Welcome to Gaia! ::

Tokemaru nodded his head before sitting down and crossing his legs. he closed his eyes and slowly began to close off his senses and lose himself inside his own conscious. He could feel his surroundings begin to shift as he traversed into the world of his zanpakuto. Tokemaru opened his eyes to find himself sitting on a rock outcropping in to middle of a vast ocean. In front of him was an island the size of half the Seiretei itself. Soon, the island began to shake and rise up from the water. The head of an enormous turtle emerged from the island and four turtle legs were soon reveled as the Island rose from the water. The island was actually the turtle god of the north, Genbu, as well as Tokemaru's zanpakuto spirit.



"I am very disappointed in you Tokemaru," Genbu's voice boomed "Kilala's death has changed you for the worse. When you once fought with a rational mind you now fight with excessive emotion, and as a result, you have been defeated not once, but twice, and by a pathetic little worm no less!"

"Kilala has nothing to do with this Genbu!" Tokemaru shouted back.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE, BOY!!" Genbu's roared with such force that it blew Tokemaru from the bluff and into the water. The young captain coughed and sputtered as he climbed back up water logged and shaking from the icy sea water.

"Don't you understand what could have happened Tokemaru? You could have died, and everyone who loves you would be DEVASTATED! Me, Ace, Kage, Azuma, even Ayame, corrupted as she is now, would feel some sort of loss, of this I am certain."

Tokemaru felt his eyes sting, he hadn't thought about about that. He bowed his head in shame as tears began to fall.

"Forgive me Genbu, I haven't been myself since Kilala died. I've never felt so empty inside before. It's like nothing in the world matters anymore..." The expression on Genbu's massive face softened and he lowered himself back down into the sea, leaving only his head, and the island on his shell remaining in sight.

"I understand your pain Toke, which is why we should talk. unless we can reach an understanding, you will never be able to use Tamakai." Tokemaru nodded his head in response and the two began to talk.

"As with the other captains, Tokemaru, you have the potential for power that is almost on par with a god. However, that potential is sealed behind a mighty wall that is your own lack of confidence. That wall was erected the moment you beheld the body of your beloved Kilala." As Genbu continued to lecture him, Tokemaru couldn't find anything to say to contradict anything the turtle god had said. It was no secret that Tokemaru had changed since Kilala's death, people could see it in his eyes whenever he saw them. He'd closed himself off from his peers and his self confidence really did fall.

"I don't know what to do without her Genbu...I loved her...she was my reason to fight...now she's gone...and I don't know what to do..."

"I understand Tokemaru, When Kilala died, your reason to fight died with her. Now you must look into your heart and find another reason to take up your zanpakuto otherwise you will be fated to be defeated again, and perhaps die." Tokemaru nodded his head, he knew that he needed to find another reason to fight, but it seemed impossible, and Genbu knew it.

"Take your time Toke, I am faithful that you will find a new reason to fight."

Tokemaru thought to himself for a while. It was difficult to think about fighting without having Kilala pop up somewhere. At first, Tokemaru thought he would never be able to come up with anything. For some reason, he pulled out the letter Kilala had written before she died. He read the letter over, her last words to him filled him up for a moment. Then it struck him like a bolt of lighting, he literally whacked himself on the head for not realizing it sooner, it should have been obvious to him.

"Genbu, I got it." Genbu's half-open open eyes opened fully.

"Oh?"

"Yes! I should have seen it before. Kilala's letter promises that we'll meet again eventually, so I need to make sure that I stay alive until I see her again, and I have to protect this world as much as possible for when I see her again. Genbu stared at Tokemaru for a moment before he burst out laughing so hard and Tokemaru was blown from the rocks again. The large turtle was still laughing when Tokemaru climbed back up and picked a crab out of his matted hair.

It took a minuet before Genbu stopped laughing, Tokemaru waited patiently for the turtle God to stop but it was somewhat insulting.

"I havn't laughed quite like that in eons. I wasn't expecting something like that, but I like it, that is a good reason to keep up the fight Tokemaru. But the thing that makes me laugh is that your reason is exactly the same as before, you're still fighting for Kilala. The only difference is that you're not fighting for her directly, you're fighting to protect the world that she so loved." Tokemaru thought about for a moment and realized that the turtle god was absolutly right.

"Heh...ehehehe...I don't believe it...ahahahaha..." Soon, Tokemaru's chuckles evolved into full out laughter. Genbu smiled at Tokemaru's laughter and eventually started to laugh himself.

They had finally come to terms.

Tokemaru, opened his eyes just in time to see Ace sneeze and wake up.

"Morning Ace, I think I did it."

Tokemaru closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and concentrated hard.

"Come on Genbu," Tokemaru thought to himself, "Please come out..." There was a build up of spiritual pressure followed by a blinding flash of light. When the light cleared, there stood the farthest thing from what Tokemaru expected to see. An old man stood there wearing a purple t-shirt, orange shorts, red sneakers and sunglasses. The most distinct feature this old man had was the turtle shell on his back.

Genbu looked over at Ace and straitened his sun glasses.

"Hmmm...you must be that Ace fellow Toke thinks so highly of..." A wooden cane appeared in the old man's hand. Genbu hobbled over to Ace the same way any elderly man would when they wanted to get a good look at a person. The moment Genbu was close enough, his cane swung through the air faster than the eye could track and smacked Ace in the head just hard enough to hurt but not nearly hard enough to knock him out.

"Something's wrong with my chosen form eh? Well, do you see anything wrong with my appearance now, whelp?" Genbu snapped and gave Ace a few more whacks.

"Show some respect when you're addressing Genbu, god of the north!" Genbu puffed out his chest and huffed at Ace.