Longest chapter yet, people! I hope everyone enjoys this, I'm getting Stark and Halibel out of the way in this chapter. Sorry about the appaling lack of Ulquiorra and Orihime! They will start the next chapter, of course. :) I hope everyone enjoys this- it may not be as good as usual because I wrote this late at night, and I'm absolutely miserable I'm so sick. I'm so gross... DX Anywho, enjoy!

For the permanent update day poll, see my profile- the poll closes March 2nd, so make sure to get your vote in now! Thanks!

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Halibel rarely got to enjoy herself.

She usually had to stand strait, and not utter a single noise out of line, and be the perfect image everyone was willing to blindly follow. Every hour of her wake, she was up and walking, being watched, being followed. So, naturally, she never got to really relax.

So, when she finally did get some Tia-time, it seemed that almost always it was interrupted.

Halibel seemingly never really got to fully relax.

Such it was the night that the war began, troops from all over swarming in to invade her castle. They were odd things- uncuttable at first. She was sure her troop- trained, nourished, and fighting for a cause now, would have easily overpowered the offending forces had they been on equal ground. As it was, things were starting to look a little grim.

All throughout the day Grimmjow and their unexpected ally, Soi Fon, had fought and easily dispatched enemy troops. They found that while it was hard to cut the suddenly evolved arrancar, it could still be done. They hadn't found a weakness, but it seemed good old-fashioned killing worked if one applied enough force.

Orihime and Ulquiorra had kept watch over the main gate- their greatest week point. Not a single arrancar had slipped past the duo, their defense and tactics as in sync as Tia had ever seen two beings become.

Then, around 9 in the evening- though the moon did not move, one who stayed in Hueco Mundo could learn to feel time, night, and day- the opposing side had simply vanished. Disappeared, fallen back, not saying a word. After almost an hour of waiting, the more advanced fighters like the espada had come back into the palace on Halibel's orders, the woman wanting her top fighters well rested and ready to go incase of sudden attack.

She kept out her top guards, of course, and had the science department on the lookout with some of the equipment that the seventh espada had left them, making sure that there was no sneak attack brewing under their noses.

She had thought to herself then that it seemed an opportune moment to relax.

Dismissing those vying for her attention, even her trio of fracìon, she had walked down to her quarters.

When she got to her room, she threw open the double doors with all the grandeur she usually showcased, closing them soundly behind her. As soon as she heard the click of the door closing, she had slumped down, sliding down the doors, until she rested on the floor with her head leaning back.

Her room was pure dark, and much cooler and humid than the rest of the palace. She preferred it that way, her element of attack being precipitation, coupled with her natural dis-like of the heat.

Her room was simple enough to leave lightless most of the time. She had just one room, as she never invited anyone into her private champers, but rather met them in the meeting hall or the library that had recently been constructed. Her room was her safe zone, a place where she could relax, the very highest up in one of the four towers.

She had a balcony, the huge window able to be retracted into the wall at the push of a button to leave it open, or if another button was pushed tinted completely black. She often left the window open at nights, the cool breeze soothing, though she always closed the huge walk-out opening to her chambers before she went to sleep. For the moment the window was closed, tinted black.

She had a bed at the head of her huge room. It was a grand bed- bigger than a king size, the headboard a collection of hard white stone that spun up over the wall like licks of horn-like flames, the material almost perfectly matching that of the bones over her jaw and neck. The sheets were a deep ocean blue- something she had requested from one of the subordinates traveling to and from the world of the living. The comforter matched her throw rug, the thing centered in the middle of her white stone floor, her curtains a similar shade that made the white more beautiful than it was oppressive.

She had always hated the white and black scheme. To her it made the palace look like one gaping skeleton- picked clean of any living flesh, colorless, bleached in the unrelenting moonbeams of the desert sky.

Now it didn't matter so much. As soon as the war was over, they were painting everything. A little white here, a little black there, and then… Color.

She could almost smile just thinking it.

The rest of Halibel's bedroom wasn't so dashing. She had a humble couch and coffee table, a huge wall of bookshelves across from that. The shelves only held so many books- many of the platforms held pieces of armor or weapons she had picked up like trophies over the years. She also had a skull on one of the shelves, something to remind her of what lay beyond her palace walls.

