Disclaimer: If I did own Bleach, the plot would follow this story, so... yeah I don't own it

Chapter 9: Hesitance

"Why have things come to this point so quickly Mahad? I was hoping for a little more time. I really didn't want to deal with both of them at the same time." The Reiou said this as he paced back and forth in his room. He was a good decision-maker, forged through years of ruling as monarch and leading troops into battle, so it was not often that he would express such obvious anxiety when faced with a problem. Yet this time was unique, for some reason that still eluded him.

"It couldn't be helped Master, you had been missing from public life for too long for them not to be suspicious. If I may say so, confronting those two did nothing to help the situation. What was bothering you to make you lash out at them?"

"Wearing that accursed necklace for so long must have taken its toll on my mind. I'm not used to being so restrained. A measure of my own naïveté, I suppose, though I didn't expect that there was such a broad topic that I knew so little about."

"Sir?"

Breaking out of his trance, he thought about confiding in Mahad. 'He is my closest friend… but it wouldn't be like me to broach a subject with no sense of how to proceed in the discussion. Not that he would read anything into it, but I'll talk to him about this matter later, when I learn of its true nature.' "It's nothing. More importantly, how are they moving?"

"They've more or less decided to focus all of their efforts towards reconnoitering your personal activities. Now that they know that you know who she is, their best course of action is to monitor whether or not you contact her again."

"If I haven't mentioned it before, Mahad, I hate that Flower King. He really knows how to irritate me, even without taking into account the last three months during which I had to wear that accursed talisman, all because of him."

"Well, if it's any consolation, Sire, the time that you'll move openly against him is swiftly approaching."

"Well with regards to the princess… I do this with hesitance, and I hope neither you nor she thinks it cruel of me to select this… less than optimal course of action. Call Karim back, there's no point in him staying any longer."

At this point, he stopped pacing and moved in direct path to the room's door.

"Deliver a message to Yamamoto regarding my plan and what actions I expect Soul Society to take. Prepare for my absence. I don't know how long I'll be gone this time, either."

Although not fazed, as he followed his master through the door, Mahad couldn't help but wonder where the Reiou planned to go. Although, after seeing the uncharacteristically conflicted, yet determined look on his face, Mahad thought that he had a reasonable guess.

Flashback

The center courtyard of the Reiou's traditional exterior palace is a beautiful place, with flowers, trees, and grasses originating from the Earth, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and many other places, all cultivated meticulously. The arrangement and plant selection usually depended on the current Reiou's tastes, but the one that was ruling at this time had no head for such things, so he had decided to leave all horticultural decisions throughout the entire complex to the female leaders of the Zero division.

One such pre-eminent member of said division was currently issuing orders to several of her subordinates, who were now all focusing on the large golden gate in the middle of the room. Hikifune Kirio unsheathed her soul cutter along with the others and faced the now opening gate, preparing for a possible incursion by the enemy.

It was, however, a false alarm, and the most authorized of all people to use the gate emerged from it, walking swiftly towards her.

"Welcome back, Reiou-sama."

"It's always pleasant to have you greet me here Hikifune-san. Is there any news?" he said casually.

"There is. At the moment a man is waiting in one of the external antechambers. He wouldn't give us his name, but instead repeatedly demanded to see you."

"What does he look like?"

"He's thin, average height, has blond hair, and a somewhat feminine face. Oh, and he wears a mantle with a floral emblem, as well as a wreath of hibiscus around his head."

The Reiou stopped in his tracks. So did everyone else who was working in the courtyard. They all felt the sudden, drastic change in the atmosphere of the room.

"Has he been informed of my whereabouts?"

"Of course not, my lord."

"Immediately destroy everything in this room that could be used to trace my past locations over the previous six months. Tell Mahad to meet me in the antechamber." He departed swiftly, without waiting for a response or assuring the job was done. He trusted his subordinates with this task and, after all, time was of the essence.

