An: Sorry this took so long for me to update! Just been kind of out of it lately, distracted. And now I got college coming up…bleh.

Many thanks to my reviewers and stalkers, you're the best and your comments make me feel all warm and fluffy inside! =D (lol creepy much)

Chapter 4: Three Fold Law

Ulquiorra awoke several hours later. Rolling over, he swung his legs over the side of his bed and let his eyes readjust to the lighting.

The lights were still off, however the rays of Hueco Mundo's moon filtered in through the window, giving off enough light for Ulquiorra to make out the small figure that was fast asleep on the sofa.

He still couldn't quite believe what had happened the previous day. The woman, his charge, had been in a chemical accident and transformed into a small child that appeared no more than five years of age. Not only had she recessed physically, but her mind had as well.

Ulquiorra shook his head and stood up, making his way over to his closet. He secretly wished the older woman was back as he was not adept at dealing with clinging children. Heck, he wasn't adept at dealing with the woman period, for that matter. She always surprised him, and back then he could at least rely on her to wear her emotions on her sleeves. Now though, the girl was completely unpredictable.

Grabbing a fresh set of clothing out of the closet, he made his way into the restroom and stopped dead.

There was water all over the floor and the tub was still full up, not to mention the towels were lying on the ground, soaked.

Taking a deep breath he put his clothing on the counter and cleaned up the child's mess. Afterwards, he stripped down and took a shower himself.

By the time he had redressed himself and was in the middle of drying out his hair, he heard a small pounding on the restroom door. He opened it to find the girl rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"I need to go potty." She said as way of an explanation.

Unperturbed, he stepped aside and held the door for her, allowing her entrance. Once she was inside, he tossed his wet towel into the hamper and shut the door behind him. Heading over to the large double doors, he waited, leaning up against the wall.

After several minutes she came out and looked around for him.

"Come with me, it is time for your meal." He said, opening the large double doors and heading out.

She hurriedly ran down the long spiraling hallway after him.

He glanced back over his shoulder and slowed his pace a fraction, seeing that the child was having trouble keeping up with him. It took them about fifteen minutes to reach the kitchens and to Ulquiorra's relief, the girl didn't pester him for a free ride.

Once inside the kitchen he took her to the pantry. "What do you want to eat, girl?" He asked somewhat reluctantly.

"Ummm…" she walked inside and looked around at the shelves lined with cans and boxes. She couldn't read what any of them were let alone know what she wanted. She looked back at the Clown man and frowned. "Don't know."

"Pick out something or I will do it for you. You will eat." He said with finality.

She frowned, looking around frantically, the little girl picked out the most colorful object within reach, which in this case, turned out to be a box of lucky charms™. Turning around she held the box up proudly to the Clown man. "Kay!" she exclaimed.

Ulquiorra took the box without a word and turned back into the kitchen, "go sit down." He ordered as he rummaged through the cupboards and drawers for a spoon and bowl. Once found, he poured some cereal and then got some milk from the refrigerator to add to it.

Returning to the girl he set the bowl down and ordered her to eat before returning to his usual spot against the island, hands in his pockets.

"Dank you!" the girl squealed before tucking into her breakfast.

Ulquiorra watched the girl eat with little interest, the only thought in his mind being, 'when will the girl return to normal?' There was always the chance that this was a temporary reaction and would revert on its own, though it was unlikely.

After several minutes the girl had managed to finish her breakfast. As Ulquiorra pushed himself off the island, the kitchen door swung open and a very large man stepped through.

"Ulquiorra!" the large man exclaimed upon seeing him.

Little Hime stared up at the Giant terrified. Letting out a scream, she jumped out of her chair and hid behind her guardian. "Ulqui! Don't let the Giant get me!" she cried, her eyes filming over with unshed tears.

Both Ulquiorra and Yammy looked down at the little girl in surprise.

"There is nothing to be afraid of, girl." He said tonelessly, though his words didn't seem to help as she buried her face in the back of his hakama. Closing his eyes he asked, "what is it Yammy?"

"I can't find my hollow puppy Ulquiorra!" he exclaimed, anger and sadness lacing his booming voice.

Ulquiorra opened his eyes and gave Yammy a look that seemed to say, 'you've got to be kidding me?'

Little Hime poked her head out from behind Ulquiorra's hakama, "Pu—puppy?" she squeaked.

"Yea! He got lost or ran away or somethin'!" He said solemnly, as if he had lost his best friend.

Ulquiorra had a feeling that he would not like where this conversation was going.

