Author's head note: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story! Also to the hundreds of people who have viewed it, I hope that you find the time to let me know what you think of it as I try to move it toward completion (I haven't divided my outline yet, but it will be between 8 and 11 chapters). If you like it please say so, and if you dislike it I'm not opposed to criticism, as long as it's constructive. I don't usually waste a whole paragraph on thank-yous, but this is the first story I've written to receive this much recognition since "The eye and the flower", so I'm a little emotional about it. An author only has purpose when there are people who enjoy his work, so one last time: Thank you, and I hope I continue to live up to your expectations.

Chapter 4: A family

Nine days later

"Other Arrancar?" Orihime looked at Ulquiorra wide eyed. "Are there a lot of you?" The two of them were walking outside, traveling along the residential area of Aizen's kingdom. It was her first tim seeing it, though it wasn't all that far removed from the parts of Hueco Mundo that she had already encountered. The only thing that surprised her was the sheer number of Arrancar that littered the streets, moving to and from in a very human manner. It almost felt like a small city.

"When lord Aizen used the orb of distortion to create the Espada, its effect reached all Hollows within a set distance. Seven hundred seventy-eight Arrancar currently exist. Most are the lowest of the low, with abilities barely worth consideration." He answered her question completely. She noticed that he was no longer distant or condescending when she asked him questions about this world.

"But he keeps them anyway?" She wiggled her nose in confusion. "I thought you said that the weak were just trash to you."

"Trash indeed. However, even trash can have statistical value, if enough of it accumulates. Lord Aizen will eventually do battle with the soul society. When that time comes, we will not merely be in conflict with the captians and their lieutenants, but every shinigami at their disposal. It is logical to have a stock of lesser soldiers to equal them; this strategy is slightly more efficient than simply engaging all enemies with the Espada." He debated telling her the true reason Aizen kept them: that they would eventually contribute to the one hundred-thousand souls the rogue shinigami would need to create the royal key in Karakura. One reason he decided against letting her know this was his belief that Aizen did not wish for her to know it, though he now willingly admitted that his primary reason was that he wanted to spare her the pain of knowing the fate that would eventually befall her home town.

"I see…" She dragged out the last word in her usual strange fashion. "Didn't understand a word! But I'm glad there are lots of Arrancar, it'd be lonely for you otherwise. So why did you bring me out here, huh? Wanted to take me on a date?" This last part was complimented with a wink.

"No." He said honestly, with no disquiet. She sighed a little. It was just no fun to tease this guy. "You have been in Hueco Mundo for sixty-seven days, and in that time you have not traveled beyond your room and the accompanying hallways."



"Well, yeah." Her voice was the slightest bit melancholy. "It felt like that was all I could do. Aren't I a prisoner?" Ulquiorra's only response was to stare at her. Once again his eyes were so intense, so curious, that looking into them took her breath away. It took her a moment to find her train of thought again.

"Ummm… I mean, I know I came here of my own free will, and that I'm Lord Aizen's servant for as long as I'm here, but at the same time this isn't where I belong. Aren't you afraid that I'll run away?"

"No." Once more his answer came simply. "Your doing that would defy logic. I can see clearly that you value the well being of those close to you more than your own. You would not endanger their safety by fleeing now. Aside from that, it is not within your power to traverse the gap between the human world and Hueco Mundo."

"Guess you're right." She gently knocked her fist against the side of her head and stuck out her tongue, giggling softly. "I can be pretty thickheaded sometimes. Besides, if I ran off now you'd get lonely and chase after me, right?"

"I would give pursuit, yes." He replied. Orihime clapped her hands.

"I'll go ahead and let you leave it at that. Guys can be so stubborn when it comes to admitting they like being with someone. So where are we going, Ulqui?"

"To a place where the lower Arrancar gather for recreational purposes. If possible, I would like you to find 'friends' to serve as your 'family' in this world as well." It was clear by the manner in which he said the words that he was not accustomed to using them.

