Disclaimer: Nope, not mine, but I do want Grimmy to be mine, dammit.
Tomorrow
She woke up to the feeling of damp cheeks, prey of dreams full of eyes as green as emeralds and hands as pale as ivory and the sound of a stoic, unflappable, almost cold voice.
Dreams of longing in which her emotions rushed to the encounter of he who was her captor as well as her guardian, that led away from yet another dream by the name of Kurosaki Ichigo.
She could never tell him how grateful she was for his impromptu entrances, for his words, impassible and almost hidden. She never got to tell him about all the curiosity and guilt and confusion that she saw when she looked at him, even when he did his best to hide it, nearly desperately, behind his eyes.
The same eyes that relentlessly haunted Orihime, whether she was asleep or awake. Food didn't taste the same as it once did. She couldn't hear when her friends talked to her… The moon was the only thing that seemed to stir something inside of her, that managed to light up a wisp of life in her heart.
But now the moon seemed a far cry from what she used to be able to see from inside her prison cell. Such a bright thing that hid too many memories and stifled the countless whispers and sighs she uttered as she called him with her thoughts when she missed him so much it hurt.
Until the day came when she finally broke down in a fit of bitter tears, right in the middle of a lunch break. Tatsuki and Chizuru hadn't known what to do to calm her desperate cries down, to soothe her broken heart. At last, Orihime was able to understand why she couldn't forget him – why she missed him so much.
She realized why she felt drawn to the eyes of such an emotionless Vasto Lorde.
She loved him.
She loved... him.
There was no way on earth to cheer her up. Even Ichigo and Ishida appeared concerned when they saw her like that, all broken and defeated and lonely. Rangiku advised the others to leave her alone, for she knew what it was what plagued the other girl's thoughts and haunted her heart. After all, she understood how painful it was to love someone just to lose him.
Only Rangiku and her knew what it meant to love a mortal enemy.
It was no surprise, then, that when Grimmjow showed up at the school gate, nearly demanding to speak with Ichigo and company, Orihime hugged herself anxiously, immediately picturing the worst possible scenario, dreading the possibility that maybe, just maybe, the one she dreamed about was no longer.
The actual news were as alarming and worrisome as they could get. A final assault on Hueco Mundo was imperative, and all decided that it was about damn time they stopped Aizen's insane plans of conquest. All agreed, except Orihime. She didn't dare say a single word, settling instead with nodding her head when she was asked her choice.
Later, it occurred to her that there was a chance she was sentencing everyone to a certain death and that thought terrified her.
The battle was incredible, full of emotion, reiatsu and tons of blood. Free and unrestrained vital fluids, flowing as red waterfalls, splurging out of the bodies that used to contain them.
She ran in despair, while Rangiku and Rukia yelled a warning for her to be careful and for the love of Kami, stop! But she couldn't stop, not when she felt him so close, so close.
She found him just as he was about to unsheathe his zanpakutou against Ichigo. Without a doubt in her mind, she threw herself between them, protecting the lean one with her own body. The Shinigami representative was left stone cold surprised, barely able to come out of his shock to ask her to please explain why she would do such a reckless, insane, out of nowhere thing.
"You don't understand, Kurosaki-kun," she finally said, lifting her eyes to gaze into the green orbs that seemed to open up something inside of her, greeting her, welcoming her.
"Ulquiorra-san..."
"Inoue Orihime," he replied. "Why are you doing this?"
She took his hand in hers and lifted it to her chest, making him drop his sword to feel the pounding of her heart as it hammered wildly against her ribcage due to the race and the anxiety and, mostly, to seeing him again.
"Because this... is what I want."
A pair of arms wrapped around her skinny form in a tight embrace, so tight it betrayed that yes, it was real; that everything she had endured, had spoken of and had felt lately had an answer, an affirmation, a truth.
After that everything went blurry. They fought side by side, shoulder to shoulder. The blood continued its flow, and Hinamori's tears when she saw her draw her own sword made her heart clench painfully. She knew, too.
Amazingly, everything went downhill as soon as Aizen fell under Hitsugaya-san's blade. Many were dead, many more were injured, and some others had their innocence shredded to ribbons thanks to this epic war between good and evil.
She blinked, the sun glimmering brightly through the window. A pair of arms closed around her and pressed her hips to a lean body acting as a support at her back, with a sudden warmth it didn't possess before...
"Orihime..."
She sighed deeply, leaning into his embrace. The raven-colored hair, free of marks and restraining bone structures, shone under the sunlight like a black diamond against her flaming agate mane. The skin that used to be pale and hard once upon a time was now fresh and human. The lines that saddened his face were gone. His snowy garments were discarded, giving access to those under the command of a livelier Soul Society, more attentive, more compassionate.
"What are you thinking about?"
Always the one that wants to know everything, thought an amused Orihime, turning her head to see him.
"I'm thinking about tomorrow, Ulquiorra-kun..." she said, just before kissing his cheek.
"Tomorrow..."
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- Tenna' ento lye omenta -
I added a squint of GinRan, AizenHina and HitsuHina, because I can. :3