One Moment

by The Dream Whisperer

One loose nail in the roof. One moment of betrayal. Starrk learns about the truth of his so-called debt to Aizen. A story about learning to trust again, and the difference one person (two people) can make. Canon AU. Starrk-centric ensemble. Past Aizen/Starrk, eventual Shunsui/Starrk. Also Lilynette/Rukia and Grimmjow/Neliel. Temporarily complete! See more details in Ch22.

22. Season's End

One Moment
Chapter 22: Season's End

Characters/Pairings: Kenpachi, Grimmjow, Neliel, Lilynette, Harribel, Apacci, Mila-Rose, Sung-Sun, an OC, Rukia, Starrk, and Aizen. Grimmjow/Neliel, Harribel/Apacci/Mila-Rose/Sung-Sun and Lilynette/Rukia. Implications of Kenpachi/Grimmjow/Neliel, Kenpachi/Unohana, past Aizen/Starrk and current Shunsui/Starrk. (Unofficial chapter title: How did this become an ensemble thing with so many characters and pairings?)
Rating: PG-13
Words: ~14,000
Chapter Summary: Neliel figures out a new path for Grimmjow, Kenpachi, and herself. Harribel plans for the future. Rukia makes a confession. Starrk performs an exorcism.
Warning: I actually have no idea what the term for two women having biological kids together, but, whatever it is, it happens here. No warning for the OC because he's essentially a plot device right now.

Grimmjow was, of all things, up a tree when Neliel found him. She blinked, jumping up using sonido to land on the thick branch beside him.

"What are you—" she began.

"Shhh," Grimmjow hushed her, his eyes fixed on something beyond the rich green leaves that surrounded them. "Look."

She followed his gaze into the Eleventh Division. The usual bloodthirsty and fight-hungry men were milling around, shouting at each other in voices that echoed in the air and made the trees shiver from sheer force; men who made up in spirit and loudness what they could not have in pure reiatsu. Men that Neliel could find it within herself to respect.

But she still had no idea what Grimmjow was referring to. She was about to turn to him to ask when he made an impatient sound.

"Look at gate, Neliel."

Her eyes flickered further southwards. And she saw it.

Zaraki was standing there, staring at an extremely familiar back walking away. Neliel blinked, and in that moment, she caught Unohana Retsu's eyes as the woman looked upwards. She nodded both in greeting and assurance – the treatments Unohana had given her had fully repaired her mask, and it was in no more danger of breaking.

"Not her," Grimmjow sighed. "Zaraki. Look at Zaraki."

The game was getting tiring, and Neliel was about to force Grimmjow to simply tell her what he was so fascinated by when she concentrated on Zaraki's face.

Was that… was that confusion and the bare tracest of nervousness? Surely not; surely Zaraki wasn't capable of such a thing, especially the latter. Nervousness was based upon fear, and a man like Zaraki Kenpachi had never shown himself to be afraid of anything.

… No, he wasn't afraid of Unohana. Neliel narrowed her eyes, watching even more carefully as Zaraki rubbed the back of his neck, finally turning away from the sight of Unohana's back. She was suddenly sure that, if she could those dark eyes up close, they would be slightly closed, as if he was trying to dig something from his memory.

Now that was the answer to a question she had been pondering. Neliel's lips slowly curled into a smile.

"So that's who he is thinking about whenever he looks at me," she said, amused.

Grimmjow threw a smirk at her. "You noticed, huh?"

Neliel only gave him an unimpressed look. Did Grimmjow truly think that she would miss something that he had caught?

"That's a stupid question, wasn't it?"

"Yes," she huffed, turning her eyes towards Zaraki again, head cocked to the side with absolute fascination.

Perhaps humans would feel jealousy at the thought of one of their lovers having such a strong interest in another; perhaps they would even feel used when they realised that they were a mere substitute. But Neliel wasn't human, and there was a huge difference between wishing to go past the usual Hollow instincts of fight-fuck-eat and taking on undesirable, complicated human emotions.

Besides, she knew perfectly well that Zaraki wasn't her lover; not in the way that humans meant the word. There was respect and attraction between them, certainly, but he was nothing more than an interesting diversion to her; a person she tried to know and discover just to spend her time.

Hollows in their stage of evolution had time aplenty, and there were only so many repetitions of hunting-exploring-fucking one could do in Hueco Mundo before one was bored.

"What were you going to say before I interrupted you for entertainment?" Grimmjow jarred her out of her thoughts.

Neliel turned towards her mate. He was leaning against the tree, one eyebrow cocked and hips thrust outwards. Grimmjow always stood like he was extending an invitation, especially with the tight-fitting Living World clothes he preferred.

"Lilynette agreed to meet Harribel," she replied, coming to stand on the air beside him

"Ch'," Grimmjow said, obviously still annoyed that they had been roped into playing messenger. "Harribel's so fucking stuck on the whole alliance thing."

"It's a good idea," Neliel shrugged. "Besides, I don't think that's the only reason she wants to meet."

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

Neliel hesitated. No matter what the Shinigami thought, there was some sort of honour between Hollows, and that included not revealing crucial information to another without permission.

More importantly, however, Neliel wasn't even sure if her hunch was correct. It would be troublesome if she was wrong, because Grimmjow had the strange tendency to take everything she said to be the truth.

"I think…" she hummed under her breath. "It might be about one of her children."

"Eh?" Grimmjow blinked. "You think that Harribel has kids?"

"She has three mates," she pointed out. "And she is older than both of us put together."

It would be more of a surprise if she didn't: Hollows who formed Packs were always looking to increase them, and the easier of the two ways to do so is to have children.

"Which means she probably has a whole bunch of them she never told us about," Grimmjow thought out loud. He snorted. "Eh, I don't blame her."

A laugh startled out of her. Even with the mating bond giving them the – slight – ability to sense each other's thoughts and emotions, Grimmjow still had the ability to surprise. She hadn't expected him to take one of their allies – such an odd word – keeping a secret from them so well.

She shook her head.

"Neither do I," she said, meaning it.

They might have all followed Aizen, but their trust in the Shinigami had always been a frayed, unstable thing. All of them agreed to follow his orders because he offered them something they wished for, something they hoped he would deliver after they had won the war against the Shinigami for him.

With such different purposes, how could they trust each other? If Harribel had told any of them about the existence of her children, she would lose the respect of them all simply because of the foolishness of doing so.

"Oy," Grimmjow prodded.

"Mm?"

"You want to keep staying up here to chase your thoughts in circles, or are we going to greet Zaraki?" he asked.

"I'm only thinking because you never do," she retorted. She let herself fall, landing on the balls of her feet in front of the Eleventh Division's gates.

Grimmjow's landing was noiseless next to hers. "Why should I think when you do it all for me?" he hissed at her even as they straightened.

Zaraki had turned the very moment they landed, but he wasn't looking at them directly. His gaze was still fixed upon the point where Unohana had long disappeared.

Neliel stepped right in front of him. Reaching out, she dug her hand into his gelled hair and pulled him down until his single uncovered eye was staring straight at her.

"If that is who you want, then you should go ahead and have her," she said flatly.

Slowly, Zaraki blinked. He didn't even look surprised at her presence.

"It's not that I want," he said.

"Really," she drawled.

He jerked his head back, rubbing the back of his neck in that half-embarrassed gesture that was so unfitting for his skin. For long moments, it looked like he wasn't going to speak, much less explain himself.

Neliel simply waited. She could feel Grimmjow standing a slight distance away, and knew that he was doing it on purpose. Her mate's relationship with Zaraki was based on competition and rivalry; if he was the one who asked, Zaraki's hackles would be up.

But Neliel knew that Zaraki saw her differently. She was a woman, and that meant something to do the Shinigami, something that made him allow her liberties that he wouldn't give anything else. Frankly, Neliel thought it was pure foolishness, especially since the differences between male and female Hollows were practically negligible, but she would be an even bigger fool to not take advantage of it.

"I met a woman when I was a kid," Zaraki said finally. "And Unohana reminds me of her."

She simply cocked her head.

"It's fucking weird," he continued. "She's a healer, and though she's not as much of a complete pansy as the rest, that's no reason for me to be reminded of that woman."

"What's she like?" Neliel asked softly.

"The woman?"

She nodded.

"She's the most bloodthirsty thing I've ever met," Zaraki said, his eyes glazing over slightly in memory. "Gave me the best damned fight I've had in my life. Better than the one with Ichigo, better than the one I had with either of you."

Grimmjow snorted, sounding almost insulted. Neliel sent him a warning glance before focusing back on Zaraki.

Crossing her arms, she made a soft contemplative noise under her breath.

"I've heard that Unohana is one of the oldest Captain in Soul Society," she said quietly. That was true; there was plenty of things she heard while she was receiving treatment in the Fourth, because the Shinigami saw a child and disregarded her presence. They might be right to do so at the time –Nel never thought much about what she heard – but she remembered everything, and, as Neliel, she was perfectly capable of putting the pieces together.

