Okay here is another HitsuHina fic my friends! So this was written for the HHFM, but I had this idea a while ago but did not know how to put it into a story until this event came up. And while I was writing it, I got a bunch of ideas for a sequel and a trilogy... So special thanks to shirochanxmomo1220!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach!

The White Rose

Hitsugaya and Hinamori lay together, side-by-side on the lush, cool grass.

There were no sounds aside from the breezes slipping through the air, no trees or buildings to stop them. The sky stretched out above them endlessly, a vast blue ocean in the air. Surrounding the two of them, were hundreds and hundreds of scarlet roses, growing in all directions and in all shapes and sizes. The grass was hardly visible underneath the dark red buds, and it had taken the two friends quite a while to find a spot to lay down where they would not be harming a flower.

Hinamori's knees were bent and her hands rested on her stomach as she gazed up at the sky, watching as the big, cotton clouds floated lazily by on the wind. Hitsugaya folded his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, taking advantage of the relaxing silence. He could hear the faint brush of the air between the petals around his head and the soft breathing of the girl next to him. He let the comforting sounds lull him into a slight slumber.

Soon, the slow-moving clouds began to pull Hinamori into a dazed trance and she could not keep her eyes off of them.

So eventually, she too was pulled into the calm chasm of sleep.

Hitsugaya woke and blinked his eyes drearily to find that the brown haired girl beside him had not moved since he had fallen asleep.

Her face was turned away from him, and only the steady rise and fall of her chest told him she was asleep. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, and shook his head to dislodge several red petals from his spiky white hair. He did not have the heart to wake her, and besides, the sun was still high in the sky, so they still had a fair amount of time left here before their departure.

Slowly, as not to disturb her, he stood up and stretched with a sigh. His aqua eyes drifted up to the light blue sky above him dotted with variously shaped blotches of clouds. He watched the fluffy figures glide by for a moment before averting his eyes.

Without knowing where he was going, he began to walk aimlessly amongst the crimson flowers. The valley was wide, but only less than half of it was covered with flourishing roses. There were no trees here, only open fields and small hills. And aside from the occasional bird or rabbit, not many animals dwelled in the valley either.

Hitsugaya stepped cautiously through the red plants as if it were a minefield. There were so many roses that a few crushed ones would not matter to the whole of them, but Hitsugaya found it almost sinful to destroy even a single one of the beautiful things.

It would not make a difference to all the other hundreds of roses if one were crushed. But to that one individual rose it did make a difference. After all the long months of pushing through soil and finally breaking the surface of the Earth, and then working it's way up towards the sky and growing buds and petals and fighting for water among all the others, to be crushed in an instant…What kind of an end was that to something that had fought for so long to live?

It was much more suitable to wilt slowly and wither during the Autumn and Winter with all the others, a grand finale for the hard-working flowers, than to just die in an instant because of someone's carelessness and indifference.

Thus, Hitsugaya walked slowly through the plants that had worked so hard to get as far as they had. They would all die in the upcoming seasons anyway, but then they would re-blossom in the seasons to come in an endless cycle.

He passed a small, clear stream, so clean and untainted that it reflected the sky above unnaturally. Ahead of him, Hitsugaya saw the faint silhouettes of the distant buildings of Seireitei through a foggy mist. He sighed at the thought of having to go back there at the end of the day when he and Hinamori had just recently stumbled upon this serene place.

He loathed to think of the work that awaited him, as well as the annoying, stuck up and rude people. He would much rather be here, in the calm fields with no one other than the quiet, joyful girl he cared for the most in the universe. Here it was peaceful, and it seemed far away from the chaos, betrayal, slaughter and bloodshed. How he wished that he could just take her by the hand and run away with her, past the valley and to wherever lay beyond, far away from all that. Surely their destinies could lie far beyond all the troubles they had grown up with? Past the field of red roses, past the hills and mountains, past the horizon…

His thoughts were distracted as he caught sight of something from the corner of his eye. It stuck out, which seemed rare considering that everything here looked similar. His feet took him towards it and his eyes were locked on it, as though it would disappear if he looked away.

Finally he reached the little white flower, and he bent over and gave it a closer look. It was a rose, just like all the others, only so very different; it was white. Extremeley white. It was whiter than the clouds on a clear day like the ones above his head presently. It was even whiter than the snow that would soon fall in a few months.

