Author's Note

Hi this is General Mayhem, I have decided to split and repost this chapter after reading some of the comments about it, I wanted to thank both Ichiruki45 and tigerbleach for the suggestions. I hope this makes it easer to read, and over all a better story. Thanks for the reviews and support everyone.

Toshiro Hitsugaya was frustrated, three days had passed since Ichigo and Rukia were married, three days since he resolved to propose to Karin, and three days since he had a peaceful moment alone with her. The night of Ichigo and Rukia's wedding he decided that he would propose to Karin within a day or at most two, but here it was on the third day and he still hadn't done it yet. Toshiro had tried to propose to her three years ago, but the day he had planned to be one of the happiest in their lives had turned out to be the beginning of a long nightmare. Those days were some of the hardest he could remember, in many ways it was worse then having to watch Momo suffer after Aizen's treachery, and while he loves Momo like a sister, Karin is the love of his life. The situation was made all the harder because of how badly Karin was effected by what happened to Yuzu, with Momo he expected her to be a bit on the weak and fragile side, that's just how she is, but Karin had always been so strong, and to see her reduced to a sobbing heap in her father's arms at Yuzu's bedside was so surreal and shocking that, at first he thought he was having a nightmare. For the first time in his life, he felt real heartbreak and pain like had never thought possible. Toshiro shuttered as he sat back in his chair, he had watched Karin suffer so much, and now all he wanted was to make the rest of her afterlife as happy as her life should have been.

He had planned on proposing to her the day after her brother's wedding, but that idea had died a quick death when she was called away right after breakfast so she could meet with her newly assigned advisor at the Academy. Karin returned home just before dinner and after they ate they went for a walk in the garden, the night was clear and beautiful, with a gentle breeze blowing the sakura petals around like a snowstorm. Toshiro decided that this was the perfect time to propose so he turned to face her and was about to bend down to one knee when like a shadow of the past her phone rang, for a few heart stopping moments he thought something bad had happened to one of her loved ones, as it turned out it was just her sister inviting her to go shopping with her, Rukia, and their mother the next day as a bonding thing since Rukia was officially a Kurosaki now. Toshiro regained his composure and was about to try again when a hell butterfly landed on his hand with an urgent message, some of his men had been involved in a drunken brawl and had practically destroyed not only the bar they were drinking at but also a number of small shops that were nearby. He apologized to Karin for cutting their walk short, before he left to settle for the damage his men did, and hopefully limit the damage to the Tenth Division's reputation.

The next day Karin was called away again to the Academy and by the time she returned it was time for her to leave with her mother, Yuzu and Rukia for their shopping trip. Toshiro had to leave a short time later for a captain's meeting, and afterwards he spent the day catching up on his division's training. It was well after midnight before Toshiro was able to go home, and he was more exhausted then he had been since the war, when he got home he found Karin in a very fitful sleep. Karin was whimpering and thrashing as she slept, and Toshiro gently shook her awake, she lunged at him and grabbed him around his waist, he felt her body shake and he realized she was sobbing on him. Toshiro held her in his arms until she calmed down, he ask her about her nightmare, expecting it to be about her execution. Karin cleared her eyes with the back of her hand as she told him about it, she dreamed that her brother and Rukia were killed by an Arrancar as his army destroyed the Seireitei. Toshiro stayed up holding her until she was able to get back to sleep, he had to leave for his office a short time later.

So here he was, sleep deprived, frustrated, and buried in paperwork so deep that he couldn't even see over his desk, needless to say his mood was absolutely fowl. The paperwork was so bad that Rangiku hadn't even tried to escape, she was setting at her desk trying her best to reduce it so she could see over said desk. Toshiro finished what felt like the hundred millionth piece, and placed it in the done pile.

"Kami-sama must hate me" He muttered into the pile of unfinished papers his head was resting on.

