Chapter Four

The little Hollow lizard felt a great disturbance of reiatsu from up above the white sand, causing little rivulets of dust to pour into its dark den. The lizard dramatically tilted its head to one side, listening; its beady purple eye gazing towards the ceiling of its underground home. Another huge boom vibrated the Hollow lizard's den from above, causing sand to cave into half its home. With an annoyed chirp, the Hollow lizard crawled its scaly brown body towards the entrance tunnel, only to find that, too, had been caved in.

The lizard chirped a grumble and, using its large, white masked head, started to dig in the sand towards the surface.

It emerged from underground into the dark Hueco Mundo night just as a chunk of bloody gore landed right next to it. A shrilling scream echoed throughout the pale, sandy fields.

With wide, purple eyes, the Hollow lizard froze, staring at the bleeding and bruised flesh in front of it, which it recognized to be part of an Arrancar's arm. It looked up just in time to see a strange human, dressed in a white military uniform, conjure a blue spirit arrow and aim it right at the forehead of the injured Arrancar in front of it. The Arrancar was lying on the ground, severely wounded, blubbering pleas to spare his life as he held onto the gushing stump of his missing arm.

The human in the white military uniform smiled mercilessly, and released his spirit arrow.

Bright red blood splattered sickeningly across the white sand as the Arrancar's head exploded, his remaining body toppling limply onto the ground. The human laughed victoriously, the grating sound shattering the stillness of the quiet dunes.

The Hollow lizard's adrenaline finally kicked in. With a little frightened shrill, it madly started to dig in the sand for the safety of its den. It had barely gotten a few inches into the ground when it heard the condescending grating voice of the human in the white military uniform, "What's this?" The human purred as he started to lope towards the petrified lizard, "I didn't know Hollows came in this size!"

The Hollow lizard knew it didn't have time to hide underground, so it turned its masked head south and sprinted as fast as it could possibly run. All four of its little legs looked like pinwheels as it darted around the smooth, soft landscape. Its breathing was labored, and its legs were becoming sore with his extended run. The lizard started to slow down.

A blue spirit arrow exploded in the sand right next it, causing grit to sharply splatter across the lizard's scaly body.

With a terrified shriek, the Hollow lizard jumped and picked up its speed with a renewed burst of flight. It could hear the human rancorously laugh behind it, and another blue arrow split the sand right next to its tail. The lizard darted and ducked as a barrage of spirit arrows narrowly missed it; the cursing human was merely feet behind it now.

The lizard looked up, and just atop of the sandy hill it was running on, it saw a huge cluster of white quartz trees, their leafless limbs entwining in closely together like a giant bush. It almost glowed with sparkling luminance in the pale moonlight. A chance to hide!

The Hollow lizard squinted its purple eyes with effort as it climbed the hill, pushing ever closer to the quartz bush, and curiously, the closer the lizard got the grove, the more it felt the prickling of a dense spiritual reiatsu, but the urgency of the attacking human behind it made it heedless to this new warning.

With its little chest puffing, the lizard finally made it to the pale limbs. Strangely, black ash swirled all around the quartz bush, seemingly being carried by the current of the oceanic reiatsu that emanated from deep inside the heart of the white trees. Even though the lizard wanted nothing more than to turn and run from the terror that resided inside the trees, it started to enter the bush anyway. But the limbs were so entwined, so thick, that the lizard ran right into a dead end within a foot; it pawed piteously at its barred escape.

Another blue arrow ricocheted off one of the quartz limbs, just barely missing the Hollow lizard again, causing several of the branches to explode in crystal fragments. The human, breathing heavily, gazed down at the lizard through the branches. "Finally gotcha," he smiled grotesquely, and drew a spirit arrow the lizard knew wouldn't miss. The lizard curled into a little ball, tucking its tail over eyes so it wouldn't have to witness its doom, shaking with fear.

The arrow never came.

"W-what…?" The lizard heard the human mutter with confusion. It chanced a glance up, and saw that the human's face was profusely bleeding from every orifice. His eyes, nose, ears, and mouth were gushing blood, dotting his pristine white uniform with crimson stains. The lizard could feel the horrific reiatsu from the bush surge forward; its crushing weight skimming over the lizard as the dense spiritual pressure rushed towards the human.

The lizard once again covered its eyes as it felt the current of reiatsu crush the human; his gurgled scream was cut off when his entire body was instantly squeezed to mush under the tremendous weight of the spiritual pressure. Black ash spiraled around the quartz limbs.


