Thank you all for the reviews, favorites, and alerts, once again. :) This one's only a couple weeks after the last chapter. I won't promise this kind of update pace all the time, but I'll do my best to make it reasonable.

EDIT: White is the reflection of all colors, but the eye perceives a lack of color.

Everything about this place was black, white, and gray.

The walls of Las Noches. The floor. The ceilings and archways, furnishings and clothes. Even outside, the moon and desert sands were white and the sky was black. Orihime was glad that her room had a window, but to her it looked as though the moon was in the exact same part of the sky it had been in when she'd first arrived. That couldn't possibly be right, since some time had definitely passed between then and now. Surely at least the moon in Hueco Mundo moved, as it did in the world of the living and the Soul Society? There was no clock in this room and she didn't have a watch, so the outside world was the only way to tell the passing of time. Well, she could ask the Arrancars, but they were violent and frightening.

She'd been left in this boring white room by the Arrancar called Ulquiorra. He had told her not to leave or bring attention to herself, so she really had nothing to do but wait. It had not taken her long at all to explore this new area. The room was pretty good-sized, but bare. All that was in it a rug and a couch, and the adjoining bathroom was almost as sparse. Interior decorators, the Arrancars were not.

He had told her not to leave until he came for her, but each minute went by slowly and it felt like he would never come back. There wasn't really anything to do but sleep, pace, think, and look outside. She was afraid to fall asleep in case Ulquiorra came back, since she didn't want to give him any reason to become annoyed with her. Pacing got old after a while, and it wasn't like there was much to see outside. There wasn't anything to do but sit alone in this boring white room and think about how lonely and bored she was.

It was already driving her crazy.

She tried different things to keep her mind occupied. She made up a song about Hueco Mundo, although she only got a couple stanzas because she ran out of synonyms for 'white' and 'empty'. Then she just hummed her song instead of actually singing, but music was best when you were doing other things while listening to it, and there was nothing else. So she got bored with humming, too. Was this how her life was going to be from now on? Sitting in this boring room all day long just waiting for the next meal to come? Because on the subject of meals, she was getting really, really hungry.

She pressed her ear up against the door as much as she could, to listen for any footsteps in the hallway outside. Nothing.

Oh! She knew what this was. They were trying to 'break' her psychologically, weren't they? They were going to leave her in this room until she went crazy and would do whatever they wanted her to. But wait, then! If that was really the case, then why had Ulquiorra left the door unlocked when he'd left her in here?

It had not taken her long at all to discover that little fact. He had explicitly told her that she was not to leave. It was possible that he'd left it unlocked out of forgetfulness, but it was hard to tell. Maybe it was a test of some sort, and something terrible would happen if she disobeyed!

And so she'd resisted temptation.

But as the minutes trickled slowly by she found herself glancing at the door more and more often, until finally she went over to stand by it again. He had just told her not to leave. He had never said anything about opening the door and looking out.

So she opened the door just a crack and peeked out. All she saw was a vast white hallway, but no signs of life. It would be so easy to just leave the room and walk off. So easy, and yet…

She remembered Ulquiorra's warning. She remembered how Grimmjow had killed the other Arrancar. She remembered how they had all so easily injured her and her friends. And so she closed the door and went to sit down on the rug.

She didn't want to stay in here, for sure, but at least her boring white room was safe. Out there, beyond that door, were Aizen and Arrancars, and she didn't know which she was more afraid of.

Had she made the right choice? Had this really been the best, most useful thing she could do for her friends? What if things just got worse because of her?

She tried to banish such thoughts from her mind. This was no time to be thinking negative things. What was done was done. She needed to concentrate on her own situation now, instead of second-guessing herself. Her objective now would be both surviving and trying to buy as much time for her friends and the shinigami as possible. If Aizen thought that she was an extremely useful asset, then she had to make him go on believing that for as long as possible.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden disturbance. She couldn't explain what it was. But it was like the atmosphere of Hueco Mundo itself had shifted.

The feeling was gone after a moment, but it left her uneasy. Was this a normal thing? A bad thing? A good thing? She wished Ulquiorra would hurry up and come back so she could ask him. Having to sit there, wondering and not knowing, was the purest kind of torture.

It was not long after that she did indeed hear footsteps outside. On the one hand she wanted to interact with another living thing. On the other hand, the only living things here were enemies. Orihime was still battling these conflicting feelings when the door opened.

It was Ulquiorra again. He didn't seem perturbed by the earlier disturbance, so that made her feel marginally more at ease. Then again, what was good for him wasn't necessarily good for her…

He wasn't alone, either. There was another Arrancar wheeling in a bowl on a cart. Oh, food?

"I brought a meal for you, woman", said Ulquiorra. Orihime went over to examine it more closely. The contents of the bowl looked…well, pretty similar to normal food, actually. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what the actual ingredients were and decided not to ask.