"If that is true, she might have changed during all that time."

Zaraki narrowed his eyes. "You're saying that the woman and Unohana might be the same person," he stated, sounding sceptical.

He really wasn't nearly as stupid as everyone thought him to be. Neliel stifled a smile.

"I'm saying that it's a possibility," she shrugged. "You never know unless you ask."

His eyes narrowed further. "And why would you care?"

Why did she, indeed? Neliel was tempted to say the first answer that came to her head – that it was mere curiosity, and the confrontation between Zaraki and Unohana and its consequences would entertain her possibly for years.

But that wasn't the truth either; not the whole of it. She was interested for both of their sakes, out of some sort of emotion that she couldn't really name. Perhaps it was a sort of debt: both of them had done much for her, especially Unohana. If urging Zaraki towards a confrontation would allow them to gain something, then the slate would be wiped clean, and there would be nothing left.

Yet those words still did not fit well around the emotions she felt. No, the only comparison Neliel could make was the simple affection that Nel held towards Ichigo; the strong protectiveness she felt towards him that caused a surge of reiatsu huge enough to overcome her broken mask and return her to her adulthood.

Friendship, she decided. That was the name of it. It wasn't very Hollow-like, but Neliel had never fitted into the mould of a Hollow well anyway. (That was Grimmjow's job.)

She was so caught up in her thoughts that both Zaraki and Grimmjow tired of waiting.

"Maybe Neliel just doesn't want you to look at her and see someone else," her mate drawled, finally pushing away from the wall he was leaning on to walk towards her.

"Something like it," she nodded, shrugging again. She decided to leave the revelation that she thought of Zaraki as a friend for another time.

"Did I really do that?" Zaraki asked, brows creasing.

"Yes," both of them replied.

"You're obvious enough about it that even Grimmjow noticed," Neliel added, unable to resist.

Her mate gave her a dirty look which she ignored.

Zaraki snorted, eye growing unfocused before he rubbed the back of his neck again. "Eh, I'll try not to do that then," he said gruffly.

It might be better if you confront her about those memories of yours, and figure out whether you still want to romp with me afterwards, Neliel almost said. But she swallowed her words back: there were limits to the liberties Zaraki allowed her to take. Giving advice was going too far.

"Whatever," Zaraki waved a hand. He took a step back, looking at the two of them contemplatively.

"So you're here again," he said, looking a little amused.

"What, you're going to tell us to fuck off?" Grimmjow challenged, leaning in. His smirk was nearly large enough to eat his face.

Neliel resisted the urge to roll her eyes at this posturing, simply nodding in reply. Of course they were; why shouldn't they come when there was nothing stopping them from creating a Garganta straight into Seireitei whenever they were bored of the endless sands of Hueco Mundo?

(She and Grimmjow had mutually decided to not question the reason behind the Shinigami's permission for them to move between Hueco Mundo and Seireitei at any time they liked. Well, Neliel would've liked to try to ponder upon it, but Grimmjow had said, rather reasonably, that looking a gift horse like that in the mouth was merely asking for teeth to snap off their heads. So she had decided to simply accept it.)

"Nah, you two are more interesting than the idiots here," Zaraki answered, waving a negligent hand that was meant to encompass the entire Eleventh. "So come on in already. My sword's been itching for a fight since last week."

Last week? Neliel blinked.

"What happened last week?" The whole conflict with the zanpaktou was around three weeks ago, so it couldn't be that.

"Lilynette and that tall tagalong of hers made my sword sing," Zaraki told her, grinning wide and sounding absolutely gleeful. "I can almost hear what it's trying to say now."

Neliel was torn between reacting to Starrk being called Lilynette's tagalong and to the idea that they could actually affect a Shinigami's zanpaktou. So she did neither, simply blinking, wide-eyed, at Zaraki.

Grimmjow recovered faster than she did. "Explain," he demanded. "From the beginning."

"There isn't much to say," Zaraki shrugged. "I don't know all the details."

"Why don't you tell us what you do know?" Neliel said with steel in her voice. It wasn't a request.

Zaraki looked at her, chuckling. "Basics of it is that the guy who messed with all the zanpaktou is a zanpaktou himself, and those two absorbed him. He belongs to them now."

"What."

The voice was Grimmjow's, but the reaction belonged to both of them.

"Like I said, I don't know what happened and I don't really care," Zaraki said, finally sounding impatient at the near interrogation. "But look at this."

He shoved his blade right beneath their noses.

Neliel blinked at it. The very first thing she had noticed about Zaraki was his sword – how could she not, when it had no sheathe, and its blade always looked chipped and worn? How could she not when it looked as if it would break at any moment and yet it was capable of dealing out such raw power?

She noticed the differences immediately. Reaching out, she glanced at Zaraki for permission. When he nodded, she ran her fingertips along the sharp edge of the blade. The wounds there were half-healed now, and at some points, the blade was almost whole.

Her breath caught in her throat. Starrk did this? Starrk received a Shinigami's zanpaktou and made the power his own?

"Fuck, this is so unfair," Grimmjow whined.

"Eh? What is?"

"That fucking bastard and his fucking annoying tagalong never wanted power," Grimmjow answered, sounding so absolutely annoyed. "And power just keeps throwing itself at their feet."

It wasn't just the sword itself, Neliel knew. She remembered the way that Lilynette had sent up a shield of pure reiatsu to shield the tiny Shinigami girl from the onslaught of Zaraki's; remembered the choking weight of it when she looked straight into Neliel's eyes and said that she would kill Grimmjow if he ever threatened those she cared about.

Lilynette had always been the weakest of all the fraccion; weaker than even Pesche and Dondonchakka before they had died. Not that Neliel's fraccion had been weak per se, but Lilynette had never been able to put up a good fight against even a Numeros.

If Lilynette had become so powerful, then what of Starrk? How much power did he have now?

"I'm the one who wants more power," Grimmjow was still ranting. "Hell, even Neliel wouldn't mind more. Or Harribel. But no, we don't get it. Power goes to the guy who wants to be weak just so he can have friends like some fucking pathetic human."

Neliel reached out, her hand curling into a fist.

But Zaraki reached there first. His hand slammed straight into Grimmjow's face, fingers spread out and with a force strong enough to send him straight into a wall.

"Stop fucking whining about it," Zaraki growled, cracking his knuckles as he loomed over Neliel's mate. "If you want more power, then you take it for yourself. Go train or something like that."

He smiled, all teeth. "Better yet, fight me."

Grimmjow growled, eyes narrowing as he leapt at Zaraki, hands extended towards his throat. Zaraki's smile widened into a bloodthirsty grin, and he grabbed Grimmjow by the wrist and threw him straight into the Division, scattering his own members. Then he was already taking off in shunpo, raising his sword into a yell that rocked the walls.

Neliel rolled her eyes and followed them in a more sedate pace. She knew that conversation was nearly impossible between the two of them – all they did whenever they saw each other was fight, simply because they communicated better that way.

She stepped aside as Zaraki went crashing into a wall, knocking half of it down. When the man stood up and charged again, she hoisted herself up to the conveniently-made seat and watched the fight, kicking her heels slightly against the concrete to test its integrity.

Later on, when they had the preliminary punching-each-other's-faces stage finished and actually started using their weapons, she would join in the fight. Because Zaraki was right – if they wanted more power, they would have to get it themselves, and there was no better way to get stronger than to fight against an opponent who was giving it his all.

There were still plenty of questions she had regarding what Zaraki had told them about Starrk and Lilynette. Most importantly, she wanted to know how it was possible for someone to have two zanpaktou, much less one that used to belong to someone of a completely different species. But those were not questions Zaraki could answer, and she knew Grimmjow would be interested as well, if only to know if he could replicate the process.

In fact, she wouldn't put it past him to randomly decide to kill a Shinigami just to steal their zanpaktou. She would have to stop him then, because she honestly doubted that this was the way that things were done, and she would really rather not have Seireitei and Soul Society closed to them simply because of her mate's idiocy.

"Grind, Pantera!"

The explosion of reiatsu took out another wall. Out of the corner of her eye, Neliel watched as some of the low-ranked Shinigami took cover.

She grinned, drawing Gamuza before jumping straight into the fray.

Questions could be dealt with later.

---

Las Noches had changed ever since the days of Aizen. Instead of flawless white skyscrapers made of packed white sands, there were only crumbling buildings, half-height to Menos Grande, with small mounds of sand stretching as far as the eye could see.

The only part that was whole, repaired, was her old wing. It was a single tower, stretching upwards to the skies, almost entirely hidden by brokenness except for the very tip that shone stark white in the eternal moonlight of Hueco Mundo.