Little Hime peered up at the Giant from behind the Clown man. She could feel the sadness radiating off the Giant, and after a second glance, he didn't seem scary at all. Tugging on the hakama she said, "Ulqui! Can we go find the puppy? Peas?" she begged looking up at him with teary eyes.

Ulquiorra stared down at her, then he stared at Yammy, then he closed his eyes again, thinking 'Lord Aizen, help me.' He couldn't say no, or she'd start crying again, and he couldn't really leave the only other person that would put up with his stoic attitude, hanging out to dry. Feeling completely defeated and backed into a corner he gave in, "fine, we'll find his pet."

Still clutching the hakama in her hands, Little Hime started jumping up and down, beaming at him. "Yay! Gona find the puppy! Dank you!" she squealed. She couldn't have been more delighted. She was going to find a puppy and make a new friend! Releasing the Clown man she ran over to the Giant, her fear completely forgotten. "Let's find the puppy!" she exclaimed, smiling up at him.

Yammy let out a hardy laugh, "is this that woman Ulquiorra? What happened to her?"

Ulquiorra walked towards the door, "long story," was all he said.

"Okay little one, let's find my puppy!" he said, picking her up and setting her on his huge shoulders.

"Yay!" she clapped her hands as Yammy ducked to get underneath the door frame.

Catching up with Ulquiorra, Yammy informed him, "the last time I saw it was yesterday. I think. Mahbe one of the servants let it out."

"Let's head outside, maybe it tried to return to the wilds of Hueco Mundo," Ulquiorra suggested.

"Good idea, Ulquiorra!"

So the trio made there way outside of Las Noches, uninterrupted until they reached the ramparts.

"Oi! Ulquiorra, what the fuck you doin' out here? You never go outside!" A tall man jumped down from the high wall.

"We're searching for Yammy's pet, Nnoitra."

"I hope you're not referring to Pet-sama." Nnoitra grinned, walking towards the Cuatro Espada.

"SPOONY!" Little Hime exclaimed loudly, pointing at the tall mans odd hood.

Nnoitra jumped back, startled and brought Santa Teresa to bear. "What the fuck is this shit?" He pointed it the child, who just smiled and tried to grab the blade with her bare hands.

"That would be 'Pet-sama,' Nnoitra." Ulquiorra informed bluntly, as he pushed the dangerous weapon out of reach of the child.

"The fuck happened to her?" He demanded looking from Ulquiorra to the girl and back again.

"Accident in Szayel's lab," Ulquiorra surprisingly admitted.

Nnoitra leaned forward and leered at the child. "Tch. Leave it to that fag Szayel to ruin a perfectly good thing."

Little Hime stared at the oddly dressed man just a bit in front of her. She wasn't quite sure what to make of him. She thought he looked funny but got the feeling that she shouldn't want to talk to him or be near him. His aura felt…yucky.

Reaching forward she grabbed Spoony's hood and yanked it down over his face.

"What the fuck!" Nnoitra pulled his hood back to find the child hiding behind Yammy's thick neck, giggling.

"Potty mouth!" she scolded Spoony before ducking behind Yammy's large head once again.

Nnoitra swung Santa Teresa back as his lips flattened into a thin line. You could see the muscles in his jaw twitching as he ground his teeth while he desperately tried to repress the urge to kill the girl.

Little Hime peaked around the side of Yammy's neck and stuck her tongue out at him. She really didn't like the Spoon man. He said bad words and she didn't like the way he looked at her.

Ulquiorra observed this, slightly bemused. "If you are done bickering with the five year old, we'll be on our way."

Nnoitra growled as he slung his zanpakutou over his shoulder. Walking away from the group he called out over his shoulder, "try not to get sun burned, Ulquiorra." He said a smirk on his face.

Ulquiorra turned away from Nnoitra, astounded by his idiocy. "There's no sun in Hueco Mundo, trash." He countered, disdain lacing his voice.

Yammy threw back his head and howled with laughter at this, nearly throwing the little girl off.

Nnoitra stood off in the distance, his whole body shaking with rage before disappearing completely.

"What an idiot," Yammy voiced, "c'mon Ulquiorra, let's get going." He said, as he walked up to the tall, thick wall bordering Las Noches. The Diez Espada put his hand out and placed it firmly against the wall and offered it a bit of his reiatsu. The Sekkiseki wall absorbed it greedily before splitting down the middle, leaving a gap wide enough for Yammy to fit through.

The small group stepped through to the other side and immediately, the wall slammed shut behind them.

