Fate/stay night 1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Type-Moon characters or properties expressed in the work of fiction below. They belong to Type-Moon and their creator, Kinko Nasu.

_**Bloodless Sins**_

**By: Elf**

**Prologue**

_**Blood on the Wall**_

_"I thought it suited you, so I brought it back to you."_

_ Rin blinked as she looked at the myriads of reds as the pendent reflected the light. Its platinum bale gleamed as if freshly polished and contrasted with the bronze fingers holding it. Grey eyes didn't meet hers, a submissive gesture that was at odds from what she'd already gathered from the Servant she Summoned._

_ Rin reached out and took the Tohsaka family heirloom back. _

The pendent had faded almost as quickly as he had, and it couldn't keep up the valiant fight that he did. _Which didn't make any sense . . . Unless it was something he carried with him as a Servant. Which makes even _less_ sense_.

The pain in her side had dulled to a throbbing ache and her now icy blood was soothing in her veins. If it wasn't for the burning in her left arm she would have just given into the darkness that was starting to seep into her vision. Instead she had dozed off against the crimson smeared wall as a boy with aspirations of heroism and his fallen king fought a battle to stave off the end of the world. Rin knew it was ridiculous and no normal person would believe it, but magi weren't allowed the luxury to be "normal".

Magi were allowed knowledge and power that would drive the mundane insane at the cost of blood, hard work, and _pain._

_A strangled breath collapsed in her throat as the large hand emerged from her back. Nerves fired at once as warmth spilled out from her, pouring onto the once pristine floor. Her limbs twitched in utter protest as she looked at empty eyes before she was discarded. She couldn't even cry out as she crumpled to the ground, her mouth floundering at the intense agony ripping through her._

She could see the sickly green glow from her Crest under the blood soaked fabric of her blouse. There had been many entries about how the Tohsaka Crest – or most magus family Crests – would keep the bearer alive if they were not instantly killed. Prana was pumping through her in surges of white heat that made her vision blur.

Ruptured organs were starting to pull back together as shredded tissue knitted back again. It would be days before the wound was totally healed, but Rin knew she wouldn't die. _Not from anything that false priest did, _she thought as another strike of that intense heat flashed through her side. Her spine bowed with the sharp pain and a cry escaped her lips as her fingers bit into the wall behind her.

All she could see was pure red. A bright, garish color that almost had an orange undertone to it. Not the red she favored or the red of her Archer's mantle. This was the _red_ that inspired instinctual gut reactions. This _red_ was the symbol of life, and it had poured from her wantonly.

It wasn't the cool red of the pendent that Archer had gotten back for her. _The pendent that he had kept even as a heroic spirit._ The pendent that made her wonder if he had been lying about not knowing his identity, because she had lost it after only using it once. _And I lost it healing only one person. The same idiot who's fighting to save the world right now, _Rin thought.

_I should have been there, _Rin thought. _We should have been there_.

Even though she knew all too well that Archer wasn't there, she wanted her wishes to be known. In a perfect world it would have been her and Archer versus Emiya Shirou and his Saber. Rin would have won, but she would have used her wish to grant both Servants a second chance at a mortal life because she liked them both, and Emiya-kun would be lost without his Saber. It wasn't as if she had anything better to do with the Grail. Using it for something she could accomplish herself just seemed like an utter _waste. _

* * *

_"Hold still and sit down."_

_ Archer sighed as he did as he was instructed and sank into the chair in front of the desk in the Emiya House guestroom. Rin was studying him, aquamarine eyes narrowed and her cheeks slightly flushed. He smiled at the look, wondering what she was going to do._

_ "I'm sitting, Rin," he replied as he crossed his legs, idly bouncing his foot up and down as she continued to watch him._

_ She looked to where his foot was still in motion and he felt a bit of heaviness in his shoulders. He uncrossed his legs and sat up straight, causing the heaviness to immediately retreat. Work roughened palms were resting upon the heavy leather of his pants and his fingertips brushed against the straps that went all the way up his thighs. _

_ He saw Rin's hands clench and unclench into fists before moving closer to him. The golden lamp light cast shadows on her fair skin and cast ruddy highlights in her raven hair. It was a sight that made him nostalgic for another time and What Ifs he was in no position to entertain. It was just another mistake in the massive list he had accrued in his life, a life he wanted to erase._

