Safe in my Arms
Shadow of an Echo

A/N This is the last official chapter, only the epilogue to go until I start a series of alternate beginnings that will be sporadically updated. Please enjoy the chapter and thank you for sticking with me through all the ups and downs and the heinously long wait between updates.

Chapter Thirty-Four
Off With His Head

There was no time to thank Starrk in the morning, or talk much at all, a scout from Squad Two had arrived to report to Yoruichi; the Shinigami panting from the effort she had used to get to them quickly. It would only be a few more hours before Yamamoto would have the squads mobilized and ready to attack, the scout slipping away in the confusion.

Last minute plans were enacted. They needed to leave people in Las Noches to protect the children, Ichigo's friends stayed along with Lisa, Love, and Nel. The last three would be patrolling outside the fortress the humans staying inside. That made the parents relax enough to concentrate on the battle without so much worry for their children.

The Captains split them up into teams to deal with the strong opponents, Grimmjow and Kenpachi would battle Komamura; Rose, Yoruichi, Shinji, Tia, and Kensei would take on Soi Fon and the Black Ops, Yoruichi having planned out the battle between herself and her former subordinate to keep Soi Fon's allegiance a secret until all the Black Ops were taken care of. Hachi, Tessai, Byakuya, Shunsui, and Shuuhei would tackle the Kido Corps, with back up from others if they needed it. Ichigo, Ulquiorra, Szayel, Jyuushiro, and Starrk would go after Yamamoto. Mashiro, Hiyori, and Kugiuroko would get Nemu before switching their focus to Mayuri; Szayel would be the distraction they needed to attack Nemu once he'd used up eight regenerations helping Ichigo.

Retsu had given them a few insights on Yamamoto, one was he was actually a fairly weak fighter, he depended on his flames. If you survived the flame long enough to get to him he could be beaten, however there was a reason he stayed in power so long. Just surviving the heat was nearly impossible. That made Ichigo not want to let anyone help him that couldn't regenerate, but a quick reprimand from the older Shinigami had him standing down. Jyuushiro was coming because he had already fought Yamamoto and knew what he was getting into, and Starrk was also coming because Retsu, Shunsui, and Jyuushiro all assured Ichigo there was no way Starrk was not powerful enough to stand the heat.

Everyone else would be tackled by whoever was available. The training groups were dispersed out and waiting for the impending battle while the parents in the group were spending a few last moments with their children before they would have to leave knowing full well all of them might not make it back.

By the time the Shinigami arrived to start their invasion, Ichigo and the people fighting with him had formed a wall of people between themselves and Las Noches. The battle was happening as far from the main building as they could, but Mayuri had created the gate as closely as possible just for that reason.

They were already playing dirty, going where they were most vulnerable which made Ichigo just shake his head that many of those out there were following blindly, believing what they were told was good and not thinking for themselves. He might have been the same way, he had to admit, if things had gone differently.

He was in his second Hollow form, the sight intimidating for even those who had seen it before, to anyone witnessing it for the first time it was a whole new kind of terrifying.

He could feel a steady string of power spikes as the Arrancar staggered their resurrections, while they were trying to provoke a fight they wanted to make sure their side could concentrate on Soul Society rather than their own allies.

Yamamoto was at the front of the line of soul reapers, speaking firmly in a carrying voice, "Ichigo Kurosaki you are being charged with treason towards the Soul Society as well as hosting an ill gained Hollow within your body. Witnesses have confirmed your hand in aiding the desertion of a multitude of traitors from Seireitei while plotting the overthrow of our current administration. The punishment for your crimes is death, and will be carried out immediately. Any compatriot that does not surrender shall meet the same fate, and everyone who also bears the Hollow taint shall be put to death, no matter age or original species." When he slammed his long staff down a heavy booming sound echoed around him, reaching all ears.

Ichigo barely held back a roar of rage, he had expected Yamamoto to be a tad subtler, not come right out and say he was going to kill everyone Ichigo cared about. He knew his family and friends, they would never back down when he was in danger; and now it wasn't just him, that threat affected the children too and he knew Yamamoto worded that last part specifically to strike at them.

