Author's note: I've labeled this story as being about Ukitake Juushiro and Unohana Retsu. Like I said in the first chapter's note, it will be centered around many different characters, I'll probably change the label periodically as I shift attention beween different characters. Also, in my last note I told you I'd be writting using first names mostly, I'm now taking that back. Depending on who's point of view I'm writting from, other characters will either be referred to by their first or last name.

Enjoy.


Ichigo walked into the V.I.P hall of Jinsei's bar. He didn't know much about Seireitei's bars or anything, but Renji told him that it was one of the best ones there was. He looked around as various shinigami took seats at the round tables through the hall. The walls were faded salmon color while the tables were draped with a red table-cloth. Every table was positioned underneath a crystal chandelier, and the entire back wall was a bar. The long oak counter stretched to cover the entire wall and numerous bartenders stood behind ready to serve. Behind the bartenders were rows upon rows of alcohol of every type. Ichigo whistled under his breath at the amount of liquor on the wall.

He looked around as everyone began taking seats. He looked around to see which table he'd join. His eyes passed by Ukitake and Unohana who were sitting close to the door. Ukitake had Difficulty walking from the funeral to Jinsei's and Unohana had been forced to heal him on the road. She wanted to take him back to the fourth division but he protested, saying that he had to be present for the toast at least. So after a little staring match Unohana gave in and they brought Ukitake to stay for one drink.

He picked Renji and Rukia both sitting at the same table and walked to join them. But as he walked he noticed that the vizard had been sitting at a table right next to them. He stopped and looked at the two tables for a minute before he decided to sit with the vizard. Ichigo had never asked them to help during the battle in Karakura. But they did so anyway, to combat Aizen to and to help him. So he joined them at their table and took a seat next to Rose. The eccentric vizard greeted him kindly and Ichigo responded the same.

His eyes once again scanned the crowd after everyone had found a table. He was surprised to see that even the shinigami that he had pegged as "loners" had found a table with others to sit with. He heard a clang to his side and turned back to the table, where a woman had put down a round cup.

"Uh, sorry miss. I'm too young to drink." Ichigo said before she poured the sake.

"Shut up Ichigo. No one here cares how old you are." Kenpachi said from the table behind him. "Pour him a glass. And if you manager has a problem with serving underage tell him to come talk to Zaraki Kenpachi.

The woman gulped audibly and poured Ichigo a cup. Ichigo looked at Kenpachi who smiled at him and raised his cup to him. Ichigo stared at the cup in disbelief. His own cup was just slightly larger than his palm. Kenpachi's cup was bigger than his hand. And Kenpachi had a large hand. Despite the over abundance of alcohol, no one was drinking. It seemed they were all waiting for something.

"Are we waiting for a toast?" Ichigo asked Rose quietly.

"Yea." He looked around quickly. "It seems no one knows who's actually supposed to do it though."

As if on cue Shunsui stood up and cleared his throat for attention.

"Thank you all for coming. It seems that no one prepared any words for this get together. So I'm going to go ahead and say a few things for our comrades."

Ichigo turned in his seat to face the pink captain. As did everyone else.

"Now I know not everyone here today is the same. There are shinigami, vizard and human alike all here. All here for the same reason. Not everyone here is dealing with this loss the same way, not everyone has the same opinion about it. To anyone who feels offended, to anyone who feels negativity in my words. I'd like to sincerely apologize for causing you discomfort. Know now that everything I say is meant in the utmost respect for out lost comrades." Shunsui said. His voice carried through the hall, cutting through the silence everyone had given him to hear the toast. The staff waited off to the side.

"Everyone in this room." Shunsui started. "Knows. Everyone knows how life works. Even the Ryoka...No. They are no longer intruders. They are friends. And our friends, all of them, knew how life worked just as we do now. Death is a part of life and just death is a part of life. Rebirth is a part of death. Our friends will be reborn and rise once again. They may not have their memories, the same thoughts, the same feelings. They may not have the same abilities or ambitions. But they'll have the same soul. And it's the soul that counts...because the soul is everlasting. It's the soul that never changes, it's the soul that never dies. And their soul will continue to thrive."

A cheer was heard from someone in the bar.