He firmly gripped the stem in his fingers and tugged it gently out of its bed in the soil. A few small roots still clung to it, but Hitsugaya left them, satisfied in knowing that as long as it was replanted it would live.

A small flicker of excitement sparked inside of him as he stood up again, sliding the flower into his sleeve. Then he realized that he should be getting back to Hinamori. He knew that she would panic terribly if she woke without him there.

As he picked his way back through the cherry-red flowers, the bright yellow sun began to gradually inch towards the West. But even though it was late Summer, it was still Summer, and so the skies would stay light until late. The wind was warm as the white haired boy made his way back the way he had come.

Finally, he sat back down in his previous spot to find that Hinamori was still sleeping. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes but lay down next to her, careful not to damage the bundle in his sleeve. He turned his head so that he was facing his friend and he watched as the shadows grew and the sky became creamy pale. He watched as the girl slept, her breathing slow and calm, and even. She looked so peaceful and happy, and Hitsugaya instantly knew that he never wanted to see her any other way.

Finally, just when the boy thought he would fall asleep again, Hinamori stirred. She rolled onto her side, with her back facing him, and then she pushed her palms against the grass and sat up, shaking her head sleepily.

"Finally." Hitsugaya murmured, loud enough for her to hear. He sat up next to her and hardly controlled himself from laughing at her appearance. Red petals dangled loosely from her hair and two fell back to the ground as she rubbed her eyes. Several, single brown hairs had slipped free from the blue cloth that kept it tied neatly; basically, it looked as though she had been drowning in roses. Eventually, she rested her glazed, chestnut eyes on him.

"H-Hitsugaya-kun?" She mumbled, her voice cracked with sleep.

"Yes, who else, baka?" He teased. "Fix your hair." He added, stifling a laugh.

Hinamori blinked at him in confusion, then shook her head vigorously as more petals descended to the ground. But after sleeping so deeply like she had, and then shaking her head so roughly was not a good idea. She swayed dizzily and almost lost her balance and fell backwards, but Hitsugaya reached out and caught her in his arms.

"Steady." He told her. "You're not even fully awake yet. And I think you just made it worse." He remarked, seeing that her hair was now mostly freed from the cloth.

Her eyes widened slightly as she looked up at him, her cheeks slightly pink and she avoided his eyes. Then he let go of her so she could sit up again. She patted her head, feeling the clumps of loose hair and then just decided to untie the cloth and let her long, brown hair cascade over her neck and down her shoulders. Hitsugaya picked another petal from her wavy hair and let it fall. Hinamori gathered all of it in her hands and retied the cloth more neatly, mumbling about needing to brush it when she got home.

"How long did I sleep?" She asked, more awake now, glancing up at the setting sun.

"A while." He answered vaguely and she rolled her eyes. Then after a moment, she sighed sadly. "I don't want to go back. I like it here."

"Yeah, same here." He agreed. "But we have to go back."

"Says who?" She replied dully. "Why can't we just run away and go somewhere else?" Her chestnut eyes gazed longingly up at the sky as though she envied it, and Hitsugaya wondered if she were talking to him or not.

The she looked at the horizon. "Isn't there anywhere out there that's better than here?" She asked tartly, and he knew she was remembering her former captain's betrayal. "People are always talking about there destinies," She went on. "Well, now I want to find mine, and figure out just what it has in store for me. Am I supposed to stay here, with all this murder and deception?" She turned her eyes to him, and he was taken aback by the intense, cold harshness hidden there. "I'm sick of my old life, Hitsugaya-kun, and I want something different for once. I want to leave this place and be free." She looked away for a moment before looking back at him. "And I want you to come with me." She added. Her voice was almost pleading, as if she planned on leaving right then and there.

Hitsugaya chose his next words carefully.

"Trust me," He began. "I don't want to go back either. I want to get away from here as much as you do-"

"Then let's go!" She insisted. "I'm sick and tired of all the killings going on lately. If my destiny is to go back there and be killed too than I'd rather just ignore it and move on and go somewhere else, and leave all this destiny nonsense behind. My destiny doesn't choose what I do. I do." She finished in a whisper.

"I feel the same way." He admitted. "And I know we aren't the only ones who want to be away from all this. I want to leave too, but…we can't. Not now."

Hinamori gave him an unreadable stare, so many things she wanted to say were written in her eyes.

