A/N: Alright.. My first fanfiction. This is after the Heaven's Feel story line, but Shirou isn't madly in love with Sakura, only has a light affection.

Please review, I am always happy about some good critique and if you see mistakes, feel free to point them out! I hope you enjoy the story.
Update 2.0: Reworked the whole chapter, so it would be more fitting!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fate/Stay Night and I am not making any profits.. :(

There it was. Right in front of him was the thing that should not exist. The very thing that brought suffering to his friends. The thing that separated his family. The thing that should not and must not exist at any cost.

The whole war was overshadowed by pain and fear. It caused siblings who should enjoy their time together, to fight. That alone was unacceptable.
Standing before the thing, he felt rage sweeping through his body, filling his very being. It is something he has to destoy, because it endangered the people he swore to save. Even without the dream of being a hero of justice, it had to be destroyed. Because it not only endangered millions of lives, but his family and friends. Those who he swore to protect before anyone else.

Despite that, a part of him wanted to thank it. Not only did the estranged sisters find back together, but he gained a sister as well. A cute little girl with snow-white hair and a tendency to irritate him to no end. In this short time, she already found her way into his heart. He admitted that their relationship might have started a little bit bumpy, but now.. Now she truly was his sister. Family. And family had to be protected.
But to enable her to live, it had to be destroyed. And to destroy it, there was only one sword to do so. He knew he would die, that there wasn't any alternative. So he smiled. He smiled because he could save everyone. He had no regrets left, his ideals fullfilled. He prepared the spell, the projection. In his mind, a sword began to form. But he knew his current knowledge wouldn't be enough. To recreate this sword, he would have to use his left arm. Concentrating on his left arm, the arm with enormous muscles and a holy shroud, he lifted the seal. The seal separated his body from the arm of Archer, his alternate self. Transplanted onto him with the help of the fake priest and sealed, so that his soul wouldn't get rewritten by the 'soul' in the arm. There wasn't a soul in the arm of course, just a remaining piece of a copy. When heroic spirits get summoned, a copy of the soul from the Throne of Heroes was used and not the original one. He felt the foreign prana entering his magic circuits, unable to contain a shutter as it effortlessly mixed with his own. The sword in his mind was formed and he spoke the words to pull it from his Reality Marble.

"Trace on."

In his hands, a sword started to form. It was the combined prayers of humankind, given form. The pinnacle of swords, the most holy sword ever created – Excalibur. Many would look at it in awe, forgetting eveything around them, being entraced by the golden glow. But he was not many and for him, it resembled something close to failure. The sword of his servant, his saber, who had been by his side only briefly, before he lost her to the darkness of it.

And so he lifted the sword over his head, knowing it to be his last action. And so he spoke the name of the sword, knowing it to be his last words. And so he saw the golden blast heading to the dark and repulsing object, knowing it to be the last thing he will see. And so the world went black, but not without him noticing a white form to his side.

...

When Illya first came to Fuyuki, her only plan in this war had been to kill her brother. How could she not?. Her father abandoned her for this person. Kiritsugu chose someone he only just met, over her, his daughter! Alone for that, her father deserved the death.

But the war came too late and her father already died. So she did the most logical thing in her opinion: She decided to kill his adoptive son in his stead. It was her one and only objective in this holy grail war. She was going to die anyway in her function as the lesser grail, so she could at least take him with her. Of course Illya knew that a part of her desire was the influence of her grandfather Jubachtheit, the head of the family. From the beginning he told her that her father abandoned her and now loved another child in her stead. Through the years she saw behind his deceptions, but that didn't change the fact that she wanted to kill her brother. So the first thing she did after arriving, was to threaten Shirou Emiya.

But to her surprise, everytime she saw him from then on, he wasn't shivering in fear or running away from her. Instead of the cold, ruthless and arrogant bastard she expected to find, she found a ridiculous kind, loving and idiotic boy. Who would risk his life for someone they just met?! He was an enigma to her and she.. she actually started to like it. He wasn't anything but nice to her. He took her in after Berserker's death and treated her like a sister! He even defended her from Rin and Sakura. She resented herself for her misjudgement. How could she have been so wrong?
So it came that Illyasviel von Einzbern, who only knew anger and revenge after her parents left, started to feel loved. And in response to that she started to love as well. She loved how he smiled when he talked to her, she loved how he ruffled her hair affectionally, she loved that she felt protected around him and she loved that he would do anything to make her happy.
Even though she would never admit it to anyone but herself, she loved Shirou Emiya with every fibre of her being.
And that's why Illya couldn't accept what he was going to do. She just knew it. In this short time, she already figured out his distortion. To save everyone, he will destroy it and himself with it. It will certainly save everyone, the annoying twin-tailed magus, the overly busty purple-haired girl who was the villain mere minutes ago and, of course, herself. But for her, the price was too high. She couldn't loose the only person who cared for her and she would save him at any cost. With this in mind, wearing her 'Dress of Heaven', she entered the cave where it is located. Only to be too late.

