Disclaimer: The lovechilds are mine. I do not own BLEACH.

Warning:Some fans may not appreciate the couplings used in this fanfiction. Nor would they appreciate the re-used ideas used in this. Conception of arrancar children to the fans who first came out with the idea.

Some minor mistakes in summary... thanks to my beta... for catching it. xDDDDD That's what happens when you upload a story so late at night, children...

Laura is my beta. 8D Cheer for her!

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BLEACH

The Gray Princess Chronicles

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Black And White Revelation

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0. Prelude For the Princess

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Uncertain eyes gazed about the black and white world with an expression of absolute confusion and some natural fear. Her hand gripped at her mother's white and black garments. Gray eyes flickering to silver in the dim light of the corridors. In front of them was her father in all of his glory, carrying his sword at his side. Orange-brown colored irises looked over at his wife and daughter with a concerned expression.

Orihime smiled at Ichigo with the new strength she had gained since she was first imprisoned here all those long years ago. Her hand running through her eldest child's long strands of orange hair. She smiled in reassurance at her daughter and then flashed the same smile at Ichigo. If anything happened, Orihime would come between her child and the enemy without any hesitation. Her new abilities were now frightening, especially when her abilities were increasing at a rapid pace for a human. Indeed, she was Aizen's opposite. She is a goddess when it comes to her abilities, but when it comes to her characteristics; Orihime was what a god should be, unlike Aizen.

She was caring, understanding, and hid the fact that was inlaid within a person. She hid these secrets inside of her heart, no matter how much it hurt or if it made her feel more useful. She had faith in those around her and always knew that there was good in those around her. No longer was she the dreamy, naive teenage girl she was back when she first discovered her rejection abilities. She was now just as strong, just as confident as her role-models, the friends around her. She now fought on the offensive and defensive. Her healing abilities now rivaled the fourth captain's ever since she graduated from medical school.

"It's okay Ichigo, Himeko's simply nervous," Orihime spoke, her voice's pitch a little deeper from age.

Ichigo who looked just as he had been when he turned fifteen nodded. Of course, it was due to the fact he had ejected his soul out of his aging body. "I would too," he confessed. "It's been awhile... filled with memories we want to forget and those we want to remember."

"Of course," Orihime smiled.

Himeko's face expressed even more confusion as she stopped when her parents stopped.

"Welcome shinigami," a gruff voice spoke up, "...woman."

Orihime popped out from behind Ichigo's standing form. "Hello, Grimmjow-san!" she said cheerfully. Himeko had no luck trying to hide behind her parents; she was seen by the weird men with holes in their bodies.

"... They have holes in their bodies..." was all the little girl said.

Ichigo fretted nervously. "That's ... because here... people have holes in their bodies..." he explained quickly.

"You call us people, shinigami?" Grimmjow asked with a smirk.

Ichigo simply glared at him.

"So you have a kid now, huh? Weirdly I do too..." Grimmjow continued clearing his throat as a little teal haired kid with a frown stepped out.

Orihime pushed Himeko into view. "C'mon, sweetie... say hello to Uncle Grimmjow and his son and don't stare," she said. "This is Himeko."

Grimmjow grinned. "Little Princess... I get it..."

Himeko slipped behind Orihime again. She gulped.

"This is Ryu, my son. Don't ask me where his name came from," Grimmjow said pushing the teal-haired boy forward. Orihime pushed Himeko forward with a gentle shove.

Aquamarine eyes stared into gray eyes as the two children looked at one another. Himeko looked around frantically for a place to hide. She felt the need to escape ever since her eyes first saw Ryu's hollow hole located on his abdomen. She did not understand why, but she felt like running away from him. It did not help that she felt so restricted in this weird place. All she did was smile a small nervous smile and gulped once again.

"H-Hello, nice to meet you," she greeted.

"Likewise," Ryu grunted.

Ichigo smiled a small smile, ruffling Himeko's hair. "See that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Himeko did not answer as Grimmjow led them into a hall. Ryu and Himeko kept silent, separate in their own nervousness towards one another. After all, Ryu was trying his hardest to keep his hunger down. Plus Himeko felt weirdly frightened by Grimmjow and Ryu.

