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"You're really here," Orihime said, as though to convince herself it was true. "I didn't know if you would be able to come."

"It was extremely difficult," the shadow said, an almost pained look on his face. "There's something in the barrier surrounding this world that kept me from entering."

She frowned. "I'm sorry that you had to go through so much trouble. I wouldn't have asked you to come, but it's important for you to be here."

"She's right," Szayel added from his spot in the center of the room. He walked over to them while trying to smooth out the wrinkles in his kimono. When had he woken up? Hadn't he been asleep just a few minutes ago? Noting the curious expression on her face, he said, "It's rather difficult to sleep when you're making so much noise."

She placed her hands on her cheeks, hoping to cover her deepening blush. "I'm sorry, Szayel. I didn't think I was too loud. I just--"

"It's no matter," he said, waving his hand carelessly. "I wanted a good look at this

'shadow' before we got down to business." He turned to the shadow, grinning. "Well, well, I never thought I'd ever see that disapproving look again. How nostalgic."

The shadow narrowed his eyes, then glanced at Orihime. "What is he talking about?"

"I suppose you wouldn't know, would you?" Szayel asked, cutting in before she had the chance to answer. "You see, Ulquiorra--the real one--is a little lacking in the personality department. Or perhaps more accurately, he doesn't have the right one."

"What does that have to do with me?"

Szayel's smirk widened. "It has everything to do with you. You had no idea how right you were when you said you were and weren't Ulquiorra. You're very much a part of him, just as he is a part of you. Without each other, neither you nor he is complete."

"That's why you wanted me here," the shadow said evenly. "How were you planning to make the two of us one entity?"

"I've considered a couple of things. Unfortunately, if it's true that you can only exist in this realm at night, then all of them will take more time than we have," Szayel said with a sigh. He looked over to the real Ulquiorra, still wrapped in the blanket, his eyes closed. "But perhaps we're thinking too hard about this. Maybe the solution is right in front of us."

Orihime could see the gears in Szayel's head turning. Her gaze shifted between him, the shadow, and Ulquiorra. "What do you mean?"

"Go wake Ulquiorra up," Szayel said thoughtfully, his arms folded across his chest. "There's something I want to try."

She walked over to the still sleeping form of Ulquiorra--how he was able to sleep with all the ruckus around him, she had no idea--and knelt down, shaking his shoulders gently. She hoped it would be enough to rouse him, but he slept on. Sighing, she tried again, more forcefully this time.

"Ulquiorra," she insisted. She was very much tempted to pull off the blankets he had wrapped around him; maybe that would get him to wake up. "Ulquiorra."

"Hm?" he said groggily. He blinked a couple of times, then, pushing the covers off to the side, forced himself into a sitting position. "Is something wrong, Inoue-san?"

She stood up, glancing back. "The shadow Szayel and I were talking about earlier. He's here."

"Oh!" Ulquiorra exclaimed as he got to his feet. He looked past her, to where the shadow stood a few feet away. "It's a pleasure to meet--"

He didn't finish, the words caught in his throat. To be fair, Orihime couldn't blame him. How odd would it be to stand face-to-face with a stranger who looked almost exactly like you?

Ulquiorra continued to stare at the shadow, wide-eyed. "How strange! It's like there are two me's here!"

The shadow raised an eyebrow slightly, but said nothing for a long time. Finally he turned to Szayel and said, rather distastefully, "I see what you meant before about never seeing the disapproving look again."

"Unfortunately so," Szayel said. "I never thought the day would come when I would relish it, but...here we are."

"Now that he's awake," Orihime said, "what were you planning to do, Szayel?"

"Well, I had hoped that with the real Ulquiorra awake, nature would take its course and bring the two fragments together, but I guess that would have been too easy," he said, chuckling. "I think your optimism is starting to rub off on me."

She smiled. "I'm sorry." Her smile lessened as she continued to look between Ulquiorra and the shadow. "That means we still don't have any idea how to make them whole, though."

"I know," Szayel said, a bit frustrated. "But I'm out of ideas. Unless, of course, you happen to have any."

