Ichigo woke up with a bit of a headache, but that might have been related to the fact he'd been up three times already during the night to feed or comfort Kage. He had no idea how much different having a non-Arrancar baby would be. He required constant attention and was taking almost all of Ichigo's energy. Aizen was helping as much as he could, taking turns getting up during the night to feed and cuddle Kage, but Ichigo seemed extremely drained while recovering from the cesarean and afterward.

Aizen rolled over to see the baby was awake once again, but this time he looked to be happy. He giggled a little and made a cooing noise. Aizen found himself smiling, reaching out and letting his little hand grip his finger tightly. Kage smiled and pulled the finger to his mouth where he chewed on it for a minute.

"I don't think I want to have another baby that way," Ichigo muttered with his hands over his still healing belly. "The recovery is harder."

Aizen was focused on the baby, but he looked over to see Ichigo was staring at the ceiling. "I think you've given enough of yourself for these children," Aizen commented. "How are you feeling this morning?" he asked, occupying Kage with his finger still.

Ichigo was quiet for a moment. "I feel okay, mostly clear. No butterflies this morning, so that's a good sign. I didn't have any nightmares, but then I was up with Kage several times during the night."

Aizen nodded. "Do you want to go see the others today? I'm sure that Hisashi is probably crying already."

"I think we should go see them. I don't want to leave Hisashi alone for too long," he said and rolled to sit up on the side of the bed.

"They set the swing up in the playroom," Aizen pointed out.

"That's good," Ichigo said as he slipped into a clean yukata.

Kage seemed occupied with Aizen for a moment, so Ichigo went to the bath and decided to shower. He was kind of happy to get a few minutes alone since he'd spent so much time with Kage lately. As he was finishing, he hard the sound of Kage getting very fussy about something. He sighed, wrapping his hair in a towel and getting into his yukata quickly to see what was the matter. He came into the bedroom and smiled.

Aizen had Kage in his arms and was studiously feeding him with one of the bottles. He had a look on his face that would have been foreign to anyone who expected Aizen to be who he once was, but Ichigo knew better. He knew him as Sōsuke and Kage's father.

"I see you got him settled down," Ichigo said, coming into the room and drying his hair still.

Aizen looked up and smiled at him. "He was just a little hungry," he said and looked back down at the baby fondly.

"If you can get him to sleep, I need my hair put up," he said, feeling a tinge of jealousy flash through him since Kage had all of Aizen's attention right then. He shook it away. That was silly, being jealous of his own child. Still, the feeling remained.

Aizen did manage to get him to sleep and put him down on the bed. He sucked at his fingers as he slept. He turned to Ichigo who was standing there just watching.

"My dear, come. You've been so patient and wonderful. But you do deserve some of my attention," he told Ichigo.

Ichigo looked at him. Had he been that obvious? He didn't think he was that transparent. He just nodded, though and sat down beside Aizen on the bed to let him brush and put up his hair. Ichigo couldn't help it. His hair had always been the one area that Aizen could control him with. It felt so nice to have him brush it and run his hands through it. He remembered a time before he had long hair, but that was a different him. That was the old him. Aizen got to the end of the braid, tying it off and putting his hands on Ichigo's shoulders from behind.

"I know having the little one will be tough. But he's already three months old. He won't stay small forever, and as he gets bigger, the time he takes up from both of us will lessen. Soon, his brothers and sisters will be able to help out with him, too." He squeezed his shoulders comfortingly as he spoke, and Ichigo couldn't help but relax.

"I know," Ichigo said, sighing. "It's just a big change from the Arrancar babies. They required so much less attention because of how fast they grow early on."

"Now, they will slow a bit, so the rest of their years will come more normally. Soon, they'll be adolescents, then adults. And we will still be here," he said and Ichigo put a hand over Aizen's where it lay on his shoulder still.

"Yeah, here we will be," Ichigo sighed.

"But for now, let's go take Kage to the playroom with the others. I'm sure they're already gathered there."

Ichigo nodded, carefully reaching over and picking up Kage without waking him. Aizen watched with a slight smile on his face. "I have no idea how you move him without waking him," he muttered as Ichigo tucked Kage against his chest and looked over toward Aizen.

They headed to the playroom together. As soon as the door opened they heard Yazu.

"Dam!" she called as she came running.

Ichigo put his finger to his lips and shushed her. She frowned but was quiet. He took Kage over to the swing and set him carefully down into it, still staying asleep.

