Author Note: Here's the next one.

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Disclaimer: Bleach and its characters belong to Tite Kubo.

Chapter 10: Love

Past:

I spent a lot of time with Orihime since the day she was brought to Hueco Mundo. I'll admit it was a bit strange to suddenly be spending time with someone beside Ulquiorra. However, I felt that Orihime needed someone to be there with her and I took it upon myself to do just that.

I was the only one Orihime could really talk to so it wasn't that surprising that we did indeed become friends. She told me about many things: her friends, the human world, her time in the soul society and much more. I learned a lot about her and came to like her quirkiness and found it amusing when she would go off on a tangent about trivial things in the middle of a conversation and ramble about whatever it was for a bit.

One topic that seemed to always come up was Ichigo Kurosaki. I eventually pointed that out and found out why he was often in her thoughts.

"Oh Ichigo." Orihime was sighing again as she stared out the window. She was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed that I was there.

"You certainly think about him a lot." She jumped and spun around with a red face.

"What? When did you…?"

I smiled at her flustered reaction. Still blushing, Orihime plopped down on the sofa beside me. She silently played with the ends of her hair for a bit.

"I love him." I almost hadn't expected her to respond to my earlier inquiry but I immediately latched onto her words.

"Love?"

That one word seemed so meaningful yet I had never really heard the word before. I felt an unexplainable need to understand it though.

"What does that mean?"

Orihime looked so shocked by that question then a look of contemplation took over her features.

"Love is really hard to explain. It can mean so many different things and can vary from person to person. For me, it is about caring for others to such an extent that their happiness and safety can mean more to me than my own. Knowing they are alive and happy makes me happy. It's the reason I'm here; my friends were in danger and I was told they would be spared if I left…so I did."

I took in every word and suddenly things became clearer to me.

"There are different types of love. There's love between family members and love between friends. There is also romantic love." She seemed to have been sucked up into her own explanation as she had a faraway look in her eyes.

"Romantic?" I repeated questioningly, focusing on the most vague one.

"Romantic love is when someone wants to spend the rest of their life with another person. Just like with other types love they want to bring that person happiness and keep them safe. They want to be the cause of each smile and laugh and be able to comfort and help that person in their time of need. The thought that the other person could be happier spending time with someone else hurts…but sometimes the only thing you can do is accept that and support them."

There was a pain in her voice that showed that she was speaking from experience. I contemplated what she told me and my thoughts immediately went to my feelings towards Ulquiorra. Everything seemed to fit.

I wanted him to be happy and safe but not just that...I wanted him to be happy with me. I wanted him to enjoy the time we spend together and miss me like I miss him when we are apart. It seemed I finally had a name to give such feelings.

"Love…so that's what this is." I mumbled aloud to myself with a content smile. Orihime was now staring at me with a startled look.

"You mean you…?" She trailed off with a look of shocked comprehension.

"Yes…I love Ulquiorra." Saying those words brought a bright smile to my face. She didn't return my smile though; she looked uncertain and worried.

"Why? He's so…" She trailed off, worried that she had insulted him and therefore angered me and normally that would have been the case.

"Why?" I repeated, pausing to think but no real explanation came to mind. "I don't know…I just do. I was always drawn to him. It was just instinct really."

"Instinct?" It seemed it was my turn to explain something to her.

"As arrancars we are closer to soul reapers than hollows but we all were once instinctual beings. There are certain instincts we still follow even as arrancars. For Grimmjow, it is to prove himself the strongest in order to be the alpha male, for Ulquiorra it is to follow the one he sees as the alpha male, which is Aizen," I grumbled out that foul name before continuing.

"And for me…it's protecting the one I see as my…I guess you could say mate." I brought a hand up over my chest as I spoke, passion and love seeping into my words. "I can feel in my heart that if something were to happen to Ulquiorra…" I had to pause as a wave of dread and fear passed through me at the thought.

"I would never find anyone else as important to me as he is. He'll forever be the only one that gives my life meaning."

