As the healer closed her sterling eyes, she was soon submerged in a vivid dream. Visions of a distant memory warmed her heart as she found herself walking through a garden, admiring the assortment of flowers that bloomed by her feet. It looked as if she was in an ancient castle as its massive walls surrounded the garden where she stood. Her long kimono sleeves, painted with intricate designs of cherry blossoms, flowed around her as she reached up her hand to stroke her hair, only to find that her orange locks had been replaced by black, sheen strands. Her physique had clearly changed but that was rather common for dreams, Orihime figured.

"I remember this place," Orihime said in her dream as she skipped through the garden. Ah, yes, this place was all too familiar. She had dreamed of this castle many times before. She had often dreamed of being a young woman living in feudal Japan who often tended to the flowers to pass the time. But as beautiful and tranquil as her scenery was, Orihime could never escape the overwhelming sensation of loneliness that filled her soul each time she frolicked through the castle compounds. She was always longing for companionship and yearning for a life outside those castle walls until she awoke from her deep slumber.

"I've dreamed of this place so many times," she whispered to herself, wondering when she would be able to wake up. After a moment of silence, Orihime could hear a voice calling out to her, ripping her away from her desolation and casting her into the warmth of companionship. A bright smile formed on her lips as she saw a man standing nearby, a gentle expression on his handsome face as he offered her a friendly wave. His hair was as black as the feathers on a crow and his eyes were as sparkling as emeralds. Judging by his robes and sword, he was a warrior of some sort, perhaps even a samurai. Orihime's body began to move on impulse as she ran through the garden before flinging herself into his warm and welcoming embrace.

"Raikuro!" Orihime called out, unable to control the words that departed from her lips.

Raikuro?...Who is Raikuro? I feel like I should know him but why can't I seem to remember?

Another voice erupted through the gardens, shattering the shards of the dream.

"Wake up! Please! Just wake up! Inoue, please!" cried out a familiar voice. With that voice came the crumbling of her dream as the vision of the garden and the handsome warrior faded away. As her eyes shot open, she discovered that she was no longer in the garden but was instead lying on the cold sands of Hueco Mundo. Leaning over her limp form was none other than Ichigo Kurosaki as he shook her violently, desperate to stir her awake.

"Inoue! Please, say something! Are you all right?!" he continued to yell as his voice cracked with each syllable.

Orihime met his worried expression with a soft smile, nodding slowly as she blinked away her lethargic disposition. "Y-yes, Kurosaki-kun. I'm fine. I think I was just knocked out cold for a moment," she moaned out before gradually pushing herself up in a sitting position. Her whole body ached with pain to the point that she could have sworn she had been struck by an eighteen wheeler truck. Ichigo exhaled a deep breath, relieved to see that she wasn't dead as he placed a hand over his chest in hopes to ease the thumping of his heart. "Don't scare me like that, Inoue! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

The nightgown she was wearing was now torn in various places and the sweater that had been modestly covering her was now no more than a useless piece of ripped cloth. Various bruises and cuts of all sizes decorated her arms and legs, but she was able to push aside the pain as Ichigo helped her to her feet.

The powerful gust of spiritual pressure had seemingly subsided since Orihime discovered that she was able to breathe freely again. She struggled to stand on her own as pain shot through her legs. She had no right to complain—Ichigo had suffered far worse injuries. Without delaying another second, Orihime summoned her Shun Shun Rikka to emerge out of her hairpins once more. "Souten Kisshun," the gentle girl whispered through parted lips as two fairies cloaked both she and Ichigo in a golden veil of warmth.

"Thanks, Inoue," Ichigo said in response to the glowing dome surrounding him. He could already feel his wounds closing up and the pain was quickly diminishing. He was rather lucky to have had her arrive in Hueco Mundo at the exact moment that she did for if she had not come then he wouldn't have lasted another minute in battle. But how did she even get there in the first place? Ichigo could have sworn that Rukia was supposed to be watching her back in the fake Karakura Town.

