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MAIN (present)

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They were on their flight back to Japan when Gilgamesh got the phone call.

Arturia knew that something was deeply wrong when she saw her husband's face go white, and without even thinking, she was immediately at his side, her hand instinctively extending towards him.

She had never seen him behave in such a way, with his gaze lost in the distance and a stunned expression on his face.

"Gilgamesh…?" she asked in alarm, unconsciously realizing that he must have received horrible news to react in this manner.

His eyes continued to remain lost in the distance for several seconds, before he brought them on her as he automatically closed the call.

Voice colourless, soulless, he monochromatically said, "Enkidu was in a car crash."

Her eyes widened as dread filled her. Oh no…

"He…–" she attempted, but didn't manage to finish the sentence as Gilgamesh went on, still as unemotionally as before, "He's at the hospital now. His conditions haven't been determined yet."

Arturia rapidly looked for a clock, and then held back a curse. They still had four hours to fly before landing in Japan.

Enkidu was her friend; he was a very good and nice person. She cared about him, and knowing that he had been in an accident made her feel truly scared on his behalf. However, no matter how strong her concern was, she knew that it was nothing compared to what Gilgamesh must be feeling.

She knew very well that she had felt the same way back when she had been waiting for information outside her sister's room, all those months before. No wonder her husband was so distressed; what was worse, however, was the fact that neither of them could do anything about it in this moment. They were somewhere in the sky, and he could not speed up the flight in any possible way.

She stared at Gilgamesh mutely. She did not know what to say to him, especially since they had a long wait before them and she knew, from personal experience, that any conversation at such a time would have been unwelcome to say the least.

Feeling strangely powerless as she worriedly noticed the iron grip Gilgamesh had on his armrests, Arturia remained silent for the rest of the flight.

However, even though she refused to give a coherent explanation for it, she didn't feel the slightest desire to leave her husband's side, and therefore didn't.

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

As soon as they were out of the crowded buildings that were part of the airport complex, Arturia, who was walking in front towards the car, abruptly stopped and turned around.

Her tone was even as she addressed him.

"Give me the car keys."

His eyes slowly fell on her, no emotion in them.

"You're not driving," she elaborated, quite straightforwardly.

He frowned slightly, his perfect control over his features – which he had kept for the remaining time of the flight – starting to slip.

Ice in his tone, he started, "Arturia, I am perfectly capable of driving–"

"Not in the mental state you're in now," she interjected, her tone equally cold, vaguely echoing his words from back in November, when she had had her mental breakdown.

Their chauffeur had dropped off their car at the airport, as they had instructed from Europe, but they had not had the time to call him again to request his presence before landing.

Gilgamesh glared at her.

"Arturia." He gritted his teeth. She had never seen him like this – she had never seen him so close to losing control. "Don't cross me. Not this time."

But she surprised him by taking a step closer to him and giving him her fiercest look, staring up into his eyes without fear.

"I will not allow you to endanger yourselfby driving during your mental turmoil. Give. Me. The. Keys."

He could not stop his eyes from widening at both her tone and her words, and even if he didn't fully register it, he did not miss the fact that she was wholly unconcerned about her own safety – she was solely concentrated on his.

Her hand was posed on his, the one that was holding the car keys.

"Have trust in me, Gilgamesh."

He did not know how much time passed between her pronouncing those words and his fingers letting go of the metal they were grasping. He only knew that less than five minutes later, he was seated next to his wife as she drove them to the hospital that had called him five hours before.

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

It wasn't the same hospital in which Iri was staying, it was one a bit further away from the airport and apparently the closest one to where Enkidu had had the accident.

When, a bit out of breath, they reached the place and looked for Enkidu's room, a doctor was just coming out of it. He gave them a polite smile when Arturia told him their names.

"Ah, you are the relatives he mentioned. Please come in – he's awake."

Gilgamesh, his expression unreadable, made to take a step further, when he noticed that Arturia had not moved. He gave her a sharp glance.

