Eyes Wide Shut.

Summary: Orihime wants to move on with her life, but finds it hard to do so when her heart refuses to acknowledge the death of a certain Espada. But is he really gone?

Disclaimer: Bleach does not belong to me, it belongs to Tite Kubo.

It's been half a year since the winter war had ended and the wheels of time have begun moving again. Orihime's status as a traitor was revoked and she was allowed to live peacefully in Karakura town. The shinigami had won and Aizen was dead, including one arrancar that Orihime had held dear to her heart. One she would later learn that she had loved and had now caused her heartache and she felt that for the first time she wanted to close her eyes and avert herself from all the suffering she felt.

She and Tatsuki were now heading home and decided to stop by a convenience store, to buy some food before heading over to her apartment to talk. They had already explained the truth of their absence to Tatsuki, the kidnapping, their powers, and Orihime's rescue. To their surprise Tatsuki had only punched Ichigo and admitted that she had already pieced the pieces of the puzzle together long before. Orihime smiled as she remembered it.

" Were sorry that we hid it from you, Tatsuki." Ichigo apologized, shifting uncomfortably as he met Tatsuki's cold, unflinching stare. They gang had decided to have a meeting in Ichigo's room and tell Tatsuki everything that had happened. " We just didn't want you to get hurt and get caught up in the war" added Orihime. She had also felt bad that she had lied to her best friend, they had always told each other everything. Orihime felt a pang of guilt in her chest. It was heavy and suffocating.

Tatsuki shifted her gaze upon Orihime and quickly looked back at Ichigo. In no more than half a second her fist connected Ichigo's jaw, startling the gang and sending a very confused and stunned Ichigo on the floor. " I knew you were mad and I knew you wanted to punch me. But I didn't expect you to punch me that hard!" Ichigo shouted, his words slightly slurred as he nursed his painful jaw. A punch from Tatsuki wasn't a normal girl's punch, it hurt. Ichigo could prove that.

Tatsuki only gazed at him before inhaling deeply, regained her composure and opened her mouth to speak, " I knew about it" she said. Her friends' eyes widening at this revelation, " I knew you guys were protecting us, I just pretended not to know because I wanted you to tell me out of your own will. But that doesn't exclude the fact that I'm hurt that you didn't tell me sooner! I mean I know I can't exactly help you fight agains those monsters but I could have helped cover you at school!" tatsuki shouted, her eyes tearing up slightly and wiped it with her sleeve. They laughed soon afterwards and everyone was back to being friends again.

"Why are you smiling like that? " Tatsuki asked as they rounded an aisle picking up different kinds of bread. "Nothing, I just remembered something" Orihime replied happily. She was happy that her friends rescued her, that they didn't abandon her in Hueco Mundo but she was still sad over the fact that she wasn't able to save Ulquiorra. She had tried to use her Shun Shun Rikka to revive him, only for it to fail miserably.

Tears were threatening to fall down her cheeks at the slight remembrance of his last moments, before he disintegrated into ash. Tatsuki noticed this and put down the basket, embracing her best friend. "What's wrong Orihime?" she asked tenderly. "I miss him, Tatsuki, I feel guilty that I wasn't able to save him. I know you may think of me poorly but I don't think he deserved a cruel fate like that. It's not fair." Orihime said between sobs, burying her face in Tatsuki's shoulder. " From what you described to me, I don't think that he's as heartless as Ichigo and the other's depict him. Don't cry now, Orihime. I'm pretty sure neither your brother nor him would want to see you crying." Slowly, Orihime's tears stopped falling, wiping the excess away with her handkerchief. She looked at Tatsuki and smiled slightly. "I'm very happy to have a friend that doesn't judge me for the fact that I fell in love with someone I shouldn't even care for." The best friends hugged each other for a bit before breaking away and continuing to buy their food.

They paid for it, and left the store, talking about random things, helping Orihime avert her thoughts away from a certain Espada. Tatsuki's phone rang she scrambled to pick it up. "Hey, Wait a sec, 'kay?" she says hurriedly and talks to someone on the phone. Orihime smiles and looks away at the other side of the street which a lot of people were crossing. She looks at them hoping to see someone she misses, chuckling as she knows he won't be there. She sees a couple embracing each other and remembers the time Ulquiorra had asked her what a heart was. " A heart isn't just a body part that keeps us alive" she whispers hoping that he can hear it wherever he is, "It's what we call the strength of our love towards our friends and family, to the people we care about and to the people we love." She looks back at Tatsuki who was arguing over the phone with someone and reverts her head back slowly to the crowd smiling as she discovers that she tries to look for him again, even when she knows it is futile. 'He'd probably call me a foolish woman' Orihime thought to herself, raising her hand to her chest, 'Then again, only a foolish person could ever love the enemy'

Tatsuki gently tapped Orihime's shoulder, making her look at her. She sees her friend smiling apologetically, instinctively she asks, " Did something happen?" "Yeah, something came up, my grandparents suddenly came over they want to see me, I don't think I can go to your house today, they're really making a big fuss about it! It's no like I'm not coming home or anything!" Tatsuki replies in an annoyed tone, " I hope you're not mad at me. I promised you I'd come over today right?" Orihime smiles and says " Don't worry about me! Go home and meet you grandparents! I'm sure they miss you terribly! I'm not mad at all!" "Thanks for understanding me, See ya at school on Monday!" Tatsuki shouts, waving good bye to her dear friend as she runs towards the direction of her house.

