While I didn't exactly get the number of reviews I was hoping for, I recognize that the previous chapter might not have seem like much, which is why I'm posting this one today. The next one will come next saturday, and with that one we will be both closing up this summary of the Winter War and events related, and at the same time hitting the first climax of the story (it has two or three, depending on your point of view).

Now, on with the fic!

Unacknowledged Warriors

We're part of a story, part of a tale

We're all on this journey

No one is to stay

Where ever it's going

What is the way?

~Some Time, Some Place~

A young looking woman with dark wavy hair to her mid-back and bright eyes dressed in a black kimono and veil stood in the very middle of the bridge that led to the Royal Senkaimon, the only door that connected their dimension to Soul Society.

"Anehue?" A soft voice called to the first woman.

There stood the younger sister of the woman, they looked so much alike, except that the younger one had shorter and slightly spiky hair, she was considered the 4th Otome since the loss of the first; they wanted there to always be three, but the older sister had refused to take her superior's place.

And the sister wasn't alone, with her stood a friend, and the 3rd Otome: with night colored straight hair in a high ponytail that reached her hips and eyes the color of solid honey, she was lean and tall, with dark skin and very beautiful, had been the youngest sister of one of the original nobles, before being chosen to serve the royals in the new dimension.

The woman turned her head back just enough to acknowledge the two younger women but didn't say a word.

"Onee-sama…" The other girl addressed her. "I know you're hurting, and I know nothing I say will ever change that, but you cannot do this to yourself. This isn't what he would want. He would want you to move on."

"How can I move on when my own heart has left me?" The woman finally spoke.

"By believing it will return to you." The night-haired girl whispered. "Or that you'll go to him; that one day you'll meet again and no one will be able to separate you again. Then everything you've gone through will be worth it."

The woman finally turned around at that; the way the girl had just spoken, it was the way of someone who knew what she was talking about, who had had some kind of experience. The 2nd Otome couldn't help but feel curious, she'd never known her closest friend to have had a love and lost it, him; it made her wonder what else she didn't know.

"You know I was born the youngest child to one of the new noble families." The girl began explaining. "I have a brother and two sisters, he was charged with leading our new clan, and he arranged convenient marriages for my sisters. I…my situation was different, I fell in love. He was, is a minor noble, not from one of the Main Four Houses. My brother didn't approve, but I didn't care, I was going to run away with him. He'd just been chosen as one of the military leaders for the new Gotei 13 and had enough standing being the student of the High Leader that he was sure he would be alright; even if he hadn't I would have gone with him, I loved him that much. Somehow my brother found out what we were planning, he made the arrangements for me to serve the Royal family, claiming it was our Clan's way to repay the debt of honor we incurred when being named High Nobles in the first place. I was kept inside my room, locked up with a very powerful Kidou, didn't get out until the day I was to come here." She took a deep breath to keep the tears back. "I don't know what he may have thought when I didn't arrive at the time we had arranged, or when it became public knowledge that I was part of the Royal Court." A tear fell down her eye. "It's been so long, and I'm afraid he most likely moved on already, and I can't! I still love him…I'll always love him…and it hurts, it hurts that I might never get to tell him that, might never get to be with him…all because of something my own brother did!"

It was hard to see what hurt her the most: having lost her love, or that it had been caused by her own brother.

The woman didn't say a thing, how could she? She herself was hurting for losing her husband, a husband who no longer remembered ever meeting her, less of all having married her. It was the reason why she had approved of the plan of sending him back to Soul Society, where he would be raised again by the members of his Clan, and maybe, someday, he would get back his power, and maybe even his memory. Still, there was no guaranty, no guaranty he would ever remember her, or that by the time he did he wouldn't have someone else, or that he would ever be the same man…and it hurt, it just hurt so much…

So the 2nd Otome had no hope to give her best friend, as she felt no hope herself at the moment; the only thing they could do was hang on, endure, and maybe, just maybe someday that would change.

.-.

"I can't do this…" A broken voice whispered.

The voice called the attention of the two other people present. The one to speak had been a young woman with short straight dark hair and dark eyes, she was wearing all black and a thick veil covering her face. The other two were a young woman of apparently the same age but light-colored hair and brighter eyes, in a yellow sundress, she was healer, serving under one of the Nakama, and the first young-woman's best-friend. The last person in the room was a considerably older looking man, in a uniform, he was the captain of the guard, the first girl's protector-of-sorts, and since his lady was one he looked after the second girl as well.

"I cannot keep doing this…" The same voice whispered again.

"Nee-san…" The quiet voice of the lighter-haired girl whispered.

Usually the soft-spoken girl would have rushed to embrace the one she saw as almost a sister and tried to comfort her somehow; but how can you comfort someone who in an instant loss everything: past achievements, presents hopes and future happiness; and especially when you yourself know nothing of that kind of loss, or at least not enough to truly understand, to truly be able to help?

