He stared at the vast land in front of him. He was vaguely aware of his gaze passing on the lifeless bodies of the Captain-Commander, the 8th squad's and 13th squad's captains who even in death didn't separate and were there for each other, to the stoic captain of the 6th division who shielded his fukutaichou, making him the receiver of the fatal blow, to the red-haired fukutaichou who extracted revenge for his captain but died protecting said captain's body, to the body of his childhood friend who in the end still believed in Aizen. But he was aware of the bodies of Ichigo and Rukia, top-class shinigamis, war heroes, friends, lovers who, in the end, even death couldn't part, dying while holding each other. He was very painfully aware though of the identity of the body he was cradling, whispering words of nothings while stroking the soft, now blood-matted, strawberry-blonde hair, waiting for the cheerful icy blue eyes to open and meet his gaze, waiting for the impossible.
"You need to give up and let go, Hitsugaya-taichou," said the uncharacteristically somber Uruhara. He stood behind Hitsugaya, garbed in blood-stained shinigami robes. Inoue Orihime quietly followed him. The three of them, the only survivors of their side in the war, stared at each other silently until Uruhara sighed and repeated his statement.
"You need to give up and let go, Toushirou."
"No! Never!"
"You coward! What will staring at her do? It surely won't make her alive again! Give up and let go!" said Uruhara in an unexpected display of emotion. Hitsugaya sighed. He knew Uruhara was right yet he didn't want to part with the most important person in his life, alive or dead.
Uruhara looked at Hitsugaya's broken form and sighed. "We all have lost loved ones, Toushirou," said Uruhara in a softer voice, remembering a certain feline goddess. "We just have to deal with it and start over. We have to focus at the current situation first."
"But… Even if we start again… I won't be able to see her again…"
"You can." Hitsugaya looked up at Inoue's voice. He stared at Inoue's determined form.
"You can and you will. I'll make sure of that."
Uruhara looked at the bewildered Hitsugaya and explained. "Remember the healing ability of the Shun Shun Rikka? Well, it isn't exactly healing; it's time and dimension manipulation. It basically makes things go backward or forward in time. And it may allow the controller to make minor changes. Inoue-san here can use it for this situation."
"You mean… I can see her again?"
Inoue smiled sadly. "Yes, Hitsugaya-kun. We get to see them all again."
"But there's a catch."
Hitsugaya and Inoue, who apparently didn't know anything about this "catch", turned to look at Uruhara who sighed sadly.
"They will be reincarnated. They will retain their appearances, personalities and abilities but they will all be human, at the most with high reiatsu, and most of them, no, almost all of them will definitely lose their memories. Plus the fact that, after reincarnation, they will be scattered all over the human world. We don't even know how long the time will be before they are reincarnated." finished Uruhara sadly. He then looked at the youngsters' crestfallen expressions.
"But they will live right? No matter how long or how far they are, we can always keep searching. Them living is enough for me." Hitsugaya suddenly stated, breaking the uneasy silence.
"I agree with Hitsugaya-kun. What matters is we see them again." Inoue said with a small smile, eyes wandering to the bodies of Chad, Uryuu, Rukia, and finally lingering on Ichigo's.
Uruhara sighed then smiled lightly. At least they still are hoping. "Well then, if you have already decided, we will proceed." He then drew out Benihime. "Hitsugaya-taichou, draw out Hyorinmaru please. We need to shield ourselves lest we too be affected."
Hitsugaya then took one last look at the person he'd been hugging the whole time then gently settled the body down. He drew out Hyorinmaru then took a last look at his surroundings.
"Goodbye everyone…"
"SANTEN KESSHUN"
"I hope we meet again."
"I REJECT!!"
A/N: Yeah. Obviously a first time thingy. Sorry for the grammar mistakes. Etou… Make that sorry for all the mistakes. Reviews, comments and suggestions are welcome. You can flame, as long as it's honest. Thanks for reading.