Author's Notes:

I am baaaaaaaaack! Gonna say this immediately. Merry Christmas! Anyways, as I said, my Salter fic is here for you to enjoy. Not much else to say, consider this an early Christmas present I guess. And also as I said in my last update, after this one my next fic will be a MHXX x Shirou fic. Cus for some reason we don't have one of those already. That one will thankfully be much lighter compared to this one.

Oh and also credit to rororo for the art that I used for the cover as well as the inspiration behind this fic.

Link to the art (due to ffn site, you will have to piece it together) :

danbooru.

donmai.

us/posts/

5411495

Anyways, Enjoy!

Pain.

That is all that Emiya Shirou feels as consciousness returns to him. He groans audibly as he tries to get his senses to work again. Finally after a few minutes, his eyes are capable of taking in his surroundings.

He's in his room. The new question was when and how did he get to his bed, since he does not recall going to bed himself? He touches his chest and instead of feeling skin or the fabric of his shirt, he notices most of his upper body is wrapped up in bandages.

Things were finally starting to come back to him. He was injured, and badly. He lost consciousness and was then carried back home, patched up and placed into his bed.

'I really messed up, didn't I?' He sighed, hating the fact he ended up a burden on everyone else again. No matter what he does, this is what he always ends up doing in the end.

He carefully sat up in his futon, not wanting to disturb any of his wounds by accident.

As he started to check over his bandages a voice startled him. "You are awake, Master." He snapped his eyes to the source and saw that the door to his room was now open, with Saber in it.

Her gold eyes glowed in the darkness as she looked at him. She was wearing her casual clothing they bought her at the start of the war. A tank top, short jeans, a jacket and a pair of thigh high boots. All colored black.

"Uhh, yeah. I'm awake, how long was I out?"

"A day."

"Ah, I see. Did anyone else get hurt?"

Saber's eyes narrowed the slightest bit at the question. "No. Any injuries were minor at worst."

Shirou relaxed a bit hearing that. Saber spoke again after a short silence.. "Is that all, Master?"

"Oh, yeah. That is all. Thanks, Saber."

"Very well, if you need me, call." With that, Saber swiftly shut his door and left, leaving Shirou alone.

"..." He stared at the door where she was just moments ago, pondering. "Master… huh." She didn't have any issue calling him by name so far, so it was odd to hear her refer to him by title again. In fact, he couldn't help but feel she was acting rather cold towards him. Well, colder than usual to be specific.

When he summoned the dark knight inside his shed back on that night, the aura she gave off was that of a cold and ruthless machine. It took him up until recently to see her grow more comfortable with being… well, human. Catching those rare but genuine smiles of her's felt surreal at first. But he knew from the first glance that he wished to see more of them.

And now, she felt just as if not even colder than back when he first summoned her. 'Right, I guess she wouldn't be too happy with me after getting hurt like an idiot again.'

He just hoped she wouldn't stay mad too long. Unfortunately, Shirou would find her cold demeanor to have become the norm now. Even when she was eating he couldn't find much of a spark in her eyes. As if everything she did was a mere chore.

And Shirou, ashamed as he was to admit, did not know what to do. And in his silence, it just kept getting worse. Saber was actively becoming more and more closed off and it seemed like the only thing on her mind was the next fight. If she wasn't either in a fight or asking him what their next move was, she was probably thinking about one of those two.

At first he at least found relief in the fact their training sessions seemed to be the same as usual. Mostly because she was usually extra fierce during training, leaving him covered in bruises. And despite the fact they all healed rather quickly for some reason, they still hurt like hell.

It was thanks to that he did not immediately notice that the training sessions changed as well. What at first seemed like an appropriate escalation of intensity in response to his progress quickly turned out to be something else.

"Aagh!" Shirou yelled out as he was knocked across the dojo room and ended up against a wall upside down. He was pretty sure he was going to be feeling that one even by the time this war comes to an end.

"Again!" Saber says while stabbing her shinai into the floor. Her golden eyes stare at him with a fire equal to the one she has when she fights other servants.

Shirou got himself upright on the floor before he spoke. "Actually, Saber, I was thinking we could wrap it up for today. It is getting late and I should get to making dinner."

"Dinner can wait, Master. Your training is of greater importance."

Shirou looked at her incredulously. "Saber, I get the point of tough training but there is a limit to it, right?" He questioned the training method even though personally, the fact she referred to him as Master. He thought it was out of anger because he got injured but now… it felt different.

"Master, you asked me to train you so that in the case you had to face a servant without me you wouldn't be left defenseless. Are you trying to tell me you believe you are capable of such as you are now?" She asked him, rhetorically of course. The answer was obvious of what would happen if Shirou were to face a servant on his own.