_ She moved closer, her eyes closing and her mouth parting. Archer's eyes widened right as she moved forward in a lightning quick motion, one hand on his shoulder and the other resting on his chair by his side. Thick locks of raven hair brushed against his face and chest as the smell of tea and strawberries filled his nostrils. His heart quickened right as Rin's lips brushed against his._

_ The action caused him to freeze for a moment until he registered that Rin's soft, slightly cool lips were moving awkwardly against his._

_ He had dreamed of kissing Tohsaka Rin most of his life, and being brought back as her Servant hadn't tempered that desire either. He had no idea why she was doing this, but at the moment it didn't matter. Rin was kissing _him_, and he found his arms moving to wrap around her to pull her closer._

_ One hand entangled in thick, silken hair as the other rested chastely on the middle of her back. He was moving his lips against hers, taking the lead with his greater experience. He brushed his lips against hers until she parted hers with a gasp. He pressed forward, holding her closer and he was distantly aware of her arms wrapping around his neck. He wanted to sweep his tongue through her mouth, tasting everything she had to offer; instead he gently prodded her lips with it. Spicy curry and sweet tea danced along his tongue with something _richer_ underneath it all. It was something that made his lips burn that was wholly, and utterly Rin._

_ Then her tongue clumsily brushed against his as they kissed, wetness smearing his lips. They continued to kiss for this endless moment as Archer became aware of the heat roaring within his veins. He felt a soothing pulse travel from Rin into him and he gasped as he felt lingering pain in his abdomen washed away. Rin lifted her head, her cheeks bright red and her normally vibrant eyes smoky and heavily lidded as they met his._

_ They were both breathing hard and neither of them let go as they just stared at each other. "Archer," Rin said before letting go and moving away, a hand fluttering up to kiss swollen lips._

_ He had the urge to lick his own lips to savor the remnants of their kiss on them. He reluctantly slid his hands away from her, giving her hair a last stroke before letting it go. Archer crossed his arms over his chest and asked, "What was that for?"_

_ "I wanted to try something before I told Shirou, something that could help his connection with Saber," Rin said before looking away._

_ He felt a cold smirk cross his lips and replied, "You wanted to see if you could open the connection between us more."_

_ "And it worked. Your wound's healed, right?" Rin asked as she stood straight and folded her arms under her breasts._

_ Archer shrugged and said, "It wasn't troubling to begin with."_

_ "You almost died. I had to use another Command Spell because of it!" Rin replied, her eyes flashing._

_ He smiled and said, "Well, if you hadn't wasted the first one in the first place, then it wouldn't have been a problem, now would it?"_

_ "If you hadn't been so troublesome I wouldn't have had to waste it," Rin said, aquamarine eyes flashing. Her skin was still flushed, her hair slightly rumpled, and lips still slightly swollen from their kiss. He'd be even more damned not to admit how that sight affected him._

Mortal desires reawakened. It's sensory overload to go from an unfeeling murderous hell to this, _he thought. He had been confused at first, his memory scattered not from a clumsy summoning from Rin, but due to all the information he had to process. However the sight of seeing Rin after only Alaya knew how long struck a cord in him._

_ Seeing Rin seventeen and still unsure of herself, a switch in the power structure of the relationship he shared with the Rin in his life, caused him to indulge in teasing. Part of it was revenge for Rin always being so far ahead of him; he knew it wasn't something that was going to happen again so he momentarily lorded over the power he had over her._

_ Until he remembered why it was so dangerous to piss Toshaka Rin off, even though that was pleasurable as well. For a moment, all thoughts of Time Paradoxes and erasing his existence were forgotten. For that moment he just wanted to see how riled up he could get Rin and then make it up to her later._

_ Archer shrugged and honestly replied, "I just couldn't help myself."_

_ "You're hopeless," Rin said with a sigh._

_ His lips formed a bitterly curved line that wasn't quite a smirk. He said, "You have no idea."_

_ She quickly looked away, fidgeting slightly with the fabric of her miniskirt. As always his eyes were drawn to that pale line of her thigh that was exposed where her skirt ended and her thigh highs began. That forbidden zone that he had missed when Rin lowered her him line after going to London to study at the Association, the beginning of the decay of what he could consider their "relationship"._

Or one of the worse things I screwed up, _he thought as he watched Rin fidget slightly. He relaxed, lowered his arms, and asked, "Are you okay?"_

