Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for all the great reviews. I'll respond to them at the bottom of the page if you want to see.

Summary: The Final Getsuga Tensho was not enough to stop Aizen. With the last of his strength, he captured Ichigo and retreated to Hueco Mundo. Three months later, the Soul Society comes under attack by Aizen again, and this time they must cross blades with an opponent they never expected to fight.

Pairings: Ichigo x Orihime | Rukia x Renji | (Possibly) Grimmjow x Nel

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach or any of it's characters.

Warning: This story includes graphic violence, character death, and strong language.

Special Thanks: Lady Serai, co-writer of this story and who is and will be responsible for most of the battle scenes in this story. ;)

Enjoy!

Renji and some other seated officers sat around the Sixth Division's meeting hall. Apparently, they were going to go over their latest strategy for taking down Aizen. He was curious if they were going to break into Las Noches like their group had the last time, or guard Karakura Town like most of the captains did. He knew he was going to find out soon when Byakuya entered the room.

"You all know why you are here." Byakuya began as he turned to face the officers of his squad. "Our current plan is to guard the human world. Specifically, the locations of the Oken."

Renji shot his captain with a questioning look. "I'm sorry Taicho, but locations? Plural?"

The head of the Kuchiki clan nodded. "That is correct Lieutenant Abarai. You see, every Head Captain in the history of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads has been given the Oken by the Zero Division, only to be used in times of great need. Every Captain Commander there after has chosen his own hiding place for the King's Key. Head Captain Yamamoto has recently informed the captains that when he took possession of the Oken, he actually broke it into pieces and scattered it in different locations within the human world. In the World of the Living, where there is almost no reishi, the fragments of the King's Key are little more than stone, which allows them to hid in plan sight. There are four fragments in total and different squads will be deployed to guard different fragments. They are located in the Arctic circle, Rome, Japan, and the Marina Trench (1). Are there any questions?"

No one spoke up. That had clarified everything for them.

"Good. Now then, prepare for battle."

At his command, everyone dispersed to make preparations for their voyage to the World of the Living. Everyone but Renji. He had something pressing on his mind that he had to ask his captain before they departed. The red haired Soul Reaper went up to Byakuya just when he was about to leave the room. "Captain?"

Byakuya turned and looked him in the eye. "Yes Lieutenant Abarai?"

Renji's shoulders slumped a bit. He was almost afraid to ask this question. But his captain was the wisest man he knew. If anyone knew the answer, it was him. "It's just that...do you believe that Ichigo can be saved?"

Byakuya didn't react at first. He only thought over Renji's words for a moment or two before speaking. "If I have learned anything about that boy, it's that he shouldn't be underestimated. And he never let's his friends down. Does that answer your question?"

Renji smiled at his captain's response. "Thanks Taicho."

"While I have you, I need to tell you something. Because of Captain Ukitake's declining health, he will not be participating in this latest operation. As a result, Rukia will be fighting along side our squad. Over the course of the battle, I need you to insure no harm befalls her."

Renji nodded, but the questioning look he had in his eyes did not escape Byakuya.

"Is something wrong?"

Renji shook his head. "Not at all. It's just that...I'm a bit surprised that you asked me to do this."

Byakuya didn't react right away. "I saw the relationship between you and Rukia as personal motivation to insure her safety."

Renji very nearly had a heart attack at that moment. 'Relationship'?! He knew?!

As usual, Byakuya didn't miss anything. Plus, it would have been hard to miss Renji's expression of pure terror. "Did you think you could keep that from me?"

"Ye-yes! I mean n-no! I mean...there aren't any words that are going to sound right here." He stammered. "How did you know?"

Byakuya shot him a fierce glare. "For future reference, the next time you and Rukia participate in your...nightly activities, don't do it under my roof. Imagine my surprise when I passed by her bedroom and heard her moaning your name."

Renji turned so red his skin nearly blended in with his hair. God, this was humiliating. He had to say something quick to get out off this. "I-I'm sorry for trying to keep it a secret sir! I was just worried over how you would react."

Byakuya looked at him with his classic stoic expression. "Were you afraid that I would perhaps threaten you if I found out?"

Renji's heart nearly gave out but nodded.

"Why would I bother with that?" Byakuya inquired before narrowing his eyes. "You already know full well what I would do to you if you harmed Rukia in any way."

Renji quickly turned from red to blue. Then some other color Byakuya had never seen before.

He may not have to wait for the situation Byakuya just mentioned for him to die. The likely hood of him dying right then and there was growing every minute under his Taicho's gave. Fortunately, a voice called out from behind Byakuya. "Captain Kuchiki!"

There was a God. Byakuya broke his gaze on Renji (allowing said Soul Reaper to feel like he could breath again) to turn his focus the messenger approaching them. The messenger handed him a scroll of sorts which he then read over. Eventually he finished reading, closed it back up, and closed his eyes. Even though he tried to keep his face expressionless, Renji could see a small look of annoyance. "What is it?"