"Where is Ulquiorra?" Orihime asked as she basked in the radiance of her healing spell, allowing it to heal up her minor injuries as well.

"He's fighting Aizen-sama," Ichimaru said from behind the two, his fox-like eyes fully opened to reveal an intense, azure gaze.

Ichigo nearly jumped two feet in the air as Gin Ichimaru suddenly emerged from behind them. "What the-?! Where the hell did you come from?!" the vizard snapped as he crouched down into a fighting stance, fists balled up and ready to strike. First Aizen, then Ulquiorra, and now Gin Ichimaru?! Just how many bad guys was he expected to take on by himself?

"I'm the one who brought Hime-chan here, kiddo. Relax! I'm on your side," he added, noticing Ichigo's immediate apprehension towards him. Ichigo turned to Orihime who nodded in affirmation. "It's true, Ichigo. He brought me here so I could find a way to reach out to Ulquiorra."

With a scoff, Ichigo averted his eyes away from them as he glared down at the floor. "As if that did a lot of good…"

Orihime frowned at Ichigo's response. "Maybe I just need to try again after Ulquiorra defeats Aizen…"

"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea, Hime-chan…" Gin interrupted, "While you were out, Aizen tapped into the power of the Hogyoku."

The Hogyoku?! Orihime's eyes widened at the sound of that word. How was Aizen able to use the Hogyoku when he had told her many times he wouldn't have been able to without her help?

As if reading her mind, Gin gave a quick shrug of his shoulders. "It looked like he didn't need your help restoring it after all, Hime-chan. It looks to me that it's given him a sudden influx of power. Hell, he might even be on par with Ulquiorra at this point! Maybe if we're all lucky, Aizen-sama and Ulqui-san will fight to the death and end up destroying each other in the process. That would solve all our problems, now wouldn't it?" the silver-haired man continued with a chuckle. His statement elicited a glare from Orihime as she stepped out of the glowing light her powers had created.

"No! That wouldn't solve anything! Ulquiorra is in trouble! We have to help him!" Orihime retorted as she looked over Gin's shoulder. Ichigo must have carried her to a safe enough distance while she was unconscious since she could hardly see the fighting between Ulquiorra and Aizen. Blasts of cero gave away their fight's location and Orihime shuddered to think of who was winning.

Gin, unamused by her attempts to persuade him, sighed at her statement, "Look, Hime-chan, I understand how 'ya feel. But I was wrong—you can't reach out to him. Nothin' you say is going to get through to him."

"He's right. Words aren't going to work. If you try to approach him again, he'll just kill you. You're lucky he didn't chop your head off but simply knocked you out of his way," Ichigo chimed in, his wounds almost completely sealed up by that point. Even the tatters of his robes had begun to weave back into their original state as the fibers regenerated underneath Orihime's power. "Ulquiorra knew this would happen. Before he lost his memories, he was counting on Aizen to kill him. He challenged Aizen himself and took this risk for you. If you interfere and get yourself killed then Ulquiorra's sacrifice would mean nothing."

Ichigo's eyes fell to the ground, unable to look at his precious friend. He was so weak, so useless. If he had only been a little stronger than he could have defeated Aizen himself and Ulquiorra would never have needed his memories unlocked.

"So you're saying," Orihime muttered, "that Ulquiorra intended on dying from the start to save us all. And even after he made the selfless decision to take on Aizen-sama, you both think we should just give up hope and abandon him?" Her fists clenched together tightly, fingernails biting into the skin of her palms, as she choked back a sob. Was there really nothing they could do?

Ichigo shook his head before reaching for the Zanpakutou strapped to his back. "No, I don't think we should abandon him. I think we should kill both Aizen and Ulquiorra. They're both bound to run out of energy at some point. Not to mention that they're probably so engaged in their own battle that I could land a few fatal hits of my own. There's a chance we can win this war…but maybe not a chance to save Ulquiorra in the process."

