Safe In My Arms
Shadow of an Echo
A/N I wanted to thank everyone for their support. That you have taken time out of your day to read and enjoy my story makes me very happy, since you have given me your time, I wanted to take a moment to show my appreciation and let you know every review, favorite, and follow means a lot to me. So thank you for your time, patience, and support. I will try to not let you down.
Chapter Eleven
Family Portrait
Ichigo's ability to sense spirit pressure, or lack thereof, was still just as bad as it was before his exile. The Arrancar around him knew long before he did that they were about to have guests, though judging by the snickering Shiro had a pretty good idea too, but he wasn't sharing.
Thus, when a large blur and two smaller ones tackled him, he very nearly reached for Zangetsu before realizing who it was. "Dad? Karin? Yuzu? Kisuke finished already? He would have been more enthusiastic in his greeting, but with three bodies currently crushing his lungs that was the maximum amount of words he could force out.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Isshin ordered, cuffing his son on the back of the head.
"First time you see me in months and you hit me?" Ichigo asked incredulously, over the relieved chuckles of his sisters.
The crushing bear hug he received for the reminder hurt far worse than the cuff, "It wouldn't be the same if I didn't" He responded honestly.
"Hey Ichi, we were so worried about you? Were you hurt? Are you all right? What happened?" Karin was rattling off questions, Yuzu nodding along with her sister, both of them still attached to his middle, also getting crushed in Isshin's tight hold, but they missed their big brother too much to care.
"I missed you guys too," Ichigo replied, abandoning his pride and not fighting the group hug, "I didn't have a choice or I would have been back a lot sooner. I wasn't hurt, but that's because I had a lot of help along the way, and I'm grateful for it. I'm doing a lot better now, I have found a good place to live, but it isn't the same without the three of you. What happened is well, um, how much have you been told?" He stalled out, not sure how to tell them about the babies, that one would be kind of difficult to explain.
A wide grin showed on Isshin's face, "I know I'm a grandfather." He was over the moon with the news. "I had hoped you three would wait a bit longer to make me one, but I'm happy for you."
"The kids are with Grimmjow and Rose, they were giving me the afternoon off." Ichigo explained, grateful the awkward situation had already been explained. "They weren't planned, but they are my world now."
"I'm mad about one thing though," Isshin half-teased, "No one would give us details, said we had to see them for ourselves the first time. I stole Kisuke's hat for a week trying to get him to tell me and he still wouldn't." He was nearly as petulant as a child, his old friend had blocked his every move to find out more about the babies. They wanted the first sight of them to be in first person, so Ichigo could see their reactions for himself.
He was distracted from the moment by a faint clicking sound, coming from somewhere over his father's broad shoulders where he couldn't quite see. A little adjusting and he found Shinji holding a camera, having just snapped a picture, he was grinning without shame. "I finally remembered it."
Ichigo sighed, knowing there was no way he would manage to pry the device away from Shinji, secretly though he didn't mind. He wasn't under any illusions, his family was only here for a short time, he wanted memories he could keep with him once they left.
"Wait a second; did you just say kids, as in more than one?" The plural finally hit Isshin.
"They didn't even tell you that much?" Ichigo had seen his father when he wanted to know something, Isshin could be ruthless, and Kisuke had held up to the point he hadn't even known there was more than one, he was even more impressed with his mentor's endurance. "I have three children," Ichigo confessed.
Isshin stiffened in shock, Karin gasped, and Yuzu had stars in her eyes thinking of the three new additions to the family ready to be spoiled. "Let's go see them," Ichigo hid his smile as he lead his bemused family, and still smirking Visored, to his room where the babies were with their keepers.
Before he opened the door, he decided to warn them, "You have seen the Arrancar, they are Hollows too, my children take after them in that they don't exactly look human. They have a few extra features, but I have been assured by both an Arrancar healer and a Shinigami that they are perfectly healthy."
