Chapter 11

A.N.: here is the original chapter, as promised.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Several Weeks Later….Ichigo's bedroom

The tiny Ichigo tossed and turned in his bed, gripping the sheets as he struggled with his inner demons; demons that would rear their head every night he fell asleep….

Ichigo walked down the dirt path, hand in hand with his mother, Masaki. He smiled warmly up on his mother, tears running down his face at seeing his mother again, even if it was just a dream. "Mom, where are we going?" he asked, concerned when he saw a fork in the road.

Masaki looked down at her son with a warm, happy smile. "Wherever you want to go, Ichigo." She squeezed his hand tightly as she spoke. "No matter which path you wish to go, I will be there with you, my son."

"No you won't."

Ichigo turned his head and saw to his shock Retsu standing next to him, holding his other hand. "Your time has passed, Masaki. He's my son from now on." She started to pull Ichigo to the path on the left. "Come, Ichigo."

"NO!" Masaki yelled, pulling Ichigo to the path on the right. "Ichigo! I'm your mother, not her!"

Suddenly Ichigo felt torn. This was Masaki, his mother, his sun. But here was also Retsu, who had been so kind, so cherishing, so loving. If Masaki was his sun then Retsu had become his moon. As his two mothers bickered and argued, tugging on Ichigo's arms, Ichigo's head turned from side to side, looking from one woman to the next, his eyes tearing up. "I…I…I…."

"Ichigo!" Masaki yelled, a look of betrayal on her face. "I'm your real mother! Please!"

"Ichigo," Retsu said, tugging on Ichigo's arm. "Please, don't let this ghost haunt you! Please!"

Ichigo cried as they pulled harder, no longer sure which woman to go with. "Mom…Retsu…"

"ICHIGO!"

"ICHIGO!"

The tugging was harder until Ichigo was lifted in the air, both mothers pulling at him like Ichigo was the rope in a Tug-of-War game. "Stop…"Ichigo pleaded, his heart tearing more than his body. "Stop!" But both mothers continued to pull.

"Ichigo! I'm your mother!"

"No, Ichigo! I am!"

"STOOOOOP!"

"AHHH!" Ichigo screamed, waking up from his horrible nightmare. Realizing he was back in his room in the Soul Society and pint-sized, he curled into a ball and cried. The dream was now a nightly occurrence, returning every night for the past week. And every time he woke up he was so confused, so conflicted; his heart felt like it was being ripped from his chest.

On the one hand, he loved Masaki. That would never change, no matter what shape or form he was in. The memories of his kind, loving mother would stay with him until he was dust.

But on the other hand, there was Retsu; Retsu, who was just as kind and loving. She could be harsh, his sore bottom could attest to that, but there was a softness in her gaze that had the same shine as Masaki's. Through their mental link, Ichigo could feel waves of happiness emanating from her whenever they spent time together. It was such a pleasant feeling; like being bathed in soft moonlight. The more time he spent with her, the more Ichigo was coming to call Retsu his mother.

'I'm so confused!' the little boy thought as he threw the covers over his head. 'She gave birth to me and she said that she was okay with me not calling her my mother but…' his eyes squeezed shut as more tears began to stream down his cheeks. 'Being with her is like being with my real mother! I feel like I'm betraying Mom! What do I do? What should I do?'

Ichigo fell back asleep, the tears not stopping though, even in slumber….

Meanwhile….Retsu's Room

Ichigo was not the only person with conflicted feelings. Retsu was also battling her inner demons. As she lay in bed, her brow furrowed as her mind darkened….

Retsu walked along a tranquil garden, taking in the serene sight. Hearing splashing, she quickened her pace and saw little Ichigo splashing around in a pond, Yachiru giggling as she played with him and Orihime giggling as she watched at the edge of the pond. Smiling, she opened her mouth to call out to her son.

"He's not your son, so don't bother trying to be something you're not."

Whirling around, Retsu was horrified when she saw that the person behind her was none other than herself; or rather…her former self: Yachiru Unohana. The woman, her hair sprawling down her front, had splotches of blood covering her Haori, the number eleven emblazoned on her back. "What do you mean, he's not my son?" Retsu demanded. "No matter how it happened, I carried him. I gave birth to him. And I've been taking care of him as best as I can. I'm his mother," she said defiantly.

Yachiru looked at Retsu amused. "You? A mother? That's rich." She tapped her head and smirked. "Tell me, what happens if Ichigo sees something in your head you don't want him to see? Like the trails of corpses you left in your wake?" She stepped to the side and Retsu was horrified to see that behind Yachiru were bodies littering the path. "I wonder if he'll think of you as his mother then."

