Ice and Snow

Ichigo sighed as he sat, watching the Hollow versions of the Vizard spar. They'd learned Cazador's lesson well enough, it appeared. All of them were now in Resurrección, and looked very similar to how they'd been in Hell, with the exception that their masks didn't cover the entirety of their faces. For instance, Kensei's mask didn't quite reach his eyes, but instead guarded his mouth and nose. Mashiro's was relatively hilarious, leaving her with naught but bone-like feelers atop her head, much to the amusement of Rose, whose own mask remnant was his enormous beak. Luckily for the pianist, the beak had shifted down to be a large ornament on a bone necklace. Love's mask seemed to have combined with his sunglasses to an extent, leaving him with a set of oni horns and shades. Lisa, who was the last to achieve Ressurección, had kept all of her mask except the part covering her eyes, giving her a dangerous knight-looking visage.

All in all, so far it looked like the Hollow and Shinigami aspects of the Vizard were cooperating well. But it's not enough. The minute one of them feels they could do better in control, they'll fight and weaken themselves. This is just a patch job.

Maybe, but look – no one has lost Resurrección yet. The Shinigami are just as curious about the Hollow forms as their Hollows are. That's a good sign, right?

Maybe… Ichigo conceded. Regardless, it was about the best that they could hope for in such a short time. There was no way to force true trust between the Vizard and their Inner Hollows, and trust was needed in order to work together. To make them fight for control over each other's blades now would shatter whatever trust was building.

The transcendent turned his attention to T ōsen, who hadn't moved an inch since Cazador had told him what steps he'd skipped. There was no way to tell what was going on, as it was obvious that Tōsen was in his Inner World. All in all, there was little he could do.

"Kurosaki."

Or perhaps not. "Tōshirō," Ichigo acknowledged, turning around to look at the diminutive taicho who was walking towards him.

Hitsugaya stopped several feet away. "Would you care for a spar?"

Just what the doctor ordered, Cazador quipped. This'll alleviate the boredom.

Ichigo offered a half-smirk. "Why not?" He got up and stretched, popping his neck and rubbing his right shoulder a little to loosen it up.

"Is Bankai against Bankai acceptable?" Hitsugaya inquired steadily, not revealing how nervous he was to be challenging someone who was, frankly, far beyond his level of power.

"Works for me." Drawing Zangetsu, black-and-red reiatsu rushed from the tip down to engulf Ichigo, wordlessly entering Bankai. The long chain of Tensa Zangetsu wrapped around his right arm and hung from his shoulder, ready to be used for anything Ichigo could think up.

"Bankai. Daiguren Hyōrinmaru," Hitsugaya announced, donning his own Bankai form, complete with ice wings, claws and talons.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, before each leapt back and swung their blades at each other horizontally. "Getsuga Tenshō!"

"Hyōryū Senbi!"

The Getsuga met a wave of flowing and regenerating ice, cutting into it with all the raging power of Ichigo's reiatsu before cutting through a few seconds later. But Hitsugaya wasn't there anymore.

Hitsugaya flickered into existence several meters away, behind and to the left side of Ichigo. "Guncho Tsurara!"

Ichigo merely extended his left arm, and suddenly the chain dangling from his shoulder leapt into action, flying between the ice daggers and himself, catching them easily. He allowed a smirk to appear on his face. "As I once told Kenpachi, there's more to my sword than just the blade!"

"And there's more to mine than merely ranged ice attacks," Hitsugaya rebutted, rushing at Ichigo in a straight charge, raising Daiguren Hyōrinmaru above his head for a downward slash.

Ichigo raised Tensa Zangetsu instantly, blocking Daiguren Hyōrinmaru's slash with only one arm. "Too easy." He fired off a roundhouse kick that connected with Hitsugaya's protective wing. The wing broke, but it had successfully muffled the impact to its owner. Hitsugaya was sent hurtling into another boulder with his side bruised, but nothing broken, but not before Ichigo felt a sharp pain in the leg he'd kicked with.

Ichigo looked down, startled, and found that his leg – which was not protected by his Bankai coat – had been stabbed, and ice was starting to creep down to his foot. It was already beginning to go numb. Sneaky. He must have used his tail while I was preoccupied with his sword, Ichigo realized as he swiftly chopped the ice off his leg with a precise slash from Tensa Zangetsu.

