Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

A/N: Well here is the last chapter of COF. I'm sorry it took so long, but I wanted to make it good. That being said, I hope you all enjoy it.

Rukia: Finally you get around to rescuing me!

Ichigo: Don't blame me, blame the author.

A/N: Hey, what did I do!

Ichigo: Take forever to get here.

Ayumi: Yeah, we should have rescued her three chapters ago.

A/N: Oh don't be a baby.

Ayumi and Ichigo: Why you little!

A/N: Don't kill me please!

A few minutes later~

Renji slowly opened his eyes, wincing from his still sore wounds.

"What the…how am I still alive?" he wondered aloud.

"Because your too stubborn to die." Kaien said.

"Kaien? You didn't leave?" Renji asked.

"No I didn't, what do you think Rukia would have done if I let you die?" Kaien answered simply.

Renji nodded, slowly standing up, "Let's go save Rukia!"

Squad Four~

"Hey do you hear something Chad?" Uryu asked.

"Yeah, and I think it's coming closer." Chad answered, as various Soul Reapers were screaming at the top of their lungs. But all of a sudden it got deathly silent.

"Hey it stopped…" Uryu started.

Then the roof caved in, shocking both teens. But who emerged from the smoke shocked them even more.

"A Captain!" Uryu yelled, not about to forget what one looked like.

But then Orihime popped up over Kenpachi's shoulder.

"Orihime?" Chad asked.

"Hey Chad, Uryu, I'm so glad your okay!" Orihime said, before Yachiru pulled her back down.

Sokyoku~

Ayumi needs to hurry up… Ichigo thought.

"Why are you so worried King? You can save the Queen yourself you know." Shiro said snidely.

"I know I can. But I want Ayumi for back up." Ichigo replied.

{"Togetsu is a powerful Zanpaku-to Ichigo. I don't know if Ayumi can beat her in time."} Zangetsu said.

While Ichigo was having the talk with his inner spirits, Togetsu was knocking Ayumi to the ground, for the final time.

"Get up Ayumi, you can't give up now." Togetsu said.

Ayumi reached to a sword right next to her, "Did you really think I would give up!"

The young Reaper then brought the blade through Togetsu's chest!

Meanwhile~

"Another dead end." Uryu said.

"Yeah this place is really big, so a couple dead ends are normal." Orihime said, not noticing how angry Yachiru was.

"See this is why I said not to let the Lieutenant lead us." Ikkaku said, before Yachiru latched onto his head.

But Kenpachi ignored the banter he could feel suppressed reiatsu.

"Come out, its not like a Captain to walk around hiding your reiatsu!" Kenpachi yelled.

As the Captain said that, four other Soul Reapers appeared on the roof.

A few minutes later~

"Rukia Kuchiki, do you have any final words?" Yammamoto asked.

Rukia shook her head no, the only request she could have made was to let Ayumi and her friends go, and Ichigo wouldn't let them leave until she was safe.

Yammamoto nodded and said, "Release the Sokyoku!"

With those words Rukia felt her hands shoot out to the side, and her feet leave the ground. While she slowly floated upward, Rukia wondered where Ichigo was. But she was distracted as the Sokyoku took on its true form.

"Once the Sokyoku impales the prisoner, the sentence will have been carried out." Yammamoto continued.

Rukia was really started to wonder where Ichigo was, but she could see that Byakuya was ready to jump in if Ichigo didn't. As the Sokyoku charged at her, Rukia was forced to shut her eyes from its brilliance. But she then felt a cold breeze, and when Rukia opened her eye's she saw the Sokyoku coated in a solid coat of ice. And standing side by side in front of it was Ichigo and Ayumi.

"Hey Rukia, looks like you could use some help." Ayumi said.

Rukia ignored her and yelled at Ichigo, "You idiot! What took you so long!"

Ichigo took a step back, "I had to heal Ayumi…Bankai training really beat her up you know.
But before Rukia could say anything else, both Kurosaki's were pushed back as the Sokyoku broke the ice off.

"Hmm…backing up for a second strike eh." Ichigo said, raising Zangetsu while Ayumi did the same with Togetsu.

Before either of them could move though, the Sokyoku had a cord wrapped around its neck. At the other end of that cord was Jushiro, along with the Fourth Seats Kiyone and Sentaro. When Shunsui and Nanao jumped over too, Soi Fon realized what they were going to do.

"Don't just stand there, stop them!" she yelled at her Lieutenant. But it was too late; the two Rebel Captains had already started to destroy the Sokyoku.

