A/N No reviews, I'm starting to think I'm losing my touch..

For The Heart

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"Hey, wake up, Captain Hitsugaya, please wake up now." Hitsugaya vaguely heard a voice cut through his dreams. He sat up and looked around blearily. There was a whole lot of blurry green surrounding the white they seemed to be on, alone with black and white and various colors near him, not to mention one big blob of black and white and orange right in front of him. Eventually his vision cleared to see Orihime invading his personal space. Farther away, Rangiku was waking the others with a very effective tactic, shoving her boobs in the unconscious victims until they wake.

Among the unconscious were Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, Chad, Kira, and Tatsuki. Ikkaku was nowhere to be seen, Nel was partying with the green dudes and Pesche and Dondechakka were acting as her bodyguard. A girlish scream rang out. Rangiku had just woken up Kira. Everyone else was wakened by the scream and Rangiku smiled, her job was done already. People were starting to panic when a voice rang out.

"Hey everyone, welcome to Casa De Yumichika, the one and only. Don't worry about my minions, they are friendly and they serve me. My generals have food if you're peckish." Yumichika sang from his position on top of a very tall throne. Ikkaku stood by him and chuckled. Yumichika's feathers were all accounted for and four green minions with various marking that resembled Yumichika's signature style ran around with platters of an unidentifiable substance. Only Orihime and Rangiku dared to eat it. Hitsugaya's brain was overloading.

"You, and them, and-and." Hitsugaya mumbled. Ichigo shuddered. Kira squeaked. Ishida watched the greenies distrustfully as one growled at him. Renji flashed a peace sign at the minions, who muttered with each other and attempted to reciprocate. Orihime and Rangiku were loving the "food". Chad stared under his bangs and didn't make a peep. Tatsuki rolled her eyes.

"Yes, though these poor creatures have no beauty of their own, they highly appreciate it in other forms, and I am the most beautiful of all. So, understandably, they worship me." Yumichika said smugly.

"Wait, how do you understand them?" Orihime said confused.

"You don't?" Yumichika scoffed. Orihime, along with every other person in the room, with the exception of Ikkaku, who had long since learned never to question Yumichika, blinked in surprise.

"They have also graciously offered to take us to their creator." Yumichika said as he merged with the crowd. Everyone perked up at this. "Though they can't guarantee your safety. The creator, as they call him is unpredictable."

"Yeps, Nel agrees." Nel shouted out. Hitsugaya groaned, just what he needed, a possible ally who was unpredictable. Suddenly, a green minion offered him some unidentifiable substance. Hitsugaya waved him away.

"You're going to want all you strength, Captain Hitsugaya." Yumichika said to him. Hitsugaya grimaced before trying some, to the immense horror of all around him. He blinked in surprise as it wasn't that bad. Seeing how Hitsugaya did not immediately die on contact with the food, everyone else cautiously tried some. Ichigo sighed. Things were starting to look clearer, Starrk was alive, as was this unknown espada, but there were conflicting ideas about Aizen, Starrk has said Aizen was in hell, but all Nel could say was that she didn't know what happened after Las Noches went 'boom'. Nel wouldn't even tell them which espada it was. Maybe she would now.

"Nel, who created this place." Ichigo asked. Nel giggled.

"Can't tell." Nel said. Ishida pushed up his glassed and looked at Renji.

"I believe I know." Ishida said. Everyone turned to stare. "Who is the one espada that has this much resources and intelligence to do all of this. Only one, Szayel Apporo-Granz. Most of you may not know much about him, but Renji and I fought against him."

"Aww, you ruined the game." Nel pouted. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Well, at least we know who we're facing. Will he help or hinder us?" Hitsugaya asked Nel.

"He'll help, if you survive the first encounter." Nel said as she laughed.

"He seems friendly." Ikkaku said sarcastically. Yumichika smirked.

"Well, are we ready? We can go now if you are." Yumichika said. Everyone stood and waited for Yumichika to lead the way. Yumichika made some clicking noises to the four generals and the red general clicked back, then set off ahead, the orange general stayed behind to guard the camp, the yellow general headed off as a scout, and the purple general covered the back of the group.

Yumichika walked alongside the red general with Ikkaku at his side, followed by Ichigo who was talking quietly to Renji and Rukia. Orihime was close by them while she giggled with Rangiku while Tatsuki looked around. Ishida was walking silently next to Chad while looking at the green minions suspiciously. He didn't trust them as far as he could throw them. Chad was silent as usual. Kira walked quietly next to Renji. Hitsugaya was shaking his head at the absurdity of the situation.

