Disclaimer: I in no way shape or from own Bleach. It belongs to Tite Kubo.

Norykoi: Yes finally it has been edited and re uploaded. Yay for me.

Chapter 10

Yamamoto surveyed those gathered on the other side of the communication screen with tired eyes. They widened when they landed on Isshin's form who seemed to be trying to hide within the darkness of the room. He turned his attention back to Captain Hitsugaya's report, saddened at the news of Ichigo's death - he really liked that young upstart. Ichigo was almost a carbon copy of him in his younger days, although maybe a bit more driven then he had ever been. It made him wonder though. Why was Isshin flinching every time young Hitsugaya mentioned Ichigo's name?

"…And that's all that has happened, since my last report." Hitsugaya finished, eyeing Isshin out of the corner of his eyes cautiously.

"So Aizen's been quiet for a while now. He must be planning something big, keep your guard up. All of you may go," he paused. "Except for Yamamoto Isshin."

Toshiro looked between the two of them and shuddered, quickly leaving the room. Yamamoto figured Hitsugaya hadn't believed Isshin when he had introduced himself. Now that it was confirmed and he knew it was true, he was having issues on how they could be related.

Isshin winced, hearing his name in the particular tone he used to use whenever Isshin had done something he shouldn't have.

Yamato waited until the door was shut before he whirled on Isshin.

"I thought you were dead, boy! Do you have any idea how painful it was for me to lose you like that! And now nearly half a century later I find out you were alive all this time! Good gracious, Isshin, news of your death nearly tore my heart in two. Do you have any idea how that felt?"

Isshin winced again, before he sank to the floor with a sorrowful sigh.

"I have an idea." He said vaguely.

Yamamoto's eyes narrowed, as a theory began to form in his mind once again. He knew Isshin well, he wasn't really surprised that he had left soul society first chance he got. It wasn't a question of why he left, but how he managed to fool their spiritual sensors. He was a captain, with his spiritual pressure signature programmed into the system. It was a way to keep track of everyone and find deserters. There was only one way to fool the sensors, and that was to be very close to a final death, so to speak, for a long period of time.

"Yamamoto Isshin!" He bellowed in his 'angry father' voice, as Isshin had dubbed it all those years ago.

Isshin drew his knees up to use as a headrest and sighed sadly. "I haven't gone by that name in twenty years. I have kids of my own you know; took my wife's name so as not to stand out to the patrolling shinigami. I am more used with Kurosaki Isshin these days."

Yamamoto gasped softly as all the pieces fell neatly into place: why Isshin had come out of hiding, why Ichigo reminded him so much of himself. Then the fact that Ichigo was his grandson made itself prominent, followed by the reminder that according to Isshin he was dead. He looked at Isshin, again. Something didn't add up in the story that was told. It was just a feeling. Ichigo dieing of Soul Sickness was very plausible, and Rukia reported that Ichigo had been sick when she saw him only days ago, but he suspected there was another cause for his disappearance.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, my grandson, is still alive isn't he?" Yamamoto watched Isshin as closely as he could through the communication device. When Isshin tensed, but remained silent, he knew he was right. Ichigo was alive, but Isshin felt that he needed to be protected, and the easiest way to that was to kill him in the eyes of Soul Society. There were only three possible reasons that would make Isshin ever feel the need to go that far. He had to know. "Why do you feel the need to protect him this way?"

Isshin shifted his eyes to the floor. "Soul Society would kill him once Central 46 is reformed. I won't allow that to happen. I couldn't protect him, and he now suffers for it, but at least he still lives. Maybe one day he'll be happy wherever he is, but I doubt it."

"You don't know where he is then. I doubt you are lying to me on that front. You could never really lie to me. Bend the truth until it was unrecognizable in some cases, but you could never really lie to my face."

"I learned early on growing up that you always seemed to know if I was lying or not. So it was easier just to own up." Isshin admitted with a sheepish grin." And I do have an idea of where my son is, but I'm not going to tell anyone. It will be safer in the long run for him to stay right where he is - away from the grasp of the Soul Society."

