Summary: A while after finding herself back in Novum Chaldea, Shinmen Musashi realizes too little, too late, how much her sacrifice hurt the one Master that was left behind. Everything must break eventually. Even the kindest of people need to openly cry and scream too.

Note: Written in honor of my friend, Carim, whose support and platonic love helps me get through a lot of things, and my boyfriend and real life Robin, who keeps calling me every night and still finding me beautiful even when I think I'm not.

There were a lot of things Olympus left in me, and after reading a piece Carim wrote, one specifically titled "We Took The Chance, We Took The Dive", I wanted to write this to process those things. I recommend for any readers to go read that before starting this specific chapter, because context is key.

The theme for this chapter is a song I've used in my previous stories, being There Is A Reason by Konomi Suzuki from the No Game No Life: Zero movie. I honestly couldn't think of much else. For a nonvocal alternative? The two tracks titled (1) La Pucelle from Fate/Apocrypha and (2) When Weiss Was Ten from RWBY.

Be warned for massive LB5.2 Olympus spoilers, plus lots of emotional hurt. Just putting that out there.

Please enjoy.

Day 35: Nothing to Prove

"I-I can help you with that, Shii-chan!"

That phrase again. Musashi did her best to hold back the instinctive roll of her eyes at the sight of Vy rushing over to take her finished lunch tray off the table, giving the younger woman a dry smile. As much as it was sweet and cute of Vy to have so much energy in the morning, this event itself was odd when it was already starting to become a trend. And it wasn't normal for Vy to be forcing pep into her voice. "Vy."

The Chaldean Master froze in place while picking up the tray, her arms tensing enough for Musashi to see the slight muscle flex from the movement. "Y-Yeah?"

Musashi reached over to rest a hand against one of Vy's own, absently rubbing a thumb over the first white knuckle she could see. It felt too tense. Too worried. "You don't have to do that. I can take it back to the kitchen myself."

"O-Oh," Vy said in a softer, higher-pitched voice, and she proceeded to withdraw her hand, cradling it against her chest as her shoulders drooped, the picked-up tray left sitting between them on the table. If Musashi didn't know any better, it was as if the wind had been knocked out of Vy's sails as she wilted in place with a quieter, "O-Okay."

"Aw," Musashi chuckled wryly, tugging at Vy's hand to pull the girl over for a pat on the head. Vy let out a quiet noise in response, and Musashi hummed. Still cute. "Don't take it so badly, Master, there's just some things you don't have to fret your cute little head over. I can handle it, so you can go back to Archer Green and your other Servants."

Despite the words, Vy still seemed to wither underneath Musashi's reach, looking tiny in her white dress and aquamarine sash as she shuffled back and forth on her sandals. "Still…" left her mouth in the same quiet voice from before, and her shoulders trembled as a stray strand of hair fell down to rest awkwardly against the top of her nose. "Just wanted to offer…"

Musashi allowed herself an exaggerated sigh while patting Vy's head again. "I'll be fine, Vy."

"But—" Vy was flashing Musashi a helpless look, her brown eyes wide enough behind her glasses to be searching, desperate, afraid, "Isn't there—"

Can't I do anything—

"We're going to be fine, Vy," Musashi interrupted, leaning down to bump her head against Vy's own, just in time to stop the inevitable spiral the younger woman was starting to fall into. "Yeah, it's still a little weird being around Chaldea again, especially after Olympus, so it's going to take a while to get used to being, well," Musashi trailed off, feeling her attempt at a smile fall as the mana in her veins flickered, "here."

Like I have a place to belong.

"…Oh," Vy finished, ducking her head to look at the ground. "That's…"

Musashi forced the smile onto her face, even when she could feel it waver at the edges. "But hey, Vy."

The Chaldean Master raised her head to meet Musashi's gaze, and the forced aspect of her smile fell away once Musashi could see her image reflected in Vy's brown eyes. Musashi touched their foreheads again in one more quiet bump. "I'm just glad we're back together again."

