Part one of three. Three stories in the lull of peace, the calm that awaits before the storm... ominous sounding, ain't it?

How long? The field seemed to spread out forever, had been there forever. So, how long had she sat there gazing at it? A cool wind drifted over the expanse, like the frost on a winter morning. It carried her raven hair with it gracefully as it passed. Rukia held a hand up to keep her long hair under control as she sat and watched the flowers. It was all so beautiful, the blooms of ice stretched out for as far as the eye could see as the frost trees shone in the dawn's light. It was always dawn, the sun never shifted from its place.

Rukia drew a hand through the blooms around her, watching the icy petals flit through her fingers. They looked like ice, were cold like ice, but felt as real as any rose or orchid she could imagine. Everything was like a garden of snowy white and crystal blue. It was stunning, so much that she felt she could sit among it and just watch the sun's light sparkle across the fields and she would be content.

Flames… everything in flames… Rukia shut her eyes tightly, for a moment all she could see, all she could feel was fire… but then it was gone. She stood, the first time in what felt like an eternity and a half. Despite the icy garden her bare feet were unaffected as she strode through the flowers. Behind her a trail of snowy dust floated up, drawn into the air by the tails of her pure white kimono. She stopped by one of the frost trees and looked at out the eternal fields. For a moment it was gone, everything vanished into emptiness as screams filled the air. Like the whole world was crying out in agony.

It was happening again, a flash and the world was burning. The fires threatened to scorch the heavens themselves as all before Rukia was engulfed in the inferno. The fires were gone in an instant, leaving her breathless. She couldn't begin to understand what was happening, for as long as she could remember the gardens had been so calm. Now she felt so light-headed she was worried she might faint. Rukia rested her hand against the tree and pressed the other against her chest. "So much pain… but, it's not mine…"

"Then whose is it?" Rukia looked up into the tree and beheld the pale woman sitting high above in the branches.

"Sode no Shirayuki…"

"How long has it been?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know? How long have you been here, sitting and gazing at the gardens of this world?"

"… Forever."

"To whom?"

"I don't understand."

"Forever… to whom has it been forever for? You? Me?" The spirit slid from her perch and floated down like a leaf. She stopped before Rukia, hovering a few inches above the grassy field. Sode no Shirayuki lifted a hand and placed it against the other woman's face. "When did you come here?"

"… It's been so long, I can't remember anything but this place."

"When did you begin to gaze at the flowers?"

"… I can't remember."

"When did you cease?"

"A moment ago. I saw… I thought I saw… fire."

"Then it has not been forever, as you so claimed. As everlasting as the time in this world has been, those fires have burned long before you came to this garden."

"What are they?"

"Not of this world." Rukia just thought deeply. The spirit's words troubled her, but something about those dark flames felt familiar. She didn't understand why, but the fires were… alluring. Like she was meant to do something; but what had that to do with the blazing walls that were invading her peaceful gardens? "Ichigo, NOOOO!!!" The scream startled Rukia so much as she whirled to face whatever had cried out. She saw only a hazy shadow of a figure, its arms held out before it blew away in the wind.

From where the shadow had vanished a black circle spread out along the ground. As it spread the gardens disappeared into the void, and from the darkness fire erupted up high into the sky. Everything all around was burning. The trees, the fields, all of it in flames as the sky turned a deep crimson. Rukia just watched this as the urge to simply cower and weep overtook her. Like her very will to continue was consumed by the fires all around her. It wasn't until she felt a strong hand take hers that the strength in her heart could return. Sode no Shirayuki just stared at the horrible fate of the ice gardens with a solemn air. "The flames of hopelessness, desolation… misery. These fires are not something that exist in this world. This is a place of peace and serenity."

"This is… ruin… devastation. It doesn't belong… anywhere." Rukia couldn't bear it much more as she watched the fires roar higher and higher. She raised her head to follow them and her heart sank to the utter depths of her soul. In the sky above were the flashes of thousands of swords. An army was rising up, surrounding and bearing down on a single warrior. In his hand a long black blade gimmered with deadly power. The sword sang through the air, and the burning world was filled with the sounds of screams as blood fell like rain. Not able to watch the battle anymore Rukia turned away, the feelings of despair rising in her again. "This is horrible! We must go back! We must!"

