A/N: Last chapter! Thank you guys for sticking through this story with me and for all your encouraging words.

~~~~~~~~~~5 and a half years ago~~~~~~~~~

"Stop kicking me Tsuyoshi!" Tsuyoshi ignored him, continuing to kick his legs irritably. Apparently, the fussy toddler did not appreciate the footie pajamas their grandfather had purchased for him. Since the two boys were currently sharing their father's childhood bed, each irritated kick hit his older brother. Akihiro wished he could retaliate with a swift kick of his own, but since he was bigger than Tsuyoshi he held himself back. Tsuyoshi kicked him again, and Akihiro's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Isshin chose a great moment to re-enter the room, since Akihiro's patience was waning. "I found it boys!" Isshin happily plopped himself beside Tsuyoshi on the bed. He gingerly opened the book he was holding. "This was your Aunt Yuzu's favorite story growing up. And even though Karin tried to hide it, I think she liked it too."

Isshin read excitedly, giving each of the characters their own distinct voice. Tsuyoshi giggled excitedly every time Isshin flipped the book around to show the illustrations to the two brothers. By the time Isshin reached the end of the tale, Tsuyoshi was fast asleep. Isshin kissed his sleeping grandchild on the head before turning his attention to Akihiro.

"You know Hiro, you worry a lot for a 5 year old. Always so serious. Your worry is written all over your face. It will give you wrinkles. Don't you want to grow up to be as handsome and youthful as your pop-pop? Here's the secret. I never worry."

Akihiro frowned. Everyone was always telling him he was too serious. Maybe they just weren't serious enough. "Why are Mom and Dad still at the hospital? Kaya was born two days ago. When are they coming home?"

Isshin smiled and ruffled his grandson's dark hair. "Everything is fine. Mom and baby are doing great."

Akihiro was not pacified. "Then why are they still in the hospital? When Tsuyoshi was born, we all went home the next morning."

Isshin sighed, seeing Akihiro wasn't going to be satisfied without a full story. "Orihime-chan is fine. You know that, you got to see her right after your baby sister was born. But the birth was…complicated. She's just tired. And the hospital wants her to stay for a few days to watch her. But everyone is fine. They'll probably be here in the morning to take you guys home." Isshin choked back a sob. "And then I'll be all alone again!" Akihiro rolled his eyes as his grandfather began to cry hysterically, obviously an attempt to change the subject.

Isshin hopped off the bed. "Goodnight Akihiro." He said through his tears, turning out the lights and shutting the door behind him.

Akihiro stared up at the ceiling and continued to worry. What felt like hours later, he finally fell asleep.

.

..

.

Akihiro was awoken several hours later when he heard hushed voices coming from the kitchen. Tsuyoshi snored softly beside him, so he carefully and quietly left the bed. Akihiro was equally cautious with the door, not wanting to alert the adults of his entrance or his brother of his exit.

Akihiro quietly snuck to the stairs, sitting on the top step where he could see into the kitchen but they hopefully wouldn't be able to see him. He crouched down, gripping the stair banister and peeking through the gaps.

Ichigo was sitting at the table, newborn Kaya in his arms. He was feeding her bottled breast milk. Isshin returned to the kitchen, two cups of coffee in his hands. He placed one in front of his son. "Thanks." Ichigo said, placing the now empty bottle on the table and reaching for the coffee.

Isshin held out his arms for the baby, and Ichigo gingerly passed her over. Isshin grinned at the baby and cooed lovingly. "She is beautiful! Looks just like her mommy! And those big green eyes!"

Ichigo grinned as he sipped on his coffee. "Hope she doesn't end up looking too much like Orihime. I don't want to be forced to kill anybody, but if she gets a boyfriend I might have to."

Isshin continued to coo over his newest grandchild. "Five grandchildren already! I don't know what is taking Karin so long to settle down, but you and Yuzu are off to a fine start!"

"Well, based on how this birth went, this is probably the last grandchild you're getting from me."

Akihiro perked up. What had happened during the birth? When he and Tsuyoshi had visited their mom and new sister directly after the birth, they had both seemed fine.

"So, what exactly happened?" Isshin asked, bouncing the new baby when she started to get fussy.

Ichigo ran a hand through his messy hair. "The reiatsu was insane. More than Akihiro's and Tsuyoshi's. Combined."

Akihiro's eyes widened.

"It was so much, it was suffocating. I thought she was going to die. I thought all of us were going to die." Ichigo continued.

"But you didn't." Isshin pointed out.