"Today, there may be tears and there may be sorrow. We will all miss them dearly. Love, who always stood up for his beliefs, never acting in a way he felt to be beneath him. Momo, who loved and trusted all. Tetsuzaemon, from my understanding, was the only eleventh division shinigami smart enough to learn Kido."

Light laughter sounded in the hall. Kenpachi was grinning at the verbal jab in good humor.

"Uryuu." Shunsui continued. "A smart young boy. One who could push past the anger and hatred he felt for shinigami in recognition of a common enemy. Marechiyo, who on numerous occasions tried to sell me his homemade jewelry. And eventually succeeded." Shunsui pulled a gold necklace from under his shirt that was far to jewel encrusted to be considered fashionable. More laughter rang through the hall.

"Hiyori. What can I say about Hiyori? She was so full of spirit. So spunky. Hanataro, a young fourth division boy. A nice kid who only ever wanted to help. And Chad. I fought Chad once, he fought with conviction but I could still sense his reluctance. I later learned that Chad made a vow, a vow to never fight unless it was to protect."

Like I said, today there may be tears and there may be sorrow. But today is not a day to mourn. When we wake up tomorrow morning, some of us with fuzzy heads from the alcohol, some of us with clear minds. We will not look back at today and shed tears. We will look back at today as the way it should be. A celebration. Because we are not mourning the deaths of our friends today. We are celebrating the lives they lived. Their individual accomplishments and ambition. We will look back at their laughter, their joy, their nirvana and rejoice in the lives they lived. We will also look back at the sadness, their despair, their anger and their frustration. Because it was apart of them. Because, the sweet, wouldn't taste so sweet, without the sour. We will look back at the low points in their lives, when they were broken down and defeated. And when they persevered and overcame those low points."

"We will celebrate their strength, so that one day, when our time comes to pass, our friends can look back at today as when we persevered and overcame." Shunsui's voice had progressively gotten louder through his speech. His voice carried through the hall powerfully.

"And when we are finished celebrating their lives, when we are finished wiping our tears. We are going to stand up tall in the memory of their sacrifice!"

He raised his cup of sake in the air and everyone followed suit. Ichigo grinned at the size of Shunsui's cup, which was equal to Kenpachi's.

"To our friends." He said, his voice loud and clear, but it was really a whisper in nature.

"To our friends!" The crowd replied in unison. Shunsui raised his head tipped the cup to his lips. Everyone followed suit and drank their drink. Ichigo grimaced from the sting of the sake and put his cup down. Shunsui finished his drink and sat down once more.

"I had no idea you could be so poetic Kyouraku-taicho." Ichigo heard Nanao speak to her captain. "Only when the situation calls for it my dear Nanao-chan."

Kenpach stood up abruptly, drawing the attention of the hall to himself.

"And when all is said and done, we're going back out there. And we're going to kick! Aizen! Sosuke's! ASS!" He shouted.

The hall erupted in cheers as everyone applauded to Kenpachi far less sentimental toast.


Ichigo smiled goofing as he took another drink of sake. The initial sting of the alcohol had become lighter and lighter as each drink poured down his throat. He put his cup back and Kensei poured him another. Kensei's gruff expression had long since disappeared and his face now held a pleasant smile. Even Mashiro's annoying habits didn't seem to irritate him. Which was surprising considering how much worse her annoying habits were when she was drunk. This was Ichigo's first time drinking but he was still sober enough to recognize what all his comrades were like drunk.

He was especially hoping to see what Yamamoto was like with all inhibitions gone, but the old man left after Shunsui's toast. He helped Unohana transport Ukitakte back to the fourth division. Despite the white-haired captains complaints, Unohana wasn't going to allow the most injured one to stay and get drunk with everyone else. Before she left she pleasantly advised all of her patients that they shouldn't drink too much and that they shouldn't stay too long. Her tone was polite but fear coursed through Ichigo's veins. The female captain had some odd ability to scare the shit out of everyone with polite words and a sweet smile. Everyone was visibly shaken by Unohana's advise but after a couple drinks she was forgotten.

"Oi! Let me take a look at that." Rose shouted across the table to Lisa.

Lisa perked up surprised. "Let me finish it before you read it."

"I'm almost done that one. And if you finish it before me than you're going to ruin the ending for me." Rose said with a hint if irritation.