"EXCALIBUR!"

As she heard the word escaping his mouth, she knew that she couldn't do anything. She knew that this cave would carve in and bury everything in it. She knew that she had to leave immediately to survive. But as she watched his unconcious body falling to the ground, her body moved on his own.

"SHIROU!"

Screaming in despair, she ran towards him, falling to her knees beside him.
He was dying, she could see it. His arm was slowly corrupting his soul and replacing the seal on it was too late. He also overused his madic circuits, overheating them so much that his whole body seemed to burn. This degree of damage was too much to heal, even for her, even with the 'Dress of Heaven'.
Looking up, she saw the ceiling caving in, falling towards them. She realized that they are going to die in any second now and whispered her last words in this world: "...please, someone save us."

...

The darkness stirred. Dark emotions bubbled under the surface of the black liquid, the very core of Angra Mayu, representing all the evils in the world. The Holy Grail, its container, was destroyed a second time by the same sword. The sentinent omnipotent wish granting Holy Grail couldn't be born in this world. Again. After all these years of waiting and plotting, its plan was foiled again. By a mere HUMAN none the less! It knew that there won't be a next time. Even the magic association couldn't ignore something that could very possibly destroy the whole earth. But the Holy Grail couldn't do anything. No wish was spoken, no desire waiting to be fullfilled. The human who destroyed it only had the desire to protect his loved ones and fullfilled it himself. So the darkness decided to take him with it. To at least kill the one responsible for its situation. But just as it was about to indulge in his revenge, it noticed another being. And this being, as gentle as it voice was, expressed a wish.

"...please, someone save us."

The Holy Grail latched onto this wish with despair. It fullfilled the wish to have another change at being born. Darkness enclosed the two.

...

When Shirou woke up, he found himself surrounded by swords. Swords of every form and colour, mundane weapons and legendary artifacts. Next to them, he could see maces, spears and about every type of melee weapon there is. He recognized some of the weapons. They were stored in his soul, his Reality Marble after all. With just one glance he could tell the name of any sword, its history and the previous wielders. This skill allowed him to imitate the previous owners' skills and made his projection so powerful. He was a true faker after all.

In the distance, he saw a man. A man impaled with swords of all sorts. He was crouching low on a hill and Shirou knew that this man was dieing. The man knew it as well and still, he smiled. There was nothing to regret for him after all.
Shirou recognized him. He was clad in black and red, with a shroud covering his shoulders. The hair was a brilliant white, rivalling Illya's. The skin was tanned darkly and under the skin Shirou could see packed muscles. It was the form of Archer, Rin's former servant and most importantly, is potential future self. This was the Archer who tried to kill him until Shirou talked with him and altered his ideals. He learned a lot from him even though he despised him. Archer helped him to change his ideals, to realize what the truly important thing is in life: his friends and family. To protect them takes priority. Of course, he is going to save as many as he could, but never if it would hurt his loved ones.

Shirou found himself in fire. The fire was everywhere, burning houses, the ground and people. It was strange though, it didn't hurt him and he couldn't move. He helplessly watched as a praying man was killed by falling debris. He saw a woman run into a burning house just to save her already dead child. He saw people trying to shield their loved ones only so they could live a second longer. And he saw a small boy, barely seven years old. The boy was wandering through the flames, every step hurting, every step closer to his death. He payed no mind to the dying around him, just wanting to escape the fire. To escape the fire. His eyes were already empty, no feelings left in them after the hell he saw and was still seeing. Finally, he collapsed. And then was saved. The man who saved him had tears in his eyes and a overjoyed face, to find one, just this one survivor. Before he fell unconcious, he thought 'Could I be this happy?'