Vy's eyes widened again, almost to the point of resembling dinner plates, before she straightened her shoulders with a resigned laugh. "You dork, Saber," she said softly with a smile. "How am I supposed to worry about you when you go about saying things like that?"

Even then, despite the warmth surging back into the room, the look in Vy's eyes appeared far too haunted for Musashi's liking.

"'How is Vy doing,' you said?" The older Leonardo Da Vinci merely gave Musashi a look over her newest invention of what appeared to be another vehicle, raising her head past all the gears and machinery in the meantime. "Why are you asking me that?"

"You've been there for her since even before I met her," Musashi admitted quietly, not even able to fib a smile in the face of the Eternal Genius giving her the dirty look, almost akin to Da Vinci wiping off some mud from the back of her shoe. Still, she had to dig for more information. More ideas of where to go next after reaching the apex of nothingness and coming back from it alive. "I thought you would have a clue as to what's going on."

I know I hurt her, but I'm not sure what else to do for her when she's pushing me away. When she's trying to act like it's all okay.

For the past two weeks since Musashi had been summoned to Novum Chaldea, it was odd enough that Vy hadn't let her fight out on the front lines with the other Servants. Maybe she could stand in the backline with Mash in the off-chance some enemies could break through, but nothing else was assigned to her past that. It was easy to brush off at first, to look at it like Vy was taking the time to get the Embers to level her and bond with her again, but now there was a noticeable skittishness to Vy's actions compared to what she remembered of the Chaldean Master from Olympus.

Like Vy was scared. Like Vy was not okay.

The haunted look in Vy's eyes from the morning was still nestled deep inside a dark part of Musashi's brain, refusing to leave.

"You're one of her Servants too, Shinmen Musashi," Da Vinci pointed out with the same face, raising a wrench in Musashi's direction while turning her gaze back to the vehicle in front of her. "You could easily ask her without going to me. Or why not talk to your Berserker self? Or even one of Vy's close-knit Grailed? You are a Chaldean Servant now compared to your time in Olympus, as my other younger self would say."

At that, Musashi couldn't hide the instinctive shiver climbing up her spine. "My Berserker self might be an idea, but the Grailed might be…" Not friendly, was all Musashi could fill in for that blank. The welcoming party was great and all, especially the freshly-cooked udon from Archer Red, but there was still an underlying tension there that Musashi couldn't deny. A rift had surfaced with Vy's handpicked Grailed Servants poking around her in Olympus, all because they knew, without her even saying it, that she thought she would reach the inevitable end of nothingness against Zeus and Chaos. And in a way, she did, choosing to float in that void with no one else to accompany her until the sound of Vy's sobs brought her back.

It would be natural they wouldn't entirely forgive her for that.

Da Vinci peeked out past another gear to shake her head. "I wasn't there in Olympus to really judge your actions like my younger self was able to," she said in a stern voice, "but that doesn't mean I don't understand the consequences and how it played out for mia bella." With an angry huff, Da Vinci turned back to her work with another twirl of her wrench. "So I can't exactly be neutral here for you either."

"…Oh," Musashi said dully. The message was clear enough without Da Vinci looking up.

You still hurt her, even when you knew what would happen. I can't forgive that either. I can't forgive the simple fact that your actions made my Master — my favorite flower — cry again when she's had enough of tears.

"From an administrative perspective," Da Vinci then added in a slightly less bitter voice, "talking with the others might be more fruitful. But from a personal perspective…" Musashi blinked once Da Vinci raised her head past what looked like a metal hood, the corners of her mouth twitching to vaguely resemble the Mona Lisa she made. "You can go talk to cara mia herself. Just be prepared for what you'll hear. It might not be what you expect."

Musashi made herself swallow the sudden lump that surfaced in her throat, keeping a hand on the helm of one of her swords. "Got it."

Knock, knock.

It was such a simple action. Facing that white door with the colored-pencil drawing of an orange poppy flower, reading Mash's careful handwriting of "For Senpai's rest, please knock to get permission to enter", and waiting for the reply that would inevitably come after Musashi raised her hand.