"Can you play now, Dam?" Yazu said as quietly as she possibly could. Which wasn't that quiet.

"Shush," he reminded her. "Yes, I can come play while Kage sleeps."

Aizen sat down beside the swing and watched him with something akin to wonder at the fact he could stay asleep despite being moved.

Ichigo went over and kissed Hisashi on the head where he sat at the table coloring studiously. He was so enraptured that he hadn't even noticed when Ichigo came into the room. He looked up, gasping.

"Dam!" he said. "Look what I colored for you! I was waiting forever for you to get here!" he said, showing Ichigo a cat sitting on a box that he'd colored.

"It's very nice," he said and sat down beside him.

Hisashi leaned over and grabbed Ichigo in a hug. "I'm glad you're here!"

"I'm glad I'm here, too, Hisashi." Ichigo smiled, still feeling relatively clear but at the edge of his vision there was movement. No, he thought, not now, he begged with his own mind.

"Dam?" Hisashi asked.

Ichigo shook it away and turned to him. "Yes, sorry. I'm here."

"Good," Hisashi told him with a nod of his orange head. "Because I don't want you to go away today."

Ichigo smiled. "I don't ever want to go away, Hisashi."

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"You realize that there's something left to do," Shiro said pointedly as soon as Ichigo entered his inner world.

"Yes, but I don't want to do it," Ichigo sighed.

"You've gone through it so far, Ichigo. You must finish your path to the other side. What will you decide?" Zangetsu asked from his position nearby watching intently.

"I don't want to decide," Ichigo said. "How can I decide on this? How can I even come close to making this sort of decision?"

"Ya can't sleep without remembering. Maybe facing your greatest fear will make it go away," Shiro put his arms around Ichigo's shoulders from behind.

"It won't ever go away," Ichigo shivered, turning around in Shiro's loose grip to face him. "Even if I face it."

Shiro pushed Ichigo away at arm's length and looked at him. "You have to decide. You have to face it. That's the only way to be done with it."

"But the nightmares will never go away no matter what I do. Why does it matter?"

"It matters because it's your heart. You have to choose." Shiro gave him a sad smile. "I can't choose for you; I'm just one piece of you."

Ichigo swallowed thickly and turned away from him. "How do I do it? Will they even let me?"

"They'll do it for you. I'll help." Shiro stood behind him and put his hands on his shoulders from behind. "I'm always there, and I'll help you stay clear enough to say whatever it is you want to say."

"What do I want to say?" he asked, looking up at the sky. It was starting to cloud again as his heart grew heavy.

Zangetsu spoke. "You know at your heart what it is that you must do. The decision was already made when you asked the question."

"But to do this, to go this far, can I do it?"

"You can. You've faced everything else already. You've seen all the people that hurt you and you forgave them each and every one. Even if you didn't say it in words, your actions told the tale. You must take the last step in this journey, King," Shiro said quietly.

Ichigo turned around and hugged Shiro against him suddenly. "Okay," he whispered. "I'll tell them I want to see Kurotsuchi. I don't know how I'll react to seeing him, and I know I'll need your help."

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Jūshirō and Shunsui were going to be the ones to go to Agartha to take the final treaty to be signed by both the Agarthans and Sōsuke Aizen. It had taken the last several years to iron out all the details and set up a treaty that was acceptable to everyone. In the meantime, there had been several smaller agreements to keep the peace while the overall agreement was debated between all three factions.

"Are you ready?" Shunsui asked Jūshirō as he stood in front of the senkaimon.

"Do you think he'll bring Ichigo out of Las Noches for this?" he wondered.

Shunsui shook his head. "I know not, but if he does, that will be something you have to deal with. Do you think you will be fine handling this?"

Jūshirō nodded. "I think I will be fine. I know that this is necessary to keep the peace between all of us. I will deal with seeing Sōsuke Aizen again," he said as he looked at Shunsui.

"Let's go, my friend," Shunsui said as they stepped through to go to Agartha.

They were met outside the entrance by Imelda. The Agarthans, though they had no leader officially had chosen Imelda as their spokesperson. She was by far one of the most diplomatic of the Arrancar they had met, and she was familiar with both Las Noches and the aspects of the agreement.

"Kyōraku-taichou, Ukitake-taichou. Good to see you both," Imelda said as they approached, smiling at them.

"Ah, yes, how are those twins of yours coming along, then?" Shunsui asked as he bowed slightly at her.

"They are much bigger now. I must say, your hat is safe from their clutches these days," she responded with a slight grin.

