Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Well. Chapter two. I am finding this younger and saner version of Aizen more difficult to write than the older psychopath we know and love hate. It's a bit of a transition chapter in terms of where Aizen's eventually headed.

Chapter Two- Setting the Stage

"Neither you, nor I, or even God himself."

The textbooks all said that shikai required dialogue and harmonisation with your zanpakuto. This was usually done through a discussion with it, or him, or her, in its own territory. Its territory was the mind of its wielder.

Aizen had always been just as curious about what his internal world would look like as what form his zanpakuto would take. He was somewhat more interested in the powers his shikai could give him, but most of his fellow students took a similar line about that.

He found that he wanted the power in his zanpakuto more than anything, so much it was almost a need. He desperately wanted to do what he could not do in life. To change the world had been his dream since he was a child. To fix all the poverty, end all the suffering. He could do it if he got strong enough. He knew he could.

This led to him finding himself in an ancient amphitheatre, mist drifting around him in the faint dawn light. In front of him, the rows of seats stretched up into the distance. Turning, he saw that the stage he was standing on ended in a sheer wall of white stone. And when he turned again to face the audience section, he found that he did indeed have an audience.

Himself.

He was not scared. He was never scared. But this was important, and this was something that could not be taught. This being was part of his power, and should be treated with caution.

"Who are you?"

The other him spoke the same words at the same time.

"Why are you here?"

And again.

"What's going on?"

"Can you help me?"

"What do you want from me?"

The echoes from their questions bounced around the eternal amphitheatre, until in a rare moment of complete frustration, Aizen shouted "Why won't you answer me?"

"…you answer me…" rebounded off the hard walls of the inner world.

Realisation came quickly to Aizen.

"You want me to answer you." And the spirit of his zanpakuto did not speak with him.

"I am Aizen Sousuke. You can help me. I am trying to convince you to trust me with your power."

Aizen deliberately left the most important question for last, wanting time to think about it. In the end, it took him a good hour of deep thought to finally articulate an answer to his zanpakuto.

"I want to change things. I want the power to change things."

And he knew that his zanpakuto would find this acceptable before he even responded.

"I know," the other-him said, and his appearance changed to that of Aizen wearing the uniform of a rank and file Shinigami instead of his own student uniform.

"I want you to be honest with me. I can help you. What is going on, as you put it, is the process of gaining shikai. I am here because I am a part of your power." He paused, saving his important answer just as Aizen had saved his. "My name is Kyouka Suigetsu."

As one, they bowed. "Thank you, Kyouka Suigetsu," Aizen said. "I hope to speak to you again soon."

"Thank you, Aizen Sousuke. I hope to be of assistance to you in your quest."

He smiled. "You cannot possibly be a hindrance."

He really didn't know what he would have done without Kyouka's power. It was the basis of all his plans. Shikai alone could not give him the power to change the world, but he often thought that it had put him several steps closer.