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GILGAMESH

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Gilgamesh waited the whole day in that hospital corridor. He did not have much to complain about the place – it was as high-class as he demanded it to be; he had chosen it, after all – but the wait was long and tense nonetheless.

Sporadically, one of the doctors or nurses came by to give him updates on the situation of the woman inside the room. Arturia's cousin showed up a few times, but nurse Kariya was mainly the one to inform him about what was going on, deep lines of worry creasing his features. The news was not positive most of the time.

Finally, when the day was almost over, the door opened, and an incredibly pale and obviously tired Arturia came out. She didn't even seem to notice him – granted, he was standing next to the window because he couldn't just be sitting for the whole day and therefore his presence wasn't obvious at a first glance to the corridor – and she leaned heavily against a wall, her eyes closed.

Her position allowed Gilgamesh to observe her keenly, and he did not like what he saw.

Her skin's colour was exceptionally close to white, her eyelids were falling and she was visibly exhausted. Her hair was a mess and she obviously needed sleep.

And yet, in spite of that, she still looked like the Arturia he knew and respected… the woman he had chosen as a wife and, with her consent, had later married.

Firmly pushing those thoughts aside as he saw her exhale, shudder and stand away from the wall, his arm moved without his permission to pose itself on her hip. He meant to guide her away from there, to take her home now that her sister and nephew and niece – he had been informed that it was a girl – were fine…

She was consciously avoiding his gaze. He only had the time to see how bleary her eyes were, before she tried to shut him out once again. He gently took her chin to meet those familiar green eyes that greeted him every morning, and which always found a reason to glare at him.

He did not like how dead they looked in this moment.

He didn't have the time to examine her further though, because she brusquely turned her head away from him.

He ignored her attempt at shutting him out. He had not missed the slight trembling of her form and the overall fragile state of her mind and body.

She was on the verge of collapsing. She clearly needed to allow herself to do that, but not there in the corridor. It would have been better at home, but she would probably not last that long… she needed–

His eyes scanning the place hastily, he quickly spotted an inconspicuous door not too far away, with a panel on it reading 'Supplies', and moved them towards it. It was by no means adequate, but it would have to do; she was too affected at the moment to go anywhere else.

She obviously did not have the energy to protest or oppose him – and, in this occasion, it was fine. Just this once though.

Inside the small room, she seemed to completely forget his existence to lean against the wall again, her eyes drifting shut. He just stared at her, taking in her slumped shoulders, the visible new shadows underneath her closed eyes, her paleness…

The silence did not last for long. With an obvious effort, she spoke.

"Would you leave me alone, please?"

He narrowed his eyes. Like hell, he would. She was in no condition to be alone, especially since it was obvious that she was about to break down, and therefore his reply was brusque.

"No."

She had enough strength to even try to insist, the stubborn woman.

"Please. Only a few minutes. I want to be alone."

He acknowledged her effort, but he would not budge.

"Not in the mental state you're in now– No, I will not leave you alone."

For some reason, his denying her wishes – no matter how foolish they were – made her find some more energy in the form of anger. She closed her eyes again, breathing in deeply, as if she was readying herself, and he narrowed his own eyes.

Why was this woman so stubborn? Why could she not be concerned about her own wellbeing, for once?

He was taken aback when she opened her eyes to look at him – or rather, glare at him. Her gaze was firmer than he had expected, but she could not make the obvious signs of her tiredness just vanish. She had not eaten since the evening before, and she was most likely depleted – that was not something she could hide.

Neither could she hide the slightly wild expression she had; she was truly near an edge, a dangerous edge.

"Leave. Me. Alone."

Her voice trembled a little, and he knew that she was making an effort not to let it break.

Concern filled him. Arturia was rapidly losing coherence. He could see it clearly – she was spent, and drained, and weak, and tired.

Wait. Were her eyes, still with that angry look, glistening…?

Oh no. Were those… tears? Was she about to cry?

He could not stand crying people. It was something he found incredibly annoying and childish, and he tended to turn and disdainfully run the other way in distaste if anyone ever happened to weep in his vicinity.

But, for some reason, he did not feel any desire to run… nor to leave.

Because he understood.

Arturia was not about to cry because she was childish, nor was she about to cry to make him leave or to annoy him. She was about to cry because she was a strong woman, she had been strong until now, but she simply could not hold everything inside anymore.

She would not cry during times of crisis; but since the crisis was over and everything was fine, what had kept her going throughout that period of time was gone, too. Now that her family was well, she was so incredibly tired… and about to collapse in tears.

