Leaving the desert was easier than getting in, but not by much.

The real problem was the water. They hadn't really thought about it, but without Ichigo calling the water out of the sands was insanely difficult. All the taichou working together had finally managed it, at ruinous cost to their power. Fortunately, all the demons seemed to be terrified by the manner of Sona Maria's death, and they were avoided.

But that was a problem too. The food was completely gone, and true to Zaraki's words, they'd had to start eating the demons. But with demons fleeing from them, that became difficult as well. Finally they'd approached a hive and threatened to destroy it if the demon lord inside did not give them supplies. If the demon lord had chosen to defy them things could have gone very badly, but instead he'd given them a load of fungus and body parts and told them to get out of his territory.

By the time they had reached the rift, everyone was feeling incredibly worn. And the rift itself was clearly in the process of destabilizing. Byakuya could only thank the stars that it was still open and they all hurried through it before it could truly close. The air of Soul Society had never been sweeter and they were greeted with water, real food and towels.

"We'll have to stay until the rift finally closes." Renji said, glancing back, and Byakuya nodded. "Taichou… are you going to be okay?" Byakuya stared at his fukutaichou for a moment, surprised by the question. But he managed to dredge up a small smile from somewhere.

"I will be fine, Renji." It was a lie, and he knew it, but there was nothing to be done. The pain in his heart now was like the pain he'd felt for Hisana, but also different. It felt… purer, less tainted by regrets. Hisana had died trying to bear his child, which had hurt him in so many ways. Ichigo had died to save them all, which was painful but at least did not wound him with guilt. "I will recover." He amended his statement and felt it was more the truth. He would eventually recover, although it might take decades. "We need to go over the casualties." The casualties in the final battle had been dreadful. The rank and file of the divisions had been decimated, several fukutaichou had been lost, and they had been very lucky not to lose any taichou. It had been close with Sajin, but the taichou of the 7th had pulled through. They hadn't paused to take any kind of head count before they left, so Byakuya wasn't even sure who was alive and who was dead.

"It's going to be awful. I'm just glad I survived." Renji grimaced as he flexed his arm and Byakuya nodded. A demon had very nearly torn it off, but someone else had killed it before it could finish his fukutaichou. "And the other Divisions are just as bad."

"Some are worse." Byakuya said absently as he glanced over the camp. The wounded were being settled in and treated by the medics. On the way back, they'd brought all the wounded they could, but many had expired on the march. "But against this enemy, it could have been worse. We will recover." The next class from the academy would be in very high demand. Byakuya frowned to himself as he plotted how to snatch the very best away from his fellow taichou's.

Thinking about things like that took his mind off the pain.

Ichigo lay on the ground beside his father, feeling utterly content. It made him wonder why he'd delayed coming here so long. He could have given up at any time, and someone would have been happy to eat his heart. But if he'd done that, he would never have met Byakuya and the other shinigami. He would never have known what it really meant to be a shinigami.

"Ichigo?" Ichigo blinked, opening sleepy golden eyes as Isshin touched his shoulder. His father looked sad but proud. "It's time."

"Time for what?" He said drowsily, then sat bolt upright as he felt something. It was almost painful, and Ichigo whimpered as he felt things stirring inside him, memories and pains that he just wanted to forget. "Father, what's happening?" He asked breathlessly as a red light began to appear in front of them. It was swirling slowly and looked malignant to the shocked hybrid. He'd thought he was safe here. What was this?

"It's time for you to go back, Ichigo." Disbelieving gold eyes met sad brown. "It's also time for me to go to my rebirth. I regret that we've only had this time together, but we both need to go."

"B-But… I just got here!" He protested, looking back at the red light. It was forming a tunnel, and he did not want to touch it, let alone step inside of it. He could sense that it promised pain. Terrible, soul breaking pain. "What if I don't want to?" Could he ignore this, and just remain?

"You can ignore it, and it will go away." Isshin admitted. "But then you will never see Byakuya… and your baby will go unborn." Ichigo's breath caught in his throat and he shook his head violently.

"It can't be born anyway! Father, what are you saying?" He looked at Isshin, demanding answers with hot golden eyes. Isshin looked away, and it was Zakanata that gave him the answer he needed.

