Author's Note: So I was very inspired by all the Bleach fanfic I have been reading recently to try my hand at some of my own. I had this idea (actually two ideas) pop up in my head and couldn't get them out so I decided to write this story. It will most likely contain the two ideas I had but I don't want to go into it too much for fear of spoilers. However, I love these characters and just wanted to try my hand at something creative. I would like to give a note of thanks to authors XtremeGal87, Rairakku Hana, Voice of the Shadow Realm, Nicole4211, T. Arth, and MistressBlaque for their amazing works which were muses for my creation. This is still a work in progress but I wanted to get the first chapters up. Reviews are welcome, but please be kind/patient as this is my first time writing for these characters so there will be some moments which no doubt are OOC for them or I may have my understanding of events and timelines mixed up because I have not watched all of the series (yet) nor read the manga. Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo.

Waking Up- Chapter 1 – "Two Lives Reflected"

For as long as she could remember Orihime Inoue had been in love with Ichigo Kurosaki. First it was a subtle fascination with his scowling face. She couldn't understand why he was always so serious but she found it endearing somehow. And from there as she continued to cultivate a friendship with him her admiration and devotion deepened to powerful love. They had been through so much together and she had seen even more of the qualities she admired about him come to light. Most prominent was his unending drive to protect those he cared about and she was grateful to be listed among them, particularly when he rescued her from Hueco Mundo. Part of her wished in vain that his actions had been driven by love for her, but she knew this simply was not the case for Ichigo. He would have taken the actions he did for anyone in his inner circle, hell, probably for anyone. That was just that way he was. Being a heroic protector was not just IN his nature, it WAS his nature and that fact drove her love for him all the more, even though she felt fairly strongly that he would never reciprocate her feelings.

Most days she could handle this situation. She would feel that familiar strain in her heart when she would look at him (he oblivious to her stares) while they sat in class and tried to tamp them down again. Now she was simply trying to pay attention to the mundane daily actions of listening to lectures, studying and passing tests all in the efforts to graduate from high school. However, ever since her experience in Hueco Mundo she just did not find this life as stimulating as it was before. Not that she EVER wanted to be in that position again, but the duplicity of their lives (hers, Ichigo, Chad, Uryu) was somehow bothering her more than it had ever done in the past. She couldn't put her finger on why. Sighing quietly she shook her head and forced herself to pull up out of her thoughts and actually pay attention to what was going on in front of her. Two more months and they would be graduating and she would need to figure out what she was going to do from here.

As the end of class bell rang she gathered up her items and started putting them in her bag. Her best friend Tatuksi came up to her and tapped her gently on the head. Orihime lifted her head and made eye contact with her. "Orihime, what's wrong, you looked really distracted during class there for a while, are you feeling ok?" Orihime smiled at her friend's concern. Of course Tatuski would notice her behavior. The small tom-boy had something akin to a sixth sense when it came to the red-head. Orihime smiled and surprised herself by saying, "I was just thinking about my life. How different it is since….well…" she trailed off. By now Tatuksi was very well aware of Orihime's second life; the war with Aizen in Karakura Town made it impossible NOT to know. After all that had come to an end Orihime had come clean with everything to her. She apologized for lying to her through tears after her return from Hueco Mundo. During her confession Tatuksi had simply sat stunned to silence (a rare occurrence for her) and held her friend after she finished. She had stroked her hair and told her she didn't have to apologize but all the same she would say she forgave her because that was what she knew her heart broken friend needed to hear. And Orihime had sighed greatly and hugged her tighter.

Back in the present moment Tatsuki leaned down to meet her eyes to Orihime and said, "What do you mean Orihime; you know you can tell me anything." The red-head smiled and said shakily "It's…it's just that I've been through SO MUCH, we all have, and sometimes I think I've never really taken the time to properly process it. I feel like I've been on auto-pilot just trying to make it through the rest of high school and today it hit me that I don't know how to continue to live two lives. One fairly normal and one so….so…." she trailed off again not sure what word she was looking for. "Strange?" Tatsuki proffered. Both girls paused and then started laughing at the same time. It seemed odd to be able to adequately describe the situation with one simple word.

"What's so funny?" The questioned popped out from someone standing behind Tatsuki and both girls stopped laughing to look at the newcomer. Ichigo was standing looking down at both of them and Orihime had to stop herself from gasping. Sometimes his presence was just overwhelming. It wasn't just that he was tall or handsome. He was powerful. He had been even before his shinigami powers had been released by Rukia during his first true encounter with a Hollow. But now because of her own powers having been awakened Orihime was very aware of his reiatsu, particularly because she was a healer. He was not good at suppressing it and she could sometimes almost be knocked over by it.

Tatsuki stood up and met Ichigo's eyes causing him to take a step back. Orihime smiled at the fact that the tiny woman between them could make such a strong force retreat, even if it was just a step. "Nothing of importance to you, don't worry about it," came the sharp retort. Orihime flinched at her friend's tone. While she appreciated Tatsuki's attempts to protect her it was most times at the cost of causing friction between her and Ichigo, someone who she had been friends with before she had met Orihime. Ichigo, however, had long since gotten used to this behavior from her and merely shrugged his shoulders. "OK, whatever you say." He looked over the tiny brunette to the bashful red-head and said, "I was just heading out and since I have some errands to run by your place I wanted to see if you'd like me to walk you home?"

Orihime could feel Tatsuki tense slightly (she could feel emotions more clearly now with her powers too) and quickly stood up before her friend could say anything. "Of course Kurosaki-kun, thank you!" she said brightly. She turned to her friend and gave her a quick hug saying quietly in her ear, "thank you", before grabbing her bag and following Ichigo out of the room. Tatsuki sighed heavily and hung her head. "If she doesn't either tell him her feelings or move on she is going to keep wrecking herself," she thought and included in her inner dialogue that she simply could not believe how stupid Ichigo was. Nor could she believe that someone, anyone, in the their circle of friends had not said something to him about Orihime's feeling for him. Then again, they all loved and respected her too much to embarrass her like that. They all knew, despite how frustrated and hurt they were for their dear friend, that she had to decide on her own when or if she was going to tell him. Shaking her head she grabbed her own belongings and started for home deciding that she would call Orihime later to check in on her.