As Mayo took a few moments to think of what she wanted to see happen, hours passed by in Konan, and with the new day Boushin was ready to face the matters set before him with a little less puppeting necessary. As requested, the Suzaku warriors informed him of the state of their progress with assuring the safety of their world.

"I see. While it is comforting to think that the will of people in the other world may have such power over our own, I'm concerned about what else that might do to our world."

"It is a legitimate concern," Chiriko frowned. "There may be unforeseen complications do to its influence, and we must not be short sighted."

"If my brother and a few close friends are the only ones to know about the book, then no one is going to wish for bad things to happen, right?"

"Yes, but look at this way, Miaka," answered Chichiri, "Right now the connection with your world is the strongest it's ever been. Before, when our worlds were closed off from each other, Nakago needed some very specific things to try to break into your world. Now, it might be easier for him to do that."

"The people of our world wouldn't stand a chance against Nakago…"

"The people of this world don't stand a chance against Nakago," added Yui. "For closure's sake, I'd like to see him dealt with once and for all, and then all knowledge of that Hin ritual should be wiped out. Then if it bothers you so much, we could keep the book in our possession but cut all ties with it again. That had worked until Mayo found it."

"What, you'd just want to ignore us and never let us speak to you again?"

"Of course that won't happen, Tasuki—"

"Isn't that what's supposed t' happen?" he sharpened his tone, quieting the priestess. "Have you forgotten everything the Byakko warriors told us? Sure, their priestess survived, an' that was the end of it."

"I—I do plan on trying to survive, but—"

"And stay here forever?" he sarcastically replied and took a swig of tea. "Not likely. Not while the Priestess of Seiryuu still has a wish left."

Miaka knew what he meant, but she wasn't ready to consider it. She silently looked to Yui, who partially brushed him off in his concerns. "In any case, I'm planning on going home when I make my final wish, after Nakago is dealt with and Miaka makes her final wish. If it will make you feel more at ease, I'll help take personal responsibility for this world, but I don't intend on reading any further."

"Because you don't want to reach the end of the story?"

"Because I'm not that curious."

"Why should we trust this world to you if ya don't even care about its fate?"

"Tasuki, please! Don't put all this responsibility on Yui!"

"Then what, you want to take it yourself 'cause you're feeling guilty about what summonin' Suzaku might mean? That responsibility's not yours either, Miaka. If everything we know now is true, then it was never yours t' begin with."

"He's right," added Chichiri. "As the Priestess of Suzaku, your only responsibility is to protect Konan—one way or another, this world will sort itself out. If you're going to have to use it anyway, maybe you should start thinking about how to use your last wish, you know?"

"That's right," she pondered. "Is 'save Konan' a little too general?"

"Don't use it for Konan!" Boushin invited himself back into the discussion. "It's your wish, do what will make you happy. Leave Konan to me!"

"Aw, Boushin," Mayo read along. "What a good little emperor you are."

"I hope he didn't hear you."

"You think therefore it is, right?"

"You're just getting me confused now."

Mayo ignored them and stared into the book. "This is taking forever. If they're going to off Nakago, they may as well do it while he's still injured. What are they waiting for?"

"Are you just going to wish him dead?"

"There'd be no point in reading if it were that easy."

"Nakago's obsessed with coming to this world. If he's running out of time to use Miaka or Yui, don't you think he wouldn't just wait around for his injuries to heal?"

"He's waited a long time already, Mayo…"

"And I'm sick of it," she replied, pulling the cap off a pen, and then writing in the margins.

"Wait, Mayo? What are you doing?"

"We have to keep that book away from her, Keisuke!"

The three struggled a bit for possession of the item, but once Tetsuya got it back in his grasp he looked down and saw where she had stopped writing mid-sentence, but at the top of the next page it continued naturally within the text. He read on very quietly, making Keisuke very apprehensive. "Well, what is it, Tetsuya? What's going on?"

With an outburst, he yelled back at Mayo. "Someone like you should just stick to writing bad fanfiction!"