"Ichigo, the Soul King is rebuilding your body, in honor of your service. He is almost done, and now he is trying to call your spirit home. He has changed you so the child can be born, but you must return or it will be in vain." Ichigo nodded, but his eyes didn't leave his father. Isshin was staring at the red light, and there was pain on his father's face.

"You will have to face yours pains and fears to return. Ichigo…" Isshin hugged him again and Ichigo hugged him back, feeling the guilt and pain weighing down his father's heart.

"Don't blame yourself, father." He whispered into the older man's ear. "It was never your fault, and I love you. Go to your rebirth, and I'll go to mine." It was frightening, almost terrifying, but he would dare this tunnel of red light if that was what it took to return to Byakuya. A second chance was far too precious to throw away. Isshin pulled away with a smile, ruffling his hair one last time.

"Goodbye, Ichigo." He and Zakanata watched as the hybrid stepped up to the tunnel of red light, and began the painful process of returning to life.

They could only hope he would succeed.

Ichigo felt like he had been walking through the red light forever.

Unlike the golden light that had brought him to the place of death and rebirth, this red light seemed to slice his skin, reminding him of pain and bringing up memories of suffering. It hurt, but he kept walking anyway, ignoring the swirling walls of the tunnel.

Abruptly, things changed. Ichigo's nose wrinkled as he was assaulted by the smell of blood and rot. Before, that would have excited him and made him look for a meal. But right now, it revolted him.

"Because you're too fucking soft." Came a soft, dark hiss and Ichigo turned around. He was standing in a cave of red stone that reminded him of the stone in the demon sands. There were dozens of stalactites and stalagmites, which was unusual. Such things required water to form and the demon sands had none of that. Then he swallowed as he realized that blood was slowly dripping from them, oozing into puddles on the floor.

"Who are you?" He called to the voice, turning around. He could see no one, and couldn't feel a presence. The voice laughed mockingly, echoing so he couldn't begin to locate it. Then there was the soft sound of a foot on stone and Ichigo whirled just in time to block a strike at his face. His eyes widened as he stared into golden eyes filled with battle lust.

"I'm you, you stupid fuck." Ichigo stared into the face that was identical to his in every way. Although he only grinned like that during battle. "Now fight me, you bastard!"

"Wh-what?" Ichigo barely had time to get his sword up before the blades clashed again. His duplicate was not fighting with Zangetsu, he was using a sword of bone. It reminded Ichigo of something but he didn't have time to think about it as he frantically defended himself against the onslaught. But after a few moments he mastered the surprise and began pushing back. His other self laughed in pure enjoyment, savoring the strong battle they were having. Swords clashed, raising sparks and the bone sword slipped past his guard, slashing Ichigo's shoulder. He hissed in pain as the sword burnt him like it was white hot. Then he nicked his enemy with Zangetsu, and was pleased to see a similar reaction. "Why… am I fighting you?" Ichigo managed to say as his enemy leapt up, coming down on him in a dangerous spiral attack. But he knew that attack, he'd performed it many times, and managed to kick his duplicate in the face.

"Why? Are you stupid?" His enemy taunted him as they circled around, measuring each other. "HAH!" The attacks came again, fast and furious, but this time with focus added. Damnation after Damnation hit each other, sparking and exploding. Both of them were seared by the forces released in a confined space. They finally separated again, both of them panting heavily. "Since you're thick as fuck, I'll tell you. I am what you fear." The demon across from him suddenly drove his bone sword into the ground and walked towards him. Ichigo hesitated, unsure if he should strike out or not. Then the decision was taken out of his hand as his double slammed into him, pinning him to the wall. Zangetsu was driven into the floor, just like the bone sword. "I am the part of you that longs to kill, just to watch the blood spill. I am the part of you that wants to see what it would be like to snap a pretty little collar on Hikana and make the bitch suck you off." Ichigo's eyes went wide as his duplicate grinned viciously. "Or that other demon, the one who looked a little like Renji, remember him? What would it be like to rape him the way he-"

"SHUT UP! I never do that!" Ichigo writhed in his double's grip, struggling to break free. "I refuse to do that! That's not what I am!" That was one line he had never, ever crossed. Demons did it all the time, but Ichigo's shinigami side found the thought of doing what had been done to him utterly revolting. "Get off me! I'm nothing like you!"

