A/N: Sorry guys for the late delay but I've been trying to update the reast of my stories and sadly dealing with real life =/ lol However, I do hope you enjoy the fourth installment of Spirit Of The Ocean. Of course if there are any mistake please don't be afraid to let me know about them. I still am searching for a Beta reader =/

Chapter IV

Free Fall

"You guys, Come over here!" a young Grimmjow yelled leading the young group to a phenomenal view before the high cliff, over heading a forest of deep green, surrounded by mountains and a river that exceeded beyond, "it's amazing aint it!"

"This is pointless," Ulquiorra chimed in, though hearing the chirps of exotic birds, and rustling leaves brought a comfort to him. He walked to the side of Grimmjow, looking to the vast land of trees and flying animals, "How do we get down there?"

"Oh yeah! Forgot the big baby is afraid of heights," Nnoitra stuck his tongue out, making funny faces towards him while Grimmjow waited for an answer as well as Tier, who picked up a lady bug off a rock.

"Am not!" he yelled in defense as well as crossing his arms over his chest, "Grandpa said I'm the most smartess so I must play the part or else we'll all be dead,"

Grimmjow held a finger to his lips, shushing him, "Don't say the 'D' word!"

Nnoitra questioned, "What? Dead?"

"I just told him not to say that! Why would you?"

"Okay, okay, shut up already!"

Tier who was still quiet in the background, found outside of their village to be more serene. Watching the sun peak through the abundant leaves of the huge trees, studying the epiphytes that grew on the trunk, and the many bug life that walked near her bare feet. Whenever she got the chance, she took in everything outside. The air, the smell, the feel of things, and the look, bringing her to make pictures out of the dye the wise woman of their village would make for the children.

"Oi! You staying here or are you coming?" she heard one of the boys yell though she knew exactly who they were calling too.

She turned to look at Grimmjow who was already climbing down the cliff, "Yeah," she yelled, "I'm coming,"

"Hurry up, Nnoitra is almost at the bottom,"

Quickly she climbed down on the side of him, "What about Ulqui?"

"He chickened out, and took the long way down,"

She halted, "We can't be separated!" attempting to climb back up.

"I'm kidding, He's with Nnoitra,"

She exhaled a breath of relief, continuing her climb downwards. Almost as if Nnoitra read her thoughts, he shouted with a small snicker, "I could see your panties!"

Even if it gave her som reassurance, she retorted, "I got them from your clothes!"

A few minutes of talking back and playfully joking with each other, they made it down the large cliff, each of them looking at the wilderness of luxuriant plants and feeling the soft ground of fecund grass.

Grimmjow did a 180 spin, stopping at an open path as if it were specifically built for the four youngins, "Am I the only one who feels the need to run?"

Nnoitra pushed him to the side, "I'll race ya!"

Ulquiorra stepped up now, "Whoever wins has to give up all the hollow treats Grandpa gives us,"

Tier got into her stance, 'Beating you guys is so easy!'

Sitting far off on a log, Tier tuned out the laughs of her fellow neighbors and continued to keen in on the flutes an songstress that told of their hearty past. She opened her eyes to see the ceiling that filled with sparkling crystals, giving off the interpretation of stars even if they were false, bringing her to a saddened sighed. She never got the chance to see the color of the sky. The sun was all that she knew. It was bright and outshined that of a polished diamond. She took it for granted the most, now that she was stuck in the grotto's stony walls.

'Mikalau ta haikol, eiya alisau,' She recited, 'Sacred and proud, we are hollow,'

It was true in her sense, the proudness in her race shown over everyone who was born with Hollow blood. The tattoos that ranged with different colors, the way one characteristic bested the other, the way one shown satisfaction to his or her ranked, and most of all the pride that marked their skin. Each color told the personality behind those that wore their tattoos.

"There you are," A familiar voice called to the back of her, whereas Tier not so much as turned her head. Nel leant over her, catching the gaze of Tier but she still stared ahead of her as if Nel 46'inch bust was not on top of her head, "you feeling okay Tierbel?"

"Yes," she spoke, looking to the water off the edge of the small cliff.

"Well I'm glad…" Nel spoke walking to sit on the grassy floor, leaning against her leg and resting her head on her lap.

Tier taken aback recovered and combed her hand through her soft fern green locks, "Tell me Nel…What is it like having to take care of someone?"

The woman spoke, still curled under Tier, "What do you mean?"

"Like…the way you take care of Nnoitra…How does that feel like?"

