Thanks for your review Scarease. Like I said in the previous chapter, I hadn't kept up with the manga when I began this, so let's just say for the sake of this fanfic that Masaki had given up her powers (like Isshin) and had become a completely normal soul by the time Grand Fisher got her, so her path to the Soul Society was that of any other soul. I know now that didn't happen, but I don't want to get too wrapped up in the science of the paths that the dead take, so I'm just going to cast Masaki as she was shown in the very beginning of Bleach as a kind mother.

At least for now.

Thanks again, and I hope everyone enjoys! :)

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Recap: Your SON!?

"Yes, my son! Now do you know how I can get home to Karakura Town? Please, I need to find him, I'm probably already too late!" Masaki's voice cracked on the last word and she collapsed onto the grass, sobbing with her head in her hands. It was the first time she'd ever broken down like this in her whole time as a mother. Up until now, her entire life with her wonderful family had been one lovely ride in heaven. Well not really if this was heaven, but you get the point.

"Emm... Miss?" Goro stood awkwardly with his hands twitching in the air, not knowing if he should hug the woman, or pat her shoulder, or what. He'd never been much of a people person, especially with crying strangers. And she obviously didn't remember or know anything about the past ten years or so, so how do you go about explaining that her son was a hero who fought in a terrible war with lots of death!? This was exactly why he lived alone. He sighed and waited for a minute until her sobs had died down to the occasional sniffle.

"Miss, your son is still here," Goro said, then smiled down at her in what he felt was a comforting way, showing her that he meant what he said and Ichigo was still alive in the two realms, safe and sound. But Masaki's eyes just widened in horror.

"You mean he's dead and he's in heaven!?"

"No, no that's not what I meant at all!" Goro waved his arms around and sweatdropped. "I meant that his body and soul are still in existence! He's not here here, Ichigo is in the world of the living with his... rather your family. Though I don't know what will happen if he finds you," said Goro, the thought just occurring to him, "since you've been gone and dead and all for what, nine or ten years? Our town got that bit of information from visiting soul reapers. I guess you could say word gets around," Goro rubbed his head sheepishly at that last part.

"Oh, you're right," Masaki looked down sadly, but then snapped herself out of it and stood up with a determined glint in her eye. "Well, I may be dead but I am forever a wife and a mother, and I am not the sort to sit around here while my place is with my family!" She walked towards the edge of the clearing in long determined strides. Then she suddenly stopped and turned around with a curious expression.

"How do you go to the world of the living from here again?"

Goro sat down on a rock with a sigh and prepared to explain everything from the beginning. He set his plate aside, as breakfast would have to wait.

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"Hey dad, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah what is it?" came the serious reply. Ichigo turned towards his dad surprised. He hadn't been expecting the old goof to actually take him seriously.

"I've been getting this odd feeling lately, like someone's out there," Ichigo blurted. Then he bit his lip and immediately wished he hadn't said that. Now goat-face was going to start making jokes about pretty girls and whatnot and he would have to kick him in the face without getting a shred of information. Ichigo scowled and made as if to exit the living room when Isshin's words stopped him.

"I've been getting a similar feeling."

The orange-haired teen snapped his gaze back to his dad, eyes wide. "You think it's..."

"No."

"But-"

"No! We shouldn't get our hopes up for no reason," he gazed sadly up at the huge poster on their wall. "And besides, it's impossible."

"What's impossible dad?" Yuzu's voice came out of nowhere.

"Yuzu, I told you to keep quiet!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Karin!"

"Well there's no point in staying here," Karin replied, and the two girls popped around the corner of the hallway, where the wall had been hiding them from view.

"Karin, Yuzu, what were you doing there? Were you spying on us!?"

"No Ichigo, I mean maybe, I mean yes."

"Why?"

"Well you and goat-face are having a serious conversation, that's why!"

"Yeah, Karin's right Ichigo, we were concerned."

"Alright fine," their brother said, ignoring the looks Isshin was giving him. "I've been having this strange familiar feeling lately-"

"Oh my gosh me too!"

"Yeah, and me too."

"-and I think that it's familiar because every time I sense it..." Ichigo sighed. "Never mind, I need to take a walk, you guys talk," he made as if to go out the door to that one spot where he could think when Yuzu spoke.

"Does it- doesn't it remind you of Mom?" Yuzu started sniffling in the silence that came next.

"It's almost as if," Isshin started, giving up on keeping any hopes down since the discussion had gone too far already, "It's almost as if Masaki's alive somewhere."

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"Well Miss, that's what happened while you were away," Goro finished after an hour, sucking all the spit from his mouth that came from excessive talking. Then at his stomach's loud command he dove into his breakfast and sent strawberry juice spraying everywhere.

"So basically, Ichigo became a soul reaper through Rukia, then he saved her from execution. After that he went into the land of the hollows and saved another friend, Orihime, he defeated this terrible Aizen person and lost his powers, then my son worked to get them back and defeated another evil person?" Masaki summed up over the smacking and slurping from her companion.

"Yep, and he got really powerful along the way so he could protect everyone," Goro put yet another positive spin on his story. He'd been doing a lot of those to make the fights and near-deaths sound as mild as getting a paper cut, but even then this woman was worried for Ichigo's health. And he was hoping with all his being that she didn't ask him how he knew so much about her son, because he knew that the "word gets around" excuse wasn't going to cut it this time. There was no way he was going to tell her about the biography the fans had been making and selling all the way down to district 68. No way. But her next question had nothing to do with Goro's concerns.

"Did- did he kill anyone?"

"Emm... Aizen went to prison, your son didn't kill him." It was truly an art, the art of twisting the truth and only saying half of it to glide around the main question. Ichigo had killed plenty of human-like hollows as well as real people like Ginjo, but by saying he didn't kill Aizen Goro had temporarily escaped.

"Good. I can't imagine that beautiful smiling face of his ever killing someone. Ever."

"Umm... of course not! Course not, Miss," Goro nodded and lied through his teeth again, but it had to be done. Hopefully the guilt wouldn't crush him until he got this woman back to the world of the living, from which she had been taken too soon (in Goro's opinion). "Now then, if you want to reunite with your family we'll need to go through the main senkaimon in the Seireitei. It's a long journey without the flash-step of soul reapers so let's start now. We don't need much, seeing as you won't get hungry and I don't eat much anyway."

"All right then. Thank you very much... erm... Goro!"

"No problem at all Miss, I think it's about time I went on anoth- I mean my first adventure."

"It feels strange to be called Miss, Masaki is fine, Goro," she laughed for the first time since coming to the forest.

"Anything you say Miss."

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