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When the first weak rays of the morning sun began to brighten the corridor, Arturia blinked a few times, to get rid of her sleepiness. When she straightened herself, she met the teasingly amused crimson eyes belonging to her husband.

She blinked again, and then shot to her feet.

How on earth had this happened!?

She had fallen into slumber against Gilgamesh's chest. And the only reason why she had not slid to the floor was that somewhere during the night he had passed an arm around her shoulders to support her.

She shook her head fiercely, trying to get rid of her thoughts, but it was nearly impossible when she saw that his annoying smirk was back on his lips.

"Good morning, Arturia. Did you sleep well?"

The teasing tone was unmistakable, and she glared at him. His next words, however, made her push aside her aggravation, at least for the time being.

"About an hour ago, the doctors entered your sister's room and started with the check-ups."

Her eyes immediately darted towards the door while she inwardly wondered about how she had been able to miss it.

Gilgamesh did not relinquish the possibility of teasing her some more, his eyes showing his obvious amusement. "You were sleeping quite soundly when that event occurred."

Arturia's glare towards him intensified, but his smirk only widened in response. His wife's reactions were always a treat.

In that moment, Diarmuid and Kariya came out of Iri's room, and their ample smiles lifted Arturia's spirits more than anything had ever done before.

"Irisviel is fully healed," Diarmuid announced, his gaze steady and proud.

Kariya did not add a word, but the light in his eyes and the enormous smile on his face were more than enough to confirm that everything was fine. Gilgamesh went to stand next his wife as she bowed to both of them after allowing herself a second to take in her overwhelming happiness.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," she said, with what could almost be considered emotional emphasis, making it clear that she meant every word.

Kariya opened the door a little more, to let the other medics – whom Arturia thanked as well – leave the room, and at the same time inviting her to come inside. Diarmuid smiled at her once more, feelings visible in his eyes, yet he made a gesture with his hand towards Kariya to make him close the door.

"Ria, may I speak with you for just a moment?"

A little surprised, Arturia nodded, unable to stop worry from filling her once again. Next to her, she felt Gilgamesh coming a little closer, while Kariya went back inside the room and closed the door behind him as had been wordlessly instructed.

Diarmuid glanced at Gilgamesh, but one stare from the blond man was enough to make it understood that he was not going to leave. Therefore, Diarmuid addressed his cousin, doing his best to ignore the other man's presence.

"Don't worry about Iri, for she is completely out of danger. It's true that it will take her several months to regain the full use of her body and be discharged from the hospital, but she is now firmly on the road of a full recovery. What I wanted to address is something different."

He seemed to want to take a deep breath, but suppressed the urge. "Next week, I'll be on vacation; as soon as my free period is over, however, I'm going to be transferred to another hospital."

The Uruk couple raised an eyebrow almost simultaneously; Diarmuid found himself stared at by vaguely interested blood red eyes and vaguely concerned green ones.

Arturia was the first to speak.

"I am sorry to hear that, Diarmuid. Was it your choice? Did you wish to leave this environment?"

The black-haired man shook his head slightly.

"It's not that. You probably haven't heard of it because you don't care about these matters, but unfortunately some very unpleasant… rumours… have begun to circulate. I decided it was best to switch places before they became more serious and started to pose a problem for my work."

Arturia's eyebrow rose higher.

"Rumours?"

Her tone was sharp, and Diarmuid found himself obliged to give a more specific explanation.

"About my relationship with the head nurse, Madam Sophia-Ri," he clarified, and Arturia's expression turned gentler, more sympathetic. "You know that there is no one for me aside from my Grainne, but it seems quite inconsequential to the people here."

Arturia nodded, for she understood what he meant. Sola-Ui, the head nurse, was extremely aggressive in her pursuit of the doctor, in spite of the fact that he already had a sweetheart; her behaviour must have prompted the rest of the staff to talk, and it must have become a very unfriendly situation for Diarmuid. In light of this, it was not surprising that he had decided that it was best to leave.

As for Gilgamesh, he couldn't care less about the fact that the man had problems with his reputation; he was more concentrated on the fact that he had a girlfriend and was leaving. That was very positive to hear, indeed.

If he was going to be on vacation and then leave, it meant that they were not going to see each other for quite a while. A ghost of melancholy veiled Arturia's expression; even though they were not particularly close, Diarmuid was still part of her family.

