Title: The Rain that Binds
Pairings: UlquiHime with some one-sided IchiHime and IshiHime. Other pairings may be hinted at later.
Rating: T
Spoilers: Up to chapter 282 of the manga
Word count: 3,425

Wow! I can't believe this is the one-month anniversary of this fic! (pulls out strings and confetti)

I know a lot of people asked if there would be some smut in this chapter. Do you really think I'd be mean enough to split a sex scene between two chapters? Sorry, I just…can't write smut; it took me 30 minutes to write out the foreplay in the last chapter. (sweatdrop)

Anyway, please enjoy chapter 11!

He could see the monochrome world that was Hueco Mundo in front of him, behind him, everywhere. He breathed in and he could feel the reiatsu enter his body, easing his hunger – to a point, anyway. Glancing around at the desert world with the quartz-like trees, he saw Las Noches, the imposing white citadel, in the distance. Inside, he knew there were the other Arrancar that Aizen created, the other two shinigami that served him, and, of course, Aizen himself. Ulquiorra felt a shudder run through his body, although from what he was not certain.

He wandered around aimlessly for what seemed like hours and then stopped to rest under one of the trees that dotted Hueco Mundo. Resting up against it, he brought a hand to his temple only to be find that the hand was not his own. This hand had elongated fingertips that were bone white. His eyes widened and he took in as much of his form as he possibly could. Ulquiorra brought his hands to the top of his head and felt the two horn-like objects sticking out from the top of his head.

' This...this was my true form, when I had been a Vasto Lorde,' he thought, trying to makes sense of what was going on, 'but, I am not an Arrancar anymore. Why am I in this form once again?'

Standing up, he looked around himself only to find nothing but desert surrounding him. He sighed and was about to start walking again, where he was headed he wasn't sure, when he heard a voice from behind call out to him.

" Ulquiorra Schiffer."

He turned around quickly and saw Aizen, a smile on his face. Ulquiorra could feel the rage boil in him at sight of the shinigami. He prepared to attack him when he heard Aizen tsk ever so softly while shaking his head.

" You're scared, aren't you? Terrified even. Of death."

Aizen's eyes peered into his own and he felt a great sense of discomfort grow in him. It was as though he was looking straight into Ulquiorra and reading all his thoughts. Thoughts that he himself never wanted to think about as long for as he lived.

"However," he continued, " I can take all that fear away. I can promise you a life without it."

" What do I have to do?" he felt himself answer, as though he had no control of his body.

Ulquiorra saw his smile widen considerably before he placed a hand on his shoulder.

" I will make you more powerful than you could ever imagine. I could tell even from afar that you are a strong being, even as a Hollow," he replied. "How powerful will you become when you transform into an Arrancar? All you have to do in return…is serve me."

Ulquiorra glared at him. This was all oddly familiar to him, although he could not understand for the life of him why.

" I understand. I will serve you and you alone," he heard himself say as he bowed slightly. He could feel a sense of disgust wash through him from the action. Suddenly, he remembered why this interaction was so familiar.

' Of course. This is what occurred during our first meeting, before he transformed me into an Arrancar,' he considered, closing his eyes slightly. ' Keep away the fear of death? Foolishness.'

" Good," Aizen murmured softly, his eyes glinting in the moonlight. " Well, before we begin,, why don't you have one last meal? It will be a while before you are able eat, after all…"

Ulquiorra's eyes widen.

' This…what is this? This is not what occurred during that time. Aizen brought me to Las Noches to prepare for the transformation from Hollow to Arrancar,' he thought frantically.

He saw Aizen reveal something from behind his back, although Ulquiorra was certain that he had not had whatever it was when they first began talking. He looked down and saw in Aizen's arms a girl in a short skirt and vest, long orange hair, and big brown eyes with tears forming in them at an alarming rate.

' O…Orihime?' he questioned, peering into her face and watching as the tears trailed down, ' What is she….'