She seemed really startled and alarmed by that declaration. Clearly it wasn't the same with humans. I said as much and Orihime agreed that that was somewhat rare with humans but I stopped her from explaining further for, honestly, I didn't care to hear more about it; it wouldn't change how I felt so why bother. I would listen if Orihime wanted to speak about her love though. I told her that and she smiled.

We both decided to share experiences with our loved one. I didn't go into much detail as it didn't seem right to share certain sides of Ulquiorra and Orihime respected that and didn't ask many questions.

I noticed as we were speaking that I had this feeling of peace that I hadn't quite had before and could only assume that knowing exactly what I felt after so long was the reason.

Present:

My blood started boiling when I saw just who had entered the room. I'd recognize those two anywhere as I had killed them myself in my own timeline. It seemed their jealousy was just as strong here.

The bitch Loly sneered at us as she slowly made her way over towards us. I quickly pulled Orihime behind me and took a protective stance. It was a bit ironic that this was happening right after I had just promised Orihime not to put myself in danger for her sake. It seemed I would already have to break my promise to her. Loly seemed amused by my reaction.

"Well, look at that…how sweet." The sadistic sneer on her face showed that she didn't mean her words.

I said nothing and focused on every move she made, determined to intercept any assault Orihime's way. She noticed this and smirked maliciously.

"Guess we'll start with you."

I was suddenly crashing to the floor from a backhand across the face. I had seen it coming but I couldn't let on how experienced a fighter I was and my spiritual pressure wasn't completely back yet. My cheek quickly swelled up and throbbed painfully.

"Akira!"

Orihime moved to help but Menoly grabbed onto her before she could. Loly stomped her foot down between my shoulder blades to stop me from getting up and kicked me a few times. She then grabbed one of my arms and started pulling back, preparing to either rip my arm off or just pull it out of its socket. Knowing her, I really wasn't sure which one she was going for.

She leaned forward slightly, putting more pressure onto my back, to watch the pain flicker across my face as she pulled. The pain was getting worse and worse but I was determined to hold her attention until Ulquiorra returned; I refused to let her do anything to Orihime this time around. Unfortunately, the only way to really do that was to anger her so I did just that.

I turned my head so I could see her other foot, which was in close proximity to my head. I then lunged so I could clamp my teeth into her leg. The movement forced me to pull my already taut arm muscles and made the burning pain even worse but it was worth it. The howl of pain she let out and the blood that seeped from the wound brought a sadistic satisfaction to me.

I let some of my spiritual pressure gather in my jaw so I could bite down even harder. She really started screaming then. She kicked and yanked viciously, trying to make me let go. I didn't let go though, not even when I heard Orihime start crying at the abuse I was being put through.

I was the first to notice Ulquiorra's return and I'll admit I was relieved to see him. He silently took in the scene and I could have sworn I saw his eyes narrow almost dangerously when he saw the state I was in but I could have been mistaken; it was rather difficult to see such details when both eyes were almost completely swollen shut.

With him there, there was no reason for me to continue so I relaxed my jaw and spit out the blood from my mouth, both hers and mine. Menoly noticed next and quickly warned her friend.

"Loly." The fear in her voice made Loly stop and look. She paled and quickly scrambled away from me while I remained where I was.

"She attacked me." She lied, trying to push the blame solely on me.

"You're lying!" Orihime yelled with tears still in her eyes, clearly angry and hurt by what had happened.

Ulquiorra slowly looked from Loly, to Orihime then finally rested his eyes on me. I stared back as I waited for him to reach his own conclusion.

"Lord Aizen will hear about this."

Loly and Menoly flinched at the glare they received then paled at whatever thoughts of punishment went through their heads. I wondered if Aizen would actually do something this time or just ignore what had happened like in my timeline.

"Leave." They practically ran out of the room. I finally allowed myself to relax now that they were gone.

"Akira!" Orihime ran over to me and kneeled beside me. She brought her hands up to her hairclips but was stopped before she could heal me.

"You are not to use your powers unless ordered to by Lord Aizen."

"But-" Ulquiorra ignored her protests and, to my surprise, knelt down to scoop me up into his arms.

It was very painful to be held after that ordeal but I still welcomed the new experience. He stood up and started to carry me to the door. I knew then what was happening.

