Road to Redemption

Chapter 6: Boling Point

A/N: Hello everyone! I'm sorry I took so bloody long to update. My internet has been atrocious this past few weeks. Hope you enjoy the chapter and thanks for reading!

© Bleach and it's characters don't belong to me. They belong to Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump (Only Anna and Shizuka belong to me)

Chapter 6: Boiling Point

The days turned to weeks in the blink of an eye, replacing the amber and scarlet tones of the city with a fluffy blanket of snow.

A few things had happened. Both Orihime and Ulquiorra found jobs at a bakery near their house, there hadn't been any drastic hollow attacks since that night with Hecate, and Shizuka had received permission for them to take trips to Hueco Mundo whenever they pleased.

For Orihime all of that felt small. She was growing restless. Urahara didn't have any luck tracking Anna. Which meant she was out there carrying out whatever plan she had. Orihime wasn't sure why she feared the woman so much. She didn't look particularly intimidating, aside from her angry voice, she was powerful and smart but not as much as Aizen and he had been brought down.

'Then why? Why do I fear her?' If she had to guess, it would be because she understood. Ultimately Anna was doing this out of love for Aizen. Orihime knew what it was like to love that way, and that Anna would not stop fighting, unless they killed her.

"Woman."

Ulquiorra's voice startled her. She had been sitting beside the window for almost half an hour now. "I'm sorry, I was lost in thought. Do you need anything Ulquiorra?"

"You were thinking about Anna, were you not?"

Orihime sighed. "Yes. It's just... Forget it. I shouldn't dwell on this too much. Do you want to go play in the snow?"

"Yes, I'd like that. Let me wake Kukkapuro."

***
He knew she was lying. Her eyes betrayed her all too often. He couldn't deny that he was worried too. Anna was a lady of her word, but she was also calculating. She might find a way to hurt the woman without breaking her promise.

He glanced at Orihime. While he chose to stay on the blanket they had brought to the park, Orihime and Kukkapuro were building sculptures out of snow.

The cold didn't faze him, he simply wanted to look at the woman while she played. Her fiery hair contrasted with the white snow, making her look even more beautiful than usual. They had only spent a few weeks together, yet he felt closer to her than to his old comrades.

She looked at him and waved. "Ulquiorra! Come here!" Kukkapuro ran to him and began pulling at his scarf.

"Alright, I'll go."

He walked towards her, surprised by what she and Kukkapuro had been building. They had built a group of snow figures. He recognized Kurosaki, Chad, Shizuka and the Quincy, the others were a mystery to him. He could only assume they were her colleagues from school and her deceased brother.

There was one figure that surprised him. A miniature version of him in his second release form. The woman had included every single detail, from his horns to his spear.

"What do you think? I wanted it to look just like you!"

"I am impressed. Where did you learn to build like this?"

"My brother and I used to do this every winter. He loved the snow, so we went out all the time and built sculptures..."

When she talked her brother her eyes sparkled. A mix of sadness and pride lingered on her face while she was lost in her memories. "Sorry, I got distracted again."