"That's where you're wrong, bitch." The golden eyes looking into his were hot with pleasure and bereft of any kind of pity. "I am you. I am the part of you that terrifies you, and if you can't accept that, I'll play with you and you'll never get out of this room. Now, where were we?" His duplicate laughed, a soulless sound that made Ichigo shudder. Then his eyes widened as a hard hand slapped down between his legs.

"Way of Damnation 62: White Fire Roaring!" Ichigo snapped then watched in horror as the focus seemed to just bleed away. "What?" His other self's mouth began to ravage his throat, making him shudder in a combination of arousal and disgust. Then his duplicate stopped the attention long enough to talk.

"That only worked because I wanted to fight. Now I want to fuck. If you want to stop me you need to think a bit harder." Ichigo closed his eyes, trying to ignore his body and figure out what that meant. This dark image of himself was the embodiment of his fears of his demon heritage. That made sense, although until now Ichigo had thought he'd embraced his dark side. Apparently, he'd never allowed himself to realize how dark it really was. He must have known, deep inside, and been afraid. But what could he do about it?

"I have to accept you?" He hazarded a guess then squirmed as his double began pulling off his clothing. "Stop that! Help me!"

"Why should I?" He breathed into Ichigo's face and the hybrid pulled his head away, nauseated by the charnel reek. His breath smelled like Sona's. "How do demons accept each other?" He asked and Ichigo went still as he thought about it. How did demons accept each other?

"Way of Suffering 99: Soul Suction!" He never should have been able to perform that focus. He'd never been into pointless cruelty, so his Suffering was among his weakest skills. But he suddenly knew that it didn't matter. This was a place of the mind and his intention was what mattered. His duplicate laughed as the black tendrils sank into him greedily and Ichigo arched in pain as part of his power returned to him in a burst of dark glory. It tasted bitter on the tongue and smelled like rot, but he forced himself to accept it and not turn aside. Finally his double was gone and Ichigo sank to his knees as the cavern around him vanished, turning back into that pathway of red.

He hoped the next challenge would be easier.

The next challenge was easier. It was also heart breaking.

It was the scent that hit Ichigo first. The stench he had come to associate with a demon hive, it was a combination of earthy fungi, blood, rock oil and the stale tang of old sex. It didn't bother him at all, except when the musk of sex was very strong.

It was strong here, almost cloying, and Ichigo covered his face with one hand, breathing through his mouth for a moment as he adjusted. That scent brought back all kinds of memories, which he supposed was probably the point. Then his eyes widened as he saw the little body chained to a wall, cowering in fear.

"Oh." He stared at it for a moment before dropping to his knees beside the little boy and reaching out to touch bloody orange hair. "I was so small." It was strange, seeing himself from the outside like this, as he'd been as a child. There was a whimper from the little boy before fearful golden eyes looked up.

"Mama?" Ichigo felt his heart clench at that hopeful whisper. He could still remember the pain of it. The demons had wanted him to survive to adulthood, so his mother had been kind to him for a while. When the abuse had started, he had called for her, tried to get her to save him. It had been utterly futile but it had taken him years to understand that, even as she helped her family in their efforts to break him.

"We don't have a mama." He whispered to the hurting little boy, reaching up to undo the chains. "We have a father who loved us, but we don't have a mama." The boy whimpered and started to cry.

"Mama!" Ichigo shuddered and gathered the representation of his pain to his chest, comforting the boy the way he had never been comforted. "Mama… mama…" The hopeless longing in the child's voice hurt him in ways he hadn't felt in centuries. But Ichigo faced the pain, and faced that he'd never quite gotten over it. He'd always wanted his mother to love him.

"I accept this." He whispered and watched as the child began to vanish. "I don't have a mother, but I want one. I accept the pain." The pain settled back into his soul and Ichigo bowed his head for a moment, tears stinging his eyes. Then he took a deep breath and stood.

