IBHJ 1415

He took a deep breath and looked directly at her. "I love you, Artie. I have for a long time. And I'm asking—would you marry me?"

The question struck her silent. She stared at him, the rose trembling slightly in her hands, her usually composed expression completely shattered by surprise.

"Shirou... I can't..." her voice cracked, and she took a step back. "I'm not good enough for this. You should find someone else, someone who hasn't made the mistakes I have..."

Her eyes darted around wildly, clearly overwhelmed.

Shirou tightened his grip on her shoulders, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Hey, look at me. This isn't some random impulse—I've thought about this for years. I want to spend my life with you."

"But after everything I did..." She shook her head frantically. "The way I failed as a king, as a person... How can you even ask me this?"

"Because none of that changes how I feel." Shirou's voice softened. "Listen, I could use magic to erase all the pain we went through, start over completely clean. But I don't want to. Every struggle, every mistake, even the worst parts—they're all part of our story. They're part of what brought us here."

He brushed a strand of hair from her face. "The whole mess with Crimson Moon, all the guilt you've been carrying—we can fix that. Together. And maybe... maybe we can finally give Mordred the family she deserves."

She stared at him, tears spilling down her cheeks. For a long moment, she couldn't speak. Then, barely audible: "Yes."

"Are you crying because you're upset?" he pulled her into his arms, his thumb gently wiping away her tears.

"No." She laughed through the tears, a sound like breaking sunshine. "I'm happy. I'm so incredibly happy."

"Good. Because now that you're officially mine..." he fumbled in his pocket and produced a simple gold ring set with a small diamond. His hands shook slightly as he slipped it onto her finger. "This belongs to you too."

"—Okay, but why exactly are we here?"

"Probably for dramatic effect. Though I have to admit, this is pretty touching. I might actually tear up."

Merlin and Kay huddled behind a nearby pillar, whispering like schoolchildren. A few feet away, Sir Ector wandered over, looking confused.

"Guinevere!" Ector called out to Shirou. "There you are! The kitchen accounts won't balance themselves, and the servants are asking about next week's meal planning—"

"Father, no!" Kay practically leaped out from behind the pillar, waving his arms frantically. "Don't worry about any of that! I'll handle the accounts, and Merlin can deal with the meal planning!"

"But Guinevere always—" Ector started, pointing at Shirou.

"Trust me, everything's under control!" Kay grabbed his father's arm and started steering him away. "Why don't you go check on the stables instead? I think the horses need... uh... extra attention today!"

Merlin nodded sagely from his hiding spot. "Yes, very important horse business. Extremely urgent."

Ector threw up his hands in defeat, muttering something about young people taking over all his responsibilities, but allowed himself to be led away.

The next morning, Morgan stormed into the courtyard with Gawain and Gareth flanking her like bodyguards. Her expression could have melted steel. "Shirou!"

"Oh. Hey there." Shirou tried for casual and failed miserably. "Fancy seeing you here."

Behind Morgan, Gawain and Gareth exchanged glances and shrugged apologetically. It was obvious to everyone that being yanked into this place was Shirou's doing, though his exact plan remained a mystery. Most of them were willing to play along—but Morgan had clearly run out of patience.

"Shirou!" Morgan stormed up to him, her face flushed with frustration. "What exactly do you think you're doing? I've been trying to leave this connection point for hours and I can't get out! I didn’t do anything wrong—why are you trapping me here?!"

"You're not trapped," Shirou said calmly. "I just... wanted to talk to you properly. Without you running away first."

"Running away?" Morgan's eyes flashed. "I don't run—"

"You do, though." Shirou reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. "Every time things get personal, you find an excuse to leave. So I figured maybe a little privacy would help."

Morgan stared at the box, her anger slowly giving way to wariness. "What is that?"

Shirou opened it, revealing another diamond ring—different from Artoria's, but equally beautiful. Then, to everyone's surprise, he dropped to one knee.

"Morgan le Fay, will you marry me?"

"I..." Morgan's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. She glanced over at Artoria, who was watching with a mixture of surprise and something that looked almost like encouragement.

"But you already proposed to her," Morgan managed, pointing at her sister. "You can't just... both of us..."

"Why not?" he looked up at her with that earnest expression that had always been her weakness. "I love you both. I've loved you both for longer than I care to admit."

Morgan's hands trembled. "Shirou, I'm not... I'm not good at this kind of thing. I've spent so long being angry, being bitter. I don't know how to be someone's wife, or how to be part of a family."

"Then learn with us," he said simply. "You don't have to be perfect. You just have to be willing to try."

Morgan looked between Shirou and Artoria, her usual confidence completely shattered. Part of her wanted to say yes immediately—had wanted to say yes since the moment she realized what he was asking. But the other part—the part that whispered this was too good to be true—held her back.

"I..." She took a shaky breath. "If I say yes, and I mess this up—"

"You won't," Artoria said quietly, stepping closer. "And even if you do, we'll figure it out together."

Morgan stared at her sister, then back at Shirou, still kneeling patiently with the ring box in his hands. Finally, her shoulders sagged in defeat—or maybe relief.

"You're both completely insane," she whispered. Then, softer: "Yes."

…

The original timeline had unfolded exactly as it should have—Arthur drawing the sword, the journey through Britain, the rise of a legendary king. There was just one small problem with bringing cosmic-level heroic spirits back to their early days.

They were ridiculously overpowered.

Artoria had torn through the White Dragon's forces in a single afternoon, then apparently gotten bored and decided to "tour" the European continent. Last he'd heard, she and Altera were tag-teaming a very confused and increasingly demoralized Crimson Moon somewhere in Gaul. The poor guy probably hadn't expected to face two world-ending warriors working in perfect sync.

It was like watching max-level players return to the tutorial area.

Shirou, meanwhile, had made his way to the Land of Shadows on the Irish coast. The mist-shrouded land felt exactly as he remembered—eternal, otherworldly, and somehow both welcoming and forbidding.

Under Aife's amused gaze, he knelt before Scathach and produced the ring box.

"I had a feeling this was coming," Scathach said, though her tone held more curiosity than surprise. "You've been planning this thing, haven't you?"

"Maybe a little." Shirou opened the box. "Scathach, Queen of the Land of Shadows, teacher of heroes—will you marry me?"

"Ooh, say yes!" Aife called out from the sidelines, practically bouncing with excitement.

Scathach's lips curved in a slight smile. "The same approach you used with Artoria and Morgan? I'm not so easily—"

She let out a startled yelp as he swept her up in his arms, ring box still clutched in one hand.

"Shirou! What on earth—put me down this instant!"

"Wasn't it you who taught me about old Celtic customs?" Shirou grinned at her flustered expression. "If a warrior wants something, he takes it. I want you, so I'm taking you. And since you can't exactly overpower me right now..."

"This is completely undignified!" Scathach protested, though her face was turning an increasingly bright shade of red. "Aife is never going to let me live this down!"

Indeed, Aife was barely containing her laughter in the background.

"So?" Shirou asked, his voice gentler now. "What's your answer?"

Scathach buried her face against his shoulder, her voice muffled. "You already know what I'm going to say, you impossible man."

"I'd still like to hear it."

"...Yes." She lifted her head just enough to glare at him halfheartedly. "But if you ever pull a stunt like this in front of my students, I'm putting you through the most brutal training regimen you've ever experienced."

Shirou carefully slipped the ring onto her finger, still holding her in his arms. "Deal."