Author's Note: Hello, readers, and Merry Christmas! I come with a brand new fic: that collection of F/GR one-shots I promised. :D

As the summary suggests, although I imagine that many of these one-shots will take place in the good epilogue universe, some will take place in the true epilogue universe, others will take place after the true ending regardless of epilogues, and quite a few will be set in their own universes. I could always have author's notes telling you which universe each one-shot is set in, but I figure it'll be pretty obvious as you're reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/stay night.

The Morning After

The sun was shining brightly through the bedroom's window as Saber slowly woke up. The first thing he became aware of was the ceiling above him, followed by the smells of food coming from the dining room and the light breathing of the girl lying beside him.

Or rather, lying on him, he quickly amended as he flickered his gaze downward. At some point during the night, Shira had rolled onto her stomach, and her right arm was draped over Saber with her head on his chest. As he took a moment to study her face—the rise of her cheekbones, the line of her jaw, the lips that were curved up in a small, relaxed smile—he found himself thinking of the last woman with whom he had shared a bed, how different it had been from sharing a bed with Shira.

When Saber had shared a bed with Guinevere during their marriage, he had stayed on his side of the bed while she stayed on hers, almost never facing each other and only rarely engaging in any kind of physical contact. It was just one example of how it was duty and not romantic love that had bound him to his first wife. But with Shira, it was the exact opposite; even in slumber, she couldn't suppress the urge to be as close to Saber as she could.

At present, she looked so peaceful that he almost didn't want to wake her, even as the enticing scents of steamed rice, fermented soy beans, and broiled fish continued to fill his nose. Just as he was wondering how he could get out of the futon without disturbing her sleep, Shira stirred a bit, grunting as she was brought back to the waking world.

"Good morning, Shira," Saber greeted.

"Mmm..." came her response as she snuggled further into him, her eyes remaining closed. "You're still here," she added quietly, her voice full of relief.

"I promised I would be," Saber reminded her, continuing when the only reply he received was a sleepy hum. "Shira, I have been smelling breakfast for the past few minutes."

"Have you? I must've overslept." But the redhead, still lying on Saber and determinedly trying to go back to sleep, didn't sound terribly concerned.

"Perhaps we should be getting up now," the blond said, gently removing Shira's arm from around him.

"Do we have to?" she asked after finally opening her eyes and being forced to get up on her knees as Saber sat up in the futon.

He barely resisted laughing at the pout on her face, and he couldn't help but remember how she'd reacted to waking up on top of him that morning in the ruins. Back then, Shira had been incredibly embarrassed, blushing furiously and unable to look Saber in the eye. Amazing how things could change.

"As appealing as staying in bed all day might be," he said presently, "we will need to eat sooner or later."

"Oh, all right." And with that, Shira stretched out her bare arms, her eyes closed and her back slightly arched. Saber stared perhaps a second longer than necessary at the skin the redhead's white nightgown exposed. The garment was not immodest, exactly, but Shira was showing quite a bit more flesh than she usually did; needless to say, Saber had to remember how to breathe when she'd removed her robe after they'd gone to her room last night.

"So, Saber," Shira began after she'd finished stretching, "do you know what you'll say to—"

She never finished her question, because at that moment, the door was shoved open, revealing one Taiga Fujimura standing in the hall. Before either Saber or Shira could do more than look in the woman's direction, Taiga had opened her mouth to speak.

"Shira, what in the world are you doing still in bed?" she scolded, currently oblivious to the fact that Saber was in the futon as well.

"Um...well..." Shira started awkwardly, flushing.

"Come on! The food's getting cold!" At last, Taiga glanced over at the blond. "Oh, hey, Saber; I didn't see you there."

And with that casual statement, Taiga turned to leave, but suddenly froze as she realized what she had just said. When she whirled back around, her light brown eyes were alight with anger.

"SHIRA! WHAT THE HELL IS SABER DOING HERE?! AND IN YOUR BED?!"

Shira visibly winced as she and Saber got to their feet, the latter trying his best to speak evenly despite his own reddening face.

"Taiga, I assure you that there is a perfectly good explanation as to why—"

"SHUT UP, YOU!" Shira's guardian now turned her wrath on Saber. "You've got some nerve, leaving Shira miserable for weeks and then just showing up out of the blue! And taking advantage of a girl in her vulnerable state—!"

