AN: I really had a lotta fun with this chapter! :D Probably my favorite that I've written so far... and it's the longest! XD I wanted to give you guys a bit longer of a chapter in celebration of it being the TENTH! :D (If you don't count the prologue, that is). Anyways, thanks for reading- leave a review telling me what you think! ^-^


Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez cuts through some thick brush with his hunting knife, a group of men searching the brush in front and around him. In his other hand he clutches the only thing he's found of his woman- the piece of cloth that had ripped from her dress when it had got caught in the bushes. A determined and irritated frown covers his face, and as one of the search party members strides back to talk to him, he turns a cold gaze to the man without much thought or care.

"Grimmjow, we've been searching for a week. The girl is dead by now if she's out here- there are wolves out along these paths, everyone knows that."

It doesn't take but another second for Grimmjow to punch him straight in the mouth, knocking him out with one strike. He draws his cloak around himself a bit tighter afterwards, noting how chilly the air is- fall is slowly coming to a close and winter is taking its place… if he doesn't find her by then… stepping over the unconscious man, he barks out an order.

"We'll keep searching until nightfall and then start again tomorrow."

The men grumble, but continue on, and Grimmjow looks down at the cloth with a hateful look in his eyes.

"You better not be dead, woman."


Ulquiorra looks down at the enchanted rose, a somewhat darker aura surrounding him. The rose shines gloriously in the evening light, though the two dead petals lying on the table underneath it overshadow whatever beauty the rose truly holds. He touches the glass globe with one of his claws, letting it slowly slide down the glass, a few small scratches appearing on the surface where he touched. He honestly isn't surprised- it had been a while since the first petal fell, though he hadn't really expected another to fall until the coming of winter. A timid knock at the door makes him turn, and he steps away from the glass (as well as his thoughts), turning his attention to whoever waits outside.

"Enter." He states, his voice monotone.

Nelliel does so, a happy smile on her face. When she sees the rose, however, it slowly melts into a look of sheer terror- another petal had fallen.

"Are you truly surprised?" Is all the beast asks in response to her expression.

She tears her gaze away from the rose, glancing up at the beast silently, attempting to steady herself. He just glares at her coldly, waiting for whatever she came to tell him, since the rose had obviously been the last thing on her mind. After a few moments more of silence, Nelliel finally finds her words, stuttering from shock at first.

"S-she said y-yes." She murmurs, the beasts eyes narrowing in faint puzzlement. Realizing he doesn't understand, she elaborates, a hopeful look on her face. "She wants to have dinner with you."

She had finally given him another chance.


Young Orihime waits silently in the large dining room, not sitting in her chair as she had before, but standing in front of one of the large windows, enraptured in thought and the sight of the beautiful sunset outside. The servants work quickly behind her, setting out food just as they had at the first dinner she had attended. For some reason she finds herself completely calm- the thought of eating dinner with the prince again does not worry her- he had been kind to her the night before (whether he had meant to or not), and he hadn't killed her when she spoke against him the last time… the door opens, but she doesn't turn, her eyes slowly becoming downcast when she realizes that the glass is fogging up with her breath due to the cold outside.

"Onna." The beast states, standing at the doorway and watching her with a steady, though not cold, gaze. The young girl turns, her downcast face slowly melting away as she gives a small smile at him.

"I'm sorry." She murmurs. "I was just watching the sunset."

Her eyes light up faintly when she glances back out at the sky one last time, and the beast says nothing in return, watching silently as she takes her seat at the end of the table. The beast, respectively, takes his seat at the opposite end, a servant immediately placing food on his plate, as had happened at the last dinner. No servant, however, serves Orihime, and she becomes greatly confused, the emotion showing on her face.

"You did not want to be served the last time." The beast says in reply to the look, the same servant she had before bringing her a serving utensil. She takes it from him gently, glancing over at the beast with a smile, murmuring a thank you, part-way to the servant and part-way to the prince.

"Maybe he's not as much of a beast as I thought… he's trying, at least." She thinks to herself, eventually turning to the array of food set out before her. Not knowing what she wants, she looks over all the choices as Ulquiorra takes his first bite She notes the lack of the red sauce she had used, and the cake, but also notices that there's a yellow sauce that would likely taste fantastic with the fish…

She stands up carefully, getting herself a small helping of the fish and then slathering the yellow sauce on it. She goes to sit back down, smiling happily, once again not noticing the disgusted faces of the cook, servants, and prince.