"That's so sweet of you! I really have wanted to meet more of the Arrancar, I just know that most of them are kindhearted. But isn't it dangerous? I mean, hollows don't really like to be near humans."

"You have no reason to fear. For as long as Lord Aizen values you I will meet death before I allow you to meet harm." A light blush colored Orihime's face. Even though he said it was only for his master's order, she was flattered that he would say such a kind thing. He was always being kind to her, and because of his patient attention she had been able to make it through a whole month without the despair of her isolation consuming her.

"You're a much sweeter person than you like to pretend you are, Ulquiorra." She muttered softly.

"Did you say something?"

"No! No! I'm sorry." He had started to move ahead of her slightly, and she ran to close the distance between them.

Scene Change



"So Lord Aizen wants her to make a couple friends, huh?" Ulquiorra and Orihime had arrived at their destination, A multi-faceted building that was by all definition the Hollow equivalent of a convention center. When they arrived they were greeted by a petite female arrancar who seemed to have been awaiting them. She had short blue hair, the bangs of which fell over her left eye. The remains of her mask took the form of a small cross on her right cheek, and her bright red eyes were testing, but friendly. "Sure, I'll take care of her."

Ulquiorra nodded his consent before turning to Orihime. "There are matters that must be brought to Lord Aizen's attention, so I will be leaving now. I will come to your room at my usual time."

"Umm.. okay. Have a good day, Ulqui!"

"You as well." He turned and walked away, and Orihime watched him leave. She was still a little frightened to be left alone with so many Hollows, but she still felt the strong warmth in the center of her chest that had started to grow when he swore to protect her earlier. Kurosaki was the only other person to have ever made her feel this way. Was it possible that she had similar feeling for Ulquiorra as she did for Ichigo? No, it simply wasn't possible. The female arrancar stood behind her, a mischeivous look on her face.

"He visits you in your room?" She asked, snickering naughtily. "What a lucky girl you are, Inoue! I didn't think him the type to be seductive."

"Do you think it's lucky? I do too." Orihime smiled, her inborn obliviousness causing her to miss the blatant sexuality of the other girl's statement. The arrancar sweated nervously, a look of curiosity on her face.

"You're a strange one, to be sure." She sighed. "My name is Emeraldia, by the way."

"Oh! I'm Orihime Inoue." She bowed automatically.

"I know, believe me. You're the talk of the town."

"Really?" Orihime rubbed the back of her head nervously. "That's so flattering!"

"If you heard what the talk actually was, I don't think you'd feel that way." She laughed. It was a pleasant and human sound, the first laugh Orihime had heard since arriving that wasn't her own.

"Oh, I see." The human girl cast her eyes down.

"bah, it's just jealousy is all. A lot of people don't like the fact that a human has such a dear place in the eyes of our master."

"What about you, Emeraldia? Does it bother you that I'm a human?" The Arrancar shrugged.

"Nah, not really. We were all human once, after all. Most of us don't remember that life, but it'd be damn hypocritical of us to hate you for being human. That's how I feel, at least." Orihime sighed with relief. "However, as the co-chair of the Ulquiorra fanclub, I can't say I approve of all the attention 

you get from him. I guess I can forgive you though. Truth be told I'm more a fan of Stark." Her eyes got dreamy for a moment.

"The Ulquiorra fanclub?" Orihime blinked in surprise

"Yeah, it's this stupid thing we members of the Female Arrancar Association do. Believe it or not, even though males outnumber females five to one here, good guys are few and far between. It's a bit childish, but we like to kill time fawning over the handful we approve of."

"Humans and Arrancar really aren't that different, I guess." Orihime was smiling again, it had been a long time since she'd spoken with someone who seemed so normal.

"The hell we're not! Humans have a huge advantage over us." A boisterous voice rose behind the two of them. "You can actually dress as you please. For us, if white doesn't suit you you're pretty much screwed." Orihime turned in surprise. Another Arrancar, this one with a very bitter look in her eyes, stood behind them. Her green eyes seemed to harbor a very deep dislike for something or another, and a quarter of her face was still covered by her Hollow's mask. Beside her stood a much kinder-looking girl, with long black hair and a tranquil expression.

