Chapter 8

Author's note: I'm going to skip to the birthing since that is where the action going to be at.

It was almost time. Ichigo laid in the makeshift nest he had created in the past two weeks, his breathing calm as Grimmjow sat next to him, his hand held in his. Unohana waited outside just in case anything went wrong, a frown on her lips.

Grimmjow looked down to his stomach when the first contraction hit, Ichigo squeezing his hand tighter.

Ichigo nuzzled his cheek against Grimmjow's thigh as his body began the natural process. Ichigo tried to stay still as he grit his teeth, his eyes shut tight as the first kitten came. His visible contractions on his stomach were painful and he wished for nothing more but to cry out his agony but he stayed quiet, squeezing Grimmjow's hand tighter.

"Should I get Un-"

Ichigo nodded his head before he could finish his sentence, growling as he felt the first kitten come close.

Unohana didn't have to be told as she opened the basement door, her everlasting frown present as she closed the door and walked over, not getting to close to Ichigo so he wouldn't get agitated.

His body contracted hard and he grit his teeth, moving along with it as he felt the first begin to emerge. Unohana watched closely, ready with all things in hand, her many times delivering leaving her unsurprised.

She just hoped they would all be okay.

It took five minutes before the kitten arrived fully, Ichigo panting lightly as he moved over, Grimmjow feeling a little queasy when he began to forcefully lick away the amniotic sac, Unohana not expecting ichigo to even have learned to do such as a thing as such a young, inexperienced mother.

He chewed off the umbilical cord before lying back down, Unohana checking it for a pulse. It's stomach rode slowly but weakly, Unohana releasing a small sigh as she hoped it would survive, placing it next to Ichigo's nipple so it could be nursed, Ichigo not seeming too good to do it himself. There was still three more to go.

It went like this for about two hours, Ichigo never making a sound as the babies came, the next to not lasting long while the first improved, dying before they could be nursed.

Ichigo seemed not to pleased, squeezing Grimmjow's hand tighter as he tried not to cry.

The fourth came slower than the other's, Unohana hopeful.

When it emerged and Ichigo licked away the amniotic sac and chewed away the cord, Unohana was surprised to see a strong, healthy kitten, its chest rising and falling steadily. The first one was in a separate box, heating mats beneath the towels to keep it warm, the fourth one put by Ichigo's nipple so it may be nursed.

Unlike the other one who had been clumsy this one latched on easily, Ichigo closing his eyes as he released Grimmjow's hand, meowing softly.

"You did good ichigo," Grimmjow told him, Ichigo opening his eyes and looking up to him, Unohana took the kitten away after a while, putting it on a separate heated box as she returned the other, the kitten having yet to chang. Its fate would soon be decided.

Ichigo was quiet as he looked to his two kittens that now laid silently next to him, his eyes closing tiredly as he sighed.

"We will know when morning comes," Unohana told him as she began to put the stuff away, Grimmjow sitting against the wall with his eyes closed, the sun having gone down a long time ago, leaving him tired.

Ichigo licked the kittens heads, recognizing them.

One had a was all black with blue and black striped ears and the other was covered in blue fuzz with orange at the tip of his tail, Ichigo smiling as he laid back down, closing his eyes again as he stretched out.

Unohana came back from where she had came with a cup of water, urging Ichigo to drink. He drank a few sips before pushing it away, yawning broadly before opening his eyes, looking down to his kittens.

The one with stripped ears was the one they weren't sure about, Ichigo sighing as he nuzzled it, laying back down with a sigh.

He would have to wait.

Grimmjow opened an eye when he heard Ichigo's breathing even out, bags already forming under his eyes. He couldn't sleep against something like this but he was coping, looking down to his offspring.

He was mesmerized with them.

He wanted to pick each one up but that wasn't something he could do till they were certain, Unohana not wanting him to get attached. Ichigo already had with the two deceased so when Unohana took them away his eyes screamed for her to bring them back, but he remained silent, concentrating on the ones he had.

All in all, it was just life. There was little they could do now.

Grimmjow looked up when he heard something fall, standing up when he though Unohana had accidentally dropped a bow or something.

He opened the door only to come face to face with a gun.

Unohana lay on the floor, her teeth grit as she held her stomach, blood seeping between her fingers and onto the floor.

He heard the low hiss ichigo made when Grimmjow was forced back into the basement, Ichigo standing, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist as he stood in front of where their kittens laid, his eyes burning a fiery yellow as he bared his fangs, his claws extended, ready to shed blood.

"Such beautiful kittens," Aizen's voice was slick and deadly as he stepped into the basement, Rukia whose eyes were a faint red walking in behind him.

Ichigo only hissed, not seeming able to speak as his cat instinct to abandon his young fought with his human side screamed for him to protect, Ichigo hissing again.

Grimmjow felt almost frantic as he stood in front of Ichigo, Aizen clicking off the safety.

"Ichigo, I wanted to thank you so much for returning my precious one to me," Aizen purred, baring his fangs when Ichigo sliced his claws over his cheek, blood oozing from the deep wounds.

"Always so stubborn," Aizen chuckled, Rukia walking ahead of him, Grimmjow grabbing her neck, gritting his teeth when her skin felt almost acidic, burning his hand.

"Let go," she ordered, her voice demonic and sounding like the words of thousands, Grimmjow only tightening his hand around his neck.

He released her when Aizen shot him in the chest, Grimmjow grunting as he fell to his knees, Aizen smirking as Rukia looked from him to Ichigo whose cat side was trying to make the best of him, Ichigo taking a step back but still standing his ground, hissing again.

