This is my take on Ichigo travels back into time. The idea came to me after I found Swinging Pendulum by Cywscross and couldn't find any other fics in the same genre. I figured that I might as well try my own hand at it and hopefully help to stimulate this niche in the Bleach fan fiction. I tend to write feminine protagonists, but have decided to try and keep Ichigo as close to cannon as I possibly can. I should warn you that I have only read the manga and depend in large part on the Bleach wiki.

For those of you familiar with my other stories, don't worry. My beta has promised to finish editing the latest chapter of AOoT this weekend. I will probably alternate with updating this story and AOoT every week, as long as my schedule permits it.

Anyway enjoy the first chapter and let me know what you think in the reviews!

Warnings: time travel, original theories on Bleach lore and swearing (especially in later chapters)

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Chapter 1: Be careful what you wish for…

As Ichigo slashes through Ywach — a final, desperate attempt to stop the Quincy turned Soul King — he only one thought goes through his mind: 'Please let it all be over now. I never wanted this; I just want to see all of them safe and happy. Why did it come to this, why did no one stop Aizen before it was too late? If only he had been stopped sooner. Why did the Shinigami not stop the war with the Quincy before it was too late? Why did no one see Ywach coming? Why did they need me to play hero instead of doing it themselves?! I never wanted to be forced in this position. '

A power suddenly swells inside of Ichigo, starting from his chest and spreading through his body. It overwhelms his senses and leaves him breathless. Zangetsu falls from his hands but before it can touch the ground it disappears. The world starts to fade and Ichigo feels like he's falling. The last thing he hears before he loses consciousness is a faint 'as my master commands'. Then his eyes close completely and he is no more.

Back on the battlefield the Soul King's palace has become, three men stare in shock at the place Ichigo stood only moments before. They all felt a powerful pulse a split second before Ichigo vanished, though only one of them understands what it means. He debates speaking up for a moment; he's going back to his prison anyway and apart from him no one knows what just happened. In the end, he decides that watching the chaos erupt would make a pleasant pastime. It's fun to see people wrecked. Doing it by telling the honest truth is even better!

Aizen turns to the others, trademark smirk on his face, and delivers the harsh truth. "Well, now we know were the Hogyoku went when I lost my powers. I suppose Kurosaki-kun must have wished for something quite desperately. If you'll excuse me, I have to return to Chair-sama now that Ywach is defeated." He kicks the half-corpse lying at his feet.

"Oh no you don't, bastard! You're coming with us and you are going to explain what exactly you mean by that!" Renji is in Aizen's face before he can blink and grabs him by the shirt. Renji's face is distorted by his fury and his rage makes his reiatsu flare. (Well the bit that is left after the intense battle.)

Ishida isn't far behind, his forehead scrunched up in a deep frown. Disapproval and worry seep from him, despite his cold attitude. "For once I find myself in agreement with the baboon. If you hold him Abarai, I'll manage the way back."

They drag Aizen all the way back to the throne room where the battle had started. Originally only Rukia, Inoue, Chad and Ganju had been left waiting there, but most of the Shinigami, Visored and Arrancar fighting below managed to drag their arses up to the former throne room of the royal palace. Most have taken a set amongst the rubble. Those too proud are standing against the leftovers of the pillars. Many are in no condition to fight thanks to grave wounds or poisoning, but all felt the pulse of familiar reiatsu and worried about the outcome of the battle between Ichigo and Ywach.

Surprisingly Byakuya is the first to speak up as Renji and Ishida enter the room, followed by Aizen. "What is this? Where is Kurosaki-san?" The others echo the sentiment; worried looks are exchanged all around. Renji and Ishida have a quick and silent conversation with glares and turns of the mouth. In the end it is the Quincy that starts explaining.

"Kurosaki has disappeared. He dealt the finishing blow to Ywach before we felt a pulse of reiatsu and the next thing we knew he was gone. The traitor oh so kindly appeared in the middle of the fight and helped Kurosaki to defeat Ywach. Afterwards he made some cryptic comments about Kurosaki's vanishing act and I for one would like to know the details of it." He finishes with a dark glare in Aizen's direction, who still has a vexingly pleasant air about him.

