Nel Tu

Orihime stood next to her window and stared at the moon outside. She had only just discovered her bankai and realized it was not something she could use like Ichigo's. Her bankai was a bit special, similar to Urahara's bankai. Actually, she shook her head at how similar her bankai was to Urahara's and Shunsui's.

While she was pondering the best time to show it off, Grimmjow came into her room.

"We just finished the meeting of the Espada and Aizen's trio. We confirmed the invaders appeared far from Las Noches. Your guess was correct, it is the five of them."

"Nelliel, the former Espada, will meet up with them and guide them to Las Noches. Keep an eye on her and bring her to me if she gets into trouble… Where has Ulquiorra been?"

"He was sent on a mission to re-asses the threat of Ichigo Kurosaki after my battle with him. The footage from the battle… Ulquiorra said with the Hollow power Ichigo was using... he was being pushed to the limits of his sealed form."

���Looks like he listened to my advice and properly trained his Hollow powers. Remember, later when you two fight, you need to beat him moderately, but completely. Otherwise, he'll get destroyed by Ulquiorra later."

"I don't understand your faith in that Kurosaki brat. So what, if he has Hollow powers, he can't catch up to me, let alone Ulquiorra."

Orihime just smiles and doesn't say anything more. She did find it ironic that he called Ichigo a brat while taking order from one too. Although, she was technically in her forties already by combining her ages.

After practicing for a while, her perception range could cover quite the distance. While sensing, Orihime noticed the five spiritual presences of her friends. They had broken in through the wall and entered an underground passage.

Orihime wondered how the original fights would go. She had no hope for Sado and Uryuu, they basically received no help from Orihime's butterfly effect, but Ichigo and Rukia were the main one's to be influenced. Although she can no longer leave her room until Ichigo encounters Ulquiorra, she can still monitor their Reiatsu in the building.

…

Ichigo and friends had just blasted through another wall which led them into a chamber that split off in five directions. They unanimously agreed to split up and started running. The first opponent Ichigo runs into is some weak Arrancar that calls himself number one-hundred three named Dordoni.

After a few strange exchanges, Dordoni releases his Zanpakuto and creates giant whirlwinds around him. He begins to pulverize Ichigo and demand he use bankai and his Hollow powers. After a few more exchanges, Ichigo takes him out in one strike with bankai plus his Hollow mask.

On Rukia's side, she confronts Aaroniero Arruruerie, an Arrancar that absorbs other Hollows. Their battle turns for the worse when he uses Kaien's body to hypnotize and manipulate Rukia. However, one major difference, due to Orihime's influence, was being able to stay calm and think rationally in the face of this.

She quickly realized this wasn't the real Kaien and only a guise. Unlike in the canon, he was not able to get an advantage over her using this trick. Releasing her Zanpakuto, Rukia is resolved to destroy the person abusing the image of her former lieutenant and idol. The beatdown was extremely one-sided, leaving Rukia completely unharmed.

…

Orihime had a good idea of who was fighting where, based on their Reiatsu, and realized Ichigo and Rukia were having an easy time. Ichigo should be intercepted by Ulquiorra soon and beaten to near death. While focused on long-distance sensing, she doesn't immediately realize that Loly and Menoly entered her room with malicious intent.

"Hey bitch, are you even listening? I'll tear that pretty face apart, then Lord Aizen will stop paying attention to you!"

Orihime stopped her sensing and looked at these two as if they were idiots. Upon seeing that look from her, the two of them became even angrier.

"What's with that look, you slut! You think you can do whatever you want because you have Grimmjow wrapped around your finger? He's a weakling!"

As she finished saying that, an arm appeared in front of her chest covered in blood. Melony began stuttering and point at Loly's chest but then an arm went through her chest as well. Grimmjow withdrew his arms and wiped them on the two Arrancar's uniforms.

Orihime sighed and threw some petals over their wounds to heal them. She knew these two eventually help in the final battle against the Quincy so she pities them.

"Grimmjow, you have a strange obsession with ripping people's chest open from behind."

"Tch, it's a bother to not go for a killing blow. These stupid women don't even realize how much stronger than them you are."

