The two Entwine; the Couple Perishes
Author's Note: I have seen t Heaven's Feel Trilogy (You heard me, TRILOGY, which means, all the love scenes will probably be there!) Trailer, and I can't wait, Sempai will FINALLY notice Sakura, LOL! There was no animation, but the artwork looks lovely! You'll have to use a proxy to view it on YouTube!
My timeline is very different than the 10 year timeline that the Nasuverse gives for Arturia's reign. The book I read King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green described Arthur as having gray hair by the time the battle of Camlann. Giving Arturia a good long reign just makes it worse than the relatively short one she had in the Nasuverse. So about 50 years, that's the answer I found online for how long people say Arthur ruled Britain. She still has Avalon so she doesn't age, but imagine if Nasu had given her a longer reign than 10 years, we thought her angst was bad in Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night, just think if her reign had been longer, triple the angst!
"Shirou, can you ever forgive me?" Saber asked, leaning against his shoulder. They're sitting together under a tree, on a hill overlooking the city. He's enjoying the view, the breathtaking landscape, he can see Camelot in its shining glory below, but he relishes the sight of the beautiful woman in his arms more. He's holding her as he smiles down at the woman he loves more than anything.
"What do you mean?" Shirou asks curiously, "What's there to forgive?"
"I know that I will stop at nothing to end your life, and even if by some miracle I spare you, I have no doubt I would have your fingers severed."
"I'd rather keep my fingers, I can't touch and hold you without them," Shirou ran his fingers through her hair. He kissed her lips softly.
"I know Shirou; I wish I could do more for you than just speak to you in your dreams."
"Tell me Saber, since this is your life I've been dragged into, do you remember both, the time period where I wasn't there, and what's going on now?"
"I remember both, but I do not know what will happen to you at the moment."
Saber's expression was sad and uncomfortable.
"And Shirou, my sister…she has mutilated you, and I know there is nothing I can really do about that. I beg your forgiveness…"
Shirou laughed, "Of all the things you're sorry for, you mourn the loss of my junk!"
"Shirou!" Saber scolded him, "such a horrific thing should have never happened to you. Or have you forgotten that I have been a man, and completely understand that it is quite humiliating to have ones "junk" forcibly removed. You are a wonderful lover, and that aspect of you has been taken away by her."
Saber's expression was furious.
"It's all right, I'll get better," Shirou gave her another grin.
"Not that my sons will refrain from mocking you if they should see you like that. They will say that you are not a man because you have no wit."
Shirou chuckled, "So that's what they call it? My wit will recover, but your son Amhar will always be an ass hat."
Saber kissed his cheek, "Amhar always was an ass."
"So tell me, Saber, how often have you been a man? You have five sons, they don't just pop out of nowhere."
"Six years, if you include Mordred, every time Guenivere and I would try conceive Merlin would turn me into a man that way no one would really notice, the Knights of the Round Table knew and they carried on as usual."
"I see," Shirou gazed out at the view. "Camelot really is a lovely place."
"I am glad you find my home beautiful," Saber nuzzled his neck.
"It's only a model," Shirou joked.
"Must you constantly tease me?" Saber groaned.
"We're Knights of the Round Table, We dance when e'er we're able
We do routines and chorus scenes With footwork impeccable," the young mage managed to sing before bursting into a fit of laugher.
"You should not taunt me Shirou, or I will have Merlin feed you to a rabbit."
"Really Saber, the killer Rabbit of Caerbannog?" the young mage raised an eyebrow, amused.
"One does not mock the Rabbit of Caerbannog! It was a miscast spell by Le Fay, she meant to summon an adorable lion cub to trap me, only something went wrong and she summoned the monster in the form of a rabbit instead."
"LOOK AT THE BONES!" Shirou uttered in mock horror.
Saber slapped his chest, "Oh shut up! The whole adventure was so horrible; we blotted every mention of it from the records! It did slaughter my poor men, and I had to kill it with Caliburn! A few years later, she summoned it back!"
"What did you do?"
"I killed it with Excalibur, I suppose she gave up on summoning monsters and decided summoning Heroic Spirits would be better."
"Satisfy my curiosity; is there a dragon of Angnor?"
