He reached his hand out to her. His emerald eyes begging her to help him. She moved to take his hand and with just a few inches between them, he disintegrated. The man she loved has turned into nothing but ashes, the wind blowing him away from her. That was it. That was all she could take. She sunk to the ground, crying his name.

"Ulquiorra!" Orihime screamed, waking up from the nightmare she had been having. She took in her surroundings, the usual sorrow settling in. She had been having this same exact nightmare for five years now and it never got any easier for her. Pushing up from the bed, she pushed the dream from her mind. Letting it go was easier than thinking about it, it hurt a lot less. Drenched in sweat, she decided it would be best to take a shower. She closed her eyes as the hot water pounded against her flushed skin and, like always, the same emerald eyes were there waiting for her. Those eyes haunted her. She couldn't get them out of her mind. His eyes no longer begged her to help him. Those beautiful green orbs showed no emotion other than anger. She knew why he was angry, she was angry at herself for the same exact thing. She was unable to save him. That fact ate away at her more than anything else. Refusing to dwell on it anymore, she opened her eyes and decided that her shower was over. She went about her morning in the same way she always had. After she was dressed and had deemed herself as presentable, she left for class. A lot had changed in the past five years. She was now a university student, working towards getting into Med School. Pre-med was hard though and she spent most of her time studying.

She was walking towards the library when she heard a familiar voice say her name. Turning, she saw that it was Ichigo. They had remained close, despite the fact that he was the reason she was suffering every night. She no longer loved him like she used to, but they could still remain as friends. "Where you heading?", Ichigo asked, falling into step beside her. "I have a chemistry test today and the library is calling my name." Orihime answered. Ichigo smiled at her response, "Why don't you study outside today? It's beautiful out and you should stop locking yourself inside. You could totally use some sun. You're as white as a ghost". Orihime didn't really like studying outside. There were too many things to get distracted with. But, looking down at herself, she realized that he was right. Her skin was looking a little ghostly and decided that it would be better if she sat outside today.

Studying inside would have been a better idea for her, though. In the end, she got nothing done. She kept getting distracted. They were sitting near the soccer field so the sound of whistles blowing kept disrupting her. Slamming her books down, she looked at Ichigo. "There is no way that I am ever going to get any studying done here. I'm gonna go move into the library". Ichigo decided that was probably best and didn't argue with her as she stood to leave. As soon as she turned to leave though, something slammed into her face. Everything went black.

Orihime opened her eyes to find that she was no longer outside. Instead, she was laying in a bed in what she assumed was the infirmary. Her head was killing her. She thought back to why she was here and remembered that she had been hit in the face. That explained the pain in her head. The curtain separating her from the rest of the room was pulled back, revealing an old woman with a surprised look on her face. "I didn't expect you to wake up so soon!", the old woman cried. Examining her, Orihime could see that she wasn't really that old. She had a few white hairs and her face was wrinkled, both most likely results from being anxious over the years. It was then that she noticed the woman's name tag, it read 'Maggie'. What a comforting name, so befitting of this old woman. While Orihime had been lost in thought the nurse carried on, "He'll be so happy to know that you are awake! I'll go get him. First things first though, you should drink something. There's water beside your bed. Be careful when you get up though. Wouldn't want you getting hurt again". With that, the nurse was gone and left Orihime there to ponder what had happened to her.

'I used to be so strong,' she thought, 'I used to be able to heal wounds and protect myself from things worse than this. What in the world happened to me?'. She knew what had happened to her though. She had lost faith in everything. After that day five years ago, she could no longer bear to use the powers that let Ulquiorra die. After a while, she had completely forgotten how to use her powers. Her hair clips now just a cute accessory instead of a weapon. She had no interest in returning to the world of Soul Reapers, her life was in this world and that was good enough for her.

She looked out the window behind her, surprised to see that the sun was starting to set. 'How long was I unconscious?', she wondered. She heard the door open behind her, but didn't bother to turn around and see who it was. She just assumed it was the nurse returning. "She hit her head pretty hard, I am genuinely surprised that she woke up this quickly. She seems alright but I think it would be safer if someone would accompany her home. Since this was your fault, it's only right that you are the one to escort her.", Orihime heard the nurse speaking to someone behind her. She started to turn and froze.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Maybe the hit to her head had rattled something loose. That would be the only reasonable conclusion for what she was seeing. She stared at the man. He stared back, with the same emerald eyes that have haunted for five years. She fainted again.