Hello everyone, thank you for your patience. I have been out of town for a few days, and I also took a little time off to read the new Harry Potter book. Which was REALLY GOOD ::nuff said::. The last chapter is already in the works, and will be up by the end of the this week.
Thank you to Noods for the hard work on the beta!
Note: I realized after some poking around that I accidently submitted the UNEDITTED version of chapter 20 instead of the edited. I apologize for this and the problem will be fixed as soon as I can get to it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach
She did not hear or feel anything for that moment.
Ichigo was still fighting Aizen, but even that did not really register in her mind. All she did was stare at her now empty arms that had once been occupied by Grimmjaw, but now she only held the abandoned zanpakuto. Pantera had always been an aggressive, vicious blade and was widely known throughout Hueco Mundo. Now as it lay in her arms, she could swear that she felt it weeping at the loss of its master.
Ichigo cried out, falling to the ground as Aizen came upon him. His mind was split between his concern for Orihime, and his concern for the possibility of getting ran through by Aizen's soul slayer. Turning back to his opponent, Ichigo raised his sword to block the zanpakuto that was on a direct course for his heart.
Aizen chuckled, raising his hand. "You amuse me, boy."
Orihime's head jerked upright as a yelp from Ichigo echoed throughout the chamber. Aizen had grabbed his collar with his free hand and shoved him into the wall with bone-crushing force.
"Ichigo!"
She was on her feet before she could think, leaving the sword on the floor. Hana Ryu appeared in her hands once more, "Flutter!" she shrieked, "Hana Ryu!"
A burst of flower petals appeared as her sword met with Aizen's. Releasing her sword with one hand, she pressed the very same hand to his chest, locking onto the power of the Hougyoku that was kept within his own reiatsu.
"Souten Kishun! I repel-"
Aizen glared at her, "Foolish girl."
Ichigo gasped, watching in horror as Orihime was thrown across the room with a burst of energy. A set of ice-cold eyes and dying words entered into his own memory as he watched her stumble back to her feet, raising her sword against Aizen in hopes that he would release Ichigo.
You'd better protect her, you bastard, or I'll come back from the dead and haunt you for the rest of your fucking existence.
A threat worthy of Grimmjaw, that was for sure. But all that mattered at the moment, apart of his safety and Orohime's, was the destruction of the Hougyoku. Ichigo latched a hand on the arm that was holding him to the wall, and Aizen shoved him away. Falling into the stone floor of the room, Ichigo righted himself once more.
His eyes glanced in her direction, are you alright, Orihime?
I am fine, her eyes seemed to answer back.
Turning back to Aizen, they were ready for another attack. In the back of their minds, they both knew there was no way for them to beat Aizen. With hundreds of years of accumulated strength and experience behind him, Aizen had always been one of the more powerful Shinigami captains in the Seireitei.
"I grow tired of this, I don't have time to play around with you two." he replied, raising his zanpakuto in front of him.
Ichigo grew tense, not really knowing what to expect from the sword. In all the battles he had faced, Aizen's zanpakuto was the only one that he had not been able to defeat. There was something inherently disturbing about the sword's strength that was another fear in itself.
Better beat him to the punch.
Ichigo whipped his sword through the air, charging it with his own energy. "Tensa Zanget-"
Orihime called out to him, and he had heard her in the back of his mind. But all the he had managed to see at that moment, was a phased image of the brown-haired Shinigami appearing in front of him.
If Aizen were to honestly give his opinion about the orange-haired warrior, he would have truly said that he respected Kurosaki Ichigo. Any warrior of the boy's age with that level of strength deserved respect. But there were limits to Aizen's patience, and Kurosaki had just about pushed that patience to the limit. Offering a constant bother on his plans, there was no hesitation as Aizen sliced his sword through Ichigo's side.
The young man staggered backwards, a trail of blood dripping to the white floor. He managed to stay standing, but only by planting the end of his sword into the floor to hold himself up.
Orihime was at Ichigo's side before he sunk to to the ground. She stumbled backwards, falling to her knees.
