Author's Note: Hey guys! I am back with a new story for the Bleach fandom! It is a canon divergence from episode 309 and chapter 420.

Summary: The Final Getsuga Tensho was not enough to stop Aizen. With the last of his strength, he captured Ichigo and retreated to Hueco Mundo. Three months later, the Soul Society comes under attack by Aizen again, and this time they must cross blades with an opponent they never expected to fight.

Pairings: Ichigo x Orihime | Rukia x Renji | (Possibly) Grimmjow x Nel

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach or any of it's characters.

Special Thanks: Lady Serai, co-writer of this story and who is and will be responsible for most of the battle scenes in this story. ;)

Enjoy!

Rukia sat atop Sokyoku hill, looking upon the Seireitei. She tried to feel something other than despair, but that was all that she could bring herself to feel at this point. Rukia knew she should be happy. They had won after all.

To most in the Soul Society, things had never looked brighter. The traitor Sosuke Aizen had been defeated, forced to flee back to Hueco Mundo. His fellow traitors, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tousen, were dead. His Espada had all been vanquished.

But that was only how it looked to those who had not taken part in the conflict. In truth, many Soul Reapers had been injured fighting during the Winter War and many were still with the scars they had received; scars that were both physical and psychological. It was especially hard on Rangiku, who had seen the man she loved killed before her eyes. It was hard for those who had to fight against those they had considered their mentors and friends. Captain Komamura and Shuuhei had to fight against Kaname Tousen, who was not only a friend, but also captain and a mentor. Despite both being wounded, they managed to defeat Tousen and asked Tousen not to lose himself because if they lose him they would lose part of themselves. Tousen thanked them and before he could get his final wish, Aizen killed him in front of Komamura and Shuuhei. Both were still aching for not being able to fulfill Tousen's final request to see their faces one last time.

Rukia herself had not escaped the war trauma free either. Kaien Shiba, her mentor and first friend, after she and Renji avoided each other had been killed by her hand years ago. Over the course of the war, it was like she had to kill him all over again. Subconsciously of course she knew it was not Kaien. It was an Espada who had taken over his corpse. But it was Kaien's face. Kaien's voice. It was like some part of her refused to make the distinction.

But that pain was nothing compared to that of the worse blow she had ever taken. The biggest blow of was to those who knew and loved Ichigo. There was no greater price of the Winter War than Ichigo. She could still remember it like it was yesterday.

Rukia had been observing the ongoing battle her brother and Captain Zaraki were involved in with none other than the Cero Espada within the protective barrier that Isane had put up around Renji, Chad, Orihime, Uryu, and herself. During the battle, Orihime had taken advantage of the opportunity to heal the four. Orihime stood over the four with her healing dome covering them healing them of their injuries. Rukia had been healed of all of her major injuries thanks to Isane, so she had stepped out to allow Orihime focus her power on the others. Rukia sat down on the sand to observe the battle.

The Cero Espada fell to the ground with a large crash after being dealt a devastating blow delivered by Kenpachi and Byakuya. His monstrous form was now no more than a beaten and bloody corpse. It had been a long battle that Rukia had watched with Isane who had placed a protective barrier around her and the others when they had met Rukia after their battles had ended. Rukia, Renji, Chad, Uryu, and Orihime stood amazed as they watched both Byakuya and Kenpachi put their swords away now that their enemy had been defeated. There was no doubt that the Cero Espada had been very strong foe. His strength was terrifying even. But the strength of the two captains combined working together, the Cero Espada had no hope of ever defeating them.

Once Isane had taken down the protective barrier, Byakuya looked over towards them then disappeared from sight only to reappear in front of her in a flash step. Rukia jumped surprised, while Byakuya maintained his emotionless expression and offered her a hand.

"Are you alright Rukia? Are you uninjured?" Byakuya asked as he carefully assessed her for any remaining injuries.

She smiled and took her brother's hand. "Yes, I'm alright brother," Rukia assured Byakuya as he pulled her off of the ground.

While the others were relieved that the fight was over, Kenpachi was grouching about how lame the battle was, why the hell was the fighting even over already, and how the Cero Espada was supposed to be the strongest but he was nothing but a joke if you asked him, as he reached down to lift Yachiru onto his shoulders. Rukia couldn't help but smile. Some things will never change like Zaraki complaining about weak opponents.

But as quickly as she had started smiling, a shiver went up her spine when she heard an all too familiar voice coming right behind them.

"Well then." Kurotsuchi said as he walked up behind them, with Nemu following behind with a crate of...what looked like...arrancar corpses? God. Kurotsuchi always found new ways to disturb people. "It seems I should make the preparations to open another Garganta."

