"Don't you want to see your home?"

"Just shut up and take us to Grimmjow!"

Kara didn't look pleased. Her eyes cast in the way of the Kurosaki clinic. "It's just over there."

"What the fuck is Hashwald doing to Grimmjow?" Ichigo insisted.

"Just testing his spiritual pressure."

"Didn't he do that yesterday?"

"No. Those were only preliminary tests. We had to go more in depth, to be sure. You too, will undergo this later today."

"But what test?"

"It's quite safe. Don't worry."

"I am worried. Take us back now."

"Do you speak for both of you?" She turned to Yuzu. "Don't you want to see your house?"

Yuzu might have wanted to see it, but not more than going back to make sure Grimmjow was okay. "It's just a house," she said stiffly, betraying herself but remaining firm. "Please take us back."

The soul reaper sighed but nodded. "As you wish."

They hurried all the way back to the hospital. They pushed through the lobby doors ahead of their escort. Hashwald intercepted them in the lobby.

"What did you do to him?" Ichigo asked at once. They'd been gone for over three hours. Hashwald could have done quite a lot in that time.

"Why, what have you been told?" He lifted his eyes to Kara, clearly not pleased at the slip of her tongue. She however, did not look phased. Perhaps it was some sort of mild rebellion on her part, being a soul reaper and all. She was also going to be part of tomorrow's plans after all.

"That there was another test."

"There was. It's over. He's fine."

"Let us see him."

"Not yet. He's asked me to talk to you about something first."

"What?"

"Please." Hashwald motioned down the hall. He took them into a meeting room and had them sit before he began, repeating all he'd said to Grimmjow—save the part about torturing Yuzu if Grimmjow did not comply.

"Why did you lie?"

"Because you would not be willing to ask that of him, Kurosaki, and I knew it. I wanted Grimmjow to choose it on his own, without you. It's why I separated you this morning. This had to be his decision alone, without influence."

"Yes, I'm sure you didn't influence him at all." Ichigo rose. Yuzu was stuck in place in her chair, shocked by Hashwald's declaration that Grimmjow would have to give his life for this to work. Ichigo spared her a glance but he was angry now, and he needed to get to the truth. He turned back to Hashwald. "You told us it would only take a little of our strength."

"He has lots to give. He will simply be trapped in Heuco Mundo once he gives it. With no spiritual energy, he will die there."

"Then why not open a gate and get him out again after?"

"We certainly would, but I doubt any of Urahara's technology will survive after what we plan to do. The machine he used to create an artificial garganta in the past is now part of the complex system we've created to open the worlds and bring down the barrier simultaneously. The amount of strain it will undergo will undoubtedly destroy it."

"Then we wait for the soul reapers to get here. See if they have any solutions."

"No. Ichigo, there is one other thing I haven't mentioned." Ichigo stopped where he'd been pacing. He gripped the back of his seat and waited. "If we restore spiritual pressure to the whole world, everyone will be affected. Every soul, even regular humans, have some amount of spiritual pressure. Most never use it, never know of it. Some did, like your sister. We don't know what will happen when the balance is restored, but these people may regain their connection to the spiritual world. If that is the case, Karin will be strengthened. There is a chance she will survive. But only if she survives long enough for you to restart the universe."

"BULLSHIT! The other day you said the opposite! You said there was no saving her. All I could do was save her soul."

"That is the alternative. If she dies, she will at least go somewhere. But if she dies now, before we do this, you get neither. You lose her forever."

"BECAUSE YOU HAD HER SHOT!" Ichigo screamed.

"Yes. I had her shot, so that you wouldn't waiver, so that you would do what was right to save the whole world."

"I would have saved it anyway! You know that."

"I also knew you would distrust me. I had to ensure your cooperation."

"I'm going to fucking kill you when this is over."

"Go ahead, and I will be reborn into the new soul society. I could become a founding member, maybe even head captain."

"ARGH!" Ichigo swung hard and struck hard. Hashwald had let it happen. He staggered under the blow, but composed himself at once. Ichigo shook out his fist, staring at him. "Just take us to Grimmjow."