"I am sorry about this unlucky situation that forces you to leave. It was good to see you again, and your help during these months has been incomparable. I will never be able to express my thanks well enough. Please give my regards to Grainne… I wish you all the best in your new position."

Any other person would have hugged their relative. Not Arturia, as it wasn't her style. She extended her hand towards him, staring him straight in the eye, and gave him a tiny smile.

"Good luck, for everything." Her smile became a little wider. "And merry Christmas, Diarmuid."

He took her hand and gave it a firm shake, nodding at her.

"Thank you. Merry Christmas, dear cousin," he said affectionately.

When the handshake was over, his eyes wandered over to Arturia's husband. The two men measured each other until, to everyone's surprise, Gilgamesh gave him a short, formal nod.

"Your competence and professionalism have been much appreciated. Goodbye."

Knowing very well that just that small sentence meant a lot coming from someone like Gilgamesh, Diarmuid nodded in thanks.

"Thank you. Goodbye, Mr. Uruk."

He turned around and slowly walked away. Arturia immediately turned towards her husband, studying his face keenly. He arched an eyebrow at her examination.

"Yes, Arturia?"

She only shook her head briefly, a very small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She hadn't missed the way he had behaved towards her cousin Diarmuid, but she decided not to make remarks on his unexpected civility.

"I suppose it's nothing."

He followed her inside her sister's room, where they were welcomed by a redheaded tornado who screamed his Christmas wishes at them.

"Merry Christmas, Auntie Ria and Uncle Gilgamesh!"

Arturia picked the young boy up in her arms, kissing his forehead and bringing him to the bed where Iri was lying; she was awake with a restless Illya in her lap and Kariya sitting next to her, a fond smile on both their lips.

Arturia seemed to glow like a ray of sun as she came closer to her family, murmuring the traditional wishes to everyone and then kissing her sister's cheek with great affection, letting her see all her relief at knowing that things were finally getting better.

As Kariya confirmed that Sakura and Rin were going to arrive an hour later and formally announced that he was going to adopt them both, Arturia discreetly took out the bag full of small presents she had had the foresight of leaving hidden in Shirou's room the day before.

While she softly delivered the presents, with Shirou's eager help – the little boy even ran out of the room to track down 'cousin Diar' to deliver him his – Gilgamesh observed her, with his mind lost in thoughts he would never have expected to have.

She had married him to save her family, and her family was well now. He had married her because he needed a wife, and his prestige had grown because of that. But things had changed very much during their six months of marriage, more than he had ever thought possible.

And yet… he did not dislike those changes.

He had gotten far more from this deal than he had anticipated and, in spite of himself, he had realized that those moments in the presence of her family had played a part in it, too. When they were in public, they had to keep up a façade of fake appearances; with her family, even though they could not reveal the truth of their pact, they had no need for pretences.

That was somehow making it easier – and more unexpected – to be less guarded in what he did… and in what he said.

When he had spoken to young Shirou the day before, he had told the boy, without giving him any further explanation, that his aunt was deserving of his gratitude. It had been done almost unconsciously, for he had not planned to let that slip, even if it was nothing but the truth.

It seemed that she was now almost constantly on his mind.

He would never let go of her, Gilgamesh decided. She was becoming too important for him.

Too… irreplaceable.

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After a good night of sleep and after going to the office for a meeting and to wish everyone a merry Christmas – and glaring at Enkidu when he tried, not even so subtly, to guide Arturia towards a mistletoe next to which he had already lured Gilgamesh – the day after Christmas the Uruk couple went back to the hospital.

Gilgamesh had not offered an explanation as to why he was going with her, and Arturia had not asked for one. They had reached an unspoken truce on the oddity of some subjects: not talk about them at all.

He seemed to have his mind on something, as he was frowning in a manner that was hardly noticeable to anyone who didn't know him.

Arturia leaned slightly away from her nephew and niece when she did take notice of it, and quietly addressed him.

"What is the matter, Gilgamesh?"

His slight frown deepened, and his eyes darted between her and the baby in her arms. For some strange reason, he decided to give a reasonably honest answer to her inquiry.

"You are… sometimes perplexing, Arturia. You seem extremely intent on giving your family happiness, and you go to great lengths to ensure it. Altruism is in your nature, but don't you ever crave your own happiness?"

