GrimmIchi:Moonlight Part 2of2

Summary: Prince Ichigo is taken away from the love of his life, the Prince Grimmjow, and put under a spell by the Lord Aizen that turns him into a swan by day, only able to turn back into a human when the moonlight hits the lake he now resides in. But neither of these princes are just going to give up when it comes to their love.

Warnings: AU, yaoi, slight violence, reads somewhat like a Disney movie.

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Moonlight Part II

A Grimmjow/Ichigo inspired by the ballet Swan Lake


X

"Grimmy, stop pacing, you're making me nervous!" the Sovereign Princess Nelliel exclaimed, gripping onto her son's formal tunic and forcibly making him sit in the chair closest to her. Grimmjow barely even resisted, as he had been pacing rather frantically beforehand, but he couldn't help it. For the first time in his life, he was tense with nerves, wound like a violin string pulled far too tight.

"Sorry," he murmured, his knee bouncing up and down as he still didn't calm down. He couldn't relax, not one bit.

Ichigo was out there somewhere, trying to find his way back to him.

Finding the other prince, the love of his life, after a year of searching had been amazing, just like a dream. Though he hadn't ever given up on finding the orangette, there had been times when he had thought that he may never lay eyes on the other prince again and it had nearly destroyed him. Having his best friend turned lover ripped away from him in the blink of an eye had been devastating, and then, just like that, they had been reunited. Only to be separated once more.

Grimmjow hung his head, his heart rate increasing exponentially as he clutched at his chest. It felt like he was suffocating with worry, his tunic suddenly too tight around his neck. What if Ichigo had been intercepted by that bastard Aizen? What if he had gotten lost trying to get to the castle? What if he had run into a band of thieves in the forest? What if he had tripped over a fallen tree trunk and broken his ankle and was lying there, waiting for someone to come and find him?

He should've never left Ichigo behind, not when he had just found him again, had finally held that lithe frame in his arms and smelled that amazing scent of vanilla and gingerbread that was so distinctly Ichigo it had been almost enough to bring him to knees. He should've swept the orangette over his shoulder in that instant and bodily carried him away from that lake and back to his castle. Swan or human, he loved more Ichigo more than words could ever say.

"Grimmjow."

At the sharp tone his mother used, and the fact that she had used his full name instead of one of her many nicknames, the blunette looked up to see Nelliel looking down at him with concerned mossy gray eyes. She placed her hands on his shoulders, her full lips turning down at the corners into a frown.

"Grimmjow, is something the matter?" she asked rather seriously. She obviously knew something was bothering him. But he wasn't about to tell his mother that he had found Ichigo again, not when everyone thought he couldn't accept the "death" of the prince of Zangetsu. No, she would think him insane. He had to wait until Ichigo arrived, then everyone would see that he was alive.

"Someone important's comin' tonight, that's all, " Grimmjow brushed Nelliel's worry off, standing up from the chair and opening the door that connected the chambers to the ballroom, ignoring his mother's excited squeal and questions about just who this 'someone' was.

He was sure that someone would have come to get him if Ichigo had shown up already, and that he was supposed to wait to be announced as was tradition, but he just had to check. Perhaps his lover had arrived incognito and was waiting for him in the ballroom right then and there. Grimmjow felt his legs move him faster and faster through the doorway and into the decorated hall, where a few dozen guests were already gathered.

The Sovereign Princess had truly outdone herself, having adorned the entire grand ballroom in white and blue decor, the colors of their kingdom. But the prince had seen this all before more times than he could count and among the endless sea of brightly colored gowns and tunics he searched for one spot of sunset orange, his heart nearly faltering when he saw nothing.

Several guests greeted him as he walked by, obviously surprised that he was in the ballroom before being announced, but he paid them no heed. His mind was utterly consumed with thoughts of where Ichigo could possibly be, why he wasn't there as of yet. It was tearing the blunette apart inside, the constant anxiety.

"Fuck this," he muttered to himself, cutting through the crowd, the nobles all parting to make way for him as Grimmjow stormed through. He made quite a sight, sapphire eyes like the ocean during a hurricane as he made his way to the front of the ballroom, where the entrance from the palace gardens lay.

He was going to find Ichigo and bring him back to the castle, just as he should have done the night before.
Ignoring what was presumably his mother calling after him in confusion, he swung open one of the heavy doors, the humid, summer night air hitting him full in the face as he went to step outside.

