Alleluia! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Happy Easter everyone~ Lent is over and I am finally able to give you all, at long last, this story. There will be a good deal of blood, since many nightmares consist of blood; you have been warned.

Originally, I wanted this to be a one-shot too, but it grew to be far too long. So I've managed to write it as a multi-chaptered story. I won't tell you how many chapters I've written so far, but there is a certain split, or perhaps I should say turn, in the storyline. And I'm not done yet, but I think I will be finished long before I need to update irregularly. I haven't decided between updating every week or every other week... but I will decide soon. Until then, enjoy!

Oh, yeah, the disclaimer. Well, I don't own Bleach, because if I did, I don't think I would've made Aizen out to be a stalker.

Together they walked to the public garden. They were quiet, happy to be together. The pair didn't need words to communicate at the moment. As he leaned down to sketch one of the flowers, she spoke.

"Toushirou." The tone of her voice made him look up at her in concern.

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Don't forget about me, please. I know that you're a captain and I'm not, and I know you're very busy, but I still get scared that you'll forget about who I am one day."

"That's ridiculous." He stood up swiftly and hugged her. "I would never forget about someone as important as you, Karin."

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

—x—

"Karin!" he yelped, sitting up in bed. Toushirou dropped his arm and sighed. Horrible dreams like the one he had just woken up from had been plaguing him for a while. To be truthful, it had not been as bad as some of the others, but it still made him worry. He had thought that he would not have nightmares after meeting the previously nameless girl from his dreams. But for three months he'd been having nightmares.

Something was wrong in Karakura, he just knew it.

—x—

Karin was in school. She sighed from boredom; they'd been covering how to add and subtract with negative numbers for two weeks. It was just her luck that she had understood it the first two days. Quickly, she finished the practice problems and looked out the window.

A patch of white greeted her. It had snowed the night before, but not enough to cancel school. The view was pretty, and she envisioned a snowball fight that would likely never happen. In it, she had her mother along with her family, her friends, Ichigo's friends, and lastly, Toushirou and Matsumoto.

It took her a few minutes, but it came to her realization that it wasn't just her imagination—she really was looking at Toushirou. Karin smiled in delight and headed towards the window. Then, somehow, she got out of her school and was seated on the tree besides him.

"Hi Toushirou," she greeted. When he didn't reply, she grew worried. "Toushirou? What's with you?" She waved her hand in front of his face. Scared, she looked away from his face and down to his hands.

They were bloody and holding an equally bloody sword. Immediately Karin looked back to his face. His eyes were glazed over, and his face had specks of blood on it. Then, as she looked on, he tipped over and fell to the ground.

She screamed.

—x—

Yuzu was awoken by her sister's earsplitting scream. She jumped up and ran to her sister's bed at the second scream. Karin was crying and wailing, and despite Yuzu's words, she could not be consoled.

Karin knew something was horribly, horribly wrong. She'd had one of the worst nightmares of her life, and it sent chills down her spine.

Toushirou was in trouble, she just knew it.

—x—

"Momo, I've come to visit," he announced, sliding the door open.

"Toushirou!" she replied, standing up to greet him. She had returned to her duties two weeks before. Momo was still a little weak, but she was growing stronger every day and her bright mood was coming back.

"How have you been?" he asked, sitting next to her on the couch.

"Work is so boring, but it's better than being at the hospital. My subordinates are happy to have me back." She bit her lip, suddenly nervous. "Will you help me attain bankai?"

"Are you sure you're ready for it?" he asked, hiding his surprise. "You just got back from the hospital." Of course he'd help her. But not quite yet.

"I think so. I didn't necessarily mean right now, or tomorrow, or next week. I just meant sometime within the year."

"Of course I'll help you Momo. You're a very dear friend to me."

"You are to me too, Toushirou." She smiled, relieved, and kissed his cheek.

—x—

"Captain? Are you okay?" Matsumoto looked at him, a frown on her face.

"I must be overworked or something." He couldn't tell her about what he had dreamed the night before.

"Why don't you go visit Hinamori-chan?" Perhaps his old friend would cheer him up.

"I will if you promise to get your paperwork done." Going to see Momo right after that dream? Hardly. He knew Matsumoto would refuse to do the paperwork.

