Bleach is not mine.

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The Second Spirit: A Matter of Confusion

Toushirou was about to start wandering the city, which was Karakura Town if he recalled correctly, when a familiar chuckle halted him. He glanced around, finding nothing but the small trickle of people in the early morning. A dusty snow was falling.

"Good morning, Toushirou," Ukitake's voice boomed. The boy flinched, knowing that tone always followed with a wave of candies. But there was no candy, not even the right Thirteenth captain either. The second spirit stood at the far street intersection, smiling broadly, calling the boy forward. "Come on. We've plenty to do without you dawdling."

This version of Ukitake was much taller, and his smile glittered in the orange eyes. The glow about his head was a shine directly from his golden hued locks that only fell to his shoulders. The Ukitake spirit immediately placed an arm around Hitsugaya's shoulders "Let's get right down to business, shall we?" the spirit said. "I'm here to show you this present holiday, the one you've wanted to ignore: Christmas. You do know we're here only around this time of year?"

"Yes. I hope your argument is better than the last one," Toushirou replied blandly. "If you're trying to convince me of something, I'd like to know what it is so I can see if what I've seen actually helps."

"That's the future. I can't explain that to you. I've no business except for the now." With a wave of his white-clad arm, they were standing in the midst of a chaotic Kurosaki household, decorated rather heavily for the holiday in greens, reds, and lights. A small but lively tree stood in the corner with a good number of wrapped gifts scattered around the tree's base.

"Alright!" Kurosaki Isshin announced, driving an elbow home into Ichigo's side. Or trying to at least. The boy dodged lazily, tripping his father along the way. Behind him, Rukia expertly got out of the stumbling man's way, and moved past to settle beside Ichigo on the floor. She appeared very eager to watch the transient world festivities.

"Hurry up, old man," Karin deadpanned. "Yuzu's almost done with the cookies."

"Here they are!" the young girl called, holding a steaming plate of tree and snowman shaped sugar cookies, a foreign recipe their mother had found online years before.

"Good!" Isshin called, falling to a spot on the floor, creating an awkward circle of family members. "Now we can begin! Ichigo! You pass the presents around!"

"I did it last year," the teen yawned.

"I will!" Rukia's hand shot into the air.

"Excellent! What a good way to have her spend her first Christmas here," he said. Yuzu agreed quickly.

As Hitsugaya watched the family open gifts, laugh, and devour those cookies that looked very similar to the ones Hinamori had given him, his face slowly lost its scowl.

Ukitake smiled, but said nothing.

Finally the spirit draped his arm over Toushirou's shoulder. "Wait a minute," the captain protested as they walked from the household.

"There are other things to see." And he waved his arm.

"Now," Orihime was saying, "I didn't have anything small enough, so I got bottle caps. I hope they aren't too big."

Her fairies were all standing on the girl's table, some giggling with glee, others just smiling as Orihime passed out various assorted caps filled with cider.

"My brother and I used to drink apple cider every Christmas, so I thought it'd be a good idea to share some with all of you!"

"It's good!" one of the females chirped, and the others assented, though many had to carefully hold their makeshift cups in their arms to keep it steady.

"Not bad, woman," a gruff looking male said, downing his cap quickly, holding it out for more.

Orihime giggled when a knock resounded through the apartment.

"Orihime!" Rukia's voice hollered through the door. "We brought presents!"

"Isn't this nice?" Ukitake said, walking through the three friends as Rukia and Ichigo entered Orihime's apartment, the girls babbling freely. "It's so wonderful, the looks on people's faces on this day."

A knock at the door brought Ishida, the towering Chad, and a dark-haired girl Hitsugaya didn't recognize. The noise level tripled.

"So, this is it, then? It's important enough to have the day off, huh?"

"Even more so in other countries," the spirit agreed. "We live wherever the celebration does, no matter the reason behind it. In fact, if it wasn't for those two vice captains then we wouldn't have been able to show you any of this at all. I think that returning the favor wouldn't be so hard." Ukitake smiled, and waved his arm once again.

"Oh!" Rangiku squealed, clapping for all like a child, peering down into the box she had just opened.

"You like it?" Momo asked as Kira leaned over Renji's shoulder to get a better look.

"Like it? I love it!" Rangiku placed a small, delicate figurine of a cat curling in slumber on her palm. "It's so cute!"

While Rangiku showed her gift off to Kira and Shuuhei, Momo pulled Renji's sleeve. "Thank you for having Rukia find that."

