Chapter 5
[Miracles and Reunion]
Shirou found himself standing in the void once again staring at the endless horizon.
The silence of this place...it was peaceful but all the same it held a unspoken sadness that seemed to permeate everything in his being.
Slowly he closed his eyes and he let himself find a of solace...a moment of peace if only briefly.
He pictured his family in that moment, smiling...happy.
The journey would be long but he now had a guarantee that he could find them, he could reach those he had lost.
The silence was broken when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him, he sighed and turned to face what he knew was already there.
"So it seems that you succeeded in saving her Emiya...now tell us , do you now fight for yourself still or for your discarded ideals?"
Emiya stood before the entity once more now though with eyes filled with annoyance rather than apprehension from before.
"Take me to the him, I have a job to finish."
He responded simply knowing that the Entity knew who he was referring to.
"Not yet I'm afraid...there is an order to these things Emiya Shirou...to become a hero...well you should know it is not a path that is quickly finished."
This kind of interaction reminded him of a certain old vampire...the whims and random summoning and sends off's were almost uncanny.
Yet there was a difference...rather than the whims of selfish boredom he would have had to endure...he was gifted with choices that could only be called kind.
"What would you have me do then?" He questioned cautiously.
looking at it's eyes for a moment he noticed that they held a vibrancy of color compared to the empty glass that has once been present.
A smile appeared on the face of the unknown before it motioned it's hand and rift appeared once again.
"Keep to your Ideals, fight for the ending of your choosing Emiya...and some day you may greet the sunrise on a world without tears."
Bewildered and infuriated He looked at the Unknown with a gaze full of frustration...but it lasted for a moment before a determined look took it's place.
"Three Lights have been forged anew and so too will three flames be reignited"
Rather than responding Emiya simply turned to the rift and walked through it.
"A hero deserves a reward after saving others, isn't that right my fellow visitors?"
[Elsewhere]
Shirou passed through the barrier and quickly noticed that he was in field of snow surrounded by a vast forest.
"Good grief where am I?"
The counter guardian placed a hand on his head in exasperation and looked up at the falling snow.
It reminded him so much of his sister's hair, he slowly lowered his arm and looked at the flakes of snow that landed on it.
"Illya would have liked this" he thought.
A sigh escaped his lips before he heard something moving towards him, he turned quickly and called upon his blades before readying himself for whatever may be coming in his direction.
The sounds of footsteps suddenly rapidly approaching only increased as they grew closer.
The eyes of the former counter guardian sharpened for a moment before two figures emerged from the forest...two figures that he had thought he would not meet until the end of his new journey.
There winded and disheveled from having run through countless branches and falling snow stood his parents...Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel von Einzbern.
The blades in his hands fell as he looked at them...the once battle ready body now relaxing.
The steel in his eyes softened and unconsciously he balled his fists before meeting their gazes with his own.
Slowly they approached him, their steps now slow and almost careful in their approach of their son.
Slowly they approached, never making any sudden movements, the only sound being the beating of their hearts and the crunching of snow under them.
The silence stretched on until they stood before him the emotions of parents being reunited with their child now visible to him.
The tears of a mother and the sad smile of a father who knew what their child has endured in order to make this reunion possible.
Irisviel gingerly reached out with trembling hands making clear that she feared what she was experiencing to be a dream.
She had seen what he had endured,the pain the sorrow, the very hell that he had grown so accustomed to, her actions and tears made that clear.
Softly she touched his face and for a few seconds she did so almost mechanically before the reality of what she was seeing crashed down on her.
A smile with such warmth like that of the sun was brought forth and moments later she embraced him tightly.
The warmth of a mother he had never known now encompassed him. He looked at his adopted mother for a few moments and hesitantly returned her embrace.
Slowly he looked up and his eyes met those of his father...Kiritsugu Emiya, the hollow eyes that he had known throughout his entire existence now held a small flame.
He no longer looked hollow...no rather now he looked almost vibrant in comparison, a man who had given up everything to save humanity and was broken now stood remade.
Kiritsugu slowly reached out and placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed before he pulled Irisviel back in his arms as she sobbed in joy and relief.
"Shirou...you've done well." Approval being heard in his words.
Slowly he rubbed circles on her back as they both looked at the man who their son had become.
Neither disappointment nor anger could be seen on their faces but rather looks of pride and relief.
He had not expected this reunion...this should not have been possible but yet here he stood.
A single word seemed to come to the forefront of his mind. "Why?"
Why had the Entity allowed this...what was it's aim?
He pondered for a moment before he remembered the passing words that it had given him just before leaving it behind.
"Three Lights have been forged anew and so too will three flames be reignited."
He suddenly looked around as his eyes widened in realization and there in the distance where his parents had come from...he spotted her.
Illyasviel von Einzbern...his sister, the single person whom he had sought to save above all others.
Hesitantly he reached and as he did he found that he could not stand and collapsed on his knees.
The very breath seemed to disappear from his body, the steady hands that knew war and despair shook at the sight of her.
"A hero's reward...for one miracle is deserving of another."
The world around him seemed to vanish and the figure of his sister running toward him was the only thing he could see.
The emptiness that he had carried for so long seemed to shrink as she approached, the failures of his time as a counter guardian coming to the surface.
The innumerable number of times he had failed to save her, to protect her all flashed through his mind.
The images that were at the forefront of his mind that were stained crimson with the sorrow of familial failure.
How long had he sought to change her fate, her cruel ending?
Something seemed to break inside him as she crashed into him and all at once...a tear made its way down his face.
He looked at her in disbelief for a moment and hesitated in holding her afraid that all this was a cruel illusion.
"Illya?" He whispered softly the strength of his body almost leaving him as he looked at the fairy like figure of his sister.
Yet the warmth of her body, the soft and serene sound of her laughter indicated that she was truly here.
"Hehehe so warm!" Illya giggled softly.
A lost wish, one that had long since been forgotten and left behind, the cruelty of fate and destiny having long since gripped his heart had been brought to him.
" A gift for the selfless...a wish made true upon the prayers of the many."
Shirou looked up hearing the voice of the entity.
He could just vaguely make its form out in the distance the ghost of smile present.
"May Your Reclaimed Dream Shine Eternally"
The eyes of Steel widened and all at once and even as he sought to call out to the entity, he found that he couldn't.
It gently shook its head almost in an admonishing manner before it smiled. Truly smiled, a smile so filled with joy that the laughter could also be seen in it's eyes.
It was almost saying to ignore it, to bask in this moment that whatever thoughts he might have needed to be dismissed.
It looked on for a moment before it turned and disappeared in a flurry of partials but not before speaking one last time.
"Welcome Home."
The heavy heart that had endure for so long finally let go if for a moment and all at once the tears began to flow from his eyes.
He gently held his sister and sobbed silently, the pain in his heart along with the joy at finally being able to reunite with those who had been taken too soon making itself clear in his tears.
The warmth of her body and the gazes of a his parents solidifying that he was truly here.
"A gift of hope, and dreams to heal the scars of loss and despair."