Well I'm still alive, just been a super busy summer. First the brother and his wife came for a visit then I had a few camps to go to, but I still managed to write this chapter in between all this. I hope you enjoy it, after this everything will be becoming less peaceful. But I won't say anymore! So read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.


The next day dawned brighter, yet darker at the same time. Orihime was not as hopeless as she had been, but she had not seen or heard from Ichigo in over twenty-four hours. She immediately dismissed the idea of looking for him at 9:00 AM, decided that she would not rest until she had him safely in her sights at 9:30 AM, changed her mind back to her original decision at 9:40 AM, and was about to loose her mind from a mixture of panic and worry at 10:00 AM when she spotted Lilynette running towards her with fear shining in her eyes.

"What happened?" Orihime asked immediately.

"It's Grimmjow, they can't get him to stop." Lilynette said between gasps.

Orihime frowned. She didn't dislike Grimmjow, but that wasn't cause for serious worry. The man who presided over strength and bravery, Kenpachi they called him, and Yachiru, who was the embodiment of chaos, could easily disable him once more.

"Nel's trying to-" Orihime didn't need to hear anymore.

She pulled Lilynette's arm anxiously and the girl ran ahead of her, leading the way.

They flew past startled Balancers and a few patients and medics had to dive out of the way to avoid them. Orihime shouted apologies over her shoulder to those they almost ran over but did not stop.

"Damn it." she heard Lilynette curse.

"It's not your fault." Orihime reminded her, dodging a man with his arms full of bandages.

"I know, but if she wasn't cursed…she could handle him easily. That damn Nnoitra. This is mostly his fault." Lilynette's anger faded into sadness.

"We'll find a way to free her." Orihime assured her as the two made a sharp right down a less populated corridor.

They ran straight to the door at the end of the hall, and from behind it Orihime could hear crashing and shouts.

Lilynette wasted no time and threw the door open pulling Orihime in behind her and slamming it shut. She locked the heavy portal behind them and took Orihime's hand, leading her down a short hallway into another room.

Unohana's home was more like a palace, beautifully decorated and huge, but this room was in shambles. Splintered furniture and ripped drapes, there was debris everywhere. Orihime scanned the room, most were familiar faces. Shunsui, Ukitake, Unohana, even Starrk and Harribel had been trying to subdue the blue haired man. Now they looked on in horror as a small child stood in the war deity's path. His eyes had locked onto her, but she did not flinch.

"That's enough now." Nel said in a soothing, yet commanding tone.

Grimmjow growled before responding, "Get her out of here!"

He looked at Shunsui desperately.

"Hush! You're making such a fuss. I said that's enough. You don't want to hurt any of us, right?" she asked.

"No, but I-" Grimmjow began, not noticing that he was relaxing his posture, slowly slipping out of his battle stance.

"Then why are you?" she asked.

"Because Ulquiorra…he made me want to. Don't give me that look." Grimmjow growled when Nel cocked one eyebrow up.

"It's my curse." he said shortly.

"Ahh, that makes sense." Nel said with a smile.

He glared at her with those desperate blue eyes.

"Then I'll counteract it. You don't want to hurt us. You never did and you never will. You're a good man Grimmjow, always have been." Nel said with such familiarity that it was impossible for the two to be strangers.

"And you've always been a slight pain in the ass." he replied with a smirk, completely relaxed and sword hanging loosely by his side.

Nel smiled, and she seemed far older than her five year old appearance. Orihime silently cursed herself for forgetting that Nel was far older than she seemed. She gazed at the woman trapped in a child's body, and vowed she would do whatever it took to help her break her curse.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Grimmjow was calm, able to control the almost unbearable urges to do what Ulquiorra wanted of him, with Nel's help. The two were actually talking while Orihime checked in on Lilynette on one of her breaks. She was studying them when Starrk began to speak, startling her. The wild looking man hadn't ever spoken to her directly, and she was slightly afraid of him.

"They used to be good friends. Grimmjow respected her, he always wanted to be like her. She was one of the few he ever admired, and coming from Grimmjow that is the highest honor he can do you. Such a shame she was married to that monster Nnoitra so young, could have been something truly magical." he said quietly.