The only one who had experienced enough to understand was the man, and even then, his experience was far different from that of his own protégé. He'd lost the woman he loved, while they were still dating, not the day before they were to be married; even after losing her, he'd been able to focus enough on other things, forced himself to move on; and he wasn't empathic. That was perhaps the greatest complication, the young protégé was Empathic, and a very powerful one; enough to be able to track down others by their auras alone, enough to know the general mood of those closest to her with just a minor touch, sometimes even less; enough that even with her fiancée gone her soul still cried for his, as if they'd been joined by the akai-ito, even though they hadn't yet.

There was pain, so much pain; at times so much that she'd rather stay locked up in her own quarters rather than affect everyone around her. And even when she managed to control herself enough not to project her emotions, she couldn't stop feeling everyone else's, emotions like sadness, compassion, denial and the worst: pity…

She really couldn't handle it anymore.

"It's just too much…" she admitted in a whisper.

"What do you want to do then?" The older man asked.

He knew that as sensitive as his protégé may be, she was also very stoic; there was no way she would be openly, verbally admitting to feeling any kind of pain, unless she had already thought of a plan to handle the situation.

"I want you to let me go." She admitted.

"What?" The usually soft-spoken young woman practically shrieked. "Nee-san no!"

"Are you sure running away is the right way to handle this?" He questioned, neutrally.

"I'm not running away!" The dark-haired young woman snapped. "And isn't it worse for me to remain under lock all day, every day? And it isn't like I can just go out, either I'll drive everyone nuts with my pain or they'll drive me to the edge with their pity. Lets admit it, shishou, someone who's suffered the kind of pain I have, and who has the kind of power I do; I cannot just be expected to move on."

It was harsh, but right, and it was part of being empathic. There had actually been whispers, of those that were actually surprised to still see her there, alive, many had expected her to lose all reason after losing her beloved, or to even end up taking her own life.

"You know you two are the only thing keeping me sane." The young woman kept explaining. "The only reason I haven't yet taken my own life, but I cannot be expected to be able to stay like this forever. I'm not like the 2nd Otome, who can hide behind a mask of serenity, tell everyone she's alright, that her husband is coming back one day and she truly believes that; or like you, shishou, holding onto my duty, and a clown's act, all the while hoping with all I am the one I love won't find someone else before we meet again. That's just not me."

"So instead you'd rather just give up." The man deadpanned.

He wasn't criticizing her, not really, he better than most understood what she was going through, even if his way of handling it was different. At first finding the one responsible for his beloved's murder had kept him going; and after that, looking not only after his own protégé, but hers; eventually he had become numb enough that his soul no longer broke a bit more every time he remembered her name. It still hurt, but he'd learnt to live on. His protégé, she was different, her powers would never allow her to grow numb to that kind of pain, not when she could feel the reminder of it in the emotions everyone around had regarding her, and the reactions they had to her own emotions projected on them, it was a vicious circle; but the main reason such a thing was impossible, was because for as long as she existed, she would feel that hole in her soul, the stop where her beloved was supposed to be.

"I'm not giving up." She shook her head.

And there was suddenly so conviction in her words, her companions knew it then, this wasn't a rash decision on her part, she actually had some kind of plan.

"While we may have never actually married, my soul had already connected to my love's on a certain level." The young woman explained. "It's why it hurts so much, because my soul calls for his, it always will. If you let me go, my soul will go after his, I will eventually find him."

"You do realize that time runs differently in our dimension and the Material World?" He reminded her. "He may have already lived, died and gone to Soul Society."

"Wouldn't he have come back directly to this place if that was the case?" The soft-spoken girl asked suddenly, puzzled.

"Only if he reached the same level of power he had here, or if he called on his position." The man told them. "He wasn't a Nakama, or one of those closest to Heika-sama, while he did swear his loyalty, his vow wasn't 'for all time' like mine, my fukutaichou's, or some of the Kakkas and Otomes. The Royals never wanted to force anyone to remain in this dimension for the rest of their existence; they believe that's their burden to carry. The Nakama have chosen to follow them wherever they go; and some of us too chose to swear eternal loyalty, but it was our choice. Your fiancée made no such vow, he wouldn't come back unless he remembered on his own or reached the qualifications for the authorities to offer him a position with us."

"Even more reason to go then." The dark haired girl decided. "If he can't come to me, then I'll go to him."

"You do realize it could be many years, entire lifetimes, before you found him, if you ever did?" The man questioned.

"Yes." She had made her choice already.

"Nee-san, but…" The soft-spoken girl didn't like it, but had to remind her of something else. "How will you find him, when you won't remember him? We cannot change that aspect of reincarnation, when you are reborn you'll carry no memories of this life, neither will he. How will you find him then?"

"Even if the mind may forget, the heart never will." She was confident.

"Then I'll go with you." The other girl declared.

"What?" That was defiantly unexpected.