"No, because of the Shun Shun Rikka. They came out without Orihime telling them to. She was in no condition to do anything. I don't know exactly what they did. Some kind of rejection. I think they rejected her powers. It took a lot out of Orihime to do whatever they did. She is exhausted, even now. But she'll be okay. The hospital has cleared her to leave tomorrow morning."

"Was this rejection permanent?" Isshin asked.

"I don't know. I can still feel that she has reiatsu now, but at a much lower level, a normal level."

"And…how do you feel about all this?" The Kurosaki patriarch asked his only son.

Ichigo placed his head in his hands. "I'm not sure. There are a lot of things to consider. On one hand, she could do a lot of good with that kind of power. Soul Society is always facing some crisis or another. She could help. She could do a lot of good here too. No hollow would ever be able to challenge her. She could save a lot of people."

"I sense a 'but' coming…." Isshin interjected.

"But I don't want her to be forced into that life."

"Like you were." Isshin added sadly.

"I wasn't forced. I wanted this. I mean…I want this...I don't know anymore. I just have a hard time imagining my little girl living my life. It's different with the boys. And I'm not trying to be sexist or anything, trust me, I know there are plenty of women who could kick my ass. But I want to protect her. I don't want her to ever have to fight. It's pretty much the same way I feel about Orihime. I know she can fight, but I don't want her to. Am I making any sense?"

Isshin smirked. "Not really. But I understand. I have little girls too you know."

Ichigo stood. "I should get the kids home."

"Why don't you just all stay here for the night? I can help with the baby." Isshin offered.

"Thanks, but all Kaya's stuff is set up in the nursery at home." Ichigo replied.

"What do you really need besides milk," he gestured to the diaper bag full of milk on the table, "and a crib? I've got a crib up in the attic that I would happily go get."

"Okay." Ichigo relented. "I'm pretty exhausted anyway so getting everyone out of here would have been a hassle."

Akihiro quietly snuck away before anyone caught sight of him spying.

..

..

Akihiro sliced through another ninja with Honō, his flame based zanpakuto. They kept coming. How many were there?

He glanced behind him. Kaya and Orihime had created some type of two-layered shield. It was quickly extending into a dome that was meant to encase the mother and her children. Mayuko snarled as the shield closed, raising both hands to smash against it. Orihime's shield was on the outside, and the force of Mayuko's blow was redirected at her, sending her flying away.

Akihiro experimentally touched the shield, but quickly retracted his hand when he was burned. Ouch. He knew from experience not to touch his mother's shield, but wasn't this inner shield Kaya's? Since when could her shields keep him in?

He briefly pondered why the Kurosaki women had suddenly enacted this shield, but he quickly got his answer when he saw the ninja army exploding just outside the shield. The shinigamis not encased in the shield took defensive stances and protected themselves from the fiery hell Kato had just unleashed.

If Akihiro hadn't been paying close attention, he would have missed it. But he was paying attention. And he saw Tsuyoshi running toward the shield.

"Tsuyoshi, don't!" Akihiro screamed, reaching out a hand in vain as if he could stop his younger brother.

Since Tsuyoshi was Orihime's biological child who had inherited her powers, he had no trouble passing through both layers of the shield, zanpakuto raised in an offensive stance.

Mayuko had not been forewarned about the self-destructing army, so she was currently on the floor coughing and trying to clear the smoke from around her.

She was vulnerable, and it was the perfect time to attack. And Tsuyoshi saw that and ran with it.

He launched himself in the air and raised his zanpakuto high in the air. "AAAHHH!" The 7 year old prepared to strike, but just before he would have reached the Aizen sister, he was tackled to the ground by the Aizen brother.

Kato coughed out blood and raised his gaze to Hollow Ichigo, who was still floating in the air where Kato had left him. "It seems like you are deriving strength from your family. In that case, it makes sense to kill them before I kill you." Kato threatened, slightly pressing his blade into Tsuyoshi's throat where a small trickle of blood began to fall.

The hollow let out an inhuman screech, but didn't advance on Kato. It seemed Ichigo must have still been in there enough to know that if he attacked Kato now, Tsuyoshi would die.

Kato smirked, pleased that he had bought himself some time. He could kill the boy, but then the hollow might attack to kill out of revenge. His best chance was if he could somehow kill the entire family at once, and then hope the grief would debilitate the hollow. But with that irritating shield up, that would be difficult.

"Lower your shield." Kato ordered, keeping his zanpakuto close to Tsuyoshi's neck.

Kato correctly deciphered the look on Orihime's face to mean she distrusted him. "You are in no position to question me. Drop your shield now or I'll cut his head off. If you drop your shield, that could buy him a few minutes." Kato continued.