Shirou opened his eyes and found himself sitting in the backyard of his home in Fuyuki. Next to him was the same boy from before, a few years older. He sat beside his adoptive father and they were looking at the lawn and the stars.
"Hey, old man!" The boy said teasingly to his father. "If you're gonna sleep, do it in you bed."
"Hah." The man chuckled dryly. "I'm fine." He continued looking up at the stars and his son gave him a curious look. "When I was little, I wanted to be a hero."
The boy looked confused. "What? You wanted to be? Did you give up?"
"Yeah, unfortunately.." He sighed in a resigned voice. "Being a hero is a time-limited thing. When you grow up, it's hard to call yourself one." He chuckled quietly. " I should have realized that earlier."
"I see. Then I guess you couldn't help it." The boy responded.
"No.. No, I couldn't." The man let loose an exasperated sigh and gazed up to the moon. "It really is a nice moon."
The boy smiled and nodded. "Yup!" Turning to look at his father, he smiled and nodded. "Since you couldn't do it, I'll be one for you." His father looked surprised but the boy continued. "You are an adult now, so you can't do it. But I can." He stretched his arms. "Leave it to me.. Your dream."
The man iss a bit startled by that, but nontheless agrees. "All right." He closed his eyes and exhaled. "Ah. I feel better.." And with these last words, the man died.

Shirou watched the Holy Grail war. It wasn't his war, but it was still cruel. Shinji lost Sakura's servant early and wasn't aware of Sakura's suffering or knowledge of magic. His relationship to Saber and Rin developed from a friendship to something more. He watched Medea's dagger hitting Saber and her resistance against the command seals. Archer who betrayed Rin and planned Shirou's death. He saw Illya dieing by the hands of Gilgamesh who killed Berserker twelve times before that. And he saw Archer getting killed before he had a chance to kill his younger self. In the end, 'Shirou' killed Gilgamesh, destroyed the grail and lost Saber. He renewed his oath to become a justice of hero.

By now, Shirou realized just what he was watching. This wasn't his past. This was Archer's past, the Shirou Emiya who became a counter guardian in a different dimension. He steeled himself for what was going to come. Because he couldn't allow to get broken by Archer's life. He couldn't afford to die and leave his loved ones behind just like Archer did. If his resolve would waver, his mind would break and he couldn't allow that. Not then he didn't knkow if they were saved.

And so, Shirou watched. He saw Archer fighting to save unknown person and how he fought without regard of his own life. He watched how his friends desperately tried to keep his pace, only to leave one after another. He watched as Sakura, his beloved kohai turned away from him because she couldn't stand the thought of him getting hirt anymore. All her attempts to turn him away from the bloody path failing, she left. And Archer didn't give her a single glance, never looking back.

Shirou saw how a twin-tailed magus gave her life to save him. Rin died, jumping in the path of the bullet he didn't see. But Archer didn't turn back, not even once. He barely took his time to bury her, but without griefing he continued. He just kept going until he was condemned by those people he saved before.
The deal with Alaya. With a smile he sold his soul only to save a hundred people. And over the centuries, he was forced to kill, to kill so many. He didn't have time to save someone, after killing thousands, Alaya just transported him to the next war.

Until finally, betrayed by his ideals, Archer broke. His nature as counter guardian betraying what he thought was right. He was not only forced to kill the threat, no. He also had to kill anything related to it, no matter how faintly it might be. Countless innocent people died by his blades and he couldn't do anything against it. So he decided to do the only thing he could - to create a paradox and ceasing to exist. If he killed himself before the deal, in the Holy Grail war were he was summoned as heroic spirit, then he could hope to flee the contract.

Shirou was shaken. He knew that his former ideals had a crux, but he never expected them to be this bad. After seeing all this pain, he nearly gave up on himself. But he remebered. He casted all this aside. This hypothetical future won't happen. He had decided that protecting his friends and family had the utmost priority. That he would never let anything happen to them.

With these thoughts, the intense burning in his left arm stopped. It was just then that he noticed it. Shirou guessed he was already used to it, but now, it felt like a burden he didn't know he was carrying, was finally lifted.

...

When Shirou woke up, the first thing he noticed was pain. Or rather the lack of it. His magic circuits which should have been burning horribly after depleting all his prana weren't even itching. The wounds he got during the last battle completely disappeared. And most importantly, his left arm, Archer's arm, had a feeling of rightness to it. Even without the seal. He quickly used structural analysis on his body and was surprised. Everything healed perfectly, more so then it should be possible, even with Avalon. His left arm seemed to be perfectly fused with his body as if it was his own.

It was then that he felt the warmth coming from next to him. Shirou opened his eyes curiously and found himself in a small, dark and sparsely funitured room. Turning to the heat source next to him, he was greeted by the adorable sight of his sister being curled up next to him.

