Adult-FanFiction.org : Bleach

Prize of Victory 2
By : NovaAlexandria
Category: Bleach > General
Views: 56255 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story
Chapter List
- 32
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Home and Heart

�Funny. I never thought I�d feel intimidated just walking up to the front gate.�

The Ukitake Estate had always been �home,� it felt like �home� and while she�d understood, intellectually, the circumstances in which she�d lived, up until earlier in the week, she�d never associated it with any sense of loss. She stood, her hand on the wooden gate, and tried to force her feet to move.

They didn�t want to budge.

Another battle had broken out the afternoon her Taichou had given her his input and that forced her to set aside the accounting and go blast locusts with Kido for a few hours, putting a dent in her resolve to return home that evening. Instead, she finished the accounting. Thankfully, she hadn�t had to hunt down any receipts. With the battles coming nearly every other day, no one had enough time to go out and purchase supplies from the markets. The regular troops in the 3rd Division were running on backup supplies now and Toshiro had personally looked at the depleted stores with a �what fresh Hell is this?� expression on his face when she�d brought it to his attention.

Hana suspected the quartermaster was going to get an earful this evening and she was very grateful not to be in the other Shinigami�s sandals. Instead, it gave her an additional night to think about things, about the description she�d heard of a man she�d never met and would never get to meet.

What bothered her wasn�t the long list of �character flaws,� as Hitsugaya-Taichou called them, as much as the fact that the flaws, when taken together, had a dreadfully familiar feel to them.

�Lazy, prone to naps, not much on formality, little care for authority or uptight-seeming orders, likely to sleep through a boring meeting, nagged by a smaller, younger female subordinate into doing what had to be done� No, I don�t know of anyone who meets that description,� she thought sarcastically.

The only things that didn�t seem to match up were the drinking and the tomcatting around, but she�d never thought of Starrk in those terms, just as she�d tried very hard not to dwell on the fact that he had an active Claim on �take-ji. Hana didn�t think her Taichou was lying when he�d described some of her late father�s mannerisms, but she hadn�t heard any malice in his voice as he�d related his impression of the man either.

On the other hand, she�d told Hitsugaya-Taichou she�d wanted to hear the truth. At least in this case, he�d given her the option of hearing it.

He was also correct in that the two people who would be able to give her a better picture were on the other side of this gate and that there was a fine line between taking one�s time to think about things and blatant procrastination.

Hana took a couple of breaths, screwed up her courage and pushed the gate open. No one had latched it and once inside, she could feel her mother�s reiatsu, as well as Karin�s, Ajuga�s, Grimmjow�s, �take-ji�s� and Starrk�s. There was someone else there as well, but she didn�t immediately recognize him or her. Closing the gate carefully, she paused, trying to decide what to do.

If her mother was with Karin and a stranger in the sitting area, she didn�t want to disturb whatever might be going on. Instead, she decided to go to �take-ji. He wasn�t with Starrk, so she wouldn�t have to confront the First right off the bat and she could leave off asking her mother any questions, since the sort of information about her father her mother might possess probably wasn�t something to discuss with others present. Ajuga was with him, but she could probably count on her friend to find something else to do and give them some space.

�Take-ji it was, then. Feeling a little more composed now that she had a plan in place, she walked purposefully towards her adoptive uncle�s suite of rooms, mentally compiling the questions she wanted to ask him. By the time that she reached the library where he sometimes sat in the light from the south-facing windows to read, Hana had a slew of things she wanted to know.

The second she walked into the room, however, all of them fled and she found herself engulfed in a hug.

He smelled like the herbs Ajuga used in his tea, peppermint candies and the bags of sandalwood and cedar chips that kept the moths out of the linen closets of the Estate. The other girl was nowhere in sight, though she did see that two calligraphy sets were out and a few pieces of paper lay here and there on the low table that served the room. It looked as if they�d just wrapped up a lettering session. She felt tears threaten when he threw his arms around her. His lungs, thankfully, sounded clear and even if Hana had been gone, Ajuga had probably pestered him to drink his medicine in her absence.

