Disclaimer: Fate belongs to those Type Moon guys, not me.

Wake up," she said, sitting herself up on the futon. The sun was only beginning to rise, and she found herself unable to go back to sleep. She burned with thoughts and questions from yesterday, and part of her knew shirou had answers. She felt it, he had to know.

He snorted in his sleep, still leaning against the door. How could he even sleep like that?

"Wake up!" she repeated, more loudly and forcefully.

"...Arturia," he mumbled as he began to wake. He stumbled into a kneeling position, almost falling over. "Are you alright? Rin said you just needed sleep, but I was still worried..."

She ignored him. "...This stuffed lion," she began, squeezing the toy lion close to her chest. She had found it sitting on a dresser a short ways from the futon. Upon seeing it, she instinctively snatched it. "It is familiar."

"This room is familiar," she continued. She stood up from the futon and began to circle the room.

"This house? Familiar. That girl? Ilya? She is familiar. Fujimura-sensei? Familiar. You are familiar!" she yelled, getting angry. "shirou. I met you for the first time a day ago, yet you burn in my memory like a life long friend! How is this?"

shirou was silent, unsure of how to respond. Part of him was joyous - he never imagined that she would be able to remember the Grail War. That the experiences that had shaped them both would not be remembered just in his heart . Another part of him was frightened and worried. Arturia was a very normal girl, and seeing her huddled before him, confused and scared broke his heart. Her world had been shaken just by being exposed to him. Did he tell her the whole story and shatter that world's very foundations? He had not forgotten her collapsing at the dinner table. Was that because he had brought on one of Saber's long forgotten memories?

"You know something, shirou. You know why I'm remembering things that never happened to me," she pressed.

Still he held his silence, unsure of how to proceed.

"...Who is Saber, shirou?" she asked, the question causing shirou's heart to pound faster.

"You called me that before the dream- before I passed out. And Fujimura-sensei called me that as well. What do you two know that I do not?

"...Fujimura doesn't know anything," shirou admitted quickly, finally speaking. The last thing he need was for her Arturia to approach Fuji-nee about this. No need to shatter her world view as well. "She knew Saber, not you."

"...Who is Saber?" she repeated, firmly. She needed to know.

"...Saber," he echoed, taking a deep breath. "Saber was- IS- the woman I fell in love with."

"What does that do with me?" she growled, looking away from him. She was a bit miffed at his last comment, but did not know why.

"You look like her," he said, standing to his feet. "Just like her. Like a twin. Even the way you have your hair braided - right down to the ribbon!" Arturia found herself clutching her braided bun unconsciously at his words.

"You have the same voice. You speak like her," he went on, his tone firm as stone. She stood in front of her, and they met gazes. "Her name was Arturia, as well. But Pendragon, not Pendraig."

She hugged the stuffed lion closer to her, recalling the dream and presence of Merlin. Pendragon - the meaning of this name was not lost to her, nor her own last name's similarity to it. She just assumed it was curious quirk to her lineage that her family's name so closely resembled that of her nation's legendary King. But after that dream - the meeting with the man who could only be Arthur's Wizard - she wondered if that connection was even deeper.

"But she's dead." Death wasn't really accurate - Saber had returned to wherever heroic souls go. Returned to death, as far as shirou was concerned. "She died, a year ago, but she's somehow you at the same time."

Then that would explain much, Arturia thought. The familiar, surprised recognition Fujimura-sensei had for her when she had joined her class the first day. And that other girl who kept staring at her... shirou had been watching her as well, she realized. They had known her before she had known them. Or at least, known someone who looked like her.

But what of these glimmers of memories, of things she had never done, places she'd never been! Were they hers, from another life? No, shirou had said that he had known this Saber a year ago... There was a connection, no doubt, but how could they be the same? In the back of her mind, she imagined having a twin sister separated at birth that she was sharing psychic memories with or something.

No... No, that felt wrong. Whatever she was remembering, these memories were hers.

"I believe you," she replied, finally. Despite this fracture in her world of reason, Arturia knew it was the truth. "But how could it be me? A year ago you knew her, and a year ago I was with my family in Britain."

"I... can explain that. I think. It's difficult," shirou managed, nervously running his hand through his red hair. "Do you believe in magic?"

"After what I just experienced, I'm not what I believe in," she admitted.

"Then... I.. I'll start from the beginning."


And so, he told his tale. From the fire that forged him, to the magus that adopted him, and how his father left the realm of the living. He tells her of the magic he learned from him, and his first encounter with Tohsaka Rin. Caught in the Grail War by circumstance, he tells her of his death and prompt resurrection, only to be stalked by Death yet again. He hesitates for a moment, and tells her of Saber's accidental summoning - an old magic circle left by his father triggered by by the scarbbard buried in him. He tells of how Saber appeared, and drove off the Death that killed him once.

He tells her of the beautiful girl that appeared before him - of her beauty and regal majesty. How he was instantly moved by her, and his desire to some how protect her (despite that it was him who needed protecting). He tells her of the beginning of their alliance with Rin and Archer and the War of the Greil. He tells her of themselves - the Sword and the Scabbard. He tells her of Rin and Archer.

He tells her of their triumphs and losses in the Grail War. He tells her of the small family the formed together with friends and allies, if only for a short time.