As the flaming remains fell to the ground, Ichigo jumped on the stand.

"Perfect timing Captain." The Third Seat said as he started to swing the newly released Zangetsu over his head.

"What are you doing Ichigo?" Rukia asked, worried he would kill himself.

"Shut up and watch Rukia." Ichigo said, as he brought Zangetsu down.

After a massive flash of blue light, Ichigo appeared, holding Rukia. As the other Soul Reapers looked on in awe, even Ayumi, Rukia said, "Well what now Ichigo?"

Ichigo shrugged as he said, "We wait for Renji and Kaien to get you out of here."

Rukia looked up in shock, "Why don't you just run with me, your Bankai is fast enough."

Ichigo shook his head, "Fast enough to outrun Soi Fon maybe, but not Yammamoto, at least not without Shiro helping."

In any case that argument ended as Ayumi said, "Ichigo, Renji's here!"

And indeed he was, and Kaien was right beside him.

"Renji! I'm so glad you're still alive!" Rukia yelled, happy to see her oldest friend.

For his part, Ichigo had a smirk on his face as he noticed Renji staring at Ayumi. Ichigo's sister had part of her uniform cut off by Togetsu, and only bandages covered that part of her chest. But Renji was able to tear his eyes away from the younger Kurosaki in time to notice Ichigo standing in front of him, with Rukia in his arms. Ichigo had been planning to throw Rukia just like last time, but she felt a little off somehow…she was heavier than normal, and her reiatsu had an odd aspect too it. Ichigo wasn't sure what it was, but he decided it was a good idea not to throw his wife around like a sack of potatoes.

Ichigo handed Rukia to Renji, and said, "Take her and go Renji. That's your job, protect her with your life."

Renji wasn't about to argue, and he took off with Rukia, Kaien providing escort.

"What are you doing, all Lieutenants after them!" Soi Fon yelled from over by the Sokyoku.

Omaeda took off right away, and at nods from their Captains so did Isane and Sasakibe.

But Ayumi took advantage of the distraction to jump in front of them, echoing Ichigo's act in the other timeline.

"Get out of our way!" Omaeda yelled.

When Ayumi's only response was to jab Togetsu into the ground, the Lieutenants released their Shikai's.

"Run, Itegumo!" Isane yelled.

"Bite, Gonryomaru." Sasakibe said.

"Crush, Gegetsuburi!" Omaeda yelled, only for Ayumi to punch clean through his mace.

Both Isane and Sasakibe couldn't believe their eyes, but Ayumi knocked them both down before they could do anything to her. She then grabbed Togetsu and in time to block a strike from Byakuya.

"Nice try, Byakuya Kuchiki." Ayumi said.

"Listen Ayumi Kurosaki, I don't want to fight you, but until the other Captains leave we need to." Byakuya said, pushing Ayumi back.

"Okay then, bring it on Byakuya." Ayumi said, charging in.

Meanwhile~

"Isane…" Kiyone said, running to her sister.

"Kiyone wait, Captain Kuchiki is fighting over there!" Sentaro said, not realizing how close he came to being killed.

Soi Fon had moved toward them, only for Ichigo to jump in the way
"Sorry Captain, but I can't let you her hurt my friends." Ichigo said.

"So you're going to fight me eh Shiba? I'll enjoy killing you and your traitorous friends." Soi Fon said.

"Ichigo move, you can't handle her!" Jushiro yelled, moving forward.

But Yammamoto moved in front of him, "It was a Third Seat and two Lieutenants who took the prisoner, they can be replaced, you two are a more serious matter."

"Move it Jushiro!" Shunsui said, pulling his friend off the hill.

"Shunsui…" Yammamoto said, following the pair.

Meanwhile, Ichigo was keeping Soi Fon busy.

"Your good for a Third Seat." The Captain of Squad Two said.

"That's high praise coming from you Captain." Ichigo said, feeling Yoruichi coming.

So before Soi Fon could work up a retort, Yoruichi knocked her off the hill. With Unohana having left with Kiyone and Sentaro, the only people left on the hill were Byakuya and the two Kurosaki's. So Ichigo stopped his sister's 'fight'.

"Okay then, Renji has Rukia, so let's set up an ambush in case Aizen still gets them." Ichigo said.

The other two nodded and followed him into the trees.

"What happened here, all of them are dead!" Toshiro said, walking into the Central 46 Chambers.