Toshiro was exhausted, but as bad as he felt in body, his heart was a hundred times worse. Toshiro has been with Karin for nine years, and he loves her more then anything in his life, he would give up anything for her, but every time he tries to propose to her something ruins his plan. Karin is like his other half, and anytime she feels pain he hurts too, but to see the look of pain in her eyes every time something reminds her of marriage, and to know that he was the cause of that pain was almost more then he could bear. They had been through so much together in their nine year relationship, and any girl in her right mind should expect a proposal after such a long time.

"Some boyfriend I am, I wouldn't blame her if she left me." he said as he lightly banged his head on the desk in frustration. Toshiro was determined that someway somehow he was going to propose to Karin, and he would spend the rest of his afterlife making her the happiest woman in any world.

"I promise I will marry you Karin, even if I have to die again to do it." he said as he finished yet another piece of paperwork.

Kuchiki Manor, Soul Society.

Karin was worried, something was wrong with Toshiro, and she had no idea what. Toshiro had not been acting like himself since the day after her brother's wedding, and to Karin's frustration he wouldn't tell her what was wrong.

"Damn it Toshiro, why can't you just talk to me." she said to no one in particular as she sat filling out papers for her entrance exams. Karin was worried that something serious had happened to him, and that he was just protecting her from what ever it was. Toshiro had always been there for her, he protected her, he trained her so she could protect her loved ones. Toshiro was there for her when Yuzu was raped, he was there to hold her hand when she was executed for killing the man who hurt Yuzu, and when the memories of that horrible experience gave her nightmares he was there to hold her and keep her safe. Toshiro is the love of her life, she would do anything for him, she would give up anything if it was for him, now he needs her and she can't do anything about it, Karin hadn't felt this helpless since her execution. I have to help him, he's always been there for me, now it's my turn too be there for him, she thought to herself as she got up and headed out determined to find out what was wrong with Toshiro, even if she has to beat it out of him.

Rukongai, Second District, Soul Society.

Yuzu was walking in the second district of Rukongai, she had spent the day in the area surrounding the Seireitei after deciding that she need to get out and clear her head. Yuzu's dreams were becoming more and more vivid and confusing, at first she could only remember little bits and pieces of her dream, but each morning she could remember a little more and now she could remember every detail. Yuzu passed a number of shops, and the smell of food made her hungry, she decided to stop for some lunch at a little ramen shop that smelled particularly good. Yuzu sat at the bar enjoying a bowl of very good ramen, when she saw someone she hadn't seen in a while.

"Hello vice-captain Abarai. " she said as Renji sat beside her at the bar.

"Hey Yuzu, how have you been?" He ask before ordering a bowl of ramen.

"I'm fine vice-captain." she said as she ate a few noodles from her lunch.

"It's ok if you call me Renji, Yuzu." He said.

"Ok Renji, how are you?" she said, a small smile on her face.

"Not bad, captain Kuchiki has been keeping us busy with training." he said as he picked up his bowl of ramen.

"This is really good." she said as she slurped some noodles from her bowl.

"Yeah, this is the best ramen shop in Rukongai, me and Rukia tried to raid the kitchen a few times when we were kids." he said looking nostalgic.

"You really care about her, don't you?" Yuzu ask.

"I love her, we grew up together she's like my kid sister, you know. I was really happy when Ichigo finally told her how he felt about her, I've never seen her happier than when she is with him." he said.

"Hey can I ask you something?" Yuzu said looking down at her half finished lunch nervously.

"Shoot." he said after taking a long slurp of his noodles.

"Have you ever had the same dream over and over?" she ask.

"Only once, why are you having that kind of dream?" he ask.

"Yeah, I keep having it, and I remember a little more of it each time." she said looking a little worried while nervously fidgeting with her chopsticks.

"Why don't you tell me about it?" he ask.

Yuzu nodded, and then she told him about her dream, the cliff by the stormy sea, the strange man who sat with her, and the conversations they were starting to have. When Yuzu finished talking about it, Renji knew exactly what she was dreaming about.