"Trust me." He said again. "One day we will get out of here, and we'll go away, far away, just the two of us. We'll leave all this behind. They told us when we joined the Gotei 13 that it was our destiny to serve them. Well now I'm fed up with it all. We'll make our own destinies and follow our own paths instead of walking the ones someone else laid out for us. But…But right now…We can't leave yet." He repeated. "We have to be ready and be absolutely sure that we're doing the right thing. I can't really explain it, I just hope you understand." He looked up at her hopefully, and relaxed when she nodded.

"Fine." She gave in. "I wouldn't dream of leaving without you, but…" Tears choked her. "…But don't leave without me. Okay? Shiro-chan?" She wiped the salty droplets from her eyes, but a couple escaped and left trails down her cheeks. Hitsugaya reached out and pulled her close to him, hugging her tightly.

"Baka." He murmured. "I would never leave without you. Ever. For anything. I love you." Hinamori felt her heart skip twice and she sniffed as tears overwhelmed her. At first, all she could do was nod her head against his shoulder. Then she found her voice.

"M-Me too…" She whimpered. "I love you t-too, Hitsugaya-kun."

The sun sunk behind the hills beyond before the girl had ceased weeping. Hitsugaya gently stroked her back soothingly, savoring everything.

She was his now, and no one else's.

Her sobs eventually became weaker and he felt her go limp in his arms. Tenderly, he pushed her away and laid her back down on the ground. Her eyes fluttered open, but she said nothing as he lay back down next to her. She pressed against him and the two of them looked up at the sky above.

The sky was a mixture of pale pinks, oranges, yellows, and reds, of every shade, but all light and peaceful. The clouds were all stained with yellow, as though it were all a painting, and the sky's colors had bled into them. Finally, the sun vanished and the sky was only pink and melting into black as the first stars sparkled into view.

Hitsugaya knew that Hinamori was thinking about having to go back to Soul Society, so he figured he would lighten the burden on her heart.

"Oh! I almost forgot." He sat up and reached into his sleeve until his fingers made contact with the rose.

"What?" Hinamori asked from her grassy bed on the ground.

"Here, sit up." He instructed her, offering her his hand. She entwined her fingers with his and he slowly pulled her up into a sitting position nest to him. "Give me your hand." Hinamori blinked in confusion, but did as he asked and rested her hand in his palm. Then, with his other hand, he placed the rare flower in her hand. He felt the pulse in her veins double as she stared down at the white rose.

"H…Hitsugaya-kun!" She gasped. "I-It's-!" She did not finish, her mouth gaping and her breath coming in fast. "How…W-Where-?" Hitsugaya let a smirk of satisfaction cross his lips.

"I just happened to find it." He told her simply.

"But here? With all these red ones?" She gazed up at him, baffled.

"Yes. And…" He did not know if he should voice his beliefs. "I think it means that you're right." He confessed. "I think it means that we should stand out in the crowd and be different, and leave instead of staying here like all the others." Hinamori stared at him in silence. "We'll leave here one day, together. I promise." He vowed. "Someday…Someday soon." He wanted to say more, but could not find the words.

But thankfully, Hinamori understood.

"Okay. I trust you, Hitsugaya-kun. But don't make me wait too long." She lowered her head and looked back at the rose.

"Alright." He mumbled.

Then, he tipped her chin up with his fingers so that she was forced to look into his eyes.

So much was silently shared between them in that one moment.

Then, Hitsugaya leaned forward and kissed his beloved friend. She jumped slightly in surprise, but did not resist or pull away. He knew that she loved him almost as much as he loved her; it was just impossible for anyone to love anything as much as he loved her.

Finally, they pulled apart only to come back together as Hinamori hugged him.

Then, Hitsugaya stood up and reached his hand down to help her up as well.

He knew that she was too tired to walk all the way back to Seireitei on her own, so he swiftly swept her off of her feet and held her bridal style.

She blushed but said nothing as he took off, heading for the foggy buildings in the distance that were now shadowed with darkness.

Somewhere throughout the night, Hinamori drifted into sleep in his arms, the white rose still clasped in her hands.

And as Hitsugaya carried her back the way they had come, a single white petal tore loose from the bud and flapped away in the wind.

It soared through the air, whiter than any star, until it finally came to a rest and landed on the cold ground, never to move again as the boy and the girl disappeared into the night.

A/N: And there is the end to the first part. Hope you liked it!

I am most likely going to write a sequel called The Blue Rose. I already have everything planned out...

So please reivew and let me know what you think!!