Orihime happily hummed to herself as she set the table, putting a thing of dishes at each place. A plate, a side plate, and a bowl with a wine glass and a regular glass, topped off with a salad fork, a regular fork, a spoon, and a knife. She even went so far as to set up napkins, and added a center piece to the middle of the table. Of course, the center piece was just a vase full of artistic-looking twigs that she had happened upon when looking through the drawers holding the dishes, but it worked.

She was so happy to hear that everyone was coming to dinner. She had always wanted to cook a large feast, meant for her friends after a battle. It was almost like she really was a princess, setting out the victory meal for her beloved knights.

She giggled to herself thinking about that, trying to imagine Ulquiorra in a suite of armor. "I'll save you woman." He declared in his mind, holding up a sword to the throat of the giant centipede. "Ulquiorra, no! I'll take this one." She held up her arm, fitted with technology, preparing to fire her laser beam. She aimed at the head of the monster bug that had dared crawl into her kitchen, her hand held open as it began to glow-

"Orihime?"

Orihime blinked back into reality, a little embarrassed at having been caught daydreaming again. "Rukia-san." She greeted, smiling brightly as her friend walked over to the table.

"What's all this?" The woman asked with a smile, running her hand over the surface of the white table.

"I made dinner!" Orihime cheered, not noticing it when Rukia went a little pale. "Everyone is invited, and it will be so much fun!"

Rukia nodded slowly, laughing a little bit. Suddenly, though, she stopped and frowned. "Orihime…"

Orihime stopped in the middle of her twirl, looking back over at Rukia. "Hm? What is it?"

Rukia licked her lips, and then slowly she leaned back into the table. "Well… Orihime, I didn't want to bring this up so soon, but Ichigo… well, he wants to go home."

A pause. "I… I don't understand."

"Well… listen, Orihime, I know you're happy here. I can tell. And I know that Ulquiorra isn't as bad as everyone thinks he is. I mean, Tatsuki herself told me how he dove right out the window after you on that day… and how he actually looked pained… But Orihime, do you really think you can stay here?"

Orihime blinked, and then slowly she felt her shoulders slump. "I see."

"Ulquiorra is more than welcome to come back with us, if-"

"No."
Rukia looked startled. "What?"

"He… I know he was trying… but he doesn't like it there. He hates living in the human world. I… I can't do that to him, can I? Could I really force him to come with me and live like a human? He… he would be humiliated. He's supposed to be dead-"

"You're supposed to be dead." Rukia cut in. "Everyone saw your-" Before she could say 'dead body' she stopped, and watered the words down a bit. "You. And he dove right after you. But yet, your body showed up perfectly fine in town and got spotted not even three weeks after. Everyone thinks it's a miracle, and they're all waiting for both you and Cifer to come back."

Orihime slowly frowned. "What if… What if I didn't go back?"

Rukia's eyes went wide. "What?!"

Orihime was silent. Rukia took a moment to study her, look at her. It was then it struck her just how much Orihime had changed since the month she had spent in Los Noches as a prisoner. She wasn't a delicate little daisy anymore, just bending with the wind and hoping not to be stepped on- always chanting for the sun's love. She was a rose, thriving in the desert, beautiful and lovely, but with thorns as well. She wouldn't just bend to the breeze now, she was growing over rocks. She didn't hope to not be stepped on- anyone who did would get a painful surprise. And she didn't long for the love of the sun- she basked in the love of the night sky.

Orihime had grown into herself. And though she was still sweet, kind hearted, bubbly Orihime, she wasn't the girl she had been. She was stronger. She was capable and sure of herself.

Rukia respected that.

"Rukia-san… I know this is crazy… but I think I want to live in both worlds." The cinnamon haired woman lent back against the table, sutding the ceiling with a smile. "Every morning, opening up a tear in the sky so that I could run to school. And then every night the sky would open back up and swallow me, just like the rain…" She reached her hand forward, eyes far away. "And I could finally connect with someone… and be happy at the same time."

Rukia listened to the words, and she processed them, and recognized that it wasn't a bad idea. But it was sort of hard to miss the fact that Orihime herself looked like she knew that wasn't going to happen. How odd, when the idea really could work… She had that look in her eyes that she had before she brought him back. The look where you could practically see a hand turning into ash reflecting back out at you through her eyes.

Rukia pushed the thought back and smiled. "That's a great idea Orihime. I don't think that it's crazy." Feeling the silence start to thicken to a point where it was just barely on the fringe of becoming awkward, Rukia started to the door. "Anyway, I'm going to go get Ichigo. I'm sure he'll be happy to come to the feast."

"Oh, yeah!" Then Orihime was the girl Rukia knew again, hopping around like an excited puppy. "The food!"

Rukia watched as Orihime took of running, her white cape flaring out behind her.

She hadn't missed the girl's sudden melancholy. It was clear that this was one of the times Orihime knew something was going to happen, and yet she didn't realize she knew. It was clear to everyone but Orihime herself that the girl had that feeling again.

Something bad was going to happen. And soon.

.

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Sorry that it's so short, again. D: To make up for it I will TRY to get in another update before Wednesday. Anyway, this chapter was pretty much me setting up the fact that Orihime HAS changed a little bit since... well, yeah. And also putting up that silent wall of dread. Don't worry, I will still do requests if I can (the requests I'm trying to get in are little things that can happen before the 'big battle' as one might say. So yeah.) Anyway, everyone knows I love reviews. So if you would all be so kind as to drop one off, I will actually be able to reply, as I just got back from another state and am back home. Thanks again!