the sun had set over the horizon of the seireitei. crickets were chirping, flowers danced as the wind caressed them, the stars she had not seen since the feudal era glittered in the sky above. "haaa..." Kagome sighed, not caring about any of it. instead her attention was captured by the man in front of her, with his head in her lap. "you know... sitting here like this in the Kuchiki gardens.." she looked up at the stars dotting the night sky for just a moment, "under the stars, with your head in my lap, it really is just like old times, huh?"
"yeah, though this time there's no cranky dog to interrupt us." Grimmjow laughed, reaching up to cup her face in his large palm. "I wish I could go back, and force my past self to take the mutt with me, I could have come back to you right then. I'm sorry I hurt you like that. I SWEAR TO YOU, when it comes time to fight Aizen, I won't make that same mistake, at the VERY LEAST, I'll take Kurosaki with me."
"hmm.." Kagome hummed, placing her and over his. "I'm not angry with you. how can I be? you defeated Naraku, and you still came back to me. you took your sweet time getting here, but you're back."
"hmm. I love you, Kitten. you're all mine, I won't let Aizen take you from me." he smiled softly up at her. the gentle throbbing that he'd noticed when they'd reunited had only grown stronger.
Kagome seemed to be distracted by something, "...your hole is getting smaller." she smiled.
"my-..what?" startled, he sat up. running a hand over it, he could feel what seemed to be a tiny ring of scarred tissue encircling his hollow-hole. "it..." he was completely lost for words.
"it's healing..." Kagome supplied in a sweet tone.
"do you think it's because hollows aren't supposed to have 'hearts'? ever since I found you a few days ago..." Grimmjow put a palm just over the spot that rhythmically throbbed, "I've felt this...throbbing"
Kagome brushed his hand away, so she could feel it herself. quickly, she gasped, "y-your heart is beating! that's absolutely amazing!" she beamed.
"I haven't felt that since I died... do you think I'm starting to...become..ALIVE?"
"maybe you're becoming a soul reaper instead of an arrancar?" she joked.
"ha ha...very funny, Kitten. I'm being serious." Grimmjow chuckled.
"well, from how Rukia explained hollows, maybe you're regressing in terms of hollowification? I mean...hollows are just souls who have lost their hearts, right? so if you're getting yours back, so..you're...UN-hollowing?"
"...un-hollowing...?" Grimmjow laughed deeply with a mocking tone. "I'm UN-HOLLOWING. THAT'S you're calling it? UN-hollowing? hahaha!"
"then what would YOU call it, smarty-cat?" Kagome laughed, playfully smacking him on the chest.
"oww...hey, I call animal abuse." he feigned hurt.
"you're not hurt, ya dummy!" she laughed. "for the record, I love you too. even though you can be a big dummy sometimes."
"I wonder if your mom still wants us to have that... wedding...ceremony...thing."
"AH! THE WEDDING!" Kagome gasped, but she quickly calmed down, opting to run her fingers through his electric blue hair, "yeah, I'm positive Mom still wants us to have a wedding. it's human tradition, after all, and I AM a human." as she spoke, something in her clicked, she was a demon's mate, she couldn't be human, at least...not ENTIRELY human anymore. she had a small bit of his blood running through her, and he had some of hers. "th-that's right...I-I mated with a demon, I-I'm not fully human..."
"why do you sound so disappointed by that?" Grimmjow asked softly.
"huh?" Kagome's focus snapped back to her mate. "what do you mean? how could I be disappointed? I get to spend eternity with you. what could I possibly want more?" Kagome cocked her head to the side confusedly.
"to have that wedding..." he sighed gently.
"oh...Grimm-kitty..." she gently kissed him, "I can still have a human wedding even if I'm no longer FULLY HUMAN. I love you, Grimm-kitty. I love you so much."
"well, since that seems to be settled, could you go back to-" he was cut off by a soft purr escaping as Kagome scratched his scalp for a moment, before running her hands through his hair.
she giggled, "you really like it when I pet you, and it doesn't even matter which form you take. you're a cat, through and through. but I suppose you're not just any kitty, you're an alpha feline." she leaned in slightly, and whispered, "you're the king."
"mmmm, you're damn right, I'm the king, and you're my queen. my beautiful, sexy queen." he smirked broadly, showcasing his sharp canines.
"forever and always." she smiled.
"forever and always." he smiled back, finally feeling content with his place in the world. he didn't have to rule the world of the living, nor command an army of hollows, all he needed was his mate.
"so, this is where you ran off to, Grimmjow." the voice coming from behind them had the ex-espada on his feet instantly, "Ulquiorra..." he snarled, ready to protect his mate.
rolling his emerald hues, the pale man huffed slightly, "relax, I'm not here to threaten you nor your woman. I was ordered only to ascertain your whereabouts, not retrieve you."
"what do you plan on doing with that info, batty? and what's with the human get-up?"
"it's the Cuerpo that Szayel Apporo constructed for me. it is so that I appear human in every way while retaining my powers should my princess need protecting" Ulquiorra explained calmly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"your princess?" Kagome asked from behind the panther.
"hey, Kagome." someone walked out from behind a large bush, "it's been a little while, huh? a lot has changed hasn't it?"
"O-Orihime? you...a-and Ulquiorra...?" Kagome was stunned! what was sweet, innocent Orihime doing with an espada?
Orihime laughed awkwardly, "heheh...you're probably wondering what I'm doing with Ulquiorra, from what we overheard, I can tell it's the same reason you're with Grimmjow." Orihime wrapped her arms around Ulquiorra's lanky frame, "I love Ulquiorra so much." she smiled, nuzzling against him.
Ulquiorra seemed to be just a tad uncomfortable with it, almost like it was more nerves than annoyance, he smiled gently at her, "are you attempting to show me off now?" he chuckled softly, shaking his head for a moment.
his expression quickly returned to it's ever-bored countenance. "as you can see, I am no threat to your woman. I have my own, and she is perfect for me."
his words of praise earned a soft squeal of pure delight from the redheaded woman. "I love you too, Ulquiorra!" her arms tightened around him by a fraction.
"I never figured you for a touchy-feely kinda guy."
"it was an...acquired taste, you could call it." Ulquiorra smiled gently at the woman hugging him.
"so you really did dislike her at the beginning. I figured as much."
"as I said, an acquired taste. I wouldn't change anything about her, as I imagine you feel the same about your woman."
Grimmjow paused for a few moments, "alright, ya got me there. fine, you win." he sighed gruffly, laying back down.
"I'm curious, Orihime. does Ulquiorra have any...animalistic tendencies?"
Orihime was stunned by the sudden question, "huh? what do you mean, animalistic?"
"well..Grimmy is a cat-"
"panther." he spoke, wanting to correct her.
"which is a type of cat" Kagome giggled, tapping him on the nose, which caused him playfully try to bite the offending digit. "so he tends to do things a cat would. for example." Kagome used both hands to scratch the arrancar's scalp.
quickly a soft growl like sound permeated the gardens.
"is he...purring?" Ulquiorra was a bit stunned.
"yeah, and the more he likes something, the louder he purrs." Kagome beamed.
"maybe we should see if you like-"
"perhaps when we have some privacy, but do NOT expect me to 'purr'." Ulquiorra huffed, he had an exceptionally hard time denying his princess when she desired to touch him.
"so...you're on a date to the soul society, Orihime?" Kagome giggled, eyeing the couple pointedly
"uh, sort of...but we're going to go back to the world of the living soon and finish it there." Orihime beamed, still hugging her arrancar boyfriend.
luna, please reply to the pm, it is of utmost importance