Chapter 11
Ulquiorra moved fast, but not fast enough. Aizen was already flash-stepping out of his reach.
Arrancar flew to him to restrain him or worse, kill him, but he dodged with a movement of his lithe body and a swing of his blade.
*
Byakuya blocked the attack of an Espada, who's Fraccion had scattered as the spiritual pressure began to flow freely.
He simply raised his zanpakuto to his face and turned it so the blade's face pointed outward.
"I shall not let you leave here alive. Scatter! Senbonzakura!"
*
Renji, meanwhile, would not let his captain down. Thinking of Rukia, he bellowed, "Roar! Zabimaru!" and the blade soon made the feebler arrancar back away, as segments grew and became even more dangerous.
He grinned. "Come on, come on, enjoy the fight!" he shouted as he swung Zabimaru.
*
Ichigo, however, was presenting himself as a formidable opponent. He had already released a blast of Getsuga Tensho upon an opponent that had made the mistake of standing in his way.
"Let's do it old man Zangetsu!" he cried, striking down.
*
Rukia kept screaming even though she felt like her lungs would physically burst. Her fists ached from hitting him and she was beginning to feel extremely sick.
"Let me go!" she screamed, tears threatening to ruin her make-up.
She heard a clunk as an okobo hit the floor, but Aizen kept on going. Where she was being taken, she had no idea...
*
Ulquiorra heard her screams and kept going. He wasn't going to lose her now. So near, yet so far.
She was in his thoughts, she was in his mind, she was everywhere around him.
"Rukia," he breathed as he heard another scream.
*
Petals soared left right and centre as Byakuya twisted his hilt. Using shunpo, he twisted away from an incoming blast of Cero and twisted to face his new found friend.
"If you think you can injure me with such a pitiful Cero then you're not worth fighting," he stated simply.
"Pitiful Cero! Have a taste of this then you bastard!" shouted the Espada and sent another blast which shook the floor and sent a cloud of dust soaring. He grinned to himself but his face fell as he heard the following command: "Bankai. Senbonzakura Kageyoshi".
"Shit!" said the Espada.
*
Zabimaru needed more than just this. He needed this to become a bloodbath. It would be the only way to help save Rukia.
Grinning, he cried out, "Bankai! Hihio Zabimaru!" I won't let you down this time Rukia! We'll save you, he thought and gripping the handle of his sword he headed into the growing fury.
*
Meanwhile, Ichigo had blasted a few arrancar into smithereens and headed after Ulquiorra. He'd need all the help he could get.
A whistle sounded and he swerved around a tight corner, narrowly missing a vibrant jet of blue.
"You might have missed my Gran Ray Cero once but you'll never miss it twice!" came a throaty voice.
Ichigo's common sense grabbed him and hurled into the oncoming abyss. Kicking his shunpo up a gear, he sped off after Ulquiorra. Rukia, he thought, hold on!
*
With both okobo lost, Rukia's feet were cold. They were even colder against the marble flooring of a magnificent room. It was beautiful with simple, yet elegant furniture with a resplendent colour scheme. It was a shame it was a bed chamber.
Aizen had that glint in his eye. She knew she would end up hurting either way, but she needed to get out of here and away from him. Ulquiorra was out there, he was here for her. Her best friends, the strawberry and the pineapple were risking everything for her. And her brother, her big brother was here. Everything would be better soon. She hoped...
*
Ulquiorra spotted another okobo and the realisation that she wasn't far hit him hard. He thought he would get in, grab her and get out but he realised the fight would only get more complex before it got simpler.
Her scream pierced through him and he knew where she was. He bolted left, right, another right, upwards on a slant and left, soaring skyward the entire time until he reached Aizen's turrent bed chambers.
He swung a foot upwards and with a resounding crash he brought it down onto the door handle and simultaneously brought a fist straight through the wood.
Rukia was cowering on the large bed, white painted skin gleaming as she covered herself with her hands, the kimono scattered about the floor, save for a red sash within Aizen's grasp.
Aizen tore his gaze from the girl on the bed to Ulquiorra.
"Do you quite mind? I would like some time with my bride, if you understand me," Aizen said, sounding rather bored at the interruption.
"I'm not your bride!" she cried out.
He ignored her. "My cuatro, leave us. It's too late for anything now. You cannot even hope to save her. The others are wasting their time, as are you!"
"I'm not your anything. And Rukia is not your bride!" Ulquiorra raised his hand and grasped the hilt of his sword. "Enclose. Murcielago!"
