"A dance?" Ichigo pulled up the pants that had been provided for him, cringing. They were white. He had grown rather found of his black hakama, and even though they had given him a white set of clothes that matches his normal garb, he couldn't help but feel like a bit of a traitor.

"Yes, Ichigo, a dance." Rukia smoothed down the material of her dress as she stood in the bathroom, smiling. So, yes, it was white. But the dress looked wonderful. The sleeves clung to her arms and left her shoulders bare, the ends of the sleeves coming up over the back of her hands like her own clothing did. The cut made her chest look good, not like it was swamped in baggy clothing, and showed off her collarbones. The white fabric clung to her whole upper body, a single threaded black flower blooming over her ribs, planned at her waist. A black sash covered her hips, and from that flowed a ruffled skirt piece almost like her own hakama. She liked it.

"I don't like this." Ichigo said to the bathroom door.

"Too bad." The bathroom door answer. "We're going."

"But-"

The door opened to reveal Rukia, and suddenly he was stunned into silence. "We're going." Rukia said again, fiddling with a pin in her hair. She suddenly smirked. "Or are you too chicken?" She praised Orihime in her mind for giving her the human expression.

He snapped out of his daze just as quickly as he had been put into it. "I am not!"

"Then we're going."

Grimmjow growled and threw his new set of clothes back down the chute- cursing the one who had made them. No way in hell was he going to wear that fancy shit. He stomped over to the dresser in the room, where one of the lower arancar that tended to his room often stored some of his repaired clothes to let him know they were indeed fixed. He ripped open the drawer, grabbing those clothing instead, and then began to dress.

If Halibel was going to force him to go to some lame-ass ball or whatever, he was sure as hell not going to dress the part.

Soi Fon sighed inside the bathroom that Halibel had told her to wash up in, as she had no room. The woman had given her clothes to change into afterwards, looking like she didn't really know if Soi Fon would put them to use. But, the captain had no choice. She had no other clothes to change into.

She was thankful that the clothing was at least a bit like her own. Backless, tying off at the neck, sheer fabric. A yellow sash tied around the waist. The bottom piece she disdained, but it worked. It was a flowing skirt piece that reached her knees, hemmed in black.

She worried, though. She would look like a deserter if she were to wear that.

Did she really have a choice? After all, any who questioned her loyalty could be introduced to the ground right after meeting her fists, followed by a nice little nap.

As she slipped it on she examined herself in the mirror. She glared at her reflection, hating how girly and weak she looked. She was used to wearing almost all black, so this…

Without a second more to think about it, she turned to the makeup that had been provided her. When she had first seen it she had frowned, thinking that she would never need such a thing. But in that moment she quickly took out some waterproof eyeliner- completely black, and then turned so that her back faced the mirror.

Thanking her lucky stars that she was so flexible from her time in squad two, she carefully drew out the customary 'two' she was used to having on her back. With a smirk she examined her work. She hadn't put it as big as it was on her captain robes, quite a bit smaller in fact. It rested directly in the center of her back, just below her shoulder blades.

There.

Stark looked down at his outfit, happy that at least he got to keep his normal clothes. Lillinette was skipping around the room in her dress, believing the garment made her girlier somehow. How she could say that when she was kicking pillows off the bed and stomping on them as she laughed he didn't know, but if it made her happy he wasn't really going to stop her.

Lillinette's dress was just one knee-length piece with spaghetti straps. It made her look a bit like an accordion to Stark, but Halibel had said the girl looked lovely, so he kept quiet about it. The whole thing was pleated, sort of like she had slipped into one leg of his hakama pants and was running around with that on. Granted, she did have a black bow tied around her waist, but she still looked a little weird.

Halibel, he discovered as she exited the bathroom, looked very fine.

She was wearing her normal jacket, but the sleeves cut off just above the elbow. He skirt was almost and exact copy of her resurrection form, perhaps just a tiny bit longer and not built for battle. Her boots had been replaced with little white shoes she may or may not have called ballet flats. He wasn't really sure. By human standards the outfit may have been outlandish, but he thought she looked incredibly sexy.

He was wise to keep his thoughts to himself, though, seeing how Lillinette was in the bedroom too. He reminded himself to keep things PG- a rating that movies appropriate for children received in the world of the living, so he had heard. His thoughts were, at that moment, most likely classed as rated R.

