Chapter 30

El Rey y La Reina ("The King and the Queen")

It was hard for Orihime to make out anything in the bright light. She only focused on controlling her spiritual energy. When the light dissipated, Seiran's sword broke through the Hollow's lance and sliced through him from his right shoulder down to his left hip. The black blood that flowed through his body burst from the brutal wound, his body falling backwards. He crumpled to the ground, blood seeping into the brown dirt. From the distance, Orihime watched him form words on his lips, but she couldn't hear him speak. Only after Seiran nodded did she understand what he said.

Gripping her sword tightly, Seiran stabbed the sword into the hole in his chest. A light burst from the hole, the light washing over everything again, but this time, it was softer, like a voice caressing the edges of Orihime's mind. The terrain, the barrier, even the other people were bathed in the softened light, leaving only Seiran, the Hollow, and the soul and body of Ulquiorra in its wake.

From the depths of her soul, Orihime could hear Seiran's whisper unbury itself. The sorrow in the disembodied voice drifted through her body.

I'm sorry.

The universe lined itself up and the light faded away, returning them to the terrain, the barrier, and the other people. Everyone watched as Seiran climbed to her feet, her orange hair casting shadows over her face.

A wind blew through the air, and Ulquiorra's Hollow form dissolved, turning his blackened arm, leg, and tear-stained face into dust before floating away. Tears filled Orihime's eyes as the last of Ulquiorra's Hollow disappeared. Seiran lifted her head, her cheeks also wet with tears, a small smile on her lips. Seeing her tears made Orihime feel lighter. There was an end drawing near, one that couldn't complete itself if Seiran remained as she was. Folding her wings against her back, Seiran looked towards Orihime with a serene expression.

Thanks for not running.

Slowly, Seiran's body began to fade, her body becoming transparent until it disappeared altogether. With the angel-like Orihime gone, the end was complete. The battle was over. Everyone was safe. Ulquiorra was safe. Orihime could relax.

"Inoue!"

It was Kurosaki's voice, but she didn't acknowledge it. The earth came up to meet her, and everything went black.

A round light punctured the darkness eclipsing his vision like a bright beacon, parting the clouds that fogged his sight. A hand came forward, blocking the light, as his eyes tried to focus on something, anything. As swiftly as the light barred his vision, it disappeared, leaving only darkness behind. He noticed that the air wasn't as warm as before he opened his eyes. Disoriented but gradually regaining composure, he realized he was in a different place all together.

Slowly, the sounds of people emerged from the cool air, and he focused on listening to them. His mind was still grasping his surroundings, but a frost clouded the edges of his thoughts, causing every crisp thought to come in indistinguishable pieces. Finally, as his mind pieced itself back together, his memories returned to him.

The only source of light came from the door, illuminating enough of his surroundings to grasp his location. He lied in someone's room. His body was on a futon, a thin blanket covering him and a pillow beneath his head. The murmuring of people talking began to register as he sat up.

"Ulquiorra is fine to stay here," said a woman's voice. Her tone invoked authority, but it wasn't condescending. "Since he is only human now, Soul Society does not view him as a threat."

"I'm so glad!" It was another woman's voice, high-pitched with few cracks. Though Ulquiorra could hear the happiness in her voice, he also heard her words break with exhaustion. "I hope that everything will be ok." Ulquiorra rose to his feet and padded to the door. He felt only slightly different from before, but he couldn't say how.

He opened the door and stepped out into the wooden corridor. Despite being unable to recognize any of it, Ulquiorra found the place to be a familiar place. He wandered down the hallway towards the voices until he stumbled into a separate room. Several people he didn't know stared back at him. A girl with long, orange hair stood up, her face lighting up with a wide smile.

"Ulquiorra!" How did she know his name?

"Who are you?" he demanded, setting his eyes on the girl. Her face changed instantly, as if he had given her a blow to the face. Her smile disappeared and apprehension set into her pretty guise. The exhaustion that was in her voice seeped into her face, and Ulquiorra felt a wave of guilt sweep through his body.

"Don't you recognize me, Ulquiorra?" she asked, clutching a shaky fist to her chest. He stared at her, tension filling the distance between her and him. Ulquiorra didn't know her, but something told him he should. He searched his memory only to find nothing that reminded him of the girl.

"I don't."

The way she shifted from one emotion to the next—happiness, concern, finally sorrow—made Ulquiorra wonder about her. She seemed like a stupid girl, yet, when he looked her in the eyes, her gaze was steady and sharp, warm and strong. Why didn't he know her?

"Inoue," called out another woman, one with a raven bob. She appeared to be the exact opposite of this girl. Short and rather unremarkable, the woman held a dignified air to her, one that Ulquiorra immediately recognized. "Don't worry. Sometimes when souls get separated from their bodies, they have a temporary mind-lapse." She urged the orange-haired girl towards him.

Ulquiorra took a step back. "I don't know who you are," he began, irritation in his voice, "but I'm not going to be made a fool of again." He composed himself, standing to his full height and pinning everyone with an icy glare. "I'm Ulquiorra Schiffer. I don't respond to threats made by anyone, especially strangers like you." He turned and ran out of the room, nearly tumbling over some of the awkwardly placed furniture in the strange home. This place wasn't his home. It was from another time, another place.