"What's wrong… are you afraid?" The voice snickered from all directions. Rukia turned to try and see who, or what, had spoken but saw no one but the spirit next to her. She looked up, and saw even the battle above was gone, the sky now pitch black. Only the fires around them remained, and nothing else. No smoldering trees, no singed grass, no flowers… just flames. "This is the crossroads, Kuchiki Rukia."

"The crossroads?"

"One set before you by the one who cares enough to risk himself to give this choice to you. One set by a man willing to sacrifice everything so you may have it. A choice given by the one named Ichigo." Sode no Shirayuki waved her hand to emphasize the blaze that surrounded them.

"Ichigo?"

"You do not know him because you cannot see who you truly are. As long as you remain here, your memories shall be locked away. If you return to my home, then you must take this path." Sode no Shirayuki raised a hand to her left and a shimmering gateway rose up. It was beautiful, like made of crystal and spun gold. Beyond it was the garden, untouched and beckoning as heaven itself could. "But, to remember who you were… you must face the fires. You must show no fear in the face of hopelessness. To do so, you must take the other path." Her right hand showed a twisted path leading right into the flames. On either side of the path stood a creature, one whose body was wholly black and the other completely white. The only feature they bore was half a mask upon their face bent up in a devilish grin sheered in two. They bowed to her, their arms inviting to the dark path. Rukia did not understand why, but these beings frightened her.

"If you choose to remain, you will live among the flowers and ice in peace forever. But, going backs means you cannot go forward. To go forward… means there is no turning back." Rukia just looked from one path to the other. It did not take much thought for her to see there was not a single reason in her mind to risk the treacherous ground nor such devils as the half-masks that regarded her with hungry yellow eyes. She turned towards the shimmering gate and approached it. The garden was so lovely, so welcoming. She would sit among the flowers and trees forever, nothing to be feared in that beautiful place. It was all she desired. "Stop! Stop it!! Leave him alone!" The scream echoed through the burning emptiness and Rukia whirled around to look at what she expected to be another shadow. It was not. A woman, her clothes torn and ragged with cuts and gashes covering her from head to toe. Her green hair fell in filthy clumps, caked with grime and blood. Tears streamed from her eyes as she fought against unseen hands.

"Leave him alone! Stop it! Leave Ichigo ALONE!!"

"Nell!" This voice came from some unseen man, his words no more than a sharp growl. "Don't you touch her!!" That voice… Rukia felt her heart stir the moment she heard it.

"You're killing him! Please… stop it!!" The woman was in hysterics before some invisible force struck her across the face and she was silenced. Just like the shadow before her the green haired woman faded away like dust in the wind. Rukia just looked at Sode no Shirayuki and the spirit met her gaze. "Ichigo… I know that name."

"Yes, you do."

"I… wanted to help him. There was something… something I needed to tell him."

"If you desire to tell him, you will never be given the chance should you turn back. He gave you the choice before you, and it is yours alone. Walk the dark path and learn, or return to the inner world forever. Once either is decided, there is no turning back from it. Life's choices cannot be rescinded." Rukia felt the grips of hesitation coil around her. Though the gardens were calling her she felt a sudden urgency to know… what was it she had so needed to tell him? Why did she need to help him? Why… why when she heard that voice did her heart flutter?

A swarm of ash gathered before her until another figure had come to be in front of her. He was slumped against something, a wall perhaps but Rukia could not see. His ankles and wrists were shackled, and blood seeped from a jagged collar about his neck. What little of his face she could see was badly bruised with thick gashes dug into the flesh. The cuts that covered his skin were clotted with their own blood, others fresh enough to still have drops falling from them. This decrepit man turned his head to face something Rukia still could not see, his mop of dirt-encrusted blue hair falling over an eye swollen shut. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm getting you out of here, what's it look like?" That voice again, Rukia's heart could have grown wings at the feelings unfurling within her.

"You're what? I tried to kill you, now you want to rescue me?"

"Shut up and let's go. You'll need this. The shackled man lifted his hand to catch the sword that was flung at him.

"… My zanpakutou. But why?"

"Because, the enemy of my enemy… and all that stuff. Don't give me that look, we'll say you owe me. Now come on, off your butt! We have others to rescue from this hellhole." The shackled man sneered as he blew away with the wind. Rukia didn't understand, she couldn't. What was she seeing? What was this? The only question she could think of passed her lips just as soon as it came to mind. "What will happen if I take the dark path?"

