Orihime's hands stilled on the stronger ones gripping her throat. They were close to the garganta, so close she could now feel the depressing atmosphere of the black opening. Tears welled in her eyes again.

Was this all she could do? After everything she had been through, all the training she had done, was she going to be reduced to being used as a captive again? She had never been too strong and her unwillingness to hurt anyone, human or not, had always been an obstacle for her; but, then again she'd always had someone to fight her battles for her. Tatsuki always defended her from the perverts and bullies, Ichigo, along with Ishida and Sado, defended her from the hollows. Even her own brother, Sora, had been her protector. He had taken her from their parents home where she only had fleeting memories of an older man who would hit her, and a scantily clad woman who did nothing but tell her how she ruined her life. Sora had taken her away from that and raised her in a warm, loving atmosphere.

Why did she always have to be so useless? Why did she always have to rely on others to fight for her? Tatsuki had more than once gotten black eyes or bruises from fighting off the men who tried to touch her and the bullies who pushed her around, her brother had given up his future to take care of her, and Ichigo...Ichigo had literally given his life to protect her. The one time she tried to protect her friends, she inadvertently put them in more danger when they came to rescue her.

Images from Hueco Mundo invaded her mind and became twisted with the hellish nightmares she suffered from at night.

She wouldn't let it happen again.

She knew she wasn't a match for the Arrancar dragging her, but that didn't matter. Giving up to him now meant allowing Ichigo to come after her and possibly dying again. She had always put her blind faith into Ichigo's abilities and determination. His strength was god-like in her eyes and she thought of him as unstoppable. Somehow she always knew he would be okay, but the events from the war taught her differently. No matter how strong he was, he was still mortal. Death was merely something he had been able to avoid for the time being, sometimes by a very narrow margin.

She had sworn to herself when she returned that she wouldn't rely on his strength anymore. She would get better, stronger, and if nothing else, she would learn to defend herself properly. If she went to Hueco Mundo she would be breaking a promise she had made not only to herself, but to Tatsuki and Ichigo as well; the two most important people in her life.

Her strength may not be a match for his but she could still fight. Even if it meant her death, she would die in the world of the living and would not make a liar of herself to those she cared about.

Orihime closed her eyes and began giving instructions to her powers. They were all strangely quiet and respectful, even the normally loud Tsubaki. Considering she had just decided to fight, even if it meant her death, she was a little surprised; until she felt herself connect, strongly, with them all. Their feelings were the same; if she was resolved to make a stand against this opponent, regardless against the outcome, they would follow her proudly.

Orihime smiled and allowed her powers to burst forth. Venceslas lost his grip around her throat as her shield burst forth from her body and pushed him away. Her remaining three powers grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back from the garganta. They didn't let her go until they were far enough away from the black opening to fight safely.

Her shield returned to stand in front of her as she stared the Arrancar down. A soft, golden glow surrounded her body and her heart was unwavering, even when the Arrancar stood and faced her.

"So you will defy me anyway? Are you prepared for the consequences of your actions Inoue Orihime?" he asked, unmoving as he stood across from her.

"I made a promise that I intend to keep." she calmly replied.

He slowly drew his sword from his sheath. "Is this promise worth your life?"

Her eyes never left his. "It is."

"So be it."

He lunged for her, slamming his sword down onto her shield. The force of the impact made her take a few steps back but the shield didn't break. She swung her hand down and Tsubaki, who had been hovering just over head, shot down towards the Arrancar's arm. Venceslas jumped back to avoid the attack but brought his sword up to defend against the parry Orihime had directed to him.

Orihime's face showed the strain she was using against the powerful Arrancar. Her control of Tsubaki was tight at the moment. Instead of firing him once and allowing him to return to her, she was keeping his attacks shorter so she could immediately send him in another direction. She could feel her connection with him and instead of calling her spirit chants, she could control his movement with a sweep of her arm. Since he was small, she had been able to avoid all of Venceslas' counter attack towards Tsubaki, but the Arrancar was still defending himself successfully against all of her attempts to bring him down.

She brought Tsubaki up behind him, hoping to catch Venceslas off guard but he was ready for her. He spun around quickly and caught Tsubaki with the flat of his blade. The force of the swing threw Tsubaki into the building nearby and crippled his wings. Orihime watched as his eyes closed and he returned to her hairpins.

"Not bad human, but not near good enough." Venceslas said as he fired a cero at her.

Orihime was thrown back. The shield protected her but cracked under the pressure of the cero. The Arrancar sped towards her with his sword raised. Orihime quickly summoned her shield but used it to slam against him and push him back. She forced her shield to expand and wrap completely around Venceslas.

"What the hell is this?" he screamed in rage and swung his sword again and again against the golden barrier but could not break it.

