Just a heads-up, there's a hefty afterword at the bottom of this, so the end of the story might sneak up on you.

Fate/stay night and Fate/zero are the property of TYPE-MOON. This story is a work of fanfiction, and the author makes no claim to these properties. Some lines of dialogue have been excerpted from the above works in their entirety in this fanfiction. They are from the translations by mirror-moon and Baka-Tsuki, respectively. Thanks to Da-Guru and my brother for their help editing.

Continuation of the Dream

Part Three: Continuing the Dream

III

Arturia regards the door to the Tohsaka estate with dismay. Both ringing the bell and knocking have failed to garner any response, and she shakes her head with amusement at her own foolishness. She had been so caught up with anticipating her reunion with Rin that it had not occurred to her that her friend might not be home.

'Just because she was able to leave school early does not mean she would come directly home. She may have had errands to run, or be visiting other friends.' Arturia sighs. 'I was so looking forward to seeing her again. I suppose-'

"Can I help you?" A calm, polite voice inquires from behind her. A calm, polite, familiar voice. "You probably have the wrong address, but I might be able to provide directions."

Arturia turns around slowly. Although she had been looking forward to this encounter, now that it is upon her she finds her rate racing. Standing on the walkway, in a familiar red jacket over a school uniform is someone she has not seen in more than ten years.

"No," she says, and Arturia is pleased that her voice remains steady as she looks Rin in the eye, "I am certain this is the correct location." She smiles slightly as Rin's eyes widen in recognition. "It's been a long time, Rin. It's good to see you again."

"Saber?" Rin's mouth drops open. "No, that's impossible." She recovers from her shock quickly, and slips her hands into her jacket pockets. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

She studies Rin's face, which has transformed into an unreadable mask. For a moment, she is relieved she brought Avalon with her. 'No, I will not let this come to violence,' she chides herself. After a moment searching for words, she responds.

"Arturia Pendragon. I have not been a Servant for a long time."

Rin's eyebrow quirks. "So you know the identity of Shirou's Servant, as well as having her appearance."

"Is there nothing I can say that will convince you?"

"I don't know." Rin sighs. "I want to believe you. But it would have taken a miracle for you to be here."

Arturia smiles. "A miracle is what happened. I could show you, but perhaps not here?"

"I am not letting you inside my wards that easily." Rin frowns. "Tell me here."

"It's a very long story. Would you accompany me elsewhere to hear it?" Arturia offers.

"Do you have somewhere in mind?"

"No." Arturia thinks furiously. 'If I ask her to go somewhere, would she expect an ambush? She seems to believe, at least a little, that I am an impostor. However... if I look at it from her perspective... Of course it seems an impossibility that I am here. Does she believe I am an agent of an enemy of hers? Does Rin have enemies that would go to such lengths?'

"Hey." Rin's voice is annoyed, and Arturia realizes she must have been ignoring her friend while she was thinking. "If you don't mind, then-"

"Actually," Arturia cuts her off, ignoring the way Rin's eye twitches. "I do have an idea. There's a ruined building in the forest that should not be too far from here, which provided us with plenty of privacy in the past and may do so again if-"

"That's enough!" Rin interjects, flushing, and just like that her stoic facade shatters. "I certainly haven't told anyone about that, and there's no way that Shirou would've. Alright." Rin takes a deep breath, then exhales slowly. "Alright. I'll believe you are who you claim to be, at least enough to hear you out inside." She nods to herself.

"So, Saber. No, you said it was Arturia. Would you like some tea?" She pulls her key out of her pocket and steps past Arturia to unlock the door.

"That would be lovely, Rin," Arturia agrees as she follows her inside. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," Rin murmurs as she shuts the door behind Arturia. She beckons Arturia into the kitchen. "We have a lot to catch up on and I expect you to tell me everything. Don't leave a single thing out, you understand me?"