Where was he?

He ran past a few booths of candy before finding a door that led outside. After opening the door and running into the cool outdoors, he suddenly stopped short. Everything was foreign to him. Nothing looked like home. Not even remotely. How did he end up there? Did his mother send him away again? No, they would've sent him to a top architecture school, not a trashy home. Did he get kidnapped again? The kidnappers would've tied him up instead of leave him in an unguarded room.

"Ulquiorra!" He faced the source of the voice. It was the girl again.

"Who are you?" Ulquiorra demanded, backing away. "Where am I? What do you want from me?"

Hands grabbed each of his arms, holding him against his will. Ulquiorra struggled against them, uncertain of how they got behind him. "Be cool, man!" cried out a red-headed man from his left side. "We're not here to hurt you!"

"Yeah, listen to him!" agreed an orange-haired boy from his right. "Calm down, Ulquiorra."

"Ulquiorra." He turned his attention to the girl, who approached him slowly. The pain in her eyes seemed to speak more than her lips. For a moment, Ulquiorra remembered his mother. She held the same expression when he came home with bruises on his face from the fights he managed to get into every day. She never had to say anything. He knew exactly what she meant. Somehow, he knew that this girl was conveying something important to him. It made him stop struggling.

Finally, she reached him, and with a sure hand, the girl touched his forehead. Her touch was cool and comforting, easing a part of him that spoke so clearly to her touch. It seemed she was reaching past his skin, past his bones, into his mind until it reached some sort of dam. Ulquiorra stood still, feeling something in his mind change, like the dam had broken open. Gradually, memories began to flood his head, making room for newer memories as if outsourcing the older memories for more space. Soon, everything that had alarmed Ulquiorra, even the emotion itself, settled into its rightful place in his soul.

Orihime removed her hand from his forehead, and Kurosaki and his friend released his arms. Ulquiorra straightened up, composing himself. "Do you remember who I am?" Orihime asked in a tiny voice, looking at him with concern.

"Yes," he answered evenly.

The old memories seemed to linger in his head for a little longer. He recalled his mother, a beautiful yet humble person. His life was that of a nomad's, moving from one place to another, until he simple detached himself from everything else around him. The places he had been had streets, streets similar to the ones he wandered when he first arrived in the Living World. And the feelings of alienation stretched past the moments he became a Hollow. No one in his first life gave him a chance. They all turned on him, assaulted him, and finally, drove him over the edge, even in his death.

He buried the memories deep inside his soul to escape the pain. In the end, they bubbled back up, almost completely overwhelming him.

But a light showed through, one that belonged to Orihime. And now, just as she set him free from his empty life in Hueco Mundo, she had given him a second chance in the Living World. His life before now wasn't relevant any longer. He could live the way he wanted to live. Surrounded by people who had seen the greatest evil in him and still didn't turn their backs on him, Ulquiorra didn't feel empty any more.

He was free.

"I am sorry I alarmed you," Ulquiorra added, meeting Orihime's grey eyes.

A smile appeared on Orihime's lips. She closed the distance between them and threw her arms around his shoulders. Ulquiorra accepted the embrace, holding her at the waist. He could feel himself relax against her. It was a good feeling. It was good to rest.

"You should know better," Orihime told him in a whisper. "My heart is right in your hands."

This story is complete!

Thank you for reading this story! And to all of the reviewers, thank you for writing to me! I really appreciate it!

This story was really just an exercise in writing for me, so I'll probably be moving on to my next project: writing a short story fictional book. Hopefully, I'll get that out before the year is done. We'll see!

I had a lot of inspiration for writing this story. Some were from surrealist books by Haruki Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto (Japanese writers), and others were from watching Korean dramas like Rooftop Prince. The cultural points in this story come from my own experiences; I work in Japan as an English teacher in a high school. Although I could've easily gone the Bleach-is-in-English-so-let's-put-all-the-characters-in-a-Western-setting, Bleach is Japanese animation with Japanese characters in a Japanese setting. So, on purpose, I excluded many of the typical words you're likely to see in English Bleach fanfiction, like reiatsu, shinigami, and the honorifics like kun, chan, and san.

The hardest part about this story was keeping it interesting. Ulquiorra isn't so much an interesting guy as he is mysterious. And Orihime, to me, everyone pegs her as this dumb, comedic-relief-only kind of girl. I wanted to show the other sides of them and make them grow as characters. One of the things I enjoyed the most about writing this story (besides reading your reviews) is getting the other characters to react to them. Fortunately, Mr. Kubo made that easy for me, especially since all of the Bleach arcs revolve around one person (i.e. Soul Society arc = Rukia).

This is the longest story I've written here. I have other ones under my name, thejade. I have a Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic called "Venturing" (SetoxJou) and a lot of Soul Calibur one shots. They're pretty old, but I'm sure you'll enjoy them too. Thank you so much for everything! Until next time!

Thank you very much!

¡Muchas gracias!

ありがとうございました！Arigatou gozaimashita!