Old Memories

March 14th, 2015

"I can't believe it's only been a few days since then." Artoria said with a small smile. A week had passed since her…..training mishap with Kojiro, and the fact that they had to fix the entire training room themselves. Because of that, the training room had a new rule; Servants cannot use their own weapons in the room unless given permission by the Masters, Davinci or Roman. Instead, they would have to use the wooden training weapons provided by Chaldea.

Artoria walked towards one of the walls and found a basket filled with wooden practice swords. She took one from its resting place and examined it thoroughly. After giving it a few swings, Artoria exhaled sharply. While she had no problem with the new rule, she couldn't help but feel slightly off with using the wooden sword in her hands. She was afraid that with every swing, she'd break it in half. There was definitely an upside, however, in that this also allowed her to not accidentally destroy anything else.

Artoria shivered. Fixing the room alone was a nightmare, and she'd rather not go through that again. She looked at the wooden sword again and smiled, as memories flooded her mind of a certain red haired boy, and how she helped him practice with his swordsmanship. Her smile faded as she remembered all the hardships they went through, from almost dying to Heracles, to their final battle with the King of Heroes, to their promise to find each other in Avalon, and now it would seem it might not come true here. Sure, the boy was here…. in a way, but she had no idea how to approach Emiya about all this. Does he even HAVE those memories? If so, then why hasn't he said anything? If not, then maybe it would be best to-

"Well well, look who we have here?"

Artoria turned around and saw Cú standing by the entrance of the training room. "Are you gonna wreck the room again?"

Artoria shook her head. "Not this time, I learned my lesson the hard way."

Cú chuckled. "Yeah, that was pretty hilarious."

Artoria flashed an unamused glance. "Do you need something, or are you only here to pester me?"

Cú raised a hand in reassurance. "Nah, I'm actually here to get some training in myself."

"Is that so?"

Cú nodded. "Yeah, is that going to be a problem?"

"No, the training room is certainly big enough." Artoria answered.

"Thanks, I've been dying to try this place out!"

Cú walked into the training hall as Artoria continued her practice swings. The Lancer looked around and saw the different bins filled with wooden weapons lined up on opposite sides of the walls and stopped by one of the bins that held the wooden spears, and picked one up. After getting a feel of the practice weapon, he twirled it around for a moment before he began practicing in earnest.

Artoria heard him swinging his weapon and glanced at his direction. The Saber said nothing as she watched the Lancer lunged, thrusted and swung the training weapon masterfully. Every movement he made, she remembered very well from their first battle.

"You really haven't changed." She muttered.

"Did you say something?" Cú asked.

Artoria shook her head. "It's not important."

Cú shrugged. He went back to practicing his forms, but hearing Artoria practice made him want to work harder. He couldn't help but be reminded of their first fight, and how he had to retreat. The thought didn't gnaw at him, but for some reason he was itching to fight her again, and settle their tie.

"Can I ask you something Cú?" Artoria asked as she continued her practice swings. "That speech Ritsuka gave last week, about letting go of old grudges and bond with one another, what did you make of it?"

Cú didn't bother to look at her as he practiced his lunges. "It sounded pretty straight forward enough."

"But have you even bothered to give it a shot?"

Cú stopped his lunges and turned to face her. The Lancer smirked, causing Artoria to stop her swings. "What's so amusing?"

"It just so happens that I AM giving it a go." Cú answered.

Artoria raised an eyebrow. "Oh really now?"

Cú nodded. "I've had a few drinks with that Kojiro guy, and I've been hanging out with Heracles on occasion."

Hanging out with Heracles? Artoria couldn't help but be curious. "And what, pray tell, do you do with our illustrious Berserker?"

Cú chuckled. "Well I just talk to him."

Artoria flashed an amused grin. "You talk to him?"

"Yep! Though he's not really much of a conversationalist, so it's more or less me doing the talking."

Artoria chuckled. "Well no surprise there."

"And what about you?" Cú asked. "Have you been taking that advice to heart?"

Artoria exhaled. "Well aside from the two Masters and Mashu, I'm getting along fine with Kojiro, and Emiya's been…helpful, but….."

"But what?"

Artoria sighed. "I'm…..trying to figure out how to bond with the others."

Cú raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Oh? Can't get rid of old grudges?"

Artoria shook her head. "No, it's not like that….well….maybe for one or two Servants, but that's neither here nor there."

