Heartwarming / From Fake Dreams

• During Shirou's Heroic BSoD upon first gaining the swords Kiritsugu left for him, Tohsaka decides to give, unknowingly, a modified version of Kiritsugu's talk with him. All while giving him a Cooldown Hug.
• Considering the sheer magnitude of how thoroughly the ending of Fate/Zero broke Saber, the fact that the next thing she experiences in this story (which only happens scant minutes after the events of Fate/Zero ended, from her perspective) is being summoned by Shirou, who smiles at her before passing out, a traced copy of Avalon on the ground next to her, for her, and a letter in Shirou's arm in which the long-dead Kiritsugu apologizes to Saber and explains everything to her, including his reasons for acting the way he did throughout the Fourth Grail War and his regret over how it was all for nothing. All of which providing her some much-needed closure over the trauma she just suffered whilst providing a great deal of comfort and a worthy cause to fight for even if all else is in doubt. In particular, her stark disbelief at seeing Avalon on the ground next to her, in the middle of a functional-but-messy shed-turned-workshop no less, from a young magus who looked like he just barely escaped from a Servant with his life and managed to summon her before passing out, followed by her sheer joy at being reunited with something she had thought forever lost a long time ago, and the warm comfort she feels from regaining the sheath despite knowing it wasn't the real original, is particularly moving.
• Even though he's left behind warnings that Archer could be as great an enemy as he could an ally, even though he knows that Archer has become practically a different person, even though Archer tried to kill him twice, Assassin/Kiritsugu still considers Archer his son, and calls him by his name, "Shirou" when telling him to flee.
  • Every chapter that features Assassin's POV sees him mentally refer to Archer as 'Shirou' unless he corrects himself, or needs to differentiate between Archer and the Shirou of the current time. Future version or not, he still sees him as his son.
• Kiritsugu's letter to Illya, apologizing for not being there for her, explaining his reasons, gently asking her to take of her brother, and finally, telling her that he loves her.
• Shirou's kindness to Rider from the get-go frequently gave her pause, as being the recipient of such kindness from even those who knew exactly who and what she was was very rare for her. The way he treats Sakura—someone Rider inherently sympathizes with and resolves to save from her fate—and similarly resolves to save her also earns him her approval. And when he finally does kill Zouken and purge both the crest worms from Sakura without killing her, Rider truly begins opening up to Shirou, taking comfort in the fact that someone like him exists in the world. Later, when a freak accident abruptly causes Rider to be taken control of by Caster and Rider is forced to attack Shirou and Illya while in full monster-mode—and Shirou is only keeping her at bay mere feet away with Rho Aias at the entrance of an alley—he still tells her to hang on, that he'll be back for her and will save her. Even in her current state, she's moved that he isn't reacting with horror or fear of her, and deeply touched that he would resolve to save her even though she's just a Servant and long since suffered her fate for being a monster.
• Shirou and Saber get along extremely well, pretty much from the beginning. And that's even without factoring in how Shirou loves to cook plenty of food for everyone and Saber, or Shirou having spent some of his spare time over the past months magically enhancing a Hayabusa (gifted to him by Taiga's father, the head of the local Yakuza) to serve as Saber's (surprisingly epic) mount. She draws a stark contrast to how, unlike her time with Kiritsugu as her Master, Shirou earnestly lets her in on all of his plans and welcomes her feedback in anything.

• After Illya sees Berserker lose several lives to an Apostle Ancestor who stopped her to have a friendly chat—which said Ancestor seemed to handle with only light wounds—she sees Berserker lose another life to Rider and have wounds from Gae Bolg that don't go away when he revives, truly shaking her sense of security and her faith in Berserker's invincibility for the first time, leaving her afraid and worried for Berserker's safety. Then, Shirou speaks up to her from behind, with her never realizing he was even there—but he immediately sets her at relative ease because he clearly has no intention of harming her and even expresses how he understands her feelings. Then Rider attacks them under Caster's control, Shirou uses Rho Aias to block her, and Assassin shoots Shirou's heart out with his Contender-turned-Noble-Phantasm, penetrating the shield entirely and seemingly killing him right then and there. Assassin—Kiritsugu-as-a-Heroic-Spirit under Caster's control—smiles at Illya, gesturing for her to come to him and saying how he's missed her, but then Shirou gets right back up, his dormant Apostle traits flaring up and Avalon working with his Reality Marble to rapidly reform a "heart" made of miniature swords, and he hugs her, telling her to stop going towards him and pointing out how "Kiritsugu" clearly looks like he isn't willingly doing any of what he's doing, shaking her out of her confused daze. Cue Illya realizing that Shirou—who just survived getting his heart blown out—forced himself back up as a dysfunctional half-corpse to save her life.
