AU: I don't know anything. I use to have an account in the dark days of FF. I haven't written anything in a very long time but made it a resolution to try to get back into it even if it's not very good. Grammar mistakes abound!I hope it's not too bad!

Slamming his blade down, Archer barely noticed the other swords that still impaled his body. Mechanically, he trudged up the hill as his gaze swept across all the swords that surrounded him. A symbol of a never ending nightmare. A question that should have never been asked. A deal that should have never been made. In the end, it was his hope that ultimately killed him.

"...Didn't I tell you, the next we meet, we'd be enemies?"

Archer stilled. A voice. A familiar voice.

It wasn't possible

Bright blue eyes and long black hair with twin pigtails stood before him. With a serious expression on her face and a hand on her hip.

"Oh, don't tell me you forgot?" She walked closer, eyeing him closely.

What..?

Frowning, she reached out to place her hand on one of the swords still hanging from his chest. She smiled up at him as it disappeared into the air and then began to work on another one.

It shouldn't be possible

Moving his hands to her shoulders, he remembered a name; close to his heart and filling it with endearment close to insanity. She looked the same. Her magic felt the same. Hell, he could swear she even smelled the same. This had to be a trick. A spell, something; anything.

Could it really be?

"Rin. What is this? How are you here?" His question caught in this throat. He knew in life she was truly talented magus. A true genius but to be able to come here, he couldn't even begin to imagine the type of power it would take. If it was really her. She flashed him a brilliant smile, that even now he could feel a faint blush trying to make its way to his face. She always did go for his weak spots.

Her eyes were as beautiful as he remembered. She noticed him staring and winked as her magic wrapped around him. Blushing, he looked away, startled he realized they were no longer in this wasteland and Rin was no longer in his arms. They were somewhere different but still so achingly familiar.

The sun was setting outside the windows. Rin giggled softly. Soft rays glowed gently against her body as she slipped off the desk. Archer watched as Rin bent over to a younger version of himself. A time when he still called himself Emiya Shirou. Was he trapped in a spell? A nightmare?A time loop?

"So, will you come with me?"

Archer turned his head to look away. It wasn't so much that this was bad memory. It was just a moment in time. He couldn't explain why but somehow it twisted his heart. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real he kept telling himself.

When he glanced back, everything was different again. He was in an apartment. Small wooden dining table filled with food. Rin was holding a red mug, inhaling its scent. His younger self was at the stove cooking. This was the apartment they shared in London.

"...You don't have to do this, you know!" Rin protested.

Archer opened his mouth to try to break whatever magic was causing this. Whatever this was; it was enough. He did not need to relive all this. Whatever this was; he would end it. The world began to fade again as he wondered if somehow maybe he was finally dead and in Hell.

This time Rin was sitting alone in their apartment just staring out a window. She sighed softly.

"This was the moment that I knew what I wanted to do with my life. Yes, I always knew I'd go to the Clocktower and continue my father's legacy but...what my desire...my WISH…"

Rin turned her head to look at him.

"..was to dismantle the Holy Grail." She stood up, and walked over to him. Placing her hands against his armored chest. Archer stood wearily watching her.

Was he being punished?

Had he not given enough?

"Like so many things that shouldn't exist, Heroic spirits are just echoes. A shadow of someone already lost to time. They linger. Just a fragment of something that should have stayed dead." Rin looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Just like you"

This wasn't real.

"We both know life isn't meant to be like that. You live, you make mistakes and you move on. The past cannot be cured. So, let me ask you." Her lips were soft against his and before he could react, she had already pulled back.

"Archer, Why are you here?"

...Don't be real

...I don't want you to be.

Not sure if this will be continued. The quote "The past cannot be cured" is by Elizabeth I