'She bit me.' Renji scoffed disbelievingly as his fingers caressed his lower lip. 'I can't believe she bit me. And right after that, she ran right into your arms.' he hissed bitterly at Ichigo, who was standing opposite him with his arms crossed over his chest defensively. Amber eyes glared at the redhead with a challenging arrogance, but Ichigo remained silent. He didn't want to say anything he would regret later. 'Why aren't you saying anything, Ichigo? What does your smart ass have to say about what just happened?'

'Enough, Renji.' Byakuya interjected. 'Have that conversation in private. At this moment, we must discuss how to best proceed in our current situation.'

'No, Captain!' the lieutenant protested before pointing accusingly at the Quincy-shinigami hybrid. 'This bastard better explain what just happened between him and my wife!'

'Abarai-kun...' Shunsui, who was the only man amongst the four present who was seated, rubbed his face. Having witnessed Rukia's unmistakable rejection of Renji, he knew that this outburst was going to happen. Any man would be rightfully scorned after being shunned by his wife, and having that same woman that he loved so much running off into another man's arms with a sparkle in her eye that was hard to miss.

Renji, Byakuya, and Shunsui haven't seen Rukia's face light up like that for a long time. Frankly speaking, Renji was confident that he had stomped her fire out on the day they married each other. He wanted her spark to die out because that flame always brought her back to Ichigo's side. Without that passionate vitality, Renji could rest assured that his wife wouldn't long to be by Ichigo's side.

Rukia was over Ichigo. Nothing had become of them and nothing would ever become of them. The term soulmates was nothing more than a highly romanticized exaggeration of a mediocre friendship between two people of the opposite sex. The "bond" between Ichigo and Rukia was nothing but polite gratitude towards one another, concealed and embellished with longing gazes that meant nothing beneath the surface.

Right?

Leave it up to Ichigo to prove him wrong.

'Well, Ichigo?!' Renji snarled. 'Care to explain what the fuck just happened?!'

'You saw what happened.' Ichigo snapped back, unafraid to meet Renji's aggression with his own. It's not like he did anything wrong. If Renji was going to throw a fit because of his jealousy at a time when everyone should be pooling together to save Rukia... Well, Ichigo wasn't going to entertain that. He was all too ready to smack Renji on the head and demand that the redhead get his shit together.

'Yeah, I did.' the lieutenant was seeing red. 'So are you gonna explain or do I have to beat it out of you?'

'You couldn't beat me if you came at me with a million blades.' Ichigo took a menacing step towards Renji, and Byakuya cleared his throat as though to warn the two idiots not to start anything.

'Don't test me, Ichigo.' Renji chuckled humourlessly. 'I might want to take you up on that bet.'

'You're welcome to do so any fucking time.'

'We can get right into that as soon as you tell me what you've been doing with my wife!'

Ichigo rolled his eyes and raised his hands up in surrender before he allowed them to fall to his sides. 'You know what, Renji? Fine. Think whatever you want about me, but don't you imply that Rukia's that type of woman! She'd never go behind your back!'

'I have faith in my wife - it's you I don't trust! Rukia's self-control is the only thing stopping you two from fucking each other!'

'You know what?' Ichigo's lips tightened a thin line. 'Alright. Say what you want. Let it all out - you obviously have a lot of feelings you need to voice. But if you think you're gonna get a reaction out of me, you're wrong. I'm too much of a man to play into your boyish taunts.'

'Yeah, some big guy you are, lusting over my woman when you have your own!'

'Way to downplay my feelings for her, Renji! As if what I feel for her is just simple, apathetic lust!' Ichigo growled and Shunsui groaned in the background as both Renji and Byakuya's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Flabbergasted, Renji could do nothing but hang his jaw open as Ichigo carried on with his half-intentional confession. 'You know that she means more to me than that! She's not just a body. It's not just about her body! It's her soul, her heart that I-'

'Don't-' Shunsui objected weakly, knowing that if Ichigo continued, it would absolutely break Renji.

'I love her! I love everything about her, I want all of her; her heart, her soul, her body, I love and want it all!' Ichigo fumed.

