Ulquiorra & Orihime

This is my first time doing a story on here. I was bursting with excitement when i found this site and couldn't wait to submit something of my own after reading so many wonderful stories on this site. I hope mine makes at least 1 other person happy.

Chapter 1

'I can't do any more to heal him now; I'll just have to wait for him to wake up.' Orihime thought as she stood and slowly backed away from Uryu who still lay on the ground above Hueco Mundo. Ichigo had already left to go help the others who fought underneath, leaving before she was even able to fully heal him after the battle which had so much frightened her.

For what seemed to be the 100th time since the horrible battle ended, Orihime looked over at the pile of ashes lying on the ground not far away. They were the ashes of her captor, her protector, her opposite in every way imaginable and the ashes of the only thing that had kept her from losing herself.

As much hatred as she felt at Ulquiorra for taking her away from her friends and her home, she knew that her hatred wasn't directed towards him anymore. He had been ordered to do what he had done. She knew he had only acted on those orders. In the time she had spent as his prisoner he had never been cruel to her. His words had often been harsh but they were no different than what he used when speaking with everyone else.

Before she even realized what she had done, Orihime was kneeling beside the pile of ash, her hands hovering over her hair clips. She had never attempted to heal anyone who was this far gone but she remembered what Hachi had done to bring Tsubaki back after Yammy had crushed him out of existence and searched deep in her mind for the power that would bring her emerald eyed captor back.

In her mind she went over every moment she had spent in Ulquiorra's presence, pulling each emotion that she had felt since the time she had seen him standing behind Yammy in the park which now seemed like a lifetime ago.

Fear, confusion, and hopelessness were the first few emotions she remembered upon meeting Ulquiorra while still in the living world. That hopelessness had never quite left her, even with the arrival of her most precious friends to save her. In the end, someone she cared about would have to lose.

Throughout her life she had always tried to make the people around her happy regardless of what it did to her inside. She had learned at a very young age to hide her true feelings behind fake smiles and giggling; using the air headed personality as a shield. When she was brought to Hueco Mundo though, all this changed. Ulquiorra had been able to see right through her game and pushed her true self to the surface. The more he interrogated her about her feelings and emotions, the stronger she felt in herself. Every layer of emotion that he tried to peel from her made her more resolved in those feelings. So while her feelings for her friends grew stronger with every interaction, so did some other unknown emotion.

Now, as she kneeled down next to the ashes of the man who had changed her more than anyone else had ever done, the determination she had felt the entire time she had stayed in Hueco Mundo came boiling up inside her till she could feel the heat spread to her fingertips. She could not let the one person who had actually tried to really understand her die.

When Orihime heard a noise behind her she opened her eyes for the first time, expecting to see the same pile of ashes lying on the ground in front of her. Instead, a shadowy form lay barely visible under her hovering hands. For some reason, Orihime decided she didn't want Uryu to see what she had been doing so she quickly moved the barely visible body behind a pile of rocks, leaving her fairies to continue her work as she got up and walked over to Uryu who was flexing the hand that had been cut off not long ago by the same person she was now trying to heal.

"How are you feeling Uryu?" Orihime asked, kneeling beside him while he tried to stand up.

"Good I think, thank you Orihime." Said Uryu as he ran his hand down the place he had been stabbed earlier. "Where's Ichigo?"

"He left a little while ago to help Rukia and the others. We should probably go and see if we can help them at all. Could you get us down from here the same way you brought us up?"

"Yes I think so, let's go." Uryu said and held his hand out for her to join him on the platform he was creating with his reiatsu.

As soon as they started heading down Orihime started to feel weaker. She hoped that she was strong enough to continue healing him even from this distance.

When finally Uryu and her found their friends, the battles were finished and Isane had just finished healing all the wounded. Orihime was grateful that Isane had been there so she didn't have to take her fairies away from their current task. She knew that from this distance they couldn't be doing much healing but she was hoping that having them there was at least sustaining the work she had done before Uryu and her had left.

The group of humans and Soul Reapers left Hueco Mundo to join Ichigo and the rest of the Soul Society through Captain Kurotsuchi's garganta.

Several days had gone by and Ichigo had finally defeated Aizen with the help of all the other Captains and Lieutenants from Soul Society.

Orihime was stunned by how quickly everything seemed to fall back into the same routines as before the Arrancar invasion. As for herself though, her thoughts remained with her fairies. As soon as she had stepped through the garganta into the living world, the pull on her strength had disappeared. The only hope that she had was that she had healed him enough before they left for her to be able to come back and finish. Unconsciously she quickened her pace.

When she knocked on the door at Urahara's Candy Shop, she wasn't surprised to see Yoruichi standing in front of her, wrapped in several bandages but clearly feeling well. Orihime gave her a quick smile but didn't waste time of pleasantries.

