She felt so useless.

Tears prickled at the corner of her eyes, but she forced them open, fighting against the urge to blink. Her body shook, and she knew that if she allowed even one sob, she wouldn't stop.

So she bit her lips, and dug her nails in her palm, letting the pain ground her. She ignored the clutching in her chest, the feeling that someone was clawing and crushing.

In that silence, she could hear Ishida's ragged breath behind her. She had closed his wounds, but his arm clung uselessly at his side. He didn't want to have it completely healed, arguing that it would take too much time, and he just needed not to pass out of blood loss.

Kurosaki needed her more.

When this was over, she was the only one that could bring him back to normal, he had added.

She had tried not to notice his frown, or the tone too confident to sound true. But she couldn't be fooled, because his fears, were her also.

Still, she had to do her best, and hope.

She looked up, and tried to catch something of the battle, something more than flashes of white and black.

Ishida tensed, and she felt his arm around her waist, pulling her back.

Her confusion lasted only a second, because something crashed very near, and the impact sent them both flying.

He screamed at the impact, only for an instant.

She opened her eyes, and forced herself to stand up, ignoring the burning pain in her right leg.

She saw Ichigo, on the ground, surrounded by a charred crated, already raising to his feet.

His face was covered in the white mask, but chunks of it fell, dissolving in the air.

Ulquiorra stood in the sky. His face, devoid of any emotion, contrasted the hollow vicious snarl. The hollow begans to growl, and his reiatsu rised.

It's cold and foreign, deep as the ocean and pressures on her chest until her breaths are short and ragged.

She hopes there's still something of Kurosaki-kun inside it but the bitter taste on her mouth made her begin to doubt.

They met in the air, and their clash shook a building. It swayed a little, until a stray Cero hit it square, making it explode in fragments. She summoned her Shun Shun Rikka to protect herself and Ishida from the biggest chunks falling, but the dust and the tiny fragments pass under and around her shield, and she has to cough.

She utterly refused to blink, even if her eyes are burning and her vision wavered, because she could miss something vital, and every instant could be the one to declare their freedom- or their death.

Then, Ichigo struck with Zangetsu, to her it seem just another wound, but Ulquiorra is still, and the wound isn't healing. Her eyes widened, and what happened suddenly clicks in. She watched Ulquiorra fall, and the thud of his body hitting seemed so loud.

His wound began to mend, and the skin reformed, but when he was almost healed, Ichigo stepped on him, his clawed foot pressing on his head.

She saw Ulqiorra's lips moving, but couldn't hear what he said.

A Cero glow between Ichigo's horns and he pressed his foot harder, breaking the floor with Ulquiorra skull. Her eyes widened, and her heart began to pound faster. She had to do something- she had to stop them!

The Reiatsu continued to swirl and condense, almost lazily, and the Cero is so small she could be fooled, if the pressure itself wasn't enough to almost choke her. She could hear her heart beat fast, and faster, until a tiny part of her brain begin to think why it hasn't exploded yet.

The energy stops for and istant, and she almost hope he had changed his mind.

Then the huge Cero explodes, and she call on her Shun Shun Rikka by instinct, shielding herself and Ishida. She closed her eyes, and tried to strengthen her shield.

When she opened them, she saw the limp body of Ulquiorra.

Ichigo stood a few meters away, still.

He growl loudly, then walked towards Ulquiorra, unsheathed his sword and pointed at his neck. She wanted to scream and run away, but she couldn't even blink. She couldn't move a single muscle, or breath,

When it raised its zampakuto, to strike, she finally managed to shut her eyes.

She waited, but nothing happened

Ulquiorra Reiatsu was feeble, but still there.

She opened her eyes again and saw Ishida next to Ichigo, his arm blocking the one who is holding Tensa Zangetsu. He spoke in calm, measured tone, but she can sense his fear nonetheless.

"That's enough, Kurosaki. The battle is over"

The Hollow didn't move.

"There's no need to carve up his corpse" Ishida voice swayed, but his face is set in determination.

"I've said enough, Kurosaki!"

The tip of the sword touched Ulquiorra's neck. The Hollow pierced the skin, and some blood dripped from the wound.

"Can you hear me Kurosaki? It's time to stop! Do it and you will no longer be human!" Ishida was almost screaming, his voice raising with each syllable.

The Hollow stopped, and raised his sword. He slowly turned, a predator confident in his ability to hunt every prey.

His Reiatsu made Ishida falter.

Then, too fast for her too see, he launched his sword, right at Ishida's chest.

He is trowed back by the impact, and she could see the shock and the pain in his face.

"Ishida-kun!" she manage to scream

He falled on the ground, and the sound of his body hitting a rock was so loud she couldn't hear anything else.

The Hollow moved.

It walked toward Ishida, who stared helplessly, his gaze unfocused. The Reiatsu began to gather again at the tip of its horn.

His eyes were black, devoid of any recognition.

Her last hope of it being Ichigo faded away, and she realized this is the monster who killed him, and was going to kill Ishida too, and only because of her.

-No- she whispered - I didn't want...I'm so sorry-

But the monster didn't hear her, and the Reiatsu rose.

She fell on her knees, her eyes clouded with tears. Time seems to stop, and the image of Ichigo and Ishida is burned in her eyes.

She wanted only to protect them.

She wanted their happy lives before all of that pain happened, when her worst problem was the math test in school, and not having time to meet with Tatsuki because she had to study.

She just wanted them to be happy, and alive, and away from this war.

Her hairpins began to glow, and she felt warmness flow inside her, courage.

The power to negate reality she heard as a whisper, and for the fist time, she didn't have one doubt, one hesitation that lessened her will.

Her pixies surrounded her, and she rose to her feet.

The Hollow fired his Cero, and the red energy burned the sand and the dust. She felt her skin burn too, but she felt no pain, only determination.

Maybe this is what drives them to fight.

When she spoke, she feelt as the world itself stopped to hear her.

-I wish... just for everyone to be happy- she said - Sōten Kisshun, I reject!-

The orange light swallowed the world.