"Chad…! No…! What do you think you're doing?" Orihime exaggeratedly bemoaned; she was sitting cross-legged on the worn floor of his small, humble studio apartment, with her dolphin plush in her lap. The wood stain on the molding around the windows and doors was fading, and the paint on the walls was starting to crack and yellow. The tiny kitchenette, which was tucked away in the far corner next to the sliding shoji doors of the equally tiny bathroom and closet, had been hastily cleaned, but the rest of the space was still in that organized-chaos that bachelors typically kept, albeit Chad's things were a bit tidier. His plain, white sleeping futon was sloppily made, and the old TV in the corner next to it had a bunch of Carnivore Kingdom DVDs neatly stacked on top of it. A small kotatsu table took up most of the space in the middle of his apartment, and junk mail was piled in the center of it. Chad had only two pictures hung with push-pins on his walls; a signed, but gaudy, poster of Don Kanonji's Ghost Bust show, and a fading photograph of a young Mexican couple smiling; Orihime had never asked, but she always had assumed it was a picture of his parents

Chad was standing in front of his opened closet, which looked comically small compared to his tall figure, and was shifting through his garments, looking for something in particular; a small suitcase half-full of somewhat folded clothes sat open by his socked feet. "What do you mean?" He asked her as if she was being entirely unreasonable, "I'm going to a wedding."

"In Mexico?!" Orihime dramatically wailed, "That's so far away… Why haven't you spoken about this before?"

The big man shrugged as he pulled out a white-collared shirt and half-folded it in the air before plopping into his suitcase, "It never came up in conversation."

"That's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard." Orihime deadpanned. A silence fell over them, and Orihime grimaced in its wake, continually getting more and more frustrated as time went on. She watched Chad select another shirt and put it in his suitcase before blurting with agitation, "Well, what are the details? You're going to a wedding in Mexico. Whose wedding? How long will you be gone?"

Chad turned to face her, his expression unreadable, "I guess you could say she's like my cousin."

"'Like' your cousin?" Orihime echoed in a question.

He turned his attention back to his closet, "Yeah. After my parents passed away, a man named Oscar Joaquin de la Rosa adopted me. He was like a grandfather to me. It is his youngest sister's daughter's wedding I'm attending."

Orihime had to trace the connections in the air with her finger to make sure she understood the relations correctly. "Okay," she started, "Do you know them well?"

"Not well, but I've met them. My grandfather kept in good touch with his relations when he was alive, but Alexia has emailed me countless times how I seemed to be the closest to the old man." A small smile spread across his tanned face, "Which is why she wants me to walk her down the aisle, in his place."

"Alexia is your cousin?" Orihime inferred, "Don't they usually have the bride's father walk them down the aisle?"

"Mm," was his only reply. Oirhime rolled her eyes. It was probably a long story, or a tragic one; something he didn't want to go into detail right now.

Orihime mindlessly played with the dolphin plush in her lap, "…And how long will you be gone?"

"A few weeks." Chad remarked with no verbal inclination; he could've said "for five minutes" with the same tone.

Orihime blanched, "Weeks?!" She said, aghast, "That's much longer than I thought!"

Chad didn't seem fazed by her outburst, "I'm also going to attend their family reunion, and see some historical ruins while I'm there. Then I'm going to the United States."

"The United States? Which is in America?"

"Mm."

Orihime ran her hand through her hair, "Well, I guess I could see the logic in getting all of your trips done in one go, but… What about school?"

"I've been working with our teachers. We've worked out an email system." Chad replied as he bent down and zipped his suitcase closed. He then started to walk around his apartment and gather his wallet and keys. "Anyway, I need to leave soon, so…"

With widening eyes, Orihime stood in protest, "Wait, you mean you're leaving today? Like, right now?"

"Mn."

"Chad!" Orihime whined, her voice straining to keep its faux outrage over actual suppressed hurt, "Were you going to tell me that you were leaving at all? Or were you just going to wait until I figured it out on my own?"

"You seemed to have a lot on your plate. I didn't want to inconvenience you." Chad said, half apologetically, half defensibly, as he reached for his luggage and switched off the single overhead light.

"Telling you goodbye is not an 'inconvenience' to me, Chad." Orihime promised as she unconsciously hugged her dolphin plush and started to follow the big Mexican out of his apartment. "You've become a really close friend. It would cause me more pain to know you left without saying goodbye to me."

"Sorry. Didn't think of it like that."

