Summary:

Seventeen months after Aizen's defeat Shizuka Urahara found herself in the war between the shinigami and the Quincy. Her deeply sealed powers seemed to woke Yhwach's interest and found herself in the grasp of the Quincies. The only person to save her was Ichigo - who still needs to discover his Zanpakuto's true name. IchigoxOC, Thousand Year Blood War Arc!

Chapter I

-A warm welcome-

The sun between the clouds was slowly about to set as it disappeared between the clouds and the buildings of Karakura Town. Shizuka Urahara raised her hand to protect her purple eyes from the bright sunshine.

Shizuka was about to return home, to the Urahara Shop. Shizuka had been raised by Kisuke Urahara, the owner of the shop and a shinigami who had been exiled from the Soul Society where the shinigami usually resides. Kisuke was like a father for Shizuka who for a long time didn't knew her real parents and she never really cared about this; she had been happy with Kisuke as her father. She did got to know about her real parents after the fight with Aizen when he did stumbled up to her while being sealed away and reached out his hand to her as Kisuke pulled her away. This made Aizen enraged as he shouted at Kisuke that he kidnapped his daughter and Kisuke only replied that Shizuka's mother asked him to take her with him so she would be out of his reach when he started to get evil.

The fact that Aizen was her father had shocked Shizuka but after all these months she got used to the thought.

She then met her mother, Yui, not long later and she told her the truth about her family and why Yui asked Kisuke to take Shizuka with him. Shizuka was also shocked to hear that her mother was the sister of the Spirit King which makes Shizuka his niece. Yui also insisted her to come with her to the Soul King Palace to train as Yui said that she will get special powers, just like any other member of the Royal family. Shizuka first was against this but in the end she got curious about these special powers and came along but found out these powers had been sealed by the Soul King while Shizuka still had been in her mother's womb because otherwise the powers would have killed Yui and made Shizuka terribly sick because of the strong reiatsu she would emit.

Shizuka sighed as she breathed in the air of Karakura Town which wasn't filled with so much reishi as the air in the Soul Society or the separate dimension in which the Royal Palace is located. She got happy to be here again, she missed the people she saw only as her family (Yui was for her more like an acquaintance) and her friends; especially her boyfriend whom she loves more than anything else.

Shizuka finally reached the Urahara Shop and found Ururu and Jinta outside.

"Oh, Shizuka-san." Ururu said as the young woman approached them and Shizuka smiled as she saw how these two had gotten bigger.

"I'm back. You two really have grown." Shizuka said with a smile and she patted Ururu's head. Although she had grew bigger she still was smaller than she, Ururu only reached her to the chest. "Where's Kisuke?"

"He's inside." Jinta replied and crossed the arms before his chest. Although he had a foul mouth he still had respect of Shizuka since she once had knocked him down because of he tried to hit Ururu during one of his rages. Shizuka thanked them and then walked into the building while she got excited to see Kisuke again.

She slid the door to the living room and found Kisuke there with a teacup in his hand while holding some papers in his hand.

"Excuse me." She said and smiled while she saw her adoptive father and also Kisuke looked surprised at her. "I'm back."

"Oh, Shizuka-chan!" He said with a smile as he stood up and then walked towards her. "It's so nice to see you again." Kisuke put his arms around his adoptive daughter and pulled her close to him and laughed while he started to swing her around as Shizuka also started to giggle. He had done this when she had been small, whenever she had been upset because of a nightmare and he tried to cheer her up. This time however he only greeted her home with this big hug.

"Nice to see you again, too." Shizuka replied as he then finally let go of her and put his hand on her shoulder while he hid his lower face behind his fan.

"I'm surprised you did actually return, I thought you will stay there." Kisuke said as he sat down back by the table and Shizuka sat down next to him.

"I would never be able to stay there, I missed you all too much and I couldn't get used to live there." Shizuka replied and remembered how she had longed to see her family and friends while she had trained.