She took the bowl and accompanying chopsticks. There was no table to eat at in here, so she sat on the couch. And she would have preferred a drink, too, but beggars couldn't be choosers. As she started digging in she heard footsteps and the cart wheeling out and the closing of the door.

It took her a minute before she realized that he was still in the room with her.

Ulquiorra was leaning against the wall by the door, watching her like a silent sentinel. Well, okay. It's wasn't like she could make him leave, but having someone watch her eat was still extremely awkward. Was this going to be how it was? Was she going to be watched by him in everything she did?

"Um…are you hungry?" she asked timidly, in an attempt to divert some of her discomfort.

"I don't care for human food."

"O-oh, um…" What did Arrancars eat? She wanted to know, but at the same time she didn't. "What was that just now? A few minutes ago?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it was like this disturbance or a change in atmosphere of something! It was weird!" She realized that she was flailing her chopsticks around and abruptly rested them in her bowl.

"Oh, so you were aware of that, were you? Some souls have entered Hueco Mundo. It happens quite regularly, but it is very rare that you are made aware of them from Las Noches. That takes powerful spiritual pressure. But it's not anything for you to concern yourself about."

"Oh. All right." She was glad it wasn't anything serious, but was still bothered. Those souls were surely Hollows. What if they'd just returned from devouring innocent people? Who was to say that a few weeks, months, years from now one of them might not return to the world of the living and attack someone she knew?

She glanced over at Ulquiorra discreetly, to where she knew his Hollow hole was hidden. Would that happen to her? If she remained in the realm of Hollows too long, would she become a Hollow herself?

"Does it hurt?"

"What?"

"Does it hurt to be a Hollow?"

He was just looking at her with that stern expression of his and Orihime was afraid that she'd offended him. But he answered. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, you…you have a hole in your chest. Does it hurt you or do you not even notice it's there?"

"I always know it's there", he replied, "And do you know why I have a hole in my chest? Well? Do you, woman?"

Orihime didn't know nearly as much about Hollows as Ichigo and Rukia, but she knew enough. "Because you've lost your heart."

"What I've lost is the weakness of humans. Could you kill me, woman? Could you strike me down without hesitation or mercy? Because I could do that to you."

She wasn't sure where he was going with this so she decided on her response carefully. "You can, but you haven't."

"Don't be mistaken, woman. You're only being protected by Lord Aizen's orders."

Her bowl was almost empty. He was probably going to leave her alone again as soon as she was done, and even his indifferent and distant company was better than no company at all.

"So, your name's Ulquiorra, huh?" she said even though she already knew what his name was. "That's an interesting name. My name's Orihime. But you probably already know that. So, um, uh…" She looked around the room, trying to think of something to talk about. "So, I guess white's a popular color in Hueco Mundo."

No answer. Well, he was an Arrancar, but still a guy. Why was she trying to discuss colors with a guy? "Well, you probably don't know much about that, huh? Don't worry, I'm not complaining or anything. I don't mind white. There's something untouchable and pure about it, you know? But at the same time, it's really cold and final like death."

She was surprised when he spoke. "How is it like death?" Well, okay, so she'd brought up subject matter he could relate to. Granted, the subject was death, but it was something.

"Well, I mean, white isn't really a color. It's a lack of color. It's nothingness, empty. And I mean…that's kind of what death is. Well, I don't know what it's like for a dead person since I've never been dead, but-"

"I understand."

"Huh?"

"About the color white."

"I - you do? Oh. Well, I'm glad."

"White is the best color for Hueco Mundo", said Ulquiorra, "Or not-color, I suppose."

And while Orihime hated the bland and depressing white walls, they were fitting for a bland and depressing place like Hueco Mundo. Even Ulquiorra himself seemed to blend in with the scenery, with his black and white ensemble, his dark hair and pale skin. It was almost fitting for an individual who didn't seem to be interested in anything but following orders. By far his most interesting and unique features were his eyes and the streaks down his cheeks that matched them. They were a nice shade of green by themselves, but stood out particularly vividly on him because they contrasted so much with everything else about him.

She had drawn out the eating process pretty magnificently, but couldn't hold off the inevitable forever. Besides, she didn't want Ulquiorra to lose his patience and just randomly leave for another stretch or stop talking to her or something. So she finished off the little bit of meal she had left and set the empty bowl on the couch cushion next to her, a visual indication to her stony-faced guard that she was finished with it. He took the cue.

"Have you consumed a satisfactory number of nutrients?" What a complicated way to ask such a simple thing.

"Yes."

He was either very satisfied or very dissatisfied with that answer, because he just left without saying anything. She assumed that being uncommunicative and unsociable was just typical guard behavior. Although in movies and stuff guards always seemed to be stupid, easily manipulated low-level guys who were always left unnamed, and Ulquiorra was definitely not any of those things.

She gazed out the window again. The moon still didn't seem to have moved, but then, not very much time had passed since the last time she'd looked.

She decided to explore her quarters a little more in depth. She was in an enemy stronghold, after all. Maybe there were trapdoors or secret passageways or something cool.

