Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Fate, as much as I wish it.

They continued along for a little while, Arturia leading with Shirou following, each with one of the great bags of food tucked under their arms. They said nothing for a while, and Shirou was becoming frustrated with the silence. Speaking suddenly, he decided to break it.

"...You speak very Japanese well," he began. It was a statement and also a question. Her command of the language was very meticulous, lashed with the practiced grace of someone who had learned to master it. It was certainly a strange language for a young women from Britain to know with such grace, so he was curious how she came to know it so well. He also wondered, in the back of his mind, how the Saber he once knew had learned modern Japanese so well. Magic, he supposed. To his pleasure and discomfort, Arturia spoke just exactly as Saber had during the War of the Grail.

"Yes," she responded. "My family has always had business interests in this country, so we vacationed here frequently. Learning the language was... expected of me."

Curious. A family? Business interests? He didn't know why he found that troubling... Jealousy, maybe? The Saber he knew only had, well, himself. Or maybe he was just angry just because her origin wasn't in Britian's mythical beginnings? "So you're not here by choice?" he managed.

"I am," she stated firmly. "Even though it is expected of me, it was my own choice to study abroad. It is a pleasant country, and I enjoy many aspects of it."

There was a moment of silence, and then Shirou couldn't help but notice a brief blush on Arturia's face. Arturia shook it off quickly, "I have just shared you some details about myself, Emiya-kun. How about your?"

"Eh? Me?" he stuttered. His life in the past year was pretty boring, and he didn't really have anything exciting to say... Except for the Holy Grail War, but he was pretty sure she'd think he was crazy. Her mannerisms and appearance were definitely the same as Saber's, but she was a modern person at the same time.

Well, might as well start with the basic. "Well, I live alone in the city," he began. "Sort of." He wasn't quite sure how to explain the situation with Ilya. Ilya had been living with him since the Holy Grail War, and and Taiga and Sakura were there every morning and evening.

"You are living alone?" she asked, her voice almost excited. She seemed to find this detail interesting. "What of your family?"

He stopped walking suddenly, his heart begining to beat hard. He didn't really share the details of his family in regular conversation. Still... this girl with Saber's face... he realized he couldn't keep anything secret from her. "I don't have any," he said, finally.

"Oh..." she began, trailing off, her excited tone suddenly becoming uncertain.

"My parents died in a huge fire ten years ago," he finally said, his tone casual, as if he was telling to the story to his closest friend. Part of him felt it was his closest friend. "And my dad - the man who adopted me - he died several years ago. He left me well off, so I get by okay because of him."

Arturia was flabbergasted into silence. Shirou immediately regretted blabbing like that - sharing such heavy knowledge when all he'd been asked was to describe himself. He was about to apologize when she spoke up.

"I apologise, Emiya-san," Arturia sputtered quickly. She face was flush with embarrassment, and her eyes with downcast and filled with guilt. "I did not... I did not mean to awaken such sad memories for you."

Silence again reigned for a few moments. Shirou was feeling guiltier himself. He was about to apologise, to assure her he was the one at fault for sharing such... grim details about his past, when she had only asked to know something innocent. Again, she silenced him by speaking before he could.

"It must have been horrible for you."

That shut him up. He thought about it, and began formulating a response. "It was- but... It was tragic, but..." he struggled. He looked at Arturia, becoming lost in her face, her eyes, and suddenly the words became easy. "Those two events, they were tragic, but they made me. I am who am because of them. I know I wouldn't change what happened for anything, because otherwise I wouldn't have met..." he stopped suddenly and realized he was babbling.

"Met who?" Arturia asked, general curiosity present in her tone. Her eyes were lifted again, and Shirou's confident words had seemed to have driven out the gloominess from her eyes.

He grinned. "Someone important, someone who changed my life," he said, leaving at that. He was of course, talking about Saber. The decision - Saber's decision - to accept her mistakes, to accept the consequences of actions as King, and rise above them was a powerful memory for him. He felt the same way about the death of his parents - they made him what he was, and set him on his path. On that path he made important friends - Fuji-nee, Ilya, Sakura, Rin, and of course...

At the thought, he grinned more brightly at Arturia, not caring if she thought him strange. It didn't seem to bother her, however, and expression had become more dreamy, more contemplative.

