Sorry about the really long break, and on such a cliff hanger too. I promise to finish this story if it is the last thing I do.
Author: Ongaku
Genre: Romance/Drama
Pairing: Ulquiorra/Orihime
Rating: M
Summary: Her eyes widened in shock as tears began to stream out. "I have been asleep for over 400 years? I wasn't supposed to be asleep that long!"
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
Gravity – Chapter 10
"Aizen-sama!" one of the underling arrancar's said in panic while making his way over to him. "The young human woman is demanding to talk with you. We tried to tell her to come back later but she is really adamant about it."
Gin smirked in the corner as he watched Aizen's face. He knew that anyone else wouldn't be able to tell what he was thinking but Gin was intuitive when it came to that kind of thing and he made sure to pay extra special attention to his boss.
"It's fine, let her in."
The arrancar seemed to be a little hesitant – or perhaps just surprised at first - but he immediately turned around and did what he was told.
Orihime came through the doors with an air of determination.
However, Gin knew there was something else going on, something that had changed her significantly.
He looked behind her to see Ulquiorra and wondered just what it could have been.
"Aizen, about what you asked me – is it still valid?"
Aizen stood up with a glint in his eye.
"Of course it is Orihime, I would never joke about something like that."
Orihime clinched her hands, she was terrified but she wasn't going to stop now. "Then." She paused and took a deep breath. "I accept it. I will be your queen."
Aizen smiled and clapped his hands together. "Excellent! Then an announcement is to be made and arrangements for our marriage."
Orihime choked a bit when she heard the word marriage. She hadn't really thought about it that way but should have known better. She just hopped he wasn't expecting any intimacy with her. She could fake a lot of things but that would prove to be difficult. Finally, she had an idea.
"I have one condition."
Aizen's smile did not falter, as if he was expecting this.
"Go ahead."
Orihime knew she was probably going to push her luck with this but said it anyway.
"I will be your queen in name only, not your wife. If you understand what I mean."
"Yes, I understand what you mean, Orihime, and you don't have to worry. I'm not taking you to be my queen because I want to bed you."
Orihime relaxed a bit at this even though she wasn't sure how much she could trust him.
"Ulquiorra."
Ulquiorra step out from behind Orihime and bowed.
"Hai"
"Get the outfit ready for Orihime to change into. I will go ahead and make the announcement later today."
"As you wish." Ulquiorra turned back around and started to walk out but paused at the door. "Come, Woman."
Orihime started to follow him when they were interrupted by Aizen.
"Ulquiorra, she will now be Orihime-sama to you, calling your new leader, woman, is hardly appropriate."
Orihime gulped at this, wondering how Ulquiorra was going to react. To no surprised he just nodded his head and told Aizen it would not happen again.
"Orihime-sama"
Orihime shuddered a bit when Ulquiorra called her that. When he used such honorifics with her name it felt so cold and impersonal. She almost forgot what had just happened between them because of how nonchalant he was being towards her.
Orihime took one more look at Aizen and Gin and then turned to follow him out. She prayed that she was making the right decision.
Orihime stood on the same platform with Aizen and the other two humans that where there. She was back in that white uniform that they had put her in before.
She looked around the huge room and saw all the different Arrancar, sitting in ranking order with their legion. Some of them looked bored and others look intrigued.
Orihime didn't care. There was only one Arancar that had her attention, but it seemed it was all one sided. He didn't even have his eyes open, much less be looking at her. It made her feel a little angry. He hardly spoke to her, not that he ever was much of a talker to begin with. For some reason she felt it was even worse now.
He had led her to the room to get changed but instead of being kind about it he was almost robotic. He pointed to the outfit then turned and walked away without as much as a look in her direction.
He didn't even come back or wait for her to get finished. She had to figure out where to go next, thankfully she ran into Nel. Things just kind of went from there.
"Attention all Espada and Arrancar!" Aizen's voice boomed across the room with such strength. "I have some big news, which is why I have called all of you in here."
He took Orihime by the hand. "Orihime is going to be my queen, our queen to be more exact. I will marry her right now and she is to be respected and treated with as much respect as you show me."
