Chapter One: The Fire:

"It's hot... The air around me is stuffy. I can hardly breathe, my lungs are filled with smoke. I just have to keep moving, I need to save someone. Who am I trying to save? What was their name? Who am I? What was my name? Shirou... Shirou... I can't recall. What was my name? What am I trying to save? I don't know anymore." The boy, walking through the rubble and fire, his lungs hardly working, his arms numb, his legs in agony. Still, he walked on, searching for someone or something he couldn't recall. All around him, he heard screams, one was not of pain or fear, but sounded more like it was mourning, it was near but yet was far away. Eventually, the boy collapsed, his legs unable to take the burden of holding his body off the ground. He slowly began to let the cold take him, maybe he would stop feeling pain then. "Am I going to die? If I do, will I find that person? I don't know." He drifted into unconsciousness as the debris fell around him.

o.o.o

The man screamed, his heart exploding with pain and regret. All around him, destruction and death, the likes he had seen and yet had never seen before. A massacre that he had created, a dream that he once lived for, creating a fiery hell that consumed life around him, life that he wanted nothing more than to protect, was now killed by his hand. The man screamed, everything lost to him, surrounded by the smog and mud of something that was inherently evil. He desperately searched for survivors, clawing through hot debris, burning his hands, only for them to be healed by the scabbard that still worked even without its owner. The searching stopped as he heard more debris fall, filling him with dread. By now, some of the fires had been smothered by scattered objects and destroyed buildings, yet bodies of those who perished littered the scene, hardly anyone had survived, children who's lives hadn't fully begun, adults who were petrified in death, never to reach an elderly age. Truly this was hell on earth. The man ran to the place where he heard the debris land, ankle deep in mud, blood and other grisly things. He started to move away the rubble, digging for anything, anyone who may be alive. Just when he reached the end and he felt all hope in his heart die, his finger touched what seemed like flesh in another part of rubble. Determination filled his body as he switched to another place and frantically dug, hoping to find something. He eventually found the object he grazed. A small red haired boy, staring blankly at him. Kiritsugu put his ear to the boy's chest and listened. After what seemed like an eternity, he heard a small thump as the boy's heart weakly pushed blood around his body, he'd die soon enough but he was alive. The boy moved his arm in response, reaching out to the man. Kiritsugu stared at it, not moving. The arm dropped, the man grabbing it before it fell. "He's alive! he's alive! He's alive! He's alive!" The black haired man shouted, holding the boy's hand, tears running down his face. Kiritsugu quickly focused the magic in him and pulled out Avalon, from its resting place. It still glowed, showing that King Arthur's mana was still residing in it. Slowly, the man lowered it placing it on the boy's chest and watching it glow and sink into the boy's chest. Slowly, light shined from the boy's body, healing him and giving the boy one last chance at life. When the glow faded, the man hugged the boy to his chest, crying over the inferno and the losses he had caused, while managing to save one person in the process.

o.o.o

The man sat up, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and started getting ready. He got dressed and had breakfast, a simple jam sandwich, he never was good with cooking. After sorting out some more things, Kiritsugu Emiya left his newly finished house, the renovation always took a long time, even during a war where you needed a good home to plan your next strategy. Slowly, he began walking to the hospital, the cold air around him reminding him of his purpose today. "Say, Kerry, what do you want to be when you grow up?" The voice of the man's first love echoed in his mind. He had thrown away his ideals of saving humanity that day, too many people had died because of it. Now, his dream was to look after the boy he saved three months ago. The boy was now in a stable condition so he could be adopted, he had no family or anything left so it was either to adopt him or let him be sent to an orphanage. "Oi Kiritsugu!" The man was cut from his thoughts when a female voice called out to him. Driving to his side, was a young girl, Taiga Fujimura, and her grandfather Raiga, accompanied by several yakuza members. "Good morning." Kiritsugu answered, smiling at the girl. She really did remind him of Sherry at times. "You going to the hospital?" Raiga asked. Kiritsugu nodded, having become friends with the yakuza leader. "Get in, we'll give you a lift." He said, getting one member to open the door. Kiritsugu got in and talked with the mafia family, discussing the adoption and stuff.

Twenty minutes later, Kiritsugu walked into the hospital lobby, asking the receptionist about the whereabouts of the boy. Raiga would come by later to pick them up, after finishing up their errands for the day. Kiritsugu walked up the stairs to the desired floor and made his way to the room. Inside were a few children, most still injured but alive, wearing bandages and other stuff. They all stared at him as he looked to the bed which contained a red haired child. Unlike the others, the boy didn't seem to be injured, most likely due to Avalon healing him from the inside, though by now, the scabbard should be drained of Saber's magic. A nurse came up and the man explained what he wanted. "Yes I see." He responded as the nurse went to retrieve the necessary documents. The man walked to the boy who looked at him. "Hello, you must be Shirou," Kiritsugu spoke to the boy. "I suppose I'll come right out and ask you what you would prefer; being sent off to an orphanage, or being taken in by a man you just met?" Kiritsugu asked, getting to the point. The boy closed his eyes, thinking about the offer, before opening one eye and looking at the reached out his hand and pointed at the man. Kiritsugu felt happiness at the answer, smiling before rummaging through the bag he had with him. "I'm glad. Then, let's get you dressed right away. You need to get acclimated to your new home as soon as possible. Oh, I forgot to mention something you should know. I have to tell you an extremely important fact. Ready?" Doubt filled Kiritsugu as he thought over what he was about to say and how the boy would take it. "Yeah, I should do this right now." He said aloud, confirming the reason in his mind. "You see Shirou, I am a mage."

Soon enough, the boy and man were standing outside the hospital, waiting for Raiga to come by. Shirou was now in jeans and a black coat, more suitable than a hospital gown for the cold weather. "Damn, where are they?" Kiritsugu thought, before he saw the black car roar into the parking lot. The boisterous fourteen year old stepped out of the car and ran towards the pair. "Kiritsugu!" She called before spotting Shirou. A gleam lit in her eyes as she started sprinting towards him. The boy looked terrified as the girl hurtled towards them. "Oh crap." Kiritsugu thought, as the girl tackled the boy, hugging him tightly. The man saw Raiga and the crew with him simultaneously face palm at the sight of the girl scaring the boy. Said boy looked like he was having the worst day of his life all over again, being assaulted by the girl. "Shirou, meet Taiga Fujimura, she's our next door neighbour." The boy nodded, trying to break free of the demon teen's grasp.
"Looks like he'll fit right in." Raiga said, now standing next to Kiritsugu. Kiritsugu nodded, memories of Sherry, Maiya, Irisviel and Illya flooding into his mind. If only he had them all here with him. The man smiled. "He'll fit in well." Kiritsugu smiled before laughing a little. Shirou Emiya looked up at his laughing father wondering what was so funny.

A/N: And here we have my second fic. Yes, here we go, this is basically me writing a fate route. This is gonna be fun. I'm taking some inspiration from Third Fang, however I'm not gonna copy nor make anything that's greater than what he has so yeah, please don't kill me. Anyway, see you guys later, bye bye