It didn't make Musashi any less uneasy, shuffling on her geta heels while ignoring the urge to hold onto her katanas.

"It's open," eventually rang out past the hallway walls, and Musashi took a breath, pushing the door aside. Once it gave way, she could clearly make out Vy sitting at the foot of her bed, dressed in a pastel pink pajama button-up and matching leggings, a tablet resting against her lap. If not for the bright electronic screen shining against Vy's glasses, Musashi could've sworn Vy was getting ready for her daily nap with her loose long hair. Still, once Vy was raising her head to look at who entered, Musashi could see herself reflected in those bespectacled brown eyes. Shock, surprise, and resignation passed through those irises all at once before a veneer of something covered it up, a smile tugging at Vy's lips once she said a soft, "Hi, Shii-chan."

"…Hey, Vy." Musashi stepped inside while closing the door behind her, internally noting the empty look behind Vy's smile. Vy never faked a smile like that before. Maybe in Shimosa, when trying to muster the courage to stay strong for Tasuke and Onui-chan, but never so obviously. Musashi took a breath and decided to go for the risky move. "Think we could talk?"

The empty smile on Vy's lips weakened at the edges as she processed the question, a glimmer of fatigue shining past the veneer in her glasses before she nodded her assent. With a careful exhale, Vy proceeded to scoot over on the bed, patting the nearest empty space on the covers for Musashi to sit on. "Not going to say no."

"Thank you, Master," was all Musashi could say in return, folding her kimono carefully underneath herself as she sat down at Vy's side. All Vy did was smile again, pressing the power button on her tablet to make it go into sleep mode, allowing her to put it on the nearby nightstand and focus her attention on Musashi. Musashi took another breath, ignoring the urge to gulp while leaning forward on one hand to look into Vy's eyes. "About the talk, are you…"

"Am I…?" Vy echoed quietly, her own hands quietly folded in her lap. Whether Vy noticed the unease in Musashi's figure, she didn't say or give the impression of such. If anything, the light pink dusting on her cheeks indicated some kind of recognition. Some kind of sign.

Musashi shut her eyes and blurted it out. "Are you alright, Vy?"

In all the situations she envisioned, Musashi expected shock. Surprise. Something. Not silence. Opening her eyes revealed Vy giving Musashi an expression caught between blank confusion and dull recognition, her brown irises lacking any sort of light shining in them before Vy blinked. Then, a small sad smile bloomed on her face, barely tugging at the corners of her lips to even constitute a grin as she murmured, "…Do you want a sugar-coated answer, Shii-chan, or the truth?"

"The truth, Master," Musashi said in spite of the growing dread, clamping down on the urge to hug the younger woman. It didn't feel right. Not with Vy's shoulders tensing like she was in battle. Like she was waging a war all by herself. "Please."

A wry, dry laugh left Vy's lips at Musashi's answer as Vy shook her head, long hair blocking off what little Musashi could see of her face. "I… I wish you didn't ask that, just a bit, Shii-chan." Still, Vy took a breath, a shaky one, and laid a hand over her chest, right where her heart would be. "But okay then. What am I supposed to say?"

Musashi barely had the chance to utter a stupefied "Huh?" before Vy hunched over herself to face her lap, turning her head away from Musashi's direction.

"Am I supposed to say that I'm happy? That I'm okay with everything? With killing five worlds and having to go wipe out two more?" From the corner of Musashi's eye, she could see a few droplet-shaped stains start to form on Vy's pajama leggings. "How… how can I be okay after all that?"

Something was wrong. Musashi extended a hand. "Vy—"

"What else am I supposed to say?!" The words that echoed in the room sounded like they were caught between a bloodcurdling scream and a helpless wail as Vy shook her head, curling into herself. "That I'm okay after killing another world just for a chance to see my family who might not even be saved after this is all over?! That I can still confidently face someone who sacrificed their life for me?! HOW CAN I BE OKAY?!"

