Character Thoughts: "{abc}"
Wonderweiss's Speech: will be translated in Italics. There will be times where his speech is fine.
Chapter 1:
The Future Starts Here
Ichigo stands dumbfounded as he tries to speak, "…Wonderweiss? Is that you?"
"Of course it's me. Though my speech is still messed up." I reply.
"…But, I thought you were dead!"
"Not exactly."
"Aizen struck your heart with that beam!"
"I was fixed."
"How?"
Another person appears from the same alley, "I believe I can answer that, Ichigo." It was Szayel in his gigai, walking into view fixing his glasses.
"Szayel? How on Earth did you…?" Ichigo tries to ask but is at a loss for words.
Szayel replies, "To be honest, it wasn't very easy. Especially considering Orihime refused to come to Soul Society when we asked for her help. Even with help from Kisuke and the Hogyoku, reviving Wonderweiss was a hell of a project."
"They let Kisuke into Soul Society?" Ichigo asks.
Szayel answers, "With good reason. Although Yamamoto was very indisposed, he let Kisuke in on one condition: he'd help Squads 4 and 12 revive Wonderweiss, which is what he planned to do. Again, the Hogyoku was having issues reviving Wonderweiss as he was, since a lot of reiatsu had left his body. So, we had to take a different, exhausting approach."
"It was more than exhausting! It took us nine months just to repair him completely!" someone shouts from above.
We all look up and find Mayuri on a rooftop with Nemu beside him. They jump down and join in the conversation. Ichigo then wonders why Captain Retsu isn't here, and Nemu replies she was busy healing Tsubasa after a mishap with Kenpachi.
Szayel says, "Excuse me, Mayuri, but I was talking."
"And now you can shut up. I'll tell the rest of it." Mayuri says.
Ichigo smiles and says, "You guys haven't changed much. Yet, your hair got really long, Szayel."
"Hm? Oh yeah, I was working around the clock, barely finding time to eat or do other things. I made an appointment with Ulquiorra to get my hair cut." Szayel answers.
Ichigo nearly laughs, but replies, "Ulquiorra's a hair dresser? Oh, wait till I tell Grimmjow!"
"I was just as surprised as you. But he does amazing jobs; I've seen videos of his work online. But anyway, I'll let Mayuri talk." Szayel says.
Mayuri explains, "Thank you. Anyway, as you heard, the Hogyoku alone was not enough to revive Wonderweiss. We had to place him in a tank instead, filled with mostly water, and bring in a special machine I had created before the battle with Aizen. This machine was able to help in repairing Wonderweiss's heart, cell by cell, strand of tissue by strand of tissue, until we finally repaired the muscle itself. Of course, he wasn't brought back from that; there was still the issue of closing the rest of the hole in his chest. That took the longest to do. Eventually, we had him mostly fixed; it was time to get his heart to pump. But, we ran into an issue."
Nemu continues, "Since he was basically not alive, we didn't hook him up to an air tank. Naturally, we took him out of the tank temporarily, hooked him up to various machines that measured his vitals and brainwaves, and placed him back in. Next, we brought in the Hogyoku once more. Kisuke was able to activate it this time. The Hogyoku was able to bring him back, like it was recreating him. However, Wonderweiss was not conscious at first. We thought we had failed until a few days later his eyes opened, and he had identified Szayel and Kisuke."
I say, "And ta-da, I'm back!"
"…Unreal." Ichigo says.
"The entire process was unbelievable, but we pulled it off. However, the Hogyoku returned to its previous dormant state, so now it is useless. Although Retsu still has a good fragment of the fake left, she is saving it for when it is needed." Szayel mentions.
"And if you want a break down, fixing his heart took 2 months, repairing the hole took 5 months, reviving him took 1 month due to getting the Hogyoku to cooperate, and 1 month for Wonderweiss's rehabilitation and some speech lessons." Mayuri reveals.
"You guys…" Ichigo starts.
"No 'thank yous' are in order here. We did it because we wanted to try in the first place. I'm glad it worked. Nemu and I should get back to Soul Society; Iceringer said he wanted to show us something." Mayuri says, opening the Senkaimon.
Mayuri and Nemu are greeted by two Hell Butterflies, and promptly head on through, the doors closing and disappearing behind them. Szayel checks his new pocket watch he had received from Uryuu for a Christmas present, and finds he must leave for his appointment with Ulquiorra. As soon as he is out of sight by turning around the corner, Ichigo approaches me and gives me the biggest hug, to which I responded that he was crushing me. He lets go a minute later.
"It really is great to see you again, Wonderweiss. You have no idea how depressing and quiet it was without you around." Ichigo says.
"I'm sure things weren't the same in Karakura. But now I'm back and we can have fun again!" I reply.