"Of course." As Rin sets about preparing tea, Arturia takes a seat at the kitchen table and tries to figure out where to begin.

~~~CotD~~~

"So." Rin places a cup of tea in front of Arturia, then seats herself across the table. "You said you had proof." She leans forward. "You being here is impossible. You understand that, right? So if you can prove that you are who and what you claim to be, please do so."

"Of course." Arturia's smile contains more than a hint of mischief. "One moment." Arturia holds her hand out over the table, palm down, and closes her eyes. While extensive practice allows her to return Avalon to its physical state in a heartbeat, she cannot resist the temptation to indulge in a small amount of theater.

A cloud of golden motes lifts from her body and swirls into a vortex beneath her hand. Arturia opens her eyes just in time to see Rin's jaw drop as the light condenses into the sheathe, which drops a small distance onto the table with a thunk. She lowers her hand to rest comfortably on top of her Noble Phantasm.

Rin sets her teacup down with a rattle of porcelain. "That's... Avalon?" She reaches out toward it, then flinches back and raises her gaze to Arturia's face. "You really are Saber, aren't you? But how?"

"It is Arturia now," Arturia reminds her friend gently. She lets Avalon dissolve back into her body. "And that is how. As I said, it is a long story."

Rin's face pales, and she sips her tea to buy herself time to regain her composure. "Avalon stops your aging... How old are you now?"

Arturia chuckles. "Is it not considered impolite to ask a woman her age, Rin?" She waves off Rin's attempt at a defense or apology. "Not as old as you are thinking. I spent the vast majority of the intervening years asleep in the realm of fairies."

"I see." Rin nods her head. "So you just woke up again, and you've come to me for help."

"Er," Arturia begins, but Rin continues without pause.

"Understandable. But how did Avalon come to be in your possession again?"

"I am no magus, Rin. Despite Merlin's best efforts..." Arturia protests with a shudder. "My... arrangement to seek the grail was somewhat unusual, you may recall." Rin nods, so Arturia continues. "Thus, after destroying the grail, my consciousness, and, I suppose, my soul, returned to the time when I had made that bargain, and the time that had been frozen began to move again."

"Camlann." Rin's voice is pained.

"Sir Bedivere took me to the forest nearby, and I was delirious from my wounds. The grail wars seemed like a fever dream. Thrice I entreated him to return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake, and twice he returned with it. It gave me a lot of time alone with my thoughts." Arturia sips at her tea. "I do not know how many times I slipped in and out of consciousness, trying to grasp the shreds of that dream."

"Rin." Arturia reaches across the table to lay her hand on top of her friend's. Rin's hand continues to shake briefly underneath her own before stilling. "It's alright now." She smiles. "I'm here, after all. When I finally succumbed to my wounds and lost consciousness after Sir Bedivere reported he had finally thrown Excalibur back into the lake, I thought I would never wake again. Instead, I woke again in the forest some time later, and when I awoke, Avalon was there with me."

"And you do not know how or why?" Rin speaks half to herself. "It is an artifact, and one made by fairies. Who knows how it interacts with time? When you were summoned by Shirou as a Servant, you had Excalibur, but not Avalon, because Avalon had been stolen from you. That was part of your legend. However, Shirou had Avalon, and he returned it to you. Perhaps that changed the relationship between the soul of Arturia Pendragon and the artifact Avalon back to one of owner and property." She shakes her head. "We can investigate that later. Arturia, are you saying you slept in that forest for over a thousand years?"

Arturia shakes her head. "No, only a day or two." She waves her nearly empty teacup to forestall Rin's interruption. "When I awoke, the battlefield was not that old. I had a great deal of time to think over those next few days, and to come to terms with what had changed. I could not recover the throne, and I was unsure if I wanted to. Eventually I made a new life for myself." She finishes her tea, and sets the cup down, waiting for the obvious question.

"What happened to it?" Rin does not disappoint her.

"Plague." Arturia's voice is pained. "I was unable to save anyone. In the end, I selfishly wished to be reunited with my friends who were still alive. Would be still alive." She frowns. "Avalon granted that wish, after a fashion. I slept a single night, and when I woke again, centuries upon centuries had passed. Time runs strangely in the realm of the fairies."

"I see." Rin pushes her chair back and rises to her feet. "Let me get the teapot." She returns momentarily and refills both teacups, then sets the pot down on the table and sits down again. "So, Avalon returned to you by mysterious means. You created a new life for yourself, lost it, and slept under the effects of Avalon until now. Is that correct?"

"More or less."

Rin sighs. "Well, it's not the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. It's good to see you again."

"Yes." Arturia nods. "It has been a long time."

"Longer for you than for me." Rin's smile turns slightly malicious. "How much longer, I wonder. Just what did that new life of yours involve?"

Arturia narrows her eyes. "I do not know what you are imagining, but I am sure it was unlike that. I worked as a local scribe for less than two years before my country was taken by plague."

