Everything was in place. A sitter had been found for Shirou in the form of one Taiga Fujimura, round trip planes tickets procured to the homeland of the Einzbern family, and a plan of attack concocted for the final push to rescue their beloved daughter, Illya. All that was left for the Princess of the Einzberns and her loyal guardian and lover was to take the final plunge and head for Germany to put of all their planning into action. Whatever awaited them in the ancient castle that Irisviel once called home, it would all be worth it to protect the family they both had worked so hard to build and protect. And so the longest week of their lives began early one morning, as the maiden in white carefully packed all that she would need to rescue Illya.
"Are you all right, milady? You seem nervous. If there is anything wrong we may move the trip back." Arturia asked nervously as her partner placed the last of her wardrobe into an old suitcase.
"Don't worry, Arturia. I'm all right. It is just a bit overwhelming seeing my family again so soon. I can't imagine they will be all that happy to see either of us." Irisviel chuckled to dispel the tension surrounding the current circumstances. "Though I doubt anyone would be very happy to see the person who ruined a plan they have tried to put into action for nearly a thousand years." Small drops of sweat dripped down Irisviel's brow as she spoke. In truth she had never been so nervous in all her life, save possibly for those days during the war when her health waned and her soul soon become one in the same as the wishing vessel so many had sought over the centuries.
"No matter what may happen, I will protect you and Illyasivel. We are family now and I will let no one stand between us." Irisviel giggled once more in a less strained way, Arturia's straight forward nature when it came to their little, makeshift family was refreshing in those days when everything surrounding their family floated in the midst of a sea of uncertainty.
"All right then,. Till Illyasivel is back here with us, I will leave my care to you." Irisviel smiled as she put the last of her clothing into her suitcase. Shutting the decade old cases hinged lid one last time, every last detail was finally in order and it was time to return to the land in which she was born and where her partner emerged into the modern age. "Lets go then, if we stay longer we will have to deal with Shirou's crying face." It was hard enough leaving her son for a week, even if it was with someone she trusted as much as Taiga. Seeing him bawling in such a way was a heartrending blockade she simply could not deal with the moment, or at least without stalling their trip for a several hours. Instead, a simple goodbye and kiss on the cheek would have to do.
"Goodbye, Shirou! Be good for Taiga-chan till we get back!" Irisviel yelled to her adopted son as she took a seat in the waiting taxi parked in the drive way of their traditional Japanese home.
"And make sure to keep up your training, there will be a test when I return." Arturia added before sitting down beside her master and lover. Ever the pragmatist, there was little chance she would let her only pupil's training go to rust for ever a second while she was gone. The taxi's driver revved the small vehicle's engine and then sped off. Leaving the couple in his rear seat with nothing but a last wave as the last link between them and the boy they had worked so hard to bring into their lives. "Do you really think Shirou will be ok with Taiga?" Arturia asked as her partner starred longingly out the window.
"I think he will be fine, but it's Taiga I'm worried about" Irisviel giggled once more. "This is that poor girl's first time spending any amount of time with a small child. If she hasn't been run ragged by the time we get back I think she'll deserve a bit of hazard pay!" Though her speech remained as goofy as ever, Irisviel mind was elsewhere, divided between the depressing thought of not seeing her son for an entire week and the excitement of finally being reunited with the daughter she had not seen in months.
" I imagine so. But try to try to get some rest, milady. It is going to be a very long trip." Though more than a bit humorless Arturia was quite correct, it was a half-a-day's flight between Japan and Germany, a distance that would be more than enough to leave even the King of Knights exhausted. And Irisviel was not to turn down a direct command from some one she cared for and trusted so very much, and quietly spent the rest of the drive napping, her head laid gently against her Arturia's shoulder. Watching her partner slowly fall into a peaceful slumber, Arturia weaved her lithe fingers through the older woman's hair with a smile on her face. As this trip was likely rife with danger and violence, this was likely the last time she would her see her beloved so peace and it was a moment she etched into her memory, a reminder of all that she was fighting for.
