The doors swung inwards. Isshin, his son, and the others followed the attendant across a polished, tiled floor as the doors closed behind them. The attendant bowed before the Soul King who was seated upon his throne.

"Your Majesty." Isshin knelt upon the floor and bowed low. Seeing his father in this position, Ichigo likewise dropped to his knees. Chad and Uryuu mimicked his actions.

The Soul King dismissed the attendant with a wave of his hand.

"Be at ease."

"Yes, Sir." The four of them stood up.

The king's eyes went from his royal guard to Ichigo. "Kurosaki Isshin, this is your son?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. This is my son, Ichigo."

"I see the resemblance. You must be proud to be a father. To bring a child into the world and to watch his life progress brings much joy. It is even more of a blessing for those who are able to have their children and their children's children with them during their final years." The king was unable to continue. He placed a hand over his eyes.

Isshin was worried. "Your Majesty, please do not distress yourself."

King Amenoukihashi raised his other hand. "I am alright." When the king composed himself his eyes fell upon Uryuu. "Are you a quincy?"

Uryuu was a bit surprised at being addressed. "Yes, Sir. I am a quincy, one of the last of my kind."

"Years ago when the war broke out between the shinigamis and the quincies, my son had advocated on behalf of your people. He wanted both sides to avoid conflict. I told him that it was not the concern of the Royal Family to be meddling in such affairs. In the end your people suffered many casualties."

Uryuu did not know how to reply to this news.

"I have heard of the four humans who made an uninvited entrance into Soul Society, but here I see only three. Where is the fourth person?"

Before anyone could put together a thought the huge doors swung open again. The substitute shinigami and his friends turned to find Ulquiorra and Orihime. As the two made their way forward, Isshin once again knelt and bowed. This time, Ichigo and the others felt a little unsure of themselves, but a quick glance from Isshin made them kneel as well.

The arrancar's eyes never wavered from the Soul King. "The fourth person whom you seek. Inoue Orihime. My wife."

Ichigo and the others simultaneously jolted their heads up. Isshin made a low coughing sound, signaling to them to keep quiet. Now was not the time for interrogations.

The young woman knew she'd have some explaining to do later. Her eyes lingered on the surprised faces before finding their way to the king. Orihime smiled at him.

***

Chad, Uryuu, and Ichigo were sitting in a dining hall. Servants came and left, leaving behind an array of delicious food and drink.

"Is this…all for us?" Ichigo stared at everything in awe. There was enough food on the long table to feed an entire village, yet the three of them were the only ones present. Despite the alluring scents from the meals, the orange-haired teenager could not help but feel bombarded by the recent events. Thoughts of his father, Ulquiorra, Aizen, and Orihime kept replaying in his mind. His friends noticed the change in his demeanor.

"Ichigo, where did your father go?" asked Chad.

"Don't know. Said he had something to do and told us to come here to have a bite."

"Should we start without him?" questioned Uryuu.

"Uh…"

Chad picked up his chopsticks and ate from his bowl of rice. "Mmm…delicious."

The two made up their minds to join him. Uryuu took a sip from his cup of tea while Ichigo tasted a bun. He had no idea how hungry he was until after the first bite. Within a matter of seconds the bun had disappeared from his hand. The teen didn't finish chewing thoroughly before grabbing another bun and taking a bite out of it.

The doors to the dining hall opened. A young woman in a crimson and white multi-layered robe stood at the entryway. Gold hairpins with sparkling gems adorned her hair. Her lips were colored red. There was a touch of rouge on her cheeks. She was beautiful.

With his mouth full of food, Ichigo presently gasped and choked. Chad and Uryuu were snapped back to their senses.

"Are you alright?" The woman leaned over to him.

The orange-haired teen pounded himself on the chest in an effort to force the food down.

Uryuu saw that his friend's tea had been untouched and hurriedly passed it to him. "Drink this!"

Ichigo grabbed the cup and gulped its contents down. His coughing gradually subsided.

"That was a close call. You looked like you were about to die," said Chad.

Ichigo regained his breath and stared into the eyes of the woman in front of him.

"O-O-Orihime?"

"I'm glad you're alright, Ichigo."

Uryuu and Chad also had their eyes on her. If it were not for her hairpins they probably would have never recognized the girl. Orihime straightened her posture and allowed them to look her over. Standing behind Orihime were two female servants.

"Um…uh…"

The young woman blinked and looked at them with an innocent face. "Oh! You must be wondering where I got these clothes. Um…you see…Ulquiorra's mother gave them to me. She's a very sweet lady. She gave me a lot of other things too but…um…aren't they nice?" She twirled around once.

The transformation Orihime had gone through made them all speechless.

Orihime turned to the two servants. "Oh, thank you for showing me the way here. You've been very kind. You can go now."

"We have been commanded by Her Majesty the Queen to serve Your Ladyship and must be with you at all times," said one of the women.

Orihime smiled. "I'll be alright. You can go now, really."

A look of terror crossed their faces and they immediately dropped to their knees. "Please do not send us away! If Her Majesty finds that we've been dismissed we may be punished! If Your Ladyship has been displeased with us somehow then please punish us, but please do not send us away!" They were on the verge of tears.

"No no! Please don't be upset! I didn't know you weren't allowed to leave me." Orihime was flabbergasted. She knelt and tried to console the two, but her action alarmed them. They pressed their foreheads on the cold floor and repeatedly asked for forgiveness.

The three men looked on in astonishment. Uryuu shielded his face with the backside of one hand and leaned towards Chad. "Are all palace servants like this?"