Oh, UlquiHime I have missed you~

Anyway, this is based on Rusky's picture "Royalty", and I hope that she likes my take on the backstory she gave us.

I equally hope that you guys like it =D

As soon as the small slip of parchment was fastened to the hawk's leg, Ulquiorra raised his arm high. There was a brief pressure of the bird's talons in his arm before it took off into the sky, and the head knight of the Moon Empire watched the Hawk's retreating form with narrowed eyes. He was becoming … Uncomfortable with his King's plan.

Since arriving two months ago, Ulquiorra had kept his eyes open for any weaknesses, searching for ways to bring the Sun Kingdom down. He had not expected the warm welcome the Moon Princess and her entourage had received, had not expected them to be treated as though they were family from the very second they stepped in the castle door, as if the planned marriage had already taken place.

As though that hadn't been unsettling enough, Ulquiorra was slowly coming to realise that the people of the Sun Kingdom were actually happy with their King – The rumours that circulated the Moon Empire suggested that he was a tyrannical ruler, and that everyone was miserable with him at the throne. Everything that Ulquiorra had seen these past weeks contradicted that so thoroughly it was troubling.

His musing was interrupted by the quiet sound of someone's approach, and Ulquiorra instinctively brought a cautious hand up to his sword handle, subtly shifting into a battle-stance as he glanced over his shoulder. The tension left him as he realised it was just his Princess, however, and he instantly dropped to one knee, inclining his head respectfully at her.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," Rukia sighed, grimacing at Ulquiorra as he stood once more. "Father isn't here – And you're my oldest friend, you don't need to follow the traditions."

Ulquiorra simply shrugged a shoulder – They'd had this argument more times than he cared to count – and looked down at the streets below, Rukia coming to stand by his side.

"It's different, isn't it?" Rukia asked him softly, her mouth quirking into a smile as she watched the children running through the streets, laughing joyfully as they went.

Ulquiorra arched an eyebrow at her, "Don't get attached," he reminded her, "You know why we're here."

Huffing out a sigh, Rukia fixed him with a glare, "And I'm not sure I agree anymore. Things aren't what we thought they were – The rumours abut this place were all wrong."

"It's what your Father wishes," Ulquiorra said, as if that erased any doubt either of them might be developing.

"Well – So what? That doesn't mean it's right."

Frowning, Ulquiorra looked at Rukia carefully as she returned to watching the streets below. She'd never challenged her father's wishes before, never second-guessed that they were doing the right thing by destroying the Sun Kingdom. She hadn't even objected to the plan when King Aizen had asked for her assistance – In fact, she'd simply nodded and said "Whatever I can do to help my Kingdom" – So, Ulquiorra couldn't help but wonder what it was that had brought about the change.

And then Rukia's eyes lit up just a little bit, her cheeks flushed and her mouth twisted into a smile. Snapping his gaze to the ground below, Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes as he noticed the Sun Prince wandering down amongst the commoners – Something Rukia had certainly never been permitted to do in the Moon Empire. It was too dangerous, there were thieves and any number of people who would readily harm her – and Ulquiorra scoffed as he realised the Sun Prince hadn't even brought a guard out with him. Fool, Ulquiorra thought. Then he returned his gaze to Rukia, and frowned when he saw that strange expression was still on her face, and … She was watching the Sun Prince, Ulquiorra realised with no small amount of horror.

"You – You're –" He hissed, unwilling to put the accusation into words. Rukia clearly understood though, because she drew herself up to her full inconsiderable height and glared at Ulquiorra with icy daggers.

"I don't know. I just know that I don't wish for him to die," she hesitated and then added, "He isn't so bad, you know … Sometimes …"

Ulquiorra sighed softly and looked back down to the streets below – The Sun Prince, Ichigo his mind supplied, was smiling awkwardly at a vendor who had called him over and was trying to push numerous apples and other fruits into the Princes' arms. The smile faltered, he blinked, and then his eyes flicked up to where Rukia and Ulquiorra were watching him as though he'd felt their gaze. Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed with distrust, while Rukia gave a barely audible squeak of surprise, and then she raised a hand up in a wave of acknowledgement. Ichigo smiled broadly, and waved his own hand – Almost losing the pile of fruit in his arms because of it, and Ulquiorra scoffed.