The trip through the airport near Fuyuki City was no problem, in no small part thanks to the forged documents that Kiritsugu had gifted to Arturia and Irisviel during the prior war, and within the space of an hour both Irisviel and her knight were on a plane headed for Germany. As they had agreed beforehand there would be no discussion aboard the plane, there would be plenty of time for that once they had landed and checked into the hotel which would serve as their base of operation to rescue Illysivel Von Einzbern. Thus, as the plane's engines roared and the metal craft climbed higher and higher into the brisk air of a mid-winter morning, Irisviel stared in wonder out the window near her seat. Though she was an adult, all the years spent bound to the Einzbern family's ancestral castle had left her with a child-like appreciation for the outside world and the many things that lie in it. The view given to her as the plane rose higher and higher was no exception and filled the homunculus' heart with a feeling of wonder and freedom, a combination that made it seem as if nothing in the world could come between her and her goals and dreams.
"Arturia!" She called to the woman sitting beside her. "You have to see this!" Arturia humored her princess, reaching her head across the seat and gazing upon the same open sky that had so entranced her beloved.
"It is very beautiful, and I am grateful the weather was cooperating with us thus far. I would hate for our plans to be disrupted on account of a storm." Though it was only the second time she had ever been on a plane as well, the eternally blue sky outside her window meant little to the King of Knights, but the happiness of the woman to whom she owed more than she could ever possibly repay meant all the world to her. "And I hope that Illya will be able to see such a sky when we all return home as well." Irisviel smiled profusely, though she had heard it many times before, her heart always sang when she heard Arturia speaking in such a manner. It made her remember the days when her family was whole and it seemed as if nothing could ever break them apart. In the deepest parts of her heart, upon Illya's return, that those days could come again.
"And that is why I love you." Irisviel whispered quietly into her partner's ear, sealing her loving declaration with a simple kiss on the cheek that caused Arturia to blush a shade of red normally reserved for tomatoes. "
"Th...that is quite enough, milady, there are others watching." Arturia muttered out of embarrassment.
"I don't care. Everyone should know how much I love you!" Irisviel nearly sang. "Just say it back and I'll cut it out!" Arturia grumbled as her annoyance with Irisviel grew more and more.
"Fine...I love you." She squeaked, trying her best to hide such declarations from those around her.
"I can't hear you." Irisviel teased further.
" I love you! There is no one else in this world I care about more and if I was not with you I do not know what I would do with myself! Are you happy now?" Arturia nearly screamed aloud as her blush reached critical mass. In turn, Irisviel wrapped her arms around the woman beside her and ran her fingers through her blond hair, quieting her beloved knight in a way that only she could.
"I am. I couldn't be any happier" Irisviel cooed as her partner gradually calmed herself and regained the composure she was so famous for. The happy couple sat in each others embrace for the rest of the flight, much to the annoyance of many a single passenger sitting near them.
Right on schedule the continent spanning plane roared into the German airport with little fanfare, leaving master and servant to quickly gather their things and make for the hotel they had chosen for its proximity to the Einzbern family's ancestral home. Stepping out of the airport, bags and the money for the rental car firmly in hand, and into the sun of the cold morning air, a strange feeling of nostalgia took hold Irisviel's heart. Though it had been but a few month since she had left place of her birth and headed to the east with her husband in the name of fulfilling the Einzbern's millennial old wish, in that small span her entire life was turned on its head. With a new home in a new country, a new child, and a new lover, she was no longer the naïve girl who had spent decades in isolation like a fairytale princess. All she had now was possible because of the selfless sacrifice of her beloved husband r, silently and with her free hand pressed firmly against her beating heart, she gave thanks for all that she was so lucky to have. "I don't think I will ever be able to repay all that you have done for me, but way giving Illyasivel the happy home she has always deserved is the least I can do in exchange for the miracle that you have bestowed upon me and Arturia."
"Shall we go, milady? Our vehicle awaits." Arturia spoke, interrupting her partner's self reflection.
