The Truth is a beautiful and terrible thing and should therefore be treated with great caution-Albus Dumbldore from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Sassi sat on Chad's couch, legs curled underneath her, cup of tea in her hands, processing everything she had just heard. If she didn't know and trust the 4 people in the room with her she would swear they all were on some serious drugs, and needed to be admitted. Either that or just needed to share. Sighing, she looked at Rukia. Now she knew what Ichigo had meant the other day when he said he'd fought her family. To think one's brother could stoop so low. But after hearing the rest, she understood. She didn't agree, but understood. She understood why Ichigo was always watching her as if he was afraid she was going to disappear. He'd watched her disappear from his life once. He'd watched his mother be murdered in front of him by an Arrancar. Sassi didn't think he could stand to lose her again; going two years feeling helpless with no abilities to help his friends, then to have that power restored only to think it had been ripped away by a man he thought he could trust. Then the raven haired young lady beside him made his world right itself by returning his powers to him. Finding out not only was a Shinigami but half a quincy, to have been through so much. She glanced at Uryuu and Orihime sitting on the opposite end of the couch from her. To think that the orange haired young lady had been in so much trouble, seen so much, done so much, but yet still managed to be so innocent. And Uryuu, he'd been through as much as Ichigo. Losing his mother at such a young age, his grandfather raising him, a father that was a stubborn as a mule, being second place to Ichigo for so long over the beautiful woman beside him. Chad, her gentle mexican. To think of him as anything else gave her a headache. But it explained a few things to her. Why he was built like a brick shit house. Why she could punch his shoulder and he never flinch. To think he'd lost his parents because of a hollow. And his grandfather who'd raised him until he died from old age. Her heart broke for her friends. And she did consider them friends, which scared her, until the thought occurred to her that her father would be hard pressed to take her from these people. Maybe she'd finally found a real home. Humming softly, she took a breath. "Ok."

"Ok?" Ichigo asked looking at her incredulity. "Ok? That's all you're going to say?"

Sassi stared at him for a full minute contemplating her answer. "My favorite series of books is Harry Potter, did you know that?" she asked the strawberry, suppressing a grin at his disgruntled look.

"What does a series about a magical boy have to do with anything?"

"Some of my favorite quotes come from the books. One of those says it is my belief that the truth is generally preferable to lies. You guys have never lied to me and I see no reason for you to start now. Believing is the easy part Ichigo. Figuring out where to go from here, now that's difficult." Sassi stated with half a smile.

Ichigo stared at her in disbelief for a moment before chuckling. To think that this woman would know them so well in such a short amount of time. Knowing she was right though, he forced himself to calm down. "So what do you think that hollow was chasing you for?" He asked after a beat.

Sassi leaned her head back against the couch. 'In for a penny, in for a pound.' She thought sadly. It was time to tell them the whole truth but she needed Chad for that. "Let me go see if Chad's awake, then we'll talk." She said setting her cup on the coffee table, moving to stand.

"I'm awake."

All 5 occupants of the room gasped in surprise. None of the spiritually aware had registered his reiatsu had changed signaling he'd woken. They'd been to engrossed trying to make sure they told Sassi the whole truth.

"Geez Chad, way to scare us." Ichigo growled after calming his heart. Orihime and Rukia nodded, while Uryuu pushed his glasses up his nose, glaring at the Mexican in exasperation.

Sassi reached for his hand, ignoring the rest of them for the moment. Her gentle giant may prefer to stay quiet but she knew that he could hold his own. "Did you sleep ok? I know we got loud a few times."

Taking her hand and sitting beside her, he nodded his head in the affirmative. "Yea, I never heard you guys." Glancing at the clock Chad saw it was a little before 4 in the afternoon. He was still tired but he could think on 5 hours of sleep. "Are you ok?"

Sassi nodded shakily. "You timed it perfect. No before you ask, I'm not mad."

Chad nodded, inwardly sighing in relief. Looking at Ichigo, he raised an eyebrow.

Ichigo shook his head in amusement. "Now that our resident giant is here, back to the question at hand. Sassi, any guesses as to why that hollow was chasing you?" He asked again.

Sassi gripped Chad's hand tightly, bowing her head. "I have a hunch." She stated so quietly they had to strain to catch it. "But I could be wrong."

