Yeah, I'm pretty evil. Left you guys on a cliff hanger and haven't update in a while -.-". Sorry. But after I got back into school I've been pretty busy. Sorry. And I just got my casting so I'm going to be pretty busy. Try and update as much as possible, okay? Haha.

The descriptions of the Resurección might be a bit hard to understand but bare with me please .

Chapter 10: Blood Ribbon

Two simple words. Adelita said two simple words. They seemed cold and dead on her tongue. When was the last time she had even uttered them? It seemed so long ago. What she had to do was all too fresh in her mind. She sighed. It had been too long.

Her long sword glimmered in her hand, shining in the moonlight. It even shined as she stabbed it through her abdomen, the unstained metal sprouting from her back. She let out a small smile as she heard the multiple gasps of surprise. Her sword disappeared in a flurry of butterflies made of white light. They enveloped her body, hiding it from view.

As the butterflies dispersed the first thing that came into view were wings. White butterfly wings. Violet and indigo decorated them like stained glass, creating a glowing effect. Next were white clad arms. The white sleeves left her fingers out to the open but threaded her thumbs through a small hole in it. Black lines in a vein-like pattern continued up her arm, resembling her wings.

Her feet were bare. Only two white bangles and a black ribbon tied in a bow hung on her left ankle. They clattered together in an almost musical noise. A white transparent material trailed behind her, flooding onto the ground, flowing from the back of the white belt wrapped around her hips. Skin-tight black shorts clung to her upper things, leaving the rest of her legs in view.

A white ring made of hollow mask stuck to her waist. The triple moon from her hollow mask relocated in the centre of the ring. Two dark blue crescent moons encircled her belly button, facing each other almost in harmony. Her bodice was covered by a black turtle neck, one that only went far enough to cover her breasts. A single white line ran down the middle of her turtle neck, the two colours contrasting. Her white sleeves connected to her shirt, the veins seemingly flowing into the sea of black.

Her face was the last to emerge. The same purple eyes, holding the same determination. Her hair had grown longer. Now, touching the base of her spine. The upside down green tear mark was now indigo and had now duplicated, appearing beneath both eyes. Her hollow mask was almost the same. No triple moon was there now though. Instead it seemed to white antennae made of the same bone like material sprouted from her mask. They glided over her head, reaching over her head and going down until the base of her neck.

She looked pretty. Beautiful even.

Rose gritted her teeth. Why? Why did Adelita get to look so amazing when she used her Resurección? Why did Rose have to look like a freak? It was too unfair.

"I'm going to kill you." Rose said calmly, "I'm going to decapitate you. And you know the best part? Ulquiorra won't even care."

"It doesn't matter to me." Adelita answered, she sounded so mature, "It doesn't matter whether Ulquiorra cares or not. If I can save him, that's enough for me."

"Save him? He doesn't need saving. If there was anything or anyone he needed saving from it was from you!" Rose growled, "You ruined him. Without you, he'd have been Sosuke-sama's perfect soldier!" Rose was practically spitting out her words, hatred spilling from them, "Deprived of emotion, deprived of any illogical thoughts and feelings… It was you that changed him! After he became an arrancar he was built like that! Then you came along and Sosuke-sama's perfect soldier became flawed!"

"Perfect soldier? Ulquiorra was never the perfect soldier. Wasn't it Aizen and you guys that ruined him?" Adelita could control herself better now, but Rose was making her hardly able to breathe a calm breath, "He was always like that. When he was a hollow he was like that. He was fine that way. Why must you always take him away from me!"

"He wasn't yours to begin with!" Rose interrupted, angered by Adelita's words.

"He isn't mine! He isn't yours! He isn't Aizen's! He isn't anyone's! But when we were hollow he told me… he told me he'd be with me forever! Even now… even now he told me we could be together even in death!" Adelita would remember their promises forever. Rose could try all she liked to erase her memories but Adelita would never forget their promises.

"Erase, Rosario Cristalino (1)." Rose muttered, she couldn't stand it anymore. Rose grabbed the silent Marcelo by his collar, "Don't take this seriously."

"I never do. It's you that takes it to heart."

"I don't."

