Chapter 1- Prologue

The crumbled white-stone palace surrounded her, unchanged over the past few months since the end of the Winter War. Her back rested against a partially broken wall where she had apparently fallen asleep. As she stood, shattered bits of stone fell to the floor with soft ticks that echoed in the emptied ruins of Las Noches.

This was the worst place to wake up. The grogginess from overexertion following that battle yesterday muddled her mind, her thoughts free to go where they shouldn't. The confusion over what the weight in her chest only worsened now that she had returned to the immense, disintegrating palace of white. She had been avoiding returning here.

Even with the months that had passed, the moment she found herself near Las Noches, her breath would hitch before her head turned towards the fallen towers that had once marked the center of the palace, that now marked the final battle between the forth Espada and the soul reaper. While she was inside what remained of the structure, her head still turned to face that direction.

She sighed, kicking a rock so it flew through the room into the opposite wall. Why was she still so upset? She was a hollow. She should not be feeling anything in regards to anyone, yet here she was, fists clenched as she thought of him. It was ridiculous how much she missed his stupid blank expression, the cold edge to his voice, or even the distance in his green eyes.

It made no sense why she was so angry and it only made her that much more frustrated. Hollows died. That was one undeniable fact in Hueco Mundo. While the endless night in the colorless desert never changed, hollows did. The weak were killed, the strong lived on and evolved. She had lived under this rule for her entire existence as a hollow. She had at one point accepted it as law, but the moment it had to be applied to him she refused to believe that he was weak and meant to die. No, by that logic, she should be dead, not him. She was the weak one; an arrancar that had only figured out how to use her resserección yesterday. If anyone should have died it should have been her.

She raised her hand, palm glowing as a cero fired to blast a hole through the wall to form a direct path outside. As she walked through the newly created hall, her thoughts turned again. That was wrong as well. The one that deserved to die was the soul reaper; not Ulquiorra or her. The soul reaper had succumbed to the strange hollow powers he held. He was too weak to control his own abilities. Too weak to kill a powerful Espada alone.

Her footsteps abruptly stopped despite not yet arriving outside. Would that resolve the anger she felt? It was a suicidal endeavor considering the soul reaper managed to kill Ulquiorra, so killing her would be child's play. Right? That was the logical conclusion, her being the fracción to the Espada that had been defeated. There was no way to win, but why was the idea so tempting? Did she really wish to seek revenge for him?

Yes. Yes she did.

Before she could stop her hand from moving, it cut open the space in front of her to form a dark tear. Her feet carried her into the void of the Garganta instinctually. On the other side the sky was brilliant blue, sunshine nearly blinding the hollow so used to eternal night. A city stretched out below her, the humans but insects as they scurried across their paved walkways. Karakura. That was the name of the place below her. A town once fated to be destroyed, saved only in the deaths of the Espadas and the defector soul reapers.

It took only seconds for her to pick out a specific, maddening spiritual pressure. No matter how weak it felt now, she recognized her target. That orange haired soul reaper would die for what he did. In a flash she reached the general area, her eyes scanning the paths around the park for the human she wanted. That hair of his didn't let him hide for long.

Before he had the chance to turn his head at the sudden presence rushing for him, a foot connected with his jaw, sending him flying. As he skidded across the ground she smashed apart the pavement where she landed.

"What the-" he began, cutting himself off as he looked to his half-masked attacker. "An arrancar?" He stood up, ignoring the scrapes and bruises he'd received in the first blow. "What do you want? The war's over. Go back to Hueco Mundo before I-"

"Shut up," she hissed before vanishing from his sight using sonido. His sluggish human body could not block the kick, this time smashing into his ribs to send him flying. "I'm going to kill you!" He rose to his feet again, coughing, but still no sign of his sword, enraging her more- if that was possible. "Turn into a soul reaper already so I can kill you!"

She stepped forward, icy colored eyes narrowed as she glared at him, waiting. Her teeth ground together, a growl turning to a scream as she aimed a fist for his face. Her hand connected with an orange wall nearly invisible to the eye.

"Orihime!" the soul reaper called out automatically.

"Don't worry Ichigo," the familiar voice chimed reassuringly. The orange haired woman ran past, the hollow dropping her hand back to her side as she watched the human woman. When Orihime stood beside Ichigo, her lips pressed together and her eyes widened with surprise. "Aracelis? Why are you attacking Ichigo?"

"Move. I'm not here to kill you." Her voice was empty. She forgot that Orihime had been the one the soul reaper went to Hueco Mundo to save. A little detail like that had been lost in the turmoil her mind had been the last few months. "If you don't move, I'll kill you too!" she snarled, seeing that Orihime remained steadfast in her place at Ichigo's side.

