Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Different Fates

Chapter 26

Baroness Anika von Derfflinger is the eldest child and only daughter of Baron Franz von Derfflinger. She is sixteen years-old and is possessed of an affinity for the element of fire, a common trait among the Derfflinger family. As her father's heiress, she has since received his crest, and with her thirty-odd high-quality magic circuits has magic potential estimated to be one hundred-odd magic circuits in total. A tall girl with archetypal German features she is a sixth-rank member of the Mages Association, specifically the Department of Mineralogy.

Said baroness was currently halfway round the world from her homeland, walking down a hallway in the Tohsaka mansion towards the workshop, loud grinding noises muffled by the door. Coming to a halt outside of the door, she knocked a few times, sensing the warning buzz of the interior bounded fields. The grinding noises came to a halt, and a voice from inside bade her to enter.

Sakura Tohsaka is the only (at least legally) child and daughter of the late Tokiomi Tohsaka. She is sixteen years-old and lacks any elemental affinities. Normally a black mark on a magus' record this is offset by her possession of the rare Imaginary Numbers Sorcery Trait. As the Tohsaka heiress, she possesses her family's crest, and together with her forty-odd high-quality magic circuits has magical potential estimated to be one hundred-odd magic circuits in total. Tall (for Asians), she is a sixth-rank member of the Mages Association, specifically the Department of Spiritual Evocation.

The baroness opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind her. She raised an eyebrow as Sakura tested her freshly-sharpened sword's edge on a finger, the other girl wincing as it cut her finger open. "Did you really expect different?" she asked.

"Of course not…" Sakura said, setting her sword down and walking over to a desk where she began fussing with a spiritual healing kit. "…can I help you?"

"You're going after Emiya today aren't you?"

Sakura glanced at Anika over a shoulder. "You already know that so why the concern?" she asked.

Anika fumbled for a bit. She's been friends with Sakura since they were children, but she'd never expected to actually develop feelings for the other girl. And even after she acknowledged it, she's never found the right time or place to confess it either.

And if she were honest with herself, she feared Sakura's reaction, that she would react not just with rejection, but perhaps even with fear and disgust.

Rejection she could handle…but fear…disgust…Sakura should never have cause to fear her, much less be repulsed…

Just as she feared here and now, that Sakura would be heading to her death fighting against the Emiya heir. It was a terrifying consideration, so much so that Anika who'd hunted vampires and heretics in the past, put it out of mind as best she could.

Now however…she couldn't keep doing that.

"Worried…?" Sakura said, turning back to her finger. "You shouldn't be. I've done everything short of cracking open the confiscated crest of the Emiya family at the Clock Tower to research their magecraft, or rather Kiritsugu Emiya's magic and methods."

"Sakura…"

"His preference for ranged attacks…" Sakura murmured. "…for the sake of countering that I developed Illusive Precision. Time Alter…as a counter Hollowed Time came into being. Even the incorporation of Imaginary Numbers into Gandr was meant as an answer to the power possessed by modern weaponry…"

"Yeah and to be honest that worries me." Anika interrupted, walking closer. Sakura turned to her, the Japanese girl's eyes widening as Anika placed her hands on her shoulders. "All the progress you've made…no matter how much the ancillary research and even the research that led to your current mysteries…everything you've done was all made for the sake of avenging your father."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "So what if it was?" she asked with the barest hint of anger.

To Sakura's surprise, Anika moved to hold her face. Even more surprising was that she didn't do anything to stop the baroness from doing so, even meeting the German girl's eyes on her own accord. For a moment there was only silence between them, the memories of a kiss coming to mind unbidden, as Sakura stared into a matching set of blue.

Since when did I…?

"Everyone has the right of vengeance." The baroness said. "But…don't lose yourself to it, please?"

"Anika…?"

The baroness blinked and looked away, letting go of Sakura's face. "You still have so much further to go." She said awkwardly. "I just don't want to see you becoming so fixated on revenge that when you get it, you've got nothing left, alright?"

To her surprise (and to Sakura's own), Sakura took her hand and squeezed it, their fingers locked together. "Thanks for the concern." Sakura said with a slight blush, eyes shyly turned away, unwilling to meet her friend's eyes. "I appreciate it, I really do."

Anika stared at Sakura and then smiled as well. "I'll be watching." She said, blushing herself while squeezing Sakura's hand back.