She seemed, oddly, to be a bit hesitating.

"You probably wish to see him alone… I will wait outside."

The words were uttered gently yet lacking any condescension, completely honest and without any hidden meanings. She did not know whether he wanted her to be inside the room when he went to see his best friend after the accident; therefore, she meant to give the two of them some privacy and space.

Perhaps, however, it was unnecessary on her part to say such a thing, because he scoffed, breaking his careful mask that he had put in place during the car ride, and grabbed her hand to make her walk next to him.

"Don't be ridiculous, Arturia."

As soon as they crossed the threshold, a very unusual sight greeted them. Enkidu was sitting in bed with a newspaper in hand; hearing their approaching footsteps, he looked up from it and gave them both a surprised grin. His eyes lingered for a brief moment on their linked hands, but he chose not to comment on such an unfamiliar sight and simply greeted them in his usual fashion.

"Why, hello Gil~, and dear Ria~! I thought you were still in Europe!"

Arturia could barely hold back her relief; it was obvious that he was quite well. Gilgamesh's mask of stone was instead back in place.

"Enkidu. Are you unhurt?"

Enkidu shook his head, setting the newspaper aside.

"Nah, I have two broken ribs, seven cracked ones and I'm full of several minor contusions and quite painful bruises, but it's nothing that some weeks of rest won't be able to fix." He studied his best friend for a moment, before giving him another brilliant grin. "Awww Gil~, you're so adorable when you're worried!"

His tone even and measured, the mask over his features rigidly kept in place, Gilgamesh replied, "You did give me quite the scare."

Turning serious at those astonishing words, Enkidu gave him an apologetic look.

"I know. I didn't mean to, Gil, and if they had let me use a phone I would have told you right away. I was very lucky, since the impact came from the left. The truck driver who hit me has a history of drunk driving. This time, he was tipsy and claims he didn't see the red light, but he's got a major concussion, so his word is not to be trusted at the moment."

Slowly, very slowly, Gilgamesh exhaled. But before he could speak, Enkidu waved him off.

"While it's rather ~touching~ that you both immediately came to see me after your long trip, I am quite familiar with intercontinental flights and know that you must be exhausted. Go home, rest and don't come back before you've slept through the night." He cracked another broad grin. "As you've seen, I'm not bad off here. Now I've finally got the time and a good excuse to dedicate myself to the solving of these delightful Sudoku puzzles~. See you tomorrow!"

While his tone was cheerful, there was an underlying sternness in it that didn't leave any room to argue, and Arturia was inwardly grateful for it. She knew that otherwise, her stubborn husband would have refused to leave the place, and she was well aware of the fact that, after the shock of finding out that Enkidu had been in a life-threatening accident, it was best if he had some time to calm down.

However, as soon as she murmured a few words in Enkidu's direction and exited the room, she found Gilgamesh sitting in one of the chairs in the corridor, his expression not giving away anything but his gaze plainly conveying the fact that he was deeply lost in his thoughts.

She understood him very well in this moment, because she had gone through the same experience, and she was aware of the fact that he was not ready to speak to anyone.

She stared at him, in silence.

By the suspicious, minimal glisten in his eyes, she realized that his fear for his best friend's safety had been far deeper than he had given her the opportunity to see. The usually arrogant, calm and collected businessman was showing glimpses of rather different feelings in this moment.

He was capable of caring. He cared, especially about his best friend Enkidu. He did have a heart, somewhere deep down – or maybe not so deep down, after all.

It was far too easy to simply consider Gilgamesh a cold-hearted person, as Arturia had unconsciously kept doing for months. What she was witnessing was a harsh reminder of how completely and utterly wrong she had been.

Suddenly, she knew what she could do. Nothing grand, nothing important, nothing even significant, but she could do something small to remind him that things were fine – that reality was not as bad as he had obviously feared it to be for the past few hours.

He would not have appreciated her speaking empty words of comfort, nor did she feel able to find the right ones to say. Much more simply, she took a step closer to him, and quietly put a hand on his shoulder.

