Rin had spent the most of the afternoon trying to sort out the cascade of feelings that where washing over her. The last few days had been nothing short of a catastrophe. With Elena Manadek on their doorsteps and now being accosted by literal phantoms from the past. It had all become somewhat too much for the young Magus.

Angrily throwing the papers on her desk to the ground. On it scribbled multiple things ranging from theories about what she thought Elena was really after, too old memories as a child she had of Mr. Nathaniel Lawrence, which where very few and far in-between.

She had no answers to any of these and it was driving her up the wall.

And although all this her thoughts returned back to Shirou Emiya. It was always that boy that made all her carefully laid plans go up in smoke. He and his innate drive to save everyone that she hated yet found strangely attractive. These where feelings she pushed down. Her station as a Magus couldn't allow for things such as romance to complicate things. Yet every time she saw him smile she melted inside. Her tough exterior that she had for years tried to build up was no match for his endless charisma and good natured personality.

Rin had tried to deny it to the world, to herself. But there was no point in doing so anymore.

"I'm in love with Shirou Emiya" she said quietly.

Finally hearing herself say those words out loud, not just in her head. She ran out of her room, grabbing her red coat and ran out the door in under a minute. She needed to see him, she needed him to know.

Shirou had offered to make dinner for tonight. After the revelation he had just been hit with he figured he needed all this to take his mind off of everything.

"I have a sister" he mumbled to himself.

The feeling wasn't new to him. In the time that Illya had been living with him he had already begun to see her as something of a little sister. And Illya's insistence on calling him "big brother" had helped with that and now it turns out it was actually true.

Even Taiga felt somewhat uplifted by it all. Clearly she had never known Kiritsugu had a daughter but his unexplained absences from time to time where seemingly put into perspective with this new information she got from Illya.

As Shirou was cutting the onions, wiping away the tears in his eyes, he heard the doorbell ring. And it was ringing multiple times.

Leaving his station at the kitchen he walked through the hallway towards the door and slid it open. He was slightly surprised by what he saw.

It was Elena. Seemingly out of breath, looking like she had been crying. Dressed in a long white puffy winter coat.

"Hello Shirou…" she mumbled almost so softly that he could barely hear her.

"Elena? What happened?" he asked worriedly, stepping outside to greet her.

"I…I had a fight with my dad" she simply responded, wiping away the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Look I'm sorry…I messed up but I just can't stand by what he said."

"It's okay Shirou I don't blame you. I'm the one who should be sorry. I should've never let you meet him. But this way at least you saw what he is like. How his hatred has consumed him. Why I came to you in the first place. He won't stop Shirou….he won't stop."

"Then we have to stop him. He can't be allowed to go through with this" Shirou said.

Elena nodded in agreement "that's why I came back here. Even if it's against his wishes. We need to find that sword before he does. And I think only you can do so. So again I ask you to help me, especially now when the situation is more dire than ever."

Shirou placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled "of course I'll help."

Elena returned the gesture with a warm smile and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Shirou, much to his surprise. And in this moment as her arms closed around him he was she couldn't see his incredibly red face.

Her embrace felt warm and welcome. He felt all his muscles relax and his worrying thoughts dissipate. It felt like the night Saber was holding him after their encounter with Gilgamesh. It was like fate was again trying to tell him something.

Elena let go of him and looked at him, her hands on his shoulders and looking directly into his eyes.

"You know," she said as she blushed "we're kind of like Romeo and Juliet right now. Forbidden to see each other by my father. It's kind of fitting don't you think…"

Shirou was at a loss for words, truly and fully he didn't know how to respond to her. Instead he just got lost into her eyes as she moved her hand from his shoulder to his face and caressed it gently. She then leaned forward and so did he.

Rin was running as fast as she could. Ignoring the cold winds brushing against her face as she made her way towards the Emiya residence. As she turned the corner towards the entrance suddenly she felt her whole world come to a grinding halt.

There on the steps of the front door she could only stare as she stumbled upon the sight of Shirou and Elena embraced in a passionate kiss. Oblivious to her presence there, so lost in each other.

But for Rin she felt her entire world now crumbling apart. She was frozen in place, unable to move and could only stare.

"No…this can't be…." Was repeating over and over in her head.

It seemed like an eternity before Shirou and Elena's kiss broke but when it did they turned around and saw her standing.

"Tohsaka. What are you doing here?" Shirou asked nervously, clearly embarrassed.

A torrent of emotions overtook Rin and she started to cry. She didn't even attempt to hide the tears streaming down her cheeks. Instead she just shouted.

"YOU JERK! HOW COULD YOU!"

And then she turned heel and ran off before either of them could respond to her. The cold winds blowing the tears from her cheeks as she ran as far as she could.