I do not own Bleach

Chapter 25 Sorrow and Victory

Ulquiorra looked around their cave again. It was so lonely without Hinata here. It had been days since he had seen her, and word had just come that it was time. Any day Aizen and his followers would come to Las Noches. He, along with all the other hollows Aizen had gathered, were supposed to be there when he arrived.

He let his eyes wander around the cave one last time before picking up Hinata's trunk. She always kept her most important things in it, and the rest they had stored away. Sonidoing, he left the cave that he knew he would never come back to.

He gave a small smile at the sandcastle that rose in front of him. It was indestructible to all. He had heard Lilynette and several other hollows complain about it. Several had tried to destroy it, but nothing had worked.

Thankfully when they had built it he had also used a little of his own spiritual pressure along with Hinata's, and that allowed him to enter the sand castle. The inside had several small trunks like the one in his arms that held all the gifts she had ever been given. There were even some flowers that she had frozen from her last birthday. He gently placed it on the ground next to the others. As he went to stand again, a small flash of silver caught his eye. He smiled as he held his arm up. When Hinata had started school, she had bought him a bracelet that was green with a small circular charm. It was her first purchase in her gigai, and she had been so proud of herself. She had also bought an identical one for herself but in yellow. It was the only thing he could take of her with him.

He strode to the door before passing through the sand, coming out on the other side only to skid to a stop when he saw Starrk and Lilynette who was tapping her feet impatiently. Starrk gave a smile at his exit.

"So we were right; this is her house." Starrk said.

Ulquiorra did his best to make his face blank. "Who's?"

Lilynette let out a growl before launching herself at him. "You know who!"

He leaned to the side as she sailed past him and smashed into the sandcastle, cursing. Starrk's face went serious. "Where is she?"

"I. . ."

Starrk moved forward and appeared as if he was about to hit him, but stopped. Ulquiorra looked to the side to see he was holding Lilynette's leg. "Don't bother lying to us. We know you are together. We have no plan of ever telling Aizen. If you won't tell us where she is, will you tell us if she is safe?"

Ulquiorra paused. "I don't know."

Starrk gave a knowing nod before looking past him at the castle again. "Did she make the sandcastle?"

Ulquiorra couldn't stop the small smile that creeped onto his face. "Yeah."

Starrk smirked, still holding Lilynette. "I wondered. It has always felt like her."

They stood for but a moment more looking at each other before, with a brief nod, they took off in separate directions.

Ulquiorra had one last thing he needed to make sure of before he went in to Las Noches. It wasn't too hard to find her. She seemed to enjoy hanging around the sand castle, almost like she could remember the girl she had met there. Ulquiorra stood on the hill looking down at a little green haired girl as she ran around.

It had happened while he had been away; the fifth and eight espada had cornered Nel. He still wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but when he had made it back, her mask had been cracked and was leaking spiritual pressure. The only way she had been able to survive was by reverting back to a small child and conserving her energy. She had lost all of her memories in the process. He hadn't told Hinata for he knew she would be upset and would try to get revenge for her friend, but with Aizen on high alert looking for her it would be impossible to avenge Nel.

Aizen had become more and more infatuated with Hinata the longer she managed to avoid him. He was drawn from his thoughts when a voiced yelled out, "Uncle Ulqui!" followed by a head butt to his chest. If it hadn't been from all the years of raising Hinata and her attacking him with hugs, he was sure he would have been thrown off his feet into the sand dune behind him.

As it was, he was able to keep his feet, but was still pushed back several feet. He reached down and ruffled Nel's hair. "How are you doing, Nel?"

"Nel is doing great! I have been playing chase all day long. Play with me!" And with that she was off again running across the dunes.

He gave a smile. She was just like a younger Hinata, but if he was honest with himself, Hinata was still like that. He had decided that when Nel had been hurt that he would protect her as best as he could for Hinata. With that thought he was off chasing her through the sand. She wasn't as fast as Hinata was at that size, but she was still hard to catch.

. . .

It was almost time. Ulquiorra stood in what had become his room in Las Noches. It was a large, open place. It was empty, just like how he had felt all those years ago before Hinata had come into his life. He had to shake himself. Aizen was due to arrive today if his information was correct, and he needed to be there to greet him. With one final look at his bracelet, he left his room.

