A/N: Thank you to HiddenCamellia for some suggestions, and to Jolanikati for editing ;)


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A few hours later, after Gilgamesh finished a very long phone call with his subordinates in New York, he determined it was time to make his way to the kitchen to see if dinner was ready.

He stopped however by the upstairs living room, where he could see his mother and his wife still talking quite animatedly.

He almost lifted an eyebrow in alarm when he saw that Ninsun was showing Arturia some pictures, and barely managed to regain control over himself in time. He knew that those could not possibly be baby pictures of his – because not even at her most mischievous would his mother dare show those despicable things around – but he was still suspicious.

Before entering the room, he listened to what they were talking about for a short while.

"…before deciding to go into the field of business, were you already working in the fashion industry?" his wife was asking with interest, and with an ease in her tone that filled him with pride.

"Not at all. In fact, I was for many years headmistress of the Central College, the one that my son told me you attended as well."

That information obviously surprised Arturia but, before she could ask more – Gilgamesh knew that his mother did not like to recall her arch rival from back then, Lady Ishtar Caster – he entered the room.

Arturia looked up at him and, when their eyes met, she did not miss the pride that was still in them and, seemingly understanding the reason for it, she lightly acknowledged it with a nod.

His mother instead smirked at him.

"Don't worry Gil, contrary to Enki's wishes, no baby pics of you here. I was showing my daughter-in-law the latest fashion designs I intend to work on, even though she has quite firmly declined to model them for me." She gave him a sly look. "Won't you try to convince her to change her mind?"

Once again, green and crimson eyes met, but this time, the green pair was narrowed. He produced one of his best smirks.

"Arturia can occasionally be more stubborn than me, therefore, if she says she won't model, she won't. And in any case, Mother," he added, almost casually, "should she indeed change her mind, the only person for whom my wife will model is me."

The faintest blush appeared on Arturia's cheeks at those words, and Gilgamesh's smirk widened. But her following reaction surprised both him and his mother; his wife had apparently been around him long enough to pick up a few things from him.

The corner of her lips twitched a little as her hand deliberately fell on the couch and stroked the leather leisurely.

"These couches are quite comfortable, quite comfortable indeed," she informed them both matter-of-factly. "I am sure that sleeping on these must be very relaxing. Would you like to find out one of these nights, Gilgamesh?"

One stunned second later, Ninsun was barely suppressing a laugh, while he had to make a huge effort to keep his expression composed once he caught her meaning, and was about to give her a retort when he met her eyes – and he stopped.

The look she was giving him was unlike any other they had ever exchanged. It was challenging and daring, but in an almost spirited way, and the amount of heat that instantaneously seemed to fill the room was extreme. And instead of making him feel wary, it made him feel alive.

This was… thrilling.

She was just brilliantly wonderful. She had understood his game, and she was playing.

His smirk slipped back in place.

In that precise moment, Mr. Stark appeared on the door, and politely announced that dinner was ready, before bowing and going back to the kitchen to finish the meal that he, his wife and Sakura were preparing to serve.

Ninsun was the first to leave the room, giving her son an oddly exasperated look as she did so. When Arturia came near him, Gilgamesh's arm shot out and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her close to him.

In a low voice that he wasn't actually sure his mother would hear, he breathed, "This couch is probably very comfortable for another type of relaxation as a couple, Arturia."

She almost lost control over her body when she shivered at feeling him so close to her, but she managed to keep herself composed, even if just barely. His arms slipped around her waist, pulling her even closer to him, and her hands landed on his chest as she found herself staring into his blood red eyes, the distance between their faces impossibly small.

Her voice became as low as his had been, and still neither knew if Ninsun could actually hear them anymore.

But whether they realized it or not, they were no longer doing this only so that someone else could hear them.

"If you sleep on this couch, Gilgamesh, you will be doing it alone."

He leaned down, his lips tracing her ear faintly, and she was not able to suppress her shiver a second time as he chuckled lightly and tightened his hold. His tongue darted out to briefly caress her skin before he spoke.

"We will see about that, Arturia."

This was becoming dangerous, Arturia realized in the back of her mind, and her instinctual reaction was to put an end to it as fast as she could.

The next moment, her hands pushed on his chest a bit – not too roughly though – in order to distance herself from him. He stared at her in mild confusion as she slid out of his grasp but still remained next to him.

"Dinner," she awkwardly reminded him, and they left the room without another word – and without another touch either.

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

Arturia felt her heart pounding in her ears for quite a while after what had taken place in the living room. She could not explain to herself what on earth had just happened.

