"I-Ichigo?" Ora's eyes flinched at the light in front of her, but she could definitely see the boy who had stopped the flaming bird with his sword. He was wearing a long cape, probably provided by Yoruichi. He looked stronger, she could sense his strength but still, she had her worries.
"Hey, Ora." He said.
"You idiot!" She shouted which made him flinch. "Did I tell you to rescue me? Did I tell you to come here? You don't stand a chance against Lord Byakuya! I will only get yourself killed! GO AWAY!" She kept yelling.
The captains below them watched in horror as a single Ryoka had stopped a force of hundred zanpakutos only with his sword. It was unbelievable, they had never seen someone who could do that.
"Heh, looks like the Ryoka saved the day after all." Captain Kyoraku said.
The bird charged against him once again, and Ora feared for his life. She almost screamed his name, but the bird was soon held back by two strings coming from the ground, they entangled around the bird's neck and kept it there. Ora looked down and saw her captain holding a large wooden shield. With the help of Captain Kyoraku, both of them charged their zanpakutos against the shield, which resulted in a huge explosion coming from the strings around the bird. It dissipated moments after.
"I-impossible.." Ora whispered. "They destroyed it..."
Ora kneeled next to Ichigo, weak and confused. She was rescued, her life was saved. She could see all the commotion below her - the captains arguing to others, her lieutenant colleagues waiting to receive orders, her grandfather looking disapprovingly to Captains Kyoraku and Ukitake, Byakuya staring at her with coldness.
"I-Ichigo?" Ora called for her savior.
"What?"
"What do you plan to do next?" She smiled nervously at him.
"I don't know, I just planned on rescuing you." He laughed. "So from now on, we are going to improvise."
"I-Improvise?" Ora didn't like the sound of it.
"Yeah, and looks like I got an idea." He grabbed Ora by the hem of her kimono and held her high. "Hey, Renji!"
Renji stood weakly below them, he fought with Byakuya - Hanataro told Ora. He mastered his Bankai in a short period of time, just like Ichigo did. There were a lot of wounds covered by bandages on his body, he must have given his all while fighting Byakuya.
"What do you plan to do, Ichigo?" Ora asked with a concerned voice.
"Hey, Renji!" The orange haired male shouted. "Catch!"
Ora was thrown off from meters above the ground, scared and enraged by Ichigo's improvise. Thankfully, Renji caught her in his arms - which led him to fall to the ground.
"Are you crazy?!" Renji shouted.
"Take her away from here!" Ichigo shouted back. "It's your duty to protect her, you understand?"
Renji's face softened as he held Ora closer to him. "I get it."
Δ
Ora did nothing more than watch everything happening before her eyes. Ichigo knocked out three lieutenants with his sword unsheathed. Renji trying to take her to someplace safer than here, Byakuya clashing sword's with Ichigo in a battle that looked more intense than everything she saw until that day. Even though that both of them were surrounded by Byakuya's bankai, she could feel the rise of both reiatsu.
The battle came to an end with Byakuya and Ichigo injured. Ora's heart sank as she saw her hero covered in blood and yet conscious. She sighed in relief, at least they were alive.
"Why didn't you stop the execution?" Ichigo weakly asked Byakuya. "You owe me an answer."
"Very well, I shall tell you." Byakuya slowly walked away from the battlefield. "In Soul Society, we must obey the law. Feelings such as love and friendship are something that is weak, even though that I was never bothered by those. The law is what rules Soul Society and the Kuchiki clan is one of the fourth clans that must follow the law at everything."
"I'm sorry, but I still don't get it," Ichigo spoke. "If I were in your position, I would fight the law!" Byakuya stopped in his tracks. "To protect the ones dear to me!" Ichigo continued.
"Fight the law, you say?" Byakuya looked at the sky. "You're a fool, Ichigo Kurosaki."
"I may be a fool, but thanks to me, an innocent life was spared from the law!" Ichigo said. "Ora protected my family, gave me her powers because I wanted to help her. She taught me how to fight Hollows and how to send spirits to Soul Society. If that's a crime, then Soul Society is nothing like I'd expected."
