Ugh, sorry this took so so long to get out, school and basketball have been insane! I'll try to get more chappies out soon! So sorry for the wait, but thank you all for staying with this story and posting reviews!
Disclaimer : I do not own anything.
Warning : Holocaust violence, mature themes, if you cannot handle, please do not read!
Enjoy and please review!
"Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them"
- George Elliot
Orihime woke to the sound of bitter chatter, and comical laughter. She slowly opened her eyes and wished she hadn't. The train car door slid open and clanged against the wall. She flinched at the loud crack it made. Everyone in the cart stared at the bright light that shone in through the now-open door. Figures stood there, and sudden panic raced through Orihime. She clutched Nel – a small child who had cuddle to her the night before – to her chest and waited for instructions. But when the light finally dimmed, she saw who was standing in front of the cart.
It was the blue-haired man.
Sudden panic and a slight relief flooded into her mind and gut. Was he coming to kill her? Did he come back to finish off what he hadn't before? Did he come to kill the others in the train with her?
She clutched Nel even closer to her.
But as she stared at him, he only looked away, glaring at something in the distance. Orihime wondered if he was missing someone, a girl, perhaps. But at the thought, her chest tightened and she found it rather hard to breathe. She pushed the thought away and shook her head lightly.
"Alright! There have been some delays…" A very high voice rang out. It sounded scary. Almost sadistic. Orihime squinted her eyes to try and figure out what the man looked like. But this was another thing she would regret. As soon as she laid her eyes and the man, he caught her gaze, and an animalistic grin crossed her face as his eyes traveled down to her chest.
And he was not staring at Nel.
Orihime flinched inwardly and cowered into Renji's – a man with strange red hair that she had also met last night – chest. He wrapped an arm around her. For his other arm was wrapped securely around Rukia.
"The train, you see, has broken down." The voice called out, you could hear the smile in it. "You'll be given a bucket of water every three days that we are here. That bucket will be for you to share with the rest of your cart. You will also be given two loaves of bread each day to also share with your cart. Enjoy!"
Orihime felt her eyes sting and she squeezed them shut, wanting to block everything out. She just wanted to go home. She wanted to be back with her mama and papa. She wanted to run around in the park, her hair blowing behind her.
Foolish, she thought to herself, almost scolding herself. This could never happen. Never again.
She flinched as the train door was slammed shut. Toshiro and Momo were gripping her hands, nearly cutting of the circulation. She didn't mind. She hugged Nel close to her as Renji pulled herself and Rukia closer to him. Orihime could feel him shaking, whether it was in rage or in sorrow, she didn't know.
She closed her eyes and tried to drown out the cries of the others.
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Grimmjow sat, hunched over, leaning against his bed, with a cigarette dangling from his lips. He was still shaken up from the flashbacks he had had last night. The flashbacks that were the cause of all of his grief, his anger. And the urge to kill his father.
"Fuck…" He groaned out, pinching the cig out of his mouth and blowing smoke into the frosty air. He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed deeply.
He didn't want to remember those memories, he wanted to forget them, he never wanted to remember her smiling face, her laugh, her beautiful eyes, her moaning underneath him.
No, stop. Stop it.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Grimmjow."
Said man lifted his head and a deep scowl formed on his face as his cerulean eyes fixating on emerald orbs.
"Ulquiorra." He greeted back, his eyes never leaving the man. Ulquiorra had been Grimmjow's enemy – almost friend – since he was a little boy. They had met in their classes of Hitler Youth. Although most would consider them friends, they never saw eye to eye, or agreed on anything for that matter. And somehow they made everything into a challenge.
"I saw you run to the woods the other night. May I ask your reason?" Ulquiorra asked bluntly. He was never one to converse in small talk.
Grimmjow glared at him and rubbed his face again with his hands in frustration.
"No. No you may not 'ask me my reason'." Grimmjow mocked him.
"Do not mock me, fool."
Grimmjow was over to him in a flash, he had him by the collar and pulled him flush to his face.
"Who you callin' a fool, asshole?" He snarled into Ulquiorra's face.
Before Ulquiorra could respond with a blunt, but witty response, a lesser soldier popped his head into to tent, completely ignoring the state that the two young boys were in.
"Captain Aizen said that it is your round tonight, Grimmjow." With a quick salute, he left the tent. Grimmjow snarled under his breath and let Ulquiorra on the ground.
"We may not like each other, but I do not hate you." Ulquiorra stated as Grimmjow marched out of the tent. The blue haired man frowned at the Bat over his shoulder. He looked at the man – his borderline friend – and realized that in fact, they were just like brothers. Always fighting, but closer than two people could get.
Although he would never tell Ulquiorra that.
"We'll finish this later, Bat."
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Orihime didn't know what time it was, but it felt as if hours had passed. Nel was still cradled in her arms, fast asleep, and the bodies around her were starting to, one by one, fall into a deep sleep.