He had had that thought for a while now, ever since he had considered with more seriousness the fact that Arturia had thrown away many opportunities by making the decision to give her all for her family. He was now bluntly asking her if she didn't ever get tired of all the things she was doing.

But her reply was a greater surprise to him than he was ever going to be willing to admit. She tilted her head to the side, seeming both mildly confused and a little disbelieving.

"But don't you see, Gilgamesh? I am happy now."

She was not smiling, since she so rarely did, but her eyes were so serene, so full of calm, pure happiness that Gilgamesh could do nothing aside from simply stare at her.

There was no need for her to add anything else; the fact that she had spoken the truth was plain to see, and it was more than a little bewildering for him.

He did not say another word to her as the hours went by, sometimes stepping away to make or receive a phone call, but the rest of the time, he merely observed the people in the room. During most of the afternoon, his eyes remained glued to the blonde, green-eyed woman he had married.

He had known – and had seen – that she had loyalty for her family, but he had probably never seen how her loyalty was incredibly pure. Her love for her relatives was very deep, and very selfless.

It was inexplicably strange for him to be fascinated by something like that, but against his better judgement, he couldn't deny that he was. Oh, he definitely was.

He was not blind to the sacrifice she had willingly made to provide a better life for her family. It was something he could have looked down upon, actually: she had basically sold herself for the sake of people she cared about. But the little minx had still done it on her own terms, and she had managed to give them the happiness she wished for them to have.

Staring at her, Gilgamesh found that he just couldn't tear his eyes away.

He had noticed it months before, but he had yet to get used to the way Arturia smiled at her nephew, at her sister and now at her niece. Perhaps it was because it was uncharacteristic: he could not recall a single instance, aside from the time she spent with her beloved family, in which her features lost that slight edge that made her always look so stern. There had never been an occasion in which her expression actually softened like that – except when she was around her family, around the people she cared about and fiercely intended to protect.

What was most unexpected for Gilgamesh as he observed her was the fact that he could not help but determining that such an expression, while not common for Arturia, suited her. In fact, it looked good on her.

She almost appeared… sweet.

As soon as that completely irrational thought entered his mind, he firmly chased it out again. What was going on with him? He was behaving like a teenager with his crush.

Wait. His crush?

Gilgamesh silently scoffed at himself. It was certainly the fact that he was married to this woman that was making him have the most foolish of thoughts.

Against his wishes, those considerations kept him company for the rest of the day, rendering him uncommonly curt when Arturia later addressed him, and making their interactions minimal as they left to go back home.

He didn't even realize that she had cooked dinner, at least not until he found the plates on the table, and even then, he simply started eating without a word.

He should have however remembered that his wife was not the kind of person who accepted his moods without question, be it because of fear or respect. Oh, no. She was indeed capable, most of the time, of reading his moods, but she would not stand for his lack of manners, no matter the reason.

He was forced to snap out of his reverie when she finally threw her chopsticks on the table and released the glare that he realized in that moment she had been holding back for a while – probably since he had started being so terse.

"All right, Gilgamesh, out with it. What is your problem?"

He could not help blinking, even if only once. He may have been less courteous than required, but her display of anger was still unexpected.

It seemed like she did not care about it, as the fierceness of her glare only increased.

"You've never been the nicest person in the world, but today dealing with you has been absolutely impossible. What. Happened?"

It was clear that she was at the end of her patience, and she was demanding an explanation for his horrid behaviour towards her.

It was absolutely out of the question for him to actually consider explaining himself though. First, because he was Gilgamesh Uruk and he didn't have to explain himself, period. And second, because she was the indirect cause for his silently sullen mood, but in a manner that he would – or could – never confess to her.

However, Arturia was the one who was asking, and he knew that she would not back down without obtaining at least a reply. He had to give her one, as much as he was reluctant to do so. There was no possibility to avoid that.

With extreme unwillingness, he opened his mouth to deliver his words – when suddenly a very loud, roaring noise came from the kitchen.

Startled, they both shot to their feet. There was no one else in the house with them; Sakura, the cleaners and the housekeepers had been given leave to stay at home, since it was the day after Christmas.

The loud sound had been quite strange, as if something had broken quite abruptly and fallen down with a crash.

