In the Aftermath of Winter

A/N: Thank you to Kristin and gollumsfriend for their reviews. Much appreciated! So, when I first had the idea to write this, I was picturing a series of small one shots spanning several years. I wanted to explore what a relationship between Karin, Hitsugaya and Grimmjow would be like. I wasn’t even planning on much of a plot. However, as I started to plan the chapters out, a sort of plot did start to develop, and another major pairing or two reared their heads…one of which will involve Aizen. (Consider that a warning! LOL) As much as the man scares the hell out of me, he really is cool in that evil sort of way! Anyway, to make a long story short, what was going to be a few chapters is starting to turn epic. (Hopefully this doesn’t turn anyone off!) And speaking of Aizen…let’s check in on him, shall we?

Chapter 4: Prison Interlude

During the first week of his incarceration, Aizen often dreams of Ichigo. They are so vivid that Aizen cannot tell what is real and what is dream. Ichigo healing in the Fourth Division hospital. Ichigo spending time with his friends. Ichigo weeping silently into his pillow at night, mourning the loss of comrades fallen in battle. He wakes from those dreams shaking and soaked in perspiration, nearly weeping himself, and disturbed by the fact that even though he is awake, he can still feel Ichigo’s reiatsu around him. It is so disturbing that had he not been gagged and bound, he might have told his guards of the occurrence. The dreams are strongest early in the week, and by the end of the week, they have faded completely.

Aizen mourns their loss, because the dreams were a welcome distraction from the monotony of day after day of silent dark. Aizen does not like the dark or the silence, because it leaves him with his own thoughts, and even worse, the voice of the Hogyoku. It is an insidious whisper in the back of his mind and a constant reminder that he is more than just a prisoner of the Shinigami. He resists the urge to call himself stupid, because he knows that he is not, but he can’t help but wonder how he failed to realize the Hogyoku was manipulating him into actions he now deeply regrets.

He wonders what his fellow Shinigami would think were they to ever find out the truth, that the entire time he was seemingly destroying lives with callous indifference he was really screaming on the inside. It all seems like a nightmare to him now, the past several years, and he tries not to think of the Shinigami and Espada the Hogyoku caused him to betray. Unfortunately, all he has time to do is think, and he relives those agonizing moments again and again in his mind’s eye. It is his own personal Hell, and he truly believes that he deserves it. He should have seen. He should have understood that the Hogyoku was dangerous and had an agenda of its own. But when he had first seen Urahara’s creation, he had not realized that it was sentient, that it was influencing him even before he made the decision to frame Urahara for the creation of the Visoreds. The stone’s hold only increased as time passed, and by the time he was facing Ichigo in their final battle, Aizen was no longer in control. Instead, it was the Hogyoku that was speaking through his lips and committing heinous crimes in his name. Aizen is thankful for Ichigo Kurosaki, because the boy stopped him before the Hogyoku could fulfill its goal of murdering the Spirit King.

But Aizen is beginning to realize the danger has not passed. The Hogyoku still lives, embedded deeply in his chest, and lately there has been pain in the flesh surrounding it. It started as a barely there twinge, but as first one and then two years pass, the pain grows more intense, and the Hogyoku’s voice grows stronger in his mind. And Aizen is horrified by the realization that the Hogyoku is far from finished. On the contrary, it whispers threats of destruction and promises Aizen that by the time his 20,000 year sentence is through it will have completely devoured his soul, and when the cell door is opened, there will be nothing left of him but a hollow shell. It terrifies him simply because he believes it can do what it promises. And Aizen has no desire to die, no matter how heavy the guilt that weighs down his heart.

I will fight you, Aizen promises the stone. I will not let you win. I will fight you until my dying breath, and I will find a way to stop you before you can be free of this cell. I will not allow you to harm anyone else. You will not win!

Mocking laughter echoes in his mind. And how will you stop me, Sousuke Aizen? You are bound and gagged and have no way to warn your jailers of what is coming. Despair, fool! You are completely at my mercy!”

The stone punctuates the point by sending an agonizing pulse of energy through Aizen’s body. He seizes in the chair, his scream muffled behind the gag. More mocking laughter echoes through his head.

I will eat you alive, the stone promises. I will rule the three worlds, with or without you!

Aizen grits his teeth and swallows a scream as more pain pulses through his chest. He again finds himself thinking of Ichigo, and wishes there were a way for him to contact the boy, to somehow warn him of the danger. But he knows it is impossible. None the less, Aizen refuses to allow despair to swallow him. He will do what he can, even if it is only to fight the Hogyoku’s control for the next 20,000 years.

He can only hope that it is enough.