Disclaimer: I do not own bleach or any of these characters. If I did, Ulquiorra would surely not be dead and every character would have a pet Pug.

Obsession

Chapter 1

'How much more of this could she bear?' she wondered to herself as she watched the white robes steadily walk out of the room that was her dungeon. No man… no wait, no person has ever in her life made her so infuriatingly mad before. He was able to dig himself under her skin and find the exact points that would drive her insane with hatred and confusion.

Everyday it grew harder and harder for her to sustain the false hope that kept her strong enough to face her captor. She could feel her friend's reiatsu's growing weaker and weaker and Ulquiorra took that as an opportunity to start driving the last stake into her heart.

On one such day, she felt her large friends reiatsu nearly fade away into nothing and she hoped with everything she had that there was enough left for him to be alive. 'What kind of life could there be if one of her friends died while trying to save her?'

When she heard the monotonous steps and the abrupt warning that he was entering, Orihime slowly turned and looked into those disturbingly emotionless eyes. 'Why now?' she thought to herself as she listened to his piercing words. She knew she was close to the edge of her strength so she grasped at the only thing that would keep her sane. In her head she repeatedly mumbled, 'Sado-kun isn't dead.' It was all she could do or she would truly be lost while the villains words sought to destroy her mind.

Before she knew it, her feet were flying across the room. An instant later she grasped her hand and rubbed the stinging from her skin. She had finally snapped. Instead of losing herself to his poisonous words though like she had feared, she had felt such a tremendous furry building up inside her and she let it burst forth in a fearless move. When she looked up into the pale face she felt a moments surprise but it was quickly washed away by the anger that was still bubbling inside.

Her captor turned abruptly and left her room, mumbling something that she didn't care to listen to. The sound of her breathing was the only thing left in the room when the door slammed shut and her body crumbled inside of itself. Her arms clench the fabric over her stomach and she wept.

She cried for her friends. She cried for the hopelessness she felt growing within.

Outside, Ulquiorra walked down the stark white hallway; his hands thrust inside his pants as he relived the last few moments of events in his mind. He was surprised by how much it had bothered him to hear the woman mumbling over and over again about how her friends were alright.

'Why did he care if she still hoped for something impossible? It would only work to his advantage when all that hope came crashing down as each of her friends were defeated one by one.'

Still though, he wanted her to be one of them. He wanted her to submit to his will which in turn meant she had submitted completely to Aizen. She would be his greatest triumph. It was easy to physically defeat someone with the power he had obtained but to completely control someone's spirit and mind; that was a feat worth way more, especially when that control was over someone like her.

Subconsciously, Ulquiorra placed his hand over his cheek. 'Things were moving too quickly,' he thought. He needed more time to break her. There was still too much hope residing inside of her. He needed to crush the main thing she clung to. He needed to crush Ichigo Kurosaki.

XxXxXxX

'Why is he walking away from me? Doesn't he want to kill all of us?' Ulquiorra wondered while watching Ichigo turn and start heading towards his fallen friend.

'Regardless, I need to stop him. When he dies, I win the woman,' he mumbled to himself.

Ulquiorra taunted Ichigo one last time in an effort to start the inevitable confrontation. The look in the orange haired mans eyes told him everything he needed to know, this taunt had been successful.

When Ulquiorra stabbed his hand into the shinigami's chest, he felt a dull satisfaction in knowing he had won. Ultimately though, this wasn't the prize he was seeking.

He left the body lying in the rubble and headed back to the woman to show her just how helpless her situation was now. As he walked down the hallway he noticed something wasn't right. When he got closer, there was a huge hole in the wall and inside stood Aizen's two whores. He saw the fear in their eyes as he approached them. 'Where was the woman?'

Ulquiorra turned and left the room without so much as a backwards glance. 'How dare he take her? She was his,' he thought to himself as he searched for the reiatsu that would lead him to Grimmjow.

When he finally found the small group he felt fury nearly overwhelm him. 'Why was she with him?' His plan to destroy her spirit was now greatly set back. He could almost see the hope lighting up her face as she stood before her friend. 'Was she grateful to that blue haired idiot for bringing her there?' He had to control the anger within him as he questioned Grimmjow.