"Is Urahara-san here?" She asked hopefully.

Behind Yoruichi approached a face shadowed by the familiar green and white hat that Urahara-san always wore.

"Orihime-chan, it's great to see you! Craving some sweets?" He said with a large smile. She had always liked him. As smart as he was, he never made anyone else feel stupid around him.

"No thank you, I was actually hoping you could get me into Hueco Mundo." Orihime asked as she straightened her shoulder's subconsciously.

Urahara paused to look at Orihime for a brief second before saying, "Of course. I'm sure you have your reasons." She was relieved that he hadn't questioned her at all.

She followed him down to the training area and watched as he opened the gate that would take her to Hueco Mundo. She knew it would be outside of Las Noches and that she would have to travel a ways to get there but there was no other option, she had to go back. She just hoped she was strong enough to make it there.

"I will keep this open for 3 days. After that I won't be able to open it back up again for quite a while. Soul Society is still too busy trying to get itself back in order to notice anything that I am doing but I'm sure that within 3 days they will be back to surveying what I am doing." The ex-captain said with concern on his face.

"Thank you Urahara-san. I understand." And she jumped into the abyss and started running as fast as she could.

Looking down at her feet she now knew how Uryu had made that platform that had taken them up to the roof. Instead of a steady block or path though; she had to almost play hopscotch as she jumped from place to place. Eventually she got a hang of it and was able to keep a steady pace. When she finally reached the end, she could see Las Noches in the distance. Hurriedly she ran towards the large building until suddenly the ground rumbled under her feet.

In front of her the sand seemed to ripple and then build itself into a small hill until suddenly a large purple worm erupted from the sand.

"Pretty lady!"

Orihime heard a familiar scream coming from the purple worm and she felt relief sweep over her. "Nel-san. I'm so glad to see you're al.." Before she was able to finish her sentence she was knocked over by the small girl.

"Where's Itsygo?" Nel asked as she looked around Orihime.

"I'm sorry Nel-san, he didn't come this time. He is still healing from his injuries."

The child looked upset for an instant but instantly recovered, launching back into her jubilant speech. "Do you want to pway Eternal Tag with us? We always wuv having new players in our game."

"No thank you Nel-san. I need to get to Las Noches. Maybe next time ok?"

"Ok, next time!" Nel said as she looked over at Dondochakka and Pesche then hopping up in excitement. "We can give you a ride! Bawabawa can get you there a lot quicker than your legs and then you'll be able to come back quicker to play with us."

"That would be wonderful Nel-san. Thank you." With that, Orihime jumped onto Bawabawa and they headed towards Las Noches much quicker than she would have been able to do on her own.

When they finally reached the wall to Las Noches, Nel-san and the others left to continue their game and Orihime concentrated on creating a platform beneath her like she had watched Uryu do. Since entering Hueco Mundo, she had felt the familiar pull of her fairies as they continued to heal above the walled city. She was relieved that they were alright.

When she finally got the platform to stabilize underneath her and felt confident enough to lift her up, she launched herself as fast as she dared in the direction of the hole that was still high up in the sky. She wasn't able to move as quickly as Uryu did but she got there soon enough and ran towards where she had left Ulquiorra and her fairies.

Lying on the ground was the same nearly transparent figure she had left almost 3 days ago. As she had suspected, her fairies had been able to sustain the same degree of healing she had left him in but did not have the strength on their own to complete the process.

Quickly she went to kneel next to the figure and sent a silent thank you to her fairies that looked to be on the edge of exhaustion. With her added strength though they seemed to perk up and it seemed like she could already see a difference in her former captor. No longer could she see through his body to the stone beneath. As she sat there, ignoring the beads of sweat that formed on her brow, she couldn't help but think back on all the moments she had spent with Ulquiorra. Without consciously knowing she was doing it, her hand went to her heart and she felt a surge of renewed energy pour through her.

When she looked down again, his body was almost completely back to what it was before he had crumbled away into ash. His black wings were neatly folded underneath him and his tail lay on his side. She thought she would be scared to see him like this but all she could think about was bringing him back, no matter what form he was in.

Finally she knew that she could do no more with her powers and she sat back and waited, letting Ayame and Shun'ō go back into her hairpins.

For what seemed like hours, she waited.

Her thoughts began to stray to the final battle between Ichigo and Ulquiorra. She remembered being terrified when Ichigo had nearly thrown his Getsuga Tenshou at Loly and Menoly, knowing that it would have hit her as well since she had been standing in front of them. She knew he was only trying to help her but if it hadn't been for Ulquiorra stopping him, she doubted she would be sitting there today.

