The concept of Hollows regaining their hearts has been a recurring theme throughout the Arrancar arc. The heart can be regained quite simply: by having a connection with another person. The Fifth rank of the Espada consists of two characters who, despite first appearances, do in fact care deeply for each other. During their panel time in this arc, we can see that heart appears to have formed between them. Hopefully this is sufficient cause for the manga-ka to spare their lives as Hollows who regain their hearts seem to be a rarity.

The characters

Nnoitra Gilga (ノイトラ・ジルガ, Noitora Jiruga)

species: Arrancar
position: Quinto (5th) Espada in Aizen’s army
release command: Inore (“pray”), Santa Teresa
appearance: His distinguishing features are the halo-like collar on his uniform jacket and his oversize zanpakuto in the shape of two connected crescents. He is also one of the tallest characters in Bleach. His Hollow hole is through his left eye socket; he customarily covers it with an eyepatch. His mask fragment consists of upper and lower jawbones surrounding his Hollow hole and across his forehead.
personality: While termed a “beast” by characters within the series, his flashbacks indicate that there is more to him than first appearances.

Tesra (テスラ, Tesura)

species: Arrancar
position: Nnoitra’s sole Fraccion
release command: Uchifusero (“crush”), Verruga
appearance: His distinguishing features are his military-style uniform and his unusual zanpakuto. He is missing his right eye, and the empty socket is covered with an eyepatch. His mask fragment consists of an upper jawbone across his forehead. He has no Hollow hole.
personality: His defining characteristics are his unquestionable loyalty and devotion to Nnoitra.

About the pairing

Tesra isn’t really an obedient and submissive servant. He tries to follow orders, he really does. If Nnoitra does something Tesra doesn’t approve of, though, he questions him about it. It’s heavily implied that instead of Nnoitra choosing him as a Fraccion, Tesra simply attached himself to Nnoitra. And of course there is Tesra’s habit of outright disobeying orders in favour of protecting Nnoitra. If Tesra perceives that Nnoitra may be in danger, duty is forgotten in the face of devotion, even if disobeying means that Nnoitra will yell at and threaten him later. He genuinely cares about Nnoitra, no matter how much Nnoitra tries to push him away.

Nnoitra clearly doesn’t mind this insubordination as much as he pretends to. It’s not as though he doesn’t have the means to get rid of Tesra if it was really a problem. If he really annoyed Nnoitra badly enough, Nnoitra would either kill him outright or use the Caja Negacion on him and think nothing more of it. We see, though, that Tesra was obviously following Nnoitra for a long time without major damage. Nnoitra, it seems, only gets violent if there’s someone nearby who might see, and any violence stops just short of actually hurting Tesra. If it’s just them (as we see in a couple of the flashback sequences), Nnoitra is … almost nice to Tesra, and he is actually able to talk without yelling or threatening. He’s a completely different person from the loud-mouthed, short-tempered, violent individual that the Bleach cast (and most of the fandom) perceives him to be.

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