Orihime decides to go home as well and waits for the sign to turn green. She scans the crowd walking toward the opposite street. Her eyes focus onto a pale figure walking at a familiar pace with his hands in his pockets. She squints as observes that he had jet black hair that reached down to his shoulders, was of moderate height, he was wearing a white long sleeved shirt and black pants. 'He seems oddly familiar' thought Orihime as she tries to get a better view. 'He reminds me of…' her thoughts interrupted as the man sensing someone staring at him stops and turns his head ever so slowly towards her, his green eyes piercing, she could swear that it flickered with a tinge of surprise and everything locked into place.

Eyes widening, shock spreading through her face, slowly her mouth opens and she utters a single name.

"Ulquiorra."

'It couldn't be him, it can't be! ' Orihime's mind protested. She felt like she was about to puke but she remained rooted in place, never averting her eyes away from his gaze. 'He's dead! Maybe I'm just hallucinating, it may just be a figment of my imagination!' she starts to reason 'But what if he's real? This may be the last time you see him again' and she grasps her chest, she could hear her heart beating furiously. He stretches out his hand towards her again and she feels her memories and reality clashing together. She blinks and she sees him walking again. Away from her, and she panics. Everything in her mind goes blank and she only hears one thing, 'Run. Run Orihime.' And she runs.

Her body instinctively runs towards his direction looking at the pavement she's running on and just as quickly keeping track of where he is. Her lack of focus nearly got her hit by a car, but she didn't care. All she focused on was the man walking away from her, defying whatever reason her mind tells her. She didn't care, running after him made her feel alive the most, it gave her hope. Her heart told her to run after him, and so she runs. She starts to shout his name, hoping that he stops. She bumps people, automatically apologizing but keeps her eyes on her target.

Her legs feel heavy, her lungs painful from the sudden exercise, her mind screaming for her to see sense but still she runs. She arrives at the spot where he should be. She pants and looks around wildly, looking for any signs of where he might be. She grasps her chest, shakily trying to level her breath, her heart thumping loudly in its cage. She fights the urge to break down and cry and wills herself to be strong. She looks around again and sees nothing. "He isn't here" she whispers. She looks towards the crowd and her fists tighten around her schoolbag and her heart. She feels like she's breaking again for the second time again.

Out of nowhere, she feels two hands encircling her body, pinning her arms to the side. One hand holds hers where she grasps her heart and she feels the slightly cold touch. Her body trapped against a sturdy torso, unable to break free. She feels a gush of air run past her ears as the stranger speaks, his tone monotonous yet a hint of emotion could be detected " You foolish woman." A single hot tear fell down Orihime's cheek as she mouths the stranger's name, "Ulquiorra." It was at that moment that she opened her eyes once more and all the anguish, despair and heart ache she had felt disappeared.

It is then that she allows herself to cry, her tears spilling down her cheeks, "Why do you cry? Are you not happy?" Ulquiorra asks, concern tainting his usually monotonous voice. "I don't want to cry, but they won't stop falling." She replies weakly in between sobs. His embrace around her tightens, and he becomes a pillar of support, keeping her standing on her legs. "But, I'm very happy. You're alive right? I'm not just imagining it, right?" she asks, hoping for confirmation. "I am, if I wasn't I wouldn't be embracing you right now." He replies, his voice slightly sarcastic but she doesn't mind, "Can, I look at you? Please?" she whispers ever so quietly and he loosens his grip and turns her around to look at his face. He keeps one of his hands on her waist.

His face was almost the same except that he isn't as deathly pale as before, he still has his impassive expression yet his emerald green eyes held a sort of emotion to it now, she thinks its delight. To her surprise, his tear marks had all but disappeared. She lets go of her school bag and she touches his chest and finds no hole. He smiles slightly at her gesture and she reaches to touch his cheek. He holds it firmly in place and she leans over to kiss him. It was chaste, but it held all of their feelings in it. " I love you" she says and he replies quietly " And I, you." To which she smiles brightly, her tears stopping altogether.

They felt the noise and the people disappear, for right now the world they were in contained only two people. And the only thing that mattered to them was that they were finally reunited.

Al final.