Okay folks, this is the last part of the final battle! ^-^ I'm so glad it's almost over before school starts! (It's on Monday. x.x) Anyways, I'm just going to skip the disclaimer, since you guys already know, and onward towards the REAL reason you guys are here! ^^ So, without further ado...

ENJOY!!

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--With Youko and Kurama

Having somehow gotten back on Kuramas' ship, both brothers were now in the middle of trying to kill each other. Both of their shirts were cut to ribbons, showing off their muscles and six packs. Dried and running blood mixed as it ran down their sweating bodies, both too concentrated in killing the other to notice.

Both brothers suddenly jumped away from each other, both panting heavier still.

Smirking weakly, Youko said, "I believe it's time to get serious about this killing business…"

Returning the tired and weak smirk, Kurama replied, "I agree. No more playing with mere knives." Throwing down his long and sharp sword deep into the wood of his ship, Kurama pulled a small seed out of his hair, as did his older brother.

Both called out, "Fist of the demonic vine!" and vines shot out, encasing their wrists and forming a pointed sword on each brothers' arm.

"Now…let us end this….ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Youko shouted, getting into a stance.

"Yes, let's!" Kurama agreed darkly, running head on to his brother.

--With Leiko and Nozomi

Reaching out a hand, Leiko helped her best friend to her feet, having thrown away her sword. Nozomi stared at her, confused, still breathing heavily.

"Why? After all of this?"

Leiko shrugged, giving her friend a happy smile. "Because you're my best friend! I wouldn't even dream about killing you!" she gave a small laugh.

Nozomi had tears in her eyes. She hugged her friend tightly. "I'm so sorry, Leiko! But…I had to…"

"I know, me too."

Stepping away from each other, they both smiled at each other. Hearing both of their mates cry out in pain in the background brought them both back to reality.

"Oh no!" Nozomi cried, having completely forgotten the fight temporarily.

"What are we gunna do?! We have to stop this fight!" Leiko cried, grabbing her head in panic.

"I have an idea, but it'll be tricky…not to mention dangerous…" Nozomi replied, thinking quickly.

"Whatever, just spit it out!" Leiko yelled, desperate not to lose Kurama.

"All right, this is what we'll do…"

--With Youko and Kurama

Both brothers sat, kneeling on the ground, glaring coldly at each other. With the blood dripping freely from almost all wounds now, if they didn't end the fight, they would surely bleed themselves to death. Panting heavily, with barely enough energy to stand, both brothers stood back up, their bodies protesting noticeably.

"Kurama!" Leiko cried, jumping down in front of him. She helped him get a better stance, hating to see him in this condition. She glared at Youko. "You bastard! You're going to pay for that!"

A look of fear crossed Youkos' face at the sight of her. Pointing his fisted sword at her, his voice coming out venomously, he asked, "You…where's Nozomi?"

"Hell if I know! Last time I saw her, she was falling into the sea." Leiko shrugged, turning her attention back to Kurama. "You okay?"

Kurama stared up at her, horrified. "Tell me you didn't kill her…?! Please…PLEASE, tell me you didn't kill her…"

Once again, Leiko shrugged. "Like I said, last time I saw her, she was reaching up to me as she fell down into the waters below." Remembering what Nozomi had instructed her earlier, she would have to use every once of strength to block Youkos' fury empowered strikes. Looking up quickly, Leiko saw Youkos' eyes focused on her. She temporarily froze, seeing her own death behind his eyes.

"You shall now die, woman. For killing my mate, I shall kill you…" He suddenly disappeared. Leiko looked about frantically, knowing that one mistake on her part, she would really die. Youko reappeared behind his brother, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and hauled him away from her, leaving her unprotected.

Relying only on Nozomis' instructions, Leiko created a fire sword and prepared for the hardest fight in her life. Youko stalked forward, his eyes mere slits, bordered by the gold. With his sword dripping with blood, he slowly stalked forward, his eyes focusing angrily on his soon to be prey.

Leiko took a step back, knowing that she had to actually predict his movement, which was her weakest point in combat. Usually, she would improvise. However, there was nothing to improvise on, so she thought of herself as screwed. Nozomi had whacked her in the head for saying that, and said that if she kept a cool head, cool enough in a situation like that, she may actually make it. Swallowing roughly, her throat completely bone dry, Leiko raised her sword slightly, signaling that she was prepared to fight to defend herself.

Youko, still glaring venomously at her, suddenly disappeared. Thinking quickly, Leiko jumped to the right as Youko brought his sword down from up above. 'Remember, he never attacks anyone from the rear. You have to remember that. If anything, he'll attack from up above. Not to mention all other possible sides, but never the rear. Remember!' Nodding briefly to herself, Leiko tried her best to dodge and/or block his attacks, but they were getting more and more ferocious as the fight continued, causing her to almost lose her sword a few times. Just as Youko swung his sword at her, since her back had been against the railing, she quickly jumped forward and somersaulted over to where the main masts' pole was and stood back up. Turning around quickly, so as not to have her back on him for long, she waited for him to come.