Yamamoto sighed. He wanted his son to be happy, and as he was now, a criminal in the eyes of Soul Society he had to be punished and Yamamoto had to punish him as the Captain Commander of the Gotei 13. Suddenly an idea stuck Yamamoto. It wasn't really a punishment in his eyes, but Central 46 would see it as one, and as the Soul Society was currently under Martial Law, and nobody could be punished twice for the same crime…

"Yamamoto…" He paused as he thought about what he was saying. "No, Kurosaki Isshin, you do realize that you have to be punished for the crimes you have committed by abandoning the Soul Society?" Yamamoto asked, his voice booming with authority.

"Yes," Isshin lowered his head again. Apparently he had suspect something like this would happen, but wasn't about to fight it.

"After the threat of the war has passed you will be exiled from the Soul Society for the duration of two hundred years, and your spiritual pressure sealed to five percent. At the end of your exile, you will re-enter the Soul Society, and rejoin the Thirteen Court Guards, under probation, with half pay for fifty years. Is that under stood, Kurosaki Isshin?"

Isshin jerked his head up in surprise. It wasn't really a punishment for him, as he had live that way for twenty years already by his own choice. Then comprehension dawned and he gave his father a cocky grin. "Understood."

Yamamoto offered his own smile to his son. It was really nice to know his son was alive. "So," He began. "Why don't you tell me what you've been up all these years, and all about my grandchildren?"

"Well…" Isshin took a deep breath, and began to ramble excitedly about his precious children, and his beloved Masaki.

I

Aizen didn't know how much time has passed since he had been thrown into the dark windowless cell. It was pitch black and there was no sound. It was complete sensory deprivation, except for touch. He could feel everything with an intensity that he had never experienced before. It was almost torture, and with his wound, even the slightest shift in movement had him in agony.

The door opened, letting in a blinding light. He had been in darkness long enough that all he could see was a white blur.

"So how is mah fav'rite Forbidden Child doing?" Shiro paused. "Or d'ya not know what you 're?"

"What do you mean Shirosaki-san?" Aizen rasped. That term irked him. Though where had he heard it before? His mind flashed to the archives of Central 46. Could it be?

"Yah the child born to the Bond of Eternity, or as the Soul Society likes tah call it - the Forbidden Bond. If they knew what ya were, Aizen Sosuke, ya would not exist. Period. They would have destroyed yah soul just for being born to the parents that had the bond."

Aizen was silent. He remembered the records on the Forbidden Bond, as he thought it would be perfect to bind someone to him that way. Primarly, he had thought about Ichigo. The bond had nothing to do with love, and everything to do with power. Although it was much stronger if all participants were willing, but unlike other bonds, it wasn't a prerequisite. It was said that a child born of the bond had a potential to become the most powerful being in the world. However, he was already at his limit. If he was truly a child of such a bond, wasn't he supposed to be able to win against Shirosaki?

"Ya were pro'ly hidden from the Soul Society. And if ya know what I suspect ya know, I'll say this now. Ya too young to have reached ya full potential. I'm a firs' generation from when the bond was constantly in use, although those times aren't well remembered anymore. No one remembers the true purpose of Hueco Mundo anymore." Shiro trailed off deep in thought. "I will have this world restored to its former glory."

Aizen knew the last sentence was not meant to be heard, but it had him curious, and really, he had little to lose, no need to be rude just because his situation wasn't yet to his liking.

"What exactly do you mean by that, Shirosaki-san?" He was currently without power, but knowledge was its own brand of power. He had been arrogant, he had let the power he possessed over hollows go to his head. He had learned his lesson. Right now he was at Shiro's mercy, but he didn't plan to stay that way for long.

"Are ya willing to be my minion yet?"

Ah, an exchange then. If that was what it took to get out of this dank cell.

"Minion is such a degrading term."

Shiro cackled.

"I knew ya'd see it my way."

II

Orihime sighed, as she lay within her room. She felt Kurosaki-kun's uncontrolled spiritual pressure, but it felt different. Shiro wasn't lying, it seemed. She didn't think he would, but somewhere in her heart she had hoped that he wouldn't suffer her fate.

