When Shirou and Yuno finally made their way into the Emya residence, they found Saber sitting at Rin's bedside. The young magus was still unconscious from the blow she had received.

"Will she be ok?"

"I don't know: She looks fine, but Caster's master hit her with his command seals. I have no idea what sort of damage that did."

"I wish I was a better magus!" Shirou slumped to the floor and put his head into his hands. Yuno stood awkwardly next to him. "Are there any other magi in Fuyuko city?" She asked tentatively.

"Not that I know of" Shirou shook his head.

Saber stood up and paced, "I think there might be.. I have a faint memory..."

"Who?"

"Sakura."

"Sakura?" Shirou asked, incredulous.

"I'll go get her. You stay with Rin" Yuno said to Shirou, "Don't worry, I'll be back as fast as I can."

Saber quirked an eyebrow at Yuno's solicitousness, 'She's up to something'. "I think Shirou should be the one to get Sakura - he knows her better, after all."

Yuno frowned, then nodded.

FSD*FSD

Shirou pounded on the Matou's door, 'I hope she's here' He had tried calling, but Sakura hadn't picked up her phone. It was late to be visiting unannounced, but he was desperate.

Finally, after a good ten minutes, the huge door creaked open, revealing Sakura, who looked extremely incongruous standing in the doorway to that dark, dank, house. "Sempai!" her face lit up, "What are you doing here so late at night? Don't you know that it's dangerous out? lots of people have been attacked lately."

"I need your help. Tohsaka has been hurt, and I think you're the only one that can help her."

Sakura's lips tightened into a thin line, "I'm not a doctor. You should take her to the hospital."

"Sakura.. You're the only one that can help" Shirou pleaded, "She was injured by magic."

"Magic?" Sakura looked incredulous.

Shirou nodded, not budging from his statement or the doorway.

Sakura looked inside for a moment, obviously torn. Seconds ticked by as she deliberated. Finally, "Ok. I'll come. I can't promise I will be able to help". 'I am better than her.' She slipped on her shoes before walking out with Shirou. "Tell me: What happened?"

"She got hit by a spell" Shirou began glancing at Sakura, to make sure that she was believing what he said. but surprisingly, almost incredibly, Sakura appeared completely unfazed by the mention of magic, 'maybe she IS a magus', "It was a command seal. It hit her in the back of the head"

Sakura frowned, "That's not good. that could scramble her brain, or worse, fry her Magic Circuits"

"How is that worse?" asked Shirou incredulously.

"Passing on their Magic Circuits to their heir is very important for magical families. Even if Tohsaka's mind is gone, her family could still breed her, and pass on their heritage on to the next generation" there was a certain vindictiveness when Sakura said that, as if she wished to see it happen.

"That's horrible!' exploded Shirou, "How could you say such a thing!"

Sakura wilted, snapping out of her daydream, "I'm sorry, Sempai. I didn't mean to be horrid, but magical families are like that."

"Well, in that case I am glad Rin's an orphan!" They continued to walk for sometimes before Shirou asked, "Um, Sakura, is your family like that?"

Sakura nodded, without looking at Shirou.

Shirou continued walking, not certain what to say.

FSD*FSD

"I think most of the damage is to her Magical circuits" It was almost morning, and Sakura had been working on Rin most of the night, tracing damaged circuits and reconnecting them as best she could before they burnt out. "I don't know how much I was able to salvage"

Saber caught her as she tried to stand up. Shirou had fallen asleep while watching Sakura work, and Yuno had carried him to his room, before also going to bed, saying that she trusted Sakura to do her best.

Saber gave Sakura a cup of hot chocolate. "Thank you" She sat down at the dining room table. It didn't seem worth it to go to bed.

"How are you feeling?" asked Saber, "You pushed yourself pretty hard."

"I'll be ok. I'm used to pushing my limits" She smiled tiredly at the older man. "But I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do my best. Not given our history" She swayed slightly, almost falling asleep as she slurred, "I had to prove that I'm better than her."

Saber caught her before she collapsed, resting a hand on her back, "You should go to bed."

"Maybe. Maybe I should" Sakura staggered upright, with a little help from Saber and made her way to a guest room.

After Saber helped her into bed, he turned and asked, as he was leaving the room, "What's your history with Rin?"

"She's my sister" muttered Sakura sleepily as she turned over and fell asleep.

FSD*FSD

The next day, Sakura awoke at almost noon, when the aroma of cooking filled the house.

"Sorry I didn't help prepare lunch" she said, entering the kitchen, to find an odd sight: Saber, wearing Shirou's apron, was cooking. "Uhm, why are YOU cooking?"