"Hmm, well I would say it's almost like the responsibility of being a guardian, except you really care about that person and wouldn't want anything happening to them,"

"Do you think he feels—Never mind, I shouldn't speak so boldly to my predecessor,"

"No no, it is okay," she smiled lazily waving it off, "I look at it as Nnoitra doing me a favor even if it almost cost me my life. However, I forgive him, I know he feels guilty every time he sees my face but I don't know,"

Tier, still combing her hands in her hair, "You could have killed him easily,"

"Yeah but that would make me just like him. I'm no killer and I had hoped to define that once I gave up being a guardian,"

"I don't make unnecessary kills,"

"I know, which is why I trusted you the most,"

Tier grew silent now as Nel continued on the main topic.

"Getting back to what I was saying. It's probably a shame for me to admit it but I like this side of Nnoitra. Whenever he kisses me all over my face I could tell the love is there and he's the one taking care of me,"

"I don't think I can picture that," she chuckled as Nel joined in with her.

"That is so true, but I guess you have to sneak and see him out of his tough guy element,"

"I suppose so,"

Silence grew between the two women enjoying the peaceful setting, Tier thinking about her younger days whereas Nel thought about her past as a guardian for the people. To her it was not much she would miss about it but it was the everyday adventure that won her, Back to when everything was smooth, green, to where there was more life, "He's looking for you," she spoke, feeling Tiers hand come to a stop.

Still staring before her, "Who is?"

Nel answered swiftly with the same smile plastered on her content mien, "Ichigo of course,"

"If he has needs to find me, then he will,"

"But he is still a baby to his hollow, he's not use to our ways unless you teach him such,"

"Unacceptable, He is only a baby if I treat him like one and I do not care for babies,"

Nel by now slowly stood up, looking in front of her, then back to Tier, "You were once a baby,"

"With a hard upbringing,"

She giggled, "You were spoiled!"

Catching her words and registering them, she stopped her comeback. Nel was right, and she could not argue with someone who knew of things before her. Though she might seem childish, the simple things held a true ring to it.

"I best get going, He's getting close. Nnoitra is looking for me as well,"

"So you're leaving me here by myself with him?"

"Why the sudden change of heart? Weren't you two sleeping in the same bed?"

"Doesn't mean I was comfortable with it,"

"And what about him?"

"I…do not know,"

Nel scoffed, "My point has been proven. Get to know him more," with that she walked away disappearing in front of the shop and in the crowd. As for Tier, she stayed glued to where she was, reclining back and crossing one leg over the other.

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A tiresome Ichigo lounged on the thick log close to the water apart from where the villagers drunkenly cavort, laughing after spoken slurred words and enjoying their fellow neighbors company so to speak. The things he would give up to be one of them. To trade places, or lives for that matter. He wanted to enjoy this for as much as he can, after all, nobody can live in a completely different world, learning about a new breed of people. He lay there, watching the crystals on the ceiling of the cavern twinkle to the inert water. It was clear that he thought he would never feel the warmth of the radiating sun against his tan skin or see the faded clouds across the blue sky outside of these walls, even the hint of concrete under his foot was a luxury he took for less.

"Hey," a whine for words directed at no one specific, still Ichigo knew who the soprano called for, "why did you leave me all alone?"

He looked to the side of him, watching the woman cautiously make way to him. This was the one time Ichigo needed her company more than ever. Maybe what Tier said to him was true, maybe he was depending on people entirely too much, "…I can't dance anymore…my legs are numb,"

"Excuses!" she yelled, "just tell me that you don't want to dance with me,"

"Fine, I don't want to dance with you!"

She laughed as if he was kidding with her but Ichigo was all the more serious. Taking a seat on the edge of the island, she turned to look at him, "You are no fun. I thought humans would at least brighten up this place,"

Caustically responding with a noticeable offhand nod, "Sorry to disappoint,"

"Are you really?" she turned to look at him staring back at her.

"Not really," looking back at the ceiling, engrossed in his thoughts of his past and new feelings. There were so many questions left unanswered and he dare not take a guess for fear of scaring himself senseless from any possibility out of the regular. For the third time, Tier was right. His actions improved when he tried not to think about what was endangering to his emotions, "What are you?" He spoke in her direction.

"What do you mean?"

His amber eyes that filled with a dark void fixed themselves to stare at her, "What are you?...Are you human? Mermaid? Fish?"

Her top lip curved in a manner that did not consort to the 'fish' part of his question, "No idiot, we're called Arrancars."

Raising one of his eyebrows as to put an emphasis on his question, "Meaning?"

