Cold, was the first thing that came to his mind when Ulquiorra recovered his ability to think rationally. It's cold.

Such a feeling had been beyond him for a long time, being numb both emotionally and physically since he gained consciousness millennia ago.

His body was completely white; covered in something similar to cloth but impenetrable, very different from the other Hollows that blended with the darkness where he was born.

Only after wandering around the Hueco Mundo aimlessly for an eternity, evolving beyond a Vasto Lorde and becoming a perfect Arrancar; sealing his true form into a Zanpakuto, that these thermal sensations became existent. Before that, they were mere concepts experienced by the weak; concepts that his eyes could not see and his mind comprehend.

Still, power could push these sensations away, and so they remained irrelevant as they had always been.

The last time he felt something similar was during his last moments when his very essence was leaving his body without stopping as he decayed to his inevitable death...

That's right, he died fighting Kurosaki Ichigo.

So why am I able to think? At this point, his body should have turned to ash and dispersed to the wind of Hueco Mundo, serving to feed the Reishi in the air and nourish other Hollows. Had the woman done something?

That was the first possibility that ran through his mind, but it would be an unfounded consideration. Not only did it make no sense to try to save the enemy who killed her beloved before her eyes, twice, but her powers were not enough to reverse his condition.

Wounds resulting from combat usually have residues of the opponent's power, which makes the healing process more difficult, especially when the attempt comes from an inferior external factor.

The woman could defy logic with her power of rejection, but that didn't change the fact that she was weak.

The hole Ulquiorra made in Kurosaki Ichigo's chest was irreversible by her power, likewise, his organs destroyed by that human could not be repaired, either by his own power or hers.

Another possibility for his sudden ability to reason after death was just as unpleasant, assuming that his soul had been purified and he was being reborn into the Soul Society.

A fate more miserable than death itself.

As a Hollow as old as Ulquiorra and undeniably proud of what he was, to be forced to assume another form would be unacceptable, insulting even.

If that were possible in the first place. After all, the one who dealt the killing blow to him was a Hollowficated human, not an actual Shinigami. Besides, despite everything, I feel the same.

Weakened to unknown levels, being afflicted by so much cold that it seemed to burn his skin and with unimaginable pain in his bones and flesh, but undeniably the same.

Regardless of his current state, it was proving difficult to find a logical explanation that matched his current situation.

In this case, Ulquiorra would put his doubts aside for a moment and focus on regaining control over his body. Otherwise, I will perish again.

Probably devoured by some other Hollow, and that could not happen.

Ulquiorra Cifer wasn't food for lesser creatures and never would be.

Slowly, his fingers which seemed to be in a complete state of numbness began to move, followed by his hands and then his arms which kept shaking; struggling against his effort.

The difficulty in performing this mere act was absurd and his commands seemed in vain.

Ulquiorra had never felt this way before, so...weak and pathetic.

Even during his final moments, there was some sense of satisfaction for he had exerted all his power in a large-scale battle against the monster that Kurosaki Ichigo had become.

Now he seemed to be what he used to describe with so much disdain... a human.

The mere thought of it was disturbing and made his frozen eyelids open under excruciating pain to contemplate white amidst the darkness, a sight that recalled his first moment of consciousness in the abyss.

Such a thought alerted him to the possibility that he had returned to that place and the creatures that inhabited it.

A concern that reflected his current weakness, but that proved unnecessary when Ulquiorra managed to move up his line of sight alongside his head buried in the vast sea of white until he was on his knees.

His surroundings, though poorly lit, were nothing compared to the place where he was born, but none of that seemed to matter when he saw the night sky with that giant, shattered moon, adding weight to his confusion just as much as those stars were piling up in the sky.

Where am I? His tired eyes scanned the scene in which he found himself and that present in abundance to contradict the darkness, just as he used to be in the past. Snow, Ulquiorra immediately defined where the cold that contributed to his current debilitation was coming from. The altered state of water when subjected to the climate changes present in the human world.

Meaning that he was no longer in the Hueco Mundo.

How? Just like everything else that was happening, he couldn't understand. I died in Las Noches, so why am I in this world?

If he woke up in the Soul Society, it would be something much simpler to understand.

