Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach in any form or fashion. Also note this would be a little difficult to understand if you haven't read Quincy Craft.

Quincy Craft: Watching the Throne of the Sleeping King

Story One: In the Dead of Night, All Things Come Not to the Light

Another one of those lazy days at the Wandenreich. Another lazy day surrounded by frosted walls and frosted men and women, their hearts stone cold to the world outside. Stone-cold to nothing but vengeance and death, and all other things that shouldn't belong anywhere but in these walls. Perhaps it was nothing more than a prison; a cage to keep all of these demented individuals in their place, because he feared for the world if they ever got out.

Hell, he wondered if he'd ever get out. For the first time since he's arrived here, he had to wonder if he was a little too rash in making the decision to come here. Just to obtain the power he needed to protect his friends...

Maybe he was in over his head... But then he remembered that fateful Friday night in December... That night when he tried to leave, and all of his old friends from Karakura had appeared so suddenly, and when Ryo tried to prevent him from leaving. When Yhwach, Haschwalth, and Gina all showed up and battled his friends, and when his mother arrived with her own company to stop him.

It's been months since that day. He's been here in the Wandenreich, training his ass off and fighting against some of the toughest people he's ever met. If you would have told him several months ago that he'd be fighting Arrancars and Soul Reapers to the death in the name of a Emperor he could care less for, he wouldn't have believed you.

But it's true. It's also true that his world has been thrown upside down thanks to recent events. The invasions of Hueco Mundo and Soul Society still weighed heavily on his mind, and then there was Haschwalth and his Rebellion, and getting his ass kicked by Soul Reaper Captains, and then Aizen... And now, Gina might have killed another Stern Ritter, according to Haschwalth...

So many things were happening so fast and his mind and heart could barely keep up with any of it. It was why he sat on the highest tower of the Wandenreich by himself, knowing well that Nel was fast asleep and Gina... Well, he didn't know what the hell Gina had been up to for the past few days...

He's not sure he even understands her anymore. Is she some kind of killer like Haschwalth says she is? Why did she kill Quilge? And why does she claim she did it to save him?

Was he...scared of her, now? Did he ever truly understand her, or did he just not care enough to notice...?

"...You look like yer thinking a little too hard there, Strawberry-muffin!"

And his alone time was finished, it seemed. He didn't even have to turn around to know who was breathing softly against the back of his neck. He didn't have to turn to feel her long, antennae-like strands brushing gently against the side of his lashes. He glanced out of the corner of his eye just as cerulean-blue pupils appeared in his field of vision, and a visage of annoyance formed on his face.

His face drooped slightly at the sight of her and he softly complained, "What are you doing here, Giselle? Don't you have better things to do than annoy me?"

Her crossed eyes moved closer to his face, causing him to move away from her. Unfortunately, he wasn't prepared for the sneaky arm slipping across his shoulders and the slender, spider-like fingers creeping across his cheek bones. He gasped lightly in surprise as she pushed his face into hers, pressing both of their cheeks together.

She giggled at the expression of distress that he made and laughed aloud, "But I really like messin' with you, Strawberry! It's the best! And I thought I told you to start callin' me Gigi like everyone else!"

He brought his hand up right in-between the two and tried to push her away, though she fought a lot harder than he thought she would. His arm was pushed aside, much to his own surprise, and she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck. He found himself yelping again as he was brought down to the frozen rooftop with her, the right side of his face buried into her chest.

Giselle squeezed him tighter into her chest as he pushed against her stomach, his own face turning blue at the lack of oxygen. A dark glint flashed in her eyes as she stared down at him sinisterly, mumbling, "I'll choke you to death if you don't start calling me Gigi, Strawberry... You do know how wet I'd get if you died, right...?"

The sight of Giselle biting her lip as her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and the sound of her moaning so enticingly dark was the last straw before he began pushing her away and squealing in protest.

She then loosened her grasp on his neck and held him gently, laughing again as she added, "Just kidding! You know I like you better alive, Strawberry Yum-Yums... Your expressions are way too lovely for me to turn you into a Zombie."

He slipped away from her arms with grunt, brushing his arms out with a displeased glare at her. Giselle simply smiled and sat up, crossing her arms under her knees. He rest his elbow on his right knee as he sat in silence with her, still wondering why she was bothering him...

Why on Earth was she here now? Why could she not just leave him alone? What was it about him that drew her closer?

"...Do you regret it, Ichigo?"