"How is it..." Ichigo chuckled, "...that when I'm around you I always get hurt?"
He had meant it as a joke, and Orihime would have laughed at any other time. But after being in a similar situation not to long ago with Grimmjaw, she found nothing humorous about it. Looking defiantly back at their opponent, Aizen whipped the sword through the air to clear it of blood, walking towards her at a steady pace.
"You came to Hueco Mundo hoping to save the lives of your friends." he told her, "In the end, they will all be dead, and so will you. I will still get what I want, and Karakura will still be destroyed. Everything you did is all in vain."
Orihime shook her head, "No, it was not."
He raised his sword, "Good-bye, Orihime Inoue. Take credit in the fact that I will most likely remember this day for the rest of my life."
There was nothing she could do. Without Ichigo's help, she could not fight back. Her arms locked around Ichigo, and she buried her face in his soft hair as she waited for the blade to come down on her.
It did not.
A few seconds later, she raised her head, and gasped.
Ice spread around her, and had formed a shield around them to stop Aizen's blade. The white sheet had surrounded the room, over the walls, and around the ceiling. Turning to see the origin of the ice, Orihime recognized the Shinigami standing in the doorway.
"Toushirou-kun." Aizen smiled, "How nice it is for you to join us. May I inquire as to the reason of your disruption?"
"Just returning the favor of the hospitality that you so generously gave me while I was here." he gripped Hyourinmaru in his right hand, " I've come to kill you."
Hitsugaya Toushirou had emerged from the gate into Hueco Mundo, and immediately set towards Los Noches. One the way to the main gate room, he had met up with the departing Vizards who had come to do their job, and finished. All of them were exhausted, and sported some nasty battle injuries, but none that were life-threatening. Hirako Shinji was being carried back to Karakura, and Hitsugaya could sense that the reiatsu level of the Vizard commander was dangerously low.
Hearing the sounds and seeing the blasts from the room, he had followed it in time to see the spectacular display of Inoue Orihime's zanpakuto. In his memory, there was not one like it in the Seireitei, and knew that many of the Shinigami in the Soul Society would be interested in the story behind it.
Both Kurosaki and Inoue were in a losing battle, and Hitsugaya was not sure that he could even scratch Aizen. It was important to distract him enough to secure Karakura, which was proving to be a difficult task.
Aizen appeared in front of Toushirou, and met his sword blow for blow.
Fighting a seasoned warrior like Aizen was difficult for even Hitsugaya's rank. He had always been one of the newer fighters in the Soul Society, and fighting someone like Aizen would be a bad idea. But there was no way that Hitsugaya was going to let this information deter him.
They fought, and with one slash of the sword, Hitsugaya found himself falling backwards to kneel in front of his opponent. Blood soaked the front of his uniform, not unlike the wound he got from Aizen the first time they fought years ago.
"This seems so familiar." Aizen told him, standing only a few feet from Hitsugaya, "I recall the same thing happening the first time you rushed me. You had an excuse for being stupid back then, with Hinamori Momo being there. I fail to see what excuse you have now."
"Maybe I am just stupid all the time." Hitsugaya chuckled, "Did you ever think of that?"
Aizen sneered, " Maybe you are right." he raised his sword, intent on bringing it down harshly on Toushirou, "I will not make the same mistake either-"
Aizen's words abruptly ended, and Hitsugaya shrieked as a tip of a blade appeared only a few inches from his face.
The pronged sword was lodged firmly in Aizen's back, blood dripping from the sword that stuck through his mid-drift. A look of surprise passed over Shirou's face, not knowing who the blade belonged too, and only that it had struck down Aizen.
A trail of blood streamed from the edge of Aizen's lips. His eyes glanced to the side, and he answered Hitsugaya's question for him.
"I never would have expected...you to come here."
There was a silence in the room, and it was the first time Hitsugaya noticed the pale face of Orihime, staring in his direction with a look of equal shock.
Calmly, and with an utterly cold reply, the new attacker replied.