"There's little I've been able to do since this tragedies began, but I want to help you." The lighter-haired girl explained. "You're like my sister, I love you dearly. What you're planning on doing is crazy, and sure to be tiring, and I know I don't exactly understand the reason why you're doing it, I have no one to compare to your love. But I have you, and you have me; we will always have each other; in every life, as you look for your love, I'll always do my best to be there for you. It's a promise."

The man still didn't like it, doing something like that, there was no guarantee he would ever see either girl again; but at the same time, a part of him could understand their motives, especially his protégé's. He knew if there was any chance of him finding his own lady like that he wouldn't hesitate for even an instant, he would simply do it. Which was exactly why he was going to support them, no matter how risky, complicated, and downright crazy he thought the whole plan was.

"I'll find you, my winter lion, I swear I will…" The dark-haired young woman whispered to the wind. "No matter how many lifetimes it takes me."

We're part of a story, part of a tale

Sometimes beautiful and sometimes insane

No one remembers how it began.

The students were quickly beginning to fidget even as Ichigo took a few seconds to relax, just looking into his wife's eyes; when he'd decided on this plan of action he hadn't imagined it would be so exhausting, and he knew the hardest parts were yet to come. As afraid as some of the things he'd gone through when first becoming a Shinigami, or breaking into Soul Society may have made him, nothing could compare to what he, what they all, had gone through while fighting against Aizen and his army, during the actual Winter War.

"A man appeared at the human's school at some point." Ichigo finally went back to the story. "His name was Hirako Shinji, and he was there in representation of a very particular group, they wanted to recruit the Daiko. You see, the Daiko wasn't the only shinigami to have a hollow inside of him, eight others did too, they were known as the Visored. They were captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13 at some point, fell into a trap, were forcefully given hollow powers; and the authorities decided to treat them as if they had actually become hollows themselves. They didn't, it's true that the hollows were inside their souls, and it was a dangerous situation, but it wasn't unmanageable. The Visored got help from the scientist being blamed for the situation, the then 12th Squad Taichou, Urahara Kisuke, the also then 2nd Squad Taichou, Shihouin Yoruichi, and the leader of the Kido Corps. Tsukabishi Tessai, and they all fled Soul Society before they could be executed. After recovering from their ordeal and with some help from Urahara, known by some as Geta-Boushi, the Visored managed to overpower their inner-hollows, bury them as deep into their Inner Worlds as they could, and in exchange they gained masks and a considerable boost of power." He took a deep breath. "Still, I guess its part of human nature to destroy what one doesn't understand, the Vizards were considered no better than Hollows themselves, criminals in the eyes of Soul Society." He shook his head. "The Daiko was afraid of losing control of his hollow, he had really no idea what to do to handle the situation he was in; but neither did he want to follow a bunch of people he didn't know a single thing about! It took an Arrancar attack for the boy to understand just how stupid he was being."

Rukia sighed quietly behind him, she knew he still blamed himself for much of what had happened during their fights against the Arrancar, and later the Espada; especially when he'd been unable to do a thing. But he hadn't been the only one, they all at some point had felt pretty much weak, or even useless, like the time when Grimmjow had stabbed her through her stomach with his bare hand, or the two times arrancar had nearly torn apart Chad's arm, and then there was Inoue's situation…

Yes, they all had felt weak and useless at some point during the war, but that was why they had trained and eventually gotten stronger. Strong enough for Renji to earn a captainship, for Uryuu to surpass his father as Master Quincy, for Chad to develop a full armor, for Orihime to become as close to a goddess as a human can ever be, for Ichigo to defeat Aizen, and for Rukia herself to become a lieutenant and be seen as one of the heroes of the Winter War for her defeat of the 9th Espada and other minor Arrancar.

"Now, a few explanations for you to understand better." Ichigo decided. "As you may or may not know, Arrancars are those hollows that for some reason decide to break off their mask, if they're powerful enough, this grants them shinigami powers and a level of reasoning higher to that of normal hollows. In Aizen's army, the Arrancars were divided in two sub-groups: the Numeros, which were enlisted in the order they were created, and were all those Arrancars from eleven and onwards; and then there were the Espada, these received their number according to their power, and were the ten most powerful Arrancar of all. There were also the Three Digits, the Privaron Espada, three who had been Espada long before Aizen had arrived to Hueco Mundo and installed himself as its ruler from Las Noches; they all lost their places when the Espada created by Aizen proved to be stronger."

And there was also some who seemed downright stupid, from what Ichigo, Chad and Uryuu could remember. If that was as powerful as the hollows got without outside help, at least they could be sure they would never be too much danger for them to fight it.

"The Winter War…" Ichigo related. "Didn't actually start in Winter, but in Autumn, around October, more or less, with several small scale attacks to Karakura Town. The first had the infiltration of two Arrancars into the Human World; they almost totally destroyed the Giant's arm, broke the Healer's shield and then faced against the Daiko. He managed to cut off the arm of one of them, but then his inner hollow began trying to take over, distracting him and leaving him useless for the rest of the fight. If it weren't for Geta-Boushi and Yoruichi-san, neither of the humans would have survived that first battle."