"That's very nice to hear, I had missed you, too." Kisuke smiled as he reached out his hand and patted Shizuka's head. "Got used to the truth already?"

"Yeah but I still wonder why I couldn't remember both of them." Shizuka replied and furrowed her brows. The first memory she had was waking up in a futon when she was five years old and got scared because she couldn't remember anything and neither knew Kisuke or Tessai who had been there then. In the beginning she tried to remember but after some time she didn't cared about it anymore.

"I guess Yui-san did something so you won't miss your parents." Kisuke said as he continued to drink his tea.

"Yeah. I could have asked her but I still can't see her as my mother. Maybe it's because I have been living for so long with you all." Shizuka said and grinned while Kisuke chuckled as he raised his hand and patted her head lovingly.

Shizuka felt happy as she felt how Kisuke patted her head, just like he did when he had done when she had been a child, mostly when she done something which made him proud.

"Did you hear from the others?" Shizuka asked as her thoughts returned to her friends. That was when Tessai spotted her and welcomed her home before preparing her some tea.

"I did, actually. Karin-san is sometimes coming over and buying some of my special equipment against souls. Also Inoue-san, Sado-san and Ishida-san seemed to get stronger through the months." Kisuke said. "And Kurosaki-san also had gotten his powers back, like it seems."

"Huch?" Shizuka looked surprised up from her tea. "How does it come?"

Kisuke then told her how Ichigo's powers had been returned, he told her a former substitute shinigami Shizuka knows – Ginjo Kugo – helped him to get a new power called Fullbring and stole them then again from him. Rukia and some others appeared then and helped Ichigo to retrieve his shinigami powers through a special sword in which the reiatsu of the captains of the Gotei 13 had been poured. He also told her that Ginjo died during the battle with Ichigo and that the latter returned to his job as a substitute shinigami.

"It's nice he got his powers back. I guess he won't be depressed now, so he can help." Shizuka replied and smiled. Deep down she wasn't really happy for Ichigo, now he has gotten the power to protect people and Shizuka remembered how she got jealous countless times whenever Ichigo had been protecting other girls just like Rukia, Senna, Orihime, Rurichiyo and Nozomi.

Until now she had never been protected by him, whether it's because she was strong enough or her not being in danger. Feeling a little down Shizuka told Kisuke about the training there and also told her she could finally use her Bankai without complications. In the past she could only use her Bankai whenever her Zanpakuto Spirit was in the mood to let her use it. Now she could use it without her Zanpakuto's mood swings, now she had some sort of advantage. Whenever her Zanpakuto was in a bad mood the attacks get stronger and if it's in a good mood the attack are less strong.

"That's really good to hear." Kisuke said while Shizuka yawned, she hadn't slept for some time by now and was really exhausted. It was already dark outside and Shizuka decided to go to sleep.

"I'm going to sleep." She said as she stood up. "Good night."

"Yeah, good night." Kisuke replied and nodded while Shizuka walked off to her room. She shoved the shoji door aside and stepped into the room. It hadn't changed at all, everything was just like it had been before she left. Her room had only been cleaned from the dust as she couldn't see any dust. Shizuka walked towards her futon and fell down on the soft mattress head-on. She sighed as she sat up again and looked at the photos on the shelf above her futon, there were photos of her and Kisuke when she was around seven years old, of her and her boyfriend Ichigo when they were together for one month and also one of Shizuka and her friends during their first vacation on Okinawa together. She smiled as she remembered the vacation and her time with Ichigo there. He had been together with her on the festival and also got worried about her when she sprained her ankle and also told her about his mother. Shizuka knew Masaki already, they had met when she was fighting against White - the hollowfied shinigami which had attacked Isshin – and after she got saved from hollowfication by Isshin Shizuka found herself getting befriended with both of them also when Ichigo was born. She sometimes had babysit Ichigo and got attached to him back then. At some time the contact broke off and Shizuka got surprised when she saw him again in school, grown up. Shizuka needed some time to stop seeing him as the baby he once was and while they spent more and more time together she started to fall for him and got to know he had the same feelings for her and they got a couple.