Musashi couldn't remember the last time Vy sounded so angry after her Resummoning, but the girl in front of her was trembling. More droplets were falling down onto her leggings, her shoulders shaking as her hands balled up into tight fists. From what Musashi could see, Vy's fingernails were digging into her palms, enough to start drawing blood. Oh no. "Vy—"

"What am I supposed to feel, Shii-chan?" interrupted Musashi's attempt to speak, leaving the Saber unable to say a word once Vy was raising her head to look at her with big pearly tears in her eyes. Her cheeks were red, her glasses were starting to get stained with the droplets, but Vy was looking at Musashi directly while sniffling. "What am I supposed to feel, knowing that the peace we have right now could change at any moment with the Foreign God's possible invasion? What if I become a burden, left watching my loved ones die again because th-there's nothing else I can do? How many more worlds do I have to erase? How… how many more people do I have to rob their livelihoods from?"

Musashi opened her mouth and found nothing in it that constituted a good answer as her hand was left frozen, extended in the air in Vy's direction.

The first tear slid down Vy's cheek in what looked like slow-motion once the girl ducked her head again, hiding herself away via an informal curtain made from her hair, tugging at some strands like lifelines. Musashi couldn't miss the miniscule flecks of red covering the underside of Vy's fingernails as she did this. "…A friend of mine told me I didn't deserve to live once, Shii-chan. I'm trying not to believe that, I… I really am trying…" A low, soft noise caught between a hiccup and a sniffle echoed in the room after that, making Musashi flinch. "But it's hard. It's so, so hard. Facing these Lostbelts, watching these families that look similar to mine get torn apart, just l-listening to the Crypters act like they're the heroes when I had to hear Mommy and Daddy die over the phone to the Foreign God when they were trying to comfort me by saying they were okay—"

What? Is that why you kept your old phone through—

A keening sob left Vy's lips as her shoulders trembled, interrupting Musashi's thoughts. More droplets fell onto Vy's pajama leggings to the point of making the fabric stick to her thighs. "I-I don't know what to do anymore, Shii-chan. I just don't. After hearing the cries of the Olympians when their city started to fall, listening to those foot soldiers call me 'demon' e-even as Demeter started killing them too—" Vy shook her head, putting her face in her hands as more frustrated sobs echoed in the room, her attempts at deep breaths failing because of the thickness of her voice. "I just don't know anything but trying to help you and the other Servants because it's all I-I have left."

Musashi felt the protest come out in a weak whisper as she raised her hand in Vy's direction again. "Vy, that's not—"

"I-It IS true!" Vy interrupted hotly, raising her head to glare at Musashi through all the tears as another broken sniffle made her shoulders shake. "Nothing I've been doing ever seems to be enough, Shii-chan! The B-Black Barrel, the farming, nothing! What good is there in a Master who can't even save a friend?! I'm—" A faint light shone in Vy's eyes as she cut herself off, almost as if reality was catching up to her, and she averted her gaze yet again as she covered her face. "…All the Servants tell me I'm doing well. That I'm doing what I can, and that's enough. But it… it doesn't feel like enough, Shii-chan. I sleep, I rest, but i-it's not enough." Vy's voice was rising in volume and pitch with each statement leaving her lips like poison. "There's not enough energy. Not enough time. What worth is there in a Master who needs to be c-coddled just to get things done?!"

"Vy, I…" Musashi wanted to say something. Anything, in the face of the hurt and turmoil Vy was spiraling into. How long had she been holding this in? How long had she been bottling it all up?

How much did Musashi unwittingly contribute to the problem with her sacrifice to Chaos?

"What did I do to deserve you and everyone else, Shii-chan?" Vy sniveled past the cracks in her hands, her knees coming up to rest against her chest as she started looking more and more like a human-shaped ball from the whirlwind of emotion starting to envelop the room. "I don't know. I just try to be me, and the enemies just… they just keep saying I-I shouldn't be me. I—" A quiet yet heavy wail followed the words, cutting Vy off from whatever she wanted to continue with, and Musashi watched in abject horror as the Master attempted to compose herself with a shaky hand wiping at her eyes. "I-I don't want to give up, Shii-chan. But there's… there's some times where it feels like I want to, in spite of all that."

