The stark white walls welcomed him back as he stepped out of the Garganta. He had never been so happy to be back inside the walls of Los Noches, he could tell the difference between these walls and the walls of the mental asylum now. They passed a single window that looked over the sands of Hueco Mundo.

"You will be safe here, prince" Yuzuki said.

"I believe I was promise the full explanation of the events. Was it by pure chance that I just happened to pick you two to become Espadas? Who exactly is after me?"

"In a way, you picking us to become Espadas was up to chance. We would have protected you regardless if we were Espadas or not. As for who is after you" Yuzuki said.

"Shut up, he doesn't need to know everything" Norio said.

"That was an order, Nori. You can't disobey a direct order."

"It is due to the Order of Darkness. We believe that they are working with a group called Wandenreich" Gin started. Before Ichigo could asked, the man continued. "They are a group of Quincy that have survived the war."

So Uryu wasn't the last Quincy. That would have been true in his past reality, but in this one, his mother lived. "Go on" Ichigo got out.

"We have no true evidence of the partnership, but it seems like something both groups would do to protect themselves. The leader of Wandenreich is Juha Bach. Not much is known about the group, I am telling you all that I myself know" Gin got out.

"Why would this Juha Bach want me dead?"

"You are the rightful heir to the throne, Ichi. Juha Bach wants to destroy the Soul Society. The Order of Darkness or the Dark Veil must want something similar."

Ichigo allowed the information to sink in. He allowed himself to follow Yuzuki as she led them through the identical pathways of Los Noches. Soon she stopped in front of a door and opened it. Ichigo's breath caught as he saw his family inside the room.

The room was big and had at least some color within the walls and floors. Chairs and couches were arranged around the room to make it seem like a gathering room. Ichigo felt a little sick as he realized the room looked a lot like the big gathering room within the Asylum. "Ichigo" Yuzu said running and throwing her arms around him. Ichigo had to let go of Aizen's hand to hug her back. He quickly let go as he looked over each member of his family.

"We brought them here to keep them safe" Yuzuki said, Norio seemed to have a form of a scowl on his face as he went to take his position by the door.

"What's going on" Yuzu got out.

Ichigo looked over at his mother and his father. Isshin was trying to avoid eye contact, his mother offered him a sad smile. Ichigo noticed one more member in the room that was not a part of his family, Toshiro was sitting on one of the couches.

"I offered to go along with them" Toshiro said looking briefly up at Ichigo.

"I see" Ichigo said. "Thank you, I guess. I am still a little confused about all of this. Why would Los Noches be safe when the Seireitei was not?"

"It is because it was built for you" Norio offered from his place by the door.

Aizen sighed, the man didn't look too happy about being part of someone else's plan. "What will happen to my friends" he got out.

"Eventually those who were chosen will be able to access this place, your Quincy friend will have a major part to play."

"Huh?"

"My son was offered a place in the Sternritter" Ryuken said. Ichigo hadn't noticed the older Quincy man.

"Ryuu" Masaki said looking at the man. "I still don't think it was a good idea to have him try to win their trust like that."

"It was the only way, and Uryu even said he was up for it. He said it was for the pride of the Quincy. "

Ichigo groaned at the new information being given to him. He sank down onto one of the couches, Aizen took up his place next to him. Ichigo leaned his head on the other man's lap, he didn't care that everyone was staring at him. His head hurt so much and he just needed to relax a little bit. "So we're at war now, is the best way to say it" Ichigo got out, he had to force himself not to add something about another war happening. He felt like he had just got done fighting the war with Aizen. He no longer knew what was real and what wasn't.

"Yes" Toshiro said.

"Anyways, there are two sides. There will be those who come here, they are special in some way to various type of missions. Then ya have those who will stay to defend the Seireitei. Don't worry Ichi, Karakura is being protected, but not by a team."

Ichigo looked up at Gin. "Are you the mastermind behind this?"