"No." Lisa replied.

Rose reached over the table quickly and snatched the manga from her hands before she could react. His triumphant smile faded when a second manga fell from behind the first. He looked down at the erotic novel that Lisa was really reading.

He sighed and hung his head. "Really Lisa?"

Lisa angrily snatched both the manga from Rose and put them back the way they were to cover the smut she was reading.

Kensei and Ichigo chuckled at their antics.

"It was one of Love's favorites." Lisa said quietly referring to the smut.

Ichigo and Kensei's laughter faded. They didn't find it funny anymore.


Renji laughed loudly at his long time friend as she hiccoped. He had seen Rukia have an occasional drink here and there but it was only just one. She just finished her fourth cup of sake when Renji noticed that she was visibly drunk. Obviously her small body and lack of drinking experience made her quite the lightweight.
He patted her on the back as she hiccoped again. She coughed lightly and took a deep breath, then scowled at Renji when he refilled her cup. He just smiled back sheepishly as he finished his own drink

"Lieutenant Abari. I hope for your sake you're not trying to get her drunk." Byakuya said as he sat down at their table.

"Uh..n..no. Kuchiki-taicho. I was just..." Renji's fearful sentence was cut off with a wave of Byakuya's hand.

"Forget it." He said simply. Byakuya had been sitting with other captains when he noticed the spaced look on his adoptive sister's face. He suddenly felt the need to switch tables and look out for her well being. He tilted his head back and finished the last of his drink. He grabbed the bottle and filled his cup again and lightly sipped the alcohol. He didn't drink often but he did enjoy to when the situation called for it. His method of drinking was the brunt of a few jokes when Shunsui and Kenpachi made comments to him sipping his drink like a woman. Byakuya merely responded back that he wasn't an ape who chugged liquor like his life depended on it. Both of the other captains laughed.

Renji drank his sake nervously with his captain now sitting at their table. He didn't quite feel at ease anymore. He looked across the table at Rangiku who seemed to feel the exact opposite. He had gone to bars with Rangiku before and always ended up being drank under the table by her. She was already thoroughly intoxicated and with intoxication, came a new sense of confidence.

"So Kuchiki-kun." Rangiku started.

Renji mentally slapped himself on the forehead at his big-breasted friend's poor choice of words. If she was hoping to flirt with his captain, then she would have to learn quickly.

"You'll refer to me as Kuchiki-taicho." Byakuya responded as he sipped his drink.

"Awww, c'mon. Now isn't the time for formalities." Rangiku responded with a pout.

Renji looked at his captain who was sipping his drink again, not looking at anyone. He put his cup down and sighed.

"Very well. You may refer to me by my first name." Byakuya said.

Renji nearly fell out of his chair. 'I was never allowed to do that. And I'm his fucking lieutenant!'

"With." Byakuya added. "The proper honorific."

"Ok Byakuya-kun." Rangiku said playfully.

"That isn't the proper honorific."


Everyone laughed out loud when Komamura finished his story of Hisagi. To lighten the mood he decided to recant Hisagi's words to Tousen. Specifically when he told his former captain that he looked like a penis. Hisagi chuckled as he finished yet another cup of sake. He was surprised when he saw both Soifon and Hitsugaya laugh. Soifon chuckled lightly which quite the sight to see. During his many years of serving in the Gotei 13 he had never seen her laugh or even heard about her laughing. He was equally surprised at Hitsugaya's loud guffaws. As far as he knew, the small captain never drank but as the night progressed Hisagi suspected that the captain of the tenth division had a few secrets. The boy wasn't quite keeping pace with Hisagi, but he was drinking his fair share.

"He really did look like a penis." Hitsugaya said with a laugh. The table agreed each with a smile.

Soifon muttered something into the brim of her cup that Hisagi couldn't make out.

Komamura's massive hand slapped the table as he burst into laughter, surprising all of them suddenly. He finished laughing after a few moments and wiped tears from his eyes.

"What was so funny?" Hisagi asked.

"Nothing. I just have really good hearing." Komamura replied with a look at Soifon. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized what the larger captain was implying.

"Shut up." She said.

Hisagi looked back and forth between the two drunk captains and curiosity and mischief ran through his mind.