She thought about it for a moment, tapping her finger against her jawline, her other hand on her hip. "Maybe," she said slowly, worried that he would shoot down her idea before she had the chance to say more, "all they need is a little push."

"...I'm not sure I follow."

"Maybe all we need to do is push one of them into the other," she said. "You know, step in where nature failed to."

A laugh escaped Szayel's lips. "I'm not sure that will work either, but it's worth a try."

"You realize how foolish this sounds. Did you even consider how this task of merging us together would be accomplished?" the shadow asked. She and Szayel remained silent, and the shadow released a heavy sigh. "If you want to finish this tonight, you'd better hurry. I can already feel the sun of this world starting to rise, pushing me out." He glanced at Orihime sadly. "If that happens, I cannot promise you that I will be able to return tomorrow night, like I can in your world."

She nodded, but couldn't bring herself to look him straight in the eyes.

Ulquiorra's shadow made his way to the door, eliciting a few confused glares. With his hand on the handle, he turned around. "If you need me, I'll be outside."

And with that he left, closing the door behind him with a light click.

He watched as the moon made its way back down to the horizon. The sky was lighter than when he had first been called. The shadow placed a hand over his chest, hoping to relieve the pain that intensified with each passing minute. He looked back at the shack, and found himself hoping, not for the first time, that she and former Octava Espada would figure something out--and soon.

"Hey!" a voice called to him. The shadow turned around, a blank stare on his face as Ulquiorra got closer. "Did you have to be mean to them like that? They were only trying to help!"

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, in a bored tone of voice. He returned his gaze to the sky. "Shouldn't you be in there helping them?"

Ulquiorra glared at him. "You didn't answer my question."

"I didn't deem it worthy of answering," the shadow replied, shooting him a piercing look. If he thought about it, he probably would have found it strange that he was, in essence, staring down...himself. "But since you're desperate to know, I was not, as you say, 'mean' to them. It was simply the truth. Even you should know that."

"Still," Ulquiorra said, sitting down beside him, "did you have to put it the way you did?"

"The truth is the truth, no matter how it's said. Besides, why do you care?" The shadow raised an eyebrow. "You barely know them."

"Why should that matter? I don't like seeing people hurt." Ulquiorra paused. "But especially...her."

The shadow looked at him curiously.

"It's strange," he continued, pulling his knees to his chest, "but when I first met Inoue-san, it was like I already knew her--even though I didn't know her name." He laughed softly. "I know, it doesn't make any sense. It doesn't to me either. But for some reason I knew, the instant I saw her face when I opened my door, that I never wanted to see her sad--I'd seen it too many times before."

The shadow closed his eyes solemnly, relief pouring into him, relieving the ache he felt. He understood now. There was nothing that she or Szayel could have done to make the two of them one--it had all rested with him.

He hadn't been entirely correct when he said that it was her will that kept him in existence. Over time, he had developed a will of his own, one that had to make sure that she was all right. It was that will that was keeping him from returning to where he belonged.

But not anymore. He would let her go. After all, it wasn't like he would never see her again.

"I see," he said, opening his eyes.

His body started to feel light. The feeling was oddly familiar, and for a moment, he couldn't figure out why. Then it hit him--it was the same feeling Ulquiorra had experienced...when he turned to ash.

Ulquiorra leapt to his feet, his eyes wide. "A-Are you disappearing already?" He started to turn back to the shack. "I need to get Inoue-san and Granz-san! They need to--"

"That's not necessary," the shadow said, stopping Ulquiorra in his tracks.

He looked back at the shadow, the ash starting to encircle him. "What's going on?"

"What they have been trying to achieve since I arrived," the shadow said after a long pause. "Did you mean it, what you said about not wanting to see her sad?"

Ulquiorra nodded. "Every word."

"Then promise me something," the shadow said with a bit of effort. His body was barely there; the only thing left was the right part of his torso and his head.

"Anything."

He realized it was an illogical request, one that would most likely be broken, but he wanted to hear the words anyway. "Whatever you do," he whispered, "don't make her cry again."

"I won't," Ulquiorra said resolutely, so much so that even the shadow wanted to believe him. "I promise I won't."

Breathing one last sigh, he closed his eyes. "Good..."