Neliel giggled quietly and spun around, looking at her gown. She looked absolutely lovely, if she did say so herself. The dress she had received was nothing short of perfect. The bosom was the same comfy wrap-around material that her usual uniform was, but that was where the similarities ended not counting color. The rest of the dress was light and flowing; a Spanish design that flared like rings around her whenever she spun. Underneath it she wore shorts, of course, the coverings not reaching her knees. She wore no black on her dress, instead favoring all white with the splashes of color her face markings and hair provided. She had taken the liberty of curling her hair, for once, and it flowed down her back in loose curls of sea green. On her feet she wore actual ballet shoes, the ribbons twining up over her legs. She didn't know ballet, of course, but she was the ex-tresse espada! She was not only well balanced as well as graceful, but she only had to witness something once to perfectly mimic it. She was ready for a party.

Orihime looked in the mirror, a bit startled. She had expected to look sort of nice, like she thought she did in her regular outfit in Hueco Mundo. But she looked… stunning, almost.

Maybe it's just me. She thought. It must just be me.

Her gown was mealy an alteration of her regular one, after all. The top was the same- the little jacket had just been taken off to expose her shoulders and arms. And yes, she no longer wore pants or anything like that, but at the waist were it cut off form the torso piece in a black piece of fabric there was now a skirt piece. It was smooth fabric that just barely brushed the floor, pure white. It was a little puffed out, not much, just enough so that it almost gave off a princess feeling. When she spun around once she found that the dress flared out slightly, showing her ankles. It was easily the most beautiful thing she had ever worn.

She blushed. Was that really her?

She touched her shun shun rika, the bones looking almost alive and decorative at the same time. She could feel her fairies minds humming with life under the hard white fixtures.

She dropped her hands.

With a shaky breath she nodded to herself, and then turned. She opened the door and tentatively walked out, not looking at the bed because she knew that Ulquiorra would be there.

She knew he had seen her when she heard the blanket on the bed barely rustle, the heat of Ulquiorra's gaze heavy on the side of her face.

She flushed even more red, and suddenly she felt completely ridiculous. "I-it's stupid, I know." She said, smiling and giggling a little to show she wasn't ungrateful. "I should-"

"You look lovely."

She looked up at him, her blush now not from her embarrassment so much as it was for the compliment. "Wh-what?"

Ulquiorra was standing beside her, his hands shoved into the pockets of his uniform. He stared at her, his eyes racking in every inch of her form. "Do not make me repeat myself." He murmured, taking a step closer. He looked her up and down once more. "You look ravishing."

She felt her whole face grow warm, her hands fiddling in the material of her dress. "Th-Thank you." Still blushing, she reached out and took his hand. "You look good too." She admitted.

"Woman, this is what I always wear."

Blushing even redder then, she answered, "And y-you always look good."

He seemed to get satisfaction from her reply, suddenly standing a bit taller. He did not reply to her confession, but instead gently tugged her to their still-ruined door. The one to the living room was still in splinters, though their main door had been repaired.

"We shouldn't be late."

She nodded in agreement. "Let's go."

Grimmjow started down the hall, still pissed off because Halibel was making him do this. What right did she have? He was Grimmjow fucking number six! He did whatever he damn well felt like. He didn't go to some pansy-ass dance thing!

Muttering curses under his breath he turned down a hall, thinking he would take the long way, just so that he could be late. If he had to go then he sure as hell wasn't going to arrive on time!

He was watching his feet as he moved through the hallway, his hands crammed into the recesses of his pockets. He looked up with a full-force glare when he heard a door open and someone step out into the same hall. Whoever they were, they were about to face his full-blown-

Damn.

Soi Fon stood before him, looking as aggravated as he probably did, dressed up and obviously hating it. She turned towards him just as soon as she had closed the door she was exiting; glaring before realizing it was Grimmjow that she was seeing.

"Grimmjow." She greeted, nodding tersely at him.

Coming up beside her he drank in the sight of the woman, a grin slowly spreading over his face. "I thought they said they'd be serving dessert after the dancing."

She smirked at him, swatting his head playfully. "You look hungry, Grimmjow. You had better wipe that stupid grin off your face before someone begins to think you plan to pounce on me."

"Who says I'm not?" He countered, summoning up a grin to match her small smirk.

"Only if you can catch me first."

"As if you could out run me."

"Was that a challenge?"

"I think you were the one challenging me, your royal windy-ness."

"And?"

"I say you can prepare to have your ass handed to ya'."

