Chapter 2

Orihime's day began like the previous, she woke up, had a glass of water, and took a bath, this time avoiding any accidents. After her usual routine she decided to take a step out of the rut, she did this by poking her head out the door expecting to find Ulquiorra, but her everlasting guard was no where to be seen, just empty space.

She sighed and retreated back into her room, sitting on the sofa she twiddled her fingers in wait, after a little while she poked her head out the door again, still no ulquiorra, so she went back to the coach, then to the door, then to the coach. Her actions repeated until she poked her head out the door and saw an arranger walking down the hall, he had distinctive black hair and as he approached she could easily make out the familiar dark and frosty green gaze locked in her direction. She smiled and waited until he finally reached her, voicing the obvious question of "What are you doing woman?" He stared at her questioningly with his hands stuffed in their pockets.

She returned the quizzical gaze as she asked "Where were you?"

he narrowed his eyes "that is no business of yours, i asked you a question, what are you doing?"

Orihime flinched at the irritated tone in his voice and rethought her question, then instead replied with the answer to her actions."I was just going to ask you something…but never mind"

his gaze softened slightly when he realized he had frightened her, he took a breath and asked "What is it?" she looked at him, the softness of his voice surprising her.

She smiled and asked hesitantly "well…i was wondering…could we maybe..go for a walk?"

Ulquiorra tipped his head to one side, "Why would you want to go for a walk around this barren place?"

She looked away shyly, not wanting to admit she just wanted to go for a walk with him, "well..there's nothing to do in my room but lay around and wait..and i thought it'd be nice to walk around and stretch my legs a little…if thats ok..?"

Ulquiorra blinked and pondered it for a moment then nodded "I suppose it's fine, so long as you don't try to run off or anything"

Orihime looked at him taken back "Why would i run off? thats a stupid idea!"

Ulquiorra inwardly grinned at her reply, he grabbed her arm and gently led her out of the room and closed the door, she blushed at the contact and felt her heart sink when he let go seconds later, she longed for his touch, though he was puzzled and refused to admit it.

They walked side by side through the halls, after a while Orihime felt her worries tie a knot in her stomach, and eventually Ulquiorra noticed her pouting face,

"What's the matter? i thought you wanted to go for a walk?"

Orihime jumped at the shattered silence and replied shyly "..a-actually..i wanted to be outside..not inside…but forget i said it ok, i'm happy to just be out of that room" she perked up, smiling brightly.

Ulquiorra gazed at her, almost captivated by her actions, he enjoyed studying her odd behavior and even more enjoyed her company for some reason, he passed the though aside, labeling it as 'studying her actions'.

….but, she brought emotions out of him somehow, always getting him to act strange, even smile when she's not looking. He felt the need to oblige so he replied, "We can go outside" almost smiling.

Orihime's half-fake smile instantly turned into a sincere one and without thinking about his comfort zone she hugged him.

"Thank you Ulquiorra!"

He felt his eyes widen to their capacity and a light blush veil his face, standing there stiffly unsure of what to do, sinking Orihime's hopes of him returning the hug. As her skin brushed against his he subconsciously voiced his thoughts

"You're…soft.. Orihime…."

Orihime's eye's snapped open,

"Y-you..c-called me…O-orihime..?"

ulquiorra looked back and said "..yes? it is your name is it not?"

she smiled, a tear gliding down her cheek, "Yes…but you've never called me by it before…you always call me 'woman' or something…thank you!"

Ulquiorra was surprised at how much it meant to her and he started to wonder the same thing she did, 'has she developed feelings for me?' the hug ended and they continued walked, both sporting blushes on their face, they both obviously craved each others contact.

As they walked out the huge marble doors of Las Noches, Orihime felt her feet slip into the silky, pearly, sand. With the grains pouring into her shoes, she felt the need to feel it on her bare feet.

"Ulquiorra? Are we going back in through these doors?"

He nodded and she grinned taking her shoes off and placing them against the wall by the huge doors.

"You should take your shoes off too Ulquiorra! this feels great!"

Ulquiorra watched her skip through the ivory sand, smiling and humming, and wondered if she was right. He walked over to her shoes and quietly slipped his off, and slipped his feet into the silver lit sea of sand in which hers danced around playfully.

He walked over to her and watched her frolicking, his hands stuffed right back into their pockets, as her back was turned he smiled, admiring her radiance as she was bathed in the silvery moonlight,

'she looks….beautiful..in the moonlight…almost like a flower…but a flower in a barren place…she doesn't belong here…and i don't belong in her world…everything about us is different…polar opposites..and yet...why am i drawn to her..?….there must be some logical reasoning behind it…shouldn't there?'

as his thoughts continued and he continued to stare at the treasure he could not have, his face saddened the slightest bit more then his usual stoic look and he sighed.

