"And who exactly are you suppose to be?"

The pale white figure nonchalantly picket at its teeth with the end of a comically large sword, completely ignoring the red headed boy's question in favor of staring blankly out over the landscape surrounding them.

What once might have been a large shining city now looked overgrown with a wide variety of fauna. Skyscrapers crumbled under towering oaks while empty windows played host to a number of tiny exotic twining flowers. A breeze gusted past, causing the leaves to whisper quietly. The two stood alone on the roof of one of the few still standing structures, allowing for a rather nice view of the strange place's entirety.

"I know I must have died," the boy continued, trying yet again to attract the attention of the only other being there, "so are you the grim reaper, or have I just gone bonkers?"

The figure choked, and intuitively the red haired boy knew it to be covering a laugh.

"You are dead," in a singly fluid movement the pale man ghosted from his reclining slump to his feet and turned to face the boy, "but I'm afraid I'm not a grim reaper." He stuffed a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter over some private joke.

The boy, not liking the fact that someone apparently was having a laugh at his own expense, frowned and crossed his long arms across his chest.

"So who are you then?" The white man cleared his throat of any remaining laughter, straining to keep a straight face.

"Well, I guess you could say I' you, or you're me, or we're both only a half of a soul, well the dead half anyway…" he trailed off uncertainty narrowing his yellow black eyes.

Fred rolled his eyes, "You might want to try and be a bit clearer on that."

The white man chuckled. "Well, it's an odd experience talking to myself, though given the circumstances I really shouldn't be so bothered by it, seeing as I've done it since well before you were born, but you're more me than he ever was, so-" he shrugged, as if that explained it all.

Fred raised his eyebrow. "Are you sure you're all right mate?"

The man waved him off, "Never better." He crossed one arm behind his back and stroked his pale chin with the other. "Where to begin, there's lot I should probably tell you before we go. Hmm…" he looked thoughtful. Finally he burst out, "Do you believe in reincarnation?"

Fred looked taken aback. "What?"

"You know, dying an then coming back to another life?"

The boy shrugged. "I guess…"

The man smiled, showing teeth blacker than night. "Good, then I wont have to spend time explaining that! Well, to put it into the simplest terms, you were me, and I am what happens when a soul is split in two. The other half of us is-"

"George!"

The man looked at him sharply and smiled. "Exactly. Haven't you ever wondered how we were able to finish each other's words like that? It helps when you know exactly what the other will say."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Fred asked brow furrowed, "I'm dead, George isn't. Does this happen every time someone dies?"

The figure grimaced, "Not really. See, when only half a soul kicks the bucket, it throws the cosmic scales, or something, out of whack. They really don't like it when that happens."

Fred looked confused, "They?"

"Oh you know," The white specter waved its arms around vaguely, "Them. The Powers that Be, God, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, whatever you call them. See me and the King-"

"Who?"

He waved his hand about in the air again, "Uh, George."

"Oh, why'd you call him king?"

"I was getting to that, if you'd stop interrupting!" the figure snapped.

Fred lifted his hands in a sign of peace, "Sorry, sorry, continue!"

"As I was saying, me and the King, well we didn't really get along at first, with him being all the positive stuff and me all the negative-"

"I knew I was the evil twin!" Fred burst out suddenly, a look of utmost triumph on his face. The man grinned.

"Yes, you are as you say, the evil twin. Now shut up while I finish my story!" he cleared his throat again. "Now where was I? Well, King and me didn't get along, but circumstances beyond our control forced us to work together." The man huffed angrily, "And just when we finally got the whole partnership thing down, we went up and died! It was so unfair!" he descended into a raving silence.

Fred cleared his throat. "So, what does this have to do with me again?"

"I'll tell you in a minute, if you just shut up!" Fred clamped his jaws shut, dramatically locking the corner with a key before tossing it away. The white man huffed. "That's better! So, cosmic whatever is out of balance, and They don't like it. Something about soul pieces remaining together or something so-"

"Wait," Fred cut him off sharply, "I'm not going to let you kill my brother! We might be a matched set, but I'm the dead one not him!"

The pale man frowned and whacked the boy across the head with his fist. "Shut up and let me finish my story!" Fred crumpled to the floor dramatically clutching his head painfully.

