A/N: Uh hi. If you noticed, this story was first written in 2013. To be honest, I was also only 13 when I wrote it. So, now, adult me, is coming back to fix up some plot holes, some characterization and POV narratives. The story isn't changed at all though. To make it clear: Zangetsu and Tensa Zangetsu are "the same person" in canon, but since their personalities are so distinct, I like to think of them as separate entities of Ichigo's powers.

"Hollow Zangetsu/Dark Ichigo"

"Character thinking/internally speaking"

"Normal Talking"

"Quincy Zangetsu/ Tensa Zangetsu"

. . .

Ichigo had never been normal by any standards. He knew that.

But disembodied from himself, he couldn't believe it as he watched his Zangetsu pierce through Ulquiorra's hierro.

And later, horror, when his sword plunged through one of his closest friend's chest. He felt his mind scream in protest, but he couldn't move, his body fueled by pure instinct. It was only when Ulquiorra's blade passed through the horn attached to his head, that he felt his consciousness get pulled back to the front. He felt the hard white shell surrounding his body slowly disintegrate. Slowly facing Orihime, he saw her eyes were only filled with terror. He knew he was dying. That had to be what this feeling was. Vaguely, he noticed Ulquiorra fade away beside him as well, his reishi returning to the sands of Hueco Mundo.

He fell on his knees, and as his vision faded to black, he fell... into himself. He could feel that his presence had returned.

Falling into his sideways world, he landed roughly on the edge of a skyscraper. His inner world was different than the last time he had been there. The proud, tall skyscrapers were slowly crumbling, one by one, and the storm clouds above had flooded the city below. Across the sideways building, he saw a hooded figure sitting rather uncomfortably on a flag pole.

"Zangetsu?" He watched as the figure turned his head up, an unfamiliar young face looking back at him.

"Do I look like an old man?" He responded. Ichigo scowled, and pulled himself out of the crater of glass he had created.

"Are you... Tensa Zangetsu?" The black-haired man smiled softly, affirming his suspicions.

"In a way, yes... how far you have fallen however. This inner world of yours. Your resolve has broken down so much, Ichigo." The now identified Tensa Zangetsu shook his head, his silvery blue eyes sad.

"The despair is contagious, aibou." He heard a raspy voice say behind him. Ichigo whipped around, and saw the presence he had been looking for. His hollow shot him a smirk, wearing a horned mask on the side of his face.

"What?" The hollow laughed at his confusion.

"How are you back here?" Ichigo demanded, reaching back for Zangetsu. His hollow shrugged, his cocky grin still plastered on his face.

"Who said I ever left?" he teased. Ichigo felt himself fill with rage, and he shunpo'd in front of the mischievous hollow.

"Why did you hurt my friends?" He shouted. He went in for a haphazard vertical slash, only to be blocked by the inverted form of Zangetsu's blade.

"You don't see it? That hollow that just destroyed the Quatro espada wasn't me- that was the embodiment of your despair, and now its form has attached to me! Whether or not if I care about your friends, I never asked to look like this!" He growled, his white Tensa Zangetsu glinting in the moon above the drowned city. Ichigo fisted his eyes, frustrated.

"Then what's going on!?" He screamed, finally at his breaking point. Tensa Zangetsu glared at him.

"Quiet down. Yelling never solved anything." Tensa looked out into the distance of the inner world, watching as another skycraper crumbled into the growing ocean below. "If you haven't noticed, you're dying." he gestured to the crumbling buildings.

"What am I supposed to do about it?" Ichigo watched his inner world fall apart in despair. He wasn't strong enough to defeat Ulquiorra on his own...!

"There is an ability that I possess, one unknown to the zanpakuto, that can save us." Tensa explained.

"Unknown to the zanpakuto?" Ichigo asked. What kind of ability was this?

"Yes. Unfortunately, I am not a true zanpakuto." Tensa continued.

"Wait what? You're not a zanpakuto?!" He asked incredulously. His hollow glared at him.

"No. We weren' planning on telling ya, but it seems its finally reached the point where you need the ancient Quincy powers." His hollow stepped over towards Zangetsu- was that even his name- placing a hand on Tensa's shoulders.

"I am actually a piece of your own soul patterned to be exactly like a hollow, so much that I have every aspect of one, including the spiritual energy of one too, except the fact I am also your Zanpakuto."

"And I am your quincy powers- a manifestation also taken in the form of a Zanpakuto." He explained. His mouth dropped open. A quincy...?

"I'm a quincy?" He voiced his thoughts. Hollow rolled his eyes.

"Not exactly... your father has been keeping a very, very dark secret from you..." He chuckled.

"Your mother was a quincy, Ichigo." Tensa Zangetsu said solemnly. Ichigo was confused. So was that why he could see spirits-

"Your father also is a Shinigami." Ichigo's eyebrow twitched, going from confused to annoyed. Of course he was! "However that's beside the point-"

"Besides the point!?" Ichigo exclaimed. "This is something extremely important! You're telling me that all this time, ever since I was born, that I would've known about my powers? That my mother actually could've defended herself on that night?!"

"SHUT UP!" His hollow shouted. "You want to protect your town and your future right? Well, knowledge is your weakness, Ichigo! All you need is the reason and the means, which we've been TRYING to GIVE TO YOU!" He screamed, his voice echoing in the rain. Ichigo fell silent.

"As I was trying to say Ichigo, the Quincy have a forbidden technique, that normally will disintegrate the body and send them to the Soul Society, something all Quincy avoid doing as long as possible, essentially, a soul suicide. However, as you are part Soul reaper, you can survive without a body, and can survive... this technique can send the user back in time, as a Soul, directly to the Soul Society. It was a technique used by spies under Yhwach, the old leader of a quincy revolution a thousand year ago, before the utter obliteration of almost all Quincies. I can help you get there, however, your life here will come to an end." Tensa explained further, his face becoming passionate and animated, very different from the normal Zangetsu's personality.

Did he really want to abandon this timeline, his friends and everything to save them in the future?... he was already dying anyway...

"I'll do it." he whispered. Tensa's eyebrows furrowed.

"What was that? Is your resolve so weak that you can't say it proudly! Do you want to go back and save the future, or not!"

"I DO! I want to go back to before all of this began, back before I was even born- I want it to be before Rukia even became a Soul Reaper- before Hisana died! Before Yoruichi and Hat-and-Clogs were exiled! I want to be the one who prevents what happens this time! I want to stop Aizen!" Just as soon as those last words passed his lips, the world started spinning.

"Nice job, aibou. I just about thought all your resolve had turned to mush." His hollow chuckled, the water of the city evaporating into magnificent white clouds surrounding a large silver moon, which soon transformed to become a bright sun. The crumbling buildings became whole, and Zangetsu appeared beside Tensa.

"I hated the rain," Zangetsu started, placing a hand on his younger half. "So I lent you the power to stop it."

"The rain has finally stopped, but now everything is changing. Ichigo, what you may find in the past may be very much different of you know of now."

And as Tensa finished, the waterless world faded.

A/N: So, how was it? I know Time Travel fics have been done over and over, but I wanted to try my hand at it.