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Chapter two: "I see you…"

It began as a gentle pull. With this feeling, he was aware that he had a self, and that he had begun to exist again. One minute ago he had been the perfect embodiment of nihilism.

Nothing.

Inexistent.

Without a body, without a mind or soul.

However now he felt it. Wherever and whatever it was, it changed something. A memory formed in his mind: images of a horned shadow that pushed him to the ground, on top of a dome, in a desert where the moon was the only light.

He had died. No, more than that. In that endless darkness, he had ceased to exist. He did not know how long he had been away; everything had been taken from him, including his sense of space and time. But now both slowly returned to him.

He felt like he was floating. Something filled him with warmth and comfort, unlike any he had ever felt before. A thought struck in him that moment, the first of its kind after a long absence, and he remembered that his life up until that time had in fact been void of all feeling.

The heat was getting stronger, more and more intense. It filled his bones and his flesh to the last fiber. Yes, he had bones. He had flesh. He had a body. Blinding light filled his field of vision as he opened deep green eyes. And as the final piece of him was put back into place, a solemn sound, a name echoed in his mind.

Ulquiorra.

He was Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra Cifer.

And he was reborn.

Orihime, filled with joy as much as with horror put her hands in front of her mouth. It felt like a dream, whether a good or a bad one was not certain yet. She had done it. He was here. She had brought him back. Blinking and still disoriented, he was lying on her bedroom floor, wearing only a bed sheet which she had hastily thrown over him, as his body had begun to take concrete shape.

Then suddenly he looked at her, his incredibly green eyes piercing her. Without indication as to whether his return from the afterlife had made him particularly upset or even surprised, he spoke with his dark velvety voice:

"What have you done, Onna?"

His tone was almost accusing. However, in an odd way she was happy to recognize his way of speaking so bluntly and sternly with her.

"I-I ..." Yes, what had she done? Her throat was dry. "What happened in Hueco Mundo, should not have happened," she stuttered.

Suddenly a thought appeared to her which had not even crossed her mind until now. What if he was dangerous? Slowly she moved her aching fingers. She couldn´t take them down yet. He was not quite back to normal.

Would he hurt her? What reason should he have now? For a long time he sat there in silence, just staring at her with that intense gaze of his. Though his face was the usual expressionless mask it had always been, she knew that he was thinking. Thinking was something that she should have done in advance. Before she could regret having acted so panicky however, something strange happened, something frightening.

Quietly, she heard the voices of her Shun Shun Rikka, whispering: "Orihime ... we are exhausted ... We can no longer hold it up..."

A moment later, the golden and orange dome over Ulquiorra's body flickered and eventually disappeared. The fairy helpers returned to their previous form as barrettes. Orihime swallowed hard.

"How long was I gone, and what has happened during my absence?"

His stern voice pulled her out of her thoughts. For a few seconds she just sat there, mouth open and looking silly. Then she overcame her shock and started to explain the not so recent events to him.

"It's been a year", she said softly. In order to cure him completely, she would have to rest for a while. It would not be bad for him to rest too. "Las Noches ... fell."

His eyes widened. Only a bit. But it was by his standards a motion of shock and surprise, as well as disbelief. "Aizen-sama is dead?"

She shook her head. "Trapped. Imprisoned. Like the surviving Espada, I think. We haven't heard from Soul Society for a long time ..."

He looked away from her, apparently lost in thought. She knew that he believed her. Whatever reason could he have not to? After all, she had just saved his life, no, given it back to him. And she did not even get so much as a thank you in return. But she did not care for the time being.

Orihime took a deep breath. "I'm sure you want to get some rest. A lot happened. Please don´t move. I´ll just go to my room and get some clothes for you. I'll be right back."

He nodded silently, without paying any more attention to her. She left the room after she had made sure with a cautious look back that he stayed right there on the floor.

As soon as the girl was gone, Ulquiorra began to examine his body with mild interest. It all looked the way he remembered it. His arms, his legs, the bony rest of a mask in the form of a helmet, it was all there. His hollow hole had not vanished either, as he noted when moving his fingers near his collarbone. He was also able to feel his sword right beside him.

Out of mere formality, he also took a glance under the bed sheet that covered his nakedness. Yes, everything was in its place. As a test, he held a hand up to the light and moved his pale fingers. This hand had reached out to her, just before he was turned to dust and the wind had carried his essence away. For a moment, this hand had held the secret he had tried so desperately do acquire. Until the end he had striven to explore it but just before it was revealed to him he literally vanished into thin air.

He could remember it as if it had been yesterday, because for him it was. A missing year was nothing for him, only a meaningless word. A loss most certainly irrelevant for a being, that was in possession of eternal life. Ulquiorra clenched his fist. It did not feel the way it should have. He felt no strength in his fingers. Though he was in his sealed form, this was definitely not right.

Obviously, the woman had not finished her work or he just had to wait a bit. But then what? What was she thinking? Suddenly his eyes focused on the window. He felt power and a presence that was not his, but that of someone else. Someone he didn´t know. A stranger, very close by. Gathering all his strength, he pushed himself up and walked to the window. He had to lean at the wall to keep himself on his feet. It was pathetic.

Two golden reptilian eyes watched the scene from the top of a nearby tree, looking down on the boy, filled with a mischievous glint. "That's not the house we are looking for ..." a drawling voice spoke up.

The owner of the eyes chuckled. "No, it's not. But often it is not what you are looking for, but that what you will find what holds your interest the most."

"Whatever you say ..." the other speaker said, yawning uninterestedly. The golden pair of eyes kept looking at the naked young man in the window for another moment. Full of amusement, it watched the girl coming back into the room and freezing at the sight. Her scream drowned out the quiet chuckle of the observer. Eventually, both, as well as some leaves of the tree were carried away by a breeze.

Yes, that´s not the house you are looking for. You found a naked Ulquiorra instead. Congrats on that one.
Thank you (especially OveractiveImagination39) for reading the new chapter! We hope you´ve had lots of fun. If you did please leave a review. If you didn´t...well...leave a review anyway and tell us how we could improve! Constructive criticism is almost as appreciated as flattering compliments! :3