Author Note: Sorry for the long delay...blah blah blah, you know the drill.

Disclaimer: Bleach and its characters belong to Tite Kubo

Chapter 14: Becoming One

I jumped down to meet her with Ulquiorra following. I stared at my double that towered over me slightly, taking in the appearance that hasn't been my own for many years. She stared right back, showing no real surprise though there was recognition for who I was.

There was a sort of emptiness and sad longing about her that was rather tragic. It wasn't hard to figure out why; she had never found a purpose…her life was meaningless for she had never met Ulquiorra.

I remembered what it was like before meeting Ulquiorra so I understood how empty my existence felt. I gave her an almost fond smile and greeted her warmly, ignoring but noting how surreal this all was.

"Hello Gloria."

My double didn't respond but I assumed that was because she hadn't spoken yet in this timeline and didn't really know what to say. I myself couldn't think of anything more to say.

A seemingly endless silence stretched between us. No doubt curious, she took a step closer to me. Ulquiorra tensed behind me, drawing my double's attention.

I saw the moment she became just as enthralled by him as I was initially in my timeline. A big part of me wanted to inform her right then that Ulquiorra was mine but I felt it would be wrong to do so for, technically, I was taking her place.

I stood there quietly as she took in the sight of him. Her enthrallment turned to sorrow as she took in just how protective of me he was. She must have realized she stood no chance in being as close to him as she wanted now that he had met me. She forced her gaze from him and looked at me. It hurt to see her sad acceptance and I felt honest regret for robbing her of Ulquiorra and any real purpose.

"I'm sorry."

Once again there was no response. She looked down at the ground for a while. She eventually shook herself of her upset and focused solely on me with a solid determination that would have made me a little wary if she were anyone else.

She walked even closer and started to reach out towards me. I gestured for Ulquiorra to relax when he moved to intervene and reached my own hand out. I was curious to see what she planned to do and not at all worried for I knew she would never risk upsetting Ulquiorra by hurting me.

A strange shock of energy flowed between us when our hands touched. A connection formed between our spiritual pressures and in the back of my mind I wondered if something bad was about to happen now that I had come into physical contact with my counterpart. My double engulfed my hand with her larger one and held on tightly with determined confidence. I didn't know what to expect but she seemed to have some plan in mind.

I was startled to feel her spiritual pressure start seeping into me, almost as if I was intentionally absorbing it. Panicked, I tried to pull out of her grasp but she refused to let go and actually spoke for the first time.

"Don't." The desperation behind that one poorly spoken word stopped my attempt at escaping. I looked up at her, beyond bewildered. She gripped my hand tighter.

"Please." She pleaded as her form started to glow and slowly break down into golden orbs of spiritual pressure, which flowed into me. It was then that I understood what she was doing.

She wanted to be completely absorbed by me…she wanted to become one with me so she could experience the closeness with Ulquiorra that she desired…she was that desperate for something beyond her empty existence. I had never reached that level of desperation but I could sympathize to some degree and so…I held on just as tightly and let her finish what she started.

I wondered if she knew this would happen if we touched or whether she just had the ability to trigger such a reaction…I knew I didn't but then again I had never tried such a thing.

Curious, I reached out with my own spiritual pressure and engulfed some of hers and then pulled my own back without releasing my hold and sure enough her spiritual pressure followed. Maybe I was able to affect others with my spiritual pressure or maybe it was just with her; I'd need to experiment before I really knew for sure.

I helped speed up the process and she was clearly grateful that I was accepting this. I knew I didn't have to worry about her possibly gaining control over my body, as I was stronger than she was due to my arrancar status.

She wasn't seeking control though; she was happy to just end her empty existence this way. It was really strange and surreal to see her disappearing right in front of me. I inwardly flinched when my mind instantly went to Ulquiorra's death in my timeline and compared it to what was happening to my double. I didn't let that stop me though.

I gave her another warm smile right before she vanished completely and I could sense she was doing the same. Once she was gone, I promptly turned my senses inward to see if there were traces of her left and I was relieved to feel her consciousness nestling in the depths of my soul. She appeared very much like a peacefully napping infant, carefree and blissfully unaware for the time being.

I also felt that I was much stronger. My spiritual pressure level was practically doubled, understandably so, and I could potentially last for some time against my timeline's Ulquiorra, who had been the primera espada. This raised my chances of surviving against Aizen…or at least gave me more time.

