I didn't update yesterday. I'm so... terrible. XD Well, I had clean out the firetruck garage (it was FILTHY!) And then we had to fix up the firetrucks themselves. We have soooo much left to do, still. Then I got home, made some cookies and pretzels, and finished off the day watching movies with my family. Treasure Planet with the kids, House of Flying daggers with my sister. It was very nice. So, sorry, for not updating. Life just gets in the way sometimes.

~)o0o(~

It was dark.

In the dark, shadows slunk through the dark, whispering. The whispers were low in volume, deep in tone, and sinister in inetention. Everything was hot. Too hot. Terribly, terribly hot.

Orihime was alone.

Alone in a place she did not know, because she could not see through the dark enveloping her. Her eyes were beginning to sore from trying to look through the darkness too hard, but she couldn't seem to stop herself from searching the dim for signs of anyone and anything familiar.

"Shh, shh, Hush now. Hush. They little princess can hear you." A voice rasped in her ear, freezing breath blosing arcoss the girl's neck.

She turned, frightened, but found no one there.

"Hello?" She called into the darkness, her voice small and weak.

The whispering stopped.

The silence was pressing. It felt like it was drawing away her breath, crushing her lungs, filling her throat with icy water that made her blood burn even hotter. Her ears felt like they were bleeding, she was listening so hard. She couldn't even hear her own bated breath.

Her heart rate sped up.

"Do you want to fill the void, little girl?" A shrill man's voice rang in her other ear, right next to her.

Again she spun around, her dress falling around her hips in ripples of white, but once more there was nothing there.

"Poor thing." A voice called in the darkness. It was unidentifiable as male or female. It simply sounded… menacing. "All alone in the dark. Doesn't know where she is. Poor, poor, Hime."

Orihime opened her mouth, intent to call into the dim once more, but found she couldn't speak.

Her heart beat even faster than before.

It was hot.

Breath was cold.

She was scared

"Wouldn't it be a pity? A great pity, yes. Surely a pity it would be."

If what? She silently asked, voice no longer working. Her lack of voice frightened her more than she thought it should, considering what was going on. She couldn't speak, and that was terrifying.

"Yes. It's a pity."

A sharp pain throbbed over the spot where her hollow hole would be. Orihime looked down with wide eyes to find the area seeping blood, the crimson liquid burning her skin as it trailed down in between her breasts and soaked her clothes, making it's way slowly down to her stomach.

"There's a war coming, you know." The voice continued, caring not of her horror and pain. "And he's going to be taken away from you. This time, though, you won't be able to bring him back. And oh, the pain that will be. It might," A chain appeared, attached to the bleeding skin just below her collar. The chain wound up into a gnarled hand, the only thing she could see in the dark. The flesh of the hand was black, the nails white, blood dripping from the bone-like hand. It held the chain tightly. "Just end up ripping you apart."

The hand gave a sharp tug, and then disappeared, leaving her with a hollow hole in the center of her chest.

She choked, gasping, trying to draw air into her lungs and she held onto the area, trying as hard as she could to ebb the pain. She could suddenly make noise again, a wretched sob tearing from her throat, as the whispers began again. They rose in volume, drowning out her screams, the voice belonging to the hand she had earlier seen laughing, cackling, drowning out any sound that may have offered her solace.

And then he was there, the one that she was so scared to lose, hand reached out to her as he faded to dust.

"NO!"

~)o0o(~

"NO!" Orihime shot up in bed, hair flying around her face, sticking to her sweat-covered skin.

"Woman." Ulquiorra was sitting on the bed beside her, a hand on her shoulder.

She turned to him, eyes drinking in his form as her heart beet wildly in her chest. "U-ulquiorra." Still trying to get her breath back, Orihime threw her arms around him, sobbing, her body shaking with her cries.

He froze, wide-eyed, completely shocked. He couldn't move for a moment, so surprised he just sat there. Slowly through, he unfroze, his arms slowly going around her frame in an attempt to calm her.

"What is the matter?" He eventually asked.

"I d-don't wan-ant to t-talk about it." She sobbed quietly, holding tightly to him, as if she were afraid he would slip through her fingers at any moment.

"You are… unhappy?"

She sniffed, looking up at him, not caring that her eyes were red with tears. "I had a bad dream."

"You were screaming in your sleep." He told her, brushing a strand of her hair out of her face before he could stop himself.

She leaned into his touch, finding comfort in it, even as she dropped her arms from his form, his own hand pulling back to stick to his side, where it always was. He left the hand that touched her face, recognizing the comfort it offered her.

"I… I had a nightmare, I guess."
"It is because of this place?" He guessed.