She heard her mother clap her hands together. "So, everyone is here, safe and sound!" she said. "Hello!"

All she got was utter silence and blinks.

Himeko merely smiled at her mother's optimism. She too felt naturally uneasy in the silence.

Ever since Aizen was defeated, no one had taken over the throne, especially Grimmjow. They felt that with the remaining arrancar, the Espada should rule over Hueco Mundo and govern the fortress leaving those that escaped Hueco Mundo to the shinigami.

Ulquiorra turned around to see Orihime's smiling face with her daughter next to her. "Hello, Inoue..." was all he said as his eyes lowered to Himeko, whom quickly hid behind her mother.

"Inoue-kun...?" Halibel questioned.

"Halibel-san! Nice to see you again," Orihime said cheerfully. "This is my daughter Himeko."

Halibel's stoic expressed eyes softened a little as she looked at the child whom had both qualities of Ichigo and Orihime. However, the little girl felt curious and not as scared of the blonde as she was of Grimmjow and the black haired male, Ulquiorra.

"The father?" the blonde Espada asked.

"Ichigo," Orihime said happily.

Ulquiorra walked to look down at Himeko.

"Ulquiorra has a son... by the way," Halibel told. "Shikyo, that's his name. His mother passed away."

Orihime's eyes drooped. "I'm sorry, Ulquiorra..."

"Death is the regularity here, Inoue... there's no point in apologizing. I'd thought you'd remember..." Ulquiorra spoke up. It was not surprising; the most he spoke to anyone was either to Aizen, Orihime, or the Espada whom were ranked above him.

"No need to scare Inoue-san's daughter, father," another deadpan voice quite like Ulquiorra's was heard. A dark haired boy looked down at Himeko with a small smile. "Isn't that right, Himeko-chan?"

"Himeko...chan?" Ryu asked. "Chan?!"

"In manner of speaking, chan is the attachment used for a female friend in the Japanese culture," Shikyo said.

"Weirdo."

Himeko giggled. "You two are the weirdos... you have holes..." she said as she shoved her hand in Ryu's hole, right through it. She wiggled her fingers as she grinned. "See?"

"Hey!" Ryu exclaimed stunned. Himeko started laughing. "GIRL!! STOP LAUGHING!!"

Shikyo simply chuckled. "She is right, Ryu," he said.

Ryu looked at Shikyo and sighed. "Bah, do what you like, girl. Just don't do that again..." he said.

Himeko smiled. Ryu averted his gaze and a faint pink covered his face.

Ichigo and the others stared. Ichigo grinned. "Why don't you kids go hang out somewhere?" he asked.

Himeko blinked. "Uh... okay," she said.

Shikyo looked over at Ryu. "We'll take you on a tour of Hueco Mundo and show you what outside the fortress looks like," he said.

When the kids left, Ichigo turned to the Espada.

"Say, where did you put Aizen?" he asked.

"We locked him in his room, he is bedridden. Gin is in another room. Tousen's also separated from others. Tousen's actually in an isolated room at the infirmary," Halibel explained, looking over at her sleeping beloved next to her.

"They have kids?" Ichigo asked.

"Of course, Itsygo-kun... to continue their legacy, or rather the lack there was, to begin with," a grown up Nel spoke up, with a smile.

"I see," Orihime said looking down. "I feel bad for their children..."

"The children were sent back to the Soul Society," Ulquiorra said.

"Their mothers?"

Ulquiorra turned his head. "Rangiku's taking care of the kids."

"I see..." Orihime said.

"If Aizen, Tousen or Gin ever step a foot inside of the Soul Society, before a proper date is announced, they will be executed," Stark suddenly said.

"If you want us to give messages then we'll be able to deliver them to the Soul Society," Orihime suggested.

"That's kind of you," Nel said with a smile.

"What happened to Baragann?" Orihime asked.

"He was killed..." Halibel said. "I am now the second Espada."

"Congratulations, Halibel!" Orihime said.

"Thank you."

Ichigo smiled at the scene in front of him, his wife talking to old friends he would maybe consider still his enemies, but he restrained his urge to kill them all.

"You know after you defeated Aizen, you're technically now king of Hueco Mundo," Grimmjow spoke up.

