After the war most Arrancar had became stressed due to the loses they had witness. So to deal with the stress and relax a few Espada came up with a idea to go to the beach and relax for a little while.

...

Ayane waiting within the grand meeting hall waiting for her comrades to come so they could head out. Unlike usual she was in a different outfit then her usual kimono, she was wear a loose fitting white sun dress that was strapless making the bikini she was wearing under noticeable. The dress was barely long enough to even cover the bottom of her bikini as well. She was not floating among on her platform as well, she stood there waiting for everyone else to come, during this time she looked through her bag that she brought with her making sure she had brought sunscreen.

Eliza had been the first to enter the room. She had a small black purse hanging off her arm. She wore a small black sundress that did nothing to conceal the nudity she had underneath it. Within her bag she had the normal beach supplies. A book, binoculars, sunscreen, another book, and a pouch of her latest invention, the Heart Piece. She had been one of the Espada who had given this idea. Figured it would be a good way to unwind, as well as to test her invention.

She had tested it on herself many times, but never on anyone else.

"Hey there Ayane. Well don't you look lovely today."

She slowly walked over to her fellow Espada and playfully wrapped an arm around her waist.

Joseff had entered the grand meeting hall. As a new Espada, he would have expected to have entered this building under the tides of war, but it was the opposite. This was purely recreational. They were going on a beach trip in the human world. He often visited their world, if only on brief trips. He attracted shinigami like rotting flesh attracts flies. If he stayed too long, it was only a matter of time. He preferred these visits to wars though. He also preferred them to associating with hollows as well. So why was he here? There was a reason really: Elizabeth Belanger. He had heard that she had a way to conceal their prescence in the human world. Otherwise, a meeting of Espada in the human world would be impratical, regardless of their combined power. There were few things he desired in this world or the next and one of them was in this room.

He was only half dressed as he entered the room: He wore his tight white shirt and his hakama with his zanpakuto tucked into his obi. His longcoat and his tabi were left in his room. He was probably going to take off his shirt too if he got into the water. Maybe even his hakama too leaving him in a fundoshi. He was the third Espada to enter the room, after Ayane and Elizabeth. He held Ayane in high esteem. Though he knew little about her, she seemed... cultured. He knew a little bit more about Elizabeth. She kept a harem of fraccion and often dealed irreparable wounds to other arrancar with little provocation. He found her despicable though he didn't hate her. He thought of her as a lost soul. She always gave him the strangest case of deja vu and another feeling.

They were both dressed in sundresses. A modest choice that he approved. Ayane's choice more modest than Elizabeth's but that was besides the point. They both had bags with them in contrast to the approaching male Espada. Elizabeth's arm was wrapped around the other woman's waist. He had never seen them together before and he briefly pondered just what kind of relationship they had. He had stopped steps away from the door.

"Hello Miss Ayane."

He was always this formal with the other Espada in the rare instances they intereracted. He always tried to speak with respect unless he had determined that the person he was addressing did not deserve it. His tone didn't show any excitement or familiarity, and his greeting didn't seem to be anything more than a formality.

"Hello Miss Elizabeth."

In her case, he couldn't be objective. There was a slight tone of disappointment in his voice and also familiarity. He spoke as if he actually knew her any better than any of the other Espada. His eyes held a judgemental glint.

"How are you today?"

Though he was addressing both of them, his eyes still focused on the blonde Espada almost as if he was trying to recall something.

Gabriel made his way to the designated room, walking with bare feet. He had left most of his clothing in his room, wearing only frayed jeans that hung on his hips, torn on the knees. He wasn't exactly sure why they were going to the human world for something like this, but to question it would be giving up on the chance to go. There wasn't much to do in the human world, but the suggestion of beaches was something he wouldn't ignore.

Once within the grand hall, he looked over his three other Espada comrades, waving to them all with one motion. He was still tired from sleep, but he wanted to go do something besides sit and stare at the sands of heuco mundo. Waiting for the rest to show up, he leaned against one of the many pillars in the grand hall.

Being called into the Grand Meeting Hall the Espada was certainly exciting for Akio, especially when it was a plan for a trip. But, then again, Akio was always excited for anything and everything that could translate into more training for him and being able to hang out with other Arrancars he considered to be friends. The human world was some place he hadn’t been to ever since he was a hollow in its beginning stages. Returning there now would be like returning to a home one would run away from for several years. Of course, in this case, it would be almost a millennia’s time for Akio. Akio knew this would not be a time for him to visit old friends, being that they would most likely be dead and in some other place by now.

