'Being a hero of justice isn't everything it was cracked up to be,' thought Shirou as he leaned against a mostly still standing wall. He took advantage of the lull in fighting to look around the building he was in, or what was left of it, with the ceiling and most of the walls collapsed. At one point a family has probably lived here, the table in the dining room was even still set, but now it sat in a warzone, with multiple factions vying for control over the city that he was currently sitting in. Shirou didn't even understand the strategic value of the city considering it was in the middle of nowhere, but the faction that he was assisting on the most recent leg of his journey insisted that it was an important foothold for taking back the country.

Determining that the enemy had pulled back and that the building he was in wasn't in imminent danger of falling on his head, Shirou eased down into a sitting position, finally relaxing for the first time in hours. The fighting had been getting worse recently, initially starting off as brief skirmishes or an ambush in a back alley. However, todays fight showed that it had escalated to force on force conflict, with large groups moving into the city and establishing footholds, with fighting taking place non-stop for hours and days at a time instead of pop shots from windows.

Knowing that it was just a matter of time before the enemy finished regrouping and attacked them again, Shirou took a sip of water as he watched the freedom fighters he was with relax or prepare for the next attack. Looking down at the fading red scarf that he always wore with him, he smiled, thinking of simpler times with the woman he loved. It wasn't practical to wear something so vibrant in the desert, and it had almost gotten him killed on several occasions, but he just couldn't bear to part with it. He decided that he would try to get a couple minutes of sleep before the enemy attacked again, trusting his allies to wake him up if the shooting didn't first…

"Shirou I'm hooooome," shouted Rin as she rocketed through the door to their small apartment with contagious grin dancing across her lips. Shirou could tell just by the smile on her face how her final exam of the week must have gone, and he was happy that the treat that he had spent weeks planning out for her tonight could be enjoyed to the fullest.

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

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

"Congratulations, that's amazing!"

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

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

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

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

Shirou smiled, gently brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "If you're that disappointed, I can always return the dress that's sitting on the bed."

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

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

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

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

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

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

He could tell immediately that he caught Rin off guard, and Shirou just looked on fondly as she fidgeted with the strap of the bag that she had insisted on bringing with her tonight, refusing to tell him what she had hurriedly stuffed inside as they left earlier.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Come back to me always.

Love Rin

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

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

"I love it, this is the best gift I could have asked for." Shirou knew he had said the right words when Tohsaka's face lit up so bright that Shirou would remember that smile until the day he died.

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

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

BOOM!

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

Having finally driven the enemy into a full retreat the exhausted man eased himself down the wall that he had been using as cover these past few hours.

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

Right as his negative thoughts began to consume him, Shirou noticed a pair of boots come into view. Looking up he saw one of the informants glaring down at him, before he sighed and began speaking.

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

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

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

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

"Only this yes, the black haired one wears a red scarf similar to yours."

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

A/N: Hello Everyone! Sorry about the late upload, I got side tracked enjoying the long weekend, but here we are, better late than never right? This weeks upload is a little shorter but don't worry, I have plenty more planned where this came from and my goal is to get longer chapters as we go (4k to 6k words is a solid goal for a once a week release IMO). Anyways, please comment and share with your friends, see y'all next week!