Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Ayame/Zero…NOT

Part V

Water hot enough to steam but not to scald poured down over a sullen Rin. The little girl sat naked on a wooden platform built around a stone-floored enclosure, while Rurichiyo knelt down behind her, a towel wrapped around her otherwise nude body, her long dark hair tied into a simple bun and with another towel wrapped around her forehead.

Nearby, Sakura hummed pleasantly as she soaked in a tub of hot water, resting her head on arms folded over the edge of the tub, a neatly folded towel sitting on top of her head.

"Really," Rurichiyo chided. "If only you hadn't made such a fuss earlier, you would be soaking in a tub right now."

"Sorry if I'm rude," Rin said as Rurichiyo scrubbed her back. "But we don't really know you, or even met you before today. So I can't help being suspicious."

"Yes, most wise for a child as young as yourself." Rurichiyo conceded. "But, there's no need to be so suspicious either. Remember: for the overly cautious, everything is impossible."

"Well…I guess…that's…not wrong…"

Rurichiyo beamed while she continued to scrub and wash Rin. "Hey, hey," Sakura said from the tub. "What happens after this?"

"You get dressed, of course." Rurichiyo said. "We can lend you some clothes since the ones you arrived with are dirty and so we had them washed. After that, well, let us have something to eat first, and then we shall see."

"What will we eat?"

Rurichiyo laughed. "Eager, are we not?" she asked. "We do not know ourselves, we just leave it to the kitchen servants. Fear not, whatever it might be, it will be hot and filling. Rice, of course, as well as miso soup and fresh winter vegetables, and either fish or meat from this morning's hunt."

"Wow, that sounds really delicious! Isn't it, nee-san?"

"Well, I uh…"

Rin broke off as her stomach answered for her, growling hungrily and causing Sakura and Rurichiyo to laugh at her as she blushed. "My, my," Rurichiyo said. "It seems your stomach is most honest. But worry not: you will not find our hospitality lacking, that we can assure you."

With a soft grunt, Rurichiyo began to rinse Rin, pouring buckets of hot water over the little girl and washing away any soap. "There, all clean." She said, helping Rin stand on the slippery stone and helping her to the tub, lifted her into the hot water to join her little sister. "Now then, you may simply enjoy the hot water for now, while we go and prepare clothes for you, alright?"

"Yes!" Sakura said, lifting a hand enthusiastically. Rin just nodded, lowering her face into the water and beginning to blow bubbles.

"Oh my," Rurichiyo said with a laugh before leaving.

Rin and Sakura soaked in silence afterwards, but after a few minutes, Sakura swam over to her sister. "Hey," she began. "Nee-san, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Rin said. "But…I want to go home."

"…why?"

Rin drew herself up. "Sakura, don't you want to go home too?" she asked. "Mommy and daddy are probably really worried right now, and looking very hard for us! We can't stay here."

Sakura drew back, looking slightly scared at how loud Rin's voice was. Blinking, Rin noticed what she'd done, and she looked away. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to scare you…but we really can't stay here."

"…yes." Sakura said. "But…we can't just go without saying goodbye. It's rude, especially since Rurichiyo-san helped us back in that forest, and even took us home. We should stay for dinner at least, and maybe until morning tomorrow. It's nighttime already, see?"

Sakura then pointed up at the slatted window above the bathhouse, and through the gaps between slats the night sky could clearly be seen, a dark velvet blue that sparkled with stars so bright and many in a way Rin and Sakura had never seen before. "We shouldn't go out at night, right?" Sakura said. "That's what mommy always said."

"Y-yes…she did…"

Rin sighed. "Alright," she said. "You're right, it's rude to just leave, and we can't go at night anyway."

Sakura grinned. "Alright!" she said, and then with a laugh splashed water into Rin's face.

"Why you…!" Rin spluttered, and then with a grin of her own splashed water into Sakura's face. Any more talk between the sisters was forgotten as they just focused on swimming around and splashing water into each other's faces, the bathhouse instead echoing with the sound of children's laughter and of happily-splashing water.

"Itadakimasu!" Rin and Sakura chorused as they dug into their meals. Like what Rurichiyo promised, the meal was hot and filling, from steaming, freshly-cooked white rice, to rich miso soup with tofu and onions, and wild boar caught earlier in the morning and cooked with winter vegetables and spices in a clay pot. "Delicious!"

Rurichiyo beamed at the sight. "We are certain that our kitchen servants would be most happy to hear that, won't they?" she asked.

"Yes, Lady Rurichiyo." One of her servants answered, a young woman in a two-layer kimono, the inner one a plain, bleached white from the visible edge, while the outer one was blue with white patterns embroidered over the skirt. A white obi was wrapped around the woman's waist and tied behind her, while red clan markings were tattooed on her face. "I'm sure Hakone-san would be very gratified to hear such praise for his cooking."

"And he deserves it." Rurichiyo said with a nod. "Never have we had ever any reason to complain of his cooking, least of all now, when he has made my guests most delighted with his offerings."

"Then I shall inform him of such, my lady."

Rurichiyo nodded, and then turned back to the hungry girls eating happily on the opposite side of the table from her. "Now, now," she said. "Don't be so hasty. Take the time to savor your meal, it's not going anywhere. And of course, don't forget your manners either."

"Yes, we will!"

"Yes, we won't!"