Crossing her arms, Retsu glared at Yachiru. "It doesn't matter. I told Ichigo of that freely when we were still of one body. And that's beside the point. I'm not you anymore."

"Oh? Is that right?" Yachiru started to laugh. "Please. I'm always here," she pointed to Retsu's heart. "And I always will. You're as unfit to be a mother as a sword is. Maybe that's the real reason behind his little fun in bed with Yachiru?" she suggested. Hearing lewd moaning, Retsu turned back to the pond and her face descended into shock when she saw what Ichigo and Yachiru were doing, with Orihime joining in. "Maybe that dark part of you is bleeding through your little mind connection. It could be," Yachiru grinned an evil grin, "That I am starting to corrupt Ichigo from within. Which means that in turn YOU are corrupting your precious son." She could see that Retsu was rattled and continued to hit that nerve she'd exposed. "So the truth of the matter is this, Retsu: You're not a mother. You will never be fit to be a mother, no matter how much you delude yourself."

"Shut up," Retsu mumbled under her breath, her eyes tearing up from her counterpart's words. "SHUT UP!"

"Never."

Drawing Minazuki, Retsu ran her younger self through. "SHUT UP! SHUT UUUUP!"

Retsu awoke with a start, her body covered in cold sweat. Looking around, she saw she was in her bed, back at her squad. "Just a dream…" she muttered before getting out of bed. She entered her quarter's kitchen and heated up a tea kettle, quickly pouring herself a cup to steady her nerves. She was feeling unnerved by her dream, wondering if maybe her subconscious was trying to tell her something. "No," she said, shaking her head. "It's just my doubts and reservations. I…I know I can be a good mother."

It was then that she sensed Ichigo's distress, his turmoil evident even in sleep. Feeling vestiges of his confusion from their connection, Retsu frowned. She had an inkling about what was troubling Ichigo and knew she had to help Ichigo come to terms with their relationship before he was pulled apart from within. She closed her eyes and strengthened the connection between them, filling Ichigo's troubled mind with memories of their time together. Ichigo helping her cook, Retsu teaching him about flower arranging, her playing with Ichigo and Yachiru (keeping a very careful eye on them). Her method seemed to help, as that rising wave of anguish that she felt coming from Ichigo died down. "I'll try to talk to him tomorrow." She continued to sit there for another hour sipping tea before returning to bed.

The Next Day….Squad 4

'This is starting to become troublesome…' Unohana thought as she saw Ichigo disappear again. It was becoming evident that Ichigo was avoiding her. Every time she saw him he'd bolt in the opposite direction. He couldn't leave the Squad's perimeter, since Retsu had ordered him to stay so she could keep an eye on him, but he had become as foxy as Yachiru. 'It's obvious he's feeling conflicted. But how do I approach him without seeming like I'm being overbearing?' That was the real challenge….

Ichigo walked down the hallways past the nurses with his head slumped. He thought about going outside but it was starting to get cold and he had no idea if Retsu had a coat his size. So lost in thought that he didn't even notice Renji's presence until he'd bumped into him. "Oh, hi…" Ichigo glumly said as he walked past the redhead. "Sorry, Renji."

A hand on his shoulder stopped him. "There you are, Ichigo. That reminds me, I've been meaning to have a talk with you…." When Ichigo looked up he was horrified to see Renji smiling. "You know, the other day me and the others were walking by Yachiru's room when we heard some noises." Renji grinned when he saw the chibi Ichigo's horrified expression. "So tell me, what do you think we saw when we looked through the window. I gotta say, Captain Zaraki is gonna be awful mad when he finds out what I saw…" Renji teased. "Maybe I should go and tell him right now…."

Ichigo suddenly became hot under the collar. He knew that if Kenpachi found out what he and Yachiru had done, there'd be nowhere to hide. And Renji was an idiot; even if he convinced him not to say anything today he couldn't keep his mouth shut forever.

Luckily, Ichigo had a solution….

Meanwhile….

"Captain Kuchiki," Unohana addressed when she saw the man. "You should still be resting." Despite allowing him to move about freely and letting him attend to his duties as captain and head of his clan, Unohana insisted that Byakuya come to her squad so she could check up on him now and again as his wounds had not fully healed.

"My treatment is adequate, Captain," Byakuya said. "I only came here to find my lieutenant. Have you seen-"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Both captains were interrupted when little Ichigo came running up to his mother, sobbing his eyes out. "Ichigo!" Behind him came Renji who was shocked to see Ichigo's new mother and his captain standing together. "What on earth is the matter?"

