Summary: The Miyamoto Musashi Vy knew may not have been the Musashi from Proper Human History, but she was still "Musashi", and losing her to the Void hurt more than anything. But if one Servant in Chaldea's records could supposedly have her Origin come from the Void, who said they couldn't serve as inspiration in summoning this "Musashi" back?

Note: This is my way of addressing Chapter 22 of LB5.2 Olympus and how Musashi's end was done. To be blunt, I did not like how it was conducted in the story from how much it felt like a total ass-pull, but at the same time, Musashi was so memorable in the entire segment, I couldn't just retcon it out of existence.

So, this is my way of providing a chance the game might not ever get to. Considering Saber Musashi came to my Chaldea 'bout a little over a week after I finished Olympus (specifically on Apr. 10, 2022), this comes in at a good time.

Content warning, of course, for implied Olympus ending spoilers, lots of cursing, and the processing of trauma. You've been forewarned.

The songs for this chapter include: (1) All That Matters from RWBY Volume 5; (2) FGO's rendition of Ever-Present Feeling; and (3) Mirror Mirror Part 2 from RWBY Volume 3.

Please enjoy.

Day 34: Ever-Present Feelings

"I told myself I was walking the path of the sword even as I lost my way. I kept resisting, trying to accept what I couldn't come to terms with. I don't know if I left anything valuable behind, I don't even know if I gained anything at all! But even so! The one thing I know is that I've been lucky enough to meet some incredible people. So here I am."

No. No no, nononono.

No. Don't go—

"SHII-CHAN!"

Beep, beep, beep.

Yet again Vy found herself waking up with a start to the sound of her communicator's alarm, her limbs crying out from the jolt as her lungs clenched from a sudden intake of air. Her hand — her left hand, with all three of her Command Seals, was extended up towards the ceiling, glowing a bright red in contrast to the surrounding darkness. She blinked once, twice, then felt a sob start to climb up her throat before she could stop it. Her vision was always blurry without her glasses, but the sensation of hot, thick, searing tears sticking to her lashes didn't help much.

"D-Dammit, not again…" Vy lowered her arm to cover her eyes, breathing as deeply as possible to stifle the incoming sob. "Not again, Shii-chan."

Beep, beep, beep, her alarm put in helpfully. Vy just reached over with her right hand to slam its OFF button. She'd apologize to Da Vinci later in the case she unintentionally broke the darn thing.

It hadn't even been a full week since the Chaldean field team had returned from Olympus, fighting all those gods, looking Chaos in the eye, and witnessing the Foreign God nearly descend onto the Earth with Wodime's death to follow. So much could have gone wrong, even when bringing along all of the "Big Seven" with their powers augmented by Holy Grails, and yet—

"You gotta let me do this, Vy. You gotta. There's no other way. We both know that."

"Shii-chan, I hate you…" Vy forced the next oncoming wail back into the bowels of her stomach as best as she could as the first streak of tears started sliding down her cheeks and into her hairline. Even if it was an inevitability that one of the Servants or, hell, even Mash, would come in to wake her up after the alarm's end, that didn't mean Vy wanted them to see her cry. Not again. "Why did you have to phrase it like that… Why did you have to leave…" Snot started to clog her nose as she sniffled. "You didn't have to follow Dr. Roman's footsteps… you absolute jerk of a swordswoman…"

The insides of Vy's ears were roaring from what was definitely not Novum Chaldea's air conditioning as grief once again started to settle into her chest with a heavy weight. "I hate this… I just hate hate hate—" Losing people I love, again and again, without end, when will this be—

Click.

"…Senpai?"

Light. Light switch. Mash. Vy felt herself gasp before she could stop it, wiping at her face hastily with a sleeve of her pajamas while sitting up from her blankets. "Kouhai…"

Don't look, don't look, please don't look—

Without her glasses, it was hard to tell what expression was sitting on Mash's face once Vy was turning to look at her through blurry eyes, but the Demi-Servant still took a breath. "It's… it's time for breakfast, Senpai," she said weakly, a hand resting against the doorframe as she shuffled her feet. "Are you—"

Are you okay?