Suddenly, all minions stopped and froze. Frantically they said something to Yumichika to which he nodded and sent them away. The minions looked relieved and fled the premises. Ishida looked slightly worried.

"And they're leaving because?" He asked. Everyone waited nervously for Yumichika's answer.

"This is as far as they dare to take us, but there isn't much distance left now. We just have to find the right hidden latch in the ground. According to Aka there is more than one though." Yumichika said.

"Aka?" Orihime asked, "Who is that?"

"The minion that had my red feather markings on his face, the one with the yellow feather markings on her head is Kiiro, the one with my hair tied around his head is Murasaki, and the one with the orange on her chest is Daidaiiro." Yumichika said breezily as they continued walking. Everyone froze.

"Wait, you actually know their genders?" Hitsugaya asked in disbelief.

"You don't?" Yumichika asked. Hitsugaya shuddered. Rangiku shook her head at Orihime who was about to ask how he knew the genders. Suddenly the went around a corner and turned into a room that was covered wall to wall with hatches. They were on the floor, the roof, the walls, everywhere. Everyone cautiously opened the hatch closest to them and were blasted with a pink cloud. Nel laughed at the coughs that followed before skipping and standing on Pesche who stood on Dondechakka's head so they could reach a hatch on the roof. She pushed a few random appearing spots on it and it opened with an ominous hiss.

"Do we really have to go in that?" Ishida asked, thought he already knew the answer. Chad suddenly lifted the surprised Ishida up on his shoulders over to the hatch and Ishida sighed before going up. Ishida was silent for a second before calling back that it was ok. Chad motioned for everyone else to go and slowly, everyone went up the hatch. Then Chad stood alone when Ichigo put his arms down for Chad to hold on to, and with the help of everyone else, they managed to drag him up. The hatch slammed shut behind Chad and a maniacal laugh rang out as a pink light flashed.

"Duck." Nel had barely time to yell.

A voice cackled.

"So you've finally found me Aizen, well as you can see, I'm not going down without a fight." A pink light flashed, Orihime had her shield up, protecting everyone from an unknown enemy. Many more flashes and booms sounded before hearing a,

"Pinky-chan!" Nel chirped.

"Quick Nel, get behind me, Aizen found us. I'll distract him, you run, get your useless fraccion to evacuate everyo-" Szayel was cut off by Nel's loud laughter.

"No Pinky-chan, that's not Aizen, It's Itsygo." Nel laughed again. Szayel scowled and fired another cero.

"Bad Pinky, we don't shoot at friends. They're here to help us." Nel's voice chirped. Smoke from Szayel's previous ceros was still thick but eventually it cleared up enough to see Szayel, who looked terrible, scars from unhealed wounds, bags under his golden eyes, and a strange twitch. Nel was standing behind him, tugging on his pants. As Nel said her last statement, Szayel's eyes went to Rangiku before he twitched.

"I see, well its safe to come out now, I'm not going to kill you." Szayel said. Orihime sighed in relief and lowered her shield. A pink blast shot by them again and Hitsugaya glared at the pink-haired madman. Said madman whistled innocently, twitched, and pointed at Nel. Nel vomited on Szayel.

"Neliel, I told you these are scars, they don't heal, they fade." Szayel sighed. Nel looked sad. Orihime came over.

"I can fix that." Orihime said.

"Thank you." Szayel said. "But, I think you'll need your energy. Now I'd like you to meet some friends of mine, who I think you'll be very pleased to see, or not, who knows." Szayel said with a cackle and a twitch, and Nel followed with a cackle of her own. Szayel walked through the labyrinth that he currently called home and eventually made his way towards a certain room.

"Now I'm going to say this once and once only. No matter how much you may want to, don't scream and run to his side, he is barely kept alive by my inventions." Szayel said. Rangiku's breath quickened as Szayel opened the door. At the far end of the room lay a bed with many, many wires and various objects hooked up to the person who lay in the bed.

"Gin." Rangiku gasped. Kira stood pale and frozen. Gin's silver hair covered his closed eyes, but his chest moved slowly up and down. Rangiku slowly, in shock made her way to his bed and started laughing with joy.

