Shirou Emiya
The driver drove fast, like all taxis tend to, and they soon arrived at their destination without many holdups, other than a bit of traffic. Sakura sat in the middle between Rider and Shirou, and spent the trip leaning against Shirou and dozing off, gently holding his hand as she rested peacefully. Shirou watched the scenery zoom by, taking opportunity to observe what would be his new home from now on. It was an almost unbelievable sight, like something taken straight out of some strange anime or manga. There seemed to be no real design or common aesthetic to any of the buildings they passed, which were all a hodgepodge of various architectural styles and eras. One of the larger ones they passed looked incredibly futuristic, while many others looked as if they had been built around twenty years ago. Hearing Sakura tell him about the nature of this city had left him in a state close to disbelief, and he was still not completely sure this was really real. Maybe he’d run dangerously low on prana while doing something and now he was hallucinating as he died.
“Heh.” His chuckle surprised him. Even in spite of the morbidity of his hypothesis, he still felt perfectly content, happy even. If these were his final moments, he didn’t really mind. He intertwined his fingers with those of the beautiful woman sitting next to him and gently squeezed them, causing her to stir slightly.
He had everything he needed right here.
Sakura Matou
As the car drove along, gently bumping up and down, Sakura leaned against Shirou and closed her eyes, allowing herself to drift off into a calm, restful state of sleep that she rarely had been able to attain. For as long as she could remember, sleep hadn’t provided much of a respite from the everyday horrors she had been subjected to. They were often simply continuations of her everyday experiences in some way or another, either the pain, torture, or even just the fear of going down into the basement had terrified her to no end. Even the occasional one where she was returned to her family by the only one who had shown her any care or love, her Uncle Kariya, had been painful for her, every awakening bringing a new heartbreak with the realization that it had all been a dream and she still remained in her own personal hell. Soon after he died, the fantasy of being rescued abandoned her as well.
Even while she had been living with Shirou, finally freed from the clutches of Grandfather, the dreams had remained, a mental scar that constantly reminded her of the decade of continual abuse she’d suffered through; tormenting her like a broken arm that hadn’t been set properly and had healed incorrectly, her dreams had returned her to the past most nights. The sleeping pills had helped for a while, but then she’d been transported to a different kind of hell, the Nexus. The nature of her dreams had changed greatly since then, instead of pain and violation, they were of loss and abandonment.
But now, she was experiencing nothing of the sort. It was a simple dream, one that made her feel safe and secure, one that had no pretensions of scaring her. It was... enjoyable.
Eventually the car came to a stop, and Shirou gently woke her up. “I think we’re here, Sakura.” He told her, a happy look she couldn’t quite place covering his face. “Yeah, probably.” She stupidly replied before giggling at how inane a comment that was. “Let’s go.”
