Aracelis vacantly watched the sand swirl far below the tower. She decided it was nice to be outside in the moonlight; being under the dark sky of Hueco Mundo was calming in its familiarity. While she sat on the edge of the tower, her legs crossed under her like she preferred, Ulquiorra stood a short distance behind her, his attention on the moon. Neither of them had spoken a word in the hour or so they'd been up there. The scene, it reminded her of the past even if so many things had changed since then.

She felt herself smile again. He'd called her his friend! After waiting so long, she finally heard him say that he considered her his friend. It still made her giddy. Admitting that much, she hoped it would encourage him to tell her if he felt something more. He had given her hope that he did, saying 'in the very least' he considered her a friend. Being even a bit more open about how he felt, it was a small step closer to understanding him better.

And now, since he had shown her again and again that he cared how she felt, she knew she should probably tell him more 'private' matters that she had been avoiding. She couldn't expect him to tell her anything intimate if she couldn't do the same.

Instinct was a big one, of course, since the bastard had interfered with so many things for so long. He already knew more about it than she did, but that did not change the fact that she had tried to keep it a secret from him. Telling him that out-of-place memory, he told her it helped him figure something out, so it had been worth it. He promised that he would help get rid of instinct, too. She trusted him to find a solution.

'Keep thinking that, idiot. I'm not leaving unless you're dead. You're mine.'

'Shut up,' Aracelis mentally shot back at the voice, annoyed it was back to yapping. Possessive piece of crap… Damn was ignoring it a chore when it wanted attention. At least it screwed off earlier. Ulquiorra's little make-out session dissuaded instinct for a while, allowing her free reign. Of course, she would have just talked over instinct anyway.

But what else did she have to share with Ulquiorra? Nothing seemed quite as important as hearing instinct. She didn't want to go into more detail about her human memories; not right now, anyways. Anything connected to that, too, she didn't want to share. Talking about why her self-esteem occasionally ceased to exist sounded like a depressing undertaking indeed. Those were about the only secrets she had. With the whole 'I hear a voice' thing out of the way, and not wanting to talk about her human memories, that left her with telling him how she felt about him. Too intimidating of a task. That would just make her nervous, which would probably make him stressed because she finally noticed that her mood apparently affected his.

Finding a roadblock on the way to starting a conversation once again, she focused on the horizon, using pesquisa. The group of soul reapers and humans were approaching Las Noches again. If they kept going the same direction, they would end up near the Privaron's quarters. The group had grown again, this time joined by a hollow- or maybe a few, but only one was strong enough that she could sense it clearly over the distance. She recognized the other two soul reapers that had joined up with Ichigo in the Menos Forest. Ru… Rukia was the one she could name. The other one remained nameless, as she just recognized that they had been the one to fight Patros. Assuming they were all Orihime's friends, then the Soul Society must have decided to stay out of this affair.

The Soul Society… It clicked in her head that she did have something she could share. While it wasn't that she loved him, she could try to explain how much he meant to her.

"Hey, Ulquiorra," she began, voice breaking the silence. This really did bring back the memories, since she would usually start blabbing after sitting quietly for a few hours. She trusted he would be listening, not even turning her head to confirm. "Did I ever tell you that I once considered going to the Soul Society?"

"No," he responded after a thoughtful pause. He had likely been looking for a possible reason to do something so reckless, because she certainly never told him this story before- with his incredible memory, he wouldn't have forgotten even if she did. "Why would you have considered doing something so reckless?" In her exact words, even… Maybe she wasn't so bad at guessing what was going through his head.

"It was before I met you," she said, leaning back so she could look at the moon. How would he react? Would he think it was pathetic or would he understand why she had done something so… irrational? With the conversation already started, she prevented herself from backing down. "After I tore off my mask, I didn't have anything to do. Hunger didn't drive me like it had beforehand, even with instinct pestering me to go eat hollows. I didn't know what to do because I felt… empty, I guess. I didn't have a purpose or a reason or a goal. The only thing I could think of doing was going to the Soul Society to kill as many soul reapers as I could, since they were still the enemy even when I no longer needed to feed." A rampage before being inevitably slaughtered… She had been a hollow deprived of its basic purpose, so anything to feel alive sounded like the best course of action.