Rose smashed her lips against Marcelo's. Considering Adelita's Resurección required her to stab herself, having to kiss someone was no big deal to her. When Marcelo's body melted to a black mist, that definitely surprised her. The mist surrounded Rose before completely hiding her from sight. Not a moment passed before the mist dispersed, almost too quickly, in a sudden explosion.

Rose looked so different. Pink crystals adorned her skin, in ugly shapes and in disfigured formations. A strapless bone like plate encased her upper body, from her chest to just above her belly button. At the bottom of was a pink crystal in a diamond on its side, giving her top an irregular cutting at the bottom. A diamond shaped pink crystal was seen in the centre of chest, possibly one of the only things that looked regularly shaped. Green vines with pink crystal thorns formed a cross on her chest, looking almost pretty.

A line of pink crystals on her hips were a belt, all of them jagged and misaligned. Her pants looked to be made of the same hollow mask material as her top, reaching her knees. Pink crystals acted as make shift knee guards, almost. Attached to the sides of her belt were two green vines that dangled down to her knees where two pink dagger-like crystals were connected, almost menacing.

On her belly button was an almost flattened rose. Was that her hollow mask? It looked like it. Few petals were astray on her abdomen and a stem of thorns wound itself around her waist.

Her lower arms seemed to be guarded by hollow mask material, from below her elbow to the back of her hand. A diamond at the centre of her arm guards took majority of the space, giving it a fuller look.

Stick thin stilettos were worn on her feet. It was a wonder she could balance as the heels looked like they were brittle bones, ready to break at any point.

Her hands. Her hands weren't hands. They were claws. The same pink crystal from all over her body were what her claws were made of. They looked so unladylike, so unglamorous. In her arrancar form she held that air of grace, that air of beauty. With hands like those, it almost completely distorted her image.

Then came the only part of her looked stunning. Her hair. Her ruby red hair was gorgeous. It had its usual shine and was embellished beautifully with perfectly formed pink crystals at the end of each plait. Adelita had to admit, Rose's tresses were something to envy. Even with her Resurección creating such a disfigured image of her, her long locks cascading down her back were almost worth it.

"Now, do you understand my pain? Our pain? The pain we had to endure because we weren't complete? Do you even begin to see all the hardship we had to go through because of it?" Rose spat out, venom almost leaking from her words.

"No." Adelita answered simply, "Just by looking at you… I could never understand. I could never see. Pain isn't something seen at first glance." Was it her Resurección? "It must be explored thoroughly." What was making her so mature and wise? "How would you ever understand even that? You assume everything at it is at first sight. What do you expect to see?"

Rose couldn't believe it. Could the clingy, worrisome, useless arrancar she saw before be the same one standing before her eyes? The same one speaking those words? Or perhaps she had always been like this and Rose had never acknowledged it. No. No! She wouldn't believe the words Adelita was spouting. Never.

"You piss me off. That's all I'm going to say." Rose commented blankly, pink glowed at her fingertips, "Hoja Rosa (2)." The pink engulfed her left arm before solidifying, creating a sword not unlike Halibel's. However, instead of looking more like a shark tooth, it resembled a rose's thorn.

Rose charged at Adelita, silently and quickly, not letting out a battle cry. A tinted blue javelin appeared in Adelita's hand, looking almost identical to Ulquiorra's.

Spear met sword. Purple met aqua. Blue met red. Butterfly met crystal. It was almost melodic. Was this fight destined? It seemed like it.

"Cinta Cero."

The words seemed to slip out of Adelita's mouth too smoothly. Adelita held out her arm at Rose, the black veins thrusting from out of the sleeve, becoming thin streamline violet cero as they extended out, charging at Rose. Rose jumped back, dodging the violent tendrils. The flailing purple extensions hit debris as they rushed at Rose, disintegrating anything they hit.

"Cristalizar (3)." Rose whispered, holding out her hand at one of the cero. As soon as the cero came in contact with her hand it crystallised, the cero slowly turning into a pink crystal. Adelita broke her connection with the certain cero before the crystal could reach her arm. The rest of her cero retracted back into her sleeve, returning back to its harmless pattern state.

The javelin in Adelita's hand was quickly flung at Rose, along with many more that had multiplied in her hands. Dust flew as the javelins landed, some at Rose's feet. The rest were in Rose's hands, crystallised. She had caught them flawlessly, her claws wrapped tightly around each javelin.