Ulquiorra stared out at the wastelands of Hueco Mundo. The landscape was ridden with rolling sand dunes and sparsely populated crystallized trees. He could see a weak dust devil, twisting about in the distance.

He walked forward a bit, his hair whipping across his face and mask as a dry gust of wind blew past him. Narrowing his eyes at the ground, he could vaguely make out the small tracks of an animal. "Yammy, we should follow these. They do not belong to any being within the walls of Las Noches besides your pet, or possibly one of Szayel's experiments."

Yammy nodded in agreement and the trio set off to follow the mysterious foot prints through the desert of Hueco Mundo.

After walking briskly for a couple hours, Ulquiorra paused. He closed his eyes and reached out with his mind, attempting to sense any heightened spiritual bodies. Across the landscape he could feel, rather than see, tiny pinpricks of spiritual energy, these represented small hollow critters. Some were a fraction larger and represented weak hollows. Furrowing his brow in concentration, he heightened his awareness and stretched the tendrils of his probing mind even further, finally able to pinpoint a medium sized spiritual body, representing an adjuchas.

"Adjuchas up ahead. Mask yourself so that we do not startle it so that it runs." Ulquiorra said before masking himself and stepping into sonido.

After several moments the trio appeared at the base of a fallen, crystallized trunk. It was lying on its side and seemed to have fallen a top a large sand dune, causing it to lie at a steep angle.

Ulquiorra jumped on to the crystallized trunk and made his way upwards to the end and peered over the edge.

Yammy glanced back at the child who was clutching his neck. Her eyes were shut tight and she was looking rather pale. "Uh, Ulquiorra? There's something wrong with the girl."

Ulquiorra turned around sharply and appeared before them. After scrutinizing her for a second he said, "The girl has a mild case of motion sickness. Just put her down while we attend to other matters." He said emotionlessly as he returned to his spot at the end of the trunk.

Nodding, Yammy put the girl down in the sand and joined his superior.

They both peered down over the edge of the trunk into what looked like a small den. It looked to have been recently used as the sand was disturbed and there were many sets of foot prints leading in and out of it. There was also what looked to be a small clearing for a fire that was lined with rubble and chunks of crystal.

"It seems to have run off. I had thought that masking our reiatsu would be enough to conceal ourselves." Ulquiorra said offhandedly as he knelt down and peered further over the edge.

"But it was 'ere right, Ulquiorra? My puppy?" Yammy asked.

Ulquiorra nodded, standing up and brushing off his knees. "It should have been. The tracks led here. We just mis—"

Giggling and laughter captured both Espada's attention.

Whipping his head around Ulquiorra sonidoed back to the base of the tree and dropped down into the sand.

Before him stood the girl, her orange hair blowing in the wind and a huge smile on her face. In front of her stood a girl of similar age and height, with sea green hair and a cracked mask atop her head with winding horns on the sides. They were both engaged in a game of patty-cake.

"An Arrancar?" Ulquiorra asked, surprised. He thought he had sensed an Adjuchas.

The Arrancar's gaze locked onto his and she stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. "Ulqui—Ulquiorra-thama!"

Little Hime glanced back at the Clown man and then to her new friend. She seemed really fearful of the Clown man for some reason though she couldn't see why. "Nel! What's wrong?" she asked, bending down to pick her friend up.

Ulquiorra's eyes widened in recognition, this small child was Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, formerly the Tres Espada before Nnoitra had supposedly killed her.

"Nel'th afwaid of Ethpada," the green haired girl said as she was pulled shakily to her feet.

"As you should be," Ulquiorra said as he advanced upon her, "you're supposedly dead." He said coldly.

Fearing for her new friend, Little Hime stood in front of her, blocking her from the Clown man's sight. "No hurt Nel!" she exclaimed, her lip trembling. She could vaguely feel the threatening aura the Clown man produced, though as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. Little Hime looked up at him, confused.

Yammy, who had been taking his time walking down the trunk, finally arrived and stood before the odd gathering. Noticing Nel, and being the dimwit he is, he asked, "you wouldn't have happened to have seen a hollow puppy around here, did ya?"

Glancing between her new friend and the two scary Espada, she replied, "Nel thaw puppy and Nel took careth puppy. Puppy wasth afwaid."

Ulquiorra closed his eyes, "where is it?"

Taking a deep breath and swallowing her fear she said, "thith way," and led them around the side of the fallen crystallized tree.

Once on the other side, they reached the small den.

From the ground they could see that it was deeper than they had originally thought. The owner of the den had dug down through the sand dune to beneath the crystallized tree and then through the roots to create a secluded cave, unreachable by the harsh winds of Hueco Mundo.

