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It looks like I'm going to have to slow my updating-pace down. D: I am just not having time to write a chapter a day. XD So! I'm going to start doing a chapter a week. I will probably update more than once a week, probably around one ever two days, but that's my new official update schedule. Thank you all!
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Ulquiorra and Orihime returned to their quarters after the other two arrancars had been healed. They had learned from the two that their borders had been breached, and that it seemed that none of the enemy could be cut. From attritional forces they were informed that the opposing arrancar had fled soon after breaching the border. They were safe for the moment. The enemy they had all seen only seemed to be gathering intelligence, and had gotten what they needed.
Once things had calmed down Halibel told everyone to go about their business. The next day, she had said, they would figure out what they were going to do in preparation for the unavoidable war.
"I can't believe that Nnotora is doing this." Orihime sighed as she sat on the couch. She pulled the tray out of the wall that brought new clothing, grabbing her nightgown. The dress was light; it was white material that fell to the middle of her thighs, put white except for the black hems, spaghetti straps, and stitched flowery number four over the right breast. She really did wonder where the clothes came from; she wanted to know who designed them so that she could thank them for such pretty things, but she never found the time to ask.
"You should not be surprised." Ulquiorra intoned. He opened up the tray next to her own- her's was a newer attrition that had seemingly appeared over night. Orihime was surprised to find that he wore pajamas as well. It was a simple white T-shirt and loose black pajama pants that fell to the ankle. She thought he managed to make them look regal. "He is a midless pig who craves war. The fact that he is alive is nothing to be amazed at, and that he is stupid enough to appose us is even more laughable."
Orihime let his words sink in for a moment, playing with the nightgown crumbled up in her lap. "Don't you think it's weird that the arrancar that attacked couldn't be cut, though?"
His eyes narrowed, glaring at the wall as he stood in front of her. She took his silence as a yes. It was clear he found that incredibly odd.
"And-"
"It does not matter." He cut her off, suddenly looking back at her. Their eyes met, a tinge of electricity sparking to life in Orihime's stomach under his gaze. "We will think of this matter when we the morning comes."
She nodded slowly, standing with a small smile. "You're right." She agreed with a happy note of determination in her voice. "We don't need to worry about it now!"
He nodded in agreement, watching as she happily walked to his bedroom, intent on changing in the bathroom like she did every night.
It was their usual routine. They would talk a bit about the day, getting their clothes from the tray in the wall. When she went into the bathroom to change he would quickly swap his own clothes out in the bedroom. He would be holding his dirty clothes when she came out of the bathroom, and then she would hand him her neatly folded dirty clothes. He didn't know why she bothered, but she said she wanted to be polite. He didn't argue with that. He would take their clothes and put them in the trays the clean ones would come on, then return to the bedroom. He would wait for her to finish up in the bathroom, and then he would go in.
He would listen to her as she sat on the bed, still talking, and then come to sit with her on the bed so that they could converse a bit more before sleeping. She would curl up in his bed, and he would go to the couch.
That night, it went a little differently.
One new thing was that Orihime came out of the bathroom, talking, a brush running through her hair.
"Thank you for the brush." She said as she sat on his bed.
He nodded, heading into open bathroom.
"I think that maybe you would like a lot of games in the human world." She said, switching topic without any indication. She did that a lot, he was used to it. "Card games, I think. You have to really think with them."
"The game you introduced the espada to earlier this evening was… enjoyable." He said from within the bathroom.
"I thought you would like it." She happily chimed, finishing up brushing out her hair. She stood with her brush in hand. "You'd like Rich Man Poor Man, too."
The light in the bathroom clicked off, Ulquiorra coming out of the open doorway. "Perhaps." He noted the brush in her hand and held his hand out, asking for it without words.
She put the brush in his hand, watching as he leaned over to place it on the bathroom counter. She plopped back down on the bed, leaning back on her palms. "Tatsuki likes that game, too. Rukia-chan is very good at it."
He followed her to the bed, sitting beside her. "Do you miss them?"
"Yes," She admitted as she looked up at the ceiling, her mind someo where else. "But I like it here, too, now." With a smile and a breath she laid back on the bed, her cinnamon hair spilling around her and twirling in patterns on top of the white sheets.
