Hearts of Glass, Steel, Fire and Ice

Before reaching up to take the woman's proffered hand, Orihime looked into the woman's eyes and asked, "How did you know my name? How did you know that I would come here?"

Nodding her head, the woman replied, "While those are both excellent questions, my dear, the two you really should be asking in this situation is what you are going to do now that you are here and how much you really want to learn from me."

In answer to Orihime's blank look, the woman said, "You were brought here for a reason, Orihime Inoue. To learn from me for a time before you continue on your journey."

Reaching out her hand again, the woman said, "Now please come inside. We can talk more comfortably there and my family would like to greet you as well."

Taking the woman's hand, as she stood up Orihime asked in a hushed voice, "May I ask what your name is?"

Smiling, the woman assisted Orihime out of the boat and said, "Of course you may. My name is Retsu and it is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."

Following the woman towards the house, Orihime looked around her to see that the lawn was divided into several different kinds of gardens. One was completely devoted to growing flowers and other beautiful plants. Another grew a wide variety of herbs, several of which Orihime had seen Masaki or Isshin collect in order to use in different medical poultices. Yet another grew all sorts of delicious looking vegetables and a few fruit plants as well. The last garden Orihime noticed was one entirely made of shrubs, bushes and other medium sized plants that had all been trimmed into different designs and shapes.

When they reached the front door, Retsu opened the door and ushered Orihime in ahead of herself and so Orihime stepped over the threshold first. After seeing the outdoors, Orihime really shouldn't have been surprised at the interior, but still it was a little surprising.

Ivy slowly snaked its way up many of the walls. Planting pots with many different varieties of flowers, shrubs, tomato plants and other things were arranged on the floor so that it almost looked as if everything had just been haphazardly placed upon the floor, but Orihime could see that there was a kind of path one could walk through with plenty of space so as not to knock anything over.

All this she took in the space of about two seconds, for the next thing she knew, a low, male voice said, "So this is the girl you spoke of, Sister?"

Orihime whirled to her right and saw that the speaker was a rather tall man with dark hair and piercing blue eyes just like Retsu's. The one main difference was that while Retsu seemed to have a pleasant nature, this man was somewhat aloof and his eyes betrayed not the slightest hint of emotion.

In response to the question, Retsu stepped forward, placed a friendly hand on Orihime's shoulder and addressed the man saying, "Yes, Byakuya. I would like to introduce you to our guest. Her name is Orihime Inoue and she will be staying with us for some time."

To Orihime, Retsu said, "Orihime, this is my brother, Byakuya."

Turning to Byakuya, Orihime bowed politely and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir."

There was a slight grunt in acknowledgement and when Orihime raised her eyes again, she caught sight of another, smaller figure walking up behind Byakuya. It was a woman who also had dark hair and blue eyes, only the shade was not quite the same as Retsu's or Byakuya's.

As the woman made her way to stand next to Byakuya, Retsu spoke up again saying, "Ah, Hisana. May I introduce you to our guest? Her name is Orihime Inoue."

When the woman caught sight of Orihime, she smiled and slowly made her way past Byakuya to come and take Orihime's hand and say in a soft, kind voice, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Orihime. My name is Hisana and Byakuya," here she turned and nodded in the man's direction before turning back to Orihime, "is my husband. I do hope you have a pleasant stay here with us."

Orihime smiled and flushed with pleasure before she bowed again, a little less fluidly, and said, "I am very glad to meet you as well, Madam."

Hisana and Retsu both began laughing, Retsu in a low chuckle and Hisana in a high, almost musical giggle while Orihime looked on in confusion. What had she done wrong?

Finally Retsu was able to control her laughter, she said kindly, "Now Orihime, enough with the 'Madam' and 'Sir' titles. Honestly, we may be older than you, but please don't make us feel old and decrepit before our time. Just call us by our names and we'll all get along wonderfully."

Turning her eyes back towards her husband, Hisana said, "Well, I know I'll be happy not to be addressed as such, but I'm not so sure about Byakuya. He's always been something of an old soul and I think being called 'Sir' definitely appealed to him."

