Orihime paced impatiently about the room as she stuffed half a slice of cheese pizza into her mouth. Tatsuki had come over with the pregnancy test and was now watching the restless, red head walk anxiously back and forth in front of her as she waited for the timer to go off. It was starting to make her dizzy.
"Orihime, could you sit down or something? You're starting to make me sick," she scolded.
"I'm sorry, Tatsuki," Orihime apologized. "I'm just really nervous." There was a beep and she nearly jumped clean out of her skin.
"What was that?" she exclaimed. "Was that the timer? Is the five minutes up?" By this time she was right next to her friend's face.
Tatsuki stared awkwardly at her. She was nervous alright. "I think that was just the washer going off, Orihime."
Orihime hadn't noticed that she had been holding her breath until she exhaled heavily. "Oh," she stood up and quickly sprinted to the laundry room to put the clothes out on the line.
"Man, she's sure a wreck," Tatsuki thought. She picked up the purple box and read the instructions printed on the back, going over the results more than actually reading the instructions themselves. "If a pink line is evident after five minutes, the result is negative. If a blue line appears, the result is positive."
The timer sitting on the coffee table went off and this time it was her turn to jump. "What the hell?" she yelled and crushed the box against her chest.
"What is it, Tatsuki?" Orihime called from the laundry room.
"Uh," Tatsuki leaned over the coffee table and glanced skeptically at the small test strip lying on a folded towel, "the timer went off." There was suddenly a whoosh of air as Orihime suddenly appeared in front of her like the Road Runner in a Loony Toons cartoon.
"I-It did?" She was staring down at the tester.
"Yeah," Tatsuki replied and looked up at her. "Well, aren't you gonna check the results?"
Orihime raised an eyebrow at her. "Check the- OH! Right," she laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head, and gingerly picked up the towel with shaking hands. "W-what are t-the r-results again?"
Tatsuki snapped out of her daze and fumbled with the box. "Uh, right, let me see." She trailed the instructions with her finger and read out loud. "If a single pink line is evident after five minutes, then the results are negative. If a blue line appears, then the result is positive."
"Right, I knew that," Orihime said sweetly, not looking at the test.
"Well, aren't you gonna see if it's positive?" Tatsuki pursed.
Orihime stared down at the test with wide eyes. "I-I don't think I can."
"What?" Tatsuki exclaimed a bit louder than she wanted to. She was itching with curiosity. Was her best friend pregnant or not?
She stood up and held her hand out. "Give it."
"Huh?" Orihime asked, snapping out of her daze.
"I said give," Tatsuki repeated. "You're obviously too nervous to read it. If I don't know for sure whether or not to kick Ulquiorra's ass for not using protection soon, I'm going to blow a gasket."
Orihime stared down at the test strip and held the towel up shakily.
Tatsuki swiped the test off the folded up cloth and walked over to the window so she could read it better. She stared at it for five seconds before her eyes grew wide. "Orihime."
"What is it?" Orihime exclaimed. The suspense was killing her. Was she going to be a mother? Was she pregnant? What was it?
Tatsuki walked back over to the couch, the shadow from her hair was covering her eyes, and dropped the test inside the box. "It's negative."
The world crashed around Orihime as tears welled in her eyes. She wasn't pregnant? That was a good thing, wasn't it? She didn't have to worry about finding a babysitter when she went to college at the end of the summer, and she didn't have to worry about what Ulquiorra would do. But if this was a good thing, then why was her heart tearing to pieces?
Her legs suddenly gave out and she sat on the floor. The test showed negative. She wasn't pregnant, but she wanted to be.
Tatsuki watched helplessly as her friend crumbled in agony before her eyes. She knew Orihime wanted to be a mother. She could hear it in her voice when she called her at four in the morning when she was just waking up from a sleep induced hangover. There had to be something she could do.
She stared down at the box and crunched it like a soda can. "I knew I shouldn't have bought the cheapest test the drugstore had," she huffed. "I'll bet you can get a false negative real easy on this thing!" She rushed over to Orihime and pulled her onto her feet. "Come on!"
Orihime stared wide eyed with shock as her friend pushed her out the door and nearly dragged her down the street to the clinic. "Uh, Tatsuki, where are we going?"
"We're going to get you a more accurate test," Tatsuki answered roughly as she pulled her through the clinic's sliding doors. There was a woman wearing light blue scrubs sitting behind the counter.
"Welcome to the Karakura health clinic," she said warmly. "Do you have an appointment?"
"No, but my mom works here," Tatsuki said. "Is it alright if I can see her?"
The nurse sitting at the counter smiled hugely. "Oh, Tatsuki, of course you can go see your mother. She's in her office. You can go right on back."
"Thanks," Tatsuki replied and hauled Orihime through a pair of heavy, wooden doors, down the hall, and into a plain, white room. There was a tall, black haired woman sitting behind the desk.
The woman gazed up at the two girls and her eyes grew wide. "Tatsuki, Orihime, what are you two doing here?"
"It's kind of hard to explain, Mom," Tatsuki replied. "Do you think you could give Orihime a pregnancy test? I bought her one, but it was cheap and I don't think it was very accurate."
Koharu was on her feet in half the time it took for either girl to blink. "A pregnancy test? Of course I will! Oh, Orihime, why didn't you tell me you were expecting?"
"Because she doesn't know yet, Mom," Tatsuki sighed irritably. "That's why we need the test."
"Oh, right, of course, of course," Koharu took Orihime by the shoulders and started leading her down the hall. "Now don't you worry, Orihime. We'll give you the most accurate results you can ever find."