Suddenly, it all made sense. He was a hollow. Hollows ate souls. Human souls. That was what Aizen had meant when he had been talking about a "last meal". Ulquiorra could feel himself shake once again. He traced the line of her tears with his finger and heard her cry out.

"Here," Aizen said, placing her down on the ground. " Enjoy."

Ulquiorra stared at Aizen and then at Orihime and the back at the Aizen again.

' No. I cannot. How could he even suggest something as depraved as this?'

But then he felt his body move closer to hers and knelt down, He ran his finger through her hair and heard her screams as they became more intense with each passing moment. Ulquiorra could feel the hunger in him grow to unimaginable levels and he felt his head dip down close to her and begin to consume her soul. She tasted sweet, so sweet, and he knew that he could not control himself any longer. He continued to eat, hearing her screams of terror and feeling her sweetness diffuse into every part of his being. In the background, he could hear Aizen's cruel, mocking laugh.

He awoke with a start, his eyes popping open. He could feel his heart beating in his chest rapidly and feel the slight sheen of sweat that covered his body. Ulquiorra took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

' It was just a dream,' he told himself, ' Why are you reacting this way to a dream?'

Some part of him pointed out that what he had was not a dream; it was a nightmare. He shook his head, feeling slightly foolish for having been so worked up about something that hadn't happened in the first place. Ulquiorra tried to pull himself up only to find that something was weighing him down. He looked down and saw Orihime sleeping contently on his chest, her hand resting right above his heart where his 4 mark was now almost completely faded.

He felt her sigh lightly and snuggle closer to him, pressing her body even closer to him than before. He could feel the warmth make its way to his cheeks.

' That's right. We…did that,' thought Ulquiorra.

Or, at least, tried to think. It was hard to concentrate when a certain orange haired girl insisted on stroking her leg against his. He used his hand to brush a few stray hairs away from her face, causing her to sigh once again. A few moments later, she opened her eyes, blinking a few times to remove the sleep from them. Yawning, she looked up at him and smiled.

" Good morning, Ulquiorra."

" Good morning, Orihime," he replied, wondering if he should tell her about his dream.

' No. It's a waste of time.'

Pulling herself up, she looked at his face and her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

" What's wrong? You look upset about something?" she pointed out while he let out a quick breath.

" It's not important, however," he said, noticing her glare, " since you wish to know, I will tell you. I had a dream…a nightmare, more accurately, about when I was still a Vasto Lorde. At first, I just thought I was just remembering my bargain with Aizen, when he told me that he would transform me into an Arrancar, however…"

She stared at him for a few seconds, waiting for him to continue.

" However…" she said, noticing that he wasn't.

" You were there. Aizen gave you to me so that I could consume your soul before I became an Arrancar. And I did. I consumed your soul, even though I could hear your screaming and yet, the only aspect that I could awknowledge was that…you tasted sweet," he replied, averting his gaze.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Without warning, Orihime took his head between her hands and, bring it down, placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. He lifted his head to stare at her, very confused.

" It was a nightmare," she explained, " I know that you would never do something like that. The fact that you are so disturbed by it is proof. We should go back to sleep. It's early."

Ulquiorra looked at the clock and saw that it was 3:42 in the morning. Settling back into bed, she wrapped her arms around him while he rested his head on her chest. He could feel her fingers as they ran though his hair, stroking the stands lightly. He heard the beat of her heart and breathed in her sweet, relaxing scent before dreamless sleep came upon him.

It had taken them a while to find a place to train that was isolated so that no one could potentially get hurt. It was proving to be quite difficult, considering it was the weekend and every place they went to seemed to have more people than the two would have preferred. After about an hour of searching, they found a suitable place.

" I think this is the same spot that Ishida-kun was first training before we all went to Soul Society together," she replied, noting the waterfall and the boulders surrounding the small pool of water at the base, " How ironic."

" No, it's not irony. It's coincidence," Ulquiorra corrected, taking in their surroundings before turning his gaze back to her, " However, that is irrelevant as to why we are here. You do remember that you wanted to be trained, correct?"

She nodded.