"Then what is it?" Cú asked.

Artoria looked around bashfully before returning her gaze back at the Lancer. "This will stay just between us, understand?"

Cú nodded. "I won't tell a soul."

Artoria took a deep breath. "I….never really socialized with people much before."

Cú raised an eyebrow. "Really? From what I heard from Emiya, you didn't seem to have a problem with him or that Rin girl."

Artoria shook her head. "That was only because of Shirou helping me. This has been a problem of mine ever since I was a king."

Cú stared at the Saber with a calm expression. "Go on."

"I always distanced myself from my knights, and my people." Artoria answered. "I thought it was best to rule without any emotions at all. But now that I realized my mistake, I'm trying to correct it. However, it seems that I just….don't know how to actually talk to people."

"Well, why not just go up to them?" Cú asked.

Artoria raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"

"Well, if you're trying to bond with the others now, why not just go up to them and ask to chat?"

Artoria looked at the Lancer in disbelief. "Do you REALLY think it's that easy?"

Cú nodded. "You said that you're doing fine with Kojiro and Emiya right? Why not do what you do with them, and do it with say…Medusa?"

"Medusa?"

"Yeah, she doesn't seem to hold anything against you, so she seems to be the perfect target."

"I don't know…I heard from Emiya she fought against a corrupted version of me in one timeline."

Cú sighed. "You're overthinking it."

"Perhaps. All I know is that I don't even know where to begin."

"Then why not ask Emiya?"

Artoria flinched. "Asking….Emiya…."

Cú raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

Artoria simply sighed. "You could say that."

"I thought you said you two were getting along."

Artoria nodded. "We are, but…."

"But what?" Cú asked curiously.

Artoria exhaled. "There are some things I want to talk to him about, but it's very personal to us, so I can't really say anything."

"Ah, I think I know what you mean." Cú replied. The Lancer saw the conflicted look on her face and sighed. He knew he couldn't help her with a personal problem like that, but he didn't like seeing her sulk either. He looked at his wooden spear, then back to Artoria. A small smile crept upon his lips, he knew exactly what to do. If he couldn't help her with her problems, He would have to take her mind off it instead.

"Hey, how about a little sparring session?" He asked.

Artoria looked at him curiously. "But these training weapons could-"

"Don't worry about it, Davinci asked me to enforce these things with runes the day after you and Kojiro trashed the place." Cú chimed. "They won't be breaking anytime soon, so let's just have a little spar to help get you out of your funk."

Artoria stared at him wide eyed for a moment, before a small, confident smile formed across her face. "Very well, I accept your challenge."

"That's the spirit!" Cú shouted. The two Servants faced each other and readied their training weapons.

Artoria was the first one to make a move, and lunged at the Lancer. Cú grinned as he blocked her first strike, and tried to sweep her legs, but Artoria jumped out of the way before charging at him again. The only sounds that could be heard was the sound of wooden weapons smacking against each other as the two Servants sparred to their heart's content.

"Damn, that girl still packs a wallop." Cú groaned as he walked through the halls. Once again, he and Artoria ended in a draw, but on the bright side, the training room wasn't ruined this time. He didn't really care about that though. He just hoped that their little spar managed to distract the blonde Saber from her problems for a while.

"Hey Cú!"

The Lancer waved as Tatsuko walked up to him. "Hey Tatsuko, do you need something?"

"Actually yes." The female Master answered. "You see, Roman told me that he managed to record our journey in Singularity F."

Cú raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"Sooooo, I was wondering if you'd like to watch it." Tatsuko answered. "You know, so you can see how awesome you were."

Cú shook his head. "I'm gonna have to pass on that one kid. I'm not really interested in what the other me did."

"I see…"

Cú exhaled sharply. He could understand why the two Masters and Mashu would want to owe him, but he didn't want them to treat him like the one they met. It just didn't sit well with him, but it doesn't mean he wants to be distant from the kids either.

"Hey Tatsuko, listen." He said calmly. "Just because I'm not the same guy you met in Fuyuki doesn't mean that we can't build a new working relationship from scratch, so how about we do something else, and try to get to know each other better that way?"

Tatsuko's eyes widened. The female Master nodded and smiled. "Okay then, I have an idea. Ritsuka, Mashu and I are going to watch a movie in a few hours, so how about you join us?"

"Shouldn't that be something you three do alone together?"