"No problem. Anytime. I'll make sure Rukia gets the message."

Momo nodded, and set about watching Shuuhei open his equally small box from Kira.

Toushirou glanced at Ukitake. "There aren't as many gifts as the Kurosakis had."

"Well, they don't really know that it's not such a formal affair, do they?" Ukitake chuckled.

When the simple gifts were all unwrapped, everyone but Momo left.

"I got something for Hitsugaya-taichou as well," she confessed. "I hope he won't get fussy again."

"Mm, we'll see." Rangiku absently stroked the head of the porcelain Siamese cat. "Which reminds me," she got up and retrieved another box. "A merry Christmas to me! Do you want one?"

"What is it?"

"Dried persimmons. I love them, but I only get them as special treats nowadays. Plus they're kind of expensive. I need to find a tree around here or something."

"It was very different," Toushirou noted offhandedly with a frown. "And I wouldn't have minded them in the office for a while."

"They obviously didn't know that, did they?"

Toushirou glared at Ukitake. "I guess not."

"Hm. It does leave much to wonder, doesn't it? Maybe it's the way you've treated them recently. That speech you gave probably set their minds straight."

"Very funny. If they can't fight then they shouldn't," he said factually. "They don't understand that I don't want then getting hurt again."

"Maybe if the ice melted a little they could see concern instead of malice."

"Are you done yet?" Hitsugaya snapped. "Don't you have someone else you have to go bother?"

Ukitake shook his head. "This is important, Toushirou. I wouldn't place a time limit on this information."

"Where's a clock?" the captain growled. "I was told you had a time limit. The first at one, the second at two, and the third at three. So we have an hour."

"My, its no wonder your vice captain needs to escape once in a while," Ukitake laughed, waving his arm across the smiling faces of the two most important women in Hitsugaya's life. Even if he'd never willingly admit it.

The scene changed drastically. Only through detailed description could Toushirou identify the desert sands as Hueco Mundo.

Ukitake's smile was gone, and he appeared very apprehensive about approaching the white, wounded castle grounds, but he would not have brought the captain here if there wasn't something of seemingly great importance. "You'll have to forgive me," the spirit said weakly, "but I can't stay here long. I will show you what I must, but nothing else. I know you would appreciate the chance, but I can't give it to you."

Toushirou was all too eager to enter Las Noches. The information he could gather would be priceless. But the dull look in Ukitake's orange eyes and the lackluster of his golden hair told what the spirit could not: he was clearly dying from the suffocating absence of any holiday merrymaking. So the captain nodded, hoping whatever the spirit had to show was well worth the precious little time they had.

A blink, and they were standing in the middle of blackness that made Toushirou jump. His hand before his face was invisible. A dripping noise came from somewhere. The spirit couldn't even shine. Or wasn't there. Ukitake didn't answer when Toushirou called.

He took a cautious step and a light suddenly glared into his face. Silhouettes entered, footfalls echoing in the silence. Toushirou quickly moved toward the door, glad for the escape, and came face-to-face with a while-clad, hard-faced Aizen Sousuke.

"Aizen!" he spat, reaching toward his empty back. The traitor passed through him. Toushirou turned around, and paled.

"It seems you're of more use to me dead," Aizen said coldly, not even with his sick form of mocking humor.

Between the Arrancar and Aizen, Toushirou only caught a glimpse of silver hair and a half smirk amongst the bindings and chains as an unfamiliar, artificially reiatsu exploded, flooding the castle with its power.

And then it was gone.

"No!" Toushirou whirled, facing the streets of Rukongai and empty air. "No! What's going on?"

"Christmas day," Ukitake explained softly.

"Ch-Christmas? Day?" Toushirou clenched his fists. "Today wasn't even the eve of it yet! This isn't now, this is the future!"

"A close future, I will admit," Ukitake sat on a fence, winded. "It's unbelievably difficult for me to be here so soon. But the circumstances were to drastic to let them continue without intervention." Ukitake's gold hair faded to a dull sheen, and his eyes were dark and lifeless when he opened them. "I must go."

"Why won't any of you explain to me what's going on?" Toushirou raged as Ukitake slowly began to fade.

"There's one more, Toushirou. You've got time to figure it out."

Gritting his teeth, Hitsugaya watched the spirit fade away, and began to pace.

He didn't pace for long until a cloud passed over the setting sun, then another, and another. Soon the whole sky was swiftly smothered in darkening clouds.