Orihime rolled her eyes as they walked out into the covered entryway of Chad's apartment building. The last of the fading sunlight hung onto the very edge of the horizon, washing the twilight sky in deep bronze and blues. The evening air was starting to lose its daytime warmth, and Orihime wrapped her arms around herself as she watched Chad lock his door.

"Male logic," she chastised him, and then sighed deeply. "Well… Be safe, Chad. Don't drink the water and stuff. Take lots of pictures, and email me often."

"Mn." Chad's usually stony face softened fractionally, "Orihime," he started, serious, "I'm sorry I'm leaving when there's so much left unfinished, but…" He looked away, towards the lingering sunset, "Follow your heart, okay? And you'll be fine."

Orihime glanced at her shoes and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Yeah, thanks. You too."

"Well," Chad said in a sigh, holding his suitcase in one hand, "Must be off. I gotta catch the bus to Ichigo's place, then Kurosaki's dad will drive me to the airport."

"What? Kurosaki knew you were leaving, too?" Orihime couldn't believe that neither of them had told her anything.

"Male logic," Chad shrugged with a smile.

"Ugh!" She smiled back, then leaned in and gave her friend a tight, quick hug, "I'll miss you," she sighed.

"Mn." Chad agreed and turned and started to lumber off down the steps. Orihime watched him go, still a bit bewildered that he was suddenly gone. The gift of wasabi paste seemed to make more sense now, as it was more of a farewell gift than a get-well-soon one. She would definitely miss him; he was the only friend she had that would allow her to rant without trying to rescue her from her problems. In retrospect, Chad really was the only one of her friends that wasn't always trying to protect her from everything, perhaps that was why she enjoyed talking to him so much.

She exhaled deeply and glanced around the covered walkway as the streetlamps were starting to flicker on, one by one; this was the exact spot where she protected Shishigawara from Tsukishima a few weeks ago, she randomly remembered. She thought it was funny, that, despite what the Book of the End did to all her other memories, not a single moment with Ulquiorra had been tampered with.

With no real purpose, she started to walk down the steps of Chad's old building and towards the ribbon of sidewalk, which glowed under puddles of streetlights. Although it didn't really surprise her, she found it interesting to see just how fiercely protective she had become of her time with her pale captor. Even against attack, her memories of Ulquirora remained strong and proud. It was those same memories that had grounded her, and allowed her to quickly sort through the Book of the End's deceit, when it had finally failed.

Her brow puckered in slow recognition as she tucked a loose strand of auburn hair behind her ear; Ulquiorra had saved her, in a way, back then, too…

The sky had become a very dark navy blue now, with only the twinkling of city lights dotting the illuminated skyline. Orihime deviated from the walkway and onto the slightly damp grass of the entrance of a sprawling city park, the same large park where she first met Ulquiorra almost two years ago. She casually strolled up a slight hill, wrapping her slender arms around her body to stave off the cold night air, hugging her dolphin plush close. She now knew where she was going; she had been here many times before. As she rounded the top of the hill, she spied the giant crater from their first fight with the Arrancar; a deep shadowed divot in the otherwise softly dark landscape. It had been smoothed out by the park's landscapers, but only been partially filled in, and was now covered happily with grass. In the winter, the neighborhood children came to the "bowl" for awesome (but for their parents, terrifying) sledding action.

A small, lonely smile spread across Oirhime's face; life had moved on from the horrors of Aizen and his Espada, and yet there was still evidence that they existed. She slowly stepped into the steep side of the crater, walking slightly sideways as she descended deeper into the depression; right here—right in this hole—this was concrete proof that Ulquiorra had existed. She planted her foot at the bottom of the bowl, blanketed in deep shadows—right here. He had been standing right here. She patted the soft grass with the toe of her shoe for unneeded emphasis.

He wasn't just a dream.

She sighed, and allowed her imagination to take flight; flashes of Ulquiorra's visage flashed through her mind's eye, seemingly building an image of the Arrancar in front of her: the pale color of his complexion; his strong hands with his dark fingernails; her imaginative eyes traced from the smooth lines of his profiled chin down, following the contours of his neck, to his milky collarbones; daring to stare into the darkness of his exposed Hollow hole. She blushed, and adverted her mind's gaze upward, watching as his careless midnight hair, a shocking contrast to his ashen skin, danced around his face in an imaginary wind. She sucked in a breath, and followed the lines of his cheekbone to his dark upper lip, which always seemed to be stuck in a perpetual frown. She briefly wondered if she touched them, if would they feel as cold and as hard as Ulquiorra always expressed with them. With a shudder, Orihime finally followed his characteristic teal tear marks up, and met Ulquiorra directly in the eye. Ulquiorra was devoid of color except for the intense green pigment in his eyes, which were always so severe. He looked at her sharply, almost mechanically, and his full attention was on her like a sudden weight choking her chest. It was hard to breathe; she exhaled shakily as their shared stare bored deep into her soul. His powerful eyes narrowed slightly with loneliness, and Orihime felt a pang rush through her body in response.

