Okay, first, I'm going to say that this is going to be a very weird fic. Second, I don't care if you flame me. Knock yourselves out. Third, I do not own Bleach. This should be obvious as I do not speak a lick of Japanese. (Yes, that was the disclaimer, people).

...

1

Teal Eyes and Tear Streaks

"Are you scared…girl?"

"I'm not scared."

"Kill me now or it will never be over."

"Even in the end, you never do what I want."

Slap!

"I'll give you a chance to say goodbye to one person."

"Kurosaki!"

"Show us everything you've experienced."

"Ulquiorra Schiffer."

"My name?"

"I'm…a what?"

"Aaaaaaaaaah!"

Pain, pain, pain.

"No! I don't want to hurt him! "

"Help!"

Smash!

"I'll never leave you, little brother. I promise on my heart."

...

Falling. Everything was dark and confused. Old memories resurfaced. They stung like needles. Unlike Shinigami, Hollows' memories did not leave them. They were what caused them to go insane and become mutilated. Even an Arrancar had no hopes of completely erasing the events of the past from the mind. Now, in true death, they were all returned to him full force.

He waited to be torn to pieces; have the particles of his retched soul thrown about so that they may have been recycled into something purer. Yet, he kept falling.

Faces became clearer, sharper. People he used to know…and love. A family that was his before his life was claimed by fate and twisted agonizingly. This free-falling soul had no self control; no way to stop the tears from leaking onto his face.

Why did it hurt so much?

He wanted it to stop.

Falling, falling, falling again.

Something within him stirred. The feeling of nothingness ebbed away, pushed by a new, warm feeling. He'd only felt it once in his existence as a Hollow. Right before he faded into ashes.

The heart.

His heart.

...

Mushy goodbyes were not his forte. That said, Hitsugaya was currently being tortured. After the battle in Hueco Mundo, he'd wanted to go straight back to Soul Society. But, of course, Matsumoto had insisted on saying goodbye to Orihime. And others.

At this point, he figured he was just lucky that everyone remembered not to hug him.

"Oh, I'll miss you so much, Rangiku!"

"I'll miss you too, Orihime!"

He cringed. Silently, he shifted his eyes out the window. Rain was falling steadily. How appropriate. Through the torrent, he noticed a Hell Butterfly struggling to fly. He opened the window so that it may enter. The creature graciously landed on his finger and delivered its message.

"Matsumoto," Hitsugaya called roughly. "Time to leave. There is unusual spirit activity in a nearby town."

His lieutenant nodded, suddenly serious. Without another word, the two of them darted out into the rain and the unknown.

The voyage there wasn't very pleasant and Hitugaya did not appreciate being soaked. As a captain, he could not complain. However, there was something else more troubling. The closer they got to the given coordinates, the more intense the odd sensation in the pit of his stomach became. He did not often get nervous, but something about this was making him edgy.

He found out why when he caught sight of something in the distance. There was an odd glow coming from where they were supposed to be headed. Around them, old buildings cropped up. A jolt of recognition zapped through Hitsugaya. He'd seen a place just like this before in a dream.

Shinigami did not remember things from before they died. That was the rule. However, there were always exceptions to rules. He'd seen it before in Rukongai. There were souls who remembered snippets of their lives or sometimes people they wanted to find. The longer you were in Soul Society, the more of your memory you lost. By the time Shinigami became Shinigami, almost everything was gone.

When he was younger, Hitsugaya had odd dreams. A teacher at the academy had told him that sometimes memories were dredged up from the subconscious because your soul clung to them so tightly. They were usually purposes you had been devoted to or even promises.

Hitsugaya never told that teacher what the dream was. Still, he could remember it clearly. It was always a person. They'd be in a small town, just like this one, only when it had seen better days. There was snow all around. He was young and looked very different from how he did now. With him was always an elder boy who appeared much like he did. They had the same color eyes. In his dream, Hitsugaya knew this to be his brother.

"Ready to go, Shiro?" he'd ask.

Toshiro would nod and run to grab his older brother's hand. They'd stop by the side of an unpaved road. That's when things would go bad. Something slid on the ice and slammed into his brother. Then there was blood. Lots of blood everywhere.

"Katashi!" Toshiro would scream. "Help! Someone!"

The younger would race to the older boy. He would barely be breathing.

"Katashi," Toshiro would mutter. "You're going to be okay, right?"

Katashi opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment, his eyes went dull and his head fell to the side.

Toshiro would cry, "Come back."

Then, his brother's voice would say from behind him, "I'll never leave you, little brother. I promise on my heart."

That's when Hitsugaya would wake up. The face would still be burned into his vision. A pale face with a mop of dark, bloody hair clinging to it. Teal eyes and tear streaks.

Hitsugaya tried to shake the image from his mind and focus on their assignment. He and Matsumoto jumped down to the source of the spiritual light. In it, he could see the outline of a person. It seemed incomplete, but was forming very fast. Super regeneration. It was amazing.

The light began to dim as the figure fully formed. It was decidedly male and his eyes were open. The leftover light concentrated into a small sphere and embedded itself in a hole near the base of the being's neck. A final bright flash and the hole sealed. Defensively, the white-haired Shinigami edged closer. He saw a pale face and dark hair.

Teal eyes and tear streaks.

...

Please do not tell me "Their eyes aren't the same at all!" or "Ulquiorra's eyes are green!" I am well aware of that. But at certain moments in the series, Ulquiorra's eyes and Hitsugaya's eyes look almost the same color. So just roll with it for now. I'll explain more later.