He silently considered what she had said, watching her as she breathed steadily, looking up at the ceiling with interest. He guessed that she wasn't seeing the ceiling, but another scene entirely. Her face was full of peace; a subtle sort of happiness he decided made her look attractive, much more so than when she was filled with sadness.
"Woman."
"Hmm?" She turned her head to look up at him, small smile still in place. She wet her lips, not realizing it, Ulquiorra's gaze following her pink tongue as it swept across her lips with great interest.
"You do not mind my company?" He asked after a moment, his eyes lifting back to her own. He wanted to know, which surprised him. He never really cared what people thought of him, but now he found himself wanting to be something she looked forward to. It was odd, but not entirely unpleasant.
She laughed softly. "Of course not. I like having you around." She yawned quietly, her mouth opening in an O as arms stretched over her head. "You're a… a very good friend, Ulquiorra." She admitted, blushing.
He looked at her red cheeks, noticing that they tended to become pink when she felt embarrassed or flustered. The flush of life under over her face made him want to touch her cheeks, to feel the warmth of the blood that had risen to the surface there.
And it frustrated him.
He wanted many things from the woman that made no sense. It was not lust. He took solace in moments with her, and not just moments where they kissed. So what was it that made him so irrational in her presence?
She was the one who knew emotions, was she not? She knew of the heart she had given him?
"What is this that I feel?" He asked. The question didn't sound very much like a inquiry- more like a demand.
"Huh?" She blinked a couple of times. "What do you feel?"
He paused, trying to surmise the feeling. He finally settled on a sensation akin to the feeling. "Warm."
She smiled. "That's happy." She said, her tone mirroring the emotion.
He shook his head slowly. "I know happiness." He said in a low tone. "And this is something different. It is irrational."
She pushed herself up until she was leaning back on her palms again, sitting up. She furrowed her brow, looking at him in confusion. "When do you feel it?"
"When I am in your company." He told her, not missing a beat. "Increasingly when my skin comes into contact with your own. I… desire to posses you." He was confused. The sound of himself being unsure made him tense. He didn't like being confused at all.
He watched as her skin heated up again, a blush rising to her cheeks once more. "Oh…" She managed, her eyes wider than they had been a moment ago.
Thinking she needed more to go off of, he elaborated. "This feeling. It makes me consider doing things I would not consider doing for another. For example, I consider your feelings. This is not something that I should do. Your feelings don't matter." And then he scowled, looking away from her. "They do, though. They matter very much to me, and I do not understand why. There is no logical reason behind it. Where I trying to deceive you, or evoke a reaction from you, I would consider your feelings. But I do not wish to do ether of these things when I consider what you feel and what you feel towards myself at any time, for no reason at all."
She was still looking at him, face red, mouth slightly parted.
He turned back to her, brow still furrowed. "So tell me, woman, what it is that is wrong with me. What is this feeling?"
She slowly opened her mouth. "Ulquiorra." She said his name to get his full attention, not knowing if she really had his entire attention. She timidly raised a hand to him, placing it on his shoulder. She gulped, and then made herself force out the words she wanted to say. "Do… Would you…" She closed her eyes tight, and then let out a breath of air. When her eyes opened again, they shined with determination. "K-kiss me. Please."
He was surprised. He didn't follow orders from anyone, including the woman. Except…
He did.
He moved forward, a hand slipping up her back to hold the back of her neck. Their lips met in a clash, fire igniting and making blood boil like magma. Her hands went to his hair, fisting on ether side of his head. His unattended hand went to her waist, circling around her and pulling her form flush against his own.
Her head was moving, her body rising to gain better access to his mouth. He moved the hand from her neck to her hip, other hand mirroring so that he was holding her up, her chest pressed against his own.
"Love." She gasped after they broke apart. "I-I think it's love."
"Love?" He asked, his voice deeper than usual- husky. "That is what this is?" He moved up, taking hungry kisses from her lips and trailing to her jaw in fast succession.
She circled her arms around his head, holding fast to him as he bit at her neck. "Yes." She breathed, small gasps flying from her mouth as he made his way to her collarbone. "I, I think."
"Do not think." He murmured against her skin, moving back up to her jaw. "Tell me, for certain, what this is. What I feel. What you feel."
"Love." She whispered again, her mouth meeting with his. Warm and wet, hungry. She felt like she had been waiting for him for a thousand years, silently longing for his touch her life and all the lives before that.
He did not feel he had been waiting for her all his life. It was something greater than that; more complex.