He didn't really care about the answers he was receiving, he only wanted the woman back. Her face looked pained when he glanced over at her, but there was something else. It almost looked like she was sorry for doing what she did; like she had been a bad subordinate and felt the need to apologize to her master. 'That was a good sign,' he thought.

Of course that blue haired idiot had to step in and try to start a fight for the zillionth time. 'I'll take care of him quickly,' Ulquiorra thought. When he saw the small square object fall into his chest he cursed himself for his carelessness and seethed in anger. 'This really put a kink in his plans for the woman.'

XxXxXxXx

Orihime watched as Ulquiorra walked into the room and stared at her as she healed Ichigo. 'Why did his eyes unnerve her so much? He seemed disappointed in her. Why disappointed? Why not angry?'

She also wondered why she felt the need to explain why she was there. His icy expression gave away little of what he was thinking and Orihime shivered in spite of herself.

'Why did her chest seem to expand when Ulquiorra told Grimmjow to hand her over?' questioned Orihime to herself.

Ulquiorra looked cold and unmoving as always. His crisp uniform and unflinching gaze gave him a look of uncompromising harshness. Orihime was startled when Grimmjow challenged him so blatantly. 'Did he really think he could beat him?' The thought unsettled her. When she saw her captor disappear before her eyes she gasped and then watched as the blue eyed devil approached her.

XxXxXxXxX (In the other dimension)

"Shit!" Ulquiorra muttered as the invisible wall enveloped him into the darkness. He had been so intent on finishing the ordeal between himself and Grimmjow that he hadn't expected the feline to pull something so low. Growling to himself, he started to push on the barrier with his reiatsu.

His thoughts started to wander as he stood there and he thought about the look on the woman's face as he had walked into the scene earlier. She had seemed so apologetic and nervous but there had been something behind all of that. Something had caught his attention just a moment after he had demanded that Grimmjow hand her back over to him. It had been the subtlest of movements but it was glued to his memory. Her body had seemed to almost melt before his eyes. He knew he had grown extremely adept at reading the woman so the slight movement had been like a huge explanation of what she was feeling.

His body reacted despite his efforts. He wanted to see more. He wanted to understand every reaction, every gesture that the woman made. She was his after all. Aizen had given her to him.

He had to get out.

XxXxXxX

Orihime felt defiance bubble up inside of her that she hadn't known existed until this moment. She glared at Grimmjow as he walked toward her, ordering her to heal her injured friend just so that he could hurt him again. When a hand shot out and grabbed the arm that had been reaching out to hurt her she gasped in shock and stared at her orange haired friend.

She felt confident as she watched the pair fly off into battle. Ichigo would win. He had to win. But Grimmjow wasn't the one that frightened her so much. She didn't feel the same confidence when she thought of him fighting a certain Espada with large emerald eyes.

A bit later…

Orihime turned as she heard something crack and split open. She watched a hand reach out of seemingly nothingness to be followed by the rest of Ulquiorra's body. Her whole body froze as she watched his approaching figure. His graceful movement was somehow seductive and she held her breath until he was only a few steps away.

She was grateful that she was able to answer his question so confidently. When his hand reached out, searching for her heart, she involuntarily gasped and stared at Ulquiorra in shock. 'Why was he always so intensely curious about such things?' Orihime wondered. 'He protested human emotions but at the same time he seemed to search desperately for an answer to the same thing he denied.'

Orihime bolstered her courage and was about to demonstrate the full extent of her emotions when a loud crash broke through the tense room and a flash of orange burst through the wall. She felt a moment of agitation at the interruption but it was quickly washed away and replaced with a terrible fear for what was about to happen.

XxXxXxX

Ulquiorra was instantly aware of the woman standing nearby as he finally broke through the invisible barrier that Grimmjow had created. He needed to gauge the amount of damage the past few events had done to the progress he had made with the woman. When she answered his question of whether or not she was scared he knew he had lost. The small glimmer of hope he had had before Grimmjow had taken her from him was shattered and in its place he could see an immense strength settling over the woman.

He listened to her words as they came stoically from her mouth. It seemed almost absurd to him as she continued her explanation but he was intrigued as well. He'd never seen a human exhibit so much emotion for other humans. 'Maybe there was more to this than he'd thought.'