His words hit her heart like a ton of bricks. Ichigo had never been the type to simply abandon a comrade but here he was willing to kill Ulquiorra without even trying to help him?!

"How can you say that?" Orihime whispered, the pain of his words weighing heavily on her heart. Ichigo was always the hero. He was always the one that would rescue those who were in distress. Even if the odds were against him, he would always somehow manage to find a way to save the day. But now? Now he was like a completely different person.

"You know, I was actually holding back on Ulquiorra before, Inoue. I didn't really want to kill him... for your sake. I wanted him to eventually snap out of it but he just wasn't budging. Because I let my feelings for you get the better of me, both Aizen and Ulquiorra attacked me before turning on each other again. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to save Ulquiorra but maybe it takes true strength to let him go," Ichigo continued, too ashamed to meet her eyes as he exited the golden dome of healing to walk past her.

"Ichigo…You can't do this…There has to be a way!" she pleaded as she reached out to take a hold of his arm. "You can beat up Aizen-sama all you like but please don't kill Ulquiorra! There's got to be something we can do to wake him up!"

Ichigo tried to protest but the redhead continued on, eyes full of pained tears as she held on tightly to his arm. "Last time I said something to him that made him stop right before he tried kill me. You said so yourself—I'm lucky he decided to just sling me to the side. I have no idea what it was or what my words meant but they worked for just a moment! Maybe all it takes is for me to say the right thing and—"

"ENOUGH, ORIHIME," Ichigo shouted, sharply turning around to face her as he snatched his arm away. "What you said clearly didn't work or else he would not have tried to blast you away with just his reiatsu! This isn't a fairy tale story, Orihime! Lots of people are going to die if we don't stop him! Would you rather give him an honorable death and thank him for sacrificing himself or have him blow up Karakura Town and kill every one inside?!"

His words silenced her. Orihime let her arm drop to her side as her head hung down low. Gin said nothing as he watched the drama unfold between the friends.

He was right. If Ulquiorra wasn't stopped then everyone—her friends, her family, her classmates, and even Tatsuki—would be at his mercy. Was she willing to sacrifice all of them for the chance that Ulquiorra might come to his senses? Or was it better to just do as Ichigo said and let him go?

Feeling guilty for yelling at her, Ichigo reached out to put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Inoue," he said with a heavy heart before he turned his back on her. "Thank you for restoring my body. If it wasn't for your healing technique, I wouldn't be able to stand a chance against them." A simple nod was her only response and then Ichigo was gone in a flash, off to finally finish the war that Aizen had started.

It hurt him to just leave her like that. She had truly believed that he could save Ulquiorra from a horrible fate but all he did was let her down. She didn't realize just how much it destroyed Ichigo when he thought she was dead only moments ago. Ulquiorra may have stopped himself from slaughtering him once but Ichigo wasn't about to risk her life again.

"I'm so sorry… I can't be your knight in shining armor," Ichigo hissed under his breath before he joined the battle a few miles away.

Orihime kept her eyes peeled to the ground, tears falling like waterfalls as she found herself unable to neither speak nor move. Deep down she knew Ichigo was doing the right thing by giving priority to the safety of those back home but she only wished that he would have let her try again. Surely there was some way to get him to wake Ulquiorra up from his nightmare; something to tear him away from his beastly state.

Lisanthia!

A strange voice echoed through her mind; a voice that was as calm and soothing as a clear, blue sky. Orihime tried to brush it aside but the voice kept repeating words into her mind, loud enough to cause a dreaded pounding in her skull.

Lisanthia is going to be her name. It sounds like "lisianthus", which is my favorite flower.

Who was speaking to her?! Who was Lisanthia and why wouldn't the voice stop talking to her?!

B-but Raikuro…I love you. What if you happen to get struck down by one of the warriors?

