Hey guys! Welcome to my new story! It is kinda like a dark fantasy. I have it at T for now but it could possibly change to M. WE WILL SEE. I am excited about this story. I spend a whole day planning it out! I always love Orihime and Ulquiorra stories. This one will be a little bit of a slower burn with the romance, but it will be there…no worries! I really hope you guys will like it and that you join me on this story! Let me know your thoughts! And as always, thank you!

I do not own bleach

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Chapter 1: Orange Moon

The sun was setting over the village. The guards were going to their posts. It was another long night of waiting and watching. Unknown if they will come tonight. The guards never know. Never knowing if they were lurking in the woods. All they could do was wait until sunrise and hope those terrible creatures stay in their caves. The people in the village started to head indoors, it wasn't safe after nightfall. It became quite, only the sounds of animals lingered. The last bit of light disappeared over the mountains. There was only darkness now.

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Screams filled the air, breaking the silence. They were screams of pain. A woman with auburn hair lay on a bed soaked in blood. She gripped the blankets under her to try and ease her pain. People around her were moving fast getting fresh towels and water. The room was busy and there was an atmosphere of lost hope. Only one person was still. A boy, no older then 10, stood paralyzed by fear. He looked on helplessly as his mother cried. His blue eyes began to fill with tears.

"Mom…?" he tried to mask the fact his voice was breaking

The women turned her head to look at her son. Her gray eyes weren't as bright as before. She put on a tired smile and reached out her hand.

"It's okay Sora. Take my hand my love, give mommy strength," her words sounded faint as she took heavy breaths.

"Himeko, one more push. You can do it," a woman said gently

Sora grabbed his mother's hand. He wiped away his tears to seem strong for her. Soon he was to be a big brother he needed to be tough. Himeko's clutch around Sora's hand tightened as she gave one last push. One last yell into the night. Soon after the cries of a baby could be heard.

"It's a girl! Himeko! A beautiful girl!"

Himeko looked up to see her new child. She was so small. In that moment she wondered whom she would take after. She strained her eyes to try and get a better look but everything was getting blurry.

"My princess..." Himeko drowsily tired to raise her hands to hold her baby. Her vision was hazy until everything went black. Her hands had fallen right before her baby was given to her.

"Oh god no! Himeko! Sora take your sister!" The women franticly gave a confused Sora the newborn.

Everyone in the room was shouting. He looked at his mother lying lifeless on the bed. Her eyes were shut and her face was being drained of its color. 'She is bleeding too much'… 'I can't find her heart beat'….The boy couldn't take it and went out to the balcony. The moon was high in the sky now. It illuminated the village and the surrounding forest. Normally a peaceful night like this brought Sora a pleasant feeling, but his heart was racing. It hurt him so much. His mother was about to die. He wasn't ready. Not again. 6 months ago he lost his father, Orian, to them. He was found in bits and pieces…

The baby in his arms had made a noise breaking Sora's train of thought. For the first time he had looked down. The baby had finally opened her eyes. She had gray eyes, just like their mother. This caused Sora to start to cry. He was overcome with grief. His sobs became stronger and stronger until he felt a small little hand on his cheek. The touch felt warm and familiar. It had stopped the boy's tears instantly. The baby started to cry. It felt like the baby took his tears. Sora continued looking down at his sister. The more contact he had with her the more his heart felt less in pieces.

"It's okay...Don't cry. Big brother is here. I have you"

The boy hugged his sister. He had made a vow to protect her. They only had each other now.

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It was a full moon that night. The village elder sat by his window studying it. This was something he did whenever a baby was born into the village. He watched and waited.

Will anything change? He thought to himself. Just then a man with silver-gray hair rushed into the room. He was out of breath from running.

"Chief Yamamoto! It's Himeko… it seems like she gave birth to a healthy girl,"

"And what of Himeko, Chojiro?" the chief asked sadly even though he felt he knew the answer just by examining the other mans face.

Chojiro hesitated. He knew the chief of the village thought of everyone in it as his children. He didn't like bringing him sorrow.

"She has passed on sir…"

Chief Yamamoto held his head down in sadness. It seems like they had just lost Orian, now it was Himeko. His thoughts were heavy when Chojiro interrupted them.

"Sir! Look! The moon!" The man pointed up into the sky

The moon had changed. No longer was it a white-yellowish radiance. Now it was even brighter: a vivid orange.

It can't be….

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Footsteps echoed within the rock walls as they approached the inner cave. A man with pink hair walked with an abnormal grin on his face. He had just come from the outside and he couldn't wait to meet with his Lord. The glow of a fire signaled he had reached his final destination. He walked into an enormous opening. Several eyes shifted his way. The man paid no attention to them as he went before his leader.