"Aracelis, please, listen to me!" Orihime stepped forward to stand in front of Ichigo, her shield still in place. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because he deserves it!" she screeched, pointing a finger to the soul reaper behind the human woman. Her teeth gnashed together as she looked at the orange-haired pair, still unable to explain why she needed to do this to herself, let alone a human. It was completely irrational.

"Arace-" her voice died away as her gray eyes widened with fear.

Aracelis remained silent as she brought her hand up, blue light glowing as a cero gathered in her palm. It would be enough to break through Orihime's barrier. The cero would end these feelings once and for all. Then she could act like a damned hollow should. The light became blinding, the energy hissing as it fired.

Blue energy cut through the ground before being shot through the air, diverted at the last moment. Someone gripped her wrist, wrenching it behind her back to prevent her from firing another cero. Aracelis's eyes went wide, pupils constricting, time seeming to stop. The way the fingers dug into her skin with enough force to cause discomfort but not injury. The pressure a warning before further action was taken. The feeling was so painfully familiar it made her blood go cold.

Slowly she turned her head to the side, her entire body shaking with both anticipation and terror. Her breath caught, her mouth trying to form words but failing as her lips quivered pathetically. Her brain shut down as she stared at him in awe and confusion and relief and too many unrecognizable emotions she could not hope to place. The stark white skin, dark black hair, and cold green eyes were unmistakable even with the missing remnants of his mask and the two tear-like markings that had once adorned his face.

How? How was he alive? She'd watched him turn to dust, felt as his presence faded away, but… He was standing right there, his tight grasp on her wrist reassuring that this wasn't some delusion created through her rage. He was somehow alive. Alive and in front of her protecting the soul reaper that had killed him. Nothing made sense as Aracelis's brain seemed to implode from sudden overload. She could only stare at him, body frozen in place.

"Hide your spiritual pressure," his calm, empty voice ordered.

Her reaction was immediate and unconscious as she did as commanded. He released her wrist, which she slowly lowered back to her side, gaze still fixed on the human-looking Ulquiorra in front of her. Some of her brain-function recovered, and now that shock replaced rage, she could sense his spiritual pressure- even if it was seemingly weak and well restrained. It was still unmistakably him.

"H-how?" she stuttered, mouth still refusing to form a complete thought. Even without the one-word question, it was obvious by her shaking body and wide eyes what she wanted to know.

"I was able to use my power to revive him," Orihime's voice explained, not able to draw Aracelis's attention away from Ulquiorra. "Although, I wasn't able to heal him fully, so he's still recovering," she added quietly, self-doubt in her ability present.

"Orihime spent months on reviving him," Ichigo said, reassuring Orihime that she had done the best she could, but also sounding slightly irked by the fact she had revived the Espada.

"Why," Aracelis began, her voice shaky and quiet. "Why didn't..." The unaskable question was directed at Ulquiorra. She just wanted to know why he didn't return to Hueco Mundo, but asking something so obviously desperate and needy… She couldn't show that much weakness. Her incoherent babbling was bad enough.

"Ulquiorra's not healed enough to go back to Hueco Mundo." Ichigo's guess at her question was spot on. It sounded like he'd have forced Ulquiorra to leave if he could fend for himself. "If he did, any arrancars left over from the war could probably kill him."

"I am not in that poor of condition." Ulquiorra, although as stone-faced as always, radiated an aura that screamed Ichigo hit a nerve. Jabs about weakness were not something a hollow took lightly; Aracelis was almost angry on Ulquiorra's behalf.

Orihime laughed awkwardly, trying to break the tension between the two males. Aracelis finally tore her eyes away from the dark-haired hollow to look to the two humans still standing behind her. Orihime had stepped closer after bringing down her shield, while Ichigo remained a distance away, bruised jaw still tense from the presence of the two hollows- one completely unfamiliar to him.

"Aracelis," Ulquiorra stated, forcing her attention back to him with the rarity of him using her name. "Return to Hueco Mundo."

Silence. Deafening silence with an ever-building tension. Aracelis's lips parted, words again refusing to flow out, but this time it was far from shock. How dare he tell her to just go back after finding out he was alive! Unbelievable. No, actually, it was just like him. With her outburst of energy earlier it was a miracle an army of soul reapers didn't already show up to finish off an arrancar. She was putting herself, and even him, in his recovering state, in danger by remaining in the human world. The most logical action would be for her to leave. Yet she was never the rational one.

Aracelis stepped forward, narrowing the distance between her and Ulquiorra to mere inches instead of a few feet. She straightened her back to make her minor half-inch height difference less noticeable as she prepared to scream her pent-up frustrations at his porcelain face.

"A-ah," Orihime stuttered as she quickly moved to stand to the side- almost between- the two hollows. Sweat dropped off her forehead as she tried to find something to distract the female hollow before she picked a fight with Ulquiorra- even if she knew they wouldn't kill each other, fighting wasn't something they needed to be doing right now. "W-wait, Aracelis, I have an idea!" Orihime nearly bounced up and down with excitement. "We could get you a gigai and you could stay here!"