Mash. Beloved kouhai and honorary little sister. She didn't deserve any rage. She most certainly didn't, even if Vy felt frustrated about everything.

So Vy forced herself to take a deep breath.

No. I'm not okay, I'm not okay, I'm not—

"I'll be okay," she ground out with as much forced calm as she could get, shaking her head and wiping at her face again. Her glasses. They were on the nightstand. She had to— "I'll be okay, kouhai. Just. Bad dream. If it's okay, please. Don't say anything right now, please—"

Yet Mash was coming closer, raising a shaky hand in Vy's direction as her other hand merely rested against her chest, trembling. "Senpai—"

"Kouhai, please don't." Vy could hear the sob leaking into her voice as she covered her eyes with her hand, inwardly starting to beg for a void to swallow her whole. Dammit. Just dammit. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see a clearer version of the face Mash was making. "Just please. I-I'm gonna cry on you and I don't want to add to your laundry list of things to clean or do. Just drop this, please."

Before I might unintentionally hurt you.

Still, Mash was coming all the more closer from Vy could see past the cracks in her fingers, a determined look in her eye as a delicate hand rested on her knee past her blanket. "It's… it's hard to drop it when you're crying, Senpai," Mash whispered, a crack echoing in her words as the mattress shifted from her weight. Mash must've sat down. "You don't have to hide it from me."

You'll never hurt me.

"Mash, that doesn't mean—"

You've gone through so much, kouhai. Firing the Black Barrel, losing your own home in the original Chaldea before all this, and then wiping out these worlds with me for Proper Human History even though you don't know what it's like to be with other humans outside of the staff and Servants… why—

Vy sniveled, shaking her head enough for some strands of her hair to uncomfortably stick to her cheeks. "Mash, you've gone through enough. I… I don't want to add more to it."

"D-Don't say that! Don't… don't make it out like you're a burden, Senpai," Mash said in the same voice, the hand on her knee squeezing the blanket between them enough for Vy to feel her knuckles. "You've never been a burden to me. I told you back in Salem that you can be selfish sometimes. I want to be here with you. I want to help you. Just… just let me in. That's all I want right now…"

That did it. Vy choked once she caught a glimpse of the budding tear in Mash's eye, and she shut her own eyes with a sound caught between a low groan and a high-pitched wail. "You silly selfless kouhai…"

For once, Vy didn't refuse the arms soothingly wrapping around her head to start a hug. She had a feeling she could never refuse someone like Mash. "W-We're both silly… aren't we, Senpai?"

Vy buried her nose into Mash's jacket to stifle the subsequent bawling.

Even with the glimmer of wisdom that came with her increased strength, the older Da Vinci's questioning look hadn't changed from what Vy remembered in her original shop back in the original Chaldea, her blue eyes flashing with the exact same concern. "Mia bella," she started quietly over the pile of Saint Quartz on her desk, "I understand where you're going with this, but are you sure?"

The black coat of her Winter Chaldean uniform didn't stop the shiver climbing up Vy's spine as she averted her gaze from Da Vinci's. "…75% sure," was the weak answer that left her lips, her teeth starting to gnaw on the inside of her cheek in an attempt to stop the incoming urge to cry again. "Maybe 80. I just know that… I-I can't just sit around forever. I'm tired of crying over it, Da Vinci-chan." So, so tired.

"Vy."

The sound of her name made Vy stop her unconscious shuffling, and looking up revealed the Caster having leaned over her desk to take one of Vy's hands in hers to squeeze. "You're not 'sitting around,' cara mia. You never have. You've been resting from what's been a traumatic ordeal," Da Vinci said sternly, though not unkindly, as her thumb rubbed the back of one of Vy's knuckles. "And there's no shame in that. Crying is still healthy."

"But that doesn't mean…" That what happened in Olympus was like a dream compared to Seraphix. It all was real. The Dioscuri, Caenis, Demeter, Aphrodite, Zeus, Chaos. All of it. Her throat was closing up again, enough for Vy to feel herself cough before she realized she was doing it. "Musashi's still gone, Da Vinci-chan."

