17 Discovery & Big Day!

The morning sun was shinning brightly through the windows in Iris' room.

It was the day after Ryker's talk with Saber. He had returned to Iris' room after their talk had ended, and attempted to get a couple hours of rest before he needed to get up.

Yet he had slept in clearly as when he did manage to awaken he felt a soft hand gently running itself through his hair.

Turning his head, he noticed that Iris was currently awake, surprisingly, and was playing with his hair while he had slept.

Laughing gently at her Ryker pulled her into his embrace before planting a soft kiss on her luscious lips.

The two just held each other, sharing a few kisses here and there, while they continued to relax and take in the gentle morning sunshine which beamed through the large glass windows.

After a while Iris brought her head out of his arm embrace and looked him in the eyes with a serious look, before asking gently, "Ryker, is everything alright?"

Ryker, had an idea as to what she was talking about, how could he not. He knew that it wouldn't take her long to figure out the troubles he had been facing emotionally. He just hoped it wouldn't be so soon.

Taking a deep breath, Ryker decided that it didn't do any good keeping it bottled up so he spoke, "Mmm, I've been having some bad dreams lately and its begun to chip away at me slowly over time, I have yet to understand what its trying to convey but it will be alright."

After Ryker finished he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly as if reassuring her that everything would be alright.

Iris feeling him trying to comfort her, felt exasperated. She knew that he was just this type of person, rather then worrying about his own needs he constantly sought to make sure his family was okay and cared for. She really wished he would just care for himself more rather then worry about her, but she knew that it would be almost impossible to change his outlook as to him, the most important thing wasn't his own personal safety but that of his family.

So she needed to be the one who looked out for him since he wouldn't.

Bringing her arms up, she cradled his head in her arms while laying on top of his chest, and said with as much love and care that she could manage, "Can you tell me about it?"

Ryker released a sigh before asking a question of his own, "About?"

He half expected her to pout about his indirect attempt to change the subject but as if unfazed by his attempts, Iris answered immediately with a gentle smile gracing her lips, "Everything."

Struck dumb for a few seconds, Ryker released a soft chuckle before explaining everything he had been going through lately.

Listening to his story Iris' expression didn't change on the outside but she was feeling very heartbroken inside. Thinking about the fact that Ryker had been going through so much emotional pain, while attempting to care for her due to the pregnancy, as well as always putting on a smile like everything was okay, when it really wasn't, pained her greatly.

When he reached the end, Iris just hugged him tightly while trying to form her own thoughts on the possible reason for the dreams. She knew that right now, he didn't need her sympathy or pity, none of that. What he currently needed was just for her to be at his side. His mind was currently like a boat in the middle of the sea during a storm, he needed an emotional anchor to make she he wasn't swept away by a stray wave, and she needed to be that anchor.

Thinking over everything Ryker had told her especially with regards to the consistencies he had noticed within each of his dreams, she attempted to better understand the possible reasons behind it, while using everything she knew about Ryker's past as well.

The dreams were about him, his family, a strange man, and some form of conflict which negatively impacted him or those around him.

Thinking deeply for a while she eventually decided to just voice any thoughts she may have in an attempt to bounce ideas off of him that may help him understand things better, "I feel like the key is with the man, the only people you've meet after your summoning are those in the Einzbern mansion, and you already said the man's body shape, though cloaked in shadows, didn't seem to match Kiritsugu's.

That means the man is either someone you will meet, or someone you've meet before being summoned. There is also the fact that the 'conflict' you experienced was never the same, this may mean that, while the 'conflict' may be inevitable, the choices made may be able to alter the outcome. As for us being involved, I feel that its not an actual 'event' but rather the dreams trying to use what you care for most in an attempt to get the warning across. So when the 'conflict' does happen we may not even be nearby, or in any danger.

There is also the case that these dreams stem from one of your abilities doing something passively? Have you tried turning off some of your abilities while you sleep and seeing if they had anyone effect?"

Ryker hearing all of the points Iris made was shocked. He had been focused on what had happened to his loved ones, and although he had taken in the rest of the dream, he hadn't thought to much on anything other then the danger his family was faced with. Yet hearing Iris' points he started thinking that maybe, his family in the dream represented what he cared for most, being taken from him.

