AN

Um, nothing new, except you should all give...uh...something nice to VioTanequil who...uh...is great!

Damn it I need more compliments!

Someone get me a Thesaurus!!

AN

6 Months Later

The messenger ran as fast as he could, his breath coming in short gasps. He had to get to the 5th Division, quickly. He combined normal steps with Flash Steps so that when he got there, he would be able to speak clearly. He dove around the coner and stopped at the gate, bowing to the two guards in a sign of respect. They waved him on and he raced forward into the offices of the 5th Division.

"Captain Hinamori!" he cried shoving the door open, "Vice Captain Jeagerjaques! Vice Captain Kurosaki!"

The oddest team in all of Soul Society froze and looked at him. He had obviously walked in on some kind of argument from the way the two Vice Captains were on either side of their Captain's desk. Hinamori stood in the middle, her arms crossed and her eyes rapidly gaining the distinctive violet glow that meant she was very close to blowing something—or someone—up. Three pairs of eyes swung to him and he suddenly regretted taking the message.

"Yes?" Hinamori asked, her eyes darting between the two of them angrily before going to him, "Can I help you?"

"Captain Unohana sent me," he sputtered, "She, uh, she said to get you."

"I'm on my way," she said stepping nimbly over her desk and walking forward, "Come on, you two."

The two of them glared a final time at each other before turning and following her. It was a rather comical sight, one that didn't fail to amuse even six months after it had started. Months into her Captaincy when the missions had become more dangerous and she had started to use her Bankai more, Hinamori's eyes had gained a small amount of violet in them. Now the two tall, broad men accompanied the petite woman around. Violet, blue and orange, they were able to be seen from quite a distance. Not that that bothered them. Hinamori might have been slightly quieter than the other two but they weren't that quiet.

How the three of them came to be was sure to become legend. Hinamori had needed a Vice Captain and everyone kind of assumed that it would be Kurosaki Ichigo after the two Captain vacancies had been filled. Then she had announced that she had taken a leaf from Ukitake's book and decided to take two Vice Captains. There had been a large amount of protests but Hinamori had, once again, surprised everyone and refused to budge. Any comment of 'against the rules' had her bringing up her former Captain and pointing out what following the rules so blindly sometimes got you. In the end, she got her way. Normally the two of them got along very well, but every so often they would slide back into their old rivalry. Well, Hinamori was more than able to take care of them when their ego's got in the way.

The group appeared in the Fourth Division as the messenger led them to the room. Ichigo's eyes widened at the sight of the familiar door to Orihime's room.

"What's going on?" Grimmjow demanded.

"Unohana told me to wait for—"

"We're here!"

They turned to see the rest of the group charging towards them. Halibel carried herself still very proudly, her sword over her back. Alongside her was Nel who was talking happily. Halibel wasn't even scolding her for being called Captain Bel-Bel. Next to her was Hitsugaya who had kept growing and was almost at Halibel's shoulder. He had started to wear the sash of his Zanpakuto at his waist instead of around his shoulders, his height allowing him the freedom to. Byakuya and Renji were next, slightly behind them, talking quietly. Rukia was walking by them talking to, of all people, Gin Ichimaru. After six months, she no longer seemed to have the feeling that snakes were strangling her at the sound of his voice.

A bit down the hallway Urahara was walking with Nemu nearby. Close to them were Sun Sun who looked largely the same and a man, a big man, with a wide smile who was none other than Dondochakka. Hinamori frowned and realized that she had completely that forgotten it was time for their monthly treatment. Since Dondochakka and Sun Sun were Arrancar and not Shinigami, the two of them required treatment to retain their Shinigami forms. It had been once a week three months ago, now it was once a month. Urahara was optimistic that soon it would be every month and a half. Still it did not keep Sun Sun from her duties as 3rd Seat of the 9th Division or Dondochakka from his as 5th Seat of the 10th Division.

"What's going on?" Rukia asked looking at them, "Hanatarou!"

"Hey, Rukia! Oh! E-Everyone!" the healer ducked out of the room and looked at them, looking his same old nervous self, "Captain Unohana started to pick up different readings on Orihime and so she had people monitor her and—well," his grin was huge, "She summoned Ayame and Shun'o," he said, "She's healing herself."

"She's what?!" Grimmjow demanded.