Her reply to Gilgamesh after his bold words to his mother was one thing – she had simply suggested that she would make her husband sleep alone on the couch instead of in their bed – but her body's reaction to his later actions was another.

Why had the rest even taken place? Ninsun had not been in the room anymore, and they were not sleeping together in the first place, so why had they continued with such a conversation – and why had it felt so uncommonly hot in the room all of a sudden?

She kept thinking about it for the following three days as she avoided Gilgamesh as much as possible and instead spent time with Ninsun.

Her mother-in-law – at least as far as the legal side of her marriage was concerned, that was indeed her title – was a truly interesting woman. While her limitless passion for fashion could become overwhelming after a while, Arturia could not help finding it fascinating as well. The older woman had found something that she loved doing and did well, and she had built her own empire around it.

It must not have been easy, but Ninsun did have more than enough inner steel to pull it off, and she had made it.

Arturia knew that she had not been aided by her late husband, by Gilgamesh or by Enkidu in any way; it had all been done through her own hard work and her own accomplishments.

Gilgamesh, with Enkidu's help and support, had taken the frail and collapsing Uruk Company and built Uruk Enterprises on his own terms and ethics, making it rise and develop enough to become the most powerful company in the whole world.

Ninsun had created the Rimat fashion line from nothing, and had managed to make it grow enough to have influence among several countries and unquestionably rule in the fashion industry.

She was a truly inspirational woman, and the Uruk family seemed to be an unstoppable force.

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

As she went to the hospital to see her sister, nephew, and niece the following morning – because even though they had a guest, she was not going to neglect her family – Arturia allowed her mind to be immersed into considerations.

Ninsun was a strange woman, and her personality was hard to decipher, as there were too many sides to her to describe her easily. In addition, she was Gilgamesh and Enkidu's mother; that alone would have been enough to make anyone wary, but living under the same roof as her – albeit only for a few days – was quite… odd.

Arturia had a feeling that, in spite of having no knowledge about the contract, Ninsun probably had an inkling about the fact that the marriage between her and her son wasn't the idyllic fairy tale the press had made it look like to be. For some reason though, even if there was the possibility that she indeed thought that something was amiss, the older woman was being extremely nice to her, completely lacking any kind of cold suspicion.

However, Arturia did not wish to think too much about her mother-in-law when she spent time with her sister. There was in fact something completely different on her mind.

It was almost the end of April, and that meant that it had already been a year since she had made a contract with Gilgamesh. If she had had the leisure to sit back and think about it, she would have recognized that the amount of things that had changed throughout the past year was significant; but she did not have such an opportunity, because there were other matters that required her attention.

For example, there was the fact that their wedding anniversary was approaching. Even before Gilgamesh mentioned it to her, she had already been aware of the fact that they were going to have to organize an event of sorts to celebrate the occasion, and they were expected to invite many people, starting from all those who had been at their wedding.

Since it was inevitable, Arturia had however decided to make it a useful event as well. She had suggested to Gilgamesh to invite several members of the charities they were supporting, and ask all their guests to make a donation to one of the charities – which they would list – instead of bringing a gift. Her husband had readily agreed to that; he had always found that the ideas people had about gifts were often very distasteful to him, and therefore having them donate was not only positive but also preferred.

However, aside from having an event to organize – Gilgamesh had assured her that the staff from one of his newest projects, Grail Offices, would oversee the preparations without them needing to do much, and they would discuss the details later on – there was something else that bothered Arturia.

It was common for married couples to exchange gifts on their wedding anniversary as well.

Arturia was usually not one to care much about traditions or similar things. She had respect for matters that were considered customary and she respected beliefs, but she usually thought with her own head. It was one of the reasons why she hadn't bothered giving her husband a gift for Christmas, for example.

The thing was, for her one-year wedding anniversary with Gilgamesh, she actually had the desire to give him a present. Nothing major, nothing extravagant, just… something. Mainly to express her gratitude for everything he had done during their first year of marriage.

They had quarrelled, they had had discussions, they had had arguments and fights, they had gotten on each other's nerves and they had even refused to talk to each other for some days, but she could not deny that throughout the year she had come to esteem and trust him.

And she could not deny that he had put a lot of effort into their marriage – far, far more than their contract required.

The examples for that were too many.

When she had broken down at the hospital, he had stayed with her, held her and not judged her. When she had had worried nightmares about her sister, he had reassured her. When she had slept outside the hospital room on Christmas, he had refused to leave her on her own. When her nephew Shirou had showed to have rather worrisome thoughts about his future, he had stepped in. When the doctor at the hospital had been harassing her, he had immediately agreed to help her out, but without patronizing her or treating her like an object to safeguard.

