Moonlight Shadow 3

The silence between them was starting to become oppressive. Yes, she had been the one to call him. Yes, he had appeared to her, just like he had done the past two nights. But now that he was there in front of her, she found herself at a loss for words.

“You seem pleased,” she said, mostly to break the silence, but also because...it was true. There was something about him that seemed to exude pride.

“And how do you know that I am pleased, woman?”

Orihime shrugged, a small smile gracing her lips. “I’m not really sure. You look and act the same, but there’s something different about you, too. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s like the aura around you has changed. It’s lighter than normal.”

“I see,” Ulquiorra said. Without warning he held out his hand, his thumb and index finger pinched together to hold a small, silver circlet. “Here, take it.”

Her eyes widened as a bit of moonlight reflected off its smooth surface. She leaned in a little, inspecting the object as best she could in the dim lighting. “Is that...?”

“I’m giving this to you. Put it on, and do not take it off.”

The scene felt familiar to her, but the circumstances were a bit different from before. They were not in the dark passageway that connected Soul Society to the world of the living; there were no bones at their feet or Shinigami for her to heal. It was just the two of them sitting across from one another in her living room, Orihime leaning her elbows on the table and Ulquiorra sitting in his normal rigid position, looking too formal for her liking.

“The bracelet you were referring to last night?” He nodded once. “That’s correct.”

After a moment of hesitation she took the bracelet from his grasp. His hand returned to rest on the top his thigh, balled into a tight fist. He looked to her expectantly, as though waiting for her to say something.

“It looks exactly the same as it did the last time I saw it,” she said, rubbing her fingers against the fine chain that connected the two ends. “Where did you find it?”

“In the ruins of Las Noches, buried under the rubble that was once the Octava Espada’s domain. It lay on one of the laboratory tables, right where Ulquiorra had left it.”

The smile on her face wavered a bit before returning to normal. “So, Las Noches still exists, huh?”

“Yes,” he said. “However, no Arrancar inhabit the place like it did while you were there. It’s completely empty, save for a few hollow lizards that have decided to make it their home.”

“I see.” She paused for a moment before returning her attention to the bracelet in her hand. “It’s just like you said: it hadn’t been thrown out. Do you think it still has any of its power?”

He shook his head. “Of that I am not certain.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Orihime said, slipping the bracelet onto her wrist.

She stood up and walked past Ulquiorra, to the wall behind him. He didn’t join her, but he turned a little where he sat, watching her with intense interest. Apparently he, too, was curious if the thing had any power left in it. Taking in a deep breath, she placed her hands on the walls and pushed.

Nothing happened. She tried again, this time with a little more force. Still nothing. She could feel a slight warmth rise to her cheeks, but she resisted the urge to cover them with her hands. Instead, she turned around and walked back to her seat, avoiding his gaze as she passed.

“I guess that’s a no,” she said, sitting back down. She laughed sheepishly. “Oh well, I suppose it’s for the best.”

He stared at her blankly. “What do you plan to do with it?”

“I...don’t know. Maybe I’ll wear it some time,” she said, smiling. “You took the time to get it for me, even though you didn’t have to. Besides, what’s the point of stuffing it away, just for it to be forgotten and never used? It would be the same as if it had stayed in Las Noches for all eternity.”

“Hm,” he said, his eyes closed.

“Anyway, I think I’m going to put this away for the moment. I don’t want to lose it.” Orihime stood up and started walking to her bedroom, turning around to tell him, “I’ll be right back!”

She started to open the top drawer of her dresser, where she kept all her jewelry in a small lacquered box, but stopped when the drawer was only a little more than halfway open. Forgetting to remove the bracelet, she picked up the white and black tattered cloth that she had once worn during her stay at Las Noches.

She hadn’t wanted to keep it. She wanted nothing more than to cut it up into tiny pieces, burn the scraps, and bury the ashes far away from her as possible. It sounded a little extreme, even in Orihime’s mind, but how could anyone blame her? There were too many negative memories associated with it: both of Loli’s and Menoli’s attacks on her; Grimmjow threatening her to heal Ichigo--or else; Nnoitra stuffing those disgustingly long, bony hands inside her mouth to shut her up; and...Ulquiorra disappearing right before her eyes, to name a few.

But when the time came, her sewing scissors poised at the very hem of the weird dress/hakama combination, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. All because of one line:

“Surprisingly, it suits you.”

“Ulquiorra?” she asked, walking towards him slowly. “Did you really mean it?”

“Mean what?”

“You said these clothes suited me the first time you saw me in them,” she said, approaching the table. His eyes widened slightly at what was in her hands. Sitting down, she placed the remains of her uniform in front of him. “Did you really mean it?”

He didn’t respond for a long time, so long that Orihime figured that he had decided not to answer her question. Finally, he said, “What reason would Ulquiorra have to say something he didn’t mean?”

That would be a yes, she translated in her mind. At least, that’s what it seemed like to her. The more time she got to spend talking with him face-to-face like this, the more she felt like she was breaking through the strange code that was his way of speaking.

So he had meant it. The thought made her heart beat a little faster than normal.

“You know, a lot happened when I was in these clothes,” she said, her voice taking on a far-off tone as she fingered the fabric. “I don’t even know all that occurred during that time. I wish I knew, but none of my friends will tell me when I ask. They say that it’s better that I don’t know.”

“Perhaps these friends of yours are correct. No matter what they tell you, there’s nothing you can do to make it better. What’s done is done,” he said bluntly. “But if you still wish to know, the choice is yours alone.”

She nodded. “I do. I have to know, so I can truly appreciate all that they’ve done for me.”

“Remember, though, I can only answer questions to which Ulquiorra would have had knowledge of.”

She looked up in thought. There was so much she wanted to know.