"Not bad."

"You haven't even seen the half of it." Rose's smile was barely noticeable.

"That's good… 'cause I haven't even shown a third of it." The smile disappeared in a moment.

"Then try this on for size." Rose stuck out her hand, a purple and blue rose entrapped by a white crystal. It was the same one. The same one Rose had continued to hold onto.

"What? You going to throw flowers at me?" Adelita's mouth was running on its own. Was it Mariposa? Was she trying to smartass the woman standing in front of them? Most likely.

"No." Rose's lips turned upwards, "It's much, much worse than that."

Claws dug into the crystal, crushing it. As pieces of crystal flew about a searing pain raced into Adelita's head. Voices, words, images… It was all racing, rushing, speeding into her head. Her legs gave way, not being able to support her head that was now weighing more than her entire body. Everything was burning, her head wouldn't stop hurting, it was so painful. It was so much more painful than the times before. But slowly, slowly, things almost seemed like a puzzle. Some of it seemed like it was beginning to make some sense, like the pieces coming together to form some sort of sense.

When all the crystal was crushed Rose took her time carefully tearing out every petal of the colourful rose. And suddenly the pain duplicated in her chest. Pain was raging from her head to her chest. What was it? It hurt so much. What was it past the pain? Why did her cheeks feel so warm? Why did her chest feel so fluttery? What was this feeling?

Adelita suddenly felt Rose pull on her hair, lifting her head up by its roots, "Have fun in mente alucinación (4), la mundo de la retención (5)." One of Rose's hands shot out, clutching Adelita's face with one sharp claw, making sure their eyes made contact. When Rose's eyes began to glow Adelita immediately shut her eyes, one of the only bodily functions in her control, "It's no use." Rose raked her claw through Adelita's hair before giving it one powerful yank, Adelita's eyes flying open from the pain.

Then she was trapped.

The mirror must be lying. Catarina redid her hair once more. The twin tails not quite sitting right. Just as she was ready to rip her own hair off her head two light coloured hands did them up perfectly. The same hands touched her shoulders, giving her the assurance she was waiting for. The fact she could barely even place two mounds of hair properly on her head proved she was just as nervous as he was.

"Xer-chan…" Catarina whispered, "I don't want to go back."

She didn't want to leave this place. She didn't want to leave their kingdom. She was the princess and he was her knight.

"Neither do I, but we must. Ade-san is waiting."

"I know, I know. She can be saved. I can save her." She was still reluctant. That place was too terrifying. "Hey, Xer-chan… Do you think she'll come back with us? Do you think she'll come back to our kingdom with us?"

"I don't know, Cata. I honestly don't know." He was lying. He was such a good liar. The gentle look in his face not moving at all he told the simple lie.

"I hope she does. I miss her. I miss her warmth." Catarina leaned into Xerxes, her smaller fame fitting into his larger one.

She wouldn't be coming back. Definitely not. She was going somewhere else. She didn't want to cause anymore pain. She was going somewhere to give those she cared about new opportunities. The path she chose is a lonely one.

No one could follow her.

Not even her Contrapartida.

Not even Ulquiorra

"I… Where am I?"

Everything was dark. Everything hurt.

"Welcome, Adelita Freed. Welcome to our world. To the world of retention."

"Marcelo Casagrande."

The dark world lit up. The floor blue and purple. The walls white. The ceiling black. Marcelo stood in front of her, swirled pattern of hollow mask on the base of his spine. His eyes were amber and the whites of his eyes were black. His hair looked almost white and his attire black.

"Where am I?"

"This is the world of retention. My world. Rose's world. Our world."

"Why did you two bring me here? What's the purpose of this world?"

"Take a look."

With a snap of his fingers, the walls disappeared. Replaced by a view of where their battle had just taken place. Rose stood up, eyes now following the battle of Ichigo and Ulquiorra.

"Watch this battle unfold. The purpose of this world is this. You cannot escape. Nor can you turn away. Is this an illusion? Or is this reality? Watch as the scene plays out and be helpless. This is the greatest regret anyone can have. Continue living… continue to remember how you could not sacrifice yourself to save your precious people. Remember how you retained life whilst others lost theirs."