Harribel crossed her arms, leaning against the wall, and waited. She wasn't sure that the person she was waiting for would come – she didn't give an exact timing, after all, because that would be trying her luck a little too much – but she had a feeling that she would see her today.

When Lilynette appeared, practically teleporting without the blurry hint that always accompanied a sonido, Harribel's eyes widened. She couldn't help it; not with how much the girl had changed.

The last she had seen Lilynette, her mask fragment was a full helmet with two horns – one blunt, one almost-sharp – rising upwards from the top of her head. And she was small: small in body, small in power, with her reiatsu barely a blip on Harribel's radar for it was weaker than even Apacci's, the youngest and weakest of her fraccions.

Now Lilynette's power felt like the ocean itself, wide and encompassing, weighing down the air. Harribel was the one with the power over water, and yet Lilynette's sheer strength washed over her like the tides, threatening to drag her down into it until she drowned.

Slowly, her lips curled up into a smile.

"So you have decided to take your rightful strength back from Starrk," she murmured.

Lilynette grinned, a curve of the lips so wide that her teeth were bared. Her canines, Harribel noted, were sharper and longer than they used to be.

"Nope," she chirped. "His power hasn't lessened at all. I simply decided to let loose a little bit."

Harribel's hand reached forward, tracing the air above Lilynette's face. The mask fragment had been reduced to merely an eyepatch wrapped around the girl's head. That must be the reason for it then.

There was a thought nudging at the back of her head, a muffled scream of warning. She was aware, far too aware, of how much danger Lilynette posed; how much danger she and Starrk together would pose to Harribel's den of four if they decided to take them on. Apacci, Mila-Rose and Sung-Sun would be no match against Lilynette now, and they would be completely slaughtered if Starrk's power was added onto it. For all of Harribel's power, for all that she could call water to her despite the vast desert without a single drop of the liquid around them, she wouldn't be able to defeat both of them if they decided to attack.

That was if Lilynette was telling the truth.

She wanted so badly to remind Lilynette of the proposed alliance. There might be no honour amongst Hollows, true, but it might serve as a deterrent, if nothing else.

The light in Lilynette's red eye – red, a colour so much more dangerous than pink – was knowing and sorrowful. She hooked her thumbs through the sash tied around her colourful yukata (at least she isn't dressing like a Shinigami), cocking her head to the side.

"So are you going to tell me what you call me here for, or are you going to stand there staring at me for the whole time?" she asked.

In that moment, Harribel decided to take a gamble.

She nodded. "Come on, then," she said, her voice as quiet as it always was. "I'll bring you to the den."

They began to walk. There was seki-seki stone littered around the area, dampening their power. The sands, too, were perilous, with the remnants of old guard Hollows buried deep underneath the sands, simply awaiting for prey to come to them.

All those were simply excuses. Harribel knew that the reason why she chose walking over a much faster and more expedient way of travel was simply because she wanted the time to look at Lilynette. To watch her; to see if she was any threat to her and her den.

"You Alphas are all the same," Lilynette drawled. "Always thinking in terms of territories and threats."

Harribel blinked.

"Don't worry," the girl continued, tipping her head up to meet blue eyes with red. "We don't want this place. It is way too run-down, and our territory in Soul Society is far nicer."

There it was again, that warning scream in Harribel's mind. She ignored it with effort, closing her eyes, and instead latched onto the first thing that came to her mind.

"I didn't realise that you're an Alpha."

Lilynette laughed, a sound that would be light if not for the hint of bitterness hidden within it.

"I'm not," she shrugged. "I just know how to talk to one."

Harribel raised an eyebrow; a silent question.

"No, I'm not a Beta either," Lilynette sighed irritably. She paused, tugging at the ends of her hair. "I think I'm neither, or both, or whatever you call it."

After a moment, when Harribel said and did nothing other than simply stare at her, Lilynette rolled her eyes.

"Look, I'm not quite sure why it is this way, alright?" she told her. "I'm pretty sure things have always been like that. Probably something to do with how closely-tied I am to Starrk, or something similar like that. Honestly, I really don't give a fuck. It's like as if either of us would ever want kids anyway."

"That's a shame," Harribel replied, lips twitching beneath the high collar of her shirt. "Any children the two of you have would be incredibly powerful."

Lilynette snorted. "And incredibly crazy too," she shook her head.

"That's only a misconception," Harribel replied, resisting the urge to roll her own eyes. "The Hollow children who do end up insane are the simply ones who have not been properly cared for."

Suddenly, Lilynette stopped. If Harribel wasn't walking a slight distance away, she would have bumped into her. Turning, she blinked, cocking her head to the side at the wide-eyed look on Lilynette's face.

"You're speaking out of experience, aren't you?" the girl asked.

"Is that really so surprising?" Harribel raised an eyebrow.

The single red eye glazed over as Lilynette thought. She raised a hand, tapping on her lip. "Not really," she said softly. "I was just... taken aback, because I've never heard anything of the sort, and your mates aren't really the type to be able to keep secrets."

"You mean that Apacci isn't one who can keep her mouth shut," Harribel corrected, now more than a little amused. "Do you think my mates are so thoughtless to be incapable of keeping their mouths shut about our children? Especially when Aizen had cameras all around?"

"I thought you were loyal to Aizen," Lilynette said dryly.

"My loyalty and my children's loyalty are not one and the same," Harribel shrugged. "All of them have been full-grown for decades, with their own Packs to care for. They have no obligation to follow me any longer."

There was a strange shift in Lilynette's eyes. Harribel blinked when she recognised it: respect, the sort given from one equal to another. And she was immediately angry, instincts raising her hackles, for the thought of this girl, this child, being her equal was...

Was perfectly justified.

No matter how innocuous she looked in this form, no matter how thin her shoulders or the fact that she was so short that her hair barely brushed Harribel's shoulders, Harribel was perfectly aware that Lilynette was still half of the Primera Espada; still the very same creature who was known and feared as the moving mountain of bones. The ocean of her power was simply the tip of the iceberg; Harribel could feel the untold levels leashed deep within her, tightly controlled as if she was afraid of hurting Harribel with the force of it.

So instead of replying, she turned away, staring straight ahead. The tower where she had made her den was in front of them, and she raised a hand, sending out a pulse of her reiatsu. The defences she had woven into the tower, designed based on some of Szayel's half-destroyed notes and from the memories of the one times she had watched Aizen raise the wards, retreated. Slowly, like ink spreading upon wood, a door appeared.

She made to step inside, but Lilynette's hand on her sleeve stopped her.

"Are you sure about bringing me inside your den?" the girl asked, her one visible eyebrow arched. "I haven't agreed to your alliance yet."

"Would you like to agree now?" Harribel asked mildly.

"Not until you tell me why you called me all the way here."

"I thought I would just show you."

Lilynette rolled her eyes. "Look, I know that you don't like talking all that much," she said dryly. "But I'd like some answers before I go inside."

"There's no one in there who is capable of harming you."

"But you didn't know that until you saw me," came the counter. "How am I sure that this wasn't planned as a trap?"

Harribel sighed, heavy and weighted. She tipped her head upwards to stare at the moon. It looked the same as always, yellow-grey and emitting a dull light. And, like always, it gave her no answers.

But she supposed that she needed none from the moon; the frustration on Lilynette's face told her enough.

"I asked you here for a favour, and that is the truth," she said finally. "One of my sons wishes to break his mask and become an Arrancar. He came to me for advice for the process, but I remember little of it, and none which could help him – my mask was broken with the aid of the Hogyouku, after all. You are the only one I know of who broke it herself."

"One of your sons?" Lilynette practically yelped. "How many kids do you have?"

Harribel couldn't help it; her shoulders shook with silent laughter. "Two daughters and a son from Mila-Rose, my first mate," she murmured. "One son and one daughter from Sung-Sun, my second. Five in all."

Lilynette blinked at her.

"What about Apacci?" she asked.

"Apacci is my third," Harribel explained serenely. "She came to the Pack just months before we met Aizen, far too soon for children. Then the danger of war is far too great for such things."

"... Hah," Lilynette said. "That's a lot of kids."

Now it was Harribel's turn to be surprised. "Is it? I have known Adjuchas who have children up to dozens. For one my age, having only five is rather restrained."

Lilynette fell silent. "Well, I suppose that you don't have the kind of worries I do," she said finally.

Before Harribel could speak, the girl was already stepping into the still-open door.

"Well?" she asked, tipping her head back. "Are you going to bring me to see your son or not?"

As they walked down the hallways that had not truly changed since the time when Aizen ruled Las Noches, Harribel reflected that there was truly no need whatsoever to ask about Lilynette's worries. Given what she knew about the girl's strength before she split herself into two, it was obvious: any children she might have ran the risk of dying the moment they were born, or even before, simply because of the weight of reiatsu that surrounded them.

That was if she could find a mate who would be able to survive her presence without dying.

