Swords clashed with the ring of steel on steel in the courtyard of the Church. Two men were breathing heavily, swords held at their sides, each covered in cuts and bruises, each of them slick with sweat and grinning all the same.

Shirou's swords crumbled away as he cut the flow of mana to them, pulling it back into his body. Kotomine's Black Keys slid back into their hilts. The fight was over, signaled by the tolls of the Church's bells.

"Your swordsmanship is adequate enough, Emiya. You're dismissed for the day."

The younger man nodded, closing his eyes and slowing his breathing. His hand reached out to catch the water bottle and towel that were thrown at him, and nodded gratefully at Kotomine as he opened his eyes.

It had been just shy of three years since the pair had started training together. Shirou hadn't improved much in the Magecraft department, as Kotomine wasn't much of a Magus himself, but the man WAS an Exorcist, and he had other skills Shirou could learn from.

His Projection allowed him to replicate the skill of whoever wielded a blade he'd Grasped, but that skill would be gone as soon as the blade was. He didn't have the mana to support his Projections for a long time, leaving him with little choice but to rely on cheaper copies and his own skills instead. That was fine by him. It made more sense, made him feel better, to know he would truly be the one to end the Matou family.

The Sword paused and pulled back, letting The Father come to the fore of their mind. Shirou exhaled slowly, unscrewing the cap of the water bottle and taking a careful drink.

"Two months. If everything tracks the same way, the Servants will begin to appear in the next month and a half. Masters will be selected sooner. What will you do, Shirou Emiya, if the Grail doesn't select you as a Master?"

The man snorted, moving to sit on the cool stone near where Kirei was patting himself down with a towel.

"You already know, Kotomine."

The priest laughed.

"It's more fun to hear you say it out loud, Emiya."

Shirou shrugged. Kotomine was as twisted as they came, but for all that the man was a psychopath, he was at least capable of trying not to be, when he felt like it. That made him better than Zouken, in Shirou's book.

"I'll just have to kill them before their Servant kills me."

Kotomine's laughter would have shaken him to his core, once. The man was too satisfied with the idea of Shirou sacrificing himself to drag the Matous down with him, but he was still giving Shirou the best chance he would have to survive the fight.

"You're very much your father's son, Shirou Emiya."

Kotomine started walking off after that, probably to take a proper shower.

"Honoka's birthday party is at the end of the month, Kotomine. She expects her favorite Uncle to attend."

The man stopped in his tracks as Shirou stood up, patting himself down with his own towel and finishing off his water. Without another word, the men went their separate ways.

Walking home was a different experience now. The Emiya household was abandoned after Shinji's attack, condemned by the city. Rin had offered her own mansion to stay in, but Shirou had taken a while to accept her offer. It was only Honoka that convinced him to take it, her broken pleas to stay with her Auntie Rin.

Shirou… was unsure how to refuse his daughter. He didn't like Rin; between his stubbornness and her own inability to back down from any challenge, his hatred for himself and her not having been quicker to get to the Emiya home and save Sakura, and his general distrust of anyone not Honoka or Kotomine, the pair tended to clash often and violently. They did their best to keep it behind closed doors, hidden from Honoka, but Shirou suspected his daughter knew anyways. She had, thankfully, inherited more of Sakura's intelligence than his own. He wasn't an idiot by most measures, but he wouldn't ever be in the same league as the likes of Rin or even Kotomine. He was, after all, only a sword.

But he'd come to trust Rin again, as the years passed. He saw what she'd sacrificed as soon as she'd had the chance to be an older sister again, what she gave up to ensure Honoka had an aunt in her life, and someone who could tell her about her mother besides her father. Honoka enjoyed living with Rin, too, and that helped. He supposed it was the childhood dream of living in a mansion and being treated like a Princess.

His body stopped a moment before he would have been hit by a car. Shirou winced, looked to the red crosswalk sign, and sighed. He was getting too lost in his memories, not focused enough on the present. It took effort to keep himself centered on the here and now, more than it ever did in the past. He wondered, was this how Kiritsugu had felt near the end? Had Shirou been as much his anchor to the present as Honoka was for him?

