What if…

Chapter 6

A/N: Well, here is chapter 6. Orihime's second visit!

Disclaimer: Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, I only own this fanfiction.

Chapter 6: What makes you human

Ulquiorra was certain that he was excited this time. He had been counting the days to her visit and that had been quite hard considering that it was always night in Hueco Mundo. Finally, he had determined that she would visit again tomorrow. He was sitting on his bed and he was reading the book Orihime had gifted him. It was Bram Stoker's Dracula. He enjoyed the book and he found it a little humorous that she had probably gifted him this due to his bat looks. He closed the book and glanced at his 'cute companion', as Orihime had put it. He had decided to place it on his nightstand and this past few nights he had decided to try sleeping with it next to him. If he was asked he would say that it made no difference, but for some reason he had woken up more than once clutching it. It didn't make sense, but if he did it then that meant that Orihime had been right to gift him the plushy

He looked at the clothes in his wardrobe, wondering what she would bring him this time. He hoped something better suited for him. Or that maybe she would bring something for the others too, so that he wouldn't be the only one wearing these clothes. He sighed. He lied back on his bed and allowed himself to fall asleep. He was anticipating the next day.

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They all gathered in the Garganta room once again waiting for the arrival of Orihime and her companions. Ulquiorra was in the front and for the first time the others managed to detect his excitement. Noitora and Grimmjow snickered. Nel glared at them. "Stop acting like immature brats."

Noitora smirked at her. "Says the immature brat herself."

Grimmjow giggled and Nel raised an eyebrow annoyed. "Even in my child form, I'm more mature than you."

"Yeah right-"

"Quiet you two.", said Harribel. They both stopped talking but there was an easygoing atmosphere between Noitora and Nel and even Ulquiora could detect it. Interesting…

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the Garganta opening and after a while revealing Orihime, accompanied by Rangiku and the Quincy. Orihime smiled at him, but she seemed a little sad to Ulquiorra. Though Ulquiorra wasn't the best at reading someone's emotions. And that's why he waited for her to approach him. Orihime showed him that she had brought more clothing to put outfits together and he nodded at her. Her smile wasn't the usual smile and he was starting to believe that his assumption of her mood had been correct.

His thoughts were interrupted by Uryu moving to the front and adjusting his glasses. "Orihime told me that someone needs me here. Something about a spoon uniform or something."

Noitora's eye widened. "Yeah, I need you! You are the one that can fix my uniform, right?"

Uryu nodded, his serious expression never faltering. "Take me to the uniform."

Noitora nodded and told Uryu to follow him to his quarters. Everyone just sweatdropped at the weird exchange.

Harribel was the one to break the awkward silence. "Anyway, Grimmjow, Nel, Stark and I have some stuff to do at Szayel's lab, so I guess Gin will entertain Rangiku and Ulquiorra will do the same with Orihime."

"What's the matter with that lab anyway?". Asked Rangiku confused.

Harribel, Grimmjow and Stark sweatdropped once again. "We haven't managed to get rid of all the traps yet and we are still trying… We're making progress...", said Stark.

"If you count not getting burned alive as progress…", mumbled Grimmjow.

Nel smiled at them. "We have managed to get farther inside though. I know we will get inside eventually."

"In 100 years at best… No one is rushing us anyway…", mumbled Grimmjow.

Orihime smiled sweetly at them. "It's ok. Take your time and if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask us."

Harribel nodded at her and signaled the others to follow her to Szayel's castle. Orihime turned to Ulquiorra and he showed her the way to his quarters.

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Ulquiorra offered Orihime some tea that had remained from when Aizen was ruling Hueco Mundo and sat with her in his bed. Orihime offered him another sad smile and thanked him. She glanced at the bat plushy and her smile softened a little. "I'm glad you liked my gift. It seems like it has helped you in its own unique way."

She even sounded sad. "What's going on, Orihime?"

Orihime's eyes widened briefly, but the she smiled sadly again and looked down. "I guess that I can't hide it even from you…" Suddenly she gasped and looked at him with an apologizing expression. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you in any way-"

"Don't worry about it. I know that I'm not the best at understanding emotions. But it's obvious that something is bothering you. You are trying to act like it doesn't, but you are not good at hiding it."

Orihime stared at him surprised. She blinked and then smiled at him in the same manner as before. "You're right. It's really a silly thing that is bothering me-"

"But it is bothering you, nevertheless.", interrupted Ulquiorra once again.

Orihime looked down. "It's Ichigo…"

Ulquiorra blinked. "Is something wrong with Kurosaki?"

