Hello all!

So I decided to make a drastic change in this chapter :O! buhaha!

Happy New Year to you guys :)!

Welcome 2014 :D!

-Amarelle Topaze

Chapter 12- Dawn

Orihime woke up way past noon. It was already close to 2pm and the day outside was pleasantly warm and sunny. Rubbing her eyes she took a look around her room. It was an utter mess everywhere. Her lamp was shattered on the floor along with other pieces of… who knows what that was, most likely debris of some sort. There were bloodstains and mud on the carpet and scratch marks on the wall near the bed as if a wild cat had clawed at them.

The summary of it all was a complete disaster. Beside her, soundly asleep was Ulquiorra, looking human again, arms and legs widely spread across the bed, facing down with his head buried in the pillow and turned a little to the side so he could breathe, his messy hair covering his face, and his mouth semi-open. He was hogging practically the entire bed, leaving poor Orihime hanging on to the edge.

She recalled the events of the previous night; funny she couldn't remember making such a destructive mess in her room. She would have to do some deep cleaning and probably buy some paint, and a new lamp; they would have to be more careful next time. She held back a tiny laugh at the thought. Either that or they would have to move to a bigger apartment, one big enough for Ulquiorra to be able to spread his wings and whip that wild tail of his freely. The idea didn't seem so bad, not bad at all. She would talk to him about it whenever he woke up, which by the looks of it, was not going to be any time soon. He was sleeping like a log. It seemed like that was just his way of sleeping; it was more like he passed out whenever he fell asleep.

"Pssst…. Pssst! Heyyy… hello?" Nothing. Yep, he was sleeping like a bear in hibernation. Orihime decided to get up and start the day. She would let him wake up on his own, let him sleep to his heart's content. He needed to replenish his strength after all the events of last night, and pretty much everything that had happened ever since he first woke up. It seemed like he couldn't get a break, it was one thing after the other. She decided to go shower and then get started with lunch. More like dinner by now. She would wait for him with delicious food and lots of orange juice.

Today she would introduce him to sushi, her personal favorite. Ulquiorra wasn't picky; he would eat anything she put in his mouth. Since everything was new anyway, he gave everything an equal chance. So far the only thing that seemed to have utterly disgusted him to the point of making him gag, (which was a BIG deal for him,) was soda. Yes soda. One sip of coke and his stomach revolted. It was strange, but not so unusual considering it was him. He had no problem drinking water, milk, any type of juice, and as we all know, he was completely infatuated with his orange juice.

After eating she sat down and turned on the tv to watch a movie or something to pass the time. It was already close to 4 in the afternoon and Orihime had cooked and cleaned the house. Well except for her room, that was a different challenge. She was just waiting for Ulquiorra to come out of his comatose, although 4 pm seemed like a reasonable time to wake him up. She heard a noise coming from her room and turned off the TV to go see if he was already up. She saw the door to the bathroom was semi-open, so she pushed it to see of Ulquiorra was there.

He was in there alright. She saw him standing in front of the toilet with the lid up, doing what any man who just woke up from 10 hours of sleep would do. Fuchsia. Fuchsia was the color of her cheeks. If tomato was a color, then maybe she would be tomato too. She closed the door quickly and mentally slapped herself for barging in like that. Ulquiorra really did not seem to be affected in the least; it was a normal thing to do right? Humans used the bathroom too, why would she get so upset, it was only natural. Maybe she was still shy about his nakedness? That would be absurd. He wouldn't worry about it, she hadn't said anything anyway.

He quickly dismissed any reason for concern and got in the shower, not bothering to say anything to Orihime, who was petrified at the other side of the door. He figured voicing his opinion would cause her more discomfort. Also, his body felt sticky and there was still some dried up blood on his skin, he needed to get it off, so he started scrubbing himself. Hearing the water running she knew Ulquiorra was taking a shower and relaxed a little. She knew he might find her actions a little childish, but she just wasn't used to living with anybody, much less a man, or a boyfriend, or lover… Ulquiorra out of all people.

Ulquiorra thought much the same way, from a way different point of view of course. He had never "co-existed" with anybody. In Hueco Mundo it was more of a survival thing, and everything and everyone was hostile. Even the sand tried to eat you. Sleeping could only be done as long as you kept an eye open in case someone tried to cut your throat, and showers were more public. This new way of living would definitely turn into a challenging new experience for both of them, and they were both gladly determined to go through with it.

Finally done with his shower, Ulquiorra felt refreshed and in a much better mood. Stepping out he opened the door to let the vapor out, finding Orihime standing there right outside the door holding a towel for him. "I was gonna ask if you wanted a towel since there was only one in here…" but she saw Ulquiorra had already wrapped her towel around his waist.

"I just used the one that was hanging behind the door. Are we supposed to have assigned towels? Should I put this one back and use that one instead?"

"NOO… no, no it's ok, you can leave that one on. But yeah, it would be better if from now on we use different towels. That way we can keep things organized in here, see? I'll just put it right here for you to use next time." She gave him one of her bright smiles. She was so cute. He reached out and grabbed a strand of her silky hair. "Orihime…" He said her name more to himself than to her. Yes he was remembering what they had done last night. She looked at him, both hands behind her back, feeling happy just standing there and getting his attention. "Did you sleep well? You seem so much better than yesterday, you look healthier too, almost fully recovered."