Da Vinci's eyebrows knit together across her forehead enough to make stress lines as her attempt at a comforting smile immediately dropped from her face. "Mia bella…"

"I-I know! I know it might… it might not work out. The FATE system is complex like that. Director Goredolf and Captain Nemo even mentioned how Musashi — Shii-chan…" Vy took a deep, shuddering breath while ducking her head to avert her eyes from Da Vinci's watchful gaze. "Her data isn't available in our databases anymore after what happened in Olympus. But I still…"

"You still want to try to bring her back like how you did with me?"

Vy jerked her head into a weak nod. There was nothing else she could've said lest she risk crying again.

It was a risk. Hell, it was easily possible Musashi wouldn't answer the call at all, especially after being a personal witness to Chaos and the Void they guarded. But still—

Back in that Singularity of Las Vegas, her Berserker self answered Vy's summons. Miraculously stayed too, in spite of what happened in the 5th Lostbelt. Just like Saber Shiki, who claimed to come from the Root itself. If both of them could stay—

Why not the original Shii-chan?

A small, sad smile bloomed on Da Vinci's face as she got up from her chair to walk around her desk, resting a gentle hand against Vy's cheek. "…I'm sorry my sacrifice hurt you so much, Vy," she murmured softly, her thumb wiping at the edges of Vy's eyes to remove any tear residue lingering there, taking care to not bump her glasses. "If I could, I would've gotten onto the Shadow Border with you. So that you wouldn't still be hurting."

Vy immediately shook her head, leaning into Da Vinci's palm with a shaky sigh. "I-I never blamed you for your death, Da Vinci-chan. What happened back then was Rasputin's fault, not yours." A crack still rose in her voice despite Vy's attempts to quell it, and she shut her eyes to the world. "I-I don't blame Shii-chan for what she did either, but…"

I miss her. Just as much as I do Mommy and Daddy. Vy already knew if she voiced it, she would be tempted to sob all over again.

A forehead gently touched hers, making Vy look up into soft yet saddened blue eyes. "You couldn't stop loving her like you did with me and the rest of the Servants, could you, cara mia?"

It took a moment for Vy to realize that her vision was blurring again. God fucking dammit. "It's… It's hard not to," she confessed warily, feeling her bottom lip tremble without her wanting it to as she blinked rapidly to keep the onset of tears away for a little bit longer. Just a bit longer, so that Da Vinci wouldn't worry. So that no one else would need to worry. "With everything that's happened from the Singularities to the Lostbelts, I…"

I couldn't help loving her. Loving everyone. Which makes seeing them die all the harder. When saying goodbye is so much harder.

Da Vinci merely hummed softly, bumping Vy's forehead with hers as her thumb continued to stroke Vy's cheek, brushing a few stray strands of hair away this time. "You really are a beautiful flower, Vy," she whispered, letting the raw words linger between them for about a second or so. Then Da Vinci leaned up to briefly press her lips against Vy's temple, a tiny and tired sigh brushing the top of Vy's hairline. Her other arm snaked around Vy's shoulders, reaching for her back to rub gentle circles there. "Only someone so kind like you would see the Heroic Spirits of old as human and something worth respecting."

A lump surfaced in Vy's throat as another sniffle inadvertently escaped her mouth. She shakily raised her hands in an attempt to return the hug Da Vinci started, murmuring, "Would you… would you have me any other way?"

"I don't have to be a universal genius to answer that one, mia bella," Da Vinci hummed with a bit more pep, giving Vy a subdued yet caring smile. "I never would have asked for more. Just do this genius a favor and don't push yourself in the Summoning process, alright? I'll do whatever I can to support you, whether it's supplying more Saint Quartz or giving my favorite flower more hugs."

…This is why I don't deserve you, a part of Vy's mind spat out like venom. You all are just too great for me.