Orihime reluctantly dropped her shield, Kaya following suit a few seconds later.

Kato smirked. "Good choice."

Mayuko, having recovered from the unexpected explosion, now joined her brother, regarding the Kurosaki family with hate. "What are we waiting for? Let's kill them." She suggested.

"Hasty as always. That Hollow is strong. If we start picking off his family one by one, he will retaliate before we could kill more than two." Kato explained.

"So, what's your plan then?" Mayuko asked.

"I'm working on it. With his son in danger, he's not a threat. So just shut up and let me think." Kato rebutted.

Mayuko huffed and irritably crossed her arms over her chest.

The battle appeared to be at a standstill. But what Kato hadn't accounted for was the now unoccupied shinigami captains and vice captains.

Ukitake launched himself at Kato, catching the invader off guard. Ukitake forcefully pushed Tsuyoshi away while Kato swung, striking a fatal blow upon Ukitake.

"NOOOOOOO!" Kaya screamed, immediately rushing to Ukitake's side as he lay dying. Akihiro followed his younger sister, intent on protecting her since she seemed too distraught to pay attention to what was now happening around them.

Hollowfied Ichigo flash stepped directly in front of Kato. With Tsuyoshi out of the way, he was now fighting ferociously, trying to end this before anyone else died. Mayuko was singlehandedly keeping the rest of the shinigamis out of it, launching some kind of binding kido spell that prevented them from moving forward. Keeping so many of them bound was obviously taking a toll on her though, as her face was contorted in pain and she was unable to continue her quest to kill Orihime.

"Ukitake-san, please don't die. I can fix it….. I can fix you…. PLEASE!" Kaya could barely get the words out between her sobs.

Ukitake put on a brave smile for Kaya. "Kaya-chan, let me go. It's…it's my time. I'm just…glad I was…able to protect Tsuyoshi-chan. And…I'm glad….you're okay." His breath was quickly becoming shallow and he coughed up blood.

Tears continued to fall from her eyes. "No. You're not supposed to die Ukitake-san. The good guys are supposed to win. It's….it's not fair. And I reject it!" Kaya's fairies emerged from her birthmark.

They circled Ukitake but didn't do anything. "What are they waiting for?" Kaya mumbled to no one in particular.

Akihiro knelt beside his sister, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "He's already gone Kaya. You can't bring him back from the dead."

"No, I can! And I will!" Kaya closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, urging her fairies to undo the injury.

Akihiro tightened his grip on her shoulder. "You can't Kaya. It would be wrong. You have to let it go."

"I WON"T!" An amazing burst of power suddenly rushed out from the small girl. Akihiro was blown back from the sheer force of the power. He clenched his arm that had been touching Kaya in pain. It was broken in several places.

Tsuyoshi rushed over. Shaken from the consequences of his prior rash actions, he was now content to stay within his mother's newly constructed shield. He called forth his own fairies and began to fix Akihiro's damaged arm. "What is she doing?!" He yelled, since Kaya's power burst was now creating some kind of loud windstorm.

"I don't know!" Akihiro yelled back, watching Kaya worriedly.

…..

..

'Focus. I need to focus. I can do this. Ukitake-san isn't supposed to die. And he won't. I'm going to save him. I can do this. My fairies are going to start moving any second now, and they are going to save Ukitake-san.'

Kaya focused intently on the task at hand. She ignored the sounds of her father battling Kato outside the shield. Finally, a fairy moved in front of her, but not the one she was looking for.

She flinched as the tiny fairy kicked her in the face. She looked at him with watery eyes as she held her hand to her cheek. "Tsubaki-kun…..you're mean."

"And you're acting like an idiot!" Her mother's offensive fairy retorted.

Kaya frowned. "Shouldn't you be helping Mommy?"

Tsubaki scoffed. "You need my help a lot more than she does. Stop. He's dead and you can't bring him back."

Kaya squeezed her eyes shut and clamped her hands over her ears, trying to drown out the truth in his words. "NO!"

Tsubaki frowned. "Kaya, listen to me. Don't let his death be in vain."

Silent tears streamed down her face, but she tried to calm herself and listen to Tsubaki.

"You can end this." He concluded.

"Me? But…I'm the weakest. If I can't even heal Ukitake-san, then how-"

"You're not weak. You're more powerful than you can imagine. Your resolve is what is weak." He let out an irritated sigh. "Just like your mother. But that stops now. When you were born, we repressed your power. Now, we are going to unleash them."

"Unleash them?" Kaya echoed.