She was a tool. She knew that. For the longest time she was just happy to be useful to Ichigo, and hope that maybe he would eventually notice her affections. Her powers made her unique, but Ichigo never demanded her to use them, instead he asked, and she complied because he was her Ichigo.

The door opened, bringing Orihime out of her pondering - it was time for dinner. Really, the eternal night of this place was really screwing up her sleeping schedule. That, and the lack of anything stimulating to do. If it weren't for Ulquiorra's daily visits, she was positive the lack of interaction would soon drive her insane.

"Woman, it is time for your meal." Ulquiorra said tonelessly.

She got up and offered him a small smile. He didn't understand her, she knew, but that was what made him interesting, and a challenge. She frowned as he turned to leave her alone again.

"Wait! Ulquiorra-san, please stay. I just need company for a little while. So, please!" She reached out to grab his sleeve, but tumbled into him as he turned to face her instead. Well, she thought, her face red, this was embarrassing.

III

Urahara watched Yuzu and Karin sleep peacefully, while Isshin was talking with his father. They had been doing it for several hours now, and he wonder what they were talking about.

"Do they know?"

Urahara looked up at Toshiro who stood in the doorway, his eyes focused on Karin. Urahara could tell that he liked Karin - Matsumoto's rants about a soccer match helped him figure out why. The young captain had a crush. He gave him a sad smile.

"No, but we know that they will figure it out soon enough. This will devastate them."

Toshiro bit his lip giving Karin one last glance. Then he shook his head as he left the room. Kurosaki Karin, had potential, but he could wait, she was only human after all. One day she would enter Soul Society, and she would flourish. He was sure the Captain Commander would make sure of it. She was his granddaughter after all, and he would want her protected after what happened to Ichigo.

Urahara smiled sadly at the girls. They were so innocent, and pure. He hated to think what would happen to them if Isshin's gamble didn't pay off. He would watch them of course, and let them live out their human life, but he knew eventually they would need to go to the Soul Society, as much as he hated that place.

IV

Ichigo dreamt. He dreamt of a world, that was a flourishing paradise. He was in a garden full of colorful plants.

"Momma!"

A child version of Shiro ran through him. Crying and sobbing as he ran to the prone form of a woman.

"Momma, wake up! The shinigami are here, they are killing everyone. Momma?" The child Shiro was shaking his mother, trying to rouse her. She wouldn't wake, and Ichigo was reminded of his own mother and her death.

"Momma?"

"Prince Kaito! We have to get out of here. The shinigami have reached the spiritual core. They plan to destroy it. We need to get away from this place." A bunch of beings: hollow, arrancar and vizards, ran to Shiro's side, and picked up the crying boy.

There was an explosion, and the sunny sky bled to night as the sun exploded into million pieces. The ground shook and all the greenery turned to dust within seconds. When everything settled, the stone city that surrounded the greenery was all that was left of the once beautiful lands.

He could hear screaming. There was chaos and he saw the black robes of shinigami killing all the surviving residents. He wanted to scream. This was wrong. The shinigami were supposed to be the good guys, but he doubted the residents deserved this.

'It's horrible, ne?'

The scene crumbled, and he was left in a void.

'The destruction of a society that was a parallel to the Soul Society.'

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked the voice.

'You will be our salvation."

Ichigo jerked awake. What a dream. It was a product of his fear for his children he was sure. But why would he dream about a child Shiro in a situation that was strongly reminiscent of his own? Maybe his subconscious was creating something he could relate to Shiro about, because of his desire to protect his children?

"Hey, Strawberry. Did you have a good nap?"

Damn it, there goes his peace and quiet.

III

Norykoi: Few managed it.

Hichigo: If you hadn't slept for a day and a half this wouldn't be a problem.

Ichigo: He's right you know.

Grimm: Yep and why was I not really in this chapter? Bitch.

Norykoi: Hey I was sick, and Grimmjow - Shut the Fuck Up!