bChapter 18

Slipped Away/b

iNaïve as she was, Orihime was definitely not stupid. She knew that it was highly likely that the Central 46 would sentence Ulquiorra to death and execute him. And she couldn't do a thing about it.

But… what if…?

Kurosaki-san had been able to save Kuchiki-san, hadn't he? So why couldn't she save Ulquiorra-san?

With a sudden burst of adrenaline and hope, Orihime sprinted off towards the Urahara Store…/i

"Ulquiorra Cifer, Cuatro Espada," One of the senior members of the Central 46 spoke, voice echoing off of the walls of the enormous chamber. "It is extremely rare that we allow someone to defend themselves in these hearings. But seeing as you showed no signs of aggression since going to the World of the Living and even during your capture, we will allow you to speak and explain yourself."

Behind Ulquiorra's nonchalant mask, his mind was racing. The Central 46 were allowing him to defend himself and his seemingly hopeless case? He was an Espada, the sworn enemy of Soul Society and all Shinigami. So why would they give him such a "gift"?

iIf I find a way to prove myself innocent, I could return to my Onna and-/i Ulquiorra internally slapped himself. He was continuously dismayed to find that his human heart made him feel uncalled for amounts of hope.

Remembering that he was standing in his own trail case (though you couldn't really consider a hearing with the Central 46 in which you were being condemned to imprisonment or execution a "trail"…), he quickly gathered his thoughts.

"I do not know what I have done to be summoned to Soul Society and to appear in front of the Central 46, though I realize that I was considered an enemy during the war. I was previously an Espada in Aizen Sosuke's forces but have resigned from that position to live in the World of the Living," Ulquiorra expertly hid his true feelings.

iOnce an Espada, always an Espada,/i he thought, grimly.

"Why have you chosen your residence in the World the Living to be with Orihime Inoue?" the question caught Ulquiorra off guard, and he almost, ialmost/i, dropped his mask for a split second.

The Cuatro Espada knew that iI do not know/i would not be a sufficient answer for the Central 46, so his quick brain thought up another excuse, which wasn't exactly a lie.

"I had nowhere else to go; if I had returned to Las Noches, I would have been eliminated."

"iUrahara-san! Urahara-san/i!" Orihime burst through the doors of the Urahara Shop, shouting the shopkeeper's name as best she could whilst trying to catch her breath.

iPlease be here, Urahara-san!/i the frenzied girl stormed through the shop to the back.

"Ah, Inoue-san… what's the matter?" Urahara Kisuke's expression changed from friendly to worried in a split second.

"Urahara-san!" Orihime choked. "Ulquiorra-san! He… He… They took him!"

Falling to her knees, she clutched her hands to her chest over her heart as tears filled her eyes.

Urahara knelt down beside the devastated girl and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Let's go have some tea, shall we?"

The hysterias girl nodded. Orihime couldn't shake the feeling that the shopkeeper knew something about Ulquiorra's kidnapping already…

As the two walked to a small room in the back, Orihime sensed a rather familiar reiatsu coming from the room they were heading towards. She knew she had sensed it before, but she couldn't pinpoint when and where…

"Ah, Inoue-san," a white-haired man stood up and greeted Orihime kindly.

"U-Ukitake-taichou!" Orihime gaped. What was a Captain of the Gotei 13 doing in the Urahara Shop? It wasn't unheard of, but considering that Ulquiorra Cifer had been kidnapped the same day, Orihime knew that something was going on.

Jushiro placed a hand on the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly, "There's no need to be so formal, Inoue-san!"

"Hai," Orihime bowed before sitting down and taking the cup of tea Ukitake-san offered her. "Thank you."

Orihime couldn't find the energy or will power to smile. It felt as if the whole world was teetering on the brink of a ledge, about to fall of and sink into a deep black abyss. She didn't want to hear whatever it was that Jushiro and Kisuke had to say… her intuition was telling her that it would only tear her apart further. But then again, if she didn't listen to them, her own over-active imagination would come up with possibilities of what was going to happen to Ulquiorra in Soul Society, which would most likely be worse than what was really going to happen.

So she sat there, trying to keep from shifting around nervously, with eyes void of all emotions (or rather her hidden fear and worry).

It seemed like hours of procrastinating sipping of tea that Ukitake broke the awkward silence that had settled over the room, which told Orihime that she had been right that they were hiding something from her.

"Inoue-san…" Ukitake looked around, not sure how she should begin. The poor girl looked devastated as it was. How would she react to the news (even if weren't true, which Orihime wouldn't know) of Ulquiorra's "execution"? The captain had an urge to just tell Orihime that Ulquiorra's sentence hadn't been decided yet. But keeping his word to the Cuatro Espada, he somehow found the will-power to break the "news" to Orihime.

"Ulquiorra is going to be executed."

Orihime's world fell out from underneath her as she hit the floor, feeling her heart shatter completely like fragile glass and a single tear fall down her cheek before everything went black.

Ulquiorra stood nervously in the middle of the huge chamber, hiding his anxiety behind his ever-present mask. What would the Central 46's decision be?

It seemed like centuries before a voice echoed through the chamber.

"We do not know how to sentence you for the time being. As it stands now, you will not be executed, but I cannot guarantee this. You will be kept in high-security cell 2 until your sentence is decided."

