Fate Stay Mama!

Day 5 - Mamako

Mamako stood at the base of the many steps leading up to Ryuudou Temple, looking up the slope with her hands on her hips and a smile on her lips. It had been a long time since she'd visited a temple and even longer since she'd visited a new one. It only seemed right as a new resident that she visit Fuyuki's temple, so once she'd studied the map she'd found, she'd unerringly directed their 'walk' there.

Saber had been good, if quiet, company, commenting seriously on everything Mamako pointed out. It had taken quite a bit of work and frivolous chatter for Mamako to pull another smile from the young woman. But now Saber stood beside her with a more pensive expression on her face.

"Oh, Saber-chan, you're not afraid of the steps, are you?" Mamako teased. "You've made it this far. Don't you want to see the temple?"

But Saber's response was unexpectedly curt. "There is something bad at this temple, madam. I think we should return to Shirou's house."

"Hmm," said Mamako, looking up the steps. "But aren't we patrolling to find bad things?"

Saber gave her an exasperated look. "I thought we were on a stroll to see the sights of Fuyuki."

"Oh, that too, of course! They're not mutually exclusive, you know!" She put a foot on the first step and Saber caught her arm.

"I'm very serious, madam. Something dangerous lurks up there."

Mamako gave her a twinkling smile. "Then I'll have a chance to show you my swords, won't I? But it's a temple, Saber-chan. There are priests who pray and chant every day. Are you sure that's not what you're detecting? Given how far away you were born, maybe you're just not used to that feeling."

Saber released Mamako's arm, her hand curling into a fist. She shook her head wordlessly.

"Hmm?" Mamako said, considering Saber, and remembering what she'd done when her son had been mysteriously recalcitrant as a child. "If you want, you can wait down here. I'll make sure to bring you back a souvenir!"

"That I will not do," said Saber grimly, and Mamako tried to hide her smile. "I will go on ahead of you to intercept whatever awaits us."

"We could make it a race," said Mamako encouragingly. That had often worked with her son, back when her legs were longer than his.

With the sudden tang of ozone, Saber's armor appeared on her. "I think not. I shall see you when you catch up."

Then Saber blurred and vanished up the steps in a metallic clatter, moving far faster than humanly possible. Mamako blinked and said, "Oh my goodness. These heroes..." and then started climbing the stairs at a much more ordinary pace.

As she went, she chatted with her two swords, stopping at one point to poke Tsuchiko into the earth beside the steps so the sword could get a taste of the mountain. But before she could get Tsuchiko's opinion, a clang of metal shivered down the steps. Mamako recognized the sound of swords against swords these days, even if she didn't have much personal experience with that kind of conflict.

"Oh no!" she said, flicked Tsuchiko away, and ran up the stairs. Like Saber, she'd changed to her ordinary clothes for their walk. Unlike Saber, she couldn't don her armor with a thought. It was all stored carefully in a special suitcase Shirase had provided when they discovered only the swords had their own invisible rooms to live in when unneeded.

"I believe it's because it's much more interesting to watch a woman take off and put on her clothes than it is to watch her draw her sword, so of course a suitcase would be needed," Shirase had said, with a little giggle hidden behind her hand. The younger woman had become such a good friend and Mamako missed her almost as much as Ma-kun on this new adventure.