Artoria lay against her favourite cedar tree, basking in the warm sunlight. It was one of the few trees in this endless field of grass. No matter how much she might reposition herself in the grass, her snow-white dress never lost its lustre to soil or grass stains. Such was the nature of the Garden of Avalon.
Artoria wondered how long she had been here now. Time was difficult to track when Merlin was away. She could have been here for centuries, or a mere few weeks, for all she knew. She stretched out her legs and allowed the gentle, always-pleasant breeze to make the fine blades of grass dance across her bare legs and feet. No matter how long she remained here, every pleasant sensation managed to feel like a wonderful relief after a lifetime of gruelling battle.
The only sounds for miles around were the gentle rustling of the grass around her and the leaves above her, and her own calm breathing. The Garden was truly everything Heaven promised to be. Except that so many people she knew in life could not be here with her. Even with how things had turned out between them, Artoria lamented that Mordred and Lancelot were not here with her. Regardless of their later actions, they had fought for the nation for years. They deserved to be here.
As did the Servants that had fought alongside her and her knights. Boudica, Achilles, Tamamo, Semiramis, Longinus, Arash. Shirou...
Oh, how she missed him. Even with their eternal cycle of Grail Wars, Artoria was alone now. She wondered where Shirou would end up when his time came. Was there only one afterlife, or would he experience one of Japan's? The thought made her sad, but if he could find himself in a place as wonderful as this one, even apart from her, she could be happy with that.
The soft crunching of grass underfoot slowly approached from behind the tree. She wondered if Merlin had word of another of her knights making their way here. A number of them already had, but she could not be truly satisfied until every hero of the realm had joined her in the paradise they had earned a hundred times over.
Using the tree for leverage, she pushed herself to her feet. She instinctively dusted herself off, even though her dress would never be anything but pure white. She rounded the tree to greet the wizard as his footsteps were no more than a few metres from her.
It was not Merlin that greeted her.
It was another man. He was seemingly in his early thirties. He was exactly how she remembered him from the night she first met him, but dressed closer to how she knew him when he first met her. His sincere brown eyes almost distracted her from his red hair and Eastern features. He seemed surprised to see her emerge so suddenly, but this expression quickly gave way to that warm smile she had longed to bask in for so, so very long.
They had been apart for such a long time now, but it almost felt like no time at all had passed since he held her on that dark night in Japan. And she was certain that, to him, it seemed like only moments ago that she had held him on that dark night in Britain.
But both of those horrible nights were long past them now. And they were now finally on the same wavelength, the full history of their relationship as fresh in their minds as the days their respective times as Servants came to an end. They could finally stop looking back on the past and focus instead on the present. And the future.
Of course, some light reminiscing couldn't hurt. He opened his mouth and said the words she had grown so accustomed to hearing during their time in Japan.
"I'm back, Saber."
He wiped the tears from her eyes, neglecting those streaming down his own cheeks.
"Welcome home, Saber."
Artoria brought her sleeve up to his face and wiped the tears, which stained the white fabric.
"We... We can't keep calling each other that," he said with a grin.
She chuckled. "I suppose you're right. Welcome home... Shirou."
"I'm glad to be home, Artoria."