Lost Child (Bleach Fanfic)

Self Esteeme

The words "Don't worry. Don't worry Shiro-chan" played in the back of Toshiro's mind over and over again. His fingers were at first cold and wet as was the rest of his body but he felt his body slowly warming and being placed into a nice warm cacoon like area. Despite the fact his body shook and trembled, chills running through his body he felt to warm at times.

He could also feel himself going deeper and deeper into himself, heading into a dark deep circle of blackness. The only break from the darkness was the sudden flashes of memory of the adult males in his village beating on him and he could feel his body contorting, his back arching and the fear not going away.

One thought despite the fact he couldn't focus on anything kept repeating itself in his head just like the words his father spoke. "Adults are cruel. Adults will beat a child for no good reason."

He went deeper and deeper into the darkness despite the fact he thought he heard Momo's voice once and finally he heard nothing. Letting out a deep breath he felt pure, delightful coldness. The coldness wasn't like feeling the cold rain pour down on him or the chills that had racked his body. It was a soft coldness that kissed his cheeks.

Which in itself was strange as a blizzard was storming around him, causing him to cover his face. Peeking through he finally saw the thing in front of him and the snow slowed. The dragon pushed it's head forward. "Child... are you not afraid of me?"

Toshiro blinked a couple of times. "No... I'm not afraid of him, not like the adults who beat me. I feel... safe."

He opened his mouth to say something, only to find himself unable to say anything at all. A hand reached up to touch his throat as he tried to force the words out of his throat. He looked at the dragon, trying to tell the dragon that he wasn't afraid but the words wouldn't come. And for some reason the thought he couldn't speak to the dragon hurt.

The creature settled it's head down, carefully moving it's head close to the boy and nudging him so that he stumbled a bit and was then forced to lie on top of the dragon. The position was comfortable and he felt his arms wrap around the dragon's head and he closed his eyes. "I want to stay here."

"Child... I know without you speaking that you aren't afraid of me... you simply need to think it. However, you can't stay here. There are people waiting for you to wake up."

"I'm scared. I'm scared to wake up. It feels like a part of me is gone."

"I know you're scared. You had a fever that hasn't gone away for a couple of days. I was finally able to step in and cool your temperature down. I don't know what damage has been done though." There came some silence from the dragon. "My name is..."

"I don't care what your name is. Just don't leave me."

"I promise. I won't leave you. I'm a part of you, but it may take some getting used to the idea that I am around and you need to think for yourself. It is time to start waking up."

Toshiro choose to ignore this command and instead continued to hold onto the top of the dragon's head. Without realizing it he found himself going from the place the dragon was to another place. He became aware of the fact when he felt a soft cloth over his front, his small fingers moving, only to find that moving was a painful thing.

His two eyes opened up to a bright light and he suddenly found himself panicking as the fear of the men coming to get him took over. A woman with brown hair came into focus and he felt her small hands touch his shoulders. "Shush little one. You're safe."

"Safe... safe means..."

"The people who hurt you are far away."

Toshiro could feel his breath coming fast as he tried to control his breathing, but the fear wouldn't go away. "I wanna play with the dragon again! I wanna go back to sleep!"

"I'll go and have a message sent to Hinamori Momo that her brother is away."

The sound of adult male in the room caused a scream to leave his mouth that sounded quite inhuman. The child's body contorted. The woman turned her head. 'Kaien... leave. You should have known better."

The next thing he knew the woman was humming, one of her hands touching the child's cheek gently. She then began to sing a soft lullaby. For some reason the sound made him remember there was something he was missing and his chest suddenly racked with sobs as he tried to contain himself. He felt himself carefully lifted up and into the woman's arms and he could feel the tears come down.

"What am I missing? What am I forgetting? Why can't I understand my own thought process or why I feel safe in this strangers arms? What is going on? I just remember..."

His body began to shake upon remembering the men beating him. Upon feeling him tense the woman began to rub his back. "Shush. I told you, they won't hurt you.'

"I know that means I don't have to worry about that." The child's eyes snapped shut. "But why... why is it the only thing I can think of or understand. The other thing is..." There came a pause in thoughts. "To-chan. Is it to-chan that I am forgetting? Where did to-chan go. I was sure that he was here." He snuggled into the woman's arms.

"Isn't this good enough for now. Be patient little one. Things will come with time. They always have. This person wants to take care of you and she will keep you safe. Why don't you try finding out her name?"

Toshiro pulled away slightly so he could look at the woman, blinking a couple of times. The woman smiled down at him. "Your name is Toshiro, isn't it."

"I think so." He tried saying something, but nothing came out of his mouth.

"My name is Shiba Miyako. I am so glad to finally get to meet you face to face." The smile had a calming sensation that made him close his eyes and simply snuggle into her arms.