�Hana-chan� I�m so glad you�re home.�

Ukitake Jushiro, sounding as if the weight of the world had just been lifted from his shoulders, muttered this against the top of her head and she could only nod and step back, holding him at arm�s length to give him a more critical �once-over� while she thrust any and all thoughts of crying away. Thankfully, there didn�t seem to be anything amiss, though he did seem as tired as the rest of them.

�Thanks, �take-ji.�

A hand reached up to smooth her hair, the same way he�d done when she was much younger and before she could let it affect her, she reached up and clasped it in both of hers, plastering what she hoped looked like a serious expression on her face. Then she realized there was something solid trapped between her hand and his.

When she pulled it away from his she found a yellow and red swirled lollipop, the stick wedged her fingers.

�There was a time when all I had to do to make you smile was hand you one of these.�

Ukitake said this with a hint of wistfulness. Keeping her eyes on the candy she sadly replied, �I�m not five years old anymore.�

His next words, uttered with a hint of resignation, told her he�d read her mood and her expression correctly.

�I suppose it�s high time we had a talk, isn�t it?

Well, it had been almost a week and he and her mother would have had some time to figure out how to approach the topic, even if it was horribly belated, in Hana�s opinion.

�Yeah. I spoke with Hitsugaya-Taichou and he told me a few things, but he also said that you and mother would be better sources of information,� she admitted. Her �take-ji nodded and then indicated that she should pull up a cushion into the sunbeam and sit. He finished putting his calligraphy set away and set it next to Ajuga�s already-reassembled one.

�True. Your mother and I first heard about this from Toshiro, and later, from Starrk and Lilinette. You can guess who gave us a more complete story, but I�d like to hear it from you.�

For the second time that week, Hana related the events, including every nasty thing Sarugaki Hiyori screamed at her, before Shihoin Yoruichi thankfully silenced her and fled. Jushiro paled at some of the more colorful language, but listened without comment until she got the part where Hana had fled to the Third�s household.

�I see. Yes, that makes a little more sense now. Hana, before I say anything else, know that whatever Sarugaki said was the result of the kind of pain that only losing almost everything and everyone one cares about can create. I knew her, long ago and while she�d developed the acid tongue that you heard by that point in time, she hadn�t become the bitter, hateful little thing you just described. She has every reason to hate Aizen� maybe more reason than anyone else living. Nevertheless, she had no reason to attack you thusly.�

�That doesn�t mean that what she said wasn�t true,� Hana countered.

�Yes and no. We� gods, Hana-chan, we never meant for you to find out this way! We�d always intended to tell you the truth, when you were older, when we thought you�d be mature enough to understand� and please, don�t blame your mother about the delay in doing so. When you were much younger, she told me she planned to tell you what happened when or if you entered the Shinōreijutsuin. However, we didn�t think you�d enter at such a young age and�well� I asked her to wait, to not let the knowledge burden you while you were trying to study.�

He breathed deeply and cast his eyes towards the ceiling, as if searching for the proper words.

�We old folks never like to think that the children around us are growing up, until the day comes when we can�t deny that they�re no longer children at all. I suppose we thought we still had some time to break things to you and it turns out, that by putting it off, we only made things worse.�

�Hitsugaya-Taichou said something similar, about you possibly waiting until I was older. I�I think I get why you did it. So did Harribel-sama. She and Hitsugaya-Taichou covered for me, by the way. About the intruders and all.�

�Thank goodness! Starrk told us he didn�t feel like filling anything out, but I know he didn�t want to bring you into it and I�m glad the Third didn�t feel the need to report it either.�

If anything, he seemed even more relieved than when she�d walked into the library and Hana knew she was right in being concerned about not sounding the alarm.

�Starrk let them go because he was too busy trying to talk to me. I didn�t know if he was lying when he said that he fulfilled my father�s last request. I wish I knew exactly what happened. I don�t think��

Ukitake stopped her with a hand on her forearm.