"Exactly what you see in front of you silly,"

"Let me rephrase my question then," attempting to raise himself lazily off his resting spot that was uncomfortable anyway, "what is an Arrancar?"

"It's a lot to talk about, and I'm sure you won't understand until you find yourself,"

A touch of annoyance in his aura was a prophetic advantage for her once she heard the harsh way he spoke. Especially to someone who did not know him as much as Tier did all in the matter of a six day span, "Here we go with the riddles again…Haven't I found myself? I'll be just a walking shell if I haven't"

"Yes you would be, but that's not what I meant….come over here," lifting her hand in a gentle signal to motion him by her side as she stood, looking over the small cliff into the water.

He did as so, though of course the unnecessary rolling of the eyes and smacked teeth came along with it. Standing next to her when he stopped with a frustrated huff, he turned to look at her. As much of a sneak she can be, he did not realize such things that were obvious to others but not to him. Her hair was not black but a color of a fruit: a plum to be exact. Then her eyelid fluttered from the water to look at him. Pink irises? He question. She was speaking but he did not comprehend quickly enough. He was trying to wrap his thoughts around her eye color, sure he seen violet, but pink was something in a different category.

"Hey!" she waved, "don't go spacing out on me human," He shook his head, waving away the off moment. Pointing to the watery surface as if to spot anything, she smiled and spoke up, "Look there."

Once again, he did so, expecting to see his reflection staring back at him but there was nothing except her reflection looking at what would be him, "What kind of magic is this?"

"Not magic, your inner world…is lost,"

"How can my…wait, I'm standing here with a clear conscience aren't I? and earlier today I saw my reflection outside the gate,"

Her reply was nothing more than shaking her head, "That 'Gate' is called the Garganta and there's more to the soul than you think yah big doof!" she walked back to where he once seated, "everyone has a soul yes? We Arrancars have two, But you, you have three since you are human,"

"Three?"

"Yeah, three…uno, dos, tres, Tree,"

He snapped when he heard the sarcasm, "I know how to count!"

"Anyway," she continued, "the only reason why you have three, is because you are part human, part arrancar, and something else,"

"Really? How all of a sudden I'm a part of a secret race?"

She scratched the top of her head, "No secret. We lived amongst you humans once. Some seen us, others felt us, and the majority were ignorant to our presence. But in recent years, little by little our numbers dwindled from billions into hundred-thousand only to find out that we were being studied on, or killed off once the government found out about our existence,"

"The government believes in you guys?"

"Maybe I was exaggerating a little, but to make is simpler, my kind did not come without enemies,"

Intrigued now, Ichigo sat on grassy floor, resting his back against the log, "And who were these 'enemies'?"

"They're called Shinigami, they take on human forms just like us, some still live in the world from which you came, others have gone rogue never to be heard from again. They are vicious creatures of day and night which tells a lot about why we live here,"

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"You're scared?"

"We're smart,"

Ichigo scoffed sarcastically, "I have yet to see that,"

"Make fun all you want, but I rather be called scared than to be some kind of stupid hero. We have older people living here, as well as children, what do we look like going against millions of them?"

His smile faded, turning to look at her, "I didn't mean it to make fun of your kind…now that you mentioned it another way, I would have to say I agree with you, but you have to fight someday,"

The air around them was quiet. Ichigo took in all he could fit in from her words, until that silence interrupted by shouting, "I found someone!"

Instantly Ichigo was up with the wind, shocking Loly into half death, then running off before his mind could even make sense of the blurted words. Everything blurred to him, forgetting where the voice came from but still wanted to find the source, which he became frustrated. Gritting his teeth after looking around, he felt a hand wrapped around his wrist. Turning to look at the comforting warmth, he spotted the woman he rudely left without an answer, "Calm down will you," Loly pulled him to walk with her, "only thing you had to do was ask, and I shall take you,"

With this, Ichigo calmed down only a hint of what he was feeling, but the urge to run off and getting lost was nothing underlying. His body felt the rush to run and so did his mind, but the woman holding his arm as if he was a toddler put a restraint on that since she was strong to handle him. Soon afterwards, Ichigo witnessed the small group of people that heard the man's cry gather around in a circle. Loly walked through the crowd to the middle bringing Ichigo along with her. Seeing tattoos on both arms of the seemingly tall human, she gasped.

Ichigo on the other hand did not know how to feel. He thought his friends were all dead, thinking he was the sole survivor of his friends he almost gave up. He was somewhere between the worlds of dark and light. Now here one of his friends were, still breathing, "Chad?"