It was true, it was been bad, very bad, but they had gotten stronger since then, very much so. And the war was over now. They just had to remember that.

"After learning of the attack, and the humans' total loss, the Gotei decided to send a team." Ichigo went on. "It was bad, the only reason they didn't die, besides the former captains' help, was because in the end the Arrancars chose to leave. Anyway, the team included: Madarame Ikkaku, Ayasegawa Yumichika, Matsumoto Rangiku, Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Rukia, led by Captain Hitsugaya Toushirou. Shortly after their arrival, there was another attack, this time from the 6th Espada, Grimmjow, and his Fraccion; these last ones being the Arrancars under a particular Espada's service. The Giant was nearly killed by one of the Fraccion, which was then destroyed by Rukia. The fact that this battle was the first to end caused the leader of the group to attack them, he stabbed Rukia with his hand and then went into a brutal fight with the Shinigami Daiko. The battle was long and hard, and the Daiko was clearly overpowered by the blue-haired Espada; a battle that only ended when another of the traitors, Tousen, arrived to take Grimmjow back. Turns out the rest of the Arrancar had been defeated, only Grimmjow was left, and his attack hadn't been authorized. Still, that doesn't change the fact that the Daiko just hadn't been powerful enough to fight him on the same level; and even worse, he'd lost control of his hollow for a while during that fight." He sighed and shook his head. "In the end several of the fighters ended up badly hurt, Rukia included; Renji told the Daiko that since he was alive, he had won, even if he hadn't defeated his opponents. But how could the Daiko feel he'd won when his most trusted nakama had been so badly hurt? With him being right there and unable to do anything about it…"

Renji shook his head, he too could remember that night, when he'd told Ichigo those words, even as Orihime healed both Rukia and Hitsugaya; he'd believed those words too, deep down 'live today, fight tomorrow' was a phrase to always remember. But at the same time, he could see Ichigo's point of view; Rukia was dear to him too, even if Ichigo hadn't admitted it out loud back then, it wasn't a secret that he ought to feel something for the Kuchiki princess.

Rukia would have liked to approach her husband again but was conscious that if they expected to be able to finish the story, preferably before Yamamoto-soutaichou or some of the less-understanding shinigami found them, she couldn't interrupt them; she'd known some things would be hard to remember and share, it had been a war, things had been anything but easy, and more than once they'd thought they wouldn't survive. But they had, and now they were there to set the record straight, for the truth to be known, both the good things and the bad.

"It was after that night that the Daiko finally decided he needed help." Ichigo admitted. "He couldn't keep putting his friends, his nakama, in danger. So he told Shinji he wanted his help to learn to control his hollow. The Daiko spent a month in a secret warehouse with Shinji and the rest of the Visored: Sarugaki Hiyori, Ushoda Hachigen, Yadomaru Lisa, Muguruma Kensei, Kuna Mashiro, Aikawa Love and Otoribashi Rose." Ichigo enlisted. "They taught the Daiko to face his hollow in his inner world and make him submit, meanwhile making sure his body, while ruled by instincts, wouldn't kill anyone. Once that was done they helped him practice calling his mask, trying to expand on the time he could keep it on. The Daiko trained as much as he possibly could, but even at the end of the month he'd barely managed to keep the mask for eleven seconds before it would break." He shook. "Even then, he believed he'd advanced enough, and when he sensed a new battle brewing rushed out to meet Grimmjow again. The truth is that he was being just a boy, he was cocky, immature and overestimated his own power, eleven seconds was nowhere near enough for him to defeat Grimmjow, and its hard to know, even if he'd had more time, if he would have been able to win with so little preparation. When he could no longer keep fighting, the Daiko was lucky enough that Rukia was there to help him, and then Shinji too joined the battle. There's a chance he might have actually been able to win, but since another Espada, Ulquiorra, arrived to tell Grimmjow it was time to leave, we'll never know." He moved a hand through his hair, tense. "Now, as bad as that battle may have been, it wasn't really the worst thing that happened that night, as the boy would find out the following morning. He joined his allies feeling pretty better, he'd been healed during the night, he recognized the Healer's reiatsu; and yet when he met the others they told him the Healer had apparently been abducted while on her way back from Seireitei. She'd spent nearly a full month there with Rukia, training to better herself. Geta-Boushi had told her that with her refusal to attack made her more a liability than an asset in the War, he pushed her away; yet Rukia convinced her all she needed to do was train. Maybe if they had known the real reason why Urahara was trying to keep her from the battle front things would have been different, maybe not; the only sure thing is that Aizen was after her already. You see, despite me calling her a Healer, she is more than that, her power consisted in creating shields, shields that allowed her to block upcoming damage, undo damage already done, or break down something from inside; her power was that of rejection, of objects, of events, and up to a level, of time itself. A goddess, is what Aizen called her; her own allies didn't know until it was too late. The Daiko tried to convince the Soutaichou to send a rescue team, but was refused; Seireitei's official position was that the Healer had left willingly, she was considered a traitor. This because while the shinigami who had been escorting her through the Dangai had reported that an Espada had taken her while on the way, the Daiko had already told them it had been she who had healed him during the night. According to the authorities, if she'd been there to heal him, then she wasn't taken from the Dangai, and if she'd left after that, it had to have been voluntary." He shook his head. "Even if it had been, even if they had been right, that wouldn't have changed the Daiko's decision. At the very least he would have wanted her to tell him straight on why she'd decided to switch sides."