"It would appear Orihime Inoue has gone back to the World of the Living without permission."

Orihime walked through the streets of Karakura town quickly. It had been surprising easy to get through the Dangai. The fact that she stole a hell butterfly may have helped though. She'd get in trouble for that later, she imagined.

But this was something she had to do. She finally walked towards an apartment complex and knocked on a specific door. "Please be home. Please be home."

Her prayers were answered when the door opened to reveal Tatsuki on the other side. Once the dark haired girl realized who she had opened the door to, she threw it the rest of the way open and wrapped her arms around Orihime.

"Orihime! I'm so glad you're back!" Tatsuki shouted. Kisuke had informed her about the Soul Society shortly after Ichigo and his friends left for Hueco Mundo to save Inoue. So she was aware of the fact that the mod soul that had been inhabiting Ichigo's body was not actually him. And as of recently, Orihime took to never leaving the Soul Society until Ichigo was back. That made Tatsuki's happiness twofold. Orihime's return surely meant that Ichigo was back too. Which made what Orihime had to do next all the more heartbreaking.

Orihime broke off the hug to look at Tatsuki with a wide smile. "I'm glad to see you too." She truly had missed Tatsuki. It was her constant begging for Orihime to come back that nearly persuaded her. But her reason for being here now was something else entirely.

"So, where's Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked. She had missed her childhood friend too, of course. And she was also frustrated that Ichigo had decided not to come visit her with Orihime. She was going to have to knock his teeth out later.

Orihime almost flinched when she heard Tatsuki say his name. That was enough to snap her back to reality. "No. Ichigo's not back yet."

Tatsuki's eyes went wide. Considering that the last month of begging her to come back wasn't enough, she had to wonder what finally convinced the ginger in front of her to come back. "Really? Then why did you finally come home?"

Orihime's eyes went sad. "I'm only here for a bit Tatsuki. There's something I needed to tell you."

The dark haired teen scanned her best friends face. "What is it?" She asked, even though she was afraid of what the answer might be.

Orihime gulped before speaking. "So, Mister Urahara told you everything? About Soul Reapers, about hollows, everything?" She waited for Tatsuki to nod before continuing. "Okay so, I can't get into the details, but Ichigo is in trouble. And me, and Rukia, and Chad, and the rest of us are going to do our best to rescue him."

Tatsuki wasn't very surprised to hear that Ichigo was in danger. He had been a magnet for trouble since they were kids and his unnatural hair color caused him to be the target of several bullies. But clearly, there was something else. "You didn't come all the way here just to tell me that, so what's up?"

Orihime herself looked like she didn't want to say what came next. "It's just that, this is probably the most dangerous situation I'll be in since I got my powers. And I need you to know something...just in case."

Tatsuki was stiff from the depth of Orihime's words so she didn't react when Inoue put her hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye with a smile. "You're my best friend, Tatsuki. You were the first friend I made here. You brought me out of my shell after my brother died. And you introduced me to Ichigo. I just wanted you to know that if it weren't for you, my life would have such a big hole in it." Then Orihime pulled her close and enveloped her in a hug. "Thank you for everything."

Orihime then pulled back and gave the still shocked Tatsuki a smile before making to walk away. "Wait." Tatsuki's voice rang as her hand gently gripped Inoue's wrist.

Inoue turned around to see Tatsuki with a very concerned look. "Since you're my best friend, I need to ask you a big favor. Can you do that for me?"

Orihime nodded without pause. "Of course, anything."

Tatsuki nodded. "In that case, don't go."

Orhime was he surprised one now. She just barely thought Tatsuki was serious. "I'm sorry, could you say that again?"

"I said please don't go." Tatsuki repeated, hoping that Orihime wouldn't change her answer.

Orihime looked at her friend disbelievingly. "How could you say that?" She was about to go on when Tatsuki interrupted her.

"Because, these people, these Soul Reapers, this type of thing is their job. You shouldn't put your life on the line because they asked nicely for your help." Tatsuki pleaded.

Orihime couldn't believe her ears. Tatsuki wanted her to just walk away? "Didn't you hear me? Ichigo is in danger!"

Tatsuki nodded. "Yes, and I want him back as much as you do but that's for these Soul Reapers to handle. If Ichigo were here, he would want you out of danger too."

Orihime shook her head. "'If Ichigo were here'?" She repeated. "Let me ask you this. Would you ever tell Ichigo to walk away when there is something he could do to help?"

"No I wouldn't, only because that's the person he is. He goes charging off to save his friends when they can't protect themselves. He's always been that way."

"So what are you saying? That I'm not the type of person to protect her friends?"

"Of course I'm not saying that. But Ichigo is this big powerhouse right? He can do things no one else there can. But you're different. I'm sure there are other people there that can heal. There's no need for you to be there."

