A/N: Well then, this chapter will be in Toshiro's inner world. This means that I have to make a few changes.

The story will be in italics, when they speak Toshiro will speak with italics writing and Hyourinmaru will speak with fat and italics.

"Toshiro"

"Hyourinmaru"

Chapter 11 – In my inner world

The first thing Hyourinmaru saw when he entered his inner world was Toshiro leaned up against a tree. He had his eyes closed and his chest heaved up and down as if it was hard to breathe. Hyourinmaru could detect the slight look of pain on his master's face.

"Are you all right, little one?" The dragon went up to the tree and stood in front of his master. "Yes, Hyourinmaru, I am just a little tired that is all." Of course the zanpakuto did not buy that.

"Although I believe that you are tired, Toshiro, I do not think that exhaustion is your only problem."

The taicho smirked a little. "I can never hide anything from you, can I Hyourinmaru?" The dragon smiled.

"We are two parts of the same whole, little one. Whenever the truth is evident to you, I will see it as well. And sometimes you do not have to see it for me to detect it."

Toshiro kept his eyes closed, and he tried to relax a little. "Hyourinmaru, how long has it been? I always lose track of time when I am here." At this the dragon chuckled a little.

"It has been five days since your encounter with the monster, and five days since you defeated it. I have watched over your body these last days to make sure that your wounds recovered. After your short awakening I thought it would be safe to return to our inner world once more." Hyourinmaru stopped and studied his master's features. "Do you remember anything from it, little one?"

It was first now that Toshiro opened his eyes and his determination was glowing strong inside his emerald orbs. "I do remember that I was awake, I remember seeing you and Hinamori. I remember tears and your faint smile. Apart from that I cannot remember much." The ice dragon nodded.

"Your friends care for you, and very much so." Hyourinmaru said. "And Kyouraku-kun is right. You are no longer a child. Not only do you have more power, but you are no longer by yourself. You have a lot of friends waiting for you to wake up again, little one."

Toshiro smiled up at his zanpakuto. "I was never alone" He said. "I have always had you. I cannot remember how it used to feel inside me before you. Your presence as always lingered within me." They smiled at each other for a little while before Toshiro broke the silence. "Five days is a long time for just sitting here. I think I should start on the real way back to consciousness."

Hyourinmaru smiled at his master and extended his arm from him to grab. "I will be with you every step of the way, Master. I will make sure to help you in whatever way I can."

He dragged Toshiro up to his feet. "Thank you…" Toshiro started to say as he moved away from Hyourinmaru. Just as they separated the taicho started to sway and was about to wobble over before Hyourinmaru caught him.

"Do you have a plan for how you wish to return and when, little one?" Toshiro appeared to be thinking for a second before he answered. "I think I have been asleep for too long already, but I am not dumb. I do know that the damage is grave. It took me five days to be able to speak. In five more days, I will be awake."

Hyourinmaru and Toshiro started the way of rehabilitation. They had agreed that the first thing that was needed was for Toshiro to be able to stand on his own. It should not be a hard thing to accomplish for the prodigy, but it was not just his body that had been beaten during the fight it was important for his soul to heal as well. That was what their training was about. Make the soul heal be tackling the physical wounds.

The thing that annoyed Toshiro the most was how though it was to pull his own body of the ground. "I am thought to be a tensai and a prodigy, and I am not able to stand by myself!" He hated to sound arrogant, but that was how he felt. The pain he felt when he put pressure on the leg was immense. His mind shouted at him to stop, but he did not listen. Had he been alone he might have buckled, but he was not. He had his faithful zanpakuto with him. And Hyourinmaru supported them every step on the way.

"Little one, you need rest. Your body and mind needs time to recuperate. I know you believe that the time for rest is over, but it is not. You have the strength to awake; you just need to find it again."

After his speech the dragon did something that slightly surprised the taicho. He walked all the way up to the tree and turned around. First it seemed like Hyourinmaru would stand like that, but then he started to lower his weight and suddenly he was setting on the ground next to his master.

"I will rest with you until we both are ready to walk the way lying before us." They both closed their eyes and after a short comfortable silence Toshiro shifted a bit and placed his head on Hyourinmaru's shoulder.

The duo sat by the trunk of the tree and rested, none of them knew for how long, and none of them tried to keep up with it either. Enjoying that for once it was silent.

Faint voices started to penetrate their silence. At first it was just noise that did not make any sense, but as Toshiro paid attention he could make out the words and after a while, the sentences, that was flowing in his mind.

"I can almost see the frown returning to your face, taicho."

The voice was unmistakable. "Matsumoto?" He looked up at his inner sky, as if he could see her face if he concentrated. He then let his gaze drift to Hyourinmaru. His eyes were also open and it was obvious that he had heard the voice as well. Their eyes met and understanding shone in them. The dragon pulled himself of the ground and then turned to his taicho and waited for his following actions.

Another voice made its way through his sanctuary. It was calm and soft, but yet encouraging.

"The colour has returned to his face. Come on, Shiro-chan, we have waited for a while you know."

"Ukitake." Both of the voices had made their way into his mind earlier, but this was the first time Toshiro could comprehend what they were really saying. He looked up at Hyourinmaru and smirked a little.

"I would think that is my quo to wake up. Besides, Matsumoto has probably destroyed my office by now." The dragon smirked down at his master. "Then it is time for you to stand up, little one." Toshiro nodded before he shifted his weight so he now was crouching. He places his hands on the ground for support, and slowly started to push off it.

The pain was still there just as intense as it was the last time he tried, but this time he had something to work with. For every centimetre he raised he could feel something new. He could hear the voices in the room he knew were around him, he could hear the background sounds, he could smell the medicine in the air and he could feel the breeze that blew through an open window. He pushed harder and managed to plant his feet, or foot since he barely could stand on one of them, under him. He stretched his legs and shortly after he let his upper body follow the action. And then he was standing and looking into the eyes of Hyourinmaru.

He could feel softness under his head and something warm draping around his body. He could notice the lights that were in the room. It is the daylight. He heard voices, they were discussing something. He concentrated more and soon understood that they were talking about him, and his medical condition. He willed his eyes to open. It went slow, and the picture he saw was blurry at first. Just some clads of colour that did not make any sense, but as his eyes grew more used to the light he started to make out the dots and he could see Matsumoto and Ukitake talking. He blinked a few more times before he started to move the different limps of his body. While it did not hurt too much to move his arms, he let a hiss escape his lips when he tried to sit up.

It was not long before all the eyes in the room were on him. "Eh, taicho? You're awake"

A/N:

Please be nice to me. And please review. It is greatly appreciated. Reviews feed the muse.