Chapter 2

Ichigo and Rukia stared out at the city from their perch on a slanted rooftop. The moon reminded Ichigo of a partly closed eye, as if God had decided to stare resolutely down upon the world tonight. He closed his eyes as he attempted another scan of the area for spiritual energy. Rukia and him had already done this a few times but they kept getting the same result.

"Just like before," he said softly as he opened his brown eyes. "They keep coming every few days in bursts, and when we beat them everything gets completely silent."

"It's eery alright," said the lieutenant of the 13th division. "It's the eye of the storm."

"What did you mean by that?" Ichigo stared wide-eyed at her, "It's exactly what I meant."

Rukia smiled knowingly, "Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice. It's December 22nd." She turned her back on the view of the city, the wind whipped stray black strands of her hair around her eyes wildly.

"Spirits are always strange around this time," she explained. "The Longest Hours of Darkness are what we call it. During this time there is a lull and build up of spiritual energy that either dissipates or allows a greater number of hollows to pass into this world through the spatial distortions known as Kumon or Garganta."

"Oh," Ichigo spoke with a sudden realization. "So that is what those black portals are." His face began to become gaunt like at the thought of spending all that time fighting Hollows instead of getting gifts for the family and friends and missing the festival. He had promised everyone that he would be there to really relax and hang out without having to worry about getting distracted. They said "attacked" but it meant the same thing to Ichigo.

Rukia ran a hand through her hair. She missed having longer hair, but it was becoming a hazard during their battles. Tightening with her long white glovelettes she turned to the sitting Ichigo.

"Don't worry," she said with her characteristic smirk. "Soul society sends out a team of captains and lieutenants on special mission every year, so we won't really need to so worried about the workload."

A chill suddenly went down his spine as he thought up a few captains that he wouldn't want to see coming to Kakura town during the Winter Solstice. Standing up he stretched a bit before turning the direction of Kurosaki Clinic, thinking on how busy he was going to be for the next few days. There was a ton of homework and school related things he had missed, important things that would have to be taken care of if he wanted to graduate on time with everyone. Rukia turned and stared at his wide back, hoping he wouldn't catch her contemplations as he looked upward at the sky. She spoke up when she suddenly remembered the human traditions and celebration.

"Hey, Ichigo." Rukia's voice was filled with a condescending eagerness, "Please, don't tell me you forgot to get Christmas gifts for everybody."

Her words cut into him with pinpoint accuracy. His thoughts turned to the unfinished list of gifts and the growing anxiety he felt that he may not get it finished. He had managed to collect gifts for his family, such as the new tie for his dad, the new soccer kleets for Karin, and the new hair band for Yuzu. He had also managed to find the perfect gifts for Ishida and Chad: a knitting set and a new bird cage. Ichigo had gotten Tatsuki a pair of sparring gloves, Mizuiro a pair of sun-glasses, he even got an American Mickey Mouse watch for Keigo, who loved that kind of dorky stuff. For Rukia, Ichigo had gotten a real sketch pad with a large case of colored pencils so she can practice her crappy drawings. The last gift was bothering him.

"I'm almost done, I just have something to take care of," as he spoke his face began to its confident smile. If he could beat Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, and Aizen, then a little Christmas gift should pose him no problem at all.

"Well," said Rukia happily, "we will definitely have some time to relax, so you better enjoy it with the people you fought so hard to protect."

Images of those very people started to come to mind. His Dad smiling as he tries to tackle Ichigo to the ground, Karin and Yuzu by his bedside, and...

An flash of brown eyes and vibrant sunset orange hair suddenly filled his mind.

With it came the strange dream-like feel of hair brushing against his skin and tears falling down upon his face. Words he couldn't understand were being spoken softly to him by a familiar voice.

Ichigo shook his head, trying to separate his mind from strange haunting dreams, "What am I thinking?" As he spoke, a dark entity rose up in him in answer. It filled him with conflict and confusion as it always did.

Take what you want. Take what's yours. Ichigo shook his head, clearing his senses and pushing the demon inside of him down once more.

"Ichigo?" Rukia's concerned voice helped him find his way back to reality.

"Huh? Oh yeah, a break! It's just what I needed." His smile sneaked its way back onto his face as he faced her. That certain smile had a talent for being contagious, as it quickly infected Rukia as well.

"Well, you go on ahead. I'll be back later, but I need to meet Renji and the others as they arrive through the Senkaimon at Urahara's shop for debriefing," she said with a pride, clearly flaunting her superiority in rank.

Ichigo resisted the urge to insult her, knowing that it would lead to another pointless argument or bickering that made them seem like an old married couple.

"I will see you later then." He turned around to face his home and stepped off the roof, using Shunpo to vanish faster then Rukia's eye could follow, flaunting his superiority in physical ability.

Rukia waved him off and sped toward Urahara Shop. Her thoughts turning toward toward her brother and her best friend Renji.

In the darkness of his own personal cage, Sosuke Aizen opened his eyes and tightened against his bindings. In the underground of Soul Society, in the Muken or 8th level of the Great Prison, Sosuke Aizen was enduring his sentence of 200,000 years as handed down by the Central 46. His room was bare and blanketed in darkness. In the pitch black, Aizen shifted uncomfortably in his chair, much good it did him though, being that he was strapped down and chained in every imaginable way. In the end they had gone through with the covering of even his mouth and eyes, so in any case he was trapped. He would wait though. He would wait for the moment that he would finally gain enough strength to escape this accursed place.

