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Entry tags:
Won't You Wake Me Up From This?
WHO: Orihime Inoue, OPEN
WHAT: Orihime undergoes the long process of recovery. Mild spoilers for the end of the raid on Lucifer's mansion.
WHEN: Any time after September 14th, just pick a date and put it in the subject line! Anything before today is unlikely to get a response from her, so if you want a nice big rambling one shot, choose that for your date.
WHERE: SPOILERS IN WHITE TEXT! The Hospital
NOTES: Physical healing powers are okay! Mental healing is also okay, though it would take a long period of rehibilitation to have a positive effect.
September 14th - September 30th
The hospital room is quiet. A soft, steady beep marks the quiet throb of Orihime's pulse. She sleeps deeply, unmoving save for the slow rise and fall of her chest. Her fingers never twitch. Her lashes never flutter.
If there was one good thing to come from this, it's the chance to sleep without the threat of nightmares to plague her rest. The days pass, unnoticed, while Orihime's body, mind, and soul tried to piece itself together. The Aeon had intertwined itself so tightly with her very being, both physically and mentally, that it had ripped out metaphysical chunks when it finally separated from its captive host. She'd lost a great deal of blood, and for the first week, she's pale and battered. The doctors aren't even certain she'll survive, but there's hope, and fairly decent odds that she'll pull through.
The color in her cheeks does return in time, and her vital records show improvement even if the change is very slow. There's no longer any uncertainty as to the matter of her survival...just whether she'll awaken or not.
The doctors allow visitors, albeit somewhat reluctantly, with a warning that Orihime might not respond to them. They're not sure if she can hear people or not in her condition, but for those who really want to talk to her, they're free to make the attempt.
October 1st - October 11th
She was awake, but quiet. Obedient, she did everything the doctors told her to do, and ate what they put in front of her. Now that Orihime was conscious, she understood at last what had happened to her, and how it had come to pass. She knew she wasn't directly responsible for the Aeon's survival and transfer into Genessia, but she couldn't help feeling guilty anyway. It had been so easy to manipulate her like a puppet. If she really HAD been killed, the creature might have perished. This was why it had taunted her, egging her to lose her life, just so she would defy its demands and preserve the both of them.
But then again, dying might have done nothing to purge the twisted creature, and only Orihime would emerge by paying a price and losing some part of herself.
The worst part was the lingering regret over Adam. He didn't hate her for what happened, but she owed him nonetheless. He'd died, and lost something important to him just for the privilege of living again. If she hadn't been in his life, that wouldn't have happened. She was responsible for that missing piece.
She would have to try very hard to pursue the charms, she decided, if only to give back what she stole.
Suddenly she felt someone drawing close. Orihime sat up a little straighter, shaking off the gloom. As pensive and brooding as she was, she had to admit, visitors made her pretty happy. She knew she had to stop moping and get back on her feet, but there was still a lot of healing to do, and amends to make.
WHAT: Orihime undergoes the long process of recovery. Mild spoilers for the end of the raid on Lucifer's mansion.
WHEN: Any time after September 14th, just pick a date and put it in the subject line! Anything before today is unlikely to get a response from her, so if you want a nice big rambling one shot, choose that for your date.
WHERE: SPOILERS IN WHITE TEXT! The Hospital
NOTES: Physical healing powers are okay! Mental healing is also okay, though it would take a long period of rehibilitation to have a positive effect.
September 14th - September 30th
The hospital room is quiet. A soft, steady beep marks the quiet throb of Orihime's pulse. She sleeps deeply, unmoving save for the slow rise and fall of her chest. Her fingers never twitch. Her lashes never flutter.
If there was one good thing to come from this, it's the chance to sleep without the threat of nightmares to plague her rest. The days pass, unnoticed, while Orihime's body, mind, and soul tried to piece itself together. The Aeon had intertwined itself so tightly with her very being, both physically and mentally, that it had ripped out metaphysical chunks when it finally separated from its captive host. She'd lost a great deal of blood, and for the first week, she's pale and battered. The doctors aren't even certain she'll survive, but there's hope, and fairly decent odds that she'll pull through.
The color in her cheeks does return in time, and her vital records show improvement even if the change is very slow. There's no longer any uncertainty as to the matter of her survival...just whether she'll awaken or not.
The doctors allow visitors, albeit somewhat reluctantly, with a warning that Orihime might not respond to them. They're not sure if she can hear people or not in her condition, but for those who really want to talk to her, they're free to make the attempt.
October 1st - October 11th
She was awake, but quiet. Obedient, she did everything the doctors told her to do, and ate what they put in front of her. Now that Orihime was conscious, she understood at last what had happened to her, and how it had come to pass. She knew she wasn't directly responsible for the Aeon's survival and transfer into Genessia, but she couldn't help feeling guilty anyway. It had been so easy to manipulate her like a puppet. If she really HAD been killed, the creature might have perished. This was why it had taunted her, egging her to lose her life, just so she would defy its demands and preserve the both of them.
