A/N: I guess I won't be changing the last chapter since everyone liked it so much. It was a little too sweet for my taste. Even though that is where the story is eventually headed, in my opinion you gotta finish your vegetables before you can have dessert.
I'm starting something new since a lot of reviewers were excited about what was happening in the first chapter. The parts in bold are part of a different timeline.
Chapter 11
.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.
The two adjunchas came to the edge of the menos forest, venturing farther than usual to observe the moonlight creeping down from the surface. Today they were lax in their duties, enjoying the finer weather and leaving their flock of menos unguarded. They were rather hungry and a strange energy tickling their senses had brought them to this particular moonlit clearing.
"What do you suppose it is?" the smaller asked the larger. His voice was like a hiss and his body was long and reptile-like. The larger, more human-looking adjunchas flexed his claws, uncertain, as he stared at the odd creature.
"It looks like...a baby," he whispered. The little creature had not yet noticed them and was busy watching an insect. Small, blue cat ears were pricked in the direction of his insect-prey and he readied himself to pounce, but he seemed too young to be able to do much. Moments before he had been amusing himself in the sand, making small noises of content. "He smells like a hollow, but he has no mask," the adjunchas continued, "His reiatsu is so weak..."
"It doesn't matter. We can still eat it, right?" his partner said. He started for the kid, and for a moment the larger adjunchas hesitated to stop him, getting a sudden bad feeling. Baby or not, humanoid hollows were extremely hard to kill.
"Heh," said the snake-like adjunchas as he approached the helpless thing, "I guess someone wandered a little too far from the nest."
"Indeed," came a low voice over-head. Both adjunchas looked up suddenly to see the hollow perched in one of the trees. Had he been there the entire time? His appearance was demonic, with talons, horns, and large black wings. Dark fur covered his arms and lower body. His cold, green, and most importantly, maskless, eyes bore into them. "You have wandered right into my trap."
"We saw it first, arrancar, go find your own," hissed the first adjunchas. He was confident that he and his partner could take on this newcomer.
"Wait," the second admonished his friend. He turned to the man in the tree. "Is this your cub, arrancar?" The resemblance was slight, if any, but the word 'trap' had tipped him off. He had never seen an infant hollow in his entire life and his curiosity got the better of him.
"He is," confirmed the man. There was a moment were the two of them regarded each other, then, without warning, the arrancar swooped down and sliced the smaller adjunchas in half with his bare hand. Through the fountain of blood, the arrancar emerged, wings spread wide and an absolutely feral look in his eyes.
"You can run now," he suggested to the remaining adjunchas.
.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.
"I suppose I don't mind if you want to show up naked, you might get some funny looks though," Grimmjow said to the figure still in his bed. He'd spent the night with Ulquiorra once before, after the first time they fucked, but the other man had already left when he'd woken up.
Today the experience was surreal. Ulquiorra sat up, the blankets hiding his form. He looked kinda good, with his hair in tangles like that. He blinked slowly, eyes still heavy with sleep. Grimmjow found himself thinking that he wouldn't mind if Ulquiorra became a permanent addition to his room.
"I'm not going, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra said simply.
"Look, I don't want to listen to Aizen ramble either, but I've accepted that sometimes, as espada, we have to do shit we hate."
"There is little point to me going. I am hardly an espada anymore. And after yesterday's disgrace, I think it best I begin my temporary leave."
The words struck Grimmjow as odd and he stared at Ulquiorra. Since becoming an arrancar, all he'd ever wanted was to see Ulquiorra disgraced; prove that he, Grimmjow, was just as capable, just as powerful. In light of recent circumstances, victory was rather bittersweet.
"You can sit in my chair...if you want," Ulquiorra added after a few minutes of silence. Grimmjow had had enough. He marched back to the bed and slammed his hands down on the rumpled sheets. When he spoke his voice was low.
"I don't want you to give me your goddamn chair. When this is all over with, I'm going to take it from you. And your number. And anything else that I decide I want. You got that?" Grimmjow growled.
Instead of the expected reaction, a look of satisfaction played on Ulquiorra's face. Grimmjow raised his hand and got rid of it with a slap. Far from deterred, Ulquiorra's arms slid around Grimmjow's neck and he brought their lips close. Grimmjow could feel the other man's light breathing. He had the sudden desire to blow off the espada meeting all-together to take care of his morning wood.
