Author's Note

I got the idea for this from a dream that I had. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

My Safe Haven

Large fields of long grass and wild flowers swayed in the wind. A warm breeze caressed my skin as it whipped around me making my hair a mess on the top of my head. I smiled up at the sky above me drinking in the sight of the fluffy white clouds floating over my head. This was it, this was my happy place. Most of the time I call it my safe haven, it's the place I go when I don't have anywhere else. When I'm unhappy this is the place I go to seek refuge from the world around me.

"Ulquiorra Cifer, get your scrawny ass out here now!" his father's voice nearly shook his bedroom walls as he stood in the hallway yelling for his son. Ulquiorra took a deep breath and opened his eyes ripping himself away from the quiet place that he had been all morning. When he finally did come to he found himself standing in front of his mirror half dressed for school. He quickly grabbed his uniform shirt and pulled it over his head before walking out into the hallway where his father was standing.

"Sir?" he asked as he slowly made his way over to where his father was standing. The cold green eyes that the two men shared were locked in an intense staring match as they stood in front of each other in complete silence.

"Don't sir me, you know why the hell I'm callin' you out here." He said in a loud, cold voice. The red color in his eyes coupled with the unsteady way his body swayed told Ulquiorra that his father was fighting a losing battle against a hangover he had obtained from drinking the night before. Ulquiorra's gaze shifted back and forth from his father to the floor in between them trying not to make complete eye contact with the man that he knew was sure to get angry if he caught him staring. The teenager nodded timidly before he tried to duck past his father to the stairs. The larger man lifted his arm and pushed his son against the wall nearly knocking down the few family photos that were hanging above Ulquiorra's head. Ulquiorra cringed at the pain that was now running through his shoulder where he hit the wall.

Without another word Ulquiorra walked into the kitchen and started making breakfast for his father. He hurried to make the meal as fast as he could so that he wasn't late for school. He frantically looked back and forth from the pan in front of him to the clock on the top of the stove. He only had 15 minutes to get to school before his perfect attendance record was permanently ruined.

"Dad I have to work this afternoon, so I won't be back until late tonight." He said quietly as he held the plate of food in front of his father.

"Yeah, whatever," He said before snatching the plate and fork away from his son. He turned to the TV and began shoveling food into his mouth. Ulquiorra nodded quickly before going quickly up the stairs to retrieve his school bag. He said nothing to his father as he walked out of the house locking the door behind him.

Once outside his home he felt like he could breathe freely without getting in trouble in some way. He pushed his hands deep into his pockets and started in the direction of his school. The walk to school was relatively quiet seeing as how he never had anyone to walk with him. Ulquiorra never kept many friends because he knew that if he did he would have to explain the extremely reckless actions of his father or why his mother never seemed to be around when he needed her to be. As a result he kept people at a distance and made sure not to draw a lot of unnecessary attention to himself.

"Are you alright?" asked a high pitched voice off to his left. He shook his head violently replaying the events that had just happened over again in his mind. He had more than enough time to move but for some reason he couldn't, it was like his common sense was telling him to move but his feet were unable to move his body out of the way. All he could do was fall back on his butt and watch as the shiny black sports car came screeching to a halt in front of him. He blinked a few times finally able to make sense of his jumbled thoughts. He felt someone's hand on his arms as a few of the people around him pulled him up to his feet. Ulquiorra gently pulled away from his fellow classmates that had actually bothered to help him from the ground.

"Thank you." He said quietly before he dashed into the school as fast as he could. Ulquiorra was never one to marvel at the times that other people called miracles, he had escaped death so many times that now it didn't even come as a surprise to him. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't die, it was like he couldn't die until he had accomplished everything set out for him in life.

Even though the building was buzzing from the scene that had just gone on outside Ulquiorra was able to make it to class without anyone stopping to ask him if he was okay. It was probably because most of the students he went to school with didn't even know his name. His quiet demeanor along with his abnormally pale skin caused him to nearly blend in with the concrete walls that were holding the building up.

Ulquiorra walked into class and swiftly made his way over to his desk and sat down. He removed his bag from his back giving him enough room to sink down into his chair in an effort to keep himself out of the sight of the rest of his classmates. It was like the further into his seat he sank the further away he became from the people around him. Ulquiorra ignored the conversations and loud laughter erupting from the students around him as he reached out for the place he desperately wanted to return to.

He could feel the warmth all over his body as he stared into the darkness of the black board in the front of the classroom. He had finally reached his safe haven and he wasn't coming out any time soon.

The voices around him sounded like nothing more than a faint hum to his ears. Ulquiorra could hear his teacher saying something about a new transfer student coming in from another town but paid her no mind. The information entered his ears but didn't come close from entering his brain. He didn't want to rip himself away from his happy place for one second to pay attention to whatever his teacher was saying.