But someone blocked his way, making him freeze as if turned to stone, his hand gripping the door's edge so tightly he made a slight indent in the wooden frame. Because there stood a young male, a few inches shorter than him, with golden tangerine hair and cocoa brown eyes, dressed in a simple, black tunic that contrasted with his lightly bronzed skin beautifully.

"Ichigo."

The name was but a breath falling from his lips, the hand that wasn't holding the door frame falling out to reach for the other man, to feel that Ichigo was really there. Honestly, for a moment or two, Grimmjow had feared that the night before had been nothing but a dream and that he had never found his love again.

Ichigo looked up to him with a somewhat smug smirk on his face as the prince of Desagarron's fingers brushed against the pendant that was around his neck, the one that was carved out of sun and moonstone. The one that Grimmjow had given to the prince twice now.

It wasn't a second later that the blue-haired man had his arms wrapped around Ichigo's thinner form, crushing him to his chest. He had been so scared that the orangette had been lost to him once again. And though Ichigo was hesitant to raise his arms and embrace Grimmjow in return, the blunette barely noticed, pulling the boy away from him so that he could once more get an eyeful of that beautiful face that had haunted him for so long now. He swore he could lose himself in those warm, caramel-coffee eyes.

It was the startled gasp that came from behind him that startled Grimmjow from his reverie, though he didn't have to look behind him to see whom it was. He'd know that high pitched sound anywhere, as it did come from his own mother. Grinning, he wrapped an arm around Ichigo's shoulders and spun around so that they were facing the Sovereign Princess, and the several others that had gathered behind her to view the spectacle she had gasped at, and as soon as they all saw just whom was under Grimmjow's arm, they followed suit, clasping hands to their mouths in shock as they recognized the prince of Zangetsu that had been missing for a year now.

The blunette felt Ichigo wrap an arm around his waist and pull him along into the ballroom, strutting confidently, and his grin widened. It wasn't like his love to be so confident in the public eye, despite being of noble birth, but he was grateful that Ichigo wasn't the scared boy he had been the night before. He swore that he would make this Aizen pay for making his Ichigo so frightened.

"I-Ichigo," Princess Nelliel stuttered, gray-green eyes wide. "Is that really you?"

"The one and only," Ichigo said, uncharacteristically smug in a rather lilting voice. Grimmjow thought it must have been from the newly gained confidence considering his love had been able to break away from his pseudo-imprisonment in that damn lake. He made a mental note to ask the orangette about it after he whisked him away from the ballroom to have the gorgeous boy all to himself.

"We...we all thought you were dead," the Sovereign Princess whispered in reverence, a hand clutching her throat. Grimmjow closed his eyes, not wanting to hear any mention of Ichigo and 'dead' in the same sentence ever again.

"Well, I'm obviously not," the prince of Zangetsu said a little harshly, causing the Princess to take a step backwards and Grimmjow's arm to tighten around Ichigo's shoulders. He didn't like the fact that his mother was obviously upsetting his lover, his Ichigo. Without another word, the orangette steered him away with the arm around his waist, leading him to the middle of the ballroom, which was still empty even though there was light music being played by the small band of musicians hired for the event.

There were more gasps of shock and widened eyes as they stepped into the center of the room, but Grimmjow could care less. Ichigo was back in his arms again, like that year of pain had been nothing but a nightmare, now forgotten as most are. His love was back where he belonged, in the castle, with him. And he was never going to let anything come between them ever again.

Ichigo made a small purring noise and turned so that their bodies were pressed together, intertwining his arms around Grimmjow's neck. It was almost too intimate of a position to be in, in public. Not that the blue-haired prince had ever cared much about what other people thought of his public displays of affection.

But Ichigo always had.

"Grimmy, tell me ya love me, forever and ever."

Though it was strange for Ichigo to ever ask anything from him, not to mention the orangette was acting very...off tonight, he would never deny the other anything.

Grimmjow parted his lips, ready to let his vow of love fall from them.

X

It was dark and cold. He wasn't quite sure where he was, someplace underground probably, if the lack of light was anything to go by.

There was a thick band of metal around his long neck, nearly crushing it with pressure. He was barely able to breathe, his chest heaving as he panted to get enough air. His wheezing filled the room he was in with sound, the only one that he could make out besides the steady dripping noise of a water leak somewhere to his left. He couldn't see that far in the dark, so he was actually only guessing it was a water leak.