"Instinct complained until I gave up on going." The voice did occasionally keep her from doing overly stupid things, but remained more trouble than the sporadic bouts of helpfulness could ever make up for. It hadn't offered any solution to her oppressive feeling of being directionless. "I decided to try and find someone that might understand." She didn't want to be alone with her thoughts. "That's why I wanted to find a hollow that could do more than growl and attack. That's why I ended up liking you right away." She grinned, remembering how he had insulted her motive and not her- he had shown intelligence. Hollows like Grimmjow had just screamed at her before attacking. Ulquiorra calmly questioned why she was bothering to speak with him before reasoning out what her goal was. Intelligent enough to possibly understand how she felt, but also still weaker than her; that'd been exactly what she was looking for in a companion. "Just like you said when we met, I was lonely, not just bored." She may have tried to deny it then, but he had been right. She sought a companion because she found herself lonely when surrounded by a world of brainless monsters. "And I know you just meant to distract me, but you were the first hollow that asked my name." Even when she had first met Harribel, the Third had not asked her name. Mainly because Aracelis had been quite wary of Harribel since she was much stronger than her at that time- instinct and her, for once, agreed that they didn't want to risk angering such a strong hollow. She'd barely said anything the first time she met Harribel. The second time had been after she had met Ulquiorra, and she had been more confident that other highly evolved hollows wouldn't attack without cause- it helped that Harribel hadn't had her group with her that time.

"I'm really glad we became friends, Ulquiorra. With you, I don't feel as lonely or bored." She had taken an interest in humans as she evolved, but because Ulquiorra found them so bizarre too, she watched them even more so she could share it with him- then later she observed them in hopes of figuring out why she felt the way she did. Harassing soul reapers, she'd done a lot of that before becoming an Arrancar, but her schemes got more convoluted because Ulquiorra's reactions had been hilarious to her. He had seemed genuinely curious about what she had to say. Entertaining them both had, in a way, become her temporary purpose. "You've always been very important to me."

"That's why, when I couldn't find you even after looking all over Hueco Mundo, I…" Its why she'd resigned herself to sitting in the human world, desperately trying to fill the void he left with distractions. She tried to stifle what she felt by focusing on learning pointless facts about humans. "I should have tried harder to find you…" He had been somewhere in Hueco Mundo, since Aizen had found him and recruited him. If the soul reapers found him, then she did not try hard enough. She should have searched longer, revisited every place she'd been a few times instead of giving up after not finding him on the first go around. It would have taken years, maybe decades, but she should have searched every inch of Hueco Mundo multiple times. "Instead I hid in the human world, trying to ignore the fact I missed you so much. I'd been scared. I didn't know why I felt so sad, since I was a hollow, but eventually concluded that at some point in evolution, I recovered some scrap of humanity. I knew why I felt so bad was because I cared a lot about you."

"Why did you not attempt to befriend someone else during that time?" he asked, voice a tiny fraction softer than usual. "Why are you so persistent on being my friend when I have often acted to push you away?"

"I'd been too scared of trying to make another friend," she admitted quietly, it the absolute truth. She pulled her knees in front of her, resting her head on her arms as she curled up. "I was afraid of losing someone again. Of the pain that that caused. I'd been scared of trying again." As lonely as she had been, the fear of facing the sadness she felt at losing him again, it prevented her from trying to form another connection. Isolating herself became a defense mechanism. Fear as a motivating factor… that was certainly hollow-like. "Even Harribel, whom I'd met a few times before then, I'd been too scared of her because she was so much stronger than me. I sort of gave up without even trying…" It would have been difficult to live by Harribel's rules since instinct convinced her she needed to keep eating other hollows, but not impossible. Instead of trying, she just automatically assumed the worse and gave up on the idea. Instinct had convinced her that it was stupid idea, that Ulquiorra had never been her friend anyway, and that trying again would end in failure too. She wouldn't listen to the voice anymore; she knew it was completely wrong in every regard.

