There's somewhere I want to show you…

Where? Rukia puzzled over Ulquiorra's strange words. His whole demeanor had changed, it wasn't at all noticeable to someone that hadn't been in such close proximity to him as she, his quiet emptiness seemed the same, but there was something else…

Her fingers slipped the knot in place, her hands tugged the upper closed, and her hair hung damp, the tips a little bit longer then before. "I…I'm ready," she wasn't sure why she hesitated, or for that matter just why her heart hammered harder than usual as he gracefully turned back from the privacy he'd afforded her.

She couldn't see his face or his expression as well as she would have liked to, the soft intonation so different from the way he normally addressed her, took her by surprise. "Come…" Ulquiorra held out his upturned palm, the light from above bringing into sharp relief the creases and fine form of his long fingers. Suddenly her misgivings flew away, far away on the slight stirring of a breeze that touched her cheeks.

He was almost like anybody else…

"Alright," she smiled a little, laying her hand in his. With a lightness of speed, he had her on his back between the expanse of his wings; her arms became twined loosely around his neck and her knees clutched his waist. Rukia had never been so close with the hard pressure of his bony spine against her chest, least of all…the tiniest hint of a hesitant blush that she felt burning her face at the thought that…she actually sort of liked it.

That…that was ridiculous! She did-didn't like it!

His body contracted with a slight strain, sinews and muscles growing taut, then they rose up off the mountaintop, in a brief moment of remembrance Rukia peered to the ground far below for her sword then realized it was held tightly in his grasp.

He had remembered it…

Her eyes fluttered shut when the first sense of weightlessness came over her. His wings beat fast along the current of air, gaining altitude. She wasn't afraid of heights, but…against her will, she finally looked. Her sight dazzled then by the great round orb in the sky, the moon so close but still so far. Its brilliancy undimmed even by the world it shone so coldly upon caught her breath; her eyes fell to the insignificant shapes traversing the sands never looking up to catch their twin shadows soaring higher and farther away.

What did he have in mind? She wondered at times feeling them drop a little then rise higher as if he were searching for something but didn't find it. She could almost admire the perfect symmetry of their flight, feeling the brush of powerful air currents against her thighs and rushing about her neck and face…if not for the chill it brought.

She sneezed a little, frowning at the cold creeping in beneath her kimono. As if sensing her discomfort, he dropped again, slowing his pace. Rukia clung on tighter, laying her cheek on the rigid surface of his back. "…you cold?" his voice came as though from a long distance away, coming to her ears on the wavelength of the wind.

Rukia blinked, at once feeling sleepy lulled by his movements, "yes…" she hesitated realizing that was a lie. "No…" their path angled to the left and her face was bathed in cool air, her eyes closed in sensual enjoyment of the feeling, "no. It feels…wonderful."

Ulquiorra almost smiled, why did it give him a fleeting sense of pleasure for the Shinigami to experience the same sensation of freedom that he felt soaring above the land?

To stem the flow of this peculiar happening, he spoke almost sharply in warning, "don't fall asleep." Rukia stirred in reply resecuring her hold on him. "I…I wouldn't catch you if…if you fell," he ended in a near whisper, sounding to reassure himself as well as her that she meant nothing to him.

"I know."

He heard the quiet, sad note in her voice and thought her foolish.

"Shin—" he had started to drift lower into a cupped valley of sand, his mind was on her so that when a beam of light shot through the sky thundering toward them, it took him completely by surprise. Pain ripped into his side and he rolled in mid-air forgetting her clinging to his back. "Ugh—hey—" Rukia swung, her grip slipping and her feet dangling, her annoyance at his forgetfulness became immediately replaced with concern and bitter fear.

Doom blast…

She saw he meant to counter it.

Green light formed at his fingertip, she felt the gathering wave of reiatsu washing over her in a smothering cloud. The other glowed electric blue focused into a perfect cylinder cutting a swath through the moonlit darkness at him—them.

It was too much, too soon.

Unless.

She didn't know why she did it. Drawing breath into her lungs, letting go of the tenuous grip with both hands, she for a second held her palms out on either side of his face, "Bakudo 39 Enkosen!!" A wall of condensed reishii encircled him, the Doom blast breaking like water upon stone against the Kido.

Why had she done that?

"Shinigami…?" for a moment he felt strange like a familiar weight was missing. Slowly he looked back and then down…down to the sand and her falling.

Falling as he had warned her not to.

Foolish woman in releasing her hold on him to fire the Shinigami spell, she had…why though?

Why risk her life for him?

It didn't make sense.

~~~*~~~

AN: started working on it immediately after CH.4 was posted! :) Thank you, reviews are always appreciated.