Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. They're Tite Kubo's!
chAngE
Chapter 2: Reminiscence in the Dark
How long has it been since she was last in the unending darkness of a garganta? Orihime held the most accurate answer to her own question: 4 months, 1 day, 1 minute and 52 seconds in the Living World's time. How long has it been since she first travelled using a garganta? 4 months, 4 days, 4 hours, 4 minutes and 4 seconds, in once again, the Living World's time.
Despite how much time passed, Orihime could still remember those trips with such clarity as if they just happened a day ago. At the first time, the garganta's blackness racked fear in Orihime's form. At the second time, its shadows and emptiness amplified the despair and feeling of loss in her heart….. And yet again, while Orihime's body continued doing its work of walking behind Yoruichi Shihoin, as the latter was making a reiatsu path for the two of them through the garganta, her mind and heart strayed to days long passed.
It was midnight. It was time to go. However, Orihime's feet refused to move. She was frozen in her place, a few meters away from her and her captor's supposed rendezvous. Oh how she wished that this was just a nightmare, but it was not so.
The cold stare of her captor's vibrant but empty green eyes as his midnight black locks that were not confined by his Hollow mask whipped around his face with the gentle wind that blew wasn't something her mind would come up with, even in her worst nightmares. Her imagination could never just come up with the image of someone so empty, distant, and cold; no matter how overactive it was.
"Come, woman," the Arrancar's deep, silky monotone voice reached her ears in a silent command.
Orihime looked down to the sandy ground of the beach (Yes, he told her to meet him at the beach) and willed her feet to move. They had to, for Kurosaki-kun's sake and the others. For their protection. For their safety. Tentatively, Orihime's right foot took a step forward, followed by her left, and back again until she was just an arm's length away from the green-eyed Hollow, her eyes still locked on the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.
She felt the Arrancar's gaze on her, but the Hollow said nothing, to which she was a bit thankful for. She heard the sound of space being ripped and knew a garganta was being opened.
"Woman" the Hollow spoke.
Orihime raised her eyes. Her captor stood in front of the garganta, his back facing her but with his head turned to the side so that one emerald orb looked at her.
"Follow me," he ordered. She reluctantly complied, looking back at the beach while entering the garganta until it closed, and she was left with her fear personified.
She has never been in a garganta before, and its darkness seemed to be a monster wanting to swallow her whole. She was all alone now… No Kurosaki-kun… No Tatsuki-chan…. No Kuchiki-san… No Ishida-kun.. No Sado-kun… No one else but herself…. The darkness pressed on her, heavy, unforgiving and harsh. Her whole body trembled as the shadows seemed to creep up on her, consuming her.
"Woman," a deep, silky, monotone voice chased away the shadow monsters. Orihime blinked a couple of times, her eyes refocusing and adjusting to the blackness, and saw her captor standing in front of her an arm's length away, facing her with his hands in his pockets and his face a blank mask.
"Don't make such a fuss, woman. It's unsightly. Focus your gaze straight ahead. The darkness will not harm you," the Hollow told her.
Orihime blinked, and then a small smile made its way on her face.
"Hai…" she replied.
"Good. Now come," he responded. And this time, Orihime was a tad bit willing to follow. She wasn't alone in this darkness. There was someone else with her, even if he was the enemy. Even if he was her captor.
A genuine, happy smile made its way on Orihime's face, but it was soon wiped away when another memory surfaced in her head….
"Are you afraid of me, woman?" Ulquiorra asked her, reaching out a hand as he slowly faded away to ash.
Orihime's eyes widened at this question, but then her stormy grey orbs softened. She took in his Segunda Etapa form: black fur, a tail, a demon's pitch-black wings, talons, horns, and of course, his Hollow hole… She looked at his face, which had the softest and saddest expression she has ever seen from him: his tear marks, and his green, green orbs that betrayed the most emotion they have ever revealed to her.
Afraid of him? Orihime was far, far away from such a thing.
Orihime's face softened, tears pooling her eyes, and replied softly, "I'm not.."
"I see," he said and then started retracting his outstretched hand.
Panic made its way in Orihime's insides and she ran forward to take his hand in hers…. Only to grasp nothing but the air and ashes. Orihime froze in her tracks, her arms reaching out to someone who wasn't there anymore.
Ulquiorra Cifer, her protector, was gone in her life…. Gone with the wind that blew on Las Noches' roof…. A tear ran down her face. Followed by another. And then another, until her tears were racing against each other. They weren't tears of pity. They were ones of lamentation.
"Inoue…" she heard Kurosaki-kun's voice say. She turned to him, unaware of the waterfall of tears that she was shedding.
"Ku- Kurosaki-kun..?" she responded quietly, her voice a strangled sob that was a few decibels above a whisper.
"Are you okay?" the Substitute Shinigami asked, gesturing to her tears with eyebrows furrowed in worry… and confusion.
Orihime blinked and held up a hand to touch her cheeks, consequently noticing her onslaught of tears. Her eyes widened for a fraction of second before her grey orbs looked down at the ground. Kurosaki-kun has saved her… Ulquiorra was dead. She should be happy. After all, she was free…. But she was feeling the opposite of happy.
She looked up at Kurosaki-kun and involuntarily cringed, her eyes seeing the monster that he became just a while ago before actually perceiving that he was himself again. How could she be afraid of the one she loved? More importantly, from whom did Kurosaki-kun save her from? From Ulquiorra who protected her when Kurosaki-kun fired a Getsuga Tensho towards Menoly and Loly who were holding her hostage and would've used her as a human body shield?
Orihime wiped away her tears, faked a smile and replied, "Hai… I'm alright Kurosaki-kun…"
And the events that took place after that blended together in her mind. To her, one minute, she was on top of Las Noches' dome and the next, she was back inside a garganta, surrounded by the people she knew but still feeling alone.
Orihime walked a few paces behind everyone else, looking back every once in a while. She was half- hoping that Ulquiorra would be following them; that he was still alive. But each time, only the garaganta's darkness trailed behind them. And each time, that tiny flame of hope slowly died down to nothing but a burned wick and a half-melted candle.
She forgot the fear that the blackness of the garganta had once induced in her. In that moment, the garganta's shadows were nothing but a reflection of the emptiness that settled in her heart from the loss of someone who she was expected not to grieve for….
Orihime blinked back tears, but one managed to escape. She immediately wiped it away, reconnecting her mind and heart with her body to the present. She kept her gaze forward, just as he had told her to do before, and smiled a little at the blackness all around her.
The garganta's shadows did not bring her fear nor emptiness nor sadness nor anything else anymore. In that moment, her third time of going through a garganta, all its darkness did to her was strengthen her will; they served as a reminder of the fear she was able to conquer and the sadness she embraced with her heart's determination.
"Orihime, the exit's up ahead.. Are you sure you want to do this?" Yoruichi's voice snapped Orihime out of her thoughts.
The said auburn haired girl shifted her eyes to the dark-skinned Shape Shifter, smiled a tad bit wider and replied with the utmost certainty,
"Hai, Yoruichi-sin… I'm sure"
And the two came out of the darkness and into Hueco Mundo's eternal backwards crescent moon night.
A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed reading and thank you for taking the time to do so! :DDD Please tell me what you think of the story?
Oh, and about the title... It's tentative XDDD Any suggestions? :))))
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XDDD I'm posting one incomplete story after another aren't I?... Hehehehe.. xDDD My bad...
Anywho, *bows* I hope you'll have a good day!