Byakuya's only response was to raise an eyebrow, grunt and then turn sophisticatedly to stride out of the room.

Before Orihime could say anything, Retsu said with a sigh, "Don't mind my brother, Orihime. He has a good heart, but it does take some time before he will warm up to someone he's just met. And even still with those whom he trusts absolutely he can sometimes seem cold and distant."

"While the words may seem harsh, I suppose they are somewhat adequate to describe him."

Whipping her head around, Orihime saw that the speaker was another rather tall man with very long, silvery hair. Unlike Byakuya, this man was smiling and had warm, brown eyes.

Retsu turned as well, smiled and said in a slightly more gentle and loving tone, "Ah, Orihime, this is my husband, Jyuushiro. Darling, this is Orihime Inoue."

Jyuushiro returned his wife's smile before stepping forward to take Orihime's hand and say kindly, "Pleased to meet you, Orihime. I do hope you enjoy your stay here in our home."

Orihime flushed in gratitude and said, "Thank you, Si-" she cut herself off as she remembered Retsu's words and stuttered to correct herself, "I-I-I mean, thank you…Jyu-Jyuushiro."

Retsu chuckled again as she said, "Well, that wasn't so hard now was it? Anyway, let's all go to the kitchen and have some refreshments."

A few minutes later, Orihime was comfortably settled at a table surrounded by her new friends eating a light meal. Conversation flowed rather easily without her help, so while she would say something every once in a while, Orihime was mostly content to sit in silence like Byakuya.

Soon, however, the soothing sound of friendly voices, the feeling of a filling meal in her stomach and a little bit of exhaustion from the journey she had had that day and even the cry she had had in Urahara's Shop all finally took their toll and Orihime's eyelids closed.

The first person to notice that she was about to fall asleep and knock her head against the table was Byakuya and he swiftly yet silently made his way to Orihime's side before he lifted her easily into his arms.

Retsu smiled and whispered to her brother, "The guest bedroom is all made up," to which he nodded in understanding before turning and making his way down the hallway. When he arrived at the doorway, Retsu opened the door for him so that he could carry the girl inside and lay her on the bed. He then turned and left, passing by his wife on the way, who smiled up at her husband before making her way over to help Retsu prepare the sleeping girl for bed. A few minutes later, both women exited, said their good-nights to one another and went to their own sleeping quarters.

Orihime slept peacefully through the whole night, something that had not happened in quite some time as thoughts of Sora or Ichigo would pop up just as she was about to fall asleep. In this house, she felt safe, which was true in a way.

Some distance away, inside a large and shadowy cave, Orihime's journey to Retsu's home was being discussed by five individuals. Four of the individuals had had no direct contact with Orihime as of yet while another had been quite influential in bringing about not only Orihime's ordeals but Ichigo's as well.

One of the individuals sat on a kind of stone throne that had been placed on a kind of pedestal towards the back of the room. Usually throne rooms were illuminated with light so that the occupant of the throne could be seen quite clearly and admired by all who saw them. In this case, the person sitting on the throne was enshrouded in shadow. There were some torches burning in the front of the room so that there was some light by which to see where one was going, but they were positioned in such a way as to keep the identity of the throne's occupant a mystery in some ways. One could see the outline of the person on the throne, but that was about all. It gave the entire room and the person who ruled over it a rather sinister air.

Besides the regal personage on the shadowy throne, there were four others standing in various spots across the room. One was big and burly with scraggly black hair and a rather cruel countenance but at the moment he was leaning against the wall and looking immensely bored. Another was standing rather close to the large man and while he also had midnight black hair, he was very well groomed with startlingly green eyes. On the other side of the room, also leaning against the wall was a man with blue hair and piercing blue eyes to match. The last person was standing in front of the pedestal and seemed to be giving a report.

"The girl has arrived at the Healer's home, Excellency."

The person sitting on the throne shifted slightly and said in a low, resonant and rather unconcerned tone, "Yes, I expected as much. Ulquiorra, how fares the boy?"