"Woman," Ulquiorra's deep voice was laced with longing.

He sounded so close—so real—that Orihime literally was shaken out of her reverie. She blinked; she had to wait for her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the shadowed park's crater as she reminded herself that she was only imagining Ulquiorra and that he wasn't actually there.

Still… Her gray eyes narrowed. Her hands were shaking and her breathing hitched. She could've sworn that her ears had heard him, not her recall. She licked her lips with tingling anticipation, "Ul-Ulquiorra…?" Her shuddering voice whispered into the stillness of the night's chilled air.

There was no response save for the rustling of canopy leaves in the nearby trees as a small breeze blew through the area. A dog barked far off, and a roar of a motorcycle engine revved distantly.

She exhaled a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. With an annoyed shake of her head, she mentally chastised herself for getting her hopes up. Although she was crazily convinced that she and Ulquiorra were sharing some kind of connection—whether or not this connection was just hallucinations from leftover reiatsu or something much more was left to be said, but—it was silly of her to think that, while fully in her mental capacities, she could incite it. After all, she reasoned with herself as she started to climb out of the grassy crater, she only had these communications with Ulquiorra in her subconscious, not her waking daydreams. Disappointment rocked through her body stronger than she would have liked to admit as she started walking out of the dim park and back to the lighted sidewalk, towards home. A crushing emptiness was slowly starting to overtake her, growing with each step she took away from the park. Excess moisture made her vision blurry. She sniffed.

"This is stupid," She grumbled to herself, hastily wiping her eyes with her free hand. "I'm not upset about this,"

But the tear that escaped her eye said otherwise.

Her expression crumbled as her pace quickened and she squeezed her dolphin plush tighter; she simply wanted to be home, and wrapped in a comfortable blanket. She glanced down at her free hand as she flexed her fingers straight then squeezed them into a tight fist.

"I long to touch you."

Touch… Orihime's lip quivered. God, why had she hesitated when Ulquiorra had reached for her the first time? Why did she wait? She wrapped her arms around her aching chest. Would they have been able to touch two seconds earlier than when she had reached to reciprocate his touch? Or was he ash the moment his wings started to disappear? Why? Why? Why? Every day the regret grew stronger in her heart. She wanted so badly to touch him; it was almost a literal pain. Time had not even remotely started to heal these hurts; it was only making them fester with each passing hour.

She blindly strode past the brightly lit store fronts as she paced down the sidewalk, like her brain was on autopilot; head down, she was oblivious to the other pedestrians and the zooming traffic. She had often wondered if, had Ulquiorra not turned to ash, and they had entwined their hands together, what would have happened next. Would he have pulled her in and held her close? Would they have stood there, with interlocked digits, reveling in the mutual sensation of compassionate contact? Would it have saved him? That was the question that haunted her the most; did she let him die, by hesitating that instant he was waiting for her to reach out to him? Did she? Was that the real reason she was forced to relive her decision every time she dreamed?

"Heeey! Where ya goin' in such a hurry, babe?"

Before Orihime could react to the cajoling catcall, she felt a greasy hand slip into the crook of her elbow, forcing her to suddenly spin around. She stumbled over her own feet in the process, landing face-first into the soft chest of the person who had grabbed her. The stench of alcohol was strongly on him, and his tee-shirt was stained with God knows what. Orihime immediately felt disgusted and furious. Her expression a perfect mirror of her emotions as she looked up to the face the man, who, unsurprisingly, was ugly; it looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days, nor brushed his teeth for that matter, and his dark hair was slick with grease and was sticking up in odd directions, as if he had just woken up. His beady eyes were cloudy, and looked at her with lust.

She tried to pull away, but his drunken grip was relentless; her gray eyes narrowed with revulsion at his grasp. Strangely, she felt something intense churn deep inside her.

"You're pretty cute," he slurred, with projectile spittle, "I'm gonna go to this awesome party, you should totally come with me."

"No thank you, sir." Orihime grated through clenched teeth, attempting once more to jerk herself away from the drunkard; she felt like there was an ocean billowing into her spiritual pressure.