Before anyone could respond, a sound similar to a bell ringing pierced the silence that had set in. Everyone turned in it's direction and saw a small hell butterfly flying towards Byakuya, who in turn lifted his hand and allowed it to land on his index finger.

"It seems that won't be necessary Captain Kurotsuchi." The 6th squad captain said as he listened to the hell butterfly's message. "New orders. All squads are to immediately return to the Seireitei. The traitor Sosuke Aizen has retreated. All those injured are to report to the 4th squad for medical treatment at once."

Rukia could not deny the relief that filled her when she heard that. They won. More specifically, Ichigo had won. She didn't have all the facts yet but she was sure that the orange haired substitute was responsible for their victory.

Apparently the feeling was mutual. She was suddenly lifted off her feet when Renji hugged her from behind and laughed. She looked around and saw everyone else becoming ecstatic as well. Especially Orihime.

"He did it." Inoue said as a tear of joy rolled down her eye. She then got up, ran in their direction and joined Rukia and Renji in their impromptu group hug. "Ichigo did it! He saved Karakura Town."

Rukia hugged her back. This moment was filled with such life and relief and above all, happiness. She could have sworn that she saw even Byakuya have a small grin on his face.

If only they knew what was to follow.

The journey through the Dangai was fairly normal. Half of them were sure this was the first time they weren't being chased by the cleaner.

Once they got through, they were ambushed by members of the fourth, including Captain Unohana, who insisted on treating their injured members. Many of them insisted they were fine and did not require medical attention, but not even the great Byakuya Kuchiki was willing to deny Unohana when she had that smile on her face.

But because the fourth division was overflowing with injured people as it was, Rukia and Orihime convinced Captain Unohana to let them go to the fourth on a visitor bases rather than as patients, and to heal people if they could.

Once they had arrived, they heard that Captain Hitsugaya had the worst injuries, so they decided that would be their first stop. Once they walked in, they saw Toshiro laying down on a cot, covered from head to toe in bandages. This especially applied to his shoulder. Based on the number of wrappings on it, it looked like someone had attempted to completely sever his arm. He didn't even notice them when they walked in at first. Instead, he was looking to the side.

They followed his line of vision and saw Rangiku sitting next to him with tears in her eyes. She was clinging to Toshiro's outstretched hand like if she didn't; she would sink into the floor. What was odd though was that she did not seem to have a single wound on her person. Perhaps she was crying for letting her Captain get hurt.

Rukia awkwardly knocked on the door. "Captain?"

Toshiro and Rangiku's heads snapped to the side at the sudden sound. Both seemed to relax when they saw who it was.

"Orihime. Rukia." Toshiro said as a sad smile found its way onto his face.

"We heard that you were badly injured. Do you need me to heal you?" Orihime asked politely.

Toshiro put a hand up. "Thank you but I'm fine." Even as he said this, his entire body started shaking from leaning on his injured arm.

Rukia narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "No. You're most definitely not." Honestly, boys!

Orihime looked at Rukia and thought over her annoyed comment. She looked and also took note of Toshiro's trembling form. She immediately ran to his side and a transparent golden shield formed over his injury.

Even though he insisted he didn't need it at first, the small captain seemed to lean into the shield's comforting glow as the pain started to fade. "Thank you."

Rukia smiled and looked back to Rangiku. It was clear the ginger was trying her best not to break down into tears. "And you Rangiku? Are you injured?"

Rangiku looked up to her and faked a smile. "Oh no. I'm perfectly fine."

Rukia frowned at her answer. 'She is definitely not fine.' Rukia could tell that Toshiro knew what was wrong, but the fact that he didn't press the matter told her that it would be better if she didn't press it either. So she tried her best to change the topic.

"So Aizen's run off, huh? We actually defeated him. At least, for the time being." Rukia started. "That reminds me, where's Ichigo? Does he need to be healed? I know he's tough but no one takes on Aizen without a few scars to show for it."

Both members of the tenth looked at Rukia with shock. The small girl flinched at their sudden stares. What was this? They were looking at her like she had grown a second head.

Toshiro cleared his throat before responding. "Rukia, did you just say that you wanted to see Ichigo?"

Rukia gave him a look. "Yeah, where is he?"

Rangiku was the one to answer this time. "You mean, nobody told you?"

Rukia and Orihime looked to each other. 'Told them?'. Told them what. Orihime shield began to fade as her concentration slipped. Has something happened to Ichigo?

Rukia looked back to the white haired captain. "Told us what?"

Toshiro looked like he truly did not want to answer. Rukia could have sworn her heart stopped then and there. That could only mean it was bad. Had Ichigo...? Had he...? Rukia couldn't bring herself to even finish the thought.