"I know you will, so watch my back…on both sides…"

Don't let others interfere…and take my hand if I ever fall.

"I will."

Rin Matou arrived at the Matou property more than a little perturbed. Considering the…nature of Matou magecraft, her grandfather would probably be more than a little curious about her little 'fainting spell' over the past couple of days or so. And to be honest so was she, now if only the investigative methods weren't so…intrusive.

"Yeah right…" Rin thought as she stepped into the mansion and made her way over to where she usually kept her combat dolls. "…I might as well wish to be Queen of the World."

"I'm sure you can child…" Zouken's voice ghosted into her mind. "…I'm sure you can…but do remember your obligations."

Rin swallowed dryly, and letting go of the doll in her hands, she slowly turned to see her grandfather standing just a few steps away down the hallway. "Grandfather…" she whispered.

"Rin…" he said, walking over to her. "…you've been away for a short while now. Why is that, I wonder?"

"I…I had…" she stammered, fumbling with her words. In the end responses literally carved into her, mind, body, and soul won over. There was no point hiding anything from him, or denying his wishes. He'd get what he wanted in the end, and giving in actually finished things faster. "…I had a little bout of sickness. I don't know what it was but…"

She trailed off as he raised a hand to cup her chin with surprising gentleness. Mockery of course…there was nothing gentle about him, no truth within his 'caring' gestures ever so often. Not that she could react with anything other than fear and submission this close to him, this deep in her prison disguised as a home.

She didn't have a home. She never had one, ever since she was robbed of one ten years ago, by her own family.

She'd never had a family since then either.

"You're not hiding anything from me, are you now?" Zouken asked, and Rin swallowed.

"No…" she said quickly. "…of course not, I would never…"

"That's a good girl." He said with a sickly smile, patting her on a cheek. "I see you've noticed the alarming development at your school. Still…the enemy won't make a move for at least a couple more hours. Good enough time for me to see what might have happened that left you unconscious for days on end, and still have time to prepare afterwards. Come…"

Without another word or even a gesture he hobbled away, Rin trailing after him helplessly to his lair. There was nothing else she could do after all, and both of them knew it.

For now…

The afternoon light shone warm and golden over the school. Shirou Emiya didn't feel warm at all. He didn't feel accommodating in any way.

He was angry.

He and Ayako were cleaning up their clubroom when the bounded field over the school had gone active, knocking her out and placing her in a deep sleep. Rationally Shirou knew that she'd wake up once the bounded field was taken care of, but on other levels…on ethical and territorial levels…someone was going to pay for this.

And all that anger was aimed at the magus in black and red standing by the gate. A sword was strapped to her side…fitting the poetic side of his mind thought, a swordsman against an archer. Who would be superior in the end? If she got close enough it would be over in one swing, and likewise if she made one misstep at a distance it would only take a single arrow to end the battle.

"Who are you?" he asked bluntly over the school grounds, his bow held in one hand. The magus turned in his direction, one hand held over a seal placed on the gates.

"Before asking others for their name, shouldn't you give yours first?" she asked back.

For a moment there was silence, the magus and the spell-caster gazing balefully at each other. A fitful breeze stirred the surrounding trees, and fluttering through their hair. "Shirou Emiya." Shirou said, and the magus nodded.

"Sakura Tohsaka…" she said, and she smiled coolly as Shirou appeared to recognize her name. "…you know of me?"

"You're the Supervisor." He replied. "Matou-san told me. You've been away for a long time."

Sakura chuckled at that. "So I have." She said, and then began to walk. Shirou moved parallel to her, the two of them walking slowly in a wide circle around the school grounds. "I would say it's nice to meet you, but that would be a lie. I'd rather not lie as much as possible. Magi deal with truths after all."

"Is that so?" Shirou asked. "What's all this then?"

"Ah the bounded field…" Sakura said with a nod. "…some of your friends must have got caught in its effects then. I must apologize to them then, I don't really like drawing uninvolved people in. But it won't hurt them. It'll just put them to sleep until our…encounter is finished. It'll also keep anyone who doesn't need to know from seeing or hearing what they don't need to see or hear."

"I see." Shirou answered.

"Do you now?" Sakura pressed. "Tell me Magus Killer, do you know who Tokiomi Tohsaka was?"

"Magus Killer…?" Shirou echoed.

"Oh? You don't know your father's title? Curious…did your father not tell you? That wouldn't surprise me the man was so ruthless he probably never told you anything that might keep you from taking over his legacy."