"We don't want to fight you," Okay so that was a lie, but a lot of pain and misery could be avoided if Yamamoto agreed. "We just want a safe place to live, and with the rules you have in place we can't have that. For over a year you have been trying to destroy my children, and you're doing it again. How could they possibly be a threat? They can barely talk. I did not make anyone do anything, I told the truth and they made their own choice. I am standing in front of you as a Hollow, this is my true nature, and yet I am talking and not attacking. We are not all that you have been taught we are."

"Verdict stands," Yamamoto decreed. "Deception will not work to save you, and you have a debt to pay."

As one every warrior on Ichigo's side tensed for battle gripping Zanpakuto tighter, "What debt?!" Ichigo demanded, the large white horns of his mask gleaming dangerously.

"The soul debt every Hollow carries by consuming those who have not yet received conso." Yamamoto was also standing a bit straighter, his side making the same preparations as Ichigo's.

"That is not how it works and you know it!" Impossible to hold back a growl at that, "Hollows consuming a soul works just like conso it just takes longer, and even if that were the case I wouldn't have ever had a 'soul debt' if you hadn't sent me here alone to fend for myself and my children who weren't even born yet! Also don't you dare say I had a choice, you wanted them for lab rats but made me think you were going to kill them, how in the hell is that a choice?!"

"It was more than you deserved!" Well, they wanted to provoke him, they succeeded. A man with such acclaim was not used to their methods being questioned, or their decisions challenged. With a large sweeping gesture Yamamoto sent the Seireitei loyalists towards the waiting wall of human, Shinigami, and Hollows. "Carry out your orders, no excuses!" He commanded.

The Soul Society trained its fighters well, but there was a flaw with the majority still fighting for Yamamoto, they were young. Older Shinigami had witnessed enough over the years to actually listen to the rumors that were going around about an uprising. Most decided to either fight for Ichigo, or remain neutral and be around to take care of the inevitable fallout.

Thus Yamamoto was left with the younger idealistic ones, good with stamina and technique, not good when it came to fighting the high caliber deserters. Most of them had never fought a Gillian, at least not alone, and now they were being pitted against Arrancar and Vasto Lordes.

Ichigo didn't have time to think of much, but he allowed himself one final thought before charging forward with Ulquiorra, Szayel, Jyuushiro, and Starrk flanking him, he was glad he had already ordered his side not to kill if they didn't have to.

Yamamoto threw off his cloak, and slammed the staff down once more this time to remove the wooden camouflage revealing his gigantic Zanpakuto and started reciting his long release command, "Reduce all creation to ash, Ryojin Jakka!"

As one they leapt towards the sudden circle of flame, feeling intense heat licking their skin and preparing to meet the source with as much force as they could muster.

Everyone else fighting had frozen in place when the six powerful opponents clashed, the level of Spirit Pressure in the air so intense anyone below Lieutenant was having trouble breathing, and anyone above had beads of sweat running down their foreheads except for the truly powerful ones such as Shunsui and Retsu.

Having learned his lesson about distraction from Isshin well, Grimmjow broke out of his stasis first, taking advantage of Komamura's distraction and kicked out at the gigantic samurai once again. Between himself and Kenpachi they were ripping it to shreds. There was even some competition in it considering Kenpachi had taken one look at his released form and started laughing. Time to prove what his cat-like features could actually do. Hey, at least he wasn't a pink and purple dragonfly like Szayel or nothing but a big squash like Zommari.

Kenpachi loved every second of it, grinning like a maniac and charging in whenever there was even the suggestion of an opening, and sometimes not waiting for that and just making his own. The destructive power of the pair of them was a perfect match for Komamura who was a very physical fighter.

Off to the side Yoruichi and Soi Fon were also having fun, but they weren't allowed to show it if they wanted to keep cover long enough to take the Black Ops out of commission without alerting them to the traitor in their midst, that would make it much harder to keep the death toll down.

Ichigo was lucky in that he had people on his side actually capable of damage control and keeping casualties down.

Speaking of Ichigo, an experimental Cero did nothing but disintegrate in the heat. At least a normal cero anyway, Jyuushiro's skill was put to use heavily. He was redirecting both Starrk and Ichigo's ceros towards Yamamoto intermittently, so on each given try the head-captain would not know what direction it would come from.

Starrk and Ulquiorra would coordinate, Starrk making a wall of their own with ceros to shield Ulquiorra's lightning arrows until they were already flying through the air.