Nel walked inside and pushed a crystallized root out of the way revealing a small hole. She reached inside and after a moment withdrew with a small hollow puppy in her arms. "Thith the puppy?" She asked, looking up at the large Espada.

Yammy's eyes lit up at the sight of his lost companion, "Mullido!" He cried, scooping the hollow puppy out of Nel's arms, causing Nel to pout slightly. "Thank's little one for watchin' out for mah puppy 'ere." Yammy choked out.

"Yea! Dank you Nel!" Little Hime exclaimed, glomping the other child and throwing her off guard.

Nel's eyes widened as she struggled to get away. "Nel…canth…breathe…"

Ulquiorra watched the exchange exceedingly amused though he didn't show it. Here was the former Tres Espada, being attacked and overpowered by a mere five year old child. 'What a weak piece of trash.' He thought and was suddenly startled when that same five year old was suddenly hugging his legs.

"Dank you Ulqui for helpin' to find the puppy!" she beamed up at her guardian.

Ulquiorra stared down at her and was about to tell her to remove herself when Yammy piped up.

"Yea…Ulquiorra-sama, thanks for helping to find Mullido. I couldn't have done it without you. You know how terrible I am at sensing reiatsu and stuff." He said sincerely, rubbing the back of his head while he cradled the puppy with the other.

Ulquiorra looked between the two of them, words escaping him. Nobody had ever really thanked him for anything before, much less thanked him sincerely. He felt an odd, warm and light sensation floating within him. 'What is this feeling?' he wondered.

"Thath wath very kind of you, Ulquiorra-thama." Nel spoke up softly, garnering his attention. She smiled warily up at him.

"I see." He said, somewhat distracted as he looked down at the child Espada. 'This is what it feels like? When one performs an act of kindness, they feel…happy?' The emotion was confusing to him, though he could perform a test to see if his assumptions are correct.

"Nelliel Tu," he began, "be wary and stay away from Las Noches. There are others that will not be as lenient as I if they were to become aware of your existence." He said, looking down at the green haired child.

Nel beamed up at him, her mouth hanging open. Then after a moment she snapped it shut and clapped her hands together, jumping up and down and then bowing spastically, "Thank you, Ulquiorra-thama, thank you!" She cried. Once she straightened up she had tears in her eyes and had to wipe them away. "You're truly the motht merthicful Ethpada ever!" she exclaimed.

Ulquiorra stared down at the grateful child who seemed to be radiating just as much happiness as his charge. 'Now I'm merciful and kind?' he thought, even more confused than before. 'And the feeling didn't increase in intensity, maybe because I was expecting it?' He closed his eyes and sighed inwardly. 'These emotions are too alien to me.' He thought. "Come, we must return to Las Noches." He stated, turning away from the former Espada.

Yammy nodded and followed after him.

"Wait for me!" Little Hime cried, trying to catch up and struggling through the deep sand. Suddenly remembering her friend, she turned around and waved, "bye Nel!"

Nel waved back, "bye! Thee you later!"

Turning around, Little Hime ran to catch up and nearly ran into the Clown man. She looked up at him questioningly.

"Do you want to walk or do you want to sonido?" he asked, straight to the point.

Little Hime frowned, remembering how long it had taken them to find the puppy to begin with. Making up her mind she raised her arms, "Clown ride?" she asked tentatively.

Chapter 5 teaser: Little Hime gaped at the small Arrancar. "What are you doing?" she asked, bending up to look at the man who had fallen back asleep on the arm of the couch.

"Elbow bombing." Lilynette said innocently as she elbow bombed Stark in the nuts once again, eliciting a small giggle from Hime.

AN: Ok I know…it's a bit odd that they have a kitchen, a pantry AND refrigerator in Las Noches…but for the sake of the child. Let's just pretend they do ok? Lol. Besides I wouldn't be surprised if they did at least have a refrigerator, considering there are three shinigami and a scientist on the premises. Logically, Szayel would need one anyways to store all his Petri dishes, vaccines, blood etc.

Mullido = Spanish for 'Fluffy' lol I couldn't resist.

Also yes. I know. Yammy is COMPLETELY out of character, especially since his Aspect of Death is RAGE…but I just couldn't resist this. Big ol' badass giant dude crying over his lost puppy named Fluffy. Honestly the way I write him makes me think of him as the Arrancar version of Hagrid from Harry Potter. Lol

Cookie/Llama if you know what the Three Fold Law is and the moral/value it teaches ^^