A/N: I just want to say that I am so so so so sorry that I took so long to update this. I actually had most of it written awhile ago, but my cousin started rushing me to finish another story I'm writing another story before I start college in August. But that's not going to happen and this was the story that I wanted to be writing so I stopped on the other story. And then I got a book from my college that they wanted me to have done before I showed up. And on top of that my dad's been needing my help. Basically it's been a busy couple of weeks. So again I apologize for it taking so long and for how short it is. Anyway I hope you like it :)

Chapter Twelve

I didn't see or speak to Lord Sesshomaru for days after that. But then again no one else had either, he had apparently locked himself in his office. And if I had to guess, he probably wasn't coming out anytime soon. It might have been because he didn't want to see me or because he was still too angry to face anyone. It could have also been because Inuyasha and his friends were still in the palace. I told them that they could stay as long as they liked. When Kagome heard that she immediately told me that they would only be staying the night and then they would leave. But I guess the others convinced her otherwise because they were still here. Inuyasha and I had gotten along better since our sparring match. He was all healed from it, not that I was surprised, I knew he was a half-demon so he healed pretty quickly. But I was pretty proud of myself when he had to walk around the rest of the day sporting a black eye. As for me I was still wearing a bandage around my shoulder from where Inuyasha had caught me with his claws.

The gang had seen me change when I fought with Sesshomaru, Inuyasha told me that my hair had gotten darker than its normal light brown. And Rin had told me that my eyes had had specks of red in them. By the time I had gotten to my room that night I was already gone back to normal. But since then Inuyasha had made it his mission to try and wake up the demon within. He kept baiting me with silly little fights and even with my shoulder we would spar in the dojo. To his disappointment nothing seemed to be working. He was just about to give up but he said he would still try for today. Little did he know it wouldn't be him to wake it up.

The day had started out pretty much like any other since the gang had been in the palace. Rin and Shippou played together, and we would talk. Usually it was out in the garden so we could get some fresh air but today we had opted to stay inside where it was nice and cool. We were walking towards the dining room to get some lunch and I felt my eyes stray down the hallway where I knew Lord Sesshomaru's office would be. I couldn't deny that I wanted to see him, but I didn't think that he wanted to see me. Maybe he would never want to see me again.

"Don't worry, he won't stay mad forever." turned to Kagome and nodded but didn't say anything.

"Yeah, he likes you well enough or else he would have killed you for talking like that to him the other day," Inuyasha told me. I stared wide eyed at him, I hadn't thought of that. "What, don't look at me like that. I bet if anybody else had said those things to him he would have killed them on the spot," he paused, "well… except maybe Rin."

I didn't know whether I should be glad about that or if I should be worried about a threat on my life. I looked back down the hall, Kagome was right he couldn't stay mad forever… right?

"Speaking of that bastard when did he get another arm?"

I turned to Inuyasha confused, "What do you mean another arm? He's got two."

Inuyasha scoffed, "No shit, he used to have only one."

"He did?"

"Yeah I cut one of his arms off."

I stared dumbfounded, "You cut one of your brother's arms off?"

"I told you not to look at me like that. We try to kill each other every time we see each other, does it really surprise you that I cut his arm off?"

It did and it didn't. It didn't surprise me that Inuyasha had cut of Sesshomaru's arm so much as it surprised me that Sesshomaru let his arm get cut off in the first place. But I didn't want to say that to Inuyasha so I chose not to answer in favor to stare in the direction of Sesshomaru's office once again. It took me by surprise how much I missed him, I didn't even realize that I would miss him. But I guess that's what happens when you spend every day with someone and then suddenly stop seeing them.

I was so caught up in worrying over Lord Sesshomaru I didn't notice that people had come up to us. They were Lord Sesshomaru's guards. Suddenly they pulled out their weapons and pointed them at us. For a fleeting moment I thought Lord Sesshomaru had been so mad at me that he sent his guards to kill us all, but that thought dissipated when they pointed weapons at Rin also. No matter how mad Lord Sesshomaru was at me, he would never let Rin get hurt.

"What's going on here?" I demanded.