Unpleasant, but understandable.

Or maybe I am in the Soul Society. Lord Aizen used to say that, although on a smaller scale, there were climatic changes in the Shinigami realm as well. What about this moon, then?

As far as he knew, there was a moon in each of the worlds and they were all intact in their own way.

The result of a battle? He could only imagine that Lord Aizen had something to do with it. After all, who else could do something absurd like this? A masked, horned beast came into his mind for a second to make him clench his hand without even realizing it. "Kurosaki...Ichigo..."

The cursed name was muttered in the form of a broken whisper. After all, recognizing the extent of that boy's power was still something Ulquiorra refused to do.

How could he? Especially when such power was coming from someone who had existed for less than two decades?

Exactly why, doubting the power of the Lord he chose to follow, offered him no sense of satisfaction.

However, his current condition hardly allowed him to feel anything but pain and cold.

I should seek shelter. Ulquiorra needed to organize his thoughts and priorities. Answers can wait. It didn't matter if he was in the human world, or if Lord Aizen had lost the war, he would find out the truth later. Otherwise, in my current state, the excessive cold will kill me.

A pathetic way to die after all he had gone through over the course of millennia struggling to survive in the Hueco World.

To succumb to something as trivial as a climatic condition that even the weakest of humans could overcome would belittle what little value his existence still had after his defeat.

Once again, exerting great willpower over his weakened body, Ulquiorra managed to move but not without feeling his vision blur and his breathing falter.

He was tired, almost fainting as he merely tried to stand, speaking volumes of how critical his current condition was.

If by some chance Ulquiorra had succeeded in overcoming the limitation of his power and had become capable of regenerating his entire body after literally dying, his current exhaustion was more than understandable, but it was nonetheless inconvenient.

His dissatisfaction aside, he had a clearer line of sight on his surroundings after regaining his breath and could confirm for good that he wasn't in Hueco Mundo by seeing trees that formed a forest rich with life.

Unless this was the result of some anomaly created over a significant amount of time since he died or the influence of the power of some powerful and unknown entity, it would be impossible for vegetation to thrive in that world of death.

Fortunately, beside him was the first sense of familiarity and relief Ulquiorra allowed himself to feel in his current situation; the one thing he could say he trusted, his Zanpakuto, Murciélago.

A part of him that represented the power cultivated throughout his existence to make him the strongest Hollow...

Again, to contradict him, memories of his last fight were there to create discomfort in his chest.

In the end, the power that represented despair proved insufficient to defeat a mere human.

Suddenly, he felt something stirring in his chest, and once again since his Lanza del Relámpago was destroyed, and Kurosaki Ichigo refused to kill him, Ulquiorra's eyes widened with a wave of emotions he didn't understand.

Reason?

The empty hole in my chest... he touched the spot beside his tattoo with his insensitive fingers, frozen to the point of being blue, but which served the purpose of confirming what could only be described as the human emotion known as... fear. It's gone.

How was that possible?

His tired breathing became irregular again as Ulquiorra continued to check his chest, almost in an attempt to undo the illusion that shouldn't be able to affect his eyes, or whatever that was covering his most striking feature, and only then to understand what was stirring inside his chest.

A heart.

There was a living heart inside him.

At that moment, the priority was no longer to survive but to focus on his endless questioning.

I...became...human? Such a possibility was becoming real, especially since he couldn't see or touch the fragment of his mask to feed his current state of confusion, where his weakened body was responding accordingly by starting to hyperventilate. That's...not possible.

He would rather believe that he was purified and was indeed in Soul Society.

However, his Zanpakuto would be gone if that were the case.

Murciélago...The proof that Ulquiorra was still a Hollow, an Arrancar, and an Espada. I need...to Release...

That was what his confused mind demanded of him at that moment; to deny the impossibility before his eyes

"E-enclose," with one last push of his willpower, Ulquiorra forced his body to obey until he stood and drew his Zanpakuto as he called out its name, "M-Murciélago."

Silence closely followed the faint sound of his cracked voice and no power could be felt through the connection with his sword.

His growing confusion ceased as he saw the reason behind the failure.