"WHAT?" Ichigo exclaimed his eyes wide with shock.

--

"And this is outside the fortress," Shikyo said.

Himeko looked around at the black and white world. The sky was starless, and the moon shown in the sky so alone. Her eyes observed the lack of life around her and at the smooth-looking sand on the ground. After looking around her eyes instantly became sad at the scene before her.

"This is where we chill," Ryu added as he looked over at the orange haired girl whom was looking at the world around her. Her eyes were in a daze as if she was in deep thought. He watched her walk past the two of them looking around still. "Himeko-chan?"

The girl stopped. "I don't like it here. The moon is lonely without the sun, the sun is captured within the palace, and the colors around us are only black and white. It is nothing but a world of death. So much sorrow to feed off of and get angry on," she stated.

"What do ya expect?" Ryu wondered.

"I expected something with a little more color at least," Himeko said looking down. "I don't mean to be rude, but I like you guys. I should say this world is interesting but it needs sunlight, living things and ... it really needs to be less scary..."

Shikyo smiled a small smile. "I guess you're right. After all your parents are so used to the world with the sun," he said.

Himeko smiled apologetically as she turned to look at the world around her again. The wind began to pick up and her orange hair started waving around. Shikyo and Ryu stared at her. Suddenly there was a vibration underneath their feet.

Himeko looked down as she saw an eye. She screamed.

"Himeko!" Shikyo shouted.

--

"It would only make sense since you took Aizen off his throne even if you had allies to help you," Grimmjow explained. "Everything here is decided on who defeats who. An endless waltz of gladiators... you might want to watch your family even more now. Since, you have to live your life."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You must have a short term memory, Strawberry. I just introduced you to my son, Ryu," Grimmjow said. "Don't tell me the woman affected you as she did me when she was here."

"You...?!"

Grimmjow rolled his eyes. "No, she's your wife now. Why would I break a strong bond between you two? Didn't you learn anything from that fight we had in the past?!"

"You're right."

"You really need to notice what goes on around you. You still have some lessons to learn about knowing your place, Strawberry. The only person we would ever consider our new ruler is your wife. You, we still have yet to get used to." With that, Grimmjow walked over to sit with Nnoitra and Nel.

Orihime took a glance at the window. Her face contorted to that of concern. "The children..." she said.

Ichigo was already out of the room. Orihime gasped as Ulquiorra grabbed her arm and sonido-ed, Grimmjow followed.

Nel looked over at Nnoitra. "If you say that our hellspawn was not worth anything..." she said.

Nnoitra sighed. "Fine... "

Nel smiled and sonido-ed.

"Troublesome..."

--

A creature appeared from under the sand, its eyes sizing up the delicious human girl in front of him, getting ready to attack. It roared as Himeko looked up at the creature, she felt its claw beginning to wrap around her. She screamed, closing her eyes. She felt blood splatter on her as a green haired girl with a sword stabbed into the hollow, her available eye narrowed at the creature as she jumped in front of Himeko, deflecting a claw.

"Shikyo! Get the girl out of the way! Ryu! Cut the other claw!" shouted the green haired girl.

Shikyo pulled Himeko out the way of the other claw as the green haired girl impaled the center of the claw.

"Nijiyo!" Shikyo shouted. He looked down to find Himeko running in front of Nijiyo, his green eyes widened. "Hime... ko..."

"Ryu... cut the claw..." Himeko struggled, blood splattering to the ground. Nijiyo's eyes widened.

"Himeko-san..." she whispered. "IDIOT!"

"Stab the tongue, Nijiyo!" Ryu yelled at the green haired girl as Nijiyo simply stared at the human girl whom was putting herself up as a sacrifice. "NOW!"

Nijiyo growled, taking the sword by the blade, she watched as Himeko was thrown in the air. Nijiyo jumped in the air, only to see an orange haired shinigami looking at her trying to reach Himeko. "Catch her," the man said as he turned to cut off the hollow's tongue. Nijiyo nodded as she grabbed the injured girl from the air and landed into the soft sand. She turned to see the hollow's tail going after her. She closed her eyes as she heard a woman's words spoken:

"SANTEN KESSHUN... I REJECT!"