Saber gave an exasperated sigh, "Yuno claims that unconscious people can sense those around them, and draw strength from having their friends close by, so she insists that Shirou sit with Rin."

"I thought Yuno didn't like Rin." Sakura usually had a good sense for people.

"I thought to so too, but Yuno is a little bit nuts, so it's hard to say."

"But why didn't _she_ cook lunch then?" Sakura came up to help Saber dump the stir fry from the pan into a serving bowl.

"She did" Scowled Saber, "For herself and Shirou. They are eating in Rin's room right now."

Sakura stifled a laugh at the Servant's exasperated expression. "I should go check up on her."

Rin was lying on her futon, still unconscious, while Shirou sat next to her, an empty plate at his side. Yuno was tidying up the serving bowls at the other side of the room. "Are you certain me sitting here is going to help?" Shirou asked, somewhat plaintively. "Oh, hi Sakura."

"Yes, having your friends around you when you are injured helps the healing process." Yuno replied sternly.

"But I need to train."

"Does Tohsaka-sempai have any other friends you could call to sit with her, I mean that we could trust in this situation?" Asked Sakura.

"I don't think she HAS any other friends." Sighed Shirou. "She keeps everybody at arms length with her 'school Idol' persona."

"In that case, you have to stay with her" Yuno said with a small shrug, "You could try holding her hand. That also helps."

Shirou rolled his eyes.

Sakura and Saber exchanged amused glances.

After checking on Rin, Sakura went home, promising to return later in the afternoon. When she did, she spent another hour with Rin, at the end of which, she stumbled out, looking tired, "She's awake, but don't tire her out."

Shirou darted in to see Rin, but was disappointed that she was tired and confused. "I don't have all the magical training that Tohsaka-sempai has, but I've done a lot of reading on magical healing, and I'm pretty good with magical circuits and stuff. According to what I have read, it will probably be several more days before she recovers her wits: I fixed all the magical damage that I can, but I don't know how much of the damage is permanent - if she doesn't start getting better in a few days, you should take her to a hospital" said Sakura. It was a very pleasant feeling, being the acknowledged expert on something, 'Is this how Rin feels all the time?'

The next several days fell into a routine.

Sakura would come over and make breakfast, and then feed Rin. Shirou would spend the morning sparring with Saber, and afterwards he would make lunch for everybody and it would be his turn to feed Rin. After that, Shirou would be imprisoned in Rin's room by Yuno until dinner time. Rin spent most of the time asleep.

Saber looked tired a lot: with Rin unconscious much of the time, the prana he received from her was just a trickle.

"I think Rin is getting better" Shirou pronounced over dinner. Sakura had done the cooking, over Yuno's protests. "we exchanged a few words before she fell back asleep."

"See? I told you your presence would help." beamed Yuno. "tonight, you should sleep in her room as well".

"What?" Sakura and Shirou both cried out in indignation. "That's absurd."

"Don't you want your friend to get better quicker?" Asked Yuno calmly, eating her noodles.

"Yes" sighed Shirou.

'Maybe' thought Sakura.

"Fine, I'll do it" agreed Shirou, "But I feel like I have been trapped in this building for the past week. I'm going to go out for a walk"

"I should go with you" Yuno put down her chopsticks and brushed off some non-existent crumbs from her lap.

"Sorry, Yuno, but I need some time away from people. I'm used to being on my own, so as much as I appreciate having all you guys here, it feels very crowded to me."

"Still..." said Yuno.

"This time of the evening, the streets are going to be filled with couples taking a stroll" Sakura came to Shirou's defense. "He'll be safe"

Yuno glanced at her Master Diary 'Next entry is him waking up. I guess nothing bad happens', "Fine."

Shirou grabbed his shoes "I'll be back soon" he waved

FSD*FSD

Shirou opened his eyes groggily. 'This isn't home' He was lying on a western style bed, and a rather ornate one at that. The room looked pretty fancy as well. Shirou sat up "Hello? anybody here?"

"Hello, Ni-san" Illya walked into the room, "I hope you are decent. I wouldn't want to walk in on you as you are changing, or something."

"Uhm, I don't have any other clothes with me." Shirou replied, confused.

"Oh, well, it's just something I always wanted to be able to say" Illya reply airily. "Are you well?"

"I guess. Why am I here?" Shirou got up off the bed and took a cautious stance.

"Oh, you are such a kidder, Oni-san" Illya smiled, "You're here to help me win the Grail War."

"What? Why? And why do you keep referring to me as your brother. Did you know my family, from before the fire?" Shirou asked hopefully.