He tells her of the dreams they shared as they slept, of the King of Knights, that legend would remember as Arthur, of the girl that stepped forth and grasped the Sword in the Stone, and took the mantle of king, and of both her failures and triumphs, and her her goals to use the Grail to correct them.

He tells her of their first conflicts with each other. Of his foolish desire to try and protect the King of Knights. He tells of the resulting training, and the close friend ship that had blossomed.

He tell her of how her wish - her goal with the Grail disturbed him. That the mistakes made in life must stand, that they shaped who and what they were. That she was wrong to try and erase them.

He tells her of the love that blossomed, of their first and only date.

He tells her of his fear, how it frightened him that Saber would leave when the war was won.

He tells her of the King of Heroes, the Tyrant of Babylon. He tells her of their decision to destroy the Grail.

He tells her of their final victory in a war, and the defeat of their enemies.. He tells of their confession of love. He tells her of their silent goodbye.

He tells her of his mourning. His loneliness, despite being surrounded by friends. He tells her of his peace, and the memories he'll forever keep.

And he finishes his tale, telling her of second chances and rebirth.


They sat in silence for a while longer. The sun had fully risen, shining vigorously in the sky. shirou looked down at the floor, unsure what to say, while Arturia's gaze bore dreamily ahead, lost in thought.

She absorbed what he had told her. That she was once the reborn spirit of King Arthur (who was really woman in the first place), and that had given her the right to participate in a magical war for the Holy Grail. That they had fallen in love, won the war, and sadly, went seperate ways only to converge again at this point.

What he was telling her was so far from the realm of reality she had lived in yesterday made her reluctant to believe any of it, despite her strange unfathomable trust in shirou. She realized that what he was telling her was true, that part of her, long forgotten, had experienced this as well.

But her rational mind could not accept that. Not without proof.

"...You can do magic?" she asked, finally dispelling the awkward silence. Yes shirou said he could do magic. Or magecraft, whatever he called it.

"Yeah... Sorta. I can trace things. It lets me... recreate things from before out of nothing," he explained. She cocked an eyebrow, inviting him to prove it. "Here," he said, outstretching his hand.

Suddenly, light and energy began to sparkle and pulse in the air. A moment later, a sword appeared in his hand. A beautiful long sword, with a golden hilt and a blue handle. Flecks of blue stylized the inside the golden hilt. The hilt was engraved in some runic writing, and had three small red gems were embedded through out. Simply put, the sword was gorgeous.

"Amazing!" she gasped. Real magic. To see it right in front of her after everything he's told her... If he could do this, perhaps his story was true as well.

"Can I... Can I hold it?" she asked, needing to feel it in her hands. The sword wasn't only beautiful, it was also FAMILIAR. She almost recognized it, and needed to touch it.

He nodded, and removed one of his hands from the blade and outstretched the vertical sword to her. "I have trouble keeping them going when they're out of my hands," he explained.

She nodded, and extended her hand, and gripped azure handle. She could feel the texture, the reality of it all sinking into her...

A flash of clarity. A huge monolith of a man towers above them, more monster then human. Rage radiates off him, his one glaring, red eye gleaming despite the night's shadows. Both their hands, hers and shirou's, entwine together, gripping that sacred blade as one, sharing strength, sharing love. They thrust Caliburn together, and the blade slides through his stone skin like it's cutting through clouds. In but an instant, seven times the berserker falls and seven times he dies.

She blinked suddenly, at the sudden flash. There was no denying shirou's tail in her heart anymore, she knew, if this kept happening. Every moment with him was reliving a moment from before. She shook off the confusion, and spent a few more moments studying the blade with shirou.

She was so absorbed in reverence for the sword that she did not notice shirou longingly staring into her eyes. "I need to let the sword go back now," he said.

She nodded, and she watched as the beautiful sword began to dissolve into light. As it slipped out from her grip, she felt shirou's hand envelope her own.

"What did you see," he whispered, pulling her closer.

"...Wha..." she looked confused, but did not pull away. She blushed at the close proximity.

"When you were unconscious," he continued quietly. "You saw something in you dreams. What did you see?"

They were so close now! Her heart thumped faster as her emerald eyes met his brown.

shirou had forgotten the question now - so lost in her gaze that he didn't care about his question anymore. Slowly his face descended downward to meet hers.

Their lips met.

And for a moment, all was right. shirou was happy, Artiria was happy... Until her rational mind asserted itself.

She pulled away, and slapped him. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to shock him. shirou nursed his cheek in shock, and she reddened in shame. She had wanted it, her heart had wanted it, but the kiss... She had her pride, she realized. Arturia Pendragon may have known and loved Emiya shirou, but Arturia Pendraig had only met him yesterday.

"I am sorry, shirou," she mumbled as she stood from her kneeling position and began gathering her things. She turned to him one last time, and gave him a sad smile. "I know you - but I do not know you." Yet, she added to herself.

She left the Emiya Estate after that, not another word passing between them.

shirou watched her leave, and couldn't help but chuckle. He noticed she had taken the lion with her.

"That's just your style," he mumbled happily to himself.


Author's notes: I'm really tired of the whole amnesia thing. I don't like it, and this is the second story I've done it in. I don't want to drag this out, because it's just empty suspense building.

And yeah, the sword is Caliburn. shirou doesn't know how to trace much else (Yet).