"Go ahead and take the seat there next to Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra, would you be so kind as to raise your hand?" The sound of his name fully snapped him away from the trance he had placed himself in long enough to hear the instruction given. His gazed shifted down to the desk in front of him as he raised his hand over his head to guide the new student to the empty desk next to him.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur as he sat in his desk disconnected from everything that was going on around him. There wasn't anything going on in class that was an interest to him so he didn't bother paying attention to what they were talking about. After the final bell rang he rose from his seat and quietly walked from the room with not even so much as a goodbye to any of his fellow classmates.

The walk from his school to the small sandwich shop where he worked was not a long one. He was able to reach his workplace within ten minutes of leaving the school. Upon his arrival Ulquiorra was greeted by his very hyperactive supervisor Sara.

"Hey ulqui!" screamed the small black haired girl as she skipped over to where Ulquiorra was. He silently slipped his apron over his head and donned the dark green visor that was also a part of his uniform. After he stared at in silence for more than 30 seconds he finally turned to greet her.

"Hello Sara." He replied in a quiet voice that was almost too soft for her to hear. He walked past her and over to his register to turn it on. He let out a frustrated sigh as he tapped ferociously at the touch screen in front of him. The register he regularly used had been acting up all week long and today would be no different. He rolled as the machine gave a foreboding beeping sound before showing a bright red error screen and shutting down completely.

"Don't worry about it ulqui you can use my register. I won't need it today anyway." Sara said as she powered on her own register and walked away from it giving him room to stand where he had been.

"If I use yours then what are you going to do today?" He asked timidly as he began mashing buttons on the screen.

"I have to train the new employee today so I'll be showing him how to make sandwiches and clear tables." She said. Ulquiorra had completely forgotten about the new employee that was going to be starting today. Apparently their boss had acquired a new step-son over the last month and this job was a way to teach him responsibility. Ulquiorra couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes when he had found out about the new employee. In his mind if you were old enough to work you were well past the age to be still learning such things.

"And there he goes." She said as she shifted her attention from Ulquiorra to the door. The bell above it rang as whoever was on the other side walked in. Ulquiorra looked across the counter at the floor in front of him.

'Black combat boots in the middle of spring, who the hell does this guy think he is?' Ulquiorra thought to himself as he stared down at the shoes on the other side of the counter. He didn't bother lifting his gaze to look at the boy fully because there was no point in doing so; anyone who wore such things out of season as there were was clearly a cocky jackass and in other words someone Ulquiorra would like to be around. Sara on the other hand was happy to greet the new employee. She smiled and joked happily with the boy before bringing him back to the storage room to get in an apron and a visor.

Before he knew it the afternoon rush had begun and the small shop was now overcrowded with people. The once quiet shop was filled with shouts and yelling from the middle and high school students that were now entering the building. Ulquiorra went to work taking orders while Sara started to prepare them with the help of the new trainee.

When the afternoon rush finally started to calm down it was nearly closing time. Sara walked over to the front door and locked it before she flipped the sign to close and returning to her place behind the counter.

"So Grimmjow how are you liking it here?" she asked as she removed her gloves and went about covering the left over sandwich ingredients that hadn't been used during their shift.

"It's fine." Replied the boy as he removed his visor and paced it down on the counter. "It's kinda boring though."

"Well if your going to live here you're going to have to get used to a little boring, isn't that right ulqui?" she asked happily. Ulquiorra gritted his teeth at her attempt to drag him into the conversation she was having. He hates it when she does things like that. Even though she means well she knew that Ulquiorra would rather stick his hand into a clogged toilet than socialize with someone he didn't want to get to know.

"Yeah," he replied quietly before pushing the shutdown button on his register and walking into the storage room/employee break room. He still did not lift his head in the direction of the other two people in the room as he walked past them through the opened doorway.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow Sara…ulqui." The way he said his name told them that he was still unsure of where he stood with the tiny green eyed teenager in front of him. Ulquiorra knew the boy was just testing the nickname to see if the distaste between the two of them was really there or just something of his imagination.

"It's Ulquiorra to you." Ulquiorra replied coldly finally turning to look at the source of the voice that was slowly but surely starting to work his nerves. When Ulquiorra looked up he found that the boy was nearly hovering over him with a wide smile stretch across his face. His smile looked dangerous and the wild look of his bright blue eyes and hair was not something that was particularly normal. The smaller teen scowled in a disgusted manner before taking a step back to create some kind of distance between the two of them.

"I was wondering when you would finally look up at me, I thought I would never get the chance to apologize for almost running you over this morning." He walked past Ulquiorra patting the boy's cheek with his hand as he did so. Ulquiorra looked back to see Grimmjow pulling a set of car keys from the pockets of his black skinny jeans before disappearing out the door.

"Jackass," Was all Ulquiorra said as he walked out of the back door behind Grimmjow to start his journey back to his house. Sara shouted a goodbye after him which out of habit he didn't return instead he gave her a small glance back showing her that he had heard what she said. When the two made eye contact she smiled happily and waved. No matter how hard he tried that girl was going to be his friend; she was determined to make a human out of the otherwise emotionless Ulquiorra.