Her voice paused his thoughts as he turned to her. He was surprised that she had called him by his name, and not anything that had to do with strawberries. She was smiling sadly off into the distance, not even glancing at him. He frowned at her and murmured in response, "Regret it? Regret what?"

She turned to him slowly, the sad smile still strongly defined on her face as she answered, "Do you regret...killing me?"

He stared at her blankly as her solemn moved to her feet and she bundled herself up as she giggled, "I spent all this time wondering if you truly acknowledged me or cared... It wasn't 'til the very end that I got to see how much I actually hurt you..."

"Then why didn't you...tell me why you did it?"

When he next looked at her, she was sitting behind him on the railing, her legs swinging back forward as she kicked the air. She was still smiling, despite the change in tone between the two of them.

He stood from the ground to his full height, towering over her despite sitting on the high railing. His white cloak and long-hair whipped about him as the chilly winds bit at his face. He stared out from underneath his lengthy at her nonchalant form, humming away as if he didn't just ask her a question.

"Giselle, answer me. Why didn't you-?"

When he next saw her, she had moved. She was no longer sitting on the railing, but was leaning forwards against another behind him. Her elbows rested on it and her fingers were looped under her chin. She stared down at him with a small grin before she condescendingly began, "Look at you, King of Quincy. Sitting in your throne, sleeping the nights and days away..."

She was gone again. He looked around for her before he felt her presence behind him, and he turned to face her. She was sitting on the rooftops again with her arms crossed under her legs. She didn't turn to look at him as she continued, "You've become a hero. You've defeated Yhwach. You've saved this race just like Jugo wanted to. You've done everything you could and more. I couldn't be happier for you..."

She turned to him with an empty smile as she finished, "But despite all of that, you still do nothing but dream of regret. Regret for killing a poor girl that you never understood. You see me, and you feel so betrayed... But did you ever really understand me? Or my heart?"

He stared at her blankly. He responded with, "No. I didn't...understand you at all-"

Giselle interrupted him and stated, "Exactly... I'm...extremely proud of you... But what if I had told you...what was going through my head? What if I told you...what was going through my heart...?"

He retorted softly, "I might not have killed you. If I understood... I would have saved you."

She faded from his view suddenly. He twisted and turned, attempting to seek her out before she surprised him again. As he did so, cracks began appearing in the world around him. His eyes widened at the sight, as it seemed the entire world seemed to collapse around him. Shattering so easily... This world, oh so very fragile...

The frozen ground beneath him shattered, and he was drowned by the abyss. The darkness weaving and dancing around him, wrapping him in its sinister tentacles. A black, frosted, and eternal night surrounded him and he was left floating in the solemn void space...

A noiseless vacuum. A haunting silence. Where was he? What was this...? What was...this feeling? This feeling of helplessness?

"You mean to tell me...after all this fucking time...after pulling this goddamned stunt in the first place...you don't have a single word to say!? Huh!? Giselle, answer me!"

He rattled and shook her form repeatedly, trying to force an answer out of her. She still continued to stare blankly at him, blood pouring out from between her lips. His eyes were tearing up as he screamed, "Say something, damnit! Don't ignore me!"

She continued to stare blankly through his eyes and into his soul, as if she was reminiscing about something. But he didn't care about what she was going through in her memories. He wanted to know so badly why she had pretended to care, only to throw this betrayal in his face.

Why did she do all of that? Why did she care so much about him in Hueco Mundo? Why was she worried about his feelings regarding his friends? Why did she choose to annoy him more than anyone else in this godforsaken land!?

"Goddamnit, Giselle! You don't have anything to say to me!?"

She stared into his wide and tearful eyes, and her own cobalt blue ones had drooped and brought out her sad and serene smile. Slowly, but surely, she rose her fingers up to his cheek and brushed her thumb underneath his eyes, wiping away the tears that began to form under them.

As he stared down at her, her lips parted slightly in an attempt to speak...and she simply said...

"...Nope... I don't...have a single thing to say to you...for what I've done...Strawberry..."

"...All I wanted...was an answer."

He could feel her arms slipping around his neck gently, and her face near his own emanated a cold that only the dead could bring. Even though her flesh was still intact, still so very pale, there was no doubt that she was dead.

"...We can't all have what we want, Strawberry. I know that for a fact... You say you would've saved me, but what about everyone else? Was I really that special to you that you'd have given up everyone else if you had saved me? Or even if you still killed me after I told you the truth?"