She brought Lilynette to the main congregating area of her den. It was the biggest room in the wing, and, in the past, it was where she would receive visitors. Though the scar on her chest still ached at times when she thought of Aizen's betrayal, she did not see why she should change her habits. This wing had always been hers to use as she saw fit, and Aizen's defeat simply solidified that.

When she pushed the door of the room open, her mates and son were waiting.

"Welcome back, Harribel-sama," her mates greeted. As always, their eyes had turned towards the door the moment she stepped in.

"Welcome back, Sire," her son said, inclining his head in a bow a little lower than one given between equals.

Harribel nodded to them. She unzipped her shirt, tossing the scrap of material towards Mila-Rose before she perched herself on one of the tables. There was no need to hide the bone that covered her from cheek to neck here in this room, amongst her Pack.

Wryly, she hoped that Lilynette would understand the show of trust as it was. Though she didn't have much hope for that.

"Lilynette," she said, waving towards her son. "This is my youngest, Tier Yan-Sung."

Single red eye narrowed as it took in the sight of the boy, and Harribel turned to take a long look at him herself.

Yan-Sung was tall, taller than Harribel herself, with long dark hair streaked with gold that spilled down to mid-back. His build was slender, though the bone armour that covered his entire body added bulk. There was nothing of his face visible, hidden as it was beneath a mask full of shark-like teeth, with its cheeks patterned with tiny, crescent-shapes like a snake's skin.

The mask of a born Hollow was the truest sign of its parentage. Harribel's son was a falcon type – as proven by how his mask jutted out into a beak – but there was no denying the Pack he was born into.

"You're Sung-Sun's kid, aren't you," Lilynette stated wryly.

"She is my Dam," Yang-Sun admitted, nodding.

"So," Lilynette said, grabbing a chair and turning it backwards before sitting on it. "Start shooting those oh-so-damned-important questions. You've dragged me all the way from Soul Society for them, so they better be entertaining."

Apacci started forward, her eyes narrowed. But Sung-Sun caught her hand, pulling her back before she spoke in that soft, half-muffled voice she was so familiar with.

"Shouldn't you be directing your questions more politely, Lilynette-san?" she asked.

Lilynette gave her a wry look. She sighed, grabbing the back of her chair before she stood up, balancing herself on top of it so she could look down at the little gathering.

"Look, I'll take this for a bit of a misunderstanding, okay?" she said. "I'm not a fraccion anymore. Ranks like that pretty much died when Aizen decided that trying to slash up your Alpha is a good idea. And speaking of your Alpha, she knows where the two of us stand. So I think you need to switch off your brain for a bit and see what your instincts are telling you."

Harribel's mask fragment completely obscured any expressions she might make, and she was gladder for it than ever. She didn't think her mates would be particularly pleased to know that she was smirking at them.

A potential enemy or not, she decided that she liked the person that Lilynette had changed into. The girl had always been rude, but she used to be easily cowed, only displaying her ferocity with Starrk, with whom she felt safest. She had clung to the man like a duckling to its mother, hanging onto his coattails constantly, barely speaking to anyone else. Despite Harribel making some overtures of friendliness – female Hollows were rare creatures, after all – there had never been once when Lilynette had looked her in the eye.

Now Starrk was nowhere in sight, and Lilynette was staring straight into the eyes of every single person in the room, practically baring her teeth with the wideness of her grin.

This, Harribel decided, was a woman she could respect. It was truly a pity that Lilynette was not a Beta; she would make for a strong mate.

Or perhaps not, she thought, blinking slightly at the looks of shocked surprise on the faces of her current mates. It would be far too much trouble, if the fear she could see flashing in three separate pairs of eyes was any indication.

Even Yang-Sun, her youngest and the closest to her in raw power, seemed to doubt himself. It was a subtle thing, merely a flash of uncertainty in his eyes as he looked at Lilynette, but Harribel knew him too well to be fooled.

"I think you have made your point clear, Lilynette," she said, her soft voice echoing throughout the room. "Yang-Sun, go on."

"Lilynette-san," he began, inclining his head politely towards the girl. "I wish to break my mask. My Sire told me that you are the only one she knew who accomplished the feat without the interference of the Shinigami's Hogyouku."

He made to continue, but Lilynette held up at hand. She dropped back to sit down on the chair. "Okay, stop," she sighed, rubbing the back of her head. "Don't even think about it."

Yang-Sun blinked. If his mouth was visible, he would be gaping. Harribel didn't blame him; she felt the same way.

"Why?" he croaked out.

"Two reasons," Lilynette said, holding up two fingers. "First and most importantly, you're making a conscious decision here. That already tells me it's a really bad idea. When I broke my mask, it was completely unconscious. I wasn't even thinking about it." She hesitated for a moment before shaking her head hard. "It was just... a very strong desire that took over me all of the sudden. My mask was broken even before I could think."

She took a deep breath. "Afterwards, I don't remember anything about what came before. I only remember now because... well, because of stuff that's not relevant and which I don't want to talk about."

Yang-Sun clearly wanted to argue, but Harribel glared at him. He took a deep breath. "Alright," he nodded. "What is the second reason?"

Lilynette shrugged. "You're not nearly powerful enough to survive."

"What?!" This time, the surprise came from all five of Harribel's Pack.

Rolling her eyes, Lilynette tugged at the ends of her hair again. "When I broke my mask, I have at least three times your current level of reiatsu. Maybe even four."

Three... Harribel's eyes widened. Surely not?

"You're exaggerating!" Apacci accused, always the first to speak up despite her lack of seniority. But Harribel could see the finger she was pointing at Lilynette was shaking.

"Okay, maybe not four times," Lilynette shrugged. "At least three though. Definitely enough to tell you that you're way too weak to survive it."

"But we were Adjuchas when we broke our mask," Mila-Rose spoke up now, a frown creasing her brow. "We are still alive now, aren't we?"

"Your masks broke because of the Hogyouku," Lilynette pointed out. "I'm really not sure what that thing does, but becoming an Arrancar with its help is very different than without it."

"How would you know?" Apacci challenged.

Lilynette scratched her head, finger slipping beneath her mask fragment. "Eh, if you don't want to believe me, then don't," she snorted. "It's not as if I have experience or anything."

Harribel stepped forward, essentially silencing any other protests that her Pack might wish to make. "Will you explain to us the process of becoming an Arrancar to us, Lilynette?"

"Shinigamification," Lilynette grinned. "We can call it that. Since the Shinigami call becoming a Visored 'Hollowification'."

Apacci snorted. "Yeah, sure, whatever," she waved a hand. "Start talking already."

"Okay, okay," Lilynette huffed. "Jeez, you're rude, aren't you?"

She received only glares in reply. For some reason, that made her grin even wider.

Then she sobered, sighing.

"It's like being torn apart into a million pieces all at the same time," she said. "Look, I'm not sure how to explain it properly, but... uh... you know a Shinigami is only composed of a single soul, right? While a Hollow is composed of a crap lot of them?"

"Yes," Harribel nodded. She shot warning glances towards her mates, telling them without words to be patient.

"So, when you become an Arrancar, you separate the dominant soul from the rest," Lilynette continued. "To put it bluntly, it's... it's like fighting every single Hollow you have ever eaten all at the same time. And you have to make sure that you win against them, or you... well, you explode."

She took in the shock on their faces and sighed. "That's why I'm trying to tell the kid that he's not ready for it," she said, propping her head on the back of the chair. "When you're ready for it, when your soul has absorbed enough pure reiatsu from the Hollows you have eaten and you're strong enough to take on every single soul in your collection, your instincts will tell you. But, you know, I don't think you can be sure that you can survive the process even then."

"Why?" Harribel cocked her head.

"You know that Aizen pretty much scoured Hueco Mundo for soldiers, yeah?" Lilynette waved a hand. "Why is it that he only found one natural Arrancar out of the... I don't know how many Hollows there are around here, but I can bet that there are a lot. And I'm not egoistical enough to think that I was the only one to try it."

Yang-Sun spoke up. "Lilynette-san, you're implying that Arrancar is the next natural step of evolution for a Hollow, after the Vasto Lorde stage?"

Lilynette looked uncomfortable for a moment, rubbing the back of her neck. "Maybe," she said finally. "Given that I'm the only one out there, I honestly have no clue. If you can find another Arrancar not made by the Hogyouku, then maybe you can get a proper answer."

Apacci snorted. "What makes you think that we can find someone like that when Aizen couldn't?"

"For one thing," Lilynette said, mouth twitching slightly, "there was one of him, and there are five of you. Even if you count Ichimaru and Tousen, you still outnumber them."

She shrugged, a sly smile curving up her lips. "Besides, aside from the sex, there isn't much else for you to do here, is there?"

This time, Harribel truly couldn't help herself. She chuckled, soft and quiet, her shoulders shaking. She could feel the wide, astounded eyes of her Pack on her, and she wasn't surprised; for her to laugh like that was to collapse into helpless giggles while rolling on the floor for anyone else.

