Disclaimer:I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. If I did, Ulquiorra would still be living :p
Bold=Thoughs
Italics=speaking
Lost Grief, Found Love
Chapter 1
The rain fell endlessly from the sky over Karakura Town. Orihime slowly walked home from her job at the bakery, not ready to be all alone in her apartment. It had been a year since the war with Aizen and pretty much everything returned to normal... Everything except Orihime hereself. When she was around her friends she would act as she always has, happy and full of life. When she returned home she cried almost non-stop and thought for countless hours of a certain green-eyed man. She missed Ulquiorra. She knew he was gone and she would never see him again. While in Las Noches she had fallen in love with Ulquiorra, all the while feeling like she was betraying her friends that were fighting to save her. No one knows her feelings toward the espada except herself. Ichigo, Tatsuki, Chad, Uryu, Rukia, and the others... all clueless.
Orihime sighed as she finally neared her apartment. She knew she couldn't avoid it for too long. After all, she did live there. The lock made a "click" sound as she turned the key to unlock the door. She went inside and sat her bag down. Tired and worn out, she plopped down on the sofa with the intent to quickly fall asleep but something felt odd. With the feeling that she wasn't alone she quickly got up and turned on all of the lights in the apartment. Her face portrayed pure shock when she realized someone was laying in her bed. She approached quietly until she tripped, landing with a loud thud. She got up very slowly. When she looked over to the bed she locked eyes with him. Beautiful emerald eyes met hers with an intense stare. She didn't know what to do or what to say. She just stood there, staring at him. "Onna" was all he said when he finally spoke. Something snapped inside Orihime as soon as she heard his voice. She ran to Ulquiorra and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could while tear after tear ran down her cheeks. After a few minutes passed Ulquiorra slowly wrapped his arms around her too, returning the unexpected hug.
They stayed like that for a while until Orihime calmed down. She slowly lifted her head to look at him and gave him the most genuine smile he had ever seen. Ulquiorra was silent but Orihime could see the surprise in his eyes. 'Did he think I would't be happy to see him?'she thought. "Ulquiorra why do you seem so surprised? Did you think that... that I wouldn't be happy to see you?" "I do not see any reason for you to be happy. Have I not caused you great sadness? I may not have much knowledge about these human emotions but i can tell by your appearance that you have suffered from my death." Orihime's eyes went wide. "What do you mean?" she said. "Your hair is not as full of life as it was before and your eyes that always shined with determination are now dull. I also notice that you have lost a considerable amount of weight." "Oh..." she said. She was silent for a while as she thought. She hadn't even realized the changes in her physical appearance. She was so drowned in grief that she didn't even keep up with her health this past year. "Why would you risk your health over me?" Ulquiorra said as he brushed a stray hair from her face. "I guess I haven't even thought about my health since you... disappeared. I had hope when you reached out to me. Hope that we could be together and I could teach you more about the heart... but you suddenly disappearing like that brought me back to the cruel reality where my hope was lost. I thought I'd never see you again." Orihime's eyes began overflowing with tears as she explained her feelings to him.
For once in his miserable life, Ulquiorra's eyes went wide with shock. He was shocked that this woman he had once held captive felt such kind feelings toward him. She waited for him. She cried for him. "You really feel such things for me?" He asked. As a single tear rolled down her cheek she replied "I do. I love you, Ulquiorra." He sat in silence for a moment before saying "I do not completely understand this 'love' yet but I cannot deny that this newly formed heart beating in my chest tells me to stay with you... To protect you with my life." Orihime stared into his eyes not believing what he had just said. She didn't know what to expect if she told him she loved him but it definitely wasn't that. She smiled at him then and asked "Then would you like to stay here with me?" Ulquiorra did not hesitate and simply told her "Yes, Onna. I will stay here with you."
Chapter 1/END
Thanks for reading and itd be great if you left a review to help me. Maybe tell me what you liked and didn't like or something you hope will happen between them in the future. I plan to make this story long, but only if you guys support me ;p