Chapter 82 (Fate-In Time Side Story: Chaldea Alternative Records: Chapter 7)

Saber Arturia was feeling listless. It was a common point between all of her counter parts as of late, but none of them could be blamed. She'd known before hand that if her wish had come true, then someone other than her would be able to prove his or herself worthy of kingship, but to actually see it happen with someone she'd been comparing herself to since young was a whole other experience. Her own vanity had deluded her into thinking that no one else other than her was worthy of the sword due to Merlin's insistence that she was the destined child that would save the country.

Now it was shown that Shirou too had the qualifications, and she had yet to decide on how to feel. Should she confide with the Merlin of her dreamscape? Womanizer he was, but there was no denying the man's wisdom. Of course, this came at the cost of not knowing if Merlin was being truthful to her or not for his own entertainment.

Saber decided that she didn't want to take that risk and allow Merlin to hold something over her head. Like the other Arturia's, she was dreaming and spending her time in the world of her own timeline.

Just like it had been for child Arturia, it was now Saber's turn to accompany Merlin in drawing forth Caliburn and proclaiming herself King. The problem and decision that she'd been putting off since the beginning was finally being forced upon her.

The time of reckoning had come, and in response, Saber did her best to delay the matter by stuffing her face with Shirou's cooking for as long as possible. The others had long since left to explore the various parts of Roan, but here she was indulging her appetite more than she should be and forcing Shirou and Merlin to wait on her.

Of course, Saber was conscious and embarrassed at what she was doing, but she wanted more time to think. It didn't help that Shirou's food was addictive and that her stomach could not get enough of it.

She'd eat a plateful of food, wipe her face, and then ask for more. Subsequently, Shirou spent all morning in the kitchen as a result.

Merlin rested his chin over his left hand while sitting on the table across from Saber.

"You know Arturia, I wonder how you'd look like one day without that metabolism of yours," Merlin said idly while considering the prospect of inventing a magic that would enact such a result for his own entertainment. Surely it wouldn't hurt to play a prank at least once, and direct it as a lesson regarding overeating?

Saber ignored Merlin. She knew that he'd readily mess with her if given the chance; however, she'd underestimated his tactics.

"Would Shirou think of you as a pig if you were fat, or a bigger target during sparring?"

Saber paused mid-bite, and glared at Merlin who had now grown tired of waiting two hours for Saber to finish her meal. They stared hard at each other, but it was Saber who turned away first since she knew that she was the one acting unreasonably.

"Though I won't comment on you taking time to decide if you should pull Caliburn or not," Merlin shrugged as Saber stilled. "Keep eating and wasting time like this, and we'll both see what happens in the future."

Saber swallowed, unable to form a response. Merlin continued.

"Choices take time Arturia, but sometimes a decision can't be made alone no matter how long it takes." Merlin stood up and walked towards the door of the room. It just so happened that he timed this move the moment Shirou returned with a platter of food on hand.

Arturia looked between the food, and then at Merlin before bowing her head in defeat. "No more waiting. Let us all depart," Merlin left little choice.

Wiping her mouth and cleaning up after herself, she trailed behind Merlin as Shirou walked silently beside her. Shirou must have believed it was a solemn moment in her life, as he didn't bother trying to distract her with small talk. Instead, he nodded towards her in what could only be reassurance.

He did not know about how conflicted she was about whether she would be King in this lifetime. Her very wish upon the Holy Grail was to undo her failures during her reign as the promised King after all.

Merlin wasted no time in leading everyone towards Caliburn, and in the decisive moment, he inclined his head and beckoned Saber forward to come to a decision. Saber pursed her lips, her eyes darting towards Merlin, and then towards Shirou who opted to stand by the Wizard's side.

No. No this wasn't how it was supposed to be.

In the end, Saber had made her decision: She would not be King. How could she when she'd already tried and failed? Now that she knew that Shirou was worthy, perhaps he could do what she could not?

Wordlessly, Saber tugged at Shirou's arm and pulled him forward towards Caliburn along with her, much to his surprise. She stood in front of Caliburn, Shirou at her side, and yet Shirou showed no indication of revealing his worthiness. At the corner of her eye, she noticed a twitch form in Shirou's brow.

Shirou was smart. He should have been able to infer what she wanted of him by dragging him along with her. If he wasn't going to broach the issue, then she would.

"Draw the sword, Shirou," Saber said directly. Merlin hummed to himself in response while Shirou sighed.

"Why?" Shirou skirted around the issue and avoided making eye contact. "This is the moment you've been training for all your life."

Saber was done with delays. She'd already delayed enough herself. Therefore, she took in a breath and told him an answer he could not possibly refute.

"I saw it," Saber said solemnly, biting down on her lower lip. "Caliburn chose you. You are the worthy King. Not me."

Shirou listened to what Saber had to say, but in the end, he shook his head, bronze-coloured eyes seemingly staring right into her as if in understanding. His hands fell on either side of her shoulders and he gripped firmly. "Worthy or not, whose to say that you aren't? We grew up together, and if anyone knows the effort and perseverance you've been putting into one day saving this Kingdom, then it's me. And to me, Arturia, you are my King."

For a moment, Saber felt her heart skip a beat. She could separate between lies and truth, and she knew Shirou spoke in earnest. He truly viewed her for who she was, and he was right in what he said. Indecisive as she'd been about the present day, her efforts to grow stronger never waned.

