I still dont own Bleach or the characters.

Parts of this chapter weren't all that appealing to me. I think that's probably because not as much happens in this one. Oh well, enjoy it anyway!

Everything is back to normal time now. The past two chapters went over two weeks. Now everything is happening at the same time unless I say otherwise.

Chapter 11

The rescue begins!

'Hang on Rukia, Inoue, we're here now.' Ichigo, Ishida and Chad ran for what seemed like forever across the desert sands. Everything looked the same so they couldn't tell where they were going until they could see the Las Noches fortress in the distance. On their travels so far they had met Nel, a small child arrancar, and her two companions, Pesche and Dondochakka. Dondochakka was mostly yellow with spots over his body. He had a large mask that looked like a sort of witch-doctor mask. Pesche was tall and thin with a beetle-like mask.

They had also met Renji who had somehow brought Hanatarō with him, probably because he would be able to heal them. Renji explained that when Byakuya and Kenpachi took them back, Byakuya said his only instruction was to bring them back. He was given no instructions as to what he should do when he brought them back.

The group carried on walking to the fortress. Occasionally, Nel and her companions would usually find something to complain about.

'Why we goin' to the fortress?' Nel asked.

'My feet hurt, don'tcha know' Dondachakka complained.

'I really think it's a bad idea to go there' Pesche said nervously.

'Will you all just shut up!' Renji yelled at them all as he couldn't take any more of their whining. 'Can't you just go back to wherever you came from instead of following us?!'

'A-Abarai-san' Hanatarō said meekly 'You don't have to yell at them. They came with us because they wanted to.'

Renji sighed. 'They better not keep complaining or I'll kick their asses.'

Dondochakka began to sob uncontrollably. 'We're sorry, don'tcha know!'

'You made Dondochakka cry' Pesche said.

'Don't worry Dondochakka. Itsygo would protect us if he was going to do that.' Nel comforted him.

'Renji you idiot' Ichigo scolded. 'Look what you did. Now they've started again.'

'It ain't my fault!' Renji argued.

After everyone calmed down, they began moving again. They were slowly getting closer and closer to the fortress. No hollows or arrancar had attacked them yet which confused and worried them slightly. Surely Aizen knew they were here so why didn't he send his espada to kill them all right away?

A few hours ago, inside the fortress

The members of the espada all walked into a room with a large table in it with eleven chairs around it.

'I heard we were under attack' Yammy said. He smiled. 'We should just kill 'em all now.'

'It's been a while since I had a good fight' Nnoitra grinned.

'They should all have some interesting abilities' Szayel Apporo said. 'I can't wait to see them with my own eyes.'

They all sat down around the table. Rukia sat down with her arms folded and had her hands resting on opposite arms.

'I don't see why Aizen let that damn shinigami join our ranks' Barragan said gruffly. Rukia looked over at him.

'I have proved my loyalty to Aizen' she replied calmly. 'I don't see why you should have a problem with that. I am no longer a shinigami.'

'Humph' he grumbled to himself. 'When you talk to me you should at least show me some respect, shingami.' Rukia smirked a little.

'That's enough, Barragan.' Aizen, along with Ichimaru and Tōsen walked into view. Aizen sat down at the head of the table. Ichimaru and Tōsen stood either side of him.

'My dear espada' Aizen began. 'I believe you already know, but we are under attack.'

'Where are they then? Shouldn't we just kill them all now?' Yammy asked.

'Patience Yammy' Aizen said calmly. 'Before we begin, I would like to offer you all some tea.' (A/N: There must be something evil inside the tea or something like that)

A few cups of tea later

'Has everyone finished? Good. Now we can begin. Tōsen.'

Tōsen pulled a lever which caused a hologram to appear in the centre of the table. It showed Ichigo, Chad and Ishida running towards the fortress. Grimmjow saw Ichigo and suddenly paid closer attention.

'That's all of them? I expected an army to be attacking but instead there's three kids' Barragan grumbled.

'Just three of 'em? That ain't enough to go 'round' Yammy complained.

'They are not to be taken lightly' Aizen assured them. 'They are Yasutora Sado, Ishida Uryū and Kurosaki Ichigo. These three and one other infiltrated the Soul Society and fought on par with the Gotei 13.'

'Four?' Zommari questioned. 'Where is the other?'

Aizen smiled. 'Inoue Orihime. She is in our possession now. They have most likely come to get her back.' Rukia scowled and dug her nails into her arms slightly after hearing his comment.

'What's the matter? Jealous?' Nnoitra smirked as he noticed her reaction. Rukia didn't respond. Grimmjow stood up and was about to leave.