"Move," Rukia said simply, the voices within loud as day, Ichigo hissing again as he slashed her neck, Rukia seeming barely affected as blood squirted from her wound, her head turning back as she reached forward, Ichigo slapping her hand away.

'Protect them,' his mind ordered, Ichigo kicking her away, Aixen aiming the gun at him after shooting Grimmjow in the shoulder, blood spilling from his mouth as he tried to not lose consciousness.

'Save him,' his mind whispered weakly when Aizen shot at him, Ichigo grunting when the bullet penetrated through his leg, Ichigo growling as he slashed at Rukia again who once again reached for him.

'I will,' he told himself when Grimmjow shot his other leg, Ichigo falling to his knees with a gasp, Aizen smirking as he aimed his gun at his heart, Ichigo growling lowly.

'I will...I have too,' he told himself, his vision spinning as pain clawed at his body, Aizen's finger lightly pressing against the trigger.

The resounding shot from the gun was like a glass bottle breaking against the hot summer pavement; loud and gut-wrenching.

Grimmjow gasped, blood spurting from his mouth as he gasped, Ichigo's eyes wide as his body began to slowly fall, Ichigo not even having the breath to breath as his body connected with the ground with a loud thud that made ichigo jolt, his eyes wide as he gasped.

"Grim-" he whispered, tears burning in his eyes as they bled a crystal blue.

"You-" he whispered, Aizen's eyes widening as a thick black aura surrounded him, the outlines outlined in a red that burned even from where he stood, Ichigo standing slowly as he took in a shaky breath, Rukia burning away into ashes from its intensity.

"You-" he whispered again his hair turning black as it grew down to his shoulders, his skin turning deathly pale, his wounds healing as the bullets fell to the floor.

"You killed him."

The aura bursted, burning away everything it touched, Aizen protected by a form of barrier as he narrowed his eyes.

"Show yourself," he growled, Zangetsu, in all of his angered glory appearing before him, Aizen's eyes widening.

"You have taken him away from me for the last time," Zangetsu growled, Ichigo's voice layered beneath as the aura liked Aizen's skin, burning his cheek.

Aizen gasped when his hand went through his chest, Zangetsu growling as his hands clasped around his heart, the steady pulse against his palm angering him. He wanted that to end.

"I'll take all, as you have taken from me," he growled, Aizen unable to even gasp as his heart was ripped from his chest with a sickening shattering of bone, his eyes becoming lifeless as his body slowly fell to the ground.

His head was burned away when it touched it fell outside the barrier, Zangetsu dropping his heart.

He turned around, Grimmjow and the kittens protected by a barrier of his own, his steps slow and heavy as he walked to Grimmjow's limp body, tears streaking down his skin as he fell to his knees next to him, his hands shaking as he turned him onto his back.

He could hear the faint creaking of the door as it tried to hold his aura in as he looked into Grimmjow's wide, lifeless eyes, his heart throbbing in his chest at the sight.

"Adjuchas," he whispered, running shaking fingers through his hair.

"I have to bring him back!" Zangetsu yelled as he stormed away from Nnoi, their child crying in his crib as Nnoi tried to convince him to stay.

"The baby needs you!" Nnoi had tried to convince, Zangetsu looking to the black haired infant whose tiny arms were held to his eyes, his cries begging for him to return to him. Zangetsu couldn't turning as he walked out the door, his diary in hand.

"I had left them for you," Zangetsu whispered, his aura calming as his anger gave way to sadness.

"I believed I could change our fates," he whispered, his bottom lip trembling as he leaned down, pressing his lips to Grimmjow's brow. He felt his body crumble in his fingers at his touch, his skin turning into ashes as his soul was released from the body of clay he had created, Zangetsu opening his eyes.

Only ashes remained.

"I'm so sorry," Zangetsu whispered as he released the captured soul, the body of clay and mud consuming it, Zangetsu trying not to cry as the body of a baby became that of life, skin replacing clay.

He would wait for him. No matter how long it took.

Zangetsu shook as he got to his feet shakily, his aura dying away as he walked with unsteady steps to his offspring, falling to his knees before them.

They were both okay, Ichigo smiling weakly as the first ray of sunlight shone through the cracks of the window, the rays resting upon them.

Their bodies grew and their forms changed, their long task of surviving the night finally over.

Two babies replaced them, one with black ears and blue and black striped ears with a matching tail, the other with blue hair and and blue eras with orange tips, hs tail the same.

Ichigo let out a sob as he heard the ambulance around the corner, his heart burning in his chest as he let out another sob that shook his body, scooping the babies into his arms as paramedics rushed in, his sobs full of agony and sadness, the paramedics bombarding him with questions as they got him to stand up, not daring to take away his kittens as they led him out of the basement, his father and Unohana on a stretcher as they carried them out.

Back in the basement the walls were charred, ashes covering the floor and Aizen's headless body covered in it all, a paramedic who put the remains of his body in a bag, looking to his partner.

"What do you think happened here?" he asked, his partner sighing as he kicked some of the ash, a frown on his lips.

"I don't know Adjuchas, I don't know."

Adjuchas looked to the crest fallen neko, his blue hair he had put in a ponytail swaying.

He didn't know either, but he planned on figuring out.

Author's note: And the process is repeated. I am not going to write more on this story even with such an ending. Sorry, just learn to live with it. I hoped you guys enjoyed this long story because I don't think i like doing epilogues anymore. I'm gonna do a one shot or something…. Zack and Cloud baby! Or do a story for Different. I don't know.