Hashwald wiped the blood from his lips, infuriatingly calm. "Certainly."

Grimmjow was flat out on the bed when they entered. He'd clearly fallen asleep but woke when they came in. Yuzu shot to him at once, but Ichigo slowed, seeing the discoloration around his eyes and how his arms trembled slightly when he pushed himself up.

"What did you do to him?"

"The test required removing him from his vessel."

"What?"

"He stopped my fucking heart," Grimmjow clarified, planting his feet on the floor but bracing his hands against his knees. Yuzu put her hand against his forehead, her fingers against his neck, checking him over. He took her hand and drew it away from him.

"I'm fine," he said to her and looked to Hashwald. "Did you tell them?"

"Yes."

"Grimmjow—"

"Yuzu. It's the only way. It has to be done, simple as that. Kurosaki, come here and help me up."

Ichigo took Grimmjow's hand and pulled him up. Their eyes met. Grimmjow's grip was firm around Ichigo's arm. And he was no longer shaking.

"Yuzu." Grimmjo looked to her. "Could you wait in the hall? The three of us need to talk about something."

She glanced between them and shook her head. "No, Grimmjow. If you're going to do this then I—"

"Yuzu," he pressed.

She took a breath but nodded. Hashwald let her pass. She stepped outside. The door fell shut behind her. Grimmjow's fingers tightened around Ichigo's arm.

"What is it you need to discuss, Jaggerjaques?" Hashwald asked.

"Nothing." He pushed Ichigo away and stood firm. "That door locks from the outside," he reached in his pocket and withdrew a long shard from the bathroom mirror. "I just needed her to open the door for us once you were dead."

It happened faster than Ichigo could react. Grimmjow lunged. Hashwald was quicker and got him in the sternum with a blow that stole his breath. Grimmjow lurched and fell to his knees where he got a knee to the jaw. His head snapped violently to one side but he still had his fist around the shard and plunged it into Hashwald's thigh as he went down.

"Ah…" Hashwald staggered and fell to one knee. He reached to pull out the shard but stopped when he saw the wound. "Oh you son of a bitch." He withdrew his hand. "You piece of shit hollow."

Grimmjow was on his hands and knees. Ichigo knelt at his side, helping him sit as he watched Hashwald carefully.

"It's in an artery," he surmised when he saw the position of the shard. "If you take it out, you'll bleed to death in seconds."

"Good," Grimmjow panted, sitting back next to Ichigo.

"But Grimmjow, why? You know he's the only one who—"

"No, he's not. He's nothing. The quincies don't have a homeworld. His soul is not needed to restore the balance. He told me a lot of shit today, but that one, he shouldn't have said."

Hashwald's face was paling, but his eyes flickered, betraying the truth. That silver tongue of his had backfired.

"He also told me if I didn't do this, he'd torture Yuzu until I did."

"Then it was all a lie."

"No," Hashwald assured. "It's true. The last espada will have to return to Heuco Mundo, that is a fact."

"And Ichigo? Will he really live? Or will he die with me?"

"That, I can't tell you. No one knows. No one can predict what will happen to him once he opens that gate. It might do nothing. It might suck him in. It might rip him apart. We just don't know."

"Kurosaki," Grimmjow turned to the young man, "the others want this, too, don't they, the soul reapers and scientists. We don't need Hashwald. If we let him die, we can decide for ourselves what we do."

"But he knows the truth."

"It doesn't matter. We'll never be able to believe it. Whatever comes out of his mouth is meaningless."

"You can't kill me. I know how to test Kurosaki's soul. I know how to—"

"No more fucking tests. No more bullshit." Grimmjow wiped the blood from his mouth. "If we are going to do this, then you die first. That's my requirement for this. You have to die, before it's fixed, so there's no coming back. So we never have to deal with you again."

"Spoken like a true monster. You want to restart the world on an act of murder?"

Grimmjow sat forward and reached for the shard, meeting Hashwald's eyes.

"Why the fuck not?"

Ichigo flinched as the shard came loose and Hashwald's leg spurted a jet of blood that could only occur when released from a major artery. He sagged back against the wall, clutching the wound in vain. He looked to them both, but he did not speak. There were no last words, just a look in his eyes that was worse than what he could have said—it was a look of one dead man to another.

