Stand in the Rain

Shadow of an Echo

Chapter Twenty-One

All The Beautiful Worlds

To give his friends some time to get used to the changes about to happen, Ichigo invited them over to the Visoreds' warehouse in the evening before Starrk could get there. With them were the other Visoreds, Shunsui, Kisuke, Isshin, Hanataro, Rikichi, and of course Lilynette. The other Shinigami were out patrolling in their places, and would be filled in on anything important after the meeting.

He had been putting off this conversation for far too long already as shown from the fact Orihime was still clinging to him and had yet to even begin forgiving herself for landing him in that kind of hell no matter how often he had told her he in no way blamed her for it. Staying in Heuco Mundo had been his choice, and it was one he would make again even knowing what he would endure there.

"Orihime, please, stop beating yourself up. You couldn't have known what they would do to me and you had no control over what I chose. I'm out and free now, there isn't anything for you to be upset about any longer." He soothed, running his hand through her long hair, letting her hold onto him as he had done when Rukia had her breakdown.

"I can't help it, every time I close my eyes I'm back there, and I didn't have to handle half of what you did. Out of us I have the best idea what it is like to be his prisoner, and just once I wanted to be able to rescue myself so you didn't put yourself in danger for me." She protested, clinging tighter, tears running down her cheeks.

He pulled away a bit so he could cradle her face in his hands, "Please trust me, I'm going to repeat myself, it was not your fault. I don't blame you. Everyone needs help, I'm just glad I was strong enough to get to you. I told you I did not get out on my own either, why would I blame you for not being able to do something I couldn't do myself?" He leaned up so he could press a light kiss to her forehead in comfort, fully understanding the kind of reassurance touch could give people.

Uryu came up behind them and put his hands gently on her shoulders, squeezing in a show of support, "He isn't telling you anything we haven't already tried to get you to hear. Ichigo cares too much to leave any of us in that situation if he could do something about it, and he would hate it even more if we turned around and threw that sacrifice back in his face by getting caught trying to save him in return when we knew full well we were not strong enough to manage it without more help than we had access to, we just needed to have faith he would come back to us and here he is."

Slowly, very slowly, Orihime stopped crying and stepped away from Ichigo rubbing the lingering wetness away from reddened eyes.

Uryu spoke again to give her the time she needed to pull herself together. "Why did you want us here tonight? What's that Arrancar doing here?" He had caught sight of Lilynette almost immediately after entering the training ground, but had been more focused on Ichigo comforting Orihime.

"I do have a name," She protested the form of address irritably, "I'm Lilynette."

"Calm down Lilynette, you shouldn't be surprised that they are a little shocked at all this," Ichigo chastised, "And Uryu she is here so we can protect her. She is a Fraccion and her Espada had to go back to Las Noches to make a report. I wasn't going to leave her alone when Starrk chose to trust us with her. He is coming back tonight with the promise he will answer questions about Aizen, I told you something big is starting to happen here and he is our best source of information so far. I wanted you three to hear what he had to say so you can be prepared." He then filled them in on the basics surrounding the growing rebellion among Aizen's top ranking warriors, and their plan to begin working together with them. He ended the explanation with a warning, "Unfortunately we are working with a very limited amount of time to get everything sorted out, and things will have to move quickly."

"Is Aizen really moving that quickly?" He asked a bit wide-eyed.

Ichigo stalled out there, shooting a look at Shunsui non-verbally asking what he should do, "Go ahead Ichigo, you should tell them, you wanted to right from the start." He encouraged, coming up to the quartet to support his love through another revelation.

"Ichigo, what's wrong?" The so far silent Chad asked quietly, but seriously.

"Ah, maybe you guys should sit down," Ichigo suggested, settling himself down on the ground trying to relax as much as he could, Shunsui sitting next to him and the others getting close in obvious support helping him with that.

With a mix of fear and curiosity his friends followed suit. "Okay, what was so big you were afraid we would pass out?" Uryu asked.

