AN:/ HEY GUYS, sorry about the late update. Tests are coming for me and my beta. Enjoy.

Recap:

"Now now Orihime ... it's okay... I'm there for you... alright." She pet her head and drew soothing circles into her back." Let's go to my place, okay?"she asked and Orihime choked out an incomprehensible yes. The two ladies walked out the airport, the ginger head being supported by the other. She looked over her shoulder, into the growing swarm of people, trying to locate him," Take care, Ulqui, and come back to me soon..."

Chapter 19 – Home Coming

Ulquiorra didn't look back. He did not take one glance at "his" Onna. Yes the Onna was his, Aizen –sama had entrusted him to take care of her, so practically, she was his. He had entrusted Murcielago, who was waiting for her back home, to watch over her while he was away. He could feel her spiritual pressure leaving the airport. Suddenly, a feeling of panic started to bubble in his gut. What if a hollow were to attack her? He had full faith in Murcielago's ability and even though the chances were bleak, but still, what if he were unable to protect her? What if the Soul Society found her? What if her nakama took her away from him? What if the other Espada, especially Grimmjow or Nnoitora were t o arrive in the human realm? She would never be able to fend herself against those demons.

Eric watched as his stoic "friend" and colleague struggled within, waging a fearful internal war. Suddenly he found himself looking at an Ulquiorra he never thought he would see. A frowning Ulquiorra! Well that was pretty commonplace. Okay let's try this, a worried and tensed Ulquiorra! Though they'd only been together for a short while, and it would be highly prejudiced on his part to form opinions, but Eric could have never thought that a little tour would actually have Ulquiorra so disturbed. It wasn't like him at all to fret over such tiny things and Eric felt as if he were missing a piece in the puzzle. He watched as Ulquiorra gradually slowed down and finally came to halt in the middle of the airport. He watched as he finally looked back to see that their wives had already left and he saw the slightest hint of uncertainty in his eyes. Eric smiled at his companions little antics.

"Hey Ulquiorra, don't worry. My Janette's going to take super good care of your princess. Dude, you're so love stricken!"

At this, Ulquiorra could feel some kind of heat creep up his face as his eyes widened just a little fraction. Turning back, he resumed walking, trying his best to steady his gait.

"There is no such thing. We should not waste any more time, lest we miss the flight."

"Yeah yeah." Eric said clearly having fun at his expense.

He was Ulquiorra, he was never unsure of himself, he was always loyal to Lord Aizen and he was always in control of his actions. What had the Onna done to him?! Every time he thought of her, he could feel his stomach becoming light and breathing became difficult. "Humans are nothing but trash." He desperately repeated this as a mantra in his head, but still, her laughter echoed in his ears, her tears made his chest hurt and his throat tighten, and he could still feel her lingering warmth and could still smell her sweet scent from when she had hugged him goodbye. Finally, they found their seats in Coach. Eric took the window seat just in case if Ulquiorra didn't like to see the plane getting off the ground. Even though he didn't like watching it himself, still he wanted to make up for making fun of him earlier. He really had seemed so vulnerable at that time, that it had been virtually impossible for him to curb his teasing instincts. But looking back now, Eric could see that Ulquiorra was quiet upset about something. So he decided to relieve him a little. Ulquiorra took his seat and checked his surroundings for anything suspicious but found nothing. He turned to Eric seeking some guidance on what to do on this plane that could kill them and weighed more than an elephant.

"I hate planes." Eric said, finally confining his greatest abhorrence in Ulquiorra. He felt that sharing his load would lessen it and Ulquiorra definitely didn't seem the type to judge people. So when Ulquiorra asked him, "Why do you "hate" planes?" he did not hesitate in telling him his story.

"Put your seatbelt on and turn off your cell phone before I tell you," Eric ordered. Ulquiorra did what he was told and waited for his partner to tell him his reasons for hating the machinery.

"My brother loved playing with his toy planes that he would always receive for Christmas from family members. He had so many different models of planes it was his hobby but he used them for building and torturing me by putting sharp nails and glass on the wings. Every day he would do that to me while our parents were out or when it was our bedtime. I hated my brother for years and I despised planes because of what he did to me," Eric finished explaining, cringing a little at the memory.

"His brother might be an Arrancar soon," Ulquiorra thought, though he failed to understand why Eric still hated planes in his adulthood. It was highly unlikely that his brother would do something like this to him now.

"So how many hours is the flight anyways?" Eric asked to steer the conversation away from his hatred for planes.

"17 hours and 35 minutes," Ulquiorra said trying to stay awake. He was still a bit sleepy from Orihime's early wake up call. Eric groaned and Ulquiorra fell asleep after the flight attendant gave them directions.