Orihime almost burst into tears at that. While captive in Las Noches she had been so afraid, not about having to stay there, if there was something she'd always been sure of, it was that her nakama would rescue her. Still, she'd feared what may happen to them in their attempt to save her, how they may end up badly hurt, or even dead; and her fears hadn't been that far away from reality in that respect. But there had been something else, something no one knew, not even her husband; what if Aizen had managed to truly convince them she had defected? Her friends would always want to save her, but what if somehow they were convinced she'd chosen to leave them, to betray them? Hearing that confession from Ichigo, even so many years later, brought a relief to her heart, it soothed a part of her she didn't know had still been hurting. She may no longer love Ichigo; she may have even admitted to herself on some level that she probably never really loved him, yes, she'd been in love with him, but it wasn't the same thing. Ichigo had been a passing fancy for her, while Uryuu…her husband was her whole life, the reason her life was worth living no matter how hard things may be at times.

The sunset-colored woman gasped as she felt her husband's arm around her shoulders, he was still holding onto their half-sleeping daughter with his other arm, but that didn't stop him from embracing her.

"It's okay, my Hime." He whispered into her ear. "I would have never let go of you, not without a fight, no matter what anyone else thought, said or did."

It took her whole will not to sob out-loud right then, as she realized she might not be as good at hiding her feelings as she had believed; her husband knew, he'd probably always known.

"I love you…" She had no better way of expressing herself at the moment.

"I love you too." He whispered back.

Ichigo smiled to himself as he got ready to go into the next part of his story, he was really glad his friends, his nakama, were happy.

"With help from Geta-Boushi, the Daiko went into Hueco Mundo." Ichigo related. "He didn't go alone of course, the Quincy and the Giant joined him, having trained long and hard to become much more powerful than they had been before. Shortly after arriving into the world of hollows they met their first enemies, the Daiko had been getting ready to fight, but his nakama insisted on handling the two enemies themselves, they wanted to show the Daiko how stronger they'd become, that no longer would they need to be pushed aside for their own safety. It's both good and bad, happy and sad, I think; that three teenagers, sixteen-year-old boys, barely anything more than infants in the eyes of Soul Society, to think that they had to train for war, that they had to push aside those things that are usual for those their age: like homework, hanging out with friends, maybe even dating; all that they pushed aside for the sake of the world, and of their own nakama." Ichigo shook his head, pulling himself out of his reflections. "They could soon see the huge white palace that was Las Noches, so huge that even when they could already see it, it would be a long while before they actually reached it."

They all remembered how frustrating that had been, running and running, seeing Las Noches right before them, and yet not being able to reach it.

"After a while running the three nakama met some unexpected individuals." Ichigo declared, snickering to himself at the description. "There was what looked like a little girl, a green-haired girl, who was being pursued by three hollows. What's more, the girl herself was an Arrancar, upon closer inspection the Daiko could see the fragment of mask on her head. Seeing how the hollows weren't being hostile, the three nakama risked talking to them. It was a rather 'interesting' talk. It turned out that the hollows were playing a game they called "Eternal Tag", the girl, Nel Tu was crying and screaming because she was a masochist, and as far as they were concerned, Shinigami were the bad guys. While they were hollows, they weren't interested in going to the Human World, or Soul Society, they had no interest on preying on human souls, preferring to consume other hollows and become stronger that way. Yet they still had known shinigami to go into Hueco Mundo for the sole purpose of hunting those like them. That made Nel afraid. They panicked when first learning that the Daiko was a shinigami, but in the end accepted him and his nakama, they even helped them get quicker and with no effort to Las Noches, as their pet took them all."

Ichigo made a pause as he allowed the students to process the new information, to learn that not all hollows were irrational and monstrous creatures; that there were some who were as good as children, and who feared them just like human children feared the boogeyman.

The captains who had been sent as the humans' backup to Hueco Mundo, the few of them who had actually met the green-haired former Espada could understand what Ichigo was trying to do with that part of the speech; he wanted everyone to understand that being a hollow didn't automatically mean being evil, there was good and bad in all creatures: humans, shinigami and hollows, and most of them hadn't realized that until Aizen's betrayal, and even after it, even all those years after it, some still refused to accept it. But maybe, since most of those listening to Ichigo speak weren't formal shinigami but students, most who had no previous experience in dealing with hollows; maybe that would make them more open minded, that would allow them to make the change Ichigo and his nakama hoped for.

