Emerald Sun

Thick black eyelashes opened after what felt like death itself. It was white really white, and the smell was something he had never experienced. His eyes opened fully and they shifted to his left and then his right to see a monitor. He tried lifting his hand but a loud noise was heard which startled him. He could hear footsteps and then there were faces surrounding him. They were shinigami, what were they doing to him?



"He has awoken!" One shouted.



"Check his vitals."



"Make sure he has enough fluids in the IV"



The voices were hurried and rushed as if at any minute he would go crazy. But that wasn't the case, he just laid there. He was too tired to move around in any emotion. A more familiar voice entered. " Girls. His pulse looks calm enough. Calm yourselves."



"Y-yes lady Unohana"They stuttered.



Ulquiorra spoke " Where am I?" He said it quietly.



"I-in...I-in the 4th squads b-barracks." She trembled.



Ulquiorra's emerald eyes shifted to the nurse, injecting something into his IV. He tried moving his hand but couldn't, he could only move his fingers. The girl's eyes widened "L-lady Unohana...I think he is try-



"Calm yourself. He is just curious of what is going on." She assured putting a hand on her shoulder.



"B-but I can't. H-he might k-ki-



"It is good you are afraid of me." The two girls looked at him, the trembling one swallowed heavy " But you are in the medical field, aren't you supposed to be unbiased?" He asked looking into her eyes.



The girl sat up more straight and cleared her throat and continued. Unohana eyed her carefully and then left the two. Ulquiorra asked her " What is this?"



"Its an injection."



"Of?"



"Toretal. Its something Ichigo gave us for your pain." She assured.



He closed his eyes and breathed in heavy and let a breath escape.He finally asked "You have calmed more.That is good." He spoke calmly, his words were a bit heavy.



She finished and looked at him in surprise "I guess."She said ashamed.



"You don't want to look pathetic in front of your leader." He said opening his eyes.



"I am not pathetic! Its just hard to work on someone who almost killed everyone!" She growled.



"That is enough. You return to your quarters."



"Its the truth, lady Unohana!"



Unohana tilted her head "Go back to you quarters, it is impolite to raise your voice to your elders." She almost demanded in the softest tone ever. The girl bowed and stumbled out in a hurry apologizing.She sat near the bed and spoke " How do you feel."



"fine."He spoke coldly.



"Do you really feel fine?"



He paused and looked at her "I don't know." He shrugged. Unohana felt like she was talking to a younger child when he answered in the manner he did.



"Do you have any pain or discomfort?" She dumbed it down.



"only discomfort."



"Where at?"



"In my intestines, back and arms." He answered closing his eyes.



"It doesn't surprise me you know what organ was acting up."She paused" It has been fully recovered,but it might feel a little strange for the next couple hours until you are used to it again. Your other parts are probably just from laying in bed for this long." She assured with a smile.



He opened his eyes and asked "Can you tell Rangiku its bothering me that I didn't get Gin for her after telling her I would." He asked.



"Bothering you?"She asked.He looked at her and blinked."I will find someone to tell her. "Just get some rest. Any more request?"



"Orihime?"



"She is in the human world.We made her go so you could tell us what happened with out anything coaching you." She spoke slow and then got up to leave "The commander will be here shortly."



He watched as she left the room and he waited. He stared at the cieling and didn't move his eyes from it.He didn't think anything, he didn't wonder anything. Just stared, until he finally felt a pressure coming his way. The door opened and the commander entered. He walked over to the middle of the room. A nurse came in and raised the upper half of the bed so he could sit up. Ulquiorra blinked once and watched his movements.



"Ulquiorra Cifer of the Arrancar. You have committed many crimes against soul society, speak your reasons."



He thought about the answer and then opened his mouth " I have no reasons, other then Aizen told me too."



"So you blame Aizen, in your acts against the humans safety as well?"



"I do not blame him." He paused and closed his eyes " Can I show you?"He asked.



The commander opened one eye and asked "How could you show me?"



"Aizen gave me this power where I could take my eye out and show you what I have seen. My eye sees all that is in front of me. This might make you understand my actions better." He stated.



The captain nodded closing one eye and brought his staff down.Two officers were there in an instant " Yes commander."



"Bring me Nanao."It took only moments before Nanao was there with Shunsuii. The commander sighed " I didn't say, him as well Nanao."



"I-I apol-



"Now,now commander. I didn't want to miss all the fun." Shunsuii assured.



The commander didn't say anything " Take the bindings off of his wrists."



"Yes commander." She did as told and released his wrist. Ulquiorra rubbed his fingers together and looked up.



"I assure you this might be strange for you. But it works. I will show you everything from the beginning of my relationship to now " He paused after taking the eye out and offering it out. His palm faced down and he squeezed it, shattering it into thousands of pieces. He blew the particles and spoke "Breath in deeply."

----

Orihime sat next to Ichigo with Rukia. The two watched as his eyes twitched every once in a while, they had been waiting for at least the past two weeks. They made a ritual of eating together at night next to him and talked. Rukia learned that Orihime had different feelings for the Espada and she didn't really mind it.



"I wonder how he is doing."



"He is moving more in his slumber, but he hasn't woken yet, to my knowledge."



"I hope they are treating him well."



"I think after he risked his life to go around and help us.I think he is safe. The commander will understand"



"What is going to happen to Ichigo?"



Rukia set her chopsticks down and looked away "...he is losing his spiritual abilities." She said in a slow voice.



Orihime watched as her friends body slumped into sadness, Rukia was in love with Ichigo. "Rukia."She whispered.



"Its ok...I am glad I had all the times I did with him."