Orihime sighed. "It's a silly thing… He has been spending more time with Tatsuki than with any of us. It's like he doesn't trust us… And even though I love Tatsuki as a friend, I can't help but feel jealous of how close those two are… I mean they always were, but now they're always together and… God, I'm terrible for feeling like this!"

Orihime started sobbing and Ulquiorra felt his eyes widen. He had no idea what to say or do in this situation. The only thing he knew… "You aren't a terrible person.", he said finally.

Orihime looked at him with red eyes. "B-But…"

He placed his hand on her shoulder slowly, unsure of whether he did something right. "You're not a terrible person.", he repeated. "You said it before. For being jealous about Nelliel. From what I've figured, jealousy is a normal human emotion, despite not being a positive one. So, you are not terrible. You are only acting like a human."

Orihime stared at him wide eyed. "But still! I shouldn't act upon that emotion so easily-"

"You're not perfect, Orihime. No one is. Not even lord Aizen was."

Orihime stared at him for a moment and then looked down. Suddenly, to Ulquiorra's surprise, she hugged him. "Thank you…"

Ulquiorra looked at her. He was caught off guard. "I'm just telling the truth…", he said, surprised at himself. He didn't realize that he actually did help her.

Orihime smiled and buried her face to his chest a little more. She continued sobbing a little. "Sorry… I'm wetting your shirt…"

"Don't worry about it. I've got more shirts and besides", he grabbed the clothes she brought him. "I should also try these on."

Orihime giggled at him and he felt warmth and he was certain that it was satisfaction.

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Grimmjow sighed. He was actually considering proposing Stark for King of Hueco Mundo. If Stark was their leader there was no way he would be in his current predicament; stuck in the air in some sort of spider web glue that was really itchy, while random Hollows were trying to eat him. His companions were defending him and he was too tired from the rest of the traps they had faced along the way to actually try and escape.

Nel was breathing heavily and Stark was in his resurrection to finish off the Hollows quickly. Harribel was killing the Hollows that Stark had missed. She also seemed tired and ready to go in her resurrection as well.

Suddenly a blue arrow pierced through the web and a crescent moon like weapon cut the parts that kept the web on the ceiling. Grimmjow landed gracefully down and looked annoyed at his two saviors. "What took you so long?"

Noitora was grinning at him. He was wearing his old uniform, which had a weird cross in his hood and he seemed delighted. "I got my uniform fixed."

"No shit…", mumbled Grimmjow. He then turned his attention to Harribel. "I don't think we should advance any farther."

Harribel sighed. "Let me talk to the monitor team." The monitor team was her fraccion along with Nel's and they were trying to determine how far the lab was actually. So far they had faced over 20 different traps in rooms that were placed before the lab and Grimmjow was starting to believe that the lab would never be reached. "Apacci, do you copy?"

Harribel's fraccion sounded through the walls. "Yes, my lady. From what we can see from the map lord Aizen had, you still have a couple of rooms till you reach the lab."

"Maybe more…", Pesche mumbled.

"Oh, shut up!", shouted Mila Rose. "How many rooms can he fit in this space anyway?!"

"Knowing Szayel, too many.", mumbled Noitora.

"So… Can we stop for today?", whined Grimmjow

Harribel sighed. "One more room. And then we stop."

"You said that before this one!", shouted Grimmjow. "I mean, look at Nel! She is trying her hardest to keep her spiritual pressure from leaking so that she can stay an adult! She shouldn't continue!"

"I'm fine…", mumbled Nel.

"You don't look like it.", said Noitora with a serious expression. "Cut the crap Nelliel. I'm here now along with the Quincy kid and Tesla. We can take your place."

Nel stood up to her full height. "I can manage one more room."

Noitora growled at her. "Stop acting so high and mighty! You are vulnerable in this state! Go back and watch!"

Nel was about to say something, but Harribel interrupted her. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Noitora is right Nelliel. Go rest for today."

Nel looked down, but did as she was told. Grimmjow looked at Harribel annoyed. "Can I join her?"

"From what I recall, you can't turn into a child at any given moment, so no. We're moving in."

And with a groan from Grimmjow, they entered the next room.

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Orihime and Ulquiorra, who was now wearing a simple white shirt with simple black pants and black shoes, had joined Gin and Rangiku. They wanted to check on the others, to see if they needed their help. "That new look really suits you, Ulquiorra.", said Gin.