"Ulquiorra…" Rukia started, an unusual hesitance to her voice that instantly made the knight tense. "I have a favour to ask of you," she continued, and Ulquiorra barely restrained his sigh. He just knew he wasn't going to like this.

"Ask me," he said anyway, because he wouldn't deny Rukia anything she wanted – And not only because she was his Princess.

He was momentarily distracted, however, as a woman walked up to the Sun Prince, her long, orange hair flowing behind her as she offered to take some of the fruit from the Princes' arms. The Princess was barely able to hold her arms out before it was being crammed with pastries and breads from the Baker that had set up shop next to the Fruit merchant. Ulquiorra fought off the twitch his mouth wanted to make as he took in her flustered expression.

"What timing," Rukia muttered, and Ulquiorra forced himself to bring his eyes back to his Princess. Not the enemy princess – And he certainly wasn't watching the growing crowd for any suspicious activity. It wasn't as if he cared for the wellbeing of the Sun Princess, after all.

"Your request?" he prompted, taking care to seem as disinterested as ever, even as his eyes slid back down to the still-growing crowd below.

"Accompany Orihime to the neighbouring Kingdom," Rukia said, an eyebrow quirking at the fleeting look of surprise that had crossed Ulquiorra's face.

"I'm … Sorry?"

Rukia fixed him with an irritated look, and then repeated her words slowly and clearly, enunciating each syllable, "I want you to accompany Orihime to the neighbouring Kingdom."

"Why?" Ulquiorra asked, ignoring the sudden tightness in his throat.

"Because the road between here and there is full of bandits … Also because I trust that you'll be able to protect her, and, I actually rather like Orihime so I'd rather her not be hurt."

He wanted to protest – There was something about the Sun Princess that unsettled Ulquiorra more than anything else he'd seen. There was something about her that just got under his skin. Each time they'd actually had a conversation, no matter how brief, Ulquiorra had walked away with her words reverberating around his skull until he wanted to reach in and rip them out, and he just knew spending more time with her was unwise – He couldn't develop any fondness for the Sun Folk. Not if King Aizen's plan was to come to fruition, and the Sun Princess' capture was paramount for the success of the plan.

That didn't stop him from nodding his head and saying, "If that's your wish," to his Princess though, and the relieved grin Rukia shot him was cause for alarm in itself. How were they going to be able to follow through with the plan when the Princess herself was developing – had developed - a fondness for the Sun-Folk and their Prince and Princess?

Ulquiorra allowed himself a sigh, and then grimaced as a band started up and the streets below suddenly became an impromptu dance-party. He made a point to ignore the way that his eyes followed the Sun Princess as she weaved amongst the crowds, laughing and smiling with the commoners as though they were all friends, instead of royalty and their subjects.

He wasn't able to stop his thought of Strange woman, though.

~X~

The next morning, Ulquiorra sat astride a horse, tapping a finger against the hilt of his sword impatiently. The Sun Princess had been asked to be ready for departure at dawn. It was now well past dawn, and there was still no sign of her.

Rubbing a hand over his eyebrow to prevent the twitch, Ulquiorra glanced at the door to the castle, vaguely wondering whether he should send someone to fetch her. He dismissed the idea as soon as it occurred to him – He'd certainly never send someone to 'fetch' Rukia, and so it would be unreasonable to do so for the Sun Princess.

Then the castle doors were thrown open, and the Sun Princess ran out, her hair looking like she'd just rolled out of bed, wearing clothes that looked like they belonged to one of the maids, and a bag thrown over her shoulder. It was so undignified and unusual, Ulquiorra couldn't help the frown his mouth pulled into.

"I'm sorry!" she gasped as she approached, "I overslept – Who actually wakes up before dawn anyway? – And then I'd forgotten to pack last night, so I had to run around trying to get everything and -," she paused, looked up at Ulquiorra, perched on his horse as he was, and then cocked her head and asked, "And why're you on a horse? It's not that far to Tatsuki's."

