I've decided that this fic hasn't had enough UlquiHime before they were mommy and daddy. I mean, I've briefly gone over their relationship while the kid's asleep, but not enough of cute them, you know? So, viola, I've come up with this. And because it was a little short, I've added in a bonus for all the people who loved the Grimmjow chapter; you asked about the pigeon, and I answered.

Warning: lime-ish-smut-ish sort of stuff in the first part. Nothing bad, yeah, but you've been warned.


Orihime listened to the creaking and groaning of the palace walls around her, mouth pulled down in a frown. The great palace of Los Noches was a big place to navigate without sonido, and they hadn't used it in almost a month for fear of using up all the spiritual particles in the air. They'd been in the palace almost two whole months, and things had begun to brighten up, despite the lack of… well, sunlight. She wouldn't lie, she had was still often melancholy when she looked back at her chance to go home, and Ulquiorra himself cursed his own stupidity for not letting her go, or- as he had conceded- sucked it up to go with her.

Still, she was glad about how things had turned out- it could be worse. They could have been separated, or maybe if he had come back they would have done terrible things to him in soul society… she couldn't bear to think what. She knew, too, that even if they didn't hurt him, Ulquiorra couldn't stand to be treated like a pet, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, she knew it was very, very likely that's how it would have gone. He would have died under the invisible chains of slavery; that much she was sure of.

It was late in the evening- she deemed it evening since she was tired- and Ulquirra had gone out in search of food. Thy had set up a sort of camp in one of the abandoned rooms, as usual, and he had decided to venture out for a while longer before eventually finding his way back to her. She knew they had made an entire loop around the castle- or where getting close to it, though. Her old room wasn't too far from his, and they had passed it not even thirty minutes before stopping. It was at that point he had fanned out to look for food to add to the huge stash they had been building, but it looked like they were coming to the end of their search quickly.

They had canisters full of the blue mesh that served for food- enough to fill up two rooms. They weren't sure how long it would last, and even though they had the means, they decided to keep it that way. She wasn't so sure she wanted to know exactly when they were going to run out of food… how soon it would be until they would have to survive by absorbing the spiritual particles around them, always in a state of hunger.

She heard a noise and started, turning her body on the bed to give Ulquiorra a bright smile. "Hello, Ulquiorra-kun." She didn't care that he didn't prefer the name with a suffix- she thought it was cute.

He sighed. "You know how I detest that." He said quietly. "But just so long as you never refer to me as… baby… again, I will put up with it."

"What? I was just trying it out! When are you going to let that go?"

It was true- that morning she had been thinking about what it would be like if they were a conventional couple. The couples at school, she recalled, often referred to each other as 'babe' or 'baby'. It was cute for them… so she had tried it. She had fallen down laughing at the look he gave her- something caught between sickness and pure bewilderment- and had vowed to never use it again. Still, he had neither forgotten nor forgiven.

"Possibly never."

She laughed again, rolling her eyes. "So mean, Ulquiorra-kun!"

"You dare to tease me, Onna?" He narrowed his eyes and stalked toward the bed, though she could see that there was a playful light in his eyes rather than a dangerous one. "

"Maaaaay-be!" She bit her lip to keep her smile from widening, rocking back and forth as she held her feet.

"Do not incur the wrath of the Quattro Espada; there is no escape."

"Oh no!" She held her hands up and fell back over the blankets, eyes closed as she smiled wide. "I have no choice but to accept my defeat!" She sang with a giggle.

"The Orihime Inoue I know would not give in so easily." He taunted as he stopped at the end of the bed, settled between her knees-which were bent over the end of the bed- with his own just barely touching the furniture.

"The Orihime Inoue you know wouldn't be scared in the first place, and would let you believe she was so that you wouldn't feel sad." She smiled wider; eyes alight with happiness.

"You are implying I won't follow through on my threats."

"I never said any such thing."

"Yet you don't deny the claim."

She smiled wider, biting into her bottom lip softly, looking up at him with wide eyes. As he spoke he had been leaning down over her, until finally he had settled where he loomed just above her form.

"You'd never attack me."

"You are ignorant of my intentions."

"I'd like to think that I'm 'playfully avoiding' rather than ignorant."

His eyebrows rose. "You'd avoid this confrontation?"

"For the fun of it. And you know I'll let you win in the end."

"Win? You act as though this is a battle. When, in fact, we both have the same goals."

"You make a compelling argument."

"This is more conversation than is necessary for the task at hand," he breathed over her lips. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Smugly, her voice deep to mock his own, she said; "Indeed."

"Mock me, woman, and I will steal your words."

And so he did, so to speak. Orihime giggled through their kiss, her smile stretching even as he began to blush. She wondered if there would ever be a time when she didn't blush. For a second when he drew back to rid himself of his shirt she clapped her hand over her mouth and pressed her mouth into a thin line, eyes brimming with her joy as she tried to stifle another laugh.

"Find something humorous, Onna?" He ran his fingers up her ribs, running the tips quickly over the area just under her breasts, where he had before learned of her ticklishness.

She laughed harder, twisting underneath him. She reached up and grabbed his head, pulling him back down for a long, long kiss as she wrapped her legs around is waist.

He pulled her dress of quickly, pushing the material off the bed as he surveyed her with a raised eyebrow. "You are not wearing your usual top." He noted. He lightly poked her in the side when she went up in bright-bright red, causing her to giggle again. "Do not be embarrassed. You were only being… proactive." And to Orihime's delight she could almost swear he looked turned-on by the thought.

