I'm typing this chapter on my laptop…in a blanket fort…in my bedroom…I feel accomplished.

On with the story!

Previously…

Grimmjow suppressed a yawn, flopping down on Yuki's other side, crossing his arms behind his head. It had been a long day. A long, bloody, very stressful day.

"Sorry I didn't get there sooner, Yuki," he mumbled before closing his eyes and letting sleep take him.

Chapter Seven

I jerked awake, sitting up and holding my side. I was really sore from the fight. I took a second to take in my surroundings and my eyes fell on Orihime lying next to me. Freaking out for a second, I scooted away. I hadn't attacked her had I? Judging by how high the moon was, I was out for a while. I could've attacked all three of them. Looking closer, I saw she was just sleeping.

"You're awake."

I whirled around toward the voice to see Grimmjow with his arms crossed behind his head. He was staring up at the almost completely blank sky.

"You okay?" He asked, still staring at the sky. I fell back down on my back, folding my hands over my stomach.

"Yeah. I guess. You know, apart from the fact I was just attacked by the man who was supposed to lead us."

"Mm."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

I huffed impatiently, turning my head to glare at him. "Okay, I give up. What are you staring at?"

I watched as he slid himself across the sand closer to me and pointed upward.

"That."

I squinted, trying to see if there was just some tiny thing I wasn't seeing. "Where?"

His other hand snuck underneath me, wrapping around my shoulders and pulling my head against his chest. He pointed again.

"That."

"There's nothing there."

He lowered his arm, keeping my head against his chest.

"Yeah, but just imagine if there was," His voice sounded louder and seemed to vibrate through me with my ear to his chest. "It'd be beautiful. Just like in the World of the Living. Can you imagine it? If we were there, out in the open like this with no artificial light or anything, the sky would be covered in billions of little silver and white dots."

I didn't say anything, just stayed against his warm chest, the gentle beat of his heart lulling me back to sleep.

"Have you seen it?" I finally asked quietly.

"Yeah. It really is a sight after living here so long. Sometime, I'm gonna take you there. Out in an open field where we can just lay there and look at the stars. Just the two of us…"

He trailed off and I let my eyes shut again, this time without having to fight back a horrible power.

BREAK

Grimmjow felt Yuki's breathing get slower and even out and she rolled over so that her arm almost fell across his chest. He smiled to himself, wrapping his arm back around her shoulders.

She fell asleep. He thought. He gently kissed the top of her head and soon followed her to sleep.

BREAK

I started waking up again and didn't want to open my eyes. I was wrapped up in something warm and I was comfortable. I snuggled further into what I was wrapped in.

"Mornin' Snow Princess."

I slowly opened my eyes to see Grimmjow's jacket and realized I'd fallen asleep with him holding me.

"H-hey, Super Kitty," I said, pretending my face wasn't turning red. I still didn't move.

"You two look comfortable."

We both looked up to see Ulquiorra standing over us, his form blocking the rising sun.

"We should get moving," he continued, moving to wake up Orihime. He knelt down and whispered something in her ear. She looked up at him and I couldn't help but notice something in her eyes.

Grimmjow let me go and stood up, holding out his hand to help me.

"You gonna be okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I can walk. I'll be fine." But when I tried to put pressure on the leg Aizen had cut, it crumpled under me. Grimmjow caught my arm before I hit the ground, then pulled me back up.

"No you can't. Come on." He lifted me up like he did before and started carrying me.

"You two coming?" he called over his shoulder. Orihime couldn't use Sonido or flash-step so Ulquiorra picked her up as well. Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow (I think) at Grimmjow carrying me.

"Apparently, I can't walk," I said sheepishly. He just looked ahead.

"We have a lot of ground to cover," he stated. "Let's get going."

And with that, he took off, leaving Grimmjow and I in his dust. Without another word Grimmjow took off after him.

The run seemed to take a lot longer when I was awake and I felt a little awkward in Grimmjow's arms.

"You've been pretty quiet," he said after a while.

"Not really a lot to talk about."

"We could talk about the landscape?"

I looked around Grimmjow's shoulder and pointed. "That was a beautiful dead tree back there."

He smirked. "Point taken. Anything else?"

I looked around again.

"Well, there's—what was that?"

He skidded to a stop, turning around. "What was what?"

"I could've sworn I just saw—never mind. We should catch up to Ulquiorra and Orihime."

"Okay…" he said slowly, running after the other two again. "You sure it was nothing?"

"Yeah. I mean, we're in a desert. Maybe it's the sun playing tricks on my eyes. I was probably just seeing things."

His eyebrows furrowed together, but he let it drop. We kept running, eventually catching up to our friends.

"What took you two so long?" Orihime asked.

"Yuki thought she saw something," said Grimmjow.