"Th-Thankie…" Vy found herself saying instead, a weak smile of her own tugging at her lips as she did her best to ignore the growing wobbling of her voice. "Just… thankie, Da Vinci-chan."

For putting up with me. For staying with me. I love you, Da Vinci. I love you.

Another motherly kiss was pressed against Vy's forehead before she could say anymore, Da Vinci humming all over again. "Anything for my favorite flower."

I love you too, mia bella. Cara mia. My flower.

For some reason, Vy knew she didn't have to have their bond to know Da Vinci meant it all in its entirety.

"Are you planning to summon someone, Princess?"

It took a hand gently tugging at hers for Vy to realize she wasn't alone in the Summoning Chamber of Novum Chaldea. Turning around revealed Arturia standing there in all her regalness, one of her metal gauntlets dispelled just to let her hold Vy's hand. Even in her cape and crown, the soft understanding shining in those emerald green eyes was still indicative of the best Saber Vy knew.

One of the best people Vy could have the privilege of knowing.

"Art… san?" left Vy in a huff of a breath she didn't realize she was holding back. Unconscious tension immediately started to lift from her shoulders in the face of Saber's presence, leaving Vy winded and all the more breathless once she was meeting Arturia's green eyes in eye contact. "When did you…"

"A mere moment ago, Princess, and it was through the entrance," Arturia filled in without hesitation, an expression caught between a smile and a frown lingering on her face as she squeezed Vy's fingers. "You never came to the Dining Hall for lunch and the older Da Vinci said I could find you here."

All Vy could muster was a quiet and inadequate "…Oh," as she lowered her gaze to the Saint Quartz still clutched between the fingers of her left hand. "I-I'm sorry, Art-san." There were no other words that would come to mind in the face of that. In the face of her best Saber, King Arthur, reaching out to her just because she cared.

"Don't be," Arturia said solemnly, and her fingers squeezed Vy's again. "Is everything alright?" Vy didn't have to see Saber's face to know her gaze had drifted to the Saint Quartz, and her grip tightened in understanding. "…If I'm not wrong, Princess, are you trying to—"

"Summon Musashi back?" Vy inhaled as much oxygen as she could to straighten her loose shoulders, forcing strength into her voice as she nodded her assent. "Yeah. Going to try."

"Vy…" left Arturia in a hoarse whisper, and Vy shut her eyes at the sound of her name. "You are pushing yourself."

"I-I know that." I've known that since the moment Dr. Roman left us. Maybe even longer than that.

"Yet you are still doing it." Without regard to yourself either. Again. The words were made out to be more of an inevitable truth than a question. But Arturia still squeezed Vy's right hand in hers, the grip warm and comforting in the face of the cold uncaring void that the grief had left in Vy's chest after Olympus' fall. "You still wish to try?"

"…Yeah." There was nothing else to say. Especially in front of Arturia — Saber — who had met Dr. Roman. Who knew him, who knew Vy, before this all happened. Too many tears had been shed, too many vocal cords exhausted from screaming into a pillow so that no one else from Chaldea could hear. Too many hugs to smother the frustrations away, too many lingering feelings. "At this point, it's both… well, stubbornness and the want to just… just try, Art-san." A wry smile formed on Vy's lips as a weak yet raw laugh echoed in her throat. "If that… if that makes sense?"

"…Considering my past journey in search of the Holy Grail for my Britain, Princess," Arturia said in the same solemn voice after barely a moment's pause, "it most certainly does." A stronger, prouder smile formed on Arturia's face once she said her part, followed by a curt nod. "I will be by your side if you need my support in this endeavor, Vy. Just as I have always been."

A sharp gasp tore itself free from Vy's chest before she realized she was doing it, and her glasses grew foggy.

You silly Saber. You silly, amazing, selfless Saber. What did I—

What did I do to deserve you?

"All you did, Milady," Saber said suddenly, making Vy startle, "was just be the kind Master who summoned me."