The voice was getting louder and louder with each phrase. Orihime quickly turned to Gin to see if he could hear it, too, but his attention was elsewhere. He was too busy focusing on the distant battle that he didn't even notice Orihime as she desperately tried to cover her ears to escape the crying voice.

I…I couldn't leave you…I knew you weren't coming back for me…

I'm sorry Raikuro. I lied… There was no doctor to cure me…

Orihime gritted her teeth and slammed her eyes shut, trying her best to block out the voice. Was hearing this voice a sign of her breaking point? Had she, too, completely lost all touch with reality? Was her heart so broken over Ulquiorra's demonic state that she was losing her sanity?! "Please…please stop…" Orihime whimpered as she fought against the crying voice in her head.

My sickness was getting worse. Lisanthia and I wouldn't have made it through childbirth. I had hoped we would have been able to spend the rest of my days….together…away from here.

I-I knew we couldn't. So…So I came back…

The voice wasn't stopping. Orihime could clearly hear the agony in the speaker's voice and it was enough to make her start crying in sync with the woman's cries. Who was Raikuro?! Who was Lisanthia?! Who was this sad person trying to communicate with her?!

It's better this way…

Orihime fell to her knees as overwhelming sorrow began to make her grow faint. Not only could she hear the pain of the woman's screams but Orihime, too, could feel the suffering as if it were her own. Her stomach was churning with sadness as the tears just wouldn't stop. There was even a hint of physical pain in her abdomen, as if she had just been stabbed through her stomach with a sword. When Orihime opened her eyes, she saw that her white nightgown was now stained with thick, crimson blood. Panic began to rise within her and Orihime began to shout, completely losing control of herself. "STOP! PLEASE! JUST STOP!" Orihime kept repeating over and over, wanting nothing more than for the crying voice to disappear.

We can join the afterlife as a family.

"PLEASE! I'm begging you! JUST STOP!" Orihime shouted again, clutching onto her bloody stomach as she kneeled over. Once again, darkness was swirling around the corners of vision. She was having another fainting spell and she was unable to stop it.

I love you, Raikuro.

The smell of fresh flowers filled the springtime air as the branches of cherry blossom trees swayed in the breeze. Warm rays of sunshine peered through the trees, evaporating the morning dew from the green grass. It was a beautiful day and there was no better way to spend it than to recline in the soft grass and inhale the fresh air.

"Orihime, it's time to wake up," said the serene voice of a woman.

"Just five more minutes, Tatsuki. I'm enjoying my nap…" the sleepy Orihime replied as she reveled in the warmth of the beautiful day. It wasn't often that Orihime and Tatsuki got to spend a lot of time together, what with their busy schedules and all, but Orihime just felt so tired and drained to the point she didn't even feel like chatting with her best friend. And yet, hadn't she been missing Tatsuki for a long time? How long had it been since she had first arrived in Hueco Mundo? Days? Weeks? Months? She should probably stop napping and actually take the opportunity to spend some quality time with the friend that she had been separated from for so long.

Orihime rubbed her eyes sleepily as she forced herself to sit up and be social. "I'm sorry, Tatsuki-chan. It's just hard not to fall asleep in such a lovely garden like this! I don't even remember the last time I took a nap in the sunshine," she said with a yawn while stretching her arms way above her head. Come to think of it, she couldn't even remember how she got back from Hueco Mundo and how she and Tatsuki even managed to find each other.

"Orihime, I'm sorry to have brought you to this place so suddenly but I had no other way to reach you. Please understand," the young woman replied as she watched Orihime's peaceful expression quickly to turn to one of shock and fear.

That wasn't Tatsuki.

Standing before Orihime was a beautiful young woman with long, black hair reaching past her waist. The kimono she wore was bright and colorful, adorned with paintings of cherry blossoms. Specks of purple on her robes really brought out her bright, amethyst eyes and deep, red lips. She was the most beautiful woman Orihime had ever laid her eyes on!

"W-who are you?! Where's Tatsuki?! In fact… Where am I?" Orihime piped out as she leapt up to her feet.

