Update?!

What?!

Yes!

Okay so my plane doesn't leave for a few days. I had a place where I wanted to leave this story--it was a few chapters back remember?--but we're past that now anyway. Arcana is still paused at its place, Scarlet may or may not get an update but this one's for all of you!

Hinamori felt very much like a little kid.

Hiyori may have been around her height but what the blond one lacked in height she more than made up in attitude. Even Yoruichi was reluctant to infuriate her. Of course all her animosity seemed to wind up slamming into Shinji's face. Yoruichi seemed to be the calmest of the group. Being on the run and dealing with others also on the run was old business to her. Half the time she was just a black cat draped over Urahara's shoulders.

And then there was Neliel and Halibel.

Nel had been the Espada first but the two had always been battle partner's of sorts. When Nel had been injured Halibel had looked for her--though she wouldn't admit it--and then proceeded to beat and humiliate Nnoitra until the mere sight of her blond hair made the Fifth Espada pale. The two women were far more like Amazon's than anything else. They were loud, beautiful and generally held the belief that men were somehow below them in the food chain. Though they spent most of the time in gigai's occasionally they would be without them. Hinamori wasn't sure who frightened her more, Nel's broken ram helmet or Halibel's jaws of doom but they were both terrifying.

The men were little better. Urahara was, of course, the best behaved and the nicest. Shinji was a close second. The two seemed the most mature of the group. Gin was obviously up there as well and though she was beginning to think of him as a friend he was far more her training master than that. Something he had not forgotten if the bruises on her arms were any indication. No, by far the most infuriating member of the household was Grimmjow Jeagerjaques.

Urahara had gotten Grimmjow a blond gigai in the hopes of some anonymity and the Espada had dyed his hair blue saying he was meant to stick out. He told Nel and Halibel that 3+3=6 in an attempt to sleep with one or both of them. But the most infuriating thing was that Gin had apparently told him about the time she had charged him with Tobiume and ever since then the Espada had been determined to see her furious. He had tried hiding Tobiume, interrupting their training sessions--joining in on their training sessions, prodding her about every little thing until she hit a pillow to keep herself from blowing him up.

"So" he said glancing at her, "did you like that snow-kid?"

"Hitsugaya?" she demanded glancing over at him.

"Yeah," he said, his lips pulling into a predatorily smile, "Htisugaya."

"We were friends," she said pulling her knees to her chest, trying to ignore the pounding of her heart.

"Because--"

"Shut up Grimmjow," Nel snapped walking into the room, her eyes shooting daggers at the Sixth Espada, "didn't we talk about you keeping your big fat mouth shut?"

"Nah, but you showed me," he said with a grin.

"Only in your dreams," she said flopping onto the couch.

"They're such nice dreams," he said, "wanna make them come true."

"Sorry but I have a strict rule when it comes to men," she said, "i don't fuck people weaker than me. You know they're such sore losers when you stop," she sighed, "first they complain, then the next thing you know you've got an axe in your forehead."

"I promise not to axe your forehead," Grimmjow said.

"LIke you'd have the balls to attack me."

"I got more balls than that Praying Mantis fuck!"

Hinamori got to her feet and walked out of the room leaving the two to yell at each other. Inevitably Nel would get frustrated enough to either put Grimmjow in an immediate world of pain or knock him unconscious and then put him in a world of pain when he woke up. Hinamori sighed. She hated feeling so melancholy. All she wanted to do was, well, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do, just that she wanted to do something other than train or sit back like she had done something wrong and was on a time out.

She wasn't sure what made her walk back into the room and to the warring two but she did and stood in front of the couch.

"Back for--"

What, exactly, Grimmjow thought was back for she had no idea because she drew back her fist and punched him, wrapping Kido around the action so that in addition to a black eye he was unconscious. Nel looked shocked for a moment and then she grinned. Hinamori turned around to see Yoruichi looking up at her from cat form. Automatically she knelt down to the level of the cat and opened her mouth to apologize. The cat simply examined her.

"How'd you like to learn Shunko?"

As her feet touched the ground of Soul Society Orihime had to fight the urge to run right back to the transient world.

She knew people were looking at her. Her reaction to Ulquiorra's death had been met with a mixture of thinly veiled disapproval and outright pity. No-one could summon the anger, not yet anyway. Even now the Shinigami glanced at her out of the corner of their eyes as though wondering if she was going to shatter like some glass doll in front of their gaze.