She kept the light off a lot, simply because there was nothing to trip over.

So Tia stood, rubbing a hand through her hair, the other one silently zipping down her jacket until her whole face showed. She didn't yet discard it, wondering to herself if she should take a shower in the small joint bathroom located near her sofa. She didn't want to leave her clothes just lying all over the floor like some sort of slob.

Passing up the clothes tray by the bathroom door, she went directly to her bed, deciding to skip the shower and wait until morning. She was most definitely not relaxing.

She sat on the edge of her bed, sighing, begging to un-do one of the braids on the side of her head.

"You're sure not paying any attention."

Tia spun, eyes steeling into ice, her hand flying to the sword she lay at her hip.

"Relax," The deep tenor stilled her, the man's hands up in a sign of peace. "I'm only here to talk." He added lazily.

Tia gradually did as he asked, settling down on the end of the bed, her hand leaving her weapon as she faced the brown haired man in confusion. What, in the name of all Hueco Mundo, was Stark Coyote doing in her bed?

He was in the middle, comfortably sitting up against the headboard. His legs were crossed, his shoes still on to her irritation, his whole posture positively aloof.

And another thing. "How the hell did you get into my room?" She hissed, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Through the door." He deadpanned, crossing his arms at her tone. "Locking the door only does so much, ya' know."

She was seething. She wanted to hiss at him to get out of her bed, out of her room, and stay out. But… it was Stark. And she knew he wasn't just there to piss her off. She had to figure out why he was there.

"What are you doing here?" She asked calmly, sitting on her folded legs with her hands clasped in her lap. "I do not remembering giving you permission to come into my room. Or my bed for that matter." She again shot a disdainful look at his shoes.

He sighed. "Well, the thing is, Nel is still a kid. And Lillinet likes playing with Nel when she's a kid- and the problem with that is she does it in my room. I just want to relax, but those two are running around screaming like banshees." He winced lightly at the memory. He put his head back, arms going up to drape languidly over her pillows. "So I came here."

She narrowed her eyes, trying to look past him to see any dis-truths. That could not possibly be the whole reason why he was there. "There are many other places you could have gone."

"Yeah, there are."

A slight pause hung in the air.

Halibel sighed. "Stark, why are you here?"

"You've asked that twice now." He bemoaned. "Do I really have to go over it again?"

"Maybe you should answer the question, then, instead of spinning tales."

He sighed again. "Okay, fine. I wanted to see you and talk. Happy?" He settled further into her bed. "Besides that, the story with Nel is true. You're room is so… peaceful." His eyelids started to slide shut, his lethargic nature taking over.

Halibel would have none of it. "Stark."

"Hmm?"

"You said you wanted to talk." She paused, and when he didn't reply, she added, "So talk."

He slowly slid open his eyes, and then even slower, he leaned forward until his back wasn't touching her headboard anymore. "I want you." He said, eyes slightly narrowed, strait to the point.

She almost sighed, but instead allowed herself to take in a slow breath. "Excuse me?"

"I want you." He said again, not the slightest bit embarrassed or shaky in his stead-fast approach. "I want to relax, I want peace, and I want you, Tia Halibel. Sides," He leaned back again, hands crossing behind his head. "As far as we know, this is going to be the last time we see each other in a while, what with this new war on our hands. Because we both know this is something bigger than Nnotora and a bunch of rebels."

She sighed slowly, finding herself less and less stiff each passing moment. She had always known Stark- she had a hard time being on guard around him at all. "I know."

His eyes had closed again, sometime, but at that moment one slid open to regard her. "Is that a yes, then?"

"It's not an answer at all."

A bit amused, it seemed, if his crooked smirk was anything to go off of, Stark was suddenly moving. He pushed himself up and then crawled forward a bit until he was sitting right in front of her, eye to eye. He suddenly frowned. "You haven't had a very good day."

She smiled a little at that. "No, I haven't."

"Just look at you." He went on, eyes scanning over her. "You're tense as stone."

She didn't comment.

"Turn around." He suddenly said, moving his gloved hand in a circular motion.