"Don't be mistaken, I really do admire your skill. It will be very useful in dealing with a certain someone in the future… Anyway, these two aren't a problem and I have plans for them later. I believe you were here to bring me to Ichigo?"

Grimmjow looks at her in a strange way and doesn't quite understand how Orihime's mind works. However, she had correctly guessed his intention.

"That's right, Ulquiorra is about to beat him to death. If you want me to fight Ichigo, now is the best time. I can send him to an alternate space with Caja Negacion and battle Ichigo after you heal him."

The two of them set off to where Ichigo was receiving a monologue and beating from Ulquiorra. The distance is easy to traverse with their speed and they arrive just as Ulquiorra impales Ichigo one last time leaving him unconscious.

"Grimmjow, you are going against Lord Aizen's orders…"

"Caja Negacion."

Ulquiorra stayed expressionless as space folded in around him. He did not bother to resist, since he believed nothing they could do would matter. He could break out in a few hours and cause them even more despair when they realized the futility of their actions.

Orihime already started to heal Ichigo when Nel popped out from behind the pillars. She ran over to protect Ichigo, but was caught by Grimmjow in midair.

"Nel, I am Ichigo's friend, the one he is coming to rescue. Don't worry, he will be alright."

"Ori… Orihime, you're here." Ichigo said, then seing Grimmjow standing behind while holding Nel in one hand, he abruptly got up. "You! Let go of Nel you bastard!"

Ichigo gets up and stands between Orihime and Grimmjow. However, Grimmjow just smiles and tosses Nel over to Orihime before taunting Ichigo.

"It's good that you're all healed up, now we can settle that fight from before."

However, this proves to only rile Ichigo up. Orihime gives Grimmjow's acting a thumbs up, but then realizes he was being serious. She sighed at his simple-mindedness but chose to not say anything at this time.

Grimmjow grabbed Ichigo's face and threw him through the wall. The group entered a vast plain of normal sand and a blue sky. There were several red pillars dotted throughout, they had similarly exited from one.

Orihime stands on the edge of the destroyed wall with Nel and looks down at the small child Arrancar.

"Hey Nel, what do you think of Ichigo?"

"Ichigo is a good guy! Nel had lots of fun!"

"Do you want to become strong again to help him?" This causes Nel to go silent. She looks down at the battle between Grimmjow and Ichigo and realizes he is losing. Her memories were foggy, but she was aware that she had once been stronger.

"Yes! Nel wants to be strong and help Ichigo!"

"Alright, lets start with healing your mask and scar. Don't worry, it won't hurt."

Flower petals begin to fall over Nel's body. Orihime purposefully chose to slow down the healing so that Nelliel doesn't interfere with the fighting between Grimmjow and Ichigo too early. Even though Nnoitra got beat by Grimmjow, he is certainly not going to let an opportunity pass to take Grimmjow out when he's wounded.

Orihime had specifically left out the fact that Nnoitra would show up and try to kill the weakened Grimmjow. She did not consider this being cruel, it was an important development. The more he hated the Arrancar, the more loyal he would be to her.

However, watching the fight left her speechless. Ichigo was able to keep his Hollow mask up since the start of the fight. Orihime only gave him a few words of encouragement, but he grew so much. Perhaps the increased time he was given due to her actions made a huge difference.

After a while, Orihime got bored of watching. Ichigo's fighting style was very simple and monotonous. She had never realized it before since everything was dramatized and had cool music. But watching this slow fight with her enhanced senses without music and good camera angles was disappointing.

Orihime turned back to Nel's treatment and saw the scar and mask was fully repaired. She then noticed a weakness in her soul with hogyoku's power. This must be the reason that Nelliel wasn't able to stay transformed for long. The mask was not the only thing damaged, her soul was literally leaking spiritual power.

She turned her fingernails black, like she did with Grimmjow, and carefully inserted her hand into Nelliel's soul. She left the power inside in order to do its work. When Orihime removed her hand, Nelliel's mask released white liquid and created a cocoon for her.

"There's a lot of work to be done so stay asleep for a bit, Nelliel."