Orihime looked at Tatsuki in the eye again. This time, she seemed angry. Frustrated was more accurate. "You're wrong." She said with a trembling voice. That's when Tatsuki realized she wasn't angry or frustrated. She was bordering on crying. "Even if I can't do anything, even if I don't make a difference there, I wouldn't be able to go on with my life knowing that I did nothing while people were dying while I sat by."

Tatsuki could see a small tear cascading down Orihime's face. She gripped her shoulders and pulled her close, letting tears soak into the fabric of her shirt. Once Orihime was done, Tatsuki spoke again. "You really need to be out there, huh?"

Orhime pulled back and wiped her face with her hand before looking at Tatsuki and nodding. Tatsuki nodded back and closed her eyes for a minute. "Fine, then I need you to do something for me still." She said. Then she looked back at Orihime with a small smile. "Get Ichigo back...for all of us."

Orihime let a smile come to her face to and nodded. "That's the plan."

After having a moment of silence, Orihime turned and walked away, leaving Tatsuki feeling satisfied that she would come out okay. Inoue looked ahead. There was another stop she had to make.

Snow came down like gravity had doubled as a blizzard pressed on. This was not an unusual occurrence in the Arctic. Neither were the Northern Lights which enveloped the night sky in the most dazzling way. But one thing was different. In the center of the snow storm were four individuals.

Toshiro looked up at the sky, captivated by the sight of the Aurora. Meanwhile, Rangiku stood next to him shaking like an earthquake.

"Dammit Captain! Why did we have to come to this location?!" She asked between shivers.

Toshiro looked back at Rangiku and spoke in his usual authoritative voice. "This is where one of the fragments of the King's Key is. The Head Captain asked that I cover this location because I don't really feel the affects of the cold."

Rangiku looked at him pleadingly. "Again, why am I here?"

Toshiro narrowed his eyes. "I'm sorry that you're uncomfortable Rangiku but when I accepted that meant you had to be brought along too."

"You concern yourself with your lieutenant's opinion too much." Another voice said.

Hitsugaya turned and glared at Kurotsuchi. Unfortunately, he was also picked for this mission because he had lined his Captain's haori with technology to keep him warm. Meanwhile, Nemu had absolutely no sense of touch, so she couldn't even feel the cold.

The young Captain was about to speak up about Kurotsuchi lecturing him when a far off howl interrupted him. All four of the Soul Reapers present looked off in the direction it came from.

"Um, are wolves common in the Arctic?" Rangiku asked nervously.

Mayuri narrowed his eyes. "Not for a long time."

Before anyone knew what hit them, a wolf that seemed to have some kind of blue light sparking on the tip of it's tail ran towards them. Hitsugaya recognized the technique immediately and stretched out his hand in it's direction before it could come close. "Hado number four, Byakurai!" A small bolt of emerged from the palm of his hand and struck the wolf, causing it to detonate like a bomb as an explosion emerged from where it had been.

After the wolf was gone, they all heard the unmistakable sound of a sonido above them. They all looked skywards and saw Coyote Starrk looking down on them with his green haired fraccion standing beside him.

Byakuya groaned in annoyance. He had sent Renji and Rukia to get Orihime back to the Soul Society hours ago. They should have been back by now. He and Captain Kyoraku were currently in the somewhere in Aokigahara forest. Meanwhile, they also had Soul Reapers posted all throughout to watch for signs of any Espada getting close. This was a dangerous place to be, even for Soul Reaper captains. Aokigahara forest was known for people entering it with the intention of killing themselves. Because of this, hollows were common there, looking for newly dead souls to devour. Those souls would turn into hollows and come back to the forest, and the cycle then continued.

In their short time there, they had already been attacked by a dozen hollows, including one aduchas level. Even if an Espada came for the Oken, that Espada would not be their only threat.

"Worried about Rukia?" Shunsui asked from behind him.

Byakuya gave no response other than a curt nod of his head.

Shunsui smiled a bit. "I can't blame you. Blood or not, she is your sister. Plus, she can be a bit reckless, just like someone else I knew back in the day."

Byakuya turned and scowled at him. It was true though. His younger self was always getting into trouble and doing his best to outdo Yoruichi. But before he could give a verbal response, he was caught off guard by static sounding in his earpiece. "Captain Kuchiki! An Espada! It's here!"

Byakuya immediately turned all his attention towards the matter at hand and pressed two fingers to the earpiece. "Report. What is your location?"

His only response were a few muttered words on the intercom that clearly weren't meant for him. "PLEASE! DON-!" The words were cut off by a blood curdling scream and finally, dead silence.