"Uh, thanks," Orihime said shyly and glanced back at a very amused Tatsuki. She had either done this on purpose, or this was all just an unfortunate series of very well planned coincidences.
* * *
Ulquiorra was knocked flat on his tailbone as a fist collided forcefully with his jaw. The woman standing in front of him was huffing with rage. That was new.
"Are you out of your mind?" Lied half shouted at him; her fist shaking slightly in mid air.
"Possibly," Ulquiorra stated calmly and stood up. "If I am, then it is only because I want to protect Orihime and anyone else Rubin might try to harm in order to get to me. I desperately need your help."
"Well, you can just forget about me doing that!" Lied yelled, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture. "You have been trying to attain the life you have now for four-hundred years, and now you want me to curse you again? Forget it!"
"Lied, please," Ulquiorra begged. "I do not stand a chance against him at my current level. You and I both know that. I need my demonic form in order to protect everyone."
Lied closed her eyes and spun on her heel so fast her hair slapped him in the face. "I refuse to reinstate your demonic powers. If I did, they would be permanent. You would be cursed with your decision for the rest of eternity. You would never be able to grow old and die with the woman you love; with the woman you worked so hard to regain your humanity for."
She walked over to the kitchen sink and lifted her shirt. There was a white bandage covering her lower abdomen. It was stained with a creamy, yellow discharge and dried blood. It was almost hard to believe that she had changed the gauze only two hours ago.
"There are other ways to defeat Rubin," Lied continued, unwrapping the bandage around her stomach, revealing a nearly healed brand of a cross surrounded by flames. "You are no longer wandering this world alone, Ulquiorra. You must learn to share the burden with those who love and care about you."
"I cannot," Ulquiorra said sullenly as he stared at the red scar with pain filled eyes. "It is my burden to bear. I refuse to drag anyone else into this fight."
Lied pulled a container out of the cupboard and removed the lid. It was filled with a white lotion that smelled of roses, strawberries, and peppermint. She dipped her fingers in the thick concoction and rubbed the salve on the mark branded into her abdomen.
"Where does your loyalty lie, Ulquiorra?" she asked after about five minutes of silence.
"My loyalty," Ulquiorra repeated confusingly. "Why do you and Rubin ask that question?"
"We ask it for good reason," Lied informed quietly as she massaged the salve into the glowing red burn. "Although our motives are completely different, it does serve a purpose. So I will ask you again," she placed the cover back on the ointment and stared him straight in the eyes, "where does your loyalty lie, Ulquiorra?"
"I do not know," Ulquiorra replied bitterly. "I have been thinking about that for the past four days, and yet I still cannot find an answer." He closed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists. "It is such a simple question, so why is it that it requires such a difficult answer?"
Lied stared at him tenderly and sighed. "Are you loyal to Rubin?"
"No," Ulquiorra replied instantly.
She dug into her pocket. "Are you loyal to Orihime?"
"Of course," Ulquiorra answered.
"Yet you feel as if you are still not sure if you are truly loyal to her?" Lied asked. "You are loyal to her in marriage. You would never cheat on her, strike her or do anything to cause her pain, and yet you feel as if you are not loyal to her the way Rubin defines the term 'loyalty'."
Ulquiorra stared at the floor. He could feel his heart crumbling. "Yes," he choked, his voice cracking ever so slightly. "Yes, I am faithful to her in every way possible. But the way Rubin described it, I am not loyal to her."
"So who are you loyal to?" Lied repeated.
"I do not know," Ulquiorra replied a second time. Lied flipped a coin in his direction and he caught it instinctively. It was a small, silver coin with an emblem of a cross and stars.
"Will you pledge your loyalty to me?" she asked somberly.
Ulquiorra stared down at the coin in his hands. "I do not know."
A shadow of a smile formed on Lied's lips but was immediately dismissed. She walked over to the closet door and opened it. "I cannot comply to your request until you give me a solid answer, but even then you must answer the question correctly."
"There is a correct answer?" Ulquiorra asked somewhat surprised.
"To me, yes," Lied pulled a sword down from one of the racks and held it out in front of him. "You will meet with Rubin in four days. When you see him, give him your answer. Once you have given him your reply," she dropped the sheathed sword in his hands, "you will know who you are loyal to."
Ulquiorra gripped the sword tightly in his hands. It was his old sword, but the strange thing was that he was not surprised that Lied had kept it. She had forged it for him after all.
"Thank you, Lady Arduro," Ulquiorra saluted and bowed slightly.
Lied bashed her knuckles against the back of his head. "How many times must I tell you? Do not address me so formally! You may call me Lied, and Lied alone. I am pretending to be Orihime's age. The least you can do is play along."
A small smile spread across Ulquiorra's lips. "As you wish." He stood up straight and walked over to the door.
"Where are you going?" Lied asked; a look of curiosity spread across her features.
"I am going home," Ulquiorra replied, slipping the sword into a small backpack and throwing it over his shoulder. "Orihime has been acting strange lately. She has been having these strange cravings, along with a few other problems, and I cannot seem to quite grasp why."
Lied allowed the smile to completely take control of her lips this time. "Oh, I can only guess why."
Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"
"Oh, it is nothing, Ulquiorra," she dismissed with a wave of her hand, "just remember what we talked about today." She smiled widely and winked at him. "Tell Orihime I said hi."
"I will be sure to pass along your message," Ulquiorra said awkwardly. He left the small home and walked down the steep, grassy hill leading down to Karakura Town. What had she meant by "I can only guess why"?