He arrived minutes later in the section of the palace used for entertaining guests and visitors, and proceeded to the antechamber which had an unusual pressure coming from it.

He rounded the corner and came face to face with a man he had hoped not to see so soon. "Flower Prince-dono, what brings you here today?"

The man stood up and faced the Reiou, "Only the most important business, of course, Reiou-sama," he said, punctuating the last couple of words with the utmost of sarcasm.

"Feel obligated to refer to me as Lord of Kemet, as you always have, shounen."

"Of course, of course, your lordship, forgive me. I was merely showing my respect for your newfound position, one that you obviously still resent taking. You could always switch with my master if you so pleased."

"He'd certainly like that, wouldn't he? Only a megalomaniac like him would want this rotten job."

"Now, now, you shouldn't talk about someone else's master like that, should you?"

"As if you care. I could curse his family line ten generations back and forward, and compare him to some of the less attractive Hollows, and you still wouldn't bat an eyelash."

The Prince sighed, "I know that one is obligated to care about his master's affairs, but it's not like I really think of him as my master. As you and he well know, I have my own desires and wishes. At most, I'm with him and the rest of the Order as part of tradition, and because he's stronger than me. I'm not going to be his lapdog like the Duke. Or him…" he said, gesturing at Mahad, who was just entering the room to stand next to his master, "…no offence intended".

"None taken, since I consider what you suggested to be a noble duty that I'm grateful to have the chance to perform."

The Prince sighed once more and said, "that's just like the both of you, so predictable that it's…"

Kemet interrupted him, slightly annoyed, "enough with the pleasantries and idle talk. What is it that you came here to say?"

The Prince suddenly became serious. "Well, it's a matter of great importance to the King, myself, and many other parties. We believe that you know the location of, and have made contact with, the Princess."

"Why ever would you think that?" he replied, in a sugar-coated tone that seethed with hostility.

"There's no use playing dumb, we already have intelligence and motive laid out in this case. Technically speaking, if you weren't forthright with the information we desired, this was to be a diplomatic correspondence indicating the Order of the Hibiscus Flower's intent to declare war on you and your dependent states if it is discovered at any time that you are withholding information regarding the Princess."

"Believe me, if she turns out to be anything like you other three, I will be quite happy not to meet her."

"Well, I hope that you're doing the right thing for your kingdoms. I will take my leave now, since I've already said what I was sent here to say." He snapped his fingers to open a rift in space behind him, by which he exited the room, as well as the entire dimension.

As soon as he was gone, Mahad turned to the only other remaining person in the room and asked, "What are you going to do now, Master?"

"Nothing, yet. Just tell Karim to lie low and for the love of Ra not to get caught."

2 weeks later

"Sire, urgent news!"

The soldier came running up to him as swiftly as he could, coming to an abrupt stop in front of his ruler and genuflecting before him.

"Sire, not an hour has passed since Inoue Orihime was taken to Las Noches by Aizen's troops."

A shock coursed through the mighty ruler's body, imperceptible to anyone but himself, but still a significant enough reaction to cause him alarm. "I should probably…I want to…no, I will do this properly." After collecting his strewed thoughts, he addressed his vassal.

"Issue the order, by my authority, for the 6 Imperial Court Guardians to assemble, excluding Lieutenant Commander Karim."

Immediately after issuing the order, he turned and left, and proceeded to the room where he would soon meet with his most trusted advisors.

10 minutes before beginning of chapter

'How I would love to act directly in this matter…' he thought, before turning to address the 5 people seated around him, one chair being noticeably empty.

"The situation now is tantamount to both Aizen and the Flower King signing a treaty. The two are impeding our two main objectives in almost equal shares, and are supporting each other now. Neither of the two is, however, aware of the other's existence nor of the position they have in this conflict. I plan to be in hiding until the crucial moment, when I shall swiftly secure all of our interests. My plan is to mostly let Soul Society handle their own affairs, so we only need to prepare for a supportive role in that arena. Additionally, we need to act quickly after Soul Society and myself make our move, because the Order will be hot on our heels. In regards to Soul Society's strategy or our subsequent mobilization, does anyone have any questions or issues that they would like to bring up at this time? Yes, go ahead Aknad."