"Harribel-sama?" Apacci asked, sounding as unsure as she had on her first day within the Pack.

Ignoring her for the moment, Harribel fixed her eyes on Lilynette. "We'll look," she said. "If we can find another natural Arrancar, we'll ask them for their opinion before making a move."

"What if we cannot find any, Sire?"

Harribel turned to look at her son. If she was capable of it, she would be smiling, soft and wry. Was it only two hundred years ago that he was newly born?

"I am no longer your Pack Alpha, Yang-Sun," she said lowly. "You may do as you wish, even without my blessing."

"Just know that you might die if you try," Lilynette chirped. "Or go completely crazy, that's possible too."

She blinked at the onslaught of three glares on her. "What? I'm trying to help."

"You're not being helpful," Mila-Rose told her testily.

"Fine," Lilynette huffed. She flounced off her chair. "Then I'll just go back then. Unless you have other questions?"

Apacci and Mila-Rose looked perfectly ready for her to leave. Even Sung-Sun, whose expressions were usually hidden behind her voluminous sleeve, was glaring daggers. Harribel shook her head.

"Just one more," she murmured. "Have you given further thought to the alliance I proposed?"

Lilynette watched her silently for a long, tense minute. Then she gave Harribel a smile, an insincere stretch of the lips.

"If Starrk and I agree to it, will you be convinced that we are no threat to you and yours?" she asked.

Harribel blinked.

"You see, Starrk and I aren't really a Pack," Lilynette said, tugging at the ends of her hair again. "We're the same person, except not really. It's complicated."

She took a deep breath, and shook her head. "And even if we are, it's still pretty obvious that you guys need us more than we need you, even if it's just information about the Shinigami's movements. The two of us can deal with any incoming threats, so we don't really need you. Not like you need us."

"What are you trying to say, Lilynette?" Harribel asked, cocking her head to the side.

"We don't want allies," Lilynette replied, turning away. "We want friends. Comrades. If... if this alliance of yours lets you get one step closer to seeing us as that, then... then we'll agree."

"You're a strange person, Lilynette-san," Yang-Sun noted. Harribel had to agree. Starrk and Lilynette were the only Hollows she had ever known who had ever talked about comrades or friends.

For creatures like them, there was Pack, and there was Everyone Else. Any other titles were simply superfluous. Harribel herself was already considered odd by other Vasto Lordes and Adjuchas because she cared for her children who had already left the Pack.

Lilynette gave him a crooked smile. "Yeah, we're weird," she waved a hand. "So..."

Harribel shook her head. "It's difficult to give you an answer when we do not know exactly what you're asking for," she said.

"Hollows don't make friends." The sneer in Apacci's voice was badly and hastily hidden.

There was a flash in Lilynette's eyes, something like understanding wrapped around a multitude of other emotions that Harribel could not name.

"Look," she sighed heavily. "I'm not asking that much from you. Just a bit of trust just so that you stop looking at me as if I'm a feral dog about to tear your throat out."

Harribel hesitated for a moment. She knew what she was about to say would be badly received, and her mates were vulnerable here. Not to mention her den itself; if Lilynette decided to fight, then surely it would be completely destroyed.

Yet at the same time, she could tell that Lilynette's dearest wish was simply to be seen as a friend, whatever that might mean. She did not understand it, but she knew that it would be a deterrent strong enough to make the girl hesitate before attacking at least.

"It is difficult to do so," she said finally, keeping her voice as flat and non-threatening as possible. "You have become so much more powerful since the last we met you. What guarantees do I have that you will not gain more power, much less use it against us?"

Lilynette opened her mouth, but Harribel raised a hand, stopping her.

"Furthermore, the nature of your reiatsu has changed," she said. "You feel more like a Shinigami than a Hollow now. I do not know the cause for it, but it makes it far more difficult for me to trust you."

"Why?" Lilynette asked. The question was so quiet that Harribel had to strain to hear her.

"My instincts are already calling you an enemy," she answered.

"Then why do you ask me to come, then?" Lilynette asked, her eye narrowed. "Why did you bring me here to your den if you distrust me that much?"

A Hollow's den was its safe place, one they would protect from threats at any cost. Most of the time, no one but the Pack were allowed inside. Harribel had to admit that the question was perfectly valid.

"Because I thought your power levels had not changed," she admitted, carefully not averting her gaze. "Because I thought that you could do no harm to my Pack."

"What about afterwards?"

"I can still stop you long enough for my mates and son to escape, even now."

Lilynette sagged. She raised her hands, dropping her face into it and rubbing it hard.

"That hasn't changed, you know," she whispered. "Just because I'm more powerful now doesn't mean I'm a different person."

"But you are," Harribel countered immediately. "You're hardly the same girl who could hardly look me in the eye due to fear, Lilynette."

The girl shook her head. "That's not what I mean."

"Then what do you mean?" Apacci hissed, clearly frustrated. Harribel sent her a warning look.

"I have never wanted to hurt anyone," Lilynette answered. "Starrk and I have never wanted to. No matter our power, no matter our strength, that has not changed."

Harribel didn't move. But she was sure that Lilynette could feel the weight of her scepticism in the air.

"Well, I will hurt you if you harm those I care about," Lilynette sighed, dragging a hand through her hair. "But all you want is to protect yourselves and each other. So why would we attack you?"

Apacci opened her mouth agaon, but Mila-Rose placed a hand on her arm, pulling her back.

"We only have your word for that, Lilynette," the most even-tempered of Harribel's mates said.

"You would only have our word if we have an alliance," Lilynette said dryly "If that's not enough for you, then why are you asking for it in the first place?"

Harribel had to admit that she made a good point.

Crossing her arms beneath her chest, she considered her options. There were only two: firstly, she could continue to think of Lilynette – and Starrk – as a potential threat due to their power, move to a different den, and cut off the possibility of having a warning of any attack of the Shinigami from them; secondly, she could trust Lilynette to keep her word and gain both information and great power that they could call upon if there was need.

The first option was far from ideal, for she knew that if she lost the potential of a warning system, Grimmjow and Neliel would rethink their current position on the alliance. The second option meant that Harribel's entire Pack would have to constantly tamper their instincts.

Honestly, the choice was clear.

She glanced at her mates, warning them to keep their silence, before she spoke.

"We'll trust your word," she said. Only long centuries of calm helped to hide her trepidation and the struggle she was having with her instincts.

"I suppose asking you to see us as comrades is too much to ask, is it?" Lilynette raised her visible eyebrow.

"It is," Harribel nodded. For the simple reason that Harribel had no idea what that even meant, much less what it felt like to see someone else as a comrade. Even during Aizen's reign over Las Noches, the Espada had never been comrades; they were a group of Packs bound together by a fragile alliance formed through shared fear, and respect for some, for a more powerful being.

Lilynette sighed, dropping her head back and slumping on the chairs. "And people wonder why Starrk and I always see our power as a curse," she muttered.

Harribel blinked. "No, I can't say I can understand that."

"Well, I don't expect you to," Lilynette shrugged. She stood up, stretching her hands above her head.

"I'm going back now," she said. Then she froze. "Oh, there's just one last thing."

Was she going to set further conditions regarding the alliance?

"How did you think to ask me instead of Starrk about the whole Arrancar thing?"

Well, that was unexpected. Harribel was glad once more for the mask fragment that cover half of her entire face; it hid her relief.

"The moving mountain of bones resembled you," she answered. "Not Starrk."

"Don't call us that," Lilynette snapped. She rubbed her face again with her knuckles. "And I guess that makes sense, yeah."

Harribel watched as she turned towards the door, thumbs hooked over the sash on her waist.

"Aren't you going to use a Garganta?" she asked mildly.

"I don't know if the Shinigami are keeping track of comings and goings," Lilynette said, tipping her head back to look her in the eye. "I'd rather not take the risk of them finding out that there are still Hollows living in Las Noches. It'll probably make you more paranoid."

"With good reason," Apacci muttered, just loud enough to be heard.

"Yeah, yeah," Lilynette waved a hand. "See you."

She disappeared. After a moment, when Harribel was sure that the force of her reiatsu could not be felt, she turned to Yang-Sun.

"Follow her," she said. "Tell me where she opened the Garganta so we can avoid the place."

Her son blinked, but he nodded quickly enough. "Yes, Sire."

"Don't get caught," she warned. "Stifle your reiatsu as much as you can."

Without another word, the boy swept out of the room to follow her orders. When he was gone, Harribel turned back to her Pack.

"I still think the whole alliance thing is a bad idea," Apacci said immediately, the words practically bursting out of her. "I don't trust her."

Sung-Sun's eyes turned from the door to her. "For the first time, I have to agree with Apacci, Harribel-sama."