"Sorry, sorry!" Rin waves a hand. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. It's just, you said your country, so you lived in England, right?"

"Correct." Arturia feels a chill of foreboding, but she can see no plausible reason to refuse to answer Rin's questions.

"Then, when you woke up from your nap, you were still in England, just in modern England?"

"...That is correct." The words feel like the jaws of a trap closing around her.

Rin leans back in her chair, looking satisfied. "I thought so. But then, how did you get to Japan? Modern international travel requires papers and money, neither of which you would have had. No, before that, did you even understand modern English? Languages evolve over that much time."

"I had help," Arturia admits, flushing slightly. "You are correct that it was difficult, but I was able to rely on a friend."

"A friend?" Rin's eyebrows shoot up. "Wait, but who? No, you... That's..." Her voice becomes edged. "How long has Shirou been keeping you a secret from me? I didn't think he had it in him. I'll have to compliment him on his discretion after dinner. And then remind him that it's rude to keep important secrets from his friends."

"Ah." Arturia's blush deepens. "I have not yet seen Shirou, actually."

"You haven't seen Shirou yet?" Rin parrots, dumbfounded. "I'm flattered that you came to see me before him, but why not? No, before that, how did you even get to Japan if he isn't the one who helped you?" Before Arturia can answer, Rin leans forward. "Arturia, how long have you been in Japan?"

Arturia shrinks into her chair away from Rin. She had forgotten over the years just how intense the magus could get.

"Perhaps," she ventures, "it would be better if I continued the story where I left off?"

Rin settles back with a nod. "Please do. I had believed we had reached the conclusion, but apparently I was mistaken in my belief that you'd have sought out your friends immediately upon returning to their city of residence."

Arturia sucks in a breath. While she has chastised herself for her delays in the past, the same reprimand coming from one of the friends she had been procrastinating on reuniting with pierces her much more deeply. 'I failed not consider the matter from her perspective. Of course she is angry. And Shirou will be, as well. There is nothing I can do now but apologize.'

"I am sorry, Rin." Arturia bows her head. "Your belief should have been correct."

Rin makes a choking sound. "Ugh. When you apologize sincerely like that I feel like the one at fault. I'm sure you had a good reason for waiting. Please, go on."

Arturia takes a sip of tea to hide her smile at Rin's reaction. 'She is still weak against sincerity and forthright behavior, I see. Where was I?' Arturia replays the conversation in her head. 'Right.'

"As you deduced, I could not understand the modern form of English when I awoke. I was fortunate enough to encounter by chance a pair of tourists from Japan, who I could communicate with. They were kind to a very confused young woman, and helped me return home to Japan."

"Return home?" Rin gives Arturia a flat look, staring pointedly at her blond hair and European features.

"They were very helpful, and did not ask many questions." Arturia's lips curl up in remembering. "I was concerned I was taking advantage of their kindness, but they firmly believed they were getting the better of the arrangement."

"And a pair of helpful tourists were able to get you to the other side of the planet with no money and no legal identity?" Rin's voice is skeptical, and her next sip of tea is more of an angry slurp.

"As it happens, yes." Arturia smothers a laugh at her friend's confusion, then feels a flash of remorse. 'I am enjoying teasing her, but this sort of prevarication is unkind. This conversation must be very frustrating for Rin.'

"Sorry, Rin. I did not mean to drag this out this much," she offers apologetically.

"Hmph." Rin scoffs as she sets her cup down. "Getting answers from you has been like squeezing blood from a stone. I hope you've been enjoying yourself."

"I cannot deny it," Arturia admits. "Still, I shall skip to the end. A member of local the yakuza named Raiga was taking his granddaughter on a trip after her mother died. Helping me cheered Taiga up, and he acquired fake documents for me in part because she asked him to help me, but also because he is a genuinely kind man."

Rin opens her mouth, but Arturia holds up a finger before she can interrupt. "That was ten years ago. I have spent the intervening years as a kendo instructor to the Fujimura group, as well as occasional bodyguard."

"Wait!" Rin protests. "Wait. You mean to tell me that you have been working with Fujimura-sensei for a decade? Shirou's guardian? The one who you met as a Servant?"

"The same. She has not realized yet, and," Arturia sighs, "I am hoping she never does."

"Yes," Rin drawls, "I can imagine how that could be inconvenient. Although, given that it's Fujimura-sensei, you could probably just convince her you were undercover for two weeks as Saber."

Arturia snorts. "She believed I was a magical girl for a few months while she was in high school. She decided that was the only way to explain my mysterious past and unusual skill in combat."

"Magical girl?" Rin raises an eyebrow. "She though you were a magus?"

"No, it's a common idea from children's cartoons." Arturia begins to explain, then shakes her head. "You know what, never mind. I shall deal with that if it occurs."