Shirou grimaced as he hung his head low. "I…" Nothing more managed to come out of his throat. His own ineptitude was a sore spot for him. He knew better than anyone just how weak he was.

Just as Saber was getting tired of his silence, he found his voice again. "Saber… I'm sorry." That took her aback. But before she could say anything, he continued. "I'm weak, I know that. And I know I'm just a burden on you because of that. And I'm sorry because of that. I promised to be your master in this war and I intend to keep that promise." He raised his head, a fire of his own in his eyes. If continuing his training even when it felt like hell meant he would be a master worthy of her, he was going to go through with it.

Except for that determination to fade away when he sees the sight that awaits of a stern or even satisfied expression he was expecting, Saber looked both shocked and even horrified at his words. 'Did… Did I say something wrong?' Shirou thought to himself. "Uhh, Sabe-" Once more his words died in his throat as he saw Saber's face contort into anger.

Surprising him further she storms out of the dojo after muttering something. The dojo's door slamming closed finally snapped him out of his stunned daze and he quickly scrambled up to chase after her. "Saber, wait!"

He opened the door of the dojo and was met with the dark night sky and rain, just great. He saw Saber already halfway to the house and ran after her. By the time he caught up to her she was already a step away from the house. He grabbed her by the shoulder. "Saber, what's going on?!" He asked her, worry evident in his voice, which made Saber grit her teeth even harder as she pushed his hand away and refused to look at him.

"Saber, why are you so angry?" He did not care that they were both standing in the rain and getting soaked, he had to clear things up with her immediately. And thankfully, Saber's shoulders finally relaxed as she seemed to calm down.

"It's not your fault." She said so quietly that Shirou barely heard it over the rain. And she still refused to look at him.

"What do you mean?" He asked her.

"I failed you." She says and he feels baffled, angry even, but she continues to speak and he does not stop her. "I am supposed to be your servant but I let you get hurt."

"Saber, you can't blame yourself for that." All this time he thought she was angry at him… but she was angry at herself instead? Why? He couldn't understand that.

"I hesitated! If I hadn't, if I acted as a servant should, you wouldn't have gotten hurt." She sounds… hurt, that is the only thing Shirou can describe it as. He hates it.

"Is that why you've been acting so weird lately?" He asks her, but she does not answer the question immediately.

"I realized something, Shirou… Master." She corrects herself at the end.

"I let my emotions get the better of me. A servant is a tool to win the Holy Grail War, nothing more. If I wish to have my wish granted I have to act as one. That is why I have been acting the way I have. You are my master and I am your servant, nothing more." Her voice now sounds just… defeated. And all of it, every single bit of it all sounds wrong to Shirou. It's not right!

"You're wrong, Saber!" The fire in him was burning once more. "You're more than that, you know that!"

She let out a chuckle at that, but it held no mirth in it. A chuckle that was dead on the inside. She murmurs something to herself but he can't hear it. It pisses him off. Seeing her so defeated, hearing her spouting such nonsense. But most of all, he hates the fact she still refuses to look at him. He steps closer to her and moves his hand to turn her around.

But the moment his hand touches her bare shoulder, she moves. She finally turns towards him but is moving too fast for him to keep track of her. She grabs him by his shirt and as he feels himself getting swept off his feet, he catches the barest hint of her face. Her teeth were clenched together, she was angry again.

He feels himself come to a stop when his back slams against something hard, as he takes in the no longer spinning surroundings, he realizes he is lying on his back on the wooden floor of the veranda. But all of that quickly fades out of his mind as he looks at Saber on top of him.

Her hands are still holding onto his shirt with a white knuckled grip. Her body is trembling. But it's her face that shocks him beyond words. What he thought was anger became something else when he saw her eyes. Even when covered in rain he could still clearly make out the tears flowing down her face.

"It's you, you idiot." She says with a voice full of pain. And he feels his throat constrict hearing her like that. Pain. That was it. She looked like she was in so much pain and it pained him to see her like that.

"I-I…. I care about you, Shirou. That's why I hesitated. When I saw you in danger I felt panic and fear take over me and I didn't know what to do. It's not right. I shouldn't care about my master like that. I let my emotions go out of control and you got hurt because of it. Shirou.. I…" She struggles with every word she speaks and he listens with wide eyes as she lets it all out. "I! FAILED! YOU!" She barks each word out before her trembling gets even worse.