"Bakudō 61: Rikujōkōrō!" Hitsugaya cried from directly only meters behind him, giving Ichigo no time to dodge as six wide beams of light slammed into his midsection.

Cursing his own arrogance – How could I forget I was still fighting with these seals on? – the Vizard scowled and switched his reiatsu to its more evolved state, flaring his reiatsu throughout his body to burn out the connections the Kidō had upon him. As expected, the binding spell shattered, just in time for Ichigo to Shunpo out of the way of three dragon-headed ice streams that Hitsugaya had launched mere moments before.

"You want to play like that? Fine then." Ichigo viciously slashed at Hitsugaya, sending a silent Getsuga only the size of his own body at the ice user.

The Getsuga screamed at a suddenly wide-eyed Hitsugaya, who was barely able to Shunpo out of the way before Ichigo materialized behind him and sent him rocketing to the ground with a well placed elbow to the back, snapping off the ice tail in the process.

Hitsugaya flared out his ice wings, slowing his descent enough for him to regain control over his own momentum, before flipping around with narrowed eyes as he used the water in the air to regenerate his tail. Dangerous to approach in melee, but his Getsuga is too fast for ranged. I need a distraction. A sound and resulting flash of a Cero, seen out of the corner of his eye, reminded him that even if he wanted to use his Bankai's greatest power, he could not for fear of crippling his allies. No matter. I have an alternative.

Ichigo looked around cautiously, not having been engaged by Hitsugaya for several seconds now. He's up to something. He knew that Hitsugaya was alive – the icy reiatsu in the air was enough to be assured of that at least – but he was hiding himself well. However, Ichigo hesitated. While his normal answer would be to start carelessly destroying the environment until his opponent couldn't hide any longer, Ichigo also knew that Urahara meant it when he said that wanton destruction would result in Ichigo being forced to fix it.

So that left alternative methods. Lucky I already know a tracking method. Ichigo focused on the reiatsu in the air, and materialized the reiraku, the spirit ribbons. Grasping the one he knew was Hitsugaya's, he smirked. Gotcha. He flickered into Shunpo. Appearing behind the taicho, Ichigo leapt forward and stabbed with Tensa Zangetsu as Hitsugaya spun around and spoke, apparently having completed his preparations.

"Sennen Hyōrō."

Dozens of ice pillars shot up out of the ground, surrounding them as the icy taicho lunged to the side, deflecting the stab. "So you have a bunch of ice towers circling around us," Ichigo observed as he locked blades against Hitsugaya, Daiguren Hyōrinmaru and Tensa Zangetsu shuddering against each other. "Just what are they going to do?"

"Simple." Ichigo blinked in shock when a second Hitsugaya stepped out from behind a large rock, outside the range of the towers. "They're going to crush you and my ice clone." The taicho abruptly twisted his wrist 90 degrees, and the pillars zoomed towards him, ready to smash into him from all sides.

Ichigo immediately broke off from the ice clone, but the clone lunged at him. "Ryūsenka!" the clone commanded as it stabbed forwards at its opponent.

The Vizard flickered out of the way, dashing towards the rapidly-diminishing exit, only for the real Hitsugaya to Shunpo in front of the exit. "Hyōryū Senbi! Zekku!" he cried, slashing downward with all his might. This time, the crescent of flowing ice flew from Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, rushing at Ichigo.

Ichigo had to choose between trying to break through what seemed to be an ice version of his Getsuga – which could easily be a trap, considering Hitsugaya's skill with ice – or dodge and try something else. He chose the latter. Flinging himself to the side, the transcendent found himself horizontally in the air, rocketing straight for one of the ice columns that was bearing down upon him.

Then an idea hit. He released his grip on Tensa Zangetsu and began to spin in the air, black flames racing down the chain and enveloping the blade. When he was within striking distance of the column, Ichigo swung downward on the chain with all the momentum he could muster. "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Tensa Zangetsu cleaved the column in half as though it were made of hot butter, the Getsuga promptly obliterating it and giving Ichigo plenty of room to emerge from the ice trap, even as he continued to spin crazily. Managing to slow down his spinning with the airwalk technique long enough to get his bearings and reorient himself, Ichigo called Tensa Zangetsu back to his hand with barely a twitch of the chain, which rewrapped itself around his arm.