I turned towards Ulquiorra with a confident smirk. The openly bewildered expression was an amusing new look for him but I didn't give him time to ask questions.

"I promise I'll explain everything later. Right now, we need to go to Karakura town." He looked reluctant to wait for answers but ultimately agreed.

I brought a hand up to summon a garganta, hoping that it would work since the captain of squad twelve should have already made one of his own. Thankfully, one did appear for us.

"Come on." I jumped in with Ulquiorra following a second later. I created a pathway underneath me without thinking as I sped through towards the end of the portal. We ran in silence long enough for the situation to really set in and for dread to form.

"Ulquiorra." I called out without looking back at him. I could tell he was listening though so I continued. "When we reach Karakura town, I want you to stay out of the fight." I could sense his indignation and quickly explained before he could protest.

"Aizen's zanpakuto gives him control over all the senses of those who have seen his shikai release…which includes you. You might think you're fighting him when in actuality you are fighting one of the other soul reapers or even me. He could easily deliver a critical blow on you without you seeing, hearing or sensing it." His silence showed that I had proved my point.

"Promise me you won't get involved unless absolutely necessary." There was a moment of silence as I waited for him to respond.

"I promise."

I was instantly relieved to know he wouldn't be in instant danger. The end of the garganta was coming fast. I reached for my zanpakuto and released it, feeling that it was better to be at my strongest when I first see Aizen then to give him a chance to cut me down while I was trying to release it. I ceased running and instead flew forward. I knew I was about to make a grand entrance and I decided to try and distract Aizen from realizing Ulquiorra was there too.

"I'm going to head out first." I said right before speeding forward, barely hearing the beginning of his protest.

I burst out into Karakura town but surprisingly everyone's eyes weren't on me. It almost seemed as if they hadn't sensed my arrival, this did allow Ulquiorra to hide himself without anyone noticing him though. I ignored that for the moment and immediately sought Aizen out.

I didn't see him anywhere near the group of soul reapers that were in fighting stances. In fact, the soul reapers seemed to be surrounding one of their own. It took me a second to recognize what was happening. By then the soul reapers were delivering critical blows on the person they believed to be Aizen.

Without wasting time, I rushed forward to intercept the final blow. I held the weak, woman to my chest and pushed the young captain's blade to the side even as one of my blades was slowly covered in ice. It was then that Ichigo snapped out of his apparent shock. Honestly, I hadn't even noticed he was there.

"What do you guys think you're doing?!" He shouted in angry disbelief.

I could see the moment Aizen released his hold on the others' senses. The horror on their faces said more than enough. The young captain in particular seemed to take the situation the hardest. Seeing that he cared the most for the woman in my arms, I gently handed her over to him. He held her desperately but also gently, as if she was about to break into a million pieces.

The pain, horror and self-hatred in the young man's eyes reminded me so much of myself after Ulquiorra's death; I was glad I had managed to save him from the pain of actually losing his loved one. We all tensed when a smug voice broke the horrified silence.

"Well…isn't this a surprise."

I turned to glare at Aizen with all the hatred and fury I've had to suppress through all my years as an espada. He didn't show any reaction beyond mild curiosity though.

"I must say I didn't see this coming. Tell me, Akira, how is it that you have the powers of an arrancar when I have never recruited you?"

The tone in which he spoke made it seem as if he really knew the answer but was just pretending not to. I didn't grace him with a response but he merely brushed the whole matter off.

"No matter…"

He started to reach for his zanpakuto but I rushed forward and stopped him. He dodged of course. One of my blades barely nicked him but it was enough to really gain his attention.

The mocking curiosity from before was gone and was replaced by grim seriousness. There was no longer any time for messing around. I felt my double stirring inside me as I thought this. With it, I felt a mental nudge from her and I did just as she prompted me to.

"Resurrección…segunda etapa."

Author Note: Yup, now Akira has a second release form like Ulquiorra...it seemed appropriate. The reason she could now do this is because she is now more powerful after merging with her double. I imagine the two could still communicate to some extent.

I had the scene from the Zathura movie when the main character merges with his older self in mind when I was writing the scene with Akira and Gloria merging.

I thought long and hard about what point in the battle Akira would arrive in and ultimately decided that this point would be the most dramatic. Also because I wanted to spare Toshiro the pain and guilt of stabbing Momo.

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