"What kind of extra features?" Isshin asked in concern, he wanted his first grandchildren to be as healthy as possible, he couldn't help but get worried about them.
Ichigo knew what prompted the question so he reminded, "Nothing harmful, like I already said, they have been looked over and they're fine. I just wanted to prepare you. Now come in and see them, I'll introduce you to Grimmjow too while we're at it."
With that Ichigo led them inside the room, catching the attention of both Grimmjow and Rose, though with the Visored's warning they were prepared for the humans in their midst. "Did they give you any trouble?" He asked the two babysitters.
"We handled them fine," Grimmjow assured, looking past him to assess the people behind him. "Are they going to just stand there, or come over and look?"
"You know who they are?" Ichigo was surprised, of course the Arrancar knew him, but he had hoped his family was kept out of it.
"There is no doubt that's your father, which means those are your sisters." Grimmjow responded pridefully.
Too bad Rose heard him and couldn't hold back his laughter, "Don't let him fool you, the only reason he is sure who they are is because I warned him they would be coming."
"I figured as much," Ichigo assured, "All right, incase you didn't know the arrogant blue haired idiot over there is Grimmjow." He informed his family.
"So it's you I need to have a little 'chat' with about putting my son through all this?" Isshin stepped threateningly towards the Espada, letting his spirit power flow out of him, it had been returning steadily for awhile now and was almost completely back.
His full power was enough to make Grimmjow cower a bit, even if he wouldn't admit it later. "I didn't know any of it would happen." He defended himself, despite the itching need to run or submit, which he didn't like feeling.
"Stop it Dad. He isn't lying, neither of us had any idea this would happen, and besides the Espada have taken better care of us here than the Shinigami did while I was in Soul Society, well with a few exceptions there." Ichigo stepped between Isshin and Grimmjow, filled with the need to protect his mate, just because the Alpha was easier to provoke did not mean the Beta wouldn't fight if their children or Alpha were being threatened.
Isshin was about to argue, but was distracted by a loud cry. Looking towards the blanket, he found three children laid out playing, the one crying because his toy had rolled away again. He practically levitated over to his grandchildren, his daughters hot on his heels. He reached out and picked up Tsume, cuddling him close taking in the ears and tail, while the little boy calmed down until there were just a few tears left in the corner of his eyes. "Well you can't deny this one." Isshin commented, looking between the baby and Grimmjow.
A round of laughter, and soon Karin had snatched up Amon, and Yuzu was carefully lifting Hikari.
"What's their names?" Karin asked, running a soft finger over the lines on Amon's mask, a little shocked at the added feature but was slowly getting used to it.
"Dad is holding the oldest our first son Tsume," Ichigo explained proudly. "Yuzu has the second born our daughter Hikari. Karin, that's Amon, my second son." Looking back at his dad, "No, Grimmjow can't deny him, and he hasn't tried to, you should see him when he isn't trying to protect his image, these kids have him wrapped around his finger" Ichigo assured, not forgetting Isshin's first comment.
"You're worse than I am," Grimmjow muttered, but not denying the accusation.
Isshin grinned and threw back his head to laugh, "If he is anything like his mother, it would be hard to match him in spoiling. Masaki would do anything for her kids, and she was like a mother bear if anyone tried to hurt them. When Ichigo was born, she wouldn't even let me hold him unless I was sitting down for the first week, and he did not leave her sight for a month. He slept in our room, most of the time in bed with us."
"The babies sleep in bed with me," Ichigo admitted, a little subdued at the mention of his mother.
Grimmjow distracted attention away from his Beta so he could pull himself together a bit, "Yeah, that's Ichigo all right. I surprised him when I found him, and he did everything he could to protect them from me under the circumstances. Once two other Espadas found us, I had to calm him down or he would have attacked Ulquiorra for just stepping into the cave he had been hiding in."
"I knew he could handle it, too young to have to, but I had faith in him." Isshin replied, making sure Ichigo heard him and got the message loud and clear. "Why did you almost attack the other guy if he was trying to help?"