"How long ago did she start?" Rukia asked.

"Um, about twenty minutes," he said, "But it might take a while, since she's healing herself," their eyes all went to Grimmjow, "You should talk to her."

"Me?!" he demanded, "What the fuck am I supposed to say?"

"You are his friend," Halibel said dryly.

"Don't keep reminding me," snapped Grimmjow.

It was true though. After interrupting him getting laid, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra had battled it out. And then they just kind of kept meeting up for fights. Grimmjow was, after all, sleeping with Soifon and Ulquiorra was her Vice Captain, so the two kept spending time with each other. As they become more and more comfortable with being Shinigami, the two hung out more frequently. Especially during the rather girl-heavy Vice Captain meetings where they would make snide comments. Probably not the best thing to do, but they were Shinigami, not saints.

"She doesn't know Ulquiorra stayed," Nel supplied, "Knowing him, he probably told her that he was leaving," she said crossing her arms, "He didn't even realize he was in love with her until later."

"Fuck, that's right," Grimmjow grumbled hitting his forehead, "And he's out on a mission right now isn't he?"

"He's not due back for another hour or so," Halibel said with a frown, "Do they know how long this is going to—"

"Oh good, you're all here," Unohana smiled gently as she slipped out of the room, "Orihime's healing is almost complete."

"Son of a bitch," Grimmjow muttered angrily.

Gin smirked and watched the blue haired Vice Captain glare angrily at the room. As was predictable, where the four former Espada went, chaos usually followed. It wasn't that hard to duck out. He frowned; he knew where the 2nd Division was. If he was quick, he could go get them back and save poor Grimmjow the humiliation of trying to explain things to Orihime. He stopped and smiled, shaking his head. Who would have thought there'd be a day when he would be trying to help Grimmjow Jeagerjaques? He summoned a Hell butterfly to send a message to Kira, letting him know where he was going. It was an unfortunate side effect of his probation, he had to let someone know where he was going and that someone was usually Kira. Man, he sure missed the good old days. The good old days before all of the trouble, that was.

"Hey!" Nel raced over to him, "Where are they?" he looked at her, "I'll go, I'm faster than you anyway."

He couldn't exactly argue with that. Nel divided her time between her duties in the 10th Division offices and involving large amounts of Shinigami in her games of, as she and Dondochakka had named it, 'Extreme Flash Step Eternal Tag'. Yoruichi took particular delight in beating everyone soundly. Even Soifon enjoyed the games. The three of them were the undisputed champions of it. Yoruichi was the black cat, Soifon the hornet and Nel had somehow gained the nickname phoenix, largely thanks to her penchant for leaving her shirt top behind to display the massive tattoo that spanned most of her spine and wrapped around to her stomach.

How the phoenix came to be was a heavily rumored topic. Apparently Renji didn't just have a tattoo artist; he had a sage who seemed to be able to pick things out that reflected their wearer. After hearing about Nel's multiple transformations and survivals he had picked the mythical bird and angled it so that the black lines traced the outline of the faint 3 on her back, the tail wrapping around to her stomach. The outline of her former position was still there, much like Gamuza was still her Zanpakuto but it had, once again, changed.

"Hey," he felt her hand tap his shoulder, "You're it," she grinned before taking off.

Right into Renji's chest.

"Renji!" she gasped jumping backwards before the bigger man's hand grabbed her wrist, keeping her upright.

Gin fought back the urge to smile at the red that spread across her cheeks, clashing rather spectacularly with her hair.

"I, uh," she mumbled, "Igottago," and she flew out of there with speed that would have made Yoruichi proud.

"Where's she going?" Renji demanded.

Gin watched her go before shrugging and walking back to where the others were. Ichigo and Rukia were standing side by side, one of his arms looped around her shoulders. For all purposes the two of them were as good as married but, then again, you had to be fucking blind to think that Rukia wasn't off the market years ago. It was kind of obvious that they were waiting for Orihime to wake up. Even Byakuya seemed to understand their wishes and treated them as though they were married even if they were waiting to do it. Now that the two of them were really together, even Gin had to admit it was kind of sweet.