Shunsui chuckled. "That is a good thing, dear Imelda. Are we the first to arrive?"

"You are. We're expecting the group from Las Noches at any time," Imelda said as she led them through the corridors to the large open room with the round conference table.

She had them seat themselves on one side of the table. On another, Imelda sat down with owlish-looking Arrancar beside her. After a few minutes they heard noise and looked up to see Nel leading Aizen. He had brought Ichigo with him, after all. Ichigo looked like he was in a good place, though, looking around and meeting his eyes when he looked at him. Aizen took up a seat opposite the others at the table and Ichigo sat with him. They had also brought Grimmjow, who just stood behind them against the wall.

"We are all here," Imelda announced. "I would first like to thank each of you for coming to Agartha. I feel that it is as close to a neutral ground as can be found for the three of us. Since Agartha has no stake in any warring between your two factions, we stay removed from any conflicts."

Shunsui looked over at Aizen and saw that he was focused on Imelda. Ichigo, though, was looking mostly at each of them. He placed the paper folder down on the table toward the middle.

"Here is the final drafted copy of the treaty agreement between the three of us. Our people have already signed off on what is in there. Nothing has changed from the agreements we made when we last met," Shunsui pointed out.

Imelda picked up the folder and took out the agreement. It was deceptively short for something so important.

"Agatha gains free travel to and from Las Noches and Soul Society as well as permission to begin a trade route between each location. Las Noches gains benefit of the trade agreement and clemency for all involved in the previous war with Soul Society provided Sōsuke Aizen and the Espada do not, at any time, enter Soul Society." She looked between the pair of Shinigami and Aizen. "Other Las Noches Arrancar are allowed to travel between. Soul Society gains trading privileges with both Las Noches and Agartha, and freedom for their people to travel between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society. Soul Society also agrees to the complete cessation of all experimentation and research on live hollow or Arrancar test subjects. They agree to allow Ichigo Kurosaki to remain in Hueco Mundo without interference. All breeches of this agreement will be taken up with the originating faction's legal system. The technicalities are spelled out for the trade agreements. Are there any questions about the content of the finalized treaty?" Imelda spoke firmly as she looked through the papers.

She handed the agreement over to Aizen and he looked through it. He obviously found nothing out of place because he nodded.

"These terms are acceptable."

Aizen took the pen he was offered and signed at the last page of the agreement before handing it back and watching as Imelda did the same. Shunsui was surprised everything was going as smoothly as it was going. So far, other than a little tension, things were agreeable. He noted that Ichigo had started flickering his eyes about the room, as though seeing something they could not. It still made Shunsui sad to know what they had done to him.

"With that, the agreement between our three communities has been concreted. I would invite you all to come back to our beach and visit with us while we hold a celebratory feast," Imelda said with a smile.

Ichigo nodded and grabbed Aizen's arm. "Let's," he said quietly.

Shunsui nodded. "We would be honored," he said and received a glare from Jūshirō.

Before long, they were all at the underground beach where tables had been sat up filled with various food creations that the Agarthans regularly consumed. Shunsui watched as Ichigo seemed to cling to Aizen's arm, as though afraid he might lose him in the crowd. To Shunsui's surprise, Aizen patted his hand gently and didn't seem to mind at all. Grimmjow followed them, talking to various Arrancar he seemed to know as they walked along together. Jūshirō looked decidedly uncomfortable and standoffish.

"Come, you must try some of this while you're here," Shunsui told him and led him to one of the tables where several mushroom dishes were offered. "I had this on my last visit; you won't regret trying it!"

Jūshirō reluctantly tried the dish, and after a little bit, Shunsui thought he seemed to be loosening up a little bit. He was happy to see him let go a little and have some fun. He hadn't seen him do something like that in a long time. He introduced him to several of the Arrancar he knew, and they chatted about the different things. Alma cornered him and told him all about her mushrooms while pointing to the various dishes. Ratri and Artemisia said hello with their daughter, Niobe. Dima zipped over, with Liron and Lior right behind him, seeming to easily keep up with their Dam.

Finally, after a couple of hours, Shunsui and Jūshirō bid Imelda and the others farewell. They had to get the signed document back to Soul Society. Together, they headed back in silence to the Head Captain's office with the treaty. As they approached, Shunsui spoke up.

"That went better than I expected," he pointed out to Jūshirō.

The white-haired captain nodded. "Indeed, it seemed almost too easy. I'm still wary of Sōsuke Aizen."