'Here we go… This is it… God, I hope this works… Nozomi, I'm trusting you! This better work, or else I'll come back from the dead and haunt your ass!'

Youko turned slowly, his eyes giving her the coldest and most venomous death glare she had ever seen in her life. Walking forward ever so slowly, he soon picked up his pace until he was running, full speed, straight at her. Leiko braced herself, staring death straight in the face.

'Okay…this is it! If I miss a step, or don't jump at the right angle, my life will be over… Oh god! I hope this works!'

The following seemed to happen in slow motion. Just as Youko was beginning to swing the death blow, Leiko used the last of her physical strength to jump up and backwards, both arms outstretched, palms completely open, having dropped her sword in order to jump the way she did. Closing her eyes, feeling herself traveling backwards, Leiko imagined the giant ball of fire before her, growing larger and larger still. Opening her eyes fully, seeing how the ball of fire was one third the size of the ship, she threw it, with the last little bit of her overall energy. (not her life energy, just all together energy; physical and spirit.) The fire ball was headed straight for Youko, who, in his anger, had managed to leave himself wide open. He watched the ball of flame head straight for him, his fear never showing. He closed his eyes, welcoming death, hoping that he may be with his supposedly dead mate soon.

Just as the fire ball was about to reach Youko, a shadow jumped in front of him, grabbed him, encased them both in a bright blue sphere, and embraced for impact. Leiko, having been in free fall, was about to hit the deck, which was some 3 feet below her. Kurama, having gotten time to recover some, ran over and caught his mate in his arms, practically falling onto the hard wood in the process. Both watched the impact from where they were at. Almost as soon as the shield was up, the fireball had hit at full force, causing a deafening BOOM to resound across both ships and the surrounding water. In the confusion of the smoke, the blue sphere slipped off of the ship and into the water, out of sight and away from the area.

'Bye Nozomi… See you some other time…I hope…' Leiko thought, having already said good bye to her friend after she had told her the plan.

Returning her attention back to Kurama, she smiled. "Yay! My prince! You caught me!"

Kurama knelt down onto the deck, smiling weakly at her, but smiling nonetheless. "I'm proud of you, Leiko… You took on my brother… That was one hell of a hit, if you don't mind me saying… I'm glad he's gone… Now, perhaps we can live our lives in peace…?"

"Sure…why not?" Leiko replied, somewhat nervously. Kurama failed to noticed, too preoccupied with the fact that the final battle was over.

'I can tell him later… Hopefully he won't freak out too much…' Leiko thought, seeing how happy her mate was.

"Let's go home, Kurama!"

He glanced at her. "Home?"

"Yeah! Home! Back to your, I mean, our land!" Leiko said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Kurama smiled and kissed her tenderly. "Yes…let's go home…"

--Later that day (this is an overview)

Leiko giggled from the ship cruising off into the sun set. "Kurama… I forgot to tell you something…"

"Oh? And what's that?"

Leiko couldn't help but giggle again. "I'm pregnant."

"What?!" He turned to her, completely surprised.

She pouted slightly. "Aww… I thought you'd be happy…"

"No, no! I am! But…" He paused, giving her a half worried, half angry look. "You went into battle with the knowledge that you were pregnant?!"

Leiko looked a bit worried. "Well…about that… You see, one of the times that Nozomi had attacked me, she was aiming for my stomach, but she stopped short, and instead cut my shoulder. I asked her later, why? And she said that she didn't want to hurt the baby by some stupid fight…"

'Eh…stretching the truth a bit won't hurt until I really tell him how I found out…although, it has some truth to it…'

Kurama cradled her in his arms. "I can't wait for the baby to come. And when it does, we'll be ready…"

"Yeah…"

The End

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Woot! And THAT'S the END of As Red as a Rose!!! I'll post the Epilogue tomorrow. x.x It's kind of too late right now. xP Oh, and sorry that I posted it so late in the first place. I had to go school shopping, so I was out for about...3-4 hours. x.x

Anyways, PLEASE review! It's the final chapter thingy, for crying out loud!!

...Oh yeah! I forgot! People! Readers! I have a favor to ask of you! You know my friend Leiko? The one that I wrote this story for? Well, she's written a story called Love Behind Closed Eyes, and it would mean a lot if you took the time to read it. ^_^ It explains a bit more about our whole story idea of Youko and Kurama being brothers', and the whole Mizuki and Nizuki thingy. Besides the grammatical errors (which she hates whenever I tell her, so if and when you review, try NOT to mention it. :P), it's a good story. So please, read and review to it! ^^

THANKS AGAIN, TO ALL OF MY FAITHFUL READERS! ^_^ -hugs all of you individually- Thanks!!!