SANDS OF TIME

Well, my first Bleach story and my first story in over 3 years. Wow, does time sure fly when you don't have Internet. This story just popped into my head after watching a couple of episodes of Bleach and reading the manga about Nnoitra and Neliel. Now keep in mind when I first saw our beloved spoon-spada, I absolutely didn't like him, but now I can't get this pairing out of my mind. Ahhh.

This may seem a little OOC and certainly might be AU. We don't know where Tite Kubo will go with the Hueco Mundo part of his manga so I'm just writing what I feel like.

Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo, not me, but I do own a blue fork by the name of Toby that hopefully Nnoitra won't steal. He's already stolen my pink spoon named Terry.

On with the fic....

Nnoitra Jiruga wearily opened his eye and groaned. What had woken him up was the wet feeling of something freezing his chest off. He panicked at first, not being able to see anything, but as stars slowly began appearing, his breathing became better. He weakly tried to get up, only to fail as the movement sent forth a level of pain he was not used to in his sealed form.

Sealed form? How'd he get in that form? Didn't he pass out in his release form? The wind blew and his chest became cold again. He grimaced and placed his hand, the one he knew for certain was there, on his chest. He remembered the others were cut off by that crazed Shinigami, Kenpachi. His hand touched something cold, wet and slick. His eye twitched. He vaguely thought he should know what this was, but his mind was drawing a blank.

Footsteps in the sand near him made him snap his head to the direction, however the movement hurt, and he groaned from the dull throbbing his head began to make. "I see you're finally awake Nnoitra." The gruff voice only belonged to that Shinigami. Kenpachi walked closer to the raven haired man and squatted next to him. "You're awfully lucky to survive me, but if Ichigo could, then I shouldn't have doubted you. Course that little one helped too. If it wasn't for her, we'd be here hell of a lot longer."

Kenpachi put his arm underneath Nnoitra and slowly lifted him to a sitting position. His body protested, but didn't feel quite as bad as it had been. "Come on, it's freezing and we've got a fire just a little ways away. I would have moved you closer, but that little one and the blond one were afraid your injuries might get worse if we did." Nnoitra tried to protest, but the words just didn't want to come out of his mouth.

As the captain half dragged Nnoitra to the inviting warmth of the fire, his thoughts began to jumble up. What had happened while he was unconscious? What was Aizen doing now? Since he was defeated, did he even have his position as an Espada anymore? Kenpachi began to hum and Nnoitra glanced at him. This man was truly his equal. He craved the fight as much as he himself did. But... this man had something that Nnoitra lacked...compassion. He had spared Nnoitra's life. Nnoitra knew he should be angry that he lived, but, for some reason, he was relieved he was alive.

Once they got to the fire, Kenpachi sat Nnoitra down to where his back was laying on a rock and walked over to the fire, carefully stroking it. Nnoitra calmly looked into the fire, feeling peaceful. "What happened?" he asked softly. His throat hurt, probably from all the screaming he had done. Kenpachi chuckled. "Well, one of yours took Orihime, and Ichigo went after him. That blue haired one got up after some time and went after him, and that little girl with the green hair stayed with the blond kid and you and tried healing you with...well I think it's spit. It healed that blond kid's injuries and your hand so I didn't really question what it was. We left you where you were and built a fire when it began to get dark."

"Oh." Nnoitra wearily began looking around. "My lieutenant and that blond kid went to look for more firewood and maybe something to eat for you guys. I brought some food but didn't know if you could eat it, and that kid said you guys eat the small hollows that are around here. They should be back soon." "Where's...?" As soon as he asked it, he saw her just a little bit away. Neliel, still in her child form, was asleep close to the fire. A constricting feeling began to pound at his chest when he put everything that was troubling him together. She had saved him...again. But this time...he wasn't angry. Not at her anyway.

Suddenly, that one brief moment as he fell and watched her looking at him came back to his mind. In her eyes, those child eyes, she held no hate for him. Even after everything he had done to her, hurt that orange haired Shinigami, scared her, shoot he even kicked her hard, and yet she still didn't hate him. He drooped his head, suddenly ashamed of his actions.

A soft moan made him snap his head up. He looked at Nel, fidgeting in her sleep and shivering, despite being so close to the fire. "She's cold. Could you bring her to me?" he asked softly. Kenpachi looked at Nnoitra and then at Nel and walked over to her, gently picking her up and putting her in Nnoitra's outstretched arms. Nnoitra began softly stroking her short hair, frowning at the dryness of it. 'Years in the desert do that to hair you know.' his subconscious voice nagged at him. Regret passed over his face. It had been so pretty back then...

Nnoitra's eye widened. He didn't just think what he just thought did he? What was wrong with him? Why was he acting submissive like this? He began to shove Nel off and get up, when Nel began to bury herself in him. Nnoitra looked down and inwardly gasped when she began smiling. She wearily opened her eyes and looked up at him. "You're so warm, Nnoitra." she said before snuggling in him again. "Can I sleep on you? The sand's cold." Nnoitra sighed. "Sure." he answered before closing his eye and drifting off as well, smiles on both their faces.

Wow!!! This was weird to write but it just wouldn't leave me alone. I meant this as a one shot, but with the way the story ended, I can easily add another part or too, if I get reviews saying they want it. Otherwise, I'll just keep it as a one shot and let you leave it to your imagination.

Review please and be kind. It's been a while since I've wrote anything.