"I do not know. I cannot follow you if you do."

"Ichigo… will I meet him if I follow the flames? Will he be waiting for me?" The spirit looked at the two half-masks as they continued to smile menacingly at Rukia.

"You will simply have to find out for yourself. But know... if you take the shimmering path you will never have the chance to learn for certain ever again. The choice is yours, Rukia." The spirit floated towards the garden gate. Rukia held her ground as the pale woman passed her by, she'd made her decision. Unraveling the sash from her beautiful white kimono she let it fall from her shoulders. It vanished before it even fell to the ground. In its place were the black robes Rukia knew so well. She felt something amiss and reached to her side, feeling for the sword she knew was meant to be there. "I told you, I cannot follow you along that path. You must tread it, no matter what you may see. Have no fear." Sode no Shirayuki passed beyond the shimmering gate and was gone.

"So be it." Rukia made her way towards the dark path. Before she could step over its threshold the half-masks suddenly barred her way. "Before you go-"

"-You may want this." The creature held something in its claws, a crooked white horn that reminded Rukia of a blade.

"What is it?" They simply smiled as they placed the horn in Rukia's hands. She gripped it, the edges were sharp. But, despite its appearance it held warmth to it… a strange sensation flowed into her from the bony white object. It was just one of the many questions she would seek the answer to along the dark path. She took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold and marched onwards. "Come into my parlor… lovely little lady. I'm waiting."

The opening to the path was suddenly consumed in a roaring way of flames. The inferno was so overwhelming Rukia could not even bring herself to look at it, only feel the heat on her back. But, there was no desire to look back now, no regrets to be had about her choice. She faced the darkness and heard that same eerie voice fade away… laughing. "I'm not afraid of you." Broken horn in hand and determination set in her stride she walked into the black and onwards to the answers she sought.

The door… Nelliel could only hesitate as she lifted her hand to knock. Second-thoughts were coursing through her mind. She knew she should let him rest, but she was feeling so lonely. Her hand softly tapped against the door twice and she waited. Nearly a minute passed and a sunken feeling grew more and more in the pit of her stomach before the door finally opened. "… Nell? What are you doing?"

"Grimmjow… I'm sorry if I'm disturbing… I know I should let you rest after what happened… but Ichigo is sleeping… and…" He looked at her, the oft scowl she would see on his face wasn't there. In fact, he looked almost amused.

"Are you going to come in, or just stand there stammering all day?" Nelliel nodded and passed into the other espada's quarters. She just took a deep breath as she heard the door close behind her. "To be honest I was expecting you a little sooner. Whenever something happens that worries you, somehow you always end up here."

"I should have been there with you."

"No, you shouldn't have. You made an oath to only lift you sword when absolutely necessary. This wasn't a situation that called for it."

"I drew it before… against the shinigami when she was captured."

"Proving a point to defuse a situation is different than stepping into one head-first." Grimmjow just collapsed into a chair as he stared out his one and only window. "We've been through too much to start forgetting our ideals." The moonlight fell on him through the opening, exposing the network of scars covering his bare chest.

"You've changed, Grimmjow. Have I told you that?"

"Yes." He just kept his eyes out the window. Nelliel just smiled as she watched him.

"Oh, my big blue barbarian!"

"What are you… whoa!" Grimmjow gave a start as Nelliel jumped into his lap to wrap her arms around his neck. "Uh… Nell…"

"Ssh. I thought you were dead, this is what you get for scaring me." She drew herself close to him, easily fitting her slender form on top of him. He was huge compared to her. After a moment she felt an arm wrap around her as Grimmjow kept his eyes out to the expansive desert beyond. "How my panther king was changed… he's just a big kitty cat now."

"The boss has a way of doing that to… what did you just call me?"

"A big blue kitty." Nelliel giggled as she saw Grimmjow give her a look out of the corner of her eye. "I have a strawberry for a best friend and a big cat as… well… you know the rest." The two just sat in the soft moonlight together. Nelliel just smiled to herself, Grimmjow had been right. Ichigo certainly did have a way of changing people, if even just by being around them. She remembered what the man in her arms had been like before, his thoughts and cares during the days of the Winter War, and the War of the Night. The fearsome adjuchas, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. Always seeking battle, mindlessly searching for a more powerful opponent. In the end it took something other than mindless conflict to change a hollow's heart. "A strawberry that never quits."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing… don't worry about it." Nelliel waited a moment, a question floating up in her mind that had nagged at her almost the whole time she'd watched the human world. "Grimmjow?"

