This is the second last chapter peoples. There's one more after this. Sorry it's taken me so long to update. School's harsh and I've just finished watching the Final Act of Inu Yasha. I HATE the ending. BAD! BAD! HORRIBLE! But I don't get a choice, I don't own it.

Time past. The war drew near and the soldiers grew anxious. The absence of Lord Sesshoumaru took a great effect on all of them. None of them imagined he could die so easily. Fights began to break out and disrespect for Rin and the Shichinin-Tai became more apparent. Rin was becoming overwhelmed and it was all Haru, Karu, Bankotsu, the rest of the Shichinin-Tai and Inu Yasha could do to keep everything in order.

It was two weeks before the march for battle would start when things got completely out of hand. Two soldiers started fighting full out against each other and nothing seemed to be able to stop them until Rin physically got between them. "That's enough!" she screamed. "You're acting like children! We are close to battle, this is no time to be..."

"Who are you to say what we can or cannot do!" the first one snapped across her words. "Lord Sesshoumaru is dead, there's no way we can win this war!"

"Lord Sesshoumaru lives on in spirit, you ass!" the second one barked. "Our Lady Rin is trying her best to command us in his place!"

"A little girl shouldn't be trying to fill the foot prints of a great lord like Lord Sesshoumaru." The first one spat bitterly.

"And you can do better?" the second one scoffed. "You couldn't command the maidservants, let alone a huge army!"

And it went one. Eventually they shoved Rin out of the way to continue fighting. Fighting tears she stood up and looked around. Everyone was watching. She stormed through them up to Kyokotsu. "Help me up?" she asked and he lifted her high above the massive army. "Get their attention, if you don't mind." She said.

The giant roared and hit the ground to make a shuddering earthquake. All the soldiers fell silent and looked up and Rin and Kyokotsu. Rin cleared her throat and had to yell so all of them could hear her. "Don't any of you understand?" she yelled. "Lord Sesshoumaru gave us everything we could need to win this stupid war! He hired the ones who can teach you things you would otherwise never learn! You learned strategies my father would never have used! My father is gone, yes and may Kami bless his soul... but we're still here! We can still do this! We can finish this! But we have to pull together as a group! We have to work together and not fight among ourselves!"

She looked across the thousands of men and youkai who had come together for her father to fight by his side and die for his cause. Had he been giving the speech the soldiers would have smartened up immediately and begun to work together in seconds. But she didn't know what they would do with her... whether they would reject her or listen. Then another voice called out to the men. "Who are we to disobey her?" he called out. "She is the Lady of the Western Lands now... Our lady. But more importantly she has her fathers', Lord Sesshoumaru's, wisdom. She didn't give up on us when Lord Sesshoumaru died and what have we done? We threw that loyalty in her face and stopped believing in ourselves." The soldier turned and drew his sword. "My Lady Rin. Whether anyone else will or not I will stand by your side and defend these lands with you!"

A moment of silence followed his words. Rin took a deep, shuddering breath and wondered if they would follow her as well... or just start fighting again. Then the sound of swords being drawn surrounded the training area. Every soldier was kneeling with their swords in front of them. A silent way of pledging their allegiance. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at Karu and Bankotsu. They were smiling up at her proudly. Something dropped in her heart when she remembered that Bankotsu would forever have heartache because she wouldn't marry him.

The morning of battle came quickly after that. I the lead was Rin, looking much older than most of the soldiers thought. On one hip she had her father's Bakusuiga. Though she could not wield the power within the great sword, she felt it proper to take it with her. On her other hip was her blade.

Behind her was the first wave, Mukotsu's men. They all carried poisons in their arms more deadly and accurate than any arrow. Behind them was Renkotsu's and Ginkotsu's group. They all carried cannons and other weapons that required gunpowder and fire. Next was Jakotsu and his men with all of their various long distance weapons. And finally was Bankotsu, Suikotsu, Kyokotsu and the men who were trained in short and long swords.

She looked back at her men and took a huge breath. She removed the taijiya gas mask from her face to make her voice clear for the army to hear her. She had one last thing to say to them before the war would begin.

"Men," she started, standing on Kyokotsu yet again. "Sons, fathers, brothers... you are all of these. And when you joined the army you became more. You became soldiers. Some of you have known Lord Sesshoumaru longer than I've been alive. Some of you even knew him back from his childhood days. In comparison I have only known him for a short time. But now... Now is not the time to cry for his death. Now is the time to fight in his name. Now is the time to defend our land, our families and our lives! We fight alongside those who used to be enemies," She glanced briefly at Bankotsu. "And we fight against those who used to be our friends. And know we stand together to fight this old enemy and win! Raise your swords to Lord Sesshoumaru and FIGHT!"

Hundreds of thousands of swords were unsheathed and a roar of support. Rin smiled. She may not have her father's power, but she was one hell of a speech artist. Suddenly an arrow came out of nowhere and landed next to her in Kyokotsu's hand. She turned and yelled. "FIRST WAVE!"

Rin fixed the mask to her face again and watched the colourless gas seep across the ground. She would stay on top of Kyokotsu. He would keep her safe until her time to fight came. She had to wait carefully, for if she attacked too soon then their leader would draw back and back away from her and she would have no chance to kill him.

The gas hit the enemy's ranks and they stopped short. They were paralyzed for the moment. The more they were exposed to the poison the more chance they were to die. Rin cried out. "SECOND WAVE!"

The poison masters knelt to the ground, still released the poison to let the gun squad in. Renkotsu gave the order and hundreds of shots rang out. The paralysed soldiers collapsed dead and the soldiers who had masks were already charging forward. She heard the arrows before she saw them. "ARROWS! THIRD WAVE!"