And the look he gave her after…

It was like he had been checking to see if she was ok. Her gut had twisted inside of her with that look.

Suddenly she heard something scrape against the ground. When she opened her eyes she saw the demon tail swishy slowly across the sandy ground. She could have sworn her heart stopped beating. Then she heard him breath. Without realizing what she was doing she leaned over his body and placed her hand over his hollow hole below his neck. She watched breathlessly as his eyes slowly blinked open and finally focused on hers. The same cold stare she remembered bore into her eyes. No emotion…

For the briefest of seconds she saw a flash of something that almost looked like gratitude cross his stone face but it passed too quickly for her to know if she had just been imagining it. Suddenly she realized where her hand was resting and quickly lifted it off of his chest. He didn't show any sign that he had even felt her.

Orihime stood up and continued to look down at Ulquiorra's passive stare. "Ul.. Ulquiorra?"

Slowly he began to sit up and then rise up to his feet, looking down at his body fully intact. He stood for a moment, seeming to just be staring at the ground in front of his clawed feet and then his eyes lifted to travel over her body, up to her face.

"Why?" Was all he asked.

Orihime let out a small gasp and said, "I couldn't… let you die."

They stood there for several moments just staring at each other before Orihime felt herself start to shake, her whole body trembling with an emotion that she wasn't able to determine. Despite the fear she felt whenever he was near her; there was something that seemed to fill her body. Something that made her feel stronger and more alive.

Before she could think about it anymore, she suddenly found herself draped over his right arm, looking down at the ground as he took off and flew below to the throne room where she had last seen him before Ichigo had come to save her. He wasn't gentle about the way he carried her but she was unharmed from the action. Once she was standing on her two feet again, Ulquiorra transformed back into his familiar state and started walking away, down the hall that she had traveled only once before when she had first come here and healed Grimmjow's arm.

She didn't know if she was supposed to follow him or not so she just stood there, looking at him as he walked down the hallway. Finally, he stopped and turned his head slightly to look back at her. In just that look, Orihime took off running down the hall to catch up with him. She stopped a few steps behind him and followed him down the hall.

Finally they reached an unfamiliar doorway and they made their way inside. In the center of the room was a table lined with a half dozen chairs on either side and in the far side of the room was another door. Upon entering the room the other door immediately opened and the servant who had frequently accompanied Ulquiorra into her room to bring her her food entered. As soon as the servant saw us he walked back through the same door and closed it behind him.

"Sit." Ulquiorra said as he stood at the end of the table.

Orihime walked over to the first seat on the right side of the table and sat down, looking at her hands that twisted restlessly in front of her. She didn't dare glance up at him.

Several minutes passed by and Orihime wondered what they were doing here. He hadn't moved since they had come in the room. He just stood at the foot of the table and waited. When she finally had the courage to glance up at him, she found him staring at her. She couldn't tare her gaze away from those sad green eyes.

The sound of the door opening and a cart being pushed through drew her attention away and she waited while the servant brought the food over to her and placed it on the table. It was the usual meal that she had received several times during her stay while a prisoner of Aizen's. She didn't think she could eat until she heard her stomach rumble and realized how tired she was from the effort earlier. She had entered Hueco Mundo in the morning but she hadn't even wasted time eating breakfast before coming and it had to be well into the evening at this point. She started to devour the food in front of her.

When she was finished Ulquiorra said, "Come."

She got up and followed him back out of the room to the hallway they had been traveling earlier. After what seemed like a very long distance they came to another doorway which Ulquiorra opened and walked through. As soon as she saw inside she recognized the room at once. It was the same room she had stayed in during her captivity. When the realization had come to her, she stopped in the doorway and gasped.

At the sound of her intake of breath, Ulquiorra turned around and looked at her confused face.

"Do you still think I'm your prisoner?" Orihime asked when she was able to regain her composure.

"No. I know from your presence here that Aizen-sama is dead."

"Then why did you bring me here?" She asked.

Ulquiorra just looked at her, standing in his normal pose with his hands in his pockets.

Orihime sighed and said, "This is fine." And she continued to walk into the room and sat on the familiar oversized bed. "I don't want you to leave yet." She said as he turned to take a step in the direction of the door. Upon hearing her request he stopped and turned back around to face her.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I don't know. I guess I thought…" But what she thought didn't come to her lips so she just said, "I don't want to be alone."

After a few steps, Ulquiorra sat down on the bed beside her and stared in front of him. The two of them sat there in silence for several minutes. Finally Orihime spoke up, "What will you do now?"

He turned his head in her direction and said, "I will continue."

"Continue what?" She asked.

"Protecting Las Noches." He responded.

"But Aizen is dead. Your orders don't need to be followed anymore." Orihime said.

