Three days had passed since the defeat of BG9 and Rudbornn. The destruction caused by the rogues within Las Noches was already under repair, and the lack of Calaveras was quite the oddity to the common residents of the palace. They were used to the security force's constant presence, but they would thankfully not be returning ever again.

BG9's secret room had been found and confiscated of its Quincy technology. No document on the Sternritter's manifesto for conquest was ever recovered, the details of its mission lost with its destruction. There were many files and data logs connected to its hibernation pod that were to be sent to Captain Kurotsuchi. The scientist had requested exclusive rights to the information, unaware that Kisuke Urahara had already received his own copy a day earlier.

For his help in stopping their enemies, Halibel and Nel had finally given Grimmjow the title of King. Hueco Mundo was now ruled under a triumvirate, all three Espada of equal rank. Today was the former Sexta's first day alone on the job, and he was given the honor of speaking to their Soul Society contact today.

"And that pretty much sums the whole shit show up," Grimmjow said, very disinterested in his current briefing.

"I see…" Rukia Kuchiki nodded, scribbling details onto her notepad, "So, from what I can understand, you defeated a Sternritter with two stolen Resurreccións all by yourself? And your incredible strength impressed Tia and Nel so much that they made you sole king of Hueco Mundo?"

"Yeah. Don't make me repeat myself, woman."

The raven haired Captain raised an eyebrow. "You know, I doubt the validity of many parts of your story, Grimmjow. Especially the part where you say Rudbornn cut his own head off because you intimidated him so much."

Grimmjow wanted to tell the Shinigami to come to Hueco Mundo herself and say it to his face, but that would get him in hot water. "That is my story, and I'm sticking with it, alright? Everything is fine here. Are we done? This is boring. You bore me."

"…Very well. Goodbye, Grimmjow."

Grimmjow yawned, kicking his feet up on the monitor desk. He put his hands behind his head and sighed. If this was what it meant to be in charge, he didn't get why Tia had never given him this authority before.

They respected him now. And he didn't hate them as much as before, either.

"Damn… It's good to be the king."

"You said it!"

The surprise sent Grimmjow tumbling out of his chair. He stood angrily to see Pesche and Dondochakka dancing behind him. "Get out of here, you idiots!"

"Nope!" Dondochakka denied, "Did you forget Nel's rule when she left?"

Pesche wiggled his finger in Grimmjow's face. "We are your chaperones for the day! And the next day! And the day after that! Well, at least until Nel comes back and tells us we don't need to!"

"You gotta come with us now! We're gonna go feed Bawabawa and play tag with him!"

"I'm not going with you," Grimmjow stated bluntly.

"Oh no! Nel told us you have to play with us! And if you don't, Tia said she will kick your butt!"

Maybe being in charge wasn't such a good thing.

"I hate you both."

"Oh man," Rukia rubbed her face in frustration, "That was a complete waste of time."

Behind her, her husband Renji Abarai was sprawled out on a large cushion, throwing a small ball up and down in boredom. He had come along as morale support when Rukia learned she had to talk with Grimmjow today. It was actually Captain Hirako's turn today, but their call apparently turned into a shouting match in a matter of seconds, Grimmjow demanding a rematch from all those years ago. So he passed it to Byakuya, but five minutes into their call and her older brother had politely contacted her to speak to 'the mongrel' instead to get precise details on the fight against BG9. She almost passed it onto Captain Hitsugaya, but felt guilt in making the younger Captain sit through such an ordeal. He already had enough trouble dealing with Rangiku on a daily basis.

"From what I heard, none of that sounded remotely plausible."

"I'll have to tell Head Captain Kyoraku that we need to schedule a second meeting once Halibel and Nelliel return from their vacation," Rukia said, "At least they won't toot their own horn the whole time."

"Vacation? Where could two Espada take a vacation to?"

"I couldn't imagine. By the way, its 7:00. Go pick up Ichika from training."

"Hey, I thought it was your turn today!"

"It is. But I outrank you, remember?" Rukia smiled smugly.

"Always pulling the rank card…"

The world was still intact, just how Shunsui liked it to be.

He had knew he was right to trust in Halibel from the start. The Espada was definitely capable of handling things like this on her own, even with the consequences of failure being high. Times like this he realized why Old Man Yama had picked him to be his successor. When he contacted Halibel about the events at first, she had told him that she had absorbed a Hogyoku fragment, and requested he tell a certain individual about her actions. It took a lot of string pulling, but Shunsui was able to fulfill her wish.