None of the guards said anything. But there came a low chuckle from down the hallway. Suddenly another guard stepped up to us and the others moved out of the way. "What a brave little princess. Surrounded by the enemy and still acts like she's the one in control," he paused to laugh again, "But you know what they say, brave is just another word for stupid." I glared at the man, wanting nothing more than to strike him in the face. That only served to further amuse the man. "Tsk tsk what a horrible face Princess."

I couldn't stand this man. I didn't want to look away from him but I wanted to make sure Rin was okay. Slowly I pulled my eyes away from the man and glanced down at Rin, she looked frightened but otherwise alright. I turned my gaze to the others. They looked just as mad as I felt.

I turned back to the man in front of me, if I had to guess I would say that he was the leader. If I wanted any answers I would have to ask him, "Why are you doing this? You're Lord Sesshomaru's guards and we are his guests, you should be protecting us not attacking us."

The man smiled, "That, Princess, is where you are wrong. We are not Lord Sesshomaru's guards, we just look like them."

"You bastard!" Inuyasha went to draw his sword. "What the hell?! You took my sword!"

Sure enough one of the other men came up to hand the leader Inuyasha's sword, its handle wrapped in cloth. The leader took the sword and examined it with a smile on his face. "Ah, the Tetsusaiga, the sword of the great dog demon Inu no Taisho forged for his son Inuyasha." He looked at Inuyasha with a smirk on his face, "It's a shame you lost it. Its quite ironic that the sword that was made to protect his son will now aid in the downfall of his lands."

"You bastard! You can't use the Tetsusaiga, it doesn't work for demons," Inuyasha yelled at the man.

The man reached out and touched the blade of the sword, suddenly something that looked a lot like lightening shot out of the sword. The man pulled his hand away from the sword his fingers burnt, but still he smiled, "Pity. I suppose I'll just have to keep it as a memento."

Inuyasha moved to attack the man but was suddenly grabbed from behind and held. Then we all were held immobile. Inuyasha growled, he lashed out and sliced through the arm of the man holding him and he was free. He moved to attack the leader once again but the man grabbed Rin and used her as a shield, Rin screamed. Inuyasha stopped just in time. The man laughed again, it was cold and calculating, then he placed the Tetsusaiga against Rin's neck. "Try to attack again and I'll kill her. I might not be able to make the sword transform but even in this form it is sharp enough to pierce the child's skin." Inuyasha was seething, but he allowed another man to come up and hold him immobile.

I looked at Rin, she was crying at this point. Not that I blame her, I would be crying too. In fact I almost was. "Please don't hurt her," I begged.

The man looked at me and grinned, "Begging Princess? That's so beneath you." He paused, "But as long as no one does anything stupid the children will not be harmed." His grin got wider, "I can't say the same for you though."

Rin's scream must have brought Sesshomaru out of his office because he was now standing behind the man. The man turned around, sword still tight against Rin's neck, "Lord Sesshomaru, it's so good to see you." Sesshomaru said nothing as he continued to stare at the man. The leader chuckled, "You really don't disappoint, do you? You're exactly like everyone says. You're cold and heartless. I tell just by looking at you. I bet you would even care if I slit this girl's throat." I could feel the terror and anger rising up within me trying to drown me, but I didn't dare do anything in fear for Rin's safety. From where I was being held I could see Sesshomaru's jaw tighten almost imperceptibly. It was gone fast but the man must have seen it, "Ah, maybe you're not as heartless as you seem. Or you just care about this child," he grinned, "so I've found your weakness. Good. Now unless you want to see her dead I suggest you take those swords you have with you and place them on the ground."

Sesshomaru didn't move, for a moment everything was at a standstill. Both men just stood there, trying to out stare each other. The man frowned for the first time since he had shown himself. Before there was time to react a whimper was heard from Rin. The man had pushed the blade just hard enough against her to draw blood. A snarl almost made its way out of my throat. How dare he hurt Rin. I could feel my breath start to come faster and my anger was at its boiling point. Sesshomaru looked at me, almost like he was watching for something, and then after a brief moment he took his swords from their place at his hip and set them on the ground. Sesshomaru then let himself be restrained by two men.

