L E G A C I E S

ACT ONE

The file was sealed amongst the many documents and manuscripts in the central chambers in Seiretei under the unassuming title of 100235. On its first page was printed the subtitle Medical Record and on its margin a steady hand had scribbled the notation K.I.viz. It was placed beside equally unassuming documents titled 102895 and 103978. It was approximately one and a half inches thick and had begun to accumulate a thin sheen of dust since it was first consigned to its current resting place. That had been three years ago, almost as soon as it had been made. Only three people had ever seen its contents. All three were sworn to absolute secrecy. It was never listed in the library's index.

That the said file was currently in the hands of another man was clearly unintended. Captain Ukitake certainly hadn't thought he'd stumble on something of that sort when he was mandated to "clean up" the archives of all documents even remotely accessed by the late Aizen Souske. Neither had he been prepared for what he had discovered written inside.

"On the matter of the substitute shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo, it has thus been ascertained that the level of spiritron particulate entropy in his system has exceeded sustainable levels which, without immediate intervention would have resulted in spiritual disintegration.

Standard intervention methodologies however have had minimal effect. The advanced level of integration of his hollow with his basic shinigami spiritual signature, far beyond what would normally be considered safe, renders anything but the most complex structured limiters useless and even then puts enormous pressure on it to the point of drastically reducing both its containment abilities and its useful life.

We have utilized a heavily modified version of the Tier 7 limiter with an additional twelve ancillaries as a temporary solution until an alternative can be devised..."

There was no further mention of any alternative. It was likely that one had been made but not before the document had been written and filed away. It was also conceivable that an alternative had been found but the author had chosen not to leave any indication of its nature. Whatever was the case it was certain that what Ukitake held in his hands was the key to the sudden disappearance of Kurosaki Ichigo three years ago, a month after the war against Aizen and his Espada was concluded.

ACT TWO

The memorial was erected in the eastern section of Seiretei. Unlike the surrounding buildings, it was made of black granite polished to a smooth finish. Painstakingly etched on every face of the obelisk were the names of the shinigami who had perished in the Winter War. But there was hardly any need to remind anyone of the enormity of the losses both sides, human and shinigami, had suffered. Though three years had passed Soul Society was still coming to grips with the aftermath of their victory.

Few could ignore the gaps made by the dead.

Too few footsteps graced the hallways of the various divisions. The empty spaces in the mess halls where the fallen had once regaled their friends with laughter and stories loomed wide and large, one that could not be filled. A dearth of new entrants to the academy worried the captains. Too few patrols meant too many vulnerabilities to attack, any attack.

In this monument to the hollowness of their triumph his name was etched a third of the way towards the bottom. Kurosaki Ichigo. Directly above it was Kuchiki Rukia. It was fitting. She was the woman who first brought him into their world. And she was the world he had been fighting to protect.

Some initially argued however that it was not right he should be included in the monument at all. He, unlike the rest, hadn't died in battle. One night, a month after the end, he had simply vanished from the room he had been assigned to in the fourth division. The three years that had passed had shed no light on his whereabouts. As time wore on such voices grew fewer, fainter, and farther in between. Many simply presumed he was dead. The alternatives, which they chose not to dwell on, were far worse and reminiscent of betrayal.

Ukitake had been one of those who had never truly believed Ichigo's presumed death. But he had acknowledged that without any closure they could never really attempt to pick up the pieces and move forward.

Standing before the memorial, he reread the inscription they had carved at its base. Gone but not forgotten. He could feel the weight of the file he'd taken from the central chamber archives where he'd hidden it amongst the folds of his robes. The weight of the truth. Or as much of the truth as a piece in a jigsaw puzzle is to the entirety of a picture.

But now that reformation and healing had slowly but surely begun in Soul Society was it proper, was it right, to reopen old wounds?

What would you have done Shunsui? Ukitake silently asked of the man who had once been his partner.

Reverently, he traced the grooves that marked that man's place on the memorial. It was not far from Ichigo's. The depth of the lines of the last character. The way wind and water had deepened the notches. He knew them all with an intimacy he hadn't experienced since Captain Kyouraku Shunsui joined the list of casualties of a war they should have prevented.

ACT THREE

Ishida did not know why Captain Ukitake had asked to borrow his notes and research of the past three years. Nor did he learn how the man had even known that he had such a compendium. He certainly hadn't let it known that he had been searching for Kurosaki Ichigo. But then he did not want to know. The past is past. He willingly gave what he had. There was no reason to hold on to them. They only served as a reminder of unhealed wounds and old scars.