"Even so, it would be quicker should we travel by horse, and seeing as someone overslept…" Ulquiorra met the Sun Princess' gaze, and quirked an eyebrow at her disapprovingly. She simply stuck her tongue out at him, and Ulquiorra blinked once with surprise.

"You ride the horse then, I'm walking. It's better for you," and with that, the Princess spun about, walked out of the stable and into the still-deserted streets.

With a long suffering sigh, Ulquiorra snapped the reins of his horse and followed the direction the princess was going. It wasn't until they were at the bridge that marked the start of the Sun Kingdom that Ulquiorra thought to wonder where the rest of the Princess' guard was.

And so, he asked her. His eyebrows rose with disbelief when the Princess laughed, however, and told him, "I told them their escort was unnecessary. A thief isn't going to bother robbing a maid, are they?" Then she cocked her head to the side and regarded Ulquiorra with a frown. "You, however, are a bit conspicuous. Do you really need to wear your armour? It makes you stand out like the moon in the night sky."

"Yes," Ulquiorra ground out. The Princess simply shrugged before she strode out of the Kingdom borders, leaving Ulquiorra sitting there, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Today was, in all likelihood, going to be a long day, and Rukia was going to owe him so much for doing this for her.

~X~

A few hours later, Ulquiorra was already mentally cursing Rukia for asking him to do this. The Sun Princess, it seemed, didn't understand the concept of 'travelling in silence'. Since they'd left the Sun Kingdom's gates she had asked him how long he'd known Rukia, his opinion of the Sun Kingdom, if there were any similarities between the Sun Kingdom and Moon Empire, what were the main differences between the two, what made him decide to become a knight … All sorts of inconsequential questions that Ulquiorrra couldn't fathom the point of asking. And, though Ulquiorra was only giving her minimal answers, she seemed to find something to chatter about in each answer.

"Woman, do you ever stop?" he ended up asking in exasperation, momentarily forgetting that the woman beside him was the Princess of the enemy kingdom.

She simply smiled at him, seemingly amused and said, "Of course. But it makes time go by faster, don't you think?"

Ulquiorra rather thought it made the entire concept of travel a less inviting concept, and that time would have gone by much faster had she not turned her nose up at a horse, but he managed to swallow the words before they could slip free.

"It's Orihime, by the way," the woman said after a moment's silence, and Ulquiorra could only look at her with bewilderment.

"Pardon?"

"My name – It's Orihime. You could use it, you know."

Biting back a sigh, Ulquiorra chose not to dignify the remark with a response. He was aware of what her name was – of course he was – But using it would mean that he was familiarising himself with her. It was bad enough that he could recall each and every trivial detail she'd shared about herself in her rambling. It was pointless to familiarise himself with the woman because –

Pulling on the reins of the horse abruptly, Ulquiorra looked up at the small crag they were passing, his eyes narrowed. Loose rocks were trickling down the side. The woman was still talking, so Ulquiorra reached over and placed a hand over her mouth, his eyes still focused on the spot where the rocks had been falling.

The Princess seemed to sense that Ulquiorra had seen something, because she actually stilled under his halting touch, her wide eyes taking in the hill as well.

After a few moments, everything was still though, so Ulquiorra withdrew his hand and frowned. "Let's keep moving," he said softly, and the Princess agreed breathlessly.

The second that the horse took a step forward though, three burly men made their appearance. One stood atop the hilltop, one behind the two travellers, and one stood in front blocking their path.

"And what have we here?" the one atop the hill called down, and Ulquiorra fought against his irrational urge to glare accusingly at the Princess. Had she just allowed her guard to come along, this wouldn't be a problem. As it was, however, it was three against one, and while Ulquiorra was a skilled warrior, he was at a disadvantage considering he also had to protect the Sun Princess. Once again, he sent a silent curse in Rukia's direction for asking this favour of him.

"We'd appreciate it if you'd let us pass," the Princess said, and Ulquiorra felt a jab of frustration at the fact that she'd drawn attention to herself. Foolish Woman, he mentally snarled. The men clearly agreed with him because all three laughed.