"You know a bit about Shinigami don't you Uryu?" Ichigo really hoped he wasn't running into this blind, hopefully if that were the case the others could back him up so he didn't get laughed out of Karakura

"…Yes." He replied suspiciously, "What about them?"

"Do you know what the differences are between someone who was born a Shinigami and someone who is purely human?" Please, please, let Uryu catch on, Ichigo begged in his mind.

"Some of them," He admitted, "You age differently, and when you die your soul does not get passed on, I think there was something else too; ah, what was it? Grandfather said something to me once about them having childr…wait a second! I think I remember, Ichigo, are you trying to tell us you're pregnant?!"

Ichigo could only nod and wait for the fall out, "That's not possible!" The knee jerk reaction from Orihime was more fearful than angry, giving Ichigo some hope.

"Actually it is," Shunsui took over, not wanting Ichigo to get too worked up. "As much as we look human, we aren't. Myself I was born human, but I had high spiritual pressure making me a Shinigami when that life ended. However, as you can see, Ichigo's father is a Shinigami too making it so Ichigo was born with a Shinigami soul, not a human one. He is different from you, always was, and that means he is capable of some things you aren't."

Orihime was looking at Ichigo with wide eyes, "You're really going to have a baby?"

He nodded again, "Yes, and she's a healthy girl."

"Are you happy?" Chad asked, reaching out to grip his hand, they might look worlds apart but he considered Ichigo his brother. Nothing could make him judge or abandon him, not with all the times Ichigo had stuck around to pull him out of the darkness. It was his turn to return the favor.

A smile spread over his face, "Yeah." He responded, moving Chad's hand to settle it over the baby.

Shunsui's arm came around his shoulders, not stopping the connection between the two friends, "Now you see why we have a limited amount of time. If we want any chance of getting the head-captain to agree with the plan it will have to be before he finds out about the baby. He won't listen to anything we try to say after that, and it could be dangerous for both her and Ichigo."

"Can I ask something?" Uryu requested, looking back and forth between Ichigo and Shunsui, seeing the somewhat surprising closeness. Ichigo needing support to tell them made sense, but he figured with both Kisuke and Isshin there it would be one of those two.

Ichigo's smile turned rueful, "I bet I can guess, you want to know if Shunsui is her father?" Now was a time to make a decision. He thought about it and realized two things, one he did not want to deny Jyuushiro, and two his friends were standing by him up till now he figured they might just be able to handle the rest. He caught Shunsui's eye and gave a little nod of permission.

"I might as well be," He claimed immediately. "I love Ichigo, so to me, the baby is mine."

Seeing their confusion Ichigo elaborated, "Shunsui is not the only one that might be her father. He already had a partner, Captain Ukitake, and while I was in the Soul Society recovering I fell in love with both of them. I'm trusting you here. If you don't like it I understand, but please, don't take it out on my daughter. She is going to have enough people against her already."

"What? How?" Orihime was confused and stuttering a little, but still no anger.

"Ichigo, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Uryu asked a bit more coherently, observing Shunsui and Ichigo sharply and not seeing anything that sent up a red flag that something was wrong between them.

"Yes I know what I'm doing. I love them. It might have been a little fast, but I couldn't help it. I tried to fight it at first but in the end I couldn't give them up, and now we're going to have a daughter together." He insisted, his own seriousness coming back. "Orihime, sometimes things happen that you don't plan and have little control over, love is one of those things. I know this isn't what anyone would call normal, but it is true all the same. Aizen tried to control the way I thought and acted, I managed to endure that without giving in though it was close at the end. I didn't want to give up something so good that I wanted with all my heart, just because some people don't approve of it. I really want to get your support, I need all of my family to get through this, but again I understand if it is simply too much to take."

"You have me," Chad promised without hesitation.

Uryu took a deep breath, "If I didn't stick around when you need us this much I would be worse than Ryuuken, so yes I'll stand by you."