"The only reason these children exist is because there are two types of Hollows, I am half-Hollow and I inherited the Beta traits from Shiro. Grimmjow is an Alpha, which is why I am the carrier and he is the father, the reason I almost attacked Ulquiorra was that he is an Alpha too, one I wasn't on friendly, or even familiar terms with. I didn't think I just reacted." Ichigo admitted, glossing over the details since his little sisters were in the room.
Grimmjow helped him out, "The Hollow inside Ichigo makes him react more strongly to instinct than humans do, it's just part of who we are. His instincts, and mine, are why he had children so young, the conditions were nearly impossible for him to control." There that wasn't too explicit, but it got the point across. Isshin talking about his son's age made the Alpha speak up, they hadn't been fully in control of themselves for their mating. It really was an accident, but it was a welcome one in the end.
"I'm here aren't I?" Isshin pointed out, "I'm not lecturing or yelling, don't forget I was a Shinigami for a very long time. I know about Hollows and their instincts, and I knew it was possible for certain classes of them to have children. I never expected Ichigo to be a part of it, but I understand. When I talk about his age I am not disappointed in him, I'm worried about him. Three children is a lot to handle, even with support, for anyone let alone a teenager."
"We don't know much about that stuff," Karin added, speaking for Yuzu too, "Only what Dad and the crazy guy at the store told us, which wasn't a lot. Ichigo wouldn't have left us alone for so long if he had a choice, and we know there was a war going on when he disappeared. I don't believe for a second my brother would deliberately bring my niece and nephews into that."
"Thanks Karin," Ichigo responded giving his sister a quick hug, before doing the same to Yuzu.
"Ichi, what's going to happen now? We can't stay here, and you can't come back with us can you?" Yuzu observed sorrowfully, clutching her niece closer for comfort.
"No, I can't," Ichigo confessed, he had been hoping that question wouldn't come for a little while. "I was exiled here by the Soul Society, and they haven't rescinded the order. Several of the high-ranking Shinigami are on my side, but for now, I can't leave. I won't put the three of you in more danger when we have a safe place to stay here. If things change with the exile I can come visit often, but I am probably going to stay here most of the time. The kids are going to grow quickly, and will need training to control their powers as they age, they will be safer and happier here for that, at least until we find out if they will have a sealed form that allows them to pass as human."
"Sealed form?" Karin didn't understand the term.
Shinji spoke up from behind her, "All Hollow half-breeds, Arrancar like Grimmjow and Visoreds like Rose, Ichigo, and me; have a second form sealed away when we don't need it. Arrancar change physically when they release along with gaining back the rest of their power, Visoreds go through the same power increase, but it shows itself in our masks. Look at Tsume and Hikari, they are more like released Arrancar, while Amon looks like a Visored."
Looking back at her nephew, she put it together, "So they might be able to control how they look?"
"It's possible, but they are the first cross of their kind, we don't really know much more than guessing at this point." Grimmjow admitted. "I think they will have some control, but it could be a few years, their power has to stabilize first."
"I would like to see what you look like in your released states, "Isshin asked, "Would you mind showing us? I have seen Shinji's mask, but haven't been around an Arrancar of your caliber for a very long time."
Grimmjow nodded, "Yeah, I can show you, but it would be better if I had more room."
"Is your form big?" Yuzu questioned.
"Not really, I have one of the more streamlined forms, Szayel and Ulquiorra's are a lot flashier than mine, but when we release our forms there is an explosion of Spirit Pressure and this is an enclosed room." Grimmjow explained.
"Where do you think would have enough room?" Ichigo asked.
"The meeting hall would work for mine," The Alpha informed, "And I bet my release will draw the others out of hiding, so you may get to see theirs too, but for Ulquiorra and Starrk we would need to head out to the desert. They can't release under a roof, no matter how high it is."
Isshin looked worried, "I am curious about seeing the other forms, but would it be safe to take the girls and the babies with us?"
