"You're not a doll, Momo," he said quietly, hating still having to do this every step of the way, but all the while knowing that he had to. "You worked damn hard to become a shinigami, to become a vice captain. You're not just some tool of Aizen's. You've got more to you than that." He lowered his eyes to avoid looking at the tear as it slipped down. "Don't go apologizing to me, either. I'm not going to abandon you here, and I'm not going to let you lose yourself. You mean too much to me, damnit."

And there it was. The words he never bothered to say to anyone...it was shocking that he let something like that out, something be never wanted to even think about. But he wasn't going to let anything harm her. Not even herself if he could help it, and certainly not Aizen.