"As well we should be, but we can keep a better eye on him like this than any other way," Shunsui explained. "We can have our people inside Las Noches at any time, and with the Agarthans."

"Is that why they agreed? Because we'll better be able to survey him like this?" Jūshirō asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised. Yama-jii is smart; he's not going to let an opportunity pass him by." Shunsui opened the door to the office.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"You want ta what?" Grimmjow asked with wide eyes.

Ichigo nodded, arms crossed over his chest. They were in the playroom while the kids were all taking an afternoon nap. Most of them, anyway. "I want to meet with Kurotsuchi."

Aizen stared at him for a moment then shook his head. "No, this is not a good idea for you. There is no telling the effects that encountering the man that was the source of the vast majority of the torture you endured. I cannot allow it."

Ichigo frowned. "It's my decision though. I chose to forgive the others, and I have to face Kurotsuchi the same way I faced all of them. I have to do this, don't you see?"

"Why do you have to do this?" Aizen asked with a deep frown lining his brows.

Swallowing, Ichigo sighed. "Shiro says that I have to do this to get through it. And Zangetsu agrees. I know what needs to happen, and this is what needs to happen."

Aizen just looked at him, almost in shock at what Ichigo was asking. Grimmjow shook his head and spoke up instead. "How exactly do you expect this to happen? We can't enter Soul Society, and there is no way yer gonna go meet with the bastard without us behind you."

"He'll have to come here," Ichigo explained.

"How do you expect for that to happen? He's been confined to his lab," Aizen reminded him.

"Then they'll have to let him leave so he can come here. This is something I need to do. This isn't something I just wat to do. I don't want to see him every again; I see him too often in my dreams," Ichigo swiped a hand across in front of him to shoo the butterflies that were trying to gather the more stressed he got with the conversation.

"Just talking about it makes your symptoms worse, Ichigo. How are you going to even stay with the world long enough to talk to him and do what you think you need to do?" Aizen asked.

Ichigo growled, waving both hands in front of his face. "Don't you think I know that? That's why I have to do this! I have to get through it; there's no getting around it. Just like with the others; I had to see them, and then made the choice to forgive them. I have to make that choice again."

"Yer gonna choose to forgive him? For what he did?" Grimmjow asked, shocked a little at the thought.

"I don't know until I see him!" Ichigo exclaimed, shushing himself to keep quiet.

"I'll see what I can do. I will contact Soul Society and relay your request. They may not agree," Aizen said as he stood up.

"That's all I ask," Ichigo breathed out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

Aizen left and Ichigo sat down at the table across from Grimmjow. Grimmjow stared at him a moment. "I can't believe you'd think of forgiving that bastard."

"It helps me," Ichigo said with a slight smile. "It might help with my nightmares if I face him."

Grimmjow didn't have anything else to say about that. They sat there quietly as they waited for Aizen to return or the children to start waking up. Of course, one of them wasn't as asleep as she seemed. Yazu had her back toward the table but was listening very closely to what the adults said. She knew that this man her Dam wanted to see must have done something terrible. She didn't know what the word "torture" meant, but it had to be something bad.

Aizen came back after a few minutes and nodded at Ichigo. "They've agreed to send him with Kyōraku and Ukitake. It took a bit of convincing, but the head captain agreed to the request."

Grimmjow growled under his breath. "This is a bad idea."

"I want all of the alphas to be there. I contacted Urahara and he has promised to get Ishida and Inoue to come to Hueco Mundo to watch the children while we are all in the meeting with you." Aizen stared at him. "That is the only way."

Ichigo nodded. "That's fine. I just need to see him and make the choice."

"I won't pretend I understand, but I'll be there with you," Aizen said as he put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder.

Just then, Kage cried out, startling Ichigo into standing up. He went to the swing and retrieved the baby and hugged him to his chest, soothing him. Aizen watched and shook his head, turning to Grimmjow.

"This may be a disaster," he muttered so only Grimmjow could hear him.

"Well, it'll be our disaster," Grimmjow returned, looking out to see Yazu was sitting up. "Brats are waking up, better be quiet about it."

The next week, everything had been arranged. Ichigo would meet with Kurotsuchi in one of the open dining rooms. All six off his mates and Aizen were going to be there when he arrived. It was coming close to the time that Kurotsuchi would be arriving, so Aizen got everyone seated in the room. Orihime and Uryū were with the children, and Urahara was going to escort Kurotsuchi and his two Shinigami guards. Shunsui and Jūshirō were both coming to keep Kurotsuchi from getting attacked and to keep him from attacking anyone else.