A hearty laugh from Grimmjow, "Normally I would say Heuco Mundo as a whole isn't good for them, but you have to understand we survived the war for one very good reason. We are the toughest fighters around here. I doubt any of the other Hollows would bother us if we were all together even sealed, if we were released they would go out of their way to stay far away."
"Ah Grimmjow," Ichigo just thought of something, "If they feel all of us release they will think there is an attack of some kind. Szayel won't risk coming out by himself, and Ulquiorra will hogtie Starrk before he would let him join in a battle. If we want to do some show and tell we should let them know about it first."
"You have a point," He agreed. "Want me to go tell them, and then come find you in the meeting room? The others may just want to watch instead of participating."
"Sounds good," Ichigo approved, before turning to his family and the two other Visoreds, "Follow me." He ordered. "Karin, Yuzu, are you all right holding them while we're moving around?" They were still a bit small, he just wanted to reassure himself.
"We can handle it," Karin responded, lifting Amon so he was resting diagonally across her chest, looking over her shoulder, he seemed to like that position better.
"Yeah, don't worry Ichi," Yuzu assured, Hikari tucked securely in the crook of her arm.
"Just like their mother," Isshin muttered quietly, Rose heard him but didn't call him on it. Isshin held his grandson tightly, and followed Ichigo to the meeting room with the cushions scattered across the floor.
"Ichigo, what has the two of you concerned about the others? I thought these were Aizen's top warriors, why would they avoid a fight?" Isshin wasn't being judgmental, he was only trying to understand the oddity.
"To begin with, Aizen had a lot more control over them then we knew about in the war, it was in his Bankai, which I hope Kisuke told you about," At Isshin's nod he finished. "They aren't as blood thirsty as Aizen made them out to be, but the main reason Starrk and Szayel won't be fighting is because they are carrying now. None of us would do anything to risk them, even if they get mad at us for coddling them."
"More kids?" That was welcome news, because then Ichigo's children wouldn't be growing up alone, with only adults for company.
Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, three more, Starrk is carrying twins, Szayel is only having one."
"Sounds like quite the collection you're working on." He commented.
"Yeah, but you can blame Aizen for the baby boom, he messed with the Espada forbidding them from mating. Once he was gone they could get back to their lives, and children are a part of that. If Grimmjow didn't have a penchant for breaking the rules then mine wouldn't be here either." Ichigo was a little reluctant to admit the last part, but this was his dad he could tell him things he would normally keep to himself.
"Is it safe for those two to show their released forms?" The doctor in Isshin was rearing its head.
"Honestly for Arrancar their released forms are their natural forms, they have already mentioned once they hit a certain point they are just going to stay released until the babies are born." That had been a recently learned piece of information. Ichigo had to be in his true form to give birth, which was still human shaped. The Arrancar's true forms were their unsealed states, which would be the most comfortable form for them when they got to the last trimester since they had no pressing need to avoid it like Ichigo and Shiro had to do to keep them alive.
They had arrived at the meeting hall and were settling into the cushions when Szayel found them, "I felt you heading towards here, mind if I join in?" He was starting to get a bit lonely, he had gotten used to having Harribel visit him during the days, and she wasn't around anymore.
"Yeah, actually Grimmjow was on his way to round everyone up, hope he thinks to check for you here before heading all the way to your lab." Ichigo invited, watching as he settled into the cushion across from Isshin. Karin and Yuzu had crowded onto the same cushion as Ichigo, Rose and Shinji next to them, with Isshin and Szayel facing them across the small isle between the piles of cushions.
"He wasn't in the labyrinth while I was heading here, must have gone to find Starrk or the girls first." Szayel informed, checking out the newcomers curiously. "So this is your family? Glad you could make it. I think Ichigo was about ready to challenge Yamamoto himself to be able to see you."
"Yeah," Ichigo confirmed introducing his dad and sisters, before telling them, "This is Szayel, Espada number eight, and the healer in the group."
