((Oh yeah, I'm a HUGE ass for this one but..well yeah. If you've seen the 4th Bleach Movie this will make sense, if not, just go with it. Sorry but it's been brewing. I've really wanted to write a decent Bleach story and the last one...well I can't even put my feelings on into words but yeah I feel it's a mess. So, here goes. Let me know if you want more.))

It was Ichigo was leaving the gates for the last time that he spied something out of the corner of his eyes. It stopped his heart, because it was quite frankly the man who had stopped his heart with his bare hand. It was Ulquiorra, gone was the hollow hole, replaced by a hell chain. His eyes still green, tears still on his face. He brought a finger to his lips and hushed the Soul Reaper before he could alert the others.

"I'll catch up." Everyone looked back at him confused but as they all needed the attention of the 4th squad and Orihime. He let his friends go ahead of him, worried about what might happen. He was tired, but he had beaten Ulquiorra before and he would do it again. "So, not totally gone then."

"Ichigo Kurosaki."

"You've got a lot of nerve coming to me right now. I have half a mind to make sure you're existence is totally wiped out. You killed me, you hurt Orihime. Do you know for how long she was messed up over you!" He was shouting but he didn't care.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, you must calm yourself. " He watched patiently for the orange haired man to quiet down. Only when he did so did he continue. "The Onna, she must not know I'm. She must never know. Her heart..she'd want to do something. And there is nothing to be done. I must atone."

Ichigo studied him closely. "For your actions during the Winter war? For Killing me! FOR FOLLOWING AIZEN!" He was yelling again but he'd earned the right.

"For her. The Onna." Ichigo was shocked. He opened his mouth to say something and shut it just as quickly.

"Your mean Orhime? The girl your kidnapped? The girl your brainwashed into caring about you. The only person good enough to cry over you?"

"Yes." It was all he said and Ichigo was more shocked. Ulquiorra Ciefer, arranger, 4th among Aizen's Espada wanted to atone to Orihime. The woman he'd once kidnapped. He knew something had happened between the two when they had that strange goodbye in Heuco Mundo but the weeks after confirmed it. She cried for weeks. She'd been heartbroken over his death and the most emotion Ichigo had ever seen from the strange Espada was when he held his hand out to her. It had been very strange indeed. He looked down and away from Ichigo.

"Do you want another chance? To set it right?" He didn't know whey he said it but it was one of those things to do that he knew was right. Ulquiorra's head snapped up, his full attention on the Soul Reaper.

"With the Onna?"

"With everything." He nodded and that was enough for Ichigo. He pulled on the last of the power that Hell had granted him and pulled loose the chain, but before Ulquiorra could be dropped away he sent him to the soul society, resolving to track him down as soon as possible. His soul now stripped clean he might just now get to truly atone. He figured that Ulquiorra had been just another cog in the machine of machine built by Aizen.

With that done he turned his back and left the gates for the last time. Hoping that the gates would stay sealed forever and that he'd never have to come back. He looked into his friends eyes and he left behind the world below and settled on Orihime. She looked confused but welcoming as always. He hoped he'd done the right thing.

Ulquiorra first became aware that it was warm. Not the heat of hell, not fire and lava but it warmth of the sun. It was, not terrible. In fact it was pleasant. He opened his eyes and saw the sun and sky. He was surrounded by the bustle of people around him. He looked around and blinked. He knew this feeling, this reistu, the Soul Reaper had kept his word, he was in the soul society.

Ulquiorra raised a hand and looked at his fingers Gone were the black nails, replaced by pale ones tinged slightly pink. His skin still pale but no longer white. He raised a hand and felt no mask. He lowered his hand and ran his fingers carefully down his throat, and to his shock he felt no hollow hole. He closed his eyes, he supposed the feeling he felt was relief.

As far he could remember he'd been a hollow, and fought his was to become a Vasto Lorde. He fought his way to Aizen's attention and kept it by fighting. He fought in hell. An endless cycle of his last battle with Ichigo Kurosaki. It was always the same and he could always just see her, just out of reach.

He had accepted it. He never stopped trying to understand that look though in her silver eyes, pooled with tears or the sureness with which she'd declared to not be afraid, nor the steadiness of her hand when they almost touched. He was going to pay for all his sins to her. It was his punishment and he'd take it.

When he'd felt her presence with the rest of her friends when they charged the gates of hell. He'd stayed on the periphery and watched her from afar. The only thing that had changed was the fact that she'd become more beautiful. He'd basked while he could in her goodness. It had been a welcome respite from his punishment. He knew it would end too soon and the pain would be more intense but he still had to be there, he didn't want to be seen or sensed. He NEEDED to be near her, or as near as he could. If it had come down to it he'd have protected her and sacrificed his existence such as it was.

She'd escaped relatively unscathed. It wasn't a place for her anyway. He had figured out why he was here. The Soul Reaper. She still loved him and that a burned him worse than all the magma around him. In the end he had been unable to quell his interest to hear something, anything about her. That was why he approached Ichigo alone. The Soul Reaper understood secrets. He'd keep his secret to keep the Onna safe.

He hadn't expected to hear she had been affected by his death, that it mattered to her. He had impacted her. Her. The only being he freely gave his attention to. It grew more with every word he heard from his former enemy and he'd done the only thing that was to be done. He'd taken the chance to be cleansed. He didn't deserve it, but she did. She deserved a clean soul around her. One that knew atonement for his sins and the value of what he'd been given. He'd taken the chance and trusted the other man.

It was rewarded. He was here.

Now to figure out just where here was, and how to get to where she was. One thing at a time though. He set out, his hands slipping easily into his pockets as he started to pick his way through the streets.