32 Sands of Time & Fate Shift Once More

A year after Ryker and his family had set off to enjoy their adventure around the world.

In another place, Kiritsugu was on a little 'adventure' of his own.

~Fuyuki City, Japan~

Inside of a hotel, Kiritsugu marched down a dimly lit hallway as he headed towards his destination. In his hands, a black briefcase which wouldn't stand out in a crowd.

*Thud*

*Thud*

The sound coming from his black dress shoes making contact with the hard floor seemed to echo throughout the empty and deserted hall.

The echo's of his footsteps came to a halt alongside him as he reached his destination.

Looking to his right, Kiritsugu read the series of numbers which were framed at the center of the wooden door.

'703…Here, huh…' He thought to himself as he leaned his back up against the door and scanned his vision over the surroundings.

Noticing that he was indeed alone and wasn't being followed, Kiritsugu knocked on the door with his right hand.

*Tap, Tap*

*Tap*

*Tap, Tap*

After knocking on the door five times in the preassigned code, Kiritsugu waited briefly as sounds of locks clicked from the other side of the door before said door was slowly creaked open.

Through the crack in the open door, peered out a women who appeared to be in her mid to late twenties. When the women noticed Kiritsugu she quickly opened the door, allowing him entry into the hotel room.

After letting Kiritsugu in, she double checked the empty hallway for any potential eavesdroppers. Once she was sure it was clear, she closed the door and locked it.

Entering the room, Kiritsugu set his briefcase onto the desk before opening it and removing the folders from within. After all of them had been removed, he noticed the women had returned so he asked, "Maiya, how are things in the city progressing?"

"So far nothing unusual. As requested I have been keeping an eye on the Tohsaka, and Matou families as well as the church, yet I haven't seen anything unusual as of yet." The women with short black hair who Kiritsugu addressed as Maiya, answered his inquiry with a cold and emotionless voice.

Hearing the information, or lack there of, Kiritsugu starting thinking silently to himself before asking, "Has there been any events revolving around those families which don't pertain to the grail war?"

With seemingly no reaction, Maiya answered him fluently with the same cold voice as before, "The Matou's have been silent. As you already know, the Matou's do not currently have a strong mage as their heir. During the grail war, they may not even have the qualifications to summon a servant. Without a doubt they are planning something when you take their 'pride' as one of the three founding families into account. They will not sit by quietly."

Nodding at her analyses, Kiritsugu waited silently for her to continue.

After a short pause in order to organize everything that's happened recently in her mind, Maiya spoke once again, "As for the Tohsaka family, the only recent news which stands out would be the fact that the Tohsaka family recently held a birthday celebration for their second born daughter. Sakura Tohsaka who was born earlier this month of last year and is the child of the family head Tokiomi Tohsaka and his wife Aoi Zenjou."

"I didn't hear the news of her being pregnant again?" Asked Kiritsugu, slightly confused.

Knowing the reason behind his confusion, Maiya gave him the answers he desired, "I didn't believe it to be to important seeing as how the second child was not planned and will most likely not be the next heir. The madam of the Tohsaka family had already given birth to their future heir, Rin Tohsaka. However, unexpectedly she became pregnant once more only a few months after. From what I've gathered so far, it appears the Tohsaka family plans to groom the first born daughter Rin granting her the rights of 'heir'. The only other news I have been able to gather is some whispers flouting around surrounding a deal between the Tohsaka's and Matou families, however in regards to what I haven't been able to get any information on it as of yet."

After hearing her take on things, Kiritsugu moved away from the bed and stood next to the window as he looked out at the city of Fuyuki.

While he was lost in thought he suddenly felt a pair of hands wrap themselves around his waist, breaking him away from his train of thought.

Turning his body around, Kiritsugu looked into Maiya's eyes with a questioning look.

Noticing the look he had given her, Maiya paid it no heed as she slowly asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Hearing the emotionless tone that she always talked with for some reason Kiritsugu felt strangely guilty, yet he didn't know the reason as to why.

Deciding to ignore it he answered her question with one of his own. "Maiya, do you think I'm going about things correctly?"

"Is this about that Caster?" she said stoically.