_ "What's that suppose to mean?" Rin asked as she looked at him._

_ Archer leaned forward to lightly move her left twin-tail back into place. She'd just given him her first kiss, and for a magical reason. A majority of the joys of being a teenage girl were denied to her and not by choice like his idiotic self. He didn't have to follow the path of the hero; he just clung to the first beautiful thing in his blank state and built his broken personality towards it. He wanted to be like the wonderful person who saved him, the wonderful person who was almost as flawed as Archer had turned out to be._

_ Rin had been born into the magus life and there was no way out of it for her. She would crack under its heavy restraints before building a wall of ice around herself. He adored the girl beneath the magus, and wished she could be that girl, but there was no hero to rescue her. Emiya Shirou had chosen Saber already, Archer could see the seeds being sewn there and King Arthur was unaware of how she was losing her own heart to her Master._

_ Instead of answering her question, he leaned forward and kissed her again._

_ He reined in his own need, gently kissing her and feeling her respond to it. Her arms _

_wrapped around his neck, one gripping his hair as he returned her embrace. He savored the gentle dance of lips and tongue before giving Rin's lips one final caress. He pulled away and she was looking up at him again. _

_ "Oh," Rin said as she blinked rapidly._

"So, this is why Rin was so upset after I insulted you," a sing-song voice said, breaking the memory.

Archer blinked. Rin was still in his arms but she had gone perfectly still. The Emiya guest room shattered as he saw a petite form standing before him, flowing silvery white hair covering her naked form. Crimson eyes met his and Archer froze at the scowl marring gamine features as the Emiya guest room faded.

Thick smoke wafted around them and an endless smog filled sky with flashes of orange stretched over head. Heavy gears grinded slowly in the distance as swords impaled the ground as far as the eye could see. Flames flickered from points of the landscape as Archer realized he was back in his own mind.

Illyasviel Von Einzbern stood before him completely bare, her eyes narrowed and hands on his hips. Then her large, garnet colored eyes flickered around the barren landscape that was his world. Something wavered in her eyes for a moment before she bit her lip and held out her hand to him.

He stared at her outstretched hand and said, "I thought you were angry at me."

"I was. Some no-named Servant managed to kill my Berserker six times," Ilya said as she took another step towards him. Her long, silvery hair was blowing slightly due to the thermals created from within Archer's World.

Archer said, "I would have completely killed him if . . ."

"If you hadn't been worried about my safety," Ilya said with a sigh, "If you had gotten a chance to deploy this you could have."

Archer frowned and asked, "Why are you here? You didn't look into me before."

"I'm bringing you back to life because Onii-chan is an idiot and I guess I owe Rin," she said with a tiny smile as she moved her extended hand again.

Archer's frown deepened into a scowl and he asked, "What the hell are you talking about, Ilya?"

"You never stopped being dense, did you, Onii-chan?" Ilya asked with a tiny smile before her tiny hand gripped his.

* * *

**Author's Note: **In a bit of shameless promotion here, I'm a published author. Please check out my Amazon link here: Jennifer-L.-Barnes/e/B0052A12Y6/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_9 and help a starving writer out!

Also, if you take the time to like and follow, please leave a review.


	2. Chapter 1: Resurrections and Reunions

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Type-Moon characters or properties expressed in the work of fiction below. They belong to Type-Moon and their creator, Kinko Nasu.

_**Bloodless Sins**_

**By: Elf**

**Chapter One**

_**Resurrections and Reunions **_

The first thing that Archer was aware of was screaming. A loud, shrill voice full of terror just screamed continuously. His eyes opened automatically at the sound and he rose to his feet. The second thing he was aware of was cold air on his face and hands and that his body had _weight _and substance to it. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, his heart pounding like a drum as his breathing grew rapid as he scanned the area for the source of the screaming.

To the side Archer saw Matou Shinji on his knees, his face contorted in horror as he screamed, pointing at a humanoid wall of muscle fairly close to him. The boy was untouched, his wavy blue hair a touch messier than he kept it, but his eyes were so wide that white showed around the queer, pupiless blue irises. The humanoid wall of muscle blinked at Shinji, his eyes set in a sharply chiseled face that was familiar.