The man with green eyes stepped forward and said in a monotone, "My Lord, the boy seems to have adjusted well to his new surroundings. At first it seemed doubtful whether he would survive or not, but the transformation is now complete and the last I saw he was completely stable. The Princess has given him the task of overseeing the more violent winter storms and blizzards."

The man in the shadows nodded and leaned back in his chair, saying smoothly, "Very good. Very good indeed."

Almost to himself, yet still in a voice that carried to every inch of the cave, he said, "Everything is progressing exactly according to plan."

The man with the blue hair pushed himself away from the wall and said in a harsh tone, "Yeah, yeah. Everything is going according to your plan. That's all well and good, but when can I leave this drafty cave and go back out there. I'm so bored just waiting around twiddling my thumbs."

The man on the throne did not move, but his voice gained a little more of an edge as he said, "Patience, Grimmjow. You have carried out your duties admirably by following my instructions to the letter. For the time being, however, your particular set of skills is no longer of use to me."

Grimmjow's eyes became icy as he said, "Well then, if that's the case then I guess I'll be on my way."

Even though the man's voice did not rise in volume, the absolute authority and dominance resonating in the words kept everyone in place as he said, "You will stay here, Grimmjow. You will be allowed to leave only when I say you may. Until then, you will wait here patiently with the others. Now leave, all of you."

Within a few minutes and throne room had been entirely vacated except for the man sitting on the throne…or had it?

"I don't mean to be impertinent, my lord, but Grimmjow is becoming far too volatile of late. His restlessness and lack of respect towards you will soon spread to the others. Then when he realizes what he has done, he may lead an uprising against you."

The low, monotone voice had come from the right side of the throne and as it continued a figure had stepped out from the shadows to reveal a man with long, dark dreadlocks. He moved deliberately yet confidently as he made his way to the front of the throne.

Another voice spoke from the other side of the throne saying in a rather sing-song tone, "While we don't agree on many things, I do think Kaname has a point there. Grimmjow really is getting too big for his britches."

Standing up slowly and stepping forward so that he began to be illuminated by the light, the leader said slowly, "I am well aware of the damage Grimmjow could do given the chance. However, Gin and Kaname, you both forget whom Grimmjow would be attempting to seize control from. As powerful as Grimmjow might be, do you really think he is much of a match when faced off against me?"

Kaname bowed respectfully as he said, "Of course not, my Lord Aizen. When compared with you, Grimmjow really is no match."

Aizen put his hands behind his back as he said, "However, it would be such a shame to loose such a useful soldier simply because I was unable to control him. I will have Ulquiorra keep an eye on him whenever possible, but in Ulquiorra's absence I trust that you, Kaname, and you, Gin, will be more than able to make sure Grimmjow stays in line."

Both men bowed deferentially and said in unison, "Yes, my lord," before they turned and left the cave.

Left alone, Aizen seemed to stare off in the distance with an amused look in his eyes and a relaxed smirk on his lips as he said, "And so, let the games begin…"

Author's Note:

Ok, so a few things you should know before this story goes any further:

1) I made Byakuya and Retsu blood brother and sister because they both have dark hair and blue eyes. Also, just a heads up, I intend to bring Kaien, Miyako and maybe Kukaku and Ganju as well with Kaien, Kukaku and Ganju being Retsu and Jyuushiro's children. As weird as it might seem now, I do have a reason for making them all one, big, happy family. I will give you one hint as to why I'm doing that: remember the legend Kisuke told to Ichigo and Orihime a few chapters back about the Guardians not being allowed to interact with one another? Well, that probably gave it away right there, but it's all right.

2) Just so everyone doesn't get all worried about my bringing in Hisana, Kaien and Miyako (and since I've already killed off Sora and Misaki), I have no intention of killing any of these characters. I'm hoping I can keep them alive since I haven't been able to before and I think they are really interesting and sweet characters. Also, none of their deaths would really advance the story at this point, so I'll keep them around.

3) Aizen is a character I'm really hoping I can get right, but if I don't please, please, please, please let me know! Also, I'm not entirely set on why he's doing all this or what he hopes to get out of it, so any ideas would be immensely helpful.

I think that's everything for now. As always, feel free to let me know if anything is just not adding up! Also, enjoy!