IBHJ 1416

Next, Shirou found himself at the Black Princess's castle, its gothic spires reaching toward a perpetually overcast sky.

"Okay, but seriously—why did you drag us into this place too?" Altrouge stood in the courtyard with her arms crossed, looking distinctly unimpressed.

"Come on, wouldn't you want to witness your sister's happiness?" Shirou replied with an innocent smile.

Altrouge visibly shuddered. "Ugh, don't say things like that with that expression. It's creepy. And don't act all familiar with me—we're not that close."

"You're being awfully cold, considering we're practically family now."

"We are absolutely not family!" she backed away a step. "That's even worse! Just... go find Arcueid and leave me out of whatever weird romantic drama you're orchestrating."

He chuckled. "Alright, alright. Where is she?"

"Inside, glued to some new game system. Where else?" she gestured toward the castle with obvious exasperation.

Sure enough, when Shirou entered the main hall, he found Arcueid sprawled across an oversized sofa, completely absorbed in a handheld gaming device.

"Oh, you're here," she said without looking up, fingers moving rapidly across the controls. "Just leave the ring on the coffee table. I'll put it on after I finish this level."

"After you finish this level?" Shirou raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, just five more minutes—this boss is really tricky and I've been trying to beat it for hours."

Shirou sat down on the edge of the sofa and gently took the game from her hands.

"Hey!" she finally looked up, her cheeks flushed. "I was about to win!"

"Were you really?" he smiled down at her. "Or were you just too nervous to look at me?"

Her face turned even redder. "I wasn't nervous! I just... really wanted to beat that boss..."

"Arcueid." Shirou's voice became gentler. "Will you marry me?"

She fidgeted with the edge of a throw pillow, suddenly finding it very interesting. "I mean... I guess I already knew this was coming. And it's not like I was going to say no."

"That's not really an answer."

She finally met his eyes, a shy smile spreading across her face. "You promise you'll keep playing games with me? Even when we're old and you're tired of my high scores?"

"Especially then," he said, producing the ring box. "I'll need someone to carry me through the hard levels."

"In that case..." she held out her hand, grinning now. "Yes. But I'm still going to beat you at everything."

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

As he slipped the ring onto her finger, Arcueid's smile grew warmer.

…

When Shirou found Vivian, she was sitting by a fountain in the castle garden, trailing her fingers through the water. The moment she saw him approaching, she stood up with a bright smile. "You're here to propose to me too, aren't you?"

Shirou blinked, caught off guard. "I... yes, actually."

She stepped closer. "And my answer is yes."

"That was... surprisingly straightforward." he couldn't help but smile..

"Fairies aren't very good at pretending," Vivian said with a soft laugh. "We feel what we feel, and we say what we mean. I've loved you for a long time, Shirou. I've watched you carry so much weight, seen you put everyone else's happiness before your own."

Her expression grew more serious. "I don't want to miss this chance. I don't want to spend another lifetime wondering 'what if.'"

"You were never going to be left behind, you know. Not this time."

"I know that now." Vivian held out her hand. "But it's nice to hear you say it."

Shirou slipped the ring onto her finger, and Vivian admired it for a moment before throwing her arms around him in a hug.

"Alright," came a distinctly unimpressed voice from nearby. "This is all very touching, but could someone please explain why I'm suddenly a baby again?"

They turned to see Artoria holding a small bundle—baby Mordred, complete with tiny fists and an expression of pure indignation that looked absurd on such a cherubic face.

"I thought it might be nice to give you a proper childhood this time," Shirou said carefully. "With a real family."

Baby Mordred's face scrunched up in annoyance. "I didn't ask for a do-over! And this is extremely undignified!"

"You deserve a chance to grow up without all that pressure and anger," he said, reaching out to gently touch her tiny hand.

For a moment, Mordred's expression softened, then she promptly bit his finger with her surprisingly sharp little teeth. "I'm not going to suddenly start acting like a normal baby just because I look like one."