There would be at least one more challenge. He could feel it.

The final challenge was the easiest, but also the strangest.

Ichigo looked around, surprised, as he found himself in a garden. He wasn't sure it was a real garden, though. It was the image he'd created in his mind from Byakuya's words, and he suspected he'd gotten a great deal of it wrong. But he knew what water looked like, and stone, so maybe the waterfalls looked right. The trickling sound of the water was based on what he knew of the drip of blood, and Ichigo sighed to himself. He wanted to see a real garden, not something out of his head. Then he heard a soft wail and blinked.

"What…?" That sound tugged on his heartstrings and he began searching the garden, trying to find it. He noticed as he searched that all the flowers were pansies, the only flowers he really knew, if only a bit. They looked soft and fuzzy and he wondered if they were supposed to. "Oh!" He stopped in front of a large bed of pansies, staring at the tiny form lying in the middle of them. Without hesitation, he scooped the baby up and cuddled him close. "What are you supposed to be?" He murmured to the infant, stroking pure black hair. Brown eyes, shot delicately with golden threads, blinked at him as the crying stopped. "You're so pretty." He whispered, taking in the little boy. He was perfectly formed, with tiny little fingers and toes. Feeling a sudden dread, Ichigo checked his sex and heaved a sigh of relief to see he was a perfectly normal boy. "What are you doing here?" He asked, sitting down beside the bed of pansies. The baby couldn't answer, just cooing up at him adoringly. Ichigo found himself smiling back, his heart captivated by the bundle in his arms. Then his eyes widened as he realized what this must be.

"You're mine, aren't you? Mine and Byakuya's." He said to the infant who just smiled and reached for him with tiny hands. Ichigo gave him a finger to hold, smiling back. "I'm calling you Little Flower for now. Byakuya can name you, if you make it." He wasn't going to deny the possibility of death. He didn't know what the Soul Kind had done to his body, but giving birth would not be easy. His hips were not designed for it. "But what am I supposed to do?" Ichigo said worriedly, still cuddling the boy. "I can't absorb you." Little Flower was not part of his soul, he was a separate person. The baby just gurgled in joy, catching a bit of his sleeve. "You're not much help!" He told the child, laughing as the baby gave him a wet, happy smile. Then Ichigo's smile faded as he wondered what might be holding him here.

"I'm afraid I won't be a good parent." He confided in the child. "I'm afraid I'll hurt you." He stroked that soft black hair, enjoying the feel of the strands. "But even demon mothers don't usually hurt their children." His situation had been unusual. He had been birthed for the ritual, which required that he possess the full power of a demon lord… yet also required his death. His mother's family had never hoped for Ichigo's willing cooperation so they had tried to break him. "I will be a good parent to you." He pledged to the child, standing up with the boy in his arms. "I think… you have to come with me." This would be Little Flower's rebirth, too. Or before birth? It was confusing. "Let's go." The garden was dissolving into red, and Ichigo walked down the tunnel again, protecting Little Flower from the pain with his body. The child still whimpered in fear and Ichigo did his best to comfort him.

All births contained some pain.

Byakuya looked at the papers on his desk, feeling empty and tired.

He had just finished attending a special ceremony. A statue had been placed in the peace gardens, dedicated to Kurosaki Ichigo, and he had been posthumously entered into the lists of shinigami. His name had also been entered into the Kurosaki clan records, the only honor that small clan could give him. Everyone knew how many shinigami would have died without Ichigo's sacrifice and they wanted to honor his memory.

It had been beautiful, but it had also been painful, and Byakuya was glad it was over. It had been almost nine months since that titanic conflict, and there was no sign of any further demonic problems. Hopefully, another fifty thousand years would pass before the demons tried again. Then he blinked as a hell butterfly landed on his desk.

Kuchiki Byakuya, you are summoned to the Royal court. Please report at once. Byakuya blinked then immediately rose from his desk, walking briskly through the door. The curt summons was a surprise, to say the least, but it was not one he could disobey. Ice trickled down his spine as he thought about it. Normally, if he were being summoned for something positive, there would be some explanation. Yet he could think of absolutely nothing he had done to cause the Soul King to look at him with disfavor.