"Your aspect in life… Number 3… Retention." Adelita whispered.

"The most painful aspect of life. Retaining life whilst others around you disappeared one by one. Do you have any idea how that feels!" Marcelo's temper was lost within a moment, "I must retain my feelings… my personality! Rose must retain what she truly wants! Both of us… both of us are born with such painful ideas of life!"

"Do either of you realise how painful it is to live without anything to believe in?" Adelita interrupted sharply, "Do you have any idea how dark and cold a world without anything to have faith in is? And do you know how scary a world is where believing in something too easily is dangerous?" Adelita could feel her knuckles going white from clenching her fists so tightly, "This world gave me people to trust in but the fear of not being able to have faith… it's too terrifying."

"Number 4… Faith."

The fear of losing a comrade in battle is quite strong. Especially in someone like Coyote Stark. Being alone for so long… it made that fear especially strong.

Tia.

She was almost like his world. A fallen angel in shark's clothing. Her olive skin, her bright hair, her green eyes… They all made his chest swirl and thump. All those lonely nights… all those lonely days… all those lonely times… She was there at his side, ready to give him the companionship he longed for. Lilynette was always around him true. But Tia was different. She gave him a fulfilment of different sorts. And not just sexually.

The night when their hollow masks disappeared for just one night was burned into his memories. The way her lips felt on his, the way her chest felt on his… it was all new and it was all so perfect. When did such a warm feeling exist within them? Didn't they always drown in their own darkness? Didn't they always enjoy the cold feeling that chilled through their bodies? Why did that warmth give them so much more?

Perhaps it was love.

Perhaps it wasn't.

So, when he saw her body encased in ice, his muscles tensed so minutely. When would Wonderweiss arrive? When would that speech impaired arrancar show up and free her from that ice? He couldn't stop the battle in front of him to save her. Someone else needed to do it. Someone else needed to save his lover.

Tia… Tia… Tia…

He was never the type to be a hero.

But just this once…

Just this once he wanted to be her's.

"Why is she just standing there! Ulquiorra is going to die!" Adelita's voice sounded strained, sounded hurt, sounded worried.

"I told you, didn't I? Rose must retain what she truly wants! She must follow Sosuke-sama's orders. Sosuke-sama doesn't care about a ruined soldier like Ulquiorra. He told her to just let him die if he'll be defeated." Marcelo seethed, "Her pain… I can feel it. Her pain of not being able to have what she truly wants… It's the reason I can never show her my true side! Her pain, her agony… it all transfers to me!"

"You two…" Adelita whispered, "Do you always shower yourselves in self-pity?"

"What did you say!" Marcelo yelled, it seemed like years since he was this angry.

"Not being able to be happy… Isn't that our lives!" Adelita exclaimed, the scene around her swirling around her, "No hollow will be happy! We came to this when our spirits were miserable! So don't just sit on your hands and think you're life sucks!" Adelita reached to Marcelo, grasping his collar, "You're a man! Live up to it! Find those dear to you! Protect them! Treasure them! Let them give you those little bits of happiness! And hold those small moments of happiness close to you!" Adelita could feel tears in her eyes, a smile to her lips, "And… and love the person most precious to you."

"You… You… How? How can an ignorant girl like you who rejected love from her heart say that? Aren't you equally self pitying?" Marcelo cringed at the woman in front of him. She didn't have the right to say those things.

"Yes. Yes, I was… I am. But I'm trying my best to be happy! I'm trying my best to treasure my friends!" Adelita let go of Marcelo's collar, "It took me a while to realise… and I even forgot about it… but I want to… I want to love Ulquiorra." A tear slipped down her face but her smile remained, "Even though it's too late now."

"You're not thinking…" Marcelo's eyes widened, "You can't! That's just stupid! Where are you going to find a Shinigami willing to do that!"

"I don't need the Shinigami… just the Zanpakutou is enough for me. I just need their Zanpakutou to…" Adelita averted her eyes to the ground, she looked so sad.

"Are you crazy!" Marcelo grabbed her shoulders, shaking her wildly, "You're being too naïve! There's no telling what's going to happen! There's no guarantee you will see them again! You want to make your friends happy? How will this make them happy!"

