A/N: This one is inspired by a fan art of Shirou and Rin in the middle east.

"Well, well, if it isn't my favorite moron," looking up, Shirou Emiya saw his teacher standing on top of a crooked lamppost, back to the setting sun, observing him with a smile. Her red coat fluttered in the wind.

"Tohsaka," he remembered her, he still had her pendant after all. At the mention of it that name, the child he carried hugged his neck tighter. "Hey, hey, it's okay."

"Who is she?" Asked the red headed girl.

"A friend," he said, reassuring her. In truth, he did not know what she was doing here. Last time they met it had been in London a month ago.

"Friend, huh? After all you've done." Shirou deadpanned at her accusation.

"I helped Luvia once!"

"You turned into her butler." She argued back, still standing on the streetlight, but acting as if she were in solid ground.

"For a few months! And I had the Valkyries to keep her line. What does it matter to you?" He asked in irritation. At this, she crossed her arms, looking away. She was still beautiful, even more so now that she had left ponytails behind and let her black hair flow free.

"I don't care about that, not at all," he smiled. She was the same as always. "However…" She jumped down, landing on her feet without effort. He heard the red haired girl gasp in awe.

"However?" He raised an eyebrow.

"You left three divine spirits in my care, who are very worried about you. And they are making my life a living hell." He feared this day would come. He wasn't prepared at all.

"You didn't tell them where I was, did you?" He asked. Rin looked away with an air of superiority.

"Hmph. Of course not. I never break promises, especially to friends. But they didn't need my help anyways. It was obvious where you were," she neared him, and pointed her finger on his face. "Your reasons, however, leave much to be desired." He sighed.

"They wouldn't understand. And even if they did, they would not leave me." Rin gave him a strange look, narrowed eyes and heightened cheeks. Something between sadness and disapproval.

"Then why? Do you really not want them around?" That declaration made his chest hurt. Was that really how it came off? It didn't matter in the end, he did not need to be understood. But when people asked why, it became hard to talk.

"I want to be with them more than anything. But…"

"...You don't want them to get hurt. Or rather…" Rin put a hand on her chin, before smiling a little. "….I see," she said as her smile grew bigger.

"What?" She turned to look at him.

"I've never seen you like this." He was now even more confused. He looked at himself, his body, his rifle, his clothes. He even analyzed himself with magecraft. Everything was fine.

"What's wrong with me?" Her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms.

"Do you really not know?"

"Well… you do have an eye for insight." At this, she turned, blushing.

"O-Of course I do. I'm a top Magus after all," she looked at him once again. "I've never seen you afraid. Not like this."

"Are you scared, mister?" the girl suddenly asked.

"I'm…" Shirou did not know what to say. He was not afraid of things, at least, not consciously. He had the primal fears of any human, and reacted like that when near death, but he never actually thought of something that made him scared. Except, when he thought of the Valkyries.

"You're afraid of losing them." That was wrong. Yes, he was afraid. The very thought made his chest go cold and void.

"No. I'm afraid not of losing them, but what would become of them if they stayed by my side." He relayed that realization to Rin, looking at the floor. That's right. He knew his path, and it only ended in tragedy. They did not need to see that.

"Emiya," He felt a hand on his shoulder. Rin was close, very much so. "It's not fair to do this to yourself. No one deserves to be alone. Much less you. But if you really want to do that to yourself, at least be honest with them." She glared at him like never before, but her voice was soft and delicate.

"Tohsaka…" She turned around.

"They'll be here any minute. Make up your mind by then." With that, she jumped away, assisted by her magecraft. It reminded him of the war, when his older self would assist her in traveling.

His head turned to the red haired girl, looking at the vanishing figure of Rin in awe.

"Come on. Let's get you to a safe place."

Night fell upon the war torn city. The conflict had died down significantly; mostly thanks to him protecting some good diplomats. Even so, there was something else stirring the pot. Still, that was not his concern right now.

He was waiting on a rooftop under the starry sky, legs dangling from the edge, much like his old Grail War partner had once done. Maybe she was rubbing off on him.

He heard a sound behind him, like wind blowing strongly before a pair of boots struck the ground.

"Here you are!" He heard a light, jovial voice. He could recognize it anywhere.

"Hildr. How did you find me?" He asked. He was genuinely curious. He heard a small sign.

"You may no longer be our 'Master', but we are still your familiars, we are connected."

"I see. Sorry for making you worry." He heard footsteps behind him, until movement came into his peripheral view. The pink haired Valkyrie sat down behind him.

"You may fall."

"Oh. Sorry. But I have magecraft, so I'd be alright I guess."

"Are you alright?"

"I think I am. Why?" After that question, silence fell upon them. Hildr's eyelids fell slightly, and she looked… melancholic, searching something down below with her sight.

"I disobeyed my orders, Master. I came looking for you." She admitted. He smiled. That was progress, a lot of it.

"I'm glad you did something for yourself," she winced at that, biting her lip slightly. "Hildr?"

