Author's Note

I'm back. Sorry for the longish wait folks, but I think I've worked out that I'll get to my stories individually every other month so that I'm posting a chapter of something once a month. Anywho, on with the chapter!

I let the slightest of frowns turn my lips down. I have always hated that nickname. I am not a child anymore nor her boy-toy and despise that she calls me as such. However I must put up with this teasing if I am to save Rukia.

"Ara?" the building's owner says, covering a yawn and stretching. "And to what pleasure do I owe having the head of the Kuchiki clan and taicho of squad six in my shop?" And then there is this one. I cannot deny that the man has great intelligence, but his fool's façade is most annoying. He also has no sense of decorum or image, his hat alone is proof of that. "It must be rather important for you to come in person in the middle of the night." He says with a sly grin, waving a fan before his face.

I struggle not to roll my eyes at this man. It must be important for me to even consider coming to this shop considering how much I cannot stand how I am treated here. I take a small breath, praying for patience and luck, before I put my request before them.

"I need a Smith."

Those words make the playful looks drop right off their faces. They know that if I say such words I mean them. If any taicho were to say those words, they would mean them. "One of the shinigami in my care has had her zanpakuto broken. The Gotei 13 do not know where the Shibas are currently and Unohana-taicho only gives her eight hours before she dies. Considering your close connections with the Shiba, I was hoping you could locate them in time." I summarize.

The two share a look and I can tell it is some sort of silent discussion. It is brief, only for a second or two, before Urahara turns to me. "I could locate the Shibas for you and hope that there's enough time left to reforge your subordinate's blade. Or I can do you one better, if you're willing to be a little open minded."

"Open minded?" What does he mean by that? There are only two Smiths. Is he saying he's come up with some wild imitation of Smith work? I quickly stamp down the errant questions so that I can focus on his reply.

The demon cat smiles smugly at me. "He means, Byakuya-bo, that if you want a quick, guaranteed way to save her, you'll need to bend the rules a bit."

"Even if I did, Unohana- taicho–"

"Would let it slide until her patient is no longer dying and beyond her ability to save." Yoruichi cuts me off. "You need to choose, Byakuya-bo. Quickly too, if you want the best chance at saving your little subordinate."

I deliberate with myself. Upon my parents' death, I vowed to follow the laws, but can I bring myself to bend them to keep my promise to Hisana? Having to pick between my vow and my promise is difficult. But my mind is made up the instant I remember my sister-in-law's fallen shaking form, her zanpakuto split in two beside her. I will allow a bending of the rules this one time. "I will take your quicker method."

"Wonderful! Yoruichi-san, would you be a dear and go wake him up?" Wake him up? I raise an eyebrow at this. Who could they possibly be referring to?

"Confused, Byakuya-bo? Think about how many Smiths are still alive, ne?" She says before leaving the room with a flick of her tail. How many are still alive? There's just Kukaku and Ganju left of the Shibas. The last of the branch families died out a hundr–

"Mmmgh, whaddya want, Yoruichi?"

All my thoughts come to a jumbled stop. I know that voice. It is hard to forget the boy it belongs to: A fiery, strong-willed prodigy who ended up living on the brink of insanity. He's supposed to be sealed, on my grounds no less. How did he escape? Is it even safe for him to be around? I subtly shift my stance ready for a confrontation. I doubt I could win without my zanpakuto and as impeded by my injury as I am. Even more so if Yoruichi and Urahara intend to defend him.

"A job's just come in for you. There's a shinigami that needs a reforging. What will you need from downstairs?" She asks him. Is he in any condition to perform forging of any type? The last I remember of him, he quit forging after losing his sisters.

"Ahhhhm. A small anvil and hammer, the rest I can do myself." The boy comes walking out of the back rooms, tousling his unruly, bright orange hair. Small bursts of flame were slowly bursting along his skin, signs that he was preparing his own fires for forging.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

It is a statement and in some ways, a question. It truly is a surprise that he is free of his seals. He looks like he's been able to pull himself together some, but it could be an act. I honestly doubt it is an act though, he's far too straightforward a person to act in control and calm with any competency. I continue to eye him, trying to assess whether or not it is wise to even consider bringing him near my sister.