Szayel darted in and out wherever he could see a chance, his most useful skills at the moment were agility and stamina, he was attempting to get close enough to make a puppet for Yamamoto but had yet to manage it and he was running out of regenerations. He had been hit the most so far, the others not able to get to him in time to block the blows.

Szayel didn't blame them. He knew he would likely be targeted harsher than the other four, he was technically the weakest and logically should be the easiest to take down. Too bad there was no way he was going out without a fight.
There had to be a way to get close, there had to be.

There was another stare down happening across the battlefield, two masked faces, one painted garish colors the other black and white. Kugiuroko looked at the insane Captain of the Twelfth like he was the worst kind of pest, cockroaches would be more welcome in comparison.

He could sense a marker on what appeared to be a slim Shinigami woman, but there was no spark of life in her. She wasn't a born creature, she was created, and it didn't take him long to realize it. No one would have had to tell him that was Nemu for him to figure it out.

He wanted both despicable creatures wiped out of existence, but kept his immediate reaction in check and did like they planned. They were taunting the Captain, lulling him into believing they didn't know Nemu was the key to killing him. By the time Szayel could get to the fight he would be more than primed for the Espada to bait him into a one-on-one fight letting the others get Nemu.

One catch about this particular Captain was he didn't care about the lives around him, friend or foe didn't change anything. His poisonous Zanpakuto was indiscriminate. Paralyzed and convulsing bodies littered the ground around him, the severity of the reaction depending on how much gas they were exposed to.

Attempting to bring the Captain's attention to them, Kugiuroko was both keeping an eye on the two lieutenant level Visoreds while drawing the dangerous Captain further away from the general din of battle. Judging from the amount of times he had felt Szayel's power fade then flare it wouldn't be long before they had back-up.

It was easy to keep track of the Captain, Visored, and Espada levels of power in comparison to the others. Sheer intensity of strength helped them sense each other over the rest.

Right now absolutely no one could miss the two bright flares that were Yamamoto and Ichigo. Half of Ichigo's clothing had been scorched away revealing his pale white Heirro with the dusky red strips. There wasn't a scratch on Yamamoto, but he wasn't breathing as easily as he had in the beginning and that last dodge was a bit slower. It had been a long time since he had dirtied his own hands in such a hard match up as coming against the five strong fighters in front of him; including one of his own favored students.

That thought enraged him and he sent a sand melting wave of fire directly at Jyuushiro, the concentrated heat making even the white haired Captain's muscles shake threatening to give out.

Szayel was the one to leap in front of him, the heat quickly taking out his seventh regeneration but now he had a plan, and when he was back to full strength he spoke quickly while dodging flames nimbly, "Try and get him to do that again, he left his back vulnerable in striking so narrowly, I might just reach him like that!" He called out loud enough for Yamamoto to hear, and if he had known Szayel at all he would not have fallen into his trap. He switched his focus off his old student and towards Szayel, though he realized the deception as the former Espada didn't even bother to dodge, letting the fire take his eighth life with a triumphant grin at the same moment a dark red and bright blue cero converged on the head-captain, both Starrk and Ichigo throwing theirs from opposite directions and a bolt of green electricity hit a heartbeat later.

When Szayel was back once again it was to see a now panting Yamamoto looking incredulously at the scorch mark on his right shoulder. He had been hit, and harmed, by his own element. He was only protected from the heat of his own attack not from others.

While he was still distracted Szayel sonidoed away, towards the Captain he'd held a grudge against since the man had so arrogantly believed he would die so easily.

It seemed Mayuri had been waiting for just such a thing because the moment Szayel was in range the giant caterpillar was after him at a much faster velocity than the previous fight, but too bad Szayel was filled with far more rage and determination this time.

He vaulted over the top of his Bankai, think purple liquid dripping from his wings onto the caterpillar's back, burning into the skin with a sickly hiss quickly disappearing as it was drawn into the creature's bloodstream.

There was a bad thing about have a living creature as your release as Komamura was rapidly finding out on the other side of the battlefield. If it was organic it could be incapacitated.

Mayuri scowled, most of the expression covered by his elaborate mask, and quickly revoked his Bankai before whatever Szayel's poison was doing could finish.

Szayel smirked, "You're going to regret that," He warned before sonidoing back a few paces and holding up his hand revealing a small doll, not of the Captain, but his Zanpakuto.