"What did you see?" Ulquiorra asked.

"Nothing. It was probably just a hollow or something," I said. I wasn't really sure what I saw. It was small, but it moved pretty fast from one dune to another. The sun was starting to get low in the sky again. "How long has it been since we made camp?"

Ulquiorra followed my gaze to the sun. "About six hours. We should stop for the night. Over there."

We followed him behind a large dune that was higher than all four of us together. We took apart a dead tree nearby and made a small fire in the center of the dune's shadow. Soon it got dark, the fire the only like behind the dune.

"I'll take first watch," I said, using my sword, still in its sheath, as a cane.

"No, I'll go," said Grimmjow, standing up with me.

"You and Ulquiorra have been running all day. You both need to sleep."

I made my way slowly up the hill, flopping down at the top. After about half an hour of watching nothing but sand, I glanced back at the other three behind me. Grimmjow was asleep, sitting against the dune; Ulquiorra and Orihime were lying next to each other. They were facing opposite directions but their backs were almost touching. Even up in my spot I could see Orihime's slight blush. I couldn't help but grin. They were so falling for each other. But then what about me and Grimmjow? I know how he feels about me, but…did I feel the same way for him? Sure he could be sweet when he wanted to, but other times he was brutally honest, and a little annoying. And then there was that time that he pretty much destroyed those two arrancars. He was scary. It was almost like he was in his element.

I could feel myself starting to drift off. Nothing was coming; maybe I could sleep at least for a minute or two. I wrapped my arms around myself. Jeez it was getting cold. I nodded off and jerked my head back up.

"Sleepy…" I muttered. Something came up behind me, draping over my shoulders. I looked up and saw Grimmjow…without a shirt. He'd taken off his jacket and wrapped it around me from behind.

"You looked cold," he said, sitting next to me.

"Yeah…" I pulled his jacket closer around me, feeling my face burn.

"I can take over watch if you need me to."

"No, I'm fine."

He put his arm around me, pulling me closer. "Sure. Whatever you say."

My eyes were starting to close again when I felt Grimmjow tense up.

"Hmm?"

"Look over there," he said, pointing.

"Is it the imaginary stars again?"

"No, It's something out there," he pointed out in front of us. I saw it this time. Something small and fast moving toward us, but not out in the open.

"That's what I saw earlier!" I said, sitting up straight. Grimmjow got onto one knee like he was going to stand up when something collided with his chest and sent him flying backwards.

"Grimmjow!" I slid down the dune after him. Ulquiorra and Orihime had woken up at the sound of Grimmjow rolling down the dune and Ulquiorra now crouched a little defensively in front of her.

"Get off me you little—!" Grimmjow was yelling, struggling with the thing sitting on his chest.

"Don't let them find me!" it shouted. Getting a closer look, I saw that it was a little girl with green hair and a skull mask on top of her head. The little arrancar was wearing what looked kinda like a green hoodie that went down past her feet. I bent down and picked her up, trying to balance on one leg.

"Shh! It's okay! Don't let who find you?"

"My brothers! They're coming to get me!" she wailed, showing her missing front teeth. She had a long pink scar that went from her hair and across her nose, dividing the red line that ran across her face. I gave Grimmjow a look that clearly said 'help me!' which he returned with a look that said, 'what do you want me to do?'

Rolling my eyes, I set the little girl down and sat down next to her. "Why are your brothers after you?"

"'Cause they said they were gonna get me!" she said, not giving us any more information. I decided on a different approach.

"I'm Yuki, what's your name?"

She sniffed a couple times. "Nel."

"Okay, Nel. That's—."

"G-Grimmjow! And Ulquiorra!" She looked terrified of the two Espada. Obviously she knew them.

"They're okay!" I said, trying to calm her down. "They're good guys! We're trying to get away from Aizen!"

"Aizen…?" Nel looked around our group.

"That's right, Aizen. He's the bad guy." I thought for a second. "Do you want to come with us?"

Grimmjow looked like Nnoitra had just confessed his undying love for him. "What?"

"Come on, Grimmjow. It'll be fine. She's just a little kid!"

"Yeah, a little kid who knocked me off of a hill!" He rubbed his bare chest. "I think she may've broken a rib or something…"

"Oh, get over it you big baby."

Nel laughed at that, then looked at me quizzically. "Where are we going?"

"There's a place that's just a couple days away where we can hide and find a way out of Hueco Mundo."

"Biblioteca?"

We all looked at her in surprise.

"Do you know where it is?" Ulquiorra asked.

"Mm-hmm! Even better! Nel knows a short cut!"

So, I had to have Nel come in sometime, cause, you know…she just kinda goes poof. Seriously! She just disappears after she fought Nnoitra! Anyway. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to get some food, and go back to my blanket fort.