A/N: Okay, so this is only my second fanfiction, this being my first Bleach fic. This chapter actually takes place in the present, but the rest of the story will catch up with it from 20yrs in the past. This is an AU within the canon. That means that people might not act like they did in the anime, battles may not happen the way Tite wrote them, and there'll be battles that didn't occur in the anime.

This chapter was edited on 8/19/2012

P.s. I don't own Bleach, so you people, whoever you are that get all uptight about it, can kiss my ass.

Prologue

(After battle over the fake Karakura town in Soul Society a week after Aizen's defeat)

'I had retrieved her, thank God. Finally, I had them all safe and sound.'

A tall warrior, about 6'4, looked down at the unconscious woman he was carrying bridal style in his arms. Unlike her, he showed great signs of fatigue and injury. His body was exhausted beyond belief. It was miraculous that he could even stand, much less maintain consciousness.

Apache, like her fellow fraccion and Tono(master), were the closest people to a family that he's ever had, save for his grandpa when he was still a living boy, his first love, Fran, and his second love, Yoruichi. She was one of the few people, arrancar or not, to ever truly love him.

"Apache-chan. You, Sun-Sun, Mila-Rose, Fran, Yoruichi, and Halibel. You all were the first ones who cared about me when I showed up. Though it took some time, you all became like a family to me, like Starrk and Lilinette; and like Gin and Tosen, and Remarri and Grimmjow. The only ones. Now it is my turn. Now I will care for you all."

He knew that the breath was probably wasted. She was unconscious and most likely never heard a word he'd said, but still...he had to say it. They say hollows can't feel emotions because they're empty, because they have no hearts, but he and his close friends proved that all wrong. And he's still disproving it by the way he feels for this woman and the others.

He would, and almost did on numerous occassions, die for them. If that wasn't emotion, then nothing was.

As he walked through the decimated city, or what remained of it, the either dead, dying, or beaten bodies of dozens upon dozens of Soul Reapers layed sprawled over the battlefield. He had came just for her, but they refused to give her up, opting to try to kill him and experiment with her. That damned Mayuri.

A massive blast crater, which expanded wider the further it reached out, had 80% of the city underneath it. Along the crater's path of destruction laid half of his enemies: Yamamoto, Soi-Fon, Byakuya Kuchiki, Omaeda, Yumichika Ayasegawa, Jushiro Ukitake, Isshin Kurosaki, Shunsui Kyouraku, Rangiku Matsumoto, Sajin Komamura, Toshiro Hitsugaya, Retsu Unohana, Chad Sado, Uryuu Ishida, Rukia Kuchiki, Renji Abarai, Tetsuzaemon Iba, Hisagi, Ichigo Kurosaki, and finally the massive Kenpachi Zaraki.

He stopped and kneeled by the massive captain's side and held out a glowing hand over his chest. He couldn't feel any heartbeat. The man still had a massive grin on his face though he was dead and his body was littered with hundreds of cuts, if not more. Red reiatsu gently flowed from the warrior's hand and into the captain's chest.

The body spasmed a couple of times as if being electrocuted. After the six time, the natural defribulator that Malik was performing finally succeeded in jump-starting Kenpachi's heart. The man's eyes shot open as he breathed in fresh oxygen. But just as quickly as they opened, his eyes closed as he went into a deep sleep.

The warrior was deeply saddened. Some of those people had grown on him. They were his friends; some even family, yet they chose to follow orders instead of their hearts. Those were just the ones, dead or not, whose bodies weren't disintegrated by the massive cero, Rugido del Dragón (Dragon's Roar), that he unleashed. He had purposefully made sure not to hit them directly, or there would have probably been nothing left. He did it to save a certain few.

As he opened up a Garganta, the portal that the espada use to travel to and from Hueco Mundo, Apache's eyes slowly opened. She squinted her eyes to focus up at her long time buddy. "Malik?"

Her spiritual pressure was so weak to him. Her eyes closed again as she went back into unconsciousness. Malik could only look down at her with the worrisome face that one would think could only be given by either a lover or a blood-relative.

"Rest, Apache-chan. We will be home soon. You will be with Sun-Sun, Mila-Rose, Fran, and Halibel soon." With that, he walked through the portal not ever looking back. Seconds later, it closed behind him and it's just the two of them. He walked quietly through the orangish-red circulation of swirls that had become a characteristic of Garganta unique to just him. "We're almost there, Apache-chan."

'Soon, I will have them all together again. I just want to live in peace, now that Aizen's out of the way, for a brand new one to begin.' Upon thinking that, he felt much lighter, as if all the stress and burdens he'd accumulated over these twenty years have been lifted off of his body. As he walked, he couldn't help but reminence over his incredible journey from the beginning.

(End Prologue)

A/N: I know, it's short, but I just want to see what people think about that little bit before I start on the rest. This chapter is actually in the present, but starting next chapter, we will travel back twenty years to recap everything that led up to this point. If you're scared that one of your favorite souls reapers have died, than don't be afraid. Only a nameless few from that large group listed died. The names of obvious characters that I didn't mention...well if you want to find out bad enough, tune in for the rest of the story. Thank you for reading this bit and please review if there's anything you'd like to mention, like who the hell is this OC Malik guy, taking down just about every Soul Reaper worth mentioning and blowing up an entire fake city.