***So far, it's been inner thoughts to show what's happening to their feelings, after this there will be a time jump forward. Sorry that I'm skipping some things, but I figure most of you have seen the anime or read the manga, so you know what has happened between them. As always, please tell me if they are ooc, and please review! Your reviews make me immensely happy!***

Thanks and happy reading!

Chapter 3

Moving around in her new 'Las Noches uniform' made her feel a bit odd. Was she even suited to dress like this? It wasn't like she was really one of them. Besides, it felt like she was only given these clothes because her friends came. Did they want her to fight them? She couldn't gauge Aizen's goals at all. All she knew was that her friends were out there, fighting for her, and she couldn't do anything but sit and wait. Oh, how she wanted to leave her prison...

It didn't help at all that the one thing that kept coming to her mind was the day before, the split second moment she had shared with the apathetic espada. She turned it over and over in her head, trying to make sense of it. Was she imagining things? Her heart skipped a beat whenever she felt someone pass her door outside, hoping it would be Ulquiorra. Would he visit her today? She hoped he would, she hoped he wasn't fighting anyone out there. Especially Ichigo… No, Ichigo would be alright. He's strong and confident. She had faith in him, and in all the others.

She could feel Chad was fighting a hard battle, as his presence began to weaken. Heart pounding, eyes wide with shock, Chad's dissipating spiritual pressure made her drop to her knees. "Chad…" she whispered. No, they were all here for her. They all came here to save her, and she couldn't bear to lose any of them. She'd already felt Rukia go, and her heart couldn't bear this anymore. Shaking her head, she stood, leveling herself. She would not lose confidence in them. There was no way they would die here; their willpower would never allow it. "Don't die," she said aloud, in a quiet prayer to herself and her friends.

The door behind her opened, and she didn't have to turn around to know it was the fourth espada. Chin turning over her shoulder, she glanced at him before looking back up at the only window to the outside she had.

"Two of your friends are dead," he stated, coldly and simply. He didn't dare to come near her, unknowingly afraid of her touch. He leaned beside the door as it closed, waiting for her response.

"No." she said it like a statement. There was nothing else she could say, there was absolutely no way she'd accept them being dead. They weren't, she knew it in her heart. There was no way.

"They are," he insisted, his voice leveled but eyes narrowing at her a bit. How could she deny this? Did she think he was lying? Was she deluding herself or was she simply fooling around? As always, he found the girl was growing more and more interesting, if not peculiar.

"They are not," she turned to look at him now, eyes serious as they bore into his emotionless gaze, "They will not die."

"How can you know this for certain? I have told you that they are dead, so they are. All of your friends will drop, one by one," he told her, his hands in his pockets. It was obvious that he was trying to get a rise out of her, but her sharp stare didn't waver. He had to struggle to hide his shock. What was she doing?

Orihime's strong resolve began to twist into anger. How dare he speak of them as if they were play things? She took a step forward quickly, her hand rising and slapping his cheek with a loud smacking sound. Her heart was pounding, and she was very clearly out of breath, but the espada just watched her, seemingly completely unfazed by her sudden assault. He was surprised, but he knew better than to show it. The last thing he had expected from her was a physical attack. Did she have no common sense? Did she not fear him at all? After a few moments of silence, she took a step back, not wanting to be close to him.

"I know my friends, and they are strong. They will not die here. I trust in them. I may be here, but my heart is with them now," she clenched her hand into a fist as it lay by her side. No, she wouldn't accept this. Nothing he could say would change that fact. Nothing.

"Are all humans this insistent on what is not real?" he asked, his eyes scrutinizing her very existence. He didn't understand her at all, and nothing he did got the right reaction out of her. She was unexpected, and wasn't anything like the other humans he had dealt with thus far. Was she actually human?

Orihime didn't have anything to say at this point. She may have been growing to like the strange espada, but her stance would not be swayed. Deep inside, she felt like crying, like screaming out in a desperate plea for someone to come and free her from this constant back and forth of worry and hope. But she kept burying that, telling herself that she should be happy and patient. If her friends could rescue Rukia, against all odds, then they would be able to rescue her as well.

"Don't underestimate them," she told him simply, her voice in no way implying it as a threat, but more of a warning. With that, she turned her back, pressing her hand against the wall as she focused on the different spiritual pressures of her friends. Keep fighting everyone…

Ulquiorra stood up straight, thinking a moment before taking a few steps forward. He went to reach for her, not fully aware of what he was doing. Just as his fingers began to reach her, he gasped, pulling back. Taking a big step backwards, he opened the door behind him. This girl was dangerous, in ways he did not yet understand. What is she? He thought, as he took a final step out of the room, the door shutting before him. Letting out a breath, he turned down the hall, the girl's sharp gaze never leaving his mind.