He did not have an apparent reaction to the gesture, nor did he say a word as she silently stood next to him like that, but she knew that it meant a lot when his eyes landed on her and he did not make even the slightest attempt at shaking her off.

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

When she was getting ready to go back to Enkidu's the following morning, together with Gilgamesh, he stopped her.

"I need you to go back to work. Iskandar will be moving to the US soon, and he will need the rest of the reports we have written in New York."

She raised an eyebrow at him through the mirror as she was pinning her hair up with practised ease.

"Iskandar is very likely to be at the hospital with Enkidu instead of at work," she remarked accurately.

She knew that the red-bearded man had been busy making sure there wasn't any major press coverage of the accident, which meant that he was very likely to spend time with his injured friend.

She noticed that she had taken her husband aback by the way his movements froze for an instant. Suppressing a sigh, she therefore turned towards him, studying him for a moment before speaking seriously.

"Gilgamesh, you don't have to try and find excuses if you'd rather be alone when going to see Enkidu today. I'm not that naïve. I will respect that desire of yours without you needing to manipulate me." She took her bag before going to the door. "I'll go to the offices and finish the reports, then I'll go see my family and this afternoon I'll meet you at Enkidu's."

His nod took a few seconds, but he gave it to her nonetheless. She knew he wasn't going to apologize for his weak attempt at deceiving her, but in his eyes there was an emotion that she would have called appreciation and even gratitude if it had come from anyone else.

A hint of a smile appeared on her lips before she left. She knew that she had been able to guess his thoughts correctly, and the solution she had suggested was the best one for both of them. She understood his desire to be on his own when he went to see Enkidu, but she also understood that he wasn't going to be able to overcome his pride quickly enough to let her know as much.

During work, however, she found difficulties in concentrating, as her mind kept going back to what had happened.

There was no possible way to deny it: Enkidu could have died in that accident. She knew that Gilgamesh had seen that possibility as well, and it had made him close off in a panic. She could understand his fear perfectly, because she had experienced that same kind of feeling with her sister in the past, and more than once.

And yet, there was a difference, because she had always known that Iri was sick, and that her health was at risk. Enkidu was instead healthy and cheerful, and he had been in an accident that no one had been able to foresee, much less prevent. It was something that could have happened to anyone else.

To Iri, Shirou, Sakura, Rin, Kariya… anyone. Even though they were not types to travel much.

With a startle that almost made her throw her pen from her desk, Arturia realized that there was a person she knew who travelled quite a bit – and that person was Gilgamesh.

If a life-threatening accident were to happen to him–…

She had to suppress a scream at the sudden jolt of pain that tore through her chest, making her feel like she was suffocating. Her eyes snapped open, and she panted heavily in shock.

It couldn't be… just the thought of something like that happening to Gilgamesh–…

Her mind in turmoil, she lowered her still wide eyes to stare at the floor, without actually seeing it.

When…? How…? Why…?

When had she started to have feelings, deep feelings, for him? How had it even become possible? Why had it happened in the first place!?

Those were questions to which she wasn't going to find an answer, at least not anytime soon, and she knew that. She could not however deny the truth of it: she had begun to feel more for her husband than she should.

Far, far more.

She had never had the desire – nor the opportunity – to fall in love with anyone… yet now she had.

She almost buried her face in her hands, but controlled herself before doing something as self-indulgent as that. What was going on with her? The mere fact that she… that she… no, she couldn't even properly think about it.

Right then, a random glance at the clock told her that her work time was over and she could go to the hospital to see her family again.

As she stood up and collected her things with slightly trembling hands – at least until she scolded herself into having a firmer grip – she discovered that she had actually mixed feelings about her upcoming visit. On one hand, she was very happy about seeing her sister, nephew and niece again, even though she had had regular phone calls with them while she was in Europe; on the other, she knew that going there would not allow her to sort out her thoughts properly.