"I can't take all the credit Ichi. "

Ichigo was about to say something when the door opened and Ulquiorra lead in a group. Ichigo looked over the group. Orihime was there, she seemed shaken up about something. Chad walked shortly behind her, Rukia was doing her best to try to comfort Orihime. Renji was walking close behind them near Byakuya. Kisuke and Yoruichi were part of the group this time. Ichigo also noticed that Momo was once again present, Rangiku by her side. Squad eleven seemed to be missing this time.

"Ran" Gin said brightening up as he looked at Rangiku.

Rangiku offered him a smile, but her eyes was haunted. Ichigo looked away, he felt like he was interrupting a private moment.

Ulquiorra closed the door after everyone had entered the room.

"Ichigo, Uryu he" Orihime got out.

"He will be fine, I trust Uryu" he said.

"Look like I almost missed the party" Grimmjow said as he came into the room.

"Wonderful, you found this place" Ulquiorra said in his monotone voice.

"Grimmjow is fine, it is probably best if he does know what is discussed here" Ichigo said looking over at Grimmjow. He felt like he had become closer to the sexta. Ichigo winced as pain shot through his skull. This reality was somehow too real for his liking. Why did war always have to follow him around?

Darkness surrounded him.

"Ichigo!" Orihime got out, she was running towards him.

Aizen held his hand up to stop Orihime. "He is fine" he got out.

"How would you know that?" Isshin got out glaring at Aizen.

"Various reasons, but the one being, I would know if he was truly hurt. I have been around him enough when he blacks out and goes into this trance like state."

Gin sighed. "He is right, ya know. So Captain Aizen, did he go back there?"

Aizen shook his head "mental scape this time. " He didn't know how he knew it, but he would never admit it out loud. He wondered if Katsu had something to do with this.

"Gin, are you sure every member is safe" Aizen got out as he realized he himself was wary of a certain member in the room.

Gin nodded. "Everyone is safe, everyone is real. Ichi could feel it too."

Ichigo groaned as he felt something impact into his side. His eyes opened vaguely and just in time so he was able to roll over on his side to avoid another hit. He looked up to see his inner hollow, the insane grin on his face. "Finally you wake up, King. I was getting inpatient."

"I could tell. Why am I here?"

He stood up so he could fight his inner hollow if it came down to it. "Where is old man Zangetsu?" Ichigo made sure to refer to the man who he knew as Zangetsu as the old man Zangetsu, because he didn't want his inner hollow proving another point. Here he was alone and the inner hollow may take advantage of that.

"Tell him everything" Katsu's voice echoed around the skyscrapers that was his inner world. Ichigo saw old man Zangetsu as he seemed to appear.

"The boy knows mostly everything" Zangetsu said.

"Tell him everything" Katsu said.

"How are you in here?" Katsu gave him an all knowing look, so that is probably how Aizen got that look.

"We are one, Ichigo. You let me in here, if you walk that way" he said point towards the north. "You will come across my inner world or rather your past inner world. You may need to go talk to Shinokagami after you are done here."

"Would someone like to explain why I was brought here?"

"Zangetsu" Katsu said.

"You are aware how your mother is a Quincy. Well because of that you inherited her Quincy powers, I am the embodiment of those powers, not your Zanpakutō. "

Ichigo looked at Zangetsu. "But you helped me" he got out.

"He used my powers, King. I am your zanpakutō not him."

"Ichigo, you needed to realize this much. That is part of why Wandenreich is after you. As for the Dark Veil they are after you because they want your power as well. We are one, after all Ichigo. Come here" Katsu said. Ichigo looked at him but stepped forward.

Katsu yanked him closer when he deemed he was not close enough. His hands never leaving his own. "If we are going to defeat both Wandenreich and the Dark Veil, we need to combine our memories. "

"But I saw your memories, before. So did Sōsuke. "

"No not all of them, open up to me, allow me in fully." Ichigo didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. The memories began to flood into his mind, combining with his own. His head felt like it was exploding. The mental asylum flashed into his mind again.