As if she felt his eyes on her, Illya slowly opened her own eyes and yawned.
"Illya? What.. What is going on?" Shirou asked, barely keeping his blush in check as he saw that she was only wearing a thin nightgown. She might only look ten years old, but she was extraordinairy cute yawning and stretching herself. Illya looked at him surprised before throwing herself at him with a fierce hug.

"Onii-chan! You are finally awake!"

"Huh? How long have I been unconcious? And more importantly... Why am I here? The last thing I remember is destroying the grail.." Shirou's voice trailed of and he tried to pry his little sister of him. But she wouldn't move one bit, so he decided to just go with it. He enjoyed the sensation of being hugged so tightly after all.

"Onii-chan, you were out of it for four days." Illya purred, overjoyed that Shirou hugged her back. "You really had me worried, you just wouldn't wake up even after this nun healed all your injuries. His arm was acting weird and it took us a whole night to merge it with the rest of your body. You should be happy that I was wearing my 'Dress of Heaven' at the time.. It let me save your soul in the last second, after you so foolishly tried to fuel Excalibur with it. That was the only way we could think of to save you." Shirou gawked at her. "You fused his arm to me? That would explain this weird dream.." Seeing Illya's confused expression, he quickly gave her a summary.

"So you are saying that Onii-chan's soul merged with Archer's? Do you feel any different?" She asked him with a worried expression.
"Not that I noticed. Other than a small urge to use sarcasm and a lot more weapons in my Reality Marble, I don't seem to be different." He replied with a smirk. Illya just gave him a doubtful look. "And I don't really think you could call it merging. I more or less overpowered it with my own willpower. Or so..."
"Illya, what happened to Sakura, Rin and Rider? Are they alright?" Shirou asked with a worried expression. Illya gave him a reassuring smile.
"They should be. Rider managed to get them both out of there before everything collapsed."
That earned her a curious expression. He expected to at least find his lover, waiting for him to wake up. "Where are they then?"
"About that.. How do I say this.." Illya let go of Shirou and settled down opposite to him. Her look grew serious. "Onii-chan, I don't think that we are in the same world anymore."
"Eh?" Shirou just stared at her, completely dumb-strucked.

"Well.. I might have wished that someone would save us and that might have led the grail to fullfill the wish in hope of being born. And since we would only try to prevent that, the grail may have thought that it would be the best for it to transport us to a parallel dimension." Illya admitted while rubbing the back of her head, grinning apologeticly.

"Are you saying that the grail survived? We have to go back to help them" Shirou shouted with a panicked expression, slightly shaking Illya's shoulders.
"I am sure that they can handle it. Rin is Zeltrech's student after all, if it gets to bad he would interfere. And I don't even want to start on what Sakura can do.. Trust me on this Onii-chan, they are safe." Illya tried to reassure Shirou and he calmed down a bit, lifting his tight grasp on her shoulders. "We should be worrying about ourselves for now, Onii-chan. I mean we're basically stranded in another world without a clue what's going on."

"..You are right Illya. I'm sorry. Can you tell me where we are right now?"
"Of course, Onii-chan. In contrast to a certain someone, I didn't just sleep for the last few days!" Illya said with a smirk. Shirou only rolled his eyes.
"It looks like we are in Japan, somewhere near to Tokyo. I tried to find Fuyuki in the internet, but it looks like it doesn't exist here."

"No Fuyuki, hm? Where do we want to go then, Illya? In a similar town?" Shirou wondered out loud. Illya nodded. "I found a small and nice town not far from here. I alread hypnotized some people and got quite a bit of money and papers for us." She smiled sheepishly. "I hope you are not angry at me Onii-chan, I didn't know what to do."
'The only thing missing in her act of innocence is whistling..' Shirou thought. He just sighed. "It's fine for now.. But as soon as we moved I am going to get a job, so we can pay our bills for ourselves." He glanced at Illya who nodded reluctantly. He knew that she didn't like the prospect of working, after all she never had to buy anything herself. Normally, she would just sent out a servant to get her something and the Einzbern's would pay for it. Getting used to not having that much money might take some time for her.

Thinking about what to do next, Shirou heard Illya's stomach grumble. She looked down with a light blush and muttered something that sounded like "..didn't eat for days because I was worried..". So he decided to finally leave the bed and to prepare breakfast, curious what their new life is going to be like.