Orihime moved closer to him, Chad had taken his hand away a while ago, so she was free to lay her much smaller one over Ichigo's daughter. "I don't really know what to think, but I'm not going anywhere. This little girl is too precious to ignore."

"Thank you," The only ones who had ever seen such a blinding smile on Ichigo's face were Shunsui and Isshin.

With the serious tension out of the way it gave the others room to come over and get to know the humans in their midst a little better. Their loyalty towards each other was truly admirable and earned them a lot of respects, and the ones that had witnessed their efforts during the mission to save Rukia were only getting their memories rekindled.

Shunsui was proud of their progress, and was glad to see they had improved so much. He was interested in knowing all he could about Ichigo and these were the closest people to him. He made it a goal to understand and include them in future plans. Just because he wanted to build a life together with Ichigo and Jyuushiro did not mean he was going to try erasing the past in the Living World.

Soon Lilynette was perking up and looking towards the entrance, "Coyote is on his way back." She informed. "Should be here in a few minutes."

"You can tell?" Rikichi asked curiously.

"Of course, I always know where he is if we are in the same realm. The only reason he didn't know I was being attacked was because I was here and he was in Heuco Mundo." She explained.

Lilynette was proven right when Hachi was soon lowering the barrier to let the Espada inside, his steel blue eyes surveying the crowd appraisingly.

"How much rubble did you leave?" He finally interrogated his fraccion once he had assured himself she was safe and whole.

She scoffed, "Not as much as I could have."

"Lilynette," He ground out in warning, "Just what did you do this time?"

She crossed her arms in front of herself looking affronted, "It was only a few spars, relax Coyote, could have been a lot worse."

He turned to look at Shinji, the one he had pegged as the negotiator of the bunch. "Thank you for protecting her, I know she can be a bit… well excitable would be a good way of saying it."

Shinji couldn't help but laugh and point out Hiyori and Mashiro, "We have our fair share of hyperactive people, don't worry these two occupied her. Rubble is pretty common around here if you can't tell." His words were immediately proven true as he ducked the flying sandal thrown in his direction thanks to decades of practice evading Hiyori's assaults. "See what I mean?"

"Yes, I see," Now Starrk felt a little better leaving the living tsunami alone with them. He was here for another reason too though, "I know you have been waiting for those answers I promised you. Start asking whatever questions you want." He came over and sprawled next to Lilynette, hey power did not mean decorum, he was not one for ceremony when he felt safe enough to relax a bit. He could still react in less than a second if he had to though, and just about all the gathered people realized that.

"I guess the first question that needs asking is who is all working with you, and which ones would be willing to come to Soul Society if we do get an agreement worked out?" Shunsui was going to head the questions dealing with that kind of thing, it would be Ichigo and him taking the matter up with the Head-Captain.

"I'm guessing some of these will surprise you," He warned before answering, "There are six Espada, six fraccion, and one Shinigami willing to rebel. The Espada are myself, Tier Harribel, Nnoitra Jiruga, Grimmjow, Szayelapporro Granz, and the last is one I know you especially Ichigo will have trouble believing, Ulquiorra Cifer."

"That can't be true, he has to be spying for Aizen," Ichigo immediately refuted as all color drained from Orihime's face on hearing her bodyguard's name again.

"The answer to why he changed is sitting beside you," Starrk informed, singling out the pale girl. "He was introduced to a loyalty that was not based on fear and intimidation. Ichigo when people follow you, or you them, it is because they want to not because they are forced.

"Aizen exerts control over his army with an iron grip, I'll admit not unusual for a man trying to provoke a war, but when dealing with Hollows the more force you use the more we want to fight back. We are not very good at following orders in the first place. Aizen was unsurprisingly intelligent when seeking us out, he promised us enough that we came to him willingly and did what he asked because what he was offering was worth it.