And she felt ashamed of it. She wanted to be alone in order to break down, she did not want anyone to see her.

Including him.

Such a prideful, determined, stubborn woman.

Almost unconsciously, he took a step forward and his hand went up to cup her face.

He should have expected her reaction. She slapped him away before he could reach her.

"Don't touch me!"

His eyes narrowed dangerously. Her voice had gone up a full octave, and she was obviously angry – but he was becoming angry as well.

He was her husband, not a random stranger or a harasser! He meant her no harm! His words betrayed his thoughts, but he could see that she didn't really catch what he meant.

"I am your husband, Arturia, and you still don't trust me…!"

"I don't care! Being bound by a soulless marriage contract does not mean you have the right to touch me!"

His fury grew. He meant her no harm – he wanted to help her! Couldn't she see it? Couldn't she see it!?

Touching her cheek with one hand had not worked – then both hands would probably be better.

Her cheeks were very warm, and she did not attempt to truly struggle as he pulled her closer. She finally seemed to be brought to the present as his eyes bore into her soul, and she focused on him.

"You know that I did not mean any offense to you, and all I wanted was to give you some comfort, you stubborn, distrusting woman!"

Again, he had let his thoughts be brought into words directly. And seeing her eyes concentrated on him, drinking in his every word as if her life depended on each syllable… he couldn't stop himself, and he leaned down to brush his lips against hers.

No, he did not brush them – he smashed them together fiercely, but just for an instant.

He had not planned it, he had not decided it beforehand, he just… did it.

Pulling back, he saw that her eyes had gone wide in shock, and probably some anger as well.

Never mind – he certainly had her full attention now.

"Is this contact, this human contact, so disgusting for you? Is it distasteful for you to have someone trying to comfort you without intending you any harm?"

Perhaps kissing her had been too much though. He could not prevent himself from asking, in a gentler voice, "Is this so bad, Arturia?"

For some reason, his words seemed to unleash something.

And when Arturia Uruk's eyes closed and the tears began to flow down her cheeks, accompanied by excruciatingly hollow sobs, Gilgamesh held her to him, wordlessly, as she finally broke down in his arms.

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He knew that she was going to despise herself for showing what she considered to be weakness; therefore, he deemed it wise not to add a word as he drove them home, after she had cried all her tears onto his shirt.

Unsurprisingly, she fell asleep during the car ride, and only woke up once he put her on the bed – because he had carried her there, of course.

And this had happened even though he had to admit that he still had to find a coherent explanation as to why he was willingly – willingly, because no one was asking him to – spending so much time and effort around his wife.

His wife. His Arturia.

His Arturia.

Oh.

The answer was right there.

It had always been there. Enkidu had pointed it out to him a few months before, but he had probably just been jesting – his best friend had not believed it himself.

Now, however…

He did not have the time to properly analyze what he had just realized though, because he heard Arturia's voice.

"Gilgamesh."

Her tone was thick and it was plain to see that she was already half-asleep. He turned to stare at her, again not missing how drained she looked.

Her eyes were sharp on him however. "Thank you."

There was honesty in her eyes, honest gratitude, and for once, he was at a loss for words.

How could he reply to a person genuinely thanking him for having done something he had not had to do, but had wanted to do?

He was spared the difficulty of finding an adequate answer by her closing her eyes and quickly falling back asleep. She was truly exhausted.

Gilgamesh had had two meals during the day, at the hospital, but he knew that Arturia hadn't. The Tohsaka girl was going to come the following morning, and he needed to have a word with her to make sure she prepared a very abundant breakfast.

As soon as he had made the phone call and explained in no-uncertain terms that he expected her to cook a hearty meal and have it ready in the morning, he looked back towards his wife.

He could not attempt to deny reality, yet he could not wrap his mind around it.

What was it about her that captivated him so? What was this something that he couldn't even put into words? What was this something he had not even known he was capable of giving to anyone, let alone her?

Well. It was Arturia. She had always been special, hadn't she?

Otherwise, he wouldn't have married her in the first place.

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MAIN

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The next morning, Arturia thanked a trembling Sakura with an appreciative smile for the generous breakfast she had prepared and the fact that she had cleaned up the half-done meal they had left on the counter the day before in their hurry.

