'We were born to protect you.' Unbeknownst to her, Tsubaki lingered overheard, watching Orihime in her final moments as a free woman before she became a slave to Aizen and his Espada. He thought back to their first meeting, how he had only addressed her as 'woman' and how he had never lived up to his potential as her protector. He still envied those people that kept her safe. "I should be able to do it myself." he muttered, kicking at the air in front of him. Still, he knew why he couldn't live up to that potential. "She just isn't a fighter. She doesn't have the conviction to use me properly, the idiot…" But he lingered on that last word.
It wasn't as though she would be in a very nice place within the next few hours. Orihime had been granted a twelve hour reprieve, she was allowed to visit and say goodbye to one person. "It's no surprise that she came to see him." Tsubaki looked down at her. She was talking lightly to herself mostly, as Ichigo was asleep and the Arrancar's relic kept her hidden from view, but there was something in her voice that he had never heard before. She went on talking about life, about love. She had nearly kissed him, but began to tear and stopped.
She whispered a thank you to him and sat in silence, just watching him sleep for a few moments. "It might be the last time you ever see him again and all you can say is thank-you?" He lingered hovering near her trembling figure, all the while feeling something from Orihime that hadn't been there since the hollow attack on Tatsuki. He had never regarded the young woman with more respect than in this single passing second. She would never forgive the man that was taking all of this away from her. She would never forgive the man that had lied to his allies and shattered so many peaceful lives.
Tsubaki had never felt stronger than in that moment either. "I'm her strength and her will to fight. Orihime, now is when you have every right to thrust me into the heat of battle to protect what you care about…no…to protect what you love." he said, looking down at Ichigo's unmoving form. She shook, tears falling from her eyes freely, but she didn't move a muscle save for the tremble that ran through her. All the times he had been upset with her faded instantly. All that mattered was how she felt now, sitting alone with nowhere else to turn to protect her friends and her heart.
She rose from her seat and walked out in to the cold night, adding to her trembling as she walked in silence down the moonlight street. Anger flooded through her, but she would never show it. "But it exists, or else I wouldn't be here. She's learning to let it show." Balling her hands into fists, she broke into a run, Tsubaki hanging back, watching her as she left everything behind. He knew that she had never been stronger than on this night. "Orihime, you are the camellia whose petals burn with the strength of a brilliant heart. Let that strength bloom for everyone to see."
He darted after her as the other members of the Shun Shun Rikka sparked to life, darted around her in every direction as she ran to meet her destiny. She stood at the end of the street, her hair cascading in the wind as she looked up at the pale moon, opening her mouth to speak. "Maybe I was born to protect something too…"