"And you're irreplaceable, Ulquiorra." He remained one-of-a-kind to her. Having some of her human memories back, it just cemented that idea in her head. He was different. She loved that about him. "I never want to lose you, so that's one reason for my persistence." He was the most important person in the world to her. That's what she had wanted to express to him. Even if he didn't understand why she did what she did, or why she had wanted a friend, she just wanted him to know how important he was to her. She had noticed that he seemed bewildered that she chose him instead of anyone else. Now that she was more confident he liked her, she was beginning to see that he didn't question her decision to stay with him because he wished to be left alone. He genuinely didn't understand why she would choose him over everyone else. He almost seemed to be trying to show her he wasn't worth her time or the effort. She hoped she was wrong to think that, though… Thinking you're not worth anything, she wouldn't want him to feel like that too…

"I…" She cut herself off, unable to force out the rest of her three-word sentence. The word 'love' just couldn't make it out of her. The only progress she had made was her tongue moving to make the 'l' sound. Had Ulquiorra been able to see her face, he might have caught the letter, but probably not the word. It had been worth a try. Practice, she supposed. "I just wanted to tell you that you mean everything to me." She smiled slightly, happy that she hadn't chickened out in admitting how much he meant. "So even if what I did doesn't make sense, just know that you're very important to me, and that you have been for a long time."

When he stayed quiet, she figured he was thinking over what she had told him. She would let him think in peace. No sense in pushing him to come to an answer, since that hadn't been her goal. After another moment of silence, she returned to sitting cross-legged and to watching the whirling sand as she waited for him to speak, or for another topic to pop into her head.

He had no words that properly expressed how he felt towards everything Aracelis had told him. This was not a matter of not understanding why she felt such a way. No, terrifyingly he understood exactly what she had experienced.

The moment she said she had considered going to the Soul Society, if she had turned around, she would have seen him staring at her in absolute horror. He hadn't been able to hide his reaction at all. Not when she told him she had considered throwing her life away. A single hollow, no matter how powerful, would die if they entered the Soul Society. Reckless didn't begin to describe the act. Doing such a thing, she knew she would die. That… that had perhaps been her intent.

Asking her why she had considered doing such a thing, it had been difficult to keep his voice level. He… he truly found it hard to act rationally whenever the thought of her dying crossed his mind. The fact that she had nearly chosen to end her life… He could not explain the tightness in his chest at the mere thought.

Her explanation added to his shock. Stripped of natural purpose as a consequence of evolution. Reason no longer existing in a void world of madness. Seeking the comfort of a companion amid a mass of mindless beasts. What she felt after tearing off her mask… he had experienced the same thing. Reaching the height of evolution only to lose any sense of purpose: the nothingness of being a Vasto Lorde. She may not have lost her senses, but she had lost much of her strength. Devoid of the reason satiating hunger brought, the pervasive feeling of being incomplete whether the reason be lost strength or senses, culminating in reaching a desperate breaking point; their experiences so closely mirrored each other's.

He had not recognized the similarities in their evolution because she had been decades ahead of him. Even now, he felt he was following the same path she had already struggled down. After losing her, he had tried to communicate with other hollows- he couldn't deny his failed attempt to search for someone able to understand him despite his inability to speak. Entering the tree… That had been equivalent to her considering entering the Soul Society. Joining Aizen had been a temporary purpose with temporary allies, this life born out of necessity and not choice. She had been in the human world seeking something before being forced into an army under the control of someone she despised. He was beginning to experience different emotions that had formerly been numbed or non-existent; contentment, hatred, fear, concern, empathy, and the unknown, all of these begun to affect him. Aracelis had regained these human sentiments before him, struggled with their meaning, but now held an understanding of them. She… she may have even found the meaning of a heart.