The beautiful woman lightly giggled at Orihime's panicked reaction. "No need to panic, Orihime-chan. This is just a dream that your subconscious mind has created. Your real body is back in Hueco Mundo." The gentleness of her eyes and the smoothness of her voice captivated Orihime completely as she could do nothing but quietly stare at the woman in awe. There was something about the floral design of her kimono that seemed oddly familiar to Orihime. Wasn't that the same garment that she had worn in her previous dream?

"My name is Tsubaki Kiragawa. I was the daughter of a powerful leader in Japan over seven hundred years ago. I know you have had dreams of me occasionally and I'm here to tell you why," the lady introduced herself with a smile before her cheerful attitude dropped. Her eyes glazed over with sorrow for a moment and Orihime suspected she was going to break out into tears at any moment before she even got started.

Before Orihime could ask what was wrong, Tsubaki held up a hand to silence her. "There isn't much time. Your friend Ichigo Kurosaki is currently engaging in battle with your lover and Aizen Sosuke. I've been trying to spiritually communicate with you for a long time but this has been my only successful attempt."

Orihime tensed up at those words, eagerly awaiting to hear what Tsubaki had to say.

"The reason you have had dreams about me is because a part of my soul was reincarnated into you. The man you know as Ulquiorra Schiffer is actually the Hollowed version of my lover, Raikuro. After my life ended, my soul was reincarnated countless times. Unfortunately, when Raikuro's human life came to an end, he was unable to accept the deaths of himself and his family and was turned into a Hollow. His soul was eventually found by Aizen Sousuke who turned him into the Arrancar called Ulquiorra," Tsubaki explained as she searched Orihime's eyes for any signs of doubt.

"You mean…I am actually you, Tsubaki-san?" Orihime asked, puzzled by the woman's words. It would make sense that Ulquiorra had once lived his life as a human; it was the same case for most Hollows, including her brother, Sora Inoue. Tortured human souls eventually became Hollows and Arrancar derived from Hollows. But to think she had once been a dignified woman like Tsubaki Kiragawa in a past life completely blew her mind.

Tsubaki nodded to confirm Orihime's statement. "Yes, I have been reincarnated many times in hopes that one day my soul might eventually find its way back to Raikuro. Unfortunately, our souls had yet to meet until you and Ulquiorra crossed paths. Raikuro and I were destined to meet again through you and Ulquiorra. Our human lives had unfortunately met with a tragic fate but it doesn't have to be the same for you and Ulquiorra."

Orihime cast her eyes downwards as she trembled underneath Tsubaki's gentle gaze. Although it was difficult to comprehend, it wasn't the strangest thing she had ever heard. Reincarnation existed in her world and all the dreams she had about the garden made sense if fragments of Tsubaki's soul had been merged into her own. The souls of Raikuro and Tsubaki had been separated until Ulquiorra and Orihime met… They had spent all those centuries apart longing to be together once again and to be granted a second chance at happiness.

And yet…

"I don't understand… How can you and Raikuro be happy through Ulquiorra and me? Ichigo is going to kill Ulquiorra and I don't think I can save him!" Orihime cried out as she buried her face in her hands. "I want you and Raikuro to finally be joined together through Ulquiorra and me but maybe our souls are just not destined to have happiness! Maybe there is no happy ending!"

Tsubaki watched Orihime break down before her but Tsubaki wouldn't let her give up just yet. She had been trying to reach Orihime for so many years and there was no way she was letting all of her hard work go to waste!

"Orihime-chan, do you remember the book that Ulquiorra gave you?" Tsubaki asked quietly. "The one about the princess and the dark prince?"

The redhead removed her face from her hands as she glimpsed up at Tsubaki in confusion. Of course she remembered the book. It was what had helped her recognize her feelings for Ulquiorra.

"I actually wrote that," Tsubaki said as her ruby-red lips formed into a tender smile. "Well, it may not be completely accurate to say that I wrote it but one of my reincarnated lives was an author and felt mystically compelled to write it."