"Ara? Byakuya's asking for my help?" I flinch slightly at the complete lack of honorifics. We may both be of high ranking noble families, but he has a lower position and is of a branch family, not to mention younger by two decades. It is something about the yokai nobles that has always bugged me. They never have acted with the grace and honor befitting of their positions.

"Not you specifically, Kurosaki-san." Urahara says with a flutter of his ridiculous fan. "Just a Smith in a short amount of time. After all, when it comes to zanpakuto, time makes all the difference."

The boy hums in agreement as Yoruichi reappears, this time in her human form, struggling a bit with the weight of a small anvil. "Alright, here's your stuff." She says with a grunt, placing the anvil on the ground before him and placing a small hammer on top of it.

"Thanks." He replies, letting flames wash over him, changing his form from human to yokai. I let a bit of the tenseness slip from my shoulders. His yokai form is not the monster from before, but his original, almost human yokai form. It would seem that he is recovered to some extent from the trauma of his past.

"If that is all, come. We only have so much time." I say, turning back to the door to depart.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm comin'." He says with a yawn, wrapping his tail around the anvil and plucking the hammer off the top. I put my key into the door and open it. Don't worry, Rukia, help is on the way.

Being woken up in the middle of the night will never be fun. It certainly isn't made better when you're woken up because you're the only person who stands a decent chance of saving someone's life. Suppose I can't complain though since it's my job to fix stuff like this. Hopefully Byakuya will let me walk free after doing this, though I don't hold too much hope for that. He's got a giant stick up his ass and is a stickler for the rules.

I take a breath and follow Byakuya through the door. It's a short walk through the familiar grounds and into the housing building. We wind through the hallways to a room with a red-haired bone nue waiting outside, snake-headed tail nervously bobbing at his side.

"Taicho!" he says, noticing Byakuya, his tail's head's attention never wavering from the room. "Did you–?"

"Yes, Renji. Now move aside." Byakuya replies in a cold monotone. Ass. He could at least ask nicely or something instead of acting all indifferent when this guy is obviously worried about the downed shinigami.

The nue steps aside, leaving room for us to pass by. As I follow Byakuya into the room, I try to give the poor guy a reassuring smile. I've never been good at that sort of thing, it was more something my dad did, in his own flamboyant way that somehow calmed people down. He gives me a faint grin, but I can still see the worry that is dominating him.

I freeze when I see the occupants of the room. It takes all I have to keep from calling out, from showing any indication that I know the girl laying on the futon in the middle of the room. Rukia lays there covered in a sheen of sweat, fever coloring her face red. Her broken blade lays beside her and I quickly kneel down besides the pieces, inspecting the break. It's a fairly clean break, probably a lucky shot to the almost imperceptible fault lines that can be found in any work. Of course the power it takes to actually cause the break, even on a fault line isn't exactly something to scoff at either. The good thing is that clean breaks are easier to fix and they seem to have gotten all the pieces. It shouldn't take too long to fix once my fires are ready.

"My, it has been quite a while, Kurosaki-san."

A shiver of dread runs up my spine at the sweet voice of the ever frightening Unohana Retsu. I'm screwed. Nobody, nobody disobeys Unohana if they value their lives. Any chance I had at possibly walking away from this without getting dragged before the soutaicho has just flown out the window. Unohana isn't a stickler for the rules like Byakuya, but with two captains, because apparently Byakuya got promoted while I was sealed, they really can't just ignore me. Well maybe if it was Ukitake and Kyoraku, but it's not so that doesn't really matter.

"Unohana-san." I greet her, dipping my head in a small bow. It's then that I notice that Inoue is sitting at Unohana's side, carefully soaking small towels in a bowl. It seems that the world is conspiring against me tonight. Hopefully Inoue will be smart enough to act like she doesn't know me.

"You seem to be doing much better. I hope you'll be able to help Kuchiki-san." She says with a pleasant smile, an aura of threat and doom radiating off of her. I swallow and nod mutely.