"Good to know there is someone around who can patch my son up, he gets into an unbelievable amount of trouble, and I know he didn't get it from Masaki." Isshin greeted.
"After making sure Grimmjow and Nnoitra didn't manage to kill each other, tending to Ichigo has been easy." Szayel waved him off, relaxing into the soft cushion, glad for the break from his lab.
"Wow, you managed to pry Szayel out of his lab? Must be something interesting going on," Lilynette had arrived, Nel following behind her, well she was following her until the tiny girl saw Ichigo wasn't currently holding a baby and launched herself at him.
"Missed you Itsygo," She said enthusiastically, clutching him tight enough to be painful, but he had learned to take it. She didn't mean to hurt anyone, just didn't know her own strength in this form.
The body slam had distracted them from Szayel's retort, "I do come out every once and awhile, I'm an insect not a mole."
"Could have fooled me," She teased, not fearing an attack since he seemed far too relaxed to move.
"Watch yourself girl, just because Starrk protects you doesn't mean I can't find a way to punish you. There are still lots of drawings left on the wall from your little art spree with Nel." He threatened.
"You were drawing on walls?" Karin asked the only person she had seen so far that looked close to her age, it was nice to see someone younger. She didn't know Lilynette was one of the older Arrancar, and it didn't matter much, as Lilynette still acted very childlike.
Lilynette shrugged, "We were bored and there wasn't anything else to do, one of the Visoreds smuggled in finger paints and told us to brighten up the place. It wasn't like we were destroying the fortress or anything. So who are you?" With that, the girls introduced themselves, and started talking a bit starting to get to know each other.
"Nice to know all young girls are the same, whether human or Hollow," Shinji observed, watching Karin and Lilynette talk, the two eventually drawing Yuzu into the conversation too.
If you want proof there isn't all the great a difference in any of the three forms, human, hollow, and Shinigami, just look at Ichigo. He's all three and he is still mostly normal." Szayel pointed out.
"Hey!" Ichigo protested. "What do you mean by mostly normal? I am normal!"
"No, you aren't." Shinji disagreed, "But it works for you so don't bother to change. You seem to have a great desire to be normal, when being different is what allowed you to survive this long,"
"Ah yeah, that's probably my fault," Isshin broke in. "I was a mess after their mother passed, I should have watched out for him a little better. He can't see his accomplishments for what they are, he still carried a lot of grief he shouldn't have."
"Dad if you were not holding my son I would be chasing you down with Zangetsu," Ichigo threatened, that was a tad more personal then he was comfortable with.
"Don't give me that," Isshin refused, "These are the people that took you in and care about you, and they should know where your problem is. If they know about it, they can help you fix it."
Szayel broke in, "It's not like he is telling us anything we hadn't already guessed at, he just confirmed it."
"What got confirmed?" Grimmjow was back, with Ulquiorra and Starrk with him. After the relaxing day they'd shared even Starrk was alert and interested in what was going on.
"Just the reason Ichigo doesn't take, or even understand, compliments well. I'll fill you in later. Now Ichigo said you were trying to gather us all up, well we're here, what's this about?" Szayel was curious about what had sparked this turn of events.
"Dad wants to see our released forms, Grimmjow and I were fine with it, but figured if you felt us powering up for no apparent reason you might think we were under attack. We wanted to warn you and see if you wanted to watch or join in." Ichigo explained.
"I'll just watch today, I'll show you next time." Szayel decided. He had spent a bit too long on his feet already from the work making the energy spheres, he wasn't up for showing off for the moment.
"Starrk how are you holding up today, want to show him?" Lilynette asked her other half, she wanted to, but wouldn't push him if he didn't feel like it.
"I have been resting most of the day. It won't hurt to release for a bit, and we haven't done it for awhile." Starrk allowed, feeling her desire and not having any objection to it.
"Nel wants to!" The former Tres Espada said excitedly from Ichigo's lap.
He looked down at her, "Are you sure about that?"
She nodded, "Yeah! It'd be fun!"
