Dark eyes gazed down at the two infants slumbering together in their crib.

"They'll be strong."he observed calmly, turning to the pair behind him. The woman gave a serene smile, the man smirking proudly.

"Of course they will! They're my boys after all!"the man boasted.

"I hear you're expecting a little on of your own."the woman smiled.

"Not for a while."he murmured. "My wife is less than a month along."

"Well, we can guarantee any boy of yours will be strong."the man chuckled.

"But what if it's a girl?"the woman questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sure she'd still be tough. I mean, just look at Yoruichi."

"No,"he murmured softly. "I won't get her involved in any of this..."

The couple both turned their eyes to their guest, who was again gazing at the nearly identical boys with an unreadable expression. He silently reached out a hand to one of the infants, fingers gently caressing wild, orange hair. The baby shifted with a sleepy murmur, brown eyes fluttering open to gaze up at the stranger. He held his breath, expecting the child to start wailing at being awoken. To his surprise, the boy didn't make a peep. A slight pout appeared on his chubby little face, but he seemed otherwise unfazed by the interruption to his slumber.

"Oh, looks like someone's awake."the woman observed, stepping forward to lift her three month-old son from his crib. "That's strange. He's usually so fussy around strangers."

"He knows a friend when he sees one."the man chuckled, approaching his wife.

"What are their names?"he questioned.

"Well, sleeping beauty is Horo."the man said, looking down at the snow-haired boy still sleeping.

"But Isshin and I can't seem to come up with a name for this one..."the woman sighed. "We hadn't expected twins, so we only had one name picked out."

"Ichigo."he stated simply. "Written with the characters for 'ichi' and 'mamoru'."

"Ichigo..."Isshin tried the name out. "'One Who Protects'. I like it! What do you think, Masaki?"

His wife smiled. "Ichigo it is, then."

He looked to the now-named child, who continued to gaze at him curiously.

"I expect he'll live up to that name..."he murmured before turning his eyes to his two friends. "I should be going. I've already been here too long. If one of your father's men finds me here, Masaki, it won't end well."

"I understand."Masaki nodded.

"It was good to see you again."Isshin said. "We'll try our damnedest to come see you when yours comes along."

"I'm sure you will. But I'm not very confident you will be able to regardless. Stealth isn't exactly a forte for either of you."

Both Isshin and Masaki laughed.

"True, very true."Isshin chuckled.

"I don't expect we'll be seeing each other for quite some time."he murmured. "Isshin, you'd better take good care of those boys."

"I will, you can count on that."Isshin said with a smile, draping an arm over his wife's shoulders. "And you take care of yourself and your little one."

He gave a silent nod before turning and leaving the room. He truly doubted he would ever see either of his two friends again. He was a traitor after all, and Masaki's father was not the forgiving type. He hoped one day they could peacefully co-exist, but as long as that man was in power, he doubted that could happen.

"I'll never get her involved..."he repeated to himself. "I'll keep her safe and protected from this madness..."

xXxXxXx

Author Notes:

I don't really have much beyond the prologue figured out, but I figured since I don't yet have updates prepared for any of my other popular fics I'd shell out what little I have so far with this to maybe tide people over as I will be moving in less than two weeks, and will be without internet for AT LEAST a month afterward, other than using the WiFi at Starbucks or something...

I'm sure it's obvious who Horo is meant to be. While his name is meant to sound the same as the Japanese pronunciation of Hollow, it is actually written as ほろ, which translates to English as 'tatter'.

There is intentionally very little description given of the character who names Ichigo, as I did not want it to be immediately obvious as to who he is. Though I am interested to see if any one has any theories. Let's see if anyone can guess correctly...