Beauty and the Beast

AU. UlquiHime. Slight IchiRuki. One-sided IchiHime.

Summary: Can someone ever truly love a beast?

A/N: Hi! I just want to say thank you so much for checking out my story! I hope you like it! I would appreciate any reviews and/or criticism to help me improve my writing. Also the castle is in the forest by the cemetery Ichigo's mom was buried.

And I also know that there is a story called 'Masquerade' by keitoz. I did not copy her work! If you have read both of our stories, you can see that hers is very much different from mine.

Prologue-

Once upon a time, in a faraway land a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he obeyed all of Aizen-sama's wishes and got all that he desired, the prince was not happy. In fact, he was devoid of all emotions. Neither passion nor hatred ran through his veins. His voice was as cold as ice and tone was unmerciful.

But, then, on a cold winter's night an old man with glasses came to the castle and asked the prince for shelter for the price of a single rose. The prince was repulsed by him, saying that he was above letting such trash into his home. He turned the old man away, but he warned him that not all are as they seem and that he was not the so called 'trash' that he deemed him to be. He began to transform into a man with brown hair, a lock of hair escaping the gel that was placed there. He was dressed in all white and the glasses seemed to have disappeared.

Of course, the prince hid his shock of surprise by widening his eyes only a little. "Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra knew better than to question why Aizen-sama had disguised himself as an old man. He pushed those thoughts away, as if it made him uncomfortable.

Aizen only smiled at him, a coy smile that could only mean one thing. "Ulquiorra… it seems that you are unhappy here. Why is that?"

"I have vowed to be your loyal servant. That is enough for me."

"Alas, that is the wrong answer. I asked you why you were unhappy… Ulquiorra." Aizen added Ulquiorra as if it were an afterthought.

"It is my ways." Ulquiorra simply put, as if to end the matter quickly.

"Hm… Would you like to become powerful?" Aizen asked, with no hint of a smile now.

"I am already powerful, Aizen-sama." Ulquoirra bent his head a bit, to indicate that Aizen-sama was the one who made him that way.

"Ulquiorra, do you want to be powerful or do you want to be happy?" Aizen inquired.

Ulquiorra thought about it for a while and then said his answer. "I would like to be happy, Aizen-sama."

"Then you shall be cursed, along with all in this household, until you can find someone who truly loves you. And only then can you be happy." Aizen said that with a sly smirk on his face, as if his plan had already been set in motion. Then he disappeared, as if he was never there.

Ulquoirra shook his head in disdain. 'I am loyal to a man who may be a mad-man.' Although Ulquoirra would never admit it out loud, he had thought that Aizen-sama was too arrogant for his liking. But, Ulquiorra took the rose and mirror that Aizen-sama had left behind and closed the doors. He then went to sleep, but when the next morning came, he had become a beast, cursed to live in the castle of damnation for eternity.

A/N: Haha I didn't mean to put Aizen in this… but then it just came to me. So… I was wondering if anyone could help me make Aizen more IC (In-character)?