I felt helpless; I wanted to be the one to take down Nnoitra and avenge my cousin! But in the end Nel really did deserve the victory. I was sitting Indian-style on the toilet seat in the bathroom in my room as Ulquiorra gently ran a moist cloth across my wounds.

"Do you think I could have beaten him?" I asked. I heard him sigh as he turned around to re-wet the cloth.

"You definitely could have won from what I saw, but I'm glad you stopped when you did. That power…was just frightening and from the looks of it, you didn't look like you had it mastered. Was this the first time?" he asked.

"Well it was the first time I've ever experienced my bankai in this form, but I had it pretty much under control." He shrugged and put the cloth down in the sink. I grabbed him hand and he helped me up. I led him over to the bed and lay down beside him as he gently stroked my arm. A loud explosion sounded outside the window and the building shook as Nel's reiatsu disappeared. I shuddered and suddenly just began to sob. Ulquiorra tensed and rolled over to look at me.

"I'm sorry this is so ridiculous of me…I just can't stomach the thought of him winning. Do you feel that? Nel is gone." I said gently as tears ran down my face. He stroked them away and whispered into my ear:

"He's not going to win. Nel will be fine and everything should work out." He said. I just started to shake my head and he stood. "Follow me." He said as he started to walk out the door. Curiosity got the best of me and I followed. He walked with his hands in his pockets and stared straight ahead as I just stared at the back of his head. We walked outside into the darkness and the cold sand surrounded us as we continued on. The stars were shining brighter than ever and I soon understood where he was bringing me. When we had first met before we even realized we had any feelings for one another, we used to fly to the top of the roof often and would talk. As I lay on my back and stared at the sky he would listen to every word I said. He was the best listener anyone could ask for. He gently intertwined his fingers in mine and quickly flew to the top of the roof of the tallest building in Hueco Mundo. As we landed, he turned to me and looked deep into my eyes.

"I cannot bear to see you like this so often. So much is happening and although it would have never affected me before, it affects me now because it affects you. The loss of these people does impact this place as a whole, but it is hurting you personally. As helpless as I feel against this and how I feel I am of no help to you, I know there is something that will peak your interest." He said. My brows furrowed as he began to unzip the top of his collar. This scene was so familiar to me. When we had first met I remember talking to him about something and he was doing the same action, but he never finished. His face was pink then, but it was milk white now.

He finished unzipping his collar and my heart skipped a beat. My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat. He had finally revealed his hole location. The base of his neck…just like mine used to be. I put my hand to my neck and felt where the hole had originally started and then slowly moved it to my lower back where it currently resides. I stepped closer to him and cupped my hand around his neck gently and slowly breathed in and out.

"I remember the conversation we had in Hallibel's room." He said. My eyes moved from his neck to his eyes.

"You know what this means?" I asked him with my voice barely audible. He lightly grabbed my hand and nodded.

"Yes, I do." He said.

"Ulquiorra…you are my soul mate." I said with a shaky voice. I quickly grabbed both of his hands in mine and moved closer. We closed the gap between us in the softest, most passionate kiss of our lives.

"Skyler, I…love you." He said. I bit my lower lip and kissed him again.

"I love you too, with all of my heart." I replied. My eyes suddenly became heavy and I sighed. "Shit."

I awoke by the side of a lake in the setting of winter. The trees were bear and it was a little cold, but not uncomfortable. I slowly sat up and felt my hair flow behind me as the light snow on the ground shook off of it. I turned to the left and saw Tsuyoi Ishi slowly stroking a huge white horse next to one of the bear trees.

"I am very happy for you." She stated with a light smile. The horse made a light whinny and I stood from my place in the snow. I walked over and put a hand on the horse.

"This is a new addition." I stated.

"Everything is changing in your life, thus making it change in mine. I thank you for the horse." She said with a light laugh.

"So I'm assuming you called me here because you heard?" I asked. She slowly nodded in response.

"I told you to keep hope. You've finally found him, and lucky for you he was right in front of your eyes. Though you have lost Grimmjow and you have lost Sayzel, you were able to find something to hold onto. It worries me less now that you won't be in impending depression all day every day." She said. I nodded once and lay the side of my face to the horse and smiled.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. It is nice to know that someone is there at the end of the day." I said.

"Don't worry about Nel. She's alright, the curse just took her back and she is but a child again." She said. I sighed in relief; Nel had become a very dear friend. "Return now, a very pleasant surprise awaits your return." She said smiling. I felt myself hit the snowy floor once again.

I woke up on my back with my head in Ulquiorra's hand.

"Hi there." I said to him with a smile. He looked relieved, but not surprised. This had been happening since we had met.

"Was she happy for you?" he asked. I nodded and slowly sat up. I put a hand to my head and shot to my feet when I felt an all too familiar reiatsu encompass my entire form.

"No…no freakin way!" I yelled as I quickly dove from the roof of the building. I flew back to the location where my battle with Nnoitra had taken place with Ulquiorra right on my heels. We landed and the sight I saw took my breath away for the hundredth time today. I walked over and scooped up Nel's little form and cradled her in my arms and smiled widely as I saw Kenpachi standing over Nnoitra's bleeding form. We made eye contact and he laughed like a maniac.

"This doesn't surprise me one bit." He said as he shook his head. I just shrugged and handed Nel to Ulquiorra who unwillingly accepted her. I stalked over to Nnoitra and he looked me in the eye with a snarl. My heel connected with his jaw and he flew a few feet away. Zaraki looked a little taken aback by my action, since to him he appeared as my comrade.

"Bleed out, snake." I said as I spit in his face. Nel was awake now and uttered Nnoitra's name right before he fell to the ground, dead. "Good riddance." I said as I walked over to Zaraki. I leapt up and embraced him the best I could since he was so huge.

"This is weird." He said before shoving me off.

"Wasn't my choice to come here, you know that. You were there at the captain's meeting. I'm working on it, you know where my allegiance lies." I said. He nodded once.

"I know. It's still weird though." He said as he playfully pushed my face. I smiled and turned to the others who were still there.

"Good luck." I said to them as I nodded to Ulquiorra and used my Sonido to get back to the palace. I walked to Hally's room and knocked lightly on her door. She was so excited to see me that she hugged me tighter than ever before and let me in.

"It's been ages, Sky." She said. I nodded and lay Nel on her bed. "Who is that?" she asked.

"It's Nel. She was cursed by Nnoitra, who is now dead." I said in a monotone voice. She sighed behind me.

"I know. I'm not even remorseful, I heard what happened." She stated and I shuddered.

"I have a lot to fill you in on, but not now." I said as I went to walk out of her door. She hugged me again and waved a good-bye. As she closed the door and I turned around, Ulquiorra was standing there, staring at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked suddenly concerned. He sunk down to the floor but put a hand up to stop me from coming down to help him.

"Skyler?" he asked.

"…Yes?" I replied with concern.

"Will you marry me?"