"Neither did I, Taicho."
She had stood outside the gate for some time, remembering the look of despair on Toushirou-kun's face as he left her to go to Hueco Mundo. At first, Hinamori thought she would simply collapse right where she stood. She never wanted anything bad to happen to Aizen-taicho, but there was now another problem that had never been present before.
Hinamori was in love with Hitsugaya Toushirou. It had been difficult for her to grasp, but it was painfully obvious to her when she watched him leave. She had always thought that Aizen would be the one in her thoughts, and to her surprise, her first worry had been for Shirou.
Shirou thought she was in love with Aizen.
A choked sob had crept from her throat as she had stood alone in the gate room at the Seireitei. Shirou-kun was going to fight Aizen, and he was probably going to die thinking that she did not think of him past a common childhood friend. Or worse, he would die thinking that she hated him for trying to kill Aizen Sousuke. In truth, it was completely different from that. Hinamori loved Shirou with all of her soul, and now, it was her chance to prove to him that fact.
Aizen was going to kill her, and had already tried once. He was going to destroy everything she loved and knew, and all for his own selfish purposes.
Taking her sword, she had follow Hitsugaya to the other world. She had always had a talent for hiding her reiatsu, and Toushirou had not even noticed her. Not even Aizen, to her surprise, when she had come through Los Noches to find him and Hitsugaya fight one another.
What was she supposed to do?
A part of her would always love Aizen, he was her first love. She would never love him again like she loved Shirou, but Aizen would always be a part of her memories.
There was no hesitation in her mind as she watched Aizen poised to strike Toushirou from where he had fallen. So she took her sword, and had ran it through Aizen's back.
"I am impressed...Momo." he managed a chuckle, "I am a little shocked. You struck...me from behind."
"Forgive me." she said, "But in these circumstances, I am willingly to do whatever is necessary."
"You...were always...the ambitious one."
Seeing Tobiume in front of his face, Hitsugaya glanced back at Hinamori, "Hinamori! What are you doing?! Get the hell out of here!"
"I can't do that, Shirou-kun." she said.
"You idiot!"
Aizen could still strike back, but Hinamori knew this as well as Hitsugaya. Gripping his sword once more, Aizen smiled,
"If it matters..." he told her, "...I did care for you...Momo."
Hinamori gave a sad smile, "I know you did."
"Hinamori!" Hitsugaya struggled to stand, despite his savage shoulder wound. He needed to save her before Aizen killed her, "Get out of here!"
There was a sudden increase of reiatsu, and Hinamori's eyes sunk closed, "Good bye, Aizen-taicho."
Aizen raised his sword, ready to free himself from Tobiume to strike her down, "Good bye, Momo."
"Snap..."
Hitsugaya finally understood what she was about to do. The end of her zanpakuto glowed an eerie white. He sucked in a lungful of air and screamed out to her.
"MOMO!"
"...Tobiume."
In a brilliant flash of white light, Aizen vaporized in the flame of Tobiume's attack.
Orihime felt her heart twist at the scene in front of her. The moment she realized what Hinamori was planning, she pulled Ichigo closer into her arms and shielded him from the attack. From what she had understood from Rukia, Hinamori had once been the vice-captain to Aizen, and that she had been in love with him.
Raising her head back up after the explosion faded, she gasped. The Hougyoku hovered in mid-air, having been freed from its capture. Hinamori stared at it, tears streaming down her face. Her sword dropped at her side as Hitsugaya limped over to see to her.
"Don't touch it." Toushirou grabbed her outstretched hand that was about to inspect the glowing orb, "Damn it, Momo, what..."
"I couldn't let him kill you, Shirou-kun." she said, "I couldn't let you come here and throw your life away thinking you're all alone."
"Momo-"
She pulled his face down by his ears and kissed him, catching him by surprise.
"I'll always be here with you." she grabbed the front of his shirt, "Because I love you."
His breath seemed to catch in his chest, and there was a shaky smile that spread across his face. Either from what she said, or the pain, she could not tell. Opening his mouth to say something, he finally closed it, not really knowing what to say.