�Hana� Hana� Starrk was telling the truth. I�m not sure why Shunsui asked the ones who defeated him to look after us, but he did and I�m grateful, more for your mother�s sake, and yours, than for myself. He�s never gone back on his word to your father either. If I know one thing, it�s that neither he, nor Lilinette have ever hurt any of us.�

�Why? I mean, he� he� to you�� and here Hana looked away, unable to finish. Ukitake suddenly understood what she was talking about, because he turned a few shades pinker himself and squirmed on his cushion.

�Hana, he�s never simply �taken� me, never forced me. He�s always asked if I wanted to continue the Claiming process. He�s never been brutal with me either.�

�But, it�s not a real choice! You�ll be executed if you don�t!�

�Maybe, or I could end up with a �master� far worse than Starrk. The Third would be the best chance I�d have, if she�d have me. Hana, I know that this is hard for you to believe, but given the circumstances, this was the best possible outcome after we lost the Winter War. Your mother and I have had a long time to come to terms with what happened to your father, to deal with the grief. It�s terribly unfair, in no small part because I think your father and Starrk would have gotten on like a house on fire if they�d had a chance to get to know one another. Before you say anything,� he added, putting his fingers on her lips to silence any protests she might make, �yes, I would have begged Starrk for the same protections, for my best friend, his lover and their unborn child. Sometimes I wonder if it might have better if I had been the one who died��

�‛take-ji, no!� Hana gasped and the hand on her forearm reached to take hers. He squeezed her fingers with his own, warm and reassuring.

��if only so that you might have known your father, and that he might have known you. That you�ll never meet pains me, because he would have been so very proud of the lovely young woman you�ve become.�

Hana�s face crumpled at that and despite her vows not to cry any more about it, she found �take-ji�s arms around her, his hands gently smoothing her hair and rocking her gently, as if she was five again and had just woken from a bad dream.

�In many ways, Starrk is very much like your father, especially when it comes to games. I�d give anything to watch a shoji match between those two. Shunsui was a much better player than I am and a far better strategist than I will ever be. I think he learned the patience for it from courting your mother for so long.�

Sniffling, Hana looked up at him, to find him smiling and looking off into the distance, as if he was imagining such a game.

�I thought� I thought he was supposed to have a roving eye or something like that.�

Ukitake laughed quietly.

�Oh, he appreciated the ladies, but once your mother went to work for him, he limited his attention to other women to flirting. He�d been devastated by the loss of his previous Fukutaichou and your mother, when she took up her predecessor�s position, was so no-nonsense, so crisp and refused to let him hole up in his office and drink himself into ruin.�

�Oh, I thought he drank a lot. At least, that�s what I heard.�

�Hmm, well, he had a high tolerance for sake, and I�m sure whatever it was that Toshiro told you was at least partly accurate in that regard. He was quite the connoisseur of women and wine. Nevertheless, I will tell you this much: he had to work to get your mother. All of his usual charm and tricks and flattery and so on failed where she was concerned. I believe that love hit him like a bolt from the blue and it took him forever to figure out the right combination of things to make his intentions towards your mother clear to her. I also think, in the end, he settled on a war of attrition and just wore down all of her carefully constructed defences against him.�

�Defences?�

�Yes, defences. They involved a strategically wielded heavy tomb and mountains of paperwork. They were nigh insurmountable, especially the clipboard, particularly when she applied it to the back of his head. Your father had a hard time navigating such rough terrain.�

Ukitake said this in such a teasing manner that Hana couldn�t help but smile and chuckle herself, even as she wiped away the stray tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her uniform. It was the first laugh she�d had in a week. The older man beamed at her when he heard it and drew her back in for another hug.

�Yes, your father fell hard for Ise Nanao. I�ve only seen one person fall harder for someone,� he said, resting his chin on top of her head. Pulling back, Hana looked up at him, puzzled.