"My Lord…the moon has changed... It has finally come" he could barely contain his twisted smile. "We should attack now, my Lord..an-"

"Szayelaporro," there was silence. The owner of the voice got off of his throne carved from stone and slowly walked towards his informer. He facial expressions never changed. He kept his confident and almost sly demeanor as he approached his suburbanite.

"Does a baby follow commands?" he said cooly.

"My lord?"

"Answer" the man never raised his voice but with each passing second it seemed like the air in the room was getting sucked out. Szayelaporro felt the heaviness upon his back. The lord doesn't like to wait….

"No, babies do not even know common tongue until they are older…"

"Correct. Now you tell me. Why would we attack now?"

"We could take it now and raise it as our own, it will always be on our side then!"

The man that went by Lord stood still. His cool smile he always wore as an expression was now gone. He looked at the pink haired man harshly. 9 others looked on as their lord moved closer to their comrade.

"Tell me Szayelaporro… from where do you think this baby was born?"

"The village of….. Light" As he spoke the words he realized how senseless he had been. He had been too overzealous. Upon seeing the orange moon he couldn't contain his emotions. "I am sorry Lord Aizen…I wasn't thinking," He gave a deep bow to show his respect.

Aizen began to look around the stone room. He saw 9 pairs of eyes waiting for orders.

"Brothers and Sisters of Darkness. Do not fret. Our time has finally come. We know what we must do. However, have patience. Our healer has finally arrived… and one must pick the fruit when it is most ripe….."

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10 years later….

The sun rose over the mountains. The village became bright once more. The trees swayed slightly against the breeze. It was a beautiful morning. It was another night with no attacks. The sleepy guards climbed down from their posts to go back to their homes. Everyone in the village past the age of 18 had to take turns watching the borders of the village. It was long and tense, but it is what the Light Village trains for.

Sora climbed down from his post. He was more tired then usual. It was only his second time watching the town this month. To him, it felt like the 100th.

Sora had grown into a fine man; tall, kind, and handsome. Many of the village elders said he looked exactly like his father. They had the same brown hair and blue eyes. He wasn't sure if this was so, but he liked the complement.

He walked through the village with the other guards. One by one they would break off and go into their huts. Sora was the last to reach home. Their hut was built on the side of a tree slightly elevated, like many others in the village, and required walking up a steep ramp or climbing a ladder to get into it. Sora was way too tired to even attempt the ladder today. He often wondered why the village elders gave it to him. Perhaps it is because your parents died…why else would they be so kind?

Sluggishly he had reached the door. He barely got it open when fiery red hair clouded his vision. Shocked for only a moment until he saw two gray orbs beaming up at him.

"BROTHER! You're home! F-i-a-n-l-l-y! I have so much to tell you!" His sister had jumped off of him and started to jump around the room. One thing was very certain, she had way too much energy this early in the morning.

"What? But I saw you right before I took my post, how could you have so much to tell me?…..Orihime did you not sleep again?"

Orihime began to laugh. She was in a good mood this morning. She always hated it when her brother was guarding at night, so it was hard for her to sleep.

"naww naww of course I slept! I got up early to make you breakfast! Ta-da! Eggs, ham, and red bean toast with fish!"

Orihime grinned at her brother. Sora looked at the plate she had prepared. It was true…there was fish on that toast. He loved his sister dearly but couldn't help but think she had a few things wrong with her, taste-bud wise.

Orihime sat down and happily started to eat her meal. Alllllright red bean and fish DOES taste GREAT! She looked over at her brother. He seemed very tired. She hated that he needed to go out all night. She understood why the village did it but to her it seemed pointless. She had never actually witnessed an attack. The last time the Darkness came to the village was when she was 5 years old. But she had slept through it somehow. Everyone always made such a huge deal about the Darkness.. Orihime didn't understand people living in constant fear.

She learned about everything at school. What the Darkness is…what they want and how to fight. But no one knew what they looked like, only that they wore dark hooded cloaks. She had so many questions…

Her mind began to wonder then she remembered why she was so excited

"Ah! Guess what! I can do something really cool…Let me show you!"

Without waiting for her brother's reaction she smashed her cup on the floor. Pieces of clay went flying along with water spreading out on the floor

"Orihime! What are you doing?!"

"Just watch!"

Orihime held out her hand and closed her eyes slightly. An orange light began to engulf the broken cup. Within seconds the water was going away and the cup was being put back together. Only a few seconds later when the light went away that Sora saw that the cup was back how it originally was, even the water.

Orihime seemed very pleased with herself. She picked up her cup and giggled. Sora on the other hand was stunned. He knew his sister had different powers then the rest of the village but he would never of thought she was capable of this. He began to panic after remembering what Chief Yamamoto had once told him.

