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|・c・)(This does not at all summarize the events of the 'main' continuity, last chapter of which was 29 on this here fic, so if it's been a while you might wanna reread the ones I wrote for a refresher, or not, I'm not your boss.)

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|・c・)(By the way there's a lemon here so if you don't like reading that…uhh…too bad.)

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Strategic Snippet Bomb!

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!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!

Signum did not know how long he cried, shaking as he clung to her as if she were driftwood in a storm. Hayate checked on her after her visit ended, and acquiesced to her request to give her some time.

Eventually, Shirou Zelretch Schwinorg put himself together enough to ask her to get them out of Fujuki, to avoid any chance of Sakura stumbling into them. She did, the two of them stepping into Midchilda as the Slider blew his nose into a napkin he'd pulled out of one of his many pockets.

He shook his head not unlike a dog and gave her a horrifyingly fake smile. "Alright, sorry about that, I'm good now."

She looked at him with concern, "No Shirou, you're not."

"You should listen to the lady boss," piped in OS, "you're falling apart and you know it."

"I'll be fine when we leave!" he growled back.

"No you won't be, you need t-" OS was forcibly pushed back into his sheathe, cutting him off.

"Alright, well, sorry the date ended rather badly Signum." Shirou said with a weak smile before turning his back on her and starting to walk. "Maybe I'll drop by sometime and we can try a do ov-ghk!"

He was halted on his tracks as Signum grabbed hold of his collar and pulled him back.

"No you don't," she said sternly.

"Signum, I'm fine!" He growled.

Without answering, she grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him with her. He surprised her by not putting up a fight after some initial cursory protests. He simply allowed himself to be pulled along, which she found strangely disheartening.

She'd never admit it to him, but she'd become rather fond of his constant backchat.

She pulled him to a hotel that Hayate had liked, rented a room for the day, and pulled the Slider along into it. She then sat him down on the bed, stood in front of him, and put her hands on her hips.

"Alright," she said, "talk."

"About?" he said with a sigh.

"Anything, you need to get things off your chest, and you clearly don't want to do it in public." She opened her arms an gestured at the room. "Not in public, talk."

He sighed, rubbed the back of his head, took a deep breath, sighed again, and sniffled.

OS remained conspicuously quiet throughout the whole thing.

"I uhh," he started, not lifting his eyes from the floor. "It's…it's kinda hard to think, now that I uhh…it's…I just. It would be easier if…the date was good, it's easier not to be swallowed up by the memories if I have something to distract me."

Signum sighed and plopped down next to him. She leaned back and looked at the ceiling. "I haven't thanked you yet."

When he didn't answer, she continued. "You saved my life a few times, true you're the one that put me in danger in the first place but…but you risked your life for me. And you agreed to bring Rein, I think we all really needed that, and that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't allowed it.

"Vita even enjoyed having her other self around," she snorted. "Not that she'll ever admit it. And you suppressed the discomfort that everyone should have felt, even though you were coming apart at the seams, you put everyone's comfort above your well-being. You keep going on about how you're not as good as the rest of…the other yous. But…but you are, in your own way.

"So, thank you."

She saw him nod out of the corner of her eye, the ghost of a smile tugging at his lip.

'You only have one life,' said Flora's voice. 'Live it.'

Signum felt her cheeks growing hot. And for the first time in her life berated herself for her complete lack of romantic experience. She wasn't entirely sure she should do anything, but if she did, she'd feel more comfortable if she at least knew what the hell she was doing.

Maybe she could try the things Hayate did whenever her switch got flipped?

She felt her entire face grow hot at the thought.

"So umm." She said, trying to figure out what to say, or even how to say it.

Shirou turned to look at her and their eyes met. She could see pain there, sadness, and something else, she had little doubt that he found her attractive, but would he still want her if he knew how completely inexperienced she was?

And if she acted on Flora's advise, what then? Should she try to shackle him to this dimension? She could not go with him, her duty to Hayate would not allow it but…

"Hey Signum," he said, snapping her out of her spiraling thoughts. "I want you to have something."

He reached into a pocket, took hold of her hand, and pressed something to her palm. Signum felt her heart hammering in her chest as she slowly opened her hand to look at it.

In the palm of her hand was a simple round necklace, the stone at its center a brilliant white, until she turned it slightly, and the light reflecting from it showed every color in the spectrum.

