And love's not a cry you can hear at night,
It's not someone who's seen the light,
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah
Hallelujah

-

Momo's tears came more easily after that. Izuru didn't mind, though, because he knew that this was her closure. She would break free from Aizen if she allowed herself to be upset about his betrayal, and to the enamored blond, that was all that mattered.

He would hold her when the tears came now. After the first time they made love, the night she had come to him to apologize and forgive, he woke up to the sound of her sobbing gently.

The sheets were pooled around her waist, and Momo, stark and nubile, stared numbly out the round window facing a private, snow-covered garden. Izuru too sat up, reflexively gathering the sheets around his lower half. Her bare shoulders trembled and shook as she fought resolutely not to cry.

Izuru made a half-hearted attempt to push the sleek of blond hair behind his ear as he gently splayed a square hand on the pale skin of the small of her back. He idly massaged the silken spot between her shoulders with his long fingers as she shuddered beneath him.

"It's cold," Momo whispered into her knees.

"D'you want me to get another blanket or—"

"Being let behind," she leaned against Izuru slightly, and her pale skin was frigid against his own, "it's like ice."

Izuru bit his lip, remembering the feeling of Ichimaru's disappearing spiritual pressure and Momo's flickering life force as he leaned against that wall where he had been left to die. It was worse than ice; it was a hole gnawing at your insides and twisting you into a million helpless pieces.

"And I can't stop crying," she whispered helplessly. "It's like… you made it okay for me to be upset about this…"

"Did I make you cry?" Izuru was thoroughly heartbroken at the thought as he drew her into a warm embrace, silently savoring the feeling of Momo warmly pressed against him in his bed.

"Yes…" Momo whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck as he lay back down, holding her closely. "But I'm happy, too."

Izuru silently stroked her hair as she pressed her wet face into the broad plane of his chest. He stared blandly at the ceiling, silently begging Momo to forget everything horrible, because, as long as he lived now, nothing bad could ever—would ever—happen to her again.

"I'm happy because you love me," she whispered, moving to kiss him. Izuru was the wide-eyed one now. He made her happy. His love made her happy.

That was all Izuru had ever wanted. And that fact, that incredible statement from her soft, beautiful lips, brought tears to his eyes

Immediately, Izuru's hands went to her hips, feverishly skimming the fair soft skin.

As he cupped Momo's head in his hands, Izuru whispered one choked, hard word, his breath hot against her ear as she moved against him, drawing a trail of fire across his neck with her lips.

"Hallelujah."