Ulquiorra nodded his thanks and Orihime smiled. "I thought that something simpler would look better on him. He has a pale complexion and I need to be careful with the color pallets I use.", said Orihime.

"What other colors did you try?", asked Gin.

"Oh, we tried pink, red and many different shades of green in hope that I could match the shirts with his eye color, but sadly I didn't.", said Orihime cheerfully.

Ulquiorra sweatdropped. Orihime had made him try on a little too many clothes for his liking. But she had certainly cheered up and that made him happy, he guessed. He still wasn't sure if he should address this feeling as happiness. He should ask Orihime.

Suddenly, they came across a pouting and tired looking Nel. "Nel! Shouldn't you be with the others that are trying to infiltrate Szayel's lab?", asked Gin.

"Noitora, Tesla and Uryu joined them, so they told me to go back since there is a possibility I turn into a child while being there.", she explained.

"Did you guys make any progress?", asked Orihime.

Nel groaned. "We did… But we have no idea how close we actually are to the lab. All those traps are annoying to say the least. And I feel so useless right now…"

Before Orihime could console the female Espada, a voice was heard through the corridors. "Lord Gin! The others are in trouble! Apparently Szayel was storing one of his weird experiments in the next room!" It was Apacci's voice. She was heard through the megaphones in the corridors.

"Great. We need to go assist them.", said Gin and the others nodded. "Apacci! Give us information about- Wait, Nel!"

Nel though had already started running back to the corridors that led to Szayel's lab. "We need to stop her!", shouted Orihime. "She could be in the most immediate danger!"

"Let's go! Apacci! Describe the target we are about to face!", shouted Gin.

"Right! It's like he copied the concept of Ayon and created a monster with his favorite parts from different Hollows!"

"That monster?!", said Rangiku in shock.

"Yeah, but with different abilities… And we don't really know what Szayel used." That was Sung Sun.

"Please save Master Nel!", shouted both Pesche and Dondochaka.

"Shut up you two!", shouted Mila Rose.

"Ok, thank you guys.", said Gin. "We need to hurry."

"Yeah. If it's anything like Ayon, we're screwed.", said Rangiku.

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"We're screwed.", said Grimmjow as a giant tentacle came his way. He barely avoided it and growled "Grind, Pantera!"

Harribel and Noitora had also gotten into their resurrections and Tesla was in the middle of transforming. Uryu was trying to find the monster's blind spot and Stark was helping him. The problem was that the monster's main characteristic was that it looked like an octopus and… well it had too many tentacles that multiplied everytime one was cut.

"If Szayel was alive, I would murder him myself!", shouted Noitora.

"I would help you!", shouted Grimmjow.

"Come on! We've got this!", shouted Harribel while she unleashed a Cero.

"Lanzador Verde!" A voice from the entrance shouted.

They all turned to look at Nel in her own resurrection. "Damn it! Nelliel! You shouldn't be here and especially in that cow form of yours!", shouted Noitora.

Nel sighed. "I've got this! See, I landed a direct hit!" Indeed she did. The octopus like monster let out a terrifying scream of pain and suddenly it started spitting a green fluid that looked like acid. And acid it was, since wherever it touched the floor melted.

A spurt of acid hit Nel's back legs and she hissed in pain. "Damn it! Nel, get the fuck out of here!", screamed Noitora.

"I can spit on it…", she said, but suddenly the bracelet started beeping indicating that she was about to turn into a child. "No… Not now…" Pink smoke engulfed her and suddenly child Nel was there, crying as the acid started burning her now human leg.

"Soten Kisshun, I reject!" An orange shield appeared around Nel and started healing her. It would need time to properly heal her, but this way she could stop the damage from destroying Nel's leg.

The now little girl nodded softly at Orihime and passed out from the pain. Noitora approached her and with his third set of hands grabbed her. "I'm taking her outside. Can you handle this thing without me?"

"I think we'll manage.", said Ulquiorra. "Enclose, Murcielago." And Ulquiorra appeared to them with his set of dark wings. The different clothing had altered a little the coloration of his resurrection's outfit to white on the top part and black on the bottom.

"Shoot to kill, Shinso.", said Gin and his sword extended and hit the monster in the mouth.

"Growl, Haineko!", shouted Rangiku and her sword turned into ash that engulfed the monster.

The monster growled annoyed.

Ulquiorra sonidoed behind the monster and unleashed a huge Cero. The monster was pushed forward and everyone combined their attacks at that moment. The effect was the desired one, since the monster collapsed and fell down dead.

Everyone sighed in relief. Orihime turned around. "I need to go see Nel! She needs more healing!"

