Quetzal - to Moonshadow6 on AO3, congratulations that epic of a comment you left got my ass moving. HAVE A CHAPTER YOU FINE REVIEWER YOU!

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Dual

Learning who 'zangetsu' really is, ichigo makes a choice, quincy, shinigami or hollow, he is them, and they are him. He can no more deny one side of himself then he can the other.

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And tonight is the night

I need you here to save my soul

I lied to you, said I'll always be around

Inside myself I was somewhere else

But the only thing I wanted

The only thing I needed

Is to hold you till the end of time

Save my soul - Renegade five

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Consciousness was greeted with resigned exhaustion, he didn't want to do this, why couldn't he have just died? He heard someone speaking, telling Ichigo that the hollow was really his zanpakuto. Then came the words he had hoped to never hear.

"You should know it yourself, what the old man that has been pretending to be your zanpakuto till this day is?" The man asked, Zangetsu closed his eyes as he felt Ichigo enter his inner world.

"Zangetsu-ossan?" Ichigo asked looking at his silent form in puzzlement. The man from before continued to speak, Ichigo remaining aware enough of his body to keep listening.

"Ichi-chan, do you know that man?"

"Of course I do!" Ichigo snapped back, confused. "This is Zangetsu!" Ichigo's words only made the next words all the more painful, even having been told straight up that he wasn't Zangetsu, Ichigo still didn't believe it.

"Wrong" The man answered sharply, he tried not to cringe at what he knew was coming.

"Thats not it, take a closer look. You should've actually seen him with your own eyes recently! As the leader of the enemy that overran soul society!" Ichigo's horror as he made the connection cut far deeper than any blade. The man continued digging the painful truth even deeper. "He isn't your zanpakuto, this man and the Quincy power that lies inside you. This form is Yhwach from 1000 years ago!" He opened his eyes, and struggled with his fear for a moment, before meeting Ichigo's gaze. Ichigo eyes were slightly distant as he struggled to understand, but that only lasted for a moment before the teens focus snapped back to his form, utter horror and confusion covered Ichigo's face.

The sky rumbled, and it started to rain, for once though he was glad for the rain, it blurred the air between them and hid his growing despair as tears threatened to escape his eyes. "What does this mean, Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked, he flinched, knowing this was probably the last time he would hear Ichigo call him that. But he couldn't deny Ichigo the truth this time, refusing to meet Ichigo's betrayed gaze he answered.

"Its as you heard, and, I'm not, 'Zangetsu'" He answered, faced with the fact that one of the most basic things in his heart was false, Ichigo's inner world shuddered and the building they were standing on shattered and fell into the ocean that always remained just out of sight beneath the foundations of the silver and blue city.

"Are you really Yhwach? Are you not, Zangetsu?" He suppressed the urge to shudder at being called Yhwach before answering.

"I am the source of the Quincy power within you, I am and I am not Yhwach." No, not him, not the monster that had cut Ichigo down without a second thought, never him. Ichigo was on the verge of a panic attack, but somehow managed to not attack him in pure outrage yet, merely yelling. He truly wished Ichigo would just kill him, it would hurt less then dragging every last one of his secrets into the light.

"I DONT GET IT! ARE YOU AN ENEMY?! AN ALLY? WAS ALL YOU TOLD ME SO FAR A LIE?" He pulled his gaze away from Ichigo, thinking back on everything he had done, could he honestly say he wasn't and had never been Ichigo's enemy? After what he had done to the real 'Zangetsu' to steal his name, and all that had followed, no he couldn't say he wasn't, but everything he had done had been to protect him as well, no matter how terrible.

"ANSWER!" Ichigo snarled at his silence.

"I am neither you enemy, nor your ally." he spoke slowly choosing his words carefully. "However." he added, deciding that this was the only consolation he would give himself, to try and make Ichigo understand. "My words and my heart never lied to you. Except for when I told you my name. Ichigo." It was time to show Ichigo who the one he really should have been trusting all this time was, it was the least he could do for the zanpakuto whose name he had stolen. "I'd think you must have noticed. When I taught you how to use a zanpakuto, I always used the powers of the hollow. When you used up all of your power. When your life was seriously in danger. The one who saved you... Wasn't me," and didn't that just kill him a little more inside? "It was the hollow."

