Author Note

Hello there and welcome to another chapter of Avalon Bond.

Before anyone asks, I will be mixing up Arturia and Saber in the chapter. In last chapter, she had asked Shirou to call her by her real name when they were in private. So Saber and Arturia are the same person.

Also, one reviewer asked me about placing them in Fate Grand Order universe. While I cannot visualize this happening, since the stories are not linked, I am thinking on using one of Fate Grand Order's ideas and use it here. I won't tell now, though, as I am still thinking about the possibiltiy of using it in the next 2-3 chapters. Now, on to the chapter.

Please enjoy and tell me what you think.

Fate: Avalon Bond

Chapter 5 – Graduation, Dates and a Meeting

Two years has passed since the end of the Fifth Grail War and after Tohsaka Rin had made the best possible decision to one Emiya Shirou.

By making a pact of familiar between her and Saber, since then, he had been blessed with many life-changing moments next to both girls. At first, with Rin, it started out as partnership. One of necessity, considering that he was clueless about the events of the war and clueless about magus in general. Then it morphed into a powerful friendship and even the beginnings of a love-affair, though mostly what happened was Shirou's utmost admiration of the Tohsaka heir for her genius and her experience in the magus department. She had taught him many things and he could only be grateful for his now best friend. With Saber, now Arturia, in their private moments together, Shirou first saw ultimate beauty hidden by her fierceness resolve.

As the war progressed, Shirou could only marvel at her personality and sense of honor until their relationship became one of a deep partnership.

After the war, however, he and Arturia had grown even closer together, doing all sorts of things like training, working, and even taking care of the house together.

Throughout the times, Shirou and Arturia had developed feelings for one another. And when Avalon united their spirit a couple of months ago, it felt like she had found in Shirou the only missing piece of the puzzle in her life and vice-versa.

After the Avalon occurrence, Shirou and Arturia went on many strolls around the area together. Their work nowadays was limited to only Neko's pub, so they had more time together after Shirou's school for themselves. Their favorite walk was at the pedestrian crosswalk of Fuyuki bridge by the sunset. They would just stand by the rails of the bridge looking at the boats come and go. This was the place of their first kiss. With great elation, Arturia remembered the feeling like it was yesterday. They were simply coming back from their work one day and their boss decided to close a little earlier than usual. With nothing to do, they decided to head back home through Fuyuki bridge and stopped once they realized the sun was about to set for the day.

They were simply enjoying the scenery together when she sensed his hand slowly caressing her own.

When she looked at him, Shirou had approached her position and placed both hands on her shoulders as he stared at her.

In Arturia's case, she was already satisfied with looking at his eyes and his smile.

When Shirou approached for the kiss, she met him halfway. They felt the shared energy of Avalon immediately.

After that, Shirou had taken her on a couple of dates, this time just the two of them. Arturia loved Shirou's cooking more than anything, but she was still avid on experimenting different places in the region and Shirou was all too eager to take her to every place she ever desired. During the dates, they had talked many subjects together. Magic training, different swords that Shirou had in his reality marble for him to summon at will, amongst other things.

They had also discussed their future plans in many occasions. Aside from facing foes that threaten the lives of others and sometimes performing missions for the Church and the Association, they would see the world together. Arturia had been to a couple of places as a servant, however her travel plans were limited to inside castles in Germany and Fuyuki. She had known most of Japan together with Shirou and Rin. As to the rest of the world, the images in her head were of old Camelot and a couple of locations located in the United Kingdom, though now she would find it difficult to recognize.

Above all places, she was dying to know the place where Camelot now was, though no one really knew about where it was.

In the end, she settled for a good trip to England and go from there.

Today was a special day for both Shirou and Rin.

Having an education degree was not so important to the both of them, it just symbolized the end of something they both started and now they could go on to the next step of their lives. Rin already had everything packed for her trip to London together with Sakura. Shirou and Arturia would be staying for a while in Japan. He and Arturia would begin searching for assignments close by and then work their way around. Rin had set up a meeting with a member of the Burial Agency of the Church in about a week from today. For now, all four of them were formally dressed up for Shirou and Rin's graduation ceremony. Rin had purchased for herself and Saber, matching dresses, her own red with traces of black and Saber a light blue one with dark blue ribbons around her neck and hair.