"And the bloods dry and brown. This wasn't recent at all…" the young Captain continued. But then he noticed Izuru standing in the doorway.

"Izuru did you do this?" Toshiro asked.

"No." Izuru answered calmly.

"Then who did? Who let you in here?" Toshiro said.

"Central 46 of course. A more important question would be who let you in here." Izuru said, before running off.

"After him Rangiku." Toshiro said, moving after Izuru. Neither of them noticed another Soul Reaper moving into the room.

"Stop Izuru! Tell us who killed Central 46!" Toshiro yelled, running along the roofs.

"Why should I stop? How do I know it wasn't you who killed them?" Izuru shot back.

"Of course it wasn't me! I didn't know they were dead until now!" Toshiro replied.

"It really doesn't matter, but I can't believe you missed Momo, she was following you the whole time after all." Izuru said. Hearing that, Toshiro immediately headed back for Central 46, leaving Rangiku to handle Izuru.

Central 46~

"What happened…Toshiro didn't know, but Izuru seemed like he did… this doesn't make any sense." Momo said, not sure what was going on.

But then she noticed Gin walking into the barracks area. Despite Aizen's note, Momo still didn't trust Gin, so she followed him until he went into one of the buildings.

But what she saw in the building shocked her to her core.

"Captain Aizen…you're alive!" Momo said, not believing her eyes.

"Yes I am Momo." Aizen said, walking forward and hugging Momo.

"Captain Aizen, I missed you so much. I knew you couldn't be dead." Momo said.

"I'm so sorry that I had to put you through that Momo. Thank you…and goodbye." Aizen said, stabbing Momo in the chest.

Momo looked up, pain and disbelief in her eyes, before Aizen removed his blade and she collapsed to the ground.

"Come on Gin." Aizen said, cleaning off his blade on Momo's uniform.

"Yes sir Captain Aizen" Gin said, following his 'leader'.

But they were stopped by Toshiro, "Gin and…Aizen, how are you alive, and where's Momo!"

"Hello Toshiro…Izuru must have failed." Aizen said.

"What, failed? Wait where's Momo!" Toshiro yelled.

When Aizen said nothing, Toshiro ran past him.

"Momo…" the silver haired Captain said.

"Oh you found her. I should have chopped her up and hidden the pieces." Aizen said.

"You made a serious mistake Aizen. I don't forgive anyone who hurts Momo. Bankai!" Toshiro said, his power blowing the building apart, "Daiguren Hyorinmaru."

Aizen jumped back up to the building, only for Toshiro to stab him clean through the chest. Or at least Toshiro thought he did, but Aizen nearly severed his arm, knocking the young Captain out.

"It's the wrong season, but I rather like seeing ice this time of year." Aizen said.

As the two traitors prepared to leave, Unohana stopped them. But before they were able to do anything, Tosen had ambushed Renji and Rukia.

"Sorry Captain, we don't have time to talk. Gin get Izuru on the way their." Aizen said.

As the rope from Gin's wrist engulfed the traitors, Izuru found himself pulled along, against his will.

Sokyoku Hill~

"What the… Sokyoku Hill, how did we get here?" Renji said.

But then he noticed Aizen with a shocked Izuru standing next to him.

"Captain Aizen? You're alive, wait, why did you bring me here?" Renji asked.

"Wait Renji, I have to do something first." Aizen said, cutting Izuru clean through the waist.

"I don't accept failure Izuru. Learn that lesson well." Aizen finished, as he moved toward Renji.

"Why did you do that Captain! What did Izuru do to deserve that?" Renji yelled.

"Like I said Renji…I don't tolerate failure. Now leave Rukia Kuchiki and go." Aizen said.

"I don't know what you want with Rukia, but I won't give her too you in a thousand years." Renji shot back.

Aizen sighed, "Very well, you leave me no choice Renji."

And with a flash of steel, Renji jumped back, with a long gash on his arm.

"You always were the most difficult Renji. That's why I let you go to Ukitake's Squad. But I really don't want to kill you. I'll say it once more, leave Rukia and go." Aizen said.

Renji's only response was to swing Zabimaru at Aizen. But the traitor just grabbed the blade and cut it apart. But as he moved forward to cut Renji again, Ichigo blocked Aizen.

"Sorry we took so long Renji, we had to find an opening." Ichigo said, as Byakuya and Ayumi took up positions on the left and right of the Third Seat.

"Sorry Souske, I didn't want to interfere." Gin said.