"Creative," Hitsugaya commented as he approached, his expression giving off the impression that he was reluctantly impressed. "I really thought I had you when I made that ice clone."

"To be honest, I had no idea you could do that," Ichigo admitted as he lowered Tensa Zangetsu – it appeared their spar was over for the moment. "That'll no doubt be useful. You've got a nice range of abilities."

Hitsugaya shook his head. "Yes, but I need more practice using them, and combining them with Kidō. I should have used a Bakudō to hold you in place while Sennen Hyōrō was being set up. A faster binding to prepare for a more powerful one. I rely too much on my Zanpakutō's abilities."

"Not sure that would've worked on me. Evolved reiatsu and all that," Ichigo pointed out.

"True," Hitsugaya mused. "But the Togabito likely won't have that. Tell me, Kurosaki, why did you not use any Kidō of your own?"

"I don't know that many, and to be honest the Getsuga is stronger than any Hadō I know. And I doubt you would fall for Bakudō 1: Sai." Ichigo muttered the last, turning his head away.

"Nonsense!" Hitsugaya barked, startling Ichigo into looking back at him. The master of ice looked at Ichigo with hard eyes. "My ice is not indestructible, and it has an elemental weakness. Surely by now you have learned Shakkahō or Sōkatsui? Those are fire-element spells, and very effective for disrupting my ice formation. My Bankai relies on water vapor in the air to form its ice. You must have noticed the air becoming drier every time I called on its ice? Remove the vapor in the area by heating the air and my techniques require more reiatsu to use, thereby wearing me out faster. You are incredibly strong, Kurosaki Ichigo, and certainly creative with your Getsuga, but one day you will come across an opponent that for whatever reason cannot be crushed with raw power and speed. Come to think of it, you cannot crush Hell that way – he will constantly revive! You must learn to properly analyze your opponent's abilities for weaknesses, and then exploit them mercilessly!"

Ichigo's jaw dropped for a moment before he hung his head. Hitsugaya was right. He usually left analysis as a last resort. Fighting Renji in Soul Society, he had left analyzing Renji's use of Zabimaru until he was bleeding out. Against Byakuya, he hadn't even analyzed the capabilities and drawbacks of his own Bankai until it was too late. There hadn't been any analysis of Aizen's abilities at all when they continued their fight in the real Karakura Town, merely comparison of brute strength!

That's my standby. Not enough power to outright crush the enemy? Bankai. Mask. Resurrección, Ichigo criticized himself. "You're right, Tōshirō," he finally conceded aloud.

Hitsugaya huffed, sealing his Bankai back to Shikai, and then into its wholly sealed state. "Your turn, Kurosaki. What mistakes did I make during our spar, aside from relying too much on my Zanpakutō?"

Ichigo thought back through the fight, and nodded. "When you surprised me with Rikujōkōrō from that close… Instead of taking an easy stab or slash, injuring me, you backed off and used another ranged technique. You revealed that I was fighting a clone instead of remaining hidden and letting the clone keep me occupied so you could finish your technique without my understanding of what it did."

The young taicho mused on those moments before assenting to the comments. "Being overly cautious can be as dangerous as being reckless," he muttered as though reminding himself. "And then I let my pride ruin my trap. Anything else?"

"I was able to track your general position through spirit ribbons," Ichigo revealed. "You left me alone too long."

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "Yet if I had attacked you during my preparation, you would've known where I was anyway."

"Not if you had used your ice dragons and made them circle around to another area before coming at me," Ichigo pointed out.

Now the taicho looked thoughtful. "Interesting tactic… thank you, Kurosaki, I will keep that in mind. Now tell me, what has happened to you? You were far stronger and faster when you fought Aizen. When you kicked through my ice wing I should've been crippled at the very least."

Ichigo silently sealed his own Bankai and slung Zangetsu back over his shoulder before tugging on his shihakusho enough to reveal his seals. "I was too strong normally to rejoin my body. So Urahara helped me seal my power. I've got about the same amount of reiryoku as I did when we fought Aizen here in the living world."

That's a bit humbling, Hitsugaya thought privately. He'd removed his own seal just before challenging Kurosaki, considering it suicidal to not have all his power available to him. "I see. I assume you can remove it at any time?"