He just continued to stare at her and suddenly his face fell. The eyes that could bore holes through her skulls turned down and his whole self seemed to deflate in front of her eyes. Instinctively she reached out and touched his sleeve, leaning forward to look up into his downcast eyes. When their gazes locked she could see a well of emotion swimming through his emerald eyes. With her other hand she gently cradled his cheek in her palm and ran her thumb down the permanent green tear streaks.

"It's going to be ok. It's my turn to take care of you now." Orihime said and rose up from the bed, taking her hand away from his stunned face and reaching for his hands that were folded in his lap. When her hands touched his, she couldn't help a slight chill that rose up her arms and into her stomach. Whether from the coolness of his skin or… what else she didn't know.

She walked out of the room and turned to look at him. "Which way is your palace?"

Without a word he turned towards the right and started walking, not taking his hand away from the girl at his side.

Orihime was surprised at how close his rooms where to her room but thinking about it it made sense since he had been the one assigned to take care of her. When they reached the door to his rooms he paused and waited as she took her hand away from his and opened the door.

The room looked like all the others. White walls, white furniture, just the bare minimum needed. It was slightly bigger than the room she had been held in and she was surprised to see a dining table in the far corner. "I thought you guys didn't eat."

"We don't need to eat but some of us like to. I prefer to just have tea." He said and then looked shocked for having said such a personal thing.

Orihime just continued looking around the room, noting that there was only 1 door leading out of the room other than the one they came through. As she walked towards it she recognized the same bathroom she had attached to her room.

"Where are your clothes?" She asked and seemed to take him by surprise with the question. She followed him as he walked across the room to a small chest of drawers where he leaned over and pulled out the top drawer. Lying inside was the familiar outfit she had seen him in every day since she had known him.

Orihime made a face and asked, "Don't you have anything else?"

"This is the uniform I was given. I didn't have any need for anything else."

"Well that's boring." Orihime said in her chipper tone which took Ulquiorra by surprise. He had never heard that from her before. But she just started grabbing handfuls of white clothing, ignoring the man standing next to her.

When she was satisfied that she had enough, she turned around and started heading for the door. This time he was the one left standing and staring at her, not sure whether he should be following her or not.

When she turned her head, she smiled and said, "Come on, you don't think I want to walk around the place by myself do you?"

He sonido'd to her side and they walked back towards her room. Once they were inside and Orihime had put his clothes into the chest of drawers that contained the uniforms she had been given, she looked up through the window and said, "I'm really tired. I didn't realize how tired till just now." And she punctuated this statement with a loud yawn.

Orihime walked to the bathroom and stopped to grab something out of the drawers before she went inside, closing the door. While inside, Ulquiorra stood in the center of her room, hands in his pockets, looking at the closed door that the woman had just gone through.

Not long later Orihime walks out wearing a tank top and a pair of Ulquiorra's hakama's. She giggles as she runs to the bed, feeling embarrassed about wearing his clothes.

"I know you guys sleep since Stark slept non-stop so please try to get some sleep now." Orihime said and watched as he turned his head and started to head towards the door.

"No wait! I didn't mean for you to leave. I know this may seem inappropriate but could you please stay here tonight? With Aizen gone now I imagine there's nothing stopping the hollows and every other form of monster from roaming into Las Noches. I would feel much safer if you were here. You can sleep on the couch or I could sleep on the couch and you could have the bed if you want." There was desperation in her voice that stopped Ulquiorra and made him turn to sit on the couch. He hated to admit it but he was tired.

When Orihime watched him take a seat on the couch that sat against the far side of the room she let herself relax and lay down.

Ulquiorra could hear her breathing even out not long after she lay down. He got up and walked over to the bed, careful not to wake her up as he did. When he got to the side he stared at the woman lying there, her hair the color of sun fanning out over the sheets. She was still such a puzzle to him. Why had she saved him?

The image of her reaching out to him as his body turned to ash flashed into his head, 'Are you afraid of me, woman?' he had asked.

'I'm not.' Was the reply that had sealed his fate.

He reached out and touched a piece of her hair, marveling at its color and softness. The gesture surprised himself and he quickly stepped back. It didn't seem to wake her up though so he took a step forward again, this time reaching for the hand that had held his earlier as she had led him through the halls, the same hand he had reached for when he was turning to dust.

The same feeling coursed through him that he had gotten earlier when touching her hand. An overwhelming feeling of protection overcame him and he knew he would do anything for her.

He stood there holding her hand for longer than he knew and debated on walking back over to the couch but every time he tried to let go of her hand something stopped him. Finally he sat down on the ground next to her bed and leaned the side of his head against the mattress, keeping her hand inside his. He let himself drift off to sleep.