That could be a problem for her current mental health, especially when considering her newfound realization, but she decided that she was going to allow herself to think more about it only once she was back home – if at all.

Once she entered Iri's bedroom, she was pleasantly surprised to find her sister sitting on a chair, a few steps away from the bed, with Kariya standing next to her. Little Illya was in the man's arms, while Shirou was in his mother's lap.

The little boy jumped towards her right away, screaming her name happily, while both Iri and Kariya smiled warmly in her direction. Arturia laughed lightly as she picked up her nephew in her arms, slowly approaching the other two adults.

Her words directed at her sister were full of pride.

"You're leaving your bed on your own now," she said, very pleased by the development.

With the same amount of happy pride, Iri nodded.

"It's getting better and better, Ria. But tell us about you! Did you return today?"

Arturia's smile faltered, and she sombrely replied negatively, informing them of Enkidu's accident. Iri's dark red eyes and Kariya's black ones filled with concern, even after the blonde woman reassured them about the green-haired man's conditions.

Iri observed her sister keenly, and then sharply questioned, "Aside from what happened with Enkidu, are you all right, Ria? You seem to be a bit… off."

Brushing the comment aside, Arturia was ready to reply with a half-truth, "It's probably still the jet lag. Now, Shirou, you told me on the phone you had made some new drawings and finished the designed project to build a dinosaur…"

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Enkidu refused to have Gilgamesh remain at the hospital with him for too long.

"Shoo, Gil. Go back to your wife. And to work as well. I am perfectly fine. The only thing I need is rest, and I can't rest if you sulk around me."

Gilgamesh glared at him.

"Enkidu–"

The green-haired man sighed, and his tone became slightly gentler as he put his eighteenth Sudoku aside.

"I know that you were worried, Gil, and you know that I appreciate your worry. But you are here almost twenty-four-seven."

A sudden grin appeared on his lips, and his fingers closed around his best friend's wrist. "However…~"

Gilgamesh knew that look – the look of the king of mischief who had just captured his new prey. But by then, there wasn't much he could do, as he was already in his clutches… literally.

Enkidu's grin was becoming wider with each passing second. "Since you are here and you are refusing to leave, let's make you be honest. Tell me about Ria."

The blond man narrowed his eyes. What was Enkidu trying to get at?

Enkidu was the picture of deviousness. "I just want to know about how you feel for her, Gil~…"

It was tiny, but there was a minimal tremor in Gilgamesh's mask as he gave his best friend a blank look, and yellow-grey eyes sparkled with mirth.

"Your heartbeat is quickening, so I think I touched a nerve~…"

Blood red eyes glared as he tugged his arm free.

"Enkidu, you had better heal fast, because I need to smack some sense into you in a very literal way."

The threatened man clicked his tongue.

"Gil, you know that you're attracted to her. If you don't see that, you're either blind, or a fool, or in deep denial. And since we both know that you are not blind and most certainly not a fool, what are you going to do about it?"

The silence that followed was heavy, but Enkidu did not break it.

He was waiting for his best friend to make up his mind, not knowing that Gilgamesh had already made up his mind, and was only debating with himself whether or not to tell Enkidu.

Eventually, the blond man sighed. He told his best friend what he was planning to do, and he very much enjoyed the sight of Enkidu's jaw dropping open in shock.

"I'm going to invite Mother to visit us here in Japan."

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Gilgamesh did not have lunch with Arturia the following few days; he spent most of his time at the hospital where Enkidu was, even though the green-haired man tried his mightiest to force him to stop working from there.

After work and after going to her family, Arturia always met up with him at Enkidu's, and had easy, teasing conversations with the man still confined to his hospital bed.

During their talks, it became more and more obvious how lucky he had actually been. The truck driver had been very tipsy and very distracted by his phone, and had run straight into him. The fact that they had both survived was a miracle.

