Author's Note: In response to Eve L. Kitty's review, Ascarde actually did write an F/GR omake based off the eleventh bad ending. In the interest of good taste, I won't be posting it here (although in Ascarde's defense, he never went into explicit detail of Gilgamesh raping Shira, aside from the noises she makes as the rape occurs), but here's the SparkNotes version: Gilgamesh beats Shira up, restrains a very POed Saber with the Chains of Enkidu, forces the sex potion down Shira's throat and has his way with her, then decides that she's good enough to be his whore. In the Tiger Dojo, Saber breaks down crying and Ilya beats the crap out of Ascarde.

So, with that out of the way, here's the first epilogue.

True Epilogue: End of the Dream

Shira looked up to see Berserker's latest swing. Barely a second later, Saber rushed forward, countering the attack with Excalibur before their opponent could cleave Shira in two. He backed away to stand next to her, and Berserker growled, running forward with his sword raised.

"Give me your hand," Saber said curtly, grasping Caliburn's hilt as well. Shira stared at him questioningly, but the resolute expression in his eyes was all the answer she needed.

Just as she wasn't going to let him die, he wasn't going to let her fight alone.

"Saber..."

Shira blinked, and the forest clearing where she and Saber had defeated Berserker was replaced by the four familiar walls of her bedroom.

It sometimes felt as though it was just yesterday since the fifth Holy Grail War ended, but in reality, it had been sixty years. Shira only had to catch a glimpse of her reflection (white hair, wrinkled, age-spotted skin, and a slightly stooped posture—she knew, courtesy of Rin, that magecraft could be used to make herself look young and even extend her lifespan, but she had chosen not to bother with it) to know that, yes, it had been over half a century since she'd watched Saber stand in front of her with the rising sun at his back right before he disappeared.

It was quite a while before the thought of him brought something other than pain, before she could pick herself up and truly live rather than go through the motions. As time passed, little by little, it became easier to go through each day without him. Eventually, she could wake up in the morning and actually feel well-rested, serve meals without realizing she had made too much food, and smile without it seeming the least bit forced.

For the past six decades, Saber had not been with Shira—he was absent when Ilya died merely a year after the War, when Shira started travelling the world in pursuit of her dream to champion justice, when she unlocked Unlimited Blade Works, and when the Grail system was completely dismantled. But it didn't matter, because although Saber could not physically be with her, she knew he was far from gone.

It had taken her nearly two months after Saber's disappearance, but she eventually remembered that easily forgotten dream she'd had the night she realized she loved him. Saber had been in the meadow of that ever-distant utopia, a joyous smile lighting his face as he took in the sight of...Shira. Hope she hadn't felt in weeks had coursed through her, and she knew then that not everything was lost.

Maybe a life with Saber wasn't meant to be, but surely a reunion in Avalon was, regardless of how impossible it seemed.

That thought, that belief she could—would—find him again, was what kept Shira going when being a Champion of Justice took its toll on her. While she had fought in countless battles and saved many people, there were just as many people who she could not save. No matter how hard she fought, no matter how powerful and skilled she became, she could not save everyone. The beautiful ideal she aspired to achieve in her youth gradually became a grim duty, even a burden to be carried at times.

But stopping her footsteps was never an option. Shira had to continue onward, her determination unbroken, if she wanted to have any chance of reuniting with Saber. And at present, as she settled herself down on her futon, she could feel in her heart of hearts that her journey's end was in sight.

Her eyes closed, and fragments of old memories flashed through her mind.

She remembered Saber appearing in a burst of light and driving Lancer out of the storage shed.

"I am Saber, your Servant. I have come forth in response to your summons. I ask of you: Are you my Master?"

She remembered the wounds he sustained during his first fight with Berserker.

"Run! You can't win this!"

"No...I can still..."

She remembered introducing him to Taiga and Sakura.

"Fuji-nee, just what are you talking about? Saber's not my boyfriend. He's a boy, he's a friend, and yes, he'll be staying here, but that does not make him my boyfriend!"

She remembered repeatedly crossing shinais with him in the dojo.

"There is nothing for you to be ashamed of. You may not have landed a blow on me, but every strike you aimed had an excellent intensity. It's been a while since I have sparred with such an enthusiastic opponent."

She remembered her distress over his mana depletion, hoping in vain that she would not have to force him to kill anyone.

"Just try to sleep some more, okay, Saber? You're gonna be all right; you'll get your strength back soon, I promise."

She remembered transplanting a few of her magic circuits to him and waking up in bed with him the next morning.

"I meant what I said last night. If losing a little potential I have as a magus is the price for saving you, then I'm willing to pay it."

She remembered their training session after Berserker's defeat, how he held back as they sparred.

"You've never had a problem with attacking me before. This wouldn't have anything to do with me being a girl, would it?"

"No! No, of course not! I mean no offense; I only..."

She remembered going to Caster's temple to save Sakura, Saber staying behind to fight Assassin.

"Just...be careful, okay?"

"You take care as well."

She remembered their date and their fight on the bridge.

"I'm not the one trying to erase myself from history!"

"No, you're merely a hapless child who does not value her own life."

She remembered their encounter with Gilgamesh.

"Your virginity has been threatened, and all you can worry about is—"

"It's because I love you, you idiot!"

She remembered kissing him and feeling happy, almost deliriously so, when he kissed her back.

"Shira, you know what I must do. And I know that you could find someone...closer to home."

"I don't want someone closer to home. I want you."

She remembered her joy being crushed in the face of his rejection.

"But...but...I thought..."

"You thought what?"

She remembered Kotomine offering him the Grail if he killed her, and her amazement at his answer.

"What Shira can offer me is far more desirable than what the Grail can."

She remembered walking with him to Ryudou Temple, leaving him to fight Gilgamesh while she confronted Kotomine, making the painful decision to let him go...and his last words to her.

"I love you, Shira."

She sharply gasped in her sleep. Her heart was pounding, thudding against her chest, beating faster and faster—

And then it fell silent.

The image of Saber smiling as the sun rose faded into darkness as life fled from seventy-six-year-old Shira Emiya.

The green grass was soft beneath her feet, the slight breeze was pleasantly warm, and the sun was shining brightly in the clear, flawless sky.

But Shira—young and red-haired again—only briefly scanned her beautiful surroundings before she spotted a figure in the distance.

An achingly familiar figure.

Saber! She hurried forward without a second thought, a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob tearing from her throat. She saw him turn around, his eyes widen in astonishment, and his shock give way to joy as he ran towards her.

They were in each other's arms in seconds, and when he leaned down to kiss her, there was nothing hesitant about it. He kissed her fervently, intensely, and her mouth molded against his in equal passion. Their bodies pressed together, his hands sliding to her waist, her arms wrapping around his neck in an effort to deepen the kiss, all their senses going into overdrive as they eagerly sought to make up for lost time.

After so many years of fighting, searching, and hoping, Shira's reward was to spend all of eternity with her beloved Saber. Nothing could be more perfect.

He broke off the kiss, brilliant turquoise meeting warm chocolate, and neither of them resisted smiling.

"Where have you been all my life?" she asked, only half serious.

He gently stroked her cheek. "Waiting for you."

Author's Note: *her inner shipper squees like a mad thing*

Next up is the good epilogue, folks.

In summary, Shira reminisces about the past on her deathbed, and Saber gives Shira a Big Damn Kiss during their Together in Death reunion.

*coughAndthentheyhavegloriousafterlifesexcough*