"Ah, but sweetie," The drunk sighed, leaning in close to her, his breath was horrid, "You're so cute in your little uniform. C'mon… I'll show ya a grand time, ya know?"

"Let go of me," Orihime warned darkly, her gray eyes serious, feeling empowered by her surging reiatsu.

The man merely smiled and wrapped his other arm around her shoulders—which caused the auburn girl to glare daggers at him—and forcibly started to guide her away from the direction of her home, "I love it when you cuties play hard ta get. It's so hot!" He rancorously laughed, "You'll love it! We'll have da greatest time together; you'll see!"

"No! Stop!" She yelled, her expression livid, and the oceanic reiatsu rushed with her anger. Before she realized what was happening, the rolling waves of dense spiritual energy fractured the sidewalk under her feet with a loud crack; the splintering concrete fissuring in a spider web pattern around them. The streetlights flickered under the weight, and the man yelped with sudden pain, releasing Orihime immediately. With horror, Orihime watched as the drunk doubled over, blood was spurting from his nose and he was making a terrible gurgling noise and he started coughing uncontrollably.

"What happened?" A woman cried distantly.

"Did she hit him?" A man's voice asked.

"Somebody, call the police!"

The surging reiastu was suddenly gone, leaving her feeling lost and helpless. She took a shaky step backwards; her whole body was shuddering, her mouth agape with shock, and her eyes were wide and terrified.

The man caught his breath, and glared at Orihime, murderously angry, "You bitch!" He snarled, and attempted to rise to his feet, but instead fell into another coughing fit onto the cracked sidewalk.

Orihime didn't wait to see what would happen next; she turned on her heel and took off running, sprinting by annoyed people as she pushed passed them, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. The world was smeared lights and muted sounds as she ran. She skidded around the corner and was finally on her home street. She was breathing heavily; her hand clutched her racing heart as she dashed once more down the dark road. She arrived at her apartment building and took the steps two at a time to get to her door. She reached into her pocket and got her key, but her hand was annoyingly trembling, and it took several tries before she was able to sink the key into the deadbolt and open the door. Quickly, she slammed her door tight and slid the lock back into place.

Orihime stood in her dark entryway, panting, somehow managing to still be holding onto her dolphin plush, which was contorted in her hand's iron grip. She loosened her hold and smoothed out the stuffed animal, and hugged it tightly.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay…" she chanted in a breathy whisper. Before she could really collect her thoughts, her cell jingled a happy tune in her pocket, making her jump clean out of her socks with a yelp. Realizing what it was, she exhaled a nervous laugh, rolling her eyes at her own jumpiness. Retrieving her cell, the screen informed her she had a new text from Rukia: "Strong Arrancar might be close to you. u ok?"

She sighed, and had to use just one finger to text, as her coordination was still shivering, "Yes," She texted back, "Just got out of the shower. Are you checking it out?" She stared at the message for a while, considering, before hitting the "Send" button.

Her phone chimed cheerfully a moment later, and Orihime opened the message immediately, "ok" was Rukia's simple response. Orihime closed her eyes tight and leaned her head against the back of her front door, her auburn hair bunching around her shoulders. She didn't want to lie to the Shinigami, but at the same time…

She could see Ulquiorra's countenance behind her eyes; his intense green gaze seemed to be daring her to counter him.

She slowly opened her gray eyes as she puckered her brow. Kicking off her shoes, she walked into her dark, still apartment and haphazardly placed her keys, cell, and dolphin on the kitchen table as she walked passed it. She pushed open her bedroom door with her foot; her room was quiet in the dark, and it was dimly illuminated by a strip of light sneaking its way in under her blinds. With a grim determination, she tore off her uniform, leaving only her camisole and underpants on as she softly got into bed and crawled under her fluffy white comforter, curling into a comfortable position, she closed her eyes, "Oh, Ulquiorra," She breathed, clenching her eyes tight, "I'm so scared… I don't know what's happened to me anymore… Please…" She gulped back a fresh wave of emotion, "Please help me…"


"There's nothing here," Rukia complained as she kicked a chuck of cracked concrete with the edge of her sandal. "We're just wasting our time, again." The street was dark and quiet in the late hour. The store fronts were locked up and only a few cars travelled down the road. City workers had hastily taped off a section of sidewalk that looked like a great weight had crushed it; this was obviously where the Arrancar had unleashed its reiatsu. Rukia and Ichigo, both in their Shinigami forms, had been up and down this street several times, looking for answers.

