"Heavier Than Heaven"

Pairings Ichigo/Orihime

Disclaimer Bleach was created by the wonderful and talented Tite Kubo. Please don't sue me, I'm an extremely broke college student with only dryer lint and a penny to my name.

Author's Note Hi everyone! I know there's probably thousands of Tanabata stories for Bleach, but as Tanabata/Qi Xi have a special meaning for me, I really wanted to do my own version. I'll try my hardest to make it unique, but I apologize if there's anything similar. As I noted in my other Bleach story, I haven't been reading a lot of Bleach fanfics until recently.

This takes place about a couple months after the end of the Fullbring arc. I haven't started to read anything in the Thousand Year Blood War arc yet, so yeah. Thank you to everyone for reading ^_^ ~Koete

Chapter One - "End of the Precious Nakama? Orihime's Loneliness"

She could feel her heart racing in her chest. She swore she heard it pounding against the bed mat beneath her, the sound thundering in her ears as the slow blush crept up her cheeks. Placing her hands over her stomach, she tried to breathe, slowly and easily, in an effort to ease her erratic pulse, but to no avail.

Fidgeting and rocking slightly in the white cotton sheets, Orihime pulled a heavy blanket over her head, her breath quickening and heating the air around her face, adding to the already fiery blush.

She only had three days. She had to ask him…

But what if he refused? The fear was paralyzing.

She'd tried asking him at school earlier, but as soon as she saw him, she choked on her words until she'd fallen over herself and ran away, never quite able to tell him how she really felt. It was always the same.

Sighing to herself, Orihime rolled over onto her side, gripping the bed sheets and gluing her eyes shut against the tears that were threatening to escape, the fear and hopelessness rising like acid in her throat.

With all that had happened, Orihime had known it was never really the proper time to dump her feelings onto Ichigo. And even when she tried, she was too scared. But with Aizen subdued and Ginjo dead, and the Soul Society at relative peace, their lives had slowly begun to return to normal- or rather as normal as it could get for them. While they still shared the occasional meeting with Sado and Uryu, and of course the usual visits to Urahara's shop, for the most part they'd all gone their separate ways, bogged down by their work and school. The thought sparked a dull ache in Orihime's chest. With their time together becoming less and less, Orihime had to wonder if their battles for the Soul Society had been the only glue truly keeping them together. After all, before those fateful days where they all came together to save Rukia, she was just a nobody Ichigo ran into occasionally at school.

And yet he'd become the single biggest reckoning force in her life. He'd taught her how to be strong, given her a purpose, given her the power to protect her loved ones. He'd saved her in all the ways a person could be saved, and though she wasn't delusional enough to think they had some special celestial bond, she felt honored and special to even be part of his life. Clutching tightly to her pillow, the tears finally spilled over from her dark silver eyes, dampening her hair and darkening the fabric of the pillowcase. While Orihime knew she may never be with him the way she wanted, the thought of life without him at all made the dull ache ebb into a sharp, knife-like pain, sticking straight into her heart.

"Kurosaki-kun…" she whispered, the phantom of him everywhere around her and nowhere.

Unable to fall asleep, she sat up, rubbing at her eyes which began to sting with a salty burn, wiping away at her tear-stained cheeks. Rising, she moved to the sink for a drink of water, the coolness soothing the sandpaper feeling in her throat. Always graceful, she knocked the special bag of cookies over, the loose ribbon untying as several star shaped, smile faced cookies came falling out of the colorful red paper.

Frantically she began to scoop them up back into the paper bag, sighing sadly that a few of the star points had fallen off. Orihime had worked really hard on them, carefully crafting them so she could use them to ask Ichigo to the Tanabata festival. She'd wanted to make them into her special eggplant jelly, bean curd and rice cake cookies, but when she ran the idea by Tatsuki, the other girl simply blinked at her, going pale and sweatdropping before pulling Orihime aside to a computer and looking up a "normal" cookie recipe for her. After printing one out, Tatsuki shoved the paper into her friend's hand and sighed as she sat on the desk behind her, giving Orihime an admonishing stare.

'You're trying to win his heart, not eat his insides with acid.'

Funny, Orihime always thought her cookies were really good. Matsumoto had downed them like water with her sake, so she'd thought maybe Ichigo would like them too. But there was no room for error if she wanted to win Ichigo's heart, so she decided to take her best friend's word for it. After all, Tatsuki was trying extra hard to help Ichigo see Orihime's feelings. Orihime had wanted to ask about other ways to maybe get him to see her, but Ichigo had come bursting into the room, looking for Tatsuki. Tatsuki had asked him to help her practice for one of her sparing matches, and told him to meet her here (and yet, it was so strange she thought, why would they have a sparring match in the middle of a classroom?). Orihime felt a small pang of disappointment that it hadn't been her he was looking for. Why would he? She was just a friend, no special reason to seek her out. So when Ichigo said hi, all Orihime could do was give him a small smile, swaying nervously in place while he was talking to Tatsuki. She would've thought with all they'd been through, talking to him like a normal person would've become a lot easier.