During his stay at the Einzbern castle, Kiritsugu had kept in close contact with Maiya in order to stay up to date with anything noteworthy that happened in Fuyuki. He had also informed her of a few things which happened on his end. Including the events which surrounded their servants, Caster and Saber. He wanted her opinion on things so he would be able to better map out and plan for the grail war.

Although Caster was a massive asset to have during the war, he knew he was unable to control him. He had wanted an outside opinion on whether he should ultimately place his trust in the servant, or if he should just attempt to win the war with Saber alone. This led to quite a few discussions with Maiya in regards to Ryker.

Knowing she had already seen through his line of thought caused Kiritsugu's lips to arch into a smile of self deprecation. "I'm that easy to read nowadays?"

Bringing her arms up, Maiya framed Kiritsugu's face with her hands before lifting her head up and planting a kiss onto his lips.

Separating from him, Maiya spoke, "No you haven't, I just know you is all. Don't stress yourself out to much worrying about that anomaly of a servant. We already have confirmed that he will not go against us so long as we keep Irisviel out of our plans. That should be good enough."

"It's not Caster I worry about…" Kiritsugu said once she had finished with her piece.

Although Maiya was initially confused, it didn't take her long to understand. "Illyasviel?"

Seeing him nod in confirmation she quickly pieced together the entire situation. "So you're sudden worry about Illyasviel was brought about due to the conversation regarding the Tohsaka family. Meaning you have figured something out, haven't you?" Maiya said with a slight hint of wonder, as she was once again awed by his skill in foresight.

"I haven't figured out anything. Just a guess is all…and I have a feeling that if this guess comes to fruition, we may be dragged into combat before the grail war even begins…" Kiritsugu stated with a blank expression.

Noticing the hint of caution in his voice, Maiya also decided to take the situation seriously. Still though, knowing that Kiritsugu most likely had already begun making plans for the worst case scenario Maiya decided to just leave it up to him as she began to attempt to ease his mind through the use of her body.

The two soon founds themselves entangled in a heated exchange. Although it wasn't the first time, nor would It be the last, neither one had noticed that something was fundamentally different this time. Unbeknownst to the two emotionless killers, the thing which they so desperately tried to keep at bay has started a hunt of its own. What was once nothing more then an emotionless exchange in order to dispel unwanted desires, had slowly begun to change into something more…

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-One Year Ago-

-Fuyuki, Japan-

"Ugh!!"

Within one of the cities many wealthy districts, there exists an ancient mansion which has stood against the trials of time for centuries.

Currently within said mansion, the anguish cries of a women echoed throughout the halls.

Within one of the rooms, a maid stood leaning over the end of a bed as she said, "Madam, you need to push!"

In response to her words, the women lying on the bed cried out once more, "Ahh!"

*Waaa*

The cries of a new born child sounded out in accompaniment to her mother's own cries.

Taking the newborn into her arms, the maid checked the baby before exclaiming aloud, "Congratulations madam! It's a healthy baby girl!"

Accepting the small life into her arms, the women looked into her child's eyes as she released tears of joy.

"Sakura, my child…" The women named Aoi said before the doors to the room were thrown open.

A man wearing a red jacket and matching red pants entered hurriedly into the room before suddenly coming to a halt upon seeing the child in his wife's arms.

"My child…" The man exclaimed as he came beside his wife.

The maids who were assisting in the birth all left the room in order to give the family some privacy.

-Present Day-

It had been a year since the birth of the second daughter of the Tohsaka family head, and a similar scene as the day of her birth was playing out.

A festive atmosphere enveloped the mansion as a celebration was held for the first birthday of the Tohsaka families second child, Sakura Tohsaka.

The celebration lasted the entire day and guests came and went in merriment.

Late at night, the family head Tokiomi Tohsaka, was walking down a dark, decrepit stairway. His facial expression was hardened and one of annoyance. A stark contrast to his earlier joy over celebrating his second daughter's birthday.

Reaching the end of the staircase, Tokiomi entered an old room deep underneath his mansion. Within the room laid multiple magical artifacts which each served a different purpose.