Did this mean he could achieve that as well? He always assumed that reciprocating her feelings was an impossibility because she had always appeared more human than him. He failed to notice that her humanity had come as a consequence of evolution; not merely that she had always been such. Thinking that he could never be similar to her had been a mistake brought on by ignoring her age. If his evolution truly followed the same path as hers, then it was possible that… That he could change.

The concept of having a heart, it would make him more like the pathetic human in his memories. He didn't want a heart if it meant becoming that.

Yet he would not pretend that he didn't understand what she had admitted to him. He couldn't bring himself to crush her hopes in a selfish attempt to deny the truth. She had told him this secret to express how important he was to her, while not expecting him to understand the reason behind her actions. His importance to her, he could understand it better now that it was presented in a manner in which he could relate.

He held her dear for the same reasons after all. He might not understand what to call the feelings he had towards her as a whole, but he recognized that she was the most important person to him. She had been the speck of light amid the darkness; a reason in the madness. Her differences had placed her apart from other hollows; it made her similar to him, and he found solace in that. When he became a Vasto Lorde, he had been ready devote himself to whatever purpose she wished because she had become the single hollow he could communicate with. He had been prepared to protect her even then. Losing her once made him reluctant to accept her back- he had been… afraid… he would lose her again and experience the same pain once more, as well as being bitter over her 'leaving' him alone at such a pivotal time in his evolution.

Some of her fondness for him, he could understand it now. He had somehow fulfilled the same role she had to him. An important, irreplaceable role.

He felt he should tell her. She wished to understand him as well, and this would be a major step in achieving that. Emotional intimacy, he still felt reluctant to proceed with it- especially now, fearing the possibility of gaining a heart and losing the last shred of sanity he had.

And yet…

Ulquiorra had been silent for so long, she almost began to think that he had sneaked off without her noticing. She could sense his spiritual pressure right behind her, of course, but she hadn't heard him make a single noise in quite a while.

She found that she had nothing else to talk about. Well, actually, she wanted to ask more about the soul reapers since Ulquiorra would know what sort of abilities they had, or a lot of other little facts. Also, she never quite got the whole story of why Aizen had kept them in that meeting so long- or why they were letting the humans scuttle around unchecked. The only reason she didn't want to bring it up was she didn't want to distract him from thinking about what she had told him- if he was still considering it, that is. With the silence seeming unending, she decided that she would go grab a book from their room to keep herself entertained. That way he could have some more time to think before she started babbling to break the silence.

After getting to her feet, she stretched her back in preparation for using sonido to race to their room and back in the shortest amount of time she could, the challenge another thing to entertain herself with. Just as she lowered her arms back to her side, ready to dart away, she heard Ulquiorra take a few feather-light steps towards her. Did he intend to follow her, then? Before she could turn to look at him, his hand clasped around her wrist, a gentle pull enough to signal for her to take a step back. She did, curious to see what he had planned. His stunt in the shower hadn't gone over well, so probably not trying to distract himself – or her- with physical pleasure. As her back pressed against his body, he released her wrist in preference of resting his hand over hers while holding her close. Almost embracing her… It was the first time he held her like this when standing. If he wrapped his other arm around her, this truly would be a hug.

The sound of his voice made her snap her mouth closed, her unasked question dying in the back of her throat.

"I understand."

Two words. Two words were enough to make her eyes go wide, her body freezing in place as her brain raced to comprehend something so seemingly simple. Her lips moved soundlessly as she found it impossible to respond. He meant he understood what she had told him, surely, but the weight behind those two words felt heavier than mere acknowledgment of her point of view. Heavier than sympathy as well. She felt her stomach turn in knots as realization began to shatter the shock numbing her brain.

"You had found me, even if you did not realize it," he began again, dismissing any blame she had placed on herself. How this related to what she had told him, she was afraid to find out. Instinct began to cackle, apparently already knowing what Ulquiorra was about to tell her. Her brain shut down everything else to focus on his voice uninterrupted. "You would have died had you attempted to reach me." If she had a heart, it would be beating erratically in an odd mix of dread and anticipation. No matter how curious she had been, his tone alone made her recognize that he had not been comfortably sitting around somewhere like she had been. "Do you remember that crystal tree?" She couldn't even muster a muted 'yes' or tip her head stiffly. Her eyes stared blankly forward, tears threatening to spill. "I had been at the center."