The man was smiling again, "Oh what a joyous day this is. The fall of the 'great' dog demons!" he turned to look at me, "and the last of the panther demons. Oh, it truly is a wonderful day."

Kagome spoke up, "Why are you doing this?"

He looked at her, "It's simple. I want to become the ruler of the world and to do that I have to defeat all the current leaders and take over their lands. We've already had a failed attempt to take over Lord Isao's land. And a failed assassination here. You know what they say," he said shrugging, "if you want something done right, do it yourself. So here I am." He pouted, "Although I must admit I was hoping for more of a challenge. Instead I found a whipped puppy." He made his way over to me, taking the hand with the Tetsusaiga away from Rin he grabbed my chin and forced me to meet his eyes, "and a housecat."

"Don't hurt her!" Rin cried.

The man growled and without moving away from me smacked Rin across the face, "Shut the hell up. I will do whatever I want."

Suddenly I felt my whole body pulse, and whereas just a moment before my heart was beating frantically it now slowed. Everything seemed to slow. I let out what could only be described as a roar and suddenly the arms that surrounded me and that had been restraining me were no longer a problem. I lurched forward, grabbing Rin and wrapping her against me with one arm and plunging the other through the man's midsection. He dropped the Tetsusaiga, his eyes were widened in shock. For a moment we just stood there, our bodies close, he took a gasp of breath and I retracted my arm from his middle and let him fall to the ground. He landed with a thud, he didn't move again.

Rin had her arms wrapped around my neck in a death grip and had her face buried in my shoulder. My anger hadn't lessened, but I was relieved that Rin was safe. Still breathing hard I turned to face the other fake guards, sneering at them. At first they didn't move, they stood there looking at their leader's body and then at me. I took a slow step towards them and growled low in my throat. They seemed to come to their senses, some even jumped. Suddenly Inuyasha and his gang were free. I slowly set Rin down where I was sure she was safe, never taking my eyes off the men. One man decided to draw his sword and rush at me. I quickly ridded him of his sword… and his arm. After that it was all a blur, I eliminated everyone that seemed to be a threat to either myself or Rin. Finished with the false guards I turned my attention to Rin. Rin was safe. I walked over to her, I couldn't clear my head. I couldn't think. All I knew was that Rin was safe and she needed to stay that way. Inuyasha and his gang said something and started toward us, I whirled on them and snarled. They stopped and stared at me in shock. They tried to talk to me again, but all I could think about was keeping Rin safe. From everybody.

Suddenly to my side there was movement, I looked over to see Lord Sesshomaru had rid himself of the pests that had been restraining him and had already recovered his swords. He started to walk towards me and Rin. If I had been in my right state of mind I would have realized that no one left had any intentions of ill will towards us, but I wasn't in my right state of mind and all I could think was that he was very powerful and the most dangerous threat at this moment. Sesshomaru was getting closer, I back Rin up against a wall and stood in front of her and snarled at Sesshomaru.

He stopped, "Nicole stop this."

I heard his words but I didn't fully comprehend them. I tried to make myself more terrifying as I spit and growled. Even going so far as to slash at him. He wasn't intimidated at all, he walked right up to us. I slashed out again, this time catching his arm and drawing blood. And suddenly he had me by the arms, his fingers digging into my skin.

"Nicole stop now."

Again I heard the words, but all I could think about was that now Rin was unguarded. I growled and clawed and kicked. I tried anything I could to get out of Sesshomaru's grip. But still he held tight.

"Nicole you are safe," he told me trying to get me to focus.

Still I tried to escape.

"It's over, you don't need to protect Rin anymore," he urged.

Still I kicked and fought.

He shook me, effectively stopping my struggles, he stared in my eyes, "It is over Nicole. You and Rin are safe."

I didn't fight back, I couldn't. I was trapped within his eyes. I wanted to fight, I wanted to protect Rin. But the longer I stared into his eyes the safer I felt. Rin and I were safe. Rin was safe. I could feel my heart beat slowing. Slower. Slower. Until I felt my body go slack in Sesshomaru's arms and everything went black.