Here it is good ppl! The grand finale! XD (please keep the applause till the end and yes, i do accept money. XD) I hope you liked the ride and THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to all of u who reviewed and made the writing much more fun for me. A warm Thank You to those who favoured/followed/read as well. Thank You all and ENJOY! XD

Epilogue

Uryu rubbed his head into the pillow, burring himself in its softness. He was in that stage between dream and reality where everything was still perfect but he was aware of it. His chest rose slowly, calming breaths of oxygen flooding his lungs, and a shy smile sneaked across his lips. He felt like a lazy cat, content to stretch out his relaxed body and simply lie there while basking in the warmth of the morning sun rays.

A soft knocking destroyed the silent peace. Uryu's eyebrows knotted together in a frown and his thoughts turned sour instantly. As much as he loved birds, and he did love them, sometimes he did have the occasional fantasy of shooting them all. The feathery intruder chirruped happily just outside his window and knocked against the glass with its beak again. Why did they seem to love his house so much? This morning and the one yesterday...

Yesterday...Ishida sat up in bed, all thoughts of recapturing his forgotten dream knock right out of his head. The sudden movement scared the three sparrows away and they took flight, their wings buzzing in the once more silent surroundings. Ishida glanced at the window for a few seconds. The memory of the previous day returned with a shocking speed, as if someone pressed fast-forward on a movie.

When he finally managed to tear his eyes away from the transparent surface he twisted his head this way and that, hoping to find some sign that it hadn't all been just a wonderfully vivid dream. Well he was naked, his clothes piled up in a messy fashion which would have made him cringe had it been any other morning, his body was sore, as sore as after a day of hard training, taking a closer look he did find a series of red marks marring his otherwise pale skin...But there was no sign of Ichigo.

Ishida scanned the room again just to make sure that there really was no substitute Shinigami ready to greet him with a warm smile reserved for a very special few. He knew he was deceiving himself before his eyes dusted every corner of his bedroom...his senses were too keen to miss Ichigo's presence, especially since the guy still hadn't master the whole keep-my-spiritual-pressure-under –control thing. Small wonder every Hollow under the moon flocked to him like vultures to a fresh corpse.

Uryu felt sick. He didn't know what he had been expecting but Ichigo's absence dashed whatever, if any, hope he ever had. Hope for what? He didn't even know. Maybe Ichigo realized he'd made a huge mistake in choosing him and fled the scenes as soon as he woke up. Maybe he was crazy for feeling so rejected when Ichigo hadn't really agreed to a relationship the previous night. Maybe he was insane for wishing to repeat the whole thing again just to feel the other's heat across his skin even if the end result was sure to be as heart wrenchingly painful as this. Maybe...

'Morning.' Ishida's head snapped to the door fast enough for his neck to scream in protest with an audible crack.

'I-Ichigo?'

'What? Did you expect anyone else?' Ichigo flashed him a carefree grin before lowering his eyes slightly. He was back in his human form...Maybe he left early to go home and reanimate his flesh and blood. 'I brought coffee.' Ishida's eyes fell to Ichigo's hands and he saw a cup in each one. Steam rose from the plastic lid in a very enticing manner.

'Thank you.' Uryu accepted the drink, feeling incredibly stupid at his impromptu freak-out. He took a sip of the dark liquid, hoping it would calm his nerves. He didn't know why he was feeling nervous around Kurosaki all of a sudden, after their many adventures together and after...the night before, but he was and his heart tattooed madly against his ribcage. As the coffee trailed down his throat his eyes widened in pleasant surprise. It was exactly how he loved it. With the perfect amount of sugar and milk and he was a very particular person who paid attention to the minutest detail...

'How did you know my preference in coffee?' Ichigo gave him a lop-sided grin.

'I paid attention.' And so, Ishida's nerves disappeared as soon as they appeared. He took another sip, the contents of the cup too hot to simply throw back, and relished the flavour lighting up his taste buds.

'And I suppose you're drinking yours without any sugar or milk.' It was his turn to smile at the way Ichigo's eyes widened. 'I paid attention too.' They broke into a fit of laughter and all of a sudden the day seemed much brighter. The three nosy sparrows returned to the windowsill and they joined the joyous chorus with a few musical notes of their own.

Ichigo moved to sit on the edge of the bed and Uryu made him room by drawing up his knees, the blanket covering him from the waist down but slipping low enough to make the Soul Reaper's mouth water. It took enormous will power on his behalf not to throw the cup aside and jump the delicious display in front of him but he didn't want to ruin things now by moving too fast. He needed a distraction.

'What about Hisagi?' As soon as the name left his lips he regretted it. The last thing he wanted was for Ishida to think about the other man. He could hear HIchigo laughing at him and for once he couldn't blame the Hollow.

'What about him?'

'Never mind.' Unfortunately it was too late to back out of that conversation now. Ishida started into the cup for a minute, studying his own reflected image. Enough time for Ichigo to grow more and more uneasy.

'You want to know if there's anything going on between us. If I have any feelings for him.' It wasn't a question and under the pressure of Ishida's piercing eyes Ichigo couldn't lie. He nodded in silent agreement. 'No. There really isn't. I wouldn't even be with him had he not showed up at my door, out of the blue, asking for a place to stay. I let him in without thinking and...I suppose it felt nice to relieve some of the stress.' The stress of keeping his emotions for Ichigo bottled up...

'He just showed up? Just like that?'

'Yes. Come to think of it, is it just me or does it seem like someone plotted to get us together?' Ishida remembered Isshin's knowing eyes and Hisagi's impeccable timing. And there was Urahara who conveniently didn't have any rooms at the start of the week for Hisagi but now he did...At least Ishida assumed that's where Shuhei spent the night.

'I think you're over thinking things a little.' Ichigo was hardly the most observant of people...

'Am I? What's more, how exactly did you know about me and Shuhei?' Ichigo froze, realizing his mistake far too late. Ishida didn't know he'd been practically stalking him for he-lost-count-how-many-days...

Oh, you're in trouble now. I would advise another distraction but you don't really seem to value my counsel .

Ichigo decided to listen to his inner darkness, just this once, and he quickly placed his cup on the windowsill before reaching forth and capturing Ishida's coffee tasting lips. The Quincy had already placed his own cup on the accommodating nightstand and Ichigo was free to straddle his waist and pin him to the bed without fear of staining the sheets.

'Never mind.' If this whole thing was really planned, then Ichigo was willing to follow through for once in his life.

It was well into the afternoon before the cold cups left the bedroom...

THE END! XD It feels good to say that... I hope you liked this short chapter and if u can, please leave a review. Until next time! XD

HAVE A LOVELY DAY! X3