_One eye glowed golden, while the other was wide and unseeing. A heavy hand brought up the vicious axe club and the monster crossed the distance. White hot sparks sprayed when stone hit traced steel. Archer cried out as the force caused his boots to be driven into the ground, caving in the stone under his feet and shattering his knees with the force of it._

The giant man looked down at Shinji curiously, and Archer recognized the massive wall of muscle that had once been Ilya's Berserker. His hair wasn't the wild black tangle, his mouth wasn't filled with sharp teeth, and he didn't have the strange protrusions coming out of his arms. The muscled flesh wasn't the color of hard stone, but normal olive colored skin. However he was still a giant among men, someone who didn't really have a place in the modern world. Archer realized that he was looking at the Greek Hero Hercules as he had been in life, and not transformed into a monster under Mad Enhancement. Shinji was still gaping at the former Servant until Berserker sighed, shrugged, stood up and headed in the opposite direction.

Shinji had not risen from his knees, his eyes wide as his body sank in on itself as Berserker left. The teenager was shaking, his fingers digging into the fabric of his uniform as he literally held himself together. Frowning, Archer continued to look around, his eyes going to the direction Berserker was heading.

Archer saw his younger self was taking off his shirt and handing it to Ilya, who was standing stark naked in front of him. At Emiya Shirou's side was Saber, sans her armor and her golden hair blowing in the morning breeze. Her emerald eyes were bright and there was a slight smile on her face as she and Shirou kept exchanging glances at each other. Ilya slid into the blue baseball shirt, which hung down to her knees on her slender frame. Her eyes met Archer's and she gave a slight wave before adjusting the sleeves to a more manageable length for her.

To the side, Kotomine Kirei's lanky form was rising to its feet, fathomless dark eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of Berserker joining Shirou, Saber, and Ilya. Berserker swept Ilya into his arms as he laughed, a rich low sound that was almost infectious in its mirth. The false priest absently dusted off his cassock as Emiya Shirou met his eyes. To his credit, the redhead stood a little taller and his eyes narrowed. Saber shifted her stance and Ilya stuck out her tongue from her new perch on Berserker's shoulder.

"We showed you, you creepy old priest," Ilya said with a toss of her heavily tangled silvery white hair.

Kotomine smiled at that and looked around. Archer's gaze followed him as well, his eyes widening as he took in the sights around him. _What the hell is going on? _

Off to the side Lancer was on one knee beside a strikingly beautiful young woman with short hair the color of ripe cranberries and earrings that matched Lancer's. The tailored man's suit she was wearing didn't do much to hide ample curves and her chestnut eyes were focused on Lancer as he animatedly talked to her. The Hound of Ulster was wearing a smile that almost split his face, flashing his elongated canines with abandon.

Archer stared, trying to recognize the unfamiliar woman. With her androgynous style, supple curves, and lovely face he was sure he would have remembered her. As he stared and watched the two of them talk, Lancer hugging the redhead rather tightly, he felt like a voyeur. There was an open warmth to Lancer's face that was at odds with his normal craving for battle.

_That's his Master. His real one. The one that Kotomine ordered him to kill, _he thought as his eyes widened. He looked around, his eyes widening as he saw Rider gracefully rising to her feet and promptly ignoring the purple robed garbed woman that was Caster laying beside her. The Gorgon said nothing as she started to walk away, her long hair brushing against Shinji's trembling form. Shinji gave a little cry and looked out, holding out his hand beseechingly to his stolen Servant.

Even with her blindfold on, Archer could feel the naked contempt in her gaze. It was as if the already chilled air had gone down right frigid with the look she gave Shinji. Shinji cowered again, a strangled cry of, "Rider!" erupting from his lips.

The lovely Gorgon's scowl grew even deeper as she whispered, "Do not speak to me." Then she strode away from him, away from everyone. Archer blinked as she left, wondering if he should give chase, or if he could even catch her.

"May you benefit from your wish, Emiya Shirou," Kotomine said with a twisted smile before folding his hands behind his back and heading in the opposite direction. As he made his dramatic exit, Archer caught sight of an all too familiar form garbed in head to toe gold. He started to take a stance as his eyes focused on the King of Heroes.

Gilgamesh however looked a little subdued, his eyes not glaring at everything in disgust, and Archer swore when the King of Heroes looked at Saber he looked . . . wistful. With his golden hair falling into his face and obscuring his crimson eyes he looked almost normal. For a moment he looked like he was just an attractive foreigner who apparently liked to cosplay. To Archer's surprise, Saber's eyes met Gilgamesh's and she bowed her head to him.

Without another word, the King of Heroes rose to his full height, and turned sharply on his heel. His gaze lingered over Saber before he walked in the direction Rider had gone. His shoulders were slumped, and his arms were folded across his chest, almost like Shinji's were.