Urahara came into the room first, followed by Kurotsuchi. Ichigo's heart stopped in his chest and he wondered if he could do this after all.

I can't do this.

Yes, you can. I'm here, remember? came the echo in his mind.

Ichigo closed his eyes, trying to control the urge to ether try to destroy the cause of so much of his torment, or the run away. Both thoughts were in the forefront of his mind as he stood there. He reached into himself and pulled the power that Shiro offered to keep his head clear long enough to do this. He had to do this.

"I'm here," Kurotsuchi said with a snarl to his voice.

Ichigo opened his eyes, and they were black and gold. "I know."

"What do you want me here for?" Kurotsuchi looked annoyed at the whole situation. "I have better things to be doing than coming here to entertain some childish impulse you have to tell me how horrible I have been and what I did was wrong. I've heard the arguments already enough times."

Ichigo nodded. "That's not why I asked you here."

"What then?" Kurotsuchi said, looking at the six Arrancar behind Ichigo and back to him. "Do you expect to exact your revenge like this?"

"I don't want revenge," Ichigo told him, smiling sadly at him. "Quite the opposite. I admit to this being entirely selfish on my part, and I'm sorry to have taken you from Soul Society, but it was the only way. The Espada and Sōsuke cannot enter Soul Society, so they would not permit me to go there alone."

"All of this I know," Kurotsuchi snapped. "If you have something to say to me, do so."

Ichigo nodded, feeling Shiro's influence starting to fade and he knew his eyes were bleeding back to normal because the butterflies were starting to impinge on his vision at the edges. So many… "You tortured me for five years, and I was unable to escape you or what you were doing."

"Yes, yes," Kurotsuchi said with a wave of his hand. "You call it torture, I call it research."

"No matter what you call it, it was hell for me. But after all that, what I wanted you here for was to tell you…I forgive you." Ichigo's eyes were starting to fade back to brown quickly. He smiled while he still had control enough. "After everything you did, I want you to know, I forgive you."

Kurotsuchi seemed to have been stunned into silence. He obviously didn't know how to react to what Ichigo had just said. No one in the room really knew how to react.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, the butterflies are coming and I must sequester myself until it's over…"

Ichigo turned on his heel and walked over to Aizen, grabbing his hand. His eyes bled completely back to normal and then widened.

"So many," he whispered as he stared past Aizen's head.

"Yes, come," Aizen said as he led Ichigo out of the room.

There was a moment of silence before Grimmjow spoke up. "Just because he forgave ya doesn't mean any of us have. If it weren't for him, I would say damn the treaty and rip your fucking throat out. But Ichigo doesn't want that, so we won't touch you. But know that if his mind ever changes, we will find a way to destroy you," he turned and left.

Kurotsuchi just stared as each of the Espada in turn left, the dark-skinned one with tusks pausing before he left. "I'm sure you don't remember. I was in your tests, and I was forced to try and claim Ichigo before I was powerful enough to do so. You have caused untold pain, and you will never be forgiven by me."

"We should go back," Shunsui said. "The head captain will want a report on what happened."

Grimmjow headed to the playroom to take back over watching the kids from Orihime and Uryū. Starrk and Ulquiorra followed him, apparently having the same idea. He opened the door to find that Orihime was laid out on her back in the pillow crash pad and Uryū was sitting at the table beside the swing with his head down on his arms. The kids were all sitting around the table busy with coloring books currently.

"Did they wear you out already?" Grimmjow asked as he came up to the table.

"I'm here!" Uryū said sitting up. He blinked and looked at the three Arrancar. "Oh, you're back!"

"Yeah, seems like you two got the rough treatment while we were gone," he smirked.

Yazu came running over and threw her arms around Grimmjow. "Dad. We had fun with Princess lady and Glasses man."

"I see that," he responded, watching as Orihime pulled herself out of the pile of pillows to stand up.

"They're so…active!" Orihime said as she walked over, hair sticking out in different directions on her head.

"They can be," Starrk said, yawning as he took a seat.

"Once Urahara comes back from taking them from Soul Society back, he'll take you two home," Grimmjow said as Yazu ran back over to color. "They seem pretty calm now."

"Now!" Uryū said. "They were running crazy a few minutes ago and I couldn't get Kage to sleep because of the noise and there was so much going on! I don't know how you keep up with eight of them all the time."