"Hmm?"

"Why?"

"…" He looked at her quizzically. "Why what?"

"Why did you go? What made you follow Ichigo to rescue someone you wouldn't even care about?"

"I couldn't have cared less… but I could see he was about to eat his own lips watched that shinigami get clobbered. I figured I'd stop him from doing something he'd regret."

"By not stopping him?"

"Sure… why not." Nelliel just smiled, enjoying the moment. Sometimes even she was surprised by some of the arrancar. Not many of them felt like hollows anymore, and for that she was truly happy. Happy in the embrace of her panther king.

The fortress was quiet as night had fallen. Of course, it was always night time in Hueco Mundo, but something about the moon gave the feeling of a calm evening. The crystal light reflected off the tiny piece of jewelry as the pale hand that held it turned the trinket this way and that. Ulquiorra just stared at it without blinking. Heart or not, he still found it hard to feel much of anything except when he looked at the hair pin. All he knew was he wished he'd have felt then what he did now. Maybe he could have changed things. Maybe the outcome could have been different. Closing his fingers around the snowflake he just looked up at the moon again. "She wouldn't have had to die."

"Not like you could have changed anything." Ulquiorra turned to eye this newcomer. "You're early, Ulquiorra. I'm surprised."

"Why?"

"I don't know… you always seem to arrive when you feel like it." The newcomer looked at Ulquiorra's closed hand then up into his eyes. "Miss her?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"Just curious I guess." Noel hopped up onto one of the needle-thin poles that rose up from the roof and alighted on it with a single graceful step. "While we wait, care to answer me a question?"

"Speak."

"You weren't even around when she died. I was, and I couldn't do a thing myself. Ended up getting myself killed actually... What difference do you think you could have made?"

"I could have stopped that cowardly trash from stealing the one thing I ever learned to care for." Noel just grinned, her snake-like pupils narrowing to needle-width as she gazed up at the moon. The other arrancar was always so stoic, but she could see past that. There was more to him than surfaces showed. The moment of silence was interrupted as a third arrived via flash step on the roof. "Hitsugaya, prudent as always."

"Noel… Ulquiorra. Your promptness is appreciated."

"What is this meeting for, shinigami? I have other matters I wish to attend to."

"Our engagement in the human world has set off the fuse. It's only a matter of time before they bring the fight to us."

"Wasn't that part of the plan? I mean, Ichigo did stir up the hornet's nest. Just like her always does, troublemaker."

"His actions were foolhardy." Ulquiorra just regarded the others with his unwavering stare. "But, I can understand his reasons."

"So, you're both ready to do what is necessary?"

"Are you?" Noel just smiled cleverly as Toshirou questioned her with a glance. "Oh great captain, can you raise your sword against your former comrades?"

"If it is to do what I believe must be done, I will turn my sword against anyone."

"Then don't worry about us. This is what we were made for." Noel nudged Ulquiorra with an elbow. "Well… one of us. How long until the fireworks begin?"

"The shinigami will arrive at our doorstep in one day, according to our inside source."

"That still gives us three days before the deadline Ichigo gave. Not to mention after his little trip to the world of the living he's down for the count."

"Which is why your swords may be necessary in the defense of the home front. We still have four days before we can make a move."

"Well, doesn't look like we have much of a choice. Do we, Ulquiorra?" Nudging the man again Noel received a bone-chilling glare before the taller man vanished. "He'll help."

"How do you know?"

"Well, he didn't insult us… that's a start. He doesn't talk much as it is, but we can count on him. Don't worry, everything will be fine." With a quick two-fingered salute Noel vanished from the roof. Toshirou just shook his head, arrancar were a little too headstrong for his taste. They didn't have the caution he had come to know. If Soul Society was willing to turn a kido cannon against a segment of the living world, hidden from all else within a barrier or not, than whatever was coming was likely not a simple group of assassins. He knew better. "I would not be surprised to see several whole divisions marching up against the walls of this place. It would be my luck if they did. Just my luck… Better go make sure Momo isn't trying to kill anybody again."

The night was still. The moon was bright. The short-lived peace over the fortress was something to be enjoyed by all within it. Time was drawing shorter by the moment. Only a day remained before the war began anew.