"Let's go down to the Dining Hall - we can have some milk and cookies." Illya turned and motioned for Shirou to follow, "And don't try anything funny, or Berserker will have to punish you."

Shirou caught sight of a huge man out of the corner of his eye for just a moment.

"Coming"

FSD*FSD

"Where's Shirou?" Yuno confronted Sakura. 'The Master Diary said he is going to be fine. So why isn't he home yet?' She was starting to panic

"I don't know. He isn't back yet?" Sakura frowned. It was getting late.

"No, he isn't. It was your idea to let him go wandering around on his own, so I'm going to hold you responsible if something happened to him."

"What? It was Shirou's idea." Sakura replied.

"Saber!" Yuno called out, "Please come give me a hand."

The other Servant came in, looking somewhat ragged, "I heard. but unless we know where the idiot is, there's not much we can do."

"Sakura, can you cast a tracing spell?" Yuno demanded.

"I wish I could. There's a way to do it with the Matou magic, but I never learned how. Grandfather might be able to, though."

"No. I don't think that's a good idea" For some reason, getting the elder Matou involved filled Saber with dread.

"Lets think about who our suspects are, in that case" replied Sakura.

"We have seen Lancer. When I fought him, he seemed like a very straightforward person, who wouldn't resort to kidnapping, but his master may be the underhanded sort, from what he said at the time" Yuno paced daintily as she spoke. "But the same is true of Archer. Her master looked like a thug"

"Don't forget, Berserker's master - Illya - she seemed to have a personal interest in Shirou." Saber volunteered.

It was then that Yuno's phone buzzed. She glanced down at her Master Diary "Shirou's been taken by Illya."

"Well, that settles that. He's been kidnapped by the crazy fangirl" Saber poured himself a cup of tea.

"Will you help me rescue him?" Yuno asked the two others.

"Yes, of course" Sakura nodded.

Saber finished his tea, and set the cup back down gently with a sigh. He carefully wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I guess I might as well."

"Don't act that way!" Sakura scolded gently, "He's your friend also."

Saber gave her a bemused look, "Actually, he's my competitor. But I'm not certain that I want the prize," 'from what I recall, the grail is a scam, and doesn't actually grant wishes', "so I might as well get what enjoyment I can out of my time here. Besides, Rin will be annoyed if I let her little boyfriend get hurt."

"They're not like that!" exploded Sakura.

Saber quirked an eyebrow. "Let's go. It's a long way to the Einzbern mansion."

FSD*FSD

"I am not going to wear that!" Shirou said, exasperated. His arms were full with a full clothing ensamble - pants, shirt, vest, suit and overcoat. They were all of very high quality, but rather outdated. it was the sort of thing that a wealthy Victorian gentleman might wear.

"But why not? You will look quite dashing in it." replied Illya. The two were back in the room that Shirou had woken up in, after Illya had led Shirou down to the extremely large, extremely ornate dining hall, where one of Illya's maids had served them a plate of oatmeal cookies (Illya did not like chocolate chips) and milk. When they returned to the bedroom, the other maid had brought them the clothes.

"I thought you wanted me to help you win the Holy Grail war. What does this" Shirou plopped the clothes onto the bed, "have to do with that?"

"Oni-san, you have to look the part. You have to match me after all." replied Illya.

"I'm not a doll to play dress up with!" replied Shirou in exasperation. He sighed "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell, but I don't even know where I am!"

Illya's face lit up and she grabbed Shirou's arm, "come on, I will show you around the mansion. It really is a grand place." She clutched the arm tight to her chest as she led him around the huge building.

FSD*FSD

"I didn't know that there was this much forest here." Sakura commented. The three rescuers had been walking through the park-like woods leading up to the Einzbern Mansion, and there was at least a mile of forest. Along the way, they had came across an abandoned cottage. It was unlocked, so they were using it to take a break and to plan strategy.

"What I want to know is what's the plan. If Illya has Hercules as Berserker, we can't face him head on."

"I think I could take him, if I had more prana" Saber said calmly.

Yuno gave him a look, "You think so? Hercules is one of the most famous heroes ever, and I don't think I've ever even heard of you."

Saber just shrugged "I've made a habit of getting into fights with people who are more powerful than me and winning. But it's irrelevant, because I need to be at full capacity for prana."

"I have 38 Magic Circuits. They aren't as good as Tohsaka's, but I could provide you with enough manna, if you transfer you contract to me." Sakura volunteered.

"That would help" Saber nodded thoughtfully, "but it will still take several days for me to reach full capacity.

"That's not acceptable. There is no telling what that crazy girl will do to Shirou during that time" Yuno looked agitated. "We need to rescue him tonight. Maybe we can wait for Illya to go Servant hunting, and we can sneak in while she's out."