"I'm sorry." Toshiro said. "But if the Head Captain hasn't told you yet then..."

Rukia leapt forward before he could finish and grabbed his wrist. "No, Toshiro. Do not hold anything back from me. We were told Aizen was defeated which implied that Ichigo won. Toshiro, tell me what. Happened. To. Ichigo. Now." She demanded. The fact that she addressed him by his first name stressed the fact that she was serious.

Toshiro looked at her with grief ever present in his eyes. He sighed before speaking. "Rukia..." He began. Time seemed to sit still as she waited on him to finish. "Ichigo...Ichigo is missing."

The words hit Rukia like a brick. Missing? How did that happen? How was that even possible?

"What...What are you talking about?" She asked, stumbling over her words as she did so.

Rangiku looked at her with sad eyes. "We don't know what happened. I saw him take Aizen to another area so he wouldn't hurt anyone. I felt their spiritual pressures spike as they fought. But all of a sudden, I saw a Garganta open in the distance, and both of their spiritual pressures just vanished."

A few moments ago, Rukia was certain someone was going to say that Ichigo was dead, which was equally hard to comprehend. But this, this was by far in a way worse. Both Ichigo and Aizen disappeared into the Garganta. The reports said that Aizen retreated of his own free will. That added up to only one thing.

"Are you saying that Aizen has Ichigo?" Rukia asked, praying...begging any higher power there was to say it wasn't true.

Her prayers fell on deaf ears as Toshiro slowly nodded his head.

"Wh-what?" Orihime said from beside him. She looked absolutely devastated. It was understandable. At this point, it had become common knowledge that Orihime was head over heels for Ichigo. And to hear that he was at the mercy of their sworn enemy. It had to be unbearable. Especially for the girl who had been Aizen's prisoner for days.

Toshiro took her hand in his. "Orihime, I-"

He was stopped when she quickly withdrew her hand and looked at him with wide fearful eyes. "No. That can't be true. Please tell me it's not true." She said as tears started to leak from her eyes.

Her reaction broke the young captains heart. He considered himself Ichigo's friend, but that could never compare to the feelings Orihime had for the boy. "I'm so sorry Inoue."

She covered her mouth with her hands and started to sob. "No...we...we have to go back. We have to save him!"

Toshiro gave her another heart-broken look. "Inoue, Unohana is the only captain not to be critically injured. We can't go right now."

"We have to!" She demanded in an desperate tone. "Ichigo went to save me right away! He didn't wait for anyone's permission! We have to leave now! We have to help him!" Her demanding voice was starting to lose its edge and give way to sobbing.

Before she completely broke down, Rukia hugged her. It was true Rukia did not feel for Ichigo the way Orihime did, but he was like a brother to her. In the short time they had known each other he had become such a close friend. That put her in a unique position to understand Orihime's pain.

Orihime then finally collapsed to her knees and buried her face in Rukia's shoulder. Rukia did her best to comfort her but there was no end to this pain in sight. Not for any of them.

How did everything go so wrong so fast?

That had been three months ago. No one had seen Ichigo in all that time. Their initial plan was to rescue him as soon as the captains had recuperated. Unfortunately, they had all been blindsided when they learned that Aizen had once again sealed all passage between Hueco Mundo to the Soul Society and the world of the living. This time not even Kisuke nor Kurotsuchi were able to break through. Ichigo was trapped, and there was nothing they could do.

Life still went on though. So much had happened since then. The Vizards had received an official pardon from the Soul Society for their assistance in the Winter War and three had been reinstated as captains. Kon had taken Ichigo's place and was attending school, with his human friends making sure he didn't act out.

The biggest change in Rukia's life though; Renji had confessed to her. She reciprocated his feelings in like and began a relationship. Without Byakuya's knowledge of course. If he found out then...Rukia shivered to think about what would happen to him.

But none of it stopped the pain. Guilt constantly ate away at Rukia. Ichigo had been taken to Hueco Mundo before they left. If they had stayed then maybe Ichigo would be here with them.

The worst part of it all though was Orihime. She didn't mean to add on to the pain of course, but it hurt all the same. Orihime came every single day to check on their progress. To see if there was any lead or breakthrough in getting to Ichigo. Each time they had to turn her away disappointed. After the school year had ended she stopped leaving the Soul Society all together. The day after summer started she came to her and asked to stay at Kuchiki manor until further notice. Rukia didn't have the heart to refuse her, nor did Byakuya have the heart to refuse Rukia. Orihime had completely ignored Uryu and Chad's pleadings to come back with them, stating she would only go back if Ichigo was with them.

"Rukia?" Renji's voice suddenly said.

Rukia looked back and saw her new boyfriend walking towards her.