"Don't be so rude, Legretta, we haven't even introduced ourselves yet." The black haired girl chided, she turned to Orihime. "I beg your pardon, is it true you're Japanese?"

"Yes it is." What a surprising question to hear in a place like this.

"I was too, when I was human. Those were good times." She sighed heavily. "You can go ahead and call me Sora then. I like my human name more than the one I was given as an Arrancar. This is Legretta. She's actually pretty friendly, if you can get past all the pent-up aggression." She pointed to the girl beside her, who pushed her playfully in response.

"It's nice to meet you both." Orihime bowed again.

"Yeah, she likes to pretend that she's calm and composed, but Sora is probably the most annoying fangirl you'll ever meet in your life. You should listen to how she died." Legretta said without any particular dislike in her voice. The smaller girl blushed a little.

"I couldn't possibly ask something so perso-" Orihime began before being interupted by Sora.

"No! I'm proud to tell people how I died! There was this big commotion at the mall, right? I wanted to see what it was." Her voice was suddenly very loud and her words came rapidly, it was almost exactly the opposite of how she had been speaking just a few moments earlier. "It turned out that pop-idol Daisuke was signing autographs! I couldn't let this golden opportunity pass me by, so I started pusing my way through the crowd… but things got a little unruly, and I was accidently shoved over the edge of the balcony."

"that's so horrible." Orihime covered her mouth.



"No way! Because of that, Daisuke had an autographed picture of himself sent to my wake! I'd have never gotten it otherwise. I was so honored to have my death vindicated in such a way."
"See what I mean, she's crazy. Just like that girl over there." Legretta declared pointing at Emeraldia.

"You're still bitter that I have the potential to become a Fraccion, aren't you?" Asked Emeralda with a smile, turning to show Orihime the "99" tattooed on the back of her neck.

"What's a Fraccion?" Orihime asked.

"The ten Espada are the strongest of the Arrancar, and as a sign of their superiority they are allowed to take any other Arrancar ranked between eleven and ninety-nine as their personaly servants. These servants are known as 'Fraccion'." Emeraldia explained.

"I've never heard of that before."

"I'm not surprised that's true, if Ulquiorra is the only Arrancar you've spent a lot of time with. He's the only member of the Espada who chooses not to use them."

"I guess he really isn't the type to rely too heavily on others, is he?" Orihime asked, lightly blushing. This line of conversation reminded the other girls of Orihime's special relationship with him, and a barrage of questions were suddenly flooded over her. She would spend the entire day in this place, talking with and learning more about so many different people. When the night came and she finally returned to her room, she happily and eagerly explained it all to Ulquiorra, who listened without speaking. Upon his departure, she went immediately to her room.

"I can really have a normal life here." Orihime's voice no longer carried the slightest note of sadness. "It's only been a day, but I feel like I have a whole gang of friends again. They're all so great, but he's the one in the center of everything. I owe him so much." The warmth returned to her chest, and she savored it, too exhausted now to question why it was there, or what her feelings toward that man were becoming.

End Chapter

Author's footnote: Needless to say, this chapter is significantly different from the feel of the rest of the story so far. Even before I'd started to plan how I wanted this fic to play out, I knew I wanted to include this episode. It's unusual, but it's a nice intermission that prevents the interactions between Orihime and ulquiorra from growing monotonous, and it gives me an excuse to use some of my own characters. (As I rule I absolutely refuse to portray a character I didn't create in a way that is different from how they behave in the series, this is what gives a fanfiction the feeling that it actually takes place in the universe, but also makes it hard to make a certain situation end the way I want it to)

The last thing I need to say is that this chapter (and chapter 6, when I get there) will be the two that have the biggest chance of somehow counterdicting something stated in the world of Bleach. I've got 

no clue how many Arrancar there are, honestly. I just made up a number that seemed nice. If it's wrong I sincerely appologize. Anyways, thanks for putting up with my ranting.