"But… but I've hurt them so much already. It's the only way…" Adelita's eyes were now flooding with tears, "I need to do this… I want to start out fresh." Adelita's smile was still in place but it looked so pained, so sorrowful, "Do you hate me, Marcelo Casagrande?"

"No. It has always been Rose that has hated you. I was never jealous of you. As long as I was with Rose… everything was okay." Marcelo looked down. He had been doing all of this for her. For Rose.

"I don't hate you, Marcelo. So please… Please let me out of here! I need to get to Ulquiorra!" The scene around them was still a flurry of images.

"I can't. No one has ever succeeded in leaving here because they all went insane before they could escape." Marcelo said, seriousness lacing his words, "Once they go insane here, they die. I can't stop this from happening." Marcelo motioned to the scene playing out on the walls, "This world is controlled by Rose. I am merely here because I created it. I created it for Rose." Marcelo's eyes suddenly widened, shock overcoming his features, "Now. It's now. The moment you are taken over by insanity."

"What!" Adelita exclaimed, looking around the room, "No… No… No!"

And the cero was fired. Point blank at Ulquiorra. This couldn't be happening. This is all a dream. There's no way Ulquiorra was going to die just like that. No. No. No… Insanity was creeping into her mind. Was this how Rose and Marcelo always killed their opponents? No. She has to get away before she dies.

A javelin formed in her hand.

"I can't be killed in this world."

Blood splattered on the ground.

"What are you doing!"

Her abdomen impaled.

"How did you know?"

"Xer-chan, are we almost there?"

"Wait a while, Cata. It'll only be a little while longer. No matter how long she's dead, it won't affect your abilities, correct?"

"I know… I know… but I want to get to Della-chan as soon as possible though…"

"Be patient. You will get to see her."

"I want her to come home. I want her to come back to us."

"So do I. But it is her choice. We wouldn't want her to be happy, would we?"

"No. But I still want Della-chan to be with us."

"We'll see, Cata. We'll see."

No. That wasn't the truth. When did he start lying to Catarina?

She ran. As fast as she could. Her javelin disappeared from her stomach but blood was still pulsating from her wound. He looked so weak. His arm. His leg. They were so disfigured. She almost choked on her own blood and saliva when she saw his wings beginning to dissolve. But she continued running, straight to his side. He looked so disappointed when he met her gaze.

"I could never find out who you were." His eyes looked so sad.

Nails met skin and Adelita raked at her neck. Blood dripped from her neck, dripping down to her shoulders. His eyes widened and flashed. Was that hunger or familiarity?

"You can tell, can't you? I'm your Contrapartida!" Adelita smiled at him, reaching down to the leg of shorts. She lifted the fabric and on her right thigh was a number. A negative four. "You know what to do, right?"

As if taken over by instinct he dipped his head down, sinking his teeth into her neck. She gripped the mop of hair on his head, wincing at the pain swirling around her head and shoulders. His arms were wrapped around her shoulders and back, nails digging into her skin as far as they could go. Blood dripped on the ground, staining it with crimson. Adelita smiled when she felt the flesh on his left arm becoming fuller. She was finally becoming useful.

"I'm glad I could help you one more time, Ulquiorra-sama." Her voice was so strained, the suffix so unfamiliar to her tongue. When he continued to sink his teeth even further into her neck she almost felt the tears streaming down her face. She was almost expecting him to say 'I hate repeating myself, stupid woman.' she wanted to hear his voice saying something, anything, like that.

After what seemed to be an eternity he stopped. All his organs healed, his arms and legs fully revitalised.

"Thank goodness you're okay." She said weakly as his eyes came back to eye level.

Emerald and violet meet, familiarity striking through emerald, "You seem so familiar. So close. So close to the heart in my hand. But I still can't remember you."

"It's alright because Ulquiorra-sama is all healed up. I'm so happy, Ulquiorra-sama." Ulquiorra's eyes pulled away from her purple ones, tracing down to her lips, "I lo-"

He smashed his own chalk white lips into her pink ones, his tongue pushing past her lips into her mouth. His hands went up and gripped tightly on her face, making her lips stay glued to his. Her grip on his head tightened as his hold on her body seemed to bring them infinitely closer. Something tasting metallic and bitter entered her mouth seconds later. It was his blood. She tried to pull away from it but he held tight onto her. As she swallowed the crimson liquid she felt the cuts, the bruises, all the injuries on her body healing themselves. She felt the hole in her stomach stitch back together, her life no longer in danger. How did he know? How did he know it worked both ways?