In the end, out of all the powerful warriors that had tried to defeat Aizen, Hinamori Momo had been the only one to do it. Meek, quiet, timid little Hinamori Momo. He wrapped his good arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead. Then he turned back to the matters at hand, pacing quickly across the ice-covered floor.
"Are you injured?" Hitsugaya asked Orihime, it was rather obvious that Kurosaki had seen better days.
"I'll be fine. Ichigo needs medical attention. I'd heal him now, but-"
"You need that energy to destroy the Hougyoku." he said, "That's fine, Hinamori-taicho and I will get him out. You do what you need to."
Orihime nodded, and turned back to Ichigo.
"Orihime..." his grip seemed to tighten on her slightly.
"I need to do this alone." she said, "There's no telling what will happen to this place when I destroy it. If anyone is caught in here, I'd rather it just be me."
"No-"
She leaned over and kissed him, not caring about the two other people watching them. Her hands smoothed over his cheeks, "Don't worry so much. I'll be back in Karakura before you know it."
He stared back at her grimly, and then kissed her himself. Reluctantly releasing her, Hitsugaya and Hinamori pulled him up on their shoulders, and with a backwards glance, Orihime watched as Ichigo was dragged down the hallway.
She sat alone in the gate room of Los Noches, staring at the Hougyoku.
"What an interesting problem you have here." Tsubaki sat on her shoulder, "If you want to blow yourself up, lady, do it on your own time."
"I'm not going to blow myself up." Orihime made a face at him, raising her hand to gage the energy.
"Oh, right...my mistake. You're going to blow me up."
"Nobody is going to get blown up."
"To late for Aizen."
"That doesn't count." Orihime replied, "Hey, Tsubaki?"
"What the hell is it now?" he glared back.
"I really like you, you know that?"
He stared at her a moment, and then his face seemed to soften a bit, "Yeah, I know."
She was going to need the powers of all of her Shun Shun Rikka to reject the Hougyoku. It was not a sure thing if she would be able to handle it, but she had to. As the six little flower spirits zoomed around her, forming a shield around the orb, Tsubaki and the others all gave her a last encouraging look.
"Souten Kisshun!" she roared, "I repel thee!"
Ishida strolled through the battlefield at the Seireitei. Medical groups were darting around the place, giving aid to the severely wounded. He was left mostly to himself, seeing that he did not have any immediate life-threatening wounds. Nemu had put a bandage over the wound from Apollo, and made a make-shift sling from his arm to take pressure off his shoulder.
It was still hard to imagine what he had just done for the last four or five hours. Strangely, he had found it oddly exhilarating to fight in such a one-sided battle. Eventually, the Arrancar seemed to give, and the Soul Society had won. Ishida could still remember feeling extremely relieved as he watched the multiple portholes appear to transport the remaining Hueco Mundo forces back.
Now, he was not sure about what he was supposed to do.
Wander around the Seireitei, then what? He had not exactly planned on getting this far, and to his irritation, had no idea what to do with himself.
"The gate is activating!" a voice called from somewhere.
Being of the the few warriors still able to stand, Ishida turned around and rushed towards the gate. He was not able to shoot a bow, but he could still use a sword.
The gate opened, and Hitsugaya and Hinamori appeared, carrying a slumped Kurosaki Ichigo with them. Ishida's heart sunk, where was Orihime? Ichigo would have never left her unless...
"We need a healer!" Hitsugaya bellowed into the crowd, lowering Ichigo to the floor of the platform. A few fourth division members began tending to the young man.
"Taicho!" a voice called out to Hitsugaya. He grinned at Rangiku, who was wearing civilian Rukongai clothes, as she raced over to him. Throwing her arms around him, she laughed happily, "You're alive, you silly man!"
"Of course I am, Matsumoto." his eyes then fell on the figure behind her.
"Long time no see, Toushirou-san." Gin smiled, waving.