Since Gilgamesh spent so much time with his best friend, it meant that he spent less with her. While Arturia took notice of it – it was particularly difficult to ignore after the long trip to Europe, when they had hardly ever been separated – she did not consider it such a negative thing, even though she could not deny that she did actually miss his presence a little bit.

She still had her realization to fully process though, and she could definitely not do such a thing if he was near her.

She had feelings for her husband. There, she had admitted it to herself.

Admitting it, yes; while already hard in itself, she was able to and had now done so. Accepting it, however, was another matter entirely.

After pondering over it, she thought she could begin to see why such a realization shouldn't have surprised her so much.

Back when she had suspected him of cheating on her, she had already had a wake-up call: she had recognized for the first time that maybe, just maybe, she had married a man she could potentially come to like – 'like' in a way that went over the basic level of respect. That was the reason why she had felt something akin to… jealousy and betrayal when she had thought he had lied to her and cheated on her, as his wife.

She had however never thought she would develop feelings for him; yet right now, she couldn't deny that she had, no matter how much she wished that she could deny it.

Realizing something like this obviously left her with the question about how to proceed from there.

It was imperative that her behaviour remained normal – and she was glad that such a thing was not going to require too much effort if she put her mind to it – but that wasn't enough. Talking about it with somebody, anybody, was not something she was feeling inclined to do under any circumstances, and speaking with Gilgamesh was absolutely out of the question.

All they had was a contract, and that was all it was going to be. That was not going to change.

She did not intend to nourish those feelings of hers. They were there, she could not keep denying them nor could she get rid of them on the spot; but to avoid them becoming troublesome, she had to do her best to ignore them, cast them aside and ultimately manage to forget them.

She would not allow them to overcome her common sense nor make her interactions with Gilgamesh complicated or awkward.

She was stronger than that; she was going to be able to control herself.

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

A week after their return to Japan, her husband came home with her to have dinner together and, as they finished eating the pie Sakura had baked, he broke the unnatural silence of the evening.

"I'm leaving on a trip tomorrow – I will be back in a couple of days."

Such an announcement puzzled her, and more than just a bit. They had after all just been on a long trip, and he hadn't even told her where he was going.

She observed his every feature keenly, seeing how serious he looked, and considered his words carefully.

While it may be possible that he had to take Enkidu's place in a few trips abroad, she actually doubted this sudden decision had anything to do with work. Could it be that he wanted some time alone after what had happened to Enkidu? Maybe to somewhat get over the scare it had obviously given him?

She made her decision less than a second later: she was not going to question him, this time. As unwise as it was, she would respect his wish to leave for two days without asking him for details.

After all, she knew that, if it were important, he would have told her.

"Very well. Have a safe trip." Her tone was normal, yet at the same time, it wasn't lacking in warmth and sincerity at all.

Looking at her, he could quickly understand what she was thinking. Even though it wasn't the real reason for which he intended to leave, it was endearing to see that she was fully accepting of it. It truly showed her level of trust in him, and he of all people knew how hard it was to earn that.

In truth, what he intended to do was go to the place Arturia had seen him exclude from their trip as they were in Europe: the Middle East.

He wanted to go speak with his mother, Ninsun.

It was high time for her and Arturia to meet, but it could not happen if he didn't speak with her first.

Enkidu's almost fatal accident had shaken him, not just because of the scare about his best friend's life, but also about other people's life – people he cared about – and he had realized that he wanted his mother to meet Arturia.

The past few weeks in Europe had made him finally fully acknowledge how much and how deeply he truly cared about his wife, and that only intensified his feeling of dislike at having to leave her, even if for just two days.

It was after all another one of the reasons why he had refused to leave her behind in Japan during his European stay, and the reason why he had already entertained the notion of visiting his mother with Arturia after they were done with the business side of the trip.

But unfortunately, before anything else happened, he had to speak with his mother, because he would not allow her to meet Arturia without first making sure she kept herself in check.

After all, Ninsun could be truly overwhelming, in more ways than one, and he would not have his wife subjected to the full brunt of his mother's powerful personality.

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