_Goldy showing something like humility? What the hell happened after I died? _Archer thought. _Lancer's Master, Shinji, and Rider were all dead before me. Rin, Saber and the Kid had to have finished Berserker. So . . ._

_ How the hell did the dead come back to the living?_

Archer looked again and was surprised when he didn't see a familiar head of raven hair set into twin tails standing with Emiya and Saber.

_And where the hell is Rin?_

He walked over to where Ilya was happily swinging her legs from her perch on Berserker's shoulder. Emiya Shirou's golden eyes widened and Saber smiled. The King of Knights bowed her head and said, "It is good to see you again, Archer."

"Where's Rin?" Archer asked with a wave of his hand, worrying about the improbable situation later.

Shirou, Saber, and Ilya's concerned gazes told him all he needed to know. Saber said, "She was injured before the final battle and could not join us."

"Where?" Archer asked, his hands clenching into fists.

Shirou answered, "My house, when Kotomine took Ilya."

Ilya's eyes widened and she asked, "Rin survived _that_?"

"Yes, and she made us come here," Shirou said, "She said she'd be fine, we need to get back to her."

Gritting his teeth, he didn't say anything as he took off in a full run towards the Emiya household.

* * *

Prana was pumping through his legs, but even with the Reinforcement Archer's lungs were starting to burn. The once familiar houses on the street became a blur as he headed to the place he had once called home. Blood was pumping furiously through his body, not the parody of life that being a Servant had, but the full on adrenaline rush that being thrown in the middle of a crisis brought. His heart was roaring in his ears and sweat was starting to trickle down his neck and face despite the chill morning air. Muscles were starting to ache, protesting the prana being forced through them to strengthen them. He ignored the twinges as he hunched his muscles and jumped over the familiar fence.

His heart lept into his throat when he saw the dusky red drops scattered haphazardly on the side walk. The blood there was thick, not yet dried but starting to congeal. He rushed towards the door and pushed it open. A fine humming filled the air as the wards protested his forceful invasion, but he ignored it as he followed the blood trail down the hall. All the air in his lungs rushed out of him as he saw the giant crimson smear that covered the wall and the floor. His hand trembled as he reached towards it.

_There's no way that such a small body can hold that much blood, _he thought wildly as even he could feel the faint traces of Rin's unique prana still running through the mess. He drew back his hand and stood up. He scanned the hall way, looking for another blood trail, but all he found was the one that led him there. Cursing, he turned sharply and followed the blood trail out of the hallway and back outside. It led up the side walk and to the gate where there was a smallish handprint from where the gate had been apparently pushed open. He opened the gate and headed out, noting that the trail was growing fainter and fainter.

There was a flash of déjà vu of another time as he followed the trail, when he had been eighteen and returned home with a heavy weight on his shoulders after saving the world. _I saved the world and sacrificed Saber to do so, _he thought, the slight fog around some of his memories lifting more and more with each passing moment. _So I ran home to see if Rin was still there, to see if I could help her. She hadn't been._

_ No, that damned idiot had all but dragged herself home. _

Gnashing his teeth, Archer strengthened his Reinforcement, finding it easier to do so, and ran to Shinto. He had a brief thought to go ahead and head to the Tohsaka house, but he wondered if that would be useless. Him waiting for Rin at home wasn't going to help her right now. If she had the same injury that the Rin in his time did, she wouldn't be moving at a fast clip even if she managed to cast a healing spell on herself or not. So he followed the blood trail to find his former Master.

* * *

Each step was an experience of agony, sharp twinges radiated from her side, stomach, and back with each movement. Rin gritted her teeth, one hand against the once gaping hole in her body as she stumbled home. Sweat was pouring down her skin and her vision was blurring at the edges, but she felt as if someone had submerged her in ice. Focusing to stay upright was getting harder and harder, and she was gasping for breath.

"You . . . you had better have beaten that fake priest, Emiya-kun," Rin said, her voice rasping with the words.

The world spun around her and a wave of nausea decided to join with the dance of pain. Her vision blackened for a moment as she felt her knees start to give. _No, damn it, I'm . . . getting closer to home, _Rin thought as she straightened up. She pressed her right hand to her side, her left could barely move with the Crest apparently working overtime to keep her alive.

_Get home Rin, get to ground and let the land do its work. I'll be fine in no time once I get home, _she thought as she forced herself into motion again. A grim smile graced her bloodied lips as she forced herself into motion again. A searing pain rippled through her left arm in protest and the blood smoked sleeve of her sweater began to smolder ever so slightly, but she was in motion again.