He could replicate any living thing, whether human or sword, and it had taken him a lot of thought to realize it may be possible to copy the thing that had eaten him. Zanpakuto were connected to their Shinigami's soul, control one you control the other.

This time when he squeezed the doll there was no outward sign of any reaction, like before when he coughed up bile, no instead there was a bone rattling shriek as he felt like his rib cage and every organ were being crushed. The pain wasn't physical it was psychological but it didn't make him any more functional than if Szayel had driven Fornicaras through him. This was another drawback to Mayuri's plan to separate himself from his true vitals, if Szayel attacked his mind it didn't matter whether his insides were real or not, the pain was the same.

He was taunting the Captain with the doll, doing more elaborate twists and grabs, torturing him bit by bit, even an attempt to release his Bankai once more didn't help, the damage was already done.

Only Szayel knew it couldn't last forever. Here was his own limitation. Mayuri was smart, too smart, he would soon figure out the pain was only in his head, once that was known some of the effects were lessened and could be fought through.

Not ten minutes into the deadly game, Mayuri reared up from his crumpled heap and reached into his haori to grab a small dagger, he threw it at Szayel, the projectile too small for him to block quick enough.

It surprised him when the thin blade was sharp enough to pierce his Heirro. Though the moment it did he knew he was doomed once again, poison, one he wasn't able to counteract.

"You are too hasty," Mayuri chastised, his heavily scarred face revealed as his mask had fallen in the wake of Szayel's torment. "I came prepared as well. I have studied your abilities, don't think I didn't know you may have had a back-up plan just as I did. You will die this time, for good, I only have to out last you." He continued taunting as Szayel's world grew black for the ninth time.

All while he was fighting Mayuri there was a three-way attack converging on Nemu, the shielding around her just as tough as they were afraid it was going to be. With Szayel momentarily out of the battle, Mayuri was left free to come to the aide of his lifeline. If they were fighting her so insistently then they must know about his deception and it wouldn't due to give them too much of a chance to break through his traps. The addition of Kugiuroko had thrown an unknown into the battle. He had never studied this one before and without knowing his powers he couldn't determine whether he was a true threat until fighting the Vasto Lorde himself.

He had managed to knock back Hiyori and Mashiro by the time Szayel was back to confront him again, though Kugiuroko was doing a good job of paying back the blows. He was intending to keep both Mayuri and Nemu within attack range at all times, which was unsurprisingly difficult. They knew Mayuri would stop at nothing to protect Nemu because protecting her meant protecting himself.

The Espada and Captain has just faced off once more when they heard an almighty crash, both of them turning to see Komamura's gigantic Bankai had fallen and was steadily dispersing back into particles and returning to the wolf like Captain's sword. He took one look at the warriors bearing down on him and he dropped his Zanpakuto to the ground raising his hands in surrender. He had been on the fence from the start, and hearing the initial contact between Ichigo and Yamamoto had only served to raise his doubts about their leader so when it came down to a choice between his life or his loyalty he chose to survive because he was rapidly coming to believe he had given his loyalty to the wrong master.

All around the battlefield similar events were playing out, with every moment there were more soul reapers bound and waiting for the end of the battle. They were all bleeding and exhausted, those who'd been trained to heal on Ichigo's side were kept busy patching up the worse off of the wounded.

The two biggest fights still in progress were the struggle to put down Yamamoto and that to take out Kurotsuchi. The other high powered fighters were still working on wiping out the Black Ops and Kido Corps but their numbers had dwindled to the point even they were starting to surrender in droves.

Szayel should have known their battle had gone too easily so far, because Mayuri was the first to capitalize on his opponent's distraction. He didn't bother with Bankai, it only served to make him more vulnerable to the Espada's unorthodox but effective method. His Zanpakuto bit deeply into Szayel's side, once again filling him with the slow acting poison that had worked on him the last time, if something wasn't broken don't try to fix it.

Before Mayuri could get a second likely killing blow in he was physically tackled away from the wounded Beta by a pissed off Alpha Vasto Lorde.

Kugiuroko growled threateningly, pinning the Captain beneath him, gathering power to his claws knowing that even if he managed to wound him the dangerous man would be able to come back. Nemu had to die first, but at least he could buy them some time. No matter how hard Mayuri bucked and tossed, the full-blooded Hollow wouldn't be moved, and he soon had enough spiritual pressure raised that when he released it Mayuri's body started to jerk and twitch from the shock to his system, poetic justice for causing the same symptoms in his own victims.