When he finally pulled back from her she was out of breath and her heart was beating right out of her chest. When she looked into his eyes she could almost see the same look he had in his eye before. She could faintly hear the sound of something smashing and breaking to pieces. But she didn't care. She was just waiting for his reply.

"I…" Ulquiorra's eyes flickered, trying to make out anything in his muddled up head.

"It's okay, Ulquiorra-sa-"

His lips met her's once more, this time with no blood but a kiss just for the sake of kissing. She couldn't feel her toes anymore. All the nerves in her body seemed to have relocated to wherever Ulquiorra was touching and she didn't seem to mind.

"I hate repeating myself, stupid woman." He could feel a smirk tugging at his lips when he saw the look in her eye. The shock, the tears, the happiness.

"Ulquiorra!" Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling them any closer if humanly possible. More tears ran down her face, he could feel them falling onto his shoulders and dipping down his chest.

"You know I hate it. You got so hurt and then you went and wasted your energy on something like that." He looked at her deadpanned, wrapped his hands around her lower back, weaving around the large wings present on her back.

"I don't mind. It brought Ulquiorra back to me." Adelita smiled as wide as she could, more tears slipping down her face, "Our blood is like our red string of fate. It brought us back together." She snuggled even closer to his warmth, "It was like a blood ribbon."

"You stupid woman." Ulquiorra said looking away, "I'm not letting you run away again."

"What…!" She gasped as she was suddenly lifted off the floor. One of his hands slid up to her shoulders, her wings were so much smaller up close it wasn't too difficult to manoeuvre his hands around them, while the other lifting her knees up, "Ulquiorra!"

"The last time we kissed you ran away. This is just to make sure you don't decide to fly away again." He pulled her higher, earning him a yelp.

"I won't run away anymore, Ulquiorra." She held onto his neck even tighter, "Because I love you."

"It took you a while." Ulquiorra said blatantly before trying to retrieve another one of her kisses.

Before their lips could make contact he felt a pair of hands instead of lips, "You haven't told me if you love me too or not. I want to know if you love me."

"I love you, Adelita Freed. I have for the longest time." When he went for another kiss this time he was met with two lips, two inviting lips and two hands entangled in his hair.

Like stuck in their own world, time slowed down for them. Everything around them swirled until it didn't seem to exist. Only the two of them were there. Only the two of them were in this timeless realm. Their red string of fate had been tangled and broken but now it had leaded them back together, stronger than before. It was like they existed for each other, co-existences.

Ten heart stopping seconds seemed like an eternity as their lips parted, leaving a string of saliva between them, their bond still connected. Her smile broke the slim connection but her very smile was one of the reasons they were together.

"I…" No words could find their way up her throat, all of them spinning in her head, not being able to find their way down to her mouth. There was nothing to say, nothing that could be voiced because everything was already there.

In a single swift moment, Ulquiorra flew several metres in the air, so fast Adelita's arms tightened significantly around her neck. She rested her forehead on his shoulder, still a bit disorientated from the sudden flight. When she looked down to see the cause. A pink blur. The sound of tears. She focused her eyes, it was a fallen Rose. Her blade thrust in front of her, water dripping down her face, her knees slammed into the ground.

"Why?" Rose cried out, her voice shaking in every corner, "How? My spells are unbreakable… How can break them so easily?"

"It wasn't easy." Adelita said simply, her tongue once again finding its way to form sounds, "You just gave me too many hints on how to break them."

"Hints?" Rose glared daggers, her eyes almost trying to shoot lasers.

"Mente alucinación, la mundo de la retención." Adelita said in a slick Spanish accent, "That gave away your entire technique." The pain in her abdomen shivered, reminding her of what she did, "It was like hypnosis. All I had to create enough pain or danger to my body and I would be brought back to reality."

"My borrar del corazón (6). How did you break that?" More tears slipped down her face. She was defeated. Broken. All of it was over.