After entering the room, he walked past the table in the center of the room and went straight towards the back wall. The artifact he arrived before was one that mages have used to send letters to one another for many years. Although outdated, many mages preferred this method of communication over newer inventions.

Ripping the letter from the machine, Tokiomi read it before his expression morphed into one of anger before quickly calming down.

The letter was written by the elders of the Tohsaka family as they sent their best wishes to his daughters for her first birthday. It was the latter half of the letter which had brought about his anger. After sending their congratulations, they immediately swapped to a discussion regarding the future heir of the family and what to do with his second daughter.

Due to the fact that a mage families crest could only be pasted down to one person, the elders were pressing him to name which of his daughters would inherit the crest. At the end they had even talked about the situation surrounding the Matou family and a possible exchange.

Although Tokiomi wanted to rip apart the letter as soon as he had read it, he knew it was part of his responsibility as the family head to make such decisions. He had received a similar letter on the day that his second daughter was born but he had managed to put the subject on hold until she was older under the excuse of making sure they selected the best heir. Yet he knew he had run out of time. Word of his first born daughters potential had managed to reach the elders and they had begun to press him harder for an answer. Although he didn't care in the end as he loved both of his daughters, it was still a fact that despite him being the head of the family, the ones who held the most influence in the family were the elders, leaving him helpless.

Setting the letter down onto the table, Tokiomi calmed his emotions as he thought of his two young daughters. "Rin…Sakura…"

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While Tokiomi was contemplating what the future had in store for his family, elsewhere Ryker was doing the same as he stepped off a plane.

From behind him appeared two women, one with platinum blonde hair while the other possessed pure white hair, each carrying in their arms a child.

Looking around the place they had landed, the blonde haired women couldn't help but ask, "Husband…can you tell us where we are now?"

Bouncing off the words of her sister, the white haired women stated, "That's right, you have been rather secretive regarding our next destination. Now that we have landed can't you tell us? Please darling!"

Smirking due to the antics of his two wives, Ryker turned around to face the rest of his family, or more specifically, his wife Ria. "Although in the last few months we have seen many amazing sights, and traveled to quite a few different countries. The one we currently are in is rather special. I had originally wanted to save this one for later, however I figured with Zen's first birthday coming up, it would be a good idea to celebrate it here.'

Confused as to the significance of their current location Ria couldn't help but ask once more, "Where are we then?"

Ryker's smirk turned even more profound and mysterious as he stated calmly, "What you don't recognize it Ria?"

Ria began to look around utterly confused at what he was getting at before realization struck her in regards to what he was implying. With wide eyes filled with hope she looked at Ryker before asking, "…You mean?"

This time Ryker no longer tried to mess with her as his smile turned gentle before answering her hope filled eyes, "Indeed, welcome home Artoria Pendragon."

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Author's Note: Sorry this was posted later then i had originally planed it took me alittle longer to write then i had anticipated. I originally wanted to write a chapter Monday and Tuesday so i would have a few to release today, however, i ended up falling asleep right after work. I'm glad i managed to write this before I needed to go to bed today though as i wanted to atleast give you guys something today although i know i gave myself until the 5th as a deadline. I'm going to try writing another chapter tomorrow after i get back but I work from 9am-8pm tomorrow so it might be a challenge due to the way my hours are set up. Normally i get home at 6pm so after dinner i have time to write some but my superviser is taking from tomorrow until sunday off so i got stuck picking up more hours because i'm new...in exchange though, i only work 5hours Sat, and Sun so i should be able to write a couple chapters for both FFS & BH this weekend. I know it's very diffrent from how things were in the past and i appologize but i do hope you guys aren't too upset over going from 1chapter/per day -> 3chapters/per week or something depending on how things go. Just know that ill try to write whenever I am able to and I hope you guys continue to support the novel :)

*Just a head's up. I edit most of my chapters right after they are released as I check for spelling or grammatical errors. Know that I can't get all of them due to my own English only being at a certain point but I try so if you see spelling errors point them out and I will go through and fix them. Also with regards to the timeline for this chapter. {Sakura is born->one year passed, Birthday party->Ryker + Family lands in London->Kiritsugu meets up with Maiya.}