I do not own Bleach.

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Chapter 1 An Encounter With Loneliness

Ulquiorra smiled as he sonidoed. His sunshine was holding on to his neck as they traveled. Over the past year they had moved around a lot. She had grown a lot - almost three feet tall. Her orange hair was down to her lower back and was flying out behind them as they sonidoed. Her mask had shrunk to the point where it was only the size of her fist perfectly round with the crossed bones still in the middle. He had found her a single tube of cloth he had gotten from a hollow he had killed for her to wear. It was a deep purple that set off her bright orange hair.

He felt her giggle in his ear, "Faster Ulquiorra, faster." He smiled again, going faster. Only moments into his run, he felt her weight leave his back as she sonidoed beside him. "Catch me Ulqiorra!" She then raced off into the distance.

He picked up his pace again, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to catch her. She way by far the fastest hollow he had ever met. She had learned to sonido shortly after they left their first home, and since then he had never been able to catch her. Even so, she loved the silly game of hers and would run. Thankfully, she never went out of his range and would wait for him when she was done. They had played this game once for over a week. By the time it was done he had barley been able to stand and had collapsed on the sand. She had appeared at his side in an instant to make sure he was okay. Since then, she never played for more than two days in a row.

They had been playing for several hours straight when all of a sudden she stopped. He was startled because not only had she stopped abruptly, but she was looking off into the distance as if she had sensed something. As he drew closer to her he also felt the increase in spiritual pressure of another being nearby. When he reached her he picked her up.

"Are you okay?"

She didn't look at him just keep staring off in the direction of the spiritual pressure as she replied, "He's lonely."

He looked off in the direction she was looking, stretching his ability to sense the spiritual pressure better. From what he could tell, it was two large spiritual pressures; they almost felt familiar. "How do you know that they are lonely?"

She gently shook her head. "No he is lonely." She looked up at him with her big brown eyes.

He could tell that she wanted to go and see the hollow that was suffering. However, he had a feeling in his gut that he should not let her meet whatever incredible force he was feeling. "I will go and see what the matter is, but you have to stay here until I say it's safe." He watched her closely as she nodded and looked back off in the direction of the hollows. He gently put her on the ground. He gave her one last look before sonidoing away.

They were far away and it was almost fifteen minutes before he was finally able to see the two figures. They were both arrancars; one was a tall man with shoulder length brown hair with a sword at his side, with a short girl with pale light green hair and a full mask on top of her head. He remembered seeing them many years ago. The man was sitting down in the sand and the little girl seemed to be yelling at him for being lazy.

He was still trying to decide what to do when suddenly the man locked eyes with him in a lazy manner and called out, "You can come out you know."

Ulquiorra stiffened at having been sensed, but rose from his crouched position and walked down the sand dune towards them. As he drew closer he watched as the girl's face widened in surprise the closer he got, and even the man's eyes widen slightly and he rose to his feet.

"Who are you, hollow?" The man asked.

He debated whether to tell them or not, but, after thinking about it a long time, he didn't find any harm in telling them; as long as they didn't know about his sunshine, she would be fine. "Ulquiorra, who are you?"

The man answered, "My name is Coyote Starrk, and this is my other half Lilynette Gingerback."

Both parties stared at each other for several more minutes before the girl seemed to break out of her daze and kicked Starrk before turning towards Ulquiorra, throwing a kick towards his head as she yelled, "How are you still alive?"

Ulquiorra easily dodged the attack and continued to do so until Starrk grabbed Lilynette by the back of her shirt, holding her up in the air. "Sorry, but how are you alive?"

Ulquiorra looked at them once again thinking about what they said, "I don't understand what you mean."

Starrk sighed and after receiving a kick from an angry Lilynette; he held her out further from his body. "Ever since I came to this world any hollow who tried to get close to me would instantly die. So how are you alive?"

He thought about what Starrk had said. "I'm not sure, but maybe I'm strong enough to be near you?" He had barely finished his sentence when one of his biggest fears happened. He turned in the direction of were his sunshine's spiritual pressure had been just a moment ago.

"What. . .?" Starrk started, but Ulquiorra didn't hear anymore as he raced off at top speed to where his sunshine's spiritual pressure had just vanished from. In less than a minute, he felt himself jerked to a stop by a hand on his arm. He turned around to see Starrk holding his arm with an almost desperate hold. "Where are you going?" One look at Ulquiorra's face and he could tell he was in a panic. He let him go, and, as he vanished before him again, Starrk whispered, "Visit us again."

Lilynette appeared at his side then, and off in the distance she could feel Ulquiorra's spiritual pressure vanishing. She quickly kicked Starrk then walked back the way she had come.

…

Ulquiorra arrived at the place he had left her, but there was no sign of where she had gone. He let out an unearthly scream into the night as he collapsed to his knees. The emptiness he hadn't felt in a year came crushing down on him. She was gone. His sunshine was gone.