Arturia was silent, shifting the bag of groceries from arm to arm. "I see..." she trailed off, nodding in understanding. Shirou looked at her. Her eyes stared into the sky contemplating something. "My father," she began hesitantly. "He died when I was young, and my mother is-"

"Hey!" Shirou silenced her. Was she telling him this stuff because she felt guilty for what he told her? "Don't tell me stuff like that because you feel guilty. You don't have to share it just because I did."

She looked embarrassed now, her eyes hurt. "I wasn't..." she began, but halted her words. "I'm sorry. Your words struck me with their bravery, and I suppose I felt the urge to respond with me own."

He blushed at the comment of his "brave words," not quite sure how to respond. Silence reigned again, and they continued to walk on with no words said. Shirou contemplated what to say next, before something struck him."Listen, about what I said before, that's not quite true," he began. "I do have a family. Fuji-nee - that is, Fujimura-sensei- is my guardian. And I have Ilya, and Sakura, and Rin... They're not blood related, but they're family." He finished speaking, lost again in her gaze, and couldn't help but smile.

"Fujimura-sensei is your guardian?" Arturia questioned. She chuckled lightly, and Shirou almost mistook it for a giggle. "She is... a character, to say the least."

Shirou laughed. "Well, that's Fuji-nee!"

They continued walking onward for a few more feet, coming to what appeared to be a small, upscale apartment complex. Arturia stopped suddenly. "This is my home," she announced as she began walking forward to a gate. The building looked rather nice, Shirou noted.

She led him through the entrance, and they wandered through the building into they arrived at what Shirou assumed was her door. She dug into her pockets, pulling out a pair of keys and unlocking the door and gingerly opened it. It allowed him a quick glimpse inside, and he couldn't help but notice how well furnished it was.

The groceries were quickly handed off, and placed inside. Sadly, he realized now it was time to part.

"Well, good night. I'll see you at school tomorrow," he replied, trying to hid his glumness.

"Goodnight Shirou," she responded closing the door, "I will see you in class as well."

The door closed with a click, and the sound of locking was heard. He sighed dreamily, staring at the doorway in front of him. He reflected on the events of the evening.

Talking to Arturia - He was sure, he there was a connection. Just speaking to her, he knew he felt a little of Saber in her. There was different of course, but she was very similar to the women he fought a war with. Perhaps this was actually the kind of person Saber was, unburdened by her duty and mistakes that had so shaped her life? He wasn't sure, and he supposed he would have to get to know he better to get that answer.

He hoped it wasn't too late to get home and make it for dinner. Mabe, hoping Rin had stopped by for dinner and was still there. He had a lot of questions. He turned away from the door, and began slowly walking away.

"Good night... Saber," he said aloud, before fading away into the shadows.


"...Curious," Arturia mumbled, as she watched Shirou's retreating form, spying through the door's peephole.

She didn't quite know what to make of him.

While she was originally put off by his offer to help (her grandfather's warnings of Japanese men ringing through her head), overall, she found him to be generally polite and perfectly amiable. He looked her in the eye when speaking to her, and his vision didn't wonder.

It was a bit of a surprise to learn about him speak about his troubled past so freely. Then again, she had as well. She didn't know what came over - telling him about her father like that (and almost the situation about her mother, too). It certainly wasn't guilt that motivated that brief confession, nor feeling it was a duty owed because he had shared his past.

It was something more then just that...

There was something familiar about him. Something that made her trust him. She didn't know how this was possible, as she was confident she had never met Shirou before.

Perhaps they had met in one of her previous trips to Japan? No, she was sure she would recall...

Regardless, she decided she liked this Emiya Shirou, and wanted to make a point to talk to him again. She was alone, in this city, at least until Grandfather visited on business, so it couldn't hurt to make a few friends.

She paced around her home a bit, stowing the groceries she had just fought and found she was unable to sit still. It was getting late, though she found she wasn't quite ready to retire. Before the grocery store incident, she was exhausted from the long day's studies. The Japanese school day was much longer then what she was used to, and she had felt exhausted before her trip to the market.

Yet for some reason, after the walk home, she was full of energy, almost rejuvenated.

She pulled out her school books. Well, she couldn't sleep, she should make good use of the energy and see to her studies.


Author's notes: Funny how this stuff seems to change from what I originally outline and almost seems to write itself.

It was wierd how much stiffer my writing got when I started writing Arturia's perspective. The language just got really... Formal. I dunno, I like it.