"But you don't think you are?" Rukia asked

Sighing softly, Sassi went to the beginning, tears starting before she even started. "I wasn't born with the name you call me. I wasn't raised like any of you. Sassi Marie Williams isn't my name, at least not really. My real name is Anasky Jaden Marie Williams-Smith. My mother hyphenated her name when she married my father, and so my brothers and I all have the same last names. Yes, I have two brothers; Aaron James and Taylor Brian. Aaron is older than me and Taylor is younger. I was born in the winter and my father hated me from the moment I was born. You see, he wanted all boys. But his luck, his middle child was a girl. I think he feared that any female would end up like my mother. Anyway, when I was 3 was when the first one happened. I saw my uncle die. But my uncle was right in front of me, playing with my brothers. I screamed bloody murder according to my mother. Her and my ma, my father's mother, finally got me calmed down. Convinced me I was asleep and woke up from a nightmare. But my mother was always watching me after that. And my father started beating me. I guess he thought he could beat whatever was wrong with me out of me. 3 days later, my uncle was killed in a drive by at the basketball court that he and a few friends frequented. My father blamed me. Beat me so bad. Told me that if I had just kept my mouth shut, uncle would still be here. He blamed my mother, screaming at her that I was nothing but a freak, like her. He put her through the glass china cabinet door. Glass was everywhere. I remember my mother grabbing as big a piece as she could find and shoving it into my father's leg. She knew that if she didn't get away he'd kill her. She couldn't take us with her. I think she knew that if she did, my father would kill her. The second one was when I was 5. I saw my father's semi explode. Scared I ran and told him. I didn't know what he'd do next. He was drunk, called me a liar, grabbed my hair and dragged me to his room. Told me that only whores told lies and if that was what I was he'd treat me as such. I screamed. Tried to run. He took a belt to my face and told he that if I screamed again he'd kill me. He raped me that night. Again and again. By the time dawn was creeping in the windows I was bloody, bruised, and was never the same. I stopped telling him or anyone when I had the visions. But he always knew. And every time he realized I'd had another he'd rape me again. After a time I think he got tired of waiting for a vision, and he'd have his way with me for the hell of it. I always cried. Always begged him not too. When I was 15, I figured out I could run. So I moved in with my grandparents, his mom and dad. Aaron was already there. And for that I was grateful. My father wouldn't dare to touch me around my brothers. Never had. But I figured out that my father got the beating side from my grandfather. Gramps was always strict. More so than my father. He'd smack me for not having the house clean, and dinner ready when he and Ma got home from work, for not having my homework done, for not being up and having breakfast ready. Aaron would protect me as best he could but Gramps would do the same, so I made him back off. I thought I could handle it myself. And for a while I did. But my Ma. God, I love that woman. If she was home or saw Gramps try to smack me she would fly in his face and tell him that if he laid a finger on me she'd beat him. He always would walk away. He never would touch her. I found out when I was 19 it was because he'd went to hit her one to many times and she knocked him out defending herself. Told him that if he ever tried to hit her again she'd castrate him. I think he took it to heart, she has been an RN for almost 30 years at the point. When I turned 16, I'd had enough. I made a plan to get out of there when I turned 21. I graduated high school while taking college courses, with a 4.2 GPA. I finished college while working as an EMT Paramedic at one of the local companies. When I turned 21 I had everything I needed to leave, and so I did. Not without incident. When I moved to Texas, I had a bruise the size of my father and gramps hand on my face. I stayed there 3 months. In those 3 months my mother explained to me that the ability to see had went back in the females of her family for generations. She explained that I could learn to control it. I just had to focus. So I learned as much as I could from my mother. Unfortunately, I had to leave after 3 months because my father was harassing my mother and I. He was calling us at all times, he had even drove down a few times that I know of to try and force me to move back with him. I was at work and my mother refused to tell him where I worked. I don't think I hated my father more than when he forced me to live my life on the run. I have lived in all the major cities in the US and they couldn't hide me from my paternal family. So I made the decision to move across the ocean to Japan, here in Karakura Town. I changed my name, altered my appearance slightly, and am hoping that it's enough to keep me safe. Only my brothers know about the move, they just don't know where. " She finished on a whisper, hoping that they wouldn't think less of her. Praying that the man beside her wouldn't be repulsed now that he knew the whole story.

Chad stared at the woman in shock. He knew that there was more than what she had told him over a month ago. Knew that her father had hurt her. Knew it, but now he wanted to know why. Why would a father do that to his daughter? Why would he hurt her so bad? He had a feeling that he would never get the why. Glancing at Ichigo, he knew that if her father ever made an appearance here, his life would be forfeit.

Unfortunately, Chad didn't have the heart to Ichigo he'd never get the chance because he'd do it first.

Ichigo had felt the blood drain from his face just a few words into her story. Had felt the anger rise. He was so angry, anger for her, anger at her family. But mostly he was disappointed. Disappointed that someone who was supposed to love a child could ever hurt one like that. Glancing at the other two on the opposite end of the couch, he could feel the anger coming off his cousin, and tearing were coming out of Orihime's eyes as Uryuu held her. Looking to left, towards the midget he was shocked to find her making her way to Sassi.

"Look at me Sassi." Rukia said kneeling in front of her friend, grasping the hand that wasn't in Chad's. The raven haired woman's heart was breaking for her brown haired friend. When Sassi had raised her eyes slightly, Rukia spoke, "You did nothing wrong. You are very special and I am so, so sorry that you went through all of that. If I could take away all the hurt that was done to you I would, but I can't. Not one of us can. But we can be your friends, and new family if you let us."

Sassi felt the tears start to flow harder, and despite trying to stop them she couldn't. So she settled for the next best thing. She leaned forward and placed her forehead on Rukia's shoulder to hide her face and let the tears flow. She didn't sob, didn't make any noise, just let the tears fall. One thing she was sure of, since coming to Karakura, she'd done a lot of crying. Feeling Chad's hand that still held hers tighten she decided it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Master, I believe we have found her. At least traces of her." A female voice carried across the dark void. Seeming to step out of the nothingness, a brilliant red haired woman appeared.

"You'd better be right in your calculations, Thana." A sinister male voice sounded from the shadows as a blonde man appeared. "The last time you "found traces" she wasn't there."

"Shut up, Azazel. My Intel was not faulty. She had already moved from those places." The one called Thana answered. "Her father continues to chase her."

"Thana, Azazel, you will watch her. Test her from a distance, use the hollow scum." A third voice sounded, "She will be ours. We will have the line of seers for us. We will use her to show us the way into the Seireitei, we will destroy the Shinigami from the inside out, and we will decimate the hollows. Then the world will be ours." A wicked smile formed on the face still hidden in shadows.