Byakuya and Shunsui then began to search for nearby spiritual pressure. The officers they had dispatched throughout the forest couldn't be located. A few moments later, a powerful spiritual pressure came crashing down on them both. Were they anyone but captains, they would have been incapacitated by it. They turned in the direction of the source and saw none other than Ulquiorra Cifer approaching slowly, his stoic expression rivaling Byakuya's.

Soi Fon stood atop an isolated rock in the middle of the ocean. Standing out in the hot sun waiting for an Espada to show up was rather tedious but there was nothing else to do. She had been put on this assignment with Komamura, who was standing nearby. This fragment of the Oken was located at the bottom of the Marina Trench, the deepest part of the deepest ocean. Down there it was pitch black, not to mention most people would be crushed by the underwater pressure. In essence, it was the perfect hiding place. But the Espada Aizen was bound to send after them was nowhere in sight as of yet.

Her thoughts slowly drifted to Marechiyo. It was no secret that she hadn't been fond of him. Still her heart ached a bit. At first he had just been some Soul Reaper forced on her by the Academy. His Zanpakuto could never be used in stealth operations. He was too loud and too big to be an assassin. Yet, he still did his best to serve her every chance he got. And he had even given his life for the Soul Society, which was the most honorable thing someone in his position could do.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a new wave of spirit energy crashing into her. Her eyes went wide when she turned and saw Tier Hallibel, with her three fraccion standing by her side.

Kenpachi whistled at the giant ruins around him. He and Unohana had been sent to guard an Oken fragment that the Head Captain hid beneath an actual Roman Colosseum.

Yachiru was on one of the large bench-like platforms within the interior of the structure. She looked around with as much awe as one would expect a child to have in the presence of such a large site.

Unohana avoided gawking in awe at the ruins like her companions were. It was important for them to remain vigilant for any of their enemies. If they failed here, Aizen would have all he needed to travel to the royal dimension and kill the Soul King. It was no simple task, but Aizen would most certainly have something planned for when he got there. If the Soul King did die, everything would fall to pieces. The World of the Living and Soul Society alike. Her musings were brought to an end when she heard Kenpachi speak up from behind her.

"You know, humans built this place by hand. Imagine all the work that took, all so people could come here and watch gladiators fight and die for their warrior's pride." Then he chuckled. "That was definitely me before I wound up in the Soul Society. I can still hear the screaming and cheers echoing through this place. More battles were fought here than most humans see in a lifetime." Finally, Kenpachi turned to one of the stands above them. "I can't think of a better place to fight. Don't you agree?"

Unohana realized with a start that it wasn't her that Zaraki was talking to. She followed his line of vision and saw a vibrant flash of blue hair and a wicked grin to match the one Kenpachi had right now. If there were ever an arrancar counterpart to Kenpachi Zaraki, this man was it. Grimmjow Jaggerjack.

Orihime finally made it back to her house. Visiting Tatsuki took much longer than she thought it would. She went through the doorway slowly and flicked on the lights.

Everything was exactly the way she had left it. Dust was starting to gather on the furniture though. She guessed that's what happened when you leave your house for weeks on end.

She walked into the living room and saw the picture of her brother on the small shrine she had for him. She couldn't help but feel sad as she looked at it. Orihime got down on her knees slowly and put her hands together.

A long time ago, she had a dream where her brother had been turned into a monster and said he was hurt that she had stopped praying for him. Later she found out that it had really happened and her memory had just been altered by Rukia. Even now that her brother had reentered the cycle of reincarnation, she still came and prayed for his soul every chance she got.

But now, she was not only praying for her brothers soul, but for Ichigo's. She needed whatever higher power that could hear her to let him be okay at the end of this.

But Inoue was abruptly pulled from her prayer by a sound behind her. She turned and jumped up at the sight of a Garganta opening just a few feet away from her. Her heart came to a stop as she heard footsteps on the other side. Slowly, a head of black hair emerged from the Garganta. But it was the horn that caught her attention.

After the figure fully emerged, it was revealed to be Lucifer. He currently had a neutral expression on his face, and he was staring right at her.

"Orihime Inoue." He said slowly. "Lord Aizen has given me orders to escort you back to Las Noches. And just know that if you try to resist or escape, I have explicit orders to kill you."

Author's Note

(1) Marina Trench - The deepest part of the deepest ocean.

Chaos-Guard - I saw the picture of Tercera Etapa and I just had to. You'll need to be patient though.

Black Bankai - You're awesome too ;D.

suzaanoelofse01, teetertotter23, and Ichi Hime Ulqui Grim - Thanks I knew I had to through in a big Toshiro Isshin moment.

777torn777 - I plan on some romantic trash where Orihime is able to reach him in a way that none of the others can.

Veraozao - *kisses back*

Sephy -Chan - Thanks, interaction between characters is my favorite thing to write.

Guest - No I haven't read the light novels. Thanks for reading though.

Analatelle - Thank you and I hope this was soon enough.

Review and I'll get back to you soon!