She gasped. "But Shirou, I…"

He closed her hand over the necklace. "If ever you want to see me, you just need to say my name, and if it's nothing urgent, I'll come as soon as I'm able, though it may take a few days." He said with a smile.

"I can't accept this Shirou, I don't…"

"Furthermore," he said, "if ever you need help, just take hold of it and press it, and I'll come. I'll drop whatever I'm doing, and come right to you. Though try to save that for emergencies," he grinned. "I'll tend to assume it's a dangerous situation, so I'll blast first and ask questions later."

"But," she said, her voice thick. "Why? I attacked you, tried to kill you, caused you nothing but trouble."

"Because you're my friend," he said with a smirk. "And I'm the one that gets to decide who gets one of these."

Signum looked at him and swallowed the lump in her throat. "I had resigned myself to you not coming back, to never seeing you again."

His grin widened. "Well, now you don't have to."

And then she clumsily pressed her lips to his, she felt him tense, then relax, at some point she realized she had screwed her eyes tightly shut, and as such had no defense ready for when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, hooked one arm under her legs, and lifted her up, only to set her immediately back down on his lap.

She pulled back. "W-Wait, I'm sorry, I shouldn't h-mpf."

This time it has he who pressed his lips to hers, she felt his arm snake around the back of her head, then pulled her closer. She felt something wet and warm lick at her closed lips, she parted them in surprise, and immediately felt his tongue invade her mouth.

It tasted sweet. That's what her mind told her as his tongue ran over her teeth, before slipping between them to lick at her tongue. Her hands formed fists on his clothing as she felt his tongue wrap around hers.

"You know," she heard OS say. "you have no idea how hard it was to stay quiet throughout that entire thing."

Signum's mind was too busy floating in a haze of heat and dizziness to pay the sword much heed.

"Seriously," it continued. "Have you any idea how much I wanted to tell you to just get on with it already?"

Signum realized that she was on her back, Shirou loomed above her as he hungrily devoured her lips. She could feel him through her jeans, pressing against her, it both excited and scared her. She gasped as she felt one of his hands press possessively if gently against her breast, then began kneading it.

"Oh wow, I guess I was dead on with all those jokes about being repressed huh?" OS continued, still being ignored.

If she'd been cogent enough, Signum would have had to begrudgingly agree she had no idea what she was doing. She had little idea what to do with her hands other than holding onto his shoulders, her legs locked around his waist almost by accident thanks to wrestling reflexes, even so he did not seem to mind. She felt him pull back from the kiss, and she gratefully took the opportunity to gulp down air.

"Lift your arms," he growled, his voice strained and husky.

Absently, she did, and felt him lift her shirt over her head. She blinked a few times, and saw him remove his own shirt, his chest was hard as it pressed against her, his lips clamping on hers again.

He left her mouth and began to kiss his way down her neck to her chest, and she wondered when exactly he'd removed her bra, and how it was that she had not noticed him doing so.

He then began to kiss and lick a long, slow circle around her breast, when he was done with one, he moved to the other, and then back. Twenty minutes later he was still on her breasts, her nipples were painfully erect, her entire chest felt like it was on fire, and she had two fistfuls of his hair and didn't know if she was trying to push him away or pull him harder against her.

"Signum," he said. "Unlock your legs."

He had to repeat himself a few times, the fact that he did not stop showing attention to her breasts in between talking did not help much. She eventually heard him and acquiesced.

She felt him undo her belt and she lifted her hips so he could remove her pants with less difficultly. What she had just done brought her a moment of mental clarity, though all it served to do was to make her wonder if someone could die of embarrassment.

Any such thoughts were driven right out of her mind as she felt him grab her legs by the back of her knees, spread her open, then clamped his mouth around her lower lips, and his tongue began to gently explore her.

Her lower back spasmed and she had to bite into one of her knuckles to keep from crying out. She soon pressed her hand against her own lips, her breathing coming in short gasps.

And then his tongue found her clit, and she was completely unable to stop the moan that tore its way out of her throat. It was chased by another as she felt the tip of his tongue circling around her clit. She felt something building up in her stomach, she took a fistful of his hair and arched her back, pressing his head harder against her.

She then felt something push its way inside her causing her to gasp. "W-What is that!?"

She felt him grunt, the vibration causing strange sensations to flow up her spine. And rather than answer her, she felt something curl. Her breath caught in her throat and she felt every muscle in her body spasm and grow taut, her entire body trembling with the strength of…whatever this was. She could feel Shirou giving her long, languid licks, each one sending a pleasurable spasm up her spine.