He hadn't realized he wanted anything until she was there. Now he simply knew that he wanted her, that he needed her. She was right for him. They weren't destined for another, souls waiting thousands of life times to meet. No soul could realize something so perfect and wait for it. A bond like what they had could only be forged once in many, many life times, made from pure change and against all odds.
A perfect fit wasn't one meant to be. It was one made.
He allowed her tongue into his mouth, finding the sensation wasn't something to loath despite the disgust he might think it would provide him. He found after a moment he relished the sensation.
He found that he wished to explore her own mouth, such a wonderful thing as it was. She gasped when his own tongue entered her mouth, dominant in search for conquest.
She tasted sweet, like honey; which he had tried in the world of the living and hadn't hated. He hadn't liked it, though, he wasn't really fond of sweet things.
But there was something unique about the woman's taste that he just couldn't get enough of.
They drew apart, gasping for breath, lips hot and shinny.
She sank her head into his shoulder, suddenly, her lips trembling against the skin of his neck. "Ulquiorra."
He moved his hands up, arms following, crossing over her back as each appendage found a shoulder to grip. Hair stuck to sweat covered skin, both of them breathing faster than normal.
"You are distressed." He noted, voice still deep and quiet.
Her hands moved around his neck, returning his embrace as she lowered herself down onto his lap. She sat there, straddling him without realizing it.
"I'm scared." She whispered, her breath blowing across his neck and making him shiver.
"Of what?"
"I don't want to loose you. Or be separated again. I just…"
He tightened his grip on her. "Do not think of what the future may bring. Your fear is irrational." He ran a hand from the back of her head down, smoothing out her hair and calming her before returning to its place on her shoulder. "I will not be departing any time soon. Nor will I allow you to be removed from my side if it is not what you wish."
She sucked in a breath of air, nodding against him. She leaned her head to his, her grip loosening. She kissed the junction between his neck and shoulder lightly, her fingers weaving up into his hair.
He was able to recognize that she wanted peace. He could tell she just wanted to stay in the moment of calm, just the two of them together, calm.
So he drew back the sheets, carefully picking her up with hands on her hips, laying her in bed. He lay beside her, watching as she turned her head to stare into his eyes.
Her hand reached out, her body scotching closer to him as he drew the sheets up around them. He let her touch his face, her fingers tracing his tear streaks as he watched her.
Her index finger moved down one tear streak, them skipped over to the other. She trailed down the green line, ending at the jaw, and then followed it up to his ear. She moved down, tracing his jaw to the other ear, and then sliding her finger around his eye. She moved her finger down his nose, then over to trace around the other eye. She traced over his eyebrows and then moved her fingers down to his lips, following around them.
"Woman." His lips moved against her fingers, making her still on his chin for a moment. "What are you doing?"
"Memorizing." She murmured, going back to sliding her fingers over his features. She did it with a gentle determination, trying to commit his face to memory.
He raised a hand and intercepted her own, lightly trapping it by taking hold of her wrist. "You do not need to. You are not going to lose me, nor am I going to allow myself to lose you. So you may put your mind at ease, and go to sleep. We have much to do in the morning."
She nodded tiredly, closing her eyes for a moment.
Ulquiorra lay there, his hand and her own the only things touching. He had just enough time to realize that he missed the heat of her body when Orihime opened her eyes again.
"Um…" She blushed. "Can I please snuggle with you?"
He didn't know what 'snuggle' meant. But the way she asked it, he didn't think that it would be a bad thing. "Yes."
She moved over to him, curling against his side. Her forehead tucked under his jaw, her arm going around him. He found himself automatically responding to her touch, just as he did when they kissed, and slipped an ankle inbetween her own. She moved her leg up until her bent knee rested just below his hip, her whole body clinging to him. He allowed an arm to slip over her waist.
He decided he liked 'snuggling'. He also decided he hated the word.
"Goodnight, Ulquiorra."
And for the first time in his life, Ulquiorra felt the corner of his lips lighten. They did not lift, but they did not pull down in a frown, ether. It was as close to a smile as he had ever gotten.
"Goodnight, woman."
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You know what inspired this chapters? The reviews raving over the last kiss. This would not have happened were it not for them. Thank you, my most awesome reviewers. Let me know what you think! Don't be afraid to voice something you want to happen. Thanks you all! Even you, silent readers. I think you all rock.