This is my first atempt at a real fanfiction. I hope this goes well as I have no BETA and am currently writing this on a phone. My wrists are gonna be killing me later...

ANYWAYS! I hope you all like it and helpful criticism is welcome. Also slander is welcome 'cause it makes me laugh. Bye now!

Fire.

Fire was all that he could see as he wandered through what was left of the streets. And even as it burned he could smell its very wrongness. The ashes that buried its victims was wrong. This Fire was not fire. No, it was something else. Something worse.

And then the screams of trapped people resounding in his ears. Even so, he continued forward, ignoring their pleas as they were cut off one by one as the Firr consumed them. He had to keep moving. He had to survive no matter what! He had to escape this Fire! Even as others were trying to save their loved ones, even as they became trapped themselves, he continued. And as the finale plea fell silent, he himself fell into the ashes, unable to move any farther.

And then he accepted it. It was his time to die. To fade into the ash along with all those he ignored. To be consumed by the Fire that was not fire. And right when he was about to pass through the brink, he saw Him.

The man was clothed in black, his hair filled with soot from the Fire. But his appearance wasn't what caught his attention. It was the smile. Even as the man pulled him from the ashen ground and as tears fell from his eyes that smile was what stood out the most. It stood out past the Fire. It stood out against the golden glow from the sheathe in his hand. And even as he lost consciousness from his injuries, he thought something very important to his future.

'I wish I could smile like that.'

Little did the boy know that thought would affect his future so drastically.

He awoke in a very bright white room. As he looked around he could see curtains around other beds and large windows overlooking the city. And when he looked out the window he saw it. The shear destruction caused by the Fire. And entire residential district gone. Hundreds of lives lost. And yet he still lived in spite of it all.

Before he could dwell on that thought he saw a nurse with a clipboard coming through the door towards him. And then he saw something in her eyes he didn't like. He didn't know what it was, but it made him feel as useless as he did in the Fire.

"I see you are finally awake. Do you remember why you are here?"

Her voice was light and cautious, like she was speaking to a small and scared animal. Rather than thinking on that, he tried to think about why he was at a hospital. He remembered the Fire just fine, maybe a little better than he would have preferred, and he remembered the man that found him, but he couldn't remember who he was or who his parents were. Looking to the nurse he nodded to answer her question.

"Good. Now do you remember anything else? Relatives? Friends?"

Shaking his head, the nurse frowned and that look in her eyes was back. That infuriating look that did nothing but make hom feel helpless. The look he never wants to see again.

"Alright, I will be back in a bit."

And as she turned to leave, a dark look crossed the boy's face. A look that promised he wouldn't let himself be helpless ever again.

It had been five days since he woke up. It had been five days of those horrid looks. Pity, he had recalled, was something he had come to hate in the short time he had been at the hospital. The only thing worse than the pity were the nightmares. Every time he closed his eyes he saw fire. No, not fire. He saw Fire. It constantly plagued his dreams, not letting him get any sleep. Even when he was awake, he could feel its pull in the back of his mind. Breaking his thoughts, the nurse from before entered the room. He wonderes why she was here, he already had his daily check-up, so why? As she approached he repositioned to sit up more comfortably.

"Excuse, but you have a visitor. Would you like me to let him in?"

Curious, he nodded to the nurse. The family he couldn't remember was dead, so who could be visiting him? As the nurse went out the door to tell whoever it was that they could come in, he sat in silent contemplation. And at last his visitor stepped into the room

And he remembered the smile.

It was the man that saved him from the Fire. He was here and he wanted to see him. Keeping the surprise from showing as best as he could, he waited for the man to speak.

"Hello, uh... I'm Emiya Kiritsugu, the one that brought you here. I know that you don't have any family to go home to, so I came to give you an offer. Either go to and orphanage, or be adopted by me, a complete stranger. Which would you prefer?"

This time he could not stop the surprise from showing on his face. Thinking on the situation he felt that the choice was obvious. In an orphange he could be there for years before he would be adopted by some random family. By going with Kiritsugu, he would be with a man that went out of his way to save him. Looking Kiritsugu in the eys, he simply nodded.

"Well, I geuss that its decided. But before we finalize anything I have to tell you something. I am a magus."

Once again surprise shone on his face. Coming from a stranger it was a laughble notion at best. But coming from the man who saved him, it was simply the truth. As Kiritsugu began to walk away, he turned around to ask something.

"So, what is yout name then?"

A smile appearing on yhe boy's face, he looked back and said...

"I am Emiya Shirou."