In all those instances and many others, Gilgamesh had been there with her.

She wanted to express her gratitude to him by giving him a gift, not because she expected something in return – as if – but simply because she wanted to.

She did not intend to buy anything, since he was wealthy – desperate need of money was after all the main reason why she had married him – and could buy anything he wished for on his own. She did not feel comfortable in organizing an event or something for him, nor did she want to cook a special meal or anything of the kind, because it did not feel like something either of them would truly appreciate.

Instead, observing Shirou's accomplishments had given her an idea.

The boy was exceptionally talented in any kind of manual work, and she had often helped him in doing origami, working with Lego pieces and many other kinds of small creative things. Lately, however, he had begun to build things more seriously, and once, Arturia had seen him work on a frame for the drawing he had done of his mother and his little sister.

That had made her think. She remembered how Gilgamesh had been fixated on the picture of their wedding day when it had been on the newspaper a month after their marriage. If she could get that picture, she could then frame it herself – and give it to her husband, as a gift.

It wasn't going to be anything terribly special, of course, but she would be able to give it her personal touch and it would be something he was likely to appreciate. Of course she wasn't entirely sure why he had seemed to like their wedding photo so much, but it wasn't relevant to the gift itself and she refused to ponder over it either way.

Therefore, only briefly mentioning to Iri that Gilgamesh's mother was visiting them, Arturia then went to her nephew and addressed him with bluntness.

"Shirou, would you show me how you were creating the frame for your drawing the other day, please?"

She could feel Iri's curious and mildly suspicious gaze on her, but she concentrated on Shirou, who was all too happy to explain to her how he had been making the frame, showing her the materials he had used and how he had fixed them together.

She studied everything intently, memorizing it in order to be able to replicate it later, and she had to admit that she was impressed: it was quite some work, and her nephew had done it all on his own – he truly excelled at this.

When she told him as much, the boy grinned widely, pleased by the compliment, and she spent the next two hours serenely listening to him as he listed all the manual work he had completed during the past weeks.

Only later, when she was back home alone – Ninsun had gone to visit Enkidu and Gilgamesh would be home to have lunch with her within an hour before going back to the workplace together, since they had a meeting in the afternoon – did she sit down to make some phone calls.

She intended to contact the National newspaper to ask for the picture of their wedding, and after some thought, she had decided that it was best if she clearly stated her name on the phone – Arturia Uruk – to make it somewhat more likely for them to acquiesce.

It was to be expected that they had not yet forgotten neither who she was nor what role she had played in the lawsuit they had almost been involved in.

As she had started to learn from Gilgamesh, this was the kind of situation that could be seen – and used well – in her favour.

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

The following day was the one in which Ninsun planned to leave.

Arturia did not like theatrical expressions when it came to taking her leave from someone, and she was pleased to find out that it was the same for the older woman.

As she was about to leave the room after shaking hands, wishing her a safe journey back to the Middle East and having been invited to visit her, she stopped as she heard her name being called.

"Ria."

The green-eyed woman turned towards her mother-in-law again, an eyebrow slightly raised in question.

Ninsun's dark orange eyes twinkled with an unidentifiable emotion.

"I'm truly looking forward to the day when you will feel comfortable in calling me 'Mother', my dear."

Ninsun was not blind; she knew that Arturia would not do anything she did not mean, and she was not going to call her 'Mother' if she did not feel like she was a mother to her. Ninsun knew as much, and she expressed the wish that one day it would happen.

Not for the first time, Arturia had to wonder on how much the older woman knew about her marriage.

She could not help it though: she smiled slightly, because she could see that her husband's mother pronounced her every word genuinely. Ninsun truthfully seemed to wish for her to consider her a mother figure.

A mother… someone she had never truly had…

Before a pang of loneliness could invade Arturia – chaotic flashes of Igraine Pendragon went through her mind, her late mother who had always been somewhat detached from her and Iri – she remembered herself and offered one last nod in parting.

She then left for the hospital, while Ninsun went to say goodbye to her son before leaving as well.

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

"Gil, I must say I am truly surprised that there aren't any grandkids around yet."

He merely gave her a flat look.

"Mother, I had told you not to talk about such things."

Ninsun clicked her tongue.

"No, dear, you said not to talk about them to your wife. And I bring them up because there is an insane amount of tension between you two. Something tells me you haven't been completely honest with her, in regards to how you feel about her."