Upon entering the Grand Meeting Hall in a red dragon designed swimming Speedo and goggles on his head, Akio seemed roaring to go to the beach. Akio did not care for sunscreen or anything that people would normally bring to a beach, besides a towel which he wore around his neck. This would be a time for swimming and possibly getting sunburned for Akio, but he didn’t care. Akio would use the swimming as an excuse for endurance training and the sand to relax and mingle with his fellow Arrancars, maybe form a bond or two with them as well.

“What’s up? Are we all ready to head out? I am itching to get swimming! No doubt!” Akio rhymed as he made his entrance, sort of bouncing around with his chakram worn as it normally was on his arm. Akio knew this would also be a good time to throw his chakram like a Frisbee and train with it as well.
“Miss Ayane! Miss Elizabeth! Mr. J! And my bro! You guys look great! Would anyone else be heading out with us?” Akio complimented the group and asked for assurance, but not expecting an answer for if someone else was to join, they would surely walk in soon.

Elizabeth glared at the males. Back during their meeting when she explained her idea, she suggested it should be a small test 3 or 4 people at the most, excluding herself. Seeing as these were the only 3 that had volunteered, she had no choice. She had no problem letting Ayane join in, she had hoped that she voulnteered. However the other 3 were...unexpected. Nonetheless, they were test subjects.

"Ok, everyone's here? Good. I'm sure you all know that this is not only an outing, but also an excuse for me to test my invention."

She reached a hand into her purse and produced a smaller black pouch. Dumping it's contents onto the table, she would reveal to them her invention.

"These are called Heart Pieces."

She held one of the palm-sized, heart-shaped container between her index finger and her thumb.

"I will explain how they work when we get into the human world. So, since Gabriel is here, would you do the honors of opening up a garganta to," she handed him a small note, "this location?"

The Primera was next. He was lethargic and showed no drive. He didn't doubt his power and yet he wondered how he made it to where he is today. Joseff didn't acknowledge his half hearted wave. After him was his fraccion, Akio. He had met him once before. As he remembered it, the experience wasn't pleasant for anyone. He didn't bother him at the moment or at least not in particular anyway. Something about his constantly cheery demeanor got to him after awhile. Keeping that in mind, he began to tune him out.

It seemed he wasn't the only one who hadn't brought a bag of supplies. The other two male arrancar also came empty handed for the most part. Perhaps it was a female thing. Ayane had greeted him as he had and asked if he was ready.

"I believe so."

He was absolutely sure that he was ready, but he didn't want to seem too assured. Pride would come before the fall after all and he may very have needed to take something that he had left in his castle. As his gaze fell back upon Elizabeth, he noticed her glare. He wasn't too surprised. She had something of a reputation. As she emptied a small pouch on the table, he was surprised by the contents. Her invention had taken a surprising form: small hearts. As she gave Gabriel the coordinates of their test site, he imagined the purpose of these devices. The first thought that came to mind was a perimeter barrier.

Gabriel took the slip of paper and read it over for a moment, his eyes moving faster than his body gave him credit for. With one last yawn to cast aside his drowsiness, he would turn to the area a few feet in front of the table. A garganta opened like the mouth of a beast, the sound resembling that of a broken zipper trying to zip open. Gabriel reached over to the table, picking up one of the heart pieces, slipping it into his pocket. With a wave to the garganta, he waited for the others to enter. If he entered it, the garganta would close immediately after. With half lidded eyes, he watched his fraccion, raising a brow at the outfit he had picked for their trip.

Akio was explained the purpose of this trip and nodded accordingly, seeming happy as always. This wasn't a time for Akio to calm down, but Akio felt he should tone it down a notch with his superiors in the room, himself being the only Fraccion in the room. This made Akio slightly uncomfortable, but this was to be a fun trip as well as an experiment for Elizabeth's invention, which were miniature hearts by the look of it. Akio tilted his head at the presentation of these odd objects, but Akio didn't pay them any mind.

"Whoa! Those look cool!" Akio said excitedly, restraining himself from grabbing a heart for himself. But before Akio could proceed further, the Primera would open a Garganta to the human world would open. Akio couldn't contain his excitement for much longer, "Awesome!" Akio yelped and leaped through the Garganta first, unsure of what he would find on the other side since he paid no attention to what was being shown to the group.

She scoffed at the overly excited fraccion. She had also noticed he hadn't grabbed a Heart Piece so she tossed one over to him. If he didn't catch it, it wouldn't matter. She had a good 10 of them with her in case something went wrong.

As she put the rest of the containers that weren't taken into the smaller pouch that she attached to the outside of her purse, she stepped into the Garganta and waited for the others to join them.