Taking a good look at him, he really did look like he had gained a little more weight. His muscles looked a little more… full? And his skin was not so pale at all; she would categorize it as only just fair. His hair was still a mess, a dripping, soaking mess, and she saw him push it back from his eyes. He looked somewhat bothered by it covering his view. He was still as handsome as ever, or even more so now that he was recovering so fast. His eyes were the most captivating of his features, she could get lost in them so quickly. Those eyes, they got closer and closer to hers. He leaned in and gave her a loving kiss on the lips.

She had been caught openly ogling him from head to toe, unrestrained and unashamed, just plain staring. Ulquiorra looked to the side, his hair falling to cover his eyes again, but not before she could notice the hint of red that appeared on his cheeks. He had blushed again. How cute, this was the second time she had made him blush, and she found this to be an adorable reaction. She giggled.

"I'll be waiting in the kitchen. I made some sushi for you to eat. It was really good hopefully you like it. Oh and there is plenty of orange juice if you're thirsty!" She left him to finish his business, a smile on her face as she put a plate of food together for him. Her mind went wandering far, to put herself in all sorts of different scenarios with Ulquiorra by her side.

From grocery shopping, to riding the bus, taking a walk at the park, going to the movies, just so many things they could do together. Cleaning the house and making dinner for someone else, well for him, made her feel sort of like a house wife, but she didn't mind. Another giggle escaped her, she was so cheery today. She started humming a happy melody as she set the plate down on the table.

Ulquiorra was patiently waiting, watching the whole display of Orihime prancing around the kitchen just to serve him a plate of food. She started humming a tune, and that caught his attention. He had never heard music before, and then she started singing. She was raising her voice, but in a harmonious way, elongating syllables, and following an imaginary rhythm that made her body move along with it. He smiled. How could he not? This woman made him smile, she made him happy. He had discovered this yesterday, and today he embraced this new emotion openly.

"You never did tell me much about music; will you show me today, Onna?" She turned to face him and took in his smiling face. It was not one of those big and wide smiles, no, it was more refined and subtle, but just as sincere as any other. Could he be any more gorgeous? She thought. It would surely be bad for her heart if he kept smiling like that. It could not be healthy to fall so head over heels for someone so quickly. He was just so charming she couldn't help it. Plus there was no way on earth she could possibly be meant to be with anybody but him. She returned his smile with one of her brightest ones, prancing to where he was and holding his hands, dancing to her own tune.

"We can do whatever you wish today. If you wanna learn about music then I'll teach you everything I know. We can also go to the music store, walk around the mall, there are a lot of things I'm sure you would like to see." She led him to his seat and she sat across from him. He was still looking at her, wondering how come he had agreed to her demands. Every last one of them, he could not deny her not one thing. Love was more dangerous than he initially thought. This woman had completely bewitched him and there was nothing he would do about it.

He devoured the sushi and gulped down the orange juice. Orihime had to serve him about three more times before he felt he was satisfied. He ate way too much, she would have to get a lot more food than previously anticipated. The whole time Orihime went on talking about her favorite artists, and how some people sang or played an instrument for a living. Going along that subject, she also mentioned how it was crucial to go to school and get a good education so that later on during adulthood, you could get a good job and make enough money. It was fundamental for any family unit that aspired to be prosperous in life.

Of course after this explanation, she also had to go into detail about what "adulthood" meant, along with "family unit" and all the specifics regarding this "school" everybody went to. His idea of being "prosperous in life" was completely non-existent. Orihime had to go fetch some water to keep her throat moist, he was asking her so many questions it was exhausting, but a good thing. For him she had all the patience in the world. She went into detail about the role a husband assumed in a family, and his responsibilities, and how the children looked up to their father for both support and discipline.

She felt kind of silly telling him all of that, but he seemed really interested. Still, talking about family and children so soon; it seemed like their relationship was moving at the speed of light. It also made her think about the fact that she could technically be pregnant, right? They had not used protection so far, and Ulquiorra was a healthy young man who could very well be capable of procreating. But she was barely 17 and still in high-school, how would they take care of a child?

She had to talk to him about this matter too. After about 2 hours of non-stop answering-his-every-question-down-to-the-last-detail she opted for taking a break and going for a walk to the music store at the mall, like she had mentioned earlier. The talk about babies would have to wait until later.

On their way downtown they walked by a barber shop. Ulquiorra wanted to walk in and check it out, dragging Orihime by the hand. Sometimes he seemed to advantageously forget his own strength whenever he wanted something, how convenient. Still, his sudden enthusiasm about it left no room for argument and Orihime went along with it; although she had never been into a barber shop either. For personal hair care she went to the beauty salon instead, where it was a lot nicer for women.

She found nothing but guys in here, some with some pretty wild hair, others getting their beards trimmed. It was interesting. While distracted looking around, she suddenly noticed Ulquiorra was already being taken care of by one of the gentleman who worked there. He was comfortably sitting in a chair at the other side of the room, pointing to his head and talking confidently about something she was not able to hear.