He could not help glaring at his mother.

She lifted an eyebrow. "I haven't missed the way you look at her, nor those heated glances you two exchange. While the relationship between you two isn't fully clear to me, it's obvious that you are completely crazy about her, so hurry up and finally give me grandchildren."

As his glare intensified, she sighed and actually backed down a little. Then she spoke earnestly.

"Gil, don't take me for a fool. For our work, there are sacrifices that need to be made. I had to give up being a mother in the eyes of the public in order to continue working in the fashion industry, and for your own business, you were forced to get married. However," the look in her eyes was hard, "I know you, son. You wouldn't have given in to society's demands and married Ria if you had not at the very least esteemed her. If she weren't a remarkable woman, would you have truly agreed to marry her?"

She shook her head briefly, replying to the question herself. "You wouldn't have done it, and you know it."

He was silent for a while, before merely uttering, "You call her 'Ria'."

His mother's smile was broad, and there was the hint of a smirk in it.

"Calling her 'Arturia' is your privilege only, dear."

He could see that she was feeling tempted to wink, but thankfully she held back, because she knew that otherwise he would have interrupted her, and she was not finished yet.

"Gil, I have come to know your wife a little these days, and don't forget that in the eyes of the law, Ria is now my daughter as well. She has proven to have enough spirit to put up with you, and by slapping you when you proposed in such an arrogant way–… well, I have no idea how you two got engaged merely two days later, but I hope you begged on your knees to apologize after that, because she deserves nothing less."

His stare was almost incredulous, and she gave him a sincere, motherly smile, as her perfectly manicured hand went up to touch his cheek lightly.

"You have grown into a great man, Gil. But you needed to have a lesson in humility, and since I am unable to help in that sense, trust me when I tell you that no one better than Ria could teach you that. You know it – that is one of the reasons you respect her instead of despising her for her actions. You know she was right in putting you in your place, and you like the fact that she isn't scared of you. She is your match in more ways than one – and you know it."

She inclined her head to the side. "Well then. If you have a girl, can I expect her to be named after me?"

Strangely, her son was graver than she had expected him to be.

After a brief pause, he turned away from her and slowly said, "Mother, I will not repeat this another time. Do not raise this subject again."

Ninsun's dark orange eyes narrowed as she examined him.

"Gil," she hissed warningly, and the ice in her tone was something he had not heard in years, "you may be able to avoid talking about your feelings with me, but you won't be able to avoid talking about them with your wife. And before that happens," the dangerous edge in her voice was unmistakable, "you had better come around to confront them yourself."

Gilgamesh turned abruptly, facing his mother directly.

"Do not meddle in my life, Mother – and keep my wife out of your schemes."

Ninsun didn't so much as blink.

"I am giving you advice, son."

The fury in his eyes was beginning to reach perilous levels.

"Mother," his voice was as sharp as a razor, "you know that your advice is always welcome and I will always take it into consideration. But don't presume," his eyes narrowed, "that you can manipulate events according to your desires. On this matter, on any matter that is about my wife, your interference will not be tolerated. Ever. Are we clear?"

Ninsun held his gaze firmly, and studied him attentively. Her eyes narrowed as well.

"Such defensiveness, Gil. All I want is to get to know her better and for her to consider me someone as close to a mother as possible. She should come around with me more often. I would enjoy spending more time with her and show her more of the world."

Gilgamesh's eyes lost their angry light and suddenly turned a much calmer blood red colour. He looked so serious that his mother lifted an eyebrow in mild surprise.

Every word of his was uttered slowly, carefully, as if he intended to impress it upon her without mistake.

"Whether or not she goes around with you is her choice, but don't go ahead of yourself. She is mine to love and cherish, Mother."

Ninsun's expression turned incredulous for a second, and then she smirked in triumph. Finally.

Too late Gilgamesh realized that his mother had manipulated the entire conversation just to bring him to say – to admit – this, which for him, was as good as a full love declaration. He glared at her once more.

She leaned forward and caressed his cheek briefly again, the true tenderness in that small gesture conveying the affection for her son that she seldom expressed so openly.

"Oh, Gil. That was exactly what I needed to hear to be fully certain about the situation here in Japan."

Ninsun had never meant to meddle in Gilgamesh's relationship with his wife, nor did she intend to begin to do so; she enjoyed observing though, and she had seen enough to come to like Arturia. As her son was uncharacteristically tight-lipped about her, she had purposefully pushed his buttons, knowing how to rile him up enough to allow her to glimpse the truth.