"D-Did I say it out loud?" Vy fumbled, feeling the heat start to climb up the back of her neck as Arturia chuckled with another squeeze of her hand. "I-I thought that was just in the back of my head…"

"You forget how much the Grails influence our bond, Princess," Arturia said in the lightest of teasing tones, her emerald eyes glimmering for the first time that day. "It would be remiss of me not to be able to read what you are thinking." And with that said, Arturia let go of Vy's hand only to extend both arms out in Vy's direction.

"…Mm-muu?" Wait. Wait. This couldn't be—

"Archer did say you enjoyed hugs in times like this, Princess," Arturia said with a brighter smile, her shoulders shrugging weakly against her mantle as she dispelled her other metal gauntlet. "So if you require it, I can provide?"

The first tear sliding down Vy's cheek didn't even have a chance to hit the floor once Vy moved forward to accept Arturia's offer.

"So… this is the end, huh?"

Musashi had no idea of where she was. It wasn't a jump through universes. It wasn't even a new world either. All she could see was darkness. A void. No space to stand, no air to breathe, just… darkness. Never-ending darkness.

"My goal to reach the pinnacle of nothingness with my sword leads to a sight like this…" It was almost like a funny joke if not for the fact that Musashi had no audience to tell it to. "Wonder how Vy and Mash are doing…? I hope I looked cool to them in the end."

A wry smile formed on her face. What a joke. She lost her way a long time ago, content to never go back to a home that was already pruned away, yet all she could think about were the two girls that were sisters in all but name.

"—ii-chan!"

"To disappear in a place like this…" Musashi closed her eyes. "It doesn't seem so bad when it's not cold here."

"—hii-chan!"

"Huh?"

Something was glowing in the faraway horizon. A sparkle of light that, to Musashi's recollection, was never there before the last time she looked around.

"Shii-chan!"

"No way… Can't be…" Yet Musashi found herself extending a hand towards it, the light looking so much brighter than before. "But maybe…

"SHII-CHAN!"

"It'd be nice… if it was really her."

Arturia wasn't sure how many Saint Quartz disappeared into fragments of Spiritron Energy. Maybe tens or hundreds of them. But all it took was the summoning circle glowing a bright gold, just once, for Vy to stumble backwards from the onset of light. Arturia didn't even have to rely on instinct — she merely knew when to extend her arm out to support her Master, her Princess, in holding herself together, and once the small of Vy's back touched Arturia's palm, the light was settling as quickly as it arrived.

A red obi. Shortened, purple kimono sleeves. Black leggings and arm coverings. Two swords, sheathed against her hips. Sandals keeping her standing tall.

"I'm Shinmen-Musashi-no-Kami-Fujiwara-no-Harunob— huh?" the newly summoned Saber gaped mid-line, letting the handles of her swords go in favor of looking at her palms in shock. "How did I—"

Arturia felt a single twinge of shock echo through her bond with Vy before the Princess was screaming.

"SHII-CHAN!"

Musashi didn't even get a chance to say Vy's name before she was catching the flying Master in her arms, forced to twirl on the heels of her sandals just to take on Vy's momentum in the heat of the moment. Arturia felt the exasperated huff leave her through her nose as Musashi spun their shared Master around for one cycle or two, the shock still prominent on her normally cheerful face as Vy clung to the Saber.

"V—" Musashi was choking, her jaw falling slack over Vy's head as the Princess wrapped her arms around Musashi's neck, tightly clinging to her with no visible sign she wanted to let Musashi go. If Arturia didn't know any better, it was as if Musashi had been sent back in time with the sheer awe and surprise showing on her face. "Vy…?"

"SHII-CHAN, YOU ABSOLUTE JERK OF A SWORDSWOMAN!" proceeded to echo loudly in the Summoning Chamber once Vy's feet touched the floor, and Arturia forced herself to hold back the sudden urge to chuckle at the rare sight of Musashi's gobsmacked face over Vy's hair. "I TOLD YOUR BERSERKER SELF TO STOP WITH THE SELF-SACRIFICE BULLSHIT BACK IN LAS VEGAS, WHY DIDN'T YOU GET THE MEMO?!"