�Who? Ajuga�s parents?�

�Not quite. I�m referring to Starrk-san, on the day you were born.�

Her adoptive uncle brushed her hair back from her face as she stared up at him, her expression going from �confused� to �stunned.�

�He�s been moping around the Estate like a kicked dog for the last week. Lilinette looks utterly miserable most of the time and whatever it was you said to them might have hit deeper than either of them truly deserve. Of all of the Espada, I�ve never met one who conducted themselves with more honour than Starrk, and forgive me, but that includes your mistress. He�s done his best to do right by me, your mother and believe it or not, you. Sometimes, I think, he�s terrified that he�ll lose us for some reason and after this week, I�m more than sure of it.�

��take-ji� I don�t know��

�If it helps you, I want you to understand this: I watched the battle between them before I blacked out. What struck me, before I lost consciousness, was just how unhappy the First seemed to be, how much he didn�t want to be there in the first place.�

Hana frowned and rested her forehead against his shoulder while he patted her back and she considered this latest revelation.

Starrk, while facing down the two intruders nearly a week ago, hadn�t seemed too keen on fighting then either. In fact, he�d done more evading than anything else, unless Lilinette�s taunts counted as an attack. If he�d wanted, Starrk could have obliterated both women and yet all he�d done was get out of the way of Hiyori�s blows and Ceros. Of course, there was a substantial reward for those two, so maybe he�d been trying to bring them in alive. Then she bit her lip, teeth coming down on a section that had grown purple over the last six days.

The only way to find out was to pluck up her courage and talk to Starrk.

�He�s in the South garden, napping.�

Someday, Hana told herself, she would have to discover how Ukitake seemed to know what she was thinking. Maybe age and experience bestowed some secret mind-reading power, the same way that childbirth had endowed both her mother and Karin with the ability to detect all lies. Then she remembered what she�d sensed when she�d walked through the gate.

�Who else is here? Mother and Karin are home, but who is with them?�

In a manner of seconds, �take-ji went from kindly uncle to worried Taichou and the shift put her immediately on guard. His subsequent explanation made her eyes go wide with horror and she clapped her hand over her mouth, feeling a little sick. As angry as she�d been with Starrk, she couldn�t see either half of the First doing to her mother what Barragan had done to Soi Fon, his fraccion and their unborn baby.

�The First is� very put out with the Second right now. So is Grimmjow, only he�s a bit more vocal and, er� destructive about things. Soi Fon is staying with us until we can figure something out. The Claim is still on her, so we�ve some time until it falls off.�

Hana�s mind leapt ahead as she squeezed Ukitake�s hand again, since he didn�t look very pleased about what the Second Espada had done either. Then another thought hit her and she tensed.

�Kami, Harribel-sama is going to hit the roof when she hears about this, if she hasn�t already!�

�Hana?�

She looked up at Ukitake and shook her head. She could do little about the situation as it stood and she needed to deal with her larger problem before she could put her mind to work on anything else.

�I need to talk to Starrk I guess. I can�t wait on it any longer.�

He patted her on the shoulder and a half-smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

�Are you home for good, Hana-chan? I know Ajuga�s been a bit �off� since you left as well.�

The girl sighed. Her sudden departure had even affected her best friend.

�I� I�ll let you know once I�m done speaking with the First.�

It was the best she could offer him and he nodded. With that, she rose, bowed and exited the library, still holding the lollipop he had given her. Hana made her way through the maze that was the Ukitake Estate, until she reached the large courtyard that bordered the southern wall of the compound. The spot was warm in winter and downright hot in summer, which was why a carefully groomed and raked Zen garden comprised the majority of the landscaping.

Surprisingly, Lilinette had been the one to decree that this was �her� spot and had maintained the configuration of white sand and black rock for as long as Hana could remember. She�d asked about the garden once and Lilinette had responded that if anyone knew what sand and rocks were supposed to look like, it was she. The little Arrancar had done a good job, so much so that Ukitake declared that even when his sisters had been here, the southern �garden� had never looked as good. Lilinette danced around the house for weeks afterward in the wake of �take-ji�s praise.

Hana could feel his reiatsu long before she saw him, lying on his back with one arm curled behind him as a pillow and the forearm of the other draped over his eyes. He sprawled out on the wooden porch that provided a place to contemplate the Zen arrangement and the artfully clipped junipers along the wall that separated the Estate from the rest of the 1st District. Starrk looked rumpled and forlorn and Hana thought he could be mistaken for a mugging victim, if he�d appeared like this in any of the higher-numbered Rukongai Districts� alleys.

