Saber woke up with a groan, a sound she had long forgotten. The sun beamed harshly on her face; as if nature itself was punishing her for her atrocious deeds.

Pulling herself up she felt a cold sweat build up.

Yesterday…

They destroyed the grail, sinking it into the darkness of the
river.

…She used her Holy Sword Excalibur on the unholy birth of the Grail monster.

The strange boy Shinji, friend of Shirou and Rin was saved…

The world is saved.

She studied her own hand, opening and closing it. So then why does
she felt so conflicted?

And then she remembered why. Groaning once more she slunk back
into her futon, pulling the sheets over her head.

She could have disappeared, she could have ended the contract,
escape the burden of responsibility right then and there.

But alas she did not. She still wanted to hold on to whatever
honor and pride she had left.

Pouting she got up as her mind was in too much of a disarray to return to sleep.

Although still early, Shirou woke up much later than Saber did. The
red haired magus found himself waking up to the chirping songs of various birds.

The whole peaceful bright morning was surreal to him. Just last
night they managed to save the world.

Speaking of saving the world.

Did Gilgamesh die?

Clutching his head, he lumbered around the room aimlessly. In the
end it was fruitless, since Rin and Saber did not mention what happened to
Gilgamesh.

"So he died right…?"

"Who died Emiya-kun?"

Jumping at her voice, Shirou snapped around. It was Tohsaka Rin, and
surprisingly, she was already dressed in her usual red attire. For someone who
usually waking up late, it was a spectacle to see her like that so early.

"Geez Tohsaka, don't scare me like that."

With a mischievous look she leaned in closer to her red haired compatriot. "Oh? What were you trying to hide something Emiya-kun~?"

Her sing-song voice obviously did little to hide her malicious intent.

But alas Shirou really did have nothing to hide this time.

"What are you talking about? I'm not trying to hide anything."

But Rin would not let him go that easily. Remaining persistent she
pursued him throughout the house. And with every turn of a corner she would once again demand what secret Shirou was keeping from her.

"I swear I'm not hiding anything! You're overthinking it!" His desperate voice only served to edge her on more.

Shirou actually wanted to ask Rin about Gilgamesh's fate, but she was being so unreasonable, so early in the morning, he had forgotten the subject entirely.

Ducking behind walls, Shirou thought he finally manage to lose Rin but he quickly learned his lesson when he bumped into something; falling on his back.

"S-Saber…!?"

Shirou stammered, absently rubbing the back of his head. He thought his eyes were playing a trick on him. In front of him was the beautiful blonde knight-king, and as usual she was as listless as ever.

"Just give up Emiya-kun, what are you hiding-

Rin's incessant giggle came to an abrupt stop upon seeing her servant.

-Oh, Saber!"

"Good morning, Shirou, Rin." she addressed, turning to each of the young mages individually.

"Saber? How can you still be here?"

Saber recoiled at his voice somewhat playfully.

"Are you saying you're disappointed in seeing me here, Shirou?"

She asked, feigning a hurt expression. She was not a good actor but it was more than enough to fool her dimwitted ex-master.

"H-hey that's not what I meant!"

Crossing her arms, and with a dejected look, she inquired, "Then what do you mean?"

Shirou looked even more helpless as the situation spiraled further out of his control. He hammered his head for an explanation but only came up with incoherent gibberish.

Rin sighed, walking in between the duo, she said, "Saber come on, you know how dense Emiya-kun is."

"That's not true Rin, I don't think he was being dense." Saber pouted with crossed arms.

"Saber…! I meant that the grail war is over and you're-"

"So you're saying I'm not welcomed here because the grail war is over now?"

Jaw-dropping, Shirou did not know how to explain himself, since he just kept digging deeper and deeper with his bad choice of words.

Saber gently smiled seeing Shirou's desperateness.

"It is alright Shirou, I know what you really meant, but that question is better suited for Rin."

"Ahem" Rin cleared her throat, seeing it was the signal for her to unleash her wealth of magical knowledge. Sitting everyone down, Rin summarized how a servant can be sustained so long as the prana required is present. However the burden is much heavier without the grail.

"So you see, why would I give up Saber, the strongest familiar right?"

Shirou nodded thoughtfully. "But does Saber want to stay here?"

His eyes shifted to the small blonde girl. "You don't miss your home?"

Taken aback by his question, her eyes darted to the side dodging his gaze.

"I…"

The sudden sad regretful tone surprised both mages. For this time, it felt genuine.

"What is it Saber…? Do you not want to stay here?" Rin asked befuddled. The choice to stay in this world was solely on Saber. While Rin provides the magical energy, it was Saber's option to take it.

Countless moments passed, the atmosphere only felt more awkward with each passing second.

Finally Shirou decided to change the subject.

"Anyways I bet you guys are hungry, I'll get cooking!" he forged a fake laughter, before turning down the hall.

