Okay the new and improved chapter 12. A big thanks to my lovely beta. sorry it took so long.

Disclaimer: I in no way, shape or form own Bleach. It belongs to Tite Kubo.

Chapter 12

Shiro sighed. It had been close, far too close. The cubs had barely made it through the transition. Cubs, he mused. All this time he had been convinced he was going to have a single cub, but there were two of them. Two little souls that had grown and developed within their mother's body, two souls that had almost fallen victim of the transition process. It was a very painful process, which kept the children from being born as mindless creatures led by instinct. It allowed them to be born as Arrancar instead of simple hollows. Some never had to go through transition, instead being born as Vizards and, on very rare occasions, as pure Shinigami.

He gently brushed Ichigo's hair to the side. It would be a while before the orange head would wake up, according to Szayel anyway, but then Szayel was not as well acquainted with Ichigo's more stubborn nature. Shiro expected Ichigo to awaken within a few hours, instead of the few days that Sayzel predicted. He then winced as he thought about what Ichigo might try to do, and he briefly wondered if he should try to restrain the fiery boy. In the end, he decided against it.

"So twins, huh?" Grimmjow stood in the doorway, watching Ichigo even though his comment was directed to Shiro. "That's almost unheard of in spiritual pregnancies. Strawberry's potential is far more then we had first realized."

"So it is. I'm worried though. While conceiving twins is uncommon, it is not entirely unexpected. However, both parties survived the transition process, and there's only one other known case of twins that made it to full term, and those were my sisters."

"Sisters?" Grimmjow questioned in a whisper.

"They're dead," was Shiro's clipped answer, and Grimmjow knew better than to pry. Shiro was King, while he was only the privileged second. Higher than the queen but lower at the same time, such was the conundrum that was Hueco Mundo's government. Still Grimmjow was content with his share in life, as everything he had wanted since becoming arrancar was within his grasp.

"When will he wake?" Grimmjow asked. He wasn't worried, that wasn't why he was asking, the blueberry told himself. Okay, damn it, he has actually grown to care for the strawberry. He had become attached, and he knew that soon the feeling would develop into an obsession. Once he became obsessed there would be no turning back, they would become unable to function unless Ichigo was by their side. Obsession was dangerous, but it was the way of Hueco Mundo.

"Szayel says a few days."

"Then he really doesn't know Ichigo very well, does he?"

Shiro burst out laughing. "I guess not."

I

Karin glared at her father. He knew something, while pretending that Ichigo was dead. He couldn't be dead though, as she knew her brother, even if he was dead he would have been right by his sisters' side protecting her and Yuzu. Therefore, it had to be something else. She didn't' understand why no one else could see through the goat face's deception. No matter how dumb Isshin acted, that was all it was - an act. It was annoying, and everyone within the family, even Yuzu, knew that their father only acted like an idiot.

In the beginning, it was their way of coping with their loss - with the death of their mother. They never expected Isshin to keep up the act after all this time. It had become second nature, and they didn't question it. It was normal for the Kurosaki family.

"Why are you lying?" She growled out when she finally cornered her father alone. She may want the truth from her idiot father, but it was no one else's business.

Isshin flinched. So, he was lying. She hated when he did that - tried to protect them.

"What really happened to Ichi-nii? I know he isn't dead," her voice was a whisper, but the tone got her point across.

"It figures that one of my kids would inherit that particular ability." He grumbled almost petulantly. "I can't tell you what happened to him. I don't know where he is, or how he is. I do know however that he is safe, physically at least. Mentally is a whole other can of worms that I'd rather not think about."

Karin glared at her father feeling that he was still holding something back.

"Aaaaand…" She drawled out, mentally cackling at the visible shiver that shot down her father's spine.

"Please don't ask me, Karin. I don't… I can't answer you, not the way you want me to." His tone was low, almost broken.

Karin lowered her head, her hair shadowing her eyes.

"I see." She said simply, even as her mind worked to put together the missing pieces of the puzzle left behind with her brother's disappearance. "I won't tell Yuzu, but old man… I want Ichigo back, and I expect you to do whatever it takes to get him home."

She watched him flinch, strangely satisfied with the reaction. She knew it wasn't his fault but it made her feel better when she could blame someone, and her father was a convenient outlet. She knew it wasn't rational, but at that moment she really didn't care. All she cared about was the fact that her Ichi-nii was missing, and her father knew why.

"I…" Isshin began, but stopped at Karin's glare. "Whatever it takes," he acquisitioned sadly knowing that, in the end, he would disappoint his girls. He couldn't give them their brother back. An idea suddenly hit him: the couldn't give them Ichigo back, but maybe he could send them to Ichigo. There was one problem with that though. He didn't want to send his girls to Hueco Mundo, not as long as Aizen's was in charge, but at a later date, when this war was over… maybe then. This thought was worth pondering.

II

Heavy. That was the first thing he was aware of. His body felt heavy, like it was held under immense spiritual pressure. Where was he? What happened? He groaned at the sudden soreness that made itself known as he tried to move.

"Hey, Shiro, Strawberry's awake!"

He knew that voice. He just couldn't remember who it belonged to at the moment.