"You should be displeased, Master. Disobeying orders means I'm… We're… broken Or, don't you care anymore?" The sharpness of that question made him recoil slightly.

"Of course I care. And I'm not displeased!" He answered.

"Then why did you leave?" She asked. For the first time, he saw her eyes shadowed by her pink fringe. His answer came without a hitch.

"I don't want you to share my fate." She looked at him, eyes wide.

"Your fate?"

"Yes. My story ends in pain. I'm alright with that, but I'm not alright with you following me. I just want the best for you." He said, looking towards the horizon. Towards the twilight on the Hill of Swords. He felt his reality marble, his inner world, thrum inside him.

"The best for us…" Hildr repeated it. "Do you realize that you made Thrud angry? That you made Ortlinde sad?" His answer was difficult to get out. He had to admit to himself that… he didn't consider their feelings at all. Not that they didn't matter, but their safety was more important.

"It's alright if you hate me," it was not alright at all, but he would take it all anyways. As long as they were saved.

"We don't hate you. We know the endless, impossible task you must accomplish. But it doesn't have to end like that. Fate is not set in stone; fate is like a fabric, it can be weaved if you so much desire." He did not believe that, because he had seen it with his own eyes. How did no one else understand that? The Red Knight had been him without a doubt, once. He was the end of his ideal.

Even if he didn't become a Guardian, he would still try to save people until they turned against him. He had accepted that fate, and would face it with a smile. But he couldn't drag people along with him. Not Rin, not Sakura, not Taiga, not Luvia, not the three Valkyrie sisters.

His throat was dry. Despite all his justifications, he could not bring them to light.

"I just… want you all to be alright. I don't want you to cry." He said. His heart hurt.

"If you died… you think no one would cry for you?" He looked at her. Her eyes, ruby in color, hurt him. They were sad, for him. Because of him.

"I… I don't deserve that. I don't deserve people crying for me." His eyes stung. Hildr said nothing for a moment.

"You wanted us to remain, so we did. If you wanted us gone, we would obey," she got up, and fixed with with an uncharacteristically hard stare. "But you also wanted us to chose. You made us capable of choosing. And we chose to watch over you, as you go down your path. Even if it's wrong, there is nothing wrong with wavering and stumbling on our way. We may even find an alternate path, don't you think." She smiled, like always. And like always, it made his heart flutter.

"Hildr… you… were did you learn that?" He asked.

"You did leave us alone for a month. We had some time to discuss things."

"Still, I left you. Do you really… Are you really alright with me? With a sword, a tool?" he asked.

"We already are arms and tools, Master. But you taught us it did not always have to be that way, so, maybe you can learn that too." She said. They really… did want to be with him. Despite everything. His eyes stung, for some reason.

He imagined life without Ortlinde's friendliness and quiet dispositions; without Hildr's eagerness and smile, without Thrud's care and sternness. He could live without them but… did he really want to? Did he really deserve people like this? Maybe not, but, some part of him wanted it. Even if it was wrong, or it hurt them in the long run, he wanted to share more moments with the Valkyries.

"Then, you'll be with me? Even if I'm hurt?"

"We won't let it come to that. And you won't either, unless you want us to be sad?" She asked. He smiled as something wet went down his cheeks.

"Of course I don't." She felt her hug from behind, her face digging into his hair.

"That's good to hear. However…" She turned him around, and punched him in the face. She was a Servant, it was strong enough to hurt him.

"Why?!" He asked.

"Lady Tohsaka said it would help bring you around."

"But I already said it's okay!"

"Oooooh. Maybe I misjudged the application." Hildr said, rubbing her chin and looking at the sky. Shirou sighed.

"Where are the other two?"

"Back in London."

"You came here on your own?" He asked.

"Tohsaka came with me but, yes. She did." Hildr looked away.

"Why?" She blushed.

"it was clear you didn't want us to follow you. Logic dictated we accept it. But… even if it was impossible… even if you never wanted to see us again… I still wanted to…" Her words were caught in her throat before she laughed it off. "I don't know what's happening to me. Must be another glitch." She said, rubbing the back of her head.

Shirou smiled. They really had changed.

"It's called longing, Hildr. I've felt it too?" he said.

"For your dream?" She asked.

"For you."

"I'm glad. You know… you're going to need to make up with Ortlinde and Thrud too."

"Can't you link with them? Show them what I told you?"

"I think they'd rather hear it from you first hand, Master."

"That… I can do."

A/N: Another mini arc done. Writing Shirou is hard, man. The Valks too. Life is getting difficult, writing is getting difficult, and on top of that I rolled three SR servants in the Illya banner and none of them were Miyu. Being F2P is hard.

HOWEVER! This story reached 10k views, and it makes me so happy to know so many people love the Valks. So this story is going to keep on going for as long as I have energy. And for those of you who also love Married Blades, that is still being worked on. So don't worry about it.

Next up; Shirou pulls a Kiritsugu and adopts Gudako.