Orihime didn't say anything. She knew all along the two had feelings for one another, the two were in love but hadn't had the chance to ever let it grow. Orihime spoke "Rukia, I know how it feels to love someone and for them to not notice."She shifted her eyes. Rukia looked at Orihime in shock " Ichigo isn't like that with you though, I think he knows how you feel,because...he...he loves you too." She spoke confidently.



"Orihime." She whispered.



---



The commander nodded and spoke " Ulquiorra I will hold a meeting discussing what will happen with you." he turned to leave and then stopped. "I am thankful for your quick thinking in bandaging me." He left the room in silence with Shunsuii and Nanao there.



"C-captain should I put them back on?"



Shunsuii walked over to the Espada " Ulquiorra want to stretch your legs out?" He asked.



Nanao's eyes widened " C-captain! I don't think that is the best idea!"



Ulquiorra looked at Nanao " If it makes you more comfortable I can stay here while my fate is being decided." He spoke with no fear.



Shunsuii closed his eyes and a black butterfly touched his shoulder " yeah,yeah I am on my way."



Ulquiorra turned to the taller captain and said " You remind me of one of my old comrades."



"I might be familiar with that one." He said turning and leaving.



Nanao turned back and bowed to him " Forgive me for my rudeness, I am grateful for your actions towards us." She followed after her captain, leaving him free to do as he desired.But Ulquiorra didn't move, he waited.



---



"I have brought you together to speak on a delicate case of the Espada. Speak your minds, captains."



Toshiro spoke first " He was an enemy and a dangerous one at that. But when he came to help me, other arrancar were around me. Hallibel the one I fought was only about 50 feet from me. He passed her without even looking back and helped me. I was conscious, when he saved me. He made sure I was movable and then took me, I watched him knock others before me out because they were trying to attack him. He acted proffessionally in his actions and I think that is what we need to look at."



Soi Fon's eyes shifted " He is right. I tried to fight back, but instead of knocking me out he told me that he was not going to hurt me. I was afraid because I was almost defenseless against him at the time. He took my punches and checked me to make sure I was ok to move as well and then he assured me that I should be fine.I almost want to say he didn't knock me out because I was a captain."​She concluded.



"I think he proved he isn't going to harm us enough." Ukitake added "Has he asked about Aizen once?"



Unohana shook her head "No, he said it was bothering him that he didn't get Gin for Rangiku. Which was strange to hear, because Orihime spoke of him being taken advantage of by Gin and Aizen. He had scarring to prove it."​ Unohana assured.



"Did Rangiku speak to you about this Toshiro?" Byakuya asked.



"She did-



---flashback---



Toshiro woke up because of her movement, he sat up "Rangiku? Your awake." He said surprised.She sat up to a sitting position in the bed.



"Hey captain."



"You have been out for 2 days. Why did you push yourself to get up even though Izaru wasn't done with you?" He scolded.



Rangiku ​fell back and brought her hand to her forehead " Because I am a stupid girl, who doesn't understand the truth." She said in a sighing voice.



"You are not stupid Matsumoto."



"Did he get his body?"



"Who?"



"That man with the wings. Did he go back and get Gin's body?"She asked.



"Ulquiorra passed out because of internal damage to his organs. He was dealing with it the whole time gathering us. He has been passed out for the last two days." He said.



"Oh."She looked away " Captain. Can we bury him correctly."



"...I don't" He started and saw she was crying he stopped mid-sentence.



"I know he was a terrible person, but...he...-



"I will see what I can do Matsumoto."



She smiled and took his hand that was resting beside hers.



-over-



Toshiro spoke of what she had said, but left out certain things.



Unohana spoke "I think what he meant by bothering was he was sorry he couldn't keep the promise." She smiled.



"He really doesn't understand feelings." Komamura spoke.



Byakuya spoke " He helped us out of Heuco Mundo." He added the one sentence.



The commander then spoke " Is anyone against letting him live."



No one spoke and the commander spoke " We will send him to the human world to Kisuke. It was a request he had and that is the least we can do for him."



"Do we tell him about Aizen?" Soi Fon asked.



"I don't think it makes a difference." The commander spoke "I will make an announcement." He nodded.



---



"​Attention this is a announcement. The Espada that was brought back from the Winter war. Is officially considered safe to the Soul Society." The letter read in everyone squads barracks.



Ulquiorra was approached by a nurse " You are permitted to leave when you like.​"



---



Rukia entered the human world, not far behind him Ulquiorra followed. He stopped and looked up to see Orihime in her school uniform holding her bag. His eyes widened and he watched as she turned around " ULQUIORRA!" She dropped her bag and ran to him. He opened his arms for her and hugged her. He smiled feeling her warmth against him and hugged her back tightly. "I missed you, I missed you ,I missed you!" She said laughing.



Rukia smiled warmly and looked away. She was jealous, but she would never say anything to Orihime. She had no idea, Orihime liked Ichigo as well for a long time. Orihime looked to Rukia "So is he OK then?" She asked eagerly.



"He actually woke up 2 days ago and has been asking questions like a train." She laughed at him.



"You have?" Orihime looked at him.



"Why do people's smile. What does it mean when you see someone with another person and it makes you angry. Why do people hum. Why we talk to our swords." Rukia poked fun.



"I sense you are mocking me." Ulquiorra asked.



"Just a little."Rukia laughed " he went around asking every captain questions,even Byakuya. Nii-sama actually invited him for tea before we left for here." She looked at him puzzled and asked " What did he want?"



"He wanted to tell me that if you are harmed in any way shape or form that I would be killed in the-



"NII-SAMA!" She interrupted. ​



Orihime laughed and Kisuke approached with Yoruichi the three " Welcome Rukia. Hello Ulquiorra, lets go to my shop and we will discuss what you want to do Ulquiorra."



"He is not becoming your cleaner!" Yoruichi added.



​