"I wouldn't be laughing Miss Matsumoto. Gin's condition is dangerous." Szayel warned. Rangiku's spirits lowered for a split-second before remembering Orihime. She looked at Orihime and Orihime nodded smiling. She walked over to Gin's bed and recited,

"Soten Kosen, I reject." Rangiku and Kira sat down near Gin's bed.

"This may take a while, his wounds are extensive and none are fully healed." Orihime said. Rangiku nodded as Szayel mimicked Orihime words with a flourish of his hand.

"Not fully healed." Szayel snorted, "I'd like to see how she would do in my situation." No one heard him complain.

"Are you going to show them everyone else?" Nel asked loudly. Szayel twitched his lip in an almost grimace.

"Very well if I must, come, leave Orihime to her work, she needs quiet." Szayel said.

"No it's ok, I can come with you, Ayame and Shun'o can handle it on their own." Orihime said. Szayel appeared slightly surprised before bowing his head and walking on. He came to a hallway that had a door with crayon markings and stickers on it, along with a few dents. He knocked on the doorway and it opened quickly as a green and white blur flashed past towards Szayel, but Szayel smirked and leaned out of the way and the blur hit Ichigo in the head.

"OUCH! What was that for?" Ichigo demanded. Suddenly a slightly sheepish green haired girl stood there.

"Ehehehe, sorry, I was aiming for Szayel." Lilinette said. "Hey Orihime, Hi Nel." Orihime and Nel waved back. Suddenly a small red ball rolled out from the room and landed near Renji. Renji frowned and picked it up as Szayel, Nel, Lilinette, and Orihime were about to yell at him not to touch it. Then a yellow and white blur flashed out and landed on Renji's shoulders and threw him. Renji went flying but without the red ball. Ichigo laughed. Wonderweiss hissed at Renji then caught sight of Orihime and he blabbed happily at she ruffed his hair. Szayel looked slightly disgusted.

"I can't believe you touched that, Princess." Szayel said to Orihime. Orihime smiled and kept ruffling Wonderweiss' hair. Lilinette got a mischievous look in her eye.

"If you didn't like him, why'd ya keep him huh?" Lilinette asked. Szayel completely ignored the question.

"So, Szayel, what happened to Las Noches, all we can get out of Nel is that it went boom." Orihime asked. Szayel suddenly looked like he had aged 100 years.

"Not here. Follow me." Szayel said as he walked off. Everyone followed Including Lilinette and Wonderweiss. Szayel led them to a large room with many chairs and a table. Szayel sat down and gestured for everyone to do the same.

"First things first. How did you find the way here?" Szayel asked. Ichigo looked around.

"It was mainly Nel, but also the green things helped." Ichigo said.

"What, the Impotus Anteanus? They actually assisted you?" Szayel said with an eyebrow high above the other.

"Well actually, they've taken a shine to Yumichika and follow him like a god." Ikkaku spoke up bored. Szayel made some clicking noises in a demanding fashion, to which Yumichika clicked back. Szayel then nodded.

"Interesting, they have such small brains, it's surprising they can be that organized." Szayel mused to himself.

"How did you make them, they're really cool, it's like you're Dr. Frankenstein, creating life." Orihime said happily. Szayel smiled.

"Yes, it would be very cool, if I had actually created them, I discovered them buried deep in the sand thousands of years ago, and only recently they have awoken, I attributed this to the mass pouring of reiatsu and pure power that exploded through Las Noches." Szayel said. Everyone stared dumfounded.

"So, those are like, demons or something?" Tatsuki asked incredulous.

"Something like that possibly, since I rediscovered them, I named them myself. They believe I created them. You can just call them Imps for short." Szayel said.

"I've just been calling them minions myself." Yumichika added nonchalantly. Ichigo broke in.

"So, what happened at Las Noches?" He asked. Szayel sighed.

"After you left, Ulquiorra released his form, which we all quickly followed. Las Noches couldn't handle the pressure and it crumbled to the ground. I was fighting Aaroniero at the time, Ulquiorra was fighting Aizen, Gin was trying to assist from a distance as it seems his zanpakuto is better from a distance, Barragan was fighting Zommari, Grimmjow was fighting Tousen, and Harribel was fighting Nnoitra, who had survived Ulquiorra's initial blow. The fraccion were all forced to be elsewhere due to the sheer power that was being released.