"Yes, but after repressing your powers for so long, this sudden unleashing will result in the loss of your powers. This will be the Final Koten Zanshun."

"Final? I won't have powers ever again?" Kaya questioned. Being powerless didn't really bother her considering she rarely used her powers as it was, but the finality was a little unsettling for a 5-year-old.

"You won't have powers ever again while you're alive." Tsubaki explained.

"But…I won't be able to help people anymore." Kaya mumbled, mostly to herself.

"You'll be able to help a lot of people right now." Tsubaki corrected.

Kaya had been looking down at the ground, where dust was being picked up from the storm swirling around her, but now she raised her head resolutely. "Ok, let's do it."

...

..

Orihime worriedly watched as her husband's battle with Kato intensified. Ichigo was releasing a lot of energy. And since he tried not to use his hollow form often, she was worried about how long he could stay in that form. It appeared her worry was founded, because Kato flash stepped above Ichigo and managed to cut off his left horn. Orihime gasped as the mask started to crack. Ichigo flash stepped away, but the damage was already done.

But Orihime had other things to worry about besides her husband. Suddenly, her shield went down. She gasped before glancing to her right and seeing that her fairies were surrounding her daughter.

Tsuyoshi and Akihiro rushed to her side.

"Mom, something is wrong with Kaya." Akihiro's concern was evident in his voice.

Tsuyoshi put up a triangular shield in front of the three. "What are we gonna do?" He asked.

Any answer Orihime would have given was interrupted when Ichigo let out a pain filled scream. She whipped her gaze from her sons to her husband. He was down on his knees clutching his stomach, where Kato had just blasted him with a Kido spell. Kato panted and was bleeding heavily, but he was still standing. He started to stagger toward Ichigo, who was slowly returning to his human form.

"No!" Orihime shouted, starting to run out to her husband although her fairies were still occupied. She was stopped by a strong gust of wind. Orihime lifted her arms to cover her face as Tsuyoshi and Akihiro stayed behind Tsuyoshi's shield. The gust was so strong it blew Ichigo back toward his family and away from Kato. Tsuyoshi temporarily redirected his shield to catch his father.

Orihime felt her fairies return to her hairpins. She immediately started to heal her husband, who was now safely behind Tsuyoshi's shield. Ichigo was beginning to lose consciousness, but he managed to peer at his daughter through the golden healing dome that surrounded him. "What…is she…doing?" He asked his family members.

Orihime worriedly looked at Kaya as well. The youngest Kurosaki was floating and golden energy surrounded her. "I don't know." She finally responded.

The golden light intensified to the point where it was so bright it was painful to look at. Akihiro tried to keep his eyes on Kaya as long as possible, but when his eyes started to burn he was forced to close them.

Kaya had been floating in a state of moderate tranquility, but now her eyes flew open. Instead of their normal green color, her eyes had turned as golden as the power now engulfing her. She let out an ear-piercing scream and the energy began to dissipate from its' concentrated state around her.

Kato and Mayuko threw their hands up to guard themselves from the golden light, but it was futile. Kaya was rejecting their very existence. They were unraveling. Kato looked down at his hands as they began to disappear. "No. No! The Soul King must be destroyed! He is a tyrant! He is not good for Soul Society or your precious material world. Stop what you're doing! You'll regret this. You'll all regret this. NOOO!" Kato's screams cut off abruptly as he completely disappeared.

Kaya dropped to the ground, her sobs loud and heart breaking. Ichigo struggled up to a seated position. "Stop. Let me heal you first." Orihime pleaded.

Ichigo shook his head. "She needs me right now."

Orihime allowed the dome to disappear, and Ichigo staggered over to his only daughter. He knelt beside her and rested his hand on her shoulder. "Kaya."

She launched herself into his arms, and he wrapped his arms around her despite the agonizing pain from his ribs. "Daddy! I didn't mean to kill them. I…I just wanted them to stop. Now, I'm a murderer. I'm a bad person. I'm-"

"Shhh." Ichigo interrupted, rubbing her back comfortingly. "You're not a bad person. You saved a lot of people. Honey, please stop crying. Everything is going to be okay." He wiped some of her tears away as they fell from her eyes.

"Everything is not going to be okay. Ukitake-san-" Kaya stopped and looked around frantically. "Where is Ukitake-san?"

Ichigo frowned. Ukitake's dead body was lying right in front of them. "You don't see him?" He asked hesitantly.

Kaya shook her head no. The Shinigami captain and vice captains started to approach, but Kaya didn't react to them either. Because she couldn't see them.

"Kaya, what did you do?" Ichigo asked gently.

