AN: Well, well – I finally got off my duff and put something up. This has been plaguing my dreams – day and night so I thought I would write it out and see where it goes. Hope you like it. Constructive crits are wonderful! Flaming for something minor (yes, I know I'm not going to get everyone in perfect character) is highly discouraged… You'll make me cry… ok, not really, but seriously..

This is set about where the anime is now (Rukia, Renji and Chad fighting Yammy) with some changes as you'll see….

I don't own Bleach – not sure what I would do if I did…

Choices and Consequences

By: Abarai Starsha

Preview

Rukia slowly started to regain consciousness. The first thing she became aware of was something around her neck. Quickly suppressing the memories of her execution, she tried to bring her hands to her neck to investigate. Unable to move them, she realized she was tied up…and not alone. She heard voices but was still unable to make sense of anything. She tried opening her eyes but only got a blur and a sharp pain in her head as a response.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the voices. She relaxed a bit when she was able to make out one of the voices as…Ichigo's? But then, why was she tied up?

"…NO!…serious...choose…Rukia…Inoue…death..." Rukia could tell he was pissed off which meant something was wrong. Then she heard the second voice… AIZEN.

There were ten of them in the throne room along with a few various Arrancar. Ichigo was bound by a spell and a reiatsu suppression collar around his neck. He was on his knees in front of Aizen, fury burning in his amber eyes. In front of him and to the left of Aizen was Inoue, bound and held by Gin. Tears were running down her cheeks as her eyes desperately pleaded with Ichigo. The other side of Aizen stood Momo holding onto a bound and unconscious Rukia. Ichigo glanced to his immediate right and noticed a bound Hitsugaya with the same fury in his eyes. Behind him was an unconscious Ishida whose breathing was erratic at best. Renji and Chad's bodies were piled together in the back corner-dead and forgotten.

Aizen stood in front of his chair as his gaze locked onto Ichigo's eyes. "I offer you the chance to be a GOD! Part of being a god is making choices. Who shall live, who shall die. It's an everyday thing, really and one you WILL do. Now, between these two, who do you wish to send back? Choose, or you will ALL die."

Ichigo looked into Inoue's pleading eyes, then to Rukia's still form.

"Kurosaki-kun, please, PLEASE! I… I can't s-stay here. She's dead! She's already DEAD! PLEA-"Inoue's plea was cut off when Gin taped her mouth shut.

"Now, now… It wouldn't be fair to ole Rukia-chan here if you're pleading your case and she's…not." He said with a slight grin.

A soft moan was heard as Rukia once again opened her eyes. Voices became louder, whole and her vision had cleared. She wanted to throw up as her mind wrapped around the situation, the words that were being spoken, and the situation they were all in.

"I choose…."