He didn't have to say anything, but his confusion was read so easily on his face. He heard her giggle as she added, "You were so conflicted when you finished me off, but you still managed to stand so strong to stop Yhwach...but would you have been able to stand up to him if I told you? Would you really have been free?"

He didn't say anything. He could feel himself drifting off to sleep again. This dream, or this nightmare or whatever, was ending.

"...There are some things better left unsaid, Strawberry. I know that secrets don't always remain so...but this one I was willing to take to the grave... All so I could save you from this pain that I created..."

Before his eyes could close, he attempted to turn towards her, reaching out to grab her. But she had pushed away, and he watched as she fell back slowly into the darkness.

"Please don't be mad at me, okay, Strawberry? I love you too much...to see you cry like this..."

A loud grunt emanated from behind her, startling the current leader of the Quincy, Bambietta Basterbine, and causing her to jump out of her sleep. She stared around the desolate throne as if to seek the source of her discomfort only for her eyes to land on the twitching form of Ichigo.

The large, gigantic man's fingers were spread across his forehead and squeezing it tightly as if he was frustrated. It seemed as if he was struggling to think, and he seemed to snarl and growl ever so often. She twisted in his lap and stared down him, her eyes homing in on his quivering lips.

"...Gi..."

She stared curiously for a few more moments before she finally heard him growl out, so very angrily, "Gi...selle..."

She hadn't thought too much about the Zombie girl since she had betrayed them, and her last memory of Giselle was her own Zombie (It was definitely ironic) walking up to her and telling her that Ichigo was now in her hands. She had thought that Giselle was one of her closest friends, but she knew that the girl had always had ulterior motives. Nobody ever understood her heart, and even as she died they still never knew about the true Giselle. But Bambietta knew better.

Bambietta guessed it from the moment she tried to kill herself and succeeded in killing Bazz-B. Cang-Du likely knew as well. It was he who had given her the thought.

"It isn't worthwhile to try and understand why. In the end, it will break you apart; either she's doing it for you and you'll feel regret, or she's doing it for a darker reason and you'll feel betrayed."

She sent Ichigo alone for that very reason. She had expected him to let her live, but was surprised to find her Zombie gurgling like a little child. She now sees that the decision to end Giselle's life still bothers him.

Bambietta reached out and softly brought her fingers though his hair. She leaned in closer to him and buried his face into his chest.

She knows Giselle's heart, and she knows that it has always belonged to this man here and it still does. Maybe they were never really friends to begin with, but Ichigo clearly had not stopped thinking of her as such, and Giselle loved him too much to really throw him away. She had decided long ago that she would uphold Giselle's heart, and ensure that her desire to save this man never disappeared.

They might have broken their friendship, but she promises to at least do that for her; not only for Giselle, but for herself.

As she fell asleep once more, splayed across Ichigo's hulking form as she has done for several thousand nights, the shadows behind the throne moved as the clouds passed the moonlight. A pale, sickly face hidden under the shadows of her dark peered out and watched the two. A small, delighted smile appeared on their face at the sight, and brief whispers of her voice passed through the night as she faded from view.

"Thanks for that, Bambi... I really owe you one..."

Author Notes:

So as stated in my profile, Quincy Craft: Watching the Throne of the Sleeping King is not a sequel, but a series of one-shots that take place within the Quincy Craft Universe (Which means that if you didn't read that, this entire thing will be overall confusing).

For the most part, these one-shots were created out of pure boredom and Writer's Block (I change the stories that I'm working on in my profile everyday; either I come up with new ideas and drop other ones or I haven't written far enough into it for me to post it), so they really don't have to mean anything.

As the title states, these one-shots are mostly centered around the time period of Chapters 56 and 57 (The First and Second Epilogue Chapters), giving a small insight into the things that happened during his resting period. This one in particular centers around his guilt and depression after killing Giselle (Which he wouldn't have had time to do while he was fighting Yhwach), which is displayed in the form of nightmares. Any others will typically center around Masaki and Ichigo's Sisters, or Bambietta and the Wandenreich (Which is why those two are the other Main Characters).

So there is no specific time or date that I will post a new chapter to this (basically whenever I get bored or stumped), so don't hold any expectations. I'm hoping to start on another story soon, though it'll most likely Naruto Ronin (the Female Sasuke one) as I've already storyboarded it and it's just waiting on me to finish the chapters.