So sorry guys! I've been so busy getting ready for my trip to Ireland and with Halloween stuff that I totally spaced it on Wednesday. Forgive me! Anyhow, here's your Saturday chapter! Enjoy!

It was still dark, still cold where she found herself but it wasn't nearly as terrifying as it should have been. He was there and it was more of a comfort than she would have ever thought it would be. At least she wasn't alone. His eyes were watching her eyes silently drift around but no matter what, her gaze always fell right back on his. "Is there no escaping this place?" She asked, her voice small but unafraid.

"It's possible." His reply came, calm and quiet. "It took a strength not my own for me to leave this place. Yet here I am once more."

"What is this place exactly?" She mumbled as she looked around once again only to see that nothing had changed since the first time she'd glanced around the darkness.

His response was hesitant but it came regardless. "This is where you buried me, in the darkest reaches of your heart. This place is your despair... a place you once fooled me into believing didn't exist within you."

"My despair?" She looked around more with a sense of awe now. "This is..."

"It's a dark, empty place that only I inhabited for so long." His words came slow and unsure. "Every so often there would be a fear or a doubt that would find its way here but it never lasted long. I don't know why but the thought occurred to me that it wouldn't be so unpleasant as long as I wasn't here alone."

Her gaze fell back on his face as his eyes drifted away from her's and she looked to him sadly. "I'm here with you now. Is it better?"

"No." He answered softly. "This is a place for no one. Not me and certainly not you."

She inhaled sharply and stood from where she sat. Her footsteps echoed through the blackness as she made her way over to him. She extended her hand to him and let a small smile come to her face. "Come on, let's get out of here."

His eyes flew to her hand before floating up to her smiling face. "I told you, I wasn't able to escape without his power. The likelihood of getting out again is-"

"We have to try." She kept her hand extended to him and continued to smile until he reluctantly returned the gesture and clasped her hand. In that instant a blinding light flooded her vision. When it dissipated she found herself standing in a familiar place. She was back in Hueco Mundo, or so it seemed. Her hand was still gripping his tightly as she glanced around. "Are we really here?"

"No." He replied, hiding his astonishment that merely taking her hand had managed to pull them both from despair. "This place is just your memory. It is a memory that we have in common so that is why we are here."

"I see." She muttered, taking in the sight once more. The eternal night sky that had once been a fond if not sad memory was now a haunting reminder of everything she had selfishly pushed aside for her own sake. Her eyes then fell on him. Him, though it wasn't him and it brought chills up and down her spine. He stood at a distance but his eyes were not directed toward them at all. "Is he-"

"He is not really here. He is just a memory." He reassured her. "My Segunda Etapa form; a manifestation of both myself and Murciélago. It's admittedly a frightening sight from the outside."

Her eyes softened from fearful to sorrowful as she looked upon the scene unfolding before her. She was there watching herself watch her friends lay their lives on the line to rescue her. The whole thing was too terrible to see all over again so she turned her eyes away. "Why did we have to come here of all places?"

"This is the only memory we share with him." He answered. "This is truly the only place we can go outside of your despair. It's equally unpleasant. Though we can at least accomplish something here, even if it's as simple as learning from our mistakes."

"Mistakes?" Her eyes drifted back to his face before glancing to the scene still playing out endlessly before them. "What do you mean?"

"Neither of us is without flaw, woman." He said, his eyes following the memory as it unfolded. "We have both made mistakes that have brought us to this point. The least we could do is learn from them."

His words made sense as he spoke them. After all, those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. That much she knew. She watched with a sense of overwhelming sadness as the memory of him reached longingly toward the memory of her. Their hands never had the chance to touch before he disintegrated into ash and floated away for what she had believed to be forever.

She looked down at their hands still between them, still clasped together as though they were both afraid to let go. Her gaze rose to his eyes and she opened her mouth hesitantly. "Ulquiorra, what was your mistake?"

He lowered his head, a small smile cracking at the corner of his mouth as he stood there in thought. "There've been so many. I can't even begin to list them, though one particular mistake does come to mind." His eyes returned to hers and he unwrapped his fingers from her hand. "I could never let you go."

Her eyes widened at his words. For a reason unclear to her the words filled her with a feeling of joy and sorrow. "Do you mean in Hueco Mundo?"

"I mean always." He turned toward the memory as it restarted itself and watched it begin to play like a movie once more. "How many times have I stood here watching this happen? How many times have I watched the moment of my death, knowing I could never change it? Even if I was keeping track I would have lost count by now."

She watched him sadly as his eyes followed the movements of the memory. He never once winced or flinched and it was never really like him to do so but even still, she could tell that he had seen the memory so many times that he was entirely unphased by it. "Ulquiorra..."

"If I had just let you go maybe none of this would have happened." He said, never taking his eyes from the scene before him. "I was too intrigued by your heart. I had never understood the concept of a human heart until you came along. Once I got to know you, once I finally understood what it was to feel emotion I knew I could never let you go. I desired everything about you. Everything that made you human. I wasn't just going to let Ichigo Kurosaki take you away. I was finally starting to..."

She stepped closer to him as he trailed off and reclaimed his hand in her own. She gripped the appendage tightly and smiled as his gaze returned to her. "I'm sorry, Ulquiorra. I don't know what else to say other than to tell you how absolutely sorry I am. I'm going to try to fix this."

He stared at her quietly a moment before averting his eyes and allowing a small smile to crack across his lips. "Woman, you astound me."

...

"Have there been any changes?" Ichigo asked anxiously as he joined Uryū in watching Orihime's apartment.

"None that I've seen." Uryū replied. "He's become really good at replicating Inoue-san's mannerisms. He even has Arisawa-san fooled into thinking that everything is alright." He turned his gaze to Ichigo in curiosity. "What did Urahara-san have to say?"

Ichigo let out an uncomfortable sigh at Uryū's question. He really didn't want to talk about what Kisuke had told him but he knew it would have to be discussed eventually. "Urahara-san told me that whatever soul is inside Inoue, it's there because she allowed it to be. From what it sounds like, she's the only person who can get rid of him but she has to be in control of her own body and she has to want him gone."

"If it's that simple then why hasn't Inoue-san gotten rid of him?" Uryū asked skeptically.

"My best guess is that she wasn't aware of his pressence until it was too late." Ichigo replied. "I can't help but want to believe that she would have told us if she knew."

"It's possible she didn't want us to know." Uryū said with a sigh. "If what Urahara-san said is true, Inoue-san welcomed Ulquiorra's soul into her body. I can't imagine she would admit to willingly doing something so foolish. We can't ignore the fact that one way or the other, Inoue-san allowed this to happen to herself. We just have to find a way to stop it. But how could we possibly help her to get control over her body if we can't even reach her?"

"We'll have to find a way." Ichigo said, his mind turning over every possibility available to them. An idea was beginning to form in his head but he knew it was best to keep it to himself until he had it all worked out. "You should head home now. I'll be fine to keep watch over her tonight."

"Are you sure, Kurosaki?" Uryū asked, looking Ichigo over. He was hesitant to leave the other man unattended, knowing how easily empassioned he could get when his friends lives were in peril. Ichigo was only staring at him, however, a look of determination painted on his face.

"I'm sure."