His last few words sounded more like a threat in Orihime's opinion but she knew it was needed. The look of anger and annoyance on their faces was all she needed to know. She was not feeling very welcomed. It wasn't surprising since they thought she was just a weak human girl. Why should a group so strong and powerful listen and bow down to her?
"This is not a crazy whim and my actions will not be questioned. She will have just about as much power as me so if she commands you to do something you must listen."
The mummers of the room got louder. Orihime look at Ulquiorra once again but his demeanor had not changed. She looked down at the hand that Aizen had taken and wished he would let go already. It was starting to make her very uncomfortable.
Through all of this she had to stay strong. She knew she was weak and not liked, but she was not going to show anymore fear of them. She kept a blank face, trying to mimic Ulquiorra to a certain degree. She left her eyes empty, though it wasn't hard since she was starting to feel that way.
"Now to seal the deal."
Orihime's head jerked up to look at Aizen when she heard this. She wondered what was going to be needed to seal a deal like that, but she didn't have to wonder for long.
Aizen grabbed her by the chin and pulled her face up towards him.
"Sorry, this needs to be done."
She could tell that he didn't really look sorry. Without a chance to protest he placed his lips on hers.
Orihime didn't know how to react so she just stood still. Her eyes were open but his were closed. As soon as he opened them she felt her heart drop to the floor. The kiss felt so off and so wrong that she felt ten times more violated than when she had lost her innocence to Ulquiorra.
It didn't last long, just a few seconds but it had felt like an eternity. When he pulled away it took all of Orihime's strength to keep from spilling out all her emotions. She looked at Ulquiorra one more time and almost lost it all when he still showed no sign of change.
He was going to be a hard one to crack. She knew it was stupid to have feelings for him but she was determined to get a rise out of him, even if it only turned out like the first time.
Still, even though she knew she had feelings for him she wasn't sure what those feelings meant. She couldn't call them love but whatever it was, it was strong. All she knew was that she wanted him and she wanted him bad.
Ulquiorra was furious.
He couldn't do anything about his rage either, which made it even worse. He had marked Orihime as his and yet he had to share her.
It took everything he had to not run up there and take her away after he witnessed Aizen kissing her. He may have looked cool and collected to everyone but inside his pockets, where he always kept his hands, the rage was apparent. He clinched his fists so tight that his palms began to bleed.
At the end of the ceremony he had to rush off to clean them up before anyone noticed.
He didn't know what to do with himself. He had never felt so many things at once and it really messed with his usual everyday life.
Everyone else seemed to sense this as they stayed far away from him. He needed to do something about it. He couldn't just kill her and be done with it how he would like so avoiding her at all cost was the next best thing.
Only problem was, she was still technically in his care. He was pretty sure Aizen was going to expect him to still watch out for her. If only Aizen knew, he would never let Ulquiorra be so close to her, let be alone. He was probably the most dangerous Espada when it came to her because of his desires.
If he wasn't such a high rank he would have killed her without even meaning too long ago.
He was starting to feel really frustrated and hungry now. The need for Orihime was so strong that he knew he was going to have to break his usual ways. He was going to have to go and kill to get rid of the itch.
Orihime sat in Aizen's room with all the leaders. Gin was to the right and Tozen was to the left. Aizen sat right in front of her. She thought this would be the time he would tell her what her purpose was so she was waited patiently for him to talk.
"Orihime, now that you are my queen it is time for us to make some changes around here."
Orihime listened with her full attention.
"First, you are no longer going to stay in that prison cell of a room."
Orihime was surprised. She wasn't expecting to be talking about things like that.
"You will be staying here with me."
Orihime gasped. There was no way she wanted to do that. She thought she made it pretty clear on the intimacy thing.
"Don't get the wrong idea. This is just for show and for your protection. I will get a separator and another bed put in here for you."
Orihime still wasn't happy. She was going to have to share a room with a man she didn't trust. She would never have any privacy. She wondered if this was really for her protection or just a ploy to keep an even more watchful eye on her.
She looked at Gin and shuddered. He seemed to be really enjoying this. He was laughing slightly and his grin was even more scary than normal. She didn't even have to wonder what was going on in his head. It made her stomach turn and she wondered just how Rangiku ever had any kind of normal relationship with him.