"Would she even realize that you were in two places at once during those two weeks?" Rin muses. "Actually, what did you do during the Holy Grail War?"

"I hid," Arturia states outright, meeting Rin's eyes. "Not just during those two weeks, but for the entire time I was in Japan. I am no longer a Servant, but I am still Arturia Pendragon. Do you think that if Gilgamesh were to have encountered me on the street, he would have failed to recognize me?"

The blood drains from Rin's face.

"Exactly." Arturia lifts her tea cup, but sets it back down when she finds it empty. "I spent my time inside the Fujimura estate as much as possible. I only went out when necessary, and I disguised myself as much as I could be. If possible, I went accompanied by others. You did not yet ask, but I am certain you were wondering why I you had never seen me before." Rin inclines her head. "That is why. That accursed priest was in regular contact with you, and most likely was monitoring Shirou as well."

"I see." Rin reaches across the table to pour Arturia another cup of tea. After she sets the teapot back down, she aims a bladed question at Arturia's heart. "And why haven't we seen you for the last two months?"

"I was afraid." After her conversation with Illya and her self-reflection that followed, she knows the answer. Therefore, she can answer without hesitation. "I have changed in the time since I was separated from the two of you. I cannot know how you have changed. I was afraid that those changes would come between us."

"That's stupid." Rin's retort is immediate. "You have changed a lot-" She holds up a finger. "No, don't interrupt me. You've changed. I can tell that much just from talking to you for..." Rin glances at the clock in the sitting room, just visible through the door. "...almost an hour. You're much less stiff. That's a good thing, though. So... do you think that we're not friends anymore?"

"You did consider blowing me up when you found me outside," Arturia teases. "I presume you were reaching for some of your gems. Do you always greet your friends so?"

"That's-" Rin shakes her head, then brushes her hair back out of her face. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. Saber never would have teased me like that. While I can't say I'm happy that you're teasing me, I am happy you feel comfortable doing so."

Arturia feels her cheeks warm. 'It is true that I never would have spoken so when I ruled in Camelot, but somehow... it is embarrassing when she points it out like that. No wonder some of my knights always seemed somewhat ill at ease in my presence.'

"So," Rin interrupts Arturia's thoughts, "I take it you accept that we are still friends, then?"

"Yes, of course!" Arturia almost stumbles over the words in her haste to reassure Rin. "I apologize, I was thinking."

"It's fine." Rin waves off her apology. "More importantly, as your friend, I insist you come with me to dinner tonight. Shirou is cooking, and I'm sure he'll make enough for one more. After all, Fujimura-sensei and the Einzbern brat will be here."

Arturia chews her lip, then shakes her head. "I need more time. You have given me a lot to think about, Rin. Give me time to process it."

"No." Rin leans forward, frowning. "Arturia, you can't keep putting this off. You've procrastinated for months already."

Arturia shakes her head. "It will not be months. Next week."

"And what? You'll spend that week hiding at home. If I have to come drag you out, I'd have to put up with that brat, and-" Rin's frown turns into a glower. "Arturia, you! You've been-! Ugh." She closes her eyes and visibly forces herself to relax. Arturia's stomach sinks.

"Arturia, you've been living with Illyasviel."

Arturia nods.

"She is not stupid. She knows who you are."

Arturia nods.

"She has known about you since she moved in with Fujimura-sensei."

Arturia considers correcting Rin on the details. She nods.

"She has not told us."

"I asked her not to."

"Arturia!" Rin growls her name, enunciating with care. "You let that brat know, while letting your friends think you were dead?"

'Ah.' Arturia realizes that her friend's anger, which she had been about to dismiss, is entirely justified. 'I had not thought of it like that. Every day I have delayed is another day that they have mourned me. Why did that not occur to me? No, that is not important right now.' She swallows around a sudden lump in her throat.

"Fine." Rin stands up from the table abruptly, sending her chair sliding across the tile. "I am going to join my friends for dinner. One way or another, Shirou will find out tonight, with or without you." She stomps toward the door.

"I will come." Arturia levers herself to her feet. "You are right."

"Oh." Arturia's unexpected acquiescence deflates Rin's anger, and she turns back to Arturia. "It's good that you've made that choice, but don't think I have forgiven you so easily. You have not grovelled nearly enough for that."

"Of course not." Arturia hides her smile by collecting the tea service to move it to the sink. "I would expect nothing less from you, Rin."

"I would have gotten that la- ugh, never mind." Rin spins back to the door so fast that her hair whips into her face. She brushes it away and glances back over her shoulder. "You know, if anything Shirou's cooking has only improved since you've been gone. If we're late, those bottomless pits you live with might eat it all before we get there."

"That would be a tragedy," Arturia agrees as she hurries to get her shoes. "To come so close after so long only to miss dinner would be unbearable. Let us make haste."