"The next opponent the three young men met was a hollow made entirely of sand, who served as a guardian for Las Noches." Ichigo explained. "It wasn't all that strong, but the fact that it was made from the very sand that made most of Hueco Mundo made it a problematic enemy. No matter what either of the three did, nothing seemed to be enough to keep the creature down. At least not until a flash of ice totally froze it. Rukia and Renji were there. Even though Yamamoto-soutaichou had forbid it, there was no way Rukia and Renji would let their nakama fight alone. The five fighters then together broke into Las Noches, once inside they had to separate, each taking a different path through the halls of Las Noches, hoping to reach the Healer soon. They also each had to face their own fights, some harder than others. For the full story of their fights you would need to approach the fighters, and even if you did, there's the possibility they might not want to share their experiences; battles aren't simple things, they're profound experiences that tend to change people, whether for better or for worse depends on the enemy, the circumstances, the goal to achieve. In the particular case of these nakama, they never fought for recognition, or glory, or any of those supposed rewards winning gives you, no; they fought to protect each other, and those they cared for. They went against Soul Society for Rukia, against Hueco Mundo for the Healer; and eventually they would go against Aizen himself for those they cared for in both the Material and the Spiritual Worlds."

It was the truth, as far as they were concerned at least, like Rukia had said it, like he'd told Renji, it wasn't about any supposed rewards, it was about protecting; it had begun with Ichigo trying to protect first his family, then Rukia as well, then all his friends; it had somehow ended with them all protecting the whole world.

"Among the enemies they fought and defeated were the three Privaron Espada, who fell under the hands of the Quincy, the Giant and the Daiko." Ichigo cleared his throat and resumed the story. "Renji and Rukia on the other hand faced against two of the Espada, the 8th and 9th respectively. Rukia was able to defeat her opponent, though not without nearly fatal wounds; while Renji's powers were canceled by his enemy, the same with the Quincy's when he went to assist him, in the end it was only to one of the Captain's assistance that they won. As it turned out, Yamamoto-soutaichou decided to send a team of some of his best fighters to backup the humans and get them back to the Material World for the battle against Aizen and the other traitors. The team included: Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Kurotsuchi Nemu, Zaraki Kenpachi, Kusajishi Yachiru, Unohana Retsu, Kotetsu Isane and Kuchiki Byakuya. The last of them saved his sister from the 7th Espada, who was about to kill her, taking advantage of her weak and wounded state. The Giant, after defeating his own enemy, was brutally attacked by the 5th Espada, and might have died of his wounds hadn't it been for 4th Squad's Taichou and Fukutaichou's assistance."

Several people blinked, it was becoming harder to keep up with all the fights, who had defeated who, and who had needed assistance. And yet, no details were actually being given, nothing beyond who won and lost, and in the case when some of them were badly hurt, or when they received assistance. Still, if one thing stuck into the students' minds, it was that all those people he kept naming were Warriors, they were heroes, they were the reason Soul Society still existed as they knew it.

Those present who had actually been in those fights had a variety of reactions to hearing the extremely summarized version of their battles. Byakuya in particular could still remember how close he'd been to actually panicking for the first time in his life when he'd found Rukia, the sister he'd always loved yet had taken so long to admit it, when he found her so close to death he actually briefly thought he'd lost her already. Kenpachi of course only remembered the fun he'd had, that was nothing new. The nakama respected themselves and each other for everything they had achieved, for the victories they had and the fact that they survived even when losing their fights.