Orihime turned and caught him staring at her, but instead of his usual emotionless facade, his eyes were filled with an undisguisable melancholy, which evidently drew her over to him.

"Whats wrong Ulquiorra?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and back to the present,

"Nothing"

She didn't believe the simple answer he gave, and she'd be more of an airhead then she already was if she did. She snatched one of his hands out of his pockets and pulled him along after her.

She ran dragging Ulquiorra forcibly through the snow white sands of Hueco Mundo, his expression frozen in shock and confusion. After a while of dragging he became hard to pull along, as he had gathered a mound of sand in front of him.

Orihime sighed and flopped onto the top of the huge hill of sand she'd dragged them up, they were now a ways from Las Noches, but it was still in sight. Laying in the sand, she began to move her arms and legs, swishing the sand beneath, Ulquiorra watched her until she hopped up,

"Look! a sand-angel!"

he smiled and thought to himself 'yes…you are..'

but aloud he asked "Whats a 'sand-angel'?"

she finally looked at him, not catching his smile from before.

Orihime looked at him with her mouth open in shock. "you've never made Snow-angels? or sand-angels? you live in the desert! you hafta try it! at least once!" sincerely believing nobody could live without doing it once in their lives.

He looked at her not budging, she pulled at his hand.

"c'mon! just once!"

still he didn't budge,

"why?"

she looked at him with puppy eyes "pwetty pwease! just once? for meeeeee?"

he stared blankly back "you didn't answer me. why?"

she stared at him in confusion and slight bewilderment "well thats easy! because….err….umm….because its fun! and your so uptight that you need to have some fun!"

"fine. what do i do?" he mumbled nearly audible.

she jumped chirping "Yay! victory!"

She stepped a few paces from her sand-angel and flopped onto the sand again,

"Ok! you lay in the sand like this first! make sure to really press your body in there alright!"

ulquiorra sighed and laid down next to her.

"Ok now you flail your arms and legs! but you gotta do it artistically!"

Ulquiorra had a questionable definition of 'artistically' (and apparently so did Orhime) so he just moved his arms back and forth slowly, while Orihime on the other hand flailed hers next to him, showering him with grains of sand.

They both stood up and looked at their angels, it brought upon a smile to Orihime's face and she gave Ulquiorra a thumbs up.

whispering to herself "..they fit perfectly together..." unknowing to her Ulquiorra heard her, the same thoughts rushing through his head. they walked a little ways from their angels and Orihime flopped onto her back into the sand, Ulquiorra standing beside her.

"we have to do more?"

She sat up and patted the ground next to her, urging him to join her. "no silly! i'm just a little tired, come sit with me!"

He sighed and sat beside her, amazed the energetic woman could actually get tired.

Both of them sat in silence starring in awe at the brilliant metallic silver moon above them. After a while they both ended up laying back, relishing the moments in the cool silky sand. They stayed there for a while.

Orihime Yawned and stood up, stretching her arms, Ulquiorra followed suit, and stood next to her, but looking back he blushed, as did Orihime, the imprints they left in the sand made it look as if they were holding hands, and the shapes were obvious, you could easily tell by the body type, hair, and Ulquiorra's mask. She smiled sweetly Ulquiorra mirrored her expression inside, his face remaining expressionless on the outside.

"W-well…i think we should be getting back shouldn't we? i'm a little hungr-eeeEEEE!"

she trailed off into a shriek as she unknowingly stepped off the edge of the sand dune, tumbling down in a ball of flailing limbs. Ulquiorra laughed inwardly and following after her toppling down the hill too, rolling in persuit. They fell into a jumbled mess at the foot of the hill, Orihime giggling, and ulquiorra, once again, doing the same on the inside, being sure to keep his calm and collected facade together outside.

They walked back slowly, as they made their way back, Orihime tripped on a rock and stumbled, Ulquiorra catching her hand and steadying her, after that, their hands rested locked together at their waists, They hadn't even realized they were doing this until they reached their shoes and needed to actually use their hands.

Once Orihime was returned to her room, Ulquiorra left to get her dinner. She jumped onto her bed and screamed inwardly, the smile never leaving her face, she knew she was deffinately developing feelings for him now, because this was the most fun she'd had since she'd gotten to Las Noches. And today was the closet she's ever been to Ulquiorra, even if it was just one hug, and unknowingly holding hands, it was enough to convince her that she loved his company and wanted it more than anything now.