"You don't think I'm weird do you?" she ask, looking more worried then ever.

"No I don't think you're weird, I can't tell you a lot, but I can tell you that you aren't having ordinary dreams. I can't explain it to you, it's something you have to figure out yourself. I wouldn't worry too much, but next time you have that dream ask him his name." he said.

"Ok, I will." she said. Yuzu and Renji sat eating and talking for the next hour before he had to leave and go back to the Sixth.

First Division Headquarters, Seireitei, Soul Society.

Isshin Kurosaki was walking out of his meeting with the head captain, he was thinking about Yamamoto's offer, and he knew he had a big decision to make. Isshin had retired from the Gotei 13 after he lost his powers saving Masaki from a hollow attack, he hadn't known it at the time but his attacker was an early Arrancar from Aizen's experiments. He was forced into using his final tenshou to kill it after both he and Masaki were severely wounded by its first attack. Isshin had used his memory modifier to make her think they were attacked by a group of thugs, and then he settled into a normal human life. He became a doctor and started dating Masaki, after they were married he never gave a second thought to returning to the 13 Court Guard Squads, but now there were two squads without captains and his powers had returned so Yamamoto offered him the captaincy of Squad Nine. Isshin had to admit that part of him had missed being a soul reaper, but he also enjoyed being a doctor and family man. He wanted to talk it over with Masaki before he made any decision, whatever he decided would effect both of them, and though he knew she would support him no matter what he chose, he wanted and needed her opinion on the matter.

Third Division Headquarters, Seireitei, Soul Society.

Ichigo and Rukia were in his office eating their lunch together, that morning Rukia had decided that she needed to spend the day preparing herself for her trial and that Ichigo as her husband should help her do so. Rukia was one of the few vice-captains who had achieved bankai, and as such she was one of only a handful of soul reapers who qualified to take over the captaincy of one of the two Divisions still that lacked a captain. Rukia and Ichigo had spent the morning training with their bankai releases, and they had nearly frozen or blown up the Third Division's training ground. They had been sparing from the time they arrived at his Division and they only stopped to take a lunch break, needless to say they were both exhausted, and with Rukia still working on mastering her bankai it was that much harder on her. Ichigo for his part had pushed her as hard as he could without putting her in real danger, Ichigo had long ago mastered his bankai while fighting to rescue Rukia from execution. While they sat eating he was thinking about those days that seemed so long ago, if someone had told him the day he left Urahara's shop to rescue her that ten years later he would be the captain of one of the Soul Society's Court Guard Squads, and that Rukia would be his wife, he would have thought it was a prank by old Hat'n'Clogs. Ten years have passed since he entered the Soul Society intent on crashing his way to where ever it was that Rukia was being held captive, now they were both well respected heroes of the winter war against Aizen, and he was helping her study and train so she could become a captain. Ichigo couldn't believe that his life changed so much since the day he met the beautiful little soul reaper setting across from him, not his life now, but their lives. He sat looking at his beautiful wife, taking in her beauty, her soft pale skin, her silky raven black hair, and her striking violet eyes that showed so much emotion. Anytime Ichigo looked into her eyes he saw a reflection of the history and the love they share, their lives had changed so much in the time they have known each other. Rukia noticed that her husband was staring at her, and she blushed a deep red as his eyes locked with hers, more was said about how much they love and trust each other in that glance then a thousand words could have expressed. Rukia and Ichigo stood and were about to head back to the training grounds when their old friend Renji walked into Ichigo's office.

"Yo Ichigo what's up ?" He said as he walked in and sat on the couch that Ichigo and Rukia had just left.

"Not much, we were just doing some training to help Rukia in her captains trials tomorrow." Ichigo said to the red haired pineapple imitator.

"Are you sure I'm not interrupting anything?" Renji said after noticing Rukia's blush.

"No you aren't, we were just about to go back to training, you want to join us?" Rukia said to her childhood friend.