Their eyes met for a fraction of a second, but the next one, Gilgamesh was already walking towards the kitchen without a word. He was taken by surprise, however, when she was at his side less than a moment later. Her expression made it clear that she would not accept an argument over the matter, and for once, he let it go, proceeding together with his wife to find out the source of the noise.

There was no one in the kitchen, but it was obvious from where the sound had come from, since a copious amount of water was dripping from the fridge's still closed doors.

Stifling an exclamation, Arturia immediately reached for the handles and opened it. The lights inside were off, and water was coming out from the top, slowly running down the inner walls. It was now apparent that the sound they had heard had been the fridge breaking down.

She pondered over the matter, staring at the large, now soaked, piece of furniture. However, before she could make a decision about what to do, she noticed him taking his phone out and beginning to dial a number.

Realizing whom he intended to call, she turned towards him abruptly.

"No! Don't call!"

He stopped dialing and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She took a step closer to him, extending her hand towards the device.

"It's late in the evening and today is a holiday, Gilgamesh. The fridge breaking is not an emergency. Calling for maintenance or for the staff or anyone else can wait until morning."

His blood red eyes glared at her, and his voice came out sharply.

"Those people are at our disposal, and the fridge has to be fixed. They are our staff, and they will do what they are paid for."

Arturia's voice was equally sharp.

"Yes, they are our staff, but this is their day off, and it's not their fault this accident happened. In what way does being their boss give you the right to stop considering them human beings, Gilgamesh?"

She knew that her words were going to make an impact – especially since it wasn't the first time she used such an argument against him – but she did not take the time to observe it.

Instead she went on, more calmly and with a slight hesitation in her tone, "In the morning, we will call to have the fridge repaired, but for tonight we can wait."

He stared at her for a brief while before very visibly suppressing a scoff.

"It can't wait that long, Arturia. The food inside the fridge will have to be thrown away by then, and while it's not a matter of buying more, this useless waste is not something I can tolerate."

She glanced at the food in the broken refrigerator and the fridge, knowing that there was not much time before it started to rot.

"I wouldn't accept it either, and you won't have to tolerate it. There is a solution for it."

He lifted an eyebrow, his eyes holding a no small amount of doubt.

"You believe you can fix the fridge on your own?"

She turned around, facing him directly. She had had enough. He had been frustrating to say the least throughout the day, had refused to offer an explanation for it and right now, he had crossed the line with that comment.

"I didn't say that – I don't have the necessary competence. But I will remind you, Gilgamesh, that even after all these months of marriage, I am still not used to having servants, cleaners or housekeepers do things for me. Since I am from a poor family, I have had to learn to rely on myself and my own knowledge when things go wrong. Let me put that to use now. If you are able to set your pride aside for a moment and lend me a hand, we can salvage most of the food at the very least – if not all of it."

Her eyes held an unspoken challenge. She had clearly not forgotten what they had been talking about before this unpleasant incident interrupted them, but she was wordlessly hinting that she was willing to let it slide if he helped her.

What she was asking was not a small thing, but Gilgamesh found that he had already made up his mind.

Slowly, very slowly, his head made a minimal movement towards the floor, before being lifted up in a very reluctant nod of acceptance.

Arturia's eyes seemed to relax slightly, and then a determined expression settled on her features. She rolled up her sleeves, took two aprons – handing one to him – and then glanced at the large windows, getting all business and starting to give orders.

"Very well. Now, we have been lucky – the fridge has broken down in this period of the year, winter, during which it's quite cold outside. Therefore, all we have to do is carefully wrap everything up in plastic bags, and then set them on the window sill. If we work quickly and carefully, it won't take long and we won't get wet, either. And all that will be left to do will then be mopping up the floor."

The simple, quick efficiency of her reasoning was half-surprising, half-expected. Having carefully examined her during her first weeks of trial at Uruk Enterprises, Gilgamesh knew that it was the same method she used in her job.

He did not have the time to think more about it though, because she was already handing him freshly enveloped objects, instructing him to put them outside the window in a way that would not take up too much space.

As he complied with his wife's requests without a word – he did feel that it was a job for servants and he was slightly irritated at being given orders, but if Arturia was now doing such a thing as well, he supposed that he could humour her – the strangest feelings were fluttering through his chest.