Perhaps there was more to Rangiku than she knew. Of course, she was not one to judge – after all she just had sex with an Espada.
"Don't worry Orihime, I'm hardly in here and I will do my best to mind your privacy."
Orihime just nodded her head. He sounded sincere enough but something just didn't feel right. She figured she would just use the room to sleep in. She no longer had to be confined to a room anymore since she was on the same level at Gin and Tousen now. Still, she knew better than to just walk around on her own.
She was going to have to figure out which of the Arrancar and Espada would be the safest to be around. Nel was one of them and Ulquiorra use to be but she felt the need to keep her distance. She was afraid if she didn't she would reveal everything and get him into trouble. She also knew that she would not be able to stop herself from getting that desire from him again.
"I want to you walk around, get to know the place well. You can ask any of the Espada to escort you."
Aizen waited for her response.
"Actually, before I do that. I would like to go back to the village."
This seemed to surprise everyone.
"Are you sure, now that you are my queen they will not take kindly to you."
Orihime knew this was true from her first experience to the town but she didn't care.
"I'm sure. I understand my power a bit more and can protect myself. I don't plan to stay there I just want to tell them to not go looking for me or worry about me." Orihime wondered about most of them and thought it might be pointless to do.
She wasn't sure any of them really cared that much about her. After all, they were the reason she left in the first place. Still, just in case there was the one person – such as Chad – that would do something stupid in search for her, she wanted to smash all their doubts that she was one of them.
"You are already starting to sound more and more like a queen Orihime. I know that I did not choose wrong. You may do as you like, you may even bring someone with you since they are now under your command."
Orihime rose from her seat. "I will just need help with getting there and back, nothing more. I will ask Nel to accompany me."
"Does Ulquiorra no longer please you?"
Aizen's words took her by surprise. She wasn't expecting him to be so direct.
"It's not that. Nel is just more comfortable to be with."
"I see, I suppose that makes sense. I should have been more sensitive to your needs when I put Ulquiorra in charge of you. You must know, I chose him because he was the least likely of all the Espada to get you killed."
Orihime nodded her head. "That is very true and I will still need his service again someday, just not for something so minor."
Then she headed out the door in search of Nel. She hoped that her story was good enough for Aizen. She didn't want him to get the wrong idea, especially not so quickly. She wasn't sure how well she could pull off this act but she was going to do her best.
Now came one of the harder things to do. Face the people of the village.
It was easy enough to convince Nel to let her go off on her own once they got close enough to the village. She told Nel she didn't want to cause even more of a stir by adding her to the mix but she would call for her if she had any problems.
Nel seemed to trust in her ability more than anyone else did. She nodded obediently and told her she would be waiting no matter how long it took.
It was really quiet, which she found a little odd. She could hear the crunch of the dirt from beneath her shoes as she walked. She was getting close enough to see the buildings so she rushed ahead but unlike last time she was going to be on guard.
She thought of the town as a village of idiots. They struck first and then asked questions. They were so narrow minded and didn't care about knowledge and finding ways to better their life. It made her hate them, a feeling she never knew she could have.
As she was coming into the town she noticed the people around her giving her looks of disgust. Some of them looked like they were ready to pounce at any given moment and others looked scared. There wasn't a single kind eye among them.
"Witch!"
Someone yelled from behind her. This started a commotion. A bunch of people started to swarm her, an angry mob with no remorse for her well being.
Orihime's eyebrow scrunched with anger. She was hoping they would just glare at her and leave her in peace. She really didn't want anything to do with them.
Still, this might have been for the best. Everyone needed to know what was in store for them.
That is when the first person threw the rock but to their surprise it did not hit her.
Orihime was not going to be fooled again. She had placed up her golden shield that kept the rocks from hitting her.
They looked at her with disbelief.
"If you are thinking you can harm me you are greatly mistaken." Orihime's voice was not kind as she said this. Things that Ulquiorra had once told her started to come to mind.
"Your efforts are futile. You are nothing but weak humans. Nothing but trash, now get out of my way or suffer the consequences."
The people backed away, looking mostly scared now. Orihime continued to walk forward in search of the people she knew all too well.
