The small Shadow that Aizen had sent her with a note penned in elegant calligraphy waited with interminable patience while Hisana finished getting herself ready.
"Miss Isana," Orihime suggested politely. "Perhaps you should not want to keep him waiting."
Isana smiled her polite, gentle Lady smile at her, the one that reminded the young healer much of the Captain of Fourth Squad, and said
"The gentleman has sent a note requesting my presence, I am quite aware of this. However, if Aizen's view of this world is so narrow that he thinks a mere note delivered by a minion is sufficient to make a woman hurry in her ablutions then it is clearly my duty to educate him in this grievous lack of information in this area."
Orihime and Rukia looked at her, wide-eyed. Isana calmly combed her hair and studied the two of them.
"It saddens me to see that the two of you have both clearly grown up without feminine guidance."
They looked back at her in perplexity. Isana gestured to the elaborately carved, multi-leveled set of make-up boxes and jewelry chests that she was seated next to. The set was carved with the ubiquitous dragon and phoenix.
"The dragon and the phoenix are the symbols of emperor and empress, yin and yang, of conflict and marital bliss," she began. "They are opposites, yet equals. The reason why the represent conflict as well as marital bliss is because they are equals. It is sad to state out loud this observation but marriage, no matter how harmonious, always contains a small, subtle struggle for power in it if it is a marriage between equals. As to this, never underestimate the often overlooked, even mocked, power of subtle feminine beauty. It may not be a great power, not like swords or spiritual arts, but the ability to make your enemy underestimate you is useful. In a situation such as we find ourselves in, it is the subtlety that is our greatest strength. You will note that I am currently carefully applying my make-up, the purpose of this is multi-layered."
"Oh?" Rukia asked, intrigued in spite of herself.
After she had been brought into a noble house she had been made to learn all sort of things about femininity that she had never really believed to have any real use at all, other than to make her ornamental. She had only learned them (partly begrudgingly) in order to not embarrass the House that had taken her in.
"In this context, my care with my appearance serves many functions. First and foremost, it is practical in that when one goes before a person who has great power, looking presentable puts them on more even footing. Second, the act of applying the make-up is like preparation for battle, it allows me to gather my thoughts and compose my mind, it is a peaceful moment allowing me time to reflect and consider my options. A zen-moment if you will. Third, the time I take to care for my appearance is a small, but meaningful, display of power."
At the two young ladies (who clearly still had much to learn) look of perplexity, Hisana explained
"He requested my appearance quite abruptly with the intention of throwing me off center and making me ill-prepared. That take extra time I make myself presentable to him to a social nicety that he cannot afford to ignore if he wishes to continue to present himself well, thus the fact that he awaits me at my own leisure, so long as I do not drag the moment out overly long, is my slight ability to make him dance to my tune. The timing must be right of course, but a lady gets a sense of these things over time. He will attempt to intimidate my with a display of wealth or power, but because I am armored and prepared I will not loose myself to it. Additionally, he is testing me as I am testing him. Think of us as two fencers who are circling each other, this is the way we get a measure of each other before either of us must commit to a move. Lastly, and this is also very important, the fact that I concern myself with appearance fulfills his expectation of me, to fulfill his expectation of me means that he has a role mapped out in his mind for me, the fact that he has a role mapped out in his mind for me means that he has an intention or a strategy to use me in and a way he plans to go about it; if I conform to the role he has planned out in his mind that will eventually grant me more freedom to act outside of his will without his knowing because...?"
Hisana left the sentence dangling for her two young pupils to grasp.
"If he thinks he knows you," Rukia started.
"He'll underestimate you," Orihime finished.
"Just so," Hisana smiled indulgently as she tucked the two communications devices in a safe and unnoticable place for her to secret to Byakuya later on.
:I think the assessment of the usurper actually feeling unsettled and off-kilter about his plans failure and his sudden need to retreat and regroup is an accurate one after all,: Hisana thought to herself when the little Shadow that had come to the prisoners room this morning to escort her away finished leading her to her destination.
