First of all, I'd like to say that this idea has been pegging my brain for a few hours. I doubt it'll leave unless I actually type it into words. So here goes.

Any and all Canon characters are not my own. If they were, I'm sure I'd change them to perfection.

White.

Thats All I could see, white.

I couldn't feel. I couldn't hear, and I couldn't even smell or taste.

For a second, I thought I didn't exist.

But then I began to see it, a small but easily noticeable dot in the endless abyss of white.

Odd, I had expected the soul cycle to be…. well reversed. I thought it'd be a white dot in an endless darkness. Was I going to hell instead?

"Wait….. he's waking up…."

Who was that? Their voice sounded so soothing. I strained my ears, wether they existed still I couldn't tell, to hear that sweet voice again.

"I'm not sure… still be out though."

There it was again! That voice, I wanted, needed, to find it. And suddenly, everything flashed in a bright light.

I groaned, that was promising. If I could groan and feel my throat vibrate, then I'm still alive right?

Still, it didn't feel good as I tried to lift myself up, earning a almost crippling pain from my spine, causing me to cry out in agony. "Whoa stay still Ichigo. You've been out for a while." That voice said, before I slowly turned by eyes, since turning my neck only worsened the pain, and in turn my eyes widened.

"Yourichi?" I asked in mlid surprise.

The woman simply nodded, her usual grin missing for some reason. Why am I this injured? What happened? All I remember is…..

"Aizen! Where is he? What happened?" I yelled in both hope and fear, hope that I had succeeded, and fear that the worst had come to pass.

Yourichi smiled, but I could see the sadness behind it, and suddenly it felt as if death had gripped my heart.

"We, You won Ichigo. But, before Urahara's Kido took effect, Aizen lashed out at him. Urahara's dead…. And, we haven't heard anything from everyone in Hueco Mundo." she explained.

Silence. Absolute silence. 'T-They're dead? But thats impossible, Rukia, Chad, Renji, Uryu…..'

'Orihime...'

And then I laughed, it started as a slow and almost empty chuckle, but it slowly grew. And grew and grew before it was a full blown insane laughter.

Yourichi looked at me, slightly horrified that I'd laugh at such a situation, before I looked at her with a smile. "Thats ridiculous. Urahara-san's right there." I stated, pointing behind her.

And there he was, with his cheesy smile behind that fan of his, his questionable fashion sense. But when Yourichi looked at him, her eyes seemed to just go right through him. As if he didn't exist. But he's real. Right?

Right?

Yourichi sighed, standing up. "I'll let you come to grips with this." she stated simply, walking faster than any other person should given the situation. All of our friends were still alive! We had survived and won the fight! Shouldn't she be happy?

I looked over at Orihime, who was kneeling beside my prone form, smiling sadly at my injured body. I simply lifted my hand and brushed it against her cheek, but I didn't even feel her skin even though she reacted. I didn't feel her tears that fell on my face, and I didn't even feel her hugging my chest in worry.

It had to be real. It had to be!

So I just smiled, hugging her back as she cried and cried. And I eventually fell asleep.

I never did wake up though, but thats alright, as long as all of my friends are alive and happy….