At those words, Renji's fist met Ichigo's cheek sharply. Shunsui made no effort to stand up, but Byakuya quickly darted behind Renji to subdue his subordinate by grabbing his arms. Renji struggled with all his strength, but Byakuya's grip was stronger than steel. Unable to physically fight with his might, Renji yelled with all the pain that he couldn't express in blows, 'Nice of you to finally admit it, you bastard! So what did you do, huh?! Did you fuck her?! Did you guys have a good laugh behind my back, huh?!'

Ichigo's eyes were dark and downcast. His gaze was glued to the floor and he was glad that his face was stinging from the impact of Renji's knuckles, otherwise he might have never been able to think straight. Renji's accusation brought back memories of Ichigo's first lifetime with Rukia. The shinigami residing in the human world thought about the day she first appeared to him; her hair was short and she had a silvery sheen on her skin. Her wings were huge and he remembered that they frightened him in the beginning.

Where were her wings now? Could she use them to fly back to his side?

'Did you fuck her, Ichigo?!'

'Yeah...' he answered without thinking. The entire room fell silent, but Ichigo was defeated by the thunderous pounding of his heart. He knew what he was about to admit, to reveal - and he didn't give a damn. Now that he recalled everything, he wasn't going to shy away from a destiny that he wanted. From now on, no matter what happened or how insecure he felt, he was going to fight to make Rukia happy.

He knew that she wasn't happy up there. She never was. She was happy down here, by people that understood her, by her family, by her accomplishments as a member of the Gotei 13, by his side-

Ichigo stiffened.

She could never be by his side now. They were both married to different people.

'Ichigo.' Renji's tone was ominous. 'What do you mean by that?'

'I meant, yeah.' the king of the past said louder, more proudly. He finally turned his face to look at Renji dead in the eye. 'I made love to Rukia a long time ago. When I was still myself. Before I was torn away from her.'

Hearing the implication in Ichigo's words, Shunsui perked up. His icy demeanour cracked. Sure, he had read about Ichigo and Rukia's past in the hidden documents, but it was a surreal experience to actually hear it, to see Ichigo's face change as he spoke about the forsaken love between himself and his long lost love.

The passion in Ichigo's gaze was hard to ignore.

Smouldering ambers were almost scalding as they burned with the intensity of a newborn sun, as though he was starting to see his new life as a second chance to be with the woman he had lost a thousand years ago. The Ichigo before Rukia found him again was dull and depressed, a half to a whole that was ripped apart cruelly in the midst of war.

And now, in war once more, would those two souls be able to find each other?

Shunsui hoped so.

'I love Rukia.' Ichigo confessed, and the world started to spin on its axis again. 'I love her more than anything, but I failed her. I've never been with her in this new body, but our souls never separated after we consummated our love the first time. She's your wife, Renji. I can't do anything about that. She chose you. She loves you now. I can't take that away from you, but you can't take away what I have with her either. I love her. She wouldn't betray you. She's not that kind of woman. But I love her still, and I won't ever stop loving her.'

'Consummated your love?' Renji choked, barely fighting off tears. Byakuya let go of his arms. 'What the fuck does that mean? You... Did you-'

Ichigo inhaled deeply.

He had some explaining to do.

'Rukia and I met a long time ago, in our first lifetime.' Ichigo admitted. 'Back then, I was this bigshot king... And Rukia came to me from Heaven, the same Heaven that's taken her now. We fell in love with each other. That was when I... When we made love. We were supposed to have a baby, but...' he trailed off and shut his eyes. 'I couldn't protect her. Worse, I destroyed her. I took what we had and crushed it with my own hands. I don't deserve her, I know that. But at the very least, let me protect her. Because of me, Rukia's suffered. Even though I love her, I've caused her pain. That's why for as long as I live, I'll try to ease her pain just a little. No matter what happens to me, I won't let anything happen to her.'

After concluding his unexpected speech, Ichigo held Renji's gaze with steel-strong resolve. Byakuya studied the young man's eyes and nodded subconsciously in approval - Ichigo was strong again. No longer was he the unexciting, complacent human who aimlessly went about his mundane life. There was fire in him again - the blazing heat of heroes.

He was once more the man Rukia made him.

'Well, after that, we can't just throw you to the sidelines as a spectator! We respect your feelings.' Shunsui stood up and placed a hand on Renji's shoulder, giving him a firm squeeze. 'Right, Abarai-kun?'

Renji hung his head in defeat.

'Abarai-kun?' Shunsui repeated, squeezing harder.'