"What did you hear Komamura-taicho." He asked slyly. He had seen Komamura drunk before. And when the large captain got drunk, his tongue got loose. Not in an offensive way, but in a humorous way.

"Nothing." Soifon interrupted. "He didn't hear anything." She shot a glare at Komamura.

"Now, now Soifon-taicho. If Komamura-taicho wishes to speak you should let him." Hitsugaya said. He turned his head and winked at Hisagi.

'You sly devil.' Hisagi thought. It looked like Hitsugaya was just the kind of guy that Hisagi was, when he was drunk at least.

"Yes, let Komamura-taicho share with us." Hisagi said.

Hitsugaya nodded vehemently. Both had caught on that Komamura heard what Soifon muttered into her cup and both wanted to find out what it was that she didn't want the fox to repeat.

Komamura shook his head no, deciding not to expose Soifon. Hitsugaya smiled and grabbed the sake bottle and filled his fellow captain's cup.

'You sly, sly devil.' Hisagi thought proudly. They were going to get Komamura shitfaced. And then they were going to find out what Soifon had said.


"Ow." Ukitake exclaimed as Unohana applied pressure to his wound when she wrapped another bandage around his torso. She finished quickly and allowed him to lay back on the mountain of pillows he had propped up so he could lay in a sitting position comfortably.

"There, all better." She said softly.

Ukitake exhaled and closed his eyes briefly. He opened them again and looked at the smiling face of Unohana.

"Retsu." He began. She looked at him kindly. "Do you think we could have done a better job in Karakura?"

She smiled warmly. "There is always room for improvement. Nothing is perfect. But everyone did their job to the best of their ability."

"Do you think I could have done better?"

"Don't blame yourself for what happened Juushiro."

"Everytime an important battle occurs, I am the one who ends up injured. I can never do my duty as a captain."

Unohana reached forward and cupped his cheek. "It's not your fault Juushiro. You're ill, and you've been ill for a long time. No one blames you."

Ukitake closed his eyes. His brow was furrowed in concentration. When he and Shunsui were fighting Starrk he was struck with a coughing fit from his disease. The new arrancar Wonderweiss used that opportunity to pierce his chest. And he was out for the rest of the battle. Just like when he, Kaien and Rukia went after that hollow so many years ago, his disease prevented him from helping. Even though he knew he wouldn't have interfered, it was Kaien's fight for his pride, he wished that if he had chosen to help then he could have.

"It's not happening again Retsu." He said finally, opening his eyes. "Next time, I won't allow people to get hurt."

"I don't care if this disease kills me. I'll fight back."

"It can't Juushiro. You know that. With your reiryoku it can't kill you."

Ukitake just sighed.

"It's a debilitating disease, it weakens you and prevents you from fighting with all your power."

"I know, I know. It's just difficult sometimes." He said softly.

Unohana ran her thumb along his cheek and leaned in to peck him lightly on the lips. As she pulled away Ukitake's hand came up and grabbed her shoulder. As he looked into her eyes he pulled her in close and locked their lips again. Her hand moved from his face and ran down to his chest. He grunted slightly in pain as she applied a little pressure to his chest. Unohana giggled lightly and apologized before kissing him again. His tongue darted out and licked her lips lightly. She opened her mouth and allowed his tongue to play with hers. For about a minute their tongues danced with each other. Ukitake brought his left hand up and gripped her left breast. He kneaded her breast for a few moments before pushing her braid away from her chest and slid his hand under her shirt. He gripped her breast lightly before squeezing her nipple between his middle and ring finger.

She gasped and pulled back with a smile, his hand still underneath her shirt.

"I shouldn't be exciting you. We'll do this again when your in better health Juushiro." She said as she stood from the bed. He let his hand fall from her shirt and on his lap.

"We definitely will Retsu." He replied suggestively. She stepped out of the room and gave him a seductive look before she closed the door.

Ukitake sighed heavily. "She could have stopped it before she got me all riled up." He grumbled to himself. He was now left alone in his hospital bed with all the blood in his body rushing to his lower half.