"What are you talking about?" Shirou demanded. "What do you know about my father?"

Sakura just smiled at him, a cold and heartless smile that made Shirou begin to realize that for this girl, this was more than just a battle for the Holy Grail. It was personal.

Why?

"That's for me to know and for you to find out." She said. "Now, answer me: do you know who Tokiomi Tohsaka was?"

This time it was Shirou's turn to smile, a rare crafty smile implying hidden things so unlike him. "If you have secrets, then so do I." he said. "He's your father isn't he?"

To his surprise Sakura laughed for a moment. "Oh very clever…" she said, one hand moving to her sword. She didn't draw it yet, but Shirou opened his circuits just in case. "…you're right, he was my father. Father…he and I were never close. He was cold, a magus first before a parent or a Human being. I was just an heiress, someone to carry on his legacy. Remind you of someone…?"

"I wouldn't know."

Sakura laughed weakly, and then she sighed, closing her eyes. "As I said, father and I were never close." She said. "But…mother…mother loved him. And she loved me. We were very close. Before…before the change…I was always dependent on her. And even after that…we still..."

She trailed of, silence falling across the grounds. And then with a click, Sakura's thumb slid her sword up, out of its sheath. Shirou immediately fell into a stance. Sakura's eyes were open halfway, looking down on the ground with a faraway expression on her face. "Kiritsugu Emiya killed my father." She said softly. "I could forgive that. Magi walk with death after all. It is to be expected, and dying in pursuit of the Root is normal. But…mother…she loved father. And when he died, she was broken, and died soon after. And you know what?"

She closed her eyes, and then opened them with such hatred that Shirou recoiled. "I CAN'T FORGIVE YOU FOR KILLING MY MOTHER!" she screamed, a finger rising and firing several Gandr rounds at Shirou. They flew wide, blowing holes through walls and chunks from trees. Shirou sprang away, arrows flashing into being as Sakura drew her sword.

"Me…?" he echoed with incredulous surprise. Arrows flew towards Sakura. "I didn't kill your mother! That was…!"

He cut himself off, unable to blame his father. Sakura however swatted the arrows out of the air with clean swings of her sword. "Shut up!" she spat. "Your father is dead, but someone has to pay! You will do! Time is hollow!"

Sakura flashed past, Shirou eerily reminded of his sister's ability to move quickly in such a manner. Steel flashed, and he narrowly dodged, warned by instinct. His bow rose, prana materializing into reinforced carbon fibre as he fired a pair of arrows at Sakura at nearly point-blank range. The girl caught them with the flat of her blade, but the force was still enough to throw her back.

"Don't joke around!" Shirou shouted, lowering his bow but remaining on guard. "Going after me because of something dad did? What kind of…?"

Sakura ignored him, charging in and swinging several times. This time Shirou couldn't dodge cleanly, blood splattering out as Sakura cut shallow but painful wounds on his arms and sides. Shirou cried out in pain, but Sakura's eyes narrowed in frustration. It wasn't so much that he was dodging – he was – it was also her sword was unable to cut deep enough to cause damage. And more than that…

Those strikes should have cut deeper! What's going on here?

Snarling, she feinted and when Shirou fell for it she sprang back while throwing several gems. The gems exploded, Shirou staggering out of the cloud bloodied and with patches of his uniform torn to tatters. Sakura fired Gandr and Shirou dove out of the way.

Those gems should have left him a bleeding mass of flesh! This is impossible!

Growling, she reinforced her limbs before leaping forward, her sword's point aimed at the prone Shirou's back. The blade plunged deep into the ground as Shirou rolled out of the way, Sakura tearing it free as he scrambled for his bow. "Trace on…!" he hissed, reinforcing and altering the next arrow.

Again Sakura caught it…and this time she was sent flying with a cry of pain. Shirou grinned in triumph. He'd pumped prana into the arrow, which discharged in the form of kinetic energy on impact. He staggered to his feet and traced two arrows which he aimed at Sakura. He pulled back and fired.

"He's doing pretty well."

"I'm just as curious as Sakura is though." Anika commented. She and Archer stood on the school's rooftop, watching the battle below unfold. It had settled into a stalemate, with Sakura being able to close through Hollowed Time but for some reason could not inflict serious damage. Likewise for Shirou, he used arrows charged with prana to hurl Sakura back whenever she closed and then counterattacking in the brief moments she recovered, only for Sakura to either dodge or block his arrows. "Why isn't Sakura's sword cutting deep enough? Some of those blows should have taken his arm or cut into his organs."