Reminiscing about her time with Ichigo she realized she longed to see him, it made her chest tighten. Shizuka wondered if it would be alright to go and visit him, after all she still felt bad that she left without any words, even without a good-bye.

She stood up and decided to see him, she wanted to apologize for not telling him where she was going or even disappearing without saying good-bye. Shizuka yawned as she left her room and heard Kisuke talking with someone in the shop and wondered who it might be. She slid the door aside and then saw Karin there with Kisuke who presented her some equipment. Shizuka noticed how a big smile appeared on her lips as she saw Ichigo's younger sister. Karin looked up and when she saw her a smile appeared on Karin's lips, too.

"Shi-nee!" She shouted excited and walked towards the older girl while Shizuka smiled as she hugged Karin.

"Heh, you really have grown a lot, Karin-chan." Shizuka said. Karin was reaching up to her chin now and also her body grew a bit so she wasn't really looking more like a boy than back then.

"You didn't change at all." Karin replied as she let go of Shizuka and looked up to her brother's girlfriend. "When did you return?"

"Today." She replied. "I didn't got to do anything until now."

"I thought you wanted to go and rest." Kisuke said from behind but Shizuka only shrugged with her shoulders.

"Yeah, but I changed my mind." She replied and then looked back at Karin. "Say, is your brother at home?"

"He was when I have left." Karin answered. "Wanna see him?"

"Sure." Shizuka replied and then looked up to Kisuke. "I'm going to come back soon, alright?"

"Take your time." Kisuke said, he knew of her feelings towards Ichigo and so hadn't anything against it to let her stay some time with the Kurosakis. Shizuka left with a small nod and followed Karin to the Kurosaki house.

"You've been away for quite some time, Shi-nee." Karin said as she looked up to her and Shizuka smiled apologetically at her.

"I'm sorry, but I had to do some errands." She replied. "It had to do with my powers, you know?"

"So you have been training all these months?" Karin asked surprised and Shizuka nodded.

"Yeah, I had to." Shizuka replied. She was still angry she was partly forced to train in the Soul King Palace.

"I see. Still, you shouldn't have left without saying anything. You made Ichi-nii worried. He was depressed for some time because of it." Karin said and Shizuka bit on her bottom lip. It made her feel guilty now that she had left without any word.

"Sorry..." She muttered and looked at the bag Karin was holding. "By the way, what did you bought from Kisuke?"

"Some things against souls and these hollows. Unlike you and Ichi-nii, I don't have shinigami powers."

"I guess that will come soon." Shizuka replied and noticed that Karin mustn't have inherited Isshin's shinigami powers, she could also be only a Quincy. This actually made her worried because it's known that shinigami and Quincy usually never get along and so Karin and Ichigo's relationship could suffer under it. She tried to swipe these weird thoughts off and only smiled.

"I don't think so." Karin said as they reached the Kurosaki house and Shizuka followed Karin into the house. The furniture hadn't changed at all and everything looked the same way before she left. Shizuka took off her shoes and followed Karin into the living room. She could feel the reiatsu of Ichigo and it made her heart thump faster.

"Oh, Karin-chan, are you back already?" Yuzu said who was in the kitchen but when she saw Shizuka Yuzu let out a little shriek when she jumped into Shizuka's arms and nearly knocked down the female shinigami but Shizuka only stumbled back and caught her balance again.

"Onee-chan, you're back!" Yuzu said while she hugged Shizuka tightly and the latter noticed she also grew a lot but was smaller than Karin around half a head.