If Harribel was more prone to emotional display, she would have sighed. Instead, she only shook her head.

"It is far more useful for us to trust her than not," she said.

"Do we really need their power so badly?" Mila-Rose ventured.

Looking away from them out of the window, Harribel closed her eyes. She sent out her pesquisa, tracking Yang-Sun's reiatsu. He was already more than a mile away from the den, keeping far out of the range of Lilynette's sight as possible.

"I have a feeling that we will," Harribel murmured. "If not now, then far in the future."

"You think the Shinigami will attack us, then?" Mila-Rose asked.

"If that's the case, then we should hit them first," Apacci added fiercely.

Harribel shook her head. "No," she said. "There are only four of us, and they have an army with Captains aplenty who can fight even me to a standstill. It will be sheer folly to strike first."

She opened her eyes, one hand reaching out to splay against the window.

"In any case, I do not think that the threat will come from the Shinigami," she continued. "They are still too busy rebuilding."

"Then who?" this time, the outburst came from Mila-Rose.

It was a question that Harribel had asked herself ever since she started having these feelings of phantom doom approaching. And, even now, she still had no answer.

"There is still too much out in the all three worlds that we still do not know," she said after a long moment of silence. "Still, whatever it is or might be, we will need Starrk and Lilynette's strength beside us."

She didn't need to turn around to know that all three of her mates were staring at her in shock and befuddlement. It was not a matter of ego for Harribel to admit that she was the strongest Hollow in the whole of Hueco Mundo at the moment, so for her to say that there was an incoming threat to them that she would not be able to deal with, that didn't come from the Shinigami…

Truth to be told, she disliked telling them any of this. No Alpha liked the thought of having their mates be afraid for it implied that they were incapable of defending them. There was always a risk of their mates leaving for someone stronger and more capable.

But Harribel had been out-classed before, had suffered defeat before, and had known herself to make mistakes. Her Pack had been with her throughout it all, and she knew now that her mates' loyalty ran far deeper than safety.

If she was human or Shinigami, she would call it love.

Turning away from the window, she caught all three gazes with her own. "But we cannot depend entirely on their strength," she said. "We must strengthen ourselves."

So they could be strong enough to hold back an invading force long enough for call for reinforcement, if nothing else.

The three of them exchanged a glance with each other.

"Of course, Harribel-sama," Mila-Rose said, agreeing with them.

"We'll begin now," Harribel nodded. "Come, let us leave the den."

"What about Yang-Sun, Harribel-sama?" Sung-Sun spoke up.

Reaching out with her power, Harribel felt the emptiness where Lilynette's reiatsu had been. So she had already left.

"He'll be returning soon," she answered. "He will be able to find us."

She swept towards the door. "Now come," she said again, this time letting the impatience show in her voice.

As Mila-Rose helped her put her shirt back on, her eyes narrowed.

There was much to do. They would need to try to search for another naturally-made Arrancar, and she would also have to make some trips of the Living World to see what information she could find about creatures who we neither Shinigami, Hollow, nor Human. In between those, she would have to seek out the many Numeros who had scattered once Aizen fell to bring them to the fold. There wouldn't be many of them, and they wouldn't be terribly powerful, but there was no harm in having numbers on her side.

Something was coming. And Harribel would meet it prepared.

After all, if Aizen could create an army, then why couldn't she?

---

Deep in the forests surrounding the Thirteenth Division, Rukia went through her forms. Sode no Shirayuki, already released, danced around her, ribbon fluttering through the air as ice gathered and solidified in the middle of summer's leaves and flowers.

The heat in the forest was greater than back in the Division's training grounds. Rukia told herself, again, that this was the only reason that she was here; that she wasn't afraid or nervous about making mistakes in front of those of her Division.

Her sword chided her for it; for being hide from her own Division; from those who should be her comrades. But Rukia couldn't believe her; not when the Thirteenth hadn't been her home ever since Kaien-dono and Miyako-dono had died.

After going through a few more repetitions of the forms, Rukia felt a very familiar reiatsu approaching. She hid a smile; there were only two people in all three words who felt like this, and she doubted that Starrk would have any reason to approach.

Sure enough, Lilynette appeared. Unlike Starrk, whose sonido left no trace and who appeared as if he teleported, Lilynette still left shadows of herself along the path she took. And Rukia couldn't help but feel relieved, for though it might be selfish, she was glad that Lilynette wasn't as powerful as her other half.

It made catching up to her much easier.

As if to prove her point to herself, her body leapt towards Lilynette. Sode no Shirayuki's white ribbon whipped through the air, and Lilynette barely had time to dodge before a pillar of ice appeared right where she was standing a moment ago.

"Hey," Rukia said.

"Hey to you too," Lilynette snorted in reply. She crossed her arms, sitting cross-legged in mid-air. "You greet everyone you meet like that?"

"Only those who interrupt my training," Rukia shot back, voice prim.

"Even if they came here to congratulate you?"

"For what?" Rukia widened her eyes, making them look as large and innocent and possible. "I haven't done anything worth congratulating."

Lilynette rolled her eyes. In a burst of sonido, she appeared right beside Rukia, reaching out and smacking her lightly on the back of her head.

"You know what I'm talking about!"

"Ow! I don't!"

This time, Lilynette aimed a kick at her shins. Rukia barely managed to dodge.

"You're going to be promoted to Lieutenant soon, right?" Lilynette asked, single red eye narrowed as she stood with her hands crossed over her chest. "Or did floating bamboo lie to me?"

Rukia felt a tinge of guilt. Alright, so she shouldn't have played the denial game with someone still with trust issues, especially when it called the integrity of her Captain into question.

She sighed, rubbing the spot where Lilynette had smacked her. "Ukitake-taichou wasn't lying," she said. And, because she couldn't help herself, "But I'm still right."

"Really?" Lilynette drawled.

"Mm," Rukia nodded. She turned her eyes back down to her sword, stroking her thumb along the stark white hilt. "I haven't been promoted yet. I still have the tests to go through, so there's nothing to congratulate me about."

"That's just a formality," Lilynette dismissed, waving a hand like she was batting away all of Rukia's insecurities. "Far as I know, there are no other candidates. And floating bamboo said that he has been keeping the post open for a time when you'll be ready for it."

Rukia blinked. "What?"

Ukitake-taichou definitely hadn't told her that part. She had always thought that he had kept the post of Lieutenant open out of respect for Kaien-dono's memory.

But then it wouldn't make sense for him to have promoted Kentarou and Kiyone to Third Seats, would it? Ukitake-taichou had loved Miyako-dono too; had seen her as a daughter like he had seen Kaien-dono as his son. Rukia had always… assumed.

Lilynette was looking at her, a small, wry smile quirking up her lips. "Well, what he actually said was that he was glad that," she lowered her voice, obviously trying to imitate the Thirteenth's Captain, "Byakuya-kun has released me from my promise. It's not that hard to figure things out from there."

Closing her eyes, Rukia sighed. She walked towards the nearest tree and leaned against it, crossing her arms.

She knew; she had always known that her brother had a strong hand in her career. He was the one who made sure that she graduated early from the Academy, after all. And though she had never known that Byakuya was the one who kept her at her post of unseated officer, she had always suspected that he had some hand in it.

Simply because he had never been disappointed at her lowly post when all logic and reason said that he should be.

"You know, I still can't tell how you figured things out even with that bad impersonation."

It was half a lie, spoken to fill the silence and get her thoughts out of the spiral of her brother not trusting her and trying to protect her in a way that nearly crushed her self-esteem entirely.

Lilynette's footsteps were loud and piercing through the soft noises of the forest. Rukia opened her eyes when the girl stopped in front of her, and she allowed herself to turn her head and nuzzle against the hand that Lilynette had placed on her cheek.

"Well," Lilynette said softly. "Floating bamboo is annoying, but he's not so dumb that he hasn't realised that your reiatsu levels far exceeds that of any unseated officer. So when he said that, I realised that your brother probably forced him into a corner with a promise. And with how stupidly fair he is, he can't in good conscience give anyone else the position of Lieutenant when you're the one who deserves it. That's how I figured that he's keeping it for you."

"You just called Ukitake-taichou stupid and not stupid in the same breath," Rukia pointed out, amused.

"He is both," Lilynette huffed, sounding annoyed. Her fingers folded, and she rubbed Rukia's jaw with her knuckles gently.

Slowly, Rukia reached up, pushing the hand on her face away. But she didn't let go, keeping her eyes on Lilynette's, taking in the flicker of hurt that the other girl was trying to hide.

"Do you remember what I told you?" she murmured.

"Which part?" Lilynette asked. Her gaze flickered from Rukia's hand on her wrist and Rukia's face. "You told me a lot of things."

"I told you to wait."

Now Lilynette settled her eye on the ground, seeming to find some grass blades to be absolutely fascinating. "Are you going to tell me not to anymore?"