Ichigo's head tilted to the side slowly as he watched Byakuya teetering. He lifted his head and tilted it to the other side, mirroring the way Byakya was walking. Several hours and several drinks later, the group of shinigami in the bar were shit faced. Byakuya was attempting to go home but couldn't seem to walk in a straight enough line to get to the door. His injured leg didn't help matters. As he teetered to the door Ikkaku stood and grabbed the captain to help him stand straight. Ichigo heard Ikkaku make a joke about Byakuya being a light weight before he pulled his arm back and walked to the door with perfect balance. Ichigo laughed at Byakuya's ability to appear completely sober for sake of his pride.

He his head back to face the vizard, much to quickly than he would have initially liked. The tilting and the whirl he just did came back to him and made the whole room dizzy.

"Uh-oh. I know that look." Shinji said as he got up from his chair. He stumbled over to Ichigo and grabbed his arm.

Before Ichigo could protest he was dragged to the male washroom and deposited on a floor in front of a toilet.

"What the hell! I'm totally ffine." Ichigo slurred before he threw up in the toilet.

Shinji chuckled as Ichigo heaved again and again. His chuckling ended abruptly when he got a whiff of his friends vomit. Suddenly his stomach turned and he stepped forward quickly.

"Move." He said gruffly as he forcefully pushed Ichigo's head away from the toilet and puked. This time it was Ichigo's turn to laugh. After a few minutes of taking turns throwing up, both from too much alcohol and the putrid smell of vomit, neither were laughing.

"Ugh, I'm never drinking again!" Ichigo groaned as he sat draped over the toilet.

"Forget about it. It's yer first time. Everyone gets sick the first time." Shinji replied

"Go fuck yourself." Ichigo replied, spitting in the toilet. He grunted as Shinji kicked him roughly in the ass. But felt to sick to do anything about it.

'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.' Ichigo repeated in his head over and over. He could faintly hear water running as Shinji washed his hands. With the sound of water still going Ichigo was hoisted from the ground and dragged to the sink. He lazily lifted his head and put his hands under the water. After a minute of just letting the water run over his hands he drunkenly splashed himself in the face with handfuls of water.

"Ok let's get you back to the fourth division so you can sleep this off." Shinji said as he dragged Ichigo to a standing position and exited the washroom.

Hisagi pushed another cup of sake to Komamura who drank it quickly. When he placed his cup back on the table Hitsugaya had already filled it again. The large captain drank it happily. Their plan was working. At first Soifon was distant from them out of suspension, but after a few more drinks she couldn't even remember what she was suspicious about earlier.


"You...know that fffuckin arrancar blew up my arm." Soifon slurred.

"You got it back!" Hisagi shouted back drunkenly.

"Fuck you!" Soifon shouted back. "It's the mater of fact of the matter."

Hitsugaya looked his drunk collage. "That sentence was so wrong." He replied.

Soifon just glared at him. Hitsugaya stared back.

"Hey!" Hisagi shouted, breaking their staring contest. "Let's lighten the mood. Remember when Komamura-taicho told you how I called Tousen a penis."

The drunken laughter from Hisagi's stupid comment was astounding.

"I remember. Hey, afterwards you were laughing about something else Sajin. What was it you heard?" Hitsugaya asked.

Hisagi and Hitsugaya both stared at the captain while sitting on the edge of their seats. This was the moment of truth.

"Oh, after you said how much his hollow mask looked like a penis. Soifon muttered..."

Soifon, who was to preoccupied with giggling to herself finally caught wind of the conversation. The look of horror on her face portrayed her fear of being exposed and the fact she was too late to do anything about it.

"...'I wouldn't know.'" Komamura said with a chuckle as he polished off what was left in his cup. He was completely oblivious to the way he was manipulated by both Hitsugaya and Hisagi. The two of them looked at eachother slowly then to Soifon, who looked back nervously.

"You." Hitsugaya started. "Wouldn't know what a penis looked like?" He asked, a small smile creeping up.

Soifon sputtered trying to come up with an answer but couldn't.

"Soifon." Hisagi said. "Are you a virgin?"

Again Soifon sputtered but no real words came out.

"Bwahahahahaha." Hitsugaya and Hisagi burst into laughter. The normally fearsome captain blushed and sank back into her chair.

"Fuck you both! It's a personal choice!" Her newfound anger did nothing to quell the laughter of her two drinking mates.