"Yeah." he says before he realizes, "Oh shit! I was supposed to get more formula!"
"Formula?"
"Yeah. In the nine months you were gone, a lot of changes happened. Nel and I had a son she named Dante. Come, I'll fill you in as much as I can."
"…Heehee, 'bout time you two settled down."
"Don't get cute now; I already had to beat up Luppi after the fact months ago."
As we head towards the store, he fills me in on what's been going on. He suspects Hallibel and Kaien like each other, but no one's been able to tell for sure. Ggio Vega and Soifon moved to Karakura since they discovered she was pregnant, and has been for the past five months. Apparently Vega's been pushing for an ultrasound to find out the unborn's gender, but Soifon continues to refuse, wanting to be surprised. Uryuu started to become a "ladies' man" of sorts, ever since his hair grew out a bit more and became slightly more talkative, though Chad's become more popular just because his hair grew out. He has also spotted Orihime and Ulquiorra together on occasion, but is unsure as to what is going on. He did hear from Rukia when she came to check on him that Gin and Rangiku had gotten together, and that Tesla was covering for Soifon. Needless to say, I was more than surprised to hear all this.
Meanwhile, back at his house, Nel was playing with Dante, and Pesche was there to visit, as it was his day off. Yuzu and Karin's school semester had started early and were not home. Isshin is tending to someone downstairs. Pesche decides to pick up Dante and hold him, until Dante grabs onto Pesche's hair and playfully tugs on it, unaware that he is actually hurting him. Nel gets Dante to let go, and starts to jingle his plastic keys near him to get him to reach for those instead.
"You know Neliel, I'm still very glad you were able to settle down with Ichigo and not any of the Arrancars." Pesche says.
"Me too. Ichigo really is a great guy, and a really devoted dad. He'll actually be getting paid soon." Nel replies.
"So I've heard. Heheh, has he choked yet?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did he choke changing Dante yet?"
"Oh he came prepared. He constructed his very own mask that wouldn't scare Dante, and protect him from the smell."
"HAHAHAHA! He's really clever! I heard you let Isshin change him once and he fainted on the spot."
"Big time. It was the funniest thing ever; his head banged off the changing table before he hit the ground."
"Nice. Hey, I heard from Mila-Rose that Soul Society is working on a thing that'll extract Shirosaki from Ichigo."
"Well, it's not really an extraction. They're working on a way to temporarily remove Shirosaki from Ichigo while he isn't fighting. Actually, Shirosaki's become very annoying lately."
"How so?"
"He keeps appearing to Ichigo while he sleeps, demanding to physically see Dante. He even wants to help out too, seeing as how he doesn't have anything better to do ever since Aizen got sealed, and the Hollows are invading less."
"That ain't healthy."
Nel soon hears Ichigo call, "Nel, I'm back! And we have a couple guests!"
"Oh, how many guests?" Nel calls back, Pesche handing back Dante.
"Two." Ichigo replies.
"Only two?" Pesche questions before following Nel out of the room.
Nel makes her way to the living room downstairs with Pesche close behind. When she arrives, she sees Ichigo taking the formula pack out of the bag, and one guest, who so happens to be D-Roy. Nel scans the room for the other guest, but can't find them.
"Ichigo, I thought you said we had two guests. I only see D-Roy." Nel says.
"The other guest's in the kitchen. Now let me see Dante!" D-Roy replies.
"Yeah, D-Roy heard we had him, but has been too busy to see him. This is his only break." Ichigo replies, heading into the kitchen with the formula.
"This is true. Okay." Nel says, handing Dante over to D-Roy, quickly showing how to hold him.
D-Roy ecstatically says, "Oh my God, he really is a smaller version of Ichigo! And he's so cute!"
Pesche says with a look, "Don't go gay on us, man. We don't need another Coolhorn."
"I'm not turning gay. I'm just excited. I haven't held a baby since I saved one before I died." D-Roy replies.
"Oh really?" Nel asks.
"Yeah, it was one of your typical 'building's on fire' scenario. I actually got to see the kid afterwards and even babysat for the parents. I was only 10 at the time." D-Roy responds.
"Hey Nel, say hello to our other guest." Ichigo says, quickly having me appear in the doorway.
Nel turns towards the kitchen and spots me, having the most stunned look on her face. I wave with a smile, and she charges over, glomping me to the ground, then lifts me back up as she sits up, hugging me tight and swaying from side to side, saying how wonderful it is to see that I'm alive and well. Pesche, D-Roy, and Dante look over confused. D-Roy already knew I was back, but the scene Nel was performing baffled him. I started to beg to be set free, but Nel refused to let go, suddenly mentioning something too soon.
"Nel, you weren't supposed to say that yet. Now you ruined the surprise." Ichigo says.