He had most likely been in that room for several hours now, ever since Aizen had caught him right after Grimmjow had left him.

Grimmjow.

Ichigo let out a pained cry thinking of his blue-haired lover, the one that was right now being duped into believing that he had come for him, that he broken free of Aizen to see him at his castle. It was all so wrong, so wrong. He had seen Shiro after Aizen had transformed him with one of his evil spells, enchanting the cruel albino into looking just like him, the white hair turning orange, inverted eyes dissolving into brown, and pasty skin gaining color to perfectly resemble him. It had been sickening to look at and he thought he might throw up just thinking about it, thinking about Shiro talking to Grimmjow as if he were Ichigo, touching him, kissing him.

Ichigo gave a low hiss and his wings shuddered in revulsion at the mental image of someone so repulsive touching his love in such a way.

Yes, he was still in his swan form. He had been kept away from the lake that day when the sun had set a few hours ago, as he had obviously been chained up in this room somewhere in Aizen's dungeon. But even if he had been able to get to the lake, it still would have been for naught, as tonight was the new moon.

And the new moon meant no moonlight to touch his feathers and transform him back to his human self until the sun rose. And that meant that he couldn't even try to rush to the castle and warn Grimmjow, because he had no doubt that Aizen would try to kill him.

Ichigo would have cried if his tears hadn't already all been lost the night before, when he had first been locked up in this room. He was too tired to cry, too devastated that his Grimmjow may lose his life and it would be all his fault. He had been so stupid to kiss and embrace the man, let alone show him his true form.

He should have let Grimmjow pierce his heart with that arrow.

However, before he could further wallow in his self-pity, a sudden scraping sound caught his attention and, unwittingly, he jerked his head up to see what had made the sound, only to regret it when the metal around his neck dug into his feathered skin and light spilled into his vision making his eyes water and burn as they had been so accustomed to the dark.

Blinking a few times, he recognized the sound of footsteps on the stone floor and felt a swell of panic rise up in him. The chain attached to the metal band around his neck rattled as he shook his head back and forth as the figure that had opened the door to the room he was being kept in stepped out of the light so that Ichigo could make out just who it was.

The silver-hued hair and slitted eyes were all too familiar.

Gin.

"Hello there, swan king," the snake-like man greeted, crouching down on bended knee beside him. Ichigo hissed again, the only way he could warn the mage-in-training to get away from him. What was he planning on doing? He knew the silver-haired man was practically Aizen's second in command and was probably sent here to either torture him or just end his life altogether.

Maybe Ichigo should just let him. The promise of the end of all his pain sounded pleasing to him at this point, even if meant the end of everything. But maybe if he couldn't be with Grimmjow in this life, he could be with his love in the next. A cliche thing to say, yes, but Ichigo was far, far past caring at that moment, hanging his head and waiting for whatever Gin was about to bestow upon him, whether that be pain or death.

However, when he saw out of the corner of his eye the man wave his hand and wiggle his fingers and expected both of those things in rapid succession, instead he felt the metal band around his neck break into two and fall to the stone floor with a soft clang, immediately allowing the former prince to better breathe. Blinking in confusion, he raised his head to see Gin still smirking down at him, but for some reason, the man looked much less...sinister.

"Ready ta fly ta yer Prince Charmin', swan king?"

The absolute bewilderment must have shown on Ichigo's face because Gin chuckled and patted his head with one bony, long-fingered hand before scooping the swan off of the ground and holding him to his side. Ichigo squawked weakly in indignation but didn't try to break free for he was far too confused.

Was this just all some sort of joke, or was Aizen's right hand man really trying to help him? It was all too much to believe the latter. The student enchanter carried him through a brightly lit, pure white hallway until they came to a door at the end and stepped through, revealing the dark summer night and its moonless sky.

Gin lifted Ichigo up with both hands so that they were staring each other dead on, only the former's eyes still looked to be closed even though his trademark broad smirk had lessened a bit, giving him a more serious appearance.

"Shirosaki's gonna try ta make yer prince declare his love fer you ta him. If he does tha', the curse on ya will become permanent, no more changin' back into a human."

Ichigo's heart stopped. He would forever be a swan?