"That might work, but I want a back up plan, in case Berserker surprises us." Saber replied stubbornly.

"You just want to let Shirou die!" Yuno cried out.

"Not anymore."

"What do you mean, not anymore?"

"Saber, there is a way I can provide you with more prana." Sakura said quietly, biting her lip. "There is a tantric ritual that I read about..."

"Are you certain you want to go through with that?" asked Saber.

Sakura nodded, blushing. Yuno looked confused "What is a tantric..."

"It involves sex" stated Saber calmly as Sakura turned crimson.

Yuno walked into the other room and shut the door, stunned. "Sex can make you more powerful? Who knew?"

The next half hour was very awkward. Yuno had nowhere to go, but if she sat quietly, she could hear... noises... from the other room. Very distracting noises. 'I need to rescue Shirou. That crazy little girl better not be doing something to my Master.' Yuno paused, 'Shirou wouldn't do that. He's faithful. He wouldn't just jump in the sack with some stalker girl. Besides she's underage.' Yuno wasn't quite certain why she cared, but it felt very important.

When Sakura and Saber finally came out, both acted as if nothing had happened, though Sakura refused to meet Yuno's eyes or even look at Saber. 'I did it for Sempai. it's not a betrayal.' In a way, this had been her first time: SHE had initiated it, because SHE had wanted to. But the experience had left her very confused, about what she felt and about what she wanted.

FSD*FSD

"Ok, there she goes" whispered Yuno.

"Where's Berserker?" Sakura felt that something was wrong.

"Incorporeal. If we were close enough to sense him, then he could sense Saber" was the pink haired Assassins reply. "Give them ten minutes, and then lets go." Yuno pulled out her phone to see if there was anything new on Shirou. There wasn't.

Waiting those last few minutes was difficult. Even Saber shifted from foot to foot a couple of times.

"The coast is clear. Lets go!" Yuno darted forwards, followed by the other two. They went in through the main door, only to find themselves in a vast entryway, with a stair running up the far side to the second floor, and a balcony that ran along both sides. And there were a half dozen doors on the ground floor as well.

"Which way now, oh leader?" Saber asked.

Yuno glanced left and right, grimacing. She glanced at her Master Diary,

6:45 Shirou glances out the window towards Fuyuko City

"He's upstairs!"

They were halfway across the ballroom sized foyer when Illya stepped out onto the top of the stairs. "Haven't you three heard of Bounded Fields? You are so predictable. You fell into my trap! All I had to do was send out one of my maids dressed as me!" She laughed. "Now, Berserker, kill them!" The giant man materialized next to her.

"No, Illya, stop!" Shirou ran up from a second floor corridor as Hercules launched himself down at the intruders.

Saber leaped forward to engage the unstoppable servant, sword flashing.

"Oh, I still want to spend more time with my oni-san, so they will just have to die."

'Thank you for making this simple, Illya-chan' Yuno smiled. Now she wouldn't have to deal with Shirou's silly request not to hurt people.

Shirou leaped over the banister to land behind Hercules, yelling, "Yuno, please don't hurt Illya!"

'Or not' sighed Assassin.

As Saber and and Berserker fought, Shirou did his best to help. Saber didn't try to stop the powerful blows from Berserker's club sword. Instead he dodged, darting in at the last moment to slash as Berserker's flank. And when he did, Shirou would nip at Berserker's side, distracting him. But it was all Shirou could do to keep from getting hit by Hercules, so he wasn't certain if he was doing any good.

"Ow" Shirou staggered up from the floor, holding is side. He thrown himself backwards to avoid having his body removed from his head by Berserker's rock slab, but the impact with the floor was painful.

Meanwhile, Illya had started to glow, her skin covered in runes, as spears of light flashed from her hands. Sakura and Yuno dodged. Sakura blocked the bolts of light with a shield of inky black. Neither Magus was terribly skilled, but Illya's almost unlimited supply of prana was telling. She danced and giggled as she cast bolts of devastating energy at Sakura, who had to be more frugal as she blocked spell after spell.

Yuno jumped up to the second floor balcony and darted to attack Illya from behind, forcing the homunculus to jump down to the first floor as she blasted Yuno with a flash of light that threw her across the room.

Shirou just barely ducked a blow from Berserker. As he did, Saber leaped forward and impaled a sword into Hercules chest. The huge man froze for a moment, before continuing on with his attack as if he hadn't just received a mortal wound, back handing Saber into a wall.

As soon as Saber hit, he had a bow in his a hands, and a moment later, an arrow flew to hit Hercules in the back. Hercules turned back to Saber, only to have Shirou chop at his achilles tendon.