Shirou saw Arturia's dress and blushed crimson and because he did so, Arturia blushed as well.

It felt nice when someone you care about complemented you like that.

===At the School===

Upon arriving at the graduation ceremony, almost everyone was mesmerized by the girl that the school janitor brought as his plus one. From Shirou's friends, the only one that knew her was Issei. For the rest, it was the first time that they had seen Shirou together with a girl hand in hand like that. And quite frankly, Saber was attracting eyes from both the male and the female population. So much so, that the girl in question was feeling self-conscious about it. She was not used to be stared down like that and she squeezed Shirou's hands a little tighter. Shirou looked at her and then around, realizing what the problem was. He quickly found a nice corner for them to stay, earning a subdued thanks from Arturia.

"Sorry Shirou…I don't want to be a bother…it's just that I am not used to them staring at me like that."

He nodded, caressing her face tenderly just as Taiga approached the couple.

"No worries Arturia, just say the word and we can leave."

Arturia nodded and smiled in relief. Taiga overheard and quickly joined the couple in a hug, earning a smile from both.

"Don't worry Saber…you are gorgeous, it's only natural that they would look at you in jealousy. They will stop shortly." Saber smiled at the reassurance as they looked around. Rin and Sakura soon joined them as the girls started a conversation amongst them, so as to make Saber more at ease. Shirou nodded at Rin in appreciation for the help, earning a nod in return. He always could count on her for help. He saw with a smile that Saber was more relaxed, protected by Taiga, Rin and Sakura.

"Oh Emiya…hi there." Shirou turned to greet Issei. His best male friend was already dressed like a formal priest from the temple.

"Hi Issei, I see that you are already taking after your father." Issei nodded, adjusting his glasses.

"Yeah, counting tomorrow, I will be officially enrolled as his replacement at the temple."

"Congratulations…"

"So, Emiya, what are your plans after graduation…" Shirou had actually planned an answer to anyone who was not familiar to his world now.

"Oh, who knows…perhaps see the world…Saber and I were talking about going places and seeing what's out there, you know…" Issei smiled at his friend, who was looking at the blond girl with a fond smile on his face and Saber was looking at him as well, from behind Taiga. "Say Issei, how's the temple's reconstruction going? Sorry, but it's been some time since I last visited there." Shirou remembered the level of destruction that his fight against Gilgamesh caused to the temple and frowned. He felt responsible for the damage.

"It is almost finished actually. Everything should be done in a couple of weeks. We will be open for visitation by next month. Though it's a shame you won't be here, though."

"I guess so, though I will definitely check it out when I come back."

The event progressed smoothly after that as those who graduated received their diplomas. After that, a party would start, but Arturia approached Shirou and pulled his sleeves, calling his attention. These kinds of events were never her favorite, not even when she was king. She personally shuddered at remembering the times when the feasts in her castle occurred. Her advisors would say it served to boost the morale of her knights and would appease some nobles, but she always felt out of place. Shirou simply nodded at her and said everyone goodbye and left the school together.

===Throughout the city===

After leaving the school, the couple found themselves just strolling around town for a while. Shirou could see that Arturia was feeling the chilly winds and projected a cape for her to cover parts of the body that were unprotected. That earned a content smile from her, as she embraced the new article of clothing. They found out sometime last year that Shirou's projection ability was not limited to swords and other types of weapons. He could pretty much project anything he sets his mind to, with the exception of Divine Constructs. As they walked around town, Arturia was way more relaxed. Like this, they were just like any other couple, simply roaming around the city sidewalks with no one looking at them. Arturia's arms hugged Shirou's and her shoulder was leaning on his body for support as they walked.

Something that she found quite mesmerizing in this age were the city's bright lights at night.