"You choose strange-" Ulquiorra starts.

He is cut off from insulting her food choice when Orihime half-way squeals in delight after eating her first bite, her eyes lit up to the brightest he or the servants has ever seen. She practically hops out of her chair, skip-walking straight over to the prince, a bright grin in place.

"You have to try it!" She says to a very bewildered Ulquiorra, who has no intention of trying it at all. He stares at her blankly, and Orihime holds the plate out to him, apparently anxious for him to try the not-so-tasty looking combination.

"I do not eat fish." The prince finally manages, feeling uncomfortable with the crestfallen look she gives when he doesn't try it. He takes another bite of his food, though the woman doesn't move- her face slowly changes to one of irritation when she notices that he has fish on his own plate.

"You're lying!" She states incredulously. "You have fish on your plate!"

All of the servants glance at each other, snickering to themselves.

"Yes, but mine doesn't have the sauce on it."

Her eyes narrow, and she frowns, giving a slightly pouty face, holding the plate out closer to him.

"Try it."

"No."

"Try it!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"…."

She frowns deeply, glaring at him irritably, grabbing his plate before he can take another bite with his fork and sliding hers in its place, smirking triumphantly. The servants all look as if they're afraid he'll kill her for it, though after he closes his eyes for a moment and thinks about it, he eats a bite of the fish from her plate. He is unsurprised to find it absolutely horrible in taste. Orihime's eyes widen in excitement as she watches him chew, leaning toward him in anticipation.

"Well…?" She asks interestedly, watching as he turns and looks at her after swallowing.

"It is terrible, onna."

The girl practically falls over, so surprised with his reply that she can't manage to find any way to respond, or to move. The beast takes his own plate from her unmoving hands during this pause, placing her own back into her hold, watching as she- in stunned silence- walks back over to her seat, eating the rest of her meal. He does not feel worried, though the thought that he could've insulted her again passes through his mind, so he eventually murmurs:

"The yellow sauce is unappetizing to me."

The girl glances up at him, eyes widening.

"Well then you have to try-"

"Our tastes likely differ." He cuts her off, highly unwilling to try anything else she mixes- remembering the nauseating combination of spicy sauce and cake she had eaten the last time they were seated at dinner. She stops then, knowing she's probably tried his patience anyway, sighing faintly to herself, turning to her thoughts.

"It's odd." She thinks, glancing up at Ulquiorra. "How easy it is for me to forget he's a beast… I just forced food down his throat. He could've killed me."

She smiles awkwardly to herself (sweat-dropping), after a few moments more of silence deciding to serve herself some fruit, placing some grapes and apples on her plate. Yammy and the other servants are greatly surprised to see her eating them plain. The prince glances up at her, surprised as well, though mostly watching as she looks out the window at the night sky.

"If any other person had attempted that with me, I would've killed them." He frowns a bit more than normal. "Perhaps she is changing me after all."

She glances back to him then, meeting his eyes and then smiling brightly- even brighter than when she had tried the practically toxic fish and sauce combination.

He suddenly finds it difficult to think of himself changing as a negative thing.


After dinner, Nelliel stands in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes from the night's meal as per usual. Nnoitra walks in, carrying a tray of food and throwing it away, as he does after every meal. Nelliel glances over at him, noticing how quiet he seems.

"Are you okay, Nnoitra?" She asks, putting a clean plate up in the cupboards, and then turning to him questioningly instead of grabbing another to wash.

"Nothing to complain about." He replies, smirking faintly and crossing his arms, apparently in a good mood. Nelliel smiles and nods, though her smile slowly dissolves into a frown when she remembers that another petal has fallen from the rose. Her eyes become shallow, and it's easy for Nnoitra to notice- his smirk quickly becomes a frown, and he steps forward, looking down at her with a questioning expression.

"What's wrong?" He asks (surprisingly gently), his uncovered eye narrowing faintly. She glances up at him, touching his arm gently, though he jerks it away, not tolerable about anybody touching him. She frowns, sighing, hesitating only a moment longer before telling him.

"It's the rose… another petal fell." She murmurs quietly, her voice tinged with sadness, as it always is when speaking about the curse.

Nnoitra can't find a way to reply.


AN II: Another petal has fallen! Dun, dun, dun...! XD And yes, Ulquiorra and Orihime are finally getting a bit closer! :D I hope you enjoyed, I really loved writing the new dinner scene myself so! :P Next update will be on Wednesday! (: