Chapter 4: The Glimmer of Hope

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(In Aizen's bedroom in Las Noches)

"Isn't it odd?" Aizen mused, sighing in relief at the touch of the cool, damp cloth that Byakuya used to wash his sweating face, "Your story has taken a rather disturbing turn. And it may be the fever, but I feel hopeful. Why don't you continue, my love?"

"Excuse me, Lord Aizen," said the healer's voice from the doorway, "but I must have a look at you to see how you are faring."

"Of course," Aizen answered, nodding.

Byakuya watched quietly as the healer worked, waiting expectantly as the old man's hands moved and his eyes registered approval.

"Lord Byakuya's attentions seem to be helping," he said finally, "but you still need food and rest if you are going to be fit for conquering worlds. I will speak to the cooking staff and I will return later tonight to check on you again. Lord Byakuya, whatever you are doing, please continue."

Byakuya nodded, and as the old healer left, he continued his story.

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Byakuya woke with a terrible throbbing in his head and only a vague impression of something bad having happened when he went to see the sakura tree.

It seems that tree has something to do with what is going on in this castle, but it is too dangerous to get close to it. Still, there are other ways to get to the bottom of things. I think I will stay away from the beast, but maybe getting to know the kinder members of the staff will yield a few clues.

He looked around his room and, seeing no one about, he started to rise. Almost instantly, his head throbbed and dizziness overtook him. He collapsed into strong arms, unsure who held him, and the room went very dark and quiet. The warmth stayed with him as he hung beneath the surface, his dazed mind replaying everything that had happened to him.

I wonder how Rukia is faring. I miss her, and I miss home. I wonder if I am truly here forever or if I will someday be able to see everyone again.

I hope…

He felt gentle fingers brushing away the tears that had formed at the corners of his eyes and he heard the deep rumble of the beast's voice. But still dizzy and sick from his injury, he spun back into senselessness, waking intermittently from disturbing dreams. When he finally rose out of the haze that had surrounded him, the sun was streaming in through the window, and Byakuya couldn't be sure how long he had lain there. He heard footsteps leaving the room, and recognized them immediately as his captor's. But when he called out, the beast did not answer. Byakuya gave a lonely sigh and sat up in the bed, barely able to care that a tray of freshly made food waited on his nightstand. He managed only a few bites, then set the food aside and stared out the window for the rest of the afternoon, his heart aching badly and his usually disciplined mind surrendering to the first touches of despair.

After several hours alone, the old healer arrived and examined him carefully, re-bandaging his head wound and admonishing him to eat and rest, before leaving him alone again. A young male, wearing a bony mask as the servant girls had, arrived with a tray of food at dinnertime. Byakuya thanked him as he accepted the food, but the boy only made an unintelligible gurgling noise in his throat and scampered out of the room. It was almost a relief when the tall, silver fox returned.

"So, how are you doing now?" Gin asked, looking down at him curiously, "The healer said that you are doing well physically, but he seemed concerned about your melancholy."

"Would one not feel melancholy at being taken from one's life and dropped down in a place like this, where one doesn't know who he can trust, and mostly has no company at all."

Gin gave him a sly look.

"The master was spoiling you before," he commented, "but you agitated him when you broke the rules and went into the garden. That could have been a costly mistake."

"But, why?" Byakuya asked stridently, "Gin, what is going on here? Why is the beast so worried about me touching that tree? Why are the servants and people here all animals? And why is that sakura tree dying?"

"Now, you know that the master can't answer those questions and neither can we," Gin scolded him in an almost carefree manner.

Byakuya started to speak, then hesitated as Gin gave him a sly smile.

"There are rules that all of us must follow," he said cryptically, "but I'm sure a smart fellow, like yourself, can find little cracks in the rules, ne?"

Without further explanation, Gin slipped away, leaving Byakuya with an aching head and an even deeper feeling of confusion. Unable to sleep or to just sit anymore, he left the bedroom and walked through the quiet hallway, carefully avoiding the forbidden section of the palace. As he turned a corner, he came to a large set of double wooden doors that had been beautifully engraved with an intricate pattern of flowers and vines, then stained a lovely dark red brown. He reached out and traced the edge of a flower, then carefully pushed the door open.

Byakuya's heart skipped and raced as the door opened to reveal a breathtakingly huge library that was filled from floor to ceiling with endless rows of books. He moved to study one shelf, his breath leaving him all over again as he found rows upon rows of perfectly preserved historical texts, novels, maps and a treasure trove of expensive artifacts.

This room just needs some cleaning up and the books some gentle care, and this room, at least, could feel much like the library in my own home!

Gone was his loneliness as he started with the highest shelves, dusting off the books and polishing the dull wood and tarnished metal. Row after row was transformed as the hours passed. It was nightfall before he finished and started out of the room, only to find that sometime while he had been working, someone had placed his evening meal at one of the reading tables in the room. Smiling to himself, Byakuya gathered several books that had caught his eye and he sat down at the table, where he worked at his meal while poring over a book of ancient mythology. He was so engrossed in his food and the gripping story he was reading, that he missed when a large figure entered through the doorway and approached him. The beast's shadow fell suddenly over him and Byakuya gasped and rose from his chair suddenly, stepping back and staring up at Aizen through startled eyes.

"It is just me," Aizen said quickly, laying a steadying hand on his arm, then frowning as Byakuya pulled away and backed up a step.

The noble bit his lip gently and kept his lovely eyes lowered.

"I've made you fearful again," the beast concluded, his frown deepening, "After causing your injury, I have frightened you. You…have my regrets for that, Byakuya."

Byakuya remained silent for several more moments, then sighed and looked up at the beast.

"I disobeyed the one rule you set for me," he acknowledged, "You were angry."

"Angry or not, I should not have reacted so violently," Aizen said solemnly, "I am sorry. I know that it will not undo the pain it caused and you will continue to have negative feelings for me because of it, but I do want to assure you that I have…made changes so that the sakura tree is not approachable anymore. If you will just agree not to try to reach it, then you and I will have no cause to disagree anymore."

"To the contrary," Byakuya said, frowning up at him, "Two people will always disagree sometimes. You are dangerous when you are angry, and I do not know you well enough to be sure I can avoid making you angry again. What fears I have are sensible ones."

"Of course," Aizen agreed, turning away, "I will…leave you to enjoy your reading, then."

The beast took a step towards the door and even though he was sure he wanted to let Aizen leave, Byakuya felt a twinge of loneliness at the thought of how silent the room would be when the beast was gone. He wasn't sure how the words escaped his lips and he was even more stunned at what they meant.

"You know, Sousuke," he said, shocking himself with the familiar way he used his captor's name, "there is a reason that I love to read."

"Oh?" Aizen said, pausing, but continuing to face away from his lovely captive.

"I know that it seems I am not a passionate man, but…when I was young, I was…rather headstrong."

Although still facing away, the beast couldn't help the little smile that overtook his lips at the noble's confession.

"Is that so?"

"Yes," Byakuya confirmed, "I hated being confined by so many rules. I didn't want to lead the family. I knew it was my duty, but I was too young to understand the necessity. My grandfather is a kind person. He somehow understood my frustration, and after my father died, he took me into our family archive and he showed me a library much like this one. He said to me that he had been a passionate person too. It was not any easier for him to calm and change so that he would make a suitable leader, than it was for me. But, he told me, Diving into free flowing words, poetry, old stories and histories…it can calm those passionate fires without letting them go out."

Aizen's frown deepened and he turned back to look Byakuya in the eyes. The noble stood in front of him with one of the books he had been reading, opened and in his hands.

"If you wouldn't mind, I would like to read you one of the stories I found."

"You want to read to me?" Aizen asked, looking at him curiously, "Aren't you angry at me for what happened before?"

Byakuya considered quietly for a moment.

"I did break what seems to be a very important rule," he said finally, "and your reaction was frightening, but…everyone has disagreements. It is best to try to move beyond them. After all, if I refuse to speak to you, I will have no one."

"There are the servants," Aizen observed, "They are treating you respectfully, are they not?"

"Yes, they are," Byakuya acknowledged, "But they really only come to serve me. They are not unkind, at least, not since you punished the ones who mistreated me. Still, there is a difference between the kind of casual interchange I share with them and the more fulfilling type that all beings naturally crave."

"And you…crave this interaction with me?" Aizen asked, his eyes narrowing, "Even after I frightened you?"

"We had a misunderstanding," Byakuya asserted, "Your behavior did frighten me, but you have assured me that as long as I do not attempt to visit the tree again, you will not become angry like that again."

"You are giving me another chance?"

"Well, as I said, I will not cure my loneliness by pushing you away. Like it or not, I agreed to stay with you forever, as you agreed to let my sister go. I think that if we want to adjust to our situation successfully, we must continue to interact. As we learn about each other, we will gain trust, and eventually, we could become friends."

"Friends with your captor?" Aizen mused, "And a beast?"

"Have you never had a close friend, Sousuke?" asked Byakuya, a hint of sadness in his voice, "Were you close to anyone…you know, before…"

Aizen considered the question in silence for a time.

"I was close to my grandmother," he said finally, "She was…different. While my father was judgmental and demanding, she would sneak in a dose of humanity while he was not looking."

"What did she do?" Byakuya inquired curiously.

"Oh," the beast said off-handedly, "just little things mostly. She would listen as he scolded me to stand up straight and concentrate on my footwork, then mock him while his back was to her."

Byakuya cleared his throat softly, barely repressing a sound of amusement.

"She told me that my father wasn't angry at me. He just had been trained by impatient and grouchy people, so that's what he learned. He wouldn't listen to her, and the whole kingdom suffered for it."

A little clipped laugh escaped Byakuya.

"She said that?" he asked, smirking.

"I'm surprised she dared, what with the tyrant that my father was."

Aizen turned slightly to look at a nearby portrait that depicted him standing to a very stern looking man with black, angry eyes and a scowl on his lips.

"I don't know what he was like before my mother died, but he was insufferable after."

"I am sorry," Byakuya said sincerely.

"He was even worse after his mother, the grandmother I was speaking about, died. And I suppose that with him being the one to raise me after that, I followed in his footsteps. Soon, everyone started to look at me the way they looked at him. And I suppose I acted like him…first to avoid his anger, and then because I was angry."

Byakuya remained carefully silent, looking up at the beast as he continued.

"I suppose that anger is what eventually destroyed everything. Now…"

Aizen broke off, seeming to come to the realization that something around him had changed. His dark eyes took in the lovely gleaming wood of the furniture, the freshly cleaned shelves and pristine books. Byakuya watched as Aizen's gaze ran around the transformed room, then returned to him.

"You…did this?"

"Are you angry?" the noble asked cautiously.

"No," the beast assured him, "Just surprised. This room hasn't been properly cleaned since my grandmother was alive. She used to come here to read and flirt with the ancient caretaker of the library. He barely spoke to her at first, but over time, they started to read together here. I always thought that, despite my father's scorn, they…were an agreeable couple."

Byakuya gave him an enchanting smile.

"Books can be remarkably sociable things."

"And this is why you've asked me to join you here?" asked Aizen, "You still wish to socialize with me? You know, you don't have to do that. If you…"

"I invited you," Byakuya persisted, "I told you, Sousuke. I am staying forever, so I hope to at very least, be friends. Will you sit with me for awhile?"

Aizen looked back at him silently.

It seems a more useful pursuit than sitting in the garden, watching the blossoms fall as the magical sakura tree dies.

"Very well," he agreed, looking around until he spotted the very comfortable looking reading sofa, "Over there, perhaps?"

Byakuya nodded and gathered his books from the table. He waited as the beast sat down, his hulking body taking up half of the couch, then he sat down beside the beast and moved close to share one of the books he had been reading.

"That was a favorite of mine, when I was a child," Aizen said in a pleased tone, missing the secret smile of approval his words earned.

Byakuya began to read, and the beast quickly became entangled in his deep, pleasant voice. He closed his eyes, visualizing as Byakuya read the old myths and legends that had never seemed quite so interesting.

Everything was dry and boring with my father teaching me. He agreed it was dry and boring, but said it was required. But…when Byakuya reads the words, I actually feel the stories again, like I did when my grandmother was alive.

Minutes turned into hours, and the stories seemed to come alive in the air around them.

This is Byakuya's true gift, Aizen realized, I saw him as a fighter, as a leader, as someone like my father and me, and I looked down on him as I looked down on us. But, he is very different. His voice and these images he conjures touch my heart in a way I forgot how to feel.

Even with his eyes closed, and being in another part of the mansion, he felt the little shudder of happiness that went through the magical sakura tree. The petals still continued to drift downward, but the pace had slowed notably.

Aizen looked down at Byakuya, who was rested up against his side and still reading, albeit in a sleepy voice. His eyelids closed, then opened again and blinked.

"S-sorry," he apologized, "I am rather tired. I suppose we should stop."

He paused and touched the gilded edge of one of the books affectionately.

"I don't suppose, just one more poem," Aizen suggested.

Byakuya smiled.

"Very well."

He only read about half before his voice trailed off and his sleepy eyes closed and remained closed. The beast's great arm curled around him and he nuzzled Byakuya's cheek gently. At his touch, Byakuya's eyes opened again to look at him. For a stunning moment, they widened and the noble took a shocked breath as an odd brightness rose around them.

"Wh-what was that? What happened?" Byakuya asked warily.

"What did you see?" Aizen asked quietly.

"It was just for a moment, and it was before I was all of the way awake, but…I think, no, I know that when I looked at you…for a moment, you looked human!"

"Ah," Aizen said wonderingly, "you are beginning to see me!"