'Where are you going, Grimmjow?' Aizen asked.

'I'm killin 'em now. Just getting' it over and done with' he said.

'Aizen-sama has given no such instruction, Grimmjow' Tōsen said.

'I'm doin' this for Aizen so quit yer bitching' he replied.

'Sit down, Grimmjow.' Aizen said calmly. Grimmjow said nothing. 'Well? I didn't hear your answer, Grimmjow Jagerjaquez.' Aizen focused his gaze on Grimmjow who suddenly collapsed onto the floor breathing heavily due to Aizen's immense reiatsu. Aizen looked away from him. Grimmjow stood up slowly and gritted his teeth.

'You all have nothing to fear. As long as you stay near me you will all be invincible.' Aizen smiled. 'Stay in your quarters until I say otherwise. You are all dismissed.' Ichimaru, Tōsen and the espada stood up and walked out of the room.

Orihime heard the door open. She expected it to be Ulquiorra or Aizen. 'What do you want from me?' she asked without facing the door.

'That's not exactly the ideal thing to say to me, is it?' Rukia walked in.

'Kuchiki-san?' She recognized her voice instantly. She turned around to face her and was shocked to see how Rukia looked now. 'Kuchiki-san, what- what happened to you? What is that arm?'

'I would think it was obvious as to what happened to me.' Rukia stated calmly. 'I'd prefer it if you didn't call me that anymore.'

'Kuchiki-san, why?' Orihime was hoping that Rukia would say that she didn't choose to become like this.

'I believe I told you to not call me that.' Rukia gave her a cold stare. 'I was trapped here for a month. I lost the majority of my arm and couldn't see anything with my right eye. I had to choose between this and death.'

'So that's it.' Orihime thought. 'She didn't want to do it. She just didn't want to die.' She was beginning to understand why Rukia had chosen to do this to herself but something didn't seem right. Why did she not want to be called Kuchiki-san anymore? It was what Orihime had always called her. Something also seemed different about her. She didn't seem the same as the Rukia she had come to know. 'Rukia, you're different from before.' She didn't want to see what Rukia would do if she called her Kuchiki-san again.

'I'm not the Rukia you knew' she said. Orihime looked confused. 'I've changed. Aizen gave me the power I had always wanted. I only serve him now.'

'Aizen?! But that means- Rukia you… betrayed us?' Orihime couldn't believe what she was hearing. One of her best friends had betrayed everyone. 'Rukia, don't you see what you're doing? What about Ichigo and the others?' Rukia clenched her fist after hearing Ichigo's name.

'That is exactly why I'm doing this. No one attempted to save me. Everyone gave up on me. Why is it that they came to save you and not me?!' Rukia's rage took over her. She grabbed a part of Orihime's collar and stared into her eyes angrily. 'Give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you now.'

'Rukia, we tried to rescue you! We wouldn't just leave you here' she said.

Rukia's eyes were suddenly wide open. She remembered something from some time ago.

'You're saying we should just leave Kuchiki-san there? No, we're going to rescue her!'

She remembered what Orihime had said to Yamamoto on the video she was shown when she had only just woken up in Hueco Mundo. Rukia didn't move. She then looked like she had just realized that she had threatened to kill Orihime. She let go of her collar and turned around.

'I'm sorry, Inoue' she said quietly as she walked out. Orihime wanted to save her while the others seemed too busy to care. She felt that Orihime was the only one who hadn't betrayed her.

'Kuchiki-san' she whispered as Rukia left.

Rukia walked down the corridors by herself. She saw Grimmjow up ahead walking the other way. As they walked past each other, Grimmjow stopped.

'Just 'cause you got somethin' against Kurosaki, it don't mean that you get to take him first.' Rukia stopped and smirked.

'I'll take him on when I feel like it' she laughed to herself. 'It would be easier for me to wait for you to lose to him before I step in.'

'Did you forget how easily I kicked his and your ass before, ya stupid bitch?' He was clearly irritated with her taunting him. He quickly unsheathed his sword and slashed across at her. Rukia held up her left arm. The sword hit it but did no damage whatsoever. Rukia inspected her arm.

'Much stronger than it was before, isn't it?' Rukia looked back at him and punched him in the stomach, causing Grimmjow to double over. Rukia looked down at him and smirked. 'I'm not nearly as weak as I was before. Don't forget that anytime soon.' Grimmjow muttered several profanities before recovering and walking away. Rukia watched him do so before walking away herself.

'I will be the one to kill you, Ichigo. I will do everything in my power to make sure of that.'

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