Orihime listened quietly and absorbed the information. Obviously there was something very profound about Grimmjow and Nel's relationship. She realized that there was so much that she didn't know about the people she found herself with. It slightly scared her, but she knew better than to ever think she would know these almost celestial beings.

The thought hurt, but she knew it was only natural that she would never fully understand them. They lived in a world totally different from her own. And maybe it was better kept that way.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Orihime's thoughts of never being with her new friends again plagued her throughout her day. She didn't want to be separated from them, even in the short time she had known them, she had come to love them. She continued to ponder her thoughts as she tended to those who needed her assistance. She just could not come up with a good resolution that would keep her happy, and keep her and her family safe at the same time.

What if someone else came along, knowing she had close ties to many of the Meadow's inhabitants? She was sure history would repeat itself. Yes there were those that would try to do harm without a hostage or a target, by why have one more vulnerable weak point floating around, ready for capture?

Orihime knew she was not weak by any means, she had a strong spirit and equally strong will to protect, but she was just a human woman. She was not some mythical creature with powers to aid her in battle or defending those that couldn't defend themselves. She was simply Orihime, and even though she was fine with just that, she knew it would never be enough to allow her to continue as she had been. Nothing would ever be the same, and yet it would all be exactly the same.

She had made her decision.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

It happened so fast, she was almost sure that all of her peaceful yet sorrowful time in Unohana's home had been a dream. The wall of the grand hall ripped apart violently, throwing debris every way possible and sending it's occupants running for their lives.

The auburn haired woman was thrown backwards forcefully and collided with Hachi, who steadied her. The vast man was able to stay upright using some of his odd magic and held onto the frail human tightly. Before she registered anything, Orihime realized that she was staring at the almost ridiculously overblown hood of Nnoitra, who was currently laughing manically at those trying to escape or pull wounded friends to safety.

Hachi placed himself between the madman and his newly appointed charge.

He began speaking quietly and quickly, his words intricate and hard to pronounce, but the large man did not stumble at all over his words. There was instantly a large and thick yellow wall between himself and the grinning fiend.

"Do you really think this will stop me?" he chuckled, pointing his giant axe-like weapon at the barrier.

Hachi did not reply, he only placed his hands together and began to speak once more, quietly and quickly.

He held out one large palm and a red beam shot out at Nnoitra, but the tall man dodged easily.

"Is that really the best you've got?" he sneered at the balancer.

"You must run Miss Orihime." Hachi instructed the human girl.

She looked up at him with horrified eyes and began to protest.

"I can not match him, my dear. Only distract him for a short time. You must go, send for help." the large man commanded with a gentle tone.

Orihime nodded mutely before taking off down the hallway. She couldn't help but feel that if she did not hurry, she may loose a dear friend.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

What had she been thinking? She was a fool, a fool of the worse kind! How could she even think that they could have helped her!

Orihime silently berated herself as she followed a blue haired man through the winding hallways of Mother Nature's home.

No one else had been in that secure room except for Grimmjow and the child-woman currently hanging onto Orihime's back as she raced after the fallen War Deity. Grimmjow was grinning, a slightly frightening sight to behold, and Orihime cursed herself again. She had really done it this time, letting a war-prone prisoner out of his cell to do battle with one of his "allies." This was definitely up there on her list of screw-ups.

They reached the front hall where Nnoitra was wreaking havoc on anyone foolish enough to look alive. Orihime spotted Hachi, a crumpled mass in the corner, but he was wrapped safely in a shield produced by a wounded and struggling Nanao. Orihime almost cried in relief and admiration. The nymph had already been terribly wounded, but she still defended those that she could. Orihime rushed to her side, leaving the eager Grimmjow to deal with the psychotic Nnoitra.

"It's alright, I'll protect you now." she said, passing through Nanao's barrier with no effort. The sweating and panting woman looked at her first with curiosity, but it melted into relief.

"Thank you." she said between short, labored pants.

Orihime said the incantation, and her fairy friends flew out to first heal Nanao, then Hachi while Lily, Baigon, and Hinagiku provided a shield around their group.

