A Different Fate - [Rewrite]

Chapter 17:A song and a new encounter

…

...

Going to meet Emiya Shirou was one of the last occasions in which the two kings were together – and with Illya, Arturia reminded herself – for several weeks of time.

They had to be more careful after that and only communicate through phone calls, mainly because of Kirei. It was true that the man, who had become a great deal more arrogant, was no longer as threatening a menace as he had been in the past, but it was best if he did not find out about Illya's presence in Fuyuki nonetheless. And, even if he had other duties to tend to and would not monitor the King of Heroes constantly, he might get suspicious if he left too often.

The priest, though, did not seem to have any interest in Kiritsugu's adoptive son, and that made sure that Illya and Shirou's friendship, which had tentatively started the first afternoon in which they had met, could continue to grow.

The two children wanted to get to know each other, because they were siblings, at least in the eyes of the law, and they both had memories of their father to share.

Arturia, after always confirming that Kirei was otherwise occupied during her evening phone calls with Gilgamesh, often brought Illya at Shirou's. To her mild amusement, she noticed how the boy did his best to avoid even looking at her, and she mentally rolled her eyes each time, thinking that the King of Heroes had exaggerated a bit in terrifying the kid.

The first times she brought Illya to the Emiya residence, Arturia remained there as well, conversing with Taiga – well, mainly letting Taiga talk while she listened – and sometimes to what the two children told each other, too. But after a while, the King of Knights began to give more space to the young girl, for several reasons.

For one, around Kiritsugu's house there was still a strong protective field, therefore the place was not unguarded. Illya had become very skilled in magic, and Arturia knew she could trust the girl to take care of herself. Her ward was growing up, after all, and she could not continue to be shielded by her the whole time. Another important factor that influenced Arturia's decision was the fact that neither Taiga nor Shirou could use magic in any form and way. Both she and Illya had been able to confirm that, and it was something that reassured the blonde woman. In addition, during her initial stay, she had come to see that Taiga, in spite of her playfulness, apparent air-headedness and constant chatter, was a reliable person when it came down to it. Arturia exchanged phone numbers with the woman, knowing she could put enough faith in her, at least when it came to Illya's safety inside the house where the Fujimura woman lived with the boy.

Arturia talked about all that on the phone with Gilgamesh. As she had promised, she called him every evening, usually summarizing the day's events and asking how it was going with Kirei. He scoffed and made snide remarks on the mongrel's arrogance, manifesting his irritation with him very clearly.

One evening, Arturia was sitting on her bed, talking on the phone with Gilgamesh and explaining worriedly that Illya had been in a very pensive mood the whole day.

There was a sudden knock on the door and a soft, "Arturia?" coming from the other side.

Recognizing Illya's voice and knowing that Gilgamesh had heard her, too, she quickly murmured, "Forgive me, Gilgamesh. I will call you back in a while."

She pressed a button and put the phone on her bedside table.

"Come in."

Illya came inside, dressed in her pyjamas. She seemed a bit sheepish and kept playing with her hair.

"I don't mean to disturb you, Arturia. I'm just thinking… about mommy."

After a short silence, she added, "She would have loved to live here in Japan… with me."