Without warning, he felt the coverings of his face go slack and fall from his face.

His eyes widened and adjusted to the change. He stared out into the pitch black, hoping for a shift or movement to reveal his visitor, as his ability to sense reiatsu had radically been demolished.

"Whoever you are, I hope you would desist with the theatrics." He said to the nothingness.

A light flashed, blinding Aizen with the intense change of worlds. Aizen then stared up into the face of his visitor as his vision cleared once more.

"So it's you?" He said to his familiar visitor.

"Yes," answered the dark figure.

"Ah, have you come to kill me?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I have not made up my mind yet."

Aizen laughed under his breathe before he replied, "I should have known you would come eventually, the first being ever to cut me."

"Feeling nostalgic?" Inquired the visitor.

"Disgusted," answered the prisoner.

It was the dark figure's turn to laugh, as he answered, "And here I was, thinking that you would be happy to see a familiar face after so long in the dark."

"I had hoped I would never have to see your face again."

"Afraid?"

"No, I just don't like to be reminded of my greatest of failures." Aizen spoke spitefully up at the him.

"Apparently not, being that you just lost to a human."

Even in the dark Aizen would have known the man was smirking, the glee radiated off his voice.

"If you are going to kill me, I would prefer if you did it without gloating."

The figure glanced away from Aizen for a moment, contemplating for a moment before speaking,

"I'm not here to kill you Aizen, at least not yet."

"Then why are you here?" Aizen was getting more and more tired of his intrusion.

"The smartest man in all of Soul Society can't figure it out?"

"I can take a guess," Aizen replied. "You want my help."

The figure paused for a moment, "I guess you could say that."

Aizen felt like chuckling for a moment, "I refuse."

"Oh, you have something better to do?" Questioned the intruder.

"Even if I did help you, which I won't-"

"Who said you would have a choice?" Interrupted the figure.

Aizen continued, "

"We would come to the same obstacle that toppled me."

"I'm not you," replied the visitor. "I will succeed where you failed."

"Why? What cause is greater then mine? WHAT MAKES YOU STRONGER THEN ME?"

The dark intruder was silent a moment. He then stretched his hand out and killed the light he had created moments before.

In the darkness he spoke softly, "It's probably best if I just show you."

Aizen waited in the dark, not believing anything could have been more powerful then him at his prime.

The darkness itself seemed to speak,

"Fall before me."

He felt it then. It was like he had regained some of his ability back because he could feel a spiritual pressure. It was slight at first, as if the air in the room had become thick with a fog or smoke, but then it increased dramatically. Aizen suddenly felt the weight of the entire universe crashing down on him. The very chains and bindings that had held him for so long gave way and were broken under the intensity. He was thrown face down, the chair breaking underneath him as it seemingly dissolved into nothingness. He could feel the pressure crushing him, he could feel the very particles of spirit matter crumbling at this reiatsu. It created a new darkness, a monstrous blackness that removed...even the memory of light. The very ground underneath him shook and trembled as it as well was about to give way...

He couldn't scream...

He couldn't breathe..

This is what black holes must be like...

Then just as he began to feel himself slipping away into nothingness like his surroundings the pressure stopped increasing and held like a beast at the call of its master.

"This is just a taste of my power." The intruder's voice rang in Aizen's head like the tolling of death-bells. "This is the power that will crush or consume all in its path to achieving my greatest wish."

Aizen couldn't reply, the pain was so terrible. It took more then his entire being to even remain conscious.

"I need something from you, Aizen. Something that you have been hiding. Something that is the sum of all that you are."

Aizen felt a terrible fear as the realization of what he wanted took hold. He felt his body involuntarily rising into the air. His chest was at level with the figure's outstretched hand.

"NOOOOOOO!" He only had a moment to cry out before the hand reached into the core of his being and tore the Hogyoku out.

The once all powerful orb was now a lifeless grey and it only held a dull glow in the darkness.

Aizen fell to the floor with a thud as he was released from the intruder's hold. He stared up at him with a mixture of furious hatred and shocked awe.

"It seems as thought you were channeling any power you had left over into this," the visitor's voice was cold and calculative. "Hoping to awaken it and manage a return?"

Aizen's voice was shaky and weak as he answered, "It's mine. It will only listen to me, its master."

The smirk found its way back onto the dark figure's face, "Wanna bet?"

He held it out in his hand and clenched it tightly. Its dull grey faded to black for a moment. Then, with an astounding brilliance, it burst back into life as if its blue violet fire soul had been rekindled. Its light filled the room and cast shadows across Aizen's despairing face.

The visitor pocketed it nonchalantly as he turned his back to Aizen and walked toward the door, but stopped when a hand gripped at his pant leg.

He turned back to look down on Aizen, whose shaky voice rose just enough to be show his resolve.

"Kill me."

The figure stared down at him and contemplated.

"No," his eyes were unforgiving as he stared down at him. "It is far beyond me to kill my creator."

Aizen's eyes were black with despair now.

"Aizen, you will live to see these worlds crumble and die around you as another world...my world...rises from its ashes."

As he waved his hand over the prisoner, the gaping hole that he had torn open closed. Aizen curled up as the pain overwhelmed him.

"When this is all over," said the dark figure. "Say hello to my father in hell for me."