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Noitora growled annoyed. Nel was clutching his uniform, obviously in more pain than she claimed to feel. "For fuck's sake Nel, why did you come back?"

"Nel didn't… Nel didn't want anyone to get hurt…", she mumbled as she tried to spit her leg.

"Yet you managed to get hurt yourself. Here let me help you.", he said as he lifted her small leg as gently as he could with shaking arms. He didn't want to touch the irritated skin and hurt her more.

Nel winced a little, but she managed to do what she wanted. "Great… now Nel has to wait for it to heal…" She looked exhausted. She looked at Noitora with a tired expression.

"What is it?", he asked.

"Your resurrection… You never used it against me…"

Noitora looked at her surprised. He hadn't gotten out of his resurrection yet. "Huh, I didn't see the point. I wanted to become stronger as I was. I would defeat you with my original strength. Besides you wouldn't use your resurrection on me either."

Nel smiled. "Nel likes your resurrection."

He stared at her shocked for a moment before he looked away embarrassed. "You're an idiot.", he mumbled.

"There you are!" They both turned to look at Orihime running towards them. "Soten Kisshun, I reject!"

The orange shield engulfed Nel and her leg started healing. The irritated skin was looking much better in a matter of minutes. "Thank you, Orihime.", said Nel looking already better.

Orihime smiled gently at her. "I'm glad I was on time and you didn't suffer any worse injuries."

Noitora returned to his normal self and frowned at Orihime. "Was that monster taken care of? I could return to help the others if not."

Orihime shook her head in a no. "The others took care of it. They're coming back soon. I just ran ahead to heal Nel."

"And that's why you are a great human, Orihime." Orihime turned surprised to see Ulquiorra approaching her. He was back to his original form as well.

Orihime regained her composure and smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you, Ulquiorra."

"Uh, get a room you two…", mumbled Grimmjow as he passed by them. He glanced at Noitora and Nel and smirked. "You are still holding onto Nel, huh?"

Noitora glared at him and let Nel go. "She was still in pain a minute ago, you bastard. You would have done the same."

"Yes, but I wouldn't be so defensive about it.", said Grimmjow while his smirk widened.

"You asshole-"

"Language!", shouted Harribel as she appeared behind the others. "Drop it you two! Aren't you exhausted already? Grimmjow you were complaining not even a minute ago and you're about to pick a fight? I'll send you back there if you continue."

Both frowned and mumbled something along the lines of "Ok, Harribel"

Uryu adjusted his glasses and sighed. "I suppose it's about time we go back to our world too."

Orihime nodded at him and she looked at Rangiku that also gave an affirmative nod and started heading towards the Garganta room. Orihime looked at Ulquiorra and smiled. "Thank you."

Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow confused. "For what?"

"For hearing me out. And for what you said. You're right. If I am a human, it's normal to feel human emotions. It's about how we act in the end that matters."

Ulquiorra nodded and before he could answer, Orihime had hugged him. His eyes widened in surprise and he felt warmth. He realized that probably he was happy. Probably. He glanced at Grimmjow and Noitora who were both looking at him with shocked expressions. He decided to ignore them. They would definitely try to mock him after Orihime left. "See you soon, Orihime."

Orihime grinned at him. "Right! I'll be back as soon as I can. See you guys! And with that, she grabbed Uryu's hand and started running towards the Garganta room.

Meanwhile, Ulquiorra felt the warmth spread through his chest and he was certain that he was content.

End of Chapter 6

A/N: And I finally finished it! Guys, I'm very sorry it took so long, but a lot of stuff has happened. First of all, I worked for two months in a zoo and I would always come back home exhausted and could barely write my fanfics and at some point I got a sunstroke and had no energy to do anything. After I recovered, I had a huge writer's block and couldn't write anything. Now I have to focus in writing a paper for my university so that I can finally get my degree and I am also currently looking for a job. (My job at the zoo was part of what I have to do to finish my university. I study animal science, so I had to work for a total of 4 months in a company that had to focus on animals in some way. I had already worked two months last year, so two more for this year. The sad thing was that in order to work at the zoo, I had to quit my previous job, at an animal healthcare center and now I'm left looking for a new job) So yeah, it might take some time for me to upload new chapters, because I want to focus in getting my degree and in working as well. I'll try my best to upload as soon as I can and don't worry; I am not giving up on any of my stories. I'll just upload less frequently. Thank you Bellaswan120 for reviewing my story and I would love to see more reviews from my other readers. Till next time!