"M-Master?" Musashi squeaked, her arms freezing above Vy's shoulders. From the looks of it, the Saber was just about to return Vy's hug if not for the Master's outburst. "I-I get you're angry, but—"

"NO BUTS! I'M STILL PISSED WITH YOU!" Vy raised her head, shifting back just slightly, before proceeding to bring it back down onto Musashi's shoulder with a loud and hardy whack noise. If Musashi wasn't wincing at the hit, she most certainly was flinching once Vy tearfully wailed, "YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE JERK, SHII-CHAN! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO AGAINST CHAOS ON YOUR OWN LIKE THAT?!"

Musashi immediately sent Arturia a helpless look over Vy's hair, and Arturia decided to cross her arms with a smirk pointed in the Saber's direction. I will provide nothing to you after all the tears you inadvertently gave to our Master with the fall of Chaos. May you reap the consequences of your decision, Shinmen Musashi.

Traitor, Musashi's subsequent glare said. Absolute traitor.

Still, Musashi didn't have time to enjoy the levity, because Vy was still buried in her front enough for Arturia to be unable to see what expression she was making. "Vy…" she said pitifully.

"I-I missed you, silly Shinmen-Musashi-no-Kami — beh, whatever," Vy sniffled thickly into Musashi's shoulder, hugging the Saber tight enough to the point of her legs starting to shake thanks to standing on her tiptoes merely to meet Musashi's height. It was obvious that Vy stopped herself from saying Musashi's full name thanks to the sheer frustration and emotion she was feeling at that very moment. "I don't care if humanity rejected you. I don't care that you're a wanderer. You found me, and it was so, so hard not to love you. I-I still do." A raw, loud, heartbroken sob left the Master at that point, enough to make Musashi flinch again as Vy pressed her head into the crook between Musashi's shoulder and neck. "I-I missed you. So, so much."

Musashi took in a deep, shuddering breath, one that Arturia knew rocked her Spirit Core, before she finally raised her arms to wrap them around Vy's waist, returning the tight hug. "…I missed you too, Vy," Musashi said after a moment, pressing her nose into the crown of Vy's hair, most likely to hide the vulnerable note starting to surface in her voice. "But I couldn't think of anything else."

"Th-Then next time, think with me! With me, Mash, and everybody else! You're not alone, dammit!" Vy shifted to give Musashi another solid whack to the shoulder with her head, wincing but still persisting with a higher-pitched, "We care about you too! Why else would I summon you and want to help you?!"

"Th-That's the thing," Musashi flubbed, turning pink to match the rawness of her voice as she wiggled in Vy's hug in an attempt to look at the young Master. "My last attack was supposed to touch the Void! The Root, Master! Just to keep that demon in Chaos back from hurting anyone! No one comes back from that!" Arturia did have to give her fellow Saber the point for that part, even if it was somewhat frustrating to see Shinmen Musashi try to find words for more excuses. Still, watching the normally unflappable Miyamoto Musashi fumble was turning out to be such an interesting spectacle. "So how did you—"

"Y-You forget I hold onto things, Musashi-chan…" Vy interrupted in a higher yet softer pitched voice, pulling back to give Musashi some space while reaching back to one of her pockets in the Winter Chaldean uniform. "A-And all I could find of you after Shimosa was your tsuba eyepatch, and, well…"

Once the slightly burnt, black sword guard came into view against the palm of Vy's left palm, Arturia could pinpoint the exact moment Musashi's heart grew three times in size from the sheer emotion. "…You kept that?" left the Saber in a breathy whisper, a shaky yet true Musashi-like smile forming on her face. "After all this time?"

"It was all I had of you," Vy said with a shaky laugh to match Musashi's own chuckle, and Arturia smiled once her Princess reached over with both arms to hug her samurai friend by the neck again. "A-And I wasn't kidding when I said I missed you, Shii-chan. I-I… I still love you. Self-destructive selflessness and all."

Without even a second passing between them, Musashi shut her eyes and proceeded to press her cheek into the top of Vy's hair, nodding vigorously as she pressed a trembling hand to the back of Vy's head. "I-I'll do my best to get that memorized then, Master."