Ever since Shimosa? Musashi thought wryly to herself. Even before I met you? How long have you been handling this on your own, Master?

"Vy," left her mouth in a dull voice, barely making the Master twitch as Musashi finally got enough willpower in her arms to reach over and wrap them around the younger woman's shoulders in a half-hearted hug, taking care to avoid the handles of her swords along the way. It was the least she could do after hearing that. After realizing how much Olympus lingered too. "There's nothing wrong with feeling like that."

"But I can't feel that way," Vy sobbed, shaking her head while trying to lean back, almost as if she was shying away from Musashi's touch as her shoulders continued to tremble. "I-I can't give up. I can't do that to you, to B-Big Robin, to Art-san, to Achi, to Mash, to Da Vinci-chan, to…" Her fingers weakly clutched at her face, hiding it away from Musashi's view as a shaky hiccup punctuated the words. "To D-Dr. Roman… Not when you all saved me…"

Musashi froze.

You were told once you didn't deserve to live, and now you're trying to prove those words wrong even when it hurts?

"But I…" Vy's breath hitched on another sob, her fingernails looming so, so close to clawing at her own face from all the stress as she shook her head again. "I'm losing track of where I am, Shii-chan. And I… I don't know where I am anymore. I don't know what to do or feel anymore, when everyone smiles and calls me 'Master' like I mean something."

Like I deserve to live. The Crypters seem to keep thinking I don't. So why would you see me as someone worth sacrificing your life for?

"I don't even know if… if Mommy and Daddy would still love me when I have blood on my hands, Shii-chan," was the last, weak remark Vy had on the subject, her palms coming back wet once she let them fall from her face with the inevitable exhaustion that came with all the tears and snot. "So why… why would you even stay with me and ask if I'm okay?"

Musashi could feel the lump surface once again in her throat as she held Vy close in spite of the younger woman's trembling, her own lips shaking as she pried them open from the dry line they had formed in the face of Vy's outburst. No wonder Vy's close-knit Grailed were always so concerned about their Master. Why Saber, Archer, and Rider didn't want Musashi to act so recklessly with her own life back in Olympus.

In spite of Vy's strength, in spite of all her accomplishments, the crying girl in front of her was still a crying, lonely girl who had been dealt a cruel hand by the world of Proper Human History in trying to preserve itself. Any healthy attachments she could make were cherished to the point of Vy never being able to forget about them, even when she was hurting and needing a helping hand from them.

"I… I can't speak for the other Heroic Spirits you've contracted with or the rest of Chaldea, Mast — Vy," Musashi corrected herself hastily, taking as much strength she had left to hug the crying girl to her chest while hiding the heavy hitch in her voice. "But in my case, the moments we've had together make staying all worth it. Eating udon, fighting side by side with you. I enjoyed all of it. And I asked if you're okay because I wanted to."

Wetness started to spread along the collar of Musashi's kimono in lieu of a response, but Musashi ignored it in favor of tucking Vy into a firmer hug, shaking her head. Vy was beyond words at the moment, it seemed. Understandably so.

"You're allowed to cry, Vy. You're allowed to question things, to be frustrated, to be scared. There's nothing wrong with that and I won't think any less of you." Musashi hesitated, internally mulling the words over before admitting in a softer voice, "And if my hunch is right, no one in Chaldea expects you to do everything, Vy. I don't expect that either. You don't have to prove yourself to me. There's nothing to prove to me."

I'm sorry my sacrifice made you think you had to be up to a standard just to warrant my protection.

A soft protesting "Muuu" was left muffled in Musashi's chest as Vy shook her head, ruffling her hair and making it look disheveled in Musashi's arms. "I—" A hiccup stopped Vy from finishing her sentence, leaving the younger woman fumbling with where to put her hands as they weakly clenched at Musashi's sleeves. "Shii-chan…"

"Shhh," Musashi whispered, rubbing a comforting line into Vy's shoulder blades. "It's okay. You're okay, Vy. Just let me finish, please?"