"Wait…what did you say?" I ask.
"You heard me. When Ichigo and I turn 21, we're gonna officially adopt you and make you a Kurosaki! And then after that, he and I will get married in August." Nel explains.
"You two aren't married yet?" I exclaim.
"Not yet. That's why I have a job and starting college in two days." Ichigo replies.
Pesche says, "Aren't you happy they're gonna adopt you in 3 years?"
"Of course! Arigatou gozaimasu!" I reply hugging Nel.
"Hey, Szayel and Mayuri never said you learned some Japanese, Weissy." Ichigo says.
I answer, "It was Jushiro."
With that settled, I'm led back to the living room where Pesche gently hugs me, and I get to see Dante for the first time. He really is the cutest thing, and he seemed to like me right away. That is, until he grabbed onto my nose and didn't let go for two minutes. That was more painful than my leg being broke. Nel then tells me that Dante was born on September 9 at five in the morning. Ichigo then tells the story of Dante's birth.
"It had to have been the scariest moment of my life." Ichigo begins. "Nel scared the crap out of me earlier the night before when she screams her water broke, waking the whole house. She refused to give birth here, so I had to call Pesche while he was still sleeping to get us to the hospital…which he did in under 10 minutes speeding through Karakura. We were all amazed he wasn't caught or called in by anyone. But we get there, she's admitted…and is in labor up until near 5am. But, it wasn't all of that that nearly gave me a heart attack. Ohhhh nooo…"
"This is the good part." Pesche whispers.
Ichigo continues, "I'm with Nel, trying to help her recover, and one of the nurses comes in, saying they lost track of Dante."
"You've gotta be kidding!" I say.
Ichigo goes on, "I'm not. I flipped a lid along with Karin at the nurse, and had her lead me to the nursery, but she said that no baby with the last name of Kurosaki was there. I ask if he was put under a different name: Odelschwanck. She said no. I almost unleashed a hell of a slap on her, until I hear a cry from the hallway. We look down and see Uryuu holding Dante saying, 'Lose a kid?' I went up to him and took Dante asking how he knew it was mine. He says he saw me in him. That's when I looked at Dante finding he had my looks, but Nel's hair color, of sorts."
Nel carries on, "We found out from Uryuu later that someone mistook Dante for their child and almost left the hospital with him, until he enters and stops the person. He took one look at Dante and flat out said that he wasn't theirs. It was a good thing he showed up when he did."
"Oh, I should call Tosen and invite him over! If that's okay with you, Nel." Ichigo says.
"It's perfectly fine. Problem is, he's in Soul Society." Nel says.
"Hold up, does Tosen even know that you're alive, Wonderweiss?" D-Roy asks.
"Actually no. Those that knew were instructed to keep silent until I became settled in the World of the Living." I reply.
"Oh…well in that case, you'd be amazed at this, Weissy. Follow me." Ichigo says.
I quickly follow him upstairs, with the others following behind. He leads me up to a different room next to his; the one across is clearly Dante's, seeing his name on the door. Ichigo opens the door to this room and lets me walk in first. I soon as I saw a bunch of plushies stacked neatly into one corner, I knew right away that this room was mine. The walls were painted a light purple color, my bed sheets an amber color with red crowns, an entertainment system with my Wii and a tv, and the other gifts I had gotten on Christmas placed on my bed.
"If you were ever revived, I had this room set up for you with help from Tosen, Gin, and the Arrancars. I wanted to you feel like the battle with Aizen never occurred." Ichigo explains.
"…I need to thank everyone for this…" I say.
The rest of the day went on spending time with my family-to-be. D-Roy had to leave early so he could prepare for work tomorrow. Pesche stuck around till dinner, saying that he was treating Dondochakka to dinner tonight. By the time Isshin joined us, it took him a few minutes to realize that I was sitting at the table, getting to help feed Dante. His greeting: trying to test my reaction by attempting to punch me in the face. I grabbed his hand and flipped him over, making him hit the wall behind me. Yuzu and Karin were excited to see that I was back, after hearing what happened with Aizen.
When dinner was over, I went into my new room, and walked over to my bureau. This one was saved from Las Noches before it got destroyed. I explored each drawer, finding the clothes I had before the battle. As I pick out my pajamas, I see Kon walk in. He was still a lion plushie.
"Hey kid. I just heard from Ichigo and Nel that you were back. I knew you couldn't stay dead; you're too tough for that." he says.
"I'm not that tough. Just call me lucky." I reply.
Dante starts to whine.
"Oh, that's my cue. I became Dante's plushie at night. Hey, we'll talk more tomorrow, okay?" Kon says before he heads across the hall.
I smile, look around the room and say, "…It's good to be home."
