It was funny that in a world devoid of color Orihime Inoue could still say she had every hue she had ever wanted. Every shade of every pigment, put down to a green.

It was captivating, just staring into those eyes.

It was funny, too, how she came to believe that grey was a color. Well, yes, it was a color, but not really one that someone would count outside of the prism of black and white. But Orihime came to find that she loved the color grey- it was just as dazzling as purple or pink or blue.

She came to love that color, what little color it was. It was one of the only hues she had left.

The only color she had seen in four years.

By this time she had grown a bit frail, but was still amazed to find that she was in good health. She didn't use her powers very much, nor did Ulquiorra, because they needed what little reishi was left in the air. They had managed to make it last a long, long time.

The palace had decayed over time, little bits and chunks of it finally falling off and into the darkness of the dead space around them. They had used their powers occasionally to protect themselves from pieces of Los Noches falling down.

"Mommy, tell me about the sun again!" A small girl pleaded, bouncing on her small bed. "I want to know all about the sun and the sky!"

Orihime smiled softly, sitting down on the girl's blue comforter. They had found it in Tia Halibel's room and taken it for their own- blue was a shade of color that they had been able to expose their daughter to.

"Well," Orihime started, looking up at the ceiling. "The sun orbits the earth. And every day it rises up over the horizon-" She moved her hand up arching it in her imaginary sky. "-and then falls back down every night."

"And it turns to darkness!" The little girl cried, falling back with a giggle onto her bed. "Just like outside. Except with stars!"

"That's right." Orihime mused with a happy smile. "The stars glitter like thousands of little suns- because they are- but white."

"White's a good color." The girl agreed sagely, nodding her head.

"Yep! And then it happens all over again."

"Wait, mommy, you forgot about the sky!"

"Oh, that's right." Orihime lightly hit her fist into her open palm, not noticing as her daughter mimicked her. "It's blue-"

"Like my bed!"

"But lighter. With white puffy clouds like pillows floating up in the sky."

"Wow!" Laughing the girl picked up her pillow and hopped down from her bed, holding it up over her head as she ran in circles. "Cloud!" She cheered, jumping up and holding it up. "Look, look, I'm a cloud!"

Orihime laughed, too, clapping. She watched happily as her daughter's dark hair streamed behind her, the light curls bounding off her back. Her grey eyes turned back to see her mother's matching ones, beaming with all the radiance of the sun itself.

"When I grow up," The girl decided, "I'm going to be a cloud."

Orihime laughed again, nodding. "Yes! That's a perfect idea! What kind of cloud will you be? A light fluffy cloud?"

"Nope!"

"A big fat cloud!"

The girl laughed. "Nope!"

"What about… a little tiny cloud shaped like a monkey?"

"No, mommy! I'll be a rain cloud!"

Orihime faked a gasp. "A rain cloud?"

"Yep! That way I'll feed all the plants and make everything super green."

Orihime nodded. "That's a great idea. But, I think you'll have to wait to become a cloud until tomorrow." She patted the bed, giving her daughter a knowing look. "Come on, Ayume."

With an obedient nod, the little girl clambered up onto the bed, her small white nightgown sliding up over her legs. She burrowed down under the comforter, holding it to her chin with her little hands.

"Mom?"

"Hm?"

"When will daddy be back?"

Orihime smiled. "He'll be here when you wake up. He just had to go to the other side of the castle and repair a beam."

"Okay. Will you wake me up if her gets home tonight?"

"But little girls need their sleep!" Orihime declared. "If I wake you up when he gets home you'll be all sleepy tomorrow and you won't have any fun playing with him."

She pouted. "Aw. Okay."

Orihime smiled fondly again, smoothing out her daughter's hair and placing a light kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight Ayume!"

"Goodnight, Mommy."

(~)

Ichigo steeled his face, determination etched into his eyes. He grasped the back of his sword, leaning forward slightly.

"Ready?" A man shaded by his hat asked.

Ichigo looked back at the rest of his team.

Chad nodded.

"Yes." Uryuu confirmed.

"Ready!" Renji called.

Rukia smirked up at Ichigo. "Of course."

Ichigo nodded at Urahara. "Let's go."

From the back came a loud "Hey!" And then a man came strolling from the shadows. "You were all going back without me? You little shits!"

"Grimmjow?" Ichigo asked. What was lieutenant of second division doing there…?

"You didn't think you were going to save bat shit and princess without me, did ya?" He crowed, coming to stand behind the gang.

"Poor choice of words," A woman's voice said as she came to stand in the light as well. "But I have to agree."

"Jeez, Tia, why'd you have to drag me along?" Stark asked, rubbing the back of his neck. "This is such a pain."

"Oh, come on Stark!" Lillinet whined. "This'll be fun!"

Urahara grinned. "Is that everybody?"

No one else stepped forward from the shadows.

"Well then, I'll say have a nice trip." With that, the man cranked down the lever he stood by, a huge portal opening before the group. "Come back in one piece!" He called, waving them all goodbye.

Then they were off.

That's right folks. It's back. I sort of left everyone hanging on Color, I relise, and while I LOVED that ending I thought about a happier alternative to the two perishing away inside the limbo. And so, here it is. (It gets better I promise. I don't usually like child fics ether, but this is going to work.) And yes, this means longer chapters, those of you who were on Dreams of Flying while I was still writing it.

I know update every Saturday.