Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
"Come with me, strong one."
Those were the first words he said to her; no introductions, no ceremony, nothing of the things you'd expect from someone who was making a request. In return, she didn't make a sound, or rather she could not, simply because she didn't know what she was looking into. Aizen Sousuke reeked of nothing. There wasn't the slightest movement of spiritual particles about him, which would somehow indicate nothing could be known of this man by simply trying your best. Pure unknown, that was the most she had learned from their first encounter, and that meeting was the memory she would hold most sacred for the rest of her life, insoluble, never to be wiped clear.
Ragged and filthy, covered with an assortment of clothes she had gathered from her fallen comrades and enemies, she stretched out a hand, not knowing what might come of it, to give herself away completely to this man whom she came to believe firmly as the one true God. And Aizen Sousuke was a beautiful man whose extents of power were known to none, just as his heart was.
"What is your name, Arrancar?"
She shivered for a moment and gazed at him in wonder, as her mind started to run over all the things she remembered, all the details she'd laid eyes on, learning that she would soon come to the end of all she knew-only to start back again from scratch. It was just like the way it had been when she had first become a Hollow.
"Tia Halibel."
"Your allegiance belongs to me."
"Y-yes, lord. What shall I call you?"
"Aizen is the name, and I will give you everything."
The first he gave her was his hand. There he marked that particular space in time a great rise in his power, at the same time demonstrating to her how warm the hand of God actually was. Hence she cleaved to him, as there was not another thing in the world more appropriate to do.
The clothes, the private suite, the top-quality cosmetics, all of these he gave to her to subject the life she'd known and the one he could give her to a sharp contrast.
"You are Tercera Espada henceforth, and sacrifice is what you know best."
"What does that mean, Aizen-sama?"
"It means you are something of great value…to me, that is."
Tia Halibel didn't understand what it meant. But then again, creatures always found it hard to understand the will of God. Apart from it all, color started to creep to her cheeks violently. Thus, at last, the mask that covered more than half of her face revealed one of its many purposes. Needless to even say, she wanted to reach out a hand to that divine being seated on the throne. Yet somehow that was something she would never have the courage to do. Never again.
"Thank you, my lord."
Aizen smiled, for which she was immensely delighted, but how genuine was it? For all she knew, she was no more than a pawn in a mind game full of surprises. Well, maybe she wasn't just a pawn, not even a knight or a rook. Maybe a bishop. Perhaps a serious piece. A queen, if she could only wish.
"Good. Espada, you are dismissed."
The last thing she'd dare to do was to impose herself on him, so she settled for what was already decided and ignored the murderous look Quinto Espada was throwing at her. This she did, for she was sure Nnoitora Jiruga's primary reason for damning her was her gender. But she glanced at her fellow warrior, more for information than for any real interest. The truth was, she liked the attention. She enjoyed having been called a bitch. After all, just because others called things by different names wouldn't change the value of the objects in question. She was a woman, among other things, and a fairly attractive one at that too.
Did Aizen even stop once to think of that?
If only the mighty lord of Hueco Mundo would venture a single, honest look at her direction, it was possible he'd feel the way she longed to be felt. Probably. In the long run, as she was never afraid to show interest, she smiled an earnest smile which accounted for much more than a worshipful tribute to the one who had given her a new life.
"Oh, Tercera Espada, please remain."
The door closed ahead of her, just in time to suspend her retreat and ensure the departure of the nine other Espada, leaving them both in a solid silence. There alone again with the most powerful man to have ever existed, she found herself shuffling about closer to him in an unfamiliar haste, with her heartbeat vying for speed against her legs.
"What is it, Aizen-sama?"
"I notice you're always the last one standing every time the daily meeting closes to an end. Do you wish to tell me something?"
To start with, Aizen rarely made distinctions over things hardly urgent. But the look he was giving her now was doing all in its power to melt her, even in the complete absence of mutuality between them. Yet still he spoke thus, as though it was entirely possible for her to be given that much value.
"It's…"
"Well, if it's nothing of importance, you may leave, Tia Halibel."
Coming from his mouth, the mention of her name stirred her in a manner quite unknown to her, as if she heard it for the first time or as if it was only then that she first began to understand human language. In consequence, as emotions now seemed to speak louder than reason, all she could do was to abandon standard routine and speak to him in a voice full of longing, rather than that of respect and adoration,
"I… I want you to know that if—if destruction is upon us Espada, I'll be the last one among us ten left standing, by your side, just as what I've always been doing."
As Aizen was ever accustomed to dealing with anything, he smiled politely, propped his chin on his fist, and asked,
"You'll be the last, of course. I'll make sure of that, Halibel. But will you die for me?"
"This life is yours, and always will be."
XXX
"It appears you're not strong enough to fight for me."
Those were the last words Aizen told her. Cold and therefore devoid of pain, that was the very last sound she was decreed to hear. In the same swift second, Aizen's blade had cut the vessel which attached her to life. Still, he was no less enchanting than he ever had been, and though she wondered why it was so, she wasn't given time to think it out, for above her hung the inevitable threat of her doom.
With that, she knew her love for him didn't disappear just as abruptly and miraculously as it had appeared, for it never had faded in the first place.
Now the last one standing among the Espada disappeared. She plunged into the darkness where she and all others of her kind had once belonged. If time would consider for a moment, she wasn't merely a sacrificial lamb whose necessary death would be mourned for but be forgotten in a stretch of time ahead, for she was a great warrior, a faithful subordinate, and a good mentor. A silent, worthy lover, more than anything. And as she descended into different layers of torment towards the pit of hell, she realized, with her last breath, that Aizen Sousuke had indeed looked at her as a woman and not just any other dispensable underling. He had killed her, and in doing so had kept his word in securing her to be the last standing of his warriors who stayed by his side, to save her from the humiliation of getting butchered by the dogs and allies of Soul Society.
END