�I don�t think he ever met a horizontal surface he didn�t try to use for napping purposes��

Hitsugaya-Taichou�s words floated up to her from wherever she�d stored their conversation and Hana took a moment before she ventured out on to the porch. Keeping a wary eye on him, she approached in much the same way she had when she was six and Lilinette had handed her a bucket of ice water and told her to �go make Starrk�s day� by �cooling him off.� By all rights, he should have skinned her.

He hadn�t, of course, but he did move much faster than she�d ever seen any living creature move before, straight up, as if the cold water had somehow levitated him at the speed of sound. The yowl he�d let out had been epic.

When she got roughly four feet away, he shifted on the hard surface of the porch and let out a sigh.

�Hana-chan.�

�Starrk-san� Hana replied, adding the honorific. She stood there for a few minutes, unsure if by saying her name he was acknowledging her or if he wanted to talk to her, then decided that sitting down might be easier than waiting for anything else. She took a seat on the porch, her back braced against the overhang�s thick wooden supports, her feet drawn up beneath her. For a while, the only sound was the rush of the breeze whispering through the needles on the evergreen trees and some occasional birdsong.

�Early spring this year,� he noted, not stirring.

�Yeah, I guess so.�

�It�s not supposed to be this warm this soon. Things are off-kilter.�

�The lunar New Year started a week ago, with the full moon, and it�s �spring� after that,� she pointed out. He was right, however. Late January shouldn�t have temperatures this high. It ought to be colder and to Hana, it was just another sign of how badly Aizen�s meddling had disrupted the Realms. Now the very seasons were out of tune with the calendar. At this rate, it would be snowing in August.

�I don�t mind the sun. Had my fill of the moon. �s all we had in Hueco Mundo. That and sand and rocks. Like this, but less fancy.�

She�d wanted to talk about her father, about Starrk�s role in his demise, why he�d hidden the fact he�d been the one to destroy her family before it ever had a chance to really take shape by killing Kyoraku Shunsui in battle. She�d had a week to mull over things in her mind, had talked to the Third, to her Taichou, to Ukitake and tried to figure out what to do about something over which she�d had absolutely no control. Intellectually, she knew that those who went to war faced the possibility of death. She�d seen her Taichou fill out enough death notices after each skirmish with the Swarm, saw the empty places left in the ranks where familiar faces should have been. She faced the possibility herself, every time she went out with her assigned squad to kill as many of the attackers as she could.

However, the Swarm didn�t take �war prizes.� They simply killed and moved on. Maybe what stuck in her craw the most wasn�t that her father had fallen to a superior foe, but that Starrk seemed to have done his damnedest to replace the man he�d killed. To Hana, all of the things that should have been her father�s, such as his best friend, his lover and potential wife, even his child had gone to Starrk as the spoils.

Worse, she�d been happy with Starrk sitting in as a father figure, sharing the space with �take-ji. She�d been equally happy with Lilinette as a sister, forming a sorority of sorts with Ajuga-chan. She hadn�t known any better and, perhaps the most regretful part of it was that now she couldn�t go back to the way things had been.

Hana had wanted to talk about all of these things and now that she was in Starrk�s presence, facing him, the words she wanted to say wouldn�t come and her mouth didn�t seem to want to spew out the angry invectives that she wanted to throw at him.

Instead, she asked, �What was Hueco Mundo like?�

Starrk slowly moved the arm across his eyes and opened them, his blue-gray gaze not straying her way, but remaining on the underside of the porch roof.

�Cold. Desolate. Occasionally windy. Sand and rocks, dead trees that weren�t really trees and not much else,� he replied quietly. �And bones. There were always lots of bones.�

She shivered despite the warmth of the sun. It sounded terrible, but she also doubted that whatever forces created it meant it to be a pleasant sort of place.