"All right, we'll have to see if you can manage it once one of us gives you some power." He approved.
"Hey Ichigo, if someone stays back to give me a hand, I can watch the babies for you so you don't have to worry about them." Szayel offered.
Shinji responded before Ichigo could, "I'll stay back too, Isshin has already seen my mask."
"Are you sure? That would help me relax if they stayed here. I don't like the idea of bringing them out with us, I don't care how strong we are, they are too little." Ichigo admitted.
"I don't mind at all, you shouldn't have to ask." Szayel insisted.
"I don't get to see them much, I want to spend time with them," Shinji added.
"I think I'll stay behind with Szayel and Shinji, I'd like to spend more time with them and catch up on what's happening at home." Rose decided, the Kurosaki's would be back, he could show them another time.
"Well Ulquiorra, are you coming too?" Grimmjow asked the other Alpha.
"I'll come," He agreed surprising most of them, except Starrk, who knew Ulquiorra was going to start trying to stop cutting himself off from everyone else.
Grimjow was thinking about a good spot to take them, he didn't want to go back to the spot he had fought Ichigo in before, too much history there. He was saved from trying to figure it out by Ulquiorra, "I know a place we can go." He confided.
"So we're finally going to see the place you kept disappearing off to between assignments from Aizen?" Grimmjow ribbed, curiosity driving the teasing comment.
"I was working on something," Ulquiorra insisted.
Oooh, now he was really curious. "What?"
"If you stopped asking questions we could go and you could see it," Ulquiorra reminded, starting to leave the hall once the babies were in the care of their watchers.
"I think I know something Grimmjow doesn't" Ichigo commented, "You haven't told them?"
Ulquiorra shrugged, "It didn't come up. I didn't fight anyone that required it, I wasn't fully recovered from our battle until after Aizen was dead, and there hasn't been a battle since."
Ulquiorra had a private training ground, once they managed to persuade Karin and Yuzu to let Ichigo and Isshin carry them, it was a 15 minute run with flash step and sonido. He hadn't wanted to break through Aizen's barrier in an obvious spot when he was training; he wanted his second release to be a secret, so instead of going above it, he went beside it. Aizen's barrier was gone now, but he still remembered the location where it ended.
"Should we let the one with the secret go first?" Grimmjow asked once they arrived at a nice flat plain.
The sand here was a tad firmer than other areas, as a result of Ulquiorra's attempts at learning to control his energy strikes, the explosion was powerful enough to melt the sand slightly when he lost control.
"If you want me to go first, you are going to have to back up," He warned, moving in the opposite direction as the group until there was a safe distance between them. With his Zanpakuto in hand, he called the release command. "Enclose Murcielago."
He let them get a decent look at his first release, great black wings, white flowing clothing, and two horned helmet. "Segunda Etape." He called once more.
His first release was intimidating, his second was terrifying. The hole in his chest expanded, his eyes changed color, and the streaks widened. His bottom half was furred, with a whip like tail, very much like a demon.
He didn't do any tricks, just let them look, before sealing his power again and returning to the group.
"So that's what you were hiding, you found the Hollow equivalent of Bankai," Grimmjow noticed.
"I think it is similar yes," Ulquiorra admitted. "If I did than so did Ichigo, I am not the only one who hid something."
"Ichigo what is he talking about?" The words weren't mean but they were definitely a command from Alpha to Beta.
Ichigo wasn't happy but answered, "My Visored form has a second level too. I didn't discover it until I fought Ulquiorra, and I haven't used it since, but it's still there."
"I know you have the mask and a full Hollow form, your saying there is an even higher power level for you?" Grimmjow was half strangled with the implication.
"Do you want to see?" Ichigo figured that would be the easier way. "Are you up to it Shiro, the babies haven't taken too much have they?"
"I'm good King, let's show off a bit, we can't let the Alpha beat us!" Shiro encouraged.
