheeks, "you make me happy."

She looks taken aback as if she is surprised by the confession. And she really shouldn't have been. Really, after all this time, after all the 'I love yous' that have been passed between us, it shouldn't shock her, but here she is with eyes wide in wonder.

"I…I do?" she whispers.

I press my lips against her forehead.

"More than I thought possible."

True to her nature, I can feel the tears fall onto my hands. I drop them in favor of pulling her in for a bone-crushing hug.

For some reason, my proclamation has touched her deeply. For her, she found some profound meaning in it more than anything I've ever said to her, and maybe it did. Because I've seen it. I've read about it. I've felt it when it was unrequited. I know how love doesn't always equate to happiness. And maybe she knew that, too, so hearing it aloud, hearing that for me, because of her, I could be happy and in love, maybe it reassured her. Maybe she's been wanting to hear it. Maybe she's been needing to hear it.

"I went to see my mom today," I begin as I wipe her tears. "I wanted to tell her about you, Hime. About how much I love you. About how happy you make me. I wanted her to know," I continue only to stop when she buries her face into my chest. My arms wrap around her, and I bend down, placing my lips in her hair. "I wanted her to know that there is no future with you," I start. I feel her flinch and hear a small gasp, so I hold her tighter in place. "I wanted her to know that you, Inoue Orihime, are my future," I finish.

"Y-you are," she stutters into my chest, "so mean!"

I chuckle as my hands rub her back, trying to soothe her.

"I am," I agree. She lets out a watery laugh. I place my hands on her hip, and I lift her up. Her legs and arms wrap around me, and I stare into her red, wet eyes. I free up one of my hands so I can wipe my sleeve gently under nose. She laughs again. I smile.

"There's a lot I'm uncertain of in this life. What I will be, what I will do, who I will be, I have no clue, but with you…with you I'll be happy. That I know for sure."

She places her hands on my cheeks and pulls my head down to hers until our lips meet. She tastes of salt from her tears, of sugar from the frosting, of heat from her light.

She breaks the kiss, her lips skimming towards my ear.

"You, Kurosaki Ichigo, will be a successful man in whatever profession you choose, with friends and family who admire and love you. You will do great things. You will fight and protect and love and curse and laugh and grow. You will be a wonderful man, a good man, a kind man. You will be the man that I'd fall in love with, in any lifetime, in any universe, in any timeline, over and over again. You will be the love of my existence. With you, Kurosaki Ichigo, I'll be happy. That I know for sure."

I suck in a large breath and release it shakily as my fingers tangle in her hair, my nose cradled in her neck. I hold her tight against me.

It would be so easy to ask right now. With her words, I could feel my own start to form in my head as they were already formed in my heart. It'd be so easy to ask her to marry me, but I swallow the impulse. Because when I do ask her, it should be perfect. It should be planned, and it should be memorable so she could have a beautiful story to recount and relive in her memories. It should be spectacular. It should be as unworldly as she is.

So instead, I place her gently back to the ground. I wipe her tears. I give her a brief kiss before I softly urge her to continue working on her cake before turning around, only to bump against her shield. Before I can question her, her arms wrap around me. I try to turn, but I stop short when small hands begin pulling at my belt.

And with my forehead pressed against her golden shield, I watch as a hand disappears under my shirt while the other wanders below my waistband.

"You are," I shudder as her hands press lightly into my flesh, "so mean."

She chuckles.

"I am," she agrees before her hands rub over me, trying to soothe me in ways only she could.