Apparently her look of misery was a little more obvious than she would have liked because Tatsuki began to discreetly elbow her, grinning with a sly smile. Orihime must have looked horrified because Ichigo looked…concerned for her? It made her heart soar, the way those beautiful amber eyes looked at her.

'Didn't you have something you wanted to ask Ichigo, Orihime?'

Orihime remembered just how silly her nervous laughter must've sounded and how red she must have been since Tatsuki and Ichigo were staring at her as if she'd sprouted another head. 'I uh…nevermind, silly me, I must've forgotten… but I gotta go… I got uh…baking lessons! Yeah! That's right! I totally forgot! We're making these cookies!' A wave of pure embarrassment fell over her as Orihime remembered how she'd practically shoved the freshly printed cookie recipe in Ichigo's face before nearly knocking him down to get out of the room. Always the same story…always too terrified to say her feelings out loud.

Retying the gold ribbon around the bag, she clutched it to her chest as her heart once again began pounding with nerves, her other hand gripping the counter tightly. Wiping away at the stray tears in her eyes, she set the bag of cookies next to her school bag, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. A heavy sigh escaped Orihime's lips as she plopped back down on her makeshift bed. Pulling the pillows over her head and letting out a helpless moan, Orihime quickly fell into a light sleep, unaware of the nebulous figure that had appeared outside her window.

'I finally found you… my Princess…'

…

For hours he watched her, the moon shifting in the sky's cradle as the hours passed. Drenched in the moonlight, he could not take his eyes off her. She was finally in front of him again, thousands of years of searching at last coming to fruition. Raising his hand to the window, he stared longingly at the red haired girl within, tossing and turning as she curled up in the sheets.

"We can finally be together again… my Orihime. I will take you away from this place, I promise you. These mortals will all come to death… you have suffered so much… I will make them all pay, I swear it! Especially… him!"

The man removed his hand from the window as it formed into a clenched fist, the leather glove encasing it tightening painfully, tearing into his skin as blood began dripping from inside. "He took you away from me, came between us… brainwashed you, to the point you took your own life because you could not bear to be away from him! He did not care that you loved him so! He stood idly by and let you die! You gave him your heart and he threw it away and stepped on it!" he raged, his captive audience still sleeping soundly inside.

"I promise you my love… we will be together again. We'll deal with these spineless mortals, and then we'll take our vengeance on your so-called family that foolishly thought they could keep us apart! And when I sit on the throne of Heaven, no one will be able to stand in our way! And you will finally have all the happiness you deserve!"

The chain that had been wrapped around his lower arm began to glow an eerie red, forming itself into a long, black snake that hissed as it began to slide off his arm. Slithering through the glass as if it were nothing but water, the snake moved slowly across the wooden floor, silent and venomous. Wrapping itself around Orihime's leg, it briefly tightened before sinking its long fangs into her ankle. Wincing in her sleep, Orihime let out a small whimper, but did not open her eyes as her body began to shiver. Recoiling, the snake vanished through the window, wrapping itself back around the man's arm before reforming into a chain.

He smiled. "It won't be long now. Wait for me." He said quietly before fading away, the sun beginning to streak the sky with color.

…

"Orihime? Hey are you awake in there? Wake up Orihime!"

Groaning, Orihime's eyes slowly opened, closing briefly in pain as sunlight flooded her vision. The banging of the door pounded in her ear heavily, the throbbing in her head beat in tandem. Yawning, Orihime peeled her eyes away from the hot, white light, the aftershock sending colors dancing across her eyesight.

"Come on Orihime! This isn't funny!" the voice behind the door called, louder and more insistent. Jolting upright, Orihime clumsily made her way to her feet as she bolted for the door. "S-sorry Tatsuki-chan! I'm coming! A-Ahhh!" Orihime cried as she lost her balance, pain radiating up her leg from her ankle as she fell to the floor with a hard thud.

Worried, Tatsuki burst through the door, sending the wooden panel tumbling to its doom with a hard kick. "Orihime, are you okay? I heard a loud crash!" she spoke, blinking in surprise as she'd expected to come face to face with her friend, only to see no one in front of her. "Hey! Where'd you go?"

"Eh heh… down here." Orihime spoke, laughing nervously, her hair wrapping around her messily, aqua colored pajamas disheveled from the fall and wrinkled from restless sleep.

Crouching down, Tatsuki offered her hand to her fallen friend. "Come on Orihime, we're late for school! I've been trying to wake you up for an hour! It's already nine AM! Don't tell me you're skipping just because you don't wanna confront Ichigo."