She did not miss the apprehensive glance the girl sent in her husband's direction before he left to go take a shower, and because of that, it didn't take her long to guess that Gilgamesh had been the one to order Sakura to cook more for this morning. He knew perfectly well that she had not had anything to eat for a full day, and had taken steps to remedy that; such a realization was one that had to be added to the several things that now puzzled her about her husband.

The day before, she had had a complete and utter breakdown – something she had never had before in her life – for she had never cried and released all her repressed emotions like that.

Yet Gilgamesh did not seem to scorn her for it, nor did he seem to pity her, as she would have expected from him. He had remained with her the entire time she had been crying – she must have made a mess of his shirt, now that she thought about it – and he had actually comforted her.

Not only had he comforted her, he had done something as unexpected as kissing her, for no other reason than to make sure she focused on him and did not lose herself. No one else had been present, therefore it had most certainly not been for appearances' sake.

They had been in a place hardly larger than a broom closet; yet he had still kissed her, simply to force her to remain anchored to reality as she had been about to collapse.

Keeping her company as she cried foolishly, bringing her home in her exhausted state, making sure she found a proper meal once she woke up…

…and that was not all. He had even been tactful enough not to bring up what had happened the day before; he had not mocked her about the sad display she had offered, as she had half-expected him to do.

Well then. There was an easy decision to make.

Since he was being strangely polite in not bringing it up, she could have decided not to bring it up either. After all, what had happened the previous day was an isolated incident and it was not going to happen ever again.

All the same…

As soon as Sakura left – she was going to come back later in the afternoon to cook dinner – Arturia cleared her throat, with some awkwardness.

"Gilgamesh," she began slowly. Her voice was steady and unwavering, yet she found it impossible to look at him and therefore opted for concentrating on her food instead. "Thank you for the kindness and understanding you showed towards me yesterday, when I… when I broke down at the hospital."

She could feel his eyes piercing her, and she finally decided she had to stop being a coward and had to meet his gaze. However, as soon as she did so, he looked away from her rather quickly, focusing on the newspaper instead.

"You already thanked me last night," he briefly replied, his tone completely neutral and not allowing her to discern anything from it.

It was something extremely odd for him to say; she would have rather expected him to act smug and proud.

Nevertheless, she wasn't going to be deterred from her objective, and insisted, "I'm aware of that, but I have to admit that I wasn't completely in my wits last night. I am grateful for how you behaved and how you… put up with my pitiful display."

She kept her green eyes firmly on him as she uttered those words, and he looked up from the newspaper halfway through them to meet her gaze and hold it with an inscrutable emotion in his crimson orbs.

She struggled inwardly to keep her expression passably normal.

He calmly stated, with the same tone he would have used to comment the colour of her clothes, "Calling it pitiful is your definition alone, not mine. I saw it as something you should have allowed yourself to do a very long time ago. You keep your emotions too bottled up for your own good, Arturia; it was high time for you to realize that there is nothing wrong in expressing them sometimes."

Her mouth would have dropped open in shock if she hadn't already been fighting to keep her composure.

He smirked before standing up and walking out of the room.

"While it's unnecessary, I accept the renewal of your thanks nonetheless."

Arturia stared after him for a speechless second, before having to hold herself back from shaking her head. Her husband was an undecipherable, impossible man…!

He was such an enigmatic person that guessing his thoughts was hard, but since he obviously considered the subject closed, she did not intend to insist on it any longer. Recalling her behaviour caused her no small amount of mortification; it was therefore very welcome to her to be able to consider this entire matter settled.

She should be more concentrated on her family, instead of her husband. In spite of the fact that her husband was supposed to be a member of her family, the circumstances of their marriage were making things different. But it wasn't the time to dwell on that again.

Back to more important matters: she had a niece now. Iri had given birth to a beautiful baby girl, and she had not had the time to choose her name yet. A small smile appeared on Arturia's lips. She was really looking forward to being with Iri, Shirou and the young child again – it was probably going to be a very special day.

She knew that she did not need to worry about work. In the contract, it was clearly stated that her family came before anything else; at the same time, she could not deny that it would be more correct if she at least told her employer that she was not going to work.

He was putting on his tie, and he looked at her through the mirror as she entered the bedroom.

She cleared her throat once again, but this time silently, suddenly feeling inexplicably apprehensive about it.

"I won't be going to work today, Gilgamesh. I'll go to the hospital, to my sister."

He actually seemed to have expected her words, and gave her a small smirk.

"So will I, Arturia."

She stared at him, before blinking briefly. Was she still asleep or something?

He rolled his eyes, openly. "No, you're not asleep. Get ready. I'll be taking some paperwork that you will need to go through as well."