It took a while, no thanks to the tears and continuing trembles of Vy's figure, but Musashi eventually saw a slow jerk of Vy's head up and down. That was good enough.

"The Buddha never demanded perfection of anyone, Vy, not even himself," Musashi continued, gentle as she could afford to be in spite of the horror still lingering inside her mind at feeling the petite Master's shaking as more sobs racked her figure. "And if the Buddha you grew up with was the same one I studied under, he would only ask that we try our best. And in my eyes, you have done your best. Trying to achieve more than that will merely burn you out and add excess karma to your life that you don't need. The path to enlightenment asks us to let go of suffering, not hold onto it."

Instead of another verbal answer, all Musashi heard was a weaker, "Uuu," as more tears started to soak Musashi's kimono collar. So much weight still piled onto Vy's small shoulders, and Musashi allowed herself a tiny sigh.

"…I've seen a lot of things in my journey to the pinnacle of nothingness, Master," Musashi confessed, raising one hand to place it on the back of Vy's hair, smoothing out some tangles there. "And if there's one thing I can take away from it, you don't have to take on the burden alone like I did. There's nothing asking you to be 'good enough' for everyone. All you can be is just you. And what do the enemies know? They never saw you cry like this — care for your Servants like they mean something to you. How could they, when they never saw your journey through like the Servants here?"

Vy hiccuped weakly into Musashi's chest, muffling her cries in her kimono as she refused to look up at the Saber.

"I don't know what choice is truly right for you, Vy. That's a call you're going to have to make for you when the time comes," Musashi said, continuing to stroke Vy's hair while holding her close. "And no matter what it is, what you do, I'll stand by you. And I'm sure the other Servants, even Da Vinci and Mash, would feel the same."

It took a moment for Musashi to hear the frail, "Why?" from her trembling Master, and Musashi put on her best smile once Vy was raising her head to look her in the eye. Puffy red cheeks, moisture still clinging to Vy's eyelashes, but still so, so confused. So innocent. So kind, in the end. Even when Musashi hesitated, Vy still looked at her like she was real, didn't she?

"Humanity turned its back on me, Vy," Musashi whispered, leaning in to press an apologetic kiss to the top of Vy's forehead. "But you never did. You saw me as a friend, someone worth caring about, and even if there's blood on your hands now, it's the same for all of us. And I'm sure that no matter what happens, your family will be as proud of you as I am. As everyone else probably is, too. You survived, after all. You ran forward and still decided to look back because you cared." Once those brown eyes widened enough to expose Musashi's reflection, the Saber grinned wryly. "I still love you just like I did when we first met back in Onigashima. And you made all that effort to summon me again from the Void — I'm not going to leave you now, my little riceball."

I owe you that much, after all. No, maybe more than that. You deserve more than what you give yourself, Master.

Musashi didn't know where the nickname came from. Maybe it was a variation on Robin's famous "little sparrow", or maybe it stemmed from a desire just to see a smile on Vy's face again. But the name still had its intended effect of temporarily stalling the flow of tears on Vy's cheeks, a soft gasp echoing between them before Vy's lips parted and closed, trembling again from unspoken emotion. "Sh-Shii-chan…" One new droplet hit the right lens of Vy's glasses. "Shii-chan…!"

"Aw. C'mere, little riceball," Musashi cooed, pulling Vy back in for another hug. "Despite everything, you're still my cute riceball. And I'm glad you're still you. So take the time you need to cry it all out, okay? Get the salt out of you before it starts to hurt."

A single, high-pitched wail echoed in the room as Vy shakily wound her arms around Musashi's waist, more tears starting to come between them as Musashi gently swayed in place, humming notes of a lullaby she could barely remember under her breath.

"I'm not leaving you this time, little riceball," Musashi whispered into Vy's hair, keenly aware of the ongoing hiccups preventing the younger woman from responding. "I made that mistake twice before. Not this time."

Never again.