Not one to ask questions, and trusting of Stark, she slowly turned until her legs hung off the edge of the bed. When they did, she continued to sit up strait and proper, her face never once twitching into anything beyond tired boredom. "Like this?"

She heard a small noise, the ruffle of fabric, and then his gloves were in her lap. She had just enough time to be confused before his warm hands were slipping her jacket down just over her shoulders. She tensed, unsure of what he was doing, until she felt his hands on her shoulders.

Slowly he began to knead into the muscle of her necks, his thumbs pushing past knots and slowly working the tension out of her.

Tia felt herself slowly begin to unwind, her eyelids fluttering closed as she allowed herself to melt into his touch, if just for a moment. His hands moved up, long finger around her neck, his thumbs working the tight muscle.

Something warm and slightly wet pressed against her shoulder, his hands stilling, his hair tickling her bare skin. The bones around his neck were cold against her shoulder blades, his hands traveling down to grasp onto her shoulders as he lightly planted another kiss on the side of her neck.

"You even smell nice." He commented lazily, pressing his lips to the skin just beneath her ear.

For a moment, she thought to push him away, to pull her jacket up, to demand he leave her alone. But when he put another kiss just in front of her ear, nearing her jaw, she found that she didn't really have the want nor inclination to. She let him. Because tonight, for once in her life, she wanted to just let go. To relax. And she knew that if anyone in the whole palace of Los Noches knew anything about relaxing, it was Stark Coyote.

She found her hands moving up and behind her head all on their own, lightly holding his head to her, her back leaning into his front, and suddenly she felt her face was too warm. Too warm in a good way, though. She liked it.

Her eyes went wide when she felt his tongue slip over the side of her throat, down her neck, and over her shoulder. But she still did nothing to hinder him.

"You taste like the sea." He noted, his voice deep and sensual in her ear. What a thrill, his voice was, so full and heavy and at ease.

"You sound like it." She breathed.

"Tia." He whispered out, switching to her other shoulder, his hands still messaging her shoulders. "I've wanted you for a long, long time."

"Why didn't you say so?" She asked, leaning into his touch now, quickly loosing her icy demeanor and letting the fire in her cheeks spread to her soul. "Why just now."

To that she could feel him grin against her neck, and then move up to whisper the answer like it was some sort of secret. "I was too lazy."

She turned to berate him- because of course that was his answer, but was suddenly pulled up and into the bed, her front pressed tightly to his. His hands found her hips, his back found the headboard, and then for a moment there was silence.

Tia noticed that his hollow hole was pressed snuggly to her chest, his bone-structure that marked him an espada molding to her collarbone. She had never noticed it before, but their masks were completely compatible- they were right by each other, pieces of a puzzle, perfectly fitting together without ever touching. She had often heard her girls- mainly Appache, complain about how their hollow bone structures often got in the way- clicking awkwardly with a partner's, or getting stuck or caught on someone else's' mask, or other such problems. She had no such issue, she discovered. The cool of the bone accompanied by the scorch of his skin was tantalizing.

Of course, there was one problem. He couldn't reach her lips, or her jaw, or any place she was sure she would want to be kissed if it was possible. Her hollow mask made her a lonely woman- never to be kissed in her life.

She was surprised when he leaned forward anyway, and then pressed a hard kiss over the teeth of the mask, pressing, like he was trying to use a small amount of force to reach what skin was underneath. He moved on, undeterred by the hindrance, and lightly bit the shell of her ear, never once commenting on the problem of her mask as his hands roamed over her back.

She was flattered to see he didn't mind, but suddenly it deeply mattered to her. She stilled his hands on her back, holding his arms, looking up at him with her vibrant green eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Confusion lanced over his features, his head cocking to the side. "For what?"

To that, she let go of one of his arms, and then vaguely passed a hand over the bones obstructing her face from his sight. "It is unattractive." She surmised.

He looked surprised, lightly so, but came over it quickly as he smiled. "Want me to let you in on something I figured out a while ago?"

She waited.

He smiled. "You can move it."

She became confused. "What?"

