I do not own Bleach.

"Talking out loud"

'Thinking'

'Zanpakuto'/'Hollow'

I am so sorry. Canada day happened...and we will leave it at that.

Here is the story you all voted for. Enjoy

Dust blew across the cracked pavement. No one used it anymore. The town was dead, Karakura town was dead. Skeletons of buildings and cars poked out from beneath piles of rock and sand. But there were no people to be seen. At least, not anyone living.

Ichigo looked down at the plaque of names. All of them were friends that had died in the past 13 years. The first 12 were in a war, that they lost in the end. "30 names. And you are now the 31st...Orihime."

Ichigo laid a single flower on the plaque, a dandelion. Nothing else really grew. Acid rain, dust storms and roaming hollows saw to that. It was a miracle that the weed had survived.

"Ichigo?" A voice behind the 29 year old drew his attention. Urahara Kisuke kept his eyes on the orangette before him instead of the stone he stood in front of. Too many memories to harm his already broken heart, but staying focused always helped to distract his thoughts. "It's time."

Ichigo gave the blonde a nod as he turned to follow him back to his lab In their underground hideout. There weren't many of them left, only a handful really. Most defected over to the enemy when it became clear that they were not on the winning side. He didn't blame them, only pitied them.

Ichigo walked into the scientist's lab, trying not to fall over the tangle of wires everywhere. Kisuke had been working on this project for the past year none stop. Before that it was a hobby for the past century. Now it was their only way to fix this mess.

"That time already?" Ichigo and Urahara weren't too surprised to see a small crowd assembled in the lab. "Thought you would leave without saying goodbye?" Shinji gave Ichigo a lopsided smile. "Cheeky little strawberry."

"It's not like I'm not going to see you all again. And you all will just...forget. Never having gone through this hell." Ichigo didn't understand the extent of what was going to happen here after he left, but Kisuke said they would never remember any of this nightmare.

"Doesn't that sound like paradise." Kensei chuckled as he discarded a burnt up cigar.

"Kurosaki." Ichigo looked into the pale eyes of the former Taichou of 10th squad. "Send that bastard to hell." Toshiro may not have had his sight anymore, but he knew the orangette gave him a nod. It was an Ichigo thing to do.

"I will, Toshiro." Ichigo looked over the small crowd that had gathered. He was touched that they had come. Even people like Byakuya and Nanao, they had been the most withdrawn after they had fled into exile. Having watched the death of their loved ones. "I won't let any of this happen again."

"We know ya won't." Shinji held his hand out to Ichigo. "See ya later, Ichigo."

Ichigo reached out and clasped the man's hand. "You've been a great friend Shinji." The blond just chuckled a bit before letting his hand go and stepping back to lean on the wall. "You all have. Thank you for standing by me."

"Get going already. Before this becomes a monologue." Kensei barked as he pulled out another cigar.

Ichigo chuckled and shook his head. "Let's do this Kisuke." Ichigo made his way through the tangle of wires to a metal ball at the center of it all. He stood beside the blond as Kisuke began starting up the machine.

Kisuke began flipping switches and turning dials. "So this machine should send you back before this war starts."

"Ya can't send 'im back any further?" Shinji frowned wondering what the problem was. Kisuke built a freaking time machine! Why couldn't they go back further than that?

Kisuke shook his head as he continued to turn on the machine. "Sadly it only takes individuals back as far as their own existence. And Ichigo is the only one out of us with enough reiatsu to make a trip beyond 10 years." He pushed one final button that would begin the final start up.

Urahara made his way out of the tangled mess of wires. Looking at the dozen or so people around him he gave a sigh. He turned back to the figure standing in the middle of the mess. "Are you sure about this Ichigo? There won't be any coming back." He didn't want to place such a heavy burden on the young man. He was the youngest among them all.

Ichigo gave everyone a weak smile. He knew the price for what he was about to do. "Don't worry. I will set things right. I will not let him win this time." He closed his eyes as he heard the machine begin to whine and whistle. He hoped that the blond scientist knew what he was doing.

