"….Are we there yet?" Szayel groaned, an hour of children's music later. There was only so much B-I-N-G-O and The Wheels on the Bus Go Around, he could take.

Ned glanced at his handy-dandy GPS, and grinned, "Nope. Not yet."

"But…" Nnoitra just wanted to get out of this damn car already. "How soon will we be there?"

"Not for another two and half hours. Those five rest stop-stops added a bit of time to our trip."

"Aw…" Aaroniero sighed and leaned his face on the window, letting his lips and nose get all smooshed on the glass. "And why couldn't we fly?"

"Because…" Szayel moaned, "The world hates me. That's why."

"That sucks…" Aaroniero would have taken a flying ride with Szayel the Butterfly any day. But no. They had to drive because Szayel had to have lost his ability to fly at all. "But it makes me feel better in a really strange way. Because, I'm not you."

"You're so mean…" Szayel tore his eyes away from the sky where the clouds over head were laughing at him.

"So…" Tia smiled as she listened to the person on the other end of the phone. "You want to have meeting to discuss Yumichkia? Yes…" Finally, someone had the mind to call from Soul Society. So the single telephone line that Grimmjow secretly attached to the Soul Reapers lines and through the Garganta, under the sands of Heuco Mundo and into the place, payed off.

"What? You…." Tia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Although it wasn't un-heard of."You want one of us to keep in Soul Society as leverage? So… You want to trade in a way… but not… you are making no sense…Torisho?" Tia paused, listening to the captain talk. "And how old are you? Oh… I see. Why do you sound like a kid then? Oh. I see. Okay. I am not sending an Arancarr- What?!" She screamed, falling backwards in her chair, only to be saved by Grimmjow who was in her room with her at the time.

"Geez.." He muttered and set her and her chair upright again. "Be more careful will you?"

"You want to invade us over-" Grimmjow put his hands on her shoulders and began to massage them.

"Over Yumich- But you won't if we give you someone to hold as leverage?" Tia hated politics…especially those of kidnapping. They made no sense at all. "All right. Fine. I will send one. And one only. And no- none of the Espada will be subject to selection. Yes. I am glad I got through to you. Good day, Captain."

"I am so sorry you are stressed." Grimmjow apologized after she hung up the phone. "I wish there was something I could do for you."

"Grimmjow, I don't think there-ow! What are you doing?!"

"Giving you a massage." He replied, taking his hands off her shoulders.

"Ah… I see." Tia pushed her chair away from her make-up table and stood up. "I don't really have time for one right now. Maybe later, Grimmjow?"

He glanced over his shoulder at the clock on her nightstand. A massage would only take five minutes, but…"All right. I will see you later."

"You too. And if you need anything…" She walked towards the doorway with out a second thought, "just call for Mel-Rose. She'll let me know if you need something."

"Ah…" Grimmjow reached a hand out to catch her arm, but he missed by an inch. And the door slammed shut a second later. "Ah…" He glanced around Tia's empty room and sighed… She left him all to himself…and without a kiss. Ah… Life wasn't too sweet…but…Tia was stressed and…well…

"Why are you so gloomy?'

Grimmjow spun around to see Ulquiorra standing behind him. "How did you get in here?!"

Ulquiorra rolled his eyes and pointed to the open window behind him, "Through the window, kitty."

"I can see that! But-"

"She left you without a kiss." His friend/enemy got right to the point.

Grimmjow looked down at the floor, not sure what to think. Tia had been so…distant since they returned from the Human World. "Yeah, buddy…she did. And how is…Your gal?"

"Fine. A little upset, understandably." Ulquiorra sat down on the floor and began to tell Grimmjow all about what happened at the meeting in Soul Society yesterday. "And so…She kind of wants to take one of the three open places in the Espada. At first, I honestly laughed…well.. Not laughed. Twitched a smile… then, I realized… why not? Orihime is talented and we should not be as discriminating as the Soul Reapers. No?"

