Disclaimer: Y'all know the drill. Kubo Tite's. Ain't mine. I wish it was though. siiiiiiigh

Hehe enjoy! :D

Where was he? How did he get here? And hasn't he been here before?

These were the three questions he kept asking himself as he stood in the middle of a clear white field. His teal eyes looked around, trying to figure out the mystery of this foreign place. A serious look was upon his face, seeing as he did not trust the land he was standing on, although, Toshiro couldn't help but feel a familiar aura. He couldn't say how , but he knew he had been here before. The white field was cold as ice and realizing that soon as he bent down to touch the ground that it had been ice. Thinking for a few moments, the white haired young man came to a conclusion that the field of ice was some kind of reflection.

"Toshiro."

That voice. That voice sent chills down his spine. In fact, it could send chills down anyone's spine, and Toshiro froze when he heard it. He was not afraid of that voice. Indeed, it had been a cold, deep, and growling one. Anyone would be afraid once they heard it, but he wasn't. Toshiro wasn't afraid. Instead, he slowly turned around, almost happy to face that one who had called out his name. He knew who it was. He knew who had called him out.

"Hyorinmaru," he whispered a small smile appearing on his lips as he faced the large ice dragon.

Its scales were as bright as the moonlight's as it stood tall and proud. The dragon looked down, his glimmering red eyes set on the young man's teal ones.

The two stood in silence. Not one of them talked and not one of them dared to. For Toshiro, silence seemed enough to connect with the dragon. His eyes were on Hyorinmaru, closely watching the dragon as it breathed, shifted its weight, and stare back at him. Was this real? Was it really Hyorinmaru? With a deep breath, Hitsugaya took a few steps forward, daring to invade the dragon's personal space. But the dragon spoke no word as the young man took his small steps.

Once close enough, Toshiro raised his head up high to look into the dragon's red eyes. "It is you, Hyorinmaru." Hitsugaya muttered, not believing the four words that came out of his mouth. The dragon did not reply, but instead it lowered its self until both it and the boy eyes were on one level.

"Toshiro," the dragon growled, not taking his eyes off of the boy. "Have you forgotten yourself?" He asked, his voice hinting a bit of anger.



Has he forgotten himself? For one, he knew he wasn't the same Hitsugaya Toshiro.The 10th division Taicho, the wielder of a zanpakuto, the young genius and prodigy child. He wasn't the same person. He had changed and he had go—


"Gotten weaker, Toshiro." Hyorinmaru said, finishing his thought. It was expected from the dragon to know what he was thinking about. Hyorinmaru was a part of him as well as he was a part of Hyorinmaru. Without him, he would be nothing.

Furrowing his brows, Toshiro crossed his arms and looked away from the dragon's gaze. His eyes looked over the field of ice they were standing on. He felt a cold sensation flowing through his body as he watched the view. Then a few moments later, he realized that this place was the same one he visited in his dreams.

"Help me get stronger, Hyorinmaru." Hitsugaya weakly whispered after some time, not looking back at the dragon. "Help me regain myself,' he said, finally looking back, his eyes determined. "Help me, Hyorinmaru."

"You do realize that I will follow you not matter what, Toshiro."

His eyes softened at the simple words the dragon had said. "Aregato, Hyorinmaru."

"Aregato."

--

Gently running her hand through the young boy's hair, Unohana-Taicho weakly smiled. She had always had a soft spot for the young Taicho, even though he had asked to be treated as one of her own. She tried to hide it, but she could not help feeling so motherly towards the boy. Compared to all of the people around Seireitei, Hitsugaya-Taicho was like a son she had never had.



She remembered the day when they told her he died. It was a dark day for her. For she, in her mind, had lost a son in battle. At first, she tried to convince Yamamoto-Genryusai-Taicho that the boy was too young to go into that kind of battle. He, in her mind was still inexperienced. She didn't say this in front of Toshiro, of course. But she spoke with the commander of the Gotei 13 about this matter in private. In the end, Yamamoto-Genryusai-had told her that it was a Taicho's duty to fight the enemies in battles such as these, even it costs their lives.

That day was one of the days she will never forget. For one, Seireitei had lost many Shinigamies that had sacrificed their lives to win the battle. And the second thing was when Abarai Fukutaicho came into the 4th division, tightly holding onto a hysterical Matsumoto Fukutaicho. They were both injured, and she had made sure that they were attended to. Remembering the moment she approached them, Rangiku pulled away from Abarai and instead held onto Unohana-Taicho while she kept on crying.

She was confused on why the Fukutaicho was crying, but when she had looked up and saw the look Abarai Fukutaicho had, she knew something when terribly wrong. Slowly pulling away from the Fukutaicho, she tried to look into her eyes, and when she did, her heart stopped.

"Where's Hitsugaya-Taicho?"

