A/N: Hello all! I'm posting this story from over on AO3. Normally the first two chapters would be one shots but they'll just be chapters here. Please enjoy!
The first thing I remember is the smell. The scent of putrid flesh and melting bone assaults my senses as I stumble through the fetid remains of what were once people.
The child's eyes scan the area around them, and someone smaller is wrapped in a bundle in their arms. They would protect him. They would always protect him. No matter what.
The second thing I remember is the sight. Bodies are strewn about, half melting into glass as the fire spreads from the pit in the sky. It oozes like a wound left festering for too long, and nothing can stop the infection from draining out into the streets below.
The child is moving now, fast as their little legs can carry them. The bundle of cloth covers his eyes, and they've taken his hand as they lead him through the wreckage. If they could take all of his pain on themself, they would do so in a heartbeat. They glance around, looking for anything that can be used as protection, but the fire is getting closer, and it starts to lick at the edges of the area they're in now, crawling towards them as if seeking out any remaining life so that they can snuff it out.
Next comes the sound. The screaming is a cacophony of agonized wailing, piercing my ears like daggers. Sobbing mothers burn alive as they try desperately to protect their children, mixing into the haze as the fire roars in seeming triumph over the death it has caused. I do not like the flame. It seems far too alive for me.
The child holds the bundle of cloth closer to the younger boy's head, ducking into a seemingly safe corner and pulling him close. They pull back the fabric, and eyes of gold meet eyes of gold as they run a hand through his fiery hair. They pulled him close and whispered into his ears, trying to distract him from the screams.
"You're going to be okay, Shirou. I promise you're going to be okay. Nee-San will protect you. Nee-San will protect their Little Sundrop." The child feels Shirou lean into the touch, and they rest their chin on his head for a moment before something flashes in the corner of their eyes. The fire had found them, and they were surrounded.
The child's eyes narrow as they shield Shirou again, winding the cloth protectively around the boy once more and picking him up with what strength they had left. Then, the child moved with all of their might.
This is the part I try not to remember because I hate it so much, But it's also the most vivid. The burning. It sinks into your flesh and permeates your body like liquor, passing through your skin and setting your insides alight.
The child ran through the flames. They didn't care how much it hurt. They didn't care that it felt like their insides were tearing themselves apart. They didn't even care when they felt the curses start to sink into their skin. They keep breathing. They keep moving, even as flesh begins to gnarl and wilt from the curses. They aren't aware that they have a gift. They aren't aware that that gift is the only reason they don't die the second they touch the flame. They keep breathing, and they keep moving. Even as the curses sink into the child's mind, burning their memories like fuel until precious little remains. Why were they doing this? Why were they running? They could just sit down and rest-
"Asahi-Nee? Are you okay?" The boy in their arms speaks drowsily, looking up from the bundle of cloth and taking in the destruction in full for the first time. Asahi looks down at him, and it all comes back to them at once. This flame would not take their mind from them. This flame would not take their little brother.
"Don't worry, Sundrop. I've got you. Just a little further..." Asahi brushes his hair from his face and gives him a soft smile, trying to pull his attention from the carnage. Even as the curses continue sinking deeper into their body, they will not yield. After all, what kind of big sister would they be if they couldn't protect their little brother?
The last thing I remember from that night, and what we've agreed is our one good memory from that night, is his smile. Sometimes I wonder what it would feel like to smile like that. Shirou does, too. I see it in his eyes, haunted and dead. Heh, not like I'm much better.
Asahi moves for what feels like hours, and the curses seeped deeper into their bones every second. Shirou leans against their side now, and Asahi uses their remaining strength to plead for help. Screams rip from their vocal cords until they're hoarse, desperate pleas echoing out over the smoldering ruins of Shinto. It seems that this would be the end for them.
Asahi and Shirou stumble and fall, tripping on rubble, and they just lay there. Asahi closes their eyes for just a moment, and when they open them again, a man is there. He is crying, cradling them both in his arms as if they were the only thing in the world that mattered. His smile was so beautiful. Asahi wishes to smile too, but their body hurts too much from the strange curses flowing through them. The emotion wells up, though, and their skin bursts with curses as.-
RIIIIIING!
Asahi shakes her head with a start as she clicks the timer, then sighs and turns to shut off the oven, pulling the food out and plating what she has cooked. It had been a year since she had last been in Fuyuki. She was twenty-three now, and luckily the curses hadn't progressed in the last five years or so. She had missed Shirou's seventeenth birthday, but maybe a loving meal cooked by their adoring big sister could soften the sting.
"Shirou! Sakura! Dinner is ready!" Asahi smiles as she sweeps into the dining area. Plates balance delicately on her arms, and she slides them flawlessly in front of the two of them before setting her own down and sitting Seiza on the other side of Sakura. "Eat up now, you two! I worked hard on that!" Shirou may be the king of cuisine in the Emiya household, but Asahi has one thing he doesn't: Enough experience traveling abroad to make a bunch of stuff they had never heard of.
"Thank you Asahi-Nee." Shirou bows his head politely before digging in. His face lights up as the taste hits his tongue, and he gives her a smile after swallowing. "This is really good Nee-San!"
"Mmmh! Thank you Asahi-Nee." Sakura blushes as she speaks, still feeling a bit awkward over the woman's insistence on calling her something so familiar. She was nice, though, and Sakura found herself relaxing almost unconsciously around her. How strange. "What is this?"
"Duck à l'Orange. I picked it up in France a few months ago." Asahi smiled at the girl, and they quickly fall into a comfortable chatter throughout dinner. All the while, Asahi desperately hopes that the three Command Seals that had appeared on her hand two months ago were not the terrible omen she believes them to be. If they were, though, Asahi already knew what she would do. She had a catalyst she picked up in China. After all...she would protect him. She would always protect him. No matter what.