"True…" Grimmjow liked the way Ulquiorra thought at times. "And…I hope you want me to train her. I…miss teaching and-"

"You're a genius!" Ulquiorra cried, leaping to his feet. "I was thinking I could train her, but I don't have much time and-"

"It's a deal then?" Grimmjow stuck his hand out. "And in exchange, you talk Tia into taking a night off so I can take her to dinner and have a little romance after."

Ulquiorra liked this. He liked this deal very much, actually. "Yes. I will. And do you want candles?"

"Yes. Lots and lots of candles on the dinner table."

"Deal."

Grimmjow and Ulquiorra shook hands.

"AHHH! Nnoitra!"

"What is-HOLY-"

"Hahahaa!" Aaroniero laughed seeing Szayel and Nnoitra panic as the small lizard jumped over their heads. "That was so funny! AHahaaa!"

"Yeah!" Aaron II was doubled over in his seat while Taylor filmed the incident with her phone.

The three of them had been silently hatching a plan for the last half an hour on Taylor's ipad. So, at the next rest stop, as Mlinda always needed a stop every half an hour, they picked up a stray and very small lizard.

Of which, Aaroniero let loose inside the car once they were in the middle of nowhere.

And nowhere was where Szayel jumped out of the car.

Followed by Nnoitra who slid the van door on his side open and jumped onto the (thankfully, clear) road.

"What the hell were you thinking, Aaroniero!" Nnoitra screamed at the back of the van as it speed off down the highway without him. "Get back here! Get back here, you fat, bearded bitch!"

Aaroniero climbed up the bucket seat on the left and stuck his head out the side of the car. A manic grin spread across Kaien Shiba's face as he laughed.

"Ahahah! You should seen it! You jumped right out of the car and it was so funny! AHahahaaaa!"

"Damn you!" Szayel screamed as the car disappeared around the corner. "You little- I should chop you up for some sushi!"

"Szayel!" Nnoitra cried, too angry to move off the road. "You are failing at the insults! Leave them to me, damn it!"

"Fine! There! Insult them!" He pointed at the corner where the car was yet to be seen again. "Go on! What are you waiting for?!"

"Okay! Aaroniero! You are a-"

Szayel grabbed Nnoitra's arm and pulled him out of the way of a car as it sped around the other corner behind them. "Watch where your going, you bloody Twit!"

"Always with English insults…" Nnoitra laughed, glad to be saved and rather amused by Szayel who was standing in the middle of the road, fuming. "What is with it?"

Szayel spun around, upset by the whole matter at hand. "It's because I'm from England, you arse! And Ned, the bloody twit isn't coming back for us, because he didn't even notice what happened! And now! We have to walk all the way to Vegas and kill Yammy somehow and I just hate it here! I hate sand, I hate the sun, I hate this…this road! I want to go home, damn it!"

"Oye. Calm down…" Nnoitra was upset as well, but screaming wasn't going to help them at all. "We just have to walk."

"In…" Szayel gestured to his Gigai, "this?! You expect me to walk?! In this?! I don't want to walk anymore! I want to fly! I hate not being able to fly! It sucks! I hate you, Ulquiorra! You can fly, damn you! I don't- Hey! What did I say about carrying me over the shoulder?! I said, no! Put me down!"

"You said you didn't want to walk." Nnoitra reminded him, skipping down the road in the direction they were heading before. "And so, I though I might carry you."

"I suppose… but… come on!" Szayel felt more like luggage than a traveling companion. "Can you please not carry me over the shoulder? And don't skip, will you?!"

"It's easier this way." Nnoitra replied, surveying his surrounds which were only that of flat ground, orange sand and a blue sky. "And-"

"Nnoitra!" Szayel cried, his head bouncing up and down as Nnoitra moved. "I am not feeling very well and all I've eaten to day is Lumina's arm!"

Nnoitra froze, mid-skip. He didn't want to be covered in purple goo. That was final. "Ah…okay! But you still don't have to walk." He moved Szayel from his shoulders to his arms.

"Why thank you…" Szayel settled happily into them, a grin on his face. "You know…You're really cute."

"What?" Nnoitra raised an eyebrow hearing this. What in the world was he talking about?! "Me?" He pointed to his face. "This, Cute?!"

