A/N: I really wanted to write an UlquiHime after reading their last chapters together. They were very touching chapters and we got a glimpse into what Ulquiorra was thinking, but I wanted to write something from Orihime's point of view. Yes, I'm summarizing Orihime's time with Ulquiorra, but it's something I wanted to write for development purposes. Which might explain why it's so short, but oh well. That said, I don't own any of the characters or the series (although if I did Ulqui would probably be alive and well and having sexy times with his woman ;D).
---
Ulquiorra was an enigma. Orihime couldn't tell what he felt, what sort of emotions passed through him when he talked to her. She knew he had them. He was stoic and emotionless most of the time, but sometimes, when she looked very closely, she saw it. The smallest flicker of emotions behind those deep green eyes.
He was always there, blank, but dutiful. He never said more than he needed, never did more than what was needed. She wondered sometimes if he had ever been needed by anyone. If he had ever wanted to do anything beyond his duty. He was purposeless, following orders as told, saying things as instructed. She wondered if he ever wanted something more than that. He had to, everyone did. She believed there was a way to for everyone to change, even for those who had presumably lost their way.
There was no soul in an arrancar. The holes they bore on their bodies proved this, but Orihime didn't believe a single word. Just because a soul has lost its way didn't mean it had been lost forever. It could find its way. Orihime believed Ulquiorra could find his way. He said spiteful things, but he never hurt her, unlike Loly and Menoly who found it their single most joy to torment her. He was patient with her, even when she refused to eat. He never lashed out against her.
The first time she realized he wasn't as empty as he seemed was when he did lash out. He brought her down, said her friends would die, that there was no hope for her; that she should just give up. She struck back at him, slapping him when he went too far. She cried and he left her, but she didn't know that he thought highly of her for her actions. She didn't even realize until after that he had shown emotion. That he could feel. It was the moment Orihime realized that he was lost. He didn't know about human emotions, but he wanted to. He wanted to hope for something more.
The moment he asked her about hearts, she could see that he wanted to be saved. He wanted to know what it was like to be human. She was his muse, his base. He used her as an example and she intrigued him; made him want to learn more. He couldn't understand, but with her help, he might. There was hope in the most unlikely of places, that she knew.
In the end, when he knew he was going to die, he finally realized what a heart was. She was his heart. It all came from her, this odd feeling inside of him. When she cried, he reached out one last time.
"Are you afraid?"
Never.
Their hands brushed and with that their hearts met. The last beautiful understanding between them before he disappeared. His heart would always be with her, and with that knowledge, he knew he could leave without regrets. There were never any regrets with Orihime. He knew it was the only right decision he had made in his life of purposelessness. He had his purpose now.
You saved me girl.
And she knew she had. She smiled through her tears, knowing that she had led his soul the right way. That there was redemption, even for those who had lost their way.
She watched as his ashes blew away with the wind and she could almost hear his voice, muffled by the gale, but still there, always still there.
This is it. It's right here. Our heart.