Silence hung in the air at his confession. Her brain struggled to comprehend why he would do such a thing, the obvious answer the last one she wanted to be true. He had said it himself when they had stopped by the tree; it would be foolish to crawl into that gnarled mass because there would be no leaving it. The thorns could easily shred hierro, or embed so deeply that pulling free neared impossible without removing limbs and chunks of flesh. Crawling in there, all the way to the center, it wasn't some mistake. No, he chose to enter knowing that escape was impossible. He had… he had gone in there to…

'He wanted to kill himself! Isn't that hilarious?' Instinct butted in again, still joyful at this fact. 'I only wish he'd succeeded. But once a failure, always a failure. Right, Aracelis?'

"Why?" she whispered, a tear slipping from her eye- she couldn't care less about embarrassing herself by being emotional. Ignoring instinct took a lot of effort, but that bastard could wait. Ulquiorra was far more important. She moved her hand so she could grip his instead.

"I believe I felt similar you. When I became a Vasto Lorde, you became the only one able to communicate with me. Without you…" He hesitated, reluctant to finish the statement. Admitting something like this, he thought it would make him appear weak or too human, if she had to guess. It would make him even more like her, and he wasn't ready for that. Still, he admitted being similar. "I had nothing to lose." He almost had to fight her to get her to release his hand. Instead of walking away like she expected, he took hold of her hand and raised it to touch his cheek. "The tree had shattered my mask." He lowered her hand back down, although not dropping it. He wanted to keep talking. "The thorns of the tree had embedded in my skin, but had proven too weak to kill me. It eventually became an additional source of power to me. It is the reason I have a second release state," he needlessly explained, this the least concern to her presently, even if the information answered past questions.

It was great that it hadn't killed him, of course, but the fact that it could have, that he had at one time wanted it to, it devastated her. She had no idea. She felt guilty for yelling at him to tell her when they'd been reunited- of course he wouldn't have told her then. The comments she made at the tree, when she'd said it was stupid to try to go in… She had essentially called him stupid for being depressed. She had assumed that he hadn't been too upset about losing her, but how wrong she'd been. He had been suffering so much. Far more than she had. When she had asked if he had missed her, she never considered it had affected him so deeply. How lonely it must have been for him, being unable to speak or hear or feel; he'd been utterly alone in every sense of the word. He likely thought he had killed her too. The guilt and the loneliness, it must have been unbearable. Having nothing to distract himself must have pushed him over the edge. Despair… True despair is what he must have felt at being left with nothing. And she didn't notice. No wonder he was reluctant to be close with her again…

"Aizen had crushed the tree, dissipating it long enough to offer me a place in his army," Ulquiorra added to finish the story of how he had been freed from one deathtrap for another. She understood, though, why he was loyal to Aizen. Not only had he taken him from the tree, but he offered him a purpose. Having any goal to achieve was enough to convince Ulquiorra to join. Being a soldier in an army allowed him a purpose, as well as allies for a minimal form of companionship. Becoming a disposable tool to a soul reaper was better than nothing in his mind- in his position, she might have agreed.

"I," she whispered, "I understand why you're here." She leaned back into him, wanting to turn around and hug him, but aware he had done this on purpose because he wanted to avoid her eyes. He'd done so to prevent her from seeing any facial expressions he viewed as pathetic, or to avoid the apologetic looks she would have been aiming at him. She was crying, as selfish as it was. This was about him, not how the stuff he shared made her feel. She wanted to apologize for ignoring the fact that he had been through a lot when they'd been apart, that she -and instinct- caused him immense pain, and that she hadn't noticed how he felt- instead she was too busy pitying herself, thinking he had never cared about her. "I'm so sorry, Ulquiorra." She needed to say it. Not apologizing at all for this, it wouldn't be right. He acknowledged it by nodding his head once, the movement almost missed as he stood behind her. The only reason she knew was he had his face turned into her hair in that brief second. "Thank you for sharing that with me, Ulquiorra."