That was when Nemu proved she was not an independent human, because no sane person would pull the stunt she tried. No, she was under orders and her master's incapacitation triggered it.

She flash stepped away from her attackers, moving faster than they had ever seen as a product of Mayuri's experiments on her, and headed straight for the heart of Las Noches where the vulnerable children were being kept safe.

She made it to the courtyard out front before being surrounded by an Arrancar and two Visoreds. Her body was engulfed in a cloud of electric pink power, Nel reacting instantly to protect her family Lisa and Love took advantage of her situation to get close with their more melee style weapons managing to knock her unconscious from a mixture of Nel's attack and their beating.

As soon as she lost consciousness an aura of sickly green power surrounded her, warding off any continuing blows.

They had managed to subdue both, but not kill, and none of them would be satisfied until the far too dangerous Shinigami was dead.

Kugiuroko had watched Nel attack for the first time and it gave him an idea, "There is something we could try, Neliel please join your attack with mine, we may be able to break through that shield if we work together."

"Let's try it," She agreed with a nod, Love and Lisa trading places with Kugiuroko to make sure Mayuri stayed down, while Hiyori and Mashiro were attempting to help Szayel; he was on his last regeneration and if he died he wouldn't come back.

The small explosion that happened when pink met green should not have been surprising except for the sheer scale of it. The force knocked everyone in close range to their knees, but when the puff of smoke cleared the aura was gone.

It was actually Nel who struck the final blow, avenging her uncle and easing her conscious by remembering Nemu was never fully alive to begin with.

Despite all that happened to him, Szayel had kept his grip on the doll, and while to him it felt like a century had passed since he was struck he managed to squeeze his hand for the last time holding his fist closed while feeling himself floating into unconsciousness at last.

Mayuri's body seized and shook, the scream coming from his throat was feral and inhuman in response to the mind snapping pain of Szayel's assault. His back arched until his bones creaked threatening to snap. Blood began to drip from his nose and the side of his mouth.

With a blow to the heart, Kugiuroko finished the job Szayel had started. The group of fighters, tired and stunned, worked together to gather up the fallen Espada and carry him inside the fortress to where Orihime was; at this point in time she was his best chance of survival.

Szayel had also played a role in the continuing battle to bring down Yamamoto, he had given the rest the key to victory finding the head-captain's weak point. His anger. That rage was easy to turn against him, it was the same thing Ichigo and Grimmjow had to work through in order to get their heads together enough to fight without distractions. Apparently that was not a lesson Yamamoto had learned.

That meant by the time the battle with Kurotsuchi had come to a close Yamamoto was just next to feral with rage, it made his attacks stronger but less controlled, and that also worked against him. He had huge reserves of power just like Starrk and Ichigo, but he was burning through them at a much faster pace then his opponents that were mostly just dodging and taunting him into striking one while the other attacked.

It become more and more obvious Yamamoto was not used to brawl style fighting, his tactics weren't working, but he simply did not know alternatives because up until now he never needed to.

He did have one more card up his sleeve, and he carefully whispered his second release command, trying to use the element of surprise to get a jump on the opposition.

If the explosion of Nel and Kugiuroko's attacks had been large this was titanic. Not just those close by, but everyone not of Captain or Espada rank on the entire battlefield was knocked to the ground and pinned there, of those still standing the vat majority had their heads bowed and shoulders slumped with sweat pouring down their faces from both the sheer power and intense heat of Yamamoto's phoenix like Bankai.

Two did not.

Ichigo and Yamamoto looked at each other across the glowing circle of power and Ichigo had a sudden epiphany over why the blade used for executions took the shape of a firebird, it was a reflection of Yamamoto's Bankai only the real thing was easily ten times stronger. Shiro was having to keep up a constant stream of healing to keep their body from breaking down, and the others that had been fighting with him had started to slowly drag themselves away, knowing from now on they would just be in the way and cause unnecessary distraction.

"You brought this on yourself old man, I am only responding to what you started." Ichigo reminded, holding the smooth black hilt of Tensa at the ready, which was a good thing as he had to block the vast beak of the bird from coming down on him even as he spoke.

"You have broken sacred laws and allowed evil into your soul, for that you must be cleansed." Yamamoto growled, swinging his sword like a whip, controlling the bird with all the deadly accuracy of Byakuya with far more destructive power.