Katsu took in a sharp breath, the memories stopped. "The mental asylum was real, perhaps not in Karakura Town, but it was real… once. The people you saw there, were real but not exactly at the time the asylum was real. The man you call the imposter Kisuke is the one who made that experience for you. Sōsuke wasn't lying when he told you his Bankai, but that wasn't the man's Bankai. That was a mirror world made up by the Dark Veil. Their goal was for you to remember who you were, and either realize the mistake that was made so long ago or so that we could both be killed. However Gin's involvement wasn't exactly called for. That is how we were able to take advantage of the moment."

"This mirror you're talking about, why did I see the people I did there?"

"The mirror combined our two worlds in a way, however think of it more as a trap. That you almost gave into, by the way. By accepting what you saw was real, that was giving up. By not fighting you were giving in and if you had given in and just taken it and had not had Gin helping you, the door might not have just taken you out of the world."

"So the door was the key all along" he got out.

Katsu nodded. "If you find yourself in that place again, go to the door regardless if you have Gin there or not. Kisuke lead you to the door in hopes that it would swallow you up. Grimmjow although he was supposed to be doing the same thing was somehow changed by coming into contact with you as was that world's Sōsuke. "

"The dream about something bad happening behind that door, Sōsuke told me that."

Katsu nodded "I had feelings for Sōsuke, and you had your own feelings. Though at the time those feelings was very confusing to you that must have been what happened. Meaning the only other person you were able to change in anyway was Grimmjow, you have some sort of feelings for that man. Seeing how many times you fought the man, I can see how you developed some sort of bond with him. "

"You said that the place was real once" Ichigo said attempting to change the conversation frp, where it was going. Katsu gave a small nod.

"I was always rare when it came to Shinigami, no one else remembered who they were, but I did. They were only flashes of my human life, but they were real they existed. That place was where I died, the door to be more exact. I later figured out why I could remember who I was, if only pieces. "

"You ran away, why?"

"The palace just wasn't where I wanted to be. I always wanted to get out and go to Rukon. Rukon wasn't known for the best of life, but they didn't have rules. I went there, the man you didn't see that was chasing Sōsuke and me in the memory before was a royal guard. Sōsuke thought something else, and instantly protected me. I got him involved without truly meaning to. The palace wouldn't have bene that bad, if I had the people around me. Remember that."

"What the hell are you doing to him" Isshin got out as a cry of pain left Ichigo's lips.

Aizen could not answer, before Ichigo's eyes opened. "Welcome back."

"Most painful experience of my life, but I got my answers" Ichigo whispered. Ichigo sighed as he could feel everyone's eyes on him.

"Ichigo, are you hurt" Orihime got out going towards him.

"I'm fine, promise. No wounds you can heal" he got out as he sat up slowly and switched to leaning against Aizen's shoulder.

"What did you see" Gin was the one who spoke.

"All the memories, Katsu explained to me what you could not" he said realizing just how crazy he sounded.

Gin nodded. "So you have all of his memories" Aizen got out looking over Ichigo.

"Yeah you could say that, I also realized some other things" he got out. I will tell you those in our room, Ichigo thought to Aizen.

Aizen's eyes went wide as he looked at him. He had a feeling only he could see Aizen's surprise, he slowly nodded. Aizen pulled his closer. How?

The word was simply, but Ichigo could hear Aizen's voice in his mind. We are connected, well you were connected in your own way to Katsu. Then you formed a connection with me when we were fighting in the fake Karakura Town. That is the only place I figured that we formed a connection prior. Then of course our night, which could have resulted in the connection and not the fighting. Ichigo found he enjoyed having this inner connection to Aizen, even if the man found it odd still.

Tell me what you learned, before we get to our room. We may not be leaving this one for a while.

Ichigo sighed out loud, it was quiet and could look like he was reacting to other things. I found out why the asylum happened. It was a mirror that the imposter was using and not you're Bankai. There was a door in the asylum and it was both a way out and a trap. It just depended on how my mind frame was, that is why it always allowed me to come back to you. The you in that world, was supposed to have a role to play, but I somehow changed that version of you. Katsu included you without meaning to, you helped him to escape his royal guard the man who was chasing him when you first saw him in Rukon.