Feeling strangely refreshed Ryker kissed Iris on the top of her head before saying, "Thanks baby I'll try experimenting some more with the dreams, using the points you made as baseline in an attempt to figure out their cause. I have a feeling after listening to you that the dreams aren't quite what I had thought them to be."

Iris hearing she had been helpful to him smiled happily before bringing her lips to his and giving him a soft peck, once separated she spoke, "I'm glad I could be of help darling~ now then, lets wake up Illya and have some breakfast!"

Watching her pounce out of the bed Ryker chucked at her antics before trailing behind her.

Over the next few months Ryker been attempting to understand as much as he possibly could about not only the dreams, but himself as well.

Every night he experimented with the dreams and he had come across some major discoveries.

The biggest discovery was as Iris had said the dreams were actually a result of his [Eyes of the Watcher] skill amplifying his [Instinct] skill. His instinct skill helped him sense when danger was approaching and acted as some sort of 6th sense. Yet for some reason his [Eyes of the Watcher] skill was increasing the skills abilities beyond their normal threshold, turning it into some form of prophetic type ability.

Shutting off either his [Eyes of the Watcher] or his [Instinct] skill brought the dreams to a halt, much to Ryker's joy.

Other things he noticed was that he was able to change the thing he 'lost' in the dream. If he thought deeply about a specific thing while forming thoughts of 'desire' then the thing in his dream changed to mirror that.

He had first tried it out on Iris' bed. He thought about how badly he wanted to protect the bed from harm, and within his dreams rather then his family by his side, the bed appeared, much to Ryker's amusement.

The only things he wasn't able to gain information on were, who the man was, and what form the 'conflict' would be in, but it didn't matter to much as he had solved the root of the issue and was no longer plague by the nightmares.

His outlook on the dreams had changed drastically after discovering the fact that his dreams were nothing more then a biproduct of one of his own abilities.

He also began to view his [Eyes of the Watcher] skill in a different light, the description of the ability had been vague, only telling him that they were, 'Eyes of the All-seeing Watchers'. Yet now they had quite literally allowed him to look at what could possible be, the future.

So he started experimenting with the skill. He attempted to combine them with any of his other abilities, which resulted in Ryker experiencing a huge increase in strength just due to a simple fact, Knowledge.

Prior to the dreams, Ryker had believed he had known as much as he could in regards to his own abilities. Yet he was very wrong.

The [Eyes of the Watcher] skill almost had an innate ability which allowed it to combine and work in conjunction with his other abilities. An example of this would be when he used it together with his [Territory Creation]. Prior to this to use the [Territory Creation] skill he needed to personally weave the magic through the surroundings until eventually he established what he called a 'pseudo-domain'. Yet now when using both abilities together, he could create an actual domain of about a 1,000 yards across (about 915meters).

The domain provided him with many benefits especially during combat.

Firstly, he was able to alter the surrounding land into your favor. So if faced with a fire mage he could turn the terrain within 1000 yards into a world of water and ice. Granted he could control it, so as not to effect anyone besides his intended target, but he would still need to be carful when doing such things none the less.

He could also use the domain as an extension of his senses, enhancing them to an even further level then they currently were at.

The last thing he had been able to do with it was, control his 'creations' meaning his [Item Construction], [Blade of Akashic], and [Armor of Akashic]. Anything he made using those abilities he was able to manipulate, by using his domain.

That's not to say that his domain wasn't able to do other things, but rather Ryker had yet to discover all of the benefits it had provided for him. On the flip side of that though, he also hadn't discovered its weakness, as sometimes knowing your own weakness is far more important then knowing all of your strengths.

His other abilities received a massive boon from his [Eyes of the Watcher] skill as well, but there was still many things Ryker needed to understand before he could say he had mastered his newfound strength, which stemmed from merely a lack of knowledge.

All of that being said, it had taken Ryker a few months of practicing and experimenting to get this far in his discoveries, yet today he was putting it all aside,

For today was a big day in the Einzbern mansion.

Within the large dinning hall of the castle, Ryker, Iris, Saber, and Kiritsugu all stood around the head of a large ornate table.

Seated at the head of the table, was young baby Illya, who was currently celebrating her first birthday.

That's right, today marked the day of Illyasviel von Einzbern's birth, making her exactly one year old.

It had been nearly been 12 months since Ryker had been summoned to this world.