Orihime frowned. "Where's Kurosaki-kun?" she asked.

"Oh, he was having a bit of an episode after seeing Kurotsuchi again," Grimmjow explained. "He went to his room with Aizen."

Hisashi, who was watching them, burst into tears. Starrk sighed, standing up and going over to the little boy, telling him that Dam would be back soon. Grimmjow looked over and shook his head. Yazu was already staring at Hisashi, obviously annoyed by her little brother's tearful outburst. The twins got up and toddled over, still not completely stable in walking yet.

"Unc? Unc?" they both said.

Grimmjow looked at them and smiled. "What do you brats want?" he asked.

"We like Princess…" one began.

"…and Glasses!" the other finished. They'd begun talking quite well over the last six months after Kage was born. They still talked to each other in their own language, but at least they were talking regular speech now.

Makiko looked over and ignored everyone, continuing her coloring. Ryoto got up and grabbed Tamashini by one of her hands and pulled her to stand.

"Dancing!" he exclaimed.

"I don't wanna dance!" Tamashini complained, walking with him anyways.

"Be nice, Ryoto," Grimmjow called.

"Does he always move so much?" Orihime asked. "He was dancing almost the whole time you were goner!"

"He's quite excitable. He's showing aptitude at learning fighting techniques already," Starrk said as he sat down at the table, still holding Hisashi in his arms. The little boy was still sniffling but had stopped crying loudly.

Urahara came into the playroom then, smiling. "Well, the Soul Society visitors are back where they belong. How dd you two do with the babysitting duties?"

"I think taking care of eight kids at once is more than I'd like to do on a regular basis," Uryū said as he stood up.

"Did they keep you occupied?" Urahara asked, smiling as Ryoto danced by him with Tamashini.

"More than occupied," Orihime said. "I've taken care of Tatsuki's baby before, but it was nothing like this bunch. They're so busy!"

"Yeah, that they are," Urahara said. "Are you ready to return."

Both Orihime and Uryū nodded and followed Urahara out to head back to the World of the Living. Grimmjow set about being climbed on by the twins shortly thereafter. Hisashi finally just fell asleep in Starrk's arms so he got up and laid down with him in the crash pillows. All in all, everything was back to normal for them.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo stretched his arms over his head and yawned. He blinked and looked up to realize that the butterflies had gone. That was good, because yesterday after meeting with Kurotsuchi, they had been particularly bad.

"Are you awake?" he heard.

"Yeah," he answered and turned over to face Aizen in their bed.

"How are you today?" he asked, smiling at him.

"I think I'm good," Ichigo told him and smiled back. "The butterflies are gone for now, so everything is okay."

"I'm glad. It was a pretty rough afternoon and evening for you last night," Aizen told him.

"I kind of remember it. I'm sorry if I said anything I shouldn't have," he said, reaching out and cupping Aizen's face with his hand.

Aizen covered his hand with his own and shook his head. "No need to apologize."

"I'll have to see the children today. Did someone else take Kage last night?" he asked.

"Grimmjow, actually, volunteered to watch him last night. I didn't know he even liked the baby," Aizen said with a smirk.

"I should get up and go see them," he said as he sat up on the side of the bed. "Hisashi will cry if I'm not there today."

Aizen sat up as well. "Yes, you don't want that."

Ichigo stopped in front of the mirror. This time, he stared at himself and didn't feel lie it was another person staring back at him. He put his hands over the scar on his stomach where Kage was born. This was him.

"Is everything alright?" Aizen asked, walking up behind him and kissing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, it's just…the first time I've recognized the person in the mirror," he said, reaching out and touching the surface lightly with his fingers. "That's me; who I am now."

"Yes, it is," Aizen confirmed, settling his hands on Ichigo's hips. He kissed his shoulder softly.

Ichigo turned around and met his lips suddenly. Aizen kissed him back, their tongues tangling in a slow dance. Ichigo pulled back, gasping a little. "I think the kids can wait a few minutes," he said, eyes hooding and sliding his hands over Aizen's chest.

A couple hours later, they made it to the playroom. As usual, he heard a squealed "Dam!" from Hisashi as he came and nearly tackled him with a hug. Luckily he was still small and he didn't knock Ichigo down. At least not yet. Yazu came running over too, her doll tucked securely under her arm.

"Dam! You're having a good day today?" she asked excitedly.

Ichigo smiled, looking around the room at the children. His children. "Yazu, I'm having a wonderful day."