"Head south an' fly ta the castle and stop 'im. I'll try ta hold Aizen off fer ya, jus' promise me one thing." Gin's voice was not in his usual mocking, lilting tone but instead a rather austere one. And somehow this made the former prince trust him, and so he nodded his head in acquiescence.

"After all this is over, ya spare me any punishmen' and let me leave tha country wit' Ran."

Ichigo's beak must have dropped to the ground. Did Gin mean Ran as in...Rangiku? His fellow enchanted swan?

Huh, so that's where she had been disappearing to all this time.

To show he agreed, all the swan could do was nod his head once more, his wings shuffling a bit as Gin loosened his grip before letting go completely, forcing him to flap them wildly lest he fall to the ground.

"Hurry up, ya don' have much time," the silver-haired man cautioned before turning around, and in the blink of an eye, vanishing back into the purely white building, leaving Ichigo alone. The former prince beat his wings against the night air, ascending into the sky and heading southward and found the path Grimmjow had told him about rather easily, thanking the gods silently for small mercies.

Traveling over the tops of the trees as fast as he could, racing against the clock that was steadily ticking the minutes towards the time that Grimmjow would profess his love for him, Ichigo, to the wrong person, to Shiro. He wanted to believe that the man he loved wouldn't do such a thing, could sense that there was an impostor in his presence, but he knew that Grimmjow, though clever when he wanted to be, wouldn't think twice of declaring his love for him. It was one of the the many things he loved about the prince. And perhaps would be his downfall.

Ichigo shook his head vehemently and flapped his long, porcelain-feathered wings faster and harder, pushing himself beyond his limits in order to reach the castle in time. And it wasn't twenty minutes before he finally saw it come into sight, the towering turrets and brightly lit windows familiar and welcoming.

Would he have felt it if he was too late?

Circling around the sprawling castle ground, his toffee brown eyes searched around frantically for the grand entrance that would allow him access into the ballroom. He was certain that if he could just get Grimmjow to see him, that the blunette would then realize he had been fooled.

Gliding across the top of one of the turrets, Ichigo careened down the stone wall of the castle, pausing when he reached a colossal open window that was one of the many surrounding the castle's ballroom. Inside he could see the ball's noble guests gathered about on the sides of the room, a lone pair in the center of everything, and it was there that he could make an achingly familiar head of turquoise blue hair and next to it, orange.

The prince of Desagarron and Shiro posing as the prince of Zangetsu were intertwined, the latter's arms wrapped around Grimmjow's neck as they stared into each other's eyes. Ichigo noticed that the pendant, his pendant, was hanging around the albino's neck as he threaded his fingers through silken blue locks.

A swan's equivalent of a snarl passed through Ichigo's beaked mouth and he rushed forward in order to sweep into the ballroom and show Grimmjow that he was still in swan form, that that thing wasn't him, that he was right here. But just as he was about to let out a loud shriek in order to gain the blunette's attention, something akin to two steel bars wrapped around him and something clamped over his beak, rendering him unable to make a sound.

Instinctively, he struggled with the bonds, trying to break his wings free from the crushing grip that was around them. That was, until he heard a soft chuckle above him, mild and so disgustingly pleased.

"Don't interrupt the show now, little swan king, this is the best part."

Unbidden tears came to his eyes as he realized the hopelessness of the situation, of just whom was holding him, restraining him from flying to Grimmjow and warning him of just what he was about to do. The weight of dark, oppressive magic settled in the air around him as suddenly the voices of the ballroom's occupants steadily grew louder, until he could make out a very distinct one, unnaturally loud and ringing in his ears.

"Grimmy, tell me ya love me, forever and ever."

He felt nauseous as he watched those two figures press closer together, bile rising in his throat as he watched the love of his life tenderly caress the face of another, a face that looked just like his, that was supposed to be his.

Why couldn't Grimmjow see that wasn't him, that he was about to pledge his love to another?

A small whimpering sound escaped from him, despite the hand that was holding his beak shut as a voice hauntingly familiar, like rough velvet, spoke next.

"I love ya, forever and ever."

It was like Ichigo had taken an arrow to the heart, quite literally. He felt the pain in his chest, it was ripping him apart from the inside out and it hurt, hurt so much he wanted to curl up and die. Life wasn't worth living anymore. He couldn't do anything right, couldn't even protect the one thing he loved most in the world from the evil of the sorcerer that had shifted him so that the man was holding Ichigo in his arms like a baby.