"Everyone spread out from each other and some battles were no game at all, Barragan rotted Zommari away like a rotting pumpkin, Harribel was ruthless against Nnoitra, which I suppose is something she had been wanting to do for a while, Starrk was having a bit of difficulty with Yammy furious and released, but he was soon joined by Harribel. Aaroniero usually wouldn't have been a problem, but Harribel threw Nnoitra right at me on accident and I was momentarily downed. Aaroniero took the time to get some good slashes in before I was back up with a fury. I swallowed him with one of my wings and set five Aaroniero's against him while I destroyed him from the inside.

"Tousen had Grimmjow in his bankai. Then Gin intervened. He snuck in and somehow, disabled Tousen. My theory is that Gin spends so much time with his eyes closed that the darkness didn't affect him, and due to his hundreds of years of practice his stealth is second to almost none. And certainly not second to Tousen. Tousen's bankai broke apart and Grimmjow ripped Tousen's throat right out. Starrk had gotten Yammy down on his knees, and Harribel cut off his head. Ulquiorra was fighting against Aizen, and it would seemed that he was winning, but we were fools.

"As soon as Aizen was the only one left, he smirked Gin seemed to know what was going to happened and he grabbed the blade of Kyoka Suigetsu. Aizen ripped it out of Gin's hand and unleashed his bankai. Everything went to hell from there." Szayel took a drink from a cup that a fraccion had brought around.

"Aizen just stood there as we tore each other to pieces. Starrk was the first to put his blade in someone, and that someone turned out to be Harribel. As she fell, Aizen released him from the hypnosis so he could feel the pain. Starrk howled in rage and somehow, Lilinette was expelled unconscious from his body as he fled. Gin was the only one who seemed free of the hypnosis as he dogged Aizen's every step. Grimmjow and Ulquiorra was no contest. Then, according to Gin, Aizen made Grimmjow appear as Orihime and then Ulquiorra was stabbed.

"Then Aizen turned us all to Orihime in Ulquiorra's eyes, and Ulquiorra unleashed a massive sea of reiatsu and appeared to have another transformation, a second release as it were, and his stab wound immediately healed and he flew away, and if the craters that I later found in Hueco Mundo, he had a great many crash landings also. It seems that even when Ulquiorra was fleeing, Aizen's hypnosis continued to follow him.

"With three of our strongest allies gone, we were taking a beating. Aizen finally stabbed Barragan in the heart from behind. I was holding off what appeared to me to be Nnoitra, but was Grimmjow, needless to say, I wasn't doing well. Gin, being the only clear-headed one of what was left of us launched a vicious attack on Aizen, which was enough to clear our heads.

"'Szayel, best get us outta here' Gin called to me. I looked around and ceroed the floor beneath us. Grimmjow attacked Aizen and Gin seemed to get the gist of what I was attempting and he used the length of his sword to cut a hole underneath and a bigger hole above us. I grabbed Grimmjow and Lilinette, Gin grabbed Harribel, and we all sank into the ground, into one of the many tunnels that I have going under Las Noches. Yet Aizen still had the last word. Seven of him surrounded us and tore us to pieces. It got Gin the worst, Harribel was unconscious as was Lilinette, Grimmjow was heading that way, and suddenly, I was the only one left who could save us.

"So I tossed everyone down an empty shaft nearby and set off the explosives behind us, which was enough to bury us and Aizen, in separate places. I made my way here and healed everyone, mostly. Gin never woke up, Grimmjow healed okay and he is on the prowl in the outside somewhere, Harribel left before she was fully recovered, I don't know where she is, or Starrk, or Ulquiorra. As you saw Lilinette is still here, I wouldn't let her leave unless she knew for sure where Starrk was." Szayel stopped to look into the distance.

"When did Wonderweiss get here?" Orihime asked. Szayel almost cracked a smile.

"He just showed up with Nel one day, don't ask me how, I'm still not sure how they got in here, and he never left." Szayel replied.

"Well, we've seen Starrk, he seems to gone a bit loco in the head. He was seeing things that weren't there like Lilinette. He also said he saw Harribel occasionally, but we don't know if it's really her or a hallucination." Ichigo said. Szayel looked very interested at this.

"Really, at least he is still alive, possibly Harribel too, Barragan is dead, All fraccion besides Lilinette are still at Las Noches, possibly they are being manipulated at this very moment. Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, status unknown." Szayel pulled a whiteboard out of thin air and scribbled on it. Suddenly, Ayame and Shun'o appeared in front of Orihime.

"Gin is awake."

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Hoped you enjoyed the chapter, personal accounts of fight scenes will go into more detail later.