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Isane hoped she never had to treat battle wounds again. She had seen lost limbs, so much blood it made her skin crawl...in her dreams she saw puddles of dark red and scattered body parts and blank unseeing eyes.
Everyone had lived, everyone on their side, but you never would have believed it if you'd stared into those eyes.
The one person who haunted her that surprised her was the Arrancar Grimmjow. He hadn't been hurt as badly as some of the ones in Fake Karakura Town, but that was the first time she'd seen extensive injuries of that sort. His arm and shoulder had nearly been severed off his body, the wound was that deep. She'd worked on him patiently, ignoring all the others around her. That was the way she had always worked, focusing in on herself.
When he came too he was...upset. And defeated, too. He said he didn't care what happened to him, but he told her she should have just left him to die. She couldn't explain what she said next very well when asked what calmed him down from the rage that had been building, because she didn't quite remember herself, but it had stopped him cold, stopped the rage, and stopped the shouting and accusations. And he'd just stared at her as though she sprouted a second head or something.
In her dreams, though, she remembered clearly that it had to do with power. “I have the power to save you. Let me use that power and give you a second chance.” Or maybe it was “I have power. I can give you something you lost.” Whatever it was, even in her dreams and muddled thoughts she can’t remember.
Which leads to today. Today she is at the secure ward of the 4th Division healing center, where those who can't be released back into Soul Society are held while they are treated. No one has decided what will happen to him now. The other Arrancar there, the little girl, she's being cared for by the 8th Division. She had only cared about Itsygo, and after a moment they realized she had been talking about Ichigo Kurosaki, and then she told them what had happened. Her friends had been collected and they, too, were being cared for. It was nice to see that not all of the Arrancar were dangerous.
This one, however, he was dangerous. And yet she needed to know some things, and he was the only one with answers. She stood outside the door of his room, took a deep breath, and stepped inside. “Grimmjow Jaegerjaques,” she said quietly.
“What do you want?” he said. The last time she had tried to talk to him she had received no response. So this was an improvement.
“I just want to talk,” she said. There were no chairs in the room, just the bed and the monitor, because a chair could be used as a weapon, and no one wanted him within the range of anything that could be used as a weapon. He didn't really need the monitor any more, and she would make a note to have it taken away when she left. He was sitting up, though one arm was handcuffed to the post on the side of his bed. She knew he was strong enough to break it at any time. They all did. Only she wondered why he hadn't.
“Yeah, well...I don't want to.” He sat up and turned to look at her and his eyes narrowed. “You're the one who saved my life.”
“Yes,” she said with a nod.
“Why?” he asked. “You should have just left me to die. I am the enemy, after all.”
“It is not in my person to leave an injured person to die, no matter what side of the battle they are on.”
“So you're a saint,” he said with a sneer.
She shook her head. “No. I am simply a healer.”
“Well, healer or not, you did something pretty stupid. I'm the sexta Espada. My aspect is destruction. I am not a person you want alive if you can help it.”
She tilted her head slightly. “Destruction?”
He looked at her and then sighed, leaning back into his pillows more. “Every Espada embodies some sort of aspect. Mine is destruction. The more damage I cause, the more carnage I cause, the happier I am.”
“What happened in Hueco Mundo?”
“Kurosaki defeated me,” he spat out. “And then he showed me mercy.”
“Oh,” she said with a nod.
“You said you'd heal me, give me a second chance.” He looked at her intently. “Do I get another shot at him, or is that just a fantasy now?”
“I do not know what is in store for you, but I do know you won't be fighting Kurosaki-san. He's powerless now.”
Grimmjow's jaw dropped as he sat up again. “What?”
“In order to defeat Aizen he used a third technique of his sword's release. It left him powerless. When his powers left he was in agony. According to Kuchiki-san, he was losing the ability to see her when she departed.”
“Well...damn,” he said quietly, looking down. “So...there's really nothing left for me. No chance at revenge, at least.”
“It appears that way, yes,” Isane said with a nod.
He shut his eyes. “What is left for me?”
“I do not know. Perhaps redemption, if you are lucky. If not....” She shrugged slightly. “If not, imprisonment, I'd assume.”
“What happened to that kid who was watching the fight?”
“Nel Tu?”
His eyes widened. “Nel...Nelliel? Nelliel tu Oderschvank? That's who that kid was?”
“I suppose,” he said. “The others who came here with her called her Nel Tu.”
“Are they Pesche and Dondechokka?”
“Why, yes, they are,” she said with a nod.
“Holy crap, she's a kid? Nnoitra was bragging that he'd killed her, and she'd just turned into a kid. Fucking liar.” He grinned slightly. “Well, damn. What's happening with her?”
“She's in the care of one of the divisions here, her and her friends.”
“Fraccion. But in her case, they were her friends, I guess.” He settled back into the pillows more. “She never would have lasted in the war. She didn't like to kill people who hadn't done anything to her. Aizen would have gotten rid of her eventually.”
“How can a child be an Espada?” Isane asked.
“She wasn't always a brat,” Grimmjow said. “May sound soft spoken and childlike, but no, she was very much a woman. Something must have happened.” His look turned speculative. “I didn't like many of the other Espada, but she was the one I hated the least. She was strong, she'd spar if you wanted, and she was..nice. Which always made me wonder how in the hell she got to be an Espada, especially the third one.”
“She apparently has no memory of that time, then, because she views the world as a child views the world.”
“That's a shame,” he said, shutting his eyes. “If I had to be left here in Soul Society with any other Espada it would have been her. Normal her, not little brat her.”
“I see,” she said. They lapsed into silence, and after a few moments she cleared her throat slightly. “It is time for me to go. I will have someone come in later and take the monitor out. You seem to be well enough not to need it anymore.”
“Fine,” he said with a slight shrug. “Hey. Question for you.”
“Yes?”
“What's your name?”
She paused. It was a small request. She could grant this request and, she thought, he had every right to know it, whether it was to curse her or thank her or keep it in his head that she was the one who saved him. It didn't matter, he still had the right to know. “Kotetsu. Isane Kotetsu.”
“Kotetsu,” he said quietly. “Well...see ya.”
“Rest well,” she said, giving him one last glance before heading out the door. She would not tell anyone else about this conversation save her captain. It was nobody else's business, and yet she hoped that maybe now she could answer some of the questions in her own head. And if not...well, there was always the chance he would be there tomorrow. She could talk to him again, and talk to him until he was taken away to whatever fate awaited him.