Sobbing madly, Ichigo looked up at Retsu, his face red from the tears. "Renji keeps picking on me!" he choked. "WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" he cried, pushing his head into his mother's waist and crying some more.

Everyone in the hallway suddenly noted how colder it got as Unohana slowly turned to Renji. Even Byakuya felt a bead of sweat roll down his face when he saw the look in her eyes.

"…Captain Kuchiki. Can you please take care of Ichigo for a few minutes while I talk to your lieutenant?" she said softly, pulling Ichigo away from her. Renji, knowing that Ichigo just signed his death warrant, looked to his captain for some promise of salvation but Byakuya merely stood there as Unohana put a hand on Renji's shoulder and led him into a spare empty room. As the door closed behind him, Renji took one last look at Ichigo, who smirked.

Byakuya caught that small expression and scowled. "Was that really necessary, Ichigo?" he asked, crossing his arms. "I understand that you're just a child right now but you are old enough to not let taunts get to you."

"Hey, he was being a jerk!" Ichigo replied. Wiping his eyes, he looked at Byakuya and frowned. "I don't like jerks. And maybe I should tell my mom about how you spanked me."

Both of them jumped when they heard a shrill scream come from the room. Hearing it, Ichigo's eyes narrowed in a manner that was highly similar to his new mother's. "You don't want me to tell my mom, do you?" The sight of Unohana's blue eyes staring at him made a shiver run down Byakuya's spine….

Whirling around, Byakuya huffed and walked away. "You should not pick up your mother's habits. It's unbecoming of you."

Ichigo merely shrugged and turned to walk away when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Not so fast, Ichigo. We're going to have a talk," Unohana said, having already finished up Renji's punishment. Before Ichigo could try to get away from Unohana she was leading him away, back to their quarters. Several of the nurses looked into the room Renji had been in and peeked inside. Their faces turned pale and they rushed inside to stop the bleeding….

Meanwhile….Unohana's quarters

Ichigo stared at the floor as he sat on Unohana's bed. The woman sat down next to him and looked at him with motherly concern. "Ichigo, what's the matter?" she asked, trying to be as soft as she could be. Getting off the bed, she knelt down in front of Ichigo and lifted his head up with a finger. "Please, Ichigo. I can tell that something is troubling you."

She watched as Ichigo's eyes wavered, as if he was weighing his options. Finally, he looked up at her and at last opened up. "I…I just feel like I'm betraying Mom…."

Retsu blinked. "Betraying your mother? What do you mean?"

"It's just…" he blinked back tears. "Every time we're together I feel the same feelings I did with my mother. I keep dreaming about you and Mom fighting over me." His small face started to cry again, this time for real. "I don't know what to do."

Retsu looked at her son for a long moment, understanding his turmoil. "Ichigo, do you love your mother?"

"Uh huh…" Ichigo choked.

Cupping the boy's face, Unohana kissed his forehead. "Then that's all there is to it. As long as you love her, then your feelings will never die. If you feel the same affections for me then that only means that your heart is big enough for two. I…." Now it was Unohana's turn to be at a loss for words as her own feelings started to conflict. "I never thought about having children. The ghosts of my past always lingered over my head. I always thought that I never had the ability to raise a child…." Ichigo watched as her lips formed a loving smile, a tear of her own rolling down her face. "But then I had you. Holding you after giving birth, I could feel all of the darkness inside me melt as I held you in my arms. To me, you will always be my son."

Ichigo was silent, letting her words sink in. Lips trembling, he wrapped his arms around Retsu's neck and hugged her. Mother and son hugged for what felt like an eternity. "Retsu?" Ichigo's tiny voice squeaked.

"Yes, Ichigo?" replied Retsu, rubbing her child's back soothingly.

"Can I…can I call you Mom?"

Continuing to smile, Retsu leaned back and caressed Ichigo's cheek. "Nothing would make me happier…."

Ichigo nodded and laid his head on her shoulder, holding onto her as she got onto the bed. Both of them were emotionally exhausted and as Unohana leaned back against her large pillow, Ichigo fell asleep in her arms….

Ichigo found himself back at the crossroads once more. He saw both of his mothers standing on each path, beckoning to him. Closing his eyes, Ichigo took a step forward…and found himself on the middle path, holding both women's hands. "C'mon, let's go!" the little boy happily said, walking down the path with both of his mothers, both women smiling down at their son.

Retsu saw the smile on Ichigo's sleeping face and held him tight, knowing that her son had come to terms at last….

To be continued….