At the last second Kyokotsu wrapped Rin into his hands and protected her in a giant dome of that was his hands. She could hear Jakotsu's men with their snake-like swords flying through the air and cutting down the arrow, Jakotsu taking out some of the men that were getting close to the poison masters. "Oo-Aniki says that we should attack with his and Suikotsu's men now." Kyokotsu said. "He says the enemy is confused and scared. Their hesitating. We should attack now."

"Let me see." She said and Kyokotsu lifted her up.

It was true. The enemy soldiers were hesitating. She raised my sword. "ATTACK!"

Bankotsu leapt ahead of them all, laughing hysterically and attacked with joy. Despite the fun he was having killing people his main objective was to keep me safe. His eyes were still sad however. The war lasted hours. Had Sesshoumaru been there he would have leapt forward and looked for the lord himself. But Rin had to take this slower. Kyokotsu walked around, defending Rin.

Suddenly she saw him. She growled and Kyokotsu let her down. He knocked his guards away so Rin could literally walk right up to him, glare him right in the eye and growl. "I challenge you to a fight to the death."

The Lord Smirked. "I thought you'd never ask, little human."

The battle around them stopped and stared. None of them could believe that Rin, a tiny human girl, was about to take on the great lord who was once second only to Sesshoumaru. Rin backed off for a few minutes to prepare herself. Both Bankotsu and Karu ran up to her. "Absolutely not!" Karu snapped. "He'll kill you with one swing!"

"Karu's right. I didn't think you'd be taking on the lord when I was teaching you to fight!" Bankotsu snapped.

"Way to have faith in me guys," Rin glowered and took off her cloak to reveal the armour she wore. "I have to kill him. It's my duty."

"It is not!" Karu snapped.

"There is no law saying that a lord or lady must fight a lord or lady during war to end it!" Bankotsu agreed.

"I know it's not a law," Rin straightened up and pulled out her sword. "It's etiquette."

The two exchanged shocked and confused looks. She turned to face the lord who also had his sword in his hand. They circled each other, Rin twirling her sword, keeping her hands warmed up and loose. The lord was observing her every move and ended up making the first move. He swung at Rin from above and she dodged easily. His movements were slow and his sword was heavy, so heavy earth flew everywhere when it hit. If I get stuck, she thought desperately. He'll cut me in half!

Rin dodged three more attacks before striking his back with the sword. Her blade made a high pitched ring and vibrated so bad it shook her arm. She gasped and the Lord laughed. "Stupid human," he snapped. "You're so weak you can't even cut through my kimono."

Rin growled but didn't respond. He was right but Rin was determined to kill him, even if it killed her. The Lord struck again and she rolled out of the way. Twice more they did this. On the last strike his blade hit hers and cut it cleanly in half. She was forced to let it go and she stood there defenceless. The lord and his men laughed cruelly. "Now what, little human?" he said. "All you have left now is a demon sword that will do you no good. You're going to die right here, just like that mutt."

The lord lifted his sword to strike Rin down. Her mind had filled with anger at the sound of his voice disgracing her father. Without thinking it through she pulled the Bakusuiga to defend herself. It stood up against the heavy blade and even seemed to push it back. Rin rolled away and stood defensively. Lend me your power, father, she thought. Just this once. Please, allow me to use Bakusuiga!

Rin felt the sword pulse and jumped. The lord took his chance and struck her to her knees. The only thing keeping her from being sliced in half was the Bakusuiga. It pulsed again and sparked into life. She suddenly felt a surge of power and she pushed forward. Her father's sword cut through the lord's blade and cut him in half as well. The lord's eyes widened in shock and he was dead before he hit the ground. Rin sheathed the sword. Thank you so much, father. Thank you, Bakusuiga.

A loud cheer rose from the western soldiers. Rin was suddenly swept off her feet into Bankotsu's arms. Only a second later did she realize she was hugging him back, and she backed off. He did too, blushing. Rin stepped to Karu and hugged him, longer than Bankotsu as if to show that she was still with him, but her heart reached out to Bankotsu. The second before she pulled out the Bakusuiga she begged for survival just so she could see his face once more before death took her. She knew that he was the one she loved, not Karu. He would be the one she dreamed about five years from then.

The soldiers, shichinin-tai and Rin walked back to the castle in good moods. Rin was somewhat depressed though. The promise Bankotsu made with Sesshoumaru was fulfilled. He would leave the next morning. Karu sighed. "Rin," he said. "Please don't take me for a fool. I know you're heart's desire."

Rin bit her lip and looked away.

"It... It's ok," he stuttered. "If you want to have one night with him. One night before he leaves... if you want."

"Karu, I can't. I have to save myself for you." She whispered.

"No one will ever know. Please, Rin if this will make you happy then for Kami's sake do it."

Rin looked up into his eyes. He was sincere but otherwise hard to read. She smiled and hugged him. "Thank you. I promise you, you won't regret this."

With that she ran back towards Bankotsu and took his hand. He seemed to understand from the look in her eyes and pulled her onto his back. He raced to the nearest village and paid for the best room at the inn. By the time they were in the room his lips were revenging hers roughly and it was all she could do to keep up. He pulled at her armour and it fell to the floor. Soon she was lying underneath him, naked except for the bindings on her breasts and lower regions. Bankotsu was shirtless and ready. "Rin," he breathed. "I love you. I love you so much."

"I - I love you too, Bankotsu."

He smirked and kissed her chin, going up to her ear. "Tell me," he licked her ear. "Tell me that you want me."

She shivered and he kissed down her neck. "Well?"

"Bankotsu," she half moaned, half whimpered.

Bankotsu stopped to look her in the eyes. She blushed and bit her lip. "Bankotsu... I..." she stuttered but swallowed hard before speaking again.

Yeah, that's the end of the chapter. Wait till next time, kiddies!