"After defeating the Privaron, the Daiko met once again with Ulquiorra, the 4th Espada." Ichigo went back to his part in the story. "The Espada told the Daiko that one of his nakama, Rukia actually, was dead. The Daiko didn't believe him, but still decided it was better to be safe than sorry, and it's not like he actually had something against the Espada, at least not at first. He nearly walked away to go looking for Rukia, until Ulquiorra revealed he was the one who kidnapped the Healer. That made the Daiko snap, that Espada, it was all his fault, he and his nakama were there in Hueco Mundo, fighting, being hurt, risking dying, to get back one of their own, and it had all been Ulquiorra's fault." Ichigo took a deep breath. "The Daiko snapped, he went straight against Ulquiorra, and was badly defeated, he ended up stabbed through the chest by the Espada's own hand. If it hadn't been because of Grimmjow's rather strange idea of honor he probably would have died right then. The 6th Espada got the Healer to the Daiko, ordered her to heal him so the two could fight at top shape. The battle lasted for a long time, and the Daiko barely managed to win, being motivated by both the Healer and Nel, the boy managed to win, if just barely. Still, he didn't actually kill his enemy, as he felt he didn't have any reason to. The 5th Espada then arrived unexpectedly, and it was he who revealed something unexpected, Nel Tu was actually Neliel Tu Odelschwanck, the former 3rd Espada… the 5th, Nnoitra had attacked her from behind, giving her the crack in the mask, it was the reason why she'd reverted to an infant form and lost all her memory, the three hollows following her around were actually her fraccion, they had been taking care of her since Nnoitra had injured her and left her to die. At first Nel refused being an Espada, but after some provocation, she ended up transforming back to her older self and fighting against Nnoitra, she was so strong, it made it obvious that she'd deserved her place as the 3rd Espada. She almost defeated him, the only problem being that before she could finish the fight, she couldn't help but revert back into her child-form; the crack in her mask made her power fluctuate without her control. Kenpachi arrived then just in time to defeat both Nnoitra and his Fraccion before they could kill the Daiko. Still, they couldn't stop yet another Espada, Starrk, from taking the Healer and returning her to Las Noches. Aizen then announced where they could find the Healer, as he and his strongest went to destroy Karakura, Ulquiorra being left in charge of the situation in Hueco Mundo." He sighed. "It wasn't an easy decision to make, he really feared for his family and his other friends, as well as the rest of the town, but there was just no way the Daiko would leave without his nakama, so he went to where Aizen had said. In the way the Exequias tried to stop him, only to be engaged by the Giant, Renji and Rukia. The trio managed to give the Daiko the opening needed so he could go after the Healer, they also defeated the Exequias and then engaged Yammy; it seemed to be a simple battle at first, but in the end they were actually hardly defeated. The reason: while Yammy was the 10th Espada when sealed, upon using Resurreccion he actually became the Cero. The Resurreccion being the state of release Arrancars can achieve, upon which they become more as they were, their power is also higher, it's, in a certain sense, comparable to a Shinigami's Bankai."

The shiver in all of the students was evident to everyone present; they knew how hard it was for a shinigami to achieve Bankai, and how much more powerful it made them in comparison to any other shinigami; the Espada were already said to be so powerful only a select few had survived, even less won, a battle against them. It had surprised them enough hearing that a group of humans had been among those selected few to survive and win battles.

Kenpachi, Yachiru and Byakuya were the only three of the backup team present as Ichigo related the story; they hadn't been expecting the credit that was being given to them, the way Ichigo spoke of them, of what would have happened to them all if they hadn't been there. It seemed like more people than just the humans might end up being seen as valiant heroes by the end of the day.

"It didn't take long for the Daiko to get where he needed to." The orange-haired continued. "He once again began battling Ulquiorra, only this time the fight was even more vicious than before, and it soon became even more obvious just how superior the 4th Espada was to him. And yet, nothing would make the Daiko stop, no matter how much at a disadvantage he may be, how his own enemy may call him a fool for continuing even when knowing he couldn't win. Nothing would be able to stop him, nothing, not even death." His breath caught for a moment in his throat before he continued. "The Quincy joined them at some point, he stopped Yammy from interfering with the battle, allowing the Daiko to at least not be in an even bigger disadvantage than he already was. The fight at some point moved to the roof of Las Noches, where Ulquiorra revealed his own Resurreccion: Murciélago; and if that wasn't enough, then he showed a second release. One he said to be the only to possess, a transformation not even Aizen knew about…The Daiko didn't stand a chance, Ulquiorra fired a Cero Oscuras right through his chest, killing him."

It was true, he'd died, he was sure of it, even if to the day he still didn't fully understand what had brought him back, it hadn't been Orihime's powers, while she had that power, she hadn't had enough reiryouku or been in the state of mind to do such a thing in that moment. He thought that maybe Shiro was responsible, after all, one of the powers his hollow side granted him was regeneration. But even then, such a wound shouldn't have healed so fast and so absolutely. Maybe he was just too powerful to be killed! After all, hadn't Rukia too been technically dead, yet she'd lived (or existed, at least)? Maybe they would never know.

Even as he spoke about his own death, Ichigo couldn't help but see the situation in an almost emotionless way. He remembered very clearly what he'd felt, he hadn't been afraid, he'd been just too busy holding onto the adrenaline that kept him going, his stubbornness not to give up, to allow any other emotion to interfere. By the time the Cero Oscuras had been close enough to make him realize he wouldn't be able to block or dodge that attack, his mind had just blanked and he'd known nothing. At least not until Orihime's hysterical cries had pierced his fogged mind, bringing him back…He guessed, in a way, Orihime had saved him, even if she hadn't been able to heal him.