It brought up a sense of calming to her, especially when she was beside Shirou. Either going to work, from work or even buying groceries for the house, she always adored these moments next to him. Ever since that time when Avalon united them, she could feel its energy surging through him. She said that she was his sword to use, but Shirou was her scabbard in all sense of the word. While sword Arturia attacked his enemies, Avalon Shirou protected her from harm.

"Is the cape enough Arturia, are you still cold? You can have my jacket."

"It is perfect Shirou…It is both warm and filled with your energy as if you are hugging me."

Suirou just smiled fondly as they walked around peacefully, without a specific destination in mind.

Eventually, they had stopped inside a local soba restaurant and they ordered a bowl each. Normally, couples would have a sizeable bowl to eat together, but Arturia would not be satisfied with sharing and knowing her, Shirou would not dare to ask. After the meal, both would simply bask in the warmth of each other through sharing a cup of tea afterward. The happy couple then chose to return home for the night, when they heard the sudden noise of an explosion followed by shouting. When they looked up, Shirou and Arturia could see a small building that happened to be on fire. The couple exchanged a look, and both nodded in resolution at their newest assignment.

They knew, though, the rules. Using mage craft out in the open like this would only attract unwanted attention in the best of scenario.

Because of this, using mage craft would not be an option. That being said, Arturia had simply discarded her shoe as they ran inside the burning building. The inside of the building was already empty and because of the fire, the power was out immediately. That meant that no cameras would film them, which to Shirou worked perfectly. They quickly took the stairs to the first burning floors, before having to stop to shield their eyes because of the clarity of the flames. Shirou then used mage craft to absorb the surrounding fire. It would not be enough to stop the burning building, but at least they could find their footing without fear of catching on fire.

Shirou had to protect his nose from inhaling the smoke.

When they got inside the first floor, Arturia had spotted three unconscious on the floor and they quickly took them out of the floor towards the stairs. The stairs had doors that would block the fire from reaching, so it was the best possible thing that they could do aside from escorting them outside the building to safety and expose their position to the world. Going to the second and third floors, they did the same thing, only the third floor had more victims to save. Shirou had carried an unconscious woman outside and returned to see Arturia carrying another. After making sure that everyone was safe, Shirou had performed a quick healing spell on the victims, giving them at least enough strength to wait for the fire department to arrive.

They were all unconcious, so there was no need for hypnotism. They weren't supposed to be there.

As soon as Shirou heard the noise of the fire truck, he quickly instructed Arturia to leave and she followed him. In less than five minutes, they were in and out of the building, as if nothing happened.

When the fire crew got inside the burning building, Shirou and Arturia were hidden behind a dark alleyway.

"Do you think they will be alright, Shirou?"

Arturia was simply following his instructions to the latter, seeing as her way would have caused quite a ruckus. And while her method would have taken everyone out, it would indeed attract attention.

"I hope so, we could have done more, but I could not risk exposing ourselves like this. I promised Tohsaka."

Arturia remembered that conversation vividly as she had also made the same promise to her friend. While using every option available to save people was the noble thing to do, they could not take the risk of the Association finding out that they used mage craft out in the open like this. Shirou had protested at the time, but it seemed that Rin had quickly found the perfect means of convincing him. If the Mage Association found out, they would have also found out about Saber and her secret would be exposed. Shirou did not need to hear more. He found out a long time ago that the prospect of losing Arturia would have hurt him deeply. With that in mind, Shirou and Arturia had to come up with suitable ways of helping using the bare minimum of mage craft.

As they saw the fire crew safely escorting the victims out, Arturia could see in Shirou's visage how elated he was at contributing to their safety.

She smiled at the scene, knowing how deeply he cared about helping others.

"Shirou, let's go home." Shirou was surprised when Arturia grabbed his hands as he looked at her, before nodding.

"Yes, let's go." After that, they resumed their calm stroll while holding hands. This was their first 'mission' together as the scene replayed in their minds. Arturia was glad that everything went accordingly as well as Shirou, but they knew that in the future there will be times when their efforts will not be enough to save everyone. It was one of the subjects that Arturia had mostly focused on in their conversations as she had told him about her knight's assignments. Sometimes, they will arrive late…sometimes they will not be able to do anything…both she and Rin had literally forced this into his thick head. It was of paramount importance that he understood this from fear of Shirou following more and more of Archer's path.