There was certainly some annoyance, some surprise, some carefully hidden admiration for the way in which she was handling the situation, but he was truly taken aback at finding out that the one emotion that dominated over them all was amusement.

Fond amusement.

This special woman, his wife Arturia, had coaxed him into doing such a menial task and, instead of feeling offended, he was feeling amused. And the reason for it was that she was not taking advantage of the situation, but she was there working with him as well.

They were working on a problem and solving it together.

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Everything was back to normal the following morning. The fridge was repaired, almost all the food was salvaged, and the Uruk couple went to work after having a silent breakfast together. There was nothing that interested them in the newspapers, since they were all filled with anecdotes about Christmas, but neither had anything to complain about it.

On this day, they were going to work full hours at Uruk Enterprises, and Arturia would go see her family again only the following day. She had after all been neglecting her job for far too long.

When she went back to the hospital, Arturia was glad to see that Iri was feeling much better. She was still extremely weak, of course, but she firmly insisted on taking care of Illya herself, and the blonde woman had a hard time in holding back a smile when witnessing the gentle way in which Kariya was discreetly there to help her.

Shirou's readiness to help had also been somewhat a surprise, but the way he often stole glances in Gilgamesh's direction told Arturia that her nephew was determined to be on his best behaviour in front of his uncle, to obtain his approval.

As strange as it was to realize it, her husband had become more or less a hero in Shirou's eyes, someone for her nephew to look up to, and she couldn't find anything to object about that. The boy's impractical ideas about 'saving everyone' that had worried her in the past few months seemed to have undergone a change; they had not disappeared, but after the talk the two had had, her nephew had seemed to start taking practicality instead of idealism into firmer consideration.

Arturia just hoped Shirou was not going to try to imitate other things that were typical of Gilgamesh – like his arrogance, for example.

She had, however, more pressing matters to be worried about. On the occasion of New Years, she and Gilgamesh were going to attend a formal event held for the 'World's Celebrities' in the middle of Tokyo, in one of the most ancient buildings, where a large amount of the most influential people on the planet were going to be assembled.

As far as her wardrobe was concerned, her husband had already confirmed that he had chosen the right outfit for them both, but what worried Arturia was the presence of the press and the immense quantity of venomous people that was going to fill the place. It wasn't going to pleasant, that was for sure.

However, contrary to her inauspicious expectations, things went rather smoothly.

In fact, when compared to the other, much more hectic events she had participated in, this one ended up being almost bland. She realized that perhaps it was also because she felt more confident in her role, and speaking to a great amount of people with composed civility was becoming progressively easier.

She remained with Gilgamesh most of the evening. They did not talk much, aside from her making a teasing remark when he showed some moderate gentlemanly behaviour by handing her a glass of champagne as soon as it was midnight.

Right after that, all the guests were invited to the terrace to admire the fireworks, intended to celebrate the end of a year and the start of the new one.

She did not know what exactly happened then, and neither of them spoke about it later. There were no cameras pointed at them, since it was dark and everyone was staring at the sky in raptured admiration; however, it happened to be freezing outside.

Arturia shivered slightly, unintentionally, because her coat had been given to the catering staff the moment they had entered the place, and the crisp winter air was much colder than she had anticipated.

To her complete and utter befuddlement, Gilgamesh passed an arm around her shoulders and then pulled her entire body to him, making her back settle against his chest.

It was not done forcefully, nor possessively, and not aware of the precise reason for it but knowing that it wasn't for appearance's sake since no one would have noticed anyway, Arturia found herself pressed to him, shielded from the cold air of the night and acutely feeling the warmth of his body.

She did not know when it had happened during the past weeks, but she didn't find it particularly hard to be so close to her husband anymore. Somewhere along the line, she had gotten used to it.

She decided, even if she was tense, not to comment nor shy away from him. On the contrary, as he held her even closer when the fireworks started, she leaned into him, allowing a little more contact between them than a second before.

She would have liked to be able to say that it was only because of the cold, but while she wasn't going to tell him, she would not try to lie herself, especially not in such an unconvincing way.

She did not mind being so close to him, in his arms, for she felt oddly at ease.

It felt… fine.

They simply remained still in that position, silently staring at the sparks of light that brightened the sky, one after the other, welcoming the New Year.

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