*
Black rain began to fall about Ulquiorra. Rukia was shocked.
"Ulquiorra," she whispered as the rain began to clear. She gasped.
His new form was frightening. Giant wings on his had sprouted from his back and his hair was noticeably longer and wilder on the left side of his head. His Hollow mask was balanced upon his head, with two large horns extending outward to the sides towards the front, like a giant demon. The "tear lines" on his face were broader and more triangular and his she noticed his fingernails had lengthened as he grasped his sword. His clothes fitted more snugly, closing at the top, becoming almost like a robe towards the bottom.
Without warning, he produced a green beam of light with became pointed and deadly.
"Say goodbye Aizen," he said softly, and hurled the bolt straight at his former Lord.
*
He hurled the bolt straight at his former Lord. Too little, too late, Aizen had already moved and he had a protesting, struggling, naked Rukia in front of him, a smkoing wreckage in his previous place.
Ulquiorra tried not to stare upon the girl, but to concentrate upon the enemy.
"If you want to hurt me, you'll have to hurt her too. And I know how much you'll hate that," Aizen smiled triumphantly, running a hand along her white stomach. He watched her shiver against him.
A shout of anguish sounded not far away and within moments, Ichigo had arrived, a blood drenched Hollow mask upon his face, formiddable in Bankai, his orange hair bright against the doom of Ulquiorra's ever falling rain.
"Took you long enough," he muttered to the strawberry.
"Yeah well your buddy didn't go easy on me. The uptight kitty cat is... incapacitated. Now... to business!" Ichigo turned his blade and Ulquiorra knew he was staring at his friend.
"Don't stare, you creep. Take Rukia and get her out of here. I'll handle Aizen!"
Ichigo took a step forward and a huge amount of spiritual pressure shocked the two figures in front of them. Ichigo raised his black blade and made to swing it down.
*
Her body shook and slowly, the tear drops began to fall from her eyes. She bit her lower lip as she saw the blade raise itself up. Zangetsu came down and in an instant she found her body lying flat on the cold ground as shouts filled the room.
"Rukia. Rukia. Rukia, sweetheart, it's me. It's all over, you're safe, and I'm here..." A soothing voice enveloped her. A pale hand circled her wrist and a cover soon surrounded her. She pulled it consciously around her and she raised her violet eyes to meet the figure's hand.
A small smile grew upon her face as she looked up into Ulquiorra's glass green eyes. Ulquiorra's eyes flickered across to the ground where a body was sprawled out. Her eyes followed and she spotted a figure in a formal men's kimono, blood slowly pouring out of an open wound.
A figure in a long black kimono was stood over the body. Almost as if sensing the eyes upon him, he turned and Ichigo's smile brightened her world.
"He's dead?" she asked, turning back to Ulquiorra.
He nodded. "An energy arrow straight to the chest and a blast from your friends zanpakuto. Even his spiritual pressure wasn't enough for him to hold his own".
"I'm safe?"
"Yes," he smiled.
She smiled and threw her arms around him, her cover falling around her and baring her marked bare skin.
"Guys enough of the love-fest!" Ichigo laughed and Rukia slowly brought herself away from Ulquiorra.
*
He put an arm around her and scooped her into his arms, making sure she was covered in the material of her kimono. She nuzzled into his chest and he gave her body a gentle squeeze.
Following Ichigo, he made his way downstairs, cradling the shinigami, carefully stepping over the fallen body of the once sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.
"I love you," a voice mumble. He stopped in his tracks.
"I love you," Rukia whispered again.
"Rukia?"
She looked up into his eyes and she said loud and clearly as a bell, "I love you".
He gasped and smiled, a smile the like he had never had before.
"I love you too," he said. His eyes roved over her face before his lips met hers in a searing kiss that pulled their hearts together.
*
Byakuya smiled to himself as his sister stepped into the main hall wearing a makeshift dress of patterned material. She was clutching the hand of the young Espada and it brought a memory to the surface. They were just like Hisana and himself...
He lowered his eyes and wished them a long and happy future.
*
Renji saw the happy couple enter the room. She looked how he felt but that didn't matter at the moment. He knew he would never have had a future with her, but he was certainly glad that someone was going to have a future with her.
"Rukia Cifer," she mused. "Well it's defiantly better than Rukia Kurosaki!"
*
Ichigo entered the room, followed by a beaming couple that were clutching at each other hands like there was no tomorrow. And maybe for them there might or might not be a tomorrow, but they would try anything and everything to be together for a lifetime.
When's the wedding? he thought to himself.