Ichigo lightly smacked the side of his friends face, hoping for any kind of signs of him being okay, other than him breathing, "Chad! Chad wake up!"

There was a murmur from his lips but Ichigo did not hear and instead reach his hand all the way back to smack him even harder until his eyes opened. Catching Ichigo in the act as he froze with his hand in the air, Chad spoke, lifting himself up after holding his head, "What do you call yourself doing Ichigo?"

Putting his hand back by his side, "I was trying to wake you up,"

"Where am I anyway?" staring at the people with oddly bright tattoos in unique designs, then the woman who once held his head on her lap, "Who are these people? And why do you have red markings on your face? How did your hair get so long?"

"Save that for later! I want to know how you are feeling, and where the others is,"

"Right, In truth I'm dead tired, I don't recall anything except Rukia reaching for me, and a bright light of some sort. Where is she anyway? Where are Inoue and Renji?"

"I don't know, that is why I'm asking you where you have been and if you saw anything," Chad only held his head shaking it, "Well now that you are here, I know that it's a possibility that the others might still be alive,"

"Ichigo…" Chad spoke, swaying side to side, "I don't think I can talk…anymore…I'm…feeling drowsy,"

Loly speaking up now, "Sleep you, and when you wake up, you'll feel much better," Chad only stared at her, fighting his sleep to stare at her once more, before he fell back into her lap, "we'll take him to our resting quarters, you are allowed to stay with him if you wish but you cannot wake him up. He has to get up on his own or he would not wake up at all,"

"Yeah, sure," it took only a few minutes when four men came with a net attached to two thick branched, resting chad into then carried him off, "I'll be there, just someone I have to see real quick,"

Although Loly was against the action, she insisted anyway, "Go then,"

Ichigo walked off, speeding to where his new home was. She knew, she knew all along that they were not dead, or she was only playing mind games with him. Yet she did not seem like the type to do such things but who was he to put something past anyone. He did not know her as if she knew him, but he knew that she had an idea. He rushed more, making it to her island and seeing her walking out.

His eyebrows furrowed together as he stalked towards her, and sensing only the hostility his person told, she did not know whether he was going to attack her or not. Tier stood her ground, until his arms wrapped around her tightly, "Thank you," he spoke into her neck.

Caught off guard, and shocked beyond recovery, "What are you doing boy?"

He did not say anything and only held her around her shoulders.

She moved her chin off his shoulder to look at the young girl holding her hands over her heart with semi-teary eyes and biting her lip. This was the second time he held her in his arms like this. This was weakening her guard now that she started finding comfort in his arms, "I once let you hold me like this only because we were dancing, but you are stepping over the line boy," still she gave little to no fight in moving against him. She stayed where she was, innocently cuddling her face in his neck and oblivious to the fact that she was holding him.

It took him to loosen his grip over her shoulders for her to get the iota of a hint that their embrace was long overdue for a stop. He chuckled, looking in her face with a glare that defined everything relevant to the word 'beauty', "Sorry for my abrupt action. I didn't mean to startle you like that,"

"Do not flatter yourself, I am a guardian of Hueco Mundo, I am aware all the time, it will take more than that to frighten me,"

His smirk faded now to a more subtle approach, "One of my friends arrive here today. His name is chad,"

"Well then, I suppose this is cause for a celebration for you?"

"If it involves just me and you then I'm all for it," By now she was caught off guard even if she was aware of it or not, "n—no, not like that. I just cannot do anymore dancing. I um, I'm comfortable around you, and I like being around you—I mean…ugh!" throwing his head back.

She spoke softly, "I know what you meant,"

Relieved, he exhaled a heavily, "Good, I didn't feel like explaining the whole thing all over again,"

It was lovely and most of all nice. He felt more alive than he did moments before he and Loly were alone. He seen Sado's face and nothing else matter besides his friends, and most of all introducing her. Maybe it was the reason why he came back to her? To tell her of the news when he could not think of nobody else? Or for the simple fact that he just wanted an excuse for this moment alone seeing as he did not unclasps his arms from around her and she had no problem about it. After all, her arms, as well as his, did not move.

This was no ordinary excuse for him though. It was convenience; an old friend came back into his life, and a new one he held. Patience was something that he lacked, but patience play a big role in where he stays. Which gave him an excuse for keeping her wrapped in his arms, staring at her as she grew flustered. It was this moment and the feeling of seeing more faces of his past that keeps him in hopes.