"This is so frustrating," Ichigo admitted, his characteristic scowl deepening, "I mean… I could have sworn that this reiatsu was…" He ran a hand through his spiky orange hair in irritation, and he turned to Rukia, "Are there such things as ghosts of ghosts?"

Narrowing her indigo eyes, the petite Shinigami warily asked, "Why would you ask that?"

Ichigo shook his head, "Hollows are essentially ghosts, right? And yet…" Ichgio looked up into the night sky, "I think I'm being haunted by the ghost of a Hollow I killed a long time ago."

Rukia watched the brooding teen for a while, her head slightly tilted as she was considering her response, "You're being strangely metaphysical; it's not like you to think so deeply."

"Oi!" Ichigo feigned offence, "What are you trying to say?!"

"I'm saying," Rukia replied calmly, and started to walk down the street, "That you're over thinking the situation." She turned around and motioned with the bob of her head that Ichigo should follow her, "Examine your information carefully, and tell me why you think a 'ghost of a ghost' is haunting you."

With a grunt, Ichigo started strolling after his friend, "Well," he pointed back in the direction of the cracked sidewalk, "That felt an awful lot like Ulquiorra's reiatsu. When he got to his second release, it felt like an ocean. I've only ever felt a reiatsu like that from him."

Rukia's expression was entirely unconvinced, "That's weak, circumstantial evidence. Next!"

Ichigo was flabbergasted, "Wait? 'Next?' No! Didn't you just hear what I was saying? I think Ulquiorra is back!"

Placing her hands on her hips, Rukia quipped, "By what proof? You felt a similar reiatsu? There's a lot of Hollows out there that can feel the same."

"Yeah, but how many Arrancar have a preoccupation with Inoue?" Ichigo's knowing smirk proved he thought his argument had won.

"Yeah, but how many Arrancar did Orihime encounter while she was captured in Los Noches?" Rukia seriously asked, "Before we go chasing ghosts of ghosts, I think we should consider that another Arrancar is trying to get to Orihime."

Ichigo's mouth was slightly ajar as he mulled over this possibility, "That's… That makes more sense, but that doesn't explain why its reiatsu would appear and disappear so suddenly."

"Well, if it's the same Arrancar that summoned that Gillian Menos into this world using a gate we couldn't sense, then it goes to show that it can pass by undetected by us." Rukia reasoned, "It probably knows it can't beat us head on, and so when the Arrancar senses our presence, it hides."

Ichigo roughly scratched the back of his head in frustration, "Well, if it will always hide when it senses us, then how are we supposed to get close enough to kill it? I don't like the idea of Inoue having a supernatural stalker."

A mischievous grin spread across Rukia's face, which was only enhanced in the moonlight, "We become invisible. C'mon, there's something I've wanted to try."

A few moments later, the Shinigami were back in Ichgio's room, the owner of which was casually lounging on his bed, scrolling through a magazine with an expressionless face, while Rukia was hurriedly digging though a box in his closet.

"Have you found it yet?" Ichigo asked again, boredom coloring his tone.

"I know it's in here, just wait a second…" Rukia chided him impatiently, shuffling the contents of the box around, "Ah! Here it is!" She cried victoriously, holding up what looked like a golf-ball sized pearl. It sparkled luminously in the lamplight.

"What is that?" Interest was finally reappearing in Ichigo's voice as he sat up straight.

"This," Rukia beamed, "Is a shiryoku stone." She turned the large pearl around in her hand so that the light reflected the pastel pinks, blues and creams that coursed over the sphere.

"Sounds ominous. How'd you get a hold of one?" Ichigo asked her.

Rolling her eyes, the black-haired Shinigami explained, "I got it a while ago while in recon training; it was hard to use, so we didn't actually use it in combat, but I held onto it, thinking it might come in handy one day." She smiled and held the shiryoku stone out towards him, and Ichigo automatically cupped his hands to catch it. The large pearl was smooth and cold on his palms.

He inspected it quickly; it seemed innocuous enough. "What's it supposed to do?"

"It'll refract your spiritual pressure as you concentrate it into the stone, causing your reiastu's influence to minimize to basically zero." Rukia explained as she started pulling out her markers and sketchbook.

"You don't need to draw your horrible pictures; I get it," Ichigo interrupted her, "It makes it so people can't sense my reiatsu."

Rukia looked at him with no joy as she sadly put her sketchbook away, "Idiot! Not just that! People won't be able to sense anything from you. The only way they'd be able to notice you is through regular sensory perceptions."