"But it's working, isn't it?" she grinned broadly at him. "You didn't think I could do it, did you?"

Fine! This is complete proof that any idiotic reader's willpower will win over this book in the end! Nakago is making an assault straight for the capital now, are you happy?

"What?"

The six people in the room all gasped in shock as they heard the outburst from the bear.

After a little more tussling, they heard Mayo's voice again. Get ready! Now's your chance to end this once and for all! I wanted him there because I want to see you all make him give up!

Chiriko planted his palm against his forehead. "That's all the proof we needed. I'll go organize the troops to start preparing."

"Have them ready to go out to meet him—we might still have time to stop him before he gets to the capital!" ordered Boushin. "Yui, do you mean to face him?"

She nodded. "Whatever Mayo did, now is my chance to end this."

"Don't do it alone, Yui!" Tetsuya gripped the pages. "Don't do it alone!"

"The time will soon come for me to finish my role as Priestess," she said, nearly aglow with the light of Seiryuu. "You're staying at my side this time, Miaka. Be ready to make that wish."

"Yui," she looked wide-eyed at her, too overwhelmed to process what might be in store. Chichiri offered her a hand, as did Tasuki next to him.

"Are you ready, Miaka? Your role may be ending soon too, you know?"

"But I'll bet there's a lot ahead of us before then."

"Chichiri… Tasuki! I don't think I'll ever be ready, but I can go out and fight at any time! Get me my horse!"

"That's the spirit," the bandit grinned as they pulled her up.

Boushin was already far ahead of them, calling his generals together and ordering a suit of armor his size be brought forward.

"Your Highness!" Houki cried, pushing her way through the rallying chieftains. "I beg you, do not send yourself into battle! Do not overestimate the gravity of war!"

"Konan's fate is at stake, Mother. My stake is the same."

"I want to go, Boushin!" cried Juan as he ran into the room, tripping over his feet in his haste. Boushin rushed to his side, and emotional though he appeared, Juan grimaced back in determination. "I have to see this through!"

"I know," he nodded. "But you'll be sharing my horse."

The boy beamed. "I'm honored."

"My son, please!"

Her pleas were ignored as he raised Hotohori's sword into the air. "The emperor of Kutou is vulnerable and taking a risk to come here. We will meet him and end this war!"

The men's voices boomed as they cheered.

As feared, the Kutou forces tore through the weakened stronghold, leaving them with lots of momentum as they pushed forward towards the capital. With the advance warning they had received from Keisuke and the others, the forces in the capital organized just in time to meet them in the evacuated farmlands. With both emperors in their midst, the soldiers held back none of their strength. While the Kutou forces perhaps had the upper hand in terms of armory and training, there was a cloud of worry than hung over their heads, as none could ignore the perilous state of their leader's health.

Nakago's wound was deep and his healing shallow, but his willpower was such that he was confident to ride with his troops and take whatever he needed by force.

That was precisely what Yui was counting on. If she could manage to get him away from his protective wall of warriors, then perhaps someone would have a better shot at taking advantage of his injury. The Konan forces all knew he was weakened, but none could get close enough make any attempt on his life. Try as she did to assess the battle from her vantage point at the back, she could not see any chance to attempt much of anything. Though the battle went on for some time, no clear victor seemed to appear, and Nakago called his forces back to make camp, leaving the others to do the same.

As she headed to the tents, she was approached by a couple of familiar voices.

"Yui!"

"Lady Yui!"

"Kaika, Suboshi! Are you both alright now?"

"We're fine," the gruffer of the two was quick to respond, ignoring the many bandages he was still wrapped in. "And you? The Suzaku scum haven't treated you poorly, have they?"

"No, that should be the least of your worries. The problem now is how to get to Nakago. With all the soldiers in the way, it's hard to do much of anything."

"I suppose I could immobilize them," offered Kaika, "If Suboshi thinks he would have a good chance to strike?"