Using the gate to travel to the Royal court was not as simple as entering the Living world, but with a royal summons in hand it was easy. Byakuya stepped into the pocket dimension, seeing it for the very first time. The colors seemed more vivid here, and the reishi was almost overpowering. Feeling invigorated and almost happy, he walked to the gates of the royal compound and bowed before the guards.

"Kuchiki Byakuya, reporting as ordered." He said and the guards stepped back as the gates swung open. Byakuya stepped inside, then stopped dead as his heart seized in his chest and he looked upon a face he'd thought he would never see again.

"Hi." Ichigo was standing in front of him, wearing a black yukata decorated with red roses, bound with a red sash. He was smiling and holding a tiny bundle, wrapped in a matching silk blanket. Byakuya stared in disbelief, grey eyes meeting gold.

"Ichigo?" He said softly, stepping forward until he could lay a hand against the hybrid's cheek. The skin was soft, softer than he remembered, and warm. Alive. "How?" He asked breathlessly, then looked down and got a second shock. The bundle Ichigo was holding was a sleeping baby, pink and adorable. "You died." There was no question of that. Ichigo nodded, pain flashing for a moment in those gold eyes.

"Yes, I did. But the Soul King gathered my spirit particles and tried to put me back together. No one told you they were trying because they didn't know if it would work." Ichigo swallowed and raised his chin. "And after it did, I asked them not to tell you until Little Flower was born. I was afraid he wouldn't make it."

"Ichigo, I would have liked to see the birth." Byakuya said, his mind still trying to process everything. Was this real, or was he hallucinating? Ichigo grimaced and shook his head.

"No, you wouldn't have." He said definitely. "It was awful. Really, really bad. I puked three times and they finally had to break my pelvis to get Little Flower through, since my stupid body kept healing when they tried to cut me open." Byakuya blinked and the reality of it suddenly crashed down on his mind. There was no way his imagination would have come up with that birth image. Which meant…

"Ichigo." He hugged the demon boy, taking care not to squeeze the baby. He still woke up, though, and Byakuya looked down to meet eyes still blue from the birth. "He's so beautiful. Little Flower?" He questioned. That was a very strange name. Ichigo grinned.

"I wanted you to give him a proper name, something that would make him fit in." He cuddled the boy carefully, soothing him back to sleep. "He'll already have enough trouble with me as a 'mother', I don't want to buy more for him!" Ichigo joked, and they both looked up in surprise as someone cleared his throat. Byakuya felt a moment of embarrassment as he realized several nobles of the Royal family had surrounded them and he hadn't even noticed, completely lost in his moment with Ichigo.

"I hate to interrupt, but the Soul King would like you to prepare for your wedding." A solemn young woman said and Byakuya nodded. He'd realized that was coming as soon as he saw the infant. As a clan leader, his heir could not exist outside of wedlock. It was a minor disgrace that the baby had been born outside of it, but under the circumstances that could be overlooked. However… he glanced at Ichigo, who was looking mildly puzzled but happy.

"Is this what you want?" He asked the hybrid softly. Ichigo blinked at him, then shrugged.

"I don't really understand it." He confessed. "It seems strange, making a pledge to be with only one person when I've decided that already." That gave him a warm feeling, hearing Ichigo say that. "And I don't understand the legitimate thing at all, Little Flower might as well have your name tattooed on his butt." There was a laugh from the nobles around them as Byakuya blushed faintly. "But if this is what you need, I'm happy to do it. I love you, Byakuya."

"Thank you." Byakuya said gratefully, putting aside concerns for the future. A dead hybrid hero had been far more convenient than the living reality, in some ways. And how would his clan react to a child conceived by a half-demon? The smallest brush of his senses assured him that the child was almost entirely shinigami, but there was a trace of demon there, a brush of Ichigo's darker half. It didn't bother him – denying it would be denying Ichigo – but he didn't know what the clan would decide. But that was all for the future, and he took Ichigo's hand as they followed the nobles. It would take some time to prepare for their wedding, and normally that would be done separately, but he was not going to be separated from Ichigo.

Never again.