Hearts of Glass, Steel, Fire and Ice

"Good morning Ichigo!"

The twelve year old boy's eyes snapped open and he had less than a split second to react before he registered a large palm about to smash into his face. Rolling himself off of his bed and onto the floor, Ichigo kept rolling and knocked into a pair of man-sized legs, which he remorselessly barreled into. As he had hoped, the owner of the legs lost his balance and fell with a loud thump onto the floor.

"Owie! Ichigo! How could you do that to your own father?"

From his spot on the floor, Ichigo sat up, crossed his arms and said unconcernedly, "I could ask you the same question."

Before any more words could be exchanged, the bedroom door opened once again to reveal a woman's head as she looked around the door to see what was going on. When she saw the grown man lying on the floor in tears and the young boy sitting up showing no signs of remorse, she mouth twitched upwards ever so slightly before she managed to compose her features into a neutral expression.

"If you two have finished your morning bonding routine, then Karin, Yuzu and I would love to have you both join us for breakfast."

Instantly, the grown man leaped to his feet and said delightedly, "Oh Masaki! You are the light of my life!"

Masaki smiled at her husband and said, "And you, my dear Isshin, make my life more interesting."

Ichigo could only roll his eyes as his father bounded out of the room squealing like a little girl about to receive a beautiful new doll. He went about getting himself dressed when he heard three words for the second time that day.

"Good morning Ichigo!"

However, at the sound of this particular voice, Ichigo's mouth turned up slightly at the corners as he finished pulling his shirt over his head and opening his window all the way so that he could lean out slightly and face the owner of the voice.

"Hey Orihime."

A girl about Ichigo's own age was leaning against the frame of her window, waving and smiling in her usual cheerful fashion. Ichigo's smile stretched a little farther as he returned the wave.

Orihime pushed a wayward strand of hair behind her ear as she called over, "Sounds like your father is very energetic this morning."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and sent a scowl in the direction his father had gone as he replied, "No more so than usual. Why can't the big oaf just let me wake up like any other kid?"

Orihime blinked and half stated, half asked, "You don't like him waking you up like that."

Crossing his arms, Ichigo asked, "How would you like it if Sora snuck into your room at the crack of dawn and tried to kick you in the stomach? Or like what my dad did just now and screamed loud enough for half the town to hear while trying to give you a black eye?"

Rubbing the back of her head, Orihime said sheepishly, "Well, when you put it like that, I guess it doesn't sound very pleasant. All though, it would be nice if sometimes Sora would come into my room and tell me 'Good morning' in such an enthusiastic manner. He's always sleeping though since he works so late."

Ichigo was about to apologize, when Orihime quickly started waving her hands in front of her face and speaking quickly, "I didn't mean to sound like I am complaining! Sora being a part of the Night Watch is a very good thing and he loves the work! It also gives me time to get things ready during the morning so that when he wakes up I can give him a nice meal and the house is all cleaned up, so it works out for the best!"

Just as he was about to respond, Ichigo felt his stomach rumble and apparently it was loud enough for Orihime to hear as well since she called over hurriedly, "I'm sorry for keeping you from your breakfast for so long! Please go and eat!"

Giving one last wave and smile, Ichigo said, "I'll see you a little later then."

"All right!"

Breakfast in the Kurosaki residence was a peaceful affair in the sense that no dishes or furniture were broken, all though at one point Ichigo did half consider sending a forkful of eggs over in his father's direction when the older man asked his son about what he and Orihime were going to do later on that day.

A few hours later, once Ichigo had done all of his daily chores, he called out a brief farewell to his family, ran outside and went around to the side of the house where there was a little gap between the Kurosaki and Inoue residences.

The town in which both families lived was called Karakura Town and the street on which they lived held a number of hard-working middle class families. A few streets to the left was the poor district while a few streets to the right held the wealthier and more influential families.

Karakura Town was surrounded by a large wall that had to be guarded at all times since to the north was the Arrancar Forest and to the south was the Shinigami River. Even though Karakura was a part of the Kingdom of Souls and their king, Genryusai Yamamoto, had ruled in peace for over thirty years, the people were always on their guard since the town had been attacked in the past so easily and unexpectedly from either the forest or the river and they were determined not to let it happen again.