Urahara, sitting against a pillar to support him even after being healed by Inoue, is the first to react. "What kind of comments?" He asks Aizen directly, for once he is not in the mood for mind games. Ichigo has a special place in the hearts of all those present. What with his ridiculously honest moral attitude and tendency to care for everyone he meets. He is the blinding light of hope that has kept them all together and focused through the past wars.

Aizen smirks as he repeats his earlier words. "We now know where, or rather who, the Hogyoku went to after I lost my powers in that final battle against Kurosaki-kun. He must have been wishing for something quite desperately. I'm surprised he had that much reiatsu left to use after all the fighting he has done. Though I believe he will be suffering from severe reiryoku depletion wherever he landed."

The chaos that erupts around him is like a symphony to his broken soul. This is something he can understand. Something he can control. For all that Aizen is a genius, he is quite socially retarded. Intelligence has always separated him from his peers and age prevented his acceptation by his seniors. A loner and outcast ever since his 'birth' in Soul Society. Perhaps even before.

As such, Aizen knows how to manipulate people into doing and feeling what he wants them to. Yet he can't connect to them, nor has he ever experienced the full scale of emotions that only true bonds — of whatever nature — can bring. No that's not true. Kurosaki-kun always managed to make Aizen feel, be it hate or irritation or even admiration. Aizen is surprised to find he misses the human Shinigami already; if only the boy had been born sooner…

Aizen envies Kurosaki for his easy way of turning enemies to friends and his determination to protect his precious people at any cost. He wishes for precious people for his own, but it far too late now. Over a century ago he might have been able to change course and do the right thing. Now he only has an age of solitude to look forward to.

He catches Urahara's pensive expression. The man is very clever and will figure out his meaning. He might even have suspected something of the sort already. The question remains though: What did that idiotic boy wish for? He had just defeated Ywach, and the world was going to be fine. As far as he knew, no one even got permanently maimed or died, except Yamamoto!

Shinji turns to Urahara. "What does it mean and how long have you been aware of it?" The others concentrate on the former Captain as well. Suspicion hangs in the air. Somehow the shopkeeper always knows what is going on and manages to manipulate the situation to his liking.

Urahara smiles and tips his hat a little further down, a sure sign that he knows more than he lets on. "Hmm, what makes you say that I know anything at all?"

The leader of the Visored gives him a look and deadpans. "You know bloody well what I'm talking about, so cut the bullshit and start talking. Ichigo is out there somewhere in who knows what kind of condition. We ain't got time for your machinations and power plays."

Urahara looks rather taken aback at being called on his attitude and coughs. "Well yes…I suspected that Hogyoku had changed alliances immediately after the battle between Ichigo and Aizen. After all, it can't abide a powerless master, which is exactly what Aizen had become. Perhaps it sensed Ichigo's amazing potential, or perhaps there were other factors at play. I never was able to find out as I wanted to avoid suspicion."

Rukia cut him off. "You forget that Ichigo lost his powers as well when he used the Final Getsuga Tensho. Surely the Hogyoku would have felt that happening and wouldn't have stayed with Ichigo."

The shopkeeper shakes his head. "It seems you have all misunderstood the nature of the Final Getsuga Tensho. It does not make a shinigami lose their powers permanently, as such a thing would defeat the purpose of an ultimate technique. It only drains the user so severely they suffer from reiryoku exhaustion for months. Years even if they don't have very large reserves. Well, too weak a master might have found themselves killed, but I doubt they would have been able to master Zangetsu anyways so the point is rather moot."

"Is that supposed to make things better? Ichigo could have died for all you knew as you had no way to estimate the amount of reiryoku needed for such a technique, nor did you explain things properly to anyone involved. Least of all Ichigo!" Chad's voice is filled with righteous anger, grief, and a bit of guilt. They all avoided Ichigo in those months after the final battle, because they figured that seeing them would remind him of all that he had lost. It had hurt Ichigo though he had never shown it, and he never would. He was the kind of person that hid his pain beneath a mask of fighting and rebellion.