Sousuke Aizen sat on a throne of solid gold studded with gemstones that was almost continental in its proportions. The throne was carved to look like four animals mingled together. The base was a tortoise ringed with several serpents forming the legs of the base. A long, sinuous, serpentine dragon formed the back of the chair, its scales glittered with blue-green diamonds. The arm-rests were twin white tigers with flaming amber eyes, each with a ruby the size of a chickens egg lodged in their jaws. Forming a cover overhead with a phoenix with a fanned tail, feathers glinting rubies on every inch. The whole thing rested on a dais formed of several slabs of gilded jade. The room she was brought to was a room the same way the inside of the pantheon was a room, it even had a domed cathedral ceiling and the floor was an intricate glass mosaic like a church window, the light shining up from under the floor played a shadow play on the dome of the cathedral filling the room with color.
:He's gone to some trouble to have me brought into this massive place and himself being put on high, why does he feel he needs to impress me so much I wonder,: Hisana thought to herself.
"As per our agreement, Lady Hisana, you have been reunited with your son, I hope he is in excellent health," the man who would be king said in an urbane, gentlemanly tone.
"No thanks to you and your Shadows kidnapping him in the first place, " Hisana replied matching his tone of civility with a demurely feminine one of her own.
"Leave it not be said that your recent ordeals have robbed you of your spirit," he acknowledged. "And your dear sister Rukia is well also?"
"She seems quite recovered from your attempt to have her executed," Hisana said, trading overly polite barbs with him.
"Speaking of which there are some words that I could like to have with Lord Kuchiki at my gracious host's earliest convenience."
"I am always pleased to accommodate a guest of such entertaining conversation," he replied with a gracious inclination of his head. "In return I fear I must part you and your son for a small while longer. I will leave the boy in the care of your sister, it is only proper after all that family look out for each other. I must request that you remain by my side for some small time."
"And why is this?" Hisana questioned curiously. "Surely out of all of your guests, invited or otherwise, I am the one you have least to fear from. Lord Kuchiki bides under suppression stone, unable to move against you. Renji has joined your side. Rukia and Orihime cannot move against you. I am only one woman, and an ordinary Human at that. I have no zanpaktou to fight with, no spiritual pressure of any note, no Soul Reaping form, certainly there is nothing about me to inspire caution."
"Correct, but you see it is because you have no offensive capability that you are much more valuable as a hostage than any other. You are a lynchpin, not a dominant personality nor even an overly strong one in the conventional sense, but you are pivotal. The fact that you are quite the most vulnerable peice on the board is very much to my advantage."
"I see your point. It seems I am left with no other options but cooperation, but I want it noted that this is under protest."
"Noted," he said indulgently. "I suppose you must wish to visit with your husband after so long a time of separation I will escort you there."
"You are all graciousness," Hisana said politely.
Aizen rose from his throne and paced elegantly down the steps, every movement he made bespeaking his absolute confidence of his mastery there in his own stronghold. Hisana quite obediently took his arm when he signaled that she should, allowing him his little display of possessive power.
She had not yet begun to fight.
I had the ending all planned out, but it was one of those things where every time i went to write it, it just didn't flow quite right. I couldn't quite place my finger on what it was that was bothering me. usually a block like this has to do with my characterization skills but it seemed on re-read that Renji, Rukia, Byakuya and Hisana were all okay (and orihime too) so I couldn't figure out where the problem was. It wasn't until I actually sat myself down and made myself start writing what I'd planned to write, then went back to what I'd written earlier and re-read it that I saw where the hiccup was. Aizen. His speech and mannerisms were in character... his obliviousness was not. That, and I had written in that he had returned Hisana's memories but I was never able to come up with an explanation as to why )and "because i wanted him to" just doesn't seem like it should fly!) I'll see you with another chapter next week, ciao!
Thanks again to all of the wonderful reveiws I've received from everyone and all of those who had supported my story thus far, you are all the best and I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out! You guys are the reason why I was able to get over this block so thank you again. Until next week!
~Nightheart.