'Nah, I just came to talk to you two about Yuzu." Renji said. That statement got Ichigo's attention, anything to do with his sisters always made Ichigo very serious. Ichigo wondered if Renji had become attracted to Yuzu, he thought that Renji was interested in Tatsuki, and he remembered that Renji danced with Tatsuki at his and Rukia's wedding, but Yuzu also danced with Renji and she did seem to act a little odd around him.

"What about her?" Ichigo said trying not to sound too serious, if the pineapple and Yuzu were together he would just have to except it like he did when Karin started seeing Toshiro, of course chasing Renji around the Seireitei in bankai like he did when he found out about Karin and Toshiro was not a good idea, after what Rukia had threatened to do to him if he ever did it again, and what Karin did do to him, he cringed thinking about the beating his sister gave him. Ichigo also had to admit that Yuzu could do worse then Renji, and she is a lot older then Karin was when she and Toshiro started dating.

"Well I was eating lunch in Rukongai when I ran into her at that little ramen shop, she told me she was having some weird recurring dreams. Well I had her tell me about it, and she told me she kept seeing this man and she couldn't remember much at first, but she remembers more every time she has this dream." Renji said as Ichigo and Rukia listened to him retail his conversation with Yuzu.

"Now who do you think the man in her dream was?" Renji said and he saw Ichigo cringe a bit, and Rukia's eyes lit up as she realized what Renji was getting at.

'She's talking to her zanpaktou in her dreams isn't she?" Rukia said, and Ichigo visibly relaxed.

"That's what I think, so I told her to ask him his name next time." Renji said.

"Well hopefully Yuzu can manifest her zanpaktou soon, then she can train with it before she enters the Academy." Rukia said.

"Hey its been fun, but I have to get back to the Sixth and finish the paperwork before captain Kuchiki gets back from his training mission in the living world." Renji said as he got up to leave.

"Ok, see ya Renji." Ichigo said as his friend walked out the door. Ichigo walked over to Rukia and wrapped his arms around her from behind, Rukia closed her eyes enjoying the feeling of being in her husband's arms. He kissed the side of her head, and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"I really want to hold you like this forever, but we do need to get back to training." He said in a low whisper. Rukia opened her eyes, as she leaned a little more against him.

"I guess you're right, but not right now." She said as they watched the birds flying around the garden just outside of Ichigo's office.

Las Noches, Hueco Mundo.

An army of hollows and Arrancar stood in ranks outside of Los Noches, their leader stood in front of them, as he surveyed his new army he was pleased with the sight. He was not so arrogant that he believed he could conquer the Soul Society with such a small army, but this attack would be a good test of his troops and their leaders. The time for his revenge may indeed be sooner then he had hoped, he stood up and gave his orders to the five Espada class Arrancar who were his captains in the field. The five Nuevo Espada were ordered to destroy as many of the Court Guard Squads as they could, their secondary objective was to capture Karin and Yuzu Kurosaki, and if at all possible to kill their brother who he believed was captain of either the Third or Fifth Divisions. The death of their brother and the destruction of a large number of Squads would remove any hope that sandy haired whore and her bitch sister had of rescue, and then he could take his time dealing with those two. Perhaps he should have his fun with both of them before he killed them, or maybe he should turn them both into Arrancar after he's done with them. He raised his hand and gave the order he had been waiting since that fateful day three years ago to give. "To the garganta!" He called out with all of the rage he felt towards the soul reapers and the Kurosakis, with that command his army charged into the gateway to the Soul Society.

The Seireitei, Soul Society.

Yuzu was on her way home when she felt something both very dark and very wrong, she looked into the sky and saw it tear as if some invisible hand was ripping the sky apart.

" Oh no, I need to get to Karin." She said as took off running toward the Seireitei, flash stepping as fast as she could.

Urahara's Shop, Karakura, The Living World.

A blast of spirit energy hit the Urahara shop like the blast wave from an atomic weapon, the shop owner sat at his table drinking tea with a tan skinned woman with purple hair when the blast hit. Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihouin stood in shock at the shear energy and malevolence of the energy they had just felt.

