Ulquiorra opened his eyes, wincing as the light burned them. Even the dim torchlight in this cavern hurt after spending over an hour in his soul world. Blinking a few times, his eyes returned to normal quickly. Sighing in a vague sort of annoyance, he noticed that at some point his body had gone into released state. Quickly, he sealed Murcielago once more and let his reiatsu course through the stone walls. The roof above him melted away enough for him to jump up through it before breaking the connection, erasing the hole once more. Yawning slightly, he took off his jacket and pants, slipping on some loose bottoms and falling asleep almost instantly.

A few hours later, Orihime woke and got dressed. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she made herself some eggs with wasabi and raisins for breakfast. After she cleaned the dishes, she closed her eyes and searched the reiatsu around her. She could feel Ulquiorra in his wing of the palace, but his reiatsu seemed darker than normal, violent cold. She shivered, wondering what was going on. Suddenly, his reiatsu lashed out blindly, growing in strength. She gasped and knelt on the floor as it overpowered her, panting as her vision began to blur. Slowly, she crawled forward, out of the door and down her hallway, towards him. Whatever was going on, she had to stop it before his rapidly growing reiatsu did any damage. Slowly, she pulled herself down, finally reaching the circular entrance hall. Collapsing in the centre, she panted and struggled for consciousness until his monstrous reiatsu condensed slightly. In the gap, she released santen kesshun, which seemed to be able to block his wild reiatsu enough to allow her to walk again. Slowly, as his reiatsu grew again, she walked towards him.

He was standing in the desert of Hueco Mundo, alone. At first, all was quiet and there was no one around him, but then the whispering began. At first, at the edge of his consciousness, brushing around his ears, but growing louder as the voices fought him for control. He howled as the voices pushed at his temples, worming their way through his eyes, his ears, his mouth. Though he could not see them, he could feel them. They fought him mercilessly, trying to drive him mad and take over his iron control. He screamed at the sky as they grew louder and louder, an endless cacophony inside of him. He could feel his reiatsu lashing out in blind panic as they pulled at him, urging him to give in, to let them take control. Forcing him to his knees in the sand, he knelt and screamed again as the voices ripped at his mind. There were no hollows to consume to strengthen him, no way of ending the pain. His throat began to bleed as an endless howl tore out of his throat, and he could feel his regeneration replacing the skin as it was destroyed. Murcielago was heavy on his hip as the spirits within it reacted to his torment, but there was no enemy to fight. Nothing that he could see, that he could defeat.

Somehow he stayed above the voices, his reiatsu ballooning out as he fought them. Still, he knew he could not win, that he was only postponing the inevitable. The voices screamed their victory as his senses began to shut down. Finally, as they tore through his mind in their victorious dance, the loudest among them screamed at him and pushed him from his place, taking over. Ulquiorra was trapped with all the other voices, now locked in the same battle for dominance in the dark void that they lived in.

Finally, Orihime reached Ulquiorra's room. The reiatsu here was so strong and dense, she felt as though she was walking through quicksand trying to enter the arch. She saw him, surrounded by his own reiatsu, lying still in the centre of his bed. Slowly, she pushed towards him as his reiatsu thrashed around her, in stark contrast to his almost peaceful looking body. His eyes moved rapidly beneath his eyelids, and she carefully called his name.

Ulquiorra's eyes flew open as he woke, using sonido to stand behind the woman as he reached out to kill. "Santen Kesshun!" She shouted as his hand hit the shield, sending cracks through it. Abruptly, he stepped backwards as he realized what was happening. Quickly, he hid his reiatsu. A rare burst of humiliation rushed through him as he realized that he had been dreaming, and must have lost control of his reiatsu. She had probably felt it and had come to...help him.

"Inoue-San... I apologize for this. I seem to have lost control of my reiatsu in my rest, an unforgivable lapse in control. Also, I apologize for attacking you." He said, softly.
Orihime's face turned pink. "Ulquiorra, what was that?", she asked. "What were you dreaming of?".
Ulquiorra frowned, coldly replying, "It was nothing. I apologize for my lapse of control."
Orihime frowned back at him. "Ulquiorra, I know that you were having a nightmare. If you tell me about it, it may help."
"No. It does not matter now, nor will it happen again. Please, Inoue-San, leave here for now... I will get dressed and help you train, should you wish to train." He replied, offering the incentive of training.
"Get...dressed?" Orihime repeated, abruptly realizing that he was wearing nothing but loose, white pants. There, on his chest, was a gothic, black 4. "You are the fourth?" She asked in shock.
"Yes. I am the Cuatro Espada." He replied as she stared in shock at his chest.
Orihime blushed deeper and quickly looked away, leaving the room quickly.

Ulquiorra's confusion with the woman's behaviours grew as he rinsed the slight film of sweat that had coated him while he dreamt. Still, the shakes that he had hidden in front of the woman racked his body, and the slightest hint of a sound caused him to look wildly. Standing in his shower, he could feel his reiatsu fighting against his control, expanding and strengthening in response to his fear. Slowly, he breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down as memories he thought he had suppressed resurfaced. Against his instinct, he shut his eyes and put his hands on the wall, bracing himself as hot water pounded his back. Slowly, he examined the memories, then drowned them again. Slowly, his breathing slowed as the shaking stopped and his reiatsu settled. Opening his eyes again, he stepped out of the shower and dried himself. The souls that he had consumed had not troubled him since Aizen had broken his mask, turning him into an Arrancar with the Hougyoukou.

He dressed himself again, belting Murcielago to his hip, the weight of it calming him further. Silently, he strode towards the training room.

Orihime examined her closet, which had been mysteriously filled with clothes in her size since she'd come to Ulquiorra's palace. She found a light tank and shorts and slipped them on, tying her long, orange hair back in a ponytail. Barefoot, she walked to the training room. Her body had mostly recovered from Ulquiorra's reiatsu storm, but she still felt jittery as she remembered the intensity of it. His reiatsu had been so filled with anger and hatred, she shuddered as she remembered it. Now, she could feel only traces of him, and they were all characteristically empty. She wasn't used to him displaying emotions so strongly, and it had unnerved her. That, and finding him in the middle of a nightmare. She wondered what could possibly torment the Cuatro Espada's dreams.

Thinking about finding him again, she felt her cheeks heat as she remembered staring at his chest. She'd been surprised at how muscular he was, he was built like a marathon runner. Still, seeing that black number 4 had shocked her. The thought of three more Espada that were stronger than him... What must the first be like, she asked herself.

Finally, she got to the training room and began to stretch as she waited for him.