She didn't have to go far. The commotion had dragged them out, weapons in hand. The first one she saw was none other than Ichigo.
He looked determined and ready to fight at any moment but as soon as he saw her he stopped in his tracks and dropped his weapon.
"Inoue-san, you're back."
He slowly made his way up to her. That is when the others showed up. Rukia first, which did not surprise Orihime in the slightest now that she knew of their relationship. Then there was Uryuu, Renji, Chad, and Rangiku.
"Oh thank god!" Rangiku exclaimed as she came up to get in between her and Ichigo. "I thought something horrible may have happened to you."
She was just about to pull Orihime into a hug when she noticed something. "Um, Orihime." She looked her in the face with unease.
"Perhaps we should take you home and get you to change first thing."
Orihime was just waiting for someone to say something about her outfit.
"Actually Rangiku, I'm not going to change."
The gang looked surprised.
"I'm also not going to stay here."
Ichigo walked up with Rukia with a look of regret on his face. "Inoue-san, please don't push us away. Rukia and I, we really need to talk to-"
He stopped talking when he noticed the cold and dead look she was giving him. She no longer seemed like the sweet and innocent girl that he had come to know. Her look held no emotion, no anger, and no sorrow. She looked as if she was just looking right through him. It sent a chill down his spine.
"Orihime, what is going on? Why are you doing this?" Rangiku asked.
"I only came here to tell you guys something. Don't wait for me, don't search for me, and don't worry about me. I have decided to be the Queen of the Arrancar and Espada."
They gasp in shock.
"Orihime, you can't be serious!"
Orihime only shook her head. "It is already done. I am now married to Aizen. I want you guys to forget all about me for I am no longer your friend."
It was quiet after that. The shock of her words was too much for them to handle.
She turned to walk away but before she left she told them one more thing.
"You don't have to worry about me attacking you. We may no longer be friends, but I do not wish for any bloodshed. I have other plans."
Then she took off in the direction where Nel was waiting for her. She didn't want to give them the chance to say anymore so she ran.
The others didn't know what to do. They knew they should probably chase her down and get her to explain more but they didn't. They felt guilty for not being there for her more. After all, this was a foreign place to her. It was nothing like what she had come from.
However, for some reason, they just couldn't bring themselves to go after her.
Days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months. Before long time had rolled by for Orihime and 3 months had passed since she had left the village and became Aizen's queen.
Her days where filled with the typical, but it kept her busy. She got to meet more of the Espada. Some of them she liked and others she found to be too dangerous to consort with alone. She got along greatly with Nel that is almost felt like she was a normal high school girl again, just chilling with her best friend.
It was really strange at first. Her nerves were on high alert. She knew that many of the Espada and Arrancar despised her. She was expecting them to try and fight her or give her some kind of trouble. So it came to no surprise the kind of response she got when she got all the Espada together to talk without Aizen present.
She was determined to let them know where she stood even though she was nervous.
At the meeting Nel and Ulquiorra stood the closest to her. She felt somewhat at ease with them, even though Ulquiorra was not giving her the time of day and being around him sent a rush of emotions through her.
She played it cool. She had more pressing issues at hand.
She sat at the end of a long brick table and looked around. They had their full attention on her some of them with unreadable faces and others with smirks and looks of amusement.
"I know most, if not all, of you do not like the idea of me being your Queen."
She heard a snicker and noticed Gimmjow who was sitting nearby had done it.
"I would say so little missy."
"Grimmjow, it is not proper of you to call our queen that."
The one who said this was a strange looking woman Espada. She had darker skin than most, but that wasn't what made her strange. It was the fact that her outfit went up and above her mouth so Orihime wasn't even too sure it was her speaking.
Most of the meeting went back and forth with the bickering of the Espada. Orihime didn't really know how to interrupt and was starting to feel invisible.
Then something completely out of the ordinary happened that shocked more than just her.
Ulquiorra raised his voice.
Everyone got quiet. Orihime was glad for the silence but wasn't sure if that would make it better.
That is when one of the older looking Espada spoke up. She remembered that his name was Stark.
"I think we all need to relax and let the queen speak."