Archer was silent. He knew the truth of course, but he wasn't going to share it. With Avalon in his body, and with Saber present in the world, nothing short of Noble Phantasms or a direct hit from an A-rank spell could seriously hurt his younger self and anything short of critical damage could be recovered from momentarily.

"It's a mystery." He said instead, and Anika shot him a dirty look.

"That is not helping." She snapped, and he smiled.

"No I suppose not." He agreed while narrowing his eyes as Shirou took a different route, tracing a dagger and stabbing at a surprised Sakura as she charged in. The girl dodged, but the backswing left a bleeding cut on her cheek. He set his jaw as he saw Shirou kick her away with a solid kick to the belly.

Huh…I never expected the idiot to go that far…or to still feel for her. How long has it been after all…since I last saw her smiling face…

He then sighed and shook his head as Shirou tried to reason with Sakura, that even if his father was responsible for the deaths of her parents, it wasn't fair or right that she place blame on him. Sakura's response was as expected: Gandr and gems exploded all around Shirou Emiya.

"Idiot…" he said softly, and Anika nodded her agreement.

"Agreed…" she said. "…but those attacks aren't really doing much. And it's making Sakura angrier by the moment."

"She's not very patient I take it?"

"She's a prodigy." Anika said with a sigh. "Frustration and things not going as planned are things she's not used to."

"That's not good…at all."

"I know. Unfortunately there are far too many people like her at the Clock Tower, including those who aren't prodigies but act like it."

"And what do you plan to do about it?" Archer asked, watching as Shirou backed away, using several charged arrows to keep Sakura back. The arrows missed for the most part, landing with resounding hits that sent trees toppling to the ground in the forest around the school, but one connected and blew Sakura back.

"I'm hoping this war will teach Sakura that the world doesn't work like that." Anika replied. "Of course she won't take that well, not without help accepting it."

"And you'll provide that help?" he asked as Shirou traced and aimed an arrow glowing with prana.

What's that?

"Yes…" Anika began to say only to cut herself off as Shirou released, the air filling with countless arrows.

Sakura…!

"People are transient!" Sakura barely had time to shout, as countless arrows rained down around her. Leaves and bark were torn to shreds, while the ground erupted in dusty clouds as magically-produced arrows ripped into them.

Breathing heavily, Shirou Emiya lowered his bow. He'd tried to calm her down, but Tohsaka was too obsessed with revenge to give him a chance. Hopefully she'd survived his attack, and calm down while recovering to think on what he'd said.

"Could she have survived?" he thought to himself. This was his most powerful spell, collecting enough prana for a thousand arrows into a meta-stable form, but not actualizing the tracing until after the 'arrow' was released, ultimately taking the form of a thousand arrows saturating an entire target area.

"Hopefully she did…" Shirou thought guiltily, watching the clouds of dust and debris a good distance away. "…she didn't seem like a bad person, just a girl lashing out for the loss of her mother. Hard to blame her really…magi aren't really the nicest people on the planet…"

He narrowed his eyes as he remembered what Tohsaka called his father. "Magus Killer…" he thought. "…dad…what were you?"

He blinked as a shadow loomed in the cloud, and then Sakura flashed close, completely unharmed. "That's impossible!" he thought in shock, steel arcing down in a golden arc, reflecting the light of the setting Sun.

Metal and ceramic shards flew through the air as Sakura ripped Shirou's bow apart, and then blood flew sparkled in the air as the backswing cut a bloody gash through Shirou's chest. A step back and Sakura reversed her sword, pointing the tip at his neck. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Shirou staggered back, adrenaline, shock, and pain all working to bring everything into slow focus.

The point flashing towards his chest, Shirou's mind worked to find a way to save his life. "Saber…no…I can do this!" he thought. "I need a weapon. Something to fight close with…a bow won't work…daggers won't work…I need a sword…"

A blurry image of gold, blue and steel flashed to mind, and then he focused on the sword in his enemy's hand. As death drew close, his eyes took in everything. Everything…he saw the blacksmiths in the German countryside smelting ore and charcoal for steel…he saw steel flow like water into moulds…he saw a hammer coming down with showers of sparks on red-hot metal, hammering it into shape before plunging into cold water with clouds of steam…he saw the cross-guard being mated with the hilt and the blade…he watched his enemy, younger and more innocent than she was now, being given the sword by a blonde girl of her age, the two of them sharing smiles over the gift…he saw them struggling through a blizzard together…the two of them fighting back to back in the light of the Moon, fighting against monsters of mist and shadows with faces from nightmares…and he saw himself, staggering back with blood pumping from his chest as Sakura stabbed at him.