Ichigo nodded. He'd never needed to, but it sounded simple enough. "Just focus some reiryoku, and Gentei Kaijo, right?"

The 10th Division leader nodded. "Good. Allow me be frank, Kurosaki. Hell must not be killed. Even if we find a way to do so, he maintains that dimension, and Soul Society has enough trouble without truly evil souls plaguing it," Hitsugaya admitted. "The only way to fix the situation in a semi-permanent way is to seal Hell or shatter his soul once again.

"If Hell regains enough of his power, he will likely be evolved beyond what any Shinigami can understand. You, Yamamoto-sōtaicho, and perhaps Urahara-san, are the only ones strong enough or smart enough to deal with such a situation. Continue your training in Kidō, Bakudō especially. We may need a transcendent-powered seal," Hitsugaya ordered.

Ichigo swallowed. His diminutive friend made sense, but it was a very tall order. He struggled with learning even the very first Bakudō – how could he ever be able to pull off the complicated and impressive array of bindings that Urahara could manage at a moment's notice? Even so, the mess was, at least partly, his fault. If I hadn't destroyed all those Kushanāda, then Hell wouldn't have risen. It's only right that I help fix it. Ichigo nodded resolutely.

Apparently satisfied, Hitsugaya nodded back. "Please excuse me, then. I have some training to do."

He flickered away before Ichigo could respond, but Ichigo was too preoccupied with the thought of more torturous, endlessly repetitive, Kidō training. It's my own fault, he thought to himself mournfully. If I had been like Kenpachi and never showed an ounce of interest in Kidō… He reluctantly trudged back to the ladder leading up to Urahara's shop, preparing to talk to Tessai.

Meanwhile, Renji and Rukia were at a nearby lake. It had gotten chilly lately, as winter approached, and while the lake was not yet frozen, it was cold enough that no human was nearby for any reason. Rukia didn't mind at all – cold was her element, after all. Renji merely flared a bit of his power internally, keeping himself nice and warm.

"So how do we start, Renji?"

Renji nodded and began to lecture, crossing his arms together. "Bankai, as you already know, has a two primary phases: manifestation of your Zanpakutō spirit, and establishing dominance. Learning to manifest takes a while, but you want to start in an area that your Zanpakutō will be comfortable in, something similar to your Inner World if you can."

Rukia cocked her head to the side, confused. "Why?"

"Because manifestation can help your relationship with your Zanpakutō," Renji explained. "It can be hard to go into your Inner World if your emotions are turbulent, but if you can pull your Zanpakutō out to talk every now and then, you learn more about each other. By starting off someplace familiar but new, you can show that you respect your Zanpakutō, and want to get closer." He rubbed the back of his neck embarrassedly. "Also, it takes a lot less reiatsu to be someplace they like…"

"And here I thought you were being wise," Rukia deadpanned, a little irked at being reminded of her relatively low reserves.

"Seriously, though, does this place look like Sode no Shirayuki will like it? First impressions are important," Renji stressed.

Rukia took another look around. The lake was almost perfectly still, though not frozen over. The air was cool and brisk, and the nearby trees added to the quiet beauty of the locale. She smiled. "Yes, I believe she will."

"OK, so what you want to do is activate your Shikai, and ask her if she will allow you to manifest her," Renji went on. "Forced manifestation will come later – you need to get used to how it feels when you are working together first."

Rukia drew her beautiful sword, spinning it slowly until the end pointed down, and quietly intoned, "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki."

The tell-tale white ribbon fluttered out of the hilt, spiraling around the circle that Rukia had made by spinning her blade as it turned white as snow. Once again, Rukia was struck by the almost ethereally pure beauty of her weapon. Sode no Shirayuki? Would you care to join me out here?

Rukia heard the spirit of her beloved Zanpakutō laugh. Of course, Rukia.

Then Rukia felt Shirayuki's reiatsu rose within her for a few moments before leaking out of her body, coalescing into her own form with a burst of cold air. Sode no Shirayuki manifested as a tall, very pale woman dressed completely in shades of white and ice blue. Garbed in a simple, traditional ivory-hued kimono with a sash possibly the softest shade of blue that Rukia had ever seen, Shirayuki's sleeves extended well past her fingertips, and the kimono flowed down to cover her feet.