The light at the crosswalk flickered green, and Shirou continued on his way home.

In retrospect, he should have expected the pink missile that greeted him at the door. He hadn't even taken his shoes off before Honoka was on him.

"Papa's home!"

He caught her in his arms with a laugh, spinning her around in the air for a moment before he pulled her into a hug. Shirou kicked his shoes off, and Rin smiled at them as she rounded the corner.

It was like a light switched on inside Shirou whenever Honoka was with him. In truth, she hated the look he normally had. It didn't fit the man her sister had fallen in love with.

"Welcome back, Emiya."

Welcome back. Never welcome home, only back. Another one of Shirou's little switches had triggered the first and last time she'd said that. He'd looked so very lost for a moment, and then there was an arrow in the wall by her head.

She knew about his skill with a bow to know he'd missed her on purpose. The look in his glassy eyes had terrified her almost as much as they had the time Zouken Matou had tried to visit the father and daughter.

That had been shortly after the funeral. Thanks to Shinji Matou's rape and murder of Sakura Emiya and the destruction of the Emiya house, and both parties being of Magus houses, the Matou family had been forced to pay reparations. Given that she'd had to act as Second Owner to cover up for eighty-seven dead residents and passersby, the Matou family had been on the hook with her too, and she'd fully intended to take them over the coals for everything they were worth.

Shirou had ended that plan the moment he'd seen Zouken Matou. Had the old man been any less of a magus, he would probably have been murdered on the spot by the hail of arrows that immediately rained over him. Then like the revenge-obsessed moron he'd been turning into, he'd announced he didn't need anything from the Matou clan but their lives. All their ties had been buried with Sakura, and he refused to allow Zouken anywhere near Honoka after what he'd himself had done to Sakura.

That had been how Rin learned of her sister's fate, and birthed her plan to keep Shirou from going totally off the rails. It would have been a lot easier if she could just seduce Shirou, but that option was as dead as her sister, if not more so. He was nothing if not devoted, and she could respect that. Instead, she would be the sister to him she couldn't be to Sakura, and Honoka's favorite aunt, and damn what Taiga wanted about that title.

Shirou's eyes crossed over her, and she nodded towards the kitchen.

"Dinner's in the microwave, Emiya."

"I'll eat later."

Of course he could. He never ate at the table unless it was with Honoka. Instead, he just ate in his room. He always cleaned his own dishes, and made sure they went where they were supposed to go, but it was still annoying.

He kissed the top of Honoka's head, laughing as her nose crinkled in response and she pushed away from him.

"Papa stinky."

So he'd been training with Kirei again. Rin scowled, crossing her arms and walking back to her library while Shirou went to shower. Honoka joined her after a few moments, crawling into her her lap and looking up at her expectantly. Rin could only smile, and pick up one of the girl's favorite books, already knowing she wanted to hear a story.

Shirou watched them for a moment as he passed by the library on the way from the hall, frowning as he watched the pair cuddled up on the couch, lost to the lands of Morpheus.

He couldn't help but resent the sight. It should have been Sakura.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Shirou bent down to put the conical hat on Honoka's head, slipping the string under her chin with a smile.

Streamers hung around the Tohsaka mansion, and a fairly large stack of presents loomed happily in the corner of the kitchen. It was livelier now than it had been in decades, stuffed almost to the brim with people.

It made Shirou's nerves crawl in his skin. Especially with the way Gilgamesh kept staring at him, as if waiting for him to snap. The hedonistic King of Heroes had been a pain in the ass since they'd met, and constantly demeaned everyone he saw. The only person he hadn't dared say a word about was Shirou's dead wife, and it was far from because he was afraid. No, they both knew he was waiting for the ticking time bomb named Shirou Emiya to explode on his own. That was a trick they both knew he was keeping in reserve, all for his own amusement. He'd tagged along out of a bribe of Emiya buying him a ridiculously expensive wine for not doing his best to ruin Honoka's birthday and to impress upon the young girl just how great and perfect he was.