"The Healer…she tried to save the Daiko, but it was too late." Ichigo took a deep breath, he knew what was coming was bad. "The Quincy tried to fight the 4th Espada then, to keep his nakama safe, but the enemy was just too strong. And then the Healer screamed for help, even when, consciously, she knew there was nothing that could be done, she still screamed for the Daiko to help. And he did. He got up, once again, and went straight to fight Ulquiorra." He moved his hand through his hair, wondering how to explain this. "To be honest, to this day I don't know how he managed to get back up, I don't think anyone does. Maybe it was his hollow, his power, who knows? What's important is that, he got back up, but not without a price. He was dying…actually, he technically did die, and while his spirit regenerated, his mind wasn't as fast, leaving him to act on nothing more than instinct. He became little more than a wild beast, a creature with both shinigami and hollow powers, with no rationality and only one purpose, to do as the Healer had asked in her screams: protect her. He went straight at Ulquiorra and, even with how powerful the Espada had become with his second release, began beating him up as if it were nothing. It got specially bad when the Quincy tried to reason with him, get him to calm down…all he got was a sword through his gut for his troubles." He shook his head harshly. "Ironically, in the end I guess Ulquiorra ended up being helpful. When the crazed Daiko got distracted with the Quincy, the Espada attacked him, destroying one of the horns that had appeared on the mask, that caused a chain reaction as the rest of the mask broke too and the Daiko returned to normal." He almost visibly shuddered. "Don't know, don't want to know what would have happened if the Daiko hadn't regained his reason in that moment."

Really, none of them wanted to know that, they had enough nightmares as it was.

Several of Ichigo's nakama couldn't help but sigh to themselves, they didn't like it when their friend put himself down like that. Even though they understood that berserker stage was the orange-haired man's greatest shame, he'd regained control, and he'd never lost it again, they knew he never would, not with how powerful he'd become, and the deal he'd struck with his hollow to further prevent such a situation. Still, it was quite obvious that he hadn't yet fully forgiven himself for what had happened that day, what he'd done to Uryuu; he probably never would, even if the man already had, even if no one held it against him; guess it was just part of who he was.

"By the time the Daiko recovered consciousness the battle was practically over." Ichigo did his best to push aside his shame and self-deprecation. "Obviously he didn't like it, while it had been his figure that had defeated the Espada, it technically hadn't been him. Still, there was a war going on, and he knew he didn't have the time to contemplate on things like fairness or honor. So instead he rushed to where he could feel his other nakama fighting Yammy; he even happened to arrive right in time to save Rukia from what would have been a rather bad fall. Then, after making sure she would be alright, he rushed to fight the huge Espada. He wasn't even reasoning things that much at that point; all he wanted was to be able to defeat an enemy on his own power, to be able to push away the fact that he'd lost control so absolutely. As luck would have it, his fight against the 10th turned 0 Espada was interrupted, by Zaraki Kenpachi and Kuchiki Byakuya; they told the Daiko they would handle the Espada, he was to go to Karakura and battle Aizen instead."

Ichigo could see the incredulity in many of the faces of the students, and even the teachers; it was no secret the kind of power Aizen had wielded, that obviously made them wonder who in their right mind would want a teenaged human with shinigami and hollow powers he barely controlled to be the one to fight him. The orange-haired and his nakama all knew that in their places they would probably think the same way, which is why everyone needed to understand the extenuating circumstances that had made such a thing necessary, their only hope.

"I know how insane this all sounds." Ichigo nodded. "A human who had had his powers for barely a little over half a year, battling a man who was said to have twice the power of a captain, who had managed to rule over Hueco Mundo and lead the hollows in a war against Seireitei, who had been planning on ruling all worlds for over a hundred years. Yes, it defiantly sounds more than a little insane. But the thing is, there was no other way." He sighed. "It's all got to do with Aizen's shikai. He created illusions, and he could hypnotize, anyone that had seen him release even just once was vulnerable. The worst part is that they would never know if they were under an illusion or not, unless he allowed it, or they managed to touch Aizen's blade. Not sure actually which one is less likely." He shook his head. "So, the Daiko was one of only a handful of people who had never seen Aizen's shikai, and of all of those he was the strongest, which automatically made him Seireitei's best bet at defeating him. Really, not the kind of responsibility anyone, especially not a teenager, needs on his shoulders; but there just was no other way…"

Ichigo's hands began clenching and unclenching in what would have passed almost like a nervous tick; he could remember when the situation had been explained to him. A part of him had thought of nothing but taking the man down, ending the damned war once and for all so he could go back to his half-normal (certainly less hectic) life. And yet, even though he hadn't shown it, a part of him had been absolutely terrified at the kind of responsibility that had been put on his shoulders. If he'd been unable to defeat Aizen…no…just no…

There's little left for me to say, other than I know there's little actual plot in this chapters, but I assure you they're important, the reactions some people have for the events are important. I hope you're liking the "Some time, Some place" scenes, even if you don't fully understand them yet, I promise you will, at some point, and if by the end of the fic you still don't, you're free to ask me all you want about them, I promise they all have a reason for being.

Next chapter will include some important things, we're reaching the last battle in the recount, and you'll see what Ichigo has to say about the actions of both Aizen and Gin, as well as the initial reaction when being found out...

"Kurosaki Ichigo!"

It was the Soutaichou, Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni; even missing an arm no one could deny the obvious strength of the man who had lead the Gotei for so long…maybe too long.

"What do you think you're doing boy?" The old man demanded.

"Setting the record straight, Soutaichou." Ichigo replied, unashamed.

That and a lot more in a few days in: Traitors and Heroes.