01 September 2007

Starry: I'm here bringing you all another story! This one is going to be two chapters long! The pairing is Ichigo x Orihime so if you don't like these two, then don't read this.

This story was inspired by the song called The Garden of Everything. I have no idea why seeing as that song doesn't really mean anything tragic to me... or is it tragic? Anyways, I listened to that song while I wrote this chapter and that is why the title of this is Here We Are. Another source of inspiration was the Japanese Drama: Proposal Daisakusen and you'll see why:D

WARNINGS: There is character death in this story and some spoilers for the Bleach manga. Seeing as I don't have a beta-reader, this won't be a perfect or really really good fic so please forgive me on that.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, Ichigo or Orihime.

Backward Dreams: Here We Are

"And here is where Orihime-san is resting," Isshin looked away from the gravestone and studied his son.

Ichigo stared at Orihime's engraved name and felt numb but at the same time sadness was bubbling inside as well as anger. "I still don't understand why no one warned her about the flood! This could have been avoided!"

Isshin nodded slightly before turning away to look down at the tombstone. "It was so sudden, Ichigo. Only those who were awake survived."

Ichigo's hand clenched and unclenched, it was clearly visible that Ichigo was upset. More sad than angry, though, and it worried Isshin. The last time he'd seen him like this was when Orihime had been taken as a hostage to Hueco Mundo. This was similar, only thing that was different was the fact that he was never going to see her again.

"Perhaps it's time we left this-"

Ichigo didn't let his father finish. "I could have saved her! If I had been here, Inoue would still be here."

The elder Kurosaki frowned. There he was again, blaming himself. "Ichigo, it's not your fault! Stop blaming yourself for unavoidable things! No one knew this would happen. It just happened!" By now, Isshin had his hands on his son's shoulders. "Listen to me, blaming yourself will do nothing." He paused, searching for the right words. "At least be content that she died like this instead of something worse."

Ichigo glared up at his father. "Don't say that! Inoue didn't deserve this! She was young and full of life… now she's here under ground with her eyes closed to the world. That's not what she's supposed to be doing."

Isshin stared at his son and realized how his son felt for this woman. He understood and just shook his head. "I'll be waiting at home. Take your time." He patted Ichigo's shoulder and walked away, glancing back one last time. "You're heart will be forever scarred, but there is nothing you can do but accept what life throws at you." With hands in his pockets, Isshin walked away and left his son with the eternally sleeping princess.

"So here we are…" The only reply he got was the rustling of the leaves due to the wind. Ichigo kept his gaze on her name and thought of nothing but the memory of her smiling face. "Tch, I should have never left. Inoue, would you have accepted my marriage proposal if I would have stayed?" Ichigo felt his cheeks grow warm after he said this. "I only realized how much you meant to me when you were out of my life."

Ichigo stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged, because that was all he could think of doing since he was hurting so much right now. "I'm sorry, Inoue. I'm sorry for not saving you. If I could, I'd turn back time and stop this from happening."

The wind blew and the sound of rusting leaves got louder, but Ichigo didn't seem to mind or care. He could feel his sadness begin to take over more and more.

"I once had a dream, of you confessing that you loved me." His gaze now moved to the solitary white flower that he'd placed on top of her name when he arrived. "You don't know how hard my heart was beating when I woke up from it." That had been right before Toushiro-kun had come in to tell him about the Inoue in Hueco Mundo situation.

He sighed, his attention suddenly moving up to the clear blue sky above him. "They're happy to have you up there with them. Bastards," he shook his head, his eyes suddenly tearing up. "I'd do anything to go back and save you from this tragedy. Death doesn't deserve you…"

The wind blew and Ichigo felt as though a hand was caressing him but he pushed it away thinking of it being his imagination.

--

Ichigo opened the door to his childhood home and stepped in, waiting for his father to jump out of nowhere and kick him in the face. Three seconds had already passed and no sign of his father OR his sisters. Ichigo guessed the girls hadn't returned from school yet and his father was out doing errands. He walked in and closed the door behind him before taking off his shoes and making his way up the stairs to the rooms. The floor and the walls were all stained with what Ichigo guessed were the water marks the flood had left behind.

Three months ago, Karakura Town had been flooded due to the intense rain and the over flowing of the city river. The city had been underwater for half a week and many people had died. Due to that catastrophe, the city's telephone lines had been wrecked and were still being fixed. That was one of the reasons why Ichigo had returned to his childhood hometown, to see if his family was alright. The twenty two year old lived in Los Angeles, California attending the famous UCLA to become a doctor. He'd left his hometown right after graduating high school and hadn't returned until now.

Ichigo would have left Los Angeles the day after the flood happened but the problem was that there had been no flight leaving for Japan until yesterday. The oldest Kurosaki child had taken this opportunity to get on it and see if his family and friends were alright. When he saw his father and sisters, relief had been evident on his face and he'd gone and hugged them saying they were idiots for not trying anything to tell him their well being. Once that was over, Ichigo had asked about his friends and everything had been going well until he asked about Orihime.

Not believing what he'd heard, Ichigo demanded that his father take him where the princess lay sleeping. Angry for this cruel joke, Ichigo did not speak anything until he reached Orihime's resting place. It was true and it was the most painful thing he'd ever felt after his mother's death.

Ichigo entered his old room and made his way over to his bed before lying down on his stomach. Right now, everything seemed so… unreal. For a long time he'd fought Hollows, beat Aizen, killed Ulquiorra and all that seemed real and had been real, but this… Orihime being gone was just too unreal. It was hard to believe it and it frustrated Ichigo because all he wanted to do was look into her eyes and ask if she was okay.

While he was in Los Angeles, Ichigo had finally done some thinking on everything in his life, including his feelings for a particular someone. That affection had always been there but he just never gave it a second thought and never discovered them. As days went by, Ichigo became much confident that when he returned to Karakura Town he'd be able to ask her to marry him and he'd be able to start a new chapter in his life. Of course that was easier said than done because Ichigo just couldn't see himself going up to her and asking her to marry him. What if she didn't feel the same? He'd also have to ask about that dream he had about her confessing to him, but it was probably just a dream, right? Well, he'd just have to talk to her and explain, or at least try to, and spill out his heart to Orihime and then ask her to marry him. The worse that could happen would be her rejecting him and Ichigo going back over seas with a broke heart.

Rolling over, Ichigo stared up at the ceiling and tried his hardest to forget all the memories that were suffocating him. "Here we are," he whispered, "here we are." At that point, his eyelids had become heavy and his mind was drawing a curtain down. Maybe if he slept, he'd wake up and this whole nightmare would be over… So off to dreamland Ichigo went, not taking notice of how his window was slowly being opened by the wind.