"Fuji-nee, stop it!" Shira interrupted heatedly. "Saber didn't take advantage of me!"

"He was in bed with you!" Taiga snapped. "What else am I supposed to think?!"

Shira's face was now about as red as her hair. "Nothing happened! All we did was sleep! And if anything, I took advantage of him, not the other way around!"

It would not be taking advantage if both parties are willing, Saber thought, but he wasn't too worried about that. What he did find concerning was what Taiga had said about Shira being miserable after he left. The rational side of him calmly reminded him that he did not disappear by choice and that it had only been by the Grail system's design that he vanished after the Holy Grail War ended, but he still felt guilt gnaw at him at the thought of causing his lover grief.

Whatever Taiga would have fired back at Shira remained a mystery as a young, childlike voice broke in, sounding irritable.

"What are you yelling about this time, Taiga?"

"And what's all this about—"

But the owner of the second voice—Rin—abruptly stopped talking as Saber, Shira, and Taiga turned their gazes to the hallway. There Rin, Ilyasviel, and Sakura stood, all staring at the blond in undisguised shock.

"S-Saber!" Sakura gasped.

The seconds passed in silence. Saber was inclined to think that all three girls wanted to ask why he was here and alive rather than gone and dead like he was supposed to, but wisely kept their mouths shut due to Taiga's presence.

On the other hand, though, their astonishment at his return may have just rendered them speechless.

"Uh...so..." Shira suddenly smiled cheerfully, her face now its normal color, "Sakura, you made breakfast this morning?"

"Y-yes; yes, I did, Senpai," Sakura replied, tearing her still stunned gaze from Saber to Shira.

"Don't try to change the subject!" Taiga glared at her ward, her hackles raised again. "You still have some explaining to do!"

Saber could have sworn he heard Rin mutter, "You certainly do."

"I'll explain everything at breakfast," Shira said firmly. "Now, do you mind leaving? I want to talk to Saber for a minute."

Taiga's glare did not soften—in fact, it seemed to become more pronounced when she looked at Saber—but she begrudgingly followed Sakura, Rin, and Ilyasviel back to the dining room.

"I guess I can tell Fuji-nee that we're together," Shira told Saber once Taiga was out of hearing range, "and I can probably say that you missed me so much you decided to return from England. Which is the truth...kind of."

"But it's not the whole truth," Saber pointed out. "You do not intend to tell Taiga about the Grail War?"

Shira shook her head. "She doesn't even know that I'm a magus. And with the way she's acting, I bet she'd ground me for life if I told her everything."

Saber had nothing to say to that. He stared at the floor for a moment, then snapped his gaze back to Shira.

"Shira, I meant to say this last night, but I am so sorry—"

"Don't be," the redhead interrupted at once, stepping closer to Saber and putting a hand on his arm. "We didn't have a choice—the Grail had to be destroyed. And it wouldn't have been fair for me to ask you to stay."

"But Taiga said a few minutes ago that you have been miserable for these past weeks."

"Fuji-nee just exaggerated," Shira insisted.

"Did she?" Saber asked, unconvinced.

Shira opened her mouth, then closed it, letting go of Saber's arm and looking down with a crestfallen expression on her face.

That was all the answer he needed, and the guilt increased. "Shira, I'm—"

But his apology was suddenly cut off by Shira shooting her head up, grabbing his face in her hands, and kissing him soundly on the mouth.

She pulled away after a few seconds, his face still cradled in her hands. "Stop apologizing," she chided softly. "Yes, I was upset about you disappearing—I was very upset, in fact—but you told me last night that it didn't matter to you that you had to wait fifteen centuries to see me again. Well, the same applies to me. Six weeks, fifteen hundred years—it doesn't matter how long we were apart; what matters is that we're together now."

Saber remained silent for a few seconds after Shira finished, able to do nothing more than stare at her.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" she asked, lowering her hands to her sides.

He at last found his voice. "What is there for me to say?"

A wry grin crossed her lips. "Well, for starters, you can accept that you have nothing to be sorry for, not to mention that we love each other enough to endure being separated for a long period of time."

Saber's lips quivered upward, and he allowed Shira to give him another, chaster kiss.

When the kiss ended, Shira's grin had softened into a warm smile. "Seriously, Saber, I'm really glad you're back."

"It is good to be back," was all Saber said, and it wasn't long before they left to finally eat breakfast, as ready as they would ever be to face Taiga's demands for answers.