He cooked in silence, and it felt all the more miserable when Saber did not utter a word during the whole time.

Rin fed up with the awkward quietness, began some small talk regarding drama within the magical world.

Shirou placing down several plates of food, said, "It's your favorite Saber, burgers!"

"Burgers for breakfast?" Rin gave the home chef a dumb look.

Ignoring Rin's snide remarks, he focused his attention on Saber, who was still being depressed and gloomy.

"Thank you Shirou, I do enjoy your cooking a lot." Her compliment came out in an apathetic manner, but seeing as Saber is usually like that Shirou did not pay it much mind.

"So guys." His voice took a much more serious tone as he sat down next to the two girls.

"What happened to Gilgamesh?"

Saber tensed up but neither magus took notice.

Rin continued eating uncaring, after some seconds of swallowing and chewing, she finally spoke up. "He died didn't he? Saber seduced him; he got
close to go in for a kiss then she excalibured him back to the Throne.-

She quickly turned to look at her servant

-Right Saber? Please you sent him off with some trash talk too!"

Saber's eyes shifted away from the expectant look of her master.

Once again silence filled the room.

"…Saber what happened to Gilgamesh?" Although Rin asked in a casual manner, there were clear hints of fear.

"...I-I hesitated… I didn't kill him when I had the chance…"

Rin dropped her burger; she gawked at her servant with eyes wide as the sky.

"Please tell me you're kidding…" her lips quivered out quietly.

"...Unfortunately in the end my honor got the better of me. I could not bring myself to strike a defenseless person whom I tricked to be off-guard."

The two girls stared blankly at nothingness, Saber to the side and Rin at the table.

Although Shirou half-expected that to be the outcome, he could not help but feel the pressure of the situation all the same.

"I-It's fine right? I mean he can't do anything with the grail destroyed!" Shirou felt as though it was a fair reasoning. He patiently awaited the response of the mage expert Tohsaka Rin.

"Technically you're right…" she replied, sighing regretfully. She should have expected Saber to have messed up the plan somehow. It was already a miracle she agreed to it, surely something would go wrong; nothing in the world goes perfect.

"I can't fault you for anything Saber, it was my fault for even suggesting you to discard your honor, and you did so nonetheless... Still we won a major victory, without the corrupted Grail I doubt Goldie will be doing anything funny again."

Shirou gave a loud sigh a relief. "That's good to hear." the red haired teen began to eat once more, this time with enthusiasm.

Rin too began slowly, but progressively ate with increasing fervor.

The two humans quickly came to terms with the current situation.
Can't kill Gilgamesh, but he can't kill all humans either.

But still Saber remained silent and gloomy.

"About Archer…"

Blinking a few times in confusion, Rin asked, "What about Archer?"

"I meant… 'Goldie.'"

The atmosphere once again tensed up, the two magus prepared for the worst.

Shirou expected to hear some threat Gilgamesh fired upon realizing he was deceived, one that regarded the fate of the world.

While Rin expected to hear Gilgamesh swearing revenge, and hunting them and killing them in a way that made Illya's death look like child's play.

Saber took a deep breath, unsure of where to begin, let alone how she could explain her plight.

"Archer expected me to carry out my promise…!-

- You know… to marry him..."

Saber's helpless looking eyes almost made Rin burst out in laughter. It was unbelievably funny to the raven haired magus; her face of distraught was genuine.

"What's wrong with just ignoring him?" she forced out through her laughing giggles.

Saber shifted around her seat uncomfortably. "You're right… I could have returned to my world after I destroyed the grail if I chose but…"

"But?"

"It's not that simple, I already shattered the oath of a knight. I do not want to further tarnish my name."

She raised her fist in a determined fashion. However with how cornered she looked it made her resolve seem comical.

"Saber you don't owe that ass anything!"

"R-Rin! Surely as a proud mage you would sympathize!"

Tapping her fingers, Rin considered it for a few seconds. "No, not really, I guess I mingled too much with regular humans."

Shirou sucking in a deep breath, and with the sternest voice he could muster, said, "Hey I understand where Saber is coming from, I'm sure if I told her to kill innocent people in order to get mana to save the world, she would do so. Saber threw away everything for us, it's not fair to judge her."

Caught off guard at Shirou's sudden seriousness, the raven haired mage leaned back down, having nothing further to say.

Saber smiled lightly. "Thank you for understanding Shirou. But what should I do?"

"Ahh…" scratching his head, the red haired teen really did not know what is there to do. If Saber did not leave this world out of obligation to her own words, wouldn't it be natural to take it to next level and carry it out?

But neither Shirou nor Rin could spell out the obvious.

It was clear now Saber does indeed know what she needs to do, if not she could simply disappear into the ether.

Sighing, Saber solemnly stood up. "Sorry for troubling you, Shirou, Rin. I will be taking a rest now." and with that the blonde girl headed to her room.