"Hear that boys? Little missy here wants to pass. Well, you see love, there's a toll for taking this path." The one blocking the path behind growled, and Ulquiorra edged his hand towards the sword.

"Ah-Ah-Ah. I can see that Knigty. I wouldn't do that if I were you," the thug atop the hill sang, and Ulquiorra fought against the urge to roll his eyes. Thugs were so unoriginal. No matter where it was you went, they all had the same strategy; intimidate and hope your prey is too terrified to fight back.

"You said there was a toll – What is it you want?" the Princess asked, and this time, Ulquiorra didn't stop himself from glaring at her. The men laughed again as though they'd just heard the funniest joke in existence.

"The toll? Depends what you've got on you little miss. For instance, what's in that bag you're clutching to so tightly?" The thug standing before the two purred, and the Woman instinctually drew the bag closer to her.

"Nothing I'm willing to part with," she said, her eyes narrowing and Ulquiorra sighed as the thugs he could see grinned at one another.

"Well then …" the one atop the hill crooned, and jumped down so that he, too, stood in their path ahead. He took a step forward, and the Princess inched back, the horse threw it's head, sensing the battle about to break out, and Ulquiorra paused to curse Rukia once more.

Then, he jumped off the horse and tackled the thug still inching towards the Princess. The second thug, naturally enough leapt to his thug-mate's assistance, but Ulquiorra had already snapped the first thug's neck, so he didn't hesitate to thrust an elbow back into the nose of the other thug, making him stumble back. There had been a satisfying crunch, so Ulquiorra knew he'd broken the man's nose.

Twisting around, he followed that blow by hooking his foot behind the man's ankle, and pulled his feet out from beneath him. Ulquiorra didn't even flinch as the thug fell back and smacked his head against the rocky ground at an awkward angle, and hard enough that he was surely seeing stars.

He would have then dove forward to prevent the thug from getting back up, but was distracted by the unmistakable sound of a weapon being drawn. Freezing momentarily, Ulquiorra jerked back around to look over in the last place he remembered the Princess being.

The bag had been dropped, and Ulquiorra felt his brows draw together at the sight that met him. The thug that had been blocking the path behind was pressing himself into the rock-face, a bruise developing on his cheek already, and Princess Orihime was holding the tip of a dagger to his throat.

"Please don't move," she was saying, "I'd really rather not have to kill you," and Ulquiorra was momentarily stunned.

Where did she get that from? And how did she even manage to corner the brute? He wondered as he threw one last glance at the thug at his side. He appeared to have been knocked unconscious from the fall, so Ulquiorra sighed made his way over to the Princess.

As he watched the woman fight off the thug's attempt to knock the dagger away, only to hit him sharply in the temple with the hilt and render him unconscious, Ulquiorra couldn't help but feel begrudging respect for the Sun Princess. She was stronger than Ulquiorra had realised, and he had to respect her for that. Even if it didn't change anything – He would still follow his King's orders and take her to the Moon Empire. Her capture would be the catalyst for a war between the two Kingdoms.

But, as he mounted his horse again, Ulquiorra realised that he was beginning to understand what Rukia had meant earlier about not wanting the Prince to die. As Ulquiorra looked down at the Sun Princess and considered King Aizen's plan for her, something in the pits of Ulquiorra's stomach shifted uncomfortably. He made a concentrated effort to ignore it, though, as they continued on their way to the neighbouring Kingdom.

They had barely passed the rock-face before Ulquiorra did something that he was well aware was foolish. "Where did you learn to fight?" he asked, and the Sun Princess beamed up at him before answering. The sudden pounding in his chest, Ulquiorra decided, must be a delayed reaction to the fight, because it certainly wasn't related to having that bright smile directed at him … Was it?

Well, what did you guys think? It's been so long since I wrote UH that I'm worried I've lost my touch with them (Though, I really hope that isn't the case)

... I had alot of thoughts while writing this - ideas that I just couldn't add into it because it didn't fit, and also because I don't plan to continue with this ... Or maybe I will. I don't know yet. Like I said, I had quite a few thoughts while writing about the things I think would happen in this universe, so I may end up writing them, who can say?

Either way, I hope that you enjoyed that~