"Yeah. Like hearing sight, smell… It turns you into a regular human." Ichigo secretly marveled at the stone as he rolled it around in his hands. "How do I make it work?"

Rukia sighed and sat down in the chair next to Ichigo's desk, "That's where it gets tricky. It requires a good deal of concentration, but since you always learn these difficult tasks super quick, I can't see a big problem."

Ichigo blinked, surprise giving way to billowing pride; he smiled shyly, a light blush dusting his cheeks, "Yeah, thanks."

Rukia immediately flustered, "W-what are you thinking? Don't let it get to your head!" She got up and paced across Ichigo's room, blushing furiously, "Anyway, let's just get your training started, we're going to want you invisible the next time that Arrancar rears its ugly head."

Ichigo smiled a subdued, secret-filled smile, while tenderly watching Rukia increasingly becoming more and more embarrassed under his gaze, "Yeah… Sounds good."


The crescent moon shined brightly in the dark, Hueco Mundo sky, washing everything in a pale, white light. A few whips of clouds floated around the moon; it seemed calm up there. Lonely, but calm. Orihime's gray eyes reflected the firmament she was gazing into, and thought the sky was such a fitting parallel to this moment. She was back in her ripped and stained Arrancar dress, standing across from the broken body of Ulquiorra. His leg and arm were just black splinters of what they once were. He was fading between his release form and his normal one; his lower body was still covered in dark fur, while his upper body was just his smooth, milky skin. Without his mask covering half of his face, he looked so much more human than ever before. And like the moon high in the sky, his intense green eyes stared at her calmly, but with such a loneliness it was breaking her heart.

"Woman," Ulquiorra's deep voice reverberated throughout her body, "Are you afraid of me?"

Orihime slowly shook her head, her bottom lip quivering with emotion, "No, I'm not afraid."

"I see," he nearly whispered, glancing at her from across the broken dome.

Orihime could already feel the blush start to heat up her face; she didn't know what to say to him anymore, all of her thoughts were muddled under the intense excitement of simply being in his presence. "You're here…" She whispered to him, "You're really here, aren't you?"

Ulquiorra said nothing, but his eyes his eyes flickered with an emotion she had never seen on him before. It was a mix between longing and expectation. It was hopeful.

Clasping her hands together, nervousness encompassed Orihime's entire being, she could feel herself shaking, "I need to know something." She started, her gray gaze glued to the sliver roof beneath her feet, "A-are you…" She sighed and started over, "Are you alive?"

Silence dominated the dome; she squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to ask stupid questions; she didn't want Ulquiorra to think she was dumb or uncool.

Sneaking a peek up, she could see Ulquiorra's apathetic face look at her strongly, with his great eyes narrowing in consideration. "I haven't been 'alive' for a long time," he started, and Orihime could feel her heartache immediately press down on her, "However," he continued, making sure he kept eye contact with her, "I have been a Hollow for much longer than I have ever been alive."

Orihime blinked. While his face remained impassive, the Espada's eyes were alight with good humor. Was he being playful with her?

"But…" She stumbled along, determination for a straight answer outweighing her nervousness, "Are you still an Arrancar, then?"

His eyes were suddenly serious, stealing the warmth from around her, "Yes, in a way."

"I don't understand," She softly whimpered, her brow furrowing.

She heard Ulquiorra sigh distantly, as if struggling between two difficult choices, "I told the Shinigami that it would never be over unless he finished me." Ulquiorra finally relented, "He didn't, so it's still not over."

Shock swept through Orihime; it felt like the ground had been knocked from under her feet. Her knees were weak and shaky, her eyes wide, and her jaw was hinged open, "Wait…" She started, tears blurring her vision, "You mean to say that you've been around all this time…?" She took an unsteady step forward, exhilaration coating her every emotion, "Can I…" She gulped, her face burning crimson, a shy smile upon her face, "Can I see you?"

He turned his green eyes away from hers, "No."

She felt all color drain from her face, and the crushing weight of rejection took hold of her. She could feel hot tears freely flow down her cheeks, "Oh…" She choked out, her voice hitching on a sob. "O-okay…."

"Orihime," Ulquiorra's smooth voice tenderly interrupted her before she truly fell into despair. Hearing her name on his lips made her heart skip a beat, she saw that his severe eyes softened as they gazed at her, "Don't misunderstand; I want you more than anything, but," Heat flooded Orihime's core as her Espada continued softly, "I no longer have a body that you can see. I turned to ash."

The warmth was suddenly stolen from her again as her emotions dropped and rose in a whirlwind roller coaster, "Why?" She whispered, her gray eyes watery, "Why did you turn to ash?"