Once Vy had cried out enough to fall asleep for her daily nap, Musashi forced herself to let go of her Master's hand. Her kimono was wet, her arms were still shaking, and there were things that needed to be said to other people. So, with a heavy heart, Musashi walked out of Vy's room, whispering quietly, "Sleep well, little riceball, I'll be back soon," along the way before the door closed to leave Vy alone.

As Musashi stepped back out into the world of Novum Chaldea, she inhaled a breath once she caught a hint of orange, blue, and green out of the corner of her eye. "…I owe you three an apology too, I believe," left her mouth in a quiet whisper.

Arturia was the one to step forward first from her place sitting at one of the many benches populating Novum Chaldea's hallways, crossing her arms over her chest as Achilles lounged behind her, feet extended in what would've been a carefree gesture if not for how tense his shoulders looked through his armor. "For?" the King of Knights said tersely.

"For Olympus," Musashi confessed, absently resting a hand on one of her swords as she shook her head. "For not upholding the promise you three wanted me to make for Vy's sake." She turned her head to look at the green Archer who was choosing to still keep his hood up in front of her from his place leaning against the wall opposite from Arturia, shrugging weakly. "I can see why you were so adamant on me not sacrificing myself now."

Especially when it hurt her this much.

"…As long as you understand," Robin replied with an audible rasp, one of his arms underneath his mantle visibly twitching for what looked like a cigarette or a stalk of mint. Neither item was truly beyond him. "The path we've chosen isn't easy, but our little sparrow's suffered enough. At least you know how to pick up some of the pieces like how we've been doing for all this time."

Musashi gulped, closing her eyes for a semblance of composure before opening them again to glance between the three Grailed Servants. "…You knew this would happen?"

"It's why we tried to stop you, Musashi," Achilles interrupted, speaking for Robin while crossing his legs in his seat. "You weren't there when our Princess came back from Shimosa, desperately looking for you. You didn't get to see her immediate reaction to coming back to Novum Chaldea after you disappeared. And believe me," Achilles made an exaggerated yet still stressed exhale through his mouth, blowing at some strands of green hair while shaking his head. "It wasn't exactly pretty."

Musashi could feel the guilt start to weigh down her shoulders as she let her smile fall for a resigned sigh. "Okay then," she admitted quietly, looking at them all with exasperated eyes. "What do I owe you three?"

"Another udon-eating competition," Arturia put in with a serious face, making Musashi lurch back in surprise. "I already talked with Shirou about it."

Huh?

"Some time helping me farm QP for the Princess," Achilles added with an exaggerated roll of his eyes, contrasting the light smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "We're running low again."

Wait, really? Musashi glanced at the other Servant who hadn't spoken up since his initial comment, and Robin gave her a tired glance in return. "What about you, Archer Green?"

With a tiny huff, the last thing Musashi expected was to see Robin reach up to his hood, taking it off to reveal bushy hair and an equally dry smile. "Stop calling me 'Archer Green' and just stick with 'Robin,'" he said with a quirk at the edges of his mouth, shaking his head. "And definitely stick around for the little sparrow. She'll need all the help she can get." Then Robin extended a single hand.

An olive branch. An offering to let the past lie.

Just like back in Olympus.

"Deal?" Robin said quietly.

Musashi carefully noted the silver ring sitting on Robin's middle finger as something to keep in mind for next time and nodded, extending her own hand to grip his in a firm handshake. "As long as you make the little riceball happy with your love, Robin, it's a deal."

Even if Novum Chaldea wasn't the pinnacle of nothingness, Musashi at least had something to look forward to again.

Note: For all the emotion? This was written to process the feelings I have towards my paternal grandfather, who as of this chapter's posting (5/9/2022), is slowly approaching the natural end of his life at near 90 years of age from kidney failure. He was predicted to have only 6 months left back in October 2021, but he's still trying to do what he can and I'm so relieved but also saddened by it because I know losing him will affect my family more than losing Di Thuy.

More so when it's someone that I grew up with.

Be Vy loves you, Ong Ngoai. I still hope to see you in June for my cousin's wedding, but if not, I'll always love you and honor your spirit as best as I can.

Otherwise, I'll see you all next time.