'... you too.' the redhead mumbled incoherently, and all three men around him leaned in to try and catch what he had said, but to no avail.

'Hey...' Ichigo frowned. 'What did you say?'

'I said, she loves you too.' Renji whispered.

Shellshocked, Ichigo's jaw dropped. Bittersweet emotion coiled around his heart, delivering a dull ache to his chest that reached his eyes. They reddened and watered as his mouth contorted as though he wanted to speak, but no words came out. He couldn't find his voice. He couldn't even look at Renji straight anymore. All his senses took him back to a thousand memories of Rukia; from her soft gaze to her backhanding him when he was being stupid to the sensation of her small body writhing underneath him.

Ichigo's hands clenched into fists at his sides.

Byakuya intervened. 'Kurosaki Ichigo, if it is your intention to go after Rukia, you must find a way to enter Heaven.'

'That...' Shunsui piped up. '... is information Aizen's going to give us! Shall we all pay him a visit?'

'And... There... We... Go!' Orihime squeaked as the senkaimon dropped her off right where she wanted to be: The Muken. Her chipper attitude in the beginning was lost once she faced forward and realized that absolutely nothing awaited her except darkness.

That, and the prince of darkness himself.

'Oh, Orihime.' Sousuke Aizen smiled, his voice as chilling as a serpent's slither in the pitch black. 'I was expecting you.'

Orihime stiffened and her heartbeat quickened as if she were being chased by a pack of wolves. She was rooted to her spot, but her insides were quaking with anxiety. The nightmarish memories of her days of captivity in Hueco Mundo were still fresh in her mind, impervious to the healing nature of time, and Sousuke's voice was more than enough of a trigger to bring all those horrid thoughts to the surface. Suddenly, she was fifteen again, scared for her life.

Even though she was supposed to have come here with strength.

'E-Expecting me?' she stammered without meaning to.

Sousuke let out a throaty chuckle. 'Why, of course. Kurosaki Ichigo is here, and I knew you'd be hot on his trail like a lost lamb.'

'I'm not a lost lamb! It's not like that. I came here to protect-'

'Him? From what, exactly? I'm sure you have enough common sense in you to comprehend that where he intends to go, you cannot follow nor would he want you to follow. You both have a child together. With you here, who does that child have to rely on? And if by some lapse in judgement, you brought that child here, your husband would be cross with you for bringing his son into the crossfire.'

'I know that.' a lick of insecurity ran up her spine and she shivered at the sensation. 'I know all of that, but still... I have to protect him. He might not understand me now, but I need to be of some use to him. So he doesn't get hurt, so he doesn't lose his way-'

'Lose his way?' Sousuke roared with laughter. 'As though he hasn't lost his way these past ten years?!'

'You're wrong! Ichigo's wanted nothing more than to be normal, to be just another human being with a family! He hates not being normal-'

'Do you buy that? Do you honestly buy that? The same man who was completely torn when he was powerless for seventeen months is the same man who longs for normalcy?'

Orihime covered her ears. 'S-Stop! You're just trying to make me... You just... Don't talk!'

'What's wrong, Orihime? A nice girl like you shouldn't be screaming in such an unsightly manner. I'm sure you scream prettily for Ichigo. It's a shame that you're not the woman he wants to hear those screams from, hmm?'

'Don't say it!' she screeched and the very walls of the Muken shook with her denial. The mental torture of picturing the love of her life with the woman she envied most burned every sentient fibre of her being. Her heart instantaneously broke into a million pieces and her gut hollowed. Shaking legs brought her to her knees and tears flowed uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes. Just like that, as if by magic, Sousuke had completely broken the poor girl down to a crying mess on the floor. He gloated to himself with glee. Even though he was bound by his seal, he noted with pride that he didn't need to move an inch to get his targets to grovel at his feet.

She was just too easy.

Orihime wasn't intentionally malicious and although she meant well, she often failed to do well. Her good intentions were often laced with feelings of jealousy and resentment, providing fertile ground for Sousuke to manipulate to his advantage.

'You yell at me as though I'm the source of your worries.' Sousuke sighed. 'When in reality, the reason you're upset is because your husband's heart belongs to someone else.'

'That's not true.' she mumbled. 'He swore, in front of the priest, in front of everyone, that he was going to stay with me until death do us part.'

'Even if he stays with you, that doesn't mean that he loves you.'

