I do not own Bleach

. . .

Chapter 3 Return to the World of the Living

Hinata landed back on the sands of Hueco Mundo. She was sad to see all the colors leave. She turned around, looking for Ulquiorra. He wasn't very far away, but he was curled up in a small ball. She felt emptiness radiating off of him. She walked up to him, bent down, and looked into his eyes.

"Ulqu…" She had barely started to say his name when his head snapped up. Upon seeing her, he grabbed her in a bone crushing hug. She hugged him back for about five minutes before she became impatient and began to squirm, wanting to tell him all about her day.

"Ulqui, you'll never believe what I did today! I made a new friend named Ichigo, and he has the same color hair as me. He also gave me a name!"

Ulquiorra looked down at her, confusion in his eyes. "Ichigo?"

"Yep! He gave me the name 'Hinata'. It means 'sunshine,' just like what you call me, but he told me that sunshine isn't a name, which is why he named me Hinata!"

"Wait, where were you!" He grabbed her arms and forced her to look up at him.

"I was with Ichigo, silly." She smiled back up at him.

"Ichigo? Like a strawberry?"

She laughed and he smiled. "No, Ulquiorra, it means to protect. He promised me that he would protect me too." She giggled again. "And I told him that I would visit again."

"Visit again?"

"Yep! And you won't believe it! Everything was so colorful! There's green there and it's everywhere. It's such a pretty color, just like your eyes!"

"Green? You went to the world of the living!?"

"What's the world of the living?"

Ulquiorra sighed. "Let's go home, and you can tell me more about it. I'm just glad that you're safe."

"Ok!" she said with a bright smile, "but you'll have to catch me first!"

He smiled as he watched her race off into the distance. She was safe, and for now that was all that mattered. When they made it home, he would have to have a talk with her about the dangers of the world of the living. Even so, it seemed that she had made the trip safely and made a promise to return there at a future point. Shaking his head, he sped off in pursuit.

. . .

Starrk relaxed against a rock, hands behind his head, ignoring Lilynette's attempts to move him. He was still pondering on the odd conversation he had had with the young vasto lorde. He'd been alone for so long that the encounter had startled him and made him begin to wonder: were their other hollows powerful enough to withstand Lilynette's and his presence?

"Starrk, you idiot!" Lilynette hollered, kicking him. "Get off your lazy butt, and let's do something!"

He waved her off. "Why bother?"

At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a flash of movement. Shifting, he made out a small figure on a dune in the distance. It came to a sudden stop, turning to where he and Lilynette sat. It was a small girl arrancar with vivid orange hair, wearing a purple dress. A bright smile flashed across her face and she waved. Starrk couldn't help but smile in response.

Just as suddenly as she had appeared, she vanished, leaving him dazed. Certainly he had seen an arrancar child, but he hadn't sensed any spirit pressure from her. Had he really seen her? Or was it his imagination? With a small chuckle, he decided to forget about the incident for the time being. Perhaps he would see the girl again.

"What's so funny?" Lilynette demanded, attempting to kick him once again.

"Nothing," he said, blocking her. "You're right; let's move somewhere else. I'm bored."

. . .

"Ulqui, Ichigo needs me!" Hinata whined, tugging against his hand impatiently.

"Not until you promise to take care of yourself. And you must come back at the end of the day; I don't like it when you're away," Ulquiorra told her sternly.

Hinata rolled her eyes and giggled. "Silly, I can take care of myself! Besides, Ichigo said he would protect me."

"What if you run into a Shinigami?"

"If I run into one, I'll hide. Can I go now?"

Unable to come up with any other good arguments, Ulquiorra gave up with a sigh. "Just . . . be careful, please, Hinata." Despite his initial panic, he was grateful to the boy who had given his sunshine a proper name. It had taken some getting used to, but the name suited her perfectly.

"I'll be careful, Ulqui, I promise." She smiled and gave him a quick hug before stepping into the garganta. Her excitement rose as she rushed down the path to the human world. She could feel him; Ichigo was sad again, and he needed her.

She stepped onto the road outside a yellow structure, happy to be in such a colorful world again. Ichigo was inside the building, and there were others with him.

"Ichigo! You're going to be late!" a young girl's voice called out.

Hinata tilted her head to the side, listening to the commotion. With a shrug, she decided to go inside. There was a window open on the side of the building that she crawled though. Ichigo stood in the middle of the room, tugging a jacket on while speaking to two girls sitting at a table. Smiling, Hinata jumped down from the window sill and snuck up behind Ichigo.

"Dad, I'm leaving!" he hollered.

"Be safe!" another voice called from somewhere else inside the building.

Hinata followed Ichigo to the door, walking on her tiptoes the way she did when she was playing with Ulquiorra and wondering if he would notice her. He stopped at the door and turned back to the girls at the table. "Hey Karin! Yuzu! Make sure Dad gets you to school on time."

"We will!" one of them yelled back.

It was then that Ichigo looked down and noticed Hinata standing behind him. "What the . . .!" he gasped, backing into the door.

"I came back!" Hinata said proudly. "Did you miss me?"

Eyes wide, Ichigo didn't respond for a moment. "Where have you been!?"

"Who are you talking to, Ichigo? We've been here the whole time!" a voice called from the other room once more.

"Nobody," he yelled back, yanking the door open and grabbing Hinata's hand. "I'm leaving now!" As they walked outside, he turned back to Hinata and asked again, "where have you been?"

"Hmmm? I was with Ulquiorra, silly. Where do you think I've been?" she answered with a smile.

"I didn't think you were coming back. It's been three months!"

Hinata tilted her head to the side, pouting. "I told you I'd come back when you needed me. So I came back. I kept my promise." She looked back towards the house. "Who were those girls?"

"Those were my sisters, Karin and Yuzu. I'm their big brother, so it's my job to look after them. "

"Oh! Then . . . are you my big brother too?"

Ichigo looked down at her, frowning. "Ummm . . ." Ichigo didn't know how to answer that. She was an imaginary friend, right? "I guess you could call me that."

"Then Ulquiorra is my brother too," Hinata said with another smile. "I have two brothers!"

"I guess."

"Yep! Ulquiorra always takes care of me and now you will too." She skipped by his side as they made their way down the street. "By the way, where are we going, Ichigo? Are we going to play like we did last time?"

"I can't play today. I have school."

"What's school?"

"It's where you go to learn."

"What do you learn about?"

"Well . . ." He seemed hesitant. "You could come with me."

"I'd like that. Can we play when you're done with school?"

"I have to go to the dojo after school, but we can play after that."

"Dojo?" she asked, and then shrugged as if it didn't matter. "Is school fun?"

"You'll see," Ichigo told her with a smile.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Then Hinata spoke again. "Are you ok, Ichigo?"

"What?"

"You're sad about something."

"No, I'm fine."

Hinata smiled. "Alright. I trust you, Ichigo." Happy, she swung their hands and started jumping over the cracks in the sidewalk, entertaining herself until they made it to the school. When Ichigo stopped at the gate, she looked up at the building with wide eyes. "It's so big!"

"Yeah," Ichigo said. He squeezed her hand and sighed, preparing himself as they walked onto the school grounds.