"Gabriel-sama," oh how she hated to use 'sama' at the end of his name, "I hope you don't mind me taking control for this mission. After all, it is my invention."

The Primera's Garganta tore open space in front of them in preparation for their trip. One by one, each arrancar would walk through the portal, leaving only Joseff and Gabriel. He had considered picking up one of the small hearts to study it more closely, but Elizabeth had already retuned them to the bag she kept them in. He would see them in action soon enough, he supposed. As he walked through the portal, he tried to relax at the thought of visiting the human world without interuption, though he wasn't sure if his current company was much better. Now, only Gabriel was left.

Gabriel simply nodded to Elizabeth's comment, watching the rest of them enter the garganta before he finally took a step in. Said garganta closed behind him, and after a moment the sight of the blue skies of the human world could be seen from an opening garganta not to far from them. He waited for them all to continue forward, seeing as he was in control of the garganta and his actions would make it difficult for them to leave.

Akio found himself rolling onto the sandy shores of the beach. Unsure of the location of this beach, Akio looked around to find many people with and without swimwear. Akio thought nothing of it, his Speedo was enough to cover him and to get him swimming and playing in the sand or mud. The suns rays were strong and warm, something Akio had not felt in some time. Getting up from the sands, Akio jumped back and began to make Sand-Angels as he waited for his comrades.

"This is amazing and warm! Ooooh! I love it!" Akio exclaimed as he laughed, making the Sand-Angels.

As she stepped out of the Garganta and onto the warm sands of Montalivet Beach in the north-west region of France. It was one of the best clothing optional beaches in all the world. It was also the first legalized nude beach in all the world. Elizabeth had found this out from researching a good place to suntan in the nude.

She felt her eyebrow twitch as the Primera's fraccion got even more excited. She didn't see how someone like that could have all that boundless energy. However, this wasn't her concern. What was her concern was making sure this test went off without a hitch.

Earlier during the week, after the meeting had been concluded to determine today's testing, she had run off to this exact location to make a reservation for the day. Looking around there small area to make sure they were perfectly alone, no humans around them, she would turn around and look at the arrancar that were gathered, handing Akio, Gabriel, and Joseff a Heart Piece. She would then explain how they worked.

"Ok. As you already know, the container in your possession is called a Heart Piece. It will act similar to a shinigami's Gigai, which I'm sure we all know, or at least have heard, of those."

She wasn't going to bother explaining what those were, and figured an actual demonstration would be better.

"Now, what you do with this, is you take the container." She held hers up for everyone to see. At the same time she lifted her top a little, revealing her stomach and all the bare flesh beneath it, as well as her hollow hole which was just to the left of her bellybutton. "Insert it into your hollow hole." As she spoke she did exactly what she said. "And then just remove your hand."

As she did exactly as she was telling the others to do, her hollow hole started to shrink until it was completely gone, replaced with bare skin. The only difference from the skin around it, was the fact it had a black ring around the diameter of her hollow hole, as well as a heart shaped marking in the center of the circle. The tiara that made up her hollow remains was also gone. If anyone were to be able to look under her hairline, they would see a tattoo in the same design as the tiara that was once atop her head.

She looked around again to make sure they were all still alone and waved her hands a little.

"So go on. Your turns."

Gabriel was the last of the arrancar to walk through the Garganta and it snapped shut as he walked through. In the opposite direction, beams of light shined in from their destination. He winced a bit but otherwise showed no reaction to brightness. When he had first traveled to the Human World since becoming an arrancar, the light had almost blinded him and he feared that his transformations had left him a shady creature of the night. If he wasn't brave enough to have ventured into the light then, he may not have even come along in the first place. He opened Garganta to the Human World on a regular basis, sometimes only to visit quickly before quickly leaving. He was used to this experience.

As his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed something peculiar about their location or rather, the state of dress of some of the people there. "What kind of place is this?" He wasn't actually asking any of the other arrancar present. This was more of an aside than anything else. He could already see the Primera's fraccion flailing in the sand like a fool. As he thought about the contrast in the emotions of this fraccion and his Espada, he was amused. As the warmth of the sun enveloped his body, he remembered why he loved this world, not that he had ever forgotten. The artificial sunlight of Las Noches had nothing on this. Not by a longshot. Perhaps it was the nostalgia in the air as well that made it feel so good.