Aizen kept a calm mask to everyone else, but Ichigo could see how shocked he was by looking into his eyes. Ichigo pulled him into a kiss, he could feel everyone watching him. He didn't care anymore.

Gin cleared his throat. "Ichi, should we allow you to leave this room?"

"Nawh Gin I'm fine here" Ichigo got out. He knew what he was doing. Aizen kissed him this time, he could feel that the man knew what he was doing without being told.

"Master Ichigo, why don't you retire to your room?" Yuzuki was trying hard not to look at them, but her eyes kept wondering towards the two males kissing on the couch. Ichigo could feel her eyes, he knew it was her looking after all.

"I will keep you up to date on what goes on here" Gin got out.

Ichigo got up off the couch after pulling away from the kiss. "That sounds fair" he said. Aizen allowed him to pull his up and out of the room.

"I think they just conned us" Renji said. Ichigo could hear his friend's voice even as the door shut behind them.

Aizen walked beside him as they left the hallway that led away from the meeting room. Ichigo couldn't help the small smirk appear on his face.

"You enjoyed that didn't you?"

"Of course, first of all it is so unlike me. So it shocks everyone, plus I got to kiss you. I enjoy kissing you after all. Not to mention the fact that they knew I did that, that I am capable of it."

"That seemed more like Katsu then you, but" Aizen started.

"We are one and the same, and now I have all of his memories inside of me. Not to mention him in my inner world, but that is a different story all together. It is bound to affect me somehow."

"I can live with those sort of changes though, not sure if I can live with being submissive, but we will have to figure something out."

You enjoyed it and you know it.

Aizen looked at him when he did not speak out loud but rather in his head. He enjoyed that look a little too much, maybe Katsu was affecting his behavior a little too much. "Come on, we aren't going to our room yet. I want to show you something first."

Ichigo allowed the man to take the lead, but something didn't fit in. "If Katsu changed things, and we were both somehow in the Soul Society. How is this place still the same?"

"I thought about that myself, it seems this place does not change when the Soul Society and the world of the living does." Aizen had stopped at a door and turned it, it opened.

Ichigo saw a room he had not been in before. This room had a balcony that looked out at the sands of Hueco Mundo. Though the room itself looked like no room Ichigo had ever seen before.

"Think of it as my second room" Aizen got out. Ichigo went towards the balcony looking out onto the sand dunes of Hueco Mundo. "No one knows what is behind this door, meaning we can use it as a hideout from the hideout" Aizen said coming to join Ichigo on the balcony.

"Good idea. You know what when I first came here to rescues Orihime from you, I never thought I would find Hueco Mundo pretty. I know that sounds odd, but now looking at the landscape like this, it feels odd."

"I know what you mean. It has a strange beauty behind it. So did you tell me everything you found out?"

"No, there is more. The Wandenreich wants me because of my Quincy side and the Dark Veil wants me for my powers as a whole. Oh and Katsu remembers who he was when he was human."

"That is impossible."

"Well he does because of some special gifts from being the prince. I sort of wonder who you were when you were alive, Sōsuke." Ichigo saw flashes of something before his eyes when he looked at Aizen. He blinked. "What the hell was that?"

"Care to explain" Aizen got out.

Ichigo bit his lip. "Random images that I am assuming are memories. They occurred after I said that and when I looked at you."

"I see, so it seems if that means anything that you may be able to see who I was when I was alive."

"It is nice to know that I have that power now, but although I curious, it might change things."

"Allow it to play and if you happen to be able to allow me to see it, I would love to see it."

"Really? Even if it is bad?"

"Yeah, but nothing will leave this room."

Ichigo guided Aizen over to the bed, thankfully this room had a bed. If this as going to happen, he may need the bed later.

"Nothing leaves this room" he got out grabbing Aizen hands like Katsu had done to him. He closed his eyes and focused on the man who he loved. He felt a pull and then there was a bright light. He hoped this work.