Medicine from Dad

Disclaimer: I don't own Fate/Stay Night, Fate/hollow ataraxia, Fate/Zero, the Fate/Extra/ccc/fox tail/Extella, Fate/Prototype, Fate/strange fake, Fate/Apocrypha, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Ilya, Fate/Grand Order or any other product related products and their characters and plot to the Fate series which belongs to Type-Moon.

"Yo! Mordred-san!" Chaldea's only master Fujimura Ritsuka called the Saber of Red as he poked his head into the room she had been taking her break.

"Eh?" For her part the knight could barely muster on what her Master had to say as she rolled in the couch she had been napping to look at him. They had just managed to deal with th latest singularity and there were zero events until next week. If it wasn't a fight she wasn't interested.

"I need you to go to the 3rd conference room to pick up something from the Servant waiting there."

"Eh? No way, send someone else." Mordred said as she rolled over to turn her back towards Ritsuka.

"C'mon, you might find something unexpected." Ritsuka tried to encourage her.

No response.

The Command Spells on Ritsuka's hand started to glow.

"Fine! I'll do it!" Mordred gave up on the threat of being forced to do it anyway through a command spell. At least if she do it out of her own volition she wouldn't have a headache later.

"Thank you, Mordred." Ritsuka smiled as if he hadn't just threatened with a command spell.

Mordred just grumbled all the way to the conference. Who knows maybe she might even find someone to give her a good fight.

"Oy, I heard there was something for me to pick up. It better be something good cause I don't like wasting my time." Mordred announced as she entered the room to find…

"Father?!"

It was indeed Artoria Pendragon. To be more precise it was the Saber Lily version of Artoria Pendragon, before she became King and was still a half-baked knight.

"Oh, Sir Mordred! Thank you for coming." Saber Lily smiled kindly at her. Mordred tried hard not to blush.

"Er, Master said that there was something for me to pick up." Mordred tried to cut short their conversation just in case she ended up making a fool out of herself. Not to mention that this Father's kindness made her uncomfortable.

"Ah, yes! Here Sir Mordred, please enjoy." Lily said as she gave her the small box she was carrying.

"Eh?" Mordred said, confused as she took the box. She looked at the small box, then back at Lily. She opened the small box.

It was a chocolate heart. At first glance the chocolate heart looked simple and imperfect, but a closer look revealed it was engraved with a beautiful pattern.

"What's this?" Mordred was confused. Why had White Father given her a heart-shaped chocolate?

"Valentine's chocolate." Lily said as she fidgets in place, a bashful look in her place. "Master told me that today was the day people expressed their gratitude towards others in the form of chocolate. It was my first time doing something like this, so I had to do it over and over again. Lady Medea, Lady Boudica and Sir Emiya were kind enough to help me prepare it."

Mordred just looked at the chocolate, not really hearing Saber Lily as she continued to ramble as she began to pace around the room. Gratitude, towards her?

She could feel the familiar anger begin to bubble as her muscles tensed.

"Are you messing with me?" Mordred growled, startling Lily with her tone and the glare that accompanied it. "Do you remember who I am?"

Lily looked confused for a moment before assuming a serene expression.

"You are Sir Mordred." Artoria calmly stated. "A member of the Knights of the Round Table, a hero to Camelot, and one of my most loyal and dedicated knights."

"I AM THE KNIGHT OF TRACHERY!" Mordred shouted in anger. At what she did not really know. "I am the son of the witch Morgana Le Fey!"

She remembered the cruel smile on that woman's face as she told the young and naïve self the truth of her heritage and birth, aware of the consequences it would bring.

"I am the reason for the fall of Camelot and your knights!"

She had taken advantage of the distrust within the Knights of the Round Table and the national discontent towards her father, seizing the reins of power in Camelot once he had departed towards Rome, becoming the leader of the rebellion that would tear apart their kingdom.

"I am the reason of your death and the end of your dream!"

She remembered that in her last breath, right before her dead, she had struck a fatal blow to her father thanks to the curse that her mother imbued her body with.

Artoria remained calm at her tirade and just a calmly responded.

"True," Artoria calmly stated "Your actions led to many sorrows, deaths, and tragedies."

"But you were also a victim, of the conflict between Morgana and Myself." Artoria continued. "I remember when you joined my knights. Your eagerness to serve, you loyalty to me, and your dedication to become an ideal knight. I remember well Sir Mordred who you were before I betrayed you."

Mordred began to argue against her statement, but Artoria silenced her by placing a finger on her lips.

