The fighting had gotten much worse as the weeks stretched on. In two weeks it had gone from the border to practically at their back door. The city had been evacuated except for those in the palace. Shuichi had thought about sending the women away also, but Inuyasha had insisted that he be there to protect his mother and his wife even if he was more than willing to send away his newly adopted son. Rin would not leave though. She was bound and determined to stay and help Izayoi and Kagome with taking care of the advisors who were staying with them.

Tonight Rin was seriously rethinking not listening to Shuichi. The fighting had actually come to their front door. As the bombs went off in the city the palace shook. Inuyasha escorted the women of the house into the basement. The basement had been built specifically to stand up in case the rest of the house were to be destroyed. Strangely enough it had not been designed to help out Izayoi since the house had actually been built during Shuichi's father's reign.

Izayoi had been through a couple of wars herself, but never had they come this close to the capital as this one had. Kagome was trying her best to be strong for her mother-in-law, who definitely proved today to be a rather weakling. For a former princess this was sure surprising behavior. "Maybe we can think of something else," Rin suggested trying to take all their minds off of the fighting above.

"I hope Inuyasha will be fine up there. He's never really fought in a war before," Kagome explained. Most of his fighting has been done in practice or tournaments."

"You have all seen what Shuichi looks like in his full demon form. I'm sure he will keep the enemy away. It's not like they have to worry about not smashing the buildings since the bombs are already destroying enough."

"Can we talk about something else?" Rin asked impatiently.

Kagome smiled and said, "I bet you're hoping that Sesshomaru was home right now."

"No," she said shaking her head. "Actually, I hadn't even thought of him since I got the flowers." Both women gave her a look like they didn't believe her. "Really, I haven't. I've been so busy with the war going on I haven't really had time to even think about myself."

"It would have been better if he hadn't run off," Izayoi commented. "He has proven himself to be an even stronger demon than Shuichi; just as Shuichi was a stronger demon than his father."

"And his son will probably be stronger," she said letting her words drift off into the air. "I suppose though, that when he becomes emperor I will have to leave the country. It is likely that she will not be happy to know I still exist."

"I don't think that's what you have to worry about," Kagome tried to say. "I think he's more likely to turn you into a demon without your permission."

"I don't want to think about it," Rin said frustrated. The other two women thought it best not to say anything since Rin was obviously upset again about Sesshomaru.

They sat there for half an hour listening to the sounds of the advancing army get closer and closer. Rin grew more nervous as the seconds ticked by, but she knew she had to be strong for the other two. Shuichi had once mentioned to her that there was a place for two women to hide in the basement and go undetected even by smell. With only a flashlight she searched for the hidden compartment and found it just as it sounded like people were running over their heads in panic. "Get in," she commanded the both of them.

"Is there enough room for all of us?" Kagome questioned her.

"No," Izayoi answered. "It looks like there is only enough room in there for two of us."

"So the both of you will be hiding in there," she informed them.

Kagome said to Rin, "We can't leave you out here. They'll torture and kill you since you are the Lady of the Western Lands. I'm just a princess, so they'll do a lot less to me."

Rin looked at her friend and understood where she was coming from. "I know that's what you are trying to tell yourself, but I'm really the expendable one here. Besides, you are stronger than I am because of your miko powers, so I need you to protect Izayoi. If they get their hands on her it won't be pretty because she is the empress. I'm not even going to be the lady very long since Sesshomaru has been disinherited and if he continues on the path he's on I'm not going to stay with him. Heck, maybe I'll be lucky and he'll turn me into a demon when they capture me." She meant to make the last sentence sound like a joke but the other two didn't take it that way.

"Rin, I just don't want anything to happen to you," Izayoi said to her worriedly. "Try to keep yourself safe."

"I will," she said as she closed the hatch.

In the dark she waited another twenty minutes before they found here. "You there!" a ghastly boar demon said to her. "Get to your feet!" Rin stood in front of him proudly. He looked her over and said to the other soldiers with him, "Look at what we have here. It's the future empress."

"You are mistaken," she announced to them. "My husband has been disinherited. Even if he hadn't, he would have divorced me sooner than later."

"Then why are you hiding in the basement of the palace, wench?"

"They didn't know I was down here," she lied to them. They looked her over hoping to see the fear in her, but she had learned from Sesshomaru how to hide it well. The leader grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder as they retreated from the castle. Rin would not go willingly though and she pound on the demon's back hoping it would annoy him enough to put her down, but it did no good.

When they got outside Rin could hear nothing but silence. She wondered which side had defeated the other and hoped it had been Shuichi who triumphed. They hadn't made it far from the castle when a large dog jumped in front of them baring its fangs. The men grew frightened and tried to run away, but Rin could hear the sound of bones snapping as the large set of teeth gnashed away at the enemy until all that was left was Rin and the leader.

