Author Note: Just did my finals today...it is so nice to be done XD

I'm going to tell you now that I skipped over Nelliel's fight with Nnoitra but it did actually happen.

I'll probably put out the next chapter later today.

Disclaimer: Bleach and its characters belong to Tite Kubo.

Chapter 12: Rage

Past:

I hadn't really seen Grimmjow since I had run away from him and I wasn't that keen on searching for him. I wanted to apologize but I didn't really know how I would go about doing that. I was still wrapping my mind around the whole thing.

How was I supposed to act around him now? Could we ever argue normally again? Or would there always be this underlying tension like last time? The whole incident with Grimmjow was forgotten though as something much more upsetting happened…this time to Orihime.

I went to visit her like usual but I was unprepared for what I saw beyond her door. Orihime was curled up in the middle of the floor, trembling. Her face was beaten and battered and her clothes were slightly torn and bloody in some places.

I rushed to her side but backed off slightly when she flinched and tensed. She relaxed though when she saw it was I but her trembling didn't cease. Wanting to comfort her, I slowly brought her into my arms. She fully broke down then.

It hurt so badly to listen to her loud sobs. She tightly gripped my shirt; clearly afraid I would leave her. I did my best to soothe her but in the end all I could do was hold her as she cried.

Ulquiorra must have sensed my fluctuating spiritual pressure since he came to see what was happening. He stood in the doorway and silently took in the scene. Orihime eventually succumbed to sleep while still in my lap. I gently picked her up and placed her on the couch.

I watched her rest, brushing a strand of hair from her face. The bruises and bloodstains on her face caught my attention once more. It was then that I let my anger take over. I whirled around and quickly made my way to the door. I paused in front of Ulquiorra, who had been staring at me all this time.

"Stay with her…don't let anyone in here until I return."

It wasn't really right for me to order him to do anything since he outranked me but I didn't care right then. Orihime could not be left alone right then and he was the only one I trusted to protect her.

He didn't say anything but for him that was basically a confirmation; if he were against what I said then he would have said so. I left the room and stormed through the hallways. The faint traces of spiritual pressure left behind in the room told me who the culprits were and I was determined to make sure that they paid for what they had done.

Aizen showed no surprise when I barged into the throne room, trembling with barely contained fury. Knowing him, he probably had sensed when the assault happened and was waiting for my reaction.

"Ah Gloria…for what do I owe this fine visit?" God I hated that condescending voice of his.

"Orihime Inoue was attacked." I informed him like he didn't already know, trying not to show my irritation and hatred towards him.

"I have come here to ask that the attackers be punished." I said, knowing I was revealing my fondness for the human girl and giving Aizen the upper hand.

"Oh really? I take it you know the identities of the attackers then." Aizen sounded even more smug. I knew then that this probably wasn't going to go my way but I was going to try anyway.

"It was Loly Aivirrne and Menoly Mallia." I spat those names out, hatred clearly heard despite my efforts to contain it.

"Hmmm…I'll have to speak with them then. Would you mind fetching them, Gin?" It was then that I noticed that Gin Ichimaru was in the room as well.

"Not at all, Lord Aizen." Gin replied cheerfully.

I had to suppress a shudder as he directed his unsettling grin my way as he passed me by. I had expected Aizen to comment on my friendship with Orihime but he just silently stared at me with that smug face and oh how I wanted to kill him.

"Found them!" Gin announced cheerfully as he returned.

My glare instantly zeroed in on the two trailing behind him. Loly noticed me and quickly sent a smug, malicious smirk my way while she was shielded from Aizen's view by Gin. The smirk was gone in a flash though and replaced with an adoring, respectful expression directed Aizen's way.

"You called for us, Lord Aizen." She spoke in an overly sweet voice that made me want to gag.

"Indeed I did. It seems Orihime Inoue was attacked and Gloria here," he gestured to me, "believes that you two are the ones behind the attack. Is this true?"

I scowled fiercely, knowing what he was doing. Sure enough, Loly denied the claim and Aizen did nothing to determine whether she was lying. She's guilty and he knows it…and yet he doesn't care.

This wasn't even about Orihime but rather about me. This was his way of reminding me of his superiority over me, the only one who's not truly loyal to him.

"I'm sorry Gloria. It seems I won't be able to punish the attackers like you want me to." I couldn't respond for I knew I would just snarl and curse at him if I opened my mouth. He noticed my hateful scowl directed at him.

"What is it? You look as if you wish to say something. Was there something else you needed to speak to me about?" I forced myself to speak.

"No, there's nothing else…thank you for your time, Lord Aizen." I nearly choked on his title I was so disgusted with him.

I forced myself to walk at a steady, reserved pace once he dismissed me, despite wanting to run from the room. I could no longer stand the smugness emanating not just from Aizen but from Loly as well. I walked a while till I was a decent distance from the throne room.

"Damn it!" I yelled, slamming my fist into one of the walls.

