Hearts of Glass, Steel, Fire and Ice

That night, Orihime dreamed about the four pairs of brown eyes once again. This time the order in which they appeared was altered as well as the expressions within them.

The first pair to appear was the sad and pain filled ones. They seemed to be trying to tell her something important. There was a kind of desperation reflected in those eyes as they tried to communicate something Orihime couldn't comprehend, but that she felt she ought to know.

Second was the pair of brown eyes that looked at Orihime with a familiar and deeply missed affection. This time, the eyes more effectively communicated to Orihime that she needed to be strong. That whatever happened next that she had the ability to face it head-on.

Then, just as she was starting to believe what the second pair of brown eyes was trying to tell her, the third pair came into view. The eyes that had once burned with such determination and conviction had become alarmingly dull. The fire was beginning to go out and become replaced with a glazed almost unfocused look.

Finally, those sinister brown eyes came into focus. They seemed to laugh at her mockingly at her desperation over the previous pair of eye's plight. Also, those eyes flashed in pride over some unknown victory that was close at hand.

With a startled cry, Orihime jerked awake and sprang up in bed. Her upward progress was impeded, however, by a larger and bulkier body than Orihime's. As Orihime bounced off the body above her, she heard a low grunt of surprise resound within the large chest.

After catching herself, Orihime whirled her head around and cried out, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean…I didn't know…"

When a large hand landed firmly on her shoulder, Orihime stopped stammering as Chad's low voice said in a matter-of-fact but still concerned tone, "You were mumbling and moaning just now. Was it a nightmare?"

Opening her mouth to continue protesting and apologizing, Orihime was stopped when two strong hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her around until she was facing yet another pair of brown eyes. Only these ones were firm and would accept nothing but the absolute truth. The previously forgotten dream surged back to the forefront of her mind and it almost felt as if someone had punched her in the gut.

Orihime was brought back to reality once again when Tatsuki gave her shoulders a shake and said firmly, "Tell us what's wrong. We want to help."

Reaching up to enclose Tatsuki's slightly calloused hands between her own, Orihime shook her head and replied softly, "I was dreaming, but I'm not entirely sure why it affected me so strongly."

"Tell us what the dream was," said Uryu from Orihime's other side, "and we'll see if we can't figure out what the meaning was. Even if we can't, usually just talking about something troubling you can help lift a little of the weight from your shoulders."

Nodding her head, but looking distractedly at the ground as she tried to put her thoughts and the dream into words, Orihime said, "There were eyes looking at me…as they looked at me, I felt as though I knew who the eyes belonged to, but I can't remember now. Each pair of eyes gave me a different feeling either of peace, comfort, discomfort or anxiousness…but it's all becoming fuzzy."

Looking up at her new friends, Orihime saw each of them looking at each other and alternately shrugging their shoulders or shaking their heads slightly in confusion.
Noticing Orihime looking at them, Uryu leaned forward to place a comforting hand on her shoulder as he said, "We don't have any interpretation of the dream for you, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are grateful that you feel comfortable enough with us to share your dream."

Giving Uryu a small smile, Orihime said softly, "Thank you for listening. I do feel calmer now."

With a grin of her own, Tatsuki replied, "That's good to-wait a minute," her head snapped around to face the woods as she whispered in a husky, "Hear that?"

Immediately, everyone froze in place and listened intently for a moment or two before they heard it as well. The sound of someone making their way towards the camp. Eyes wide, Orihime saw Tatsuki palm her dagger hilt and Chad clench his fists while Uryu shifted his body in front of hers so that he was shielding her.

To everyone's immense surprise, a young man stumbled into the firelight and Orihime could see immediately that he was barely remaining upright. As he raised his head to stare at the group, Orihime also noticed that his clothes were torn and bloody, his light blue hair was tangled with a good amount of dirt and leaves and that his intense blue eyes betrayed just how exhausted he was even though that immediately vanished when his eyes connected with hers.

With a condescending smirk, the young man said bitterly, "Well, well, well. Who'd have guessed I'd come stumbling into your camp? Isn't that just my luck?"