"Why are you laughing Toushiro!" Soifon yelled in frustration. "Don't act like your not a virgin to!"

The two boys continued laughing before Hisgai managed to reply for his friend.

"Actually, In my time in the shinigami academy. I ran across quite a large number of girls whose hearts were broken by Hitsugaya Toushiro." He said whipeing tears from his eyes.

Hitsugaya nodded in laughter. He finally opened his eyes out of curiosity. Komamura hadn't made a peep. He looked over at the larger captain and found him with his head on the table sleeping.

"It's ok Soi." Hitsugaya said.

"We'll keep your secret. If you let us, we'll even get you laid." Hisagi added. The glare she shot him silenced his laughter instantly. He instead busied himself with trying to wake Komamura.

"It. Is. A. Choice!" Soifon seethed with anger.

Komamura was successfully awake now after only a few shakes by Hisagi. "Ugh, it's time for me to go home."

"Stay for another few minutes Sajin." Hitsugaya said and finished drinking his cup.

"Yea, there was something I wanted to talk to you about." Hisagi said. "Alone though."

"You're not allowed to keep secrets." Soifon said angrily. "What you need to say to Komamura-taicho, you'll say to all of us. That's an order."

Hisagi looked at Soifon and mentally smiled. She was desperately trying to take the embarrassment off of herself.

"Well I would have spoken it to you guys any how." Hisagi said as he poured himself another cup. "Tousen isn't coming back. And I want to take his position as captain of the 9th division."

"Also." He added. "There's one thing I've been hiding for a while."


Lilynette stood and walked from her room. Starrk lead the way as they walked through the halls of Las Noches. Aizen-sama wanted to see them all, and have a meeting. To tell the truth, Lilynette didn't even know how she and Starrk were alive. Not that she wasn't happy about being alive but it was still odd. They didn't have to walk long before they reached the throne room where Aizen-sama and everyone else was. She looked around to see to was still alive. Barragan, Halibel, Grimmjow, Gin, Tousen and Yammy. Wonderweiss wasn't present, she didn't know whether or not he was alive. But if he was, she doubted he'd be a part of the meeting.

"Now that we're all here. I'd like to first congratulate you all on a successful mission." Aizen said as he stood from his seat. He walked down the long stairs with his hands behind his back. Lilynette looked around the room at the confused looks of the Espada.

'Did we win?' She thought.

"Starrk, Lilynette. How are you feeling?" He asked them as he got to the bottom of the stairs.

Starrk bowed slightly. "Good Aizen-sama. I apologize for failing you." Lilynette followed Starrks movements and bowed as well.

"Don't worry about it, your opponent was Kyouraku Shunsui, nothing less was expected from him." Aizen said simply.

"But more is expected of us! Starrk is undeserving as the Primera." Barragan shouted.

"Other than the fact that I'm stronger than you?" Starrk said. Normally he never argued with Barragan, but he wasn't in the best of moods today.

"I killed two of the shinigami. You nearly died to your opponents shikai." Barragan smugly.

"Last I saw half of your face was blown off by that chick's Bankai!" Lilynette shouted back. "And it looks like it didn't grow back very well!"

Barragan scowled at Lilynette's comments. It was true, his face was severely scarred. "You dare spe..." Barragan started but was cut off by a dense spiritual pressure. Aizen silenced him and continued.

"Are you wondering how you managed to live Starrk? Lilynette?" He asked them. Both arrancar nodded. "You two are unique, but before I get into that, I have a mission for the top three espada in this room."

He turned and looked at Barragan and Halibel. He didn't look at Yammy however. Since Yammy's power was only present in his released form, he wasn't included in difficult missions. His size was a problem most of the time.

"We failed to defeat the Gotei 13 in Karakura, but I didn't expect to." He said. "Just like I currently don't expect us to be able to defeat the royal guard defending the soul king. Until now." Aizen smirked as he looked at each arrancar in turn.

"I need stronger Espada, I need arrancar made from the Vasto Lorde. So far, I've only manage to collect one." He said as he glanced at Starrk. "While the rest of you are powerful, you were all still Adjuchas when you became arrancar, and are there for weaker than you could have been. The Vasto Lorde have been exceedingly difficult to locate, they move off alone, avoiding all others. Due to the fact that most hollow are killed by the immense rieryoku out, the Vasto Lorde eventually seclude themselves."

