Disclaimer: This story is made completely from request from a friend which means the OC, Voltaire, is not mine. I am writing this story for Red Cr0w and I do hope it is to their liking and to everyone else's as well. I do NOT own Bleach or Voltaire.

Summary:Byakuya Kuchiki, a stoic noble and Captain of the 6th Division, for all important pretenses, holds back any and all objects of his past from anyone. Aside from Hisana, not even Rukia knows about the life he spent with a woman whom claimed his heart for nearly 8 years. Even as he stands alone as the leader of the Kuchiki clan, his heart still aches for the person he truly loved. He is able to keep up this façade until he is sent with a recon team to Zaraki to investigate a sudden surge of reiatsu. When they arrive, what will Byakuya do when he finds the woman who disappeared all those years ago beaten and broken and without any memory of him at all?

Castle of Glass

Chapter 11: For You to See

"First I want to thank you for accepting my request, Voltaire...may I call you that?" A young, brunette's soft voice hummed silently against his company's ears. He smiled gently and called to her as they leisurely glide down the corridor, passing several open doors to labs which caught the red-head's attention, stealing it from bifocal-ed gentleman.

"It's a little overwhelming, isn't it?" He was sure to be loud enough to get her thoughts lassoed back down to earth.

"What? Oh! I'm so sorry...I'm wasn't even listening..." She smiled apologetically. "What was you were saying?"

"Is it alright if I call you by your first name?" She nodded. "I was just wondering if you were feeling a bit overwhelmed is all? I want you be as comfortable as possible."

"Oh...right...it's okay, I'm just not used to this kind of place, other than what the 12th Division tries to muster up." She laughed at the thought of seeing the captain of the 12th leaving the barracks covered in soot from their latest experiment.

The brunette gave a slight chuckle in response, effortlessly shielding his uneasy demeanor. They stopped two pillars from the end of the corridor before entering the room to right and the man who followed beside Voltaire spoke softly.

"I want to make sure you understand the risk you're taking here, Voltaire. Although the medicine is low-grade and the procedures are safe, there are many things that could go wrong. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"No, it's okay, I want to...I want to know what this is, and why it's happening to me..." She smiled lightly. "I want to thank you, Aizen, for everything you're doing for me."

"Please," Aizen shook his head and smiled back, "thank you."

"What do you think happened?" Renji asked, rearranging the bands around his wrists as he leaned against the wall.

"Who knows? Maybe she had a seizure, or a some kind of attack or-" Captain Hitsugaya was cut off.

"There's no sense in speculating..." Shunsui practically barked at the two men. "She needs to rest now and we should let her. Any questions should be held until she can answer them herself."

"He's right." Ukitake rose from his chair. "Volta-...V can speak for herself. She can tell us everything we want to know when she is able."

"I don't get it." Ichigo blurted out, silencing the others.

"What are you talking about?" Toshiro asked.

"Haven't any of you caught on?" They all traded looks. "Jyuushiro, the first time you tried to talk to her about what happened the night she left the Seireitei, she spaced out and the same thing happened, only a little less severe, right?"

"Yes...?"

"And when she was asked about talking with Byakuya, that's when it started, right? And this time too, she spaced out and starting shaking like last time, right?"

"What are you getting at, Ichigo?" Renji got closer to hear whatever cockamamie theory his friend came up with.

"What if the reason she's doing this every time we try to figure out why she left is because someone is purposely keeping us out?" The realization hit everyone as if it weren't right in front of them. "Maybe she's going unconscious every time she attempts to remember anything because of some kind of Kido. Is there something like that?" He looked at the Head-Captain, then everyone looked at him.

"If there is such a thing, it would have been forbidden or at least out of practice for a long period. I have never heard of such a thing, only something blocking the memory psychologically."

"Head-Captain." A deep voice drew everyone's attention to the tall, dark, figure, standing behind the bearded man.