In true Ulquiorra fashion, he said nothing in response, but he didn't move away either. He allowed for her to turn around to fling her arms around him and bury her face into his shoulder as well. While he still adamantly refused to return the gesture in full, his body was relaxed, not tensing with the contact.

It was a time later when she felt a hand on her shoulder, gently persuading her to take a step back. She stubbornly clung to him for half a second longer, not happy that someone always needed to create an issue when they were having a moment. When she did release him from the hug, she was scowling at the ground, attention focused on the spiritual pressure sauntering into the tower like he owned the place.

"The Fifth has chosen to ignore Lord Aizen's orders," Ulquiorra stated flatly, his eyes slightly narrowed. Aracelis glanced up at him, tilting her head slightly. He saw it as a question immediately. "The Espada had been ordered to stay in their quarters until further notice. We were also ordered not to pursue the intruders." That explained why he hadn't chased weed-face down- couldn't break Aizen's rules when he had already allowed Orihime to nearly get killed. Aizen must have been enjoying the show the weed was putting on- that was the only reason Aracelis found as to way the plant hadn't been eliminated for her actions.

"How did a two-order meeting take so long," she grumbled under her breath. If that's all Aizen had to tell them, it was like he wanted Orihime to end up dead. Bastard. In the last fifteen minutes, she had grown increasingly agitated. Nnoitra showing up didn't help her mood any. Nor did thinking of their 'leader.' "Why do you think the damn idiot is here anyway?"

Ulquiorra gave an exasperated blink. "To annoy me." In other words, Nnoitra had no rational reason to be here. The Fifth had decided to pay a visit with the intention of doing anything to irritate Ulquiorra into a fight. Unless weed-face had somehow instigated this visit. Unfortunately, that was always a possibility given she had so much information to manipulate people with; especially if they were complete imbeciles.

"Mission accomplished," she muttered, glaring at the ground again. Nnoitra had annoyed them both already. She didn't want to know what he planned to do to get their attention. Perverted, sick bastard the Fifth was, Aracelis couldn't even wager a guess other than that something unpleasant would be happening.

"The woman will need to be watched," he almost sighed. Orihime would be in the most danger; she had no hopes of escaping from Nnoitra if he targeted her. Ulquiorra would need to go babysit the girl to deter their 'ally' from harassing her. He really didn't like her much… Or maybe he just disliked that the girl had seen too much during Clematis's attack. "I would prefer to use the time to further Lord Aizen's wishes." He already knew she didn't approve of using manipulation, which he certainly would be employing, but he also seemed quite willing to put aside his task if she did not want to avoid Nnoitra on her own.

"I'll be fine." Ulquiorra wanted to get his task out of the way instead of just standing in there with Orihime and her, wasting time. With the humans on the very outskirts of Las Noches, Ulquiorra was likely planning to use that fact in his manipulation tactics. It'd be more effective now than later. "I just need to stay out of sight and keep my spiritual pressure contained to fool that idiot into not knowing where I am. I can run for it, too, if he miraculously found a brain."

"If you stay in our quarters," he began, letting her know that the option to leave actually existed, "use extreme caution. If you go elsewhere until the Fifth has been dealt with, I ask you to avoid the intruders."

She tried to keep from smiling at the opportunity. This would work well for her. No rules against her wandering about, then, if he gave her the option. "Okay, I can do that," she said with a nod.

She quickly found a hand under her chin tilting her face to look directly at him. "You are planning something," he said knowingly, eyes narrowed with suspicion as he studied her. After a few moments, she broke, smirk on her face showing she was up to no good. "Is it likely to lead to you needing rescue?"