Having done that, she considered herself satisfied.

Even though she still didn't know Arturia very well, she had become quite fond of her, and she knew with absolute confidence that Gilgamesh would never have married a gold-digger or, even worse, an uninteresting person. Now that she had ascertained that Arturia was neither of those, she was ready to leave; she had, after all, another son to subject to her diabolical teasing.

Briefly patting Gilgamesh on the cheek, Ninsun took a step back.

"Well then, dear son. As amusing as it is to see you become conscious of the fact that you can't claim control over Ria, I have a flight to catch, so I must be on my way."

She turned away and walked to the door. Giving him a regal wave of her hand, she smiled widely before departing on him one last bit of advice.

"Cherish your wife, Gil, but do come visit me sometimes. Don't forget the people who care about you, and the ones you care about. I'm always here though, while you have yet to realize how precious a treasure she is in your life."

The door had already closed behind her as Gilgamesh finally found the words to give his mother a truthful answer, even though he doubted he was ever going to pronounce them out loud.

No, Mother. I've already known for far too long.

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

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

"I'm glad to have met your mother, Gilgamesh."

Arturia was adjusting the collar of her blouse in front of the mirror in their bedroom, getting ready for work, just a few days after Ninsun had left.

Gilgamesh considered the words he was going to use with some caution, for he did not intend to reveal how he was truly feeling at such a comment. He was becoming more and more guarded in the way he addressed her; he did not intend to let his true thoughts show.

"She is very enthusiastic about you as well," he eventually chose to say.

He did not notice how she carefully avoided looking at him as she continued, "She seems very concerned about you and Enkidu. She doesn't seem to interfere in your lives, but she keeps a close eye on you two."

"She is indeed rather adamant about making sure our lives are how we want them to be, and she is caring," he acknowledged, now staring at his wife directly.

Arturia's green eyes had a pensive look in them when he finally met them through the mirror, and that prompted him to ask, again cautiously but now also with genuine curiosity, "What was your own mother like?"

She froze in her movements, hairbrush in hand, completely silent, and he briefly wondered if he had gone too far with that question, knowing how easily she closed up whenever she was asked questions about personal subjects.

But she seemed to collect herself, and started to brush her blonde locks, partially covering a side of her face from him.

"You know that my parents are dead," she began slowly.

He nodded – even though he was not going to let her know that her sister had made sure he found out how they had died – and she continued, still without looking at him, "They loved Iri and I. They were nice and honest people. We just… weren't close."

She turned away from the mirror to go to her closet, putting down the hairbrush and taking out one of her blue ribbons. "They were… politely detached."

She swallowed, and that movement was what made him suddenly realize how much it was costing her to talk about such a subject.

"My mother was never particularly interested in getting to know her daughters. Overall, she made sure we had what we needed, but… she never cared much about us as people. And neither did my father. They were good to us, just… they gave us their apparent and superficial love, never their true caring."

Gilgamesh came closer to her, his hands taking her selected silver necklace from the table and silently fastening it around her neck for her.

His following question wasn't just to distract her from the astonishment about his actions; he truly wished to know the answer as well.

"Did you crave their attention?"

Arturia actually seemed to have to think about it, and then shook her head.

"I was more worried about Iri's health than about my mother's interest in me. Now, however… maybe I do regret the missed opportunity."

As she brought up her hair to form her usual chignon, he surprised her once again by holding it still as she tied the ribbon, and when she was done, she turned to face him seriously.

"The fact that they did not give us their love doesn't mean that their death wasn't an extremely painful experience."

Her expression was controlled, and there wasn't much gravity in her voice, but Gilgamesh had been around this woman for a year, and he had learned to read her beautifully expressive eyes. She could not hide the torrent of sorrow that was running through the depth of her orbs from him.

His crimson eyes looked strangely flickering.

"You should be proud of the fact that you and your sister are not like your own parents, but you should be even prouder of the fact that you prevented Irisviel's children from experiencing the same sorrow you suffered."

Her eyes widened in shock, but he only smirked at her, taking away the serious tone that their conversation had had until this point.

"We're going to be late for work, Arturia. And while I can get away with it as I'm the boss, you can't."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but then seemed to understand that he was teasing her and only huffed in pretended indignation.

Before they left the room, however, she met his gaze and held it again.

"Thank you for helping me get dressed," she said seriously, and there was no mistaking the fact that she was also thanking him for his words.

He replied with a grin, waving her thanks away.

"It's still not going to excuse you for being late to work, Arturia."

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