Turning my thoughts away from the motherly yet terrifying captain, I focus on adjusting the last of my fires so that I can do the forging all in one go. I sit quietly, keeping my focus inward, taking controlled breathes as I temper my power. This isn't something I bother doing so carefully normally, but I'm repairing a zanpakuto tonight, so the room for error is slim. Too much power and I'll destroy her zanpakuto even further, too little and the fix will barely hold her together. The fine adjustments to my power shave away at the time I have to work, but my powers allow me to speed the heating and cooling times that take so long in traditional forging processes.

Once I'm ready, I open my eyes and pick up the halves of Rukia's zanpakuto, my tail carefully curling around the hilt while the other half is in my left hand, my hammer in my right. I breathe out, flames licking the blade halves, willing the heat to properly soak into them. When I cease breathing fire on them, the severed ends glow cherry red. I critically eye the shade of the metal's glow, making sure it's been heated correctly, before aligning the two ends together on top of the anvil and beginning the hammering that will coax them back into one piece.

It has taken several hours to get to this point, but I've finally got every last shard that was saved reunited. All that's left is a thin crack where the blade was severed. I'm finally on the final part, which could take the longest. It really depends on the zanpakuto at this point. I really hate doing this part most of the time, because it's such a pain in the ass to deal with, but, unfortunately, it's the part that requires a Smith, not somebody who knows metal work.

"Dying embers. Bright stars. Cold stone and ringing steel.

Deep secrets, consumed by fire, left with naught but ash.

Bleeding hearts and hands dyed red, unable to see the past.

The cold seeps, blanketing the world. The light dies."

I watch out of the corner of my eye as all in the room slump over, unconscious. A soft thud can be heard in the hallway as those waiting outside are caught in the radius of my spell. The Smith techniques are so secretive that we can't actually do them without rendering all within range unconscious. The spells themselves that allow us to bind and work with zanpakuto knock out anyone who isn't marked with a Smith's seal, and only the clan head knows how to even make one of those. My dad said that the seal creation itself is a special magic that can't be passed on until the clan head dies, and even then, it passes itself on without our influence. We can write out the spells for others to read, but you have to know how to use them to get any effect, otherwise it's like reading nonsensical poetry, and the only way to know how to use them is to have a Smith's seal. I guess whoever actually invented our techniques was really paranoid about other people learning them.

"New sparks, trying to take flight. The cradle of life and death.

Burning embers, shining like stars in black night.

The squalling cry of first breath, the rasp of last breath.

Stricken metal thrums with the summons.

I am the Smith, Shiba Kurosaki Ichigo, and you will bear your heart before me."

After I chant the final line, I breath out golden flames, my purest flames, straight from my heart, bathing the blade in the energies it needs for the final step. As the flames pass over the blade, they start to congeal on the other side, piling up and creating a column of fire until I feel that shift in energy that tells me there's enough to continue. The flames fade away from the column they've made before me to reveal the spirit of the zanpakuto. An elegant geisha of snowy hues stands before me, icy blue eyes calmly gazing at me, doing a very good job of hiding her pain. She has the elegance and beauty of unblemished snow, or at least she would if her clothing weren't so tattered and her appearance worn because of her currently broken state.

"I answer to the name of Sode no Shirayuki, Smith, and I ask that you repair me and the bond I share with Kuchiki Rukia." she states, voice soft but firm.

I internally breathe a sigh of relief. The reason I hate this final part the most is that some zanpakuto are asses and act like they don't want to be repaired or make ridiculous or stupid demands about the repair. The worst though, are the ones that wish to severe their bonds with their shinigami. Reforgings are the only time a zanpakuto can completely sever their bond to their current shinigami without serious, existence-threatening repercussions. It doesn't make it any harder to finish the repair, but the way the shinigami is afterwards, well, they're not really alive anymore, they're just shades of their former selves. It truly is a relief that Sode no Shirayuki is a compliant zanpakuto.

I nod my head to her and begin the final step of the reforging process. "If you wish to remain bound to the shinigami Kuchiki Rukia, then you must make the final strike to mend what was once broken." I gesture the crack in glowing blade on my anvil. She steps forward, a hammer of ice forming in her delicate hands.