"I don't have time for this!" Grimmjow said, frustrated. He disentangled himself and headed for the door. "Quit acting like you're dying, Ulquiorra." He slammed the door behind him.
Aizen's meeting had not yet started when Grimmjow arrived. Much to his delight, both the fifth and eighth espada were in attendance, and Grimmjow was only too pleased to be able to rub his victory in their faces.
"Wounds all healed?" Grimmjow asked rather loudly as he passed Nnoitora, "Your ego might take a little longer."
Nnoitora let out a vicious snarl and would have lashed out if Szayel had not grabbed his arm. The pink-haired man gave Grimmjow a sinister look.
"Where's your fuck buddy, Grimmjow? Is he too ashamed to show his face today?"
"I wouldn't know. After I told him how I beat the two of you senseless, he passed out laughing."
"Enjoy your luck while it lasts, Grimmjow," Szayel said, threateningly, "You won't be laughing for long."
"Says who?" Grimmjow challenged, "You're all bark and no bite."
Their conversation had attracted the rest of the group's attention. Grimmjow had known what he was starting and that the lower numbered espada were all extremely annoyed by him, but he couldn't bring himself to shut up when he was just so pissed off. Harribel had stood up, determined to break up the fight.
"Take your seat, Sexta," she said with a glare.
"Don't tell me what to do, woman," Grimmjow growled. At his words, the room became tense. A few days ago, he would have never thought to be so rude to the third espada, but after defeating Szayel and Nnoitora with such ease, he was eager to test his limits.
He heard the sound of a chair scraping on the floor and Harribel walked up to him.
"Know your place, Sexta, or I will teach it to you," she hissed. Grimmjow only smirked.
Aizen's entrance put an abrupt halt to any more backtalk. Harribel and Grimmjow reclaimed their chairs as Aizen sat down at the head of the table. His eyes drifted over the nine espada, lingering for a moment on Ulquiorra's empty chair.
"Death..." began Aizen, "Rebirth...The cycle that we are all too familiar with. A cycle that, for hollows, is most often marked by tragedy and suffering," Aizen smiled at this, "But not always." He turned to Grimmjow.
"Grimmjow," Aizen said. The sixth espada, reluctantly, gave the man his full attention. "Please remind Ulquiorra that the birth of an arrancar is a public event."
"Me?" tried Grimmjow in a rather weak attempt to get out of it. It earned him a few hard looks. Unfortunately, the fact that they were spending a rather abnormal amount of time in each others company was common knowledge by now. "Fine. I'll make sure he sends out invitations."
"I expect to be notified well ahead of time," Aizen said, ignoring Grimmjow's sarcasm, "I'm sure we would all like to be present for such an important addition to our family here at Las Noches." When Grimmjow did nothing in response, Aizen addressed the entire room once again.
"Now, my dear espada, on to business..."
.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.
"I've gotta leave again...for a while," said Grimmjow out of the blue while they trudged through the sand.
"I would be surprised if you didn't," responded Ulquiorra. After a few weeks, the two of them had reached a strange sort of peace. When he had nothing better to do, the fourth espada found himself seeking out the sixth. The other man did the same. While not exactly friendly toward one another, they tolerated each others presence, noticing yet not commenting on the invisible bond that kept them in place.
"Will you miss me?" Grimmjow asked with teasing smirk.
"Miss?..." Ulquiorra toyed with the word for a moment in his head. He was familiar with the expression of course, but when asked the question directly, he realized that the concept was more difficult than he thought.
"I will...regret the loss," he managed.
"Loss of what?" prodded Grimmjow, "My engaging personality? Or perhaps the intelligent conversation?" he stepped in front of Ulquiorra and leaned down so that they were face to face. "Or maybe just the heat of my body?" Ulquiorra only stared at him blankly. He was not in the mood for games. He pushed Grimmjow's face out of his way, but the other man grabbed his hand. "Will your heart ache for me until I return?"
Ulquiorra freed his hand and resumed walking. He could feel Grimmjow's growing frustration at the fact that he wasn't getting the attention he desired. Ulquiorra sighed and decided to voice the question that had come to mind with Grimmjow's last words.