"He forgot himself though. He started asking for too much and giving too little, making those with hot tempers want out the fastest, but as we grew to understand what he was intending us to do the calmer ones like myself and Harribel got involved. Ulquiorra did not decide to follow our path until he saw for himself what it was like to fight for something more than yourself. That girl's loyalty got him thinking and your strength in holding up under Aizen's mind games was enough to convince him if he dared to rebel there was an actual chance of winning." The Espada explained, not lifting his gaze off Orihime despite his words mostly addressing Ichigo.

"Are you absolutely sure he won't turn back to Aizen?" Shunsui pressed.

To his credit, Starrk took a moment to think about it before responding, "Yes. I have spoken to him myself about it and I believe him. I know when someone is trying to lie to me, plus most of them wouldn't dare to try. He is one I might consider him attempting, but he wouldn't succeed."

"You really have that much influence?" Uryu asked cautiously, Ichigo was staying calm and he had the most to be worried about, so he was willing to take a chance on the Espada remaining docile.

In answer Starrk yanked off one of his gloves and held up his hand, showing the gothic numeral one branded into his Hierro. "These are not just numbers. They are literal ranks. I know Shinigami have thirteen squads, but the Captains of each are on the same level, and that is not the case with us. It is a true hierarchy of power. I am the strongest, point blank, the only ones with more command then me are the Shinigami despite the fact I know I am stronger than Tousen, most likely Ichimaru, and potentially Aizen though I'm not quite sure how to get around his illusions. That is one good reason Nnoitra and Grimmjow want out, if we are going to take orders it is from someone of higher power –the top predator in any territory wins- but the way Aizen has us set up they are forced to bow down to someone of a lower rank than those of their own kind."

"How come you haven't tried killing Aizen yourself? I know you are strong, and you just said you are potentially tougher than him, why wait for backup when you don't need it?" Shinji knew he was poking a bear, but it was something he believed needed to be asked and if it came from him he had a chance of drawing Starrk away from the others before he did anything drastic.

To everyone's relief Starrk remained calm, pulling his glove back on as he responded, "Luckily for you I expected that question. The answer is simple. When it comes to an ability like Aizen's that fools the senses so thoroughly even if his opponent is stronger they have to break through that to win. I already said I'm not sure how to do that once you have already seen his release; and all the Espada have. If I fought him alone and lost then you would be done one of your strongest allies, but if I do exactly what I am I can lend you my strength and actually get somewhere with it."

"You seem far more active than I remember," Ichigo commented in a bid to diffuse some of the rising tension, and fortunately it seemed to be working.

"Oh I'm active, but only when I need to be," He explained. "I don't see the point most of the time. I might have the highest command in the Espada but all orders are still coming through Aizen so I'm not called in to fill in the role much. I'm also not like the others in that I don't like casual sparring. I spent too long killing things unintentionally to get any joy from hurting them purposefully."

"To get back on track, which of those Espada are going to want to come to Soul Society, and will you have the same kind of control over them there as you do in Las Noches?" Shunsui attempted to steer the conversation back to the main topic, they really were under a time constraint.

"I'll have control, but Ichigo will have more," Starrk revealed. "Remember what I said about Hollows not taking orders well? Ichigo doesn't order, he encourages and is usually the first to charge in when the situation calls for fighting, he doesn't expect people to fight his battles for him the way Aizen is starting to make it sound like. There is another reason for their compliance with him but I'm not sure if Ichigo wants to hear it." He confessed, essentially giving the choice to Ichigo whether or not he tell them.

Ichigo didn't hesitate, "Just tell us, we need to know as much as we can even if it hurts."

"Fine. They will follow you because we know exactly what you are capable of. We trained you while you were there. Aizen ordered it yes, but we worked with you as much as we could without revealing what we were up to. If you fought us off that well with your power hampered, we can only guess how strong you are with full access to it. If we get to the Soul Society together I intend to keep training you once it is safe." He phrased the last part carefully not sure how many people Ichigo had told. "Grimmjow did not have time to tell you, and I bet you never asked, but did you ever wonder just how much power it took to break that much seki-seki stone?"