"It's starting!" yelled Yoruichi as she pulled out her soul phone and called Soi Fong, Urahara for his part lowered his hat over his face and headed to his basement to open a sankaimon, he knew that the Soul Society was going to need all the help they could get, and he and Yoruichi should be ready to leave as soon as possible.

Fifth Division Barracks, Seireitei, Soul Society.

Rukia and Ichigo were enjoying a peaceful moment as they sat in the garden outside of Ichigo's office, he had his arms around her as she sat in his lap. The day was clear and beautiful as the birds flew through the garden, the young husband and wife took in the peace that was so rare in their lives. Ichigo took in his wife's scent and the warmth of her tiny body as she began to drift off to sleep, he felt her snuggle closer and adjust herself into a more comfortable position. Ichigo was glad she was falling asleep, he was worried about Rukia, she hadn't been sleeping very much, with the semester ending at the Academy and the graduates submitting applications to each of the Court Guard Squads the captains and vice-captains had their hands full with paperwork, and poor Rukia had even more to deal with because her captain's poor health had forced him into a leave of absence. Ichigo and Rukia's moment of peace was shattered when a massive wave of spirit pressure hit the Seireitei, they both knew what was happing before the ever heard the alert. The young couple retrieved their swords from the rack and headed out to protect the Seireitei, Ichigo and Rukia shared one last kiss as she left for her Division, and he went to gather his men.

Tenth Division Barracks, Soul Society.

RED ALERT, RED ALERT, INTRUDERS IN THE SEIREITEI, ALL SQUADS REPORT TO BATTLESTATIONS. The sound of the alarm woke Hitsugaya from his sleep, he fall from the couch onto the floor, and for a moment wondered how he ended up on that couch in the first place. He took a moment to process what was going on, he had fallen asleep in his office, and now an alert had woken him up. Hitsugaya's mind cleared as he realized that they were under attack, he grabbed his sword off the wall rack and headed out into the courtyard to find Rangiku, she was organizing the squad, he ran down and took over command of the squad. Before he took off to the battle he spared a moment to find Karin's spirit pressure, he could feel she was close to his division, and that Yuzu was headed her way. He wanted to go to her and make sure she was safe, but his duty was to lead the Tenth Division into battle and protect the Seireitei.

Karin was on her way to the Tenth to confront Toshiro about what was bothering him when the alert went off, Karin's heart told her to go to Toshiro, but she knew his duty was to lead his Division, and she would just get in his way. Karin decided to find Yuzu and see what help they could be, after all they were hardly defenseless little girls, and both were also trained nurses thanks to growing up in a clinic. Karin felt Yuzu's spirit pressure headed for her and decided to head that way when a strong wave of energy hit her.

"Aren't you a cute one." said the tall Arrancar standing in front of Karin, his two companions looked like ordinary hollows, but their spirit pressure told her that they were Adjuchs class menos. Karin drew her sword and gave her release command, her katana transformed into a broad bladed swept hilt rapier, and wings of wing formed around her. She fell back a step or two and engaged the first of the Adjuchs to attack her, she knew she was out numbered but she hoped to kill at least one of these three and then try to find help in dealing with the Arrancar.

Yuzu ran as fast as her flash step would take her, she felt at least one Arrancar and some hollows near Karin, and she felt her twin's spirit pressure increase and she knew that Karin had released Kazeryu. She felt the spirit energy around the Seireitei spike as a number of soul reapers and hollows engaged in battle. As Yuzu rushed to her sister's side she felt two hollows disappear and then after what felt like forever she was on the scene. Yuzu stood in shock as Karin's energy dipped very low, and she could see a tall Arrancar holding her sister up by the throat with his one good arm. Yuzu knew she had to do something fast, Karin was dying, but she didn't have a weapon and she doubted kido would be enough. Yuzu felt like screaming for help, but no one was around except for Karin and the Arrancar that was strangling her. Yuzu was on the verge of panic when she heard a voice in her head, and the man from her dream was standing next to her.