But he was an ally, against all of Shirou's better judgements. Few Heroic Spirits had the strength to fight the thing he'd seen Shinji starting to become, and with Zouken have absconded with his grandson before he was a corpse, Shirou knew he still lived. If the thing he'd stolen from Sakura hadn't killed him yet, Shirou would rather Gilgamesh be on his side to fight it than fighting against both that thing and the King of Heroes.

The rest of the attendees were somewhat natural. Old Man Raiga, Taiga, Tohsaka, Kotomine, Issei, Kuzuki, and Mitsuzuri. At one time, there might have been more people, but Shirou had mostly withdrawn from society to train himself for the Grail War.

Honoka was already demolishing her slice of birthday cake when he came back to his senses. At some point, Rin had set a plate in front of him, and was glaring at him from across the table, as if daring him to not eat.

The Father pushed back The Sword, and Shirou smiled at her. He felt the twisted part of him revel in her shock, before he took a bite of his own cake.

Another year had passed. They had only a month until the Grail War began in truth, and Shirou intended to enjoy all the time he had left with his little girl before his mission took priority.

"Silver and Iron to the Origin. Gem and the Archduke of Contracts to the Cornerstone."

The circle began to glow with power as Rin focused her magic into it. It was old, the same circle her family had been using to summon Servants since the beginning of the Grail Wars.

"The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg. The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate. Shut, Fill. Shut, Fill. Shut, Fill. Shut Fill. Shut, Fill. Repeat every five times. Simply, shatter once filled. I announce. Your self is under me, my fate, doom, is in your sword.

In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer. Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead. You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance!"

Power erupted from the circle, bathing the Workshop in light. Wind sent her gemstones scattering across the stone floor and smashing into the walls, and her father's pendant glowed.

When the light faded, Rin stared at the Servant in horror and shock.

"I am the Servant Archer. I ask of you, are you my master?"

White hair ruffled in the wind, and Rin could only nod mutely as Shirou Emiya, clad in black and crimson, rose.

"My name is Rin Tohsaka. The Fifth Holy Grail War won't start for another two weeks, but I wanted to see who I would get."

He blinked at her, and she realized his eyes were different from the Shirou she knew.

"You're older than I expected, Rin Tohsaka."

He stared at her with narrowed eyes for a moment, trying to discern just how old she was.

"Emiya… What happened to you?"

Archer laughed. The Grail supplied a Servant with everything they needed to know about the time they were summoned in. The year, he knew the year all too well.

It was 2009. This wasn't his timeline. Alaya was fucking with him at this point, he knew it. He just wasn't allowed to be free, was he?

His laughter was met with panic from Rin.

"Emiya, be quiet! You're going to wake Honoka and… Emiya!"

The names brought Archer's laughter to a halt, but his bow was in his hands a moment later. The arrow was knocked and drawn, the hammer of his magic circuits cocked.

Rin ducked under his aim and spun to see what he was aiming at, only to see the younger Emiya man in an all too similar stance, holding a much thinner bow and arrow ready to fire.

"Shirou Emiya."

Archer's words were a quiet whisper, a quiet realization. This truly wasn't his timeline. He looked into the dull eyes of his counterpart, and the lance-like command seals on the back of his bow-hand. His eyes were all wrong, they weren't supposed to be so dull so young.

He dropped his bow, dismissing his fake Noble Phantasm as his counterpart did the same.

"Shirou Emiya."

The words were returned with amusement, something flickering to life in his eyes. The younger Emiya turned around, looking at something behind him, and that was when Archer saw Honoka for the first time.

Pale red hair, lilac eyes, and all too familiar features of a gentle face.