"Heart...what does it mean?"
"Huh?"
"The word is used so often, but it is wholly inaccurate. The heart is not the center of emotion.
"So?" Grimmjow couldn't have sounded less interested.
"So how the hell did it originate?"
"Fuck, I don't know why I bother with you sometimes. How could you not understand something so simple?"
"I am remarking on an anomaly in our speech pattern, Grimmjow."
"Yeah but most people don't ask. They just get it," Grimmjow responded. He stopped Ulquiorra again, who was now rather annoyed. "When you feel something you don't feel it here," he said, a finger on his temple, "You feel it here, instead." His hand went to Ulquiorra's chest. Ulquiorra looked at him as if he were mad.
"I think you might have an illness." He pushed past Grimmjow again.
"Maybe that Orihime woman was right. Maybe you don't have a heart," came the taunt from behind.
"Excuse me?" It should have been a compliment, right? Any other day he would have taken it as so, but today he was itching to prove he wasn't the cold, hard machine that Grimmjow always made him out to be. He turned around.
"If we all had feelings like you, I'm afraid nothing would ever get done. The Hueco Mundo would return to a state of anarchy. Is that what you want Grimmjow?"
"Maybe it is!" Grimmjow returned with equal force, "I think we could definitely do without your precious 'Aizen-sama' but I'm not afraid to go after what I want. What do you want, Ulquiorra?"
The question was posed in a strange way, Ulquiorra initially thought. He wanted power, he wanted order, he wanted hollows to someday take over both soul society and the human world...Then he realized that Grimmjow was asking him to differentiate between what Aizen wanted and what he wanted for himself. His eyes widened.
"Good," purred Grimmjow, "Now take it." His hand snatched at the air in a wild gesture. "Anything your heart desires."
"You are encouraging me to attain my own, personal, desires," Ulquiorra said, just making sure, "And what if they run contrary to your own?"
"I guess that just makes it more fun," Grimmjow answered, smiling darkly.
"Well then, I want this child," Ulquiorra said simply, his voice suddenly confident, "And," he continued, even after Grimmjow faltered, "I want you to love me."
It was Grimmjow's turn to look stunned. The words hadn't been said in jest or somehow out of context. Ulquiorra was dead serious.
"You've lost your mind, Ulquiorra. Do you even hear what you're saying?"
"I am perfectly sane, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra snapped, "It is not all that ridiculous of a request."
Grimmjow seized Ulquiorra by the arms, fingers curling into a death grip around his biceps. Ulquiorra opened his mouth in protest, but Grimmjow spoke first.
"Don't you get it?" he breathed, his voice coarse. He gave Ulquiorra a hard shake. "When this is over, it's over. We can go back to hating each other. Got it?"
"You're the delusional one, Grimmjow. You seem to be under the impression that nothing has changed. Everything has changed. Things will not go back to the way they were." With some difficulty, Ulquiorra peeled Grimmjow's fingers away from their bruising grip. "Fortunately for you, the things I want I cannot simply 'take'." When he was finally free, he put some distance between him and Grimmjow. He wasn't going to allow the other man to touch him so familiarly if he was going to be so rough.
After a moment of silence, Ulquiorra glanced up at the waning moon, realizing how late it was. He was already regretting half of the things he said.
"Does it scare you?" Ulquiorra asked Grimmjow, eager to break the other man out of his stupor and put this debacle behind them. An evening hunt lay ahead of them and Ulquiorra was famished.
"Love?" snorted Grimmjow, "Hell no. Just you." Hands in his pockets, he started toward the open desert.
"C'mon. We're still getting food, right?" the sixth espada grumbled. He waited for Ulquiorra to catch up. The wind blew sand into the dry air, whistling through their clothes. With their backs to Las Noches, Grimmjow spoke again.
"I guess you should think of a name."
"What about 'Aizen'?"
"Yeah, that's not going to happen."
Their voices faded into the cloudless sky.
.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.
A/N: I realize my story is a little weird in that Ulquiorra seems to be doing the most of the chasing. I hope to reverse that eventually. In the mean time, please leave a review. I promise it will help me update faster :)