~~~CotD~~~

Arturia slows to a halt at the gate to the Emiya residence. The gate is open, and the door to the house is a moment's walk ahead of her.

'It is hard to believe. After so long, after such an unlikely journey. So many small things that have lead me back here. So many things that could have gone wrong.' The enormity of it is overwhelming to contemplate, and she rests a hand against the wall to steady herself.

'Had I not woken in exactly the right time and place to encounter the Fujimuras... no, had I not fallen into Avalon's embrace in exactly the right place to encounter them. Had they not been willing to help a stranger to an unreasonable degree. If Illyasviel had not pushed me to go out today, and if I had talked to Rin.'

Arturia turns to see Rin watching her with a concerned expression. She smiles in reassurance. 'If it were not for Rin's encouragement, I still might have gone home, and if I had then I cannot know when I would have finally overcome by worries.'

"Rin."

"Hmm?" The magus's eyes flicker toward the door, then back to Arturia. "Don't tell me you're going to chicken out now."

Arturia shakes her head, then meets Rin's eyes squarely. "Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for everything you have done for me.

"W-what?" Rin's eyes widen, and a blush begins creeping up her cheeks. "What are you saying? You have nothing to thank me for."

"That is incorrect." Arturia replies without hesitation. "I would not be here right now if it were not for your assistance. You have my gratitude."

Rin whirls around. "Hmph. Fine then, you're welcome."

"Rin..." Arturia places a hand on her friend's shoulder, and does not bother to conceal her smile when the other girl startles. "We are friends. We talked about this. You helped me, because that is what friends do. I am thanking you, because I do not wish you to think I take you for granted. You deserve better than that."

"Ugh." Rin covers her face with one hand. "You and Shirou definitely deserve each other. You're both so stupidly straight-forward that it's a bit embarrassing."

"Rin." Arturia uses her grip on the other girl's shoulder to turn her around, but she follows it up with a comforting squeeze. "You don't need to keep me at a distance."

"That's not the problem!" Rin shakes her head. "It's because I like you two that it's embarrassing." Arturia raises an eyebrow, and Rin swats her hand away. "You're two of my best friends, okay? Maybe my only friends. So when you're that direct I don't know how to handle it!"

Before Arturia can reply, Rin pushes her in the direction of the door. "Now look what you made me say. Just go ring the bell already!"

"But-!"