He dropped her like she was nothing but a sack of potatoes and started to transform himself. Rin had to move as fast as she could despite the pain from the fall. If she had stayed in the same spot she would have been trampled by the other demon. Hiding at a good distance she watched the demons fighting in their large true forms.

As Rin looked at Shuichi in his true form she noticed that he looked even larger than the picture made him out to be. But in the end he defeated the boar demon since he was much larger and fought more skillfully. The dog barked at her having spotted her, so she came closer to it. As she got closer it laid down in front of her and whined. "I'm fine," she assured him. "It did hurt a little when he dropped me, but I managed to stay out of the way."

At that moment another large dog ran up to them with Inuyasha running behind. As Rin looked at them she wondered who it was that had saved her. The dogs barked at each other while Inuyasha came to Rin's side. "Where is Kagome and my mother?" he asked her.

"They're safe in the basement. I let them take me to distract them from the other two."

He nodded his head and then looked up at the two dogs. "I think we've gotten all of the enemy out of the city," he announced to her. "Father and I were taking care of the demons when Sesshomaru showed up."

"Sesshomaru?" Rin asked confused. Her heart started fluttering at the thought that he had returned home. "You saw Sesshomaru?"

He gave her a strange look and asked her, "Did you hit your head or something?"

"No. At least I don't think so."

"I seriously think there is something wrong with you if you can't see him standing there." She looked up at the two dog demons and realized that the one she thought had saved her was actually her husband. That would explain the bizarre way he greeted her because Shuichi wouldn't have done that.

Shuichi suddenly ran off, so Inuyasha chased after him. Sesshomaru, though, turned into a ball of light that landed right in front of Rin before he took on his humanoid form. Rin didn't know what to say to him except, "Thank you for saving me." Part of her wanted to hug him, but the other part of her said to keep her distance from him. It also didn't help that he had his armor on making it impossible for her to get close to him. She stepped back from him afraid of the close distance between them. There was suddenly a strong urge for her to run away from him.

"I missed you."

She looked deep in his eyes and saw that he was bearing his soul to her. "I wish you hadn't left." He pulled something out from his shirt pocket. As she gazed into his open palm she saw a glowing pink orb. "You found it?"

"I did, and I thought I'd wait to be with you when I make my wish."

"Sesshomaru…" she tried to interject but he was already starting to make his wish.

"I wish for peace in this country and from its enemies from this day forward until my descendants no longer rule." A bright pink light erupted from the tiny orb and blinded both of them temporarily. Then a gush of power came forth and penetrated everything within its path as it spread out across the world. And just as suddenly as it started it was over.

It took Rin's eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darkness again, but when she looked down into his palm she noticed the jewel was now gone. She looked up at him eagerly and asked, "Why did you wish for that?"

His eyes bore into hers as he answered her, "I know that you would want it, and now I don't have to worry if my children will be strong enough to defend themselves since they will have no reason to."

"But I thought you had your heart set on making me a demon."

He placed his hand on her check and caressed it. "I don't want you to be like my mother. You have been the only person to really love me, and I couldn't change that about you. And you would have been unhappy as a demon. Look at my mother. Nothing ever seems to make her happy, and I know now that's why he divorced her."

She placed her hand against his and leaned into it. The touch of his warm hands felt heavenly against her skin. Slowly he leaned down and placed a chaste kiss upon her lips that grew into a heated, passionate kiss. When they separated they stared into each other's eyes as if memorizing the other until the sound of his father in his demon form barking in the distance.

"We should go back home," he said breathlessly to her. She nodded her head not wanting him to release her from the trance he had put her in. He turned around and commanded her to climb onto his back. When she had he ran through the rest of the city so fast her eyes couldn't comprehend what she was seeing and her head started pounding.

Once at home he found the whole household standing within the front hallway. "Welcome back," Shuichi told Sesshomaru. "Did you by chance see a blinding pink light?"

Rin looked up at Sesshomaru's impassive face as he said, "I did. It burst forth when the wish was fulfilled."

"What wish?" he asked noticing that Rin was still a human.

"We shall see soon enough," he promised. "If the enemy has all gone home, then I will know it came true."

"I have received word via cell phone that the enemy did turn around and run home just after the pink light appeared."

Kagome had to ask, "Did you wish for the war to end?"

Rin smiled as she remembered what had happened. "No," she said. "He wished for peace until his last descendant stops sitting on the throne."

Shuichi's face showed that he was very impressed with the wish. "Now that's the best wish I think anyone could come up with."

"Am I allowed to stay with you now?" Sesshomaru asked.

Shuichi laughed and put an arm around his sons' shoulders. As they walked off he said, "I think that it warrants you regaining your title back." The men continued talking as they walked away leaving Rin behind with the remaining three.

"Are you going to stay?" Kagome asked her eagerly.

Rin looked up at the corner of her eyes as she thought aloud, "I think he's changing. Perhaps I should give him another chance. I think he might just love me after all."