Boy, long time away but good to be back. I missed you guys :D

Q/A

Q: The Homunculus Gate? Is that from Fullmetal Alchemist? -=insert sly face=-
A: No. Here's the explanation… just kidding. Yes I got it from FMA. Haha I just liked the name

Q: Shouldn't Ryuken have called Ishida, Uryu instead of Ishida?
A: Yes, you are absolutely right. Oops… :p I'll fix it when I have time haha

Q: Is Urahara dead? :/

A: No no no. Remember he was in the jail cell with Ichigo.

Q: Are the Ishidas evil?
A: You'll soon find out :D

Thank you for your questions! Remember, you can ask all you want. I'll try to answer them as best as I can. Also, if you want your questions to be SUPER private, you can always pm me :D

You guys rock! :D

-AppleSlice

Recap

-=Present Time=-

Karin was wiping her eyes as they were accumulated with tears.

Karin: That's when I saw Ichigo, and he brought me here.

Ichigo and Urahara were dead silent for a while until Ichigo stood up. Ichigo stretched and bent over and picked Karin up.

Ichigo: You said you only had a month right? What are we waiting for? 3 weeks passed since you came, we only have one week for me to get my powers back. Everyone in the future is counting on you aren't they? No more slacking. Let's do this.

Karin smiled. She herself stretched and exhaled heavily.

Karin: Yes, let's do this.

-=Isshin=-

Isshin fell and slid a good distance. He was on the floor holding his face. Isshin then looked up and saw the white-haired man in a white suit, wearing no-rimmed glasses. He felt a bow lift his chin up. Then he heard the words of his attacker.

Ryuken Ishida (Uryu Ishida's Father): How does it feel to look up to me, old friend?

Chapter 10 – An Old Friend

-=Present Time (Karin and Ichigo)=-

Karin was standing in front of Ichigo with her arms folded. Ichigo had his eyes closed and he was concentrating. Urahara had gone back up to his shop to mind his own business. Karin broke the silence.

Karin: Are you ready Ichigo?

Ichigo opened his eyes and exhaled softly.

Ichigo: Yes, I'm ready.

Karin nodded and she unsheathed her sword.

Karin: Ichigo, the only way you can wake up is from a burst immense reiatsu. If you can't find your power, you will be lost forever. You sure you wanna go with this?

Ichigo gulped.

Ichigo: Yes. Do it.

Karin raised her sword and pointed the pommel (edge of the hilt of the sword) at Ichigo's face.

Karin: Kido #15. Way of Binding. Wavering Sleep.

A symbol appeared on the pommel and it glowed with a blue light.

Karin: Here goes.

She hit Ichigo on the forehead with the pommel and Ichigo's head jerked back. Ichigo ended up lying face-up on the ground, not moving at all. Karin sheathed her sword and exhaled.

Karin: Now, we wait.

-=Present Time (Future Isshin)=-

Isshin smacked the silver bow away from his face and jumped back. He held Engetsu to his side and took a deep breath. He looked at Ryuken straight in the eye.

Isshin: I don't know who you are. I've never seen you before. What's your name?

Ryuken: I don't find such trivial matters important. What matters is that you need to go back to where you came from and leave this town alone.

Isshin: Hmm. I see. Well said.

Isshin clenched Engetsu and he smirked.

Isshin: Looks like I'm actually going to enjoy this. Get ready.

Isshin raised his Zanpaktou and lined it horizontally at his eye level. He closed his eyes. Ryuken got his bow at the ready. Then, Isshin started to glow. Ryuken looked closer and saw that there was a red and black lining all around Isshin.

Ryuken saw this as a dangerous situation and shot a reiatsu filled arrow at Isshin. Surprisingly, the arrow just dissipated as it touched Isshin's body. Ryuken didn't show it, but he was extremely surprised. He had never seen anything like it.

Isshin opened his eyes. He smiled and said one word.

Isshin: Ultima.

-=Present Time (Ichigo)=-

Ichigo woke up in a white walled room. He picked himself up and he looked around the room. The room was in the shape of a cube and the room contained nothing but a chair and a table in front of it. He slowly made his way to the chair and sat down. The table looked more like a stool with a circular top standing on 3 legs. The top was as big as the size of a pizza and had nothing on top of it. Not even dust. Not only that, the whole room lacked dust. It was spotless.

Ichigo was sitting down when something started floating down above the table. Ichigo didn't want to touch it and just let it land on the table. It was a dirty and ragged black piece of cloth the size of his palm. Ichigo pushed it aside and it floated away from the table and onto the floor. He didn't want the table to get dirty.

Just then a door appeared in front of him on the white wall. In through the door came crashing through someone he knew well, but his face showed that proper greetings weren't wanted. Ichigo was startled.

Tensa Zangetsu:What the hell are you doing?

Ichigo was speechless. He was so surprised from the situation. Tensa quickly ran over to the piece of cloth on the floor and picked it up and caressed it. He then stared down Ichigo.

Tensa: Ichigo. I appreciate you being here but that is no way to treat the one who saved your life.

Ichigo was confused but was still surprised.

Ichigo: I… I have no idea what you're talking about.

Tensa slowly walked over to the table and laid it down. He then touched the cloth with one finger and injected some of his reiatsu into it. The cloth started glowing and Tensa stepped back.

A figure started appearing above the cloth. In the beginning it was only a silhouette but as time passed, the figure started materializing to someone familiar.

Just then, tears started accumulating in Ichigo's eyes. He looked up at his once very close friend. Ichigo spoke but came out choked.

Ichigo: I missed you.

The figure above the black cloth smiled and spoke.

Zangetsu: Hello, Ichigo.

Chapter 10: End

Short… I know but I think it's going to take a little time for me to get back into it. Sorry for being gone so long, but I am overwhelmingly joyed that my readers are still here. Again, to my readers who have updated their stories while I was gone. I will try my best to catch up to them. Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you.

-AppleSlice