"Are you ready?" He ask in his low shadowy voice.

"Yes" Yuzu said as a wave of calm seemed to fill her mind and body.

"Then say my name." he said, Yuzu closed her eyes and she suddenly knew his name and who he was.

"Draw their blood, Kengetsu!" she cried out and her zanpaktou materialized in her hand.

Karin couldn't breath, and she was sure this was the end of her second life. Regrets and sorrow filled her heart as she realized she would never see Toshiro, Yuzu, or any of her family again. I'm sorry guys, I guess I wasn't strong enough, she thought as blackness filled her vision. Karin heard something she couldn't quite make out, then a two foot long spade shaped dart struck the Arrancar in the side of the head, the force of the impact was so great that it turned his head and nearly ripped his face off. The Arrancar released Karin as he died, Karin looked for the source of the attack that saved her life. Yuzu was retracting the dart along a cord that attached it to the rest of her weapon, Yuzu's zanpaktou was a two ended spear, with a very large spade shaped blade on each end. Yuzu rushed to Karin and knelt beside her as Karin tried to regain her breath.

"That was close Karin, he almost killed you." Yuzu said with worry heavily lacing her voice, Karin just nodded and hugged her twin tightly around the shoulders.

"I thought I was gonna die again, thanks for the save." Karin said hoarsely as she retrieved Kazeryu from the ground. Karin and Yuzu both took in the sight of the battle that was underway, there were flames shooting up all along the horizon as a number of Gillians were firing cero blasts at anything and everything. The girls felt their brother and sister-in-law fighting against very powerful enemies. Karin felt out Toshiro's spirit energy, he was in battle but seemed to be ok. A second Arrancar landed near the girls, but before he could say a word Yuzu threw one of her darts at his face, he blocked the dart with his sword and the force of the impact caused him to slide back, before he stopped Yuzu flash stepped behind him and threw her second dart at his back, it pierced his chest from behind and she retracted her darts as he dissolved into spirit particles.

"Nice shot Zu." Karin said dumbfounded by her sisters speed and power, Karin had seen many zanpaktou, but this one was unique. Karin was glad Yuzu finally manifested her sword, but now they had work to do.

Toshiro was worried, as he released his bankai against a very powerful Espada class Arrancar. Toshiro had been distracted with worry, he had felt Karin release her sword and kill at least two hollows, but then her energy fell dangerously low. He was sure she was dying, but then he felt Yuzu's energy spike and at least two Arrancar died at her hands. He knew that Karin and Yuzu were both very powerful alone, but he was sure that together they were unstoppable. He turned his full attention on his foe as his worry vanished, the Arrancar he was facing was relatively small but his spirit pressure was very high. Toshiro raised his sword and blocking an attack he charged, the Arrancar was thrown back and sent a cero at Hitsugaya, he dodged and moved into the attack. He was determined to beat this creature, and no matter what got in his way he would propose to Karin today.

Ichigo released his bankai and raced through a number of minor hollows and menos before he encountered a powerful Espada. The two fighters exchanged blows before they broke, each checking the other for weaknesses. The speed of their attacks increased as they both realized that they were a near match, this battle would be long and costly for the winner.

"Oh how lucky I am to battle the famed Ichigo Kurosaki, hero of the winter war, defeater of Aizen, and the man I have orders to kill." the Arrancar said as he crossed blades with Ichigo, who for his part was more concentrated on Karin's suddenly weak spirit pressure, he smiled as he felt Yuzu kill the Arrancar that was killing Karin, and then he felt both girls heading his way after Yuzu killed another Arrancar.

"Oh it looks like your sisters are headed our way, how very luck for me, I orders to capture them too, what a lucky man I am today." the Arrancar gloated

"My sisters?" Ichigo said trying to stay calm, he felt his anger rising but stamped down on it.