"Hey Renji. What's up?" She said smiling.

He looked down at her and sighed. It was cold out so he had brought a blanket which he proceeded to wrap around her shoulders. "You know, the captain doesn't like you coming up here all by yourself all the time. Neither to I to be honest."

Rukia completely understood their sentiments. This was the very place where she had nearly been executed and Aizen had damaged her soul by shoving his hand through her chest. Rukia lightly pressed her hand against her chest. Shaking off her feelings, Rukia shook her head and wrapped the blanket tightly around her. "This is the only place where I can think." Rukia gazed ahead of her without looking at everything. "This is where Ichigo saved me."

Rukia didn't have to look at her boyfriend to know that he had a small smile on his face. "And threw you from the top of that damn cross to me."

Rukia chuckled as Renji knelt down so he was at eye level. "And you don't need to stay up here to think things over. If you want to talk you have me and your brother. What you need to do is sleep and eat. When was the last time you did either of those things?"

Rukia didn't answer. Not because she didn't want to. It was because she herself had no idea. She just couldn't bring herself to act like everything was normal. Not when Ichigo was elsewhere, probably suffering. Ichigo. A boy who never should have stepped foot in this world. A boy that she all but dragged in by giving him her powers. A boy that, if it weren't for her, would be with his father and sisters right now.

"Rukia." Renji began, breaking Rukia from her thoughts. "You okay? You spaced out for a minute."

Rukia smiled at him. "I'm fine." But she knew Renji could tell she was lying.

"Don't tell me you're still blaming yourself." Renji said. He knew she was carrying more than her fair share of guilt for what happened. He wished she would stop that. She always got so wrapped up in self blame. First with Kaien, now with Ichigo. They had avoided each other for forty years after she was adopted by Byakuya. Even then, he still heard about how close she had become to the thirteenth's lieutenant. He also heard about how he was possessed by a hollow and she was forced to kill him. At that time, like the moron he was, he chose not to help her. He wouldn't make that mistake this time.

"I can't help it. We were still in Hueco Mundo Renji. Still their after Aizen had taken Ichigo. If we had fought-"

"We would be dead." He interrupted. "We had no way of knowing what happened to him. Plus, if Ichigo were here, and he found out I let you blame yourself like this, he'd knock my ass into next year."

Rukia smiled at his attempts to cheer her up. But, now that she thought about it, he mainly cheered her up to soften the blow of something. Oh shit. Rukia sighed as she felt two familiar spiritual pressures as well as Orihime's rising, most likely due to her getting upset.

"They're at it again huh?" Rukia said bluntly.

Renji's smile dropped as she figured out what was going on. "Yeah."

Rukia got up and let the blanket fall behind her. "Let's break them up before the whole entire Seireitei is alerted to three angry teenagers fighting." She said before they flash stepped towards Kuchiki manor.

Once they got close they could hear indistinctive shouting from the inside. They opened the doors to find something very surprising.

Orihime was gripping the doorway as Uryu and Chad were at her feet trying to drag her away.

"Inoue! You have to come back! Tatsuki is worried about you!" Uryu shouted as he tried and continued to fail to get her to leave.

"I can't! Not without Ichigo! Let go of me!" She screamed back as she tried in vain to kick them off.

Rukia and Renji intervened at once. Renji held back Uryu and Chad while Rukia helped Orihime get to a standing position.

"That's enough out of both of you!" Renji said as he tried to get everyone to calm down.

"You can't seriously be supporting her!" Uryu shouted at Rukia. "She's a human being. You know she doesn't belong in the Soul Society like this."

Rukia turned back to the Quincy. "First of all, I think it's a little too much for you two to attempt to drag Orihime back when she clearly doesn't want to go back. Second, Orihime has the right to make her own decisions." But then Rukia turned back to the human girl. "That said, I tend to agree with the position Uryu is coming from. It's not healthy to spend such a long time away from your home."

"I already said, I can't. Ichigo is out there. God knows what Aizen is doing to him. I won't leave until I know he's okay." Inoue insisted, stagnant in her point of view.

'Great' They had this fight at least once a week. She was going to have to start again about how Orihime should go home when something interrupted her.

She felt something ominously familiar pressing on her. Spiritual pressure. Familiar spiritual pressure. Apparently, the others had recognized the spiritual pressure as Uryu formed his bow and Chad's arm transformed into Brazo Derecha de Gigante.

"Hollows." Uryu said as he formed his bow.

"Not hollows." Renji said as he drew Zabimaru. "Arrancars." Renji then charged out of the manor was was greeted by the sight of three large Garganta opening in the distant forest.

End Note: Thank you so much for reading the first chapter! We hoped you enjoyed it!

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Until next time!