A/N

To mangafreak7793: Really sorry, I'm quite rusty with Japanese as I have been out of touch with it for quite a while. I will apply the terms more appropriately from this chapter onwards and thank you for the F/SN section information.

To nexus master: Glad I'm entertaining you so far and thanks for the information as well. It's about time F/SN had its own section. I have moved this story to the appropriate section now.

Thanks to Ttestagr for opening my eyes to the actual F/SN plot. I did not know that the anime had actually left out so many things! Alas, it's too late now to rectify it now so I hope you will just overlook it. Avalon is indeed a legendary place after all, so let's just go along with it.

End A/N

Author's Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night. In other words, I do not own the original intellectual property.

Chapter 5

Shirou, Fuyuki City

"Onee-chan! Onee-san! Wait up please!"

I turned around but was greeted by a flash of white light and before I knew it, I was on the floor. Something small was attached to my chest, with arms wrapped tightly around my torso and hair as white as snow covering her face, and tickling my chin.

"Daddy said my hair was as white as snow…I'm proud of it!"

"Il….Ilya! What are you doing!? Get off Emiya-kun at once!" an angry Rin was jumping up and down. There was a vein popping up from her forehead, which went well with my vision of steam escaping from her ears. She then proceeded to let out a tirade of colorful words, many of which are not appropriate for the general audience.

I tried to pry myself free of Ilya's iron grip, and found it was near impossible. Ilya just giggled.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything here Rin…But I would like a little help?" Hoping to make myself heard over her rant.

She let out a surprised 'oh' and proceeded to pry Ilya from me using her feet as a lever between me and Ilya.

"Onee-san, don't bother me when I'm busy! Stop coming between me and onee-chan! Go away! We don't need you!" Ilya complained.

"Why you little…" her attempts were a bit more vicious now, with her arms wrapped around Ilya and feet planted firmly on either side of us. She tugged on Ilya relentlessly. Something had to go, Ilya's deadlock around me or Rin's bear hug.

Fortunately, it seemed that fate chose Ilya's deadlock to be the weaker of the two.

"Kyaa….!" Rin finally got Ilya off me, but landed on the floor with her bottom cushioning the impact. Ilya was still caught in Rin's bear hug.

The first thing I did was check my body status. No broken ribs thankfully, but I was going to have some lovely bruises tomorrow morning. Well, Rin's magic should fix it in no time… Hopefully.

"Rin, Ilya, you both alright?"

"I think I'm fine… " Rin winced upon rubbing her behind.

"Ilya is fine… Onee-san was very mean back there!" Ilya pouted. She was terribly adorable at times like this. Difficult to imagine she was Berserker's Master.

"Come on then… we had better head for school." I helped them both up. Then I remembered something… Something that was conspicuously missing ever since we met Ilya today…

"Hold on a moment Ilya. Where's Fuji-nee?"

"Err…" She paused, her brows furrowed, as though deep in thought. The moment she opened her mouth, I knew something was up.

"Nee-san said she had something on today! She allowed me to go to school with onee-chan today!" Fat chance.

I sighed. "Ilya, did you do that to Fuji-nee again?"

"…" Without another word, she sped off. When she was a good 60 paces ahead, she yelled back, "See you during the holidays, onee-chan!" Oh boy…

Rin scratched her head. "What was that about?"

"…Nothing. Come on, let's get a move on before we are late for school…" This time, I was the one doing the towing. It felt good being the one in charge for a change.

Shirou, Fuyuki High School.

"Ring…" went the monotonous alarm bell. True to the school tradition, before the alarm bell even ended, the entire class was cleared. Only Fuji-nee remained.

"Okay Shiro, I have to go settle some last minute work. See you at dinner! She stepped out of the class and disappeared. I sighed. Fuji-nee was always the last minute type…

I stepped out of the classroom, and was surprised to see Rin waiting outside.

"Finally done? I almost thought you had gone to sleep."

"...What do you want?" She fidgeted for a bit there, almost acting coyly. The Tousaka Rin, shy? However, before i can review my opinion on her character, she dropped a bomb the size of the Pacific Ocean on me without warning.

"Emiya-kun… Do you mind if I stayed over at your house again? It is the holidays…"

"Wha-… What?! You want to stay over at my house…Again!?"