A golden orange aura in the shape of a triangle appeared in front of Nijiyo. Orihime leapt to her feet next to Ulquiorra.

"We'll get our sons," Ulquiorra said.

Orihime nodded. "Souten Kisshun... I reject," she whispered. Watching as they came back with a shaking Shikyo and a pissed off Ryu. They looked to see Himeko covered in her mother's healing aura. "We're glad we came in time..."

Nijiyo blinked. "We are too... it was scary... being attacked by our own kind like that..." she said. "I wonder why something so big attacked..."

Orihime grinned. "I thank the three of you for coming to my daughter's aid... I am sorry for any trouble," she said.

Shikyo shook her head. "She wanted to protect us too, that's all..." he said.

"I'm glad..."

Grimmjow and Ulquiorra looked down at Orihime and the others. Ulquiorra turned to see Ichigo and Neliel coming back, the slain hollow disintegrating. Ichigo ran over to Himeko, dropping next to Orihime. "Is Himeko alright?" he asked worriedly.

"She'll be soon," Orihime responded. She watched as her daughter opened her eyes.

"Mom... is that you?"

Orihime smiled.

Ichigo sighed in relief. "Dad?" Himeko sat up.

Neliel and Nijiyo nearly started crying.

Himeko turned to the others. "I'm sorry," she said.

"It wasn't any big deal... it was our faults," Shikyo said.

Ulquiorra looked at Shikyo with a suspicious look.

"It wasn't purposefully, Dad... just that... it was kind of our faults for ..."

"Being outside the fortress for so long?" Ulquiorra asked. "You know you're not allowed to be out here for more than ten minutes without one of the Espada... you know Neliel would have been happy watching the four of you... and you, Nijiyo... why did you go out on your own?"

Nijiyo looked down. "Sorry..." was all she said before Ulquiorra sighed.

"As for your punishment, you will not have the liberty of going into the real world just to play with Himeko. Nor do you have the liberty to be out of the fortress until you achieve firing a Cero," Ulquiorra deadpanned.

"Dad, we'll be fifteen by then! That's a long time!" Shikyo said.

Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed.

"Same goes for you," Grimmjow ordered to Ryu.

Ryu growled. "Yes, Dad..."

"And as for Nijiyo, you will not be able to go outside unless it's training with me or your father," Neliel said to her daughter. "Ichigo, Orihime... perhaps we can discuss negotiations some other time? We'll summon a Garganta for the three of you..."

Himeko looked at Ryu, Shikyo and Nijiyo then looked down at herself. "I'm sorry," she said sadly.

Nijiyo smiled. "It's not your fault, we knew it was dangerous but they wanted to show it to you," she said.

Himeko looked at the boys.

Ryu was not looking at her.

Shikyo had closed his eyes.

Himeko lowered her gaze to the ground, getting scooped up into her father's arms as Neliel stood up to summon the Garganta. "I'll be back, just you wait!" she said to the three. "I'll be stronger then too! Thank you for showing me around!"

Shikyo looked at Himeko. "But you don't like it here..." he called.

Ichigo looked over at Himeko. "True, but it's the people I meet and see that makes me like it here," she said.

Ryu watched as Himeko smiled. He flushed a bit.

Shikyo looked over at Ryu and then at Himeko. He shuffled his feet. "See you again, Himeko..." he said as he held his hand in a small wave. Nijiyo grinned at the boys.

"Nice meeting you Hime-chan!" Nijiyo called.

Himeko watched as the figures became small, and Ichigo had to hold on to Orihime and lower the family to the ground. Would she be able to meet them again? What exactly was that creature that almost killed her? Was it really not her fault that her new friends were in trouble?

Well, she would have her own troubles soon...

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To be continued...

Lovechild Profile Corner

Nijiyo "Niji-chan" Jiruga

-Appears at age 8 in the prelude

-Appears at age 16 in the beginning chapters

-Female

-Hair: Green

-Eyes: Deep Burgundy

-Wears an eye-patch on her right eye.

-Personality: Happy-go-lucky, keeps negative emotions inside, headstrong.

-Parents: Nnoitra, Nel