"I... Didn't want you to become a Shinigami. Thats why I tried to suppress your growing potential, and always tried to be the core of your power" Ichigo stared at him no longer enraged, only confused.

"Why?" He asked finally, looking rather lost and frustrated. Zangetsu closed his eyes tiredly.

"Why?" he echoed before continuing. " Is it strange for me.. To want to keep you safe?" he asked quietly. "If you became a Shinigami, you will unavoidably be involved in battles. You will be hurt, you will suffer." He looked back up at Ichigo, one more little white lie, so that this could all end he thought tiredly, but his resolve to end everything was wavering. "And one day, I will definitely have to kill you with my own hands." He could almost convince himself that his original goal was the right path. After all wasn't a swift end better than all the pain and strife Ichigo had experienced in his time as a Shinigami? It was just enough for him to mask his pain and try and ignore the shock on Ichigo's face. He tossed his cloak back summoning the real Zangetsu to his hand, white power raged around the blade, contained by his own only barely. Ichigo starred at him grimly, his eyes narrowed as he clenched a fist. The pain in his eyes went beyond a mere betrayal. Zangetsu will cracked under that gaze, he couldn't do it, he couldn't make Ichigo kill him. His wielders despair would know no end if he was forced to kill him himself.

"I mustn't let you become a Shinigami," he spoke quietly, "If you become one, I'll have to kill you... So I thought." Ichigo blinked startled at the sudden shift. Zangetsu continued on ignoring the look. "However, you eventually did become a Shinigami. You had a chance. Trained hard. And despite all your pain and suffering, you chose to pursue that path." Zangetsu wanted to smile faintly at that, remembering Ichigo's endless determination in the face of impossible odds.

"Whenever I saw you like that, my heart would waver. Eventually instead of stopping you from becoming a Shinigami my heart started to help you in your path. And now, like this, I'm even happy, to step back." with a shaky breath he released his hold over the zanpakuto, the power faired wildly. The blade free of his control for the first time since the shattershaft. He let the backlash wash him away. "Ichigo, what you've been using so far, is just a part of your power. The part I wasn't able to suppress. Now, you can finally fight with you own strength, Take it with you. That's your real zanpakuto." He said at last as consciousness began to fail him once more. Terror flashed through Ichigo's eyes and he lunged for the vanishing spirit.

"WAIT! ZANGETSU! I STILL HAVEN'T…!" He didn't hear whatever it was that Ichigo hadn't said yet as he faded into the darkest depth of Ichigo's soul. Darkness closed around himself and he knew only silence. He wasn't sure how long it had been when words filtered back to him. There was no time in this place. "Zangetsu, I don't care who you are. You might say it's not true. That you. And Him.." he felt more then saw Ichigo's faint smile. "I'm sure you're both..Zangetsu." He sensed Ichigo's attention turn to the hollow, which although currently separate, was very much present. "Is that ok with you? Zangetsu?" the hollows laughter and the sudden surge of power that tore through them was his only answer. His mind and soul were swept away once more, but now dragged back out into the light and into burning power.

Ichigo looked down at the twin blades in his hands. A smile tugging at his lips. "Zangetsu." He thought, smiling widening at the twin answers he received. One wildly gleeful. And one shocked beyond belief. "Did you really think, that I would ever leave one of you behind? I'd hoped you knew me better than that, old man."

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Quetzal – well this has been sitting 90% done on my computer for a year ^_^ there should be one more chapter to it. Called 'Dawn' which will be a departure from cannon as the current manga makes me want to know what the fuck Kubo is smoking. Cause this own blood war arc? Went WAY past the twilight zone a long fucking time ago and is in uncharted waters of wtf.