Fate/Distortion Prologue

Fuyuki City

Kiritsugu looked up at the moon from where he sat.

It was a beautiful sight tonight, full, and blue. It reminded him of those nights from his childhood, on Alimango Island, and of Shirley, when he used to play with her on the beaches, running around for hours.

These days, as his flesh continued to weaken, and his limbs and body atrophied to little more than skin and bone, he could not do that anymore, as everything hurt; so much that trying to stand, even with help, indeed, even just moving his jaw to speak, was an exercise that was nothing short of excruciating, though he did his best to never let it show.

When he would see his reflection, when his son would help him too and from the bathroom, Kiritsugu would see, in the mirror, a face that he could barely recognize. To say that he was just a shadow of his former self would be as massive an understatement as saying that the sun was a very hot ball of fire that rose in the sky each morning.

He could hear Shirou putting away the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. It saddened Kiritsugu how much he had come to rely on his young son for everything these days. It was a burden that no young child deserved to have put upon their shoulders.

Though, perhaps that was just simply the way of the world, for sons to have to eventually care for their ailing fathers.

Shirou then came out to sit down beside him.

"You okay, dad? Do you need anything? Was your dinner alright?"

"Thank you Shirou, I'm fine. Dinner was delicious."

For a long moment, the two did nothing but stare up at the bright, full moon together where it hung in the celestial tapestry of the night sky, surrounded by stars. They reminded Kiritsugu of so many teardrops in the rain.

After a moment longer of letting silence fill the night air, Kiritsugu spoke to his son.

"You know, when I was a little boy, not much older than you are now, my deepest desire used to be that I wanted to become a Hero of Justice."

"A… hero of Justice?"

"Yes, someone who could save the world, and everyone in it."

"Wait, what do you mean, 'used to be?' Did you not want to be one anymore? Did you just give up on it?"

Kiritsugu could not help but gently smile at his son's question. "Yes… I suppose you could say that. I found out that those sort of dreams will more often than not, expire when you grow up, because, as you get older, everything becomes less black and white, and is instead just muddied shades of gray. Besides, to choose to save someone means that you have to choose not to save someone else. The sad truth is that, no matter what your intentions may be, you can only ever really save those who belong to your side.

"That, my son, is what the true definition of a Hero of Justice is. The sad truth is that you just can't save everyone. "

He then smirked, rather self-deprecatingly. "Sometimes, I wish that I had learned that particular lesson a very long time ago."

Shirou 'hmmed' for a moment at this, and then just shrugged. "I see. Well, I guess that there's just nothing you can do about that, right?"

Kiritsugu chuckled. "No, I guess not. There is absolutely nothing that I can do about it."

Shirou nodded at that. "So then, if that's really the case, and you can't carry your dream any further, then, that just means that I'll have to do it for you! I'll be a Hero of Justice in your stead, and save everyone!"

That caught Kiritsugu's attention, so much that, despite the pain, he slowly turned his head to look upon the earnest smile on his son's face with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"It's simple. Because you're an adult, you can't do it anymore. But, because I'm still a kid, I still can! Just leave it to me. I'll make that dream come true!"

Kiritsugu studied his son's smiling face for a long moment. He looked upon this young and earnest boy that he had saved, and who, in turn, had saved him, had given him hope where there had been none.

It was starting to get so very dark now. It was a struggle just to keep his eyes open.

Despite that, and despite the pain, Kiritsugu Emiya smiled again. What an earnest little boy his son was. Perhaps… perhaps he would end up being better than the foolish, old, and dying man who sat next to him.

"If that's the case, then I guess that means that I can rest easy now. Thank you, my son."

God, he still had so many regrets. He still had been unable to rescue her, his little girl, his tiny white princess.

He could see her now, just as he had last seen her, playing in the snow, with joy alight in her red eyes.

And there, next to his daughter, there she was.

They were waiting for him. He was just so tired. Oddly enough, for a brief moment, nothing hurt anymore.

Illiya….

Iri…

Shirou looked at the moon for a long moment, and then turned to look at his father. There was a smile on the man's face.

He was not even breathing.

His father was no longer breathing, and he simply looked as if he had just fallen asleep with a gentle smile on his face.

"Dad…"

He did not cry, and he did not shake his father. All Shirou could really do was just look at his dead father, and then back up at the moon.

In that moment, what else could he do?

"It would appear that I have arrived too late."

At the sound of the voice and heavy, measured footsteps upon the ground, Shirou looked up.

He was greeted with the sight of a broad shouldered man walking up the steps of the estate, and he was very tall, with brown hair framing his shadowed face, and a small necklace of prayer beads around his neck.

The man looked at Shirou. "Or, perhaps I have arrived just in time..."

A/N Yes, another story. This will eventually tie in to a certain character in my other story, Blood, Obsidian, Ocean. So read, review, and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own any portion of Nasu's brainchild known as the NASUverse. If I did, I would have strongly advocated for female servants to be wearing functioning clothes and armor. For instance, I would have had Assassin of Black, who is supposed to be a prepubescent little girl, wear something that would not get me put on the sex offender's registry just by looking at it!

Anyway, as I just said, read, review, and enjoy.