"No." The three were all hiding, licking their wounds. She felt nearly one-hundred percent right now. Going to have a simple chat shouldn't require rescue even if the three tried anything. If they did, she could outrun them all. Or at least finish the bird off, maim the moth, and dodge weed-face. She'd be catching them off guard too- Clematis likely had knowledge of Aizen's orders to the Espada. "I should be fine." He continued to study her face, going over the possibilities of what she might have planned. He probably had some idea. It's not like she knew too many people in Las Noches. "Go deal with Orihime, I promise I'll be fine, Ulquiorra. No fighting or anything."

'I want to go tear her apart,' instinct complained. It had a different reason, but she did agree that the idea of ripping Clematis apart was appealing. If it came to fighting- which she would fervently try to prevent- instinct would at least be on her side. Whatever information the weed had, instinct felt it extremely important to keep from her. More so than the fact she had learned the voice was something separate; it refused to admit anything, still, though. That wasn't what she aimed to gain from the weed, so instinct should be somewhat behaved, especially if she limited her options.

"I won't use ceros or balas. I won't even spike my spiritual pressure," she added, even if it would be a challenge for her. Not threating the infuriating weed in that manner would inevitably prove difficult, but she wanted to go scream at Clematis more than anything right now. If that meant making some compromises to keep instinct in check, then so be it. "If I do, then I'm not the one in control anymore." Instinct would immediately be the culprit this way, and Ulquiorra could rush over- the threat of that would dissuade instinct, probably. She doubted the Espada would actually be punished for leaving their quarters when not going after intruders anyway; look at Nnoitra waltzing around. Ulquiorra just wished to follow orders out of respect and loyalty. Fighting Clematis wouldn't be a two-second job for instinct, either, because Ulquiorra still had her sword. She'd have no resurrección for instinct to use, and Clematis would most certainly be using hers. It would give Ulquiorra plenty of time to come get her if it came to that. "And if it looks like things might go bad, I'll run right away." She intended to keep the promises she made. She wanted him to trust that she wouldn't create trouble even if she did go off and do something considerably ill-advised.

After another few moments of intense scrutiny, he stiffly nodded once. "You are to return when Nnoitra has left, and not one moment later." A blatant show that he did not like this idea, but also a show of him trying to trust her not to get in trouble. She'd make sure she didn't make him regret giving her the opportunity. Before he walked off to go do his job and turn a blind eye on her stupidity, he leaned forward to give her a parting kiss.

As he turned away, Aracelis repeated, "I promise, Ulquiorra, I won't create a problem for you to deal with." He glanced over his shoulder a final time before using sonido to disappear from sight. In less than a second he was back in the tower, down several dozen floors.

'Go kill that bitch! You are not just going to go yell at her over something as dumb as what she showed him," instinct whined again, still displeased by her reason in going to see the weed.

But it sincerely pissed her off. While she had been thinking over what Ulquiorra had told her, she came to a conclusion. Clematis, that absolutely intolerable plant, she had been using his memories against him. The creature had undoubtedly been making him relive every single bad memory he had in a painstakingly realistic manner. Everything related to losing her, to being in the tree, and who knows what else, Clematis had been tormenting him with it. The reason he had been so sad had been the weed replaying all of the pain and loss in his past. This, this Aracelis found unforgivable and she would not rest until she screamed it in the weed's face. Was it foolish? Definitely. Would it help anything? Not likely. But she would anyways because fits of rage were her style.

"How did you know Ulquiorra had been in the tree?" she finally asked, the question directed at instinct. That laughter earlier made her blood boil even now.

'Aizen told me.' It cackled away when she couldn't find on instance when Aizen would have told them both this information, meaning that unknown to her, instinct had talked to the prick. 'I can take control of you so easily, girl. I talked to Aizen and you had no idea. Does it bother you? I thought you learning that I could take control of you would be a bad thing, but now I can gloat about all the things I can do while you're passed out!' Its new favorite threat… 'I can't wait till you're out again. I think I'll pretend to be you and crush that delicate flower Ulquiorra's feelings! I'd be so easy! I should have thought all the possibilities sooner!'