"Tsubaki-kun said it was the Final Koten Zanshun." Kaya explained.

Ichigo felt a whirlwind of emotions at the news that Kaya had lost her powers. But the strongest was relief. She could be normal now. She wouldn't be targeted by psychopaths like the Aizens. He absorbed the news silently.

"Kaya, let's go home." Ichigo finally said.

"Back to the 13th squad barracks?" She asked, her tears beginning to subside.

"No. Home to Karakura." Ichigo looked at the Shinigamis gathered around him. "I'm retiring. I can be a Shinigami Captain when I'm dead. Now, I'm ready to live."

…..

..

.

7 years later

Ichigo loaded the last box into the van. He shut the trunk and wiped some sweat from his brow before heading to the front of the van and hitting the horn several times. "Come on! We're already an hour behind schedule!" Ichigo yelled.

Akihiro appeared at the door first, carrying a backpack and one last box of personal items. He threw his stuff into the car before heading back toward the house.

"What are you doing?" Ichigo asked his eldest.

"Getting some food. It's a long drive to Tokyo." Akihiro replied, disappearing into the house.

Kaya was the next one out the door. The tween was texting on her pink cell phone and she didn't even glance at her father before getting into the car. Ichigo rolled his eyes. She was always on the phone.

Tsuyoshi dragged his feet all the way to the car. "Why do I have to go?" He whined.

Ichigo glared. "Your brother is going to college. Don't you want to see him off?"

Tsuyoshi rolled his eyes. "Not really." He answered before climbing into the van, going to the back and turning on his iPod. Ichigo shook his head. Teenaged Tsuyoshi was a nightmare. He kind of reminded him of himself at his age, but more disrespectful.

Orihime was the next out the door, their two-year-old son Jūshirō in her arms. Jūshirō was named after Captain Ukitake, who they would forever be grateful to. She smiled at her husband and gave him a quick peck, handing the orange-haired baby over.

"And where are you going?" Ichigo asked, shifting Jūshirō onto his hip as his wife headed back inside the house. No one seemed to realize that they were in a hurry.

"I made everyone lunch! I'm just going to put it in some tuber ware and-"

"No!" Ichigo quickly interrupted. She was a wonderful mother and wife, but she always cooked the most disgusting concoctions. Orihime frowned at the vehemence of his denial. "I mean- wouldn't it be fun to stop at a restaurant? How often do we go out to eat? And then dinner in Tokyo!" He finished.

Orihime smiled. "Great idea honey!"

Ichigo smiled too, glad that he had gotten out of eating Orihime's food. Ichigo placed Jūshirō into his car seat, buckling him in and kissing his forehead.

Akihiro returned, chewing on an energy bar. Before the family could finally be on their way, a loud roar sounded. A large hollow approached the car and attempted to take a bite out of it, but his jaws ran into a golden shield. Tsuyoshi had enacted a shield in the nick of time. Meanwhile, spiritually unaware Kaya continued to text.

Ichigo didn't bother changing into his shinigami form. Akihiro could handle this. This was proven when the hollow let out a howl and dissipated. Akihiro landed and smirked cockily. Last hollow kill in Karakura for a while, but soon he would take on Tokyo. He quickly got back into his body and got into the car.

"Hey Dad, can I drive?" Akihiro asked.

"Absolutely not." Orihime responded.

"Come on Mom, I have my license." Akihiro complained.

"You just got your license. And you're still on driving punishment for crashing the motorbike." Ichigo reminded him, backing out of the driveway.

Akihiro crossed his arms irritably. "Well, luckily for me in 5 hours I won't live under your roof and I won't have to follow your rules."

Tsuyoshi scoffed. "Yeah right. They're paying your tuition so you'll still have to listen to their rules."

"No one asked you Tsuyoshi." Akihiro retorted.

Kaya gasped, interrupting what could have turned into another brotherly fight. "Daiki just texted me and asked if I wanted to go to a movie!" She exclaimed giddily.

Ichigo almost crashed the car. "He WHAT?! You're 12! No boys until college!"

"That's not fair! Yoshi-nii has a girlfriend!" Kaya complained.

Orihime gasped. "He does?! Why haven't we met her? Are you embarrassed of us Tsuyoshi-kun?" Orihime was obviously on the verge of tears.

Tsuyoshi groaned. "Thanks Kaya." He said sarcastically.

Ichigo sighed. These kids were going to kill him. Not hollows or arrancars. These kids.

….

..

.

A/N: The End! And finished in less than a year. Probably not a big deal for most, but a record for me! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and alerted!