"I don't know." Those words could've torn Rose apart right then, "But… You crushed the very thing that was holding my memories. After I recovered all of it came back. My memories and my feelings." Adelita took a deep breath, she almost wanted to cry out in joy, "The fact I love Ulquiorra, it came back. I poured all of it to him. Maybe that's what brought him back."

A dark mist surrounded Rose, before dispersing in a moment. Before them was Marcelo Casagrande and Rose Nadel, two beings that were once one now separated again. She was still kneeling, as if praying to the standing Marcelo.

"It's not fair…" Rose whispered, Marcelo's eyes tracing back down to her, "You're Number 4. We're Number 3. Why can you defeat me so easily? How can you be so strong?" Rose flipped her hair, the thick tresses flying over her shoulder. On the back of her neck was a tattoo. A negative three.

"That's because you two are so ignorant!"

Black pigtails flew in the light breeze, a small body in her maroon dress, the ruffles swaying from side to side. A familiar smile, long lashes fluttering above silver eyes and pink nail polish painted to perfection. Catarina Hinsdry held the same condescending air she always had, looking down on the pair, figuratively and literally.

A hand stroked the black tresses, a larger hand callused with time, more than several heads taller with a pile of dark red hair sitting on his head. Simple clothes, a simple look on his face, everything the same. Xerxes Rossel held the quiet aura he always did, so overwhelmingly so that it was intense.

"Della-chan!" Catarina could barely control her joy, jumping up, high enough to reach the girl in question.

"Rina!" Adelita's eyes couldn't stop blinking in surprise, as a hand shot out to touch the younger girl's face, a certain impassive arrancar pulled away, widening the gap between the two of them. "Ulquiorra!"

"Ah! Della-chan this is your Contrapartida, huh? So lucky! He's jealous!" Catarina laughed at the look shared between Adelita and Ulquiorra.

"N-No! It's nothing like that!" Adelita tried to stutter out but Ulquiorra tightened his grip on her body, making her squeal, "Mou! Ulquiorra stop doing that!"

"Ade-san is really quite lucky. To get along so well with your Contrapartida." Xerxes slipped in, his smile present on his face, "It looks like we didn't really need to come here… Cata and I were merely here to heal you again. We heard you were killed."

"I did kill her." Rose interjected, ruining the reunion.

"Well, obviously you didn't kill her well enough did you? Ne, Krystal? Oh… You're Rose, aren't you?" Catarina glared at Rose through long eye lashes, "I really hate people like you." She sighed, placing a hand on her forehead, "It's not about the number for us. It's about the strength of our attachment to our aspect of life." Catarina slipped her hand around her dress, pulling down the dress to reveal the top half of her prepubescent breast. A tattoo. A negative two. A circle of hollow mask encircled the number, separated by short little segments it looked like a bracelet. "Right now… Della-chan's attachment to her aspect is the strongest. Even though I am Number 2 I don't think I would be as strong as Della-chan. I hate this body."

"Cata." Xerxes comforted with merely his voice. Even if they were not together it seemed that his voice could still calm her, "Cata's aspect: youth." He touched the sleeve of his shirt, pulling it up. Displayed on his forearm. A negative one. "My aspect: companionship." Xerxes looked up to the ever dark sky, contemplating what this life they had was, "All of us take our aspects for granted. You two hate the life you retain. Cata hates the youth she lives with. And me… Only a few select people… Other than that I hate other's companionship." He ran a hand through messy hair, "But Ade-san… She took her aspect and gave it her all. She believed in everything this world gave her, taking each step as it came. Ade-san put faith in her friends. In her Contrapartida."

"The stronger your attachment… the stronger you are." Catarina sighed.

"How can we be attached to this aspect?" Marcelo shouted, frustration leaking out of every word, "I… Rose… Who would want to retain life as all those around you die!"

"The life they gave you, you should cherish it!" Adelita spilled, her hand clutching Ulquiorra's shoulder, "Wouldn't you want to retain that life? The one people saved for you? You should repay the people that died for you that way!"

An arrancar's problem. It is no problem of Shinigami, humans and Quincy. Kurosaki Ichigo, he wanted to settle the score with Ulquiorra but the arrancar didn't seem to have the mind to. With Uryuu in Orihime's care Ichigo could go down and deal with the arrancar in Las Noches.