"A-As you should, you silly Saber! You owe me a bowl of pho!"

Arturia decided she would tell Shinmen Musashi about the udon-eating competition her Berserker counterpart had planned a little later.

Vy deserved some time with an old friend after everything.

"Not joining them, little sparrow?"

Despite Robin's voice carrying the same comforting tone it always had, Vy could do nothing but blink blearily up at him past her lack of glasses, shaking her head. Too tired, she eventually thought to him through their bond, leaning back against the wall behind her as she folded her hands into her lap. Even with her glasses lying limp against her palms, it was easy to make out the image of her favorite Archer leaning over to meet her eyes out of concern. The bench underneath her legs was surprisingly homey despite its cold feel, allowing her to rest in the hallway as the other Servants continued to make a racket inside the Dining Hall. Ember farming and lots of yelling at and with Shii-chan took out battery. And besides, Vy glanced at the Dining Hall's entrance, smiling weakly at the hint of purple she could see, Mash deserves some time with Shii-chan too.

"A-Arturia-san is in the lead with ten udon bowls!" Vy could hear Mash cry out from over the Dining Hall's loudspeakers. "Berserker Musashi is not falling behind either, working at a steady eight!"

"DARN IT, OTHER ME, ARTURIA! I'LL CATCH UP, I SWEAR!"

"You—" Slurp. "May try, Shinmen Musashi. I will still win."

"…Ah," Robin said aptly, glancing at the same entrance while placing a hand on his waist. "That udon isn't going to go away by itself. And that little lady is getting better at commentating."

Shirou… apparently decided to indulge, Vy put in, already vaguely tuning out the cheers of both Saber and Berserker Musashi over another serving being brought in. I don't know what convinced Art-san to join in.

"She has her reasons," Robin said vaguely, ignoring the questioning look Vy gave him in favor of sitting down next to her and reaching over with one arm. "Just like you did in bringing back Musashi, right?"

Not… going to deny that, Vy conceded, not even finding the strength to refuse Robin gently pulling her into his side. Her head lulled into his shoulder enough for the scent of mint to tickle her nostrils. Robin must've been chewing on them again. I'm glad she's back, I'm just… I'm just so, so tired, Big Robin.

The life I'm fighting for still isn't mine. It still isn't for Mash and the rest of Chaldea. For Mommy and Daddy, whose lives were robbed of by the Foreign God and the Crypters.

There's still work to do.

"I know, little sparrow," Robin whispered, pressing a light kiss to the top of her head as he hugged her close. A corner of the No Face May King rested against her hands, warm just like the hero she still loved. "But you're still here."

Not leaving… left Vy's mind in a weak protest, her eyes shutting against her will for the smallest moment. You, Mash, Achi, Art-san, Shii-chan — I don't wanna leave.

"Wasn't even thinking that you would," Robin said with a chuckle, his hand reaching up to start stroking Vy's hair, easing tangles out along the way. "It's hard to miss the ring still sitting on your middle finger, Vy."

The mention of the accessory was enough to force one last burst of energy into her body, allowing Vy to open her eyes and glance at her left hand. Alongside her red lotus Command Seals sat that same pink flower-shaped jewel from the ring Robin gave her on Valentine's Day, and Vy knew if she turned her hand over, she'd find Musashi's tsuba eyepatch clenched in-between her fingers alongside the good luck medallion Daddy made for her from before Chaldea, so long ago. "Aye…" left Vy's throat in a feeble croak, matched by the equally weak smile tugging at her lips. "Hey… Big Robin?"

"Yeah?"

If someone like Shii-chan could come back… "Think… think we could change it all together?" The Bleached World, the state of Proper Human History?

The arm around her shoulders merely tugged once, and Vy turned her head to look up into a green eye accompanied by a wry smile. "With a little sparrow like you as our Master, Vy," was the confident response breathed over her lips, "I know we can do so much more than that. We did it before. We can do it again."