Eventually, the couple crossed the bridge of Fuyuki as they stopped to look up.

Arturia took the time and looked at her partner and…boyfriend looking at the horizon with a smile on his face.

Just seeing that look was enough to bring warmth into her heart.

"What are you thinking about, Shirou?" Shirou turned to breathe with closed eyes and then looked at the beautiful visage next to him.

"At first, I was happy to be able to save them, Arturia. But that's not the whole reason why I am happy." Shirou then turned his full attention to her as he once more placed his hands above her shoulders, just like the first time they first kissed. "I am happy because as I was saving them, you were there along with me and for that I thank you." Arturia smiled fondly at his expression and nodded as once more Shirou went for the kiss followed by his arms hugging her deeply. Arturia did the same. Only this time, the kiss was more meaningful and Shirou turned to explore more of her mouth than before. Arturia was surprised for a second, but she felt the desire to do the same. Their hands turned to massage each other's backs and shoulders. Before both noticed, the kiss turned into a make-out section.

When they both finished the kissing, they were slightly out of breath and a full blush on their faces. Shirou caressed her face with his hand.

"I really care about you Arturia…please always be with me."

Arturia's hands were busy caressing Shirou's hands when she heard his request, filled with enough care that she found herself mesmerized.

It was not hard to return the feelings as she felt the same way.

"I…care about you also Shirou, I will be with you always." The couple returned the embrace and just stood there for a while, neither finding the need to be anywhere else.

===Three days later===

Three days after their graduation and everyone was at the airport, saying their goodbyes to Rin and Sakura.

Tohsaka Rin had used her influence in the Magus Association and forced Matou Zouken to comply with Sakura going to London and study. If he did not allow, then his existence would be revealed to everyone and precisely how he was able to live. Zouken would be receiving the visitation of every enforcer the Association had. Of course, Rin's intention was to never let Sakura out of her sight, so aside from ridding her of the worms inside of her, she already had contingency plans in case that old decrepit tried something.

Aside from the two sisters, Shirou, Saber and Taiga were there as well.

The only male in the group was flabbergasted when he heard from Rin that Sakura was not only a magus, but also the true master of Rider. Apparently, Shinji had used some kind of book that could make him become Rider's temporary servant. After losing Rider, Shinji went to the Church for protection and no one knew that Sakura was the real master. Sakura was together with Rin when they told Shirou about it and she felt embarrassed at Shirou's gaze at her from hiding the truth. The truth was that while she had similar potential to Rin, her skill was more in line with the Matou clan than the Tohsaka's. So, Rin would be going to the Mage's Association and Sakura was to become her apprentice there.

To Taiga, all they told her was that Rin and Sakura had decided to study abroad in England.

So, now, all five were at the airport to see the two sisters off. Of course, Taiga was crying her heart out as she hugged Sakura for dear life.

"Dear Sakura, how dare you leave me here alone…the idiot Shirou will be travelling the world with Saber. Now you as well…!" Everyone laughed at the heart-warming scene. Sakura was especially thankful for her teacher. Together with Shirou, her teacher helped her more than she could ever be grateful for. It was thanks to them that she was able to overcome her harsh treatment inside the Matou residence. And if her sister succeeded, then this trip will mean the end of her suffering for good.

"Fujmura-sensei, don't worry, I shall call you as soon as I land. You have my number as well."

Sakura then hugged Shirou and was surprised to see her senior hugging her fiercely.

"You take care Sakura…don't let Tohsaka boss you around that much. She tends to exaggerate it."

Sakura returned the hug with a smile when they saw Rin pout. She was talking to Saber, while Sakura was busy with Shirou and Taiga.

"Have safe trip Rin, please call me if you are ever in need of our help. No matter where we are, we will reach you." Rin nodded with a smile as she appreciated it.