Tsubaki stood quietly on the girl's shoulder and waited to defend them if necessary, though he doubted anyone could break through Orihime's shield. Though her will to fight was seriously lacking, her will to protect and defend amazed him.

Nanao was soon feeling much better and Ayame and Shun'o moved on to Hachi. The young woman gasped when she rolled him onto his back, where his right hand should have been was only a crudely wrapped bleeding stump.

"Nnoitra got him using an underhanded move, Master Hachi couldn't truly defend himself without both hands. It's why he fell so quickly. Otherwise Master Hachi would have been able to destroy Nnoitra." Nanao explained sadly and fiercely, her dark blue eyes flashing.

Orihime nodded and Ayame and Shun'o resumed after they had Orihime repeat a certain incantation. The stump began to glow as the shield shrunk and focused in on the bleeding area. The wrappings began to dissolve as white fragments began to gather and extend downwards. Together the fragments formed the missing bone and then they were covered in muscle and finally skin. Orihime was amazed to find the hand good as new, even the sleeve of Hachi's bright shirt was back to normal, it actually looked better than the rest of his attire, more new and fresh.

"Wow guys, you're amazing!" Orihime exclaimed.

The two fairies looked startled, as if they had never seen anything like this before, but Orihime did not notice. She did, however, notice Nanao staring at her as if she had just grown a second head.

"Mrs. Kyoraku?" Orihime asked, "Are you alright?"

Nanao opened her mouth a few times before managing to get out a choked "yes."

Then Orihime saw it, or rather Grimmjow, being thrown across the room with a huge gash across his front, gushing rivers of crimson. He hit the marble wall hard and it collapsed around him. Then she heard it, a strangled cry so fearful and panicked that it tore at Orihime's heart and shot ice through her veins.

Nel was running towards the battle as quickly as her little legs would allow. Her face a mask of horror as she beheld the pile of rubble now covering Grimmjow.

Nnoitra spotted the girl and grinned widely as he began to swing his huge weapon.

"No, NEL!" Orihime screamed, jumping to her feet and running to shield the child.

She reached the two just as Nnoitra was bringing his weapon down, everything seemed to be moving one hundred times slower. Orihime's heart beat drowned out everything else and she realized that she was shouting for Nel to run.

One beat, and she was in between Nnoitra and Nel. Another beat, and she had thrown her arms out for more protection. The third beat, the girl spares a glance for the child. The fourth beat, Nnoitra's expression morphs into that of annoyance. The fifth beat, Orihime's eyes slip shut in preparation for the coming pain. The sixth beat, the cool metal bites into Orihime's skin and sends her falling heavily to the floor as the weapon finishes ripping apart her skin and letting blood splatter the floor. The seventh beat, Nel's wide and teary eyes are boring into the human woman's own. The eighth beat, and Nel bows her head. The ninth beat, and an explosion, centered around the green haired child, blows Nnoitra backwards. The tenth beat, and a woman with remorseful yet determined eyes and long sea green hair is holding the wounded Orihime gently.

Then the world returns to normal.

"I'm sorry." Nel says above the noise, and Orihime can only smile and nod her head once.

Nel was now free, and Nnoitra had become the hunted.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Nel gently held Grimmjow in her arms as Orihime recited the now familiar incantations. Shun'o and Ayame's healing shield appeared between their cupped hands and they floated outwards to cover the wounded man. After the gash was gone, Grimmjow's eyes opened slowly and he blinked owlishly at the now full-grown woman holding him.

"N-Nel?" he asked in disbelief and she smiled at him.

"Hello Grimmjow. It's been a while hasn't it?" Nel replied, her voice now smoothed out from her bubbly high pitch yet still radiating happiness.

"That it has." the man replied in a tired voice.

He and Nel were silent after that, Orihime sensed that no words were needed to express the relief both of them were feeling.

When she had finished healing him, Orihime slipped away quietly and let the two of them talk. She didn't think they noticed anyway.


I hope you liked it and please, drop me a line and tell me what you think! Till next time!

~Trapped in Wonderland