'Just like we did.' Lilynette thought.

"But the incredible amount of reiryoku that was given off in Las Noches as well as Karakura town from the battle's has attracted the Vasto Lorde. They've come out of the seclusion to find out what's going on. That will be your missions. To track down the Vasto Lorde and recruit them. Most of you will probably get a demotion once I arrancarise the Vasto Lorde, a couple of you may be expelled from the espada entirely, it depends."

Aizen reached into his robes and pulled out the Hogyouku.

"After reviewing the surveillance with Gin, I watched Ulqiorra fighting Kurosaki Ichigo." Aizen paused. "Ulqiorra achieved a second resurrection."

Lilynettes eye widened in surprise. She had no idea that that was possible.

"So, I'll give you two options. You can either be exposed to Hogyoku a second time, right now. Or you can attempt to obtain the resurrection on your own within one week. Then I'll use the Hogyoku regardless of your opinion."

The espada all muttered to themselves as to their ultimatum. Aizen never used the Hogyoku twice on one arrancar. There was no guarantee it would give a second resurrection, it could kill them.

Aizen gave them time to volunteer to be the first experiment but no one came forward. "Barraga, Halibel, go find the Vasto Lorde, you have one week to do so and come back. Starrk will join you shortly. Everyone else leave."

One by one each of the arrancar turned and left. Gin and Tousen remained, even though Aizen ordered everyone to leave, the two shinigami didn't fall into the same order.

"As I promised, you two are wondering how you lived?" Aizen said as he turned to Starrk and Lilynette. "You two are unique. Arrancar are created when a hollow removes their own mask and gain shinigami powers. However, you two became arrancar by splitting your soul. So in essence, each of are, are both the zanpaktou, and the arrancar."

Lilynette looked up to Starrk, who was still looking at Aizen impassively.

"A zanpaktou can only be damaged when it's wielder's reitsu is low. And when it is damaged it will repair itself naturally as the owners reitsu recovers. If it is completely destroyed, it will come back once the owner is back at full power. Since the two of you individually are both the arrancar and the zanpaktou, neither of you can really die." Aizen said with his famous grin. "Theoretically, if one of you were to die, you would come back to life as long as the other survived. I also believe, that if you are completely killed while you are in your resurrection, than you will actually die. But your resurrection faded after you were defeated, and that's what saved your life.

Lilynette looked back and forth from Starrk to Aizen. A smile on her face. 'We're nearly invincible.'

"As good as that is." Aizen began. "Ultimately, your method of becoming arrancar is inefficient. If you were to become an arrancar by natural means or through the hogyoku than your power would be much greater." He looked at Starrk and Lilynette both before continuing. "I need you to reform and become one entity."

Lilynette gasped. "No!" She shouted without thinking. "Starrk and I are sticking together."

"Your one in the same." Aizen said looking down at her. "What does it matter?"

"We're not doing it!" She screamed.

Aizen grin faded and was replaced with a look of irritation. "Yes you are." He said matter of factly.

"No. Aizen." Starrk said sternly. His hand unconsciously went to the side and gripped Lilynette's. She gripped his hand equally. "It's not happening."

"It is." Aizen said as he raised his spiritual pressure, blanketing the room. Lilynette felt Starrks reitsu build to combat Asians.

The two men stared at eachother for only a minute before Starrk spoke up.

"If we became arrancar the wrong way, then that means we aren't technically arrancar." He started. "We don't own actually own a zanpaktou. We will achieve the correct amount of power on our own terms." Starrk said. And with that, he turned away from Aizen and left, Lilynette followed him out of the room. When they were out of the room Lilynette jumped on his back and began to noogy him.

"Finally you stand up for yourself." She said as she gripped his neck and ruffled his hair.

"Don't get used to it. That was far too much effort for my taste." He said lazily. "Time to sleep."

Lilynette's smile faded slowly. With her legs wrapped around his chest she wrapped both her arms around his neck and snuggled in close, closing her eyes.

"We're going to find out how to become stronger right?" She asked quietly.

"Yea, we are. We're sticking together no matter what." He replied.


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