As he reached his hand out and questioned her further about these elusive emotions he was startled when a loud crash rang out behind him. Anger soon replaced his surprise when he saw who it was that had interrupted their discussion. 'He'd take care of this once and for all,' he thought to himself as he turned and unsheathed his sword.

This woman was his and he would do whatever necessary to keep her, especially from this foe.

XxXxXxX

The battle raged as Orihime watched helplessly. Every slash of a sword and every splatter of blood tore a piece of her soul from her. She couldn't stand watching Ichigo get torn apart but even the few blows he landed on Ulquiorra caused her pain.

She was startled when cool hands reached out and grasped at her clothing. Terror threatened to cloud her mind as she struggled against the two girls who were tearing apart her clothing and threatening to end her life. She watched Ichigo dash across the room to save her from the onslaught but couldn't believe her eyes when she saw him wind up to throw his Getsuga Tenshou in her direction.

At the last moment, a flash of white interrupted the deadly blow and bright green eyes stared back at her. She couldn't believe what she had just seen. What did it mean? Why did he stop the blow if it hadn't been to protect the two girls who had grabbed her? 'It couldn't possibly have been to protect her,' she thought to herself.

Another rumble intruded on her thoughts and before her stood a massive figure that she recognized from the first time she had seen an Arrancar. She watched as Yammy backhanded one of her tormentors across the room. The other girl was quick to follow and Orihime trembled with fright when he turned his attention to her.

The sight of Ishida-kun was such a relief that Orihime nearly collapsed where she stood. She was so happy to see him alive.

While she watched her Quincy friend dispatch the large Espada, she heard Ichigo order Ishida to protect her. A moment's agitation flooded her at the words. 'Why did he always think so little of her?'

She quickly pushed those thoughts aside and watched as the battle started once again. Leaning out of the hole the two had created, Orihime turned her face skyward to see a large tare in the dome. She had to get up there.

The sight she beheld as she ran off Uryu's platform was the most terrifying picture she had ever seen. She couldn't control the sounds erupting from her body as she ran towards the falling body of her friend.

XxXxXxX

Ulquiorra turned when he heard the woman approaching and was delighted that she was about to witness the destruction of the final barrier that stood between himself and having total possession of the woman. He blasted a hole through the nearly lifeless figure and released it to fall to the ground far below. When he watched the woman charge after the now dead figure and catch the body with her shield, he dove down the stop her. He didn't know if she was capable of healing him or not. From what he had learned of her powers he would guess that she probably could bring him back. He wasn't going to let that happen.

The sudden stinging of arrows from the annoying Quincy diverted his attention but he was aware of the woman reaching her friend and enveloping him with her healing bubble. He took care of the pest quickly and was just about to finish him off when a gut wrenching scream tore from the woman's body, followed by an equally terrifying scream from some strange creature that stood where the orange haired body used to lie.

XxXxXxX

The sight of Ichigo's hollow mask used to frighten her enough but the figure standing before her now was beyond anything she could ever imagine. Even in her darkest nightmares that she had suffered while a prisoner in Las Noches she hadn't dreamt of anything this horrifying. The guttural scream that emanated from the monster sent tremors through her body and she watched in confused terror as it tore through Ulquiorra's body.

A small grain of hope infused her body as she listened to Ulquiorra talk about his regenerative powers. Any sliver of hope in this nightmare was worth grasping on to. She never wanted to see anyone die; especially not someone who seemed so desperate for love but had never experienced the sensation in any form.

As Ichigo leaned over the shredded body, Orihime was paralyzed in fear. She couldn't believe that Ichigo was capable of such a thing, but that wasn't the end. Ishida ran towards the monster and reached out a hand to halt the descent of the final blow which would end Ulquiorra's life forever.

Orihime couldn't believe her eyes when she watched that same blade turn and slice through Uryu's stomach. She screamed out his name tried to think of a way to stop this horrible turn of events. When hopelessness seemed to envelope her she looked up and saw a winged figure dart out and slash Ichigo's mask in two.

She was so relieved when she saw Ichigo transform back into his human form that she forgot about the man who had saved her and her friend. When she finally did turn to find Ulquiorra, her eyes ran into the sight of ash falling from his body. Once again, she was paralyzed. 'This can't happen this way,' she pleaded inside her head.