Rurichiyo beamed again, and also began to eat her dinner. At a much slower pace compared to Rin and Sakura, for all that they'd slowed down themselves after her admonishment, and slowed further as they paced themselves to match. Rurichiyo smiled softly while taking an elegant sip of her soup.

The girls were a sight, freshly-bathed and dressed in three-layer kimonos rather than in western clothes. Rurichiyo herself wore a three-layer kimono, plain white followed by red with white squares embroidered on her right side, then blue with bands of silver flowing diagonally across the cloth. A gold-colored obi was tied around her waist, partly-folded to expose the red underside, while her dark hair was tied back into a ponytail held in place by a band of jade.

Rin for her part wore plain green under blue with wave-like patterns in silver, and then white with red bands and intersecting circles, along with a gold-colored obi. Like Rurichiyo, the obi was also folded in part to expose the red underside. Instead of its usual pigtails, Rin's hair had been tied back, and held in place with a band of gold.

Sakura wore white under red with patterns of hexagonal frames in yellow, and then white with violet bands and flowers. Her obi was gold, and partly-folded exposed a rich green underside.

The lady of the house – a large, sprawling, Japanese-style mansion sitting on top of a hill – and her guests ate in silence, and after finishing the girls gave happy exclamations as fried pastry with sesame seed filling was placed before them. "Well now," Rurichiyo remarked. "Is this not a rare treat?"

The servant smiled at her mistress. "Hakone-san was most pleased by your praise, my lady." She said.

"So we see." Rurichiyo said with a small laugh. "Oh very well…let us give our guests the full measure of our hospitality."

"Yes, thank you very much!" Rin and Sakura chorused, and Rurichiyo beamed.

"But of course," she said. "You won't be staying long, only up until the festival tomorrow night, after which we would guide you home."

"…tomorrow…night…?" Rin echoed, pausing lifting a pastry to her mouth. In contrast, Sakura didn't seem to care.

"Yes, tomorrow night we shall be holding a small festival." Rurichiyo said. "You may go home tomorrow morning if you wish, but it is such a shame not to go. Places such as where we are now…we rarely if ever receive guests and visitors from the outside world. And so when they do…we offer and show them the best of ourselves, so rare it is for us to see them, and similarly, for outsiders such as yourselves, to see us."

Rin lowered the pastry onto her plate, and likewise lowered her head in thought. "We can go home tomorrow morning." She thought. "And we should. This is a dangerous place. I just know it. We shouldn't stay too long her. We have to go. Home…to mommy and daddy…but…"

Rin's thoughts trailed off, and she looked up, at Rurichiyo's smiling face, and then sideways where Sakura was happily munching away. The younger girl noticed, and looking at Rin tilted her head questioningly. Rin looked down again.

"But…is it really so dangerous? They…Rurichiyo-san…she helped us out of that forest…she helped us get away from that magus' house…took us into her home…gave us a bath…food…I…I'm sure…it wouldn't hurt…to stay in her village for the festival…would it? Would it?"

Rin closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and raising her head and opening her eyes made her decision. "Okay," she said. "We'll stay for the festival."

Rurichiyo beamed. "It's settled then." She said cheerfully.

"Now, where did those two wander off?" Ayame wondered to herself as she walked out of the Einzbern Castle. Standing on the front lawn for a few moments and scratching at her head, she finally fished a pair of glasses from a pocket, their lenses shaped like stars, and put them on. "Oh, there's the trail. Let's see…oh yes: Floating Ground!"

Ayame's feet or rather the soles on her boots began to glow gently, and then lifted her into the air. "Let's go!" she said as she flew forward, eyes on the ground and following the girl's path into the forest, past and around trees, over broken and uneven ground, through the mists into the distance.

But, being so focused as she was on tracking down her sisters, Ayame wasn't watching where she was going. And as usually happens in this kind of situation…

…the inevitable would happen.

BLAG!

Ayame fell on her rump, clutching where she'd apparently flown face-first into a low-hanging branch. "…really…should watch…where I'm going." She muttered to herself while getting up and patting herself clean. She was much too tough to be really hurt by the impact, but it was a good reminder not to get too caught up in a single-minded purpose.

"Right…then…huh?"

Ayame took off the glasses as fairies appeared out of the fog around her, and then swirling around her flew off – for the most part – in a different direction. Those that remained flew and swirled around her, and insistently flashed towards where the rest of them had flown off.

"Alright, alright," Ayame said, walking towards the indicated direction. "I'm going…let's see what you folks want."

After about half an hour walking through the fog, Ayame emerged into a clearing with a pond in the middle. The fairies hovered and flew in a glowing spiral around the pond, and flashing, indicated Ayame to look into the water. "Uh…" she began. "What exactly am I…whoa…what the…"

There, floating under the water, a little girl slept, wisps of her hair drifting in the cool water. And then the ground gave way, and with a yelp, the Black and White Magician fell into the pond.

Except…

…there was no splashing of water. There was only a shimmer of golden light, the sound of suzu being rung once, and a little girl got to her feet. Staring at her hands and then at herself in disbelief, Kuchinashi Tachibana looked up at the fairies around her.

"W-w-w-what is this?" she stammered out.

A/N

Wow, this has gotten longer than expected. Oh well, who cares? Last update for a while, going back to playing Mass Effect.

Just to clarify, suzu are those wooden bells, ranging from small, clustered, handheld ones, to the big ones hanging over the doors leading into Japanese temples and shrines.

Until next time, stay golden folks.