Sora….Orihime's power will be different then the others. We must watch her. Never let her practice at night. It is important for her to be strong and fight for us. But her light magic means more then you know…She needs to have control…. remember never at night…

"Orihime…When did you practice this?"

Orihime feel silent. She had made her brother upset. She had broken their rule.

"Orihime…."

"Last night…. when I couldn't sleep…but it wasn't totally on purpose!"

"Ori-"

"I was cleaning the kitchen…. and I accidently broke mom & dad's blown glass bowl they got from their wedding…I know how much you love it…. and I wanted it to not be broken… so badly… and then before I knew it… there was an orange light over it! It was getting fixed! And…and then.. The light went away and the bowl was back to how it was before! I am sorry I am sorry I broke the rule! I'm sorry!"

Orihime began to cry. She never wanted to make her brother disappointed. Sora looked over at the glass bowl over on the table. It was in fact something he cherished deeply, one of the last things left of his parents. He always told Orihime to be careful with it so many times because of his attachment to it. She must have felt desperate….

"Orihime I am not mad….okay?" Sora bent down and hugged his sister tightly to show her it was fine. Orihime looked up at him with tears running down her face.

"Y-your not?"

"No… you didn't mean it right?"

Orihime shook her head up and down. Sora grabbed a cloth from the table and started to wipe away her tears. Once she had calmed down he picked her up and put her on her bed.

"Sleep now okay? I know you stayed up all night. Brother just needs to go get something really quick then he will sleep too, okay?" He noticed that Orihime still seemed down. He somehow felt very guity. He quickly thought of a solution.

"When we wake up how about we go wild berry picking…"

"And make a pie!?" She shot her head up from her pillow and started to bounce with excitement.

"Yes, BUT only if you sleep now,"

Orihime quickly put her head down on the pillow and began to 'sleep'. He closed the curtain to her sleeping area and took a deep breath. Moments later he left their hut.

He climbed down the ladder and went straight to Chief Yamamoto's place.

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He walked closer to the stone throne. He had traveled very quickly to give his lord news. Every night he watched. Every night he stealthy moved around the village. The watchers never saw him. He waited and waited for a sign of the healer. It was endless days, months, and years. Finally there was a sign. He saw a soft orange glow between the trees. Which house is it? Who caused it? He could not see from his angle. He wanted to get closer but he couldn't due to the troublesome watchers. All the information he knew was that the healer was of human age 10. This evidence was all he needed.

When he got deeper into their cave he saw his master and fellow warriors. All waiting…all curious. It was far too early in the night for him to show up…they knew there was a sign.

"What is it that you saw? Show us, if you please…"

"Yes, Lord Aizen,"

Aizen looked down at his subordinate as he crushed his emerald eye. The room was filled with a fine dust. Everyone present closed their eyes and took in what the dust had to offer. A bright orange light….

Aizen opened his eyes and gave a wicked smile.

The room erupted with excited voices. The healer was growing…

"Silence now….I think it has been too long since we have paid any attention to our friends at the Light village…."

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"It smells so good doesn't it?!" Orihime was in good spirits. She spent the afternoon with Sora picking wild berries near the river. When they had gotten home they made the pie together. Orihime loved sweets. Whenever she felt sad, Sora always suggested they make some. He always cared for her. She loved him the most in the world.

It was just before nightfall when they put the pie in the fire.

"Now how long will this take again?"

"40 minutes but you need to turn it every 10 so the fire cooks it evenly!"

"Exactly…" She always amazed Sora. She was only 10, yet she was smarter then most of the other kids in the village, and some adults for that matter. He raised her to hold her own, and to be strong in every aspect of life. Sometimes he didn't feel like her brother… but as her father. He would do anything for her.

Orihime could barely sit still. She was so excited for the pie. She was also glad her brother didn't have to be on watch today. That meant they could relax and play together.

The sun had gone down now, so Sora and Orihime lit candles and lanterns around the hut. Orihime looked out the window and saw fires being started around the village. There was always a large bonfire in the middles of the village. Orihime loved how it lit up the sky and the smell that came with it. They burned pine trees sometimes and it made the air fragrant.

Sora looked over at his sister. She kept running around. She was overexcited. At this moment he seconded guessed if something sweet was a good idea.

"Hey Orihime, how about we draw with come coal while we wait for the pie?"

Perfect this will distract her…

"OOHH! That sounds gr-"

GONG…GONG… GONG

Orihime and Sora turned pale. This was a noise that couldn't go unnoticed. That was the watchers alarm…. Orihime had only heard this sound a few times before during the day for testing. But this was no test.

The Darkness was here.