Hashwald really did believe they were going to die.

Grimmjow sat back after. He ran his sleeve over his face, getting rid of some of the blood that had squirted on him.

"The Soifon's soldiers will get here in a couple days," Grimmjow said. "They'll take care of Yuzu, if we both die."

"Grimmjow. You really will do it?"

"Ichigo, he shot your sister because he wanted to make me believe he'd shoot the other. He created this elaborate plan just to make sure I would do what he wanted. He wasn't lying about that. You can't do this without me, but I know you are going to do this, no matter what. I know it's all you want."

"It's not what you want."

"I don't think that matters anymore. I think when we open this door, if I refused, those scientist and reapers will still do whatever Hashwald would have done to make us comply. I think this is where we were meant to end up, the moment you found me after that fight."

"I thought you didn't believe in fate. In any of it."

"I was wrong." His voice was low, but he lifted his eyes to Ichigo. "How else can I explain meeting Yuzu and Karin after all that time you searched for them? How do you explain how you found us in those woods, in the middle of that fucking lightning storm…It was too much. In all this world, for us to keep finding one another…I'm not going to fight it anymore, Kurosaki. I'm fucking tired. Let's end this."

"Okay." Ichigo stood up. He pulled Grimmjow up with him. But before he turned to the door, he took Grimmjow's shoulders. "I don't want to scare her…" he whispered and gripped Grimmjow's arm, holding in a warrior handshake. "But thank you, Grimmjow, for everything."

He nodded and pulled Ichigo against him. "You too, Kurosaki. Try not to die. One's enough."

Ichigo drew back. He couldn't help that his eyes watered. "It shouldn't have to be you. It's not your sacrifice to make."

"Why should it be yours? This world doesn't deserve for you to die for them. She deserves for you to live."

He let go of Ichigo then. "We have to do this now. For your sister's sake."

Ichigo nodded and turned to the door. "Yuzu, open up."

The door opened. Ichigo stepped through before she could see. Her eyes locked in on the blood on Grimmjow at once. She stared back at the door once the espada shut it.

"He's dead," Grimmjow said bluntly. "He deserved it."

She said nothing but nodded. "What happens now?"

"We do this, but on our terms." Grimmjow gripped her shoulder and looked to Ichigo. "We will not be forced into this."

"I understand."

They walked as one to the main room where Hashwald's servants continued to serve a dead man. It took no time for them to stop, to stiffen, to realize.

"I killed him," Grimmjow announced. "Now I'm gonna go do what he asked me to do."

"Will you help us?" Ichigo asked. He locked eyes with Kara.

She met his gaze evenly and nodded. "Yes."

"Then we're doing this now. Everyone get ready."

There was a slight hesitation, then the room erupted in movement. People ran here and there, flipping switches, handing out walkies, packing up gear.

"With me." Kara waved them toward her. "We have a car we can take to Urahara's." She didn't need to add they hadn't taken it this morning because it had all been a way to delay Ichigo getting back. "The others will let us know when they are ready by radio."

"Then it can be done without him."

"He was our leader, but we've been working on this for years. Everyone knows their roles."

Ichigo caught her wrist before she could walk away. "Do you even care he's dead?"

"He served his purpose. Now let's serve ours."

They got in a truck that had already been loaded with equipment. They crouched in the back of the half ton as it drove to their destination. Yuzu kept staring at them both. She was in turmoil she couldn't even voice aloud. Grimmjow lay a hand on her head for a moment but drew it back again.

He also had to come to grips with what was about to happen.

"Brother are you sure there's no other way?"

"Yuzu, I don't think I'll ever be sure, but Karin only has so much time."

"Are you going to die too? Are you just not telling me?"

"I don't know, sis. I really don't."

She pressed herself into him. He squeezed her tight. "I'm so scared," she sobbed out.

"The soul reapers are coming. If things do go wrong…they'll help you."

"I don't care. If you die, you and Karin and Grimmjow—what do I have left?"

