Orihime looked around her white cell and vaguely wondered why she was back in Las Noches. She looked down at her hands daintily clasped in front of her crisp white princess dress. Am I a princess waiting to be rescued by my dashing prince? she wondered to herself as her confusion cleared into acceptance of her surroundings. She slowly walked to the tiny window that seemed to retreat before her. Was my window really that small? she asked as the window darted away from her, refusing to show her eyes the freedom they hungered for. She heard the door open behind her and she froze in terror because she had forgotten what monster was holding her captive. It had to be a monster, right? Weren't all princesses in need of saving held in the thrall of some evil ogre or scaly dragon?

"Orihime..." she heard whispered behind her in a voice so softly emotionless that it chilled her to the marrow of her bones. "Why are turned away from me?" the voice softly snaked around her as she heard lightly approaching footsteps echoing in the huge chamber. She gripped her skirt, terrified to turn to that deceptively tender voice.

"I have something for you." the voice spoke right behind her now...disappointment hiding deep in its emotionless tone. She almost turned at that and she heard breath caught in anticipation and then stood her ground instead, not wanting to give the monster satisfaction. She could almost feel the disappointment coming off of him now...disappointment and something else? Sadness? Yet in what fairy tale did the monster ever feel anything but hunger? She heard shifting behind her and then she saw a hand reach out in front of her, holding something in a fist. Blood dripped onto the front of her stark white dress and she tried not to think of what act that bit of bright red on white symbolized. Then the hand before her opened and she saw the remains of a bright green eye crushed there. And then it was brought to her lips. "An eye for an eye." she heard the voice softly giggle behind her and the fact that the voice was able to produce anything close to a laugh was the most frightening thing of all.

She backed away from the smashed and bleeding mess in the hand before her and almost instantly backed into unyielding cold behind her. She could feel her body begin to freeze and looked down at her frosted hands in wonderment. "What do you mean by that?" she asked the cold behind her.

"Everyone knows that the princess gets eaten in the end," came the reply and then the hand in front of her dropped the eye and cruelly grabbed her arm instead preparing to spin her around. She closed her eyes and screamed not wanting to see, not wanting to know, but she could see anyway, and she knew anyway...and it was all her fault. She gave the monster permission to eat her, she brought him here, she...

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Orihime jerked awake, covered in sweat and alone in bed. She hadn't been alone when she laid down to sleep, blissful and calm in Ulquiorra's arms. Why was she alone now? Where had Ulquiorra gone? She tried to shake the shreds of unease that clung to her along with the remains of her dream as she climbed out of bed and walked into the hall. It was silent out here and for the first time she noticed that it was darker than she expected it to be. Just how long had she slept? She rubbed her eyes and walked into the sitting room. It was much cleaner here than it had been the last she saw it, but it was also empty. Where is everyone? she asked herself, unease starting to deepen into something else. She started to hurry a little now...first into the small candy-filled shop and finding it deserted too, she started to head outside. Suddenly a hand grabbed her from behind and she screamed a little, her dream still fresh in her mind. Then she realized that the hand was warm instead of ice and it was gentle. She turned and found herself face to face with Urahara.

"We are all ready for you now, Inoue-san," he told her gently. "In fact I was coming to wake you just now. Do you feel well enough to go through with the healing?" he asked her quietly.

Orihime nodded and he led her into the back and down the stairs into bright sun. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light and saw that everyone was down in the training room waiting for her. Everyone was armed and she felt fear and hurt at that, knowing what it meant and she glanced at Urahara accusingly for not telling her this part.

"It is good to be prepared for any outcome, Inoue-san." Urahara told her. "Something like this has never been attempted before."

She turned from him and then her eyes found Ulquiorra for the first time. It was like seeing him for the first time, she mused. Was that because she knew it was for the last time? Her eyes tried to memorize every little detail about him, so she would never forget. She saw hunger in his eyes and at first thought back to the end of her dream and flinched a bit. Then she realized it was a hunger of a different sort and that he was trying to memorize her the way she was him.

"Are you ready, Ulquiorra-san?" Urahara asked him. At the arrancar's nod, Urahara turned to Orhime and asked, "Are you ready, Inoue-san?"

She wiped tears from her eyes and nodded as well. Ulquiorra approached her. Before he laid down in front of her though he placed his face next to her ear and whispered, "No matter what happens, I am satisfied. Thank you, Orihime." And then he laid down and she knelt down next to him and placed her shield. Urahara walked back to the others and joined them in their solemn semi-circle. Orihime bent down to the bright shield and whispered into it, "I love you," though she wasn't sure if he could even hear her anymore. Then she shut her eyes and concentrated, not intending to open them once until it was all over. She didn't want to see him as he was as a full hollow and if she couldn't reject him past that, she didn't want to see what would happen next. As she stayed next to him in darkness, her inner world blossomed for her and came alive. She lived and lived and loved and lost in so many different ways and times that soon all the tears became rain, rain, just rain. At some points she could hear the others talk softly among themselves and sometimes leave for a bit and then come back and in the back of her mind she knew that hours must be passing for the others, though they weren't for herself. It wasn't hours passing, it was lifetimes.