"Oh thank Kami." Orihime sighed as she slumped down. She was tired, sore, and cold...but she was alive and not in Hueco Mundo. A small chuckle escaped her lips as she threw her head back and regarded the night sky. The stars shown brightly and she revealed in their presence. The night sky was dark and empty in Hueco Mundo and sometimes over the past year, she had walked out of her house just to stare at the stars. I'm not going back there, not like this. I won't allow myself to break my promise to Ichigo ever again. She smiled as the wind gently caressed her naked shoulders and even though she shivered from the cold, she was glad to be feeling it.

A growl made her head snap up and her eyes widened in horror. Venceslas was staring at her with an evil grin in place. She watched, as he gathered his energy in his hand and fired a large cero. She heard her powers scream as their shield was ripped apart. She threw her arms up to shield her face from the blazing heat the cero created. His laughter reached her ears and she glanced up to find him standing, still a good distance away from her, free from any confines. His clothes were tattered and scorched from the blast he had created but he looked free from any other injuries. Her connection with her powers was weakened but she could tell they were injured and would not be able to form the Santen Kesshun.

He began laughing and the sound made Orihime's blood run cold. "That was good. That was damn good bitch. Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this even more now." he took a few steps towards her and she scrambles backwards, trying to put more distance between them. "You're done now aren't you? Your pathetic little fairies are outta power." a large grin split his face and his eyes shown with malice. "I'm gonna enjoy watching your blood spray across the ground."

He ran towards her and Orihime could do nothing more than watch. She had no defense, no attack, nothing to aide her. She closed her eyes so she couldn't watch his evil face as he killed her. At least I kept my promise.

An explosion made her eyes fly open. Halfway to her, something had stopped the Arrancar. She couldn't tell what had happened yet. The ground had been split, chunks of earth were blown away, and a cloud of dust covered the area, blocking her vision.

Orihime watched as the dust began to settle and at first all she could see was black. Her eyes raised slowly as the air cleared more. Her heart leaped in her chest as Ichigo's profile came into view. He stood over the fallen Arrancar with his sword pointed at his chest.

"What the fuck?" she heard Venceslas whisper.

Orihime opened her mouth to call to Ichigo but his reiatsu gave her pause. It had been a while since she had felt it but she would never forget the feeling. The dark, oppressing reiatsu that always felt as if it were smothering her. She shuddered as she realized the person in front of her was not her beloved. He tilted his head towards her and she stared, shocked, into his black eyes. Light reflected off the bleached bone that was already covering one eye.

Ever since he had trained with the vizards he had control over his hollow. The only time he had been taken over was during his battle with Ulquiorra.

How had this happened?

Earlier...

Ichigo's heart pumped furiously as he dashed towards Orihime's house.

He had been laying in bed, almost asleep when he felt the burst of reiatsu he didn't recognize near her house. He knew Toshiro and Rangiku were with her but he couldn't help but to go check on them. He brought his badge to his chest and leapt out of the house in shinigami form.

A cry from nearby made him veer direction to help a soul being chased by a hollow. Now that he was closer to Orihime's he could better feel the amount of reiatsu leaking out. He wasn't surprised by the appearance of the hollow. He was sure it had been drawn in by the reiatsu cloaking the area. After he defeated the hollow he preformed a quick konso on the soul and used his shunpo to rush to Orihime's. What he found there made his blood boil.

There was a large hole in her wall, exposing her apartment to the cold environment. None of the inhabitants were there and near the kitchen was a small puddle of blood. Ichigo clenched his fists and fought back his own hollow who was pushing at the constraints of his soul, begging to get out. Ichigo focused and sought for Orihime's reiatsu. He locked onto it and ran in that direction.

As he passed over head a park he noticed the aftermath of an explosion that had ripped the trees apart. He felt the lingering traces of her reiatsu and his grip on Zangetsu tightened. There was no blame he could place on Toshiro. He felt the young captain's reiatsu locked in battle with another Arrancar just ahead of Orihime. Dammit, he should have kept a better watch on her! Just how desperate were they to get to her that they would attack an apartment with a captain in it?

"Who fucking cares? Just let me get to them!"

"Would you back off? You're distracting me from following her reiatsu!"

"That's not hard to do anyway."

"Shut up! Why do you want out so bad anyway?"

"You have to ask? You are so fucking dense. I still don't know how you manage to beat me sometimes."

"What does that make you then?"

"Hurry up! That could have been her blood on the floor! She could be dying somewhere right now!" Ichigo felt his hollow wrestle him for control after that statement. He struggled with himself for a moment before gaining control again and rushing to where he sensed Orihime.