Tatsuko shook her head. "Nope, the three of us agreed that if we get the opportunity, we should ask some of the Servants to watch it with us."

Cú grinned in amusement. "Ah, so a bonding exercise for everyone eh?"

Tatsuko laughed. "No, we just don't want to make you guys feel left out."

Cú stared at her in curiosity. She and Ritsuka were definitely interesting as Masters go, wanting to bond with their Servants like this. The Lancer couldn't complain though, it was definitely better than how mages usually treated Heroic Spirits, that's for sure. And the offer WAS definitely intriguing….

"Okay, count me in." Cú answered.

"Awesome!" Tatsuko exclaimed. "See you later tonight!"

Cú chuckled as the female Master ran past him to wherever she was going. The moment she was out of sight, Cú's grin faded. He knew that Tatsuko was a good person, but he couldn't help but feel like something was off about her. The Lancer shook his head and exhaled, whatever's the matter, it wasn't really important enough to worry him. He was about to turn at the corner when he felt a presence.

"I'm surprised you took her offer."

Cú clicked his tongue in annoyance. He turned around and saw Emiya standing by the wall.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing." Emiya answered. "I was just on my way to talk to Ritsuka about something I heard recently, when I stumbled upon you and Tatsuko."

"So you were eavesdropping?" Cú asked.

"I wouldn't go that far." Emiya replied.

"Then what would you call it?"

Emiya chuckled. "Just idle curiosity, nothing more."

Cú clicked his tongue. "You really know what to say to get under my skin, you know that?"

"I could say the same about you." Emiya retorted. "But Ritsuka was right, we need to find a way to work together in order to better handle whatever's out there, so let's just set aside whatever beef we have until then."

Cú sighed. "No argument there."

"Which is why I have something to tell you."

Cú raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?"

Emiya stepped away from the wall and faced Cú with a calm expression. "If I remember correctly, you hated Kotomine right?"

Cú looked at the Archer with an annoyed look. "Yeah, so what?"

Emiya smirked. "What if I told you that in one of the three timelines, YOU were the one who killed him?"

Cú's eyes widened as a smug grin formed upon his face. "Now THAT is something I'd love to hear about."

Emiya chuckled. "I'll tell you more about it sometime. For now, let's just say you managed to take him with you before you kicked the bucket."

Cú laughed. "Well, as long as I took the bastard down, I'm fine with dying."

"I had a feeling you'd enjoy hearing that." Emiya replied.

"Damn straight." Cú's face softened slightly but his grin did not fade. "Just for telling me, I owe you a drink."

"I can definitely work with that." Emiya answered. "Say, have you seen Artoria today?"

Cú raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, we were sparring together not long ago. Why?"

"I see." Emiya exhaled sharply. "Sorry, it's just that I've been meaning to talk to her about something, but I don't know how to go about it."

Cú shrugged. "Can't help you there."

"I wasn't asking." Emiya countered. "I was just wondering if she's been having any problems."

Cú shrugged. "If she is, it's not my place to say. If you want to know, then ask her."

Emiya sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right about that."

Cú said nothing. He knew what was bothering her, but he wanted the Archer to figure it out himself. With any luck, things between the two will improve. Emiya looked at Cú with a suspicious gaze.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Emiya asked.

Cú shrugged. "No clue."

"Well, if that's all, I still have to see Ritsuka." Emiya replied.

"Don't let me stop you." Cú said calmly. The Archer nodded and walked passed the Lancer. Cú looked to stare at Emiya as he walked away and chuckled.

"I still can't believe that he's the red haired brat I almost killed back then."

Emiya turned the corner and exhaled. "Well that went better than expected."

The white haired Archer finally stopped at the door to Ritsuka's room and gave it a knock.

"Coming."

Emiya heard footsteps coming closer and waved his hand at Ritsuka when opened the door.

"Oh hi Emiya, can I help you with something?" Ritsuka asked.

"Actually I was hoping we could talk about something I heard recently." Emiya answered.

"Okay, well come on in."

Emiya walked into the room and took note of how simple it looked. It was decided early on by Roman and Davinci that Ritsuka and Tatsuko would have extra chairs in their rooms in case any Servant needed to talk to them, or in case they just wanted to hang out. But aside from that new feature, the male Master didn't really decorate the room much, considering he really only brought some clothes with him and what looked like a rolled up piece of paper. Ritsuka walked passed him and sat down at his desk.