She wouldn't.

Since his death life had not been any harder than usual. It was difficult of course to be responsible for herself again. No-one brought her food, no-one laid out her cloths, it was all on her again. Her days were not spent lost in her own thoughts but in school or doing things that she was supposed to be doing. But all the while, in every task that she did, Orihime Inoue was not really there. Physically, of course she was but everything she did seemed to be done from some impossible distance. She was there but she was not. She was, she was detached. She felt like she had twice before in her life. once when her brother came and took her away from their horrible parents. Again when her brother had died before she was able to take back the angry words she threw at him over the pretty hairpins he had bought her. And now when Ulquiorra disappeared in her arms.

Life went on and that seemed, it seemed wrong. Wrong that the sun should still rise, that Chizuru should flirt with her. Wrong that assignments needed to be done, that groceries needed to be bought, all of it seemed just horribly wrong. The world shouldn't still be going on, not as it was. It seemed morbidly fascinating to her. But even the injustice seemed like it did not really touch her. She knew her friends were worried but she also knew that they had each other. Orihime had never felt more alone in her entire life. Every smile she gave physically hurt. Even Tatsuki seemed to know something was horribly wrong with her friend but the story was so crazy, even to Orihime, that she could not find the words to tell her.

The summons had come from the Commander General himself. He wanted to speak to her. So, because life went on and eventually she would have too as well, Orihime had agreed to come to Soul Society. Now she stood having just come out of the gateway between the worlds. Standing ready to great her was the Lieutenant of the First Division.

"Thank you for answering the summons," he said.

"Of course," Orihime replied, finding it somehow hard to speak.

"Please, this way," he led her towards the First Division, "the Commander General will explain all."

Orihime nodded as they entered the First Division. Orihime had only been in this place a handful of times but it never ceased to make her feel horribly uncomfortable. She may have had the power of the Gods--or so she was told--but this place whispered of such destructive power it just made her want to run away. Still she forced one foot in front of the other as she walked towards the Commander General's meeting room, trying to ignore the growing uneasiness that was seeping through her bones.

The Lieutenant slipped out quickly after showing her inside, leaving her alone with the Commander General. He was standing already waiting for her, his gnarled hand resting on his Zanpakto. He looked just like he had every time that she had seen him and that, if nothing else, sent flags up. People who just escaped imprisonment in Las Noches did not look the same.

"Orihime Inoue," he said her name slowly, methodically, "you must be wondering why I called you here."

"Y-yes," she said, "I was--"

"Soul Society is in need of your abilities," he said, his voice firm to her own whispery one, "I am in need of you abilities."

Something was horribly wrong. Orihime took a step backwards, the detachment she had felt vanishing as everything became acutely aware. She took a step backwards, then another.

"Do not go for the door," he said, "its being heavily guarded. I assumed you would try to run when asked."

"What do you want?" she demanded, looking at him.

"I want you to resurrect Ulquiorra Schiffer," he said.

Orihime's eyes widened. It was the first time in so long that anyone had said his name, that she had heard it from somewhere outside her head.

"No," she said shaking her head, "he wanted to die--"

"What he wanted is of little consequence," he said, "if this war is to end once and for all I need to speak to him. You can kill him again afterwards."

"No!" she cried shaking her head, "I wont do it!"

"So stubborn," he sighed, "well I suppose you leave me no choice then but to throw you in jail," Orihime said nothing, "of course your friends will not find out and will obviously go charging off to find you," Orihime's heart stopped, "you remember what happened last time. Tell me, do you think Rukia will be able to come back a second time? Or how about Renji? I hear that having your tendons snapped is quite painful. Or--"

"Stop it," she begged, pressing her hands to her ears, "why are you doing this?" she looked up at him, her eyes swimming with tears, "why?"

"Because," he said, stepping forward without the aide of his cane. Orihime's eyes widened as with each step something changed. He straitened, his beard vanished, his hair grew and smoothed, "Orihime Inoue," he cupped her chin in his hand, "I hate to loose."

Orihime's eyes rolled up and she fainted dead away.

"I must admit that was, by far, my favorite meeting with the Elders," Hisana said.

"It was rather amusing," Byakuya said, his lips curving into a faint smile.