He reached a line of buildings and froze at what he saw. Orihime was on the ground, still clad in her pajamas, bleeding from multiple areas of her body. An Arrancar stood across from her. He was preparing to go down to her when the Arrancar laughed and said something he couldn't hear. He could, however, see Orihime stiffen and try to pull herself backwards. Ichigo's own emotions were so volitale that he didn't even sense his hollow move. Before he could even react he felt the pull at his concious and his vision cloud over as his hollow gained control of his body. As he lost consciousness he heard his hollow's own dark laugh.

"I told you what would happen if someone messed with our bitch."

The Arrancar stood slowly. Ichigo's body still stood across from him with his sword pointed to his chest but he didn't make any move to stop Venceslas. Orihime sat completely still, afraid to draw attention to herself at all.

"So you came to save that pathetic woman have you? I was planning on drawing you to Hueco Mundo but it seems I'll have to fight you here." The Arrancar grabbed his fallen sword and raised it as if to attack.

"You made a bad mistake Arrancar. You've messed with what's ours."

Orihime could barely see Ichigo's body move after she heard the muffled voice of his hollow speak. He slammed into Venceslas and threw his body into a building. He didn't allow him a moment's reprieve but followed him and wrenched him from the wreckage. He brought his sword down and sliced off the Arrancars arm. His scream of agony reverberated around the area.

Orihime watched on in horror as the hollow controlling Ichigo's body dominated the fight. It wasn't really a fight anymore. The Arrancar tried to defend himself but the difference in power was too great and all he could do was scream time and time again as he was hit, cut, and thrown all over the place. Ichigo's hollow was toying with him; dragging the fight out to torture Venceslas as much as he could. She was momentarily frozen with fear. This was similar to the incident on the dome. Ulquiorra had not done any damage to his hollow then either and he seemed to want to play with his prey before ending their lives.

Ichigo's hollow was so strong it was terrifying.

Another scream pierced the air and Orihime looked over to see Ichigo's hollow holding Venceslas by his throat while his sword had pierced his side. It wasn't a killing blow and the Arrancar's face contorted in agony. His body was battered, limbs were missing, and his eyes pleaded for death. Orihime wrapped her arms around herself to try and calm the tremors wracking her body. Tears poured unbidden down her face and she didn't even realize she had begun speaking aloud.

"Please stop...please...please stop...please." she whispered over and over again.

Ichigo's hollow looked to her shaking form and his shoulders slumped a bit. He pulled his sword from the Arrancar's body and brought his face closer to his own.

"You'd better thank her."

He turned his body around so his back shielded his actions from Orihime and swiftly beheaded the Arrancar. He threw his body away from the area and shook the blood from Zangetsu before strapping it to his back. He slowly made his way over to the frightened girl, trying not to startle her. He watched as she drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms tight around them as she studied him. He knelt in front of her and stayed still, allowing her to make the first move.

Orihime calmed a bit as she regarded the hollow across from her. He hadn't moved since he knelt in front of her and she took this as a good sign. He could have killed her a long time ago if he'd wanted to right? She uncurled herself a bit and simply sat watching him as he was doing her. His reiatsu seemed...calm. At least that's what it felt like. It was still heavy but it wasn't smothering her as bad as before. The bone on his face had only covered his left eye and partially down his cheek before stopping.

What had he meant earlier when he said she belonged to 'them'? Was he really meaning he thought of her as his too? It was true he had never harmed her. Even in his fully hollowed state against Ulquiorra he never hurt her. He had even said he would save her, but she had never been sure if that wasn't Ichigo speaking. Although, he had been confused when he woke up, not knowing that he was the one who had mortally wounded Ulquiorra and stabbed Ishida. So was Ichigo's hollow actually protecting her?

She sat up straighter and was pleased he had still made no move towards her. He seemed to be waiting for her. What did one say to someone who scared the living daylights out of you and made the person you love fight for control all the time? But...he did save her, and he had brought Ichigo back when she couldn't do anything.

"Thank you." she timidly whispered. The hollow tilted his head for a moment, eyeing her critically, before he threw his head back and laughed loudly. The sound startled her and she scooted back unconsciously.

"I'm sorry queen but that was too good. Look at you! You're shaking in fear but you're thanking me?"

The grin he wore now was not like the one he had on during the battle. It wasn't the grin of someone who was enjoying torturing his victim. His was now...playful? Can hollows even feel that way? But this was Ichigo's hollow, he resided in a living person who had their heart and soul. Maybe he was different than others.

"Well, you...you did save me. Again. I thought thanking you was the right thing to do." she replied.

"Such a good girl." he chuckled again but his face lost its grin as he scanned her body. "You're bleeding."

Orihime looked down and surveyed her own body. There were various cuts all along her arms and legs. A large wound ran the length of her upper arm from where she had sliced it on the dumpster. "I'm okay. I'll bandage them later."

"Fucking Arrancar. Thinks he can touch what's mine."