"Yes," she replied.
"A vicious Chicken of Bristol?"
Saber playfully slapped his shoulder again, "Shut up! Shut up!"
"See the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" He burst out laughing.
Shirou pulled her in for a long, lingering kiss as he embraced her again.
"So that's how I got dragged into this mess," Shirou sighed. "You know I can't tell you the truth about me right?"
"Of course, I would find it nearly impossible to believe that a man from the future is my Master and that I should become a Heroic Spirit for such a tragic reason, and that you are my lover as well, especially since I have never seen myself as a woman. I would never believe that I could be so unsatisfied by my own rule that I would wish to redo it all, let alone wish to erase my own existence."
"Yeah, that whole, "I fell in love with you when I accidentally summoned you to the future in my shed" thing won't really sound believable. Let alone that the Holy Grail is corrupted and evil on top of everything else."
"The Holy Grail that appeared before me in Camelot was indeed the cup of Christ; it is not the omnipotent wish-granting device that appeared in Fuyuki."
"How did you learn about the Grail that appeared in Fuyuki?" Shirou asked curiously.
"I learned of the wish-granting Grail in my search for the Holy Grail that Christ used."
"I see," Shirou took her hand in his.
Shirou glanced down at Saber. "Saber?"
"What is it Shirou?" Saber queried.
"About Mordred…and May Day, that's something you actually did, it's not just some embellished story about you is it?"
Shirou saw tears in Saber's eyes.
"It is my greatest shame," Saber whispered softly. "I did it because I was afraid; my need for self preservation was my own undoing. I gathered all the children born on May 30th, on pain of death, and sent babies of out to sea to die, and that is something I will carry with me forever. You've seen my many sins yet you still love me."
"But you didn't know Mordred was a homunculus," Shirou stroked her cheek, comforting her with an embrace.
"No, I didn't."
"You're not perfect, I thought that Christians said that only God is perfect," Shirou noted.
"I thought I could be a perfect king, but my foolish decisions ruined me. But we must speak of other things."
"Must I wake up?" Shirou smiled.
"You should wake from your dreams now, Shirou," Saber smiled quietly, "Lest my sons find you asleep and you see me, much sooner than you'd like."
"Am I even worthy of that honor?" Shirou's expression was sad.
"Yes, you are still worthy of it, what you've done is Le Fay's doing, not your own."
"I love you, Saber," he leaned over and kissed her.
"I know," she smiled, returning his kiss. "Wake up, and leave this place, I will pursue you relentlessly."
"But my goal in life is to chase you for all eternity," he smiled.
"And I will wait for you, for all eternity," she smiled. "I will speak to Merlin soon."
"He can see you?"
"He can, he's one of the few people who that know my true gender and will believe what I tell him regarding you."
"That's good, Saber, that's good," Shirou mumbled.
She gave him one final kiss, "Wake up."
"Saber…."
Shirou Emiya opened his eyes and looked out over the landscape. There was Camelot in all its glory and splendor, but he knew that he would never be able to enjoy it; he would never pass through its doors as a friend to the King or the Knights of the Round Table.
He turned and headed away, he would have to return to Morgan Le Fay soon, he hated it, but he didn't have a choice, she still had two Command Seals.
After stealing a horse, he returned to Tugan, Morgan Le Fay's castle, he was allowed to pass through the gates and made his way towards his Master's bedchamber.
He could hear a low moan, "Oh Accolon!"
Shirou bit back a sigh; he just had to be unlucky enough to find his reprehensible Master in bed with her lover.
He opened the door; Le Fay was straddling Accolon and riding him like a pony. It was an insult to all the ponies in Britain. They both looked rather nasty covered in sweat and he wanted nothing more than to leave like that "Nope, nope, nope" octopus meme he'd seen on the internet.
"I'm sorry Master, I've interrupted something private," he tried to leave as quickly as possible.
"No, I want you to watch, just so I can remind you of the price for disobeying me," she smirked at him.
"I know the price for disobedience Master," Shirou gritted his teeth, "I don't need to be reminded of it."
"Such a pity, you could have been reunited with this Saber of yours if you had willingly joined me. You followed my orders?"