"Shut up," she hissed, not wanting to hear it ramble. On a whim, she grabbed her right shoulder, digging her nails in and almost breaking skin. It hurt like hell, making her grit her teeth, but it shut instinct up. What a nice control tactic she had now. "I've got other things to do, so quiet."

She jumped off of the tower, plummeting towards the ground. A wave of sand rose up when she didn't slow her landing. As soon as her feet dug into the ground, she used sonido to race forward. There was no time to waste; not when the intruders appeared to be going to the same general destination as her. Ulquiorra wouldn't take too long speaking with Orihime and ousting the Fifth from their tower, either.

She only had a small window of time to go scream at the weed, and see if the creature spewed out any worthwhile information.

And once more, canon is back! Ulquiorra's gotta go deal with Nnoitra and Orihime – which I don't think I'll be showing much since I don't plan on changing anything in that section. Next chapters, time wise, will be one thing after another. And Aracelis is on a mission to give Clematis a piece of her mind! And, well, what could possibly go wrong, huh? Aracelis's story was first mentioned in chapter 20, some of Ulquiorra's words were from 5, 6, and 26, and Mirro asked Aizen where Ulquiorra's been in chapter 19, if some things seem familiar- it's been a while for sure.

Thank you all for reading!

Thank you to xXMasqueradeOfVendettaXx and Luv-ly Stories for favoriting!

DeadWolfGirl- Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying, and let the war commence!

Guest 1- Merci! I am happy you like the story!

Guest 2 (The Shy Scorpio?)- I'm pleased that you liked last chapter so much! And that it showed how far they've come! Especially in the last few chapters, they've developed so much; I'm happy that you've liked the pacing of that because, well, its crunch time with Ichigo's group about to bust into Las Noches. They've definitely grown to care about each other very much since the beginning of this story- even stubborn 'I have no heart' Ulquiorra has let his feelings run wild! As for Aracelis being less confused about their relationship, she does have a better understanding of emotional stuff, but also has more experience in general -even if most was negative- while Ulquiorra's the one at a loss. And Aracelis is definitely trying very hard to notice his mood and understand what he is doing from his perspective instead of hers. That's why I've been wanting type this chapter out, since it shows them sort of getting a mutual understanding of each other's perspectives- because they are both similar, they just tend to react in different manners. Before I ramble on and on… Thank you for reviewing! And I'm guessing that this is The Shy Scorpio?

haipa-chan- I know! Oh, it's been bothering me that Aracelis has been thinking Mirro's yammering is normal- like, she's not stupid, but she can be. I mean, she did think it was somewhat normal because Mirro had been there so long, but I knew and the readers knew so it was making her painfully dumb. I added some bits in this chapter as to why Mirro let her tell Ulquiorra because I saw your review and agreed it wasn't well addressed in story. First, they were in the shower and Mirro tends to assume the perverted will happen, so he would duck out. But, also, since Aracelis had already been so suspicious, no amount of Mirro screaming would stop her from telling Ulquiorra about hearing a voice. Ulquiorra also already had a general idea about it- so it wasn't a well-kept secret to begin with on Mirro's part. The memory, though, had been something he hadn't thought she would bring up. As for the change in plans, Ulquiorra is being very cautious because he doesn't know everything. His plan is tearing apart her shoulder to drag Mirro out, and since Mirro is connected to her nerves and brain, it would cause a lot of damage- which is why he wanted Orihime's ability. He'd wanted to catch Mirro off guard so Mirro couldn't try to do more damage under the assumption he can. Now that Mirro knows he wants to use Orihime's ability, anytime they go near her, Mirro is on high alert. It's just a tricky spot, and Ulquiorra really doesn't want to end up killing her. This is something for later :) so that's all I'll say for now! Hope it helped; I will try to work this explanation in somewhere since it was such a good question too. Love questions! And they're both getting real close to admitting their feelings to each other; so much progress in so many ways, like the talking this chapter, or Aracelis realizing her own actions. They've definitely come a long way! I'm happy that when you re-read an old chapter that they did have many changes since then! Before I have a story down here too, thank you for the extra long review and helpful questions!