Chapter XXV

Unabashed Transparency

"Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength."
-August Wilson

The two female Arrancars entered the room and switched on the light, choosing to first linger by the door and simply leer down at Inoue.

Heart pounding, Orihime rose from beside the sofa, her eyes wide and her hand clutched nervously over her chest. "Um…"

She stopped as the girls slowly made their way over, walking deliberately and maliciously. Lolly looked about the room, her eyes dark as they appraised her surroundings, "Well, well!"

Inoue lowered her hand as the pair reached her, Lolly continuing to taunt in a voice that was both spiteful and mocking. "You've got a pretty nice room, don'tcha?"

"Doesn't she?" Melony responded flatly as they circled around Inoue.

"Oh?" Lolly touched the couch then before seeming to recognize something, and Orihime briefly wondered if she could sense Ulquiorra's reiatsu. Had he visited her last night after all? The very thought made her feel an indescribable flicker of exhilaration.

However, the feeling quickly passed as she watched Lolly unceremoniously lay upon the sofa, her smile malevolent.

"A very nice room," she repeated again, though Orihime had no idea what the girl was implying.

"Aizen-sama must really like you!" Lolly continued, her arms crossed and her gaze lowering as Melony moved to stand beside her.

'Aizen?' Inoue wondered, clutching a fist. She had not encountered Aizen very much at all since her arrival.

"Well, doesn't he?" Lolly inquired before lifting a hand and patting the pillow.

Inoue looked to the girl with widened eyes, her mind suddenly interpreting her vague statements.

"Everyone's all into you!" Lolly proclaimed, "You're super popular!"

Inoue's brows creased somewhat angrily as the girl continued to provoke her. Was she jealous?

"Amazing isn't it! Five people even came here to rescue their princess."

Inoue gasped slightly, as she instantly recalled the decline in every one's reiatsu, her heart feeling a new wave of pain.

She pictured Rukia against the 9th Espada, Chad fighting Nnoitra, Ishida continuing within his battle, Renji facing off yet another powerful opponent, and…as her eyes lowered…she felt within her heart the absence of Ichigo's presence, every beat instilling a piercing ache that coursed through her veins and into her very soul.

"They're…" she began breathlessly before lowering her head and closing her eyes, fists tightening. They were all falling and she could do nothing to stop it. There wasn't even anyone to lean on or look to for comfort. The one and only person who had even remotely cared was now so far across the void that she could do nothing to bring him back.

And losing him had hurt every bit as much as feeling the impending loss of her friends.

"So, Orihime-chan, do you think that you're hot stuff?" Lolly brazenly asked before rising quickly and walking up to Inoue.

Melony turned her head away, "how lame."

Lolly smiled as she again circled Orihime, her hand brushing along her shoulder, "or do you just take it for granted?"

"I don't…" Inoue began to step back as Lolly came to stand in front of her.

"What? What was that?" The dark-haired girl asked, backing Inoue against the wall. "I didn't hear you."

Orihime cringed, no longer having anywhere to escape. "I don't think like that!" she defended, body tensing and eyes closing.

She envisioned his face, desperately she envisioned it.

"Hey, Melony, you hear that?" Lolly asked with a grin, looking to her counterpart. "She says she doesn't think like that!"

"She doesn't?" The blond asked with a smirk.

Then as Lolly slammed her hand against the wall beside Inoue's face, the latter looked to her with a gasp of surprise as her eyes simultaneously widened.

"I'll tell you something good," Lolly began before removing her hand and running her fingers through a section of Inoue's hair.

Orihime closed her eyes as the girl then threateningly sang her name, her mind recalling the way it always felt when Ulquiorra would caress her strands and wishing with all her heart that it was he standing before her now.

However, she was instantly brought back into reality as Lolly suddenly grasped her hair tightly and threw her to the floor at Melony's feet. She screamed softly as her body trembled in pain and astonishment.

"Don't get cocky, bitch!" Lolly commanded.

Inoue heard the girl's footsteps approach as her eyes closed and her hands grasped the side of her face where she felt a bruise forming.

"Stay away from Aizen-sama, you lowly human!"

Ulquiorra was…nothing compared to the others.

Then, as Lolly raised a foot and placed it over the side of her head, Orihime's face eased as she looked to the woman calmly. She wasn't afraid, she decided. Not at all. Within the deepest recesses of her mind she wondered if her sudden strength had been due to the fact that she was now thinking of the fourth Espada.

"Oh? What was that?" Lolly asked as Melony joined her, both peering down at Inoue cruelly.

"She pisses me off," the blond stated.

"Wanna beat her up?"

"'kay," came her response, "we'll stop when she starts to cry."

Lolly laughed, a high pitched screeching sound, "Good call!"

Inoue's brows furrowed but she continued to picture Ulquiorra's face, determined to remain resilient. Would he be proud of her?

