Shirou eased down the dusty wall of the decrepit building that he was currently using as cover. There was a lull in the fighting in the current conflict zone and he planned on taking full advantage of it. He was exhausted, the current engagement had lasted for hours without any break, and he knew it was just a matter of time before the enemy finished repositioning themselves and attacked again.

Taking a sip of water that his current allies had just arrived with, he looked down at the faded red scarf that he always wore with him and smiled. It wasn't practical to wear something so vibrant in the desert, and it had almost gotten him killed on several occasions, but he just couldn't bear to part with it. He decided that he would try to get a couple minutes of sleep before the enemy attacked again, trusting his allies to wake him up if the shooting didn't first…

"Shirou I'm hooooome," shouted a grinning Rin as she rocketed through the door to their small apartment. Shirou could tell just by the smile on her face how her final exam must have gone, and he was happy that the treat that he had worked so hard on for her tonight would be enjoyed to the fullest and not used to pull his extremely competitive girlfriend out of one of her melancholy moods.

"Welcome home Tohsaka, how did your final go?"

"Hmph. Who do you think you're talking to? I received a perfect score!"

"Congratulations, and that was your last one before the summer."

Shirou could see her trying to keep the smug grin off of her face, but she just couldn't help it this time. He walked over, pulled her into her arms, and gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head.

Before Rin could say anything else, Shirou pushed away just enough to see her face, "I made dinner plans for us tonight to celebrate the end of our first year at the Clock Tower. Can you be ready to go in two hours?"

Shiro felt a hand touch his forehead, confusing him for a second before Rin said, "You made dinner plans? Are you feeling ok? The only reason I didn't make plans for tonight is because I was sure you would want to cook for us yourself."

She was trying to sound disgruntled that she had lost the upper hand, but even with the cute frown that was currently residing on her lips he never could have missed the sparkle in her eyes. That look made the weeks of planning and trying to keep this a secret from her worth it, and she hadn't even seen the dress yet.

Shirou smiled, "If you're that disappointed, I can always return the dress that's sitting on the bed."

"Wait a dress? How did you manage to get me a dress without me finding out?" Rin eyed him suspiciously, trying hard to keep the frown on her face and not exactly succeeding.

"It's not exactly like you have a small amount of clothes laying around Tohsaka, we live together, and I have a good idea of what you wear." Shirou quipped, enjoying the look of surprise on her face. Even though Shirou was a docile person by nature he couldn't let Rin win all of the time, that would be boring, and he knew that she enjoyed the challenge.

Three hours later the two of them were seated in one of London's most popular upscale restaurants. Shirou had accounted for Rin wanting to be able to talk openly and had made sure to reserve a table in one of the back corners of the restaurant that was closed off from the main lobby.

What Shirou hadn't accounted for was how good of a choice he had made on the dress that he had gotten Rin as a gift. He always thought that Rin was by far the most beautiful woman in the room, but the looks that she had gotten as they were escorted to their table made him aware of just how well he had done. The dress was satin with a choker neck and long sleeves. He had made sure that it fit Rin's normal color scheme, with midnight black at the neck gradually transitioning to a deep red that ended just below the knee. Rin had worn her hair down and finished the look with her father's necklace, the silver watch that Shirou had gotten her for their first anniversary, and a nice pair of heels that she had had in the closet.

As Shirou thought for at least the hundredth time that night how lucky he was Rin caught him looking out of the corner of her eye and said, "What are you staring at you idiot?"

"I just can't help but think of how beautiful you look tonight." Shirou said with a smile. He saw the blush starting to run up Rin's face and before she could say anything he finishes with, "I love you Rin, thank you for coming out with me tonight."

He could tell immediately that Rin was caught off guard by the statement, and Shirou just looked on fondly as she fidgeted with the strap of the bag that she had insisted on bringing with her tonight, even though she refused to tell him what was inside.

"I-I-I… I wanted to tell you how proud I am of your performance this year, Shirou." Rin finally stuttered out, cheeks red with embarrassment and guilt.

Shirou sighed internally, even though he knew she wouldn't be able to say it back, especially in such a public place, he had felt his heart skip a little when she had stuttered. They had been together for over two years now and she had never said those words to him once, he wanted to hear her say them with all of his heart, but he wasn't mad about it. Rin made sure that he felt loved in her own way, he knew she had been making an extra effort since they had come to London. Shirou was confident enough in their relationship that he was willing to wait for her to realize that love was a strength to be relied on, not a weakness to be exploited.