Ichigo walked away and called his mask, giving his family a good look at the stripes the same shade as the ones on Amon's mask. "All right Shiro, you're turn." He gave his body over to the Hollow, feeling his soul alter and shift until he was in the white armored, spike shouldered, wide tailed, long-haired lizard form the Visoreds has coached him into. Shiro wasn't as sedate as Ulquiorra, showing off a bit with his strength and speed, Ichigo reining him in if he was bordering on dangerously enthusiastic.
It was time, he mentally reached for his Hollow as Shiro reached for his King. When their awarenesses met, the second stage started. The secret to their second form wasn't one having dominion over the other, their strongest power came when they worked together, with Zangetsu fortifying both their abilities they were stronger in raw power than Starrk.
This form was more streamlined and human like than their normal Hollow form, the spikes simplifying into two sharp prongs on top of his head, which he could use to focus a cero if necessary. His mask was still white on red, with two curving lines from temple to jaw.
Seeing Ichigo in this form caused a reaction, Grimmjow came out of the group, drawing his Zanpakuto, "Grind Pantera!" White armor covered his body, green streaks from his eyes out to his pointed ears, black markings on the feet and hands rendered into clawed paws.
When the two started running after each other, Ulquiorra picked up what was happening, "We should probably move somewhere else for a little bit, they are going to be distracted for awhile." Phrasing it delicately so the two girls wouldn't get an ear full, though that was preferable to what they might witness if they stayed here longer.
He looked at Karin and Yuzu, "Does one of you trust me to carry you? Your father can take the other, but we really should move."
Karin didn't have to ask, she stepped forward first, "Take me, Dad can take Yuzu."
With that they vacated the premises quickly, the two they left behind not registering their leaving.
Settling down in a spot far enough away they were safe, Ulquiorra asked, "Starrk do you still want to show them, or do you want to wait since we were interrupted?" He said Starrk, but he was addressing both him and Lilynette with the question.
"Might as well, I'm still feeling good," Starrk agreed, "Come on Lilynette."
The look of shock as the two recombined was enough to make Ulquiorra crack a small smile, that was always something interesting to see. Then Starrk drew his sword. "Kick About, Los Lobos."
When the plume of smoke cleared, Ulquiorra's smile faded, to be replaced by a look of pride, tinged with a hint of lust if Starrk wasn't mistaken. In his normal clothes you could tell Starrk was carrying, but the wide black slash disguised some of it. In his released state, the firm swell of his abdomen was fully visible, his content expression giving him a look of poise and serenity.
A giggling voice came from the pistols in the Primera's hands, "Ulquiorra, you may want to blink, or you know breath, both are good ideas." Lilynette teased, though she was denied a blush, he was learning emotion but hadn't gone that far. Starrk was his Beta, he was supposed to be attracted, there was no shame in it.
When Starrk returned to his normal form, and Lilynette was once more separate, he came back over to the group.
"Let me guess, you're about half way along?" Isshin commented, having taken a good look, it wasn't something he saw everyday and the healer in him wanted to know more.
"I'm eighteen weeks," Starrk confirmed, "How did you know?"
"Karin and Yuzu are twins, Masaki was about your size at the half way point." Isshin explained.
"Ichigo told you I was having twins?" Starrk realized.
"Yeah, I'm glad there is going to be other kids around for my grandchildren to grow up with. I was afraid they might be lonely with only adults around." Isshin explained.
"I know what it's like to be lonely, I am glad there will be others around too." Starrk agreed.
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Clarification Notes: To help you understand, in this story all the battles that happened in Heuco Mundo in canon did occur, I only altered how they ended. As for when the Espada came against the Soul Society, instead of that being the final showdown, Aizen retreated back after the fraccion and Barragan were killed; the Captains, Ichigo, and the others from Hueco Mundo got out with Mayrui's assistance before Aizen could kill them. Before Aizen could try again Gin managed to kill him in a surprise attack. I would have just written this into the story, but I couldn't come up with a good way of doing it, so I figured I would add it as a note.