"What," she said, forcing the words out past her panting and swallowing the moans that tried to escape due to his continued ministrations. "Was that?"

He gave her one last lick, enjoying the way her breath caught in her throat, and leaned back.

"Downloaded the memories of a me that is really good at this." He said, sounding far too smug for her liking.

"That," she answered. "Is cheating."

"Can't say you didn't enjoy the results."

She took a fistful of his hair, "Cheating."

He chuckled, and decided she'd had enough of a break. He once more began to run his tongue over her sex, the taste of her driving him dizzy with desire.

She emitted a sound that was half moan half cry, her entire body spasming. "Stop! Stop stop stop! Too much! It's too much!"

He stopped immediately, and crawled up her body slightly, just enough so he could kiss and caress her mons and run one hand over her taut belly while the other explored her leg. He let her calm down and did what he could to ignore his painful erection, concentrating as much as he could on her.

After several minutes, her breathing was back under control, and the hand on his hair was not holding with quite such a deathgrip.

"So," she said, her voice far too composed for his liking. "What do I do?"

Shirou found her deferring to him on this adorable, and began to kiss and lick his way back to her lower lips, "You just lie there and enjoy yourself."

Her voice rose in pitch the closer he got, her breath coming in ever quickening gasps. "But…that's not…fair to you."

Rather than answer, he pressed his mouth to her sex and once more began to stoke her fires. He brought her to orgasm three more times before he judged he'd loosened her inner folds enough to properly enjoy herself. By that point she was putty in his hands, and so he discarded the rest of his clothing, rinsed out his mouth and wiped his face of her essence with a towel. And ignoring OS' whispered advise, he dragged a pillow under her hips, then crawled up the bed until he could rest his member against her entrance.

He then leaned over her until he could kiss her neck.

"Signum," he said as he nipped lightly at her neck.

"Hmm?" she intoned, her hands caressing his back

"I'm going to push inside you now." He whispered into her ear, before leaving a trail of kisses down her jawline. "Tell me now if you want me to stop."

Her only response was to grab two fistfuls of his hair, and pulled his lips to hers, she shoved her tongue clumsily into his mouth and began to lick.

Taking that as his invitation, and even though by now she was sopping wet, he began to push slowly and carefully into her. Her breath caught and he felt her tense, her folds pressing painfully on the intruding head of his member.

He pulled back from the kiss so he could whisper into her ear. Repeatedly telling her to "Relax, just relax."

Once she did, he began to push again, only for her to tense again. He repeated the process, kissing and nipping her neck, her legs trembling as she rested them on his hips. After a couple minutes, he was finally able to push the head of his member fully inside her, and forced his rising libido down, giving her time to acclimatize as she once more tensed and clamped down almost painfully.

When she spoke, her voice was strained. "Is…Is it all in yet?"

"Almost," he lied. "Just relax."

"Just…" she swallowed nervously and trembled. "Just shove it in all at once."

He pulled slightly back, then pushed forward slowly, stopping as she once more tensed and instinctively clamped down on him. "No Signum, that would only hurt you. Just relax."

"I'm…not afraid…of a little pain." She said through grit teeth, before once more forcing her body to relax.

He pushed another few millimeters into her, and stopped once again. "I'm not in a hurry," he said as he continued to kiss and lick her neck. "I can wait."

"I'm not some frail girl!" she said, and she was only dissuaded from forcibly pushing her hips against his by Shirou claiming her lips and doing something with his tongue that all but melted her.

It took several minutes, but Shirou was eventually inside her to the hilt, and he once more waited for her to relax.

He whispered sweet nothings into her ear, kissing her cheek and neck, her jaw and lips. And he began to slowly pull out, one torturous millimeter at a time, only to push in again at the same glacial pace.

After twenty minutes, Signum had learned not to tense quite that strongly as he thrust into her. He folds were still almost painfully tight. Still, he found a rhythm they were both comfortable with, and began to stroke in and out of her, this combined with how wet she was, made it extremely difficult for him not to just orgasm immediately. But he forced himself to keep his head and his cool.

It wasn't too long before she was moaning and panting, learning to enjoy the alien sensation, following his instructions, she stimulated her clit, timing it to his thrusts. She once more felt an orgasm building within her.

His breath caught, she felt his entire body tense as he pushed almost painfully deep inside her, and felt a wet heat bloom in her belly. She was at a loss for what had happened, until he apologized, and surprised her by holding his weight with only one arm. With his other hand, he reached down to where they were connected, and began to turn slow circles around her clit. It wasn't long before she had her own climax, a decidedly different sensation with him inside her.