Saber had always admired Shirou in their pubescent years, and she'd observed that he'd hardly ever been wrong in his judgement. This thought was at least enough to get her to listen if only because she was inwardly flustered.

She was older than her physical age and she was drawing comfort from the words of a junior?

Get yourself together.

She thought of Lily, and then of love, and suddenly her mind veered off track.

Romance was something she'd never experienced, mentally older or not, and it was oddly pleasant to indulge in knowing someone could accept her for herself, faults and all.

Stop. Stop right now! Focus.

"I'm not the one that should be King," Saber said wearily.

"But you're the one this country needs," came Shirou's prompt response.

You'd be wrong. The words were at the tip of Saber's tongue, but she held herself back and revealed only her stoicism which caused Shirou to flinch if only because Saber knew he disliked it when she masked her expression.

The conversation came to a pause, Merlin staring with a hand beneath his chin in the distance.

If it were any other time, Shirou would never argue with Saber. Yet in this case, he didn't adhere to her wishes as he'd always done before. Instead, he did something different.

Saber froze, staring right ahead.

Shirou smiles softly at her, expression deep with unsaid sentiments that renders her mute and unresponsive.

"Then let's do it like this."

He suddenly held her hand in his and coaxed her into gripping Caliburn's hilt alongside his own. They held Caliburn one hand over the other.

A King's duty was not to bear everything alone.

"Together," Shirou prompted.

All at once, Caliburn was drawn from the stone and held firmly in both of their hands. No one would be able to say who was the true King or not, and perhaps it didn't matter. Not anymore.

From a distance, Merlin began grinning slyly. The situation was different from what he'd expected, but he always did enjoy pleasant surprises. Especially when he knew that behind Saber's carefully construed composure was an emotion that he'd assumed someone as obstinate as Saber would never struggle with.

It was love.

It was passion.

Merlin furrowed his brows and hummed to himself as if solving a complex magical equation. He was part Incubus and knew what love and endearment felt like, but at the same time he was able to perceive all emotions a person may experience. This was why he could choose to act accordingly or more often then not, snub people for his own amusement.

In another time, and in another place, the only emotion Merlin would have discerned from Arturia was in fact the sweet scent of deep affection. However, Merlin was not dealing with the average Arturia anymore. He was dealing with a Saber traumatized by the failure of her own Kingship.

Beyond the endearment Merlin could feel budding from within Saber, he felt reservation and doubt? What an odd sort of combination. Was she fearful of rejection? Well, then Merlin would be the first to say that her chances were guaranteed as he could feel the same sickly-sweet aroma of endearment on Shirou's end as well.

With how mature Saber had been acting as of late, Merlin was certain that she must have picked up on it too. Merlin would be far too ashamed of Saber as a student of a half-Incubus if she couldn't perceive when to go in for the kill when her fervency was so blatant in her emotions. Then again, this was Saber. Her EQ was far from developed.

The sly grin began to slide from Merlin's face as he considered giving Saber a lesson on how to act sultry and not be so stiff.

Saber was just standing in a daze while staring at the hand connecting her to both Shirou and Caliburn. Together they'd drawn forth the Sword of Choosing without any form of resistance.

Shirou smiled at her reassuringly.

Again, Merlin felt a swell in Saber's emotions, but grew exasperated as her reservations rose in accordance. Why was she having to make this so hard? The both of them had drawn Caliburn, and there couldn't be two Kings, but a King and a Queen was possible. Shirou and Saber could fill this role, so why was Saber hesitating?

It struck Merlin then that perhaps Arturia did not know how to initiate as a woman.

Merlin suddenly got an idea, the edges of his mouth curving upward into an ill-boding wide grin.

Saber really should have noticed it when Merlin began slinking towards her with his staff in hand, but she was too overwhelmed with how the situation had developed. Wasn't Caliburn only supposed to choose a single candidate? Then why did it allow itself to be drawn by both her and Shirou at the same time?

A King and a Queen. "The Sword of Matchmaking."

Saber blanked as Merlin whispered into her ear. When did the pansy get so close, and why was his hand wrapping around the back of her head?

Questions and more questions, but with an answer that should have been obvious, but was not in Saber's addled state.

"Remember Arturia," Merlin said sternly. "Duty and honour may stand above all, but they are meaningless if you can't be true to yourself. Indecisiveness will get you nowhere."

Saber watched in slow motion as Merlin's other hand wrapped around the back of Shirou's neck, and Shirou's face drew closer and closer to her own. She had a moment to inwardly curse Merlin's name in a fluster, but it was fleeting, as it served no purpose. An instant later, and her lips met with Shirou's own in a kiss that Saber would never admit caused her heart to melt as she found herself subconsciously reciprocating the gesture.

How shameful.

Saber woke up with a start, red-faced and spluttering as Lily had been several nights prior. The Alters gave her a cold glance, and suddenly, Saber felt like she'd lost a part of her dignity to her counterparts. Only Lily and surprisingly enough, Lancer seemed to sympathize with her.

If Saber was red-faced, then her Lancer self was flustered. The ever-composed and mature Lancer Arturia was unintentionally fanning her face with a hand, and could not meet anyone's gaze.

Saber could only imagine what sort of experience her Lancer counterpart had had.

In the end, there was only one thought in Saber's mind as she softened to the idea of falling in love, was happiness something that she could have?

Saber stared at the hand Shirou had held softly in his grasp and felt a semblance of reassurance.

This time, this time surely, she'd save the Kingdom.

If not by herself, then with her Shirou by her side.