That night, after Kiritsugu had gone to bed, Shirou remained on the porch, staring at the stars. The weight of his family's loss and the fire's destruction settled heavily on his chest.
The stars glittered like fragments of light scattered across an infinite canvas. They felt distant yet constant, like something eternal he could reach for but never grasp.
He clenched his fists.
"I'll make sure no one has to go through what I did," he whispered to the sky. "No matter how hard it is, I'll protect everyone."
The words left his lips as if pulled by some unseen force. Shirou didn't know why he said them or what they truly meant, but in that moment, they felt right.
Far above, a faint breeze stirred, and one of the stars seemed to glimmer just a little brighter.
In the days that followed, Kiritsugu grew quieter. His coughs became more frequent, and he often retreated to his room, leaving Shirou to fend for himself.
One evening, as the sky darkened, Shirou found him sitting at the table, staring at a small, worn photograph. It was of a woman and a little girl, both smiling brightly.
"Who are they?" Shirou asked hesitantly.
Kiritsugu didn't answer at first. Then he sighed, placing the photograph face-down on the table.
"They were my family," he said, his voice hollow.
Shirou didn't know how to respond, so he said the only thing he could think of. "What happened to them?"
Kiritsugu's hand tightened around the photograph. "The same thing that happened to yours."
Silence settled between them like a heavy fog. Then, Kiritsugu looked up at Shirou, his gaze piercing.
"I don't have much time left," he said plainly. "But I need you to understand something. Ideals are heavy. They'll break you if you're not careful. But if you hold onto them, even when it hurts, they can change the world."
Shirou nodded, the weight of Kiritsugu's words pressing into his chest.
As Shirou went to bed that night, he stared out the window at the stars, the memory of Kiritsugu's words etched into his mind.
Far away, in the dream world, the faint outline of a vast steppe appeared under the same night sky. A figure shrouded in wind and stars watched from a distance, his gaze fixed on the boy who had made his first promise.
"Let's see if you're worthy," the figure murmured.