"Pretty unbelievable, don't you think?" Kyoraku said, taking a sip of sake as he sat on the rocky floor of the pitch black room. Only a small candle illuminated the space around him. "That Halibel of all the Espada could control the power of the Hogyoku like that. Take some tough resolve and pureness for it to not reject you."

The voice from the darkness did not reply.

"If you think I'm taunting you, I'm not. Tia herself wanted me to tell you. If anything, she's the one doing that. And I can't say I blame her, after what you did to her."

Still no reply.

"Tia was one of your strongest warriors, and you disposed of her without batting an eye. If you treated your people with more respect, you could have won. And now she is one of our strongest allies who achieved something you yourself was unworthy of. You should be proud of her. But I doubt you are."

"On the contrary, Shunsui."

The sudden response caught Kyorkaku off-guard. "I was starting to think you lost your voice."

"Do you forget who gave her the power to become an Arrancar? When it all comes down to it, have I not claimed victory by association alone?"

Shunsui tipped his hat and smiled. "Oh, boy. You really haven't changed, have you?" The Head Captain picked up the candle and stood. "I do have to be going now. Nanao's got some paperwork that needs my magic seal of approval. I shouldn't keep her waiting too much longer, don't you think?"

Shunsui held the candle to the shadows, breaking up the darkness just enough so he could see the face of Sosuke Aizen leering back at him.

"What a despicable man you are, Shunsui Kyoraku."

The bar was bustling with customers, the usual crowd for a Saturday night. People were shouting across the room at each other, laughter all around. The smell of alcohol filled the air, and drunkenness was abound. One table was extra rambunctious, three of its five occupants the loudest people in the building.

"And she went CRUNCH and then bam!" Nelliel exclaimed, heavily intoxicated, "That dummy robot fell waaaaay down to the ground like this!" The Espada flew her hand in an arc over the table and slammed it on its surface. Candice and Bambietta laughed heartily, even drunker than the Arrancar.

"What an idiot!" Catnipp said, taking another large gulp of beer, "Serves him right for trying to hurt my new friend!"

Nel's eyes lit up like a child. "I'm your new friend?!"

"Hell yeah!" Bambietta replied, throwing her arm over Nel's shoulder, "You're awesome!"

"Do you hear that, Tia!" the green haired Arrancar grabbed hold of Halibel beside her, shouting in her ear, "I made new friends!"

Ta eased Nel back out of her personal space, a worried smile on her face. She was very glad that her first taste of alcohol hadn't affected her in the same way it did Nelliel. At least nel wouldn't be too embarrassed for acting this way. It was her pretty much her childish side taking control in a grown-up body. "That's nice, Nel. But I'm right here. You don't need to shout."

"Okay!" she shouted back anyways.

Tia rested her head on her hand, gazing over at the bar where the Apacci, Mila and Sung-sun were being spoken to by a human man. From what she could tell, he was only taking to Mila and ignoring the other two. Of course, the dark-skinned Fraccion was playing it up, being overly flirty back and making the other two jealous. It didn't last long, because Apacci and Sung-sun decided to empty their drinks in their partner's hair. She looked away, hoping they would not start a brawl in front of everyone.

She felt a great ease being able to sit here, without any worry. This was the first time in her life Tia could feel so content, taking time to gather with those she cared about. All of her strife and suffering was in the past. A vacation in Karakura Town felt right. A free stay at the Kurosaki household wasn't too bad, either. She was growing fond of Kazui calling her 'Auntie Tia'.

She was technically no longer an Arrancar, either. When she had visited Urahara for a checkup on the Hogyoku fragment within her, the man told her that she had become something between an Arrancar and a Shinigami. Not a Visored, but a spiritual being that had never been defined in history before. Kisuke insisted on calling her an "Ascended", but Tia told him it was too pretentious for her taste.

They settled on La Renacida. The Reborn.

Nelliel was the only one Tia told the details of her trial to, and Kisuke presented her with the same offer if he ever collected more energy from the original Hogyoku. Tia had said that wasn't necessary: she was willing to offer some of her own power to give Nel the chance to be whole once more. Nel refused, telling Tia she had no desire for such strength. It was like she always said. "I'm the voice, Tia. You are the blade."

The two really did suit each other, didn't they?

"Something funny?" Yoruichi asked, having heard Tia laugh once to herself. The Espada snapped from her daze, reaching for a sip of her drink. "You've been pretty quiet tonight."