"Done deal, Captain. I'll take care of it." To his surprise, she sat at her desk and began working.

"I'll be back in about an hour," he promised.

"Take your time," she called as he shut the door.

—x—

She was walking through an unfamiliar hallway, but at brisk pace. Karin turned to the right, then took a left, and pulled open the fourth door on the left. "Momo, I've come to visit," she said. Wait, she thought. That's not my voice; it's Toushirou's!

A young woman, someone she assumed to be Momo, stood up in delight. "Toushirou!" Karin felt herself become engulfed in her hug, and hugged her back. Together, they sat at the couch in the room.

"How have you been?" Toushirou's voice coming out of her mouth was still strange for her.

"I've never felt better," she replied. "My subordinates are glad to have me back, and I'm free to move about instead of being forced to stay in bed all day." Momo smiled at her, and Karin couldn't help but smile back. They chatted in this way for a little while longer, letting Karin relax. Then Momo began to look nervous and bite her lip. "Toushirou? Will you help me attain bankai?"

"Are you sure you're ready for it?" she asked almost automatically. The feeling of déjà vu washed over her, and Karin began to get the idea she wasn't dreaming this.

"Yeah. I know I just got out of the hospital, so I was thinking I'd start training for it within the year. Maybe five months from now?" She giggled a little, as if five months meant something. Toushirou would know, Karin thought as she laughed.

"Of course I'll help you. You are dear to me, Momo."

"Thank you, Shirou-chan," Momo said gratefully. "You're dear to me too." She leaned over and kissed Karin's cheek.

The panicked feeling that washed over her wasn't hers in entirety. It was then that Karin realized this wasn't a dream, that she was experiencing what Toushirou was at that very moment.

—x—

Karin was grateful it was winter vacation. It meant that her being dead-tired wouldn't affect her performance at school. She ate her breakfast slowly, speaking little to her family. Last night's dream wasn't a nightmare, but it wasn't a good one either. She needed to speak to Toushirou, and quickly. Her brother would know what to do.

"Ichi-nii?" she asked, poking her head into his room.

He turned from his desk. "Yeah? What's up Karin?"

"I need to talk to someone, but I don't know how."

"You don't know where he lives or anything?"

"He lives wherever the shinigami live," she replied. "I know you know how to talk to them Ichi-nii; I need to talk to him!"

Ichigo's eyes widened. "How do you know a shinigami?"

"Now is not the time! I need to talk to Toushirou now!" she shouted, her panic overwhelming her.

"Hey now, calm down Karin!" He stood up and took her shoulders. "I think I know how to talk to him. Come with me."

The two of them pulled on their coats and boots and left the house after saying they'd be back in the afternoon. They tramped through town and finally stopped at Urahara's Shop. Despite Karin's doubt, they headed inside, where Ichigo asked to talk to the manager.

"Ichigo! How pleasant it is to see you again. And Karin too!" Urahara greeted warmly.

"Hey Urahara. Do you know how to communicate directly with the shinigami?" Ichigo asked, skipping pleasantries.

Urahara was silent for a moment as he looked at Karin. She raised her eyebrows and nodded, answering his silent question. "Why, yes, I do, but why? You want to talk to one of them?" The man hid his face behind his fan.

"Not me; Karin here." He gestured to her. Ichigo was still wondering how she knew the white-haired captain she had spoken of when she had screamed at him.

"How do you—"

Karin was tired of waiting, so she interrupted. "I need to speak to Captain Toushirou Hitsugaya of the Tenth Division now. Preferably within the next ten minutes." She crossed her arms angrily. What's more, I don't even know why I'm so worked up!

Urahara looked at her, shocked by her outburst. As her frown deepened and her mouth looked ready to continue, he replied, "Y-yes, of course, right away Karin. Follow me you two." He led them to the back of the store, and slid open a door. "Tessai, I need to reach the Soul Society. Please begin the process."

"Right away sir," the large man answered, and immediately began hooking up wires to a huge screen.

"Funny, that looks like the one in Inoue's apartment," Ichigo commented, scrutinizing the screen.

"That's because it is," Urahara told him as he and Tessai continued working on the machine. "I had it moved from her apartment."

Karin remained silent. She was making quite a few demands here, and she was likely to make more (like, she wanted to talk to Toushirou alone). "I hope he's there," she muttered. The TV turned on and made static as Urahara fiddled with some knobs.