"Yuzu—"

She withdrew and looked about to scream, to tell him just how bad it hurt, how much she was suffering, but then she stopped and just drew him into a tight embrace. "I always knew you would come find us, after the Clash. Even after all that time, every day I knew in my heart you were out there searching. Thank you brother, for always protecting us."

He held her back so tight, but not tight enough to hide his tears in her shoulder. He bowed his head against her. He released his own anguish and fear. And Grimmjow watched on. He watched brother break against sister. He watched the untouched city stream behind them—their home—a place they'd returned to only to be torn apart again.

He supposed giving his life for them, wasn't the worst way to go out.

The truck stopped. He stood and helped Yuzu down. She held onto him even when her feet touched the ground. He brushed a hand through her hair and whispered in her ear. "You'll be fine, kid, you're a fighter just like him. And he ain't gonna leave you behind, not for anything."

"I love you Grimmjow." He felt her squeeze him tighter. "I'm sorry, I just had to say it."

"Kid, if you love me, that's what you really need to be worried about."

He gave her that grin, a carefree smile that did not match his eyes, or his shoulders, or his stance. But she returned it anyway, because there were no words left to say and a smile was all either could give.

Ichigo took his sister's hand and they waited at the edge of the yard while Kara gave the orders and set everything in motion.

They stood shoulder to shoulder, the three of them. They stared at the central pedestal, the place where worlds would meet, but where they would be split apart forever.

"I feel like I should say something," Ichigo whispered.

"Don't, or you'll make me cry," Grimmjow said. He smirked. Ichigo looked to him and grinned as well. He might as well smile, rather than be sad, in these last moments.

"We're ready," Kara announced.

"Okay."

Grimmjow leaned down first, pressed his lips to Yuzu's forehead and drew away. She whispered her goodbye before falling into Ichigo's arms. Their final parting was brief. There was nothing left to say. He kissed her cheek. He let her go. He turned to his last post.

"Jaggerjaques, you stand here." Grimmjow followed Kara's instruction and put his hand on a certain character on the top of the pedestal. Behind her, other reapers stood and took position. Ichigo recognized none of them. He didn't care anymore, who they were. He just locked eyes with Grimmjow who would be standing directly across from him when it happened.

"Ichigo, when you touch the center, it should be all it takes to start."

"There's no words or anything? No incantation?"

"It's all written out. You may however, have to concentrate a moment. Think about what you would have done to send a soul to the next world."

"A Konso?"

"Yes. It is really the same principle, in a way."

"Okay." He flexed his hand and reached out for the spot.

"And don't let go until it's over. If you stop part way through, it will be the end of us all. The worlds might fall apart completely."

"Great." He looked nervously among them all—the people who would most likely die before they ever saw the results of their work, then last of all to Grimmjow.

"Don't fuck up."

"Thanks, I'll try not to." He took a breath and nodded to them all. "Okay. Here goes."

His palm touched down. He felt nothing for one long moment, and thought it had all been for nothing. Then he took a breath and shut his eyes, and remembered the faces of those souls he'd helped pass on. He remembered those early days of being a substitute soul reaper, with Rukia harping at him twenty four seven, with his friends discovering their own strength, before he ever turned hollow—and before he'd ever found out he was a quincy. Now that part of him that had linked his fate so intricately with the end of the world, didn't even matter. What mattered was that he was human, that he was hollow, and that he was a reaper of souls, whose job it was to keep them all in their place.

He felt it start. It was slow. It was cold, just a tingle against his palm, working up his arm, into his chest. When it reached his heart his eyes flew open. He felt his muscles tensed and his body seized up. He felt something he hadn't felt in four years—he felt his soul inside his body, his other half that had spoken to him, guided him and become his blade.

"NOW!"

"IT'S HAPPENING!"

He heard the cries, far away, fading to the roar of energy in his ears. His chest clenched, his eyes screwed shut again. He felt like his insides were burning, not just his soul, but his very body on fire from what was happening.

"Motherfucker…" he managed to get his eyes open again. He couldn't see anything beyond those gathered at the pedestal—everything beyond was lost in a swell of blue light and energy.