"I am the bone of my sword.
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.
I have created over a thousand blades.
Unknown to death. Nor known to life.
Have withstood pain to create many weapons.
Yet, those hands will never hold anything.
So as I pray, "Unlimited Blade Works."

Sabers Reality Marble swelled out and then collapsed, swallowing up Berserker and Shirou as well as him.

'Where are we?' Shirou looked at Berserker's confusion, 'Whatever it is, it's Saber's doing.' Before he could do anything, swords came down like a steel rain, impaling the berserk Servant.

"That's two" Saber Traced another bow and a sword arrow, "He's got 10 more lives" He released the broken Phantasm just as Hercules recovered. The arrow caught him in the leg, as he dodged at the last possible instant. It exploded on contact, taking his leg off at the knee.

"That's three"

Yuno saw Shirou disappear, along with Berserker and Saber, but her link with him was still there, so she didn't pay any mind to it, instead concentrating on attacking Illya. She was using her superior speed to dart in and slash at the insanely overpowered magus, while Sakura cautiously sent small blasts of what looked like black ink at her. Except that the ink corroded anything it hit, bubbling like acid for a moment before fading away.

Illya just smiled in glee, easily fending off the attacks.

'This is not working' Yuno darted behind a column and waited, assessing the situation.

Seeing that she was now facing only one opponent, Illya poured all her spells at Sakura. The purple haired girl was forced to go completely on the defensive, casting as fast she could just to deflect Illya's attacks.

But then something happened - Sakura's eyes grew black, and she became surrounded in a black aura. Tentacles of black reached out for Illya.

Illya, caught up in the moment, continued to press her advantage. She started to circle Sakura, casting bolts of energy from different directions, trying to force Sakura off balance, as at the same time the black tentacles started to siphon off some of the light from her.

'She's forgotten about me' Yuno wondered, 'I guess nobody ever taught her how to fight' Illya had reached a point where she had her back to the Assassin. 'One slash across the back of the neck and she's dead.' Yuno was about to leap out and slay her enemy when she paused, 'but that will make Shirou upset.'

At that moment, one of Illya's spells got through Sakura's defense, slashing open her stomach. The purple haired girl collapsed in a scream of pain, trying to hold her stomach together with her hands. Inky blood sprayed everywhere through her splayed fingers.

'Shit!' Yuno darted forward and plunged her knife up into Illya's heart from behind. The homunculus gave one startled flinch before exploding in a ball of light.

"Eleven!" Yelled Saber as he jumped away from Berserker. Shirou threw himself into a roll as the stone sword almost hit him. He staggered back up, 'I can't do this too much longer!' Even with the reinforced speed, he was barely able to keep from getting hit, and he was becoming exhausted. his legs were shaking, and he hurt all over.

Seeing his momentary distraction, Hercules quickly reversed his sword strike. It grazed Shirou, knocking him down.

"Watch out!" Saber darted forward, raising his sword in a roof block, to keep the stone sword from splitting Shirou in two on the return strike.

"Aarg!" Saber staggered back - the block had been a little too high, and the stone sword had smashed off his sword, along with his sword hand. He collapsed, clutching the stump of his right hand. The World of Swords wavered, starting to collapse.

'Oh, no!' Shirou looked at Saber, 'But anything he can do, I can too!' He concentrated, pushing the boundaries of the Reality Marble back into place. 'this is my world as much as his, and here', "we control reality!"

Berserker took a step forward to slash at Shirou, as the younger warrior darted forward. But as Hercules put his foot down on the solid ground, it sank into it, as if it was empty air. the Heroic Spirit recovered his balance in an instant, but his sword hit the ground instead of Shirou. Hercules was open just for a moment, but it was enough: Using the last of his flagging strength, the hero wannabe slashed down, taking off berserkers head.

"Twelve" muttered Saber, and the Reality Marble collapsed.

As the three men spilled back into the mansion, they were confronted with Sakura lying in the middle of a seething pool of blackness that bubbled and lashed out at anything that approached, dissolving it. The pool had already dissolved several support pillars, and the walls were crumbling as they bowed in.

"I have no idea what to do here." Yuno cried out, holding her arm as if in pain, "can we just leave her like this?"

"No, we have to help her!" Shirou looked around, hoping to find inspiration. "what can we do?"

Saber grimaced as he tied off the tourniquet around his wrist. 'some help you are, novice' , "I got this. Step back". He stepped right to the edge of the blackness, and released his reality marble for one last time.

Saber, Sakura, and the pool of corruption disappeared.

And the roof collapsed.

Chapter end

As always, reviews are appreciated