"We tried that before. If he's on his horse, my weapons won't be of much use."

"Then we have to lure him down," she mused. "What would he risk himself for?"

"He's already risked coming this far to get you."

"That's it!" she replied. "I know how we're going to beat Nakago! Tomorrow, we'll bring this all to an end."

"Lady Yui! You don't mean to put yourself in harm's way, do you?"

She smiled. "You'll be protecting me, won't you?"

Even Suboshi's hardened face melted into a smile at these words. "Of course, Lady Yui. I'll protect you always."

Yui blushed and looked away. Suboshi would just have to be someone else's problem when she left—soon.

Her plan wasn't particularly welcome, but they saw no alternatives but to try it. "If it doesn't work, Yui, who knows what Nakago will do to you in that ritual he wants to perform?"

"That's why I want you to come with me, Miaka. I can use my last wish as an escape if necessary, but not until you make yours. If we're both going to survive, the timing has to be right."

"Then I have to use it tomorrow?" she looked nervous, not wanting to say aloud what she was most afraid of. Her warriors could tell what it was, but they did her the favor of acting oblivious to it. They had her company for over ten years, and could tell by then what was worth and not worth addressing aloud if they wanted to keep her smiling. As much as she wanted to tell everyone how much her time with them had meant, she chose to cover that up with idle words. "There's still so much I haven't accomplished here, after all, even though everyone has been waiting so long for me to make these wishes."

"The legend only said that you would save Konan by summoning Suzaku, not necessarily by using your wishes, you know? At least the rest of us can use our powers at full strength right now."

"That's right. And who knows, maybe summonin' Suzaku in the first place is what's gonna be what helped Konan in the end. Sure, it lead to war—but this war might be just what we needed t' stand up for ourselves."

"You used your first wish to rescue Mayo, and your second wish to rescue me," added Boushin. "What's more, you've spent all these years doing what you could as a normal woman to aid the people of Konan in their time of need. You deserve to use your last wish on whatever you desire most."

"Boushin," she looked wide-eyed at him. "Even after everything I've done wrong? All the stupid choices I made?"

"Wow, with all the guilt-tripping you give yourself, there's no reason for the rest of us to help," laughed Nuriko, his ghostly form still present however unnoticeable. "You couldn't prevent the things that happened, and it was an honor to fight for you. I'm so proud of you, Miaka."

"Nuriko is right," added Hotohori. "I couldn't have been any happier about my time as your warrior. Though your time as priestess may be coming to an end, I hope that you will have no more regrets."

"You—you both," she felt a twinge of tears.

"Miaka," Juan took her hand and peered up into her face. "We'll find ways to make ourselves happy, too."

"Miaka," Chiriko beamed from behind him. "I've always wanted to tell you that part of what inspired me to keep studying for the Kakyo exam was that you didn't give up after all. Even when it seemed like you could no longer be priestess, you still tried to help the people here. That's why, even without my mark, I tried to do the same."

"And you have, Chiriko! And Mitsukake, you will! I really hope you will!"

"However brief our time was together," approached Tamahome, "every memory of you sustains me. That's why, no matter where you are, no matter what you do, I will always be near you."

"Tamahome…!"

"As long as you're alive, a part of me will always live too."

"Tama… home… e… everyone!" she started to cry, reaching out for as many of them as she could fit her arms around. Chichiri and Tasuki held especially tight, smiling, though fearing that their voices would choke if they tried to open their mouths.

Outside of Miaka's reach, Boushin and Yui could only watch. She had a somewhat cynical look on her face, commenting, "Miaka really lucked out with such a sappy band of warriors."

"I can't imagine your experience with your warriors was quite the same," he struggled to smile sympathetically.

"That might have been partly my fault. Oh well, I can't regret everything."

In a lower voice, he continued. "It seems I will have to trust the fate of this world to you as well. I hope that you'll make yourself happy with your last wish as well."

She grew a gentle, fond smile. "Not to worry, I will. It'll be exactly what I've wished for all this time."