I'm not sure if you all caught on yet or not, but just in case you haven't.

'Shiro talking in Ichigo's head.'

'Ichigo and Zangetsu talking in Ichigo's head.'

"Shiro talking out loud."

'Ichigo thinking.'

"Anyone talking."

. : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : .

We came to a long stretch in the sewers which had hardly any light or corners. Tatsuki said this part had no patrol what-so-ever because only the fourth division knew about it. She also said it was safe to run because no one would hear us and so that's exactly what we did.

It had taken about five minutes, but right about then I had begun to notice the change in scenery. The walls were becoming more metal-like versus the bricks I had been used to. It was a useless question, so I didn't bother asking Tatsuki why. The last time we spoke she had said we'd be in the Head Captains office within the next five minutes and that was four minutes ago, which meant we were exceptionally close.

"There!" Tatsuki shouted, pointing to a ladder as she did so. We both came to an immediate halt in order to turn towards the wooden bars. "This will lead us to the room left of your Zanpakuto. All we have to do is sneak in, grab it then sneak out."

"I don't like running around like thieves…" I unintentionally thought aloud.

"I don't either, but in our current situation there's not much else we can do."

"I know."

Tatsuki gave me a gentle shove to the side then grasped one of the bars on the ladder. She let her weight hang off of it for a few seconds before deciding it was sturdy enough to climb. I let her get six bars above the ground before I begun to climb too.

"Yo, Tatsuki," I whispered, breaking the silence.

"Hmm." was her hushed reply.

"I was thinking, you and I have probably been awake since early this morning. After I get Zangetsu is there some place that's safe where we both can go?"

"Yeah. We'll talk later, from here on it has to be complete silence."

I nodded, though I knew she couldn't see me. However I assumed that my silence would qualify as an appropriate answer for her.

When we reached the top of the ladder the room we came up in wasn't anything like I'd picture it to be. I had the image of old grey walls hosting dust and spider webs… not anything so girlish! There was pink everywhere and not a speck of dirt in sight! Pink stuffed animals where lined up on pink shelves with pink books on other pink shelves. The floor was pink, the desk was pink… hell! It reminded me of Karin and Yuzu's old rooms, but I quickly shoved that thought away. I could worry about family later; right now I had a job to do.

Tatsuki pointed to the door (even that was pink) and so that's where we headed. Tatsuki slid the door to the side just enough so that we could see, but not enough to be noticeable. She waved afterwards and opened the door fully in order to walk out… into another pink hallway.

I rolled my eyes and reflexively swallowed the spit that had gathered in my mouth. We turned the corner, opened the bright pink door and walked inside. Sitting in the middle of the room was a huge pile of Shikai released Zanpakuto that spread up to the ceiling. I really wasn't going to have to look through all that was I?

"Ichigo…"

The call came as an echo making it relatively creepier than it should have been. But nothing more than joy washed over my body as I recognised that voice faster than almost anyone else's. It belonged to Zangetsu.

"I'm here Ichigo."

My eyes instinctively closed. I could feel my hand twitching from the sense of power I was receiving. If not strengthening then this feeling of power might have even felt...

'Mmm… feels good doesn' it?' Shiro purred. I could suddenly feel his hot breath run down my neck, it sending the slightest of chills down my body. His hands appeared on my shoulders before sliding down my arms to mimic my current position.

Good, that was the word. I nodded underneath him, whether Tatsuki saw or not I didn't care.

'Can you hear 'im?'

'Yeah.'

I sensed Shiro's smile. 'Tha's good. Now lift yer righ' arm an' call back ta Zangetsu.'

Without question, I lifted my right arm. My mind searched for Zangetsu's presence as well as his voice. I gently called his name, and then waited for a response.

In an instant my body was met with a wave of pins and needles, all of which spread from my heart throughout. Tatsuki smiled, Shiro grinned, and I smirked before gently tightened my grip on the bandage wrapped hilt of my Zanpakuto.

'It's been a while, Ichigo.'

"It has, Zangetsu." I said both aloud and in my head. I beamed with pride down at my Zanpakuto, simply proud to bear host to such a magnificent sword.

"Well, well, well…" The voice came from behind me. It was a honeyed voice, amusement and childishness evident from within it.

My head turned first, my body following after. My eyes felled apon the unfamiliar face of a little girl. Her hair was white, not as white as Shiro's, but still white and was held back by a pair of strange black goggles. Sheathed beneath a robe was a Zanpakuto and covering her Zanpakuto was the Head Captains robes.

"It looks as though we finally get to meet, Ichigo." She giggled. "I mean, we've met before during your treatment injections but-"

"W-Wai-ait, my wha-at?"

"Oh! That's right! It's okay if you don't remember; your mind was always a crazy one."

"You bitch! What the hell are you talking about?!" I turned desperately to Tatsuki. "What is she talking about, Tatsuki?"

"Ichigo."

I turned back around. My eyes met hers and I couldn't believe it. Tatsuki, all grown up and proud, stood in the hallway just a little ways behind the girl.

"I'm standing right here," she finished, as if I couldn't see that…

But it was impossible! Tatsuki had been helping me this entire time! She couldn't be the one standing in the doorway behind that little girl! "What the hell is going on?"

"Tell me Ichigo," the little girl spoke again, "How long have you been trapped in the Seireitei?"

"Eight years-"

They shook their heads. No? What did they mean, no?

'Ichigo, ya've been here fer a lot longer than that.'

'But you said-'

'No, Ichigo, I had said that I've grown stronger in the past eight years. I had thought you'd known. You've been here for-'

"-two hundred-" The little girl and Shiro started speaking at the same time.

'-years.'

"No!" I screamed in panic to both of them. "That can't be true!"

"I'm sorry, Ichigo, but it is," Tatsuki, the real one standing in front of me, sighed. "I once helped you to escape, which would explain why you're seeing me right now. The torture, the fourth division and the stories of you being a monster are all true."

"Once Tatsuki and you had made it up here, I came alone and took you and Tatsuki to meet the same person that you have met previously for all the past twenty year jumps. Normally your medications last for twenty years, why they have suddenly weakened to eight years I'll never know, unless you tell me. But for now you have to hand over your Zanpakuto and follow me."

"I've had enough of your nonsense," I hissed. "You're not touching Zangetsu!"

"Ichigo please, don't make me take it from you," the real Tatsuki whined.

It?! I felt like snapping, Zangetsu's not an it!

My grip on the hilt tightened so much that my hand started to bleed. This feeling of real pain shocked my body; the image of Tatsuki behind me flickered. I HAD been hallucinating and they HAD been injecting me with drugs! …But 'why they have suddenly weakened to eight years' might be the key to something very important.

She said that this went on in loops of twenty years. Maybe the sudden shift in Shiro's power weakened the dosage? 'So then Shiro is real, our power is real, he and I are real, Zangetsu is real, they fear me and they had a damn right good reason to,' I thought happily.

"Don't think for one second that I'll allow you to even look at Zangetsu, let alone take him away! I'm telling you, I'm leaving Soul Society and nothing is going to stop me," I barked, my anger shattering the Tatsuki hallucination.

"Really," the little girl giggled. I swear, if it wasn't going to be a problem I'd walk up to her and boot her in the head. "Not even if…" Now she had my attention. "…nothing was your own mother?"

My… mother?