Back in Hueco Mondo

"Oooo, how I wish that I had bought a cell phone so I could keep in contact with him just in case if he wanted advice," Aizen smiled.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa," Wonderwiess said. Gin stared at the little boy wondering what he was trying to say. Tousen and Orihime were the only ones who knew how to speak his language.

"I forgot the reason why Aizen created him," Gin thought.

"Duh," Grimmjow sneered, "old man finally losing it!"

With Ulquiorra on the plane

Ulquiorra had just woken up in time when the Captain announced in a cheerful voice, "Passengers, we have made it to Japan safely. We will be landing shortly. All of you are requested to fasten your seat belts and switch off your mobile phones. Thank you for travelling with us. We wish you a happy landing." Ulquiorra stretched awkwardly in his seat, he scratched his cheek to feel it was all scruffy. Frowning slightly from the discovery of unwanted facial hair he mentally cursed his gigai and Syazel for not making his human body perfect. What place did the stubble serve anyway in the first place? He could be much better off without this troublesome ritual of shaving. His human stomach had been rumbling because of the lack of food which had initially been his wake up call. He decided to eat right away after they had landed. He liked the Onna's food better could hear Eric waking up beside him.

"What time is it?" Eric asked yawning. Just like Ulquiorra, he stretched awkwardly in his seat. Ulquiorra looked at his wrist watch and announced in a monotone. "5 in the evening, " Eric nodded and yawned once more. His stomach rumbled some time afterwards. Eric rubbed his tummy.

"I want to get off of this contraption right now," he mumbled, still sleepy.

The two were silent but their stomachs had other ideas. They were really hoping that the plane would land so they could get something to eat. To their relief they landed safely and every passenger got out of their respective seats and hurried out of the plane. Eric and Ulquiorra followed suit. They got out of the plane to get their luggage from security. Eric found a Starbucks across the way. He left his bag with Ulquiorra so he could get them something to eat and drink. Ulquiorra waited patiently for his partner to come back when he felt familiar spiritual pressures. He turned to see the Onna's friends just coming out the 18th terminal.

"Hmph, it would seem that the Onna's nakama came back from somewhere. (He turned his eyes over to Ichigo) What does she see in that piece of trash anyhow?" he thought, feeling something like a sharp knife jabbing at his insides. He personally could not stand that obnoxiously orange headed stubborn human trash. But the Onna seemed to like him more than anyone else in her group and had utmost faith in him, as if he were her hero. The thought upset Ulquiorra. But he did not have much time to contemplate his thoughts as Eric shortly arrived with their meal.

"Ulquiorra, here's yours," Eric said. Ulquiorra diverted his eyes from the humans back to Eric, who was already eating his strawberry muffin. Ulquiorra took his food from Eric and took a sip of his drink, wincing from the sweetness.

"Is it too sweet?" Eric asked, concern etched on his face. Ulquiorra nodded and took a bite into his mint Danish. Deeming it with satisfactory he took another bite of it. Grabbing their bags, Eric and Ulquiorra started walking towards the exit. Suddenly, Ulquiorra could feel 4 pair of eyes following him. He felt not even slightly disturbed at this discovery.

"Wasn't that one of Aizen's Espadas?" Ishida asked pushing his glasses back in place.

"I bet it was the guy who took Orihime," Ichigo seethed, "he'll pay for taking her. I'm going to him right now and give him a piece of my mind."

"Ichigo that is a bad idea to go after him in a public place and besides there's a human with him. We don't know for sure he is an Espada, though it is quite evident from his spiritual pressure. We must not let him escape our sight though. We would never get Orihime like that. I'll call Soul Society and tell them what we saw," Rukia said holding his arm before he could go after Ulquiorra. Ichigo was breathing very hard; he knew that Rukia was right but it still hurt him that he wasn't able to protect his best friend that was like his sister. He calmed down and gave Rukia the okay sign. Rukia took her phone out of her bunny chappy bag and called.

"Hello this is Rukia Kuchiki and we have an emergency."

Back with Ulquiorra

Ulquiorra went inside the renting car place to get the keys for BMW i8 Spyder that the company ordered specifically for them to keep while they were in Japan. Receiving the keys from the rep, he left the store and went over to Eric so they could go. They got into the car and left the lot for the hotel that they would be staying for the month or so. Eric was going through his text messages from Janette. He smiled at his sweet wife's little comments of her day and seeing how he was doing. He messaged her back and closed his phone.

Ulquiorra was anxious to check if the onna had perhaps, just like Janette, inquired after his well being or not. But he couldn't check his phone while driving. Eric took his phone from him and tried to read the messages but was dismayed to find the phone asking for a password.

"Ugghhhhh!" he groaned, "why are you so secretive?!"

Ulquiorra said nothing and kept his eyes on the road.

AN/: Review please.