"Ichimaru!" Hitsugaya roared, immediately reaching for his zanpakuto. "No!" Ran grabbed her captain's shoulders, "It's okay, Gin came here on his own and fought the Arrancar with us. We'd be dead without him."
"That doesn't change the fact that he's a murderous, treasonous bastard."
Gin chuckled, "I'm ready to 'cept any punishment you got for me. But for now, can we simply enjoy the fact that the war is over?"
Hitsugaya stared at him, and sighed. He was getting soft, it seemed.
There was a sudden spike in energy, and Ichimaru seemed to catch onto the fact before Hitsugaya. Drawing Shinsou, the gate sparked, and they stepped away to see what be coming threw.
"It's comm' from Hueco Mundo." Gin replied, "It's strong, whoever it is."
As the gate activate, there was a bright-eyed, brown haired girl that yelped as she fell flat on her face out of the gate. It deactivated, and Orihime sat up. Seeing everyone staring at her in an alarmed fashion, she blinked,
"Hey, guys." she said, "What's up?"
"Orihime?" Ichigo glanced at her from his resting place on the platform.
Orihime waved, "Hi, Ichigo."
That was the Orihime he knew. The clumsy, spacey, happy Orihime Inoue. He had almost laughed when she fell out of the gate.
"Inoue-san!" Hinamori sunk at her side, "Are you okay?!"
Apparently, Orihime figured that her little klutzy display was quite alarming.
"Yeah." she flushed slightly, embarrassed that she managed to fall in front half the Seireitei, "I'm okay."
"What of the Hougyoku?" Hitsugaya asked.
There was a silence as everyone waited for her response.
Orihime simply smiled, "It's gone. I rejected it."
A wave of cheers spread around them, and for the first time in a long time, Orihime felt like she was truly free of Aizen and Hueco Mundo.
Renji sat in his office, leaning on the window.
It had been a few days since the defeat of Hueco Mundo, and despite the big accomplishments that everyone seem to have made, life was pretty much returning to normal.
The Seireitei was under construction from the damage it occurred from the war, and many lives had been lost. But all in all, everyone seemed to think the victory was well earned. There was nothing to complain about, and people were ready to settle back into their daily duties.
There was a stack of paperwork on his desk that was a mile high, but Renji could not seem to concentrate on it for more then five seconds. In the end he had given up and return to sulking mournfully at the window.
Preparations for the wedding were occurring at the temple not to far away. Renji could see the people rushing around, putting up decorations, and the Kuchiki elites were standing around chatting amongst themselves. The wedding was promising to be one of the biggest and most elaborate the Soul Society had seen in years.
He was not going.
Renji felt like he was going to be sick for a moment as he purposely banged his head on the windowsill. Stupid, stupid...
"Why the hell are you sitting on the floor and whacking your head on the window?"
Renji's head jerked up too see Ichigo Kurosaki. Wearing jeans and a t-shirt, Ichigo was almost completely recovered from his ordeal at Hueco Mundo. He had spent the last few days enjoying Orihime's company, as well as the celebrations for the end of the war.
"Go away, Kurosaki, I don't feel like dealing with you."
"That's swell." Ichigo leaned on the wall right next to Renji, "You're a coward."
"I am not!" Renji snapped.
"Everyone's getting what they want but you, Renji." Ichigo glared, "And Rukia."
"Rukia doesn't need me."
"You're right, she doesn't."
Renji gapped at Ichigo, not really have expecting that response.
"She's a Kuchiki, she's got her own fame and fortune. But will that make her happy?" Ichigo said, "She needs you to be happy, Renji."
The red-haired Shinigami looked back at the temple. Rukia would be there right now at the rehearsal. All of the elites would be there, Maroh and Byakuya included. Standing up, Renji gave himself credit. He was not a regal elite like all of those people down there, but he knew that he was a good person.
"Go after her." Ichigo told him, "You deserve to be happy too, Renji."
Without another comment or a backward glance, Renji ran from the room.
Last chapter will be up ASAP. Send me a review and tell me what you think:D
Arigato
Lilith Rei