I see, Ulquiorra brought his Zanpakuto closer and the moonlight reflected off the numerous cracks scattered along the blade. You are as broken as I am.

He couldn't release Murciélago even if he wanted to.

Such a realization was all that was needed for his willpower to waver, which undeniably was keeping him on his feet, before falling back in the snow.

Pathetic. Ulquiorra had his face half buried as his consciousness slowly faded. To die as a Hollow, to revive and die as a human... again.

As a weakling.

Was this a punishment for becoming a distorted existence that followed the command of a man who sought the destruction of the known world?

Better yet, did the motive really matter?

Soon, he would become a Hollow again or cease to exist altogether; he would return to the emptiness that represented the essence of his very being.

That's right, nothing would change... and, somehow, the prospect of it didn't please him.

Why would that be? He couldn't understand... but only until his blurred vision focused on his hand for him to remember that woman; the way she had tried to get hold of him in his last moments.

Even after everything he had done, Inoue Orihime still smiled at him before granting him a heart; her heart.

Suddenly, Ulquiorra no longer wanted to perish; not without having the opportunity to satisfy his curiosity and learn more about humans and the so-called heart that now not only existed in the palm of his hand but also was beating increasingly slower inside his chest.

Unfortunately, it seems that things just don't go the way he wanted and that could only be described as disappointing before cold and darkness took hold of him once more.


Under the moonlight, snow and rose petals mixed in a frenetic dance, defying the darkness of this world to result in a sight to behold, despite its violence.

With every step taken, gunshots echoed and empty shells flew around, but not as much as the pieces of the creatures cut off by the sharp blade of a giant scythe.

Regardless of what was happening, the most impressive thing was the young girl dressed in red and black who was responsible for it all; a girl who, despite clearly winning the fight against the darkness, couldn't help but move faster, be more precise and above all deadly in her attacks.

Then, before realizing it, it was over and there was nothing left but the silence of the night and the sound of her erratic heart beating in her chest.

Today, there was more than expected. Ruby Rose could finally take a deep breath before letting out a breath of warm air that stood out amidst the chill of this winter's night. I think I'm sadder than I expected too.

Visiting her mother's grave always affected her, even when Ruby did it intending to get rid of any bad emotions by talking it out with someone who could no longer give her any advice... or who would try to help only to make things worse than they already were.

Fortunately, fighting these Grimm helped to take her mind off what she wanted to forget...even if for but a moment.

However, even though she had just vented her frustration, all she had to do was stop for everything to come back to her in the worst way.

Her day was terrible, having some girls in her class excluding her and picking on her by claiming that she was too childish with her attitude, took nothing seriously, and was privileged, spoiled even, by having everything she wanted in her hands.

It didn't help that her father and uncle were professors at the academy.

Well, Dad is. Ruby finished catching her breath and put away her weapon, Crescent Rose. Uncle Qrow is more of a temp than anything.

There were always missions that made him suddenly disappear for days, sometimes even weeks.

Regardless, it wasn't her fault that everyone in her family worked as Huntsman and... Huntress, as it used to be with her mother.

The point, however, remained.

While she had her Aura unlocked when she was still young, right after an incident Yang caused by taking her into the forest without asking permission or warning anyone, her supposed advantage ended there.

Unlike Yang and her absurd talent in physical combat, Ruby couldn't do the same and without her weapon, she wasn't much different from a normal girl...who had Aura and some control over it.

It was amazing how much a child could learn on their own while pretending to be a Huntress.

Other than that, any other progress made was gained in the same amount of time as the others since she entered Signal.

If she was the best in her year's combat class it was because of her effort and dedication in reaching her dream, and nothing else.

Yang doesn't help either, Ruby didn't like to think badly of her sister, but it was undeniable that she was quite nosy with how protective she was. Scaring everyone away from me, especially boys.

Not that Ruby wanted to have boys around or anything like that, especially since it was embarrassing, but it was for things of the sort that everyone thought she considered herself better as if no one was worthy of her attention when that wasn't the case at all.

Ruby wanted friends, lots of them!

Only... that was hardly going to happen, especially after Yang left to join Beacon.

Everyone who still maintained any contact with her did so because of her over-popular sister.

In the end, Ruby was nothing but a shadow, and that made her sad.