. . .

After leaving Toshiro and Rangiku behind, Hinata had felt lost. She wasn't sure where she should go, so she found herself wandering the Seireitei again. What could she do to help Gin?!

She was standing on a building when the sun started to rise. She reached out her hands as if to touch it when a small flash of light caught her eye. It was her bracelet. It was bright yellow with a simple sun charm holding it together. She had bought it with Uncle Kisuke.

She breathed in a deep breath of the fresh morning air. She didn't need to worry. It would work out. She gave a giggle before setting off to help her friends.

. . .

Chad sat and listened to Ganju and Ishida fighting. They were yelling so loud that Chad almost didn't hear the sound of approaching feet. "Shh!" He said.

"Huh?" Ishida looked back at him.

"What? What is it?" Ganju asked.

"Don't you hear that?" Chad said facing the sound that was getting louder.

"Yeah, I think I do," Ganju said.

Crashes started sounding from outside. "Um. . . It's definitely getting closer."

"Don't worry, it's just Kenny!"

They all swung around to see Hinata squatting in front of the bars smiling at them.

"Hina. . ."

There was a loud explosion and dirt rained down from the ceiling. As the dust cleared, a large man with black spiky hair appeared.

Ganju started freaking out "Kenpachi Zaraki, captain of the eleventh squad! Wahhhh! You're that weird bowl cut narcissist!"

The man with feathers attached to his eyebrow stepped forward with a scrunched brow. "Who are you again? Sorry, I have a bad memory for ugly faces. . ." His sentence died off as he caught sight of something behind Chad. He sped past him to the bars. "Hinata! It is so good to see a beautiful face again!" He went to say something more, but was cut off by another.

A short pink haired head peeked over the large man's shoulder. "Hinata?!" Yeah!" She jumped off Kenny onto Chad's shoulder before continuing onto the other man who was looking at Hinata.

Everyone was so confused with what was happening that they almost didn't notice Orihime who also peeked over the large man's shoulder. "Uryu! Chad! Ganju! Hinata! Thank goodness, you're all right!" As Orihime climbed off the larger man's back, the large man walked over to Hinata.

He looked down at her. "Why is it every time I want someone strong to fight I keep finding you?"

Hinata just smiled up at him. "Kenny! It's good to see that you are okay!"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where is your brother?"

"He's training, but he will be at Rukia's execution to save her!"

He gave a nod. "Well, we better go find him then." He reached forward and pulled the bars apart so that Hinata could step into the cell with them.

As soon as she stepped through the bars she found herself on the receiving end of two bone crushing hugs from her friends. They all started talking at once.

Orihime: "I was so worried when I saw you on the other side of the gate when it closed. You weren't supposed to be here."

"Idiot," Uryu whispered from behind.

"Glad you're okay." Chad said as he patted her head.

That was all the reunion they had before the large man spoke again, "Time to go."

Uryu grabbed Hinata's hand as they all exited out of the cell and back into the street.

. . .

Hinata giggled as once again they went down the wrong path. She knew where they were, but found it fun to watch as Kenny led the group. She was in no hurry; she could tell that they still had plenty of time before they needed to be there to save Rukia.

Beside her, Uryu was still holding her hand and gave a small cough. She looked over at him and smiled. He gave a small smile before dropping her hand. He reached with hands on either side of her head gathering all of her hair. He pulled it up into a bun before pulling his hands back. Hinata reached up, touching it, and felt the cold silver of her chopsticks. He gave another small cough as she smiled up at him.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you, Hinata. I let my feelings get away from me, and I've hurt you."

"It's okay, I forgive you." She reached up on her tippy toes and kissed him on his cheek before skipping to the front and standing by Kenny. "When are you going to tell them to come out? Are they playing hide and seek?"

Kenny looked down at her before looking up again. "Playing hide and seek. . . why, you ought to be ashamed. Show yourself. Captains shouldn't go around disguising their spiritual pressures."

As the spiritual pressure rose, a loud voice spoke, "You've got a big mouth. Do you realize what you're doing?"