Seemingly because of Yuzu's shriek Isshin appeared to see what was going on and when he saw Shizuka he got one of his dumb expressions and went to her for a bear hug but Karin pushed him away and the two of them got in an argue while Yuzu still refused to let go of Shizuka. This made the shinigami realize that she truly had returned home as these sort of argues were totally normal. Ichigo seemingly got alarmed by the noise downstairs as he suddenly appeared in the living room and found his father being held in a headlock by Karin while Yuzu was squeezing Shizuka as the latter had problems to breathe.

"What are you all doing?" He asked and when his eyes met Shizuka's they got bigger and Shizuka noticed how she smiled upon seeing his face. Just like his sisters Ichigo also grew and his soft facial features disappeared and his hair seemed to be a bit longer. This made Shizuka feel down as she was the only one who hadn't changed, she only had a strong layered cut in her usually straight brown hair she inherited from her father.

"Welcoming Shizuka-chan home, of course." Isshin breathed stertorous and still tried to get away from Karin's headlock but couldn't get away because his daughter had a strong hold.

"Could you all loosen up?" Ichigo said and grabbed Yuzu on her collar and pulled her away from his girlfriend and Shizuka took a deep breathe as she got to get air again.

"You should be as excited that she's back as we are." Yuzu said while Ichigo only raised his eyebrow and grabbed Shizuka's hand to pull her away from his cracking up family. He pulled her up the stairs and then to his room where the 15 was still hanging on his door. Ichigo opened the door and let Shizuka inside before he followed her and closed the door behind his back.

"Hey." He said as she turned around to him. "Sorry for the fuss they're making."

"Don't worry, I'm used to it after all." Shizuka replied and smiled. Then Ichigo suddenly put his arms around her and pressed her tightly to his body and put his head on her shoulder. He had done this whenever he had been upset but right now it seemed to be quite difficult because he grew taller, seventeen months ago he was only half a head taller than she was but now he was a little bit more than a head taller than Shizuka. She also put her arms around his back and inhaled Ichigo's scent, the one she missed most during these months.

"I'm sorry for leaving without saying anything. I guess I wouldn't have been able to leave once I'll see you." Shizuka muttered as she felt how Ichigo pressed her tighter to his body and Shizuka heard a small chuckle coming from him. Getting confused she wondered why he was laughing as Ichigo loosened his grip on her and stroked through her hair.

"I knew that already." He replied. "I have got a visit from Yui-san not long after Aizen's defeat. She told me what had happened and that you had to go to train."

"What?! She did come here?!" Shizuka shouted shocked and got embarrassed over the thought her mother visiting Ichigo.

"Yes, she told me that it was important for you to go there." Ichigo said as he cupped her cheek with his hand and stroke with his thumb over her cheek.

"Yeah, it was." She replied although right now she couldn't really use what she learned during he training. That special power every member of the Royal Family possess was still sealed deep within her so she couldn't really use it, still she knew it might be helpful in the future.

Shizuka felt without really noticing it how Ichigo leaned forward and pressed his lips on hers and she winced in surprise. She then replied his kiss and closed her eyes as Ichigo claimed her lips in several angles while she tried to catch breathe as his kisses always were intense and passionate. She held to his collar as she knew that she had to hold onto something to not loose consciousness. Ichigo pulled her closer as his tongue passed her lips and intertwined with hers. Shizuka gasped as she tried to get air and tried to get away. Ichigo then let go of her and smiled.

"Wanna stay overnight?" He asked and pressed his forehead to his and she nodded.

"Sure." She replied and then stood on tiptoes to kiss him this time, she needed to stay with Ichigo for some time, she wasn't able to do so in seventeen months.

Writer's notes:

I did rewrite the story because I got a new idea (or maybe because I started to play Bleach: The 3rd Phantom again and read through the last stroy and started to dislike it). I knew I spent a long, long time on the old one but I had a better idea and also changed some things. I hope you all like this story, too. I also changed Eliza into Shizuka because I found that name better and her surname into Urahara since Kisuke adopted her. Also, this story will only take part in the Thousand Year Blood War Arc. I also try to make the chapters longer than last time so hope you had fun!