"Never mind!" Rin storms past Arturia, and without pause, stabs the doorbell.

~~~CotD~~~

Shirou sets down the tray of dumplings in the center of the table, inhaling the fragrant steam with pleasure. He steps back, nudges the tray to be more perfectly centered, then nods with satisfaction. The place settings are carefully arranged for a harmonious meal. Illya will sit at the end of the table, with Taiga opposite her. Maximizing the space between those two is a fundamental of Emiya household dinner arrangements. Shirou will sit beside Illya to forestall her pouting. Rin sits opposite him on Illya's other side, where she can help him exert a restraining influence on the girl. And Sakura will sit between him and Taiga, the two people she is most comfortable with who will be present.

This, he is confident, will be one of the better dinners he has hosted recently. Bowls for rice are prepared, the fish fillets are perfectly browned and flaky, the stir-fried vegetables are still warm, and the miso soup is almost done. And the children are enjoying snacks in front of the TV while waiting for the last guest to arrive.

"Hey!" Taiga's voice rises over the TV. "I was saving that one!"

"It was very considerate of you to save it for me, Taiga." Illya acknowledges gracefully. "Thank you."

"For myself!" Taiga wails. "Shirou! Bring more snacks, Illya is eating all of these."

"Leave some for Tohsaka," he calls back.

It is good that they are getting along, Shirou thinks, but it would be better if Illya did not bully Taiga so much. It is impossible to tell which of them is the older sibling judging by either appearance or behavior. Still, he cannot be too disappointed. Having to compete with Illya has made Taiga realize her position as an adult more, and she has only improved for it. And Illya knows that she can rely on Taiga if she has to.

"There won't be any left at this rate, Senpai."

Shirou sighs and walks around the table to look into the living room.

"Shirou!" Taiga spots him immediately. "Make more snacks."

"No." He refuses with equal promptness.

"Shirou~!" Illya's pout is dangerous, but Shirou stoically turns away.

"Just wait until dinner. Tohsaka should be here soon, and you'll spoil your appetite."

His attention is caught by the TV; a cooking program is playing.

'Honestly,' he sighs, 'do they think about anything other than food?' At least Sakura's interest is productive. She is probably trying to learn some new tricks to surpass him. Again. He turns away with a smile. Sakura's renewed interest in their ongoing cooking competition is another sign of her recovery from the trauma of the Holy Grail War and her brother's death.

And, if he is honest with himself, Illya is much better as a substitute sibling, or friend, than Shinji ever was for her. But speaking ill of the dead is in poor taste, so Shirou decides against thinking that. And, of course, it's good for Illya to have more friends than Taiga, Tohsaka, and himself. Out of all of them, Sakura is the most normal, and provides a healthy role model for Illya. Although sometimes they behave more like rivals than friends. Shirou hasn't figured out what it is they are competing over, but he doesn't let it trouble him. 'A healthy rivalry can help people mature, after all.'

'Well, I should check on the soup.' Shirou ambles back into the kitchen, but pauses at the fridge. Maybe he should see if he can set out more snacks. He spots some sliced pickled daikon, and nods. 'That will do nicely.' Shirou hums to himself as he arranges the slices on a small plate, then sets it on the counter. 'Right, the soup.'

Shirou spoons himself a taste and swishes it around his mouth in contemplation. 'Perfect.' Satisfied, he turned the heat down to just keep it warm, and heads back to the dining room with the pickles. He sets the plate down by Rin's usual seat, as far from Illya and Taiga as possible. That, he thinks, should make his point without him having to say anything.

He wonders, idly, if Rin will realize the significance of the placement. 'Probably. Her mind is almost as sharp as her tongue...' Sometime after the War, Rin let her facade slip a bit. She is still the school idol, but she no longer seems unreachable. She comes to the archery club regularly to talk to Mitsuzuri, and spends more time with others as well. Of course, increased exposure meant that more people were aware of her true nature. Issei had nearly cried in relief the first time that he warned a student that she was a devil, and was believed.

'I might be the only one who knows that she's a good person behind the biting sarcasm, though.' Tohsaka's lessons in magecraft have given Shirou a rare opportunity to see another magus at work, and to see Tohsaka specifically at work. Although that sarcasm never completely subsides, her patience has surprised him. And seeing how hard she works on her magecraft just makes her academic performance even more impressive.

It's good, he thinks, that she is spending more time with friends. Otherwise, she might have eventually snapped under the pressure, and nobody would know until she had laid waste to the entire school with gandr.

'And if she doesn't get here to socialize soon, my pantry will be laid to waste.' It's not that he minds cooking for his friends - the opposite - but sometimes the grocery bill wounds him more deeply than Berserker's axe ever did. Even compared to the War, when he was filling the bottomless pit that was Saber's stomach, the bill had not been as high as it was for evenings like this.

'I suppose that is the price for having more friends.' To someone like Shirou who has always had trouble relating to people, the fact that he is surrounded by people who enjoy his company continues to be a source bemusement. But at least this way it is easy for him to help people. In the past, it was just Issei and Shinji who seemed to find value in his presence.

And he failed to save Shinji.

A chime from the rice cooker distract Shirou before he can dwell on his failure, and he collects the bowls to serve the rice into. Each bowl gets a perfectly rounded dome, and Shirou considers them. 'Sakura and Tohsaka won't, but Illya and Taiga will almost certainly devour their rice just to make a point about the snacks.' With a sigh, he scoops more rice into the rice cooker and begins preparing for the demands for seconds.

"Shirou!"

Shirou ignores the tiger's roar from the living room as he sets the rice bowls onto a tray to carry. 'I already told them that they are not getting more snacks before dinner.' He has only placed three of them when his name is called again.

"Senpai?"

Well, Sakura doesn't usually call anyone else that, so it might as well be his name. But she wouldn't be asking for more food.

"One moment," Shirou calls back as he arranges the rest of the bowls. "What is it?" he asks before he's rounded the doorway into the living room.

"Someone's at the door."

"Rin's here."

Taiga and Illya speak over each other, and Shirou stares at them. "And I suppose you are too hungry to stand up and let her in?"

"We didn't want to miss the end of the show," Sakura apologizes, but Shirou is already on his way down the hall.

"Coming!" He slides open the door as soon as he reaches it to reveal Rin standing in his entryway, red-faced. "Sorry, I was in the kitchen. But now that you're here, we should be able to..."

Shirou trails off, dinner forgotten, Rin forgotten, his guests forgotten. Standing behind Rin is an impossibility. A short, blond, green-eyed impossibility. There is no way for her to be there, so he must be hallucinating. He takes a shaky breath and half a step forward before catching himself when she sighs. No matter who this woman is, it would be unfair for him to project his impossible expectations upon her.

Then she cocks her head to the side in a heartbreakingly familiar fashion.

"Shirou?"

The voice is the same as well, as is her truncated pronunciation of his name. The stress must have finally gotten to him, he thinks vaguely. He has snapped. 'Well, if I'm going to be insane, I might as well go along with it.'

"Sa...ber?" To his dismay, his voice breaks. "It's really Saber, right?"