"If you want you can have a seat on the chair over there." Ritsuka said as he pointed to one of the chairs near his bed.

Emiya shook his head. "No thanks, but I appreciate the offer."

"You know there's a movie being-"

"I already overheard Tatsuko inviting Cú to watch it." Emiya answered.

"Oh, well do you want to watch with us?" Ritsuka asked.

Emiya shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"Okay, sounds like a plan." Ritsuka replied. "Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well a little bird told me that the Singularity you went into was in your hometown, is that right?"

Ritsuka nodded. "Why? Did you know someone in Fuyuki?"

"I knew a lot of people in that city." Emiya answered with a grin. "In fact, that's something we have in common; we both share a hometown."

Ritsuka's eyes widened in realization. "You're from Fuyuki too?!"

Emiya nodded. "Born and raised. But not the one in this timeline."

"How come no one said anything about that?" Ritsuka asked.

Emiya shrugged. "I guess we've been so preoccupied in getting this place fixed up we just didn't notice."

Ritsuka winced. "Yeah, that could be it…."

"Hey, I'm sorry that you had to see our home in flames like that." Emiya replied. "It must have been rough."

Ritsuka said nothing, which surprised the Archer. He expected Ritsuka to say something about it, but he was silent. But it didn't remain that way for long when the male Master took a deep breath and smiled. "Where in Fuyuki were you from?"

Emiya was a little surprised by the question, but smiled after a few moments. Maybe he could learn something from the male Master if he played along. "It might be better if I showed you, but I don't have anything that could help with that."

Ritsuka chuckled. "It just so happens that I do."

The male Master got up from his seat and grabbed the rolled up piece of paper from its resting place. He put it on the desk and beckoned the Archer to get closer. The white haired Servant raised an eyebrow until he looked at the unfurled paper before him. It was a map of Fuyuki.

"Well I'll be damned." Emiya said with a chuckle.

"I decided to bring the map with me just in case people wanted to see what it looked like." Ritsuka answered.

"Not a bad idea." Emiya chimed.

"So, you think you can find your home with this?" Ritsuka asked.

Emiya smirked as he pointed at his house. "Right over here. It's on the same side as Ryuudo Temple but closer to the shopping district."

"Huh, I lived on the opposite side of the bridge."

"Really? Show me."

Ritsuka looked at him hesitantly for a moment. "Promise you won't freak out?"

Emiya raised an eyebrow in curiosity before giving the boy a quick nod. "I won't."

Ritsuka took a deep breath, and pointed at where he lived. The moment Emiya looked at where the finger lay, his eyes widened in horror.

"You can't be serious." Emiya muttered. "You lived THERE of all places?"

"So you know about it too?" Ritsuka asked worriedly.

Emiya gave a small nod. "Yeah, you tend to hear things about that district. Even the Fujimura Group refused to go there."

"Actually they used to." Ritsuka answered. "From what I heard, they used to run the place in the 80's, but when the economy burst, they had to cut their losses and pull out of there."

Emiya raised an eyebrow. "I know, but I always found it strange why they never went back to claim it."

Ritsuka shook his head. "I heard that they tried in 1995, but by then it was already too late. The district was practically a lost cause, so they had to give up, was that not the same for you?"

Emiya shook his head. "No, they never even bothered to try. They just gave it up after the bubble burst and left it alone."

"I see….."

Emiya looked at the map and back to Ritsuka with concern. "Just how did you manage to survive there?"

"It's all because of Doc." Ritsuka answered. "She's one of the only few good doctors there, and I lived under her roof."

"So?" Emiya asked. "What does that have to do with survival?"

Ritsuka exhaled. "Well if I didn't have that, I'd probably be dead in the streets by now. She might have been….well, distant, but it's because of her I survived this long."

"Did you ever go out?"

"Occasionally, but we usually stayed inside the clinic." Ritsuka answered. A lot of people needed her help, and I occasionally helped her to keep things running."

"So you never really got an education then?"

Ritsuka smiled softly. "In our down time, Doc would teach me world history, Japanese history, math, how to read, write, how to speak english and japanese, if she knew something, she would teach me."

Emiya raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so it sounds like you DID get an education. But how did she know all that?"

Ritsuka scratched the back of his head. "I never asked. I just listened to what she taught me, and that's how I learned."

"Seems like she was a good teacher."

Ritsuka shrugged. "I guess."