"Look at you, Rin. You're a mess. Can't you even take care of yourself when I'm not here?" a familiar low voice said from behind her.

Her eyes widened and she felt her knees give way as she turn to look up into a familiar pair of steel colored eyes. Her heart caught in her chest for a moment as they stared at one and another. The edges of his red mantle and tail were blurred in her vision, and his white hair looked fuzzy. Yet there he was, a little scowl on his sweat dripping face as he looked at her.

She stared up at her Archer before shaking her head and closing her eyes. "Now you're taxing yourself and being ridiculous," he said with a sigh before she found herself being separated from the ground and up into strong arms.

Rin opened her eyes, but her vision blurred again, Archer's features becoming indistinct. A sudden pounding in her head made it swim as the sudden jarring brought a fresh wave of pain to make her cry out. "Calm down," Archer said in a low, hoarse voice.

She met his eyes and said, "You're not the one with a giant hole in your side."

"Which is exactly why you should have been resting and waiting for help instead of being a damned idiot and trying to get home," Archer replied his eyes narrowing as he began to walk.

Rin slumped into his arms as she leaned into him. Heat seemed to radiate from him as always, soothing some of the chill from her veins. She had always been amazed with how _warm_ he was, as if he was her own personal space heater. The night she had shown him the town and they jumped from rooftop to rooftop together she got a glimmer of his warmth. They had both kept their contact to the bare minimal, after all they only knew each other for a few hours, but despite that she had noticed how much heat he radiated.

_I'm just dreaming this, some pain induced hallucination from the blood loss. Archer's not here. I'm not being carried home. I'm just dreaming this to comfort myself. _

"Of course I can't fantasize anything grandiose with Archer actually being nice and everything still hurting," Rin mumbled.

Archer blinked then stared down at her. He asked, "You think you're fantasizing this?"

"Or hallucinating. I did lose a lot of blood. Stupid false priest," Rin said with a frown and a wince. "He completely blindsided me. I greeted him at the door and then his fist is through me and my blood is sprayed on poor Emiya-kun's wall."

"The kid will clean it off. Don't worry about it," Archer said, his lips curving up slightly, "Still, you should have waited for help."

She shook her head and said, "I didn't belong there anymore. I was just taking up space. An outsider. I'm not foolish enough to know where I'm not needed."

"That's not the damned point," Archer said, his voice lowering.

Rin sighed, rested her head against his shoulder, looked up at him, and asked, "Since I'm hallucinating, can't you be a bit nicer?"

"You're not hallucinating," Archer said with a shake of his head.

"I have to be. I'm talking to a man that died. I _felt_ you die," Rin said before looking down. _And I did everything in my power to avenge you, and tried to lose myself by acting shamelessly in grief. Just I wasn't wanted in that moment. I helped out from the sidelines._

Archer smiled and said, "Well, I'm back."

"No, you're in my _head_," Rin replied as her left arm pulsed and she tensed with a fresh wave of pain.

He said, "I shouldn't be back, but here I am, taking care of you again."

"I wonder how messed up I am to fantasize you coming back while I feel like I was steamrolled. A normal girl would fantasize something ridiculous with cherry blossoms everywhere and you'd proclaim your love. Which is nonsense. Besides, it would be _boring _if it was that easy," Rin said as she rested her cheek against him.

Amusement flickered in grey eyes as Archer asked, "Then what would you fantasize?"

"If I wasn't in blinding pain I'd think up something really good," Rin said in a soft voice. _Probably something like that night in the ruins, but someone remembering that I'm there and making me feel good too._

Archer smiled, making him look years younger and achingly familiar. There was something about her pendent that Rin couldn't focus on at the moment. Something she had been chasing before she started heading home. She knew she'd come upon it again later and just nestled against his warmth as he carried her.

He said, "Well, when you're well I may ask the question again."

"Even though you'll be gone once I've healed up and thinking more clearly, I'm glad to see you again, Archer," Rin said as she felt her vision start to swim and dim.

Archer blinked at her and said, "I'm glad too, Tohsaka."

Rin couldn't focus on that as she slid into blessed darkness and sweet warmth.

* * *

**Author's Note: **In a bit of shameless promotion here, I'm a published author. Please check out my Amazon link here: Jennifer-L.-Barnes/e/B0052A12Y6/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_9 and help a starving writer out!

Also, if you take the time to like and follow, please leave a review.


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