Orihime stumbled backwards from the shock of those words. "W-what?! What do you mean?!"

"Well, let's just say that there is no such thing in life as coincidences. It was fated that the book would eventually fall into your hands and influence you. Plus, the resemblance that Ulquiorra, Raikuro, and the Dark Prince shared is more than just ironic, I would say." The woman's eyes instantly lit up and sparkled as she continued on, "Oh! And do you remember the Dango song you and your brother used to sing together? The original artist who performed that song was another one of my reincarnations. You singing that song really touched Ulquiorra that day, I bet!"

Oh, if only she had the time to tell Orihime about all the ways they were spiritually connected. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before Orihime's body awoke from this peaceful dream and there were more pressing matters that Tsubaki needed to discuss with Orihime.

"I…I still don't understand," Orihime admitted shyly as she stared down at her feet.

Tsubaki took a slow step towards the younger woman before she placed both hands on her shoulders. "Don't you see, Orihime? All of my reincarnated lives have been indirectly touching your life since you were born. One of them wrote a fairy tale story over a hundred years ago that would eventually fall into your hands and another one wrote a song that you would eventually sing to Ulquiorra. There are no coincidences in this life! My soul has tried to reach out to you all this time! You're the one that's meant to have the happy ending my life never could have!"

There was nothing more in life that Orihime wanted more than to live happily ever after with Ulquiorra. The two of them had endured so much together during her brief time in Hueco Mundo and she truly felt that they deserved to spend eternity wrapped in each other's embrace. Just like Tsubaki and Raikuro had grown to love each other, so did Orihime and Ulquiorra.

"I want us to be together," Orihime said as she closed her eyes tightly in order to rebel against her tears, "but I don't know how! Every time we came up with a plan of action, Aizen shot it down. If we ever took one step forward, Aizen pushed us back two more. We've been fighting for happiness all this time but I just don't know how we'll get it! I don't want to let you down, Tsubaki… but I don't know what to do anymore."

Life had been hard on Orihime just as it had been hard on Tsubaki. They were both so similar in many ways but there was one thing that completely set them apart.

"Orihime, you were blessed with a gift. A very special gift," Tsubaki said tenderly as she reached out her hand to lightly brush against a blue hairpin that pinned back the girl's apricot bangs. "I wasn't able to save Raikuro from his pain because I didn't have a special gift. I'm not sure why you were chosen to be the sole bearer of the Shun Shun Rikka but I strongly believe that you can save your beloved using your gift of healing."

Orihime's eyes fluttered open as she looked at the raven haired woman in surprise. "Do you really think I can help Ulquiorra using my powers? Will they somehow erase Ulquiorra's pain?"

"Yes! I truly believe they can!" Tsubaki wanted to tell Orihime even more but the dream started to fade around the two. Orihime's real body was being awakened and the astral plane was starting to disappear. Tsubaki looked down and saw that the grass beneath her feet had almost completely vanished around her. There wasn't much time left!

"Orihime, please listen to me. If you want to help Ulquiorra, we also have to help the inner human within him first that is still blaming himself for my death. You must reach out to Raikuro and set him free! In order to do so, you need to remember your own past. Just trust in yourself!" Tsubaki squeezed Orihime's shoulders lightly before releasing her grasp.

So many questions whirled around the healer's mind but she knew there was no opportunity for her to have them answered. She could feel her body growing lighter within the dream, alerting her that she would be fully awakened from her sleeping form soon. Quickly, Orihime tried to reach out to Tsubaki once again.

"What if I forget all of this when I wake up?! What if I can't save Raikuro or Ulquiorra?!" Orihime asked quickly, hoping that Tsubaki could offer her a little more guidance before she woke up.

"Orihime, do you remember the ending to the story about the princess and the Dark Prince?" Tsubaki smiled as her violet eyes twinkled.