"Partial transformation." He drawled, leaning back, suddenly seeming boared with the whole thing. He let her watch as he pulsed a great amount of blue fire-like spirit energy into his palm, and then watched fascinated as he pressed it to the bones around his neck. The white broke down, flying up to recompose over his eye. "See? You just have to know it's possible, and then it's easy."

"How… How…" She looked at him, startled, wondering how Stark had figured it out.

He shrugged. "I got bored." He held his hand over his eye, bringing the spiritual pressure out of the bone there, letting the formation creep back down around his neck. "You don't even have to fully bring out all the bone of a transformation- one piece will do."

With a secretive smile, Halibel mimicked him, concentrating hard. Slowly, the bones around her face melted down, creeping until they lanced in a smooth necklaces around her throat, Tia restricting the transformation to just that.

"See?"

She smiled lightly, almost in what was not a smile at all, and leaned up to sake her arms around his neck. "Thank you." She breathed, lips free to move as they pleased ever so suddenly. She pressed a kiss in the corner of his mouth, and suddenly Stark wasn't looking so bored anymore.

His mouth was suddenly charting her own, all over her face, tongue tasting her lips with a passion few rarely saw from Coyote. His hands were lazy in pushing her jacket completely off, in sharp contrast to her hasty removal of his own haori.

His lips weren't hesitant to nip at her dark skin in his exploration of new territory, moving down to chart the skin around the V of bone lacing her neck. Now their bones did click and hit, but it was something that was more exciting than it was annoying. They weren't getting caught on one another, it was the smooth slid of plastic over plastic to one who didn't know what the material really was.

She found she had a morbid fascination with his hand, her lips always seeming to trail down his arm at one point or another to roll her tongue around the number 1 there, or to pull at the skin with her teeth, or simply kiss it as she held his hand up to her face.

He was equally curios about the 3 printed on to her chest, and wasted no time in thoroughly discovering the mark with both hands and mouth.

She had just moved up into his lap, both of their tops gone, a dark bruise forming over her tattoo as he worked at the skin, when her 'relaxion' time was suddenly cut to a close.

"Halibel-Sama!" A fist crashed over her door, three times, hurriedly, the voice sounding urgent in all manners of the word. "Halibel-sama, you're needed!"

"Shit." Stark muttered, sliding up from the bed and fixing his top, hurring to become presentable. Halibel herself mimicked him, scowling darkly, zipping up her jacket and returning her hollow mask to her face.

"This had better be important." She seethed darkly, storming to her door and yanking it open with enough force to make the man at her door jump.

"H-Halibel-sama." He stammered.

"Yes, what is it?" She snapped quickly, though her anger didn't blaze so much in her voice as it did inside of her.

"There… there are more intruders, Ma'am."

She scowled darkly, and then growled under her breath as she stormed out of her chambers, slamming the door closed behind her. "I'm going out myself." She told him loudly. To herself, she added, "I can't have Grimmjow screwing this up, too."

After all, a miracle only happens once.

~)o0o(~

"Are you sure you know where we're going Rukia?"

Rukia was quietly counting to ten in her mind, over and over, in a hopeless attempt to keep her cool. This wasn't the second time Ichigo had asked her the question. It wasn't the third, or the fourth, or the fifth. No. He had asked her seven times. Seven times! She would think that after the fifth time he would have gotten it, but no!

She rolled her eyes, spinning around to throw a glare at him. "Yes, I'm sure!"

"We've just been walking… for hours now…" He reminded her.

She pretended to be surprised, throwing a hand up and over her heart. "Have we?!"

He caught onto her attitude quickly, eyes narrowing. "Yeah. The castle looks like it's closer, but not by much. And I'm pretty sure we've past that tree at least twice now…" He trailed off, looking over at said tree with resentment.

She sighed. "Ichigo, I'm sure we're going the right way." She squinted up ahead, looking at the palace, eclipsed in light by the moon behind it. "Come on. We'll try using flash step for a little while…"

She could only hope they would reach Los Noches soon.

~)o0o(~

"Ulquiorra?"

"Hm?"

"Would you…?"

"I will stay, with you, woman."

"… Thank you."

"It is no bother."

"Ulquiorra?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"And I you, Onna."