"Hey, hey, you don't have to yell at me. It was just an observation." Szayel muttered, loving the way the breeze was causing Nnoitra's long black hair to move. "Besides, you are rather adorable."

"Geez!" Nnoitra cried, annoyed by this conversation already. "Why do you keep saying that I'm cute like some kind of…cute?!"

"Because!" Szayel laughed at his face as it became sightly red, "It makes you blush all cute! And I can't help myself! I just love you!"
"Don't love me so much! I don't like blushing!"

"Oh… Nnoitra… you ruined my fun!"

"I don't care!" he cried, wanting to just drop Szayel in the sand of the desert they were now walking through. After realizing that the road might not be the best means of travel as cars seemed to appear out of nowhere, Nnoitra decided to take his own path. "Stop grinning at me like that!"

"Why?" Szayel studied the white small clouds hanging over head, slowly categorizing them. "Because you find it attractive?"

"…Yeah!"

"Nnoitra… why must you insist on yelling all the time?"

Szayel watched his face turn a deeper shade of red. "Because… I don't wanna blush, damn you!"

"Ah…" Szayel laughed a little, "but there was nothing wrong with blushing at all. It is a natural reaction that causes the blood to rush to your face and-"
"I know that! I'm not stupid!"

"True." After this, the two of them fell silent for a while until Szayel noted, "why do I keep thinking of our first date?"

"Because…" Nnoitra wished he had something to drink. It was too hot out here in the desert for it to be funny. At least Heuco Mundo was cold all the time. "You're weird."

"Nah…I think it was because it involved sand."

"Only because you didn't lock the door!" It took forever to get that sand out of his hair. Weeks. Months of daily showers. And many more bottles of shampoo.

"Well, it wasn't my fault!" Szayel wanted to remind him of what really happened. "You were leaving and were halfway through the front door and I ended up kissing you because I wanted to."

"Then…" Nnoitra let out a long sigh, staring up at the clear blue sky. "Then, and this will always be a mystery, the door that I thought was shut opened behind me as we kissed and we both fell right out into the sand."

"Yep. That's what happened." Szayel nudged the story in the right direction. "At least I had something soft to land on."

"Soft?! It was me, you squashed! I swear that was the most awkward kiss I've ever had!"

"Ever?" Szayel asked. "Did you go out with someone else before?"

"No, I didn't. I just recall that is the weirdest day in history." Nnoitra stopped walking and set Szayel on his feet, "I can't carry you much longer with how hot it is."

"Understandable." Szayel bent down and touched his toes, feeling rather stiff from being carried for the last hour. "Thank you for taking me this far."

"Think nothing. If I were not wearing this Gigai, it would be no problem. The muscles just got a little tired. So… yeah… That was the weirdest day of my life."

Szayel gave Nnoitra a look over the rims of his glasses. "I don't really like how you equate me with the word 'weird.'"

"But it's true!" Nnoitra argued, stretching a little himself. They were up for a very, very long walk. "It was weird."

"You keep saying that! Why?!" Szayel cried, not liking the way it was said.

"Because… we didn't really go on a date…We skipped the movies… the dinners, flowers and went right to bed."

"Yes…" Szayel scratched his head, peering at the position of the sun to check their exact location. "It was kind of…strange, now that you say that. But, in our defense as it was kind of both of our faults… There isn't much to do in Heuco Mundo and both of us were hit by a magic whirlwind and…well… It just kind of turned out that way."

"And we knew each other maybe a little too well by then." Nnoitra added as if he were trying to plead a case in court. "And we both kinda got carried away and… I suppose there is nothing else to say beside, it was…a lot of fun."

"Nope." Szayel shook his head, "Not in the sand."

"Hell no!" Nnoitra cried, not believing that he would think such a thing. "Are you some weirdo?!"

"Thankfully not." Came the reply. "Now, lets get to Vegas as soon as possible. I don't want to spend the night out here in the dark in a strange desert where something could eat me right up."

Author's Note: This is one of my favorite chapters ever. And on the note of Romance, there will be nothing above the PG-13 level at all. So, nothing of the fruit variety. And I love Grimmjow and Ulquiorra... they are just great. They hate eachother, but get a long somehow. Magically.