"Oh yes, you see our leader has some unfinished business with them, maybe he can turn them after he's done having his fun with them." The Arrancar said, and Ichigo realized what the Arrancar was implying, his anger got the better of him as he charged headlong at his foe.

Rukia had to lead the Thirteenth Division into battle, she felt Ichigo's energy level spike as he battled his opponent. She gave her orders to her men and with that they attacked the hollow army, killing a large number as they approach the area that Ichigo and now Byakuya were battling in, as she stopped to face an Arrancar she realized that they were all converging on the Fifth and Third Division headquarters.

"I wonder why all of the battles are in that area?" she said as she killed her target before moving on. Rukia lead her Division over the Third's headquarters as a cero from a large menos obliterated her husband's offices. Rukia realized that the attacks were aimed at the Third and Fifth Divisions. I have to get to Ichigo, Rukia thought to herself as they flew headlong into battle.

Momo Kira was at the head of the Fifth Division's battle lines, she had concluded that her squad's headquarters was the target of the attack, she and her men retreated just as a cero tore through her headquarters. "Snap Tobiume!" she yelled as she sent fireballs at a number of targets, she may not be a captain but she was going to lead her men into battle and she would be damned if she would let anyone, Arrancar or otherwise, target her squad and get away with it. Momo struck an Arrancar with a binding spell before she blew it to bits with a hado spell. Then they began pushing the army of Arrancar back to trap them between the Eighth Division and their own., if this worked they could crush them like a bug, Momo thought to herself as she killed another target.

Karin and Yuzu arrived just in time to see Ichigo fall from the sky, their hearts froze as Rukia swept in and caught him midair. She laid him on the ground and turned to face the Arrancar that had wounded her beloved, rage fill Rukia's heart and mind as she released her bankai. The Kurosaki girls ran to their brothers side, he was badly hurt and Karin's dream flashed in her mind.

"No, please no." Karin said in a whisper as she felt her brothers pulse, it was weak but it was there. Karin and Yuzu both started using a healing kido on Ichigo, they saw Orihime coming up with Uryu , she ran over and started healing Ichigo as Uryu released his zanpaktou Fuenikkusu Yume, it transformed from a sword to a bow, and he fired his arrows at his targets, the arrows transformed into firebirds as the flew. Ishida provided cover as Orihime finished with Ichigo then started healing the wounded as fast as she could.

Rukia battled Ichigo's former adversary, her bankai from was taking its toll on her, but she was inflicting severe damage on her target, he dodged her attacks, and started trying to retreat from her. Rukia for her part was becoming exhausted, and she knew she had to finish this battle soon or her energy would run out. Karin rushed from Ichigo's side and sent a wave of wind dragons at the Arrancar who was battling Rukia.

Toshiro Hitsugaya defeated his opponent and then headed back to check on the Tenth Division, his squad had suffered some casualties, however, they had faired well, he was proud of the conduct of his team. Hitsugaya lead his Division to the main battle over the ruins of Third Division's barracks. He was worried about Karin, he knew her brother was severely injured and he hoped she was ok.

Karin felt her pain and rage build up in her and she drew herself into a another attack stance, she and Rukia had wounded the Arrancar, who it turns out was in command of the Army attacking the Seireitei. The Arrancar commander felt the waves of spirit energy around him and he realized that his army was losing the battle, he sent a cero at both girls, Rukia was able to dodge the attack, but Karin was not so lucky and the blast hit her full force, she was thrown from the sky, she tried to stop her fall but she was too badly hurt and weak from the cero's impact. Karin fell toward the ground as a flash of white moved up and caught her, she looked up at Toshiro's worried face. "Thanks for the save." she said her voice was little more then a whisper.

"Don't worry I've got you, you're safe now." He said and she snuggled closer to him as he flew her to the Fourth Division. Toshiro looked back to see the garganta open up and the Arrancar commander leading the survivors of his army back to Hueco Mundo, the battle was over but the damage had been done.