In a way, he felt like it wasn't only Illya that was turning 1, but him as well.

"Dadda!"

Ryker was broken out of his thoughts when he heard Illya call for him.

Reaching down, he picked her up from the chair she had been sitting on and brought her into his arms as he gave her a large hug and kissed her forehead.

Illya hadn't grown much physically over these few months, but rather she had become quite the smart little monster.

Despite being smarter then an average 1year old though, she continued to act like she always had. Enjoying playing with her toys which she now had even more of, cuddling up with Ryker and fighting with her mother over his lap.

Speaking of her mother, Iris was to Ryker's left wearing a white dress with golden accents on it. Something that was different though was her stomach had swelled up considerable. She now had a large baby bump, which didn't diminish her beauty in the slightest.

She came closer to Ryker who was holding Illya and also gave her daughter a large kiss on the forehead wishing her a happy birthday much to the little bunnies delight as she released an adorable giggle before the two set her back onto the ground.

Once back onto the ground, Iris walked over to Kiritsugu before calling out "Paki!" with her little arms stretched out.

Reaching down Kiritsugu lifted her up into her arms while saying "Happy birthday my little princess!"

Ever since Ryker's talk with Kiritsugu and the divorce, he had changed quite considerably. He no longer tried so hard to hide himself behind his cold exterior and allowed his emotions to show through more and more as days past.

He had every now and then spent hours playing with Illya whenever he wasn't busy.

Ryker and Iris would of course never prevent Kiritsugu from being in Illya's life as he was her biological father at the end of the day.

Which led to the situation where Illya ended up calling Ryker 'Dad' or 'Daddy' and sometimes. While she would call Kiritsugu 'Papa Kiri' or sometimes 'Father' but as she often had a hard time fully enunciating her words it often came out as 'Paki' or 'Fafer' while Ryker was 'Da' and 'Dadda' which Iris thought was adorable and often teased him about it.

The rest of the day was spend celebrating and doing whatever Illya wanted to do, whether that be playing with toys, running around or even reading which she really enjoyed.

Ryker and Illya often read to her at night, combined with her innate ability [Laziness] which she got from her mother, the combination resulted in her often begging Ryker to cuddle with her in her new big girl bed, which still had little railings on the side but aside from that was quite large, large enough to the point in which he could lay with her comfortably despite Iris saying it was a bed meant for a 1year old…or even cuddling on the floor while he read her a story book.

This sometimes resulted in Iris getter jealous and attempting to claim his lap as 'her spot' which ended up fueling a 'rivalry' between the two…

At the end of the day they still loved each other more then anything but the large gap between the two, immense love and bitter rivals, caused Ryker to once more mused at the mysterious entities known as women.

Once night drew near, Kiritsugu returned to his own room, while Ryker, Iris and Illya laid down together for the night, Illya refusing to sleep in her own bed, and instead climbing in between Ryker and Illya while wrapped up in a bundle of blankets.

After reading her a bedtime story, Ryker and Iris both embraced Illya from different sides while holding each others hands at the same time, before drifting off to sleep.

This time for Ryker, a sleep which was peaceful.

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(Author's Note: Some people may find the story to be moving to slow, others may think its moving to fast. Everyone will have their own opinions and will prefer different kinds of stories. I want to find a good balance between everything. It is currently November 20th, year 1985/86 not sure exactly what year. I know that the Fourth war started in 1994, 8 years after Illya's birth. I don't know however the exact date. I know her birthday was November 20th, so it could be two different ways. Either the grail war started after Nov. 20th 1994 and Illya turned 8 in 94 with the war happening in Nov. or Dec. OR the war was early 94 and Illya turned 8 Nov. 20 1993. I believe she was 18 in Fate/stay night UBW, which followed the Fifth war in 2004. Yet that still doesn't help me much, so if any of you happen to know either the month the war started in or the year Illya was born it would help me be more accurate in my time line, but if not ill just follow my own opinion so please don't flame me xD I'm trying to not make to many mistakes when it comes to the timeline of the cannon.)

(Ps: I'll be working on Edits for my other book today in an attempt to get them finished by tomorrow morning. If not I will be posting them tomorrow night, or first thing the next morning but I doubt it will take me that long unless I need to re-write more then I think, or I fall into a writers block and have issues at some point thinking about how to improve it.)