"I'll tell you when to strike. Let's begin:

Cradle of creation, burning bright, consumed by love and hate.

Silver chains, binding chains, oath of the heart.

All that we are laid bare before the end.

Caught in my right hand, hopes and dreams.

Crushed in my left hand, anguish and despair.

Let life shine brightly, even in darkest night, for we know little else.

Softly ring, softly ring. The chimes of new birth.

To mend, we must first break.

To live, we must first die.

Bare your heart to my fires.

Your name is Sode no Shirayuki. Now STRIKE!"

Sode no Shirayuki doesn't hesitate. She swings her icy hammer down, bursting back into the golden blaze that I used to summon her form, crackling brightly. The flames burst, giving way to a wintery chill that leaves the room covered in frost, everyone's breath becoming puffs of mist. I look down to my anvil, finding a pure white blade with a long trailing ribbon now laying across it, not a scratch on it. The metal is still slightly warped where I repaired it, but I can easily fix that. Rukia is safe. Her zanpakuto is no longer broken so she is no longer dying. I gently pick up the newly restored blade and feel a hum of appreciation from the yuki onna spirit within it.

"Warmth kindled through hardship.

The spinning wheel of fate.

The sun greets the morning.

Those who slumber arise to hope."

Rukia's zanpakuto returns to its sealed state and there's an intake of breath around the room as those who were under the Smith's Spell wake up. I carefully ignore them and instead focus on finishing the restoration of Rukia's zanpakuto. It's best for me to ignore them for now, paying attention will only remind me that I may not see tomorrow. It's not too long before I'm slipping the blade back into its sheath and laying it down at Rukia's side.

"Thank you, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Those simple words break me from my focus on Rukia's zanpakuto. I've never heard Byakuya express appreciation to anyone, so I certainly wasn't expecting to receive any. I can't help but stare at him. His expression remains stoic, as if he never said a word.

I snort. "There's no need to thank me. I'm a Smith and I guess it's time I start acting like one." I give him a wry smile.

"I'm taking you into custody as an escaped Sealed. Because of your offense classifications, your case will be judged by the taicho of the Gotei 13 and the final decision will belong to the sotaicho. Come quietly or I will use force." Byakuya says in a clipped tone.

"What, no please?" I jest. He just gives me an icy stare. "Geez, it's not like I'm resisting." I mumble.

"Wait! What's going to happen to him?" Inoue asks urgently.

"As Byakuya-san said, that decision is ultimately up to the sotaicho." Unohana calmly replies. "He might be put under supervision or he could be executed." Inoue gasps and I can see that she's ready to argue against me being executed, not considering that revealing her prior involvement with me could put her in a very dangerous situation. "However you don't need to worry too much. Kurosaki-san has done a good deed today and I will certainly vote against his execution." Unohana serenely smiles at Inoue, soothing away some of her fear.

"Don't worry about me." I tell her. "I've done things I'm not proud of and we all have our debts to pay."

With those words, I compliantly get up to stand before Byakuya, following him out the door, Unohana trailing behind us. I pause at the gate after Byakuya steps through it, taking a breath and steeling my resolve to go through with this instead of running away and begging Urahara to hide me. I step through the gate to face my fate. Like I said, we all have our debts to pay.

"Do you really think it was okay to send Ichigo?" I ask him, worried for the boy who's practically my nephew.

"If you're asking whether or not I think the Gotei will kill Kurosaki-san, then I seriously doubt it." He replies, staring up at the moon through the window.

"What about sealing him again?"

"Maybe, but we'll track him down and this time we'll set him free."

I purr in agreement to this plan. He's been doing so much better in this time that he's been free. Sealing him again would be cruel and unnecessary, besides I've missed having one of my favorite students to tease.

Alright, for those who want a more solid idea of how Renji should look in his yokai form, go to my profile page and select my Deviantart link, the pic is a Halloween theme and is labeled Bone Nue Renji. And exciting news for me, I'm now beta-ing for Raizen Yusuke's sequel to 1 year and 5 months, which is called 17 months later: The Lost Ones. I've also put up links to all the stories I beta, so check'em out, ne?

Please review/comment to tell me how I did.