"Orihime-chan," Lolly stated, "show us how ugly you are when you cry!"

Inoue's eyes briefly widened before she received several kicks, sending an acute pain throughout her body. She only heard the sound of Lolly's joyous laugh as she closed her eyes and focused on one thing…a strategy for escape.

Then, as if her mind had momentarily escaped and transported her back in time, Inoue felt, heard and saw herself standing in the middle of the room, clasping a beautiful emerald hilt as a warm, pale hand covered hers and guided her through the techniques he executed within battle.

She almost smiled as she remembered his voice within her ear; gentle, precise and always interested. His strong grasp over hers had seemed almost ethereal and yet so entirely tangible within reality. Then as her head had slowly turned to look up into the most arresting set of eyes she had ever encountered, she recalled how she was filled with something she still could not name or even understand.

As the pain deepened and at last settled, Inoue lifted her gaze when the kicking stopped, her reverie instantly fading. Her heart then jumped as she recognized a very faint opening.

Rising to her feet, she hastily made her way to the door, hoping she had somehow caught her attacker off guard.

However, a bala shot passed her and against the door, exploding and sending her flying back onto the hard marble of the floor.

Watching as the door landed at her feet, Inoue's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry!" Lolly exclaimed mockingly as Orihime straightened slightly and continued to gaze through the opening.

"It looked like you wanted out, ya know?" the brunette continued, "So I tried to open the door for you. But I guess I overdid it a little!"

Inoue turned then and looked up at the sneering pair, her demeanor retaining a startled expression.

Lolly took a step forward, "Oh? You got something you wanna say?"

Inoue looked to her with an expression that resembled resentment.

Lolly crossed her arms, "If you wanna say something, then spit it out already. We'll be nice and listen to you."

Inoue blinked then, her brows set and her face easing once more. She didn't have to accept being bullied by the pair and as she beckoned all confidence into her heart, she thought again of Ulquiorra.

"If you don't have any business with me, please leave."

The reactions of the two girls was instantaneous as each of their eyes widened simultaneously, obviously not expecting to hear such a thing from her.

As Inoue looked to the ground, Lolly made her way over before kneeling down in front of her. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

She then neared her face, and Inoue lifted her head in response.

"Humph," Lolly began, as Orihime continued to defiantly stare back at her. She looked to the blond with a smile, "Melony!"

"I know, right?" The other girl tilted her head, a matching smirk on her face before she raised and prepared a cero within her palm.

Inoue's eyes widened in horror and disbelief.

"Lately, her cero hasn't been working quire right." Lolly stated excitedly, "Apparently it sometimes shoots off all on its own!"

Inoue's eyes wavered slightly.

"If you aren't careful, it might start firing at you. It's totally different from the Bala I shot a second ago. This one might kill you!" She grinned and lifted her head, observing Inoue's face. "What's wrong? Say something!"

Orihime lowered her head and recalled the words Ulquiorra had ordered her to say. Perhaps it would be enough…"I exist to serve and do as Aizen-sama says…"

However, Inoue realized it had been the wrong thing to say as Lolly's face suddenly contorted in anger, "Don't you dare speak Aizen-sama's name!"

She then lifted a hand to Inoue's chin and forced her to look into her eyes, "don't get so full of yourself just because you get to speak directly with Aizen-sama!"

Inoue's gaze hardened and her brows again creased in determination.

"What's with that look!" Lolly shouted.

Inoue closed her eyes and grimaced as Lolly brought her hands to the collar of her garment and forced her to stand. "Get up!"

Inoue grasped the brunette's hands, "please, stop!" She then gathered her remaining strength and shoved Lolly away to free herself, straightening to look upon her assertively.

"Bitch!" The girl gritted her teeth in anger before striking out and slashing at Inoue's face, sending her falling back against the couch.

As the Arrancar slowly stepped toward her, Inoue tried to concentrate on getting away. Lolly grinned before stooping down and grasping the top of her hair.

"How pathetic!"

There it was again, that word. Inoue instantly recalled when Ulquiorra had said the same thing and felt a resulting ache through her chest.

"There's no way a mere human could stand up against an Arrancar's strength!"

Inoue looked to the girl with continued willpower, the same way she had glanced up at Ulquiorra when he had demeaned her. If she could withstand his cruelty, she could certainly handle the girl before her.

"You-!" Lolly glared, "stop giving me that look! I'll make sure you'll never see Aizen-sama again!"

"Lolly," Melony warned, cero still in hand. "Don't take it any further! If you overdo it…"

"Shut your trap!" Lolly ordered the girl. "If you're chickening out, then leave!"

"Come on, Lolly!" Melony pleaded before her eyes suddenly widened as a flash of reiatsu erupted behind her, exploding the wall.