It had been a while since Ulquiorra's shadow had left the small shack and a half hour at most since Ulquiorra had followed him. Orihime could barely keep her eyes open. Her body was demanding sleep, begging for it even, though not quite as much as her mind. She had racked her brain for some type of competent-sounding plan, but to no avail.

"You look as though you're about to pass out."

She jumped at the sound of Szayel's amused voice, her eyes suddenly wider than they had been seconds before. "What did you say?"

"I said, 'You look as though you're about to pass out.' Though I can't say I'm surprised," he said with a chuckle. "We've been traveling all day, and we barely had any sleep."

She wiped her eyes as she stretched, hoping to hold back the yawn that threatened to spill out. "I'll be fine. Did you think of anything yet?"

"If I had, you'd know," he pointed out.

Orihime sighed. "I know what you mean. I did come up with something, but since it involves a giant slingshot..."

"I see," Szayel said slowly, not sure what to make of her idea. "Somehow I don't think that our 'guest' would approve of that plan."

"Neither do I," she said. "But I can't think of anything we can do. What if this is the way it's meant to be? What if they're supposed to be split?"

He shrugged, partly in response to her questions, but mostly to loosen the muscles in his shoulders. "I've been considering that, too. However, if that's the case, then you should probably go out there and bring Ulquiorra and his shadow back in here. They'll want to--"

The door opened before Szayel could finish, a light breeze entering the shack. Orihime could see the early morning light behind Ulquiorra's form. The shadow was nowhere to be found, but the moment her gaze rested on Ulquiorra's face, she knew why.

"Ulquiorra...," she said breathlessly. Crossing the room, she stopped in front of him, her fingers itching to touch his face, to prove to herself he was real. "You...and your shadow. You were able to...?"

He nodded solemnly, his face almost expressionless--just like she was used to. There were still no tear marks marring his face, and naturally he didn't have the half-mask on the left side of his head, but everything about him screamed Ulquiorra.

He was back to normal, the way he should be. The way she remembered him to be. The thought brought a small smile to her face.

"If you don't mind," Szayel said, walking to them with an unusual expression on his face, "I think I need a breath of fresh air after spending all night in this shack."

Ulquiorra moved into the room, away from the doorframe, and gave the former Octava Espada an understanding look as he passed by. Szayel nodded in response, closing the door behind him.

"There are some things we need to discuss," Ulquiorra said after a beat had passed. He made his way to the center of the room and sat down, staring at the spot in front of him. "Sit."

Not sure what else to say, she did as he requested. Once she had gotten comfortable, she asked, "What did you want to talk about?"

"You," he said, causing her to blush in spite of herself. "And what you're going to do now."

"I know I have to go back to the world of the living. It's not my time to be here in Soul Society yet. And yet," she said, her eyebrows furrowed, "knowing that, I still want to stay here."

With you, she wanted to say, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words.

"I see," he said, though not in a reprimanding tone like she had expected; it was more matter-of-fact. "Fate truly is a cruel creature, one that keeps the sun and the moon apart."

She stared at him, confused. What was he talking about? "Ulquiorra?"

"But the sun must remember that even if she cannot see the moon, he is always there, thinking of her," he said, softly. "Waiting until fate decides they can be together."

"Even if you do not see it, the moon is always there."

Orihime's eyes widened as the words echoed in her mind. Tears started to well up in her eyes, but they did not fall. "Even then...you've been trying to tell me all this time." She forced the lump in her throat down. "But I understand now."

"Hm."

"Ulquiorra?" she asked.

"Hm?"

For a moment, she was back in her bedroom in the wee hours of the morning, his shadow sitting across the table patiently answering all of her questions.

"Do you think...the sun and the moon will ever find true happiness?"

He didn't say anything for a long time. Eventually, his hand reached up to cup her cheek. "I do."

Orihime smiled weakly. "I'm glad."

She'd always imagined her first kiss to be sweet and tender--and most importantly perfect. But nothing she could have imagined could compare to the real thing. Because she realized, as Ulquiorra pulled her closer to him, his lips pressed against hers in a way that made her body tremble ever so slightly, that kisses were not as she had once believed.

They were bittersweet.