"What?" Aracelis and Ichigo asked in unison. Aracelis had no idea what the human woman was talking about, but Ichigo… Ichigo knew exactly what that meant. One hollow was already too much; not to mention he hadn't met this Aracelis before. The kick to face wasn't exactly a good first impression.

"It's sort of like a fake body. Soul reapers use them so they can be seen by normal people. It works for hollows too!" She gestured to Ulquiorra, that being the explanation for why he appeared human. "They're also really great at hiding spiritual pressure, so you won't be noticed by the Soul Society or other hollows. I'm sure Mr. Urahara would make one for you!"

"Wait, Orihime! Are you serious about this?" Ichigo interrupted, stepping forward to stand closer to the odd group. "Do you really trust her? She was trying to kill me five minutes ago!"

"Aracelis is…" Orhime trailed off, her grey eyes shifting between Ichigo and Aracelis. "I don't think she'll cause any problems. When I was in Hueco Mundo, she would come talk with me, and…" She shook her head to forget about the time she played captive and the whole winter war. "Aracelis, do you promise not to attack Ichigo again?"

"I…" Aracelis avoided their stares by glancing off to the side. With Ulquiorra alive, she really didn't need to kill the soul reaper for revenge's sake. Without that, she had no reason to kill any human or soul reaper unless they came after her. "I probably won't if he doesn't piss me off," she answered finally.

"What do you mean probably!?" Ichigo tried to interject, but he was completely ignored as Orihime took hold of the conversation.

"So," she began with barely hidden excitement leaking into her voice, "what do you think about staying here?"

"I…ah…" Aracelis risked a quick look at Ulquiorra. His face was as indifferent as always, no obvious reaction to Orihime's ridiculous offer. That meant he either didn't care or… No, he just didn't care. There was no way he actually wanted her there. For her to even think that must mean her brain wasn't quite over the shock of finding out he was alive.

Wait, why was she even considering staying? She should have spat out 'no' within the first second of being asked. If she was in this gigai thing she'd be making a commitment to stay for more than a few hours at the time. The human world may be interesting to watch, but actually living there seemed horrifyingly boring. She could just travel between the human world and Hueco Mundo to visit Ulquiorra.

But, if she did that, she could catch unwanted attention. Karakura had been the center of a major battle. If the soul reapers weren't monitoring it still, they were more foolish than she thought. Opening a Garganta would draw them right to her and, by default, Ulquiorra. There would be no traveling back and forth, especially not often. With her actions today the Soul Society may very well be on edge already. And that lead back to Ulquiorra telling her to leave, because he was always right in the end.

Yet something in her wanted to stay so badly that nothing else seemed to matter.

"Aracelis?" Orihime's voice pulled the hollow out of her thoughts.

Aracelis sighed, crossing her arms over her chest, returning her gaze to the shattered pavement. Her apparent feelings were too muddled to make a proper decision right now. It didn't help that Ulquiorra was standing so close still. Aracelis knew he was watching her, analyzing each change of emotion that just had to be etched across her face right now. "I need to think about this," she muttered.

Before any more was said, Aracelis jumped into the air, the sudden movement sending Orihime stumbling back a few steps, her balance beginning to falter. While Ichigo helped steady her by bracing her shoulders, Ulquiorra glanced up at the retreating form of his former subordinate. His eyes narrowed slightly, wondering why she didn't stay. There was no reason for her to go back to 'think about this' when she would inevitably be back.

Once her feet touched the white sands of Hueco Mundo, a cero gouged out the ground to create a dust storm. As she ground her teeth, she charged another blast to send into the sand. Frustration was the only emotion she seemed able to identify, and that was mainly focused on herself. She should have said no and gone about being a hollow, returning to killing the remaining arrancars she found annoying. But, no, she wanted to think about it. Scratch that. All she could think about was Ulquiorra. How did she ever become so attached to him that she would even consider an extended stay in the world of the living as a human?

She growled as she closed her hand, extinguishing the fifth cero she was about to release as part of her destruction therapy. This was her own fault. Her attachment to him… She only had herself to blame for that.

Her knees gave away so she could fall into a sitting position, her arms crossed over her chest and eyes narrowed.

Still… How did this happen? How did a hollow like her end up in a mess of emotions that centered around another?

The past was a good place to start looking for that answer.

Author's Note:

Hello and thank you for reading!

While this is not my first story, it is my first for Bleach. I hope everyone enjoyed this little look into what is actually more of the middle of the story. I figured I needed to get some Ulquiorra in the first chapter because he is the cannon character. Aracelis is an unknown right know so I didn't want to start out with just her past.