"What?" The dark-haired girl exclaimed, shielding her face from the debris.

For an instant, Orihime thought it was Ulquiorra and she looked to the opening in anticipation before suddenly recognizing the presence of the newcomer.

The girls' eyes both widened as they both seemed to notice at the same time who resided behind the dust. As the air cleared and the sound of footsteps approached, the first thing Inoue saw was the cerulean hair.

"Grimmjow!" Lolly stated in astonishment.

Relief instantly flooded into Inoue. She could hardly say she trusted the man but she knew that he wouldn't hurt her. Ulquiorra really had to start giving him more credit…

"What's up?" Grimmjow asked, without enthusiasm.

Both Arrancar's looked to the Espada nervously, obviously aware that he could be very unpredictable.

"I see you two waltzed right in while Ulquiorra wasn't around," he continued. "Looks like you're having a blast!"

"What?" Melony asked, eyes wide.

"How did you get in here?" Lolly questioned next.

"How?" Grimmjow replied simply, "through the wall."

"Q-quit being a smartass!" Lolly demanded.

"Ahh, relax," he countered, "I don't know who did it but, the door just happened to be broken down."

"You jerk!" Lolly exclaimed as he began to approach them, "don't mess around with us!"

As he passed Melony, she gasped and Lolly grimaced as he reached her instead.

"Beat it!" he commanded before slapping her across the face and sending her flying through the air and onto the ground on the other side of the room. Grimmjow then observed her crumpled form, "It looks like I overdid it a bit,"

Lolly slowly lifted herself, coughing and trying to regain her breath.

"Grimmjow!" Melony shouted angrily, readying her cero.

However, he instantly reached out and grasped her hand, smirk in place. He then used his own reiatsu to intensify her cero and use it against it her.

She screamed as the crimson light engulfed and devoured her body.

"Menoly!" Lolly shouted as Inoue looked on with an instant swell of pity and compassion.

"That was dangerous," Grimmjow stated to the defeated girl, though knowing she was far beyond the ability to hear him, "you have to use Cero carefully."

"Aizen-sama will make you pay when he finds out about this!" Lolly exclaimed, still crouched on the ground.

Grimmjow's eyes slithered over to her before he slowly made his way over.

"What? What is it?" Lolly stated, cowering as he neared. "Hey! What are you gonna do? Back off!"

Grimmjow stopped, and grinned. "Boo!"

Lolly screamed and grasped her head as she cringed, startled and frightened.

"Dumbass," Grimmjow remarked when she seemed to realize that he hadn't done anything.

"Aizen-sama is gonna kill you!" she then stated. "He'll kill you! Kill you dead!"

Grimmjow then lifted a foot and stomped on her head as Inoue watched, frozen against the sofa as she felt another wave of empathy toward the girl on the floor beneath him.

They would have been better off, she knew, if it had been Ulquiorra instead. He would not have harmed them and she felt a new admiration for the fourth Espada swell within her chest as she pondered it.

"Dumb slut," Grimmjow said, looking down at Lolly. "Like Aizen would even lift a finger for the likes of you."

"Wh-why?" Inoue suddenly asked him, her eyes set on the girl as well.

Grimmjow looked to her, no trace of humor on his features. "Returning the favor for my left arm."

Inoue blinked and looked up at him as she remembered when she had first arrived in Hueco Mundo and stood in Aizen's presence. He had asked her to display her abilities and she had done so through rejecting Grimmjow's arm from having ever been lost.

Her reverie was broken, however, as he grasped the collar of her apparel and lifted her into the air.

"What?" She asked, surprised.

"What?" he mocked, "Did you think I came here just to save you? Don't be naïve."

Inoue looked to him in concern, now wondering what it was he wanted from her.

""I've repaid my debt to you," he continued. "You can't use that as an excuse to give me a hard time." He grinned, "Now, I need you to help me with something."

Her eyes wavering, Inoue waited nervously for his instructions.

Seeing the look on her face, his smile then slowly diminished before he gently set her on her feet, observing her a moment before walking over to the window and beneath the light that was streaming through.

Inoue looked to him a moment, unsure, before following and stopping beside him.

His eyes were set on the night sky for a countless amount of time as Inoue simply watched him, deciding to wait patiently for him to continue.

"Ulquiorra has been…different," he suddenly stated, causing her eyes to widen as he then looked down at her.

"I don't know what you did to him and," he tilted his head, "I won't even begin to understand what exactly he finds so intriguing about you, but…"

"Grimmjow…" Inoue looked down to her feet before she felt his hand upon her shoulder.

She lifted her gaze once more and observed his face. He didn't seem angry just…somehow confused.

He closed his eyes. "I think he was foolish to allow himself to fall so far within his own negativity."

What did he mean? Inoue wondered as she tried to figure out the implications behind his statement.