The discussion proceeded and the military commanders of the Spirit King's troops drew up the plans for the upcoming conflict. After tense and hurried discussion, debate, and deliberation, ten minutes later, four of the six people filed out of the room to perform the tasks they had just discussed, and in general to return to their duties. Only the two, the King and his right hand, remained in the room in silence, unsaid things still begging utterance.

Inoue Orihime looked over the bleak expanse of Hueco Mundo from her tower suite in Las Noches. Ulquiorra had only recently left after introducing her to Aizen and the espada, and subsequently escorting her to this room.

Her room. The place where she would live from now on.

Merely thinking about this set her heart ill at ease, and this poor outlook on life, combined with the bleak, depressing landscape, was almost enough to make her physically ill.

She turned around, and walked slowly to her bed, trying to absorb everything that had happened to her in the last 24 hours. As she reached her bed, she slumped down and buried her face into the inappropriately soft and comfortable mattress and wept. She had not remembered the last time life had been so cruel to her that it had compelled her to cry so profoundly, as if her spirit itself and her will to live was pouring from her eyes along with the salty liquid.

She continued for several minutes, eventually letting her melancholy die and be replaced by resigned sniffles and spasms in her chest. She got up slowly and turned around, her head still hung low, when her eyes suddenly met with a new element of the scenery.

Perched on her windowsill was a little ball of white fur, no more than a foot high, with cute triangular eyes perched on top of its head, a fluffy white tall, and two large, staring eyes stained an enchanting sort of purple. It let out a soft barking sound, causing the recently shaken Orihime to jump back.

After the initial shock of seeing this canine creature appear out of nowhere passed to some degree, she composed herself and slowly approached him as he remained on his perch, staring at her, it seemed. She cautiously closed the distance between them, ready to activate her abilities if the need to defend herself should arise, but before that happened she found that she was already within reaching distance of this creature.

She slowly extended her hand, but the creature made no movement, other than blinking and slightly tilting its head. Before she knew it, her hand had sunk into the animal's thick fur.

"So soft. Is this what dogs in Hueco Mundo are like?"

Unbidden, these thoughts and sensations conjured within her the slightest hint of a smile since her incarceration had begun. The dog, seeing this, leapt onto her shoulder, greatly shocking the girl. He then yipped happily and rubbed his muzzle gently into the side of her head.

"He's so friendly! Who would've thought something like this could exist in this horrible place." Returning somewhat to her old, outspoken nature, she turned and looked the dog in the eyes, and said, "I had to leave all my friends behind when I came here, and thinking about it made me very lonely. So I was wondering… will you be my friend?" Her eyes possessed such a sad, pleading quality that it's doubtful the dog could have denied her if he had wanted to. Regardless, his response was to yip happily and lick her face, causing the young girl to giggle.

With a sincere smile, she said, "I was thinking of naming you. You're very white, so… how about Shiro-chan?"

She was still smiling when the image of an angry Hitsugaya appeared in her head and wiped it from her face.

"Oh yeah… I forgot that we already call Hitsugaya-taichou that. Well then, I guess it'll have to be Yuki-chan!"

Yuki looked happily back at the girl, to whose life he had just returned sunlight and hope, and the two retired for the night, content with their newfound friendship in this barren environment that loomed oppressively over their sleeping forms.

Well, this is the longest chapter yet. Sorry for the delay in its release, but I wasn't as motivated as I would have been if I'd gotten more reviews (wink wink). Anyways, thanks for reading, and a belated thanks to vfergus and Aquavit for reviewing.

P.S. Click on the Review button if you want the next chapter sooner

P.P.S. Shounen means boy, Shiro means white, Yuki means snow, and I'll probably refer to the Hanaou and Reiou and Flower King and Spirit King, respectively, from now on.