But when she feels the touch of Shirou's hand on her cheek, her body starts to calm down as her eyes open wide to look at him. His expression is soft, pained and looking straight at her. "Saber, that's okay." He says with a faint smile forming on his face. "You're more than a servant to me. I don't care what anyone says, even you. You are not some machine who exists only to chase after some damned grail. You've shown me that through all this time we've spent together."

Now she is the one at a loss of words. And he keeps talking. "You don't have to carry the burden of this fight alone, Saber. That's the only real mistake you made. So please, lean on me as well. Nothing can stop us as long as we get each other's backs. And we can't do that as master and servant. We're partners, right?" Saber's body is now void of any trembling as she stares at him frozen.

"Shirou…"

She curses her own foolishness. To think she wanted to alienate herself from him.

So she decides to do the only thing she can think of. The thing that, if she were being honest with herself, she wanted to do for a while now.

Shirou's eyes widen as he Saber locks lips with him. He feels her hot breath exit from her mouth into his own. It's warmth inside him contrasted with the cold night air and rain on his skin.

The kiss was at first tender, loving, longing. But the longer it lasted, Saber felt that she needed more. Her hunger grew. Her kiss became more intense. And he reciprocated, only making her want him more. His arms wrapped around her waist, hugging her closer.

The world around them lost all meaning as they could only focus on each other. They needed this. Finally letting these emotions, that have been stirring inside them, run wild without a care for anything else.

But alas, their bodies could not keep up with their emotions and desires. The need for air separates them, a thin string of saliva being the last connection their mouths share.

"Shirou, I…" Saber begins to speak. For the briefest moment she hesitates, but quickly remembers that there was no more space for hesitation. "... I love you."

The words were to be expected, and yet Shirou still feels his heart stop hearing them. He smiles, "I love you too, Saber."

Their hunger now returns, stronger than before. Their lips lock again, sloppier this time. The clothing they wore never felt this constricting before. Saber's hands moved downwards, grabbing the bottom of Shirou's shirt and pulling it upwards. He complied and raised his hands to let the piece of clothing get off his body.

The brief moments the shirt spent covering his face allowed Saber to put her attention on his body. Well built, strong and firm muscles. She kissed them, slowly making her way back up until she reached his neck and jawline before finally locking lips with him again.

Next was her own top, then his pants and her shorts. The heat of the moment leaves everything feeling sort of hazy. She thought she would have some hesitation to taking his length inside her but she cannot recollect any of that fear. Just that she had to, unfortunately, break their kiss once more.

He spreads her folds wide and she lets out a shuddering moan into the night air. A mere moment to adapt to the sensation was all either of them had before their hunger wanted more. Her hips moved up and then slammed back down, each time sending shocks up her spine and throughout her entire body.

Her hands found his, they interlocked their fingers as she pushed his hands against the wooden floorboards. This was her claim on him. He was her's and nobody else's. As such, she was his in return. And he would therefore be the only one capable of claiming her.

Their lips could keep the kiss no longer as the sensations coursing through her forced her to cry out. She was close, she knew that. And so was he. They didn't need to say it, they knew.

Her body finally reached that peak it has been chasing. The climax forced her entire body to shudder as she tightened all over. Her hands squeezed his, her hips pushed down onto his and her folds squeezed his length, sending him to his own peak. She could feel it deep inside her womb, his hot seed that fills her in a way she never felt before.

In the briefest moments in which her mind found coherent thoughts instead of white hot pleasure, she imagined something. A future with him. Beyond this cursed war. If she had more time to think, she would perhaps question whether her wish for a family with him outweighed her loyalty to her kingdom. But as she was now, such a foolish thought had no place in her mind.

Their high finally seemed to be calming down. They both took deep heavy breaths as she lay on top of him, her head resting beneath his, listening to the beat of his heart.

Of course, their hunger could not be so easily quenched. At the very least in the moments of clarity they still had before it overtook them again they had the sense to move somewhere more comfortable.

That is how Shirou found himself now with his back up against a wall with the woman he loves up in his arms. She sheathed him inside herself again, this time wrapping herself around him. Her legs were locked around his hips while her hands held tightly onto his shoulders and neck. Meanwhile her hungry lips dominated his mouth once more.

Her tongue pushed itself into his mouth and danced with his. And much to her delight he refused to simply sit idly while she had her way with him. Turning around he now had her up against the wall, using that to work his hips harder into her. Just as he desired, the increase in intensity down there weakened her tongue, allowing him to take the lead over her.

But another climax later and he felt himself slowing down just the barest amount, but it was more than enough for Saber to take the lead again. It seemed like the mood was finally getting to her. She once more felt like her confident self as she pushed him down onto the futon and smiled at him.