"Byakuya...what're you doing here?" Ukitake inquired.

"I came to retrieve my lieutenant..." He shot a glance to the red-head who nearly jumped 3 feet. "I heard there was a...commotion here and I knew he would be the first one here what with his innate ability to ignore the duties I delegate to him."

"R-right..." The white-haired captain responded nervously, thinking the Kuchiki heir had no idea what the commotion was.

"Excuse me, Head-Captain?" Isane called for the leader of the Gotei. "She is stabilized. You may see if you wish."

"Ah...thank you." The lot of them, Ichigo, Toshiro, and Matsumoto all walked back in the room, leaving Jyuushiro and Shunsui to speak with Byakuya.

"She?" The raven-haired man repeated. "What happened, if I may ask?"

Kyoraku and Ukitake traded soulful looks before telling the man what had transpired not long after the two of them had spoken.

"Well, you see, Byakuya..." The ill Captain began only to be finished with the blunt statement of his close friend.

"V collapsed not 20 minutes after seeing you." The sudden shock of the older man's words shook the Kuchiki. "She was awake, and livid for only about 10 minutes before she had some kind of attack again." His full and to-the-point description gave no time for the grey-eyed man to take anything in. He slowly processed the information he was given and couldn't muster much of a response.

"What are you talking about? I saw her only a few days ago...she couldn't have possibly..." The disbelief in his words were so uncharacteristic, you'd want to see an ID to know it was truly the man who stood before you.

"She was unconscious for a long period of time, and when she woke up, she had no memory of ever even having a conversation with you, even before that she had no recollection of the time she spent with you after walking into the room and sitting across from you." Ukitake explained. "But we have a theory now...maybe..." He contemplated what Ichigo had said a few minutes ago.

"What do you mean, a theory? A theory for what?" Byakuya was barely himself at the moment, only wanting to see the woman he couldn't believe was out cold and in the same place he first spoke to her in.

"Something to explain why she's been losing consciousness so many times."

"So many? How long has this happened?" Byakuya lost his self-control in an instant.

"Calm down. It's not something we can control, it's just happening." Shunsui held out a hand in a defensive position.

"Why did you say anything to me? I would want to be there is she were to need me." The words that left his lips were too unfamiliar to even himself. He took a deep breath and gave a straightforward look. "Can I see her?"

"I'm sure she'd want you there." Shunsui replied, lowering his hand and moving aside.

"Thank you."

Byakuya made his way into the room, the current members making way for him as he moved closer to the bed. Ukitake silently asked them to clear the room but he and Shunsu opted to stay, just in case. The tall, dark man positioned himself on the side of the bed and took a seat in the wooden chair that creaked lightly before reaching to take V's hand into his own, many thoughts running through his head. He squeezed it gently and looked to the young woman's face, ignoring the tubes that wore taped to her throat and he blood stains that weren't washed away, and brushed the stray hairs from it and revealing the beauty that rested beneath it.

He tried his hardest to hold in the hurt he'd began to feel the moment V told him that he was an unfamiliar face, but every time he saw hers, the thought rushes back. However, the talk they had, not a few days ago caused something to stir inside of him, something he had not felt since he first saw he laying there in the field that day. It was a warm, tingling type of feeling and he dared to call it hope.

As he quietly drifted into his mind, the uneasy, slight fidgeting of V's fingers and facial features caught his eye. She had begun to dream again, apparently, and this time it was more violent than before.

"She's moving..." Byakuya's words brought the two captains closer to V and they watched as her fists clenched and unclenched and her face contorted into many different expressions.

"What's wrong with her?" He asked.

"I'm not sure." Ukitake's brows knitted together as he stood ijn awe of what he saw.

"I'll get Unohana." Shunsui was gone before the words started to trickle from V's mouth.

"By...ya..." She muttered.

"What did she say?"

"Bya...ya..." She said again.

"I think it's your name."

"BYAKUYA!"

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