Although the details of the book were a little fuzzy, Orihime remembered that some of the pages towards the end were ripped out. She vaguely remembered reading about a giant war breaking out between the two kingdoms and that the dark prince and the princess shared a tender kiss towards the end.

"They lived happily ever after, right?" Orihime answered as she watched Tsubaki's image slowly evaporate as the visions of her dream melted away into darkness. The last thing Orihime saw was the smiling face of Tsubaki before she vanished.

With just two blinks, Orihime was back in Hueco Mundo. She could feel the cold sand between her fingers and her body no longer felt light and airy as it had in her dream. The crescent moon above smiled down at her as sounds of a distant battle reached her sensitive ears.

"…Tsubaki?" she whispered out before Gin Ichimaru leaned over her, blocking her view of the night sky.

"You certainly picked a bad time to take a nap, Hime-chan," the man said with a toothy grin.

A nap? It wasn't if she had much of a choice. She pushed herself off the ground before dusting the sands off her torn, white night gown. Right before she had passed out, she had a hallucination of seeing blood spill from her stomach. Naturally, there wasn't an ounce of red splashed along her abdomen. Although that was the case, why did she feel a strange tingling sensation in that area?

You need to remember your own past.

Tsubaki's voice echoed across her mind for a moment as Orihime's hand instinctively clutched onto the fabric of her sleepwear. She remembered her conversation with Tsubaki from her dream clearly. If she had been visited by the ghost of her "former" self years ago, Orihime might have dismissed it as nonsense or that her crazy imagination was finally getting the best of her. But now she was old enough to realize that there just weren't any coincidences in this life. Her meeting with Ulquiorra was no coincidence. Her dreams of being a lady in a castle were also no coincidence.

All of her instincts were telling her to believe in the words she was told. She needed to try to reach out to Ulquiorra once again and tear him away from his tormented human past. If she was truly Tsubaki Kiragawa, the maiden that Raikuro had fallen in love with, then she would be able to once again find the words to say to bring him back to his senses. It had almost worked before; that momentary pause Ulquiorra gave before he struck her was proof that she had said something close to affecting the human within him. However, if she wanted to truly free him from his past, she would need to remember her own.

Orihime was so deep in thought that she didn't even realize that Gin Ichimaru had been trying to get her attention as he waved a hand in front of her face. "Helllllllllo, Hime-chan? Earth to Hime-chan! Well, we're not on Earth so it's probably more like Hueco Mundo to Hime-chan!" he teased until she returned from her thoughts.

"What's with you all of a sudden, girlie? One minute you're passed out, and the next minute you're in a daze. We've got an important battle at hand here! You're not allowed to have any more mental breakdowns until that fake Shinigami kid beats Aizen's ass down, ya' hear me?"

"I'm sorry, Ichimaru-san, but," Orihime said quietly as she faced Gin with a stern expression, "I need you to take me to their battle. I think I finally know what I can do to help Ulquiorra."

Her words stunned him for a moment as Ichimaru could do nothing but stare back at her in disbelief. "Oh, really?" He said, his tone a bit sarcastic. "And what, pray tell, do you plan on doing?"

The redhead paused for a moment, lips pursed tightly together as she pondered on what to do. Finally, after a long, hard moment of deciding, Orihime answered him with a firm nod.

"I'm going to use my powers to heal his broken heart."

Author's Note: Slowly but surely trying to wrap up this fic! It's kinda funny since I remember saying "I will end this in two chapters!" about five chapters ago. WELP. It's getting towards the conclusion, I promise you that much! I just keep changing my mind on how I want it to end...I apologize, I'm a bad writer.

Thanks for sticking with me this long! This fanfic is about five years old...Wowwwwwww! I'm currently working on another Bleach fanfic commission involving Rukia and Hitsugaya so that's been taking priority lately. I'm trying to pop out updates for that one as quickly as I can while working on this one on the side. Either way, thanks for being patient as I write my fanfics!