NINTH MEETING

Orihime

It had been fourteen months to date since the day Ulquiorra had walked out on me angrily. These months had been tough on me, but I had not allowed myself to break down. Many a times I had thought I saw him through the corner of my eyes, but looking closely I would realise it would be someone else. Any raven haired man would make me turn around. I had nothing with me as his memory. I had begun to forget smaller details about him, but what I could never forget were the way he would look at me, shaking me to my core. Many a times in all these months, I had tried to dial his number, but I couldn't. Everytime I would remember his tormented eyes and the deadly whisper, my hands would freeze. On my friends' insistence, I had even tried dating another guy from my college, Jirou, whom I had found mildly interesting.

Jirou was a nice person, I will give him that. But his only fault was that he wasn't Ulquiorra. I had never been able to tell him about Ulquiorra. What would I tell him anyway? That I loved a person whom I had met only eight times much more than I would ever be able to love him. In fact, I didn't love Jirou at all. He was just...I had no idea what he was. But I was still thankful to him for he had made me realise three things. One, a boy's affections, while cute, would never match up to that of a man. Two, no one would fill in the void that Ulquiorra had left in me. Third, I wasn't capable of loving anyone ever again the way I had loved him.

Over the time I had also come into terms the fact that he belonged to the mafia. It had taken me quite a while, but I no longer was angry at him. In fact I missed him beyond words. Yet...I couldn't call him. I couldn't help but think he was still angry at me.

I was sitting at a cafe with my friends, when Renji suddenly choked.

"Inoue! Look there.."

"Huh?" I followed his line of sight, and time stopped for me. There, across the street stood Ulquiorra, leaning on the car, his hands tucked into his pockets. He was looking straight at me, with a small smile playing on his lips.

Ulquiorra

Life had never been very easy for me. I have had to take a few tough decisions, but the toughest one till date was honoring the woman's choice. It had taken every ounce of my self control to not barge into her life and claim my position there. Many a times I had come close to breaking my oath to myself, but I didn't. Everything changed when I got a call from an unexpected person, who wanted me to be at the cafe at that time, and now, looking in front of me, I realised why.

She was looking at me with a strange mixture of disbelief, anger and joy. As for me, I was just happy to see her again. She got up from her seat clumsily and started to walk towards me, as though in a haze. I stood up, formulating the words I would say to her once she came close. Nothing could have prepared me for what she did say.

"Fourteen months! It takes you fourteen long months to come back?"

"Huh?"

"What took you so long?" She was furious, almost screaming at me.

"Excuse me? Remind me who said they didn't want to keep in touch?"

"I said it and you listened? Do you listen to everything that is told to you?"

"How am I supposed to know what's going on in your mind? Did you really want me to come back?"

"Not then no, but I changed my mind."

"Yeah right!"

"I am a woman, I have every right to change my mind."

"Yes, and it's my job to keep track of your changing moods, is it? What an amazing logic!"

"What stopped you from calling me?"

"Back at you, what was stopping you? You were the one who changed her mind, not me."

"I couldn't call, I was scared."

"Scared? Of what?"

"I don't know. I was just scared."

"You are not making any sense, woman!"

"I don't even know what I am..."

"Oh, shut up!"

Orihime

He wasn't angry. That was all that was going through my mind during that crazy conversation. I had dreamed of our reconciliation in many ways, but the reality was completely different. I had no idea what I was saying, I just couldn't stop speaking. My happiness at seeing him knew no bounds. I couldn't have been happier, or so I thought.

"Oh, shut up!" he said sounding a little irritated.

He did not just ask me to shut up, did he? I was just about to protest when he pulled me into his arms and brought his lips on mine. All thoughts fled my mind as I melted.

Later that evening, I was on his bed, cuddled up to him when we had finally calmed down enough to have a straight conversation. I had hurriedly told my friends that I would have to leave, who were more than accommodating. Reaching his house, we had barely been able to keep our hands off each other, which ended predictably.

"So, what made you come back, really?" I asked as I snuggled up to him, under the blanket which we were sharing. The warmth of his body was comforting. To my immense surprise, he chuckled.

"You'll be surprised."

"Tell me."

"One of your friends called me and asked to meet you. Guess who? Three guesses."

"And what do I get if I guess it right?"

He looked at me with a gleam in his eyes and said "Let that be a surprise. So, your first guess?"

"Rukia." that was obvious.

"No."

"Huh, Renji?"

"No. He's that tattooed red haired guy right?"

"Yes. And if not Rukia and Renji, then it has to be Ishida."

"The bespectacled one right? No not him either."

My eyes widened "Ichigo?"

"Yes, but you were out of chances, so no prizes for guessing."

"What...why would he.." I started laughing, maybe from relief, maybe from shock, I don't know.

Ulquiorra waited for my laughter to die down before he spoke "He called me completely out of the blue. He told me he stole my number from your phone. He simply asked me to come to that cafe, saying that he had something urgent to talk to me. I confess I came there out of sheer curiosity. I expected him to talk to me about you, but what I did see there was totally unexpected."

I laughed again "Typical of him. He can't even come up with a proper excuse."

"There is something I don't understand though," he said, his eyes getting serious "how did you change your mind? What happened?"

"I really don't know what exactly changed my mind, I just know I am no longer worried or angry. I probably just got used to the idea over the time."

I moved closer to him and continued "I am really really sorry for what happened that day, I know I hurt.." I was cut off by his fingers on my lips.

"Shh! All is forgotten. It happens. Don't think about it."

I hugged him tightly and said "Thank you."

"Orihime, I need to tell you a few things." he sounded very serious, " Life with me will not be easy. It will not be smooth. And it's not just because of who I am. It's also because of how I am. I am mostly a loner, complete opposite of what you are. I am going to try and shield you from whatever harm that my profession may bring to you, however be prepared, you may have to face some very tough times. But come what may, as long as I live, I'll be there for you, in whichever way you may need me. Are you ready for a roller-coaster of a life, with me? Will you be the woman of my life?"

I didn't need even a moment to think "Yes!"

Today, we complete four years of marriage. It has not been easy. He had summarised it correctly, we did lead a roller-coaster of a life, in fact still are. But what matters the most is we have been together, and our house is full of love. In the end of the day, we sleep peacefully, and that is the biggest achievement we have got- together.

PS: We have finally figured out where we had met before we met at the coffee shop. We had apparently bumped onto each other at some mall- did you think we recognized each other by our souls? No such luck!

~The End~