"Don't worry, it makes no difference how many ants you have to smash." Aizen replied.

At a nod from his allies, Ichigo went Bankai.

"Bankai…Tensa Zangetsu." Ichigo said.

He was followed by Byakuya, "Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

And finally, Ayumi released her newly earned Bankai, "Bankai… Suriasu Togetsu!"(1)

One of her blades lengthened to something nearly as long as Zangetsu, with the guard becoming a silver diamond. The other blade dissolved into a mist that surrounded her, and didn't dissipate.

Ichigo and Ayumi then charged right at Aizen, with Byakuya sending his blades in behind the traitor. Ichigo was knocked back by a well-placed kick, while Ayumi was nearly cut in half, only her mist forming a wall of ice saving her.

Realizing a direct attack was pointless; Ichigo went above Aizen and used a technique he had only just mastered with Shiro's help…

"Gran Rey Cero!" Ichigo yelled, the blue blast of energy shocking Aizen, which hadn't happened in centuries.

Ayumi used that opening to form ice blades out of the permeating mist, while Byakuya sent in each and every one of his millions of blades. But when the smoke cleared, Aizen was still standing, though he had several bleeding wounds on him. Seeing that, Ichigo charged up another Cero…but he didn't see the white blade coming right at him from behind.

As Ichigo fell from being impaled through his chest, Aizen shun-po'ed forward and cut Byakuya badly enough to force him down. Ayumi didn't even know she was cut until blood spurted from her waist, just like Renji didn't know he was cut until blood shot out from his other arm.

Seeing how easily Aizen had defeated everyone except Ichigo who had been literally stabbed in the back, Rukia couldn't even move.

As Aizen picked her up, Komamura appeared, only to be taken down by an impatient Aizen. With the last of his enemies down, Aizen started his monologue.

"You see, all Soul Reapers have a limit to their power. No matter how hard one trains, they will never break that limit. Or at least they won't as a Soul Reaper, but there is a way to break past that limit. Once I hit my own limit, I searched for a way to surpass it. What I found seemed simple enough…Hollowfication. But in my experiments it proved far more difficult than I had anticipated. So I searched for a new method and found it, Kisuke Urahara's Hogyoku, a jewel that can break the boundary at will. But he had hidden it in a soul. That soul was you Rukia Kuchiki and, now I am going to remove it!" Aizen said, forcibly pulling the jewel from Rukia's chest.

As Rukia fell down, Ichigo was desperately trying to stop his bleeding and help his wife.

"This is depressing King…let me lend you some more power. And yes, you can use this whenever you want now." Shiro said.

As Aizen picked Rukia up and told Gin to kill her, he felt a surge of amazingly powerful reiatsu. When the traitor looked behind him, he saw Ichigo standing up, his wound covered by white foam as it closed up, and his face covered by a Hollow's mask.

"Looks like you already Hollowfied Shiba." Aizen said calmly.

"Oh what gave it away…was it the mask?" Ichigo asked, his voice oddly different.

Before Aizen could reply, Byakuya had grabbed Rukia and Ichigo had run forward at a speed Aizen was hard pressed to match. As the two traded blows, Ichigo started to get the better of his opponent. Aizen had yet to reach the level he was at when Ichigo had left his old world and it showed. Thanks to that, the Third Seat was able to deliver several bad wounds to Aizen. But then a gold beam of light came down, and Ichigo had to jump back, his mask dissolving as he did. Ichigo didn't attack Aizen again, knowing it would be pointless. After the traitors disappeared into Hueco Mundo, Ichigo went straight for Rukia and took her from Byakuya.

"It's over Rukia, at least for now. Now we can relax for a while…" Ichigo said, holding up his tired wife, as he turned into the sunset, and met with the remaining Captains, as a newly arrived Orihime was healing Ayumi.

A/N: Well there was the finale for Change of Fate. I hope you guys and gals enjoyed it. That being said, if anyone can guess what was off with Rukia you get a cyber cookie! Oh and Suriasu Togetsu means roughly: Slicing Freezing Moon.

Rukia: I can't believe you let him get away like that.

A/N: It was needed for the story.

Ayumi: You hurt me now!

Ichigo: It was against Aizen what do you expect?

A/N: Yeah what he said. In any case, if anyone wants a PM when the sequel is posted so you don't have to go digging for it, just let me know in the review.

Coming up: Winter War Chronicles, the second book in the Diamond of Time Saga (Just made that up now...)