"You're crying." The Hogyoku pointed out.

Ichigo didn't understand what he was talking about until he felt the warm tears sliding down his face and falling to the blood soaked ground.

Ichigo smiled still, even as the tears flowed down his face. He walked on, wading through the blood and gore.

He had been a fool. A fool who had thought himself capable of being a God… untouchable… and maybe he had been- was- untouchable now… but being untouchable didn't seem like such a great thing anymore. He was left all alone, with nobody else left standing. Alone, with only cold bodies and warm blood as company. But yet he was still standing and fine. Still damnably fine. The bodies would decay over time, the blood would dry up… but yet he'd still be left to live on with nothing but his power.

Was this what it really meant to be a God?

It was a lonely thing then.

"Yes." Ichigo vacantly answered, "I guess I am."

"Ichigo… Are you okay?"

Ichigo paused, the empty smile sliding off his face.

"I'm… Alright."

He could think of the answer. He thought about it for no more then a moment, but yet he couldn't say it. The truth wouldn't come and the lie came so easily.

"No… that's not what I meant. I know you're alright… but…" the Hogyoku's voice faded before it whispered so quietly that it could have just been the breeze, "But… are you happy?"

Happy. He couldn't think of the last time he'd been happy; he wasn't even sure if he was allowed to be happy.

There was a heart-wrenching sob from somewhere. It sounded so sad and broken and… not happy… and it took Ichigo a moment to realize that it had been him, that it had torn from deep within his throat, his cold heart.

"No."

"Just tell me," came the Hogyoku's voice, it seeming like a small, weak voice in his head for the first time, "What would make you happy?"

Ichigo didn't think about the answer this time before he found himself answering, "I just…"

"I just want everything to go back to the way it was." He murmured out to the sky, his voice echoing across the battlefield like a whisper of wind.

The Hogyoku didn't respond for a bit. After a few minutes it finally answered, "I can do it… but… but it would use up all the power I have. The clock would be reset… but without me."

Ichigo smiled softly, suspecting the next words the Hogyoku said.

"And you and me are now the same thing."

Ichigo just smiled on, his expression relaxed as he looked no more at the bloody battlefield but up to the fake sky. Ichigo absentmindedly ran his finger along the hole in his neck, the light from the fake sky making his pale skin seem to glow.

"Then I guess it's the end of our story, huh?"

Ichigo felt the Hogyoku smile at his words. He knew that the Hogyoku wasn't bad, it had just wanted him to be happy and to do so it had gone along with whatever his emotions had wanted.

"I guess it is."

Ichigo looked down at his hands, they were already transparent. He felt his body slowly start to fade away. It wasn't painful. It was almost… refreshing. He closed his eyes.

Now everything could go back to the way it was before… even if it was without him. He found it odd that the thought didn't bother him in any way.

"Ichigo." came a deep male voice.

Ichigo opened his eyes, surprised but yet not shocked when he saw that he was in his inner world with a tall dark figure before him with cliché glasses.

"Zangetsu." Ichigo smiled warmly, his chest feeling light and free, "Old man."

The old man smiled down at him. The world around the two of them was shining and bright and… slowly fading away. The dark clothes that Zangetsu wore looked odd against the light background, and for no reason at all Ichigo found himself laughing hysterically while crying uncontrollably.

Zangetsu watched him, still smiling, but with a tinge of sadness to it.

"Figures," Ichigo choked out between the tears, as he tried to wipe them away, with a big smile, "That as soon as I get to see you again is when I'm about to erase my own existence…"

"Ichigo." Zangetsu comforted in his gruff way as he rested his hand on his head, "It's because in the end you found your humanity again."

Ichigo shook, trying his best not to cry but ending up just sniffling pathetically.

"I messed up Old man… horribly… I didn't find anything I'm just putting all the bad things I did back to how they should be…"

Zangetsu shook his head, a small smile on his face. He drew Ichigo into a hug, "No. You did a good job."

Ichigo started crying again. Openly balling his eyes out. His face scrunched up as he cried, the feeling of sadness at having to leave Zangetsu again mixed with the simple joy of being able to see him one last time.

The thought finally hit him in its entirety; he wasn't ever coming back again.

Ichigo's frown turned into a wide smile, "Thank you old man. Thank you for never leaving me."

Zangetsu chuckled as he pushed Ichigo gently away, "You're still such a fool."

Ichigo smiled, wiping away the last of his tears as he sat on the ground. His expression became brooding as he looked around at the bright, fading landscape of his fading inner world, "Hey… Old man… I'm… I guess I'm a little afraid. Is that foolish?"

Zangetsu shook his head, still smiling "You're afraid of death?"

Ichigo closed his eyes, feeling himself and Zangetsu starting to fade away, "No… not death… but… not existing anymore."

"It's not foolish." Zangetsu sighed, and when Ichigo opened his eyes he was almost completely gone. He looked sad.

"Ichigo." The Hogyoku whispered throughout his fading world, "I'm sorry… It's time. I can't hold on anymore."

Ichigo nodded and smiled at Zangetsu- he refused to cry anymore even if he could feel the tears burning behind his eyes, "So this is goodbye Old man."

Zangetsu nodded slowly, "Yes, this time I guess it is."

For some reason, even as everything started to fade and all Ichigo could see was a blinding white, he remembered those words that Ulquiorra had spoken to him.

"It'll be your absence of humanity that'll destroy you in the end. And that is something that you accomplished all on your own."

In the end, it hadn't been his absence of humanity that had been his undoing but his lingering traces of it. His wanting, deep down, to set everything back to how it should be. Ichigo felt happy that he'd been able to prove Ulquiorra wrong, not because he felt any more traces of resentment towards him, but just because he was happy that in the end they were both able to change their stories.

FIN