Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.
Orihime stood in her cell staring at the Hueco Mundo moon through the bars of the window. There was nothing else to do in here. Orihime sighed, sadly. She had only come to protect her friends and now they had come after her into Hueco Mundo putting themselves in even more danger. She was glad that they had come, but she didn't want any of them to get hurt. And she had something to do before she could leave Hueco Mundo. She had to destroy the hougyoku. Only she had the ability to deny its existence.
Orihime heard fighting far down the hall echoing towards her cell and she felt Ichigo's reiatsu. Ichigo was getting closer. Orihime had to make her decision now. Would she leave with Ichigo or would she stay in Hueco Mundo in order to destroy the hougyoku? But leaving with Ichigo would kind of be selfish, wouldn't it? It would serve the greater good if she could just destroy the hougyoku. Then... Then everything would be alright and she could go home and be with Ichigo, Tatsuki, Rukia, Ishida and Sado. But how would she tell Ichigo she was going to stay in Hueco Mundo. He had practically died to make his way this far just for her... He would be dead by now if Grimmjow hadn't made her heal him so that they could fight even more.
Suddenly the door to her cell flew open and Ulquiorra walked in. "Come with me, Woman."
Orihime knew what would happen if she dared to disobey Ulquiorra so she nodded. Ulquiorra walked out of the room and Orihime followed. She looked down the hall to where she felt Ichigo's reiatsu coming from. Ichigo looked up at the same time and saw her. He opened his mouth slightly and smiled with relief. The arrancar he was fighting took advantage of the momentary distraction and threw Ichigo up again the wall, hard. Orihime gasped and took off running towards Ichigo.
"ICHIGO!" She yelled as tears welled in her eyes.
The arrancar fighting Ichigo began to gather a cero in his mouth. Orihime put her hands on her hair clips ready to interject when Ulquiorra stepped in front of her, blocking her passage. "I said, come with me."
Orihime stopped and looked hopelessly at the scene as tears rolled down her cheeks. The arrancar released his cero and it went flying towards Ichigo. But Ichigo was no longer there by the time the cero hit the wall. Ichigo had shadow-stepped behind the arrancar and he swiftly raised Zangetsu and removed his opponents head.
"Ichi... go..." Orihime stammered.
"Inoue-chan" Ichigo said. "I'm glad you're okay."
Orihime smiled, but her smile faded as she noticed that Ulquiorra was no longer standing next to her. She saw Ichigo's sword being raised in barely enough time to block Ulquiorra's hand from piercing him heart. Orihime gasped.
"Ban-kai!" Ichigo yelled as his enormous reiatsu hit Orihime. Her hair flew back, but otherwise she remained unmoving. "Inoue, run. I don't want you to get hurt."
"Kurosaki..." Orihime paused, more tears falling from her eyes. She could feel Ulquiorra's reiatsu and it was strong. Possibly even strong enough to go against Ichigo. But no, Ichigo was strong. He wouldn't die.
Ichigo put his hand to his face and his hollow mask started to appear. Orihime turned and took off running. She ran towards Aizen's room. She could only hope that he wouldn't be there so that she could destroy the hougyoku. Behind her she felt Ichigo's and Ulquiorra's reiatsu clashing. She desperately wanted to go back and help Ichigo, but she had to have faith in his strength. She had to show them that she was useful. She had to destroy the hougyoku.
She arrived outside of Aizen's room and slowly opened the doors. She peeked her head in and looked around the relatively bare room. No one appeared to be around. Maybe Aizen was in a meeting or something. Orihime slowly walked in looking all around her. Could Aizen have really left the room completely unguarded? Orihime cautiously walked over to where she remembered the hougyoku's location. When Aizen had revealed it to her, he had used a hand motion to raise it. Would the same trick work for her? Orihime gulped nervously, but she was determined.
Orihime did her best to imitate Aizen's hand motion and miraculously, a circular portion of the floor rose. She tapped the circle lightly and it slid open, in several layers, to reveal the hougyoku. Orihime gasped. Could it really be this easy? She slowly reached forward and grabbed the hougyoku in her hands. She swallowed nervously. She might get killed for doing this, but it had to be done. For Ichigo. For Karakura Town. For everyone. Orihime touched her hair clips. Then her eyes widened in fear as she heard a foot step into the room and felt a now familiar reiatsu. Aizen was back.