~~~CotD~~~

The doorbell chimes within the house, and Arturia arches an eyebrow without speaking, watching as Rin's face grows redder. Finally, when her friend appears about to burst, she speaks.

"What I made you say? Which of us the magus capable of hypnotizing others, Rin?"

"That's-!" Rin coughs and attempts to compose herself. "Ugh." She spins on her heel and stares resolutely at the door. "Have you thought about what you're going to say to him yet?"

"No." Arturia valiantly resists the urge to fret about it. "You are changing the subject, Rin."

Rin begins to retort, but bites off the words as the door in front of her slides open.

And then Aturia forgets all about teasing Rin, because standing there in the doorway is Shirou. He looks frazzled, and he is wearing an apron over his clothes. His mouth moves, but Arturia cannot hear what he is saying over the blood rushing in her ears. Then he stops talking, his mouth hanging open, as his eyes meet hers, and widen.

Arturia knows she should say something, but nothing comes to mind. As the moment drags out, she realizes she has forgotten to breath, and lets out her breath all at once. He pauses after taking half a step forward, and she tilts her head to the side to get a better look past Rin.

"Shirou?"

After a long, painful pause, he speaks.

"Sa...ber?" His voice breaks, and he coughs softly. "It's really Saber, right?"

Arturia smiles. There will be time to correct him about her name later, and hearing him call her that is nostalgic. All at once, she realizes that she has too much to say to him standing out here, so she should start with the most important things.

"Yes. It's been a long time, Shirou." He nods, his eyes glistening. "I'm sorry it took so long."

"Yeah." Shirou rubs the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand and beams at her. "Welcome home, Saber."

And then he is embracing her so tightly her ribs creak. Arturia rests her head against his shoulder and hugs him back just as hard, feeling her worries melt away. There will be difficulties ahead, she is certain, but in that moment she knows that nothing has been damaged beyond repair, and nothing will be impossible to overcome.

Her voice, when she speaks, is muffled against his shoulder, but Arturia knows that Shirou will be able to hear her.