She narrowed her eyes a fraction, both at his imperious tone and the words themselves. Did he mean to take work with him at the hospital? Was he out of his mind?

The teasing glint in his eyes was not gone, telling her that he was perfectly aware of what she was thinking in this moment, and yet he did not seem bothered by it in the least.

"The limousine is waiting, Arturia."

Oddly enough, he did not seem concerned about work, even though she was well aware that it was the most important thing in his life. Well, if he was not concerned, she decided that it probably meant that he had things under control.

She grabbed her coat. It was the beginning of November and it was getting colder by the day. Turning off the lights, she preceded him out of the door.

"Then don't let us keep it waiting for much longer, Gilgamesh."

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Nurse Kariya had just left the room to tend to other patients, and he greeted the Uruk couple as they passed next to him. They both noticed how his expression was much more serene compared to the previous day, and how the stress lines on his face had disappeared.

Shirou was sitting on the floor in front of Iri's bed, with crayons and a few paper sheets, trying hard to draw a portrait of his mother holding the young, sleeping baby in her arms.

When Arturia and Gilgamesh gave Kariya a nod and then entered the room, the boy directed them a very large smile and greeted them, but did not abandon his work to jump in their direction. His mommy was looking forward to that drawing, and he did not want to disappoint her.

Arturia lightly squeezed her sister's shoulder as she took place next to her. Iri seemed completely mesmerized by her two children; she kept looking back and forth between them – even when Shirou instructed her to stay still to let him draw her properly – as if they were the most precious people in the world for her.

And that was most likely true, Arturia thought with inner happiness.

Iri finally took her eyes away from her sleeping daughter to look at her sister.

Arturia smiled at her.

"Good morning, Iri. How are you feeling?"

The white-haired woman smiled back, radiant.

"Good morning, Ria. I'm feeling tired, I'll admit, but I'm very happy." She touched her daughter's cheek lightly. "She must be tired, too. She's been awake all night, and has only fallen asleep a few minutes ago."

Carefully, Arturia asked, "What is her name going to be, Iri?"

Iri's finger caressed the baby's cheek softly, and another smile bloomed on her face. It was rare to see her smile like this.

"You know, Ria, Kiritsugu and I had discussed the possibility of having kids before–… well, before I was told that I was unlikely to ever be able to conceive. We did not agree on male names, but for female ones…"

She looked up at Arturia. "Her middle name is going to be 'Arturia'. Don't try to argue with me over it, Ria, for I am quite determined – and even if this will come as a surprise to you, Kiritsugu was not against it at all."

Arturia's green eyes could indeed not stifle her surprise at hearing that, but Iri's dark red ones were sincere as she revealed it, leaving her no doubt about the truthfulness of her words.

Knowing that her sister meant to interject, the white-haired woman swiftly went on, "As for her first name… Kiritsugu was fond of this particular name, which I liked as well." She leaned forward, pressing her pale lips against the little girl's forehead. "Illya. Short for Illyasviel."

Arturia nodded, fully accepting of it. But Iri wasn't finished.

"Her name is going to be Illyasviel Arturia von Einzbern."

The blonde woman did not raise an eyebrow, but she could not deny that she was surprised. Iri had chosen not to change her legal name from Irisviel von Einzbern to Irisviel Emiya when she had gotten married, but her son had taken the Emiya surname when he had been adopted. It was odd for Iri to choose to give her daughter her own surname and not her husband's, but Arturia decided not to question her on it. Eventually, Iri was going to tell her her reasons on her own.

Iri looked up from her child and at her again.

"Ria, aside from being part of her in her name, will you be Illya's godmother? You are already Shirou's, and I would like you to be the godmother to both my children."

Arturia smiled slightly, touched, and nodded.

"It would be an honour for me, Iri."

The woman in the bed smiled more widely, rocking her child gently, and then looked at her sister once again.

"Would you like to hold her, Ria?"

Gilgamesh, who was on the phone on the other side of the spacious room but was very much aware of everything that was transpiring, was deeply amused to see the sudden wariness that appeared on his wife's face at that offer. He was sure that unpleasant memories of their time at the Fraga McRemitz household were resurfacing in her mind – while in his, the memories of her holding a baby were coming up instead…

He got a hold of himself before his spacing out could become noticeable.

"I… am not familiar with holding such a young baby, Iri. I might do something wrong and accidentally harm Illya–"

Iri merely shook her head.