"I should have done more for you, look after you and make some effort to keep you in the right path after learning of your connection to Morgana. Not only as your king, but as your father as well."

Artoria smiled sadly as she removed her hand from her lips.

"But I did not. I did nothing for you. And part of that was due to my own hubris"

Artoria closed her eyes as she thought back.

"I was born to be the perfect king, the king that would lead to an Utopia on Earth. And I was. But I failed as a human. I was flawed and never did anything to overcome those flaws because I had thrown away my humanity to become the perfect king. But because of my lack of humanity, my people and even my knights grew to distrust me. And because of my lack of humanity and my flaws I failed you when I should have helped you. I failed you as a father. For that I ask your forgiveness."

Artoria calmly kneeled before her as she continued talking.

"Because I was a perfect king, I did not believe I had the need for a heir. After all, why would a perfect king like me had the need for a successor when I had the blessings of the fairies?" Artoria smirked mockingly at that thought. "So when you came to me and revealed your heritage and birthright, I just dismissed you. And why? Because I did not believe I needed a heir, a successor to a perfect king. And that hurt you deeply, worse than any wound. I did not even try to help you become someone worthy of becoming a king. So I failed you not just a your king, but as your father as well."

"And for that I am sorry."

As Artoria continued to kneel before her, Mordred continued to shake in anger. But she did not know at what. It was at her father, for her words and actions, but the same time it was not. She felt angry at herself, for the suffering she had brought to her father, but at the same time she was not. She felt angry at the world for daring to create such a situation, but she was not. And she hated the most that strange feeling that was bubbling inside of her. She hated. It was new. It was strange. It was scary. But she couldn't bring herself to truly hate it. She couldn't part from. She did not dare, for fear it could go away. She did not want it to.

"Stand up." In her eyes, her father was a great figure with no hero that could compare t him. He was a perfect king, an ideal knight, a godlike figure that should never bow or kneel before anyone.

"You don't need to kneel." Specially to something like her.

Artoria stood back up, looking searchingly at her face for something. She took a step towards her.

Mordred took a step back.

"Sir Mordred." Another step forward.

Another step back.

"Regardless of your past." Another step forward.

Another step back.

"Regardless of my future." Another step forward.

Another step back.

"I want you to know." One more step forward.

Mordred tried to take another step back but found that she had her back towards the wall. Artoria had maneuvered their position so she could eventually have her back towards the wall before Mordred had started raging. Before Mordred could look for a way out or even just run away from this strange situation she was stopped by Artoria calmly caressing her left cheek with her small and gentle hand.

"My precious knight." Artoria brought up her other hand to caress her other cheek.

"My dear friend." She touched her forehead with her own, trying her best to not break eye contact.

"My Son."

"I love you."

She pulled the stunned Mordred into an embrace. Gentle but firm, just strong enough to prevent Mordred from running away.

For her part Mordred did not try to run. She did not even think about running away. She could not. She was confused. Father was embracing her. Father had her he loved her. What was she supposed to do? Was she supposed to do anything?

A memory came to her. The memory of a child and her parents.

She embraced her back.

As reciprocated her hug, Artoria hugged her tighter and pulled her close, making sure it was neither uncomfortable or hurtful.

"Ah…" The strange feeling was bubbling up stronger and higher than ever.

"Ah..." It threatened to burst out from her.

"Shh." Her father whispered in her ear as she rested her head on her's. "Just let go."

She did.

To anyone who heard the cries coming from inside the room, they would believe it was the cries of a child who had gotten lost and was finally in the arms of their parents.

It was the cries of a child who fallen and scrapped her knee, crying their heart out in the embrace of their parent because they could make the pain go away and make everything better.

It was the cries of a scared child who could freely cry because she felt safe in the embrace of her parents.

Then she realized. The strange feeling.

'Ah' she thought, 'this is a parent's love.'

I originally thought this one up for Valentine's Day but did not really think it fit the day. Better for Mother's Day or Father's Day, but I have ideas for those days, so I posted it the day after as a compromise. Inspired by the images of Saber Lily and Mordred in Safebooru, Danbooru's safe for work sister page, and listening to HoneyWorks Mama, Fate/zero second ending, and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni [Dear You]. I recommend listening to the last one while reading this. I did while writing it, so I believe it fits. Or at least the version I listened to did. The title was inspired by Gaara's last conversation with his father. It made me cry. So did writing this story so I hope you at least enjoyed it. If not, I might cry for another reason.

See you next time.