Staring blankly at the black haired girl, Orihime's eyes widened as panic set in. "Ahhh! I'm late!" she cried, flinging herself off the floor and throwing herself into the other room, dressing in her grey school uniform in record speed.

"Ouch!" Orihime whimpered, rubbing her ankle gingerly as she hopelessly tried to pull a sock over the wound. Breathing as the pain slowly ebbed, she eyed the mark she found there curiously. "How strange…" she breathed.

"What's wrong?" Tatsuki asked, poking her head into the room, moving quickly to Orihime's side at seeing the girl's look of distress.

"This marking…" Orihime said, "I don't even remember how I got it. I guess I must've fell and hit it on something."

Tensing, Tatsuki inspected it, a shiver running down her spine at the darkness she could feel radiating from it. 'This looks like…but that's impossible…why would he be here? Unless…'

Orihime shook Tatsuki's shoulder in alarm, the look on Tatsuki's face unnerving her. "H-hey… what's wrong Tatsuki-chan? It's just from a fall. You know me!" she tried laughing it off, but it did nothing to relieve Tatsuki's tension.

"Orihime… please promise me no matter what, you won't go anywhere alone for awhile alright?"

"But… but why? It's really not that serious!"

Tatsuki grabbed Orihime by the shoulders, Orihime taken aback by Tatsuki's intensity. "Just do it!" Tasuki screamed, more fiercely than she had intended, softening at Orihime's fearful look. "Please. For me."

Nodding, Orihime pulled away from her, lifting her school bag off the chair beside her. "I promise." she said, barely above a whisper.

Still uneasy, Tatsuki rose and walked out of the apartment, lost in thought, Orihime trailing behind her. They continued wordlessly as they rushed towards the school.

'Hikoboshi… I knew you'd return someday. I just never thought it would be this soon.'Sighing sadly, Tatsuki threw a solemn glance in Orihime's direction. 'Looks like Orihime and Ichigo won't be able to meet in this life either…'

…

The ten o'clock bell began to chime as Orihime burst through the school doors, breathless and panting. As she approached her classroom door, she stumbled to the ground, her ankle throbbing in pain as she limped on it, Tatsuki having disappeared somewhere after they'd gotten to the front door. Sighing in relief, Orihime rested with her back against the wall, chest heaving as her lungs flooded with oxygen. It was nearly lunch time and Orihime prayed that no one noticed her absence, hoping to sneak into class when it was over. A wave of exhaustion overcame her as she laid her head back, closing her eyes as dizziness set in.

'Orihime…'

The voice was distant and soft, as if she was hearing someone from underwater. Weakly opening her eyes, she stared out the window across the hall, into the bright sun. "Who's there?"

'Come with me, Orihime.' The voice started again as her vision began to blur with tears, her body suddenly too weak to move. Through the misty haze she could vaguely make out a black shadow figure behind the glass, hand outstretched to her as if beckoning. 'Come with me my love. We'll leave this place, we'll be happy.'

Orihime closed her eyes, unable to concentrate. "But where are we going…?"

'Somewhere you will never have to suffer again.'

Smiling softly, Orihime weakly lifted her arm, hand outstretched to meet the figure's. "Sure…I'll go anywhere with you… Kurosaki-kun…" she whispered.

Feeling the figure's hand close around her own, she gasped in pain as she felt the tightening pressure. 'What are you talking about? Orihime… please don't tell me… your heart has already been stolen? I've waited so long to see you again…you… you've betrayed me again! Why would you betray me! Why am I never good enough for you?' The voice roared angrily, Orihime crying out in pain, feeling her bones crushing under the strain of the grip. "But… Kurosaki-kun… I don't understand… my heart's always belonged to you… I would never betray you ever…."

'Shut up!' the voice screamed, blooming into full blown rage, 'You don't even remember me… how could you forget me Orihime? How could you forget your promise!'

Feeling a hand clasp around her neck, Orihime struggled for breath, grabbing the arm that pinned her in place, her body still weak and fading fast. "Please…you're hurting me…" Reaching for the collar of her uniform, her heart sank as she realized she'd forgotten the Shun Shun Rikka in her earlier rush.

'Why did you betray me?'

'Inoue…Inoue wake up! Come back!'

"Kurosaki-kun… help me… I don't know what's happening…"

'Can you hear me Inoue? Wake up!'

'I won't let him take you again!'

"Kurosaki-kun… please don't leave me… help me..." she pleaded one last time before the void overcame her.

…

"Inoue… are you alright?"

Eyes slowly fluttering open, Orihime woke to a sea of pastel blue, settings she recognized as the school nurse's office. A soft glow illuminated the small space, the door ajar just enough to let light into the dim room, shades drawn tightly shut. To her left sat Ichigo, a soft look instantly sending her heart into a flurry. She swore that one day her heart would leap out of her chest and send her straight to her demise. It would be a death she'd never regret. "Kurosaki-kun..."