What happened with Rukia and Sado? How were they saved? Were they badly hurt before then? What about Ishida and Renji? How hard did they have to fight to rescue her?

She shook her head and sighed. He wouldn’t know the answer to any of those questions. However...

“What happened in that first battle between you and Kurosaki-kun?” she asked gently, her eyes softening as she spoke the orange-haired boy’s name. “I mean, how did it start?”

She could guess what happened in the end, recalling the hole that had been left in him, the one that had been so hard to heal.

The one that the person in front of her had made.

“Ulquiorra had just finished trying to persuade you to eat something. You hadn’t been eating very well since you arrived at Las Noches,” he started, releasing a small sigh. “However, things did not turn out as well as he had expected.”

Orihime blushed for the second time that evening. She remembered quite well how she had slapped him, hard, and the look he had given her afterwards. At the time, she had been too angry with him to even care what he would do to her, but when she thought back to it, she realized she should have been shocked by the lack of response from him. Had it been any other Espada, she was almost certain she would have been punished in some way for that brief instance of insubordination.

And yet he did nothing. He just stared at her with a look that almost resembled shock. Of course, afterwards he told her that she needed to eat or he would force her to, but his threat lacked the same edge it normally held.

“He was walking away from your room, hoping that maybe the hour he had given you would change your mind, when he felt the spiritual pressure of that Shinigami friend of yours. Ulquiorra was quite surprised that he was remembered by name, especially since he had not given it out. But that didn’t matter. He didn’t want the Shinigami to come any closer to your quarters than he already was.

“That’s when Ulquiorra attacked. Not in the conventional way with ceros and zanpakutou, like most of the Espada, but with words. He told the Shinigami that your other friend, Kuchiki Rukia, was dead. That foolish boy tried to deny it, saying that he knew she couldn’t be dead, but when he heard of the Novena Espada’s ability to convey information about the opponent he was fighting, he turned around and started to head back in the direction he had come.”

Orihime swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. She had no idea that Ichigo had turned back, even though he was so close to rescuing her. She forced a smile onto her face.

“Of course he did,” she insisted, her voice cracking a little. “I was unharmed, and Kuchiki-san wasn’t. What kind of friend would he have been if he didn’t go back and help her first, the one who needed help the most?”

He closed his eyes and scoffed. “The Shinigami said something similar. He said that he wouldn’t fight because Ulquiorra had not hurt any of his friends.”

She closed her eyes. That certainly sounded like Ichigo. Noble to the end.

“That’s when Ulquiorra revealed that he had been the one to take you to Hueco Mundo. Only then did the Shinigami attack him, though there was something odd about it.”

“Odd?” Orihime asked, her eyes popping open. “In what way?”

“The rage with which he attacked was immense, but not all of it was directed at Ulquiorra. Some of it seemed to be directed at himself. It was only afterwards, when he responded to the retort, that the rage began to make sense.”

“What did he say?”

“So, Inoue didn’t come to Hueco Mundo of her own will after all.”

There was no emotion in his voice as he repeated the words, but there didn’t have to be. Even she could hear the doubt hidden behind them. And it hurt her, more than she could ever imagine.

She leaned back, her hand falling off the table and onto her lap. She felt numb all over, unable to focus on anything around her. When Rukia had been taken back to Soul Society, Ichigo had never doubted her loyalties. So why did he doubt her? Even after everything they’d been though, did he didn’t know that she would never do anything to betray them? To betray him?

It was like he didn’t know her at all. And he considered her his friend?

“I think that’s enough for tonight,” she said lightly, her eyes focused on her lap. “I feel exhausted all of a sudden.”

“I understand,” Ulquiorra said, standing up in one fluid motion.

“Wait,” she started, causing him to stop before he was halfway to the window. He turned around. “What did you say to him...when he said that to you?”

He looked at her, an odd expression on his face that she couldn’t quite place. It was slight, but had it been anyone else, she might have taken it empathy. “Ulquiorra had the same reaction to those words as you, woman. He told the Shinigami that he was surprised that even the friends that had come to save you had their doubts.”

“I see.”

“Do you regret it?” At her confused look, he elaborated, by adding, “Wanting to know what happened. Do you regret it?”

Orihime shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

“Even though that knowledge has caused you pain?”

She laughed a little, her eyes starting to well with tears of their own accord. Was it that obvious that his words hurt her? “You’re really inquisitive today.”

He didn’t deny her accusation. Instead, he waited for her answer.

“No, despite everything, I’m still glad I know.” Placing her hands together, she bowed deeply. “Thank you, Ulquiorra. I am truly in your debt.”

Though her heart felt heavier than normal, the words she spoke were true. She turned away, not bothering to watch him fade away completely. She didn’t need to; she knew that he could come back tomorrow night.

At the moment, she needed some time to think.

Once she was in her bedroom, she slipped under the covers, but she could not fall asleep. Her mind kept racing back to those words, analyzing them until there was nothing left.

She had always known that Rukia was someone Ichigo considered important. The way he looked at her, the ease with which they were able to converse, all spoke volumes to their connection, whether it was friendship or something more. However, Orihime had hoped that perhaps she, too, could become someone he considered important.

Those dreams were now a distant memory. If he couldn’t even have faith in her as a friend, how could he have faith in her as something more?

Deep down she knew that she would always have a soft spot for him. He was, after all, her first love. That’s why when she arrived at school tomorrow, she was almost certain that her heart would flutter, just a little bit, when he passed by to say, “Good morning, Inoue,” before taking his seat.

Despite this, she also knew that she would never be able to look at Ichigo the same way again.

She turned over onto her side, a few tears falling onto her pillow. There was no point in worrying about it now. That would be tomorrow’s struggle.

Letting out one last yawn, she fell asleep.