"Emiya, you-"

He nodded, eyes flashing in warning, and Archer understood immediately. He wasn't going to talk about what had happened with his Rin, and this Emiya wouldn't talk about what had happened to his Sakura. A moment of understanding passed between the two men, built all too similarly and yet looking so very different.

"Papa..? Why does red man look like Papa?"

Shirou knelt down to pick Honoka up.

"He's someone Papa used to know. C'mon, let's let Auntie Rin and Red Man talk and go back to bed."

She nodded tiredly and snuggled into his shoulder. Shirou looked at Archer once more, and vanished back up the stairs.

Archer turned to Rin, who had moved on to gathering her scattered gems.

"You're… probably a different Emiya. This one, Sakura got to him first. Honoka was born in her last year of high school."

Archer blinked, a scowl crossing her face.

"And Zouken just allowed it? How did she even have a kid to begin with? The Crest Worms-"

"Because Zouken Matou allowed it. One more thing to torment her with. He was trying to break her, Archer. But… Emiya and Honoka saved her. I got my little sister back for a few years, and a cute little niece to spoil, too."

He couldn't see her face, but he knew Rin Tohsaka better than he knew himself. Archer laid a hand on her shoulder.

"They got married, almost got to leave the magus life behind. But three years ago, Shinji Matou figured out how to use the Matou family's magecraft to make up for him being the weakest Magus in Fuyuki City, and he had a grudge against Shirou. Just your average inferiority complex, but what he did… We don't mention it, Archer. It broke Shirou. I've spent the last few years making sure he didn't close himself off from the world for the sake of his revenge."

She whirled on him, arm and finger extending in an all too familiar stance. Archer almost smiled at the sight.

"And I won't let him break any more, and you're going to help me! Shirou… I don't know if he wants the Grail or not, but he's going to summon his Servant the first night of the War, when the Grail can help him support one. And he's going to kill Zouken and Shinji Matou, and we're going to help him. And when I get that Grail, I'm going to get Sakura back! So I can have my little sister back, Honoka can have her mom back, and Shirou can stop hating me for taking her place in Honoka's life!"

Archer considered his memories for a moment. Every Grail War he'd ever fought in that he could remember, every human war, every clean up operation he'd been forced into. And he nodded once.

"Then I have some information we might be able to use. This isn't my timeline, for certain, but if we're going to kill the worm first, then we need to strategize."

Rin smiled at him, and Archer smiled back. He wanted to be free from Alayna's grasp, but at his core, he was the ideals of Shirou Emiya made manifest, embittered, and reforged in blood and war. He had never truly saved anyone, but if he could kill two worms to save this world's Shirou Emiya, then he would save Shirou Emiya.

Killing the many to save the few. That's all he'd been doing for as long as he could remember, anyways.

Ilyasviel von Einzbern smiled at Berserker as he carried her through the streets of Fuyuki City. She'd spent a lot of time planning this first meeting between herself and her big little brother, and she wanted to do it just as she'd planned.

That smile faded when she came to the address she'd gotten from her family's contacts in Fuyuki. The front gate was gone, the debris cleaned up over the years, but it had never been replaced. Only a series of chains and paper seals covered the portal to the Emiya home. The outer walls were vandalized, and a small shrine sat next to a large hole in the outer wall.

Berserker set her down, and she walked towards the shrine. Pictures and candles were stacked haphazardly against the wall, and incense ash hung to them all like a cloak. The air was miasmic, thick and pungent with the stink of death and bloodshed, and the shadows of the ruined house beyond the chain-blocked gate seemed far too dark.

"Don't linger, girly."

She spun around at the voice, only to see an elderly woman looking at her severely. The old woman's eyes lingered on her for a moment before she turned to stare at the house.

"What… happened here…?"

The old woman snorted.

"Murderer happened. Now this place is cursed as they come. Nobody who crosses them chains comes back, ya hear? Heard tell that the folk who lived there tried to stop the killer, but he blew 'em up with himself."

She nudged the girl back towards Berserker, who was staring at the shadows himself now.