He was sneaky in the way he got away with things. She would have to get better at keeping up with him. It did surprise her a little to see that he was being quite outgoing and polite to the man he was talking to; so not all humans were trash anymore huh? It was quite entertaining to watch him interact with other people.

The gentleman smiled and proceeded to take out some hair clippers, pressing the edge close to the bottom of Ulquiorra's scalp; his silky strands falling down to the floor. His hair! His beautiful black hair… was being cut off… chopped off by that guy… talking and smiling at Ulquiorra without a care in the world.

Why would she care? It was his hair, not hers. He was free to do whatever he wanted with it… plus it was only normal for guys to keep it short right? A lot of guys wore it that way, and it's not like it won't grow back either. But, his hair… it was one of his signature features… how would Ulquiorra look without his hair?

She could do nothing but wait for the final result and stare with melancholy as the rest of his hair was cut off. It didn't look too bad, it was very short at the base but he had left it a little longer at the top, styling it to the side. His hair was kind of wavy and had some volume, so it didn't fall flat to the side.

Ok so he didn't shave it all off that was a relief. After about 15 minutes or so he was done. Orihime had not said a word the entire time. It was as if she was so lost in her own memories of his long hair that she wouldn't snap out of it. Ulquiorra stood up, paid the gentleman politely thanking him, got a hold of Orihime's hand, and walked out the shop dragging her out with him.

He looked so different. He still looked handsome, maybe even more handsome than before now that there was no hair covering his mesmerizing green eyes. His eyelashes were really long. You could also see his… forehead, and his ears… and his eyebrows seemed to enhance his facial expression a lot more. She walked a little ways behind him as he dragged her down the street toward their original destination. Maybe she just needs some time to adjust, so I'll just lead her from here until she is ready, he thought. He just… he looked so different; she couldn't get over that fact. There was no other way to describe this new change, so she said just that.

"Ulquiorra? Why did you cut it... your hair...You look so different… I guess I was so used to seeing you with long hair, I hadn't really pictured you any other way… It looks good though… but, why did you cut it? Why were you so eager to cut it?" This is what puzzled her the most. There were very few things for which Ulquiorra showed any interest, yet he had seemed so eager to go cut his hair.

"Do you wanna touch it?" He lowered his head towards her to give her full access to touch him. What? That's not the answer she was hoping for. She was being serious. That wasn't even an answer, that was a question. But yes, in fact, she did want to touch it. She pouted.

"Ok…" she said stretching out her hand. Did he just smile at her? He had just barely, but she could see it clearly. He thought her reaction was funny didn't he? She smiled herself, as she ruffled his short hair; it was still very soft, just shorter. He smiled a little wider, causing her to let out a tiny laugh.

"You're so silly sometimes, Ulquiorra... what are you doing?" She grabbed his ear gently and caressed the side of his face. She had nothing but sweet, sweet love for the man she was caressing. She gave him a tender kiss on the cheek and grabbed his hand so they could keep on walking. Ulquiorra, already enamored by her little touches and kisses, let himself be taken to wherever it was Orihime was leading him to.

He did actually have a reason to cut his hair, although he didn't know how to put it into words yet. Orihime wouldn't pressure him, she was content either way and would just wait for him to share his feelings whenever he was ready. They had gone through much already, a little haircut was not biggie. She would give him time.

They kept happily walking hand in hand, and talking about different things. They made a quick stop at the book store and Orihime got him a bunch of books about family and society, finances, world history, even about the government structure. If she was going to help him join society he needed to learn about social structures, and how to move up to be an accomplished and successful individual. She wanted nothing more than for him to be happy, for him to have his own dreams to look forward to, so that his life would have a purpose.

Ulquiorra was marveled when they finally got to the music store, and they pretty much spent the rest of the day there until it was time to close. All the different sounds, the instruments, from a full orchestra to opera singers, Ulquiorra was blown away by it all. It was like a child in a candy store. When it was finally time to go back home, it was his turn to talk nonstop. His voice was full of enthusiasm, he showed excitement. Not that anybody else would be able to tell the difference.

Orihime thought she could listen to him talk all night and not get tired. She didn't know he could talk this much, it was fascinating; his smart comments and remarks about the subject, he was so analytic even when it came to something as simple as music.

Well at least she had thought it was simple, until he started talking about it, then she realized it could be almost as complex as math. Not that math seemed to complicate him in the least, so that was a bad example. He just had a different way of seeing things, and she realized that even though she was trying to teach him new things, she seemed to be learning just as much from him.

They were almost getting home, and the time must have been close to 10 pm. She was tired and tomorrow she had to go to school again, she had to leave her love at home. She would miss him terribly. He was still talking to her calmly, but he didn't look tired in the least. His voice was no longer so monotone, and there was a new gleam in his eyes. A sparkle of something... extra that Orihime couldn't quite label yet. It was like witnessing a full transformation, as if he was reborn into the human world; like he was given another chance at life. He was… happy.