But then again, dying might have done nothing to purge the twisted creature, and only Orihime would emerge by paying a price and losing some part of herself.
The worst part was the lingering regret over Adam. He didn't hate her for what happened, but she owed him nonetheless. He'd died, and lost something important to him just for the privilege of living again. If she hadn't been in his life, that wouldn't have happened. She was responsible for that missing piece.
She would have to try very hard to pursue the charms, she decided, if only to give back what she stole.
Suddenly she felt someone drawing close. Orihime sat up a little straighter, shaking off the gloom. As pensive and brooding as she was, she had to admit, visitors made her pretty happy. She knew she had to stop moping and get back on her feet, but there was still a lot of healing to do, and amends to make.
no subject
[Orihime looks up quickly.]
I know you could. ...Which is why I didn't ask you. You shouldn't have to carry a burden like that, not twice.
[She shakes her head. There was no way in a thousand years she'd force Rukia to relive her experience with Kaien. She frowns down at her knees again, clutching the blanket beneath her fingers.]
So...that's why I couldn't. I was with someone who wouldn't feel remorse if it came to something drastic.
no subject
Fool! If I tell you to come with me when you have a problem, I mean it! Your burden is mine, and I will help you carry it, not take it on entirely.... so you don't have to worry!
no subject
[Her eyes water with the shock more than the pain as she holds her free hand up to her brow.]
Friends don't ask friends to kill them! You wouldn't ever ask me to do something like that, Kuchiki-san!
[Or would she?
fiddles with phone]no subject
No, I wouldn't ask you to do that- but it's my job both as your friend and a shinigami to protect you! I know that what I did to Kaien-dono previously haunted me forever, but that was because I had also failed to protect him too! In the end, he was nothing more than a foul monster that I had to destroy, as much as it pained me to do! I have already accepted that, even though the pain in my heart over him will never stop hurting!
I never want you to end up the same way-! Don't try and take on everything on your own, don't try and run away, friends are here to help you and figure it out together!
no subject
But...I killed my friend...my shield ripped open every injury he'd ever had, and it killed him.
[He'd forgiven her, and come back to get her. That kind of compassion had given her enough strength to fight back and purge the thing out of her body in one last desperate bid to break free from its control, but it doesn't change the fact that his blood is on her hands.]
A-ah ha ha, I'm sorry. You're right. I should have relied on you.
no subject
[she had a feeling this friend of hers wouldn't think she could do something like that on purpose. this was inoue, her friend that was just so caring, she couldn't hurt someone that she considered to be a friend.]
But enough of that... [rukia turned, grabbed a chair, and she sat down in it as she crossed her arms.] You just need to rest now.
no subject
Thank you...
[She smiles a little.]
For sticking with me.
[Orihime knows the fight with the creature isn't over yet, but it wasn't fully formed when it got kicked out. It probably won't be showing up for a while.]
no subject
[like trying to save her from soul society, when she definitely didn't have to do that.]
no subject
[Orihime relaxes, her smile warmer and less ahhhhhIambeingdevouredbyguilt-y.]
We haven't really had a chance to talk about lighter things since you came here, have we? What do you think of the city so far? Have you met anyone nice?
no subject
I didn't take one home, but I should have, actually.
[how's that for light talk?]
no subject
[It's pretty adorable. Well...if Rukia hasn't decided to get one by the time her birthday rolls around, that's totally what Orihime will buy for her.]
What's your favorite kind and color?
no subject
[she always draws the white bunnies...]
no subject
I like the wild brown ones with the short ears. They look so alert and cute!
no subject
The ones with the long pointed ears are the best, if you ask me! However, I have wanted to pet a floppy eared one before, they seem to be the most cuddly.
no subject
[She would have thought the pet store would be chock full of rabbits like that.]
Come to think of it...are there rabbits in Soul Society? I know there are boars, but I haven't seen many other kinds of animals.
no subject
no subject
[That's kind of nice to know! She does wonder how long people stay, though, before moving on. The kid they'd first met claimed to have been there since World War II, so...perhaps a couple of decades, give or take?]
That reminds me. Kuchiki-san, have you been to the Soul Society gateway yet?
no subject
[she crossed her arms as though she were deep in thought.]
I have, a few times. Why do you ask?
no subject
[Open mouth, insert foot. Still, she feels a little better about what happened now that Adam's back and talking to her again, so a little humor is okay. But just a little.]
Anyway, I thought I should probably ask for your permission before we go!
no subject
no subject
[She has to assume that it's the Soul Society of present time instead of the past, then. That's good to know. But she doesn't just want to plan trips with one friend when there's another she's known for years sitting right beside her.]
What about you, Kuchiki-san?
[Orihime smiles.]
Where should we go, when I'm better?
no subject
[well, she had mostly been so worried about inoue, she hadn't thought much about herself.]
Mmm... whatever you want to do, I suppose. Perhaps a different gateway?
no subject
That sounds fun! We'll be explorers!
[And hopefully not wind up somewhere terrible. Like Castlevania.]