"What's wrong? Fujimura-sensei said that it was perfectly alright to sleepover at your house. You are a per-fect gentleman after all…" Her sentence dripped with sarcasm.

"… Fi-...Fine! If Fuji-nee said yes… Who am I to say no?" I'm in for it now...

"I knew you would see it my way. I will be there one week from now! See you then Shirou!" She walked away.

...If I act fast enough, I can be out of town before Rin or even Ilya appears on my doorstep... But what about Fuji-nee?

"……" I need to cool off. Fast. Luckily, I knew the perfect place.

My legs started walking on their own. It seems that they knew where I wanted to go.

Rin, Tousaka Residence.

I softly hummed to myself. I knew it was easy to persuade Shirou to accept my request. Finally I will not have to stay at that lonely mansion after all… Especially with him gone and all…

I was so deep in my thoughts that before I knew it, I was before the familiar gates. Home. The sun was settling, and the street lights had come on.

At one point of my life, I had always looked forward to coming back home, where I could be with my beloved books on the laws of magic. Yet, all I see now is despair and loneliness…

Taking a deep breathe, I placed my first step delicately on the familiar, worn-out pathway leading up to the door. At the same time, I caught a figure's silhouette at the corner of my eye. I spun around, tensing my muscles in preparation of an attack.

"Come out! Show yourself!" I shouted into the darkness. I was pretty sure the barrier around my house would have alerted me if any hostile personnel entered the mansion… Must be one hell of a skilled assassin...

"My, my…as alert as ever, Rin." A figure stepped out of the darkness and all my thoughts and plans for self-defense in the occurrence of attacks went out the window immediately. It can't be… It couldn't be!

"You are…!"

Shirou, Fuyuki City.

I leaned over the railings, gazing deep into the waters. If I concentrated hard enough, I could see her reflection smiling back at me…

I was back at the bridge. A place I will never forget. A place where we first connected ever since the war started. I smiled at the thought of it… At that time, we had a real heart to heart talk… About our ideals, our lives. It was also the first time we had a quarrel as a couple. I smiled to myself. 'Couple', I like that term.

Perhaps it was never meant to be, after all, fairy tales are fairy tales in the end. Fantasies, nothing more. And as I stared into the bottomless depths of the deep blue ocean, I contemplated my future if she was around. At times like this, I cannot help but fantasize… If only…

"Shi-…Shirou?" A familiar voice I have been dying to hear calls out to me. Haha, I must have one hell of a heartache. I miss her so much that I'm even imagining things now…

"Is that really you? Shirou?" The speaker's tone seemed urgent, even desperate.

I turned around, half-expecting to see nothing, yet my other hopeful self hoped to see something… Something impossible… But maybe... Just maybe...

I was not disappointed. There was really nothing there. I sighed, turning back and facing the crystal clear water once more.

There was a angel-like giggle. I heard it before. Just once. I was more sure of it this time that I really heard it. I spun around slowly once more, but this time towards my left. A beautiful sight greeted my eyes.

The sun was setting directly behind her, it's rays reflecting off her golden hair. Her eyes, as green as the purest of emeralds, locked onto mine, and I found that I could not take my eyes off her. She was dressed in her usual civilian clothes, consisting of a white shirt and a blue blouse to match. She looked incredibly angelic. I could not take a step forward, my muscles and nerves were not responding. My brain was not functioning. It seemed that my whole body had shut down there and then. Impossible... But as she walked towards me, my doubts ceased to exist...

"Shirou…" She almost purred.

My voice was gone. I did not know what to say. When I finally found my voice again, she was right in front of me.

"Sa…ber?" My lips trembled. It just was not possible! "How is this possible…? You di-…" I was silenced with her finger on my lips. Her arms enfolded me. Her warmth seeped into me, eventually spreading throughout me, and she rested her head on my shoulder. Gradually, I came to my senses, and my arms instinctively wrapped around her waist. I could feel her tremble in delight. I was on cloud nine right now.

She breathed down my ear two words, two words that I had been dying to hear, that will change my life forever…

"I'm back."

A/N

This is a warning. Major fluff coming up for the next two chapters at least. Plot advancement shall halt for now. I'm ready now, I knew the consequences of this decision... So go ahead and throw those rotten tomatoes!

End A/N