Orihime Inoue had always thought her love for Ichigo Kurosaki would last forever, but that was before she met the dark haired, pale skinned espada, Ulquiorra Schiffer. The young girl had lived a relatively calm and problem free life, besides the few major things involving the soul society, her normal human life was pretty happy. She had friends, went to school and got to spend time with the one person she loved more than anyone else on the planet. That was the way it was, she never thought something would happen to shatter that, she didn't consider herself important enough to be in danger of being kidnapped. But evidently that wasn't true, the Espada's and Aizen in particular had take an interest in her and before long she found herself standing in Ichigo's room watching him sleep and saying her final goodbyes. For a second she wished for him to wake up and hold her close, but even if he had woken he wouldn't have seen her, the bracelet Ulquiorra had given to her, made it impossible for humans to see her. Her tears fell in floods from her eyes, as she tried to struggle through the goodbye, she hadn't had time to think of something to say, she just hoped that somehow he could hear her words and would listen to her voice a little longer.
Finally her words stopped and her tears slowed, she lifted her face to his once more. Watching him sleep brought some comfort to her but it didn't last long enough. It was like watching someone die, knowing there was nothing you could do about it, knowing you would never see their face again, she had loved him since they had met, but never had the courage to tell him and now she didn't have time to. It didn't seem fair that she would have to say goodbye before she had had a chance to say a proper hello. The girl closed her eyes and pressed her lips lightly to the boy's, before standing and leaving through the open window, leaving the boy she loved alone and leaving the world she knew behind forever.
Orihime walked slowly to the place she was to meet her escort, and before long she reached it. There he stood, hands in his pockets, black hair blowing in the wind. He looked at her with a calm expression and started walking without waiting for her to catch up to him. He knew she wouldn't run away, even if she did he would catch her, it wasn't logical for her to even try to escape from him. And Orihime knew this, she followed the man in white for what seemed like a lifetime, and finally after the long journey she was no longer in her own world. This was hueco mundo the world of the hollows, espadas and Aizen, it was a world she didn't know and a world she feared. But she had resigned herself to being her for a long time, she was determined to do whatever she could to protect her friends even if that meant becoming the sacrifice herself.