Rising to her feet and drawing her dagger, Tatsuki said in a low, serious tone, "I don't know who you are or what you want, but you'd better clear out now."

Baring his teeth at her in an unpleasant leer, the young man replied, "And what are you going to do if I don't?"

Standing up next to Tatsuki, Chad said simply, "We don't want any trouble."

The young man's smile broadened as he straightened up to his full height and he said, "Well, it just so happens that I might just be in the mood to make some. What do you say to that?"

Before either side could say or do any more, Orihime got to her feet and walked over to one of her pack horses. Hands shaking slightly, she swiftly retrieved the items she needed and then turned back to face her friends and the young man.

Addressing the young man, Orihime asked in a calm voice, "Will you let me treat your wounds? I don't know much, but I'm sure that I can be of some help."

At her words, the young man's eyes had looked into Orihime's with an expression of absolute dumbfounded amazement before he managed to ask, "What? Why?"

"Are you sure you want to do that, Orihime?" asked Uryu.

Head tilting in surprise and confusion, Orihime answered, "Of course I'm sure. He's injured and I have the ability to help him, so I want to do what I can. Just like I told you all earlier, so many people have been kind to me on my journey and I feel it's my duty to do what I can for anyone I come across."

Turning her attention back to the injured young man, Orihime walked over until she was about two paces away from him and she asked again, "Will you let me help you?"

As she looked into the young man's eyes, Orihime sensed that he seemed to be trying to understand why she would want to help him. He also seemed to be fighting with himself over whether or not he should allow her to help him. While she desperately wanted to say something that would convince him to let her help him, Orihime's intuition told her it would be better to simply stand there, look into his eyes calmly and kindly and wait for his answer.

After what felt like an eternity, the young man's eyes became slightly flinty as he plopped down on the ground and said grudgingly, "It's not like you could make things any worse, so I guess you can knock yourself out."

For a moment, Orihime wasn't sure how she should interpret those words, but then realized that he was probably telling her that she could get to work. Kneeling down next to the young man, she carefully laid out her materials before looking back into his blue eyes.

"What is your name?"

The young man's eyes widened momentarily before he looked away. Feeling slightly disappointed at the young man's continued hostile attitude, Orihime carefully reached out to take hold of his injured right arm when she heard him utter one word.

"Grimmjow."

Smiling a little as she set about her work, Orihime replied, "It's nice to meet you, Grimmjow. My name is Orihime."

All though she couldn't be sure, Orihime could have sworn Grimmjow muttered something like, "Yeah, I know who you are all right," but he refused to say another word the rest of the time she was fixing him up.

While Chad and eventually Uryu came over to offer their assistance, Orihime was so absorbed in her task that she barely noticed. Once she got a closer look at Grimmjow's wounds, Orihime's heart and stomach lurched as she wondered what could have caused such deep and painful looking wounds. She also couldn't help wondering what kind of wounds the other person or thing might have in return from Grimmjow. She also marveled at just how strong Grimmjow's strength and determination were since he only flinched once or twice during the entire procedure, but never uttered a sound.

Finally, Orihime was able to sit back and say with a sigh, "All right, at least the wounds are clean and they should heal up nicely. You probably should rest and build up your strength before you…" but her voice trailed off when she realized that Grimmjow had somehow managed to fall asleep sitting up.

As she turned to get up, Orihime was stopped by Chad who had somehow read her mind and fetched out some spare blankets and cloaks to make a kind of make-shift bed for Grimmjow. Giving Chad a grateful smile, Orihime made Grimmjow as comfortable as possible before getting up and making her way back to her own bed. At this point, Orihime was so tired she didn't notice Tatsuki sitting with her back against a tree and her dagger still in hand. As soon as Orihime's head hit her pillow, she was once again fast asleep.

Author's Note:

I'm really sorry about the delay in getting this out and I am especially apologetic about the length, but I wasn't satisfied with how it was going after I re-read it back in the beginning of November, so I deleted what I had and tried again. Then tonight I tried a third time and I'm more satisfied with how it turned out, but I need to get to bed so it wasn't as long as I would like.

Anyway, excuses aside, hope you enjoyed this update.