"Wait! Where are you taking her?" Orihime was clearly panicking now.

"Lord Aizen has ordered that you two be separated." Ulquiorra explained without slowing his pace.

"It's okay, Orihime." I gave her the best reassuring smile I could give at the moment. "Remember what I told you. Everything will be fine."

Orihime had no time to respond as the door closed behind us. The journey to wherever he was taking me was filled with silence that I eventually felt the need to break.

"Thank you." I knew I had confused him greatly since he actually responded.

"Why are you thanking me, woman?" I smiled at the slight curiosity in his voice.

"You're carrying me instead of making me walk." I said with an honest but still deformed smile.

He stared down at me for a while then looked forward once more. His hold on me suddenly felt a touch gentler but once again I could have been mistaken.

He brought me to a room not that different from Orihime's. He moved to carefully place me on the couch but paused when I hissed in pain as he started to lower me. He remained bent over with me in his arms as he observed my pained expression. It was almost like he was contemplating how to go about putting down while causing as little pain as possible but that was probably my pained, delusional thoughts at work.

Whatever he was thinking he had no choice but to lower me all the way. This time I groaned as my abused back and arm made contact with the cushions. He looked me over once more before quickly making his way towards the door.

"I will return with a medic." He said right before the door closed behind him.

I was forced to wait for his return in pained silence. He probably was not gone long but to me it felt like a long time. He stayed close to the couch and watched the medic tend to my injuries and when I say watch I mean he didn't look away for even a second. I assumed he was making sure that the medic was doing its job properly as I had been promised by Aizen that I would be well taken care of but I had no real way of knowing that for sure.

He turned to leave as the medic exited the room but my arm shot out of its own accord and grabbed his arm.

"Wait." I found myself pleading.

He froze then stared down at my hand then at me, looking visibly startled and bemused; he had probably never been touched by another outside of a fight before and couldn't understand why I had grabbed him and didn't know how to respond. Surprisingly, he didn't tear his arm from my grip like I had expected.

The temptation to keep the contact was immense but I forced myself to release him though as my initial intent was to stop him from leaving, which I had. I could blame this moment of weakness on the pain but really I just didn't want him to leave quite yet. I had to come up with something to keep him there though so I asked a question I had wanted to ask my Ulquiorra but never got to.

"I've been wondering…" I slowly started, giving him time to compose himself enough to answer. "Why do you follow Aizen? What did you gain from joining him?"

I made sure to ask in a way that didn't sound like I was challenging his loyalty, as I wasn't; I honestly wanted to know why. I knew it was extremely likely that I would not get an answer but I still waited to see how he would react. Maybe it was because he was still a little shaken up by what had just happened but he actually responded.

"Lord Aizen gave me a purpose."

The sincerity and truth behind that statement shocked me; it was unbelievable that he would share such a thing with me but he did just that. Thinking of the purpose my Ulquiorra unintentionally provided for me, I was easily able to relate to that answer. I smiled tiredly at him.

"I suppose I can understand that…he gave meaning to your existence that had consisted solely of just fighting to survive."

The look he gave me in response told me that he hadn't actually expected me to understand and didn't know how to respond to that. He didn't have to though as that was when exhaustion finally took its hold of me.

Author Note: About the past section, I want to emphasize that it wasn't that Akira had never experienced love before as she loves Ulquiorra but she never really knew what to call the emotion she felt towards him and now she does thanks to Orihime.

Honestly I didn't want to write about how romantic love works with humans when compared to Akira's love, which is why Akira doesn't want to hear about it. *shrugs*

There we see that Ulquiorra is starting to show some care towards Akira but honestly he is completely lost; he has no idea what to make of her or understand why he is concerned about her and why he shared his reason with her.

Little bit of info here that Akira didn't know but Akira grabbing Ulquiorra's hand caused a bit of a physical reaction in him- kind of like how in romantic novels and movies a person might say they feel warm or tingly where the person they like touched them. Hope that makes sense to you guys- it completely confused him though.

Ulquiorra's feelings might seem to be developing a little fast but then again it was originally kind of fast on Akira's end too. She was instantly drawn to him in her timeline and now it's his turn to be drawn in by her.

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