He kissed her, once more exploring her mouth with his tongue, and Signum concentrated in enjoying herself rather than dueling with his tongue as was her first instinct. The kiss was long, and grew in passion, until she felt him stiffening again while still inside her.

Shirou leaned back, took hold of one of her ankles and pulled one of her legs up until her ankle rested against his clavicle. He then began to thrust into her with a faster rhythm than before, he rested his other hand on her mons, and pressed his thumb to the bud at the top of her sex. This time, it was her who reached her climax first, the afterglow a special torture with his stiff member still inside her. Even more, he mercilessly increased the tempo of his thrusts until he reached his own climax.

"Stop! Stop!" she called, or at least she tried to, her voice came out slurred, her breathing too chaotic for her to catch her breath. Her sixth climax was made more acute by his continued motions, the heat of his release the last thing she felt before consciousness left her.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

In the end, they ended up staying in that hotel for a few days. Signum proved to be a relatively poor lover, prone as she was to getting lost in the heady sensations and lacking the knowledge of how to make their lovemaking more pleasurable for him. But what she lacked in experience she more than made up for in enthusiasm, athleticism, and willingness to learn.

Her competitive streak was just a bonus.

Signum for her part, thought she could hazily recall a brief telepathic communion with her master, but she had been so overwhelmed at the time that she could not be certain.

They lied on the bed together on what they both knew would be their final night together, at least for a while. Legs intertwined as Signum enjoyed the sensation of simply being held. She wanted to ask him to stay, to settle in Midchilda with her, to maybe teach the TSAB about magecraft, to support her in her duties. Though she knew all of those reasons were merely excuses. Signum could feel that if she asked him, he would agree.

Just as she knew that if he asked her to go with him. She would, at least for a while. Her duty was to Hayate, and her guilt at abandoning her Master would eventually drive her to return.

That's why neither one of them asked. They instead held one another, enjoying each other's warmth. Chatting quietly about anything that came to mind. About their travels, her work for the TSAB, the strange things that happened to some of his alternates.

There was a crash as the closet sprang open. OS clattered to the floor.

"Not gonna lie, making me miss out on most of the show? Not cool."

The Slider and the Knight chuckled, the two of them far too comfortable to bother throwing the sword back in the time out corner. And slept in each other's arms.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Shirou and Signum stood hand in hand on the roof of the hotel, the Slider preparing the calculations for the next jump.

"Are you sure you don't want to say goodbye to everyone?" she asked him, giving his hand a squeeze.

"And suffer the awkwardness of another big and emotional goodbye so soon? I don't think so. Besides, I'm still not entirely sure Vita or Hayate won't try to kill me." He answered.

She gave him a soft smack on the back of the head.

OS dinged and began to emit a soft multicolored glow.

"Alright," Shirou said before giving Signum a quick peck on the lips. "Time for me to go."

Her cheeks were tinted an adorable pink, but she nodded and let go of his hand.

Shirou slashed the air in front of him.

Nothing happened.

"OS?" he asked, looking at the weapon with some concern.

"Well, I want to say goodbye too!" the weapon whined, causing Shirou to sigh.

"AHEM! Boss lady!" he began, making both the Slider and the Knight blink in surprise. "It was super fun teasing you, I'm sorry that I'm not sorry for all the discomfort I've caused you. And feel free to call the Boss for a booty call any time you feel frisky!"

"OS!" screamed the both of them, their faces growing hot.

"Still got it." Said the smug weapon, before a rift opened instantly beneath Shirou's feet.

"Wah!?" he said intelligently as he fell through, the rift closing with a sound of repairing reality.

Signum pulled out her necklace and smiled to herself, and half walked half stumbled to the edge of the roof, summoned her barrier jacket, and flew home. Wondering how long the soreness would last.

While the last few days had been wonderful, she couldn't have the…side effects getting in the way of her duties.

At her home, Hayate felt Signum approach, and smiled her most evil and lascivious smile.

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Huh, wild ride eh?

Been a few years. Concentrated on school and career. Nearly died a couple of times, almost killed a man. Rolled with the punches. Things were bad for a while, they're better now.

Dunno if I'll write more of this. Maybe I will maybe I won't, the thread is long dead and I wrote this for fun after rereading what was there for some nostalgia soooo...

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Have a nice day! 8D