Ulquiorra exhaled silently. He most likely wouldn't be executed… that was good, wasn't it? Yet why did Ulquiorra suddenly feel ecstatic and yet disappointed?

He would have to ponder his emotions during the time in his prison cell…

The Cuatro Espada kept quiet, both externally and internally, as the entire Stealth Force along with the Captains of the 6th and 10th Squads escorted him to his underground, high-security prison chamber.

"Inoue-san?" the white haired man gently shook the girl, worried. "Inoue-san?"

Orihime slowly blinked.

"Ukitake-taichou?" Why was he here? Orihime couldn't remember.

"Inoue-san!" Jushiro helped her sit up slowly.

Dizzy from the blood rushing to her heard, everything came back to Orihime in a flash.

Ulquiorra was gone. He was going to be executed. What if preparations for the execution were already in place? That would mean…

"Ulquiorra-san!" Orihime cried. She swore she wouldn't pass out again. Hiding her face in her hands, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Inoue-san…" Ukitake didn't know what to say, but he felt an urge to comfort the crying girl; she was, after all, almost like a daughter to him, considering the many time's she'd been in Soul Society and visited him with Kuchiki Rukia.

Mind whirling, Orihime tried to think of some kind of solution that would save her sanity and Ulquiorra. Suddenly, remembering why she had come to the Urahara Shop in the first place, Orihime's eyes widened with hope.

"Urahara-san!" Orihime exclaimed, leaping to her feet and catching herself on the wall behind her.

"Careful, Inoue-san!" the Captain of the 10th Squad also jumped to his feet, ready to catch Orihime if she fell again.

Urahara looked around nervously, "Yes, Inoue-san?"

He waved his fan in front of his face, trying to make it seem like he needed more moving air in the room.

Ignoring the ex-captain's nervous movements, a rush of words escaped from Orihime's mouth, "I want to get to Soul Society. I know you can open a Senkai Gate for me. Just like the time that Kurosaki-san went to save Kuchiki-chan! There has to be isomething/i I can do!"

The orange-haired girl began to pace the room restlessly as she spoke, staring at the floor intently.

She had to save Ulquiorra-san. There was no one else who would, and she had no clue what she would do without him. As odd as it sounded, Orihime had gotten used to having another presence in her house, and loosing that presence tore a part of her with it. Also, she had strange suspicions that made her blush considering her feelings towards the Espada.

"Inoue-san…" Urahara paused. How was he supposed to tell her that if he opened a Senkai Gate for her they would both be considered enemies of Soul Society? As much as he didn't want to lie to Orihime, he couldn't think of another solution.

"Umm," Ukitake interrupted. "I need to go. I was sent here on a mission and just stopped to say hi to Urahara-san and then…"

"Of course! It was a pleasure to have tea with you again, Ukitake-san!" Urahara grinned, internally thankful for the captain's interruption.

Both Kisuke and Orihime watched Ukitake leave, staring at the now shut door for what seemed like hours.

"You aren't allowed to open a Senkai Gate, are you?" Orihime barely kept her voice from cracking. Urahara looked at her and noticed her eyes were still glued on the door, but were now staring into some other dimension and time.

The shopkeeper immediately wished he had another solution.

Orihime dreaded the answer she knew was coming. No, he couldn't.

Now what was she supposed to do?

Urahara's mind jumped. What if…?

"Inoue-san," Orihime snapped back to the present when she heard the excited change in Urahara Kisuke's voice. "I think I might have a way to get you to Soul Society."

"You'll open a Senkai Gate for me?" Orihime was ready to hug the ex-captain if it wasn't for the state of shock she was sent into due to his answer.

"No," Urahara was now wearing a sly grin. "iYou/i will."

Ulquiorra walked into his high-security chamber. There were no windows anywhere, but the room was still bright. The walls were a luminescent white, and the floor covered in an off white carpet. The only pieces of furniture were a black bed with white sheets and pillows, a black leather couch with a glass coffee table, and a rather large bamboo plant in the far corner.

Were all high-security prisoners given such luxury?

"Your food will be brought to you thrice a day. I will return in a couple of hours with your first mean," Ulquiorra just nodded his approval and waited for the door to close. After it was closed, his mind traveled back to the hearing…

What had been the strange mixture of emotions he had felt? Now that he pondered it… it seemed like he had been ready to die. Or did he want to die? But he ididn't/i want to die because of his Onna. She was probably worried out of her mind, wondering where Ulquiorra had gone. What if she went out and started looking for him and got lost and met some vermin in an alley and…

Ulquiorra frowned. His Onna's wild imagination seemed to be rubbing off on him…

Frowning more intensely, he turned his mind back to what had happened during the hearing.

iThe Central 46 called this "high-security chamber 2". Does that mean that there is an occupant in the first high-security chamber?/i Ulquiorra pondered who could pose as much of a threat to Soul Society as they thought that he, the ex-Cuatro Espada, did? The only threat he could think of was Aizen, whom Ichigo had killed. So who was it?

iPerhaps a fellow Espada survived?/i

And the Hogyoku… Now that he thought about it, Ulquiorra realized that no one had spoken to him about the Hogyoku or Aizen since he went to live with his Onna. He was smart enough to realize that the obvious tension in the atmosphere in Karakura Town and Soul Society was gone, most likely meaning the enemy had been defeated.

Unbeknownst to Ulquiorra Cifer, Aizen Sosuke was still alive. In the high-security cell next to him…