All able bodied men were required to take a regular shift during the day, but it was those who were a part of the Night Watch who had the most important jobs since most surprise attacks happened at night. Because they couldn't keep a regular trade during the day, for the most part, the men of the Night Watch were paid decent salaries so that they could support themselves and any family they might have.

In about a year or so, Ichigo would be old enough to begin taking his turn guarding the wall and he was strongly considering becoming a part of the Night Watch. All men of the Night Watch were required to take extensive combat training and learned much about the skills of fighting and warfare so that if Karakura Town was ever to be attacked, there would be men skilled enough to lead the others into battle in defense of everyone's lives and homes. The idea of becoming a protector of Karakura Town appealed greatly to Ichigo since his father and mother had said many times that his name meant 'one who protects'.

Ichigo and Orihime had grown up together and were often seen wandering around town side by side. More often than not, they would go to Urahara's Shop, located about two streets over on the left hand side where it was the poorer district. They would go there and spend hours either helping around the shop (usually the owner, Kisuke Urahara, would make some comment about needing a certain chore done and Orihime would immediately volunteer and so then Ichigo would grudgingly agree as well because he had been brought up well by his parents) or listening to Urahara or Tessai tell stories about history or even folk tales and legends.

Once Ichigo was outside, he leaned against the wall of his house and waited for Orihime to come out. He didn't have long to wait and he heard her approaching with her usual skipping gait.

The moment she turned the corner, Orihime beamed at Ichigo and said brightly, "I'm ready!"

And with that, Ichigo pushed himself away from the wall and walked out into the street with Orihime walking next to him. Orihime bounced a little on her feet as she walked, tending to put most of her weight on her toes rather like a dancer would, while Ichigo walked casually with his arms folded behind his head. They walked along in companionable silence for a time until Orihime spoke up.

"Ichigo, what would you like to be when you grow up?"

There was no hesitation as Ichigo replied, "Part of the Night Watch. I'll be old enough to start training in about two years."

Orihime looked at him before she said, "Oh, I see."

Turning his head to look into Orihime's eyes, Ichigo asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Shaking her head and waving her arms in front of her quickly, Orihime said, "I'm sorry! That was rude of me!"

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo said, "You weren't being rude, Orihime. I can tell you were surprised by my answer and I just want to know why."

Orihime said slowly, "I was just surprised because I thought you would make a good doctor. You could work together with your father and take over from him."

Ichigo grimaced as he said, "I know what you mean Orihime, but that's the last thing I want to do. I deal with my dad enough as it is, but if I had to learn how to be a doctor like him and work alongside him…to me, it sounds like the worst thing ever. Old goat beard would probably try and sneak up on me when I'm dealing with a patient just to make sure my reflexes were good and that I could concentrate properly even if there were major distractions around me. No thanks. At least as a part of the Night Watch, I could learn how to fight and then maybe I could finally beat that old goat so bad that he would quit doing dumb stuff all the time."

Turning to Orihime, Ichigo asked, "What about you? What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Orihime looked thoughtful before she answered slowly, "I want to be someone who can bring happiness to others. Find a way to bring people together and have them all get along with each other."

"How are you going to do that?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Orihime said, "I'm not sure yet, but I'll figure it out someday."

As the boy who wished to become a protector and the girl who wished to give others happiness walked along side by side, little did they know that their dreams would soon become a reality and be put to the test…and in a way neither could have anticipated.

Author's Note:

So, as I said before, this story will be based on the fairy tale 'The Snow Queen' and right now I will tell you who three of the characters are going to be in this story:

Orihime-Gerda
Ichigo-Kay
Rukia-The Snow Queen

Beyond that, I'm not going to tell you any more characters because I want them to be something of a surprise!

Anyway, I already said this but I will be making some alterations to the original story just like I did with 'Transforming Love' because I have fun doing that and things are less constrained that way. I can alter the story and have it move towards the same finish but in a slightly different way than how Hans Christian Anderson did it.

Hope you enjoy this journey with me and as always, if something doesn't make sense or if you have any suggestions for things or characters you would like to see, don't hesitate!