She shook her head. "No, no." Slowly she stopped moving, putting her head back into his open palm. "It's just… actually, I don't know… it's not because we're here… I don't know what it was."

"You were frightened of something?"

"Of… loosing something."

"Your life?"

"No."

"The life of another?"

"… Yes."

He searched her face, trying to find out what was plaguing her. Then it struck him. "You fear loosing the orange-haired shinigami?"

"No." She admitted. "I don't."

Now he was confused. "Then who?"

"Who do you think?" She asked, reaching up to grab the hand on her face. She looked into his eyes, searching for the realization she hoped to see there.

He remained as expressionless as ever, if not a bit perplexed. For being so amazingly intelligent, she was a bit amazed that he had yet to figure it out.

"The only person I've ever lost, and been able to get back. The one I fear loosing again." She reached up with her other hand, lightly tracing his tear streaks. "You."

"This does not make sense." He murmured. "You should not feel this way… I am not something to fear loosing, Onna." But he didn't make a move to stop her from touching his face.

"Do you know what I feel?" She asked, ignoring what he was saying. She wanted him to figure it out for himself. For him to realize how much his loss would truly affect her.

"… Your fear?" She didn't confirm it nor deny it, so he went on as if she had said yes. "I am able to fear the loss… of another." The hand on her face moved a moment, caressing her face for just a breath.

"Then you should know what I feel." She breathed.

"You're crying again…" He whispered.

"I'm just happy." She said, a smile breaking from behind her tears. "To see you're okay. Because… my heart would… I just…"

"You're not making any sense." His voice was quiet, deep, breathy.

She fleetingly realized that they had been nearing each other the whole time they spoke, their voices getting softer and softer. "My heart would miss you." She admitted.

"Your heart…" His right hand fell to her chest, resting right over her heart, lightly, barely touching the area. His eyes looked into her own, probing, trying to find something that he wanted to be there. "I desire it."

"It's already yours." She whispered.

In that moment Orihime found herself pressing her lips to his, more bold than she had ever been before. Her cheeks were flaming, her heart was flying in her rib cage, and yet she couldn't think of anything that had made her feel so light before.

His reaction was akin to how he had responded to her embrace. He froze, eyes wide, completely still.

For a split second Orihime's embarrassment caught up to her. His lack of reaction deterred her, making her believe that perhaps he hadn't wanted the kiss. She drew back, apologies on the tip of her tongue.

But they never came.

His hand, the one her cheek, slipped to the back of her neck. Her pulled her forward, his other hand going up to cup her jaw, and pressed his lips to her own.

Her eyes flew shut, hands going up to grip his shirt. She pushed back, both adding pressure to the kiss. She gasped, feeling her heart jump, and felt him open his mouth to her.

Mouth sliding against mouth, they both sat in bed, tangled in the sheets, hearts soaring.

He drew her bottom lip into his mouth, tasting, his desire soaring with each small sound she made. He added his teeth to the mix, lightly nipping at her swollen pink lips, and felt her shiver. She hesitantly tasted his own lips, lightly biting down on his bottom lip. His hand fisted in her hair.

Testily, she ran her tongue over his black lip, trying to find what he wished.

His reaction was more than she had thought it would be. He pulled her up into his lap, his hand moving off of her jaw to brace them both with the hand against the bed. Her hands moved up around his neck, holding her to him, tasting and nipping, both trying to consume the other.

It was all so fast, dizzying, thoughts thrown out the window.

Her hands wandered, wanting to feel skin. With a mind of their own, her hands moved to his jacket, unzipping it. Her hands reveled at the discovery of uncharted flesh, quickly running up his stomach to rest on his bare chest.

His mouth moved to her jaw, planting small kisses all along it, not clumsy despite the emotion being so new to him.

When one of her hands skimmed the outside of his hollow hole he froze.

"What-"

A slim finger circled the odd inside of the opening in his chest.

He drew in a breath, hurriedly standing. He held her to him, making sure she didn't fall, and then placed her back on the bed. He looked into her eyes, searching again, probing, as they both just froze.

"Goodnight." He suddenly said, letting all contact between them cease.

And just like that he was gone from the room, the door hanging open behind him, leaving Orhime flustered and tangled in the sheets, her hair wild.

She blinked slowly, a hand creeping up to rest over her frantic heart. "What… was that?" She asked herself, cheeks flaring red.

The only answer was the small tap of the door closing, silently telling her to go back to sleep and try to comprehend it all in the morning.

And who was she to argue with that?

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I'm sure we all saw that one coming. It's not like anyone in my reviewing was BEGGING for a kiss. (Yes, you know who you are. XD) I hope I didn't rush it... Um, enjoy? (I enjoyed it. Heheheheheheh...)