"Of course Master, I cannot disobey a Command Seal."
"You're a good dog, Archer," Le Fay smiled wickedly. She was rocking her body against her lover, "Oh that's good, I'm so close!"
She glared at him, "You're watching us until I'm finished, Archer!"
"A pity it's not titillating at all," Shirou smirked.
Morgan Le Fay used her magic to cause him so much pain that he collapsed in agony, groaning.
He heard her screaming as she apparently got off on his anguish.
"Get out!" Le Fay looked over and glowered at him.
"Finally!" he said in relief.
Shirou staggered down the hallway.
"I feel so dirty, I need brain bleach and a shower, but most of all, brain bleach!" Shirou sighed miserably.
Shirou groaned, wishing Saber would kill him; a quick death by Excalibur seemed immensely preferable to watching Le Fay hump Accolon.
It was a long, miserable night. Shirou would have very little rest, drifting in and out of sleep; he strained to listen to the voice of the one he loved, who was there and yet not there, all at the same time.
King Arthur sat at Amhar's bedside; the physicians had successfully staunched the bleeding and bandaged his wounds.
"My Lord, he will live, but it will be some time before he's back on his feet."
"Good, good," Arthur said to herself.
"Father?" Amhar asked, "Is that you?"
"Yes, I am here, and you are lucky to be here too, a few more hours and you would have been beyond our aid. You should be dead, boy; this will teach you a lesson, next time you should listen to your father," Arthur rested a hand on his head.
"I try Father," Amhar insisted, "I thought that we could take him and prevent more bloodshed."
"He was too strong, there has never been anyone like him, he was a talented swordsman, not some peasant mindlessly flailing about," Amhar continued.
"Did you notice it Amhar?" Loholt asked, "That his movements and swordplay were similar to Father's?"
"What?!" Arthur asked in astonishment.
"Yes, he fought like you Father," Amhar stared over at Arthur.
"Is he a knight who trained with Father and Sir Kay when they were children?" Gwydre asked.
"I have seen his face and I do not know him," Arthur frowned, puzzled.
It made no sense to her that she would have trained him. Perhaps it was a trick of the light her sons had seen that made it appear that he fought like her. She would think more on this unsettling subject.
"What have the physicians said about us Father?" Duran spoke up from his bed.
"The physicians have told me you will recover," Arthur smiled at them. "Now my sons, tell me of your misadventure, leave nothing unsaid! Tell me everything!"
So they told their father everything, every word the Archer uttered, every blow struck during battle.
Gwydre noticed his Father's countenance as he spoke of the Archer; she seemed puzzled that the Archer would beg them not to attack him, as if he were under a spell. Perhaps he was, but how could Arthur pardon the man's actions when hundreds of her people had died?
The Archer had begged them for Arthur's sake to not to attack him.
Why for my sake, I wonder, Arthur pondered.
This man is a stranger to me, it is a trick, it must be, Arthur put it out of her mind.
"Father, the spell he used, it was otherworldly, he could rip apart the world and we found ourselves standing on a hill of swords. He could use them at his whim and it is how we were wounded, we cannot block a dozen swords at once." Gwydre sighed. "What can we do against a being akin to a god?"
"We will defeat him, I have never known defeat, and I will not taste it now!" Arthur reassured them. "As soon as you are able, I will send you out with a scouting party Amhar."
"I thank you for your confidence in me Father, I will slay the Archer."
"I will leave you all to rest," Arthur got up and left them.
She walked down the hall towards the Round Table; the Knights were waiting for her.
"Arturia," Merlin called to her.
"Merlin? What do you want Mage of Flowers?" she asked, trying to hide her irritation at being called upon during this important meeting by her teacher.
"Arturia, I don't like this, any of it," Merlin told her, his voice was grave.
"The sooner we put an end to the Archer, the sooner we will have peace," Arthur muttered.
"Everything about that mage's presence here is wrong, but I fear killing him will have dire consequences."
"Consequences? What consequences?" Arthur asked, concerned.
"I don't know yet, but I intend to find out," Merlin bowed and left her alone.
King Arthur took her place at the Round Table; they would now discuss how to defeat the Archer of Red.