�Las Noches was better, I guess. There were Arrancar there who could withstand being around our power, and not wither into dust just by coming close enough to talk. Aizen had even created some sunshine under that dome of his, while he was there.�

�How did he do that?�

�I dunno. Doesn�t really matter now. It wasn�t a real sun anyway, just another illusion of Aizen�s, like everything else he promised.�

Hana blinked and looked down at the scruffy Espada prostrate on the boards of the porch, a morose expression seeping into his eyes. Seeing it, the conversation she�d had with her Taichou sprang to mind, especially the part she wasn�t supposed to talk about with Harribel:

��he�s made some very manipulative promises...�

�What� what did he promise?�

�I envied the weak. They were free to choose friends, allies, fraccion, enemies and mates. All we had was one another, two parts of what was once one. Even separating couldn�t keep us from destroying any who came near. Aizen said he could give us companions who wouldn�t break so easily� if we agreed to follow him.�

Hana sat, dumbfounded, as Starrk�s motives became horribly clear to her.

�Did he just say that they had joined up because they were lonely?�

�He used that crystal of his to dampen us down, so the lower Numeros wouldn�t be killed, let us live in Las Noches, with cushions for sleeping and others to talk to� but it wasn�t a real pack. Too much jockeying for position and Aizen�s favour and backstabbing. It�s still that way, sort of.�

The girl had to work very hard at not gaping.

�Oh, Kami! Aizen took power away from them? They were stronger than this before Aizen touched them?�

While Hana was aware that Ukitake�s family had retreated deep into the countryside in order to keep Starrk�s reiatsu from poisoning his less powerful younger siblings, she�d had no idea that the Espada�s current strength had been reduced rather than enhanced by the Hougyoku.

Somehow, when he�d said �lower Numeros�, she got the impression that he didn�t necessarily mean those with three digits as their rank� or even two.

What had he and Lilinette been like, before that? Arrancar thrived on power, sought it out, took it how and when they could. It seemed so out of place for a Hollow of any grade to give any sort of potency away deliberately. Unless� he had little use for power in the first place, being awash with it.

�Then we went to war in the Living World, and we faced down your father�s pack.�

It took a second for her to translate that, and she realized that he meant her father and �take-ji, as well as the two others that had taken the First on in a bid to stop Aizen from advancing to the real Karakura, secreted in the Soul Society. She�d spent enough time around Harribel and her fraccion to know that the four women considered themselves a tight unit, with her Taichou as an addendum of sorts. Did that mean that Starrk had perceived the clash as a fight between two packs of Hollows? She doubted he would have any other reference to go by, save what Aizen might have instilled in them as far as organization went.

�They were powerful. Very powerful. Your father almost took out Lilinette, when she did something stupid and got in the way of one of his strikes. I had to go into my Resurrección, to merge with her and save her. The others went at us at that point. I had to go all out on them before your father attacked again.�

Hana reached up and hugged her knees to her chest as he described, briefly, the encounter that had taken her father�s life. His eyes stayed on the porch�s ceiling while he spoke, regret and melancholy lacing his voice.

�After the Ceros cleared he tried again. By then, I�d figured out the rules of the game his Zanpakuto imposed when he pulled it out and I got lucky with the color I named. Nothing more than that. He fought fair and fought well. The wound I gave him was fatal though and Aizen�s command came too late. Otherwise��

��you�d have enslaved him too?�

The Espada closed his eyes and his chest heaved, a low, depressed noise escaping his lips.

�Kept asking him why he was fighting so hard. It wasn�t just because he wanted to protect his friend, or�� here he lifted a hand and made an encompassing gesture, �this place. After we won, I went to find your mother, to make good on the promise to protect a fallen Alpha�s mate and realized she was carrying his cub. That�s why he wouldn�t put his weapons down, no matter how many times we told him that Aizen�s plans were better than your Soutaichou�s, and that the one they hoped would save them wasn�t coming.�

It was the most she�d ever heard him say in one sitting.