" About that. I've been thinking about it for a while and…how exactly are you supposed to train me? I mean, unless you're going to be teaching me how to shoot ceros from my fingertips or something…Do you even have any of your powers left?"

Ulquiorra resisted the urge to slap his forehead and instead opted to massage his temple.

" Orihime, I will not be teaching you how to shoot ceros, as that is something that only Menos and Arrancar are able to do. Yes, I still retained my hollow powers but no, I am not going to demonstrate them here. You will just have to trust me on this," he said, feeling his irritation rise ever so slightly.

"Oh, so…how am I supposed to train with you?" Orihime asked once again.

He sighed softly and replied, " First, release your powers." When she did so, he continued, " I've been thinking about your powers for the past few weeks. I am aware that you have an offensive power, correct? You used it against Noitora."

" Yes, Tsubaki," she said, nodding slightly while pointing to the male fairy-like guardian, " Why?"

" Can you demonstrate the power you have with him?"

" What do you…?"

Pointing to a tree in the distance, Ulquiorra stared, " That tree. Use your powers on it."

" What?! Ulquiorra, you want me to hurt a poor, defenseless tree?" she exclaimed, causing him to cover his ears at the sound. " The trees are always the victims, whether in real life or whatever."

She looked around and saw the group of boulders at the water's edge. Tugging on his sleeve, she pointed to them.

" Why not use these boulders instead? I mean, they're not living things, so they shouldn't mind…"

" I don't care," Ulquiorra ground out, his eye twitching slightly, " Just. Use. Your. Powers."

She prepared herself, taking careful aim at one of the larger rocks in the area. Tsubaki complained about being used for such fruitless means, but she convinced him that it was for his own good.

" Koten Zanshun! I reject!" she yelled, cutting the boulder almost in half.

She turned to him and saw that he was deep in thought. His eyes inspected the boulder carefully, taking in every detail. When he was finished, Ulquiorra turned to her.

" We do not have enough time to train you to achieve a level that would be formidable against one of the higher ranking Arrancar. The attack you did now would only be a threat to lower level Arrancar," he stated.

The two stood in silence for a moment, staring at the boulder and considering what he had just said. Orihime lifted her head, her voice replying somewhat shakily.

" So, I guess that means that there is nothing that I can do to be useful for this war, huh?"

" That's not true," he stated, earning a look of confusion from his companion, " I have been thinking about your time reversal powers for the last few weeks, Orihime. Have you ever tried using them offensively?"

"…No. What do you mean, offensively?" she asked.

" I mean, have you ever attempted to erase the existence of an enemy," he replied gravely.

" No. Do…do you want me to?"

She glanced up at him with an uncertain look. She wasn't really sure about his suggestion. Orihime had only used her powers to heal people. Could she handle erasing someone's existence completely?

'More importantly, will my powers even work that way?' she contemplated.

Calling out Ayame and Shun'o, she locked onto the rock that she had attacked with Tsubaki and began to reverse the effects of the damage. The rock was back to its previous state but Orihime continued, much to the confusion of her guardians. She watched as the rock began to grow smaller and smaller until what replaced it was a large pile of sand. Her eyes widened in disbelief and she looked up at Ulquiorra.

" I see. It appears that my assumption was correct."

They stared at the pile of sand for a few minutes before she turned back to him grimly.

" I guess this is my training until the war, huh? Well, I better not waste any more time."

"…. I suppose so."

They continued to train at their spot everyday. Orihime was thankful that school had released for the winter so that she would not have to make up an excuse for not going. Ulquiorra was pleased at how much she had improved over the last couple of days. She was able to reverse time in a larger area and at a faster rate than she had been able to previously. However, her increasing power did mean that they had to find other places to train once there was nothing else to reverse.

It was a Friday night after a particularly tiring day of training, which had been cut short due to the appearance of rain near the end of their session. Orihime's head was resting on the table, too tired to get up and make something for dinner. She heard a clink near her head and saw that there was plate of onigiri in the center of the table, along with two glasses of green tea. Ulquiorra sat down in front of her.