Ichigo scowled, but held firm under the assault, Shiro's voice overlaying his own at this point, "Laws can be wrong, especially those written by a single man with too much power. Your rules went out of date centuries ago but you are too stuck in the past to see it. I will bring the Soul Society kicking and screaming into the modern age and then rest back to take care of my family, unlike you I am going to let the people that have a clue what they are doing run the Seireitei."

In the next instant he looked up and met Yamamoto's eyes with burning gold irises, "This is for my children!" He affirmed before pressing back against the burning force of Yamamoto's Bankai, letting his red-black spiritual pressure coat his body protecting him from the heat and flames.

All the long months of training and practice had unlocked strength even he didn't know he possessed, and now he had all the incentive he needed to use every bit of it. With every slow step he advanced on the head-captain, his aura getting stronger as Yamamoto's grew weaker, the two powers clashing and Ichigo's was winning out.

Metal rang against metal as their blades met in a curtain of fire. Ichigo let the flames engulf him, trusting in his strength and Shiro's skill to protect them.

It was with a single clean strike that Ichigo took the first and hopefully last human life he ever would.

The crowd outside knew when the battle had been won when the press of power keeping them pinned changed over from the harsh and brutal feel of Yamamoto's to the strong and steady presence of Ichigo and the air cooled. The force holding them down steadily lessened as he regained control over himself, drawing his power back in and allowing those still conscious to get back on their feet.

A cheer built up among the victors, but one voice did not join in.

Kenpachi had seen Szayel go down, and knew he had been carried off the battlefield in order to be healed, but he still rushed into the fortress as soon as the firebird had left the sky.

When he got to the room with all the children he was still in bad shape, a glowing oval of orange power formed a kind of shield over him as Orihime kept up her mission to close the wound, but something wasn't right. There was a strong force keeping her from finishing the job, it fought her at every turn.

"What happened?!" Kenpachi demanded harshly.

"We don't know," Uryu admitted, "He should have healed by now, it never takes this long."

"Could that bastard's poison have something to do with it?" Love asked, knowing just as well as anyone else what Mayuri was capable of and it still made him so incredibly angry that they were tossed aside when this maniac was allowed to run free.

Orihime looked up with tired eyes, so much energy was needed even to keep Szayel stabilized she was loosing stamina rapidly, "Maybe, there has to be something. This isn't right."

"You're not going to like this," Uryu warned, "But I have an idea."

"If it has any chance of working tell us!" Kenpachi demanded again, showing his growing soft spot for the tough Octava.

"He already said he could exceed the ten regeneration limit if he had an influx of spirit pressure, I can give him that but it would probably kill him to do it. That could get the poison out and heal him completely, but if this doesn't work we'll lose him." The dark haired Quincy was perfectly frank and honest, this was dangerous, but he didn't see another way.

"What exactly would you be doing?" Tia asked, interrupting any protests the others might have.

In response Uryu reached around to the back of his crisp white uniform, and drew out a small silver cylinder. "This is basically a spirit pressure bomb. I make them and fill them with as much power as I can, they explode when I trigger them. If I use this it will give him a boost of power, but like I said, he will probably die with the shape he is in."

"We need to do something, I can't keep this up much longer," Orihime confessed sadly, this was the one thing that made her useful in her mind and she was falling him.

"Do it," Kenpachi ordered, no one having the heart to refute him. "He's as good as dead if you don't, but he could live if what you say is true."

Uryu nodded and went to the opposite side of Szayel that Orihime was on, "Alright, on the count of three I want you to take down the shield and get back; that goes for all of you. This is not something you want to be too close to."

"I'm not leaving, just do it." Once again Kenpachi ordered, hulking behind him, watching intently.

"Okay; Orihime…one…two… and three!" He counted down and when the orange shield withdrew he touched the cylinder to the gash in Szayel's side and triggered it.

This explosion was not as powerful as the ones that came previously, but it was just as climactic. As the rush of power engulfed Szayel, his body began to disintegrate, all eyes on him.

One heartbeat, two, then three passed, and familiar power began to grow once more, gaining strength until Szayel was once again curled up in a fetal position on the cushion they had set him on, alive but deeply asleep.

A large scarred hand brushed through soft pink hair, "You did well, just get well, your boy needs you."