"Oh! Of course, our daughter is waiting for us after all." The vehicle in question was a two-door car with a silver paint job that sparkled in a gaudy sort of way when exposed to the sun. Though a far cry from the expensive toys that Kiritsugu was so fond of, it's utility under the current circumstances was unquestionable as the road to Einzbern castle was long and far from well-traveled, leaving it a hard sell for hiring a cab or other similar way of public transportation.
"I will drive." Arturia declared, taking the driver's seat without so much as a word of objection from the snowy haired maiden beside her. Irisviel's driving was a horror greater than most, that even as a memory settled firmly in her mind was enough to drive the color from the her face and send a massive chill down her spine. Hoping to never again repeat such a tragedy, there would be no further discussion of who the chauffeur of the Pendragon-Einzbern family was. Putting her Ride skill to use once more, Arturia shifted the borrowed car into drive and sped off down the road towards town, her mind set firmly on the daring raid she had pledged to carry out sometime in the next few days. Irisviel, laid a hand on her darling's hand that lay free on the small automobile's gear shift, as if silently quieting any doubt that lay in her loyal knight's mind with a silent plea of "everything will be ok."
Night fell and the bright light of the moon fell over the small hotel room. Though both of room's occupants were terribly tired and wished ever so nearly for sleep's sweet embrace, there was planning to do and not a single second could be left to waste. Unpacking her things, Arturia produced a large hand-drawn map and placed it upon the ground. "Are you sure this is right?" She questioned of Irisviel, who sat beside her while pouring over the map produced almost entirely from her own memories. "
"It should be." She spoke aloud as she tried to recall any other helpful knowledge on the subject. "Though I never really made mental note of where everything in the castle was, I do think this will be enough for us to get in, rescue Illyasivel, and get out again." The Einzbern, like most families bound by magic, were a secretive lot who rarely brought outsiders into their midst. So it was no surprise that little to no information existed on the general layout of the their ancient castle ever found it's way into the general public.
"Very well, if this is all we have to go on, the best course of action would be an assault by night. It is unlikely that anyone within the castle will be expecting us or even knows that either of us are still alive. If we are careful this will be a simple search and rescue mission, should we be found, however..." Arturia's voice trailed off. Even for one as powerful as the King of Knights herself, storming into the main stronghold of an enemy faction was an act tantamount to suicide and something she would have never tried during her reign as king. But, in the here and now, with the freedom of Irisviel's daughter at stake, she was willing to do whatever it took to make her partner's dreams a reality. "We will have a rough fight on our hands. Do you remember what kind of defenses your grandfather kept around the castle?"
"Hm... Well, I do remember that some of the maids had training as guards and Kiritsugu once mentioned to me that there were several barriers surrounding the castle to keep intruders out and alert grandfather of every anyone entering or leaving the premises" Irisviel spoke laying on the bed behind her lover. Though her statements were vague at best, it was all the pair had to go on.
"Then, my lady, I will leave the disabling of any magic we may come across to you, in return I will act as I always have and protect you from any that may seek to cause harm to you." Though such a sentiment needed no words, indeed she would do anything for her beloved Irisviel and had long ago pledged to protect her no matter what may come, saying it a loud helped to calm Arturia's nerves. "I know that we can do this and mark my word as a knight, Illyasivel will be coming home with us no matter what your family may throw at us!"
Much to her surprise, there was no response from the woman she loved so much. She had expected a loud hooray or even a kiss upon the cheek, but neither came even after a solid minute of waiting. Arturia's worries were short-lived, however, as a loud snore soon echoed through the air around her. Knowing all to well who the noise emanated from, the King of Knights turned around and, to some surprise, found her beloved sleeping soundly, her arms firmly rapped round a pillow and with a contented look plastered across her pallid face. To see her beloved so peaceful, even when the hour of their departure into the unknown came ever closer, brought a calm feeling to Arturia's heart. There was no reason to wake Irisviel, the plan for Illya's rescue was firmly in place. For now, she thought, it would be all right to let her rest for the time being. They both had a long road to walk, but so long as they traversed it together, all would be right in their little world.
Till the hour when they would venture forth in the name of rescuing one so beloved to them both, Arturia to laid down beside her partner, hoping in some small way to share in the happiness that had produced such a splendid smile...