"Don't worry Saber, I can take care of myself you know…I am actually worried about you two. So, please, keep me posted of your activities, okay. In order for me to be prepared, I must know of your whereabouts and be ready to act if necessary." The king of knights nodded in understanding. "As soon as I arrive, I will meet with the one responsible for the Enforcers Division to offer your and Shirou's services to them as freelancers. One thing is key, though, using mage craft out in the open is completely forbidden. Trust me, they are quite stingy about this."

"I understand Rin, you can count on us."

For a reason, Rin looked doubtful as she eyed Shirou from the corner of her eye in scrutiny, earning a sweat-drop from both Shirou and Saber. Rin then sighed in dismay.

These two were a handful indeed.

"Please take care of the idiot Saber, I'm still having trouble processing your little adventure three days ago." The king of knights snorted at that.

Truth be told, 'processing' was an understatement. When she heard what happened, it took all her willpower not to charge a gandr shot and send Shirou to the sweet land of unconsciousness. Still, all things considered, she was more at ease when they explained that the only type of magic they used was a low-level fire spell and a simple healing spell at the victims. She was also mad at Saber, but as always, she took it out on Shirou instead. Saber had magic resistance after all, so she could not threaten her with anything.

"We shall be careful Rin…like I said before, I will protect him with my life."

Shirou had approached the two by now and flinched when he saw Rin looking at him still promising bloody murder.

"Still angry with me huh…"

"Huh, obviuosly." She released a humph and turned her back at him, earning a giggle from Saber. Then Rin surprised him and gave him a bone-crushing hug.

"I worry about you Shirou…so please don't go overboard out there. And please take care of my friend..." Shirou smiled and returned the hug from his best friend.

"I will protect her with my life, Tohsaka, don't you worry." Rin found it amusing that both gave her the same answer. She had inferred from their body language that something more happened that night. Rin knew that they had kissed a couple of times. She remembered teasing Saber constantly about it. She could tell by the way they fondly looked at each other that something happened. She would have known if they had sex, since Rin lived in the same house. And she would have noticed if something happened.

"Emiya, can you help Sakura with her bags, I need to talk to Saber something…"

Shirou looked at Sakura reaching for the bag and went to help her, leaving Rin and Saber alone.

"What is it, Rin?" For some reason, the king of knights dared the question as she saw Rin's devious expression.

"So Saber, you are hiding something from me, what happened between you two?"

Saber backed away immediately at the accusation, though she could not help but remember their make-out session and blushed slightly, earning a giggling fit from Rin, much to Saber's slight fury. The black-haired magus was way too nosy at times, but Saber always ended up telling in the end. And today was not different and she told Rin what happened. She confided in Rin that she was quite new to this just as much as Shirou was. When she was king, there was no time for such concerns. With Guinevere, it was more of a cover than anything and Saber would be damned before she opened her mouth about how Mordred was conceived. Just remembering about it caused her to tremble in disgust.

"Oh, dear Saber…so how was it?" The heavy blush of describing the event was too much and Rin only laughed. "That good huh! Well, good for you. Well, you have my number...I want to hear about it when you guys…you know…"

"R..rin!"

"What...please don't tell me you haven't thought about it…all that training you guys did…even sometimes when he was shirtless. Please don't insult my intelligence Saber."

"N..nevertheless, I shall not join this banter Rin..."

Rin just found Saber's attempt at keeping her royalty collected expression all too adorable. Plus, the blush was still plainly visible.

"Sure...sure, well you got my number."

Eventually, the time came when they had to board their flight and said their goodbyes to Shirou, Saber and Taiga.

===A week later===

Soon the time came when Shirou and Arturia left their house to go to a place neither of them had stepped foot ever since the war two years ago.

It was already nighttime, obviously since never nothing related to the Church would ever occur in broad daylight.