Hinata watched with interest as four people appeared; one of which was the Shinigami who was fighting with himself. His eyes went wide as they fell upon her. When the man with pretty dark skin spoke, Hinata felt a dark chill climb her spine. She quickly ducked behind Kenny and grabbed his robes. Kenny shot her a look of puzzlement before facing forward to listen to the man.

"Where were you going with the Ryoka? Did you lose your honor with your defeat, Zaraki?"

Hinata was shaking so hard that she wasn't able to hear what they were saying until she felt the comforting rise in Kenny's spiritual pressure. He twisted around and gently pulled her hands off his robe and handed her to Chad who was the closest.

"Four against one, eh? Not really enough to test my sword, but why not?" Kenny gave a chuckle.

"Four to one isn't enough? Do you mean to take on all four of us by yourself? I know you're good, but I think you're overrating yourself a bit Kenpachi Zaraki," a large man who was wearing a bucket on his head said.

"Stop yapping and fight!" Kenny said, pulling his sword out in front of him once again and raising his spiritual pressure once more. "If you're smart you'll attack me from all sides at once. Then one of you might have a chance of cutting me."

When a man tried to offer Kenny help, Kenny told him to move because he was in the way. Yachiru gave a smile and a wave to Kenny. "Kenny! We'll go on ahead and look for Ichigo! Don't take too long, okay?"

"Don't worry. I'll be right there."

With that Yachiru turned, giving them a smile. "Okay, let's go! C'mon Hinata, Chubby Chest, Muscles, Gorilla, Pencil Neck!"

Chad reached down, picking up Hinata in his arms and followed the little girl. As they ran away, Hinata found that her eyes were glued to Kenny's back.

. . .

"You can put me down, Chad," Hinata said softly, looking up at her friend. "I can walk on my own."

Chad grunted and set her on her feet.

Hinata walked silently beside Uryu, who had taken her hand once again, while Yachiru led them through the Seireitei. She was worried about Kenny, but Yumichika and Ikkaku had stayed to help him, so she felt that he would be okay. She could still feel Ichigo's spirit pressure where she had last left him; he was still training. If he didn't hurry, he would be too late. Before long, another battle caught her attention; the red haired man was fighting someone too, and he felt stronger than he had before.

"Are you alright?" Uryu asked, bringing her attention back to their little group.

She smiled up at him. "Yep! I'm just making sure everyone is okay!"

He smiled back at her, but she was distracted once again. Gin had found Rukia, and he wasn't being very nice. She shook her head sadly; Gin was still trying to convince everyone that he was a bad guy. Hinata sighed and pulled her hand free of Uryu's so that she could take the lead.

Yachiru looked up at her confused. "Did you want to lead?"

"Yes," Hinata said, looking towards the execution grounds. "I know how to get there, and it will be faster if I lead."

. . .

Gin walked away as Rukia screamed behind him, guilt eating at his heart. The whole time he spoke to her, the image of Hinata haunted him along with the tattered ribbon that was Rangiku. He knew that the odd, orange haired girl would not approve of his behavior. He tried to push the image of her out of his mind, but the sinking, guilty feeling just intensified. What if he really was hurting Rangiku?

. . .

There was a loud rumbling sound coming from the execution grounds. Hinata looked up at it; they still had time to get there. However, the others were beginning to panic.

"Has it begun?" Yachiru asked, also looking towards Sokyoku Hill.

"Don't worry," Hinata said, turning to comfort them. "We'll make it in time. We're almost there."

Yachiru suddenly shot forward. "I don't care about the execution, but Itchy might be there, and if he is, I have to help him."

The others picked up the pace. Hinata could feel all the battles coming to a close. Kenny had won his battles. The red haired man had lost, but he would be okay once someone healed him. Next she sought out Ichigo, and then smiled; he had finally mastered Bankai. It wouldn't be long until they could rescue Rukia.

. . .

Answers: Hey everyone. As always, thank you for reading! We are so grateful for your support. We just wanted to acknowledge some of your comments and provide some clarification. A few of you have said that we're sticking a little too close to Bleach's actual story line without changing it up. That is true for some parts; we are now tied into the story line. However, we are trying to only stick to the main, major plot points and battles because we are trying to stay true to each individual character's personalities. However, once we leave the Seireitei, we are going to be mixing things up a little bit again. As always, please review or message us with your questions and we'll get back to you!