"Get back to your dad, girly, and don't come here no more. Neighborhood don't need no more dead kids in that house."

Ilya nodded slowly, slipping back into Berserker's arms. He growled, and the shadows flickered.

A crimson eye stared back at them, and the old woman spat on the ash-coated concrete of the sidewalk.

"Get back, spirit! You'll not be takin' this soul neither!"

She yelled into the house as if something was truly inside, and Ilya shivered as the air itself seemed to grow angry, but the woman simply moved on to lighting the candles and replacing the incense. Ilya watched her work for a moment, before tears began to swell in her eyes. Her little brother was dead? Then why was she even in this stupid war to begin with? Why hadn't anyone told her?

She took a moment to center herself. She was an adult, damn it! And damn her body and brain for still being a little girl's! She was too big to be crying!

"Come on, Berserker… Let's go to the Church and get this out of the way…"

The massive bulk of the Servant nodded, and the pair vanished into the night sky.

The old woman turned to watch them go, and smiled as she turned back to watch the shadows writhe around. Her form writhed and wriggled, until the old woman was replaced by an even older man.

"Be quiet, idiot boy! You're not ready yet."

Kirei Kotomine was many things, and he accepted himself for what he was. He was a monster wreathed in human flesh, and he enjoyed that fact. He didn't give the Enforcer's corpse another glance as he turned to the blue-clad Servant.

The Lancer flinched back from the look on his face, and Kirei schooled his features into a placid smile.

"Come along, Lancer. This war is going to be one to remember."

Cu Chulainn stared at the dead Enforcer who'd summoned him, and scowled. He clicked his tongue as he followed the man who'd stolen her Command Seals, already regretting his decision to answer the call to battle.

"What shit luck I have…"

He stared at the woman in his bed.

She was an impossibility. A miracle. A mistake made manifest.

She couldn't exist. She'd said as much, and he was watching her words ring with the tone of prophecy.

Could he truly sit here and simply watch as this creature before him faded away? Could he allow a soul so very much like his own be cast into Damnation through his own inaction?

Souichiro Kuzuki was not a spiritual man by nature. He was not a religious man. He lived with the monks of the Ryuudou Temple for the sake of convenience. He listened to their sermons for solace. He learned their ways for the sake of his own peace of mind, to ease the weight of the blood on his fists.

He was a cold blooded killer, but he was not a monster. Not anymore. He was a dagger in the shadows without a master to aim him. He was… he simply was, these days, wasn't he?

Kuzuki reached a hand out, and took the elfin woman's hand into his own, and the words simply came to him. He didn't know their origin, but he felt their weight settle across his back. The latticework of scars across his shoulders blazed with light, and Caster opened her eyes as the power within him once more raised its head in a manner not unlike a dragon waking up for the first time after centuries of slumber.

The weight of the command seals burned heavily on his shoulders, and Caster embraced him in a hug. Kuzuki froze at that. He was rarely hugged. Even after almost a decade at the temple, only Issei Ryuudou dared treat him with such familiarity.

He carefully wrapped his arms around the much smaller woman's body, and pulled her close.

This being was precious. Scarred and broken as he was, yet just as hopeful for a better future as he was. They would reach that future together.

He swore it on whatever scraps remained of his honor as an assassin.

The Old Man stared at the old man before him.

"Assassin. There is work to be done."

He nodded, pulling his massive arm closer to his chest. There was. He could smell it, the tang of blood and rot hung thick in the air. A shadow clawed at his Lord Master's, and the Old Man watched it for a moment.

"We have an ally in this War, and an enemy we can't afford to let win. Your target is Shirou Emiya."

His Lord Master presented him a slip of paper. A picture. The target. The Old Man nodded.

"He has a girl with him. My great-granddaughter. Bring her home to me, Assassin."

The Old Man would have smiled if he had the lips to do so.

He vanished into shadow, his flesh wishing away with a thought.

The shadow that lurked within Zouken Matou's opened a crimson eye, and the shape distorted with unheard laughter.