"Finally. I was getting worried I might lose the bet." The watery, garbled voice sent a painful shiver up his spine. He definitely knew that voice, its tenor sending waves of terror through his very being. He knew he feared the being that owned the voice even if he couldn't remember why. He instinctively tried to curl into a small unnoticeable ball but was prevented from the action by the pain. He then chose to lie completely still. He had to protect… he couldn't remember what or who, he just knew that he had to protect something, and that it was vital that he succeed. He had to succeed.

"Fuck you!"

"Now?" The watery garble asked sarcastically. "I don't think the middle of the infirmary is the place for that, especially with our terrified little Queeny running completely on instinct.

"You!" The first voice sputtered unable to formulate a comeback. "Wait. Instinct?"

"Ichigo's not in his right mind now. I can tell by the subtle movements he's been making. His movements are just the proof I need to say he has maternal instinct. Even as he is now, he's trying to protect the cubs from any danger. It kind of makes me proud."

Ichigo shot up in the bed as his memories finally made themselves known at the sound of his name, and completely ignored the pain that shot through his body at the sudden movement.

"The cubs!" His voice filled with worry. Were they alright? Did he miscarry?

"The cubs are fine," Shiro stopped that train of thought, before Ichigo could work himself into frenzy. "You, however, are on strict bed rest for the next week or so. It will take some time for the nerve damage to heal." Shiro sounded almost concerned to Ichigo's ears.

"What happened?" He rasped. "All I remember is pain." Burning, unending pain, like his skin has been ripped from his body one tiny piece at a time.

"We call it transition. Usually it is not that painful for the carrier, but there were other factors involved," Grimmjow explained calmly.

"What factors?" Ichigo asked cautiously, he had a sinking feeling that he was about to hear something he didn't want to hear.

"Your body initiated it a month early, as usually the transition doesn't happen till about the fourth month. You having twins was another factor, which is probably what brought the transition early in the first place." Grimmjow stopped for a moment as he thought about what he was going to say next. "Twins surviving the transition process is unheard of, as the spiritual body can't usually support two souls, the weaker of the two souls is usually aborted by the body during the transition."

"Usually?" Ichigo asked carefully. "You said it was unheard of. Is there a case of twins surviving the transition process?"

Shiro nodded. "There is, but in all but one case none of them made it to the full term, they were all stillborn."

Ichigo swallowed. He didn't want to know that, but he knew there was still a chance that his twins would live to see the world outside his soul.

"Don't worry about it Queeny, Our cubs will make it full term. We're too stubborn for them to do otherwise."

Ichigo turned to Shiro, surprise and shock written all over his face. "You spent way too much time in my head." Ichigo blurted out. Then clapped his hand over his mouth in horror of what he had just said.

Shiro and Grimmjow looked at Ichigo's expression of horror and burst out laughing. That was their Ichigo alright - stubborn, with a tendency to open his mouth before thinking things through.

"Oh, Queeny, don't ever change."

"Fuck you!"

"When yer healed." Shiro retorted calmly.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Ichigo cheeks were red from anger.

"Look. Grim-kitty. He's blushing," Shiro grinned manically taking his focus off Ichigo.

"So he is… Oh damn." Grimmjow ducked the incoming spiritually hardened pillow, which smacked Shiro in the head with a loud 'thunk'. "That sounded like it hurt."

Shiro rubbed the side of his head that was hit as he glared at the pillow. "Yer not getting this back," he directed at Ichigo, "and when did you learn to use yer spiritual pressure to enforce objects anyway? Cause that actually hurt a little."

Ichigo's blush darkened. "None of your business."

Shiro cackled. "I see."

"Shiro-sama, Grimmjow-sama," Szayel's timid voice came from the doorway. "If the Queen is awake, then he can be moved to your room. Just keep him off his feet - most of the nerve damage is in his knees and hips."

Shiro sneered at Szayel timid and fearful from. The only reason that the traitor was still breathing, so to speak, was because he was useful, and they all knew it.

"Very well," Shiro stepped over to Ichigo, lifting him off the medical cot, causing Ichigo to hiss at the sudden pressure under his knees. That really hurt.

"Fuck!"

"Bear with me Ichigo, till I can get you into bed. Nerve damage isn't uncommon in male carriers, and I know it's painful for anyone to touch you because of this. Grim-kitty can you go get Queeny his lunch? He needs to eat more than the crackers I left in our room. Oh, and check on the new minion, he's being watched by Starrk and Lilynette."

"Fuck off! I'm going." Grimmjow grumbled a little put out that it wasn't him carrying the Berry.

"Both of you should fuck off and dump me back in the human would." Ichigo muttered petulantly.

"Not happening!" Grimmjow and Shiro replied in unison.

Ichigo chose to flip them off as he grumbled about not being handicapped.

Noriykoi: so I finally managed another chapter. Yay! I half want to scrap this and rewrite it, it's certainly not my best work by any means, but at least I've updated.

Grimmjow: Right I'm just glad you didn't abuse me to much in this chapter.

Shiro: Grim-kitty you do realize she's going to torture you now.

Ichigo: I'm actually kind of glad you gave me nerve damage, they can't touch me inapproatly for at least a couple of chapters. Mahahahah