" Did you…?" she questioned, unable to get the rest of her question out.

The green eyed being nodded.

" Yes. I made them, although I am aware they may not suit your…interesting sense of taste," he worded carefully, waiting for her to take one before he started eating.

She looked at the onigiri and heard her stomach grumble softly. Blushing, she took one from the plate and took a bite out of it. She placed a finger to her lips, chewing thoughtfully, while Ulquiorra stared at her, waiting for her opinion. She swallowed and took a sip of green tea.

" Well?" he asked, slightly impatient.

" Hmm…it's good," she said, but noting his glare, continued, " It would be better if there were some curry and ice cream inside, but…it's still good, nonetheless."

Orihime took a second riceball and ate it even more quickly than the first. She could hear the pitter patter of the rain against the window. She looked at the table and then at her hands on top of the table before her gaze rested on Ulquiorra, who was currently finishing off the last onigiri.

" I wish that things could stay like this. The two of us spending time together. You could make dinner so that the both of us would be able to eat the same thing. I could do all the housework. We could stay up all night, just laying in each other's arms and listening to the other's heartbeats," she rambled as her body began to shake, " And then, we could get married, and you'd find a good paying job and we'd move into a house and raise a family…."

Ulquiorra sighed softly and was about to start talking when he felt her hand rest on top of his own. Looking at her, he noted the tears that began to form in her eyes.

" I'm scared, Ulquiorra. I…I've know about this war for a while now. I know the implications of what would happen if Soul Society lost against Aizen, what would happen to all humanity and…. everything. It's just…I can feel it getting closer and closer and it's beginning to feel more real than it ever has before. And it scares me, to think that I could lose everyone I hold so dear," she said, squeezing his hand lightly.

He continued to stare at her, lost in the impact her words had created.

"Are…are you ashamed of me?" she asked, looking up at him expectantly.

" No," he answered, as he walked over to sit next to her and wrap his arms around her, her head resting on his shoulder, "After all, if there is anything more terrifying than death, it is not existing in the first place."

For the first time in the history of Soul Society, there was a single meeting held for both taichous and their fukutaichous. It had been many weeks of hard work preparing for what was to come. They had to figure out a strategy. They had to figure out where the most likely point of attack would be. They had to determine who would go and who would stay behind.

Thankfully, the information that Orihime had provided them was proven useful in these endeavors. However, there was only one thing that they could not figure out, the most important of them all.

" When will Aizen begin his attack?" Hitsugaya asked.

The others began to talk amongst themselves, bits of conversations overlapping one another.

" How will we…"

" …could be any day…"

"There better be some strong guys out there for me to fight!"

" ...idiot."

It stayed this way for a moment until Yamamoto cleared his throat, receiving the attention of everyone in the room, and began.

" Unfortunately, that is something that we are not certain of. That is the reason this meeting has been called. Aizen could attack at any time and we must be prepared to fight when that time comes. 12th squad will be watching Karakura for any change that it notices," he replied, nodding toward Mayuri and Nemu.

They all glanced at each other grimly before Yamamoto continued.

" Remember, any mistake on our part and everything will be erased from existence."

Aizen sat in his chambers, flanked by Gin and Tousen. Neither of them appeared much different than they normally would. Looking down at all the Arrancar that had gathered in front of him, he took in their anxious faces and smiled, knowing they had no idea the implications this war meant for most of them.

' Canon fodder,' he thought, staring at the lesser Arrancar.

He noticed the Arrancar had grouped themselves together with their appropriate ranks. All the Espada were grouped together along with their Fraccion, many of them giving disapproving looks to the other Arrancar in the room. He noted that the new cuatra Espada seemed especially haughty. He turned his attention to the new sexta Espada and novena Espada, Wonderwice, both of whom looked confused at the situation at hand, particularly the latter. Aizen cleared his throat, gaining the attention of everyone in the room and causing the chatter to cease immediately. They had been preparing a long time for this moment, but he only had one thing to tell them.

" Tomorrow," he said, his grin widening, "Tomorrow is the beginning of the end."