Emiya took note of the answer, but decided not to press further. It was clear that Ritsuka wasn't in the mood to talk more about it, and he didn't want to make the male Master any more uncomfortable than he already was.

"I think we've talked more than enough about this." Emiya said. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

Ritsuka shook his head. "It's fine Emiya. I'm actually glad we talked about this."

Emiya raised an eyebrow. "You are?"

Ritsuka nodded. "Yeah, it's good to know I have someone from the same hometown I can talk to every now and then."

Emiya stared at him in surprise, only to smile. "Yeah, same here. Anyway I have to return to the kitchen, but I'll definitely come by later for that movie."

Ritsuka grinned. "Well, I'll see you later."

Emiya nodded and walked out of the room, not even bothering to look back as the door closed behind him.

(A couple of hours later)

Emiya stretched his arms as he finished cleaning up his cooking area. It was fortunate for him that all the kitchen staff weren't caught in the bombing in Chaldea, so he didn't have to worry about cleaning the entire place, but he always had to be prepared. There was no telling when-

"Ah, there you are Shirou."

It would seem not long at all. Emiya rolled his eyes as he saw Artoria walk towards the opening separating the kitchen and the rest of the cafeteria. The Saber put her hands on the counter with a calm expression.

"How can I help you Artoria?" Emiya asked. "If you want food, I hate to say it, but I can't-"

"Actually, I'm not here for that."

Emiya stared at her in shock. "You? Not hungry? Well this IS a surprise."

"Its not funny."

Emiya raised an eyebrow and saw the conflicted look in Artoria's eyes. There was definitely something bothering her. "Are you okay?"

"I was hoping I could talk to you." Artoria answered.

"I see, well it just so happens that I've been wanting to speak to you about something as well." Emiya replied. "But you go first."

Artoria jumped up slightly with a small blush. "Me?"

Emiya nodded. "Ladies first as they say."

Artoria flashed an unamused glance at the chuckling Archer before taking a deep breath. She calmed her nerves and stared at Emiya with a neutral expression.

"You said that you remember three timelines where the Fifth Holy Grail War took place right?"

Emiya nodded. "I do."

"Then….do you only have the memories of your Servant self? Or do you have….his memories as well?"

Emiya closed his eyes and sighed. He suspected that this would happen, but he didn't know how to tell her. If he told her the truth, then it would definitely hurt, but he didn't want to lie either. He exhaled sharply, and looked at the Saber calmly.

"I'm sorry Artoria, I don't have HIS memories." He said. "Just from when I was a Servant."

Artoria looked at him for a moment and sighed. "I see, thank you for telling me."

Emiya walked up to the Saber and leaned onto the counter top with a reassuring smile. "Listen Artoria, just because I don't have those memories, it doesn't mean I want us to be complete strangers either."

Artoria looked at him in slight surprise. "You don't?"

Emiya shook his head. "If I wanted to distance myself from you, I wouldn't be feeding you all the time."

Artoria flashed an amused grin. "I guess you have a point. But still, I don't know what to call you then, should I just call you Emiya, or-"

"Don't worry, you can still call me Shirou if it makes you comfortable."

Artoria's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

Emiya nodded. "If anyone else called me that, I'd be pretty annoyed. But if it's you, I'll make an exception."

Artoria looked at the Archer, and a small smile formed across her face. "Thank you, Shirou."

"Anytime Artoria." Emiya replied.

"Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?" Artoria asked.

Emiya looked around before leaning in close. "You didn't raid the pantry last night, did you?"

Artoria blushed furiously. "No I did not!"

"Are you sure?" Emiya asked. "Because the kitchen staff and I did an inventory check and we're missing some ingredients."

"Well it wasn't me." Artoria answered.

"Okay okay, I believe you." Emiya replied. The white haired Archer scratched the back of his head. "I'm going to have to ask around more to see if anyone saw anything."

"Well now, look what we have here."

The two Servants turned around and saw Cú walking towards them with a smug grin. The Lancer stopped by one of the tables and sat on top of it. "Finally talked things out, have we?"

"You could say that." Emiya answered. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just wondering if you remembered what was going to happen in a couple of minutes." Cú answered. "You DO remember right?"

Emiya nodded and turned to face Artoria. "The Masters are inviting people to-"

"Watch a film, I know." Artoria answered. "Mashu invited me earlier."

"Well, looks like I don't have to explain." Emiya said with an amused grin. "Alright, let's get going."