Orihime took her queue. "I called you hear because I wanted to make one thing clear. I'm not here to control you or to be your boss. One boss is enough for you I'm sure. I'm not here to play games either. I know I'm here for some sort of reason and I plan to figure out what it is. If you don't like me, you do not have to hide it. If you don't like me, you do not have to follow my every word or command. If you don't like me, you don't have to worry about me narking on you to Aizen. However, I will not let you hurt me and I will not let you look down on me as being weak and pathetic. I have gotten enough of that from everywhere else I have been in my life and I'm making a stand."
Orihime took a pause to really think about what she was going to say next. She wasn't sure how they would take it.
"I don't want to rule you or lead you. I'm not the leader type. I-" Orihime stopped and then turned her attention to Ulquiorra and then to Nel. "I want to be your companion."
"That is good and fine Orihime-sama" said Stark. "However, we do not know you and we are not exactly companions ourselves so I'm not really sure if that is going to work out."
Orihime didn't even bat an eye. "That is why I want to be your companion. I hope to make some changes. I know it won't be easy but I wanted to let you all know."
"I've had enough of this." Yammy stood up from his place at the table. "I'm leaving."
That started a pattern, several of the other Espada had left, including Ulquiorra. The only ones that stayed were Nel and, strangely enough, Grimmjow.
"Don't worry Orihime-sama. I'm sure they will come to accept you in time." Nel said while patting Orihime's shoulder.
"It's okay Nel, I wasn't expecting a great response."
"I don't know if you are brave or just really stupid."
Orihime turned her attention to Grimmjow. He had a strange look on his face as if he didn't know how to feel about Orihime.
"I can't say that I'm with you. I'm a loner and I don't give a damn about anyone. However, I dislike you less than every other bastard in this place and since you seem to be getting under Ulquiorra's skin I'm going to stick with you."
Orihime was surprised by this. Not just his words but what he said about Ulquiorra.
"This doesn't make us friends but if someone gives you trouble – especially that bastard Ulquiorra - you can tell me. I'm always itching for a new fight."
Orihime wasn't fond of all the name calling Grimmjow was doing but she knew it was his roundabout way of being kind. She smiled at him and thanked him before he made his way out.
"That's great Orihime. Having Grimmjow on your side is just one more step closer."
"It really is Nel. I'm glad."
Orihime spent most of the time after that with Nel. Nel was giving her a tour of the grounds and chatting up her ear. It was good, she needed a bit of a distraction from her life.
The hardest part to her change was not talking to the espada it was her first night in the same room with Aizen.
As he said, he hardly came into the room. In fact, she slept most of the night without him even coming through. She heard him once in the early morning but pretended to be asleep.
It took her forever to fall asleep too, so she was pretty sure she only got 3-4 hours tops. The split in the room was good, it almost felt like two separate rooms but it wasn't. There was no door or lock to keep them separated.
She just prayed she didn't talk in her sleep or do something embarrassing. She also prayed that he was true to his word and would not try to touch her.
Three months later, with no indicated that Aizen was even interested in her as a woman, Orihime was finally sleeping like a baby. She was well fed and taken good care of. She almost felt like a spoiled little house wife.
Despite not knowing what her purpose was, she kept pretty busy. She helped with meals and trained with her powers. Nel was even teaching how to fight some, though she felt a little silly since she was so much weaker in physical strength than anyone there.
Nel said it would be important for her to know anyway. Orihime wasn't going to argue, she had nothing better to do anyway.
In the last three months Orihime had hardly seen Ulquiorra. She was fine with it. She was hoping if he wasn't around she would just get over her strange feelings for him. However, every time she thought she saw him or she would see him for a split second her heart would pound and she would get nervous. She wanted to kick herself for acting like such a school girl.
Right now she was in the dining room with Nel, Szayel, Grimmjow, Stark, and Lilynette. It was a strange mix but Orihime had somehow found a way to have them all be together. Right now they were eating a meal that she and Nel had made up. It wasn't the happy family atmosphere by any stretch of the imagination but it was a step in the right direction.
She felt this need to interact with the Arrancar, especially the Espada, as much as possible and hopefully get them to interact as well. Her surprise in power is what made this possible. She was able to hold her own against regular Arrancar so she was able to get respect.
