Everything began with the end of the war. The Winter War had been a long and grueling one for everyone involved. It had opened old wounds, caused betrayals to come to light between friends, family, and lovers- and so very many had died just trying to stop it from spilling over into the Living World and wiping everything in existence, out.

And it was also the last war that Ichigo would ever participate in.

Not because she lacked the will to fight again if the need ever arose, but because something inside of her had changed.

She wasn't entirely sure what it was at first, but she caught on after a few small things started to happen here and there. After that it was fairly easy to theorize what had changed in her had to do with both the Soul King's remaining power- the small part that he'd forced her to take before he had died.

And the other part of it had to do with what had happened to the left-over energy from defeating Yhwach.

Since she had had to be carried from ground zero after destroying him, all of the power that he'd taken from the Soul King, and so cruelly ripped away and stolen from so many others- had been absorbed by her body without her knowledge at some point.

And since she basically now carried the power of a god in a demi-god's body...she had felt that it would be in everyone's best interest if she just...disappeared.

Don't get her wrong, she wasn't doing it because she was particularly afraid. She knew that she was strong enough and capable enough to defend herself and the power residing within her to the death if there was any true need to do so. No- the real deciding factor had to do with those around her.

Her father's power had finally returned to him completely. Her sisters were older, and almost grown. And her friends...every single one of them would be forced to fight again, and again, and again if she were to stay. After all, many of her former enemies had sought her out due to her power. It would only continue if she were to continue living her life as an ordinary person.

Oh sure, the possibility of happening tomorrow or the day after that- was slim. Practically nothing, really. But she still didn't want to risk it.

So, leaving was the only thing that she could do to prevent that. Besides, she knew that none of them were weak. Each of them could now take care of themselves without needing to run to her for help all the time.

And honestly, they simply didn't need her anymore. Her days as a Soul Reaper, a Quincy, a hero and savior- were finally at an end.

She spent time with everyone before she went. Deciding that she wasn't going to say goodbye because it was simply too final. Goodbyes were best left for the dead.

The living deserved more from her.

So, instead she helped with the cleanup in the aftermath. Attended ridiculous parties to celebrate their victory and the survival of everyone left behind. And the night of her departure, she collected wishes from her friends.

Chad, wanted to be a world-famous musician.

Orihime wanted to be a wife.

Renji wanted to marry Rukia and settle down. And Rukia wanted to marry him and settle down too.

Byakuya still had a sister complex and wished to be a better brother to Rukia than he had been in the past. So that she would always know that he cared about her without question.

Uryu wanted to be a doctor. A great one that would easily make his father envious.

Toshiro wanted to finally be done with all the damned paperwork that he usually tended to drown in. Rangiku wanted to have kids and go on one last great adventure into the unknown called parenthood.

Kenpachi wanted to be a great Captain and leader to his squad. Which was shocking. But Ichigo was simply happy that he wasn't still trying to get her to fight him again.

So, she went with it.

The list seemed to be endless due to how many friends she had and cared for. But by the time she'd packed and was ready to go, she'd firmly made a decision to give them all one wonderful gift from her so that they would be happy even with her gone.

She granted each of their wishes. She wasn't sure how she'd done it, only that she had somehow. And with that she slipped out of her home with a bag of money, clothing, the inheritance that her late mother had left to her. A very old collection of gold, silver coins and a few very old treasures passed down by their family. With those and other necessities in hand and quietly started to walk away from everything that she'd ever known and loved.

She only paused for a moment to look back at her childhood home one last time and blinked when she saw her dad standing underneath the light smoking a cigarette and stared at him as he waved goodbye to her with a knowing grin that practically screamed of knowing what she was up to.

Damn her old man for always knowing her so well.

She gave him a simple nod of acknowledgement- yeah, she knew that he knew what she was doing- and then turned and waved a hand to open a portal to somewhere else. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she stepped through it hoping that maybe she'd finally be able to have a normal life wherever she wound up.