After finishing the 15-course meal and a bottle of 1982 red that had been recommended with the meal they were sitting contently, when Rin broke the contented silence.

"Hey Shirou, thank you for such an amazing night tonight. Between the dress and the dinner, I couldn't ask for anything more. I know it isn't much after all of this, but I got this for you as a gift for completing our first year here."

Shirou smiled at her words as she handed him the bag that she had been carrying around for the past couple of hours. 'She's probably been waiting for the right opportunity to give me this all night' thought Shirou as he took the bag with a thank you and began to open it.

When Shirou pulled a bundle of cloth out of the bag he wasn't sure immediately what he was holding in his hands, all he knew is that it must be important the way that Rin was covering her mouth and watching him expectantly. He unraveled the lightweight wool material to discover it was a scarf in the same brilliant red as his girlfriend's favorite coat. Sewn into the middle of the scarf was a tag that said…

Come back to me always.

With Love, Rin

Shirou stared at those eight words for what felt like forever, and a grin slowly grew on his face as he thought 'Well she still hasn't said it but this is definitely progress.' Shirou then remembered that Rin was still sitting across from him, and that he had been silently staring at her gift for some time without saying anything.

"Well, do you like it?" She said, her amethyst eyes showing a hint of fear from him being quiet for so long.

"I love it, this is the best gift I could have wished for." Shirou knew he had said the right words when Tohsaka's face lit up bright enough that Shirou knew he would never forget that smile until the day he died.

They settled the tab and walked back to their apartment hand in hand, Shirou noticed that Rin kept glancing at the scarf she had gotten him, which of course he had put before they had even left the restaurant. Rin had rewarded him for that with a giggle and lovingly called him an idiot again.

Once they got up into their apartment Shirou started the tea while Rin walked into the back, he assumed to change into something more comfortable. He was surprised when before he was able to even get the kettle on the stove, he felt her arms wrap around him from behind. He spun around and saw a hungry smile on her face as she said, "You didn't think our night was over just yet, did you?"

BOOM!

Shirou woke up as a mortar round hit near his position, cursing his bad luck that it had happened when his dream was getting to the good part. He looked down at the tag in his scarf, realizing how much he missed the impossible woman that had gifted it to him as he crawled his way over to the wall to defend himself…

Having finally driven the enemy off for good this time, 'or at least long enough for a rest' Shirou thinks, the exhausted man eased himself down the wall once more, or what was left of it anyways, with all the bullet holes that had been punched into it in the last skirmish.

As he sat there, Shirou was wondering how Rin was doing, and if she had moved on from him and found a suitor yet. Who was he kidding, by now she would have done what she should have after the grail war, taken a proper suitor and started a family as was her duty. Even though she had tried to hide the worst of it from him he knew there had been plenty of offers even when they had been together, seeing as he wasn't viewed as a proper magus. Most bloodlines felt that she would eventually choose to leave him and produce an heir with another prestigious bloodline like her own.

Right as he was about to be consumed by his negative thoughts, he noticed a pair of boots come into view. Looking up Shirou saw one of the informants that worked with them, even though Shirou couldn't remember the man's name.

"Mr. Emiya there reports over the last couple days of two strange women appearing in the capital to the south and asking questions about strong foreign fighters." The man said gruffly, he didn't care too much for Shirou, his red scarf made it easy for enemy units to identify him and track his movements.

"I'm assuming that you're telling me because you want me to investigate them and eliminate them if they're a threat?" Shirou said coldly. He had received missions like this before, and as much as he didn't care for them, he understood the necessity of disposing of enemy spies before they could cause issues. He had been destroying a rather large number of familiars that had been getting too close to camp lately, maybe they are related to these two women.

"You assume correctly, one of the women is blonde, and the men that have interacted with her say that she seems high-class and cocky. The other one has black hair and is composed and cool when interacted with."

"Ok, anything else before I head out?" Shirou knew that he wouldn't be afforded time to sleep before he left, all he could hope for was a decent hotel in the capital once he arrived. As much as he hated these search and destroy missions, they were one of his few rests from the constant fighting, and it had been over three months since he had last slept in a real bed.

"Yes, the one with black hair wears a red scarf similar to yours."

Shirou smiled under his scarf, maybe she wasn't going to let him go as easily as he had thought. "Well, I guess it would be rude of me to keep two ladies waiting."