'No.' she insisted, her tears falling on her knuckles. 'He loves me. I know he does. He promised. He swore-'

'To his soul, that he'd protect her.'

Orihime choked on nothing.

'That's why...' Sousuke mercilessly continued. 'He's going to where she is, even if it's far, far away from you. Even if he never sees you again, or even if he has to leave everything behind - he's going to where she is, to where you can't ever reach him. Not without my help, anyway.'

Her head snapped up when he said that, and there was a glimmer of something akin to hope in her tearful eyes. 'You can help me?'

'If you help me.'

'What...?'

'You see, I use to have the ability to access that place where your husband wants to reach. Furthermore, Orihime, I have so desperately wanted to return to that place for so long. The destruction I caused in Hueco Mundo and in the world of the living was all so I could become powerful enough to return to where I came from. If you help me, I will bring you with me. I won't come back here, I won't cause anyone you know any more harm. I simply want to return home, Orihime, and in exchange, I'll provide you with the opportunity to bring your friend back yourself and satisfy Ichigo's desire to protect her.'

'But how do you intend on doing that tied to that chair?' she asked cautiously. Her eyes studied him for a while, but it didn't take long for her to be starry-eyed with naivety.

'Undo my seal.'

'How do I know you're not lying?'

'You don't. But you don't really have a choice.'

Perhaps it was the urgency of the situation, or maybe it was the adrenaline rushing through her, but Orihime didn't think twice when she rushed over to Sousuke and activated her Rikka on him.

It took all of Sousuke's self-control not to jump for joy then and there. It didn't take a lot of convincing for his poor pawn to buy into his bullshit. He thought that there would be some sort of resistance, but he wasn't complaining. It truly baffled him how selfish human beings could be: For the sake of her grudge, Orihime was willing to set a legendary evil loose.

When she finally managed to get rid of all his seals, he stood up and gave her a wicked grin. She still hadn't realized that she made a mistake. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to fulfil a promise that he had no intention of honouring.

'Thank you, Orihime.' his tone was mockingly sweet. 'Now, if you'll excuse me-'

'Aizen!' Ichigo, accompanied by Renji, Byakuya, and Shunsui, growled as he burst into the Muken. Ambers fell to Orihime, and surprise etched Ichigo's handsome features, but his heart quickly galloped into anger. 'Orihime, why are you here?! Why-' his eyes widened, and his brows furrowed so tensely that they might actually stay screwed that way. 'Where's Kazui?! Who's with him?! How-'

'Don't worry!' she beamed at him. 'It'll be alright! I'm going to get Rukia back, then you and I can go home!'

'No!' Ichigo couldn't run to Sousuke quickly enough. The rest of his companions were right behind him, but none were as fast as him. 'I can't believe you'd do this! How could you go behind my back?! Do you know what you've done?!'

'Don't worry, you guys can talk about it.' Sousuke sneered as dark light extended from his back in appendages, twirled, then burst into magnificent wings. 'I think it's time to make my exit.' he smirked and a circle of electric, violet light shone at his feet.

'You're not going anywhere!' Ichigo lunged forward with unexpected speed, grabbed onto one of Sousuke's arms, and was thus subject to the effects of that same light.

'No! Don't-' Sousuke cried out, but it was useless.

He wasn't the only one who was going to be knocking on Heaven's door.

A/N: Thank you to everyone supporting this story! I'm so sorry that it's taken such a long time. For those of you who follow my other stories, please go on my profile page as I have an important message. For those of you who have already seen it and sent me messages: Thank you. I replied to all of you, but I want to say in this note as well that I appreciate all the warmth and encouragement. I overwhelmed myself and I think the best thing to do is cut my losses and move forward with whole-hearted commitment to the stories that I have honestly thought about, or collaborated on to its meat.

Another reason why updating this story took a while is because I've been dating whether or not to add in any OCs. On one hand, it would allow me to flesh out all the bits and pieces of Heaven as a world, but I also don't want to overcrowd the cast. Bleach has a large enough cast as is. I still haven't come to a decision, but I hope that this will be clearer to me as I write the incoming chapters.

Thank you to NieveDrop, RukiYuki, shirayukideathberry, achalida, onlyluna, jobananasan, Cate-Deriana, Kidzin, and the Guest reviewers!

Thanks so much, everyone!

Working hard on the next chapter for you guys!