Her hair was a hue that Rukia still had trouble giving a name to, despite having seen her spirit more than once over the years. It was as though someone had taken the shyest, palest color of lavender they could find, and then given it a shimmery quality that made it seem almost white, without losing that tiny hint of purple. Sode no Shirayuki wore it in a partial bun in the back, allowing most of her hair to fall down to the small of her back. The rest, she kept shorter and framed her face using a pair of dark blue hairclips, but even this hair reached down slightly past her collarbone.

Shirayuki's eyes were slightly darker, more of a blue-purple than anything else that Rukia could think of. Her lips, too, were not the healthy pink and red of normal humans, but the color that could be seen if someone crossed purple and pink roses.

Renji had to blink and swallow a few times upon witnessing Rukia's Zanpakutō spirit. No wonder her sword is one of the most beautiful, he thought in admiration.

Sode no Shirayuki looked around quietly. "This is a beautiful place, Rukia. I would dearly like to see it in the full grips of winter. May I?"

"Please," Rukia agreed.

The ice spirit almost glided down to the water's edge, somehow not staining her kimono in the slightest despite treading on what must have been soft mud. Then she stepped onto the surface of the water. From where she stood, ice spread and crackled swiftly across the water, and mere seconds later, the lake was completely frozen over.

Shirayuki laughed quietly, her voice echoing in the stillness as she began to dance across the ice, gliding and twirling over the frozen water. A snowflake landing on Renji's forehead prompted him to look up, and realize that it had, without warning, started to snow gently down upon the area.

"Come dance with me, Rukia," Sode no Shirayuki invited.

Rukia's smile could not be contained, as she ran down to the lake frozen over by her Zanpakutō's power. Stepping upon the ice, she focused her power to her feet, and she too began to skate across the ice, joining her Zanpakutō in the dance of winter, snowflakes falling down around them both, yet never seeming to touch them.

"I have longed for this day for a long, long time." Sode no Shirayuki's voice, soft yet clear, carried across the air easily as she almost flew across the ice. "For the day you would know the same truth as I do, Rukia: that you are strong, that you are as free as the snow that falls around us. That you may one day achieve Bankai is no longer mere fantasy, Rukia. Have we not been sisters together as we grew, trusted partners in our trials?"

"Yes," Rukia breathed, understanding blossoming within her when she skirted near where Shirayuki was now twirling. "You've wanted to reach Bankai as long as I have…"

"Yes," Sode no Shirayuki confirmed with a gentle smile, ending her spin as she now matched Rukia stroke for stroke across the ice. "I know how much you care for me, Rukia. Every time you've cleaned me, every time you've admired my beauty, every time you've taken pride in being my wielder, every time you've trusted and relied on me to help in your battles. I admit I felt a little abandoned for a time when we spent so much time without talking, but oh, how my heart glowed when you apologized and asked me to help you once again, how my heart sung when you invited me to join you in using our first dance!"

Hearing the raw joy in her Zanpakutō's voice was enough to make even Rukia's eyes water. How long had she worried that she was going to mess up her relationship with Sode no Shirayuki, especially after she had been defeated and been forced to give Ichigo her powers, without ever calling on her Zanpakutō to help? After giving up on life in Soul Society before Ichigo rescued her? This was a dream come true, and she owed Renji something big for giving her this opportunity. "I am… so happy," she let out, slowing to a stop in the middle of the lake to wipe her eyes.

Shirayuki gently came to a stop opposite her, a knowing smile on her face as she reached out and cupped Rukia's cheek with her pale fingers. "As am I, Rukia. Thank you for being my wielder and dance partner. Know that whatever happens as we strive for Bankai, I will always be glad to be your Zanpakutō. But I will not make it easy."

Rukia laughed herself. "I would never ask you to, Sode no Shirayuki. I will earn Bankai, and then if you like we can dance again here to celebrate."

"I'd like that." And with that, Sode no Shirayuki's form dematerialized into hundreds of snowflakes, scattering everywhere as her spirit returned to Rukia's heart.

Rukia slowly made her way to an utterly dumbfounded Renji, whose eyes were wide. He'd watched the entire time, entranced by the beauty of Sode no Shirayuki's tall pale form dancing with Rukia, the ice spirit's nearly white hair fluttering in the wind next to Rukia's black, with both of them just moving gaily through the snow, with Renji forgotten in the background. It was a scene he would never, ever forget.