"Kaien?" she repeated, taking a step and then another toward the boy. He backed up at her approach, still staring with wide eyes. "I—I don't know who you're talking about! S-Stay away!" Rukia frowned; she certainly hadn't expected this. Could it…not be him?
Her legs wobbled with the weight of emotion filling her being. "Whoa!" whatever qualms the boy had about her disappeared as he ran forward and caught her as she fell. "Hey…" he said, lowering her to the ground gently; she stared up into his warm honey-colored eyes filled with concern. Kaien's were blue.
"Are you okay?"She blacked out.
~*~
Vaguely Ulquiorra felt the pressure of Stark leaning in close, whispering softly, "take her now."
"No." he said just as softly.
The Arrancar looked confused, "but didn't you—"
"No—let's go." He turned away forcefully from the sickening scene. The ache to rip out the boy's throat nearly overwhelming his meager control. "Well…if you say so," Stark muttered, following him through the portal back to Hueco Mundo.
Someday. Ulquiorra thought. It would be his name only on her lips and only him in her nightmares.
~*~
Rukia awoke lying on a bed. The room was in semi-darkness with the sky lightening outside heralding dawn not far off. She pressed her hand shaking to her temples recalling the fight with the Hollow and the boy…Kaien. But he wasn't. He didn't remember her and if he didn't remember her then that meant he—
"You're awake finally."
She started. The boy walked across the room toward her, a scowl on his face.
"Who—who are you?" she felt inclined to ask, her eyes running over the familiar features that were more youthful. He ran his hand through his hair, thoughtfully gazing back, "I could ask you the same question. First you come out of nowhere and slice that monster—"
"Hollow." She interrupted.
"A what?"
"It was a Hollow. A malevolent lost soul," she clarified after he looked mystified.
"Er well. Whatever it was. You sliced it to bits and then see me and call me by this weird name and after that—pass out cold! What am I supposed to think? Then my dad and my sisters…can't see you!" he paused to take in breath after his rant and discovered she had her back to him and was staring out the window. "You…" he muttered.
"Of course they can't." she glanced over her shoulder at him, "if they can't see normal spirits then they wouldn't be able to see me."
"So what? You're saying that you're—dead?""Precisely."
An eyebrow rose, "I don't believe you." He said flatly.
Rukia sighed; this guy was an idiot.
~Las Noches~
"Ah…so you couldn't find her?"
Ulquiorra knew the sympathetic tone adopted by the Shinigami before him false. Aizen observed him narrowly, "are you perhaps still concerned over her?" That he couldn't deny. He began to regret his decision made in jealousy. It was an emotion…wasn't it?
He felt something, remembering her face and her eyes and her voice.
She made him feel something deep inside, lying there together on the hard ground, standing in the field of Lunas, carrying her on his back across the bleak sky. Ulquiorra couldn't describe it. Aizen was still watching him. "You want her." The Taichou of fifth Division said softly speaking as a fact rather than as a question. Ulquiorra nodded.
"You shall have her then. But I must know…what is her name?"
"Rukia Kuchiki."
~Soul society~
Aizen knew the name. A slip of an orphan girl adopted by the illustrious head of the Noble Kuchiki clan. She had been involved in the death of Thirteenth's Fukutaichou, an incident in which shortly thereafter the girl had up and disappeared. She had seemed weak from all that he discreetly asked around but from one source he was surprised to learn that her brother had been responsible for having her name dropped from a list of eligible candidates for seated positions.
Interesting. So perhaps she wasn't as weak as they thought. For her to survive in the world of Hueco Mundo so long and sensing the worry for her presence that had been instilled in the emptiness of the Vasto Lordes…
"Sir…"
Aizen looked up from his desk to the figure kneeling in the doorway. "Speak."
"We have ascertained the location of Kuchiki Rukia."
Excellent. He kept his expression smooth, "report your findings to Ukitake and Kuchiki-Taichou." He knotted his fingers under his chin, smiling secretively as the Ritei-Tai Agent bowed and vanished to carry out his orders. All the pieces were falling in. Locating her was one step now allowing them to retrieve her…
He thought of Ulquiorra in Las Noches and his expression became pensive.
To think this girl had made a Hollow—feel was too expressive—it was difficult discerning how and what the Vasto Lordes—soon Arrancar, felt about her. But how had she done it? What was her secret? He knew he had to arrange to meet her privately when she was brought back. It would be most fascinating to see how her mind worked and especially once she was told of Ulquiorra's place…
~To be continued~
AN: Someone had commented last time about the sentence: It would be his name only on her lips and only him in her nightmares. To Ulquiorra hearing her calling out for Kaien in her nightmares seemed to him the way for her to remember him—or as he refused to believe—love. Which is most certainly not the case. Thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated. :)