As the pain stopped racking his body like an endless monsoon, he felt all his energy deplete and he was left boneless, feeling completely hopeless as Shiro's cackling laughter pierced the air. He watched through half-lidded eyes as Grimmjow took a step backwards in surprise, eyes narrowed as he apparently came to the conclusion that the man before him was not Ichigo, hand going to the hilt of his sword.

Another chuckle came from somewhere above his head and very suddenly all of the lights in the great ballroom were extinguished, the nobles all gasping and looking about for the cause, which they found as soon as the the enchanter holding Ichigo stepped right through the window, his body several feet in the air, which caught the attention of everyone in the ballroom, including Grimmjow, whose eyes widened as he took in the prone form of a swan in the man's arms.

"Ichigo."

The name fell from his lips without thought, just as it had done earlier that night, but that had been in joy and this...this was pure horror.

He'd known that Ichigo had been acting strangely, calling him 'Grimmy' and telling him to tell him he loved him, not to mention snapping at his mother and very publicly displaying affection. But he'd just thought that perhaps the orangette was acting that way because it had been such a long time since he had been back at the castle, his home away from home in the summer months they had spent together ever since they could remember.

He was so stupid, so blind. He should've known that this Ichigo hadn't been his beloved, but he hadn't wanted to believe that after he had just been reunited with the love of his life, not when his pendant of the sun and moon was hanging around that elegant neck.

And there Ichigo was, still in his swan form, and in the arms of a man with sleek brown hair and cold eyes to match. He looked so frail, so weak, like...like he was dying.

Letting a choked gasp pass through his lips, he reached for his sword and drew it, the sharp blade glinting with his own intent to kill the man that was holding his Ichigo, the one that was without a doubt the one whom had placed the curse upon the former prince.

"Aizen," he growled, meeting those icy brown eyes with his own cyanic fire orbs, taking a few steps forward. Anyone else would've cowered in fright at the murderous vibes practically rolling off of his body, but this enchanter simply smiled just a tad bit more, such a small motion that Grimmjow barely even noticed it.

"Oh my, you must be Prince Grimmjow," Aizen said in a mockingly cordial tone, and with a small gesture, held out his arms. "This belongs to you, then. Here, catch."

And with that, Ichigo's body was rapidly falling from the place where Aizen was still standing in midair. It was purely on impulse that Grimmjow reacted fast enough to run forward several steps and catch the swan with one arm, cradling Ichigo to his chest. For a second, he forgot Aizen was even there as he stared down at those oh so familiar warm brown eyes, now dulled and unfocused. It was only the orangette's unsteady breathing that let Grimmjow know he was alive.

"I know you are probably upset with me, but this is all your doing, little prince," the sorcerer commented, sighing softly, causing Grimmjow to growl and look up to where Aizen was shaking his head, almost looking remorseful. "Pledging your love to another? How thoughtless of you."

The prince of Desagarron didn't have anything to say to that, he felt anger and distraught rise up within him to the point where it was making it difficult to speak. Had the fact that he had said 'I love you' to another person, even if it was meant for Ichigo, somehow injured him? Again, the piercing laughter of the one whom had impersonated Ichigo rang in his ears from behind him.

He would kill him as well, if it was the last thing he ever did.

"No matter though, I shall be kind and end your misery."

Grimmjow barely had enough time to shift his body and raise his sword so that the spell would deflect off of it. Aizen had moved so fast that he had barely even caught the man raising his hand to shoot a beam of green light towards him from the tips of his fingers. Shocked gasps and screams made for a cacophony of sound as he snarled, regarding the sorcerer's pleased, small smile.

However, before anything else could happen an explosion of purple light by the window Aizen had entered from rocked the castle to its very core, stones falling loose from the walls. And after the dust settled, there stood another man in the air as well, though he had hair like silver and was dripping what looked like blood to land on the floor twenty feet below him. And again, before anything else could occur, the newcomer let more purple light explode from his hand, landing not five feet away from Grimmjow, whom immediately ducked and rolled away, still holding Ichigo to his chest.

When he looked back up, his eyes widened as he saw that where the impostor had once been was now covered in chalky white skin and alabaster hair, laying face down on the floor. If he wasn't dead, then he was heavily unconscious if the trail of blood staining the back of his head was anything to go by.