The two weren't awkward or shy about their feelings for one another. They were both excellent Vice Captains, but if Rukia went out on a particularly dangerous mission Ichigo was most often found beating the shit out of Grimmjow, and if Ichigo went and did something stupid, like get himself hurt, Rukia's short temper would be nonexistent. In fact, the first time Gin hadn't seen Rukia scared of him was when Ichigo got himself hurt and she came to deliver a stack of papers to him and suddenly he found himself on the receiving end of a verbal whiplash the likes of which he hadn't seen since Matsumoto died.

"Neliel went to get them," he told them.

"Grimmjow just went in there," Rukia said looking at the door.

"Ooh," Gin winced in sympathy; he wouldn't want to go in there either.

He caught the faint worry in Renji's eyes and tried not to smirk. That worry had been more and more present as Nel went on more and more dangerous missions. The two were excellent warriors and friends. He had no doubt that if they weren't both still hung up on other people they would have been like Grimmjow and Soifon. But Renji still was in love with Rukia, even though it was painfully clear he didn't want to be. The petite violet eyed Shinigami also seemed to be guilty about making her friend hurt, but she loved Ichigo. Gin imagined that it was easier when they didn't know; it would have been easier still if they hadn't been friends. But they were. Having lost each other once, neither was willing to let go of the other's friendship anymore.

Still, as time had gone on, he had observed the look in Renji's eyes, the protectiveness and worry that was usually only there for Rukia, was slowly appearing more and more when Nel was present. He may have been moving really slowly, but it was rather obvious that Nel would have waited a century for him to pull his head out of his ass and realize she was there. Subconsciously he felt his hand drift up to his chest to rub at the scar that divided the planes of his chest, Matsumoto's name on his lips. It had been half a year but he had a feeling that he would go his entire life and still miss her so much it was like he was being stabbed all over again.

"Captain!" Kira ran over. Gin turned to look at his Vice Captain, "We've been summoned to the Living World."

"Let's go," Gin said.

"Be careful!" Rukia called after him. He turned his head and grinned before following his Vice Captain to the living world.

Inside Orihime's hospital room, the woman was sitting up for the first time in over half a year. She was a bit paler than normal thanks to the lack of sun she had been getting, but her fairies had done a great job of healing her and she looked much more vibrant than anyone who hadn't woken up in months should have. She was sitting looking out the window, her fairies already hidden away in her hairpins. She turned her head when she saw Grimmjow, it was as though her entire face lit up.

Grimmjow felt his stomach clench. Orihime smiled brightly and went to stand up. He hurried over, not wanting her to hurt herself. If for nothing else than the explanation he was going to have to give to Ulquiorra. She looked at his arm and grinned.

"You're the Vice Captain?" she smiled brightly, "So you, Halibel and Nel stayed?"

He didn't tell her.

The fucker told her that the three of them were going to stay and he was going to.

Making a mental note to kick his ass later on Grimmjow nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "They're outside waiting. You've been out for—"

"Six months," she said, "a little more really but," she shrugged before smiling, "You're different Grimmjow," he arched an eyebrow half-accusingly, almost forgetting that she was a fragile patient and Ulquiorra's special someone, "It's good, don't worry, but you—you look like you belong here, if that makes sense," she touched his cheek with the pad of her fingers, "I'm sorry about this. I didn't even think to ask if you wanted it gone."

"Don't worry about it," he said with a shrug, thinking about how Soifon made a point to mark his cheek in new and rather creative ways.

"So," she looked at her hands.

"For fucks sake, you're as bad as he is!" he snarled patience worn thin, "Yes, he's still here. I don't know what he told you, but he's on a mission. Nel went to drag his ass back here."

If he thought Orihime brightened at the mention of him then it was nothing compared to her reaction to the news that Ulquiorra was still there. He rolled his eyes, trying to keep the grin off his face. Honestly, whoever said those two were different as night and day was fucking blind. There were so many similarities between them it was obvious to anyone with eyes. A familiar burst of Spiritual Pressure alerted him to the presence of their newcomers. Orihime was on her feet in a split second, running past him and throwing open the door.

There, at the end of the hallway, was the 2nd Division Vice Captain Ulquiorra Schiffer. His skin had darkened from months in the sun, though his hair remained inky black and his eyes a vibrant, startling emerald. His Zanpakuto was strapped to his waist and his armband was high on his left shoulder. His face was full of shock, more shock (much more shock) than when he had walked in on Soifon and Grimmjow sleeping together. More than when Ichigo shook his hand in a sign of friendship, that their feud had ended. More than when Grimmjow had shoved him out of the path of an attack on a botched mission. The blue haired Vice Captain wished he brought a camera, because by far this was perfect blackmail material.