Truth be told, Arturia was dreading the entire way as she was really uncomfortable in that place. According to Rin, the man known as Kotomine Kirei was killed somehow in the last war and the church, or at least the building they remembered, was burned to the ground. When they received notice from Rin that their contact in the Church had agreed to meet with her and Shirou to enroll them as freelancers for the Church, they figured that the meeting would occur elsewhere, since the church was no more. Suffice to say that Arturia was counting the steps as they walked towards the all too familiar neighborhood near the church grounds when they faced Berserker right after Saber was summoned as a servant.

They passed by the cemetery on the way and found it mostly renovated, or at least fixed after the destruction caused by the fight.

Still, an observant eye could still see scorch marks on the ground, courtesy of Archer's arrow.

When they reached the gates that separated the neighborhood from the holy church, they were surprised the see the same building, as if nothing happened in the first place.

"I guess that there was no need to change the architecture, huh?"

"Looks like it…the feeling of dread is still there though."

Arturia and Shirou were dressed in casual clothing, but with a little addition to their everyday wardrobe. It was actually a part of their respective mystic codes. Shirou had a double-blade holster strapped on his back for the projected and rune reinforced Kanshou and Bakuya while Arturia had a clear blue scabbard strapped with the same shape as Avalon on her waist where she kept one of Shirou's ultimate sword creations. The fire event from last week taught that they should always carry sword at the ready just in case. Projecting a sword or a bow in Shirou's case or Arturia using her magic to use Excalibur was out of the question, at least when not in official Assocation or Church business. The sword that Shirou projected for Arturia was for all intents and purposes Caliburn, though considered a Broken Phantasm, a level weaker than the real deal.

"Do you prefer it I went alone, Arturia? It should only be talking…it's not like I will be attacked."

They were walking towards the holy building and Shirou could see that his partner was looking around in search for threats.

"Based on that fake priest, I would actually feel more at ease if you were attacked as soon as you entered inside."

Shirou could not help but agree with Arturia's comment. Kotomine Kirei simply had a dark aura around him that would snare even the most experienced magi under his influence. He reminded Arturia of her Sister Morgan. Certainly, the events of the Forth Grail War and how the man played with Shirou when they first meet were evidence of how much of a sociopath the man was. Like Shirou, Arturia much preferred her enemies to openly confront her, at least this way their intentions would be made public from the start.

"According to Tohsaka, though, Kirei was far from the norm in the Church. So, we should not expect this next person to be like him. Though, it would be prudent not to take everything at face value."

"Very true, Shirou…after all they are magus as well…just with a different focus." Shirou concurred. Magus by nature focused more on themselves.

Shirou then opened the door to the church, finding everything inside to be the same as two years ago. No light whatsoever, just the bare moon light. Once inside, they could see a person wearing the church overcoat kneeling in a praying motion. When the person got up from her praying motion, she turned to meet Shirou and Arturia. They could see that it was a female with the same hair color as Sakura, albeit limited to her shoulder and she wore a pair of glasses. When she opened her eyes, both Shirou and Arturia were immediately on edge. Whoever this person was, she was easily on par with a servant in terms of power and quite frankly, Arturia would be hard pressed to take Shirou and run. Still, when this person smiled at them playfully, Shirou could not help but swallow in dread.

"Welcome Emiya Shirou and Saber to the Holy Church. My name is Ciel and I shall be your contact in the Burial Agency from here on out. Now, please come forward, we have much to discuss."

The feeling remained for a while as Ciel kept her seemingly friendly visage. Shirou and Arturia looked at each other and nodded in resolution.

The Holy Grail War was in the past…now came the real deal.

Author Note

Okay, that's about it for now.

Shirou and Arturia/Saber are abouto to enbark on tough asssingments for the Church and the Magus Association as well. They will cross the globe together and form bonds, face dead apostiles, corrupt magis, everything. He will also be out in the open for the possibility of saving people in distress. Their relationship is slowly progressing and should be interesting for them to progress their relationship while facing missions together.

Now, Rin and Sakura will be less present now. Sakura most of all.

Rin will be getting into contact from time to time and will appear when they have a job in England of in Europe.

Now, please let me know your thoughts. Please review.

I am also planning on something from Fate Grand Order, but I am still debating when to bring it up.