Of course some of them ignored her, such as Yammy. It was like he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder ever since that one day he attacked her in the village. She laughed at the thought since she should have been the one with the chip not him. Yammy was strange to her, he seemed like a big idiot but she wasn't sure that was the case so she didn't mind if he steered clear of her.
The old man – Baraggan – didn't give her any problems. He wasn't friendly or nice. Indifference is what he showed her. At least that was better than hate.
Harribel, though not at the table with them at the moment, was on friendly enough terms with her. She would even help her out with training as well. It confused her for a bit because she held the title of third espada but so did Nel. Nel had explained that she fell from the ranks because they had thought she was dead at one point. When she came back they were annoyed so they sort of just act like she isn't really one of them.
Plus, Nel did not want to fight them for what her rank would be so she let it go.
Orihime was starting to understand why Nel took so easily to her after that. They were sort of in the same boat, both of them outcasts.
Nnoitra was probably the espada that troubled her the most. He was very sketchy and seemed to have this hatred of women, like they all deserved to be beneath him. He acted nice enough to her – though degrading – but she could sense real danger for her well being around him so she avoided him at all costs.
It was just too bad he didn't do the same. He would go out of his way to make her feel uncomfortable at times. She almost thought he did it on purpose just to see how far he could push her before she snapped. At one point Ulquiorra walked in on one of his pervert attacks and the air in the room seemed to drop 10 degrees. Nnoitra had stopped messing with her for the next two weeks after that and seemed to be more careful on who was around when he did.
Then there was Zommari, he would have been one of the few that sat and ate with the rest of them. He was quiet but unlike Ulquiorra he wasn't void of emotion. He had this calm aura around him and sometimes Orihime would join him in the meditation room.
Aaroniero was, well he was Aaroniero. She had the least interaction with him. He was to strange for her to deal with so she didn't.
The Espada that surprised her the most was Grimmjow. He was loud and kind of a jerk most of the time but he seemed to be protective of her. She couldn't understand why, except that she had helped him in a number of occasions when he got hurt. He told her that he didn't like to owe favors and that was all it was. Thing was, she felt he had already repaid her plenty but was still doing things for her.
Then there was Ulquiorra, not acting as an enemy or that he would harm her, but they couldn't even be in the same room for long. It was like fire and water, it made the air in the room feel like burning steam.
"Earth to Orihime."
Orihime blinked when she heard her name. She hadn't realized she was dazing out.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"Wow, she must have it bad." Grimmjow laughed.
Orihime was confused. "I have what bad?"
"Ignore him, he is just messing with you though we are curious…"
Orihime looked around and noticed everyone was looking at her. "Curious about what?"
"Well-" Nel began, "we noticed how weird you and Ulquiorra have been."
If Orihime had been drinking something then she would have spit it out all over the table in surprise. She could feel her face heating up from embarrassment and knew she was screwed. She felt she could trust this bunch so she gave up in hiding it anymore. She wanted someone to talk to about it anyway.
"You are right, it is probably my fault. I have been avoiding him."
"Why?" Nel asked with a tilt to her head. "You guys seemed kind of close before you came here permanently."
Orihime felt a little nervous saying this out loud. It was pretty embarrassing and personal. "I- it's because I desire him!" Orihime lowered her head as she could feel her ears burning from heat.
It was really quiet and Orihime was afraid she had made the wrong decision. Then she heard the laughter, Grimmjow's mostly.
"What do you mean you desire him?" Grimmjow said in between crackles. "What is the matter, is Aizen not giving you enough?" his laughter seemed to have gotten harder at that question.
"I'm not that way with Aizen!" Orihime stammered.
"You say that Orihime," began Stark, "but you are suppose to be his wife."
"I know. That is why I have been avoiding Ulquiorra. Please keep this in between us. I may not be that way with Aizen but I don't want to get Ulquiorra into any trouble. It isn't his fault I'm like this."
They nodded their heads in understanding but in reality all of them were wondering if it really was just one sided or if Ulquiorra desired her even more than she was him. It was going to be one dangerous thing no matter what.
To Be Continued.