Ulquiorra glanced upward at the crescent moon, "It's an extreme self-preservation technique." he started, "Though I didn't activate it, nor did I even want it to turn on. At least…" His powerful green eyes captured her gray ones, "Not until the very end, but by then, it was too late."

Her emotional roller coaster crested a hill; she felt utter jubilation at everything that he was saying. He wanted her! "But…" She started, "What do you mean by that? That it was 'too late?' Shouldn't it all be the same, in the end?"

"No," His deep voice sighed, "There's a great difference between a reflex and a reaction. My turning to ash was my body's reflexive response to dying. It's left me—maybe permanently—in this state. I would've purposefully used that self-perseveration technique to allow my body time to start over, cell by cell, while my reiatsu remained basically the same. It's difficult, but not impossible."

Orihime paled, "It's… It's permanent?" She quietly squeaked, "So you'll never be whole again?"

He said nothing, but his bright eyes narrowed, betraying his concern.

She hastily wiped the tears from her eyes, "Does this… Does this have anything to do with…" She could feel her face burning, "With our… connection?"

Ulquiorra blinked, allowing her to see clearly the surprise registering only in his eyes, "I don't know," he slowly admitted. "That is something I have yet to figure out, yet I don't want it to end."

Orihime's pulse started racing, she let out a shuddering breath, "I don't want it to end, either but… I think I can sometimes feel your reiastu surging in me," She confessed with rosy cheeks, "It sometimes scares me; it's so powerful, and I don't feel like I can control it at all." She looked up at him, pleading, "What's happening to me? …To us?"

Hurt could plainly be seen reflected in Ulquiorra's eyes, "I never wanted to scare you," he told her seriously, "It's not something I can explain with what I can see…" Orihime could see the distress in his eyes as he tried to reconcile the differences in his logic and his experiences.

He sighed, then turned and looked at her with a dark intensity. She could feel Ulquiorra's dense reiatsu swirl around her and press on her from all sides. It wasn't uncomfortable; it was almost tender, as if she was being cradled in his spiritual pressure. She sighed and leaned into his reiatsu. It was the closest they had ever been to actually touching. Solace and euphoria filled her soul. "I think I might've inhaled you." Ulquiorra seductively whispered his spiritual pressure pressing in even closer around her, "I can feel you behind my eyes. You've gotten into my bloodstream; I can feel you flowing in me."

"Ulquiorra," Orihime breathed, flushing.

"You are like the rain," He stated, his eyes strangely full of emotion, "You can connect the heavens with the earth, and I think that's what you're doing with you and me; though I'll try to control what I can; it's just so difficult feeling you so close, but being unable to do anything with you."

Ulquiorra suddenly glanced back up at the sky, as if he unexpectedly heard something. He sighed deeply, and then outstretched his pale arm towards her, "It's time to wake up, Sky Princess."

Orihime's eyes widened while the shy smile wouldn't leave her face, "I don't want to leave you," She complained, but started towards him, anyway, her steps shaky and her face blushing.

"Orihime," Ulquiorra started to rapidly turn to ash as she drew nearer, "Don't trust the Quincy. I believe their intent is to cause ruin to the world."

She narrowed her eyes in confusion, but she reached towards him out of reflex; but grasped nothing but ash.


AN: And End Chapter 4! Thanks for your patience! I have SOOO much more sympathy for other fanfiction writers that go MIA for a bit. I mean, I got a second job, a puppy, my older sister's getting married, AND Supernatural seasons 5 and 6. There was just no time for fanfiction, amirite? XD

Anyway, the WINNERS of Chapter 3's Easter Egg Contest were:

JanusTheUnlucky7

Morgiee

Congratulations! I need to contract one of you with a prize I'll eventually do... Eventually. XDD

And if you'd like to win something too, there're more Easter Eggs in this chapter! There's a really hard one, which is a quote from one of my favorite British TV shows, and a kind of easy one: A song lyric. If you can tell me what the quote/lyrics are and who/which band said them, you will win! GOOD LUCK

I will attempt to have another update sometime in January.

Thanks for reading and reviewing! Remember to find those Easter Eggs!

UPDATE 3/27/14: My computer died, and it took me over a year to save up to get a new one. Sorry... I haven't forgotten about this project. I'm going to fully complete 'Gravity,' and then post it up once it's done. The next couple of chapters will end on brutal cliffhangers, so I think it would be cruel not to have the next chapter ready! I'll see you guys in a few months! :)