"I know it took both mine and Grimmjow's," That was as far as Ichigo had let himself think on it.

"Let me put it in perspective, when we were searching for the way to break you out, Szayel used me to test his method. Anyone higher than Nnoitra has to be far away from Las Noches to train or our release can shatter parts of the fortress, so this gave us an opportunity to experiment without interference. He put a ring of it around my wrist and sent me out with Lilynette and Harribel to see what it would take to break it." Starrk paused then to give his listeners a chance to catch up before continuing. "The best I could do was crack it, even fully released. The amount used on you was about twice as thick. I know exactly how strong Grimmjow is, I saw it almost every day when he would spar with Nnoitra, he helped you yes; but the vast majority of that escape came down to you."

"If you couldn't break it, does that mean what you tried was a gamble?" Isshin was getting angry again, every instinct screaming at him to protect his son.

Starrk was quick to shake his head, he had no intentions of starting a fight that might give them away, "Arrancar are very good at sensing power, especially when we have something to compare it to. There is a reason your son is such a large target for Aizen. If he could get Ichigo on his side willingly he would have access to a warrior even stronger than I am. Ichigo being young and relatively untrained is actually an asset to him, Aizen would be able to shape him into whatever kind of fighter suited his ideals more."

Lilynette got frustrated at their stubbornness and spelled it out plainly, "We knew if Coyote could crack the stone, Ichigo could break it if he had help focusing his strength; which is what Grimmjow did."

"Hollows are drawn to power, and those who command it, Ichigo has that." Starrk finished. "Although I can keep control until Ichigo is ready to handle it."

Everyone here knew now, so it was okay to ask, "What are they going to do when they find out about the baby? You knew immediately and it's been awhile since then, they are bound to notice her." Ichigo could think on the information about his power later, he had something more important to be concerned about for the time being.

"Would you be surprised if I said they would protect her?" There was an almost wolfish smirk crossing Starrk's face.

Shunsui drew Ichigo closer to himself, "Why would they do that?"

"It all comes down to power, never ever forget that when dealing with Hollows, and especially Arrancar we can think far clearer than the other type and it makes us more dangerous. In our world the strong prey on the weak so the race as a whole gets stronger." Starrk warned, pressing the point because it was important. "Ichigo shelters a powerful Hollow while carrying an equally powerful child, we won't allow harm to come to one of our own with that much potential. We are a race of warriors yes, and we fight our way to the top, but Ichigo has already done that even if he didn't know that is what was happening. I also told you before Ichigo that your daughter is our best chance at gaining peace once Aizen is eliminated. She is both Hollow and Shinigami, while being innocent of any crime committed by either one."

"Does anyone else find it aggravating that the 'bad guys' are the ones willing to protect an innocent when we have to hide her from the so called good guys?" Rikichi spoke up, his irritation obvious making Hanataro link his hand with his own to calm him down.

"The strong win; that is our basic tenant. Shinigami overcomplicate things in our general opinion, though I admit to liking certain approaches of yours better." Starrk confessed. "Now I haven't answered your other question. The ones who want to leave with me are of course Lilynette, Nnoitra, his fraccion Tesra, Grimmjow, and Szayel. Harribel is going to volunteer to take over my task in the living world, with Ulquiorra passing her information she can then relay to whoever you chose to be the contact here. The fraccion staying to help gather information and hold places so we don't have too many new people to try and fight our way through are Harribel's three fraccions; Apache, Mila Rose, and Sun-Sun; and one of Barragan's fraccion, Ggio."

"Those guys are fanatics, what changed his mind?" Ichigo still got angry if he let himself think of Findor's attack, so he thought he was keeping it together pretty well if he only asked that in minor irritation.

"Grimmjow is his idol." Starrk informed, "He just can't show it much or Barragan would kill him. If he gets the chance Ggio will follow Grimmjow around like a kitten."