He opened his eyes when the sound stopped. He frowned as he found a tall pile of books in his hand. He looked up as he saw the pile begin to lean towards him. "GAH!" Was the only other sound heard above the sound of books hitting the floor.

Ichigo groaned as he pushed the books off of his face. He frowned at them wondering where they had come from. Then it all clicked. It had worked, he was somewhere in the past. "Good job Geta-Boshi." Ichigo whispered to himself as he got up and brushed himself off.

"Shiba? Are you alright?" Ichigo frowned as he turned his attention to the voice at the door of the room. The wooden door slid open, and Ichigo almost stopped breathing. "Shiba?" There in the doorway stood the Taichou of 13th squad, Ukitake Jushiro. His first Taichou when he had formally joined the Gotei 13.

Ichigo could only stare at the man, he had been at his funeral a few years ago. But here he was...alive. But a lot younger than he had remembered. And his hair was tied back. Ichigo shook his head to bring his attention back to the man's question. "Yeah I'm fine. Are you alright, Ukitake-Taichou?" Ichigo asked as he noticed the man also staring at him with confusion. And maybe a bit of worry as well.

"Shiba, were you experimenting with kido again?" Ukitake pointed towards the man's hair. It was vastly different than when he had last seen it an hour ago.

"Um...no...why?" Ichigo ran a hand through the his hair. "Is something wrong?" Ichigo spotted a mirror on the wall and went over to it. He was expecting to see his usual scarred face, with a scar running down the left side of his face, blinding his left eye. But his skin was free of any marks, even his neck that had been torn to ribbons. Even his eye had color to it again, but it wasn't brown like his right eye, it was turquoise. He even noticed his dull orange hair had regained it's vibrant hue, and now sported black tips. "Wow. Didn't expect that. So that's what I would look like with blue eyes. Must say though not a fan of black hair. Orange really does suit me better." He continued to observe his new appearance, unaware of the worried look he was getting from the other man in the room.

"Um...Kaien-kun? Are you alright?" Jushiro was now very worried for the young man. He was acting as though he had never seen his own face.

Ichigo looked at the Taichou curiously. He was used to people calling him Shiba, he had taken over as clan head when Kukaku had been killed. But who was it that Ukitake thought he was? "What did you call me?"

Now Ukitake was even more worried. Something was definitely wrong. "Maybe we should go visit 4th squad?"

Ichigo cursed himself in his head, vaguely hearing someone agree with him in his mind. "I don't think that is necessary, Ukitake-Taihcou. The books just jumbled my mind a bit. Nothing a bit of meditation can't solve." Ichigo plastered a smile on his face as he skirted around the man to the door. He slid the door open and walked out the door. Right past another dead comrade.

"Morning Kaien-kun." Kyoraku Shunsui spoke in greeting. His smile dropped off his face when he spotted the state of his best friend's Fukutaichou. His hair was turning orange at the roots and one of his brilliant blue eyes had turned golden brown. And for a brief moment he saw sadness in those eyes, sadness of being reminded of a friend long gone. "Are you alright?"

Ichigo shook his head to get his body moving. Otherwise he was sure he was going to either cry, faint, or laugh. None of them giving off the appearance that he was fine. "Yeah. Just need some time to clear my head. Excuse me, Kyoraku-Taichou." With that said he stepped into shunpo, he needed to move, to get away.

"Kaien!" Jushiro called out to the man as he vanished. He stopped in surprise when he was suddenly looking at an empty space. He easily found Kaien's reiatsu, which seemed to still be the same, if not a bit more controlled, and looked in the direction it was heading. "Kaien."

"He's gotten faster." Shunsui was mildly impressed, he had been caught off guard and didn't see him leave. OR at least that was what he assumed had happened. "Jushiro?" He noticed worry clouding his friends eyes. Something was wrong here. "Let's go."

Jushiro nodded as he ran beside his friend. 'Kaien...what happened to you?'

And so we begin! Let me know what you guys think of this first chapter. See y'all next week. And by next week I do mean this Friday. This story will be updating every Friday.

Once again I apologize for the lateness in uploading this story. And Happy Late Canada Day!