When his bony hand reached out towards her she hesitated a moment and she let the enormity of the situation sink in. 'Of course she wasn't afraid,' she thought to herself as she reached out her hand to grasp his. 'How could she be afraid of someone who had come to mean so much to her?'

XxXxXxX

Ulquiorra watched the woman's hand pass through his ashes. 'This can't be it,' he thought to himself as he felt the rest of his body crumble away. How could he come so close, only to disappear when the thing he wanted was within his grasp?

He fought the darkness that tried to rip him apart. Most of his existence he had fought the darkness. In time he had learned to take that darkness within himself and become one with it. He didn't want to be a part of it now. The glimpse of the sun he had gotten just moments before his body had disintegrated pushed him to fight harder. He wanted the light.

His soul clung desperately to the tiny flame of hope. He had trained himself obsessively to obtain the ability to regenerate his entire body. Super-fast regeneration had become a simple thing to do when it came to his extremities but regenerating his organs had always been an elusive process. He had never been willing to deliver that damaging blow to himself which would allow him to practice the technique he had developed.

With a surge of energy, Ulquiorra reached out with whatever power was left in him and grasped the tiny bit of light that had suddenly appeared. 'This was it,' he thought to himself as he felt his heart beat in time with something foreign. 'One way or the other, I will never be the same.'

XxXxXxX

The tiny bits of ash that floated through her fingertips brought tears to her eyes. She fell to her knees and clutched at her stomach as sobs tore through her body. 'This couldn't be happening,' she whispered to herself over and over again as she rocked her body back and forth. When she heard Ichigo quietly ask her something she shook herself out of her trance and looked over at the familiar face. He was normal again.

Orihime sighed with relief but then her eyes widened when she saw Uryu from the corner of her eye. 'How could she have let herself forget about him?'

She quickly ran over to Uryu and placed her healing shield over him while Ichigo called out over his shoulder that he was going to go help the rest of their group down below. While she stood there alone, waiting for Uryu's body to piece itself back together, her thoughts strayed back to the pile of ash that lay nearby. She knew it was beyond her ability to bring him back.

Orihime walked over to where she had last seen Ulquiorra. She closed her eyes and started to recount every memory she had of him. There was so much sadness and despair but mixed within these was tiny sparks of something else. She grasped at these sparks and let herself dwell on those memories.

After what seemed like a long time, Orihime inhaled a large breath and threw her head back, clasping her hands against her chest and let her heart pour out all the emotions she had bottled up inside. She cried for Ulquiorra. She cried for what was lost.

When the last sob escaped her lips, Orihime took a long, shuttering breath and felt her heart expand. She would forever remember him, in her heart.

His heart would now beat as one with hers.

XxXxXxX

Ulquiorra didn't know when his thoughts had come back to him. One minute there had been nothingness and the next minute he was conscious of a constant pounding surrounding him. It wasn't a loud sound but it seemed to fill every space around him. Soon he was able to hear his own heart beating, the two sounds meshing into one constant rhythm that was oddly peaceful.

As time went by, he was aware of new feelings. He had no idea how much time passed as one day he was able to take large gulps of air into his new lungs and the next he was able to feel something hard beneath him. When he was finally able to open his eyes, he stared at the dark sky above him and blinked several times to adjust his vision.

The dull thud which was still timed with his own heartbeat quietly pushed him to raise himself up. Everything was as he remembered it. Destroyed pillars dotted the horizon and blood stained rocks were scattered everywhere. The place was empty though.

He searched the area with his Pesquisa and found no traces of spiritual pressure. Unfolding his large wings, Ulquiorra dove down from the ceiling and landed on the ground next to the pillar where he had left the woman before continuing his fight with Ichigo. He searched again and found a small trace of spiritual pressure coming from within the building.

Ulquiorra followed that trail until he found himself in Aizen's throne room but it was not Aizen who sat upon the throne, it was Tier Harribel.

More to come! I hope you enjoyed it so far. Might have been a little slow but I needed to set the story up. Lemon's to come in later chapters since I simply can't help myself. Please review!

Ah, it is so great to be back writing again. I've had company the past week and a half so I wasn't able to write anything at all. I feel like I'm just bursting with stuff to write about.