Heya everybody! Sorry for the delay. Here's chapter seventeen.

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The world cannot be taken at face value. Below the world we see there are many we do not see. These worlds, or realms as some call them, don't run at the same speed when it comes to time. Depending on which realm or 'world' you are in time runs differently. One month in the Shinigami Realm is equivalent to one week in the Human Realm and four months in the Hollow Realm. Orihime resided in the Hollow Realm where time ran much faster. Her first four months of learning how to fight using a sword from Mori, and Kori traveling to find where her reiryoku trail led, was four times the length it took Akira to study and reach the same level as sixth year students at Shin'o Academy and was sixteen times the one-week Gikon was covering for her in the Human Realm.

Kori had spent nearly the entire four months just to get to the end of the trail where the fourth espada, whom had been presumed dead, was found. Another four months passed in the Hollow Realm on her return trip with Ulquiorra. Upon returning to Hueco Mundo, Kori led Ulquiorra back to his room where he was to get dressed and wait for her return with Halibel. Once Kori had left him alone, Ulquiorra disrobed from the mid-thigh lengthed cloak and dressed in his white and black uniform.

Ulquiorra sat in the chair next to the small table in his room and waited. He felt like his memories were incomplete ut after spending so much time in the pit and accumulating the reiryoku and energy from each of his kills he began to remember little by little. He remembered from his first time awakening in the pit up to the kidnapping of Orihime. He vaguely remembered bits and pieces after that but nothing coherent.

A singular knock on the door grabbed his attention from his memories. The knock was immediately followed by the door swinging open to give entrance to Halibel and Kori.

"So it really is you." Halibel said as she crossed her arms across her chest and cocked her hip. She swiped her finger across the bookshelfbook shelf to find a layer of dust had collected on the furniture. "Where have you been?" She inquired. Kori kept quiet behind Halibel and just observed the interaction.

"The pit." Ulquiorra responded. His eyes never moved from her's as they held each other's gaze.

"You went back to the pit after the battle? Why would you go there?" Eyes narrowing, Halibel looked at the Arrancar with disbelief.

"The how and why I was there are a mystery currently."

With raised eyebrows Halibel sighed. "What's the last thing you remember?" She had enough on her plate and didn't want to add anything else to it. But it seemed she had no choice. Ulquiorra He told her his last memory, before waking in the pit, was his confrontation with Ichigo in the room with all the pillars. This answer seemed to not please Halibel as she ran a hand through her hai in frustration. "Of course that's all you remember." She sighed. "Here I was hoping you would have some sort of insight into what's happening?" She mumbled and turned back to the door. She stopped just outside of it and instructed him to follow her and said she'd catch him up on what she knew.

They made their way to the training field where Orihime was practicing with Mori. Mori had swung the wooden sword in his hand and it's point was dodged as Orihime barely side stepped it. She was making progress. She was able to hold up in a decent fight amongst Mori and could fight a low class hollow alone. Her fights with the hollows helped replenish her energy but not enough. It was like she was eating them when she killed them, but it took more and more to satiate her growing hunger.

Mori dodged Orihime's incoming swing of the sword when they were joined by three arrancar. The feeling of the familiar reitsu caused Orihime to drop her sword mid-swing. When her steel steel like eyes met Ulquiorra's emerald green his missing memories flooded his mind and she ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. It took a second but Ulquiorra's arms slowly rose to hug her back. The hug wasn't as tight as Orihime's but it was just enough for Orihime to feel his cold hands setting on her back.

"Onna?" Ulquiorra's voice was hesitant. He'd heard Halibel's explanation of the events since the battle, but he hadn't expected Orihime to look so different from herself. Her once peach skin was now a stark white that matched his own. She had a bone like tiara a top her head and markings that matched his own. She was far from being the same girl he'd been ordered to kidnap.

"Ulquiorra!" Orihime shouted as she held him tighter. The fear of him disappearing again was strong. If it had not been for the feeling of his skin, and the pressure from his hands, she would not have believed it was him. "If I'm dreaming, please don't wake me." She mumbled into his neck.

It took the clearing of Halibel's throat to get Orihime to release the espada. Her arms unwrapped from the man's neck but the separation between the two didn't last long as she grabbed the bottom of his sleeve. "Miss Inoue. Mori. Follow us." Halibel turned away and began to lead the way before she even finished speaking. She waited for no response and gave no one, except Orihime, a second glance. Kori and Mori followed directly behind Halibel with Orihime and Ulquiorra behind them.

"Are you … How are you?" Orihime mumbled to Ulquiorra after having given his sleeve a tug. Their eyes locked with one another's then separated when Ulquiorra looked forward.