"No," Rukia said honestly.

Lilynette jerked her head up. She blinked, confusion clear in her eye. "I don't get it."

Despite the deep, instinctive urge to turn away; despite how her skin itched where she was touching Lilynette; Rukia stayed where she was. She had forced Ichigo to face his demons and beaten some form of insight into his head no matter how much he had to run away from it. She wasn't going to turn around and do the same now.

If there was anything Rukia had learned during the war and its aftermath, it was her hatred of lies, hidden truths, and hypocrisy. Lilynette had helped with that, whether or not she meant to do so.

She took a deep breath.

"I said I was thinking about it, but… it wasn't about whether I like you or not," she said. "I know that I already do."

Lilynette opened her mouth, but Rukia shook her head hard.

"I wanted… want you to wait because things aren't equal between us," she continued. The hand not holding onto Lilynette was slowly clenching into a fist by her side. "You're so much more powerful than I am, Lilynette. Even if I get promoted to Lieutenant, your power levels are more akin to a Captain's." Not Ukitake-taichou or Kyouraku-taichou, certainly not, but Lilynette would give Komamura-taichou or even Ichimaru – before he was stripped of his reiatsu – a run for their money. "I want to get stronger first.

"And it's not just that," she barrelled on, refusing to acknowledge the brimming frustration in the other girl's eye. "It's also that you don't have a place here just yet. I do – I'm going to be the Lieutenant of the Thirteenth. I'm part of the Kuchiki family. And it's not fair that I do and you don't."

She took a deep breath. "I want… I want to make sure that… if we're together, no one ever looks at you and sees only 'Kuchiki Rukia's pet Arrancar'."

Lilynette's eye widened. Slowly, she smiled, hesitant and shaky at the edges. "I'm not really an Arrancar anymore, you know," she said.

"That's even worse," Rukia pointed out. She knew it was a bad attempt at a joke, but this needed to be said. "If they can't classify you as anything, then they'll just look at you and see only me, and never bother to look further."

It was only nowadays that people had to clarify which Kuchiki they were talking about; previously, for long decades, there was only 'Kuchiki Byakuya' and 'his sister'.

She wouldn't wish that on anyone. Much less Lilynette.

And, judging by the slow-dawning comprehension in Lilynette's eye, she could tell what Rukia was trying to say without more words. That was a relief; Rukia didn't know what else she could say.

"Okay," Lilynette straightened abruptly. She reached out and took both of Rukia's hands in hers. "You'll have to get stronger. I have to find a way to prove myself. I think we can both do that, can't we?"

Rukia was tempted to tell her that acceptance was hard to gain, especially amongst near-immortals. She was tempted to say that her final goal – bankai – would be even more difficult to reach.

But she swallowed her words. They had time, she told herself. They had plenty of time. With Lilynette's strength, she wouldn't be dying soon. And Rukia wasn't planning on dying either.

"We can," she breathed out, leaning forward until her forehead touched Lilynette's. "I don't think there's anything that can stop us."

Lilynette grinned, the expression so bright that it lit up her entire face.

"But… you know, you said that you like me," she teased, reaching up with a finger to poke Rukia's cheek. "Don't I get a kiss for that?"

Rukia stared. She opened her mouth, closed it, repeated until she was acutely aware that she looked like a landed fish. But she still couldn't stop.

Then Lilynette leaned in and brushed her lips against her cheek.

"Don't look so shocked," came the drawling voice in her ear. "What kind of kiss do you think I was asking for?"

Blinking, Rukia stumbled backwards. She took in the wide grin on Lilynette's face; the way the red of her eyes were flecked with sparks of mirth; and reached out with both hands to punch the girl on the shoulders.

"Ow!"

"Pervert," she accused.

"Maybe," Lilynette shrugged. Her expression sobered for a moment. "Am I a pervert for knowing that if I kiss you, I won't ever be able to stop?"

Rukia stopped. She was tempted to stare again, but instead, she dropped her eyes down and tried to not tug on the ends of her hair.

"Only as much as it makes me one, I guess," she muttered.

Lilynette's fingers brushed over one cheek before drifting upwards. Nails scraped lightly over her hairline, and Rukia breathed out through her teeth so she wouldn't lean in or reach out to touch back.

"I have to train," she said flatly, stifling the warmth that was bursting inside her. She leapt – leapt, not skittered, she told herself – backwards until there was enough space between them to raise her sword.

Lilynette gave her a crooked smile. She didn't move, staying where she was. Her knowing gaze was almost a weight on her lungs, and Rukia knew that she was starting to flush.

In the back of her mind, she could hear Sode no Shirayuki laughing at her. She quite firmly told her sword to quit it.

"I can train with you," Lilynette said, cocking her head to the side. "Or I can watch."

Rukia swallowed down the instinctive response to tell her that the best thing she could do now was to go away and leave her alone until she could gather back the pieces of her dignity. But she made a promise, she was going to get stronger.

So she shifted into her usual stance for the First Dance instead, lifting her eyes up and giving Lilynette a challenging glare.

"Come on," she said. "Fight me."

The rasp of Lilynette's wakizashi against its scabbar bounced off the tall, high trees.

"Kick about, Los Lobos!"

As reiatsu burst out of Lilynette, hard enough to make the air itself shiver, Rukia grinned.

"Juhaku!"

And charged.

---

Shunsui had tried to dissuade him, but he knew this was something he had to do.

He went through all of the appropriate channels; followed the procedures given months ago. They told him that he was the first, and he stood there, unflinching beneath the Captain-Commander's sharp- and dark-eyed gaze, trying to communicate through his silences and halting words that this was meant to be an exorcism.

Perhaps the ghosts who lingered around him would only haunt him more after this, but this was a chance he had to take.

Now he stood in front of the wide double-doors leading towards the underground. Closing his eyes, he eased his breathing, ignoring the stares from the First Division guards at the two sides. Then, he reached out, brushing his reiatsu against the wood.

When the doors swung open, hinges creaking softly, it was a disappointment. There were no ghosts here, leering at him from the bars of their rotting cage. There was only darkness, seemingly bottomless, the white staircases leading downwards half-lit and grey beneath the flickering torchlights.

His feet made no sound as he took one step forward. Then another, another, until he was deep within the cavern with his hand on the wall and the sound of the doors slamming behind him.

The very moment his foot left the last step, the torches flared brighter. Light poured into the cavern, illuminating the long passageway. He took another breath and hissed it through his teeth, lidding his eyes heavily as the sound of his footsteps echoing hauntingly through the emptiness.

He knew he wasn't the only living creature here. But his pesquisa felt nothing – no low thrum of power, no strength whatsoever – and he clenched his fist as he made yet another turn down the winding passage.

When he reached his destination, he could hear the clanging of chains.

Aizen sat on a throne, surrounded by seki-seki.

For a moment, he could not breathe, for he looked almost like he did in Las Noches. But the high-backed chair was cast in yellow by the flickering torch-flames; but Aizen had never looked like this, swathed in black chains that bound him to the chair with thick stone bands wrapped around his legs. But Aizen's eye had never been covered, and the man had never looked so emancipated.

He felt himself breathe easier.

Standing there, hands loose by his sides, he looked at the man he had once thought to be his saviour.

"Starrk," Aizen said, and his voice had not changed. It was still the same calm tone, threaded with strange mirth and insinuations that Starrk never under grasp. "This is a surprise."

He looked at him, the man who wanted to be god but who was defeated by a boy. He took in the surprise in Aizen's single widened eye; took in the barely-noticeable tremor in his chained hands.

And Starrk smiled. It was not a cruel twist of the lips; it was gentle, soft at the edges.

"I'm your first ever visitor, aren't I?" he asked.

Aizen didn't answer. He merely looked at Starrk, lips pressed into a line. Starrk met the gaze, deliberately not turning away; deliberately keeping his silence despite all of his rehearsed lines aching to burst from him.

Finally, Aizen cocked his head. Only slightly; only as much as the chains binding him allowed. "What are you here for, Starrk?"

Starrk refused to let out the sigh of relief. Instead, he hooked his thumbs into the sash of his kimono, and gave Aizen a lopsided smile.

"I'm here to thank you," he murmured. "And to tell you what has happened with everyone, because I don't think you know."

And for Aizen, to not know was likely a heavier weight than the chains that bound him.

But the man didn't show any signs of gratitude. He merely shrugged, hands twitching slightly as if he was trying to make an imperious wave of a hand.

"Go on then."

Starrk didn't begin immediately. He looked away from Aizen instead, scanning the dark dirt ground of the Muken. Finding a spot, he dropped down to sit. A thick layer of dust exploded underneath him, and Starrk blinked, staring at it.

How often did anyone walk past? How long had it been since Aizen had looked upon another living creature?

Pushing the questions away, he started to speak.