Informing the Elders that his wife was not, in fact, a weak commoner like they had been told was a strange experience. As always they found the negative side to the story but in the end even they could not argue with the distinct advantages of having someone at the level of the Royal Guard in the family. Especially since that was one thing no other Noble House could boast and if there was one thing to be said about the Kuchiki Elders it was that they did not like to loose. Naturally it had been an unholy task unto itself to explain everything, reinstate their marriage and prove Hisana was, in fact, herself to them but after almost an entire day of arduous meetings the two of them were still alive and married.

There had just been one small, little issue.

Children.

Being an obviously competent fighter, Hisana was far more concerned with what her position was going to be other than that of Lady Kuchiki, something Byakuya understood completely. He far preferred being Captain than Lord. But given the news of her abilities the Elders had seen one thing and one thing only: the possibility of a generational heir to both the title of Head and Captain. Byakuya had inherited the positions from his grandfather and even that was a rarity. It was far more common for there to be three, sometimes four, generations for a child with enough power to be born.

Children for Byakuya had been an equally touchy subject. Hisana knew he was the spitting image of his mother, the mother that had died giving birth to him. His father had loved her very deeply and, disgustingly, he had hated the child that took her from him. Especially when Byakuya showed promise and through determination and hard work became a legitimate candidate to both the House and Captaincy. It was not that Byakuya assumed he would hate his children but the thought of loosing Hisana once more was one he could not bare. It was not a given that she would die but it was not a given she would survive either. And if she--

"Byakuya," her soft voice broke through his wretched thoughts, her fingers easily slipping through his.

"They can never be content," he murmured.

"And who does that remind me of?" she asked, a smile playing on her lips. She looked around, confused, "did you change rooms again?" she questioned, realizing they were in a different part of the house, "Byakuya?" she prodded when he said nothing except to lead her to a pair of doors, "and what is this?"

"This," he said, standing behind her, "is your welcome home present."

Hisana looked at him before gently opening the doors. Inside it was their shared bedroom but not the one they had before she left. This was a new room with sweeping views of the gardens they both loved. Lacquered wooden chests held their cloths and possessions. Against a wall were stands for their Zanpaktos. But the piece that caught her eye was the bed. Byakuya had always slept on futons and when she was with him so did she but otherwise she was a far more 'bed' kind of person. She doubted there was a bed in the Kuchiki Manor except for this one.

She turned around to see Byakuya standing there, watching her reaction closely. She smiled and walked over to him, kissing him.

"Have I told you how wonderful you are today?" she asked wrapping her arms around him.

"I take it its to your liking?"

"Is it to yours?" she asked looking up at him.

"I did pick it out," he replied dipping his head to kiss her.

Just as they were about to try the new bed out a Hell Butterfly flew in.

"A meeting with the Commander General?" Hisana frowned, "what could he possibly want with me?" she looked over at her husband.

"There were many causalities in the war," he said, "perhaps he wishes for you to fill one," Hisana's frown only deepened, "what is it?" Byakuya questioned.

"Nothing," Hisana said arched an eyebrow, "its just," she bit her lip, "me being a Shinigami?" she sighed, "it seems a bit, I don't know, complicated."

"Perhaps you should simply go and see what he wants," Byakuya suggested, "we can discuss whatever it is."

"You've gotten so wise," she said, "I fear I can never call you Young Lord with a strait face again," she said.

"Then it is an excellent thing my name is Byakuya."

"A very excellent thing," she agreed with a smile before she got to her feet, "try not to miss me too much," she said before disappearing to the First Division a flash of Shunpo.

Byakuya watched her go, his smile slipping as he wondered what the strange feeling curling inside him was. It felt, it felt as though he was never going to see her again.

SPOILERS FOR MANGA

Okay Halibel's got to be my favorite Espada right now--okay she can tie with Grimmjow. Grimmjow may be cool but when she rips her jacket off and she's got that awesome mask and she's all "I kill you brat!" to Hitsugaya its gotta be the coolest fucking thing ever--or at least in the Winter War. I'm a bit pissed she's number 3 though. Even if we all saw Stark being 1 I thought she'd be 2.

END SPOILERS

Wow! Okay so I might update once more before I go but no promises okay? These next couple days are really chaotic for me but I'll see what I can do.