"I found you outside class, you were out cold. Sounded like you were having a nightmare."

Bolting upright, Orihime quickly scanned the room, memories rushing back to her, ignoring the protesting ache from her muscles. "Where is he…?"

Blinking in confusion, Ichigo stared at her, concern replacing the stoicism. "No one's here but us Inoue. You're safe."

"Oh… I guess I only dreamed it." She breathed, uncertainty tainting her words, shaking her head as if trying to erase. She wasn't sure what it all meant yet, but she didn't want Ichigo to worry for her, especially if it was only her wild imagination. Looking back at him, she gave Ichigo a gentle smile. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"Yeah. Sure." Rising, Ichigo made for the door. "You gonna be okay?" he asked, reaching out a hand to help her up.

Orihime felt the heat rise in her cheeks, certain she was turning forty shades of scarlet, as the heat spread to her stomach, a spark of fire. "I…I uhm…" she stuttered, placing her hand shakily in his. "I th-think so." She finished, meekly, allowing him to pull her upright, praying he couldn't feel her nerves.

Satisfied, Ichigo nodded, pulling the door open. Orihime felt her stomach do a backflip, a lump forming in her throat. It was so rare she got to see him anymore- if she let him walk out the door… she feared he might forget her yet again, some irrational part of her morphing the door into a metaphor for her life. Such a trivial thing, yet so terrifying.

"Alright. Be careful, Inoue. Don't push yourself." Ichigo waved, turning away from her.

Panicked, Orhime's heart thundered in her chest as she grasped at something- anything!- that would be an excuse to keep him there in the moment. Frantically looking around the room, she noticed a stray ice pack left unattended on the counter when suddenly, it hit her- her injured ankle. Swallowing hard, Orihime faked a pained gasp as she threw herself on the floor, crying out a strangled "Ow!" as loud as she could muster, hopefully enough to where Ichigo could hear down the hall. She could instantly hear the urgent march of distinctly male footsteps making their way towards her, her heart leaping in knowing she'd succeeded.

'I can't believe I'm doing this…' Orihime scolded herself, the understanding of what she was doing finally sinking in. Moving to push herself off the floor, Orihime had no sooner decided it was a bad idea after all when Ichigo once again appeared in the doorway, rushing to her side. "Inoue? What's wrong?" he asked, grabbing her hand to help her up, allowing her to sit down on the bed.

Blush deepening, Orihime realized that it was too late to go back now. She might be afraid to be around him in personal situations, but the fear of looking like a fool in front of him was decidedly worse. "I- I forgot. I hurt my ankle earlier. I don't think I can walk," she lied, praying that it wouldn't be horribly obvious she could, given that she'd managed to get to school just fine.

Reaching for the abandoned ice pack on the counter, Ichigo gently pulled the sock down over her ankle, pressing plastic against tender skin, inhaling sharply as he ran his fingers over the puncture wound. "Inoue… how did this happen?"

Smile melting away, Orihime shrugged at him. "I… I'm not really sure. I woke up with it this morning. Tatsuki-chan seemed kinda worried about it though. It is kinda strange, I don't remember a thing about it."

Eyes hardening, Ichigo could feel the darkness flowing from the markings. A feeling of nausea overcame him as his own inner darkness, a part of himself he'd thought was lost and forgotten, began to claw away at his stomach. A part of himself that had saved his life and his loved ones lives many times, a part he had been thankful for but hadn't been sad when it vanished in the Final Getsuga. It was instinct, primal and raw, as Ichigo ripped his hand away, Orihime leaning forward to put her hand on his arm, her voice noticeably scared. "Kurosaki-kun… you're so pale… what's wrong?"

Shaking, Ichigo shook his head, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. Turning to her, he flashed her his famous cocky smile, though it did not instill her with confidence as it would have in the past. It only served to tighten the knot of worry further as it was unlike Ichigo to be this visibly distressed. "Yeah. It's nothing. I'll walk you home."

Moment forgotten, the blush returned in all its glory, Orihime's face lighting up like a stop signal. "Eh…heh heh that's okay, really, you don't have to- EEK" she fumbled, a squeak escaping as Ichigo lifted her into his arms.

Orihime's heart stopped dead, momentarily forgetting what air was and that it was vital to living. She could hear Ichigo's heartbeat, feel the warmth of his skin… she couldn't even remember what had been so urgent, only how wonderful and safe and protected she felt in his embrace. Orihime leaned into him, her head resting on his chest, nerves dormant as she watched the sunset, other students walking home beside them. Closing her eyes, she smiled, thanking whatever deity was out there for giving her at least this one moment with him.

"Kurosaki-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Please review and let me know what you think! :)