Sometimes, when she would dwell on that memory she wished she never asked that question, since her answer was a Matsumoto, collapsing on the floor, burring her face in her hands and crying her sorrow away.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, as it was obvious the Fukutaicho's answer was that the young Taicho had died in battle. The Taicho tried to remind herself that he died with pride and honor, but she couldn't help cry over how young and innocent he was. The boy had a great future ahead of him, and it was all washed away in a battle. Unohana-san pulled herself together for that moment since many needed her. And when the day had been over, and everyone was tended to, she headed towards the 13th division where Ukitake-Taicho and Kyoraku-Taicho were there.



They had been her friends for a long time, so she had not been ashamed to cry over the lost Taicho in front of them. And they did not judge her by doing so. They had known how she had felt towards the young boy, as they had the same exact feeling. The two men thought of themselves as the boy's father figure, even though he was always annoyed when they told him so.

They will miss calling him "Shiro-chan". The name he hated and always got annoyed with. They will miss when he corrects them in a cold manner. They will miss the boy so much.

The day after, a ceremony was set up for the Taicho. A reminder of what he had done for Seireitei, and how he died in battle trying to defend it. Many cried, including Matsumoto-Fukutaicho as more words were said about the Taicho . All divisions attended the ceremony, and even to Unohana-Taicho's surprise, the 11th division and its Taicho.

But now, three years after, he returned to her. Her little Taicho was here, in the 4th division and he was under her wing. She promised herself that she would protect him, even though he would hate it and demand to be treated like any other Shinigami. This time, she'll make sure he is protected, and with the condition he was in he needed all the protection he can get.

Her fingers continued to delicately run through his hair, smiling at him. His condition was stable from when he first came, which was a disaster. She hated the way he came back.

Yamamato-Taicho had decided to start another battle with the Arrancar as they must be weakened before anything big happens. Only a few offered to go there. Kurosaki Ichigo, Abarai-Fukutaicho, The Quincy, Inoue Orihime, Sado Yasatora and Kuchiki Rukia were amongst a few of the 11th division members who wanted to have some fun fighting those Arrancars.

But they didn't last long since Kurosaki came running into the 4th division with Abarai behind him. She remembered staring at their frantic faces, a reassuring smile forming on her lips as though everything will be fine. 

Although, the moment Kurosaki came closer to her, showing the very small figure on his back, she gave a small gasp.

It had been Hitsugaya-Taicho.

Without a minute's heartbeat, she called her best healers as well as her Fukutaicho to take the small Taicho and quickly attend to him as it seemed he had lost plenty of blood. She had to admit, the boy was indeed very close to his death, but with the quick work her healers did, he was slowly recovering.

It had been almost a month since he entered the 4th division. And truth be told, it was very hard to keep the Taicho stable. One moment, he would run a dangerous fever and the next his temperature would drop, making him become as cold as ice. His breaths were mostly irregular and panic like and it worried her, but luckily now he was breathing normally.

"Unohana-Taicho."

Her thoughts were at that moment cut off by Matsumoto-Taicho. Looking at the other female, she gave her a small smile and ushered her to sit on the boy's other side. She had seen her hesitate a bit, but then Rangiku seemed to decide that she would sit next to Toshiro. As she sat, Unohana-Taicho resumed with running her hands through his hair.

"How is he?" Rangiku asked worriedly, looking down at Toshiro.

The older woman knew how the blonde felt about Toshiro. He was a little brother she had never had, and she treated him with the respect he had demanded at times. They always made a good team, thought Unohana. He was cold, strict and serious while she had been hyper, easy going and fun, although, that had changed the moment they told her he had died. It was as though his personality took over her.



"Do not worry, Matsumoto-Taicho. He's doing very well compared to the first time he came to us. He's improving and I can feel a bit of his reiatsu coming back," assured her Unohana with a smile, even though something bothered her about Toshiro.

Hesitating, she looked at Rangiku and sighed. "Rangiku, have you ever seen this before on the Taicho?" she asked, pulling the young boy's right sleeve, showing off the dragon tattoo on his wrist. But it seemed she had gotten her answer when Rangiku's eyes widened. "So it is a no," sighed Retsu.

"I think, it has to do something with his zunpukuto, Taicho." Rangiku murmured, taking a closer look at the dragon. "Hyorinmaru is a dragon if you remember, Taicho."

That thought never crossed her mind really. She needed to consider that thought. Smiling at Matsumoto, Retsu gave a small nod and looked back at Toshiro. "I'll ask Kur—"

Unohana Retsu froze, as she saw that there were a pair of teal eyes, looking back at her brown ones with as much as confusion as she had.

"Unohana-Taicho?"

Author's Note:

The cliffhanger I think is the best one I've wrote so far. lmao. I really suck at them. Haha. I think I'm getting good at writing, but I just need time to actually read what I write, which is hard for me. xx

Comments are REALLY welcomed. :D