The beeping of the heart monitor was echoing throughout the hospital room as the early morning sun made its presence known.

Rin, Shirou and Illya stood right next to the hospital bed that was filled by the unconscious and unresponsive but alive Sakura. After her collapse on the steps of the Emiya residence. Shirou had quickly ran outside as he heard Rin scream and carried Sakura on his back to the hospital with Rin and Illya close behind them. They managed to get there and hadn't left the entire night.

The doctor on call stood on the other side of her bed, reading the chart.

"In all my years as a doctor I've never seen anything like this. This young lady here is truly a miracle" he said.

"What's going on with her?" Shirou asked.

The doctor placed the chart on the desk and said "well from as far as we can see she has lost a lot of blood. And I see some slight bruising on her wrists like she's been tightly restrained in some way. Again it's a miracle she's still walking because of the amount of blood she has lost."

"Will she be alright?" Illya asked.

The doctor got a nervous look on his face "we can't say yet. She's stable for now but we'll have to keep her here for a bit to be certain. I'm sorry I cannot do much else for you all at the moment."

"That's okay doctor thank you" Shirou said thankfully.

The doctor left the room, leaving her alone with Sakura. Shirou could see on Rin's face the sadness hidden behind the stoicism. He never knew she cared for Sakura so much. He wanted to tell her it was going to be alright, but knowing what he knew now and how she felt about him…how would she react.

"Shirou! There you are?" a familiar voice called.

The group looked up to see Elena coming into the room. "What happened. I just heard a while back that…"

Her words by smothered by a sudden surprise from Rin who had bolted up and ran over to Elena, grabbing her by the collar and pushing her into the nearby wall.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER! I KNOW YOU AND YOUR DERANGED DAD ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!" she yelled at them.

Shirou immediately ran up and pulled Rin off of Elena as the young woman gasped for air after the sudden surprise attack. Rin did put up a fight though against Shirou's tight hold.

"LET GO OF ME! I KNOW SHE'S RESPONSIBLE!"

"Oh calm down!" Elena interjected with a voice full of annoyance "I am not responsible for what happened to her nor my father I was with him all night. I get that your upset but don't take it out on me."

Shirou kept holding onto Rin "calm down Tohsaka please. I saw her leave with her dad it all checks out. She's not responsible she couldn't be."

He felt Rin's resistance falter and finally felt safe enough to let her go and so he did. Rin still looked very much like she was ready to kill Elena.

"Look I get that you're upset about this Rin. But I had nothing to do with this and I don't know who is responsible" Elena said crossing her arms.

"I think I might know…" a voice suddenly said.

Everyone looked as another person stepped into the room, carrying a bouquet of roses in one hand. It was Nasira Fallow and she carefully stepped into the room with everyone's eyes on her.

"Fallow…" Elena muttered angrily.

Fallow's eyes glanced over in the direction of the bed and Shirou could see how her expression quickly changed to one of terror. She let out tears on the spot as she made her way over to Sakura's bedside, seeing the girl unresponsive and unaware of her surroundings.

"Oh Sakura my dear girl what has he done to you…" Fallow said meekly as she traced Sakura's cheek with the back of her hand.

"GET YOUR HANDS OF HER!"

Rin immediately jumped into action again and grabbed Fallow by the back of her head and slammed her into the nearby wall, the bouquet dropping to the ground in the process, holding the woman's hands behind her back and preventing her from moving.

"Rin!" Shirou called out as he stepped forward, but he was greeted with a teary eyed Rin aiming her finger at him like a gun, knowing full well what that meant he took a step back.

"You said you knew who did this to her! Who is responsible for this!" she demanded to know.

Fallow winced in pain as Rin twisted her arm even more "Arefal…Arefal Richter!"

"Where is he?" Rin demanded once more.

"The old abandoned hospital….that's where he set up his lab…."

As soon as Rin got the information she let go of Fallow and the woman fell to the ground as Rin stepped away from her and immediately made her way towards the door to leave. Shirou wasted no time in chasing after her.

"Tohsaka where are you going?"

"To go after Richter of course. He will pay for this!" Rin said with laser focused determination as she continued walking without looking back. Shirou sprinted forward and grabbed her hand, halting her.

"Look you have a right to be angry, so am I. But going after Richter now won't undo what he did. We need to be careful about this, who knows what kind of retribution we will face if you get to him."

Rin looked at him, her eyes where completely brimming like a fire was burning inside that nobody could extinguish.

"Let go of my hand Shirou" she demanded without missing a beat.

Shirou could feel that there was no way he was going to convince her otherwise and simply let go of her hand. She didn't say a word and just left, leaving him alone in the hallway as he watched her go.

"Shirou what's going on!" he heard from behind and he turned to see Elena run his way.

Shirou sighed in defeat "I can't stop her Elena. She is dead set on going after Richter" he told her.

Elena placed her hands on his shoulders and said "listen to me carefully Shirou. Let me go after Rin and meanwhile you must make way too Ryuudou Temple and find the sword. Someone from the Clock Tower is here in Fuyuki and it has accelerated my father's plans. He is planning to make his move today I just know it. You need to find that sword and fast."

"But Elena I can't connect to it. How can I find it?"

Elena gently smiled "you can do it Shirou I believe you. Do it for all the innocent magus in the world, for Rin, for Illya, for Saber's memory….for me…"

She leaned forward and gently kissed him once again. When she pulled back she said "save the world my hero" before she too ran away to chase after Rin.

He remained standing in the hospital hallway for a full minute just taking in those words. He then recalled Illya still being in that room alone with Fallow and hurried back. When he arrived back he saw Illya still standing there safely as Fallow sat next to the bedside, tears staining her cheeks.

Their eyes met and Shirou said "did you know he was going to do this to her."

That question seemed to offend her "of course not. I would never allow anything to happen to her. Argus promised me that no harm would come to her…" she said as she cupped the unconscious Sakura's face.

"Well clearly he didn't keep his promise" Shirou responded.

He walked over to stand next to Illya and watched Fallow all the while. The woman was sniveling all the while.

"I never wanted this. All I ever wanted was to keep her safe…I had already failed her once when she was a child…and now I failed to protect her yet again..."

Shirou felt himself stuck in a slight dilemma. He didn't want to leave Sakura's side but Elena's warning was ringing in his head. She was right. Her father seemed to become desperate and if he didn't act in time then it could spell disaster.

"Look here Fallow," Shirou said "can you really stand behind Manadek after this? He broke his word to you and look where it put her. Help us, fight with us. He needs to be stopped."

"You think I don't know that boy. Don't stand there and patronize me. I know what I signed up for the moment I joined his cabal. You can think of me what you will but know this. Everything I've done, all what I've been trying to achieve was for her."

She pointed to the unconscious Sakura.

"Ten years ago I looked away as she was put through torture from the Matou family. I walked away because I couldn't stand to see it anymore. I left that poor girl alone….that is my greatest sin. I do not intend on repeating that again…so what do you want from me?"

She stood right in front of Shirou, though she was shorter then him by about half a head he still saw the strength emanating from her.

"To do right by Sakura. To watch over her. I'm going to get that sword and make sure Manadek can never use it."

Fallow nodded solemnly holding out her hand to him.

Shirou hesitated for a moment before shaking it.

"Good luck Shirou Emiya. May fortune be with you" she said to him.

Shirou nodded and grabbed Illya by the hand and dragged her out of the room as they left Fallow behind. She sat back down next to Sakura's bed and grabbed her hand.

"I will make things right Sakura I promise…."