Three months later
Ichigo sat meditating under a large cherry tree in his uncle's back yard. His outward appearance seemed calm and tranquil but inside a battle was raging.
"King, are you done hiding? I am tired of this shit! It has rained here for months, I'm so water logged that if you ring me out I could turn the Sahara into a jungle!"
"Shiro, I'm not hiding. Not anymore, I am just enjoying the peace and calm. Is it wrong that I am in no rush to return to the mess I made at home?"
"Ichigo, you need to confront the issues you are avoiding. Go home, see him and talk to him. At least call the man! He has sent the same message every day for three months. You are still in love with him; he is still living here after all."
"Do something! Make up with him or get over him! I am ready to kill that damn cat! He won't leave me alone! I do not cuddle!"
"Damn, I got all three of you yelling at me now! And I have no idea what the three of you are talking about; I haven't seen the panther since I left. If he's still here why hasn't he shown himself to me?"
"Aibou, you really are dumb. He won't come out because it would be a painful reminder of what's not here right now. If you call him he will come to you but only if you are ready to deal with the issue head on."
"Fuck off Shiro; I'm tired of you calling me names. And just so all four of you know, I already bought a train ticket home! We leave in three days. Now, get out here you damn cat, I miss your warmth."
Ichigo was knocked down by a solid black mass; his face was subjected to an overzealous tongue. Laughing he wrapped his arms around the panther and felt his purring sooth away some of the ache in his heart. The torrential downpour in his inner world let up ever so slightly.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Ichigo still had not called Grimmjow, he didn't want to have the kind of discussion they needed to have over the phone. Unwilling to put it off though, he had called Aizen and asked the man for a favor.
"Grimmjow, get down here please!" Aizen called up the stairs. The blue haired teen appeared looking worn out. Grimmjow had thrown himself into training to help forget the pain of not hearing from Ichigo for months. "I need you to do me a huge favor, I have to go to the office for a meeting and I have a friend coming in to town today. I promised I would pick them up but then Yamamoto called a meeting, so I need you to go to the train station and fetch them for me."
"Get one of the others to do it, I'm too tired."
"No one else is here right now, so I need you to do it. Isshin even said that you can take Ichigo's bike out if you want; it needs to be run so that it doesn't fall into disrepair. I have not asked you for anything these past few months, now I need you and you will do what I ask." Aizen let out a deep sigh; he had known that his son would be a stubborn mule.
"Fine, what time? And I'll take my car if it's all the same."
"That's fine. The train arrives in one hour and I have already given my friend notice that you will be there to get them so they will find you."
"Ok, let me get ready to go then." Grimmjow walked back up the stairs not noticing the large shit eating grin on his father's face. Chuckling to himself Aizen walked over to Isshin's house where the rest of the family was hiding.
"How did it go?" asked Gin, wrapping his arms around his lover's waist.
"I had to guilt him into it, but I knew it would be a fight to get him to go. I'm hoping that this turns out for the best."
"It will. I've been talking to Ichi-nii almost every day since he's been gone, and he is in a very good place right now," everyone in the room turned and stared at the dark haired Karin like she had grown a second head.
"You've been talking to your brother and you neglected to inform your deal father! My daughter doesn't love me!" Isshin wailed.
"And that is why he didn't talk to you Goat-face. Besides I know that you and Aizen both have been in touch with Uncle Kaname the entire time Ichi has been there."
Isshin looked sheepish and Aizen just laughed, "You are very observant. We only wished to know how he was doing. I at least wasn't trying to pry, but it is my son that is the other half of the equation."
"I know. And Ichi is still in love with him, they are both just too stupid to shut off their brains and follow their hearts. But a few days ago when Ichi called me he said that Tensa threatened to take over and spar with Zaraki, armed. He found it disturbing, but he had already decided to come home anyhow. His fragmented soul is starting to merge back together, he can actually talk to and control all three of them now. He said soon they should just fade away."
"Wow, since when does Ichigo open up like that to anyone?" asked Kisuke.
"Zangetsu started it and forced Ichigo to keep working on it, since I am the most like Ichigo he chose to talk to me."
"Grimmjow just left, now we just have to wait and hope for the best." Said Gin looking out the front window.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Grimmjow was in a very bad mood, he didn't want to do anything but sleep. He arrived at the train station and took up a spot by the entrance to wait for his father's friend. Leaning against the wall he began to doze off and didn't notice the head of bright orange hair that was heading straight for him.
Stepping off the train Ichigo immediately saw the bright teal hair that had been haunting his dreams for months. He began moving toward the tall man leaning on the wall and was concerned when Grimmjow didn't show any signs of noticing him. Stopping a few feet in front of the man Ichigo noticed that the one he was dying to jump on was asleep.
"Oi! Give me your damn keys! You can't even stay awake long enough to sit down to nap, I really don't feel like dying because you fell asleep behind the wheel." Ichigo said in a loud but playful tone.
Grimmjow's eyes snapped open locking onto the widely grinning Ichigo in front of him. "Huh? Wait, you're the one I'm supposed to be picking up? What the hell? I don't hear from you for months and my father sends me to get you! Wait why isn't your dad getting you? You know what screw this, you can walk."
Ichigo started laughing as the blue haired man stormed out of the train station; he knew that this was going to be hard. Walking out of the train station pulling out his phone to call a cab he noticed that Grimmjow had stopped outside and was breathing heavily. Concerned Ichigo walked over to him and saw that the man had tears running down his face.
"Grimm, let's talk. Give me one hour then if you want me to leave you alone I will," Ichigo said softly so he wouldn't startle the other man. Grimmjow opened his eyes and looked at Ichigo, searching for something in his eyes. Finally he nodded his head and walked out to his car.
"It takes almost an hour to get home; you have until then to say what you need to say." Grimmjow bit out, his words laced with ice. Ichigo shivered at the venom but refused to back down, he had fucked up and he needed to fix this.
It took a few minutes to get settled into the car and get back on the road, Ichigo used that time to gather his thoughts and find a good spot to begin. Grimmjow was glancing at the smaller man out of the corner of his eye, wondering what the other had to say. Sighing, Grimmjow had to admit that Ichigo looked damn good and he was having a hard time not pulling the car over and jumping on the man. Admonishing himself Grimmjow reminded himself that there was still too much damage and hurt for that, growling he looked at the orangette and said, "Well?"