"Umm...about that." she began.

He grinned at her again. "What? Make no mistake 'Hime, you belong to us."

Orihime opened her mouth to speak again but his hand flew to his mask and began to pull. "Tch. Looks like Ichigo wants to come back out. Oh well, I've done what I want. See you later queen."

She watched as the mask dissolved away in a flash of black reiatsu and Ichigo's eyes returned to normal. His lighter reiatsu now enveloped her and the smothering feeling was gone.

His hands gripped her shoulders. "Orihime, are you okay? What happened? Did my hollow do anything to you?" Panic flickered across his eyes and though he was hurting her shoulders a bit with his grip she rushed to reassure him.

"I'm okay Ichigo-kun. No, your hollow didn't hurt me. He protected me and he destroyed the Arrancar."

Ichigo looked away from her to survey the damage to the area. The ground was ripped apart, bricks from a nearby building littered the ground from where a hole had been torn into the wall, looking past the carnage Ichigo could see the body of the Arrancar. He couldn't see all the damage to it but he could tell it was missing it's head. He shuddered at the grotesque display of violence his hollow had committed.

"Bastard. He snuck up on me. Completely caught me off guard and took over." he sighed and turned his attention back to Orihime. He was relieved to find out his hollow had not harmed her but he could tell she had been frightened by the experience. He cursed himself again and began to question wether he should even stay with the gentle woman. He had a monster inside of him and she deserved so much more, so much better than him.

Orihime watched as Ichigo's eyes began to show their remorse for the situation they were now in. She knew he hated when his hollow took over. He hated not being in control but even more was the thought that his hollow could hurt someone he cared for...again. His grip on her shoulders began to slack and she forgot her own troubles for a moment. He was allowing his guilt to swallow him again and she wouldn't allow him to feel guilty for something he never did.

She reached her hands out to cup his cheeks in her palms. "Ichigo, you didn't do anything okay? Your hollow didn't hurt me. Please stop looking like that."

"You're scared." he replied. She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off. "Don't try to deny it Orihime. I know. You were scared and I caused that." He continued to look away, not able to meet her eyes.

"No." her sharp reply made his head snap up and meet her strong gaze. "You didn't cause it so stop thinking that right now. Yes, I was scared. I'm sorry but your hollow is a very, very strong individual and I wasn't sure what he wanted. I was scared because he was enjoying the fight; he was enjoying what he was doing to that Arrancar."

Ichigo lowered his eyes again but Orihime gently tilted his head up so he would look at her again. "Then he came and spoke to me. He never tried to hurt me. Actually, at first he didn't say anything and I think he was letting me get used to him. He knew he had scared me and I think he wanted me to get used to being in his presence...to show me he wouldn't do anything to me."

Ichigo studied her face and was relieved to find she was telling the truth. "I don't know what he's thinking but I'm gonna beat the shit out of him later for pulling that stunt." he finally said. Orihime giggled and it was like music to his ears. "You're hurt. We need to get your injuries taken care of."

"I'm okay, first we need to go find Toshiro and Rangiku and see if they need help." Orihime replied. The wind picked up again and Orihime shivered from the cold.

"Damn, sorry I forgot about your clothes." He really had forgot but that's because he had been forcing himself not to look any lower than her face. One glance had given him more than enough material to fuel his dreams for months. He stood and removed his kosode to wrap around her.

Orihime blushed as Ichigo's chiseled chest and abdomen were on display so veryclose to her face. "B...but...but Ichigo-kun I can't wear your kosode! You'll get cold!" she exclaimed as he bent to fit it firmly around her shoulders.

Ichigo swallowed thickly as he had inadvertently caught a glimpse of her hardened nipples beneath her thin top. "It...it's okay Orihime, I'm fine. Besides, you really think I'm gonna just let you walk around like that?" she blushed again as she remembered what she was wearing. She shoved her arms through the openings and wrapped the garment around her. "Ah, I see you agree." he chuckled lightly as he stood and helped her up. "Come on. We'll go check and see how the others are doing."

Orihime grabbed his hand. "Ichigo-kun?" he looked down at her. "I love you."

Ichigo's eyes softened and he tightened his grip on her hand. He bent down and softly kissed her lips, being mindful of her injuries. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as he pulled away and he couldn't help the smile on his face. He picked her up gently and left in the direction of Toshiro and Rangiku.

He had hardened himself over time after the death of his beloved mother. He had been scared to let anyone mean so much to him again. She had been his world, and his inability to protect her had left a piece of him broken. Now that he could protect all he held dear that broken piece of him was slowly mending. He loved his family and friends dearly but what he felt for Orihime was beyond that. He had never experienced it before but his emotionally slow brain was catching up. Orihime had been patient with him so far, he only hoped she could be for just a little longer.