In the orange shield, his wounds healing slowly, he could barely take his eyes off the orange haired girl. The feeling of getting his severed arm regenerated was strange but the look in her eye was even stranger. So lost, so lonely and yet so complete.

I'm glad you're safe.

"Inoue-san…" He took a deep breath, he wanted to say it so badly but he couldn't. "It will only be a little while longer, then we can go home. Back to the world of the living."

She tried to hide her face with her long bangs, holding back tears. "Ishida-kun is always like. Taking care of me." Her shoulders shook, biting back a sob, "But I'm always a burden to you. You always have to come to save me… Even now… Ishida-kun…"

"Inoue-san, you aren't a burden to me." Uryuu said firmly, it didn't seem to calm her though, "I have never minded. Rescuing you and such… I was never able to save you properly anyway."

"You're wrong!" Orihime cried out, he could see them now. The fresh tears streaking her face, "When Ishida-kun comes to save me, I'm always so happy! Because… Because…" No… She wouldn't speak a word of it. He loved Rukia she wouldn't come in between them, "Ishida-kun is very kind." She touched the edge of her shield, the shield not allowing her to enter, "You always think what's best for me. I can't imagine what would happen without you."

"That's not true. I am not as kind as you depict me out as." Uryuu said casually, avoiding her gaze, "I just want to help Inoue-san." He looked down at his left arm that was slowly coming back, "It is I that cannot do anything without you. You are important to me, Inoue-san. That is why I constantly think of what's best for you."

"But… I am not the most important person to you." Orihime said sadly, looking up to the conflicting arrancar, "I always get you into trouble and I'm such a ditz. I'm not useful and people are always saving me." Her hand slipped down slightly, the touch between the shield and herself still remaining, "It's no wonder Ishida-kun likes a person unlike me."

"I don't like Kuchiki-san!" Uryuu protested, reading her mind like it was natural, "Arisawa told me once. That you thought I had feelings for Kuchiki-san but I don't! All those things about Inoue-san… they aren't true!" His right hand clenched into itself until his knuckles went white, "Inoue-san is kind and caring, smart and powerful. You're strong and take care of your friends. All the good things and bad things about Inoue-san, they're all things I like about Inoue-san."

"H-Huh?" Orihime jolted her head back, cheeks turning red. Then she shook her head, it was in a friend way, "Jeez, Ishida-kun! Don't give me a fright like that!" She tried to pull off a smile, "You almost had me going there!"

She tried to pull away her hand, taking away the physical connection she had with him. His newly healed hand shot out touching the very spot she had just pulled away from, only from the inside. Like a magnet her hand crept back, their hands palm to palm, so close yet so infinitely far. With just that everything fell silent. They didn't dare break the unspoken rule, to let it all move along freely.

No sound was uttered, no mouths moved. No words, no whispers. No confessions, no proposals. Just the one look in his eye, saying that he meant all the words he had just uttered. His mouth slipped open, mouthing something incomprehensible yet so clear to her. Like in a foreign language she had just learned. It was like sound would ruin the perfection of the moment, she mouthed the same three words back, in the same silence.

His eyes softened, her eyes smiled. With no words, with no sound, everything fell into place. They say first love was the sweetest and second was the bitterest. For Orihime, this second love was by far the most tooth decaying sweetness she had ever experienced. Silently, sleepily, crawling up to her heart, to her hand, to his hand. Each slipping into the other's worlds.

Their world was between their hands.

I have decided to end it here because I feel like it hahaha. I hope you like the massive Ulquiorra/Adelita section I added in there because I felt they weren't getting enough love. Yes, Adelita finally got her head out of her ass because remember she originally knew she loved him until Rose took her memories away. Ulquiorra was just smart enough to realise he loved her. Stay in tune to see what Xerxes, Marcelo and Adelita were talking about! The journey she is about to take! Haha! Hope you liked it!

Review!

Next Chapter: Blessings (may change)

(1): Crystal Rosary

(2): Rose Blade

(3): Crystallise

(4): Mind Hallucination

(5): The World of Rention

(6): Heart Steal