"Lilynette made a friend," he said quietly, tipping his head up to look at Aizen. "Her name is Kuchiki Rukia. I think you know her; you took the Hogyouku from her." That was, he thought, more suitable than saying you tried to have her executed. "Lilynette told me that Kuchiki is training hard, and her Captain was talking about promoting her to Lieutenant soon."

Before Aizen could reply, he continued. "Speaking of Ukitake-taichou, he has started wearing his hair bound instead of loose. It's a little odd and I'm not very used to it, but Shunsui told me that he always wore his hair like that until a hundred years ago. So I guess that… it's returning to how things were, and I should get used to it."

He saw it; the way that Aizen's eye twitched slightly when Starrk spoke Shunsui's actual name, unadorned by any there was anyone who knew Starrk well enough to know that he always used nicknames or titles for those he thought would leave him, it was Aizen.

But Aizen didn't speak, and so he continued. "I heard that Hinamori is doing well. I think that it's true; the last time I met her, she looked at me in the eye and didn't turn away immediately. Her new Captain helped her a great deal. You know him too; Hirako Shinji."

Taking a deep breath and ignoring the way that Aizen's shoulders were growing tense enough to be seen through the darkness wrapped around him, he kept going. "He's not the only Captain who came back either. The other two are… I think they're called Otoribashi and Mugurama. I haven't spoken to them at all, but there aren't any reports or rumours of things going awry in their Divisions, so I guess they're doing well too."

"Starrk."

He stopped speaking. When Aizen didn't continue, he ducked his head to hide his smile.

"You've probably heard about Ichimaru's punishment. Things haven't changed much on that front, really, but…" he rubbed the back of his neck. "I think he's getting better. He doesn't refer to you as 'Aizen-taichou' anymore, I think, and… well, there have been quite a few sighs of relief."

Starrk had been preparing for this for days; had looked through the reports on Shunsui's desks. He usually didn't make such an effort to listen and know about the goings-on of Seireitei, but he needed to, this time.

"As for me…" his hand tugged on the collar of his kimono and he pulled down the cloth enough to show Aizen the healed-over Hollow hole; showed him the complete lack of collar on his neck.

"I've changed a little."

Aizen barked a laugh. Starrk watched as he took a breath; watched as the tension seemed to seep out of him.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked, mockery laced in every word. "Is this how you show your gratitude, Starrk?"

"No," Starrk shook his head. "But you wanted to know, didn't you?"

Silence again. This time, Starrk wasn't deterred by it. He stood up again, leaning in close to the bars. Even like this, so close to that he could feel the seki-seki stone draining his reiatsu, Aizen was still out of reach.

"I really do want to thank you," he said quietly, catching Aizen's gaze and holding it. "If you haven't found me, I wouldn't have met any of them. Lilynette and I would spend centuries more in Hueco Mundo, not knowing what was out there and not daring to venture out."

He quirked a small smile, perfectly sincere. "You led us out of the darkness, the loneliness. Even if you didn't mean to, you did keep your promise."

The best revenge, Starrk had read recently, was forgiveness.

Starrk didn't think the rule applied to everyone, but to Aizen… there was no mistaking the flash of sheer rage that flashed across his eyes.

Slowly, Aizen started to laugh. His shoulders shook, and the chains held him so tightly than his entire body was convulsing from the force of his low, quiet chuckles.

"You have learned to be cruel, Starrk," he said.

"Mm," Starrk nodded. He already knew that. What was his purpose here, after all, than to rub it into Aizen's face that people were moving on from his actions; that they were changing from the people he had made them to be; that his actions had, in the end, not given him more power and control but took them both from him?

"Do you think it will last?" Aizen said. His eye was narrowed, and there was a very familiar smile on his face. It was the smile Aizen gave him whenever he threw Starrk to the ground and fucked him until he bled and screamed.

"Do you really think that they will accept you?"

Instead of feeling hurt or afraid, Starrk found himself laughing. The knot in his chest that had been there ever since he first watched Aizen attack Harribel was loosening, and he breathed easier, laughed even harder.

"What makes you think they have?" he countered, keeping his own smile gentle. The words were harsh enough. "So many of them still look at Lilynette and I with suspicion and fear in their eyes. But we…"

He lifted his hands, showing off his bare wrists.

"We're getting there."

Aizen looked as if he was going to speak again, but Starrk interrupted him before he could start.

"Do you remember Hueco Mundo's moon?"

His throat was starting to hurt. It had been so long since he had spoken so much. But Starrk pushed down on the instinctive urge to stop, and forced himself to continue.

"The moon in Hueco Mundo emits a grey light. You know that I never knew that the sands were white until you brought me to Las Noches with its artificial sun. But… I have been thinking recently. Even if the light was grey, it still allows us to see. It is still light."

Finally giving into the urge to shove his hands into his pockets, Starrk widened his smile. "You shouldn't have created an artificial sun. The moon suits you so much more, Aizen."

Aizen's eyes were narrowed into slits by now. He didn't say a word for long moments after Starrk had stopped speaking.

Finally, he smiled. "Weren't you going to tell me more about how you have changed?" he asked, sounding almost idle. "Your revenge is quite incomplete without it, Starrk."

Starrk shook his head. "I don't need to do that," he said, perfectly honest.

After all, Aizen already knew. For Starrk to be here, looking him in the eye and speaking to him without reverence or devotion or fear; for him to use Aizen's name without his usual honourific while the two of them were alone…

If Starrk told him more, he would only be rewarding the man with information.

"So you're finished with me," Aizen said, his voice soft and contemplative. It was the same tone he had used when he told Starrk to kill the newly-made Arrancar with his bare hands.

"That was quite an anticlimactic denouement, Starrk."

"I'm not looking for victory," Starrk told him quietly.

"Then what are you looking for?"

Starrk chuckled. His shoulders shook minutely as he met Aizen's gaze squarely. He knew how much it took this man to ask instead of assume; knew the frustration that was being carefully hidden in that even voice.

"An exorcism," he answered.

Aizen's smile turned sharp; a shark scenting blood in the water. "Do you expect me to give it to you?" he mocked.

Giving him a small smile, Starrk breathed, soft and calm. "No," he murmured. "Because… Aizen, you already have."

You can't read me anymore. You can't play me like a puppet anymore.

I know why you kept me so close. I know why you tried so hard to make me see the world the way you want me to. I'm a threat to you. Not for my power, but for my eyes.

But you kept me so close that, in the end, I'm the one who can hurt you most. And I already have.

"Well," Starrk said, half-turning away. "I'm going back."

"So soon?" Aizen drawled, tone arch.

Even though there was no hint of it in his voice, Starrk knew the panic was there; knew that it was only the chains and his pride that kept Aizen from reaching out to him.

So he asked, "Will you like me to come back?"

Only silence met him. Aizen's eyes glowed in the half-darkness, filled with a myriad of emotions, all struggling and contradicting each other.

He smiled. "I think I will."

As he walked away, Aizen didn't say a word.

I can hurt you, Starrk thought. I can lie to you the way you did to me.

But I won't. You can't hurt me anymore, can you?

You taught me cruelty. But I have never learned that particular lesson well.

The words were left unspoken as he padded down the passageway.

He knew that Aizen could hear them.

When he returned to his rooms in the Eighth, Starrk picked up a piece of a paper and ink. Without thinking, he painted a lake. The waters caught the dark, shivering reflection of the full moon.

Then he put down his brush. Dipped his fingers straight into the inkwell, staining the tips black. He scored lines down from the top of the lake to the bottom. His hand was steady; the lines were straight.

Without waiting for the paint to dry, Starrk lifted it up. He stood there, staring at it, watching as the ink slid downwards until the moon seemed to be bleeding behind its cage.

He took the painting to the grounds and fired a Cero through it. He watched the ashes float down to the grass.

Then he turned his back and headed for the Captain's office to look for his Sun.

~ End Arc 2: The Captain and the Wolf ~

---

Note: Now that Arc 2 is this, One Moment will be going on hiatus. I will resume posting latest in June 2015.

The reason for this is because 1) I am waiting for canon to come out so that I can properly outline the Wandenreich/1000 Years of Blood War Arc without contradicting canon facts/characterisation so the changes I make to this AU is believable, and 2) I have spent something like three months on this fic so far, neglecting my original projects entirely, and I need to get back to them.

Thank you for everyone who have followed me through so far! This fic has exceeded four hundred pages in Times New Roman single-spaced size 12. The wordcount is a hundred and eighty thousand or so, including authors' notes. It is definitely the longest and most sustained fanfic I have ever written. And all the encouraging comments/reviews have helped me keep going for so long.

I hope that I will still see you all in June!

PS: Arc 3 is, tentatively, named The King and the Lionheart. Spot all the plot threads in Arcs 1 and 2 that I have left hanging and see if you can guess where I'm taking things with that Arc, hohoho. I really want to see if I'm being too obscure or too obvious/predictable.