The blunette let his gaze fall upon the silver-haired man yet again, trying to decipher whether he was friend or foe.

"It seems you are not dead after all, Gin," Aizen commented lightly, as if making note of the weather. The other didn't even comment, sending something that almost looked like amethyst fire from his fingertips that Aizen was forced to combat with his own green magic, the colors reflecting in Grimmjow's sapphire eyes that were pulled away from the spectacle by the sound of a familiar voice.

"Grimmjow, give Ichigo to me."

It was his mother, her gray-green eyes morbidly serious as she crouched by him. Most of the guests had vacated the ballroom by this point, having fled in fright the first time Aizen had shot the sickly green light at their prince. But the Sovereign Princess was brave, and clever enough to figure out that the swan in Grimmjow's left arm was the former prince of Zangetsu.

She knew he wanted to fight Aizen, that he wanted to kill the sorcerer for hurting Ichigo, and if there was anyone he trusted to look after the orangette whilst he went about doing so, it was his mother. Hesitantly, he let Nelliel take Ichigo from him and frowned deeply down at the still unresponsive boy trapped in a swan's body. Assuring himself that Ichigo would be safe for now, he rose to his full height and stalked towards where the battle between the silver-haired man, Gin, and Aizen was still taking place.

He watched as deep amaranth ropes sprang from seemingly out of thin air and wrapped themselves around the latter's body, pinning his arms and legs together. Once cold brown eyes narrowed and heated up in anger as Aizen summoned his green magic around him, pressing against his binds, but they seemed to hold fast.

In the blink of an eye, the man named Gin had vanished from the air and was suddenly beside Grimmjow, holding out his hand, in it a bow and a singular arrow made out of what looked like gold rapidly materializing. The prince regarded the silver-haired mage with suspicious marine eyes, the question obvious in his face.

"I know ya prob'ly don' trust me much, but take mah word on this," the mage said, his very thin eyes slitting open just the slightest bit to reveal icy blue irises that shone with a seriousness Grimmjow suspected wasn't there very much. "I'll distract 'im and ya shoot 'im wit' this, right in that heart. Be quick 'bout it, ya've only got one shot."

"It will kill him?" Grimmjow, asked taking the bow and arrow and letting his sword drop to the ground. He chanced a glance up towards Aizen to see that the ropes of the other's were beginning to give away, the air feeling heavy and thick as magic swirled about.

"Maybe, maybe not," was all the silver-haired man said before shooting back up into the air, gathering a glowing orb of aubergine in his right hand, releasing it just as the ropes looked like they had caught fire, turning to ash and disappearing. However, this time Aizen was ready for it and easily deflected, sending several beams of emerald green light towards the other.

Grimmjow grasped the bow firmly in his hand, knocking the arrow. He took aim, easily finding a clear shot. Almost too easily as Aizen's next spell was so strong it sent Gin flying into the stone wall of the ballroom so hard, several cracks and fissures appeared in it. He slid down the ground and was still, and that was when Grimmjow let his arrow fly.

It was a direct hit, straight through Aizen's heart, just like it should have been, it should have worked, should have sent the sorcerer tumbling to the ground in his final moments before dying. It should have worked, but Grimmjow's eyes widened as he watched Aizen look at the arrow through his chest with a slightly raised eyebrow, almost casually regarding the thing before reaching up and pulling it out swiftly as if it was but a splinter.

"I suppose I should return the favor," he sighed, his cool composure back now that he had vanquished Gin.

Grimmjow had no time to react before a reedy streak of electric green light and a burst of pure white filled his vision.

Ichigo could say without a doubt he had failed Grimmjow more times than he could count, but he wasn't about to just sit idly by and watch him die. He couldn't do it, his entire being rejected the idea like poison.

He had been completely unfocused in the past few minutes, like his soul had left his body and he was watching everything from above. He had felt so weak, like he couldn't move one muscle in his body, but he had felt an immense joy when Grimmjow had caught him moments before he had hit the hard stone floor. But Ichigo's clarity had slowly begun to return to him as he had been passed from Grimmjow to the Sovereign Princess, whose concerned mossy eyes had sparkled with concern above him.