"Nothing's funny. Well, maybe."

"Care to share?"

"…No. You wouldn't get it."

"So secretive. I guess not everything's changed about you."

They heard a voice calling their name from across the room. Giselle had returned from outside the bar, and brought with them Ichigo and Orihime Kurosaki. The zombie had volunteered to act as lookout for them, definitely not because they were more interested in the dead mouse behind the trash can outside. "Hey, hey~! Look what I brought in."

"ICHIGO!"

Before the man could say a word, Nel had climbed over the table and spilled everyone's drinks to bear hug Ichigo to the floor. She nuzzled against his face, much to his wife's horror.

"Nel!" Orihime blushed, "You're choking him!"

"Oh!" the Espada let go instantly, but then hugged him lightly, "Sorry, Ichigo! I haven't seen you in forever!"

"It hasn't even been an hour, Nel," Ichigo replied, still regaining his breath.

"Who's got the kid tonight?" Yoruichi asked, "Chad? Tatsuki? Oh please don't tell me it's Hiyori."

Ichigo stood, dusting peanut shells from his back. "Uryu, actually. Dad and the sisters won't be back until tomorrow, and Urahara's still busy studying the BG9 files."

"We just got back from his place," Inoue said, sitting down beside Candice, "He only seemed a little annoyed on such short notice, but took him anyways."

"Still waiting for you to give me his number," Candice sighed, "That nerd needs to ease up and let me show him a good time, if you know what I mean."

"TMI, Candy," Giselle taunted, poking their head up from under the table and squeezing in where Nel was once sitting, "Nobody likes hearing about your nerd fetish."

"Sup, bitches!" a returning Apacci announced, mugs of beer in her hand. Sung-sun and a drenched Mila were right beside her."Ah, look! Ichigo! We got a guy here!"

"Aw, did he come to see the pretty ladies?" Mila crooned.

"Of course not, you monkey," Sung-sun insulted, "He's married. He just came here to pay the tab."

Ichigo's face went pale. "Hey, hold on now…"

"Such a gentleman, Ichigo," Yoruichi smirked.

"Free drinks?" Bambi glugged, slamming her empty glass down, "Sign me up!"

"You're so nice Ichigo!" Nel shouted, arms up high in excitement.

Kurosaki was screwed now. He looked to his wife for help. "Uh, Orihime? Back me up here!"

Inoue smiled back, blushing. "It would be nice of you to treat our friends, wouldn't it?"

"Oh, come on, not you too! Tia?!"

Frantically, he looked to Tia as his last hope. His eyes begged for salvation. It would be cruel to make him empty his wallet for all of these people. A couple days ago, she would have sided with him and told them to all knock it off.

But Tia had just finished her drink. What else were friends for?

"A rum and coke, please."

Thank you very much for reading.

To the loyal followers who stayed to the end, I hope you enjoyed it for what it was.

The aim was always to flesh out my favorite character. Tia was my first anime crush, and still is. It's not purely based on her appearance - as beautiful as she is – but her motif of sacrifice and how deeply she cared for her subordinates as an antagonist connected with me. Being someone who enjoys tragic villains who were betrayed and deceived, I have wanted to flesh out her character much more than Kubo did. I hope everything I wanted to show about her as a person was made clear.

And then there's BG9. My favorite Sternritter. The mystery Quincy who really wasn't that big of a villain in the main story. In my opinion, BG9 was one of Kubo's biggest oversights. A robot coming out of nowhere needed more explanation and much more story time. I wanted to make him a nearly broken character in terms of power, but still be beatable under the right circumstances. If you're wondering what my head cannon voice for him sounded like, look up General Grievous from Clone Wars 2003 on Youtube.

I wanted to pace the story as if it could be an official movie, so that's why it isn't an overly long work. One of my side challenges was to include as many fan-favorite characters as I could without overdoing it, even if some are quick cameos or name drops. I wanted this to be my tribute to Bleach's legacy, as odd as that may sound. I think the only ones I really missed were the Fullbringers, but trying to include them did not make sense to the story itself.

I always have a soundtrack in mind when I'm writing out stories. A lot of my inspiration comes from song lyrics and the melody of the music. If you want an idea of what I listened to while planning, check out "Panic Attack" by Dream Theater, "Exit Dream" by God is an Astronaut, "Set me Free" by Avenged Sevenfold and "Shine" by Mr. Big (the last one is the finale theme, so listen to it first!).

That's about all I have to say. Until next time, everyone. Stay safe!