She had giggled and snickered the entire time and then hid her mouth in the blankets when they lay in bed later in the evening, when they were both becoming tired. He reached out of bed and grabbed the blue canister, his other hand still laced with her own, and then pulled tendrils out to drop them into her open mouth.

"I love you," she whispered into the sheets.

"I have yet to forget. Would you have me declare my own love for you daily?"

She smiled again, though she kept her face hidden in the covers so that he couldn't see it. "Yes." She murmured.

"Then listen well, Orihime." He waited for her eyes to lock with his own and then detangled their hands, pushing his into her hair when he did so. "I love you."

Her face went up in red again, and for what must have been the millionth time she had to wonder when it would be that she would stop turning into a tomato whenever he did anything remotely romantic.

She was just happy, in any case, that she had someone who could make her so happy. It had been a long, long time since she had laughed so hard for so long, and she wouldn't rather be laughing in any other situation.

.~.~.~.~.

"Mister Grimmjow, do you like the park?"

Grimmjow looked around the open area, frowning, wondering just what to tell the kid. He'd be lying if he said that Ayume hadn't grown on him; though if anyone asked he'd probably cover it up by saying no despicable person would be a jerk to a kid who called you 'Mister' all the time.

Still… the park wasn't really his scene.

"What the hell do you even do out here?" He'd given up trying to watch his tongue- the girl didn't seem to mind that much anyway.

"The color!" She piped. "It's all so bright and pretty. And it smells nice. Look at all the grass… Miss Yoruichi takes me out here sometimes, with Mister Urahara. She's my sensie. Soon I'll be able to flash step, and she says I'll be even better than uncle Ichigo!"

"Yeah, yeah, that all aside. What's so fun about the park?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. We play and stuff. Aunty Tatsuki and Mommy come here and we play soccer; same with Aunty Karin. Daddy lets me climb trees."

"Soccer?"

"It's a game."

"Hm."

"… Mister Grimmjow?"

"What?"

"Do you like pigeons?"

"Pigeons?"

"Yeah! Those birds!" She pointed from beyond the pool they were lounging in, indicating to a small flock of the birds. He stared at them for a while, decided they were nothing special, and then shrugged. She didn't see his gesture, though, and went on. "I've always wanted one as a pet…"

Finally- something to do.

"Well, come on then, let's go get one!"

She looked up at him with wide, sparkling eyes. "You mean it?"

"No, I was kidding, I want to stay sitting in this pool all day."

She narrowed her eyes. "Mommy warned me about sarcasm."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The little girl ignored him, turning to look out across the park. She smiled wide and lifted her arm, giving a grand wave. "Hi!" She screamed to a figure across the park.

The figure stared for a while before running off.

"Hey, kid, is this even a pool?" Grimmjow wondered as he reached down and scooped up a handful of coins. "It's a little small-"

"Here comes a pigeon!" Ayume suddenly launched out of the water, her dress dripping like a giant wet mop, and scrambled to hid behind a book as one of blue and grey birds floated down from the heavens to peck at what may have been a stray crumb from someone's lunch at one point.

And though it wasn't anything impressive, or even a good fight, Grimmjow promptly launched himself out of the fountain- uh, pool- to hurl forward in an attempt to catch the bird.

And so began the great bird hunt.

For hours Grimmjow and Ayume scoured the park for stray birds, but ether the winged animal got away or the one Grimmjow caught was somehow not to Ayume's standards. They broke for lunch and got food from a little stand on the outskirts of the park, the two of them sitting side by side on a bench as they ate.

"I don't know, kid, maybe we should give up…"

"Never! An adventurer never gives in!"

He took another bite of his sandwich and stared bleakly out at the sidewalk. "Who ever said anything about adventure? Damn pigeons can't even put up a good fight."

Just as the words left his mouth it came. The pigeon. Not just any pigeon- but the one. Body blue, green, and purple, a beak of teal, and eyes of night, it flew down from a tree and perched on the back of the bench as it eyed the crust of Ayume's sandwich. Said girl stared up at the bird with wide excited eyes as she turned slowly to Grimmjow, smile spreading.

He didn't have to be asked.

Quick as a strike of lightning, Grimmjow lashed out and caught the thing in his hands, laughing with Ayume when it tried to flutter away but stayed within his grasp.

"We did it!" Ayume screamed. "We did it we did it we did it!"

And at the same instant, they heard a loud shout of, "There he is, officer! The kidnapper!"

Ayume and Grimmjow turned their heads to see the figure Ayume had earlier waved to, standing besides a policeman who looked ready to kill.

"Stealing I can forgive." He seethed as he took as step forward. "But kidnapping a little girl? Unforgivable!"

Grimmjow grinned as he stood, bird in hands. He could smell a fight from a mile away, and this guy actually looked like he might try to start it-

"Run!" Ayume yelled. "It's the coppers!"

"Huh?" He watched as she took off in the opposite direction, just standing there, holding the bird. He had a sudden image of the list in his mind, recalling the huge DO NOT LEAVE AYUME at the top of the page. As much as he wanted to fight Ulquiorra, he also didn't want to get killed…

He took off after Ayume like a bat out of hell, pigeon forgotten, the whole wondering just what the hell a copper was and why Ayume, of people, seemed familiar with it.