"I didn't know how to hold her a few hours ago either. Kariya explained it to me earlier. Just do it the way I'm doing it."

Gilgamesh watched as Arturia silently stared at her sister for a few minutes, studying her hold intently, before carefully taking the young baby from her arms. It was almost endearing seeing her behave like this–

–and then, once again, he had to stop in his thoughts abruptly, needing to question himself on the use of a term he had probably never used before in his life. He had to make a conscious effort to focus back on his phone call.

Arturia felt some apprehension as the little girl, maybe woken up by the movements, opened her large, dark red eyes and stared her with curiosity. She could not stop herself from giving a small smile to the baby, who actually seemed to like it, because she returned it.

Feeling Iri's eyes on her – and therefore missing another pair of eyes that were on her, not dark red but blood red ones – Arturia looked up… and she saw tears streaming down her sister's cheeks.

Alarmed, she immediately asked, her tone low so to not startle the child, "Iri! What's wrong? Are you in pain?" Then she stared at the baby, still in her arms, who gave a yawn and closed her eyes to go back to sleep again. "Did I do something wrong with Illya–?"

"No, no, you didn't!" Iri quickly reassured her, looking for a tissue on her bedside table. "I… I just…"

She did not seem to be able to complete the sentence, and therefore blew her nose before attempting to continue again.

"Ria… I don't even know how to say this… but seeing you with Illya in your arms, it's as if she belongs there. I… You should be her mother, Ria."

Arturia's mouth almost dropped open in shock as Iri began to cry again, silently. Their conversation had not included Shirou, still occupied with drawing, and they did not intend to let the nature of their talks reach him any time soon. They did not know that, on the other side of the room, Gilgamesh was instead closely following their whole exchange.

"I should never have become a mother, Ria. You can see it – I am unable to look after myself, much less after innocent, helpless children. While you… you know how to, and even when you don't, you still manage to make things right. You think before you act, and you make the best decisions for the children's welfare–"

"So do you," Arturia carefully interrupted her. "You care about your children, Iri, more than anything in the world. You make far more difficult decisions than I do. And you always give your all for them. Don't underestimate what you're capable of, Iri. I know that two small children are not easy to take care of, but it's not a challenge you're unable to face. And please don't forget that I'm here with you."

She looked at her firmly, still holding a now dozing Illya in her arms. "You are their mother, Iri. You are the true pillar in your children's lives. Don't doubt yourself, Iri… because there is no reason for you to do so."

The two sisters stared at each other, emerald green on dark red, before Iri cracked a weak grin.

"I really wish I knew what I did to deserve you as a sister, Ria."

Before the conversation could continue, Shirou approached the bed with his completed drawing. He had a determined expression on his young face as he handed it to his mother, since he wanted her unbiased opinion on it and was ready for any kind of critique.

Arturia focused on the sleeping child in her arms, and then threw a glance in Gilgamesh's direction, on the other side of the room. He was still on the phone, but his eyes met hers, letting her know that he hadn't missed a word of her conversation with her sister. Obviously.

Knowing that it was best if she solved things sooner rather than later, Arturia carefully handed Illya back to her mother. Iri then suggested for Shirou to hold her too, while she examined the drawing, and the young boy was very enthusiastic about having his little sister in his arms.

Leaving her spot next to her sister's bed, Arturia approached her husband, who had just ended his call. With his trademark smirk on his face, he handed her a pen and several documents.

"Sign them, Arturia."

She eyed him suspiciously. Since when did she get documents to sign from him, and in person?

He gave a mildly impatient sigh. "When we wrote down our arrangement, you demanded a trust fund and a savings account for your nephew and eventual niece. The boy has everything settled for him; the girl will have it done as soon as you sign these. The sooner this is done, the better."

She gaped at him, dumbfounded. She had not forgotten what they had agreed on in the contract, but she had not expected him to be fully ready to respect what they had decided, before she could even bring it up, and just one day after Illya had been born.

It was… quite the shock.

As she sat down and began to read the documents she was going to sign, Arturia was mildly aware of the fact that her husband's eyes were fixated on her with a knowing glint in them.

He knew he had surprised her, and he was pleased by it.

Yet she could not find it in herself to be irritated. Not this time.

She had been immature; he had already proven, more than once, that he was capable of being considerate, and he always kept his word. What had made her think that he would not respect the contract in this occasion either? And with such promptness, too?

It was truly time she stopped being so distrusting towards the man she had married, the man who kept proving that there was much more to him than she had thought possible.

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