He hadn't wanted to leave Grimmjow and so his eyes had traveled to find the blunette, only to see that sickly green light of Aizen's headed towards him. His body had reacted before his mind had even comprehended just what was going on. It was an out of body experience, his wings pushing him from the princess' arms as he flew at a speed he didn't even know he was capable of, throwing himself in front of that emerald light.

Ichigo didn't even comprehend that he done so before he felt his body pierced with that deadly beam, propelling him several feet backwards, into something solid and yet soft, something that smelled like the summer rain and peppermint and filled his fading vision with blue.

Was this was dying felt like? It wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it would be. In fact, it was almost pleasant, a slightly warm, tingling feeling spreading through his limbs, which he could feel shifting and growing, pure white feathers falling to the ground below him.

He was in Grimmjow's arms and he was human once again, this he knew. He guessed that was all he could ever ask for, even if he was dying.

His vision, just as his body changed back into human form, became less cloudy and he could make out the raw pain on the face he loved so much, fiery sapphire eyes swirling with a mixture of anger and sorrow. It pulled on his heartstrings and he felt his throat become choked with tears he didn't want to fall in his last moments.

Ichigo's eyes were reluctantly pulled away from the beauty of Grimmjow's face, the last thing he ever wanted to see, at the sound of a shrill, pained and angry cry. He felt his heart nearly stop at the sight of Aizen clutching his chest as a brightly golden light spread from where the left side of his chest, where Grimmjow's arrow had pierced him. It was such a pretty thing to see, all glittering and almost a heavenly shade of gold as it slowly consumed Aizen's entire body, the last thing left being the desperate, dying yells of the sorcerer whose control had snapped in his final moments.

Confused, Ichigo felt his vision grow clearer, his body no longer feeling weak, but perhaps stronger than it ever had.

"Ichigo?" came the uncharacteristically soft voice of Grimmjow. It seemed that neither of them could be bothered to care about just how Aizen, and even though both princes had been convinced that the spell Ichigo had taken for the blunette was a fatal, they knew that he would be okay, that everything was going to be okay.

"I love you, Grimmjow, forever and ever," Ichigo said somewhat abruptly, but he had to say those words, had to take them back from Shiro and Aizen. They were his to say, no one else's.

Grimmjow decided to put his response into action, sealing his lips over Ichigo's in a searingly, bone-melting kiss that would have put Romeo and Juliet to shame, for they had never had a happy ending, but these two princes knew they would.

A sound of stone scraping against stone caught their attention and they broke apart just enough so that they could look over to where the Sovereign Princess was helping a miraculously alive Gin out of the rubble that he had been buried under after his fall. Nelliel took his hand and helped him to his feet, revealing that the silver-haired man, while bloodied and bruised and looking like he was on the verge of passing out, still had that broad grin on his face.

"I knew ya could do it, little swan king," he said in his usual lilting tone. "Oops, guess I can' call ya tha' no more."

Ichigo was out of Grimmjow's arms and on his feet before anyone could realize what was going on, hands on his hips as he glared at the mage that had formerly been Aizen's right hand man.

"You planned this?" he asked incredulously, sensing from behind him that Grimmjow had also risen from the ground and was growling lowly under his breath, obviously as angered by this as Ichigo.

"A course, e'eryone knows tha' the only way to vanquish evil is wit' true love, sacrifice, etcetera," Gin said as if was the most apparent thing in the world, listing slightly to the side as it seemed he would drop to the floor any moment. And he did before Ichigo or Grimmjow could say anything else on the matter, the Sovereign Princess catching the silver-haired man before he could fall to the ground. She looked slightly shocked as he started murmuring about "Ran" in a way that could easily be taken for insanity had he not obviously taken several blows to the head.

Ichigo felt his face flush red with anger as he didn't like playing a pawn to anyone, but then he felt a large hand cover his shoulder and he looked up to see Grimmjow's sapphiric eyes dancing with mirth. He felt his anger leave him in a moment, blithe at the fact that now he could stare into those eyes all he wanted, but still raised an eyebrow, wondering what had brought on that look.

"I love you, Ichigo, forever and ever," he said and the orangette felt his lips stretch into a blissful smile, but just when he was about to respond, Grimmjow lay a finger over his lips, silencing him. "Now, I think ya deserve some punishment fer pulling that stunt earlier."

There's really no point in telling you that there were indeed many happy endings that night.