Hanataro couldn't stop himself from laughing, "Riki that sounds just like you around Renji," He teased earning an elbow to the side and a pout, though his smile never wavered.

Shunsui just shook his head at the pair and got back to business, "Okay, Ichigo has told us the terms you gave him before, has anything changed?"

"No, same rules. We will submit to a power limiter only if it is the same kind as the Captains wear, there will be no protests if we need to be escorted for the first little while as long as we can stay together; and under no circumstances can Nnoitra or I be separated from our Fraccions." He laid out as a reminder.

"Just wanted to make sure, because I want to contact the Seireitei as soon as possible to set up a meeting, if we do get one arranged would you want one of yours to come with us?" Shunsui offered.

He thought about it a moment, "I don't really want to admit this, but the only one we might be able to sneak away without getting caught is Lilynette. I couldn't go myself, Aizen would know the moment I stepped out of the Living World. Lilynette's power is a shadow of my own, while she can't cover for me, I can for her."

"She doesn't have to come," Ichigo assured, "But it would probably help, it is up to you two."

Before Starrk could say a word, Lilynette was already speaking, "Let me go Coyote. I can do this."

"But Lilynette," He went to protest only to be cut off.

"No, Coyote listen to me, you and I both know they have a better chance of making a deal if one of us goes and shows that we are being serious about this. I won't be alone, no one is going to let the Shinigami hurt me. We are already risking so much in defying Aizen, what's one more thing?" She pressed, showing a hint of her actual age.

He sighed, "I don't like this at all, but I wouldn't have mentioned it if I was going to refuse outright." He confessed. "Who else would be going with her?"

"Definitely Ichigo and I," Shunsui immediately answered, "And I'd like at least one Visored plus a Shinigami or two."

"Don't think you're going anywhere without me," Isshin broke in, "I made Ichigo a promise and I intend to keep it."

"Dad what about Karin and Yuzu?" Ichigo reminded.

"I didn't forget them," Isshin assured, "I've been setting up a place where they will be safe while we're gone."

That surprised Ichigo a bit, "Who?"

A slight glance at Uryu, "An old acquaintance that owes me a favor. He will protect your sisters."

The young Quincy glanced up through a curtain of loose bangs, "You're talking about Ryuuken aren't you?"

"Yes. He has done wrong by you, I know." Isshin admitted. "But he did help you when you truly needed him no matter how rough he was, and he wouldn't let anything happen to my girls."

A slow nod, "Yeah, I know, but I'll check on them myself as often as I can." He decided.

"I would appreciate it," Isshin laid his hand on his shoulder, he didn't like seeing him like that. When this was over he needed to sit down and have a good long talk with Ryuuken, or better yet just wait until Yuzu got ahold of him; that would probably do the trick.

While that little exchange occurred Starrk had been thinking over his decision and when things fell quiet again he told Lilynette, "Alright, you can go, but if they touch one hair on your head I'll kill them and no one will stop me." He did not get violent often, but harming his Lilynette was a good way of getting him there. Findor had still been recovering when he went back to make this report, the only reason he was still breathing was Starrk didn't want to deal with the hassle that would result from killing another Espadas' fraccion. That was Barragan's game not his.

"We'll protect her," Not Ichigo, Shunsui. "To be honest I don't want Ichigo in this any more than you want Lilynette, but stopping them is going to be nearly impossible so the best any of us can do is make sure nothing happens to them."

"I'm counting on it," Starrk insisted. "Come on Lilynette we need to get back to work, when you are ready for her send have a Visored come outside the barrier and call their mask for a short burst. I will be sensing for that kind of power signature and will bring her to you."

Ichigo nodded, "That will work, and that's something I can do so I feel at least a little useful."

Starrk and Lilynette were turning to leave when Shinji realized in all the sidetracks they had missed something, "Wait a second, in the beginning you said there was a Shinigami working with you, which one?"

"Oh that," Starrk showed another wolfish smirk, "Gin Ichimaru."

Every single voice in attendance called out at once, "What!?"