Grimmjow was standing where he'd been before but now he was looking behind him, at the black gap in space that had formed there. "You fucking did it."

His voice was strained. Whatever was happening to Ichigo must be happening to him too. "Do we go through?" Grimmjow asked Kara. Ichigo only now saw behind her and the other reapers was also a gate of bright, white light.

"Yes! Before the others drop the barrier."

Grimmjow nodded and looked back at Ichigo. Ichigo was struggling to stay upright under the strain. He saw the look on Grimmjow's face. He knew what he was thinking.

"Don't you dare," Grimmjow called to him over the swell. "She needs you."

They were his final words. Grimmjow turned his back and let go.

The moment Grimmjow departed, the strain on Ichigo doubled. He fell forward on the pedestal, using it to stay upright. He watched Grimmjow's departing back, until he was lost in the black.

His throat clenched, his eyes blurred.

It was last time he'd ever see the sixth espada.

Kara said something. He didn't hear it, but when she let go, he certainly felt it. The pressure on his body increased again—so much so it felt like his back might break, his heart explode in his chest. He felt himself tearing apart from the inside out.

He screamed.

His vision went black. His knees gave. He collapsed against the side of the pedestal. The skin of his hand seemed welded to the top of it. The pain that wracked him came from that one point.

He was being pulled apart, from the soul outward. He felt the connection to the other worlds and it was too strong.

Heuco Mundo called to him. Soul Society screamed for him. And this world clung to him.

"Please…" he whispered. He didn't know why. He didn't know to whom he was speaking. He was just breaking apart. He was just begging for mercy. His words became screams again. His body betrayed him. He fell further. His eyes shut. His heart beat slowed.

He wasn't going to make it. He was going to die before it could be complete, before the world could be saved.

And then someone had him. Someone's arms were around him, someone's heart beat back against his, and someone's hand closed over his own.

"AH!" Her scream tore through him worse than the power tearing out of him. He opened his eyes where he rested in her arms, kneeling on the ground.

"Yuzu…no…"

"It's okay," her breathing steadied. She came to grips with the pain and his own lessened with her help. "Our souls are the same. I will help you do this."

"H-how much longer…?"
"I don't know. Just hold onto me, brother."

He did. Their hands were sealed in place over the pedestal. Her other wrapped around his back and held him against her. He tasted blood now, dripping from his nose, rising in the back of his throat. He felt her quiver in pain, the same agony growing in her.

But then he felt something else—something like a fresh, cool breeze in the midst of his burning pain—it was what he'd prayed for, for so long.

He couldn't raise his head or open his eyes, but she must have felt it too, because she whispered in his ear.

"It was worth it."

Darkness shrouded him. The moon was dim, strangely far. The sand was dull, when normally it sparkled for endless miles. He felt like he was in a cave, a pit, closed in and empty.

That was all Grimmjow had a chance to take in about his former homeworld before his breath was stolen. He gripped his chest and fell to his knees. He felt the same pain he'd felt when Hashwald had pulled on his soul chain. Except he was in his body and he couldn't see the actual damage taking place but he could feel it, just like when he'd been holding that pedestal. He could feel something long forgotten being pulled out of him. It felt like it came from his stomach, where his hollow hole used to be. It felt like it came from his chest—where he used to have no heart. And it felt like it came from the very breath in his lungs, the blood in his veins.

His world was consuming him, eating him up, atom by atom, stealing his strength and power.

He fell flat and cringed in the sand, rolling onto his back and letting a scream escape into the empty night. His voice was whisked away as fast as his strength. He found it hard to breathe and wondered if there was even enough air in this place to sustain him. His body shook and spasmed. He lurched and gasped and gagged. He screamed louder and longer. He knew this was going to be a brutal, Hellish end.

The world began to rumble. The moon began to glow. And he lost himself before he ever got the chance to see his world reborn.

ARG, such a hard chapter to write! Rewrote it so many times and I'm STILL rewriting the next (and possibly final) chapter. Should be ready by next week though, hopefully it will meet with your approval because you all deserve a satisfactory ending after sticking with this story to the end. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Riza