"I'm home, Shirou."

~~~fin~~~

Afterword

Whew. It took eight years, to the day, from when I first published the first chapter of this story for me to publish the final chapter. Which was only a few weeks after I first put finger to keyboard. That's a lot longer than I anticipated, and I cannot believe how many people were still excited to see more chapters after more than seven years.

The motivation and the rough idea for this project came after I finished playing the VN, way back when. At the time, it frustrated me that Saber's route didn't really have a happy ending for her. So like any reasonable, person, I turned to fanfiction. It turns out, in 2011 there was not a lot of Saber-focused fanfiction. I'm pretty sure there still isn't. So I said to myself, if it doesn't exist, well then by Jove I will make it exist!

The core idea of Continuation of the Dream, therefore, is "a story in which Saber gets a happy ending." There were, obviously, some challenges to coming up with that story. What kind of happy ending? How can it be made plausible? What does that even mean?

To start with, I realized early on that the story had to be about the human being who became the Servant Saber, the girl who became King Arthur. A happy ending for King Arthur would mean Camelot restored and his kingdom saved. That's some kind of story, and maybe a good one, but it wasn't the story I wanted to tell.

The only times in the VN she was anything resembling happy was when she was not thinking about her responsibilities as King or Servent, therefore the person underneath those roles was who I'd write about. That's why the summary reads, "a story of Arturia Pendragon."

Eventually, I had the idea of the handwavium of Avalon's restoration to her possession having metaphysical weight, and the general shape of the story unfolded. I outlined the entire story, I started writing, and I started publishing. It was kind of a weird story, and I wasn't expecting anyone to be interested in it, so the response blew me away.

Originally, CotD was planned to have four arcs, each providing Arturia with an opportunity for a certain kind of character growth and resolution, with the idea being that by the end of the fourth arc, she has grown a lot as a person, resolved many of her regrets, and is ready to move on. As I was writing, I slowed down my publishing to allow myself to build a bit of a buffer - sort of a cheat of my promise to myself to not edit after publishing. I ended up writing something like 30k words of arc 3 and early arc 4.

The first two arcs were, eventually, published more or less according to outline, the third arc was deleted entirely, and the fourth arc was substantially truncated. They had been planned to cover the intervening years between her return to Japan and the big reunions, including the 4th Grail War.

The problem is that it was boring. Really boring. It was, basically, fanservice. Arturia didn't grow or learn anything from those events, and writing them without significantly altering the timeline was a headache; it often strained credulity. So, I made the decision to cut it all out.

"Why didn't you just have her wake up in Britain ten years later, then?" I can imagine you wondering. Because I'd already published that chapter, and I had promised myself I wouldn't edit published chapters. I think the story would've been better if I had done that. But I don't regret it, because writing young Taiga was a lot of fun.

There's a selection of other topics that could be described as plot holes - things where I introduced a conflict and chose to not resolve it, or elided over a situation that may have deserved more detail. Things like Shirou and Rin's relationship, the fates of Illya and Sakura, is Arturia really responsible for Taiga's bloodthirsty kendo (my headcanon says yes to that one) were left unanswered for two reasons - first, these things were not relevant to Arturia's character growth, and second, I wanted to show that the world kept moving without her. I succeeded to my own satisfaction, but as always, there's room for improvement.

Then there was the litany of delays. I lost all of my work in a disk failure I think in December 2013 or 2014. That was incredibly demoralizing, made easier to bear by the fact that I'd decided to cut a lot of the stuff I had written. I also went through a lot of life changes - laid off from more than one job, started my own company (it failed), went through a series of soul-crushing jobs to pay the bills, moved multiple times. (Note: That was all years ago. Everything's been pretty good for a few years now!)

In the end, I realized that it was going to take me a very long time to finish the story, so I decided not to publish any further chapters until I finished it. I just kept plugging away whenever I had time, and eventually finished the rough draft. Then I realized I had tens of thousands of words to edit, and that sucked. But I sucked it up, did it, and then dug up some friends to give it another pass.

The biggest lesson I learned writing this was that writing a novel-length story is work. It sounds trite, but compared to writing a short story, it's true. With most of the short stories I've written, the first rough draft is completed in the initial burst of excitement for an idea, and then editing follows. I enjoy carefully reworking sentences and paragraphs to best effect, so for short works that is not burdensome.

Excitement is not enough to carry me through around ninety thousand words of fanfiction, as it turns out. Discipline was required instead.

Lesson the second was that plans are good, but flexibility is also important. I spent so much time repeatedly reworking my outline every time something changed, because it was so thorough and detailed. Part of that was the, eventually abandoned, plans to interleave an entire arc with the events of Fate/zero. That required some finagling.

Finally, I learned that I cannot consistently maintain a fast enough pace for serial publication. While I mostly write for myself, and publish just in case anyone else would enjoy it, I have to accept that even if I had managed a chapter a year, that would not have been a very good reading experience.

So in the future, I will not publish longer stories until they are complete, I think. This also gives me the freedom to jump between projects more, and the freedom to abandon a project if I feel the need to.

In all honesty, the desire to not leave this story half-finished in a published state was a major factor in picking it back up after the data loss. And the intermittent reviews and private messages wishing me well were always touching, and reinforced my decision to continue.

To all of you who have believed in this small dream of mine, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I will continue to write, and I hope that when I publish my next project, some time in the far future, some of you will enjoy that one as well.