Her hand on his chest kept him down on the ground. And with her sitting upright, still with his length buried inside her, he couldn't do much. He could only stare up at her beauty and be mesmerized by the glow of her golden irises and her confident smile. "Shirou, I wish to repay you. So please, lay back and enjoy as I remind you why I have the riding skill."

And remind him she did. Unlike last time, she put in her all to riding him instead of slowing herself down with kisses or holding hands. She had her emotions in order, so now she was going to show him that love she declared for him in the best way she can.

Up and down she went. Slowing down and speeding up while occasionally moving her hips in other directions all to create the most pleasurable experience she could for her master.

Each bounce and movement made her ponytail swing around. Additionally now that he was provided the time to observe her, Shirou could notice she had yet to take off her bra. The black garment pronouncing her modest breasts as they jumped around. Following his gaze she took notice of the bra as well, and then promptly took it off and threw it away haphazardly. She didn't want the slightest sense of a barrier between them anymore.

Eventually of course, the ride had to come to an end. Once more they went over the edge and felt their minds go blank. The interval of their rests was shortening however each time they went over that edge. So it was no surprise that Saber was quickly back on the move. She dismounted herself and moved away, making Shirou crane his head up to follow her with his gaze.

She stopped on the little desk in his room. On her knees, she propped herself on the wooden piece of furniture with her arms and looked behind towards him. She said nothing, but the invitation was clear. Now it was his turn to mount her instead. And as he stared at her round behind, he was more than happy to accept her invitation.

Placing himself behind her and his arms on her hips, he lined himself up before entering her folds for the fourth time. She was still tight and he hissed as she wrapped around his length.

He moves back and forth inside her, nice and slow at first but quickly shifting into a much faster tempo. One that even makes Saber's knees quake as she moans out for him.

As his thrusts kept building up to yet another climax, he started to embrace her more and more. His hands moved up her body as he leant further and further until he was fully hugging her from behind. It was a position Saber absolutely chose to make use of by craning her neck, taking hold of his face and taking him into another kiss.

As they fell into an almost animalistic tempo they started to reach another peak. Once more his seed filled her womb and once more in the depths of her heart she wished her body wasn't that of a servant.

Finally, they could feel their hunger for one another being satiated. They could still go on for a little while longer but eventually they had reached the end of the road for tonight.

She rested in his embrace now, feeling more content than she had been in years.

Unfortunately, their rest was not made to last. Both of their eyes snapped wide as a deep growl emanating from… very close by. Saber's face turned a bright shade of pinkish red while Shirou started to chuckle to himself. "I guess we did forget about dinner." He said. "How about I go make us some, Saber?"

Not trusting her voice at the moment, Saber nods. She hated to feel his warmth fade away from her, but at least the heat from her cheeks would keep her warm until he returned to her side.

Omake:

Shirou, Saber and Rin sat around the living room table, their faces grimacing in thought.

Recently they had learnt of a new enemy, the most formidable one yet. The King of Heroes, Gilgamesh.

"Saber, you fought him before, right? Do you have any ideas on how to beat him?" Rin asked the servant, desperate for any ideas as their enemy seemed practically invincible.

Saber however gave only a shake of the head before her grimace deepened. She did have one plan although it wasn't something she really wanted to use. But ultimately, she knew it was the best path to victory. "I do have one idea, although I had wished to not have to resort to using it. It is unbecoming of a knight."

Le Later…

Gilgamesh stood in the middle of the temple grounds, looking towards the entrance gate from which Saber and that mongrel would come from. It hurt him much to see his beloved life not only be tainted by such disgusting mud but to also be ensnared in the clutches of a mongrel unworthy of her beauty.

But it was no major concern, after he defeats them he is going to purify his wife, shred the mongrel to ribbons and then teach Saber to whom she truly belongs.

His attention is taken by the sound of footsteps echoing from the gate. It seemed they finally arrived. Moments later he saw them rise from the staircase, walk through the gate and stand before him in the courtyard.

He smiled, closed his eyes and spoke with his voice booming with confidence. "Greetings, Saber. It is nice to see you retu-..."

BANG!

His words were interrupted as he felt a piercing pain which was accompanied by the bang. He opened his eyes as his mind struggled to piece together what happened. Blood leaked from his forehead and flowed down his face. Oh… there was a hole in his head, with smoke emanating from it. That was probably why he was struggling to think right now. He looks back at the couple in front of him.

Saber stood with her arm outstretched, in it holding a modified .45-cal Colt M1911 colored like her armor and blade in black and red.

No words leave the golden king as he collapses, dead.

…

"Sooo, how do you have tha-..."

"Shirou, please do not ask."