"U-Ulquiorra?" Orihime breathed, her eyes wide with surprise. Ulquiorra's hand was around his Zanpakuto but it relaxed, seemingly unable to maintain his grip.

Orihime walked forward, dazed. He had stayed. He was there. He was there and he was looking at her like she saw Ichigo look at Rukia, like she had wanted someone to look at her for every moment of her life. She just never thought she would want that look to be in Ulquiorra's eyes. But she did, oh God she did and there it was. That was what gave her the strength to walk forward. Her shock was only increased as he did the same, coming towards her with purpose in his every step.

She didn't stop walking until they were toe to toe, like they had been that day in Hueco Mundo a lifetime ago when he had asked her what a heart was. Now they were in the Fourth Division. Now he was warm and alive and looking at her with none of the coldness he had before. His eyes bore into her, searching her face and she met his gaze squarely. So squarely she didn't see the hand that came out until it had cupped her cheek, the rough skin of his palms contrasting the smooth of her cheek. This time it was him who stepped closer, who ended the gap between them and looked at her.

"Orihime."

Her eyes widened at the sound of her name on his lips. She tried to fight back the urge to cry and instead looked up at him, allowing all the emotions she tried to hide to come to the surface. He saw her doubt, he saw her fear, he saw everything including the love and acceptance in her eyes. Acceptance for what he had been, for what he was, love for Ulquiorra Schiffer, for him. He had spent six months wondering what she meant when she told him he would understand. Six months of adjusting to a new life, of learning that Grimmjow was not quite the asshole he had pegged him to be (okay sometimes he was), of doing it all while wondering what she meant when she said he'd understand one day.

She was there now.

And he understood.

"You understand," she stated looking up at him.

"You are here," he replied.

"I promised I would be," she said laying a hand over his chest, over his heart.

He could only nod before he slid an arm around her shoulders and kissed her. Orihime's heart nearly stopped in her chest as Ulquiorra kissed her. He tasted like mint, like cool, like everything she didn't know she could possibly come to love. Her hand slid up from his chest to wrap around his shoulders, pulling him even closer to her. For the first time Orihime felt like this was where she belonged. With Ulquiorra was where she belonged. She remembered seeking him out and not knowing why. Now she knew. She didn't know when she had fallen in love with him, just that she had and she didn't ever want to fall out.

When lack of oxygen forced them apart, the two realized that all their friends were clapping. Ichigo looked happy at the prospect of Orihime finding happiness—even if it was with Ulquiorra. Orihime blushed and hid her face in Ulquiorra's shirt, he tightened his arm around her and rolled his eyes at their outburst, though the effect was somewhat dampened by the smile that he couldn't seem to quite smother.

"Vice Captain Schiffer," Captain Unohana walked over to him, handing him a long outer robe, "Why don't you take Orihime out of here."

He nodded his thanks and passed her the robe. She settled it on her shoulders and nodded at him. Ulquiorra looped an arm around her shoulders and led Orihime out of the Fourth Division, vowing to do everything in his power to make sure it was a long time before she ever went back there.

"Enough sap to give you fucking cavities," Grimmjow muttered, walking over to Soifon, sliding an arm a bit lower than her shoulders.

"Yes, that was," she agreed before grabbing his hand and pulling him down the hallway.

"This better involve sparring and sex," he told her, "I'm not doing no dramatic movie-star kiss." She glared up at him.

"Like you'd be any good at it," she snapped.

"Is that a challenge?" he demanded.

She arched an eyebrow.

"Fine! You want movie-star kiss?" he grabbed her hand and pulled her against him before Shunpoing them across several continents to where there was currently a fireworks display. He settled them on top of a bridge, "I'll give you movie-star," he purred before dipping her backwards and kissing her passionately enough so that the fireworks in the sky weren't the only ones they saw, "Happy?" he demanded pulling back, semi breathless.

"Very," she smiled, her arms still looped around him, "Let's go spar and have sex," she said.

"I've got a better idea," Grimmjow smirked, a naughtier idea coming to mind as his hands found the tie of her robes with practiced ease.