Elizabeth had given all of them one of the hearts and explained their purpose. Joseff didn't show a reaction to her words, but he actually wasn't too familiar with the gigai. He had only seen shinigami in their regular attire when he encountered them. He wouldn't need to be anyway it would turn out, as Elizabeth has demonstrated the use of this object herself. Her hollow hole had closed up and her mask fragment had rededed. Her skin was not unblemished. In the end, none of them could truly escape their pasts as monsters. However, at worst, she was a tattooed human. He decided it was worth a try. He slowly pulled his sleeveless shirt up his body as it resisted due to its tightness. Then he stuck the small heart inside of his chest and began to feel his hollow hole close up around it. He ran his hand through his hair and felt nothing but hair. He wished that he could see himself. His forehead was stark white making it look more like a discoloration than a tattoo. Then, there were the symptoms that he wasn't sure were real. Was his skin more sensitive to the radiant sunlight? Were his lungs more powerful? His hand rubbed over his chest in silent awe. He was curious to see how this device would transform the other arrancar.

Gabriel watched as they made their way to the beach, his garganta closing behind them as they all stood on the beach. With a sigh he unzipped his pants pushing them down a bit to slip the heart piece into his hollow hole. He wasn't exactly happy his hollow hole was on his lower abdomen, but he wasn't one t really care. As he zipped the pants back up, he felt the hole close, the ring and heart replacing it feeling almost natural. His fingers grazed against it slowly as his mask fragment on his head vanished, faint signs of its sharp teeth tattooing his forehead. The feel of the sun was interesting indeed, and he hadn't been in contact with the ocean in some time. Walking to the shore of the water, Gabriel let it rise ot his ankles and wash back, humming softly in approval. He crouched low, letting his fingers skim the water as the ends of his pant legs got wet from the water.

Akio got up from his Sand Angels and grabbed a hold of the heart piece Elizabeth had handed out. Akio threw his into the Hollow Hole in his neck, feeling it seal up and made him feel a little more whole. Though this was an illusion, Akio knew this. Akio's mask piece that covered his right ear receeded into his skin and formed a tattoo-like thing over it. Akio nodded in a way to show thanks to Elizabeth as he then began to run towards the Primera. He would leap over the Primera and leap into the water, splashing a fair amount of water all around him. Akio was ready to swim and have fun. This was a vacation for the Arrancars, so he might as well live it to the fullest. Akio still held his Chakram in hand, but the towel that was around his neck now laid on the beach where he was making his Sand Angels.

"Come on! The water feels great! You would all love it! It feels great!" Akio rhymed, waving back to his fellow Arrancars.

Elizabeth smiled at her comrades. Well, they weren't exactly comrades seeing as she hated the majority of them. Only one she would consider a comrade is Ayane. They were quick to learn, and she saw that they all enjoyed her invention. This would come in handy, for more than just days like this.

Looking around at them as they all went their separate ways, she decided to walk onto the beach and pull up a chair next to Ayane. Before she sat down, she pulled her sundress off, revealing her nude body to the warm sun.

Semi-Mature Content:

Looking to her left, she smiled at Ayane.

"So, I know we just got here, but how are you liking my invention?"

Joseff was amused to witness the transformation of his fellow arrancar. Their reactions were quite uniform: it seemed to be almost instinctual to reach for the missing mask fragment. It was quite an interesting device. He might have asked her about the finer workings of such a device but he doubted that he would understand them. He raised his shirt above his head and untied his obi letting his hakama drop to the ground. Clad in only his underwear, he observed the people around him. Many of them were nude in public and they didn't seem to even notice or care, Elizabeth among them. Had they no shame? He looked over to the Primera and his fraccion. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. He was here and no one would interrupt his stay. So now what? He had begun to pace back and forth without realizing it.

Gabriel raised a brow at the actions of his fraccion, reaching back with both arms, spreading them wide. With a hefty swing from both, he splashed a rather large amount of water at Akio, a smirk crossing his face. He wasn't used to this sort of behavior, but if his fraccion enjoyed it so much, there had to be something enjoyable about it. The water was cool, the sun was warm, and the sky was beautiful, everything about this was too perfect.

Akio looked back at the Primera and laughed an almost childlike laugh. When met with the splash, Akio would return the favor by splashing some water back with his own arms and then continued to turn to jump into the deeper part of the water to swim. "You can't catch me! I'm going to go out to sea! Gonna be swimming forth and back! Catch me, unless it's swimming you lack!" Akio taunted the Primera, hoping for a game of tag. This would certainly help Akio with endurance training as well as his dodging abilities.

Akio would take a glance back at the other Espada, seeing that Elizabeth was nude, sitting next to Ayane and Joseff was pacing the beach. Akio would stop in his tracks and waved to the three, though he didn't bother speaking since they probably couldn't hear him over the waves or from how far he was from them. Akio would try and get the three in the water, since Akio felt the beach was no place to sit and do nothing.