�By our laws, we were entitled to his pack, to take up where he left off and at least keep them safe. Aizen was the one to come up with the whole bit about keeping those with Taichou strength Claimed. Guess he thought that we�d all be okay with it.�

�So you took my father�s place?�

�I took his responsibilities, as a proper pack leader would. I made sure to treat his friend well, even if Aizen made me Claim him. I made sure no one else would come sniffing around your mother, even if she doesn�t have the kind of reiatsu that would threaten Aizen� and once his cub was born, I vowed that nothing would ever hurt her. Not one of the Numeros, not one of the Espada, not even Aizen. No one was going to hurt the pack we�d finally gained.�

�And yet,� Hana said quietly, though she couldn�t keep some of the resentment out of her voice. � �take-ji still only has one eye.�

�Thanks to that prick!�

Suddenly a new, if familiar, voice cut into the conversation and Hana turned to see Lilinette standing about ten feet away, the bamboo rake she usually used for the sand in the garden balanced across her small shoulders. If Starrk looked like a depressed dog shut out in the rain overnight, the First�s other half looked sullen and angry, as if she might bite the next thing that came near. Still, Hana could see a small flicker of hope in Lilinette�s eyes as she took in the fact that Hana was home after a week away.

�Aizen�s stepping over all kinds of lines with us. He had no right to touch what�s ours! Jushiro�s part of our pack and what kind of idiot blinds a fighter in the middle of a freakin� war for makin� a good suggestion, for fuck�s sake?�

�Lilinette� the walls could have ears. Next punishment won�t be an extra patrol.�

Starrk tossed the weary-sounding warning off to the small female, who �hmph�ed� and sat down abruptly. Her outburst had been a little loud for comfort and as much as Hana actually agreed with Lilinette about the monster on the throne, it was dangerous to say something like that this close to the Estate�s boundaries.

�Next thing you know he�ll be hurtin� cubs! He�s broken every other rule we got!�

The small Arrancar, at least, said this in a much lower volume, even if her tone could have scorched metal. Then her thin shoulders hunched and she curled up around the rake in her hands, holding it upright and hugging the bamboo shaft to her body.

Sitting between the two, Hana was struck by how wounded they seemed. Starrk usually appeared disheveled on a good day, but he looked positively wretched now, clothes wrinkled, long hair tangled, as if he�d slept here all week without moving, bathing or eating. Lilinette�s eyes had dark circles under them and her posture projected nothing but unhappiness and remorse.

�If you want to� to be mad, Hana-chan, be mad at me,� the girl sniffled. �Starrk didn�t even want to fight. I did. I wanted to kill everyone we fought and Starrk told me no, that we were gonna take care of the ones your father asked us to spare. Your papa was a good Alpha in that he gave a shit about his pack. The only thing Aizen gives a shit about is Aizen.�

Hana closed her eyes and tilted her head back until it rested against the wooden support.

If her Taichou was right, and Aizen had made offers to each recruit in his army of Arrancar based on whatever flavour of negativity that had led to their creation, then the promise that he�d made Starrk and Lilinette stood out as one of the most evil things imaginable.

He�d promised the two an end to their loneliness and isolation in a barren wasteland.

Considering what Starrk had just told her about their previous circumstances, if Hana had been in their shoes, starved for company for who knows how long, she might have taken up Aizen�s offer too.

They�d wanted a pack and the Espada themselves had made a piss-poor one, so they�d gone ahead and agreed to a dying foe�s request to care for those he considered �his,� shielding them from as much of Aizen�s brutal reign as they could.

Harribel considered Hana one of �hers� now as well and had been willing to hide the fact that Hana hadn�t reported the Escapees to Aizen. For a second, she wondered what her Taichou had discovered about his Mistress to make him say what he had and then chided herself. Harribel wasn�t the one with whom she had to resolve things.

Under Hollow tradition, it was an acceptable thing to do, even honourable and if Hana was a possession, she was one that neither Starrk nor Lilinette wanted to lose, if how utterly awful they looked was any indication of how they�d taken her rejection of them.

She suddenly understood what her Taichou meant about being worthy of compassion. Aizen had twisted what sounded to Hana like a desperate need for company into drawing the two into a war that at least Starrk hadn�t wanted to fight.

A cool breeze ruffled her hair and Hana sighed into it, opening her eyes and joining Starrk in staring up at the wonder that was the underside of the porch overhang.