"I do not have an answer to that question." He answered matter of factly. Her skin was cold but was slowly warming up with each moment the two were close to one another. Ulquiorra was able to feel this fact when he grabbed her hand that was on his sleeve. He didn't like the sensation of his sleeve being weighed down by her hand. Instead, he placed her hand in his like he'd read about being done many times in books. Orihime was shocked at first as butterflies filled her stomach but quickly shook the shock away and smiled, and actually meant it, for the first time in months. It didn't feel forced and was a relief.

"I see." Orihime's voice held a small amount of disappointment in it. She wanted to know how he survived when she wasn't able to save him. She shrugged and grasped his chilly hand rather firmly. The butterfly sensation ebbed to a dull buzz.

The five traveled down the halls and to the dining room where Halibel had transported stacks of books from Aizen's study for her research. The research was currently unsuccessful but the appearance of the Fourth Espada may not be as much a dead end as the notes. She tossed herself in the chair at the head of the table and gestured for everyone else to seat themselves. Orihime was reluctant to release her hold on Ulquiorra but she needed to pull her seat out. The void in her grew ever so slightly at the loss of contact.

"Kori. Report your findings." Halibel commanded as she laced her fingers together.

Kori sat straight backed and had a serious mask grace her face. "As directed, I followed the reiryoku chain that originated from Orihime. Approximately 43 Kilometers from the training ground the cord broke into two directions and the second leads out… of this realm. The first cord led to a pit where many hollows tend to inhabit as they fight to better their chances of survival. In the pit I found the Fourth Espada Ulquiorra. I returned with him here." She raised a brow and her words faltered for a second when she saw the sudden biting of her own lip by Orihime who sat across the table from her. Orihime made a connection

"Miss Inoue, is something wrong?" Halibel asked as she too had seen Orihime's out of character reaction.

Orihime cleared her throat. "I think I may know what the two cords are leading to." She mumbled as she fiddled with her hands in her lap. The look for her to elaborate that Halibel sent her caused her anxiety to spike. She began to pick at her nail beds with her fingernails. "When I tried to heal Ulquiorra after the battle with Ichi-" She caught herself before she used her term of endearment towards him. "Kurosaki." She had corrected herself. "I may have been a little too..." How to describe what she'd done was hard so she opted for the words of her zanpakutos. "I was distracted and a little too enthusiastic and separated portions of my soul to accomplish my desires." As she spoke her tone became less confident and her words lowered in volume.

Orihime's explanation was beyond what Halibel had ever heard of. "And this means?"

"My actions split my zanpakuto in half. If my reiryoku leads to Ulquiorra then a piece of my zanpakuto may be embedded in him." Mori dead panned as he looked at the crestfallen expression on Orihime's face. He was going to say something about how foolish that was and questioning her on how she could let that happen, but he decided to not do so. No man or woman was worth the danger she put herself in by doing something so ridiculous.

"And your reason for thinking this? Do you have an idea as to how this situation can be remedied?" Halibel spoke once again. The authority in her voice was not lacking one bit as she, who was not the one with all of the information, continued to lead the conversation.

"I have to retrieve and combine the two pieces." Orihime sounded sure of the solution but she wasn't sure how to accomplish it.

"Kori, please tell me you are able to trace the location of the other piece." Hablibel sighed.

Kori shook her head. "Unless I am in the realm where the cord leads with the scent fresh I can't." Kori wasn't finished though. "If Orihime and Ulquiorra were to come with me as we search for the trail I may be able to track it as soon as it appears in the realm. Halibel was weighing the choice.

"Mori." Halibel grabbed Mori's attention as he stared holes into the side of Orihime's head as she stared at Kori and Halibel. "Tell me. If Orihime were to go to the human realm would she be a harm to the humans there?" Halibel wasn't going to like his answer.

"As of this moment, yes she would harm the humans if she were to enter their realm. She has yet to get complete control of her reitsu and is constantly siphoning off of the wild hollows." Mori had been making progress in his training with Orihime but not as fast as he'd have liked to. She was still a danger to herself and others.

"How long do you think you'll need to fix this?"

A max of 8 months was allotted for Orihime's training to be on the safe side. Her training was spearheaded by Kori and Mori and Ulquiorra spent most of his time with Halibel to be caught up on what he missed.

…Soul society…

Akira's soft chuckle went unheard by the passed out co-captain. Rangiku had fallen asleep after finishing three large bottles of Sake alone after having to endure a meeting with the other divisions' captains and co-captains. She loathed having to deal with them and often joked about wanting to quit. Rangiku shot up from her rest and wiped her bangs from her face.

"Ah if it isn't our little ward!" She cooed from across the office. "Is there anything I can help you with Akira?" She asked as she collected herself and repositioned her robes. Akira looked away as she did so due to his embarrassment. She was a very confident woman and he felt it wrong to watch as she adjusted herself in such a manner.

"Ah…Uhm… Mr Hitsugaya asked for me to relay that he needs to speak with you upon your earliest convenience."