What will my next two years in Signal be like then? Imagining the isolation that awaited her because of those jealous girls made Ruby wish that she could join Beacon as soon as possible, to escape and start over again. A pity that's almost impossible for it to happen.

Only prodigies could graduate early from a prep school and join a great Academy.

Ruby might be good in combat, but her other grades in class were average at best.

Far from classifying her as a prodigy.

It was still a long way before Ruby could start saving people.

Better go home now. Sighing another breath of warm air that projected into the cold night, she decided to stop whining, dreaming of the impossible, and return since the snow was getting stronger as well as it kept getting cold. And tonight there's hamburger for dinner!

Her family seemed to know when she was feeling down because they always made her favorite foods!

Exactly why she couldn't blame them for being too present in her life when they didn't need to be.

Now she just wished they had cookies for dessert, so this night would be one of the best, especially for the weekend without classes that started tomorrow!

Let's go for a run! Her mood had returned a bit and she couldn't wait! Halfway there, however, something caught her attention. Hmm? In the distance, amidst the trees, there was an object shining in the moonlight. "What's that?"

Stopping in her tracks, curiosity got the better of her and Ruby decided to take a short detour.

Unfortunately, what she found wasn't a treasure that inevitably hovered in her naïve mind, soon feeling her blood freeze and any trace of recovered cheer disappearing without a trace, for that glow came from a sword that was in the hand of a corpse buried in the snow!

"Oh my god!" Ruby jumped in fear and nervousness, wondering if those Beowolfs from before had done this! "I-I need to call Dad!"

When such an incident happened, the authorities took over. Her father was a licensed Huntsman and a teacher at the local school, so he would know what to do!

Even more, she would have to do it personally because she left her Scroll at home!

Then, just as she was about to become a swirl of petals with her Semblance and return home at top speed, she saw a slight movement coming from what she believed to be a corpse and hot air transpiring in the air above its head.

Since when can a corpse breathe?!

"I-it's alive?!" Ruby felt her stomach sink with guilt for not even checking before assuming this person was dead! "I-I have to help!"

In the blink of an eye, she was at this person's side to remove him from the snow that covered his face, almost preventing him from breathing and choking when she did so.

This person was a very handsome black-haired boy who appeared to be about her sister's age. He was thin, but relatively muscular for his physical size. His skin was white in a way that made it difficult to distinguish from the snow that surrounded him, possibly because of the cold one could feel by just coming into contact with him. He also had a few tattoos, two of them that looked like tears under his eyes closed by fragments of ice, almost making it look like he was crying, and the other in the shape of the number four on the left side of his chest.

How did she know about the last one?

Because he wasn't wearing any clothes!

Automatically, her eyes trailed to this boy's lower parts and for the first time, Ruby saw everything that made a man a man!

"Kyaaa!" Even in this cold, she instantly boiled with the image that would never leave her mind again, almost making her faint with shame! "W-Why are you naked?!" she dropped him back into the snow and staggered a few steps while covering her eyes, waiting for an answer that never came. After all, a half-dead man could hardly speak at the moment. "Oh my god, what am I doing?!"

Because he wasn't wearing anything, lying like this in the snow was even worse!

She had to do something!

Still, for a moment, she hesitated.

There was a chance that this boy was one of those perverts her father and sister had warned her about.

Only...did it really matter when it came to saving a life?

No! Ruby should know better! Huntresses don't choose, they only save those in danger!

Just like heroes do!

"Okay, you can do this, Ruby Rose!" She clapped her hands to her face and made quick work of putting away that cracked katana she had some difficulty taking out of this boy's hands before covering the...other katana, very reluctantly using her precious red cloak while avoiding passing out by keeping her eyes closed. "N-now, I just need to get you home!"

Easier said than done.

Carrying someone unconscious in this weather that was getting worse with each passing second would be an arduous task, but one that Ruby would do her best at!

On this day, she would save her first life!

No matter what!


This has been on my computer for a while now, so I just decided to post it. I know I should focus on the fics I already have, but... sometimes some things just won't get out of your head if you don't write them down.

Let me know what you think, just to help me get an idea about whether or not to continue writing this someday.