The screen flickered, and a surprised Twelfth Division member stared back at them. "Yes? Hello, Urahara-san. Would you like to talk to the Captain-Commander?"

"Not today. I need to speak to Captain Hitsugaya immediately."

"Right away sir." The screen fell dead, and it wasn't until a few minutes later that it came back on.

This time, the other end was in a brightened room. "You wished to speak with me, Urahara?" Toushirou asked. He had been called by the Captain-Commander to come to the First Division because of an urgent message from Urahara. Thankfully, the Captain-Commander merely showed him to the room instead of listening to whatever the crazy shopkeeper had to say.

"Well, it's not really me—"

Again, Karin interrupted. "Toushirou!" She ran forward and almost touched the screen. "Toushirou, I have to talk to you!" Turning, she told the others, "Alone, preferably."

"You can't be serious!" Ichigo thundered. Urahara hid his expression behind his fan—again.

"Kurosaki, if your sister needs to talk to me alone, then please leave us alone." Toushirou frowned at the teen and then looked at Urahara. "You understand, right, Urahara?"

"Of course, Captain. Come along Ichigo." The older man took Ichigo by the arm and left the room, shortly followed by Tessai.

"You better not be eavesdropping!" Karin called to the closed door. Satisfied that they were warned, she returned her attention to the screen. "I'm sorry for calling you from your duties, but I needed to talk to you."

"It's all right. What's up?" He was curious as to why she would put so much effort into seeing him.

"It's been three months. The nights are horrible." Karin frowned. "I thought that… after meeting you at last…"

"… your dreams would get better?" he finished gently. He had been wondering that himself for a while.

"Exactly! But I've been having terrible dreams Toushirou. Like, last week, I had one where you were sitting in a tree, and when I went to speak to you, your hands were bloody and holding a bloody sword and you fell from the tree and died, just like that."

"I dreamed that you were trying to say something to me but I couldn't hear you," he told her. It wasn't as bad as the one she had described, but it was one of the more recent ones.

"Toushirou, were you kissed recently?" Karin asked, getting closer to the screen.

He balked. "H-how would you know that?"

"I dreamt it, last night. In fact, somehow I knew I was you."

"But Hinamori kissed me this morning..." he trailed off. "You dreamt that?"

"Yeah! Soul Society and this world must not be on the same time cycle. But that doesn't matter. I dreamt it. I felt your panic, Toushirou."

"Karin, I hope that you don't—"

She was on a roll, as she interrupted someone for the third time that day. "Toushirou, it's not your fault. I'm not mad at you. I just want to know what's going on!" Karin stamped her foot for good measure.

"I don't know any more than you do," he sighed. "We're a rare case, Karin. Very few souls are connected this way. Even fewer meet, like we have."

"I've been losing sleep for three months, Toushirou. Something is wrong."

"What can we do? Karin, if the Soul Society found out about you, bad things would happen."

"What do they expect? Do they honestly believe that I and my sister wouldn't gain spiritual awareness? If my brother can affect people like Orihime and Chad, then he is definitely going to affect those in his own household!"

"I know Karin. I just think that, if we let this out, we're in deep trouble." He was determined to stay calm.

She sighed. "I'm scared. I don't know what's going on, and I can't do anything about it." Karin's shoulders slumped.

"Karin," he whispered. It had such a strange tone, one she didn't know, that she looked up. "I'm scared too. But all that really matters is that you and I know each other. Right? Think about it. We can figure out what's happening to us. I know some people around here; they might be able to tell us what's going on. In the meantime, try not to upset your brother too much."

"What do you mean by that?" Karin asked, confused.

"I mean, don't make him get worked up and come storming into Soul Society demanding answers or something. We have enough work to do as it is."

"Right… I'll keep that in mind." Her unspoken question hung in the air: What were they going to do about the nightmares?

This chapter is amazingly longer than the others. x_o I haven't realized it until now. And yes, they are all out of character, but since I can do whatever the heck I like, deal with it. What's a story without taking a few chances? (has anyone else seen Toushirou's face? oh my Jesus, I was about ready to flip out when he screamed at Aizen. Hinamori had better live or I will bring her back to life to kill her myself because Toushirou has enough problems as it is.)