Of Tin Soldiers and Paper Ballerinas
Disclaimer: I don not Own Bleach Tite Kubo does.
AN: Well this is my first attempt to make a multichapter story. I just hope I did it alright. Again, Please read and review. Don't worry, Constructive Criticism is highly appreciated.
Once upon a time a little boy bought a box of tin soldier's dressed in red and blue. They all looked so dashing and brave that one couldn't suspect a single fault in them save for one, I'm afraid. This soldier did not lack the bravery and the strength and the prowess of using a musket of the other soldiers, no he did not. What he lacked wasn't something in his character for what this brave young tin soldier lacked was a leg.
Two figures sat on the couch, One was Ulquiorra, the cuatro Espada with his hands in his pockets. The other Orihime, a captive of Aizen, trapped in the palace of Las Noches.
She slowly extended her hands toward the espada's chest and said, "Soten Kisshun, I reject"
Immediately a shield had been produced and as if time had gone backwards, the large gash on Ulquiorra's torso began to mend itself.
The slight hum of Orihime's powers healing a wound was the only thing that could be heard in her white quarters. A pair of piercing green eyes watched intently as the wounds on his chest began to sew itself together.
His wounds would have healed by itself but this woman had insisted that she heal him as she was already there. He did not refuse because the opportunity to see her powers of rejection this close was something that was quite rare.
There was nothing but silence between them, neither of them willing to speak and break the tense air surrounding them. A few more minutes had passed until Orihime could no longer stand the silence and opened her mouth to speak, "You know my brother Sora told me a story about two toys when I was little"
Her sentence was only met with silence and an ever piercing glare from the emotionless Espada. She took a deep breath and continued her story-
" Well from what I remember it was about this tin soldier who had fallen in love with this paper dancer who had this tinsel rose on her hair." She stopped abruptly and started to think out loud " Well I think it was a ballerina because even in cartoons they showed that she was one, but my brother said the book only said dancer but now I'm not so sure-"
'And so she rambles about petty details yet again' Ulquiorra felt the sudden urge to roll his eyes but decided against it. 'This woman gets sidetracked so easily' he thought irritably.
His mind started to call to his attention to the more pressing matters until a single line from what she had said had pushed everything to the back of his mind
"—well anyway the thing is this guy only had one leg but that didn't mean that he was the weakest of them. Personally I think he was the strongest out of all of them! "
The box where the tin soldiers lay was surrounded by a vast assortment of other toys as well, from swans to cannons to bears but the most striking of all was a beautiful paper castle. Through the small windows one could catch a glimpse of the beautifully decorated rooms behind them.
In front of this castle was what could be perceived as a lake with swans floating around it. But what caught this tin soldier's attention was a beautiful paper ballerina with one leg up so high that he had thought that she was like him.
So he came closer only to find that she in fact had two but she did not care that he had only one and instead cherished him for who he was.
Suddenly the conversation had become more interesting.' How could he have been the strongest if he was handicapped?' Ulquiorra thought. "Why do you think that, Woman? Shouldn't he be the weakest amongst all of them?"
Orihime merely smiled as she dispelled her powers and looked at Ulquiorra's now healed torso. He had well toned muscles and deathly pale skin. On his right chest lay his tattooed Espada number.
.four.
Her eyes then wandered towards his hollow hole. It was placed at the spot where his heart should have been. Carefully she extended her hand to touch it. She could feel him staring at her and yet she didn't care.
She placed her hand over his hollow hole ever so gently.
He had felt a tingling sensation traveling along his spine upon contact. He felt the warmth of her skin slowly seeping into him. Her touch, soft and filled with care. Her eyes gentle as she looked at him.
Ulquiorra managed to keep his iron mask secure and she slowly withdrew her hand. He had felt his spirits fall and his chest tighten. His eyes widened a bit and forced himself to think nothing of it. He felt nothing for this girl. Absolutely nothing. He was an Espada, he was void of emotions. He could not feel.
"Woman you have not answered my question as of now" he said in his monotonous voice.
Snapped out of her thoughts she looked at Ulquiorra, his emerald green eyes ever fixated upon her.
"Oh! Um, right! Sorry…" She says nervously, " I think he's the strongest because he could fight as well as the others can even if he only had one leg. Imagine if he really had the leg then he could have been the commander or something!"
She fidgeted quietly in her seat as she waited in bated breath for his response. She stole quick glances at him. Still he had his emotionless face intact, his expression, unreadable. His emerald eyes made contact with her grey ones and Orihime felt her cheeks burning.
"I see, what happened afterwards?" He asked quietly. Put frankly, he was very interested in this story. It was as if some part of him was telling him to find out the ending. As Orihime had opened her mouth to speak a knock came from the door.
"Come in" ordered Ulquiorra. The door opened revealing an arrancar. It gave a short bow and proceeded to speak.
"Aizen-sama has requested your presence in his chambers" he said quietly. "You may leave" Ulquiorra instructed and immediately the arrancar left. He turned his attention back to the woman and zipped up his shirt again, hiding his hollow hole from view.
He placed his hands back into his pockets and turned to leave. "Woman, I will return with your dinner here later, we will continue with our discussion then" he says, his voice void of any emotion as always.
Orihime simply watches him as he leaves her quarters and watches the door shut. If there was one thing she realized while she was remembering the story, it was that Ulquiorra was very much like the brave tin soldier.
In the same way the soldier lacked a leg, Ulquiorra lacked a heart.
And in the same way as the dancer, she couldn't have cared less about his lack of a heart. Instead, she hopes to give him one.
To be continued.