The white walls were perfectly smooth, and so was the floor. All completely uniform and unmarred. Even all the furniture was flawless. It didn't seem likely that anyone had used this room as a living space before. But since she was here, she wanted to customize it, to make it just a little less impersonal and cold. She didn't exactly have much to work with, but she'd think of something. Hmm, maybe if she moved the couch or something?

Speaking of the couch, she'd been curious about something for a while now. After setting the empty food bowl off to the side so it wouldn't get damaged, she set about moving the couch. She tugged it and shoved it and dragged it, and then when she had it situated under the window, pushed it up against the wall as much as she could. With all the noise she made, she was surprised that no one came running to see what was going on. After all, what if she was hurt or dying or something? She seemed to be in an isolated part of Las Noches. And not only was Ulquiorra her guard, but it seemed like he was her only guard, and so whenever he wasn't around she was not watched.

She climbed up on the couch cushions and grabbed for the window. She could reach it but wasn't quite tall enough to get a good view out of it, even when she stretched as much as she could and stood on her tiptoes. Her objective was so very close. Why couldn't she be taller? She climbed up on top of the couch, and then she could see.

It looked like a long drop down. So she was pretty high up, then. There were no signs of life outside, either. As stupid as it was, she was hoping she might have seen the souls who entered Hueco Mundo earlier wandering around and doing…well, whatever Hollows did when they weren't terrorizing the world of the living.

There wasn't much to see, so she plopped down onto the cushions. Well. Even considering the time it had taken her to lug the huge piece of furniture into place by herself, that little diversion hadn't taken very long at all. Or at least it didn't feel like it. She was looking straight at the door. So, she was back to sitting and waiting for Ulquiorra to show up again, huh?

Well, forget that. If Ichigo was in this situation, he certainly wouldn't be so pitiful as to sit there, just waiting for his jailer to come back. Because that was what Ulquiorra was. Her jailer. And her enemy. The only time she should care if he came was to bring food. Even then, the door was unlocked, so she could always just leave and find food on her own if she got really desperate. How pathetic was she, so reluctant to be alone that she was willing to cling to even an Arrancar?

She stretched out on the couch with her back to the door and took a nap.

…

Orihime was awakened by her shoulder being shaken rather roughly. She tried to shrug off the annoying presence, but it just got more persistent. Blearily she rolled over and found herself looking at Ulquiorra. Her mind registered this observation a few seconds after her eyes did. Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra!

She sat straight up, a little too fast, and winced at the sudden headache. But she would have to try to ignore that for now. There must have been a reason he'd come, and it likely wasn't to have a friendly chat.

"Uh…hello", she said.

"Hello", he replied tonelessly, "Get up, woman. We need to go."

"Go?" she repeated stupidly, as her brain finished waking up.

"Lord Aizen has requested your presence." When she wasn't moving fast enough for his tastes he added, "He does not like to be kept waiting."

She got up and staggered off towards the bathroom. "Let me go fix my hair."

"We are already late because of you. We don't have time for your vanity."

"But, uh, I need to make myself presentable for Lord Aizen." In dealing with someone like Aizen, who could smile at you one moment and stab you the next, it was best not to provoke him in any way. A disheveled appearance could be seen as an insult.

"Hurry up", said Ulquiorra.

Orihime had the benefit of having very tame hair that was easy to fix up and smooth out, and so it took her only a few minutes to get it looking decent, even without a hairbrush. She smoothed down and straightened out her clothes, tried her best to make it look like she hadn't just woken up, and then came back out. Ulquiorra was standing in the middle of the room, slouched lazily with his hands in his pockets.

And so they left. When they were both out into the hall, he closed the door behind her and took off down the hallway. For someone who seemed so apathetic, he really did have a fast gait, like he always had someplace better to be.

He led her to a new part of Las Noches, and they stopped at a set of large double doors. "Well, go on. Lord Aizen is within."

"Oh? You're not coming?" Facing Aizen was not something she wanted to do alone. It was all happening too fast! But Ulquiorra announced her presence to everyone within, the doors were opened, and he made it clear that he was not going in with her.

There was a very large room inside, and the back of a very large chair. Orihime couldn't see him, but she knew that Aizen was there from his spiritual pressure. She'd known he was there five corridors away.

"Welcome, Orihime. Thank you for coming." As if she'd had a choice! "There's something I want to show you." Aizen got up from his chair, with all the calm and coolness of a man who knew he was superior to everyone around him. He dismissed the two female Arrancar who had been standing guard at the door and called her over to him.

Just being in the same building as him was too close for comfort, much less to say the same room. And now he wanted her to go stand near him? She knew Ulquiorra was behind her, waiting outside the room, and she hated him at that moment for making her do this alone.

She went over to Aizen as he summoned a pillar from the floor. At his touch part of it came away to reveal something hidden inside.

The Hogyoku.

Next chapter: Ulquiorra and the other Espada learn about some intruders in Hueco Mundo.