A/N: So, this is my first Bleach fanfiction, and honestly, I don't think it's that great. There are no names mentioned, but I think you can take a pretty good guess as to who's 'speaking' in the story. Besides, I think the title pretty much gives it away. :) Well, regardless of how I feel about this, I hope you enjoy! :D

She's reaching out for me, tears falling, hoping desperately that it's not too late, that this is just a nightmare that she'll wake up from soon. Unfortunately, this is all too real. The pain is real; the hurt is real. Most poignant is the agony I feel for failing her. The pain of my failure of her drowns out all the physical pain I feel. Her tears are falling on my face, and my heart clenches even further. Her tears, her pain, is the one thing I could never bear.

I could cut down my foes without blinking and without feeling an inch of remorse, but her tears cause me the most intense grief, pierce my heart surer than any blade possibly could. Seeing her in such a way reminds me of the one other time I've felt this sort of pain before. That cold, snowy day when I walked away from her for good.

If I could redo everything, take away all the things I had ever done to hurt her, I'd never leave. If I knew that this would be the outcome, I would have remained at her side for all of eternity. Everything that I have done, all of my actions up to this point have been for her, because I love her. I love her deeply and truly, and she is the one thing in my life that I could never regret. Finding her was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I just regret that I couldn't give her what she wanted, that things had to happen this way. What I regret the most is that I'm leaving her again. Except, this time, it's final and so very permanent. I wish I could have told her the words. I knew she knew how I felt, but I never said it. I wish I could have one more moment to give her those three most precious words.

I wanted to make things better for her, for us. Instead, I've brought us down a path that, had I known what I know now, would have never began walking down. I should have known that she was happiest when she was by my side. It didn't matter where we were, as long as I was right beside her, she was content.

It's getting harder to breathe now, and I can feel my time in this life, or afterlife, as the case may be, coming to an end. The darkness is creeping closer, and all I want, all I wish I could do is to finally tell her those words, those words that mean so much to her. The words she's always wanted to hear, but I could never bring myself to say. That's all I want, just one last moment. I try to speak, to move but my body is frozen and all the strength that I once had has evaporated. One last breath, and then…

Nothing.

Nothing left, but a whisper on the wind…

I love you, now and always.

A/N: And there you have it! As you can probably tell, I was listening to Torn Apart when I wrote this. It's probably my favorite Bleach theme. (I'm a sucker for emotional music.) Hope you enjoyed!