They weren�t Shinigami, they didn�t think like Shinigami or humans and to hold them to the same standards of behaviour was� what? A waste of time? A losing proposition?

�What do you think Aizen will do with Soi Fon and the baby?� she asked.

Lilinette sniffled again and when Hana finally looked back down at Starrk, she saw a surprisingly ugly look cross his face.

Maybe Ukitake had underestimated just how �put out� Starrk was with the next Espada down.

He didn�t look �put out�.

Starrk looked like he wanted to rip something apart.

�He starts hurting cubs and that�s it. We�re done with him,� Lilinette whispered, putting words to the expression she�d just seen on the other half�s face before it disappeared below the sleepy, morose surface and he muttered back:

�Karin�ll think of something. She�s resourceful like that. �Til then, she stays here.�

Starrk finally turned his eyes, the color of laden thunderclouds, her way and Hana was stunned at how much regret swam in them.

�We probably made a bad deal with Aizen, but I don�t regret taking on Jushiro, or your mother, or you. Don�t regret letting Grimmjow and his women in the door either, once Karin got him housebroken.�

Hana couldn�t help the snicker that escaped when he mentioned Grimmjow. She wasn�t sure what the Sixth would do if he heard what Starrk had said, and it occurred to her that the other Espada probably couldn�t do much about it if he did.

�In order for one outcome to exist, we must sacrifice all others. Sometimes the choice is ours. Sometimes another makes it for us and we must go with the tide.�

Hana had had no choice in any of this, she realized, save for one, and that was the choice in how she reacted to the choices others had made for her when she was too young to make them for herself. Harribel had given her better advice than she�d known.

Maybe Kyoraku Shunsui�s daughter wasn�t capable of completely forgiving the two of them right now, but she could extend some of the understanding her mistress and her Taichou had bestowed on her to them.

It didn�t hurt that if Lilinette�s barely contained rage regarding Aizen and the trouble with Soi Fon was any indication of the First�s view of the tyrant in the Palace, they might have more in common that she�d ever suspected.

It was at least a step closer to fixing this for good and if she came home, she wouldn�t have to use last month�s amended accounting files as a pillow.

Hana slowly got to her feet and when she went to brush the bit of dust from her hakama, she noticed she was still holding on to the lollipop that �take-ji had given her when she�d walked into the library. Turning her back on Starrk�s supine form, she came to a halt next to the spot where Lilinette sat with her rake. Reaching down, she extended the hand with the sweet towards the girl.

�Is my room still available?�

Lilinette�s one eye grew wide as she saw the offered candy and the tiny amount of hope Hana saw in it flared to life like a match put to dry kindling. A small hand tentatively reached out and took it, her fingers brushing Hana�s as she did. The slender Arrancar stared at it as if the goodie was dipped in gold and tied with a bow.

�It is. Always will be, if you want it.�

Starrk�s voice called out from behind her, and Hana nodded over her shoulder at him. It was a start and a better one than she�d anticipated when she came home. Straightening, Hana left the porch and the two behind her.

She had one more person to see. If she knew her mother, she�d have to drop by the room she hadn�t used in nearly a week and pull a few clean handkerchiefs from the top shelf in her closet.

Thank you for the reviews and I hope you enjoyed this Chapter. I really didn�t want to focus too much on the OC�s, but some scenes need resolutions and simply can�t be left. I also feel this chapter delves a bit deeper into Lilinette and Starrk and the why they did the things they have done over the years. One thing that I wasn�t sure if I quite work in was this: If it wasn�t for Aizen�s law Starrk, would never have actively Claimed Jushiro. He would have looked out for Nanao of course, protected them both as he promised to Sunsui, but that is all.

This Weeks Question: Sorry, can�t think of one, too brain melted staring with stary eys at Komamaru�s new form.

Next Chapter: Aizen pays Szayel and Karin a visit while they conduct a few experiments on the Swarm. See you all next week.
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Prize of Victory 2	By : NovaAlexandria Category: Bleach > General Views: 56255 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story

Prize of Victory 2