Grimmjow looked to her, "which brings me to you. I need you to help me reverse something he did."

Furrowing her brows, Inoue found she still didn't understand what he meant.

He then sighed and removed his hand from her shoulder. "Heal those injuries on your face."

Inoue gasped at his order, her eyes wavering. She had never done something like that before; had never used her powers on herself.

His eyes narrowed, obviously not identifying why such a simple task was of such a hindrance to her. "Now."

Inoue blinked as she lifted a hand to the pin in her hair, eyes set on the sixth Espada, before suddenly lowering her arm and looking to the fallen forms of the two Arrancars.

She watched Lolly struggling to even stand, and observed the now indistinguishable remains of her counterpart.

Inoue stood there a breath longer before suddenly, and without hesitation, making her way over to the dark-haired girl.

"Hey!" Grimmjow hollered, not seeming to comprehend what had gotten into her.

Lolly's eyes instantly widened as Inoue approached. "What're you gonna do?"

Inoue knelt beside her, "Shun'ou, Ayame…" her pins instantly transformed into her pixie creatures, surrounding Lolly as she lifted a hand to prepare the healing process.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" Lolly demanded, sitting up.

When Inoue did not respond, Lolly looked to her questioningly a moment before suddenly lifting a hand and striking her across the face.

Inoue received the slap, her hair covering her lowered face, as Lolly continued to watch warily.

However, Orihime again lifted her hand and encompassed the girl within a golden shield, looking to her determinedly and with care. As she felt the slap burning across her skin, she thought only of Ulquiorra, and at how she had done the same to him.

Lolly's eyes widened further as she felt all her wounds being eradicated, their existence written off as if they had never happened at all.

Inoue watched her silently and when the procedure was complete, rose and walked over to Melony, one hand clutching her arm as she stared down at the absent form of the blond girl.

She then summoned her creatures and the hum of her healing light encompassed the air, the gentle pressure drifting through the strands of her hair.

Lolly gasped as she watched what was happening. "There's just…no way…"

However, with all eyes in the room fixed on the floor, they observed Melony's body reforming and all damage being entirely erased.

Her face set in a grimace, Lolly looked then to Inoue, observing the way her kind eyes simply focused on nothing but bringing back the girl from the dead. "What the hell is she?" She gritted her teeth, "she's…she's a monster!"

Grimmjow watched Inoue silently, simply observing her illuminated form and deciding that she really was an intriguing creature after all. He smirked as he pictured Ulquiorra and at how she had so entirely reduced him to an unrecognizable level, something that he would've scoffed at and denied as even possible if he hadn't seen the transformation before his very eyes.

That, in itself, was worthy of being recognized as a fascinating accomplishment.

As Ulquiorra made his way across the sands and away from the fallen Shinigami, he thought of Inoue.

He thought of all the confidence she always held within her eyes, all the gentleness and affection. He thought of the way it felt to hold her within his arms, and experience the touch of her lips against his own.

So many seemingly small and insignificant things, and yet all so powerful and entirely vital to him now.

With sudden and startling clarity, he realized that all along he had never wanted to lose her and that despite all of his animosity, he had inwardly desired to regain her favor.

He knew better than to hope for such a thing however, as it was much too late.

A movement within his peripheral sent his gaze looking to the ground where he spied a lizard crawling over the dunes and making its way to some unknown destination.

He tilted his head as he observed the creature and thought of her smiling face as she had looked to him in excitement, holding within her hands an animal of the same type. She had told him that it wasn't so very different from the lizards within her own world, despite being hollow.

He hadn't understood her way of thinking at the time, and it had immensely confused him. However, he had long since come to admire that aspect about her, and found it to be one of the most defining characteristics of her personality.

She was always seeking to connect with everything and everyone she encountered, never failing to instantly look for a way into their heart.

Closing his eyes briefly before turning away from the creature as it continued its trek across the desert, the Espada then looked to the sun.

He almost smiled as he thought of how happy he had once made her. It was still something that made him feel genuine accomplishment.

Following this recollection he then began to understand and accept something. Until now he had completely resented her for changing him, for even allowing him to be a part of her life. However, as he now found unabashed transparency within the recesses of his mind, he realized that the only thing worse than being without her, was the thought of never having her at all.

It was so strange and yet so strikingly apparent that Ulquiorra had to wonder why he hadn't perceived it that way before.

He wasn't even close to forgiving her for turning against him but he had now arrived at the point in which he could at last recognize the significance of his memories of her, and of their time together.

His eyes suddenly widened then as he faintly detected her reiatsu, escalating and seeming to encompass the air around him. What was going on? He didn't feel like she was in any sort of trouble but decided to make his way to her cell all the same.

He also suddenly decided that, upon seeing her, he would admit to injuring Kurosaki Ichigo, if only to dispel the relentless gnawing within his chest.