Then she faintly felt a hand on her shoulder, shaking her and a voice coming to her ears. And the rain blessedly stopped. She didn't open her eyes at first, but she forced herself to form the words, "Is it done?"

"Yes. You did it, Inoue. You did it." And whoever was saying it had the rain caught in their voice. No, not the rain...tears.

Orihime slowly opened her eyes and looked up at a smiling and shiny-eyed Rukia. "Look, Inoue. You did it." Rukia said and then looked down at Orihime's shield. Orihime slowly turned to look and then started crying.

"You...you think it is OK to take the shield off now?" she asked Rukia. "I mean is he alive?"

"Yes, yes he is." Rukia responded. "I saw him...as things I'm glad you didn't see, Inoue...and I also saw him as a plus and he isn't even that anymore. He's human and alive."

Orihime removed the bright warmth of her shield and saw him clearly for the first time. His eyes were still closed, their greeness hidden from view, but the rest of him...oh the rest of him. His hair was still the same, except now she could see it fully. He no longer had the broken bit of bone on his head that had been a visual reminder of the fact he wasn't human for so long. His skin was light peach like hers and his arrancar uniform now contrasted strangely against it. She noticed his nails were no longer black and felt a bit of disappointment at that. She then looked at his face, his beautiful face and saw that it was no longer marked by tears. She had often wondered why he had them in the first place and the fact that they were now gone wasn't exactly puzzling (she didn't expect his human form to be marked so), but it was like a question that would never be answered. She didn't mind it though...she was glad the tears were gone and hoped whatever heartache they symbolized was gone as well. His black brows were still thick but no longer strangely defined and shaped. She reached out to touch him and his eyes opened. They were still brilliantly green, but now sparkled with life instead of being dead and flat with slitted pupils like he had as a hollow. She looked into them and he looked back at her and she saw recognition in them and then it was gone.

"I'm sorry, miss. I don't mean to stare. It's just that this all seems vaguely familiar to me. I seem to somehow remember waking up and you above me." He looked at her a bit more, as though trying to remember her and then continued softy, "It must have been a dream I had long ago though. I don't think I would have forgotten someone like you."

Orihime wiped at the tears that were making their slow trails down her face and turned away. She stood up and Rukia hugged her as the others slowly made their way out of the room to give Orihime her privacy.

She heard Ulquiorra stand up behind her and say, "I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong, Miss... I'm sorry, but I don't know your name."

Orihime turned back to him and whispered to the ground, "My name is Orihime Inoue."

"I don't think I have ever heard such a name before. It's very lovely though, Miss Inoue. My name is..."

"I already know your name, Ulquiorra." Orihime whispered to him, trying not to cry again.

"I'm afraid you have mistaken me for someone else. My name isn't Ulquiorra," he said to her in his soft voice.

Of course his name would be different, Orihime thought to herself. He was named Ulquiorra as a hollow. Did she know anything about this person that now stood before her? She turned away from him again and saw that Rukia had respectfully left too. She was all alone here with a stranger.

"Please don't cry, Miss Inoue. I'm not sure why, but it really hurts to see you sad. I must admit that I am very confused as to where I am and who you are, yet the way you are acting makes me suspect that maybe we do know each other and I have forgotten it. Is that the truth of it?" he asked her.

Orihime nodded, still not wanting to look at him.

"Were we close?" he asked her again and when she couldn't answer that he went on. "It seems we must have been though I can't imagine what a lovely young lady such as yourself would want with me."

"Oh...Ulquiorra." Orihime sadly cried. "Don't say that. How could I not love you?" She looked up and saw the shock plain on his face at that statement and mumbled, "I'm sorry. That was wrong of me. I know this is all really new to you...it's just that...it's not new to me. I guess I need to tell you everything. Would you like to hear what I have to tell you?" She asked him looking at his face.

"Yes, I would."

"Then come. Let's get you some different clothes for one. Those don't fit you anymore...I mean they aren't fitting for who you have become. And then I suppose we should go on a walk. Talking about such things are always easier on a walk." Orihime said, hope stirring in her heart again.

She started towards the stairs and Ulquiorra caught up to her and placed his hand on his hip with an opening for her to slide her arm through. "Would you allow me to escort you?" he asked her and when she smiled and slipped her arm through his, he smiled back at her. And at that moment Orihime knew that even if he never did remember her and if he went on his own way after hearing her story, it was all worth it. He had a smile that never, ever should be buried beneath pain again.

The End