Passing the Torch

By TwinEnigma

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Naruto. I do this for fun and not for profit.

Codes: Ishida Uryuu, post-Soul Society arc, mangaverse, dreaming

He was dreaming again.

Uryuu was standing in the middle of a dark, amorphous plain that seemed to stretch on forever, wrapping around him like a shroud. It was empty, save for the roiling darkness and a single point in the distance that burned a defiant blue.

He'd had the dream a few times when he was younger and, every now and again, it would come back. The dream had become more frequent when he'd started high school. Every time he'd had the dream, he'd taken a few steps closer to that flickering light and would wake to discover his powers had grown.

The last time he'd had the dream had been when he'd first put on the glove. He'd gotten closer to that distant point, but he still hadn't been able to reach it. It seemed to slide back and away from him, avoiding his grasp.

You are not ready, it seemed to be saying.

After they'd returned and the glove had been burned to ash by the intensity of his released power, he hadn't dreamed at all.

It made him wonder.

Shinigami were often visited by the spirits of their swords in their dreams. He'd heard from Ichigo about how he talked with Zangetsu in his head. And, as loathe as he was to admit he had anything in common with them, he still suspected that maybe, just maybe that flicking blue on the horizon had been his own power.

When his power had been restored, the dream returned and the blue light was closer than ever. He could almost make out something beyond it – a figure, maybe – and, now, a voice, too. He couldn't hear it very well, but it was there, and it worried him. Only shinigami were supposed to be able to do such a thing.

He didn't know what it meant and he was hesitant to check and confirm his suspicions. After all, he had been fighting closely with Ichigo for a while now and Quincy powers relied on the absorption of reiryoku. If Orihime, Tatsuki and Sado had been affected by Ichigo's spillover, then it was equally likely that he, too, had been changed by it, even a little.

He stepped forward, towards the light, unable to alter his course and uncertain he wanted to reach it. The figure in the darkness was growing clearer. His hand raised, the Quincy cross shining on his wrist, and the other figure raised his hand, too.

It was almost like looking in a mirror.

Almost.

The differences were subtle. The teenager standing opposite him shared his dark hair, though instead of it being well kept and short, it was shaggy and wild, jutting up in the back. The eyes were a dark grey rather than blue, unconcealed by glasses, and the face seemed cold, hardened by something. Otherwise, they were the same height and of similar build, even wearing identical clothing.

"I've been wondering when you'd reach me," the other boy said casually. "I've been calling out to you for a long time now."

Uryuu had a dozen things he wanted to ask, but he had a feeling he already knew the answer to more than a few of them. "Who are you?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm you," the boy said, smirking a little. "Or, rather, you were me."

"What do you mean?" he asked, resisting the urge to push up his glasses.

"It's not important. That was then, this is now," the other boy said, waving his hand dismissively. Then, he leaned in, scrutinizing him. "What I really want to know is do you have the ability to wield me?"

"Do you mistake me for a shinigami? I'm a Quincy," he replied, stubbornly. "I absorb the energy around me to make my weapons."

The boy smirked. "True, you are a Quincy. Their pride flows within you, that much is clear. But you have your own power as well – it is that power which allows you to be Quincy."

"And you are the embodiment of that power," Uryuu concluded, "A manifestation of my soul, something akin to a shinigami's zanpakuto."

"That is correct," the boy replied. "And it is also not."

Uryuu felt like he understood, even if he didn't, not completely. He had to remind himself that this was a dream and things made sense in dreams that did not in the waking world.

"You have not yet answered me, Quincy," the boy stated, his eyes narrowing. "Do you have the ability to wield me?"

Uryuu didn't answer, instead clenching his hands into fists. War was coming and he and his friends were probably going to be in it up to their necks. To protect them, he would do anything.

The boy's grey eyes now turned a haunting, eerie red, as his entire body began to crackle with brilliant blue lightning. "Can you wield this power?" the boy then asked, shapes forming in the electric currents swirling around him – here a dragon, there a bird and there a strange creature Uryuu was unsure he recognized.

"What will you do with me, Quincy? Who will you strike with this power of mine?" the boy shouted and then there wasn't a boy there, but a blinding blue creature of electricity and ghostly flame. It was a creature neither dragon nor deer, with what looked like feathered scales of flame across its body. Its eyes alone were another color, flecks of darkness spinning in their crimson depths like a kaleidoscope. "Call my name and answer me!"

Uryuu bit his lip and then held out his hand as he attempted to find the words. They tried to evade his grasp, even though they rested on the tip of his tongue.

"Rain down judgment," he said at last, pausing as he concentrated on that slippery name.

And then, he had it.

"Tenka Kirin!"

The lightning and flame flared brilliantly, leaving him blinking back spots from his eyes when it suddenly vanished.

A hand, the same size as his own, pressed against his for a moment before a soft, blue flame flared into existence and he could see clearly once more.

"You are a worthy successor," the other boy said, smiling a little absently as the blue flame floated between their hands. "When all else fades, I will be your shield and sword and when your precious people are taken, I will be their avenger. So long as you never falter, you will continue to grow and eventually unlock my secrets."

The Quincy cross on Uryuu's wrist shone brilliantly, shifting and reshaping into a pentacle as the blue flame seeped into his skin.

The boy, smiling, finished, "I leave my will to you."

Uryuu woke then, blinking at the ceiling of his father's secret training facility. On his chest, a scar shaped like a pentacle glared back at him, still pink and tender. He sat up, reaching for the Quincy cross he wore on his wrist. It, too, was now a pentacle.

Inside him, he could feel the blue flame burning bright.

AN: Let's contemplate our navels.

A stranger look at reincarnation and Quiny powers - the mechanics of their power has always confused me a little. In case you missed it, Sasuke is the preincarnation in this.

Tenka - fire caused by lightining. Kirin - Chinese unicorn; also the name of Sasuke Uchiha's lightning jutsu.