That one punch wasn't enough to sate me but I refrained from destroying everything around me in a furious rage. I stayed there a moment breathing deeply in hopes of regaining some composure.

I eventually made my way back to Orihime's room. I was relieved to see that Ulquiorra had remained to watch over her like I had wanted. He didn't say anything but I could tell that he wanted some kind of explanation of how things went.

"He did nothing."

Just saying that nearly brought back all of my anger but I suppressed it enough to not react violently. He didn't respond so I walked over and checked on Orihime. She was still sleeping so I took a seat near her head and carefully placed her head in my lap.

"I'll be staying with her to make sure it doesn't happen again." I informed Ulquiorra after several minutes of silence.

He watched me run my fingers through Orihime's hair for a bit then turned and left without a word. I kept my fingers moving as I occupied myself with sensing how Orihime's friends were faring. It figured that Orihime would wake just as one of her friends was in danger.

"Rukia!" She cried out, shooting up from my lap. "Please!" She turned to me. "Help her!"

I told her that I didn't want to leave her alone but she begged and pleaded me nonstop. I truly did not want to leave her but I still found myself leaving her to go to the aid of her friend just because I saw how desperate Orihime was.

I didn't really have any idea of how I could help this Rukia as I was no healer but the least I could do was stay with her until one of her friends came to her aid or possibly bring her to them.

I quickly but subtly made my way towards where the one called Rukia was, hoping that I hadn't made a big mistake in leaving Orihime alone.

Present:

It was hard to just sit there as Grimmjow and Ichigo fought. The fight continued to escalate and I was stuck sitting in my room, too far away from the battle to intervene if Orihime was suddenly in danger.

The reminder that Orihime was right there and could potentially be injured settled my inner debate. I returned to my arrancar form so I could fight if necessary and used several sonidos to get close to the battle but not so close that they would notice me.

I hadn't seen Grimmjow's resurrección form until then and I'll admit it was rather majestic but not as ethereally beautiful as Ulquiorra's final form. Thankfully, Ichigo protected Orihime when she was in danger so I didn't need to actually get involved.

I found it rather sad to see Grimmjow lose but Ichigo's compassion towards him in the end made me feel a bit better.

Grimmjow refused to give up even though his resurrección had crumbled away but his attempt at continuing the fight was interrupted as Nnoitra, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere, viciously struck him down. My priority of remaining undetected was nearly forgotten as I was filled with a murderous rage towards that scumbag. It took a lot of restraint to remain where I was and watch as Nnoitra's fracción, Tesla, started to beat the crap out of Ichigo.

A soul reaper captain that I didn't really know saved Ichigo before the final blow could be struck. Caution temporarily pushed to the side, I gradually moved closer and closer to where Grimmjow laid as the captain and Nnoitra fought. I kept myself just out of notice until the fight was over.

I was just as surprised by Orihime's re-kidnapping by Starrk as Ichigo and the captain were; I had forgotten that had happened in my timeline. Right then Aizen used a tentei kura to inform Ichigo and everyone that he was now commencing his invasion of Karakura town.

"I'll leave Orihime Inoue in the fifth tower…if you want to save her then come get her. She is no longer of any use to me." I shuddered at those last words as that meant that Orihime could now be killed off by any of the arrancars.

"I leave Las Noches in your hands…Ulquiorra." That name and the reappearance of the spiritual presence of Ulquiorra had my heart pounding in my chest.

Aizen finished his speech by sealing up all the gargantas, confining Ichigo and the soul reaper captains here in Hueco Mundo. Ichigo left to go to Orihime's aid and that soul reaper captain went to find another powerful opponent to fight.

For the moment I ignored the fight that had started between Ichigo and Ulquiorra and instead focused on Grimmjow. I slowly walked over to him. He looked up at me with narrowed eyes that went wide once he recognized whom I was.

"You're…" He trailed off, shocked and confused by the form I was in and by my spiritual pressure.

I said nothing as I kneeled to scoop him up into my arms, which was easy with my strength.

"What are you doing? Put me down!" Thankfully, he didn't have the energy to really struggle. I quickly but carefully made my way to where I sensed the soul reaper captain of squad four was.

I startled her lieutenant but she stopped her from attacking me, which was good since I didn't want to make any sudden movements like dodging while Grimmjow was bleeding out in my arms. The two stared at me, waiting for me to make some kind of move. I held Grimmjow out towards the captain.

"Please," was all I said but that was all that was needed.

Without hesitation, the woman told me to put Grimmjow down in front of her, which I did carefully. She went right to work in healing him. I waited a moment while under the scrutiny of the lieutenant and Grimmjow, making sure that he would make it before leaving.

I set my sights on the hole in the dome roof, determined…it was finally time to do what I came here to do.

Author Note: I know the present section was rather short but I figured that was fine since the past section was so long.

Sorry if the quality of the chapter started to decline towards the end, I was in a bit of a hurry to get it done.

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