I need a sword…I need a sword…I need a sword…trace…on!

Prana flashed gold in his hand, Shirou feeling something enter his mind, and then his sword rose to parry Sakura's own with a ringing clatter. Eyes went wide with shock and surprise, Shirou because he suddenly knew how to use a sword, and more than that, in hindsight how he had learned to throw and use daggers with such skill.

I can trace anything that I can see as a sword…and with it, how to use them…amazing…

Sakura could only stare at the sword in her enemy's hand, its edge grinding against hers. The length and breadth of the weapon…the simple cross-guard centred on a six-pointed star…and the name engraved on the blade: Sternenlicht. And then rage exploded within. "How dare you?" she raged, throwing Shirou back and attacking without restraint. No more elegance…no more grace…no need to end the battle right, just end it NOW.

"Sternenlicht…my Starlight…you dare mock Starlight and use it against me?" she roared, Starlight flashing as Sakura punctuated her words with hammer-like blows. Even with his copy of her skills, Shirou could barely keep up, clumsily parrying Sakura's swings as she drove him back swing after swing.

He tried to get away, but all it did was open an opening for her to cut a thigh open. Off-balance, Shirou could only collapse on his knees as she hammered him again and again, until finally his copy of Starlight shattered, the original biting down into his shoulder. The blade cut through flesh before inexplicably coming to a jarring halt, but still enough to break his shoulder bones. Screaming in agony, Shirou crumpled to the ground, Sakura flicking the blade clean of his blood with a backswing.

A girl knelt below a window, sniffling and covering her eyes. "I'm sorry onee-chan…" she whispered. "…I'm sorry…I didn't want you to leave…I didn't want to…I just wanted…" As she continued to cry, a pair of arms snaked around her from behind, a dark-haired woman holding her close. "Mama…?"

"Shush…it's alright Sakura I'm here…you're not alone…so don't cry…I'm here…mommy's here…"

Tohsaka blood flowed over Starlight's blade, Sakura running the edge over her veins. Ignoring the pain and the blood staining her sleeve, she raised Starlight over her head.

A girl watched as a man walked away in the afternoon. The breeze blew through the trees around her and through her hair. Even though she knew he would never see her like he saw her sister…even though she never wanted to replace her…she only wanted him to smile at her like he smiled at her. Except…even then…she knew he wouldn't come back. "Papa…onee-chan…everyone keeps on leaving me behind."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at her mother's face. "What's wrong Sakura?" she asked. Sakura took her mother's hand.

"You won't leave me, won't you?"

"Don't worry, I won't."

"Promise…?"

"I promise."

Blue eyes stared into golden eyes, the murderer's son's command spells beginning to glow on his hand.

"Liar…" a girl murmured as she stood alone before a freshly-covered grave, a priest standing right behind her. "…you promised…but even you left me behind."

"She didn't leave you behind." The priest said, smiling as she looked at him. "She was taken from you, when your father was taken from her. Yes, in that final battle, it was Kiritsugu Emiya's Servant against your father's."

"Mother…father…I have avenged you." Sakura thought, Starlight falling in a gleaming arc towards Shirou's Emiya's head.

A/N

Kirei never lies. Sternenlicht: German for starlight.

If Rider (Medusa) can't kill Shirou with her stakes because of Avalon, I doubt if Sakura's sword can. She doesn't know that of course, though with sufficient nervous damage – the nerves or rather the brain does connect the soul to the body – Shirou can die, like in Heaven's Feel or what Rider tried to do in Fate when she threw him out of a window…or with Sakura going straight for his head.

Death0887: not sure about erratic, but I disagree with a past comment of yours about Sakura Matou having a more stable personality. In Heaven's Feel she's one depression away from becoming a Counter Force-level threat, while elsewhere she's understandably bipolar: yamato nadeshiko to Shirou and friends, but moody and otherwise unresponsive to everyone else. Hardly an improvement over erratic (?), I would say. And you could say tsundere is erratic too (Rin Tohsaka).