She laughed. "Try and keep up."

And then they were off.

Stark and Tia made their way down the hallway, side by side. Lillinette was running ahead of them, screaming at the top of her lungs, and giggling madly. She would chase down any unlucky servant that they happened upon, this making her feel like she was still a threat even in a dress. Halibel said nothing about the young girl's language, just letting her do what she did best.

Eventually they made it down to the ballroom, where Lillinette had run ahead and was waiting impatiently for both Stark and Tia. "What took you guys so long? Slowpokes."

Stark wearily regarded her. "What's your rush?"

Halibel, meanwhile, walked past the two with a slight shake of her head. Without waiting for the two of them, she silently pushed open the huge double doors to the ballroom.

She froze.

The music was already playing, the chandelier already lit.

The whole place looked lovely.

And so did they.

She watched, awed, as a woman with silky brown hair spun around the room, her whole body covered in ice that spread out around her like a dress. She, strangely, didn't looked cold. Her hair was up in a bun, her feet light on the floor. A man with hair white as snow orbited her, mirroring her moves, looking very passé about the whole thing.

They both suddenly stopped, though, upon the entry of the three arancar. Momo stopped spinning, and Toshiro stopped moving. Everything froze over.

And then, finally, Momo smiled through her blush. "Would you like to join us?" She asked, her hand out in asking.

Tia smiled, stepping out onto the dance floor. "But of course."

Grimmjow had planned on showing up late, he really had. Too bad things had turned into a race- now they were going to be early. Was it rude to be early? He hoped so.

"Too slow." Soi Fon's voice breezed past his ear, and he turned, thinking he could get in a kick to the gut to slow her down, only to have his face meet her own foot.

"Damn it." He cursed, seeing the doors just up ahead. He could already hear the damn music. Why the hell did they even have to go?

They past up Ulquiorra and Orihime, booth looking at himself and Soi Fon with un-surprised glances as they flew past.

"What trash." Ulquiorra muttered.

"They're so cute!" Orihime squeeled.

Bam!

They burst into the ballroom, where Tia, Stark, Lillinette, and the two other shinigami were already twirling around the dance floor like fucking fairies.

Grimmjow scowled. "This is going to suck."

His mind may have changed, though, upon seeing Soi Fon turn with a devilish look in her eye. "Oh?"

Orihime watched as Grimmjow and Soi Fon went running past in flashes of Shun po and Soindo, giggling to herself. "They're so cute!" She said, ignoring Ulquiorra's own opinion on the matter.

She followed after the pairing with Ulquiorra's hand in her own, the two of them matching each other step for step.

She stepped into the ballroom and felt her whole face lift in wonder. "Wow!" She said, eyes going as wide as her smile. "It's beautiful!" Suddenly bold and feeling like she had stepped into a fairy tail, Orihime happily turned to Ulquiorra. "Will you dance with me?"

He didn't hesitate to answer. "If that is what you wish."

Neliel came into the ballroom, looking around at all the couples twirling and dancing around, suddenly feeling a bit out of place. Other than the kid, Lillenette, was she really the only one who didn't have a partner?

Well, that could be fixed.

Her eyes were quick to find messenger boy, standing off to the side hoping not to be noticed.

She smiled. "Dance with me." She commanded, suddenly appearing before him and grabbing his hands.

The boy went pale. "Y-yes Nel-sama."

He really did have the worst of luck.

Of course they would be the last to show up, Rukia and Ichigo. The two had a bad habit of never arriving just when everyone else was.

Rukia thought it was going to be fun.

Ichigo did not.

"Dance with me!"

"Fine."

Things were going smoothly, though, even if Ichigo was unhappy. He wasn't too bad a dancer, ether! Maybe he would get into it!

"You suck." Grimmjow informed him as the arrancar passed by with a twirling assassin.

"Do not!" Ichigo yelled as he continued the simple two-dance step with his ice queen.

Rukia sighed. Of course they would make a war out of dancing, too.

.

So so sorry for this mainly pointless chapter. I'll wrap things up with the rest of the dance and the scary movie next update, and then after that... well... yeah. The story will be put into it's ending chapters.

And I'm really sorry for the short chapters, again, and the poor quality and missing that last update... I've been really depressed lately. So I haven't done much writing. Hopefully I'll stop being so sad all the time soon and actually write this stuff out because I can. ^_^' sorry again!

Thank you to all who have stuck with me this long! I hope you all continue to enjoy!