"She did something against the law, she knew what she was doing." Byakuya closed his eyes. "She's nothing more than a fool."
"A fool that never stopped thinking about you and Soul Society!" Ichigo said. "Tell me Byakuya, have you ever wondered how Ora might be feeling? Have you ever talked to her and tried to see how incredible she is?" Ichigo walked closer to Byakuya. "Have you ever looked at her or called her name?" He grabbed Byakuya's shoulder. "Tell me Byakuya."
Byakuya flash stepped to a nearby cave, where he could rest. He was badly injured and yet, Ichigo's words never ceased inside his head.
What do I do, Hisana?
Δ
Ora got better after a few minutes, the spiritual particles that had been taken away from her slowly restored her reiatsu, she could summon her sword if she wanted although she couldn't release the first stage of transformation. Ichigo was being healed by Orihime, who had appeared along with Uryu and Chad. Ora was amazed by her healing abilities, as well for Chad's powers, they couldn't even see a Hollow! They came that far for her, it made her feel grateful, humans were not that bad nor different from what she had learned. Byakuya was nowhere to be found and that made her feel uneasy.
"Is he okay?" Ora asked weakly at Ichigo. "Is Lord Byakuya hurt?"
"You still care for him, even though he called you scum and insulted you?" Ichigo looked at her. "Do you not get hurt by his words?"
"I do," She replied. "Because he means a lot to me."
"Then why?!" Ichigo shouted. "Why are you married to him yet?"
"He's my hero", She whispered. "If I can devote myself to look after someone if it's him, it's more than enough." Ora smiled gently at Ichigo.
"Seems like a very interesting and emotional story." A voice echoed.
Ora turned around and saw the same man that was supposed to be dead, Captain Aizen applauded while walking towards them. Behind him, there was Captain Ichimaru and Captain Tosen. A heavy atmosphere surrounded the hill and Ora felt weaker with every step they took.
Captain Aizen stopped in front of them and held Ora by the choker, he let a gap of a finger distance to let her breathe. She heard Renji shout her name, but it looked like she was too far to understand what was happening.
For Ora's horror, Captain Aizen slashed both Renji and Ichigo as if they were nothing, he was too strong. Stronger than everyone present on that hill. She was scared, she wanted to run away.
"So you're back, Ora." Captain Aizen spoke. "I must say that I've miscalculated the fact that the Sokyōku would be destroyed, but it matters not." He looked at her. "Now, I can use my second method to extract the Hōgyoku from you."
Ora eyes widened. The Hōgyoku was a project made by Urahara when he was still in Soul Society, she knew about that object because her grandfather used to talk about it with her mother. Apparently, Urahara wanted to get rid of it, but its powers were too immense. So he deactivated it and placed it on a soul that could calm the sphere down. First, it was Ora's mother that offered to do the task, but after she died the sphere was passed onto Ora's soul in secret.
"H-How?" Ora struggled by the lack of air.
"It's a device that separates the soul from an unknown object, created by Kisuke Urahara himself." Captain Aizen grabbed a purple device, no much longer than a pencil. "Shall we test it out?"
After he pressed a button on the device, large green blades erupted from the ground and surrounded Captain Aizen and Ora. The air became thicker, almost unbearable to breathe, Ora kept looking in fear to the man.
"You're not Captain Aizen," She whispered. "He was a kind man, he would never do something like this."
"I'm sorry to inform you," Captain Aizen's hand turned sharp and scaly, just like the blades around them. "That Aizen never existed."
Ora's chest was violently pierced by Captain Aizen's hand, however, no blood came out from that wound, in fact, the only thing that came out from her body was a small purple sphere, the one that Captain Aizen was looking for, the one that Ora's mother protected.
"Finally, it's in my possession." He looked at Ora. "And your soul is still intact, I must say that it's a very wonderful technique." He once again grabbed Ora by the choker. "You have no more use for me." He smiled as he stretched his arm.
"Gin, kill her."