"They were the ones who wanted to kill us again as a pair, but me and King have enough carmatic credit to subdue a god, so I managed to pull a few strings and get a new deal for us!" He grinned widely, expecting raucous praise. Fred's eyebrow twitched.

"So, I'd be alive again?"

The man shrugged. "Something like that. It's a bit more complicated, especially since They have no linear concept of time nor space, but that is the general idea." He shrugged again. "Beats floating around forever in limbo. That was choice two, and trust me, it sucks!"

"Ok, so what's the catch to all this?" Fred said frowning slightly. "I mean, I doubt that I'll just be brought back to live with no catch. So what is it?"

The man smiled happily. "I knew I was the smart one! Take that King!" Moment of fanatical exultation passed, the man coughed. "Sorry, well, you're right, because I'm talking to you right now we're kind of getting mixed up together and the same thing will probably happen to anyone else we know, er, knew, who was reincarnated too, so there is sort of a catch-" far away in the distance what sounded like an egg timer dinged, echoing hollowly over the desolate landscape, "-but we just ran out of time! Thanks for playing the game of life, we hope to see you next time!"

"What are you-" but before Fred could finish his confused exclamation the white man bodily kicked him over the edge of the building, and the world faded to darkness.

***)** **8(**;p*

Blearily, Fred opened his eyes. Finding that the world was much to bright to sort through, he quickly shut them again with a tired sigh. What a crazy dream… Suddenly he leapt from his bed, screeching.

"I'M ALIVE!" Immediately a pillow came sailing through the air to collide with his head.

"Fred, it's morning, shut up," came the slightly muffled disgruntled voice from his neighboring bed.

"George! I'm alive! Look!" the red headed boy stood arms outstretched, waiting for his twin to share his enthused exultation.

"Trust me, I can solve that problem in a minute," a bleary eye glared at him from under a mountain of woolen blankets, "We have to get up early enough as it is to pick up Harry for the World Cup tomorrow. It's three in the morning, go back to sleep."

Huffing at his brother's lack of enthusiasm Fred leapt on top of his twin's blanket covered form. "George listen, we were fighting Voldemort in the great hall, and I got hit with a curse and died, then I was in this abandoned city with this weird bleached guy who says I'm his reincarnation. He pushed me off a building and then it was like I was watching this crazy action movie! There were these monsters with creepy white masks, and all these super powered people with swords, and a war, and it was amazing!"

"Fred get off me!" George growled, writhing as his brother pinned his limbs.

"No listen to me, really this is important!" his twin burrowed deeper under the covers, submerging his orange topped head. Fred sighed deeply and rolled off the bed to the floor in disgust. "I swear, you're even worse to wake up than Grimmjow!"

His twin groaned sleepily, "Don't compare me to," he yawned tiredly, "to that hollow."

Fred's yellowing eyes widened. There was a beat.

"Whoa!" in a tidal wave of blankets George threw himself from the bed, eyes now stretched to widely they looked as if they might pop from his face. He tumbled to the floor with a loud crash, taking the sheets with him.

"Fred, what- how- What the hell happened? Why do I- Why am I sharing in you're delusional dream?"

The two stared at each other, one sitting propped up against the foot of the bed, the other tangled on the floor in blankets. Slowly identical grins spread across the twin's faces.

"We're back aren't we."

"Yes oh kingly brother mine, I do believe we are."

Elsewhere across the continent of Britain several people lay unsettled in their beds. One tossed around in a sweat, even as veins of ice slowly crept over the faded walls of his bedroom. Another awoke with the most unnatural urge for a drink of sake, even though he had never in his life heard of such a thing. Farther away still one boy grimaced and rubbed his sore arms, imagining them as fierce armored giants.

In a mansion full of plants, a boy with blonde hair opened his eyes blearily and examined the ceiling. He blinked and grinned widely. "Oh Kurosaki-kun, what have you gotten us into this time?" he chuckled amusedly and pulled his night hat low over his eyes. Maybe he should get one with green striped on it…

***)*(*()&(^*(^

it just came to be while reading one of the twin's scenes…

review to tell me how you like it, please