Urahara quickly picks up his explanation before things start to get out of hand. "Anyway as I was saying, the Hogyoku has remained with Ichigo all this time. I saw no need to do something about the situation as Ichigo would never have used its power willingly, nor would he have let anyone else use it. And I might have calculated that it would be a nice boost in case something else happened, which it obviously did."

A lot of anger is directed at Urahara, but for now they keep away. They will have plenty of time later to beat him up when both parties are healthy. Hitsugaya is the one to voice what everyone is thinking yet scared to find out. "Do we have any way of finding Kurosaki?"

A shadow passes over Urahara's face and he looks down. It a long time before he starts speaking again and deep inside they all know already what he will tell them. "I'm afraid not as we have no idea what Ichigo wished for nor how the Hogyoku interpreted that wish. If Ichigo had been unharmed and in full possession of his reiryoku he would have leaked enough reiatsu to look for him, but as it is he would have been nearly out of reiryoku and depending on the wish he might suffer from some form depletion for a long time. I will try to make something to look for traces of his reiatsu of course. However that kind of project takes months…"

The only sound in the Soul King's palace is tears hitting stone. For minutes the gathers Shinigami, Vizards and Arrancar mourn Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute Shinigami, defender of the world and above all beloved friend. The hope to find him never leaves their heart, but deep inside they know. They know that he is gone forever.

"Fukutaichou! You need to see this."

Shiba Kaien, lieutenant of the 13th division, uses Shunpo to join his subordinates as fast as possible, the Shinigami that had called out had a note of desperation is his voice. They stand in a circle around something and when he pushes past them Kaien sees a teen lying on the ground. The boy wears black robes so cut up they barely cover his groin, showing off the battered and bloody body. Next to the boy lays a sealed zanpakutou in the form of a simple katana.

The traces of reiatsu surrounding the strange boy are terribly faint and Kaien starts as he recognizes the pattern as severe reiryoku depletion. He pays no more attention to the boy's appearance — to the similarities to his own are filed away for a later date — and picks the boy up. He frowns as the boy is far too light and hurriedly orders his subordinates to return to Seireitei before leaving in a rush of Shunpo.

Kaien is sure that he breaks all records on his way back, but it still too slow. He can literally feel the life seeping out of the body in his arms and forces all thoughts from his mind. Now is not the time to muse on the situation. Kaien has only one mission: get the strange boy back to the 4th barracks before he is beyond help. He makes it but only just and as he watches Unohana-taichou shout orders and wheel the boy into the emergency room, he falls down on one of the waiting chairs.

His squad arrives shortly after him, all out of breath and all with worry in their eyes. Kaien tells them that the boy is still with Unohana-taichou and her team and that they should report back to Ukitake-taichou while he waits here. Maeda hands him the sealed zanpakutou and he nods at her. He sees she wants to ask something and motions for her to speak up.

"Fukutaichou, should we also contact the Shiba-clan in your place?"

Kaien looks up at her in surprise, he hadn't expected such a question.

"It's just that that boy looks exactly like you, Fukutaichou. Except with orange hair and well … even if he is a bastard, the Shiba always welcome everyone who is part of their clan." She hesitates, not daring to go any further in fear of offending her superior. Kaien smiles at her; she is new and clearly hasn't experienced his approachable attitude yet. He wants all his subordinates to feel like they can count on him for anything, instead of creating a distance of admiration from soldier to superior.

"Tell our third seat, Shiba Miyako, about the boy and she will inform the others. Thank you, for bringing back the katana and thinking further than your evident duties."

She nods and the squad leaves. Kaien sinks back into the chair and allows himself to return to the observation he has repressed. One: An unclaimed Shiba has been found. Two: The boy has been in a grave fight. Three: He is obviously self-trained and knows at least something of the Shinigami arts if the zanpakutou is any indication. It looks just like a regular katana, but Kaien can feel the faint traces of reiatsu. Four: Kaien is attached to the strange boy who looks like he could be Kaien's twin. Obvious conclusion: Kaien will welcome the boy in the main branch as a cousin and make sure he will either live with Kukaku and Ganju or with Kaien and Miyako. Before the boy goes off to the Academy that is.