"Ow ow ow! Mordred, let go!" Shirou yelped, trying to gently extract his finger from the baby's surprisingly strong jaw.

"She's got quite a grip for someone so small," Artoria said, carefully trying to coax Mordred to release her bite. "Come on, Mordred, that's enough."

Finally, Mordred let go with a satisfied huff, leaving tiny teeth marks on Shirou's finger.

After spending some time on the proposal, Shirou finally dissolved the Connection Point and shifted to another one.

Fuyuki City, 2003.

"I knew you'd come here," Sakura said with a knowing smile as Shirou appeared. But when she noticed the group of women standing behind him, her expression faltered. "Oh. I see you've been... busy."

She let out a long, resigned sigh. "I should have expected this."

Shirou knelt down in front of her, pulling out the familiar ring box. "Sakura, will you marry me?"

Sakura stared at him for a moment, then glanced over his shoulder at Artoria, Morgan, Scathach, Arcueid, and Vivian. "All of them too?"

"All of us," he said simply.

"I..."

"Go on," Tiamat's voice came from behind her, gentle but encouraging. "You've waited long enough for your happiness, haven't you?"

Sakura took a shaky breath, then looked directly at him. "Promise me something."

"Anything."

"After we're married—don't you dare start taking me for granted," she said. "I won't be ignored or pushed aside. If you do, I'll be angrier than you've ever seen me."

Shirou smiled. "I promise. You'll never have to worry about that."

"Then yes," she said, holding out her hand. "Obviously yes."

They held a simple ceremony right there in Fuyuki, with Tiamat officiating and the spring cherry blossoms serving as decorations. It wasn't elaborate, but it felt right.

When they returned to reality, Shirou made one more stop—the Nordic connection point, though it had changed. The Savior of Light's victory had done more than just destroy the Root Evil. All the connection points had been restored into proper parallel worlds, each one whole and real in its own right.

Even the world that the First Emperor had burned was brought back, though the Emperor himself had chosen to remain in their timeline rather than return to his restored world.

"Shirou?" Skadi looked genuinely surprised when she saw him approaching through the snow-covered landscape of her world. "What brings you all the way out here?"

"I came to ask you something important," Shirou said, pulling out the now-familiar ring box. "Skadi, will you marry me?"

Skadi's eyes went wide. She glanced past him to where Artoria, Morgan, Scathach, Arcueid, Vivian, and Sakura were standing, then back to him. "But you already have... all of them. And now you want me too?"

Shirou nodded without hesitation.

"That's completely ridiculous!" Skadi's cheeks flushed pink, whether from the cold or embarrassment. She gestured frantically at Scathach. "Don't you have anything to say about this? You're just letting him collect wives like some kind of—"

"In our time, powerful kings often had multiple wives," Artoria said matter-of-factly. "It's not that unusual."

"Besides," Morgan added with a slight smirk, "we all agreed to this arrangement."

"Fairies don't really think about relationships the same way humans do," Vivian said cheerfully. "Love is love."

Arcueid nodded enthusiastically. "It's more fun with everyone together! No one gets left out, and there's always someone to talk to."

"I knew this was how things would end up," Sakura sighed, though she didn't look particularly upset. "I just want to make it clear that I was here first, so I get seniority."

Scathach shrugged. "He made a very compelling argument. By which I mean he literally swept me off my feet and I couldn't say no."

Skadi looked around at all of them, then back at Shirou. Her voice became smaller, more uncertain. "Even if I said yes... I can't always be around. My duties keep me here most of the time."

"That's okay," Shirou said gently. "We can visit you here. And when winter comes to the human world, you can come stay with us. We'll watch the snow fall together, just like we used to."

Skadi stared at him for a long moment, her expression softening. "You... you really remember that?"

"Of course I do. It's one of my favorite memories."

A slow smile spread across Skadi's face. "In that case... yes. I'd like that very much."