She leaned her head back onto the scratchy wood and closed her eyes. It smelled horrible in here, and the tiny piece of bread that she had been given did not give her the energy she was used to having. She wished she was back in the ghetto. Hmm. Strange, she thought, how I long to go back to the one place I truly hate.
She opened her eyes a slit and found Sora on the other side of the cart, telling a story to some of the younger children. He was coughing, and Orihime prayed that he wasn't getting sick.
But she couldn't help the smile that came to her lips as all of the children stared up at him in awe, as the intently listened to his story about dragons, princess and princes.
Nel stirred in her arms and Orihime hushed her back into a calm sleep. Leaning her head back once again to rest against the wood, Orihime found her body relaxing, and falling into sleep.
"Orihime…..y-y-you look….beautiful" His cheeks burned scarlet as she looked at him. She giggled, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth, not wanting to be rude.
"You look very handsome as well." She told him, a blush finding its way to her cheeks. The orange haired man simply grabbed her hand and dragged her forward, into the busy streets of the festival.
She couldn't help but marvel at how their hands touched. The man she loved was holding her hand. Inside her head, she was squealing with joy like a young girl would do if she had met someone famous.
It was the annual festival to celebrate the Rosh Hashanah – the celebration of the New Year. This festival would include dances, lights, music, and – Orihime's favorite part – excellent food. And of course, it was a time where she could fit into a beautiful dress her brother had bought her for the occasion.
The couple walked around, smiles never leaving their faces, as they laughed at each other's jokes, ate far too much food, and danced while the moonlight shone over their heads. All was good, perfect, until a loud voice sounded out.
"Polizei, das ist die Polizei! Bleiben wo sei sind!" (Police, this is the Police! Stay where you are!)
Orihime looked up from Ichigo's chest, worry creasing her brow. She looked up at her lover with concern. His face was contorted with panic and worry.
"Ichigo….?" She murmured. He looked down at her, his chocolate brown eyes wide as dinner plates. He took her hand and all at once, everyone started running. Fleeing. Waving around like chickens with their heads cut off. Ichigo was pulling Orihime along, trying to get into the forest.
She tried to keep a hold on his hand, she did, but someone bumped into her and she fell, Ichigo's hand falling away from hers. She tried to get up, but she was always pushed down.
"Orihime!?" She heard his voice call for her, but she could not see his beautiful, strange, orange hair.
"Ichigo?" Her voice was growing into hysterics. "Ichigo! Ichigo!"
"Orihime! Answer me, damn it!"
"Ichigo!" She cried, pushing herself on her wobbly feet, but was knocked down as a man ran straight into her.
"Orihime! Please! Orihime!"
All the while, the Germans shouted, people screamed.
It was wild. But it grew so out of hand and frantic as a gunshot rung in Orihime's ears.
Still kneeling painfully on the ground, she looked over her shoulder and saw a man's body laying in a pool of blood.
She screamed.
"Orihime!"
Strong arms pulled her up by her armpits. Still in shock, she clung to the man with familiar scent. She stared at the dead man as the orange haired man ran with her in his arms.
Another gun shot sounded out and the two lovers flinched, Orihime digging her face into Ichigo's strong shoulder.
Gunshots rang out endlessly, screams, cries; everywhere.
Germans.
What had they done wrong to deserve this? Orihime thought viciously, letting the sobs wrack her body.
But then a sudden thought overwhelmed her.
Sora.
Sora!
She pushed against Ichigo, "We have to get….we have to find Sora! Please!" She shrieked at him, hysteria controlling her emotions.
"We are not going back there! We can't we'll be shot!" He screamed back at her, never stopping his pace. Orihime struggled in his arms. She wasn't thinking rationally, she didn't care what was back there, she had to get her brother. The only family she had left. That was all that mattered now.
"Let…me….down!" She squirmed in her lover's hold, but he held firm.
He couldn't loose her. Not now.
"No. We have to get into the forest."
"Not without…Sora!" She yelled, still struggling, and their momentum took the two young lovers tumbling onto the ground. They rolled, hitting rocks, hitting stubs of left-over bushes. Ichigo clung to Orihime, and she wouldn't let go of his torso.
The tumbled, flipped, until they came crashing into the river below them.
The current was strong, strong enough to tear Ichigo from Orihime's grasp. The current pushed her underwater, but when she resurfaced, she could not spot the orange haired man she so dearly loved.
"Ichigo!"
The water rolled her over, like some sort of rag doll.
"Ichigo!" She spluttered as she gulped in air.
"Orihime!"
She looked around frantically and saw orange hair bobbing towards her.
"Ichigo! Ichigo!"
"Orihime, grab my hand!"
She tried, oh did she try, but the water pulled her down.
"Ichigo!" She screamed as water filled her lungs.
"Orihime!"
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"Orihime! Orihime!"
Her gray orbs snapped open as someone was shaking her. She felt the tears stream down her face as she was pressed into a warm chest.
She couldn't hear anything but the rushing of the water and her former lover's scream as her brother and the others tried to sooth her.
Nothing but the final look on his face stretched across her vision as she cried like the day she found out he had died.
Please review and hope you enjoyed!