• When Zouken brings Shirou to see what he's done—and will continue to do—to Sakura, so that he fully understands what he is getting into by agreeing to feed her prana--through sex--in Shinji's absence, Sakura feels deeply ashamed and convinced that Shirou will have nothing to do with her from then on. Shirou stoically bears it until it's over, at which point he walks over to her and picks her up, carrying her out of the basement while internally realizing that, for the first time, he has well and truly come to utterly hate someone. This leads to him realizing that there are people he loves strongly enough to be capable of hating anyone so strongly—which is a big deal for someone distorted like him, where feeling such a strong, passionate emotion that isn't tied to his distortion is extremely difficult, if not believed to be impossible by the eventual Archer.
• Merem Solomon, one of the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors, comes to like Shirou a great deal simply because he is genuinely friendly to him (and even seems to like spending time with him) despite knowing full well what Merem is. Considering Merem's life and his fairly lonely unlife (even as a member of the Burial Agency, his Apostle Ancestor status is more than enough to cause just about everyone to treat him with scorn, disgust, fear, and distrust), Shirou's earnest acceptance for him as a person is pleasantly refreshing to him. Merem's resolve to protect Shirou from the bigger fish out there until he is strong enough to take care of himself, as well as help foster Shirou's growth where he can, makes this Odd Friendship surprisingly heartwarming.
• Illya uttering this in regards to Shirou in chapter 41 HAS to qualify:
  Illya:... Best. Onii-chan. EVER.
• Chapter 42 has a few subtle ones:
  • Rin and Luvia being capable of teamwork, even if Teeth-Clenched Teamwork, is a reassuring sight for the future of the war.
  • Gilgamesh acknowledging Shirou as more than a Faker, but as the Caretaker of past heroes' pride and dreams, bestowing upon him the moniker "Dream of Heroes", enough to trust him with his best friend's memento, Enkidu.
  • This Shirou's version of Unlimited Blade Works as a whole, which hints at the fact that Shirou is not obsessed with a self destructive dream, and is capable of understanding the pride and purpose of fallen heroes and taking that weight upon himself as a living memorial. Even Saber and Gilgamesh are properly awed, to the point the latter claims he would not mind dying in Unlimited Blade Works.
• Chapter 43 has one from Illya when she gets first-hand evidence that Shirou has not lied a single time to her, and that he has only said the truth about himself, Kiritsugu, his abilities, and his goals. After all, he went against Gilgamesh, and WON, for her sake.
• Chapter 47: Illya actually seeks Archer out to give him a pep talk. She may not be his Illya but it doesn't mean she has to like seeing him so sad and world-weary.
  • Archer's reaction is to pet her head. Sweet and heartwrenching, especially after reading how much he misses his Illya.
• Chapter 48: As Witch!Caster forces Avenger's curse in Sakura to act up, thus presenting a very real risk to not only everyone but the world, and even though he had a perfect opportunity to kill Sakura and ALL the justifications in the world to do it, Archer actually remembers Illya's words, and finds another way out of their predicament. Low key as far as they go, but then you realize Archer should have Shoot the Dog and I Did What I Had to Do hardwired in his very soul, yet he could go against that for Illya's sake!
• Chapter 49: Illya gets to be with her father for the first time in a decade.
  • Chapter 50 tops this: Illya now has a contract with Kiritsugu to keep him in this world, and she plans to make up for the lost time.
• Chapters 50 and 51:
  • Seeing all the survivors of the war enjoy a few moments of relaxation before dealing with the political fallout of the conflict.
  • Shirou and Saber teasing each other in a lighthearted mood, even though some topics do broach on Tear Jerker territory. This comes off as heartwarming because their relationship radiates pure trust, pride on Saber's part, and relief on Shirou's.
  • Shirou, Illya, and Kiritsugu finally enjoying a moment as a family.
• Chapter 53:
  • A very mild one, but Lorelei does help bailing out Shirou with regard to his illegal possession of Avalon, if only by acknowledging she knew he had it and let him be, thereby giving him unofficial permission, and mostly exonerating him of a grave offense.
  • Luvia stepping in to increase Illya's value in future deals and affairs. She might have done this with her family's interests in mind, but it nonetheless remains a very nice gesture she was not forced to extend.
  • Sirius' reaction to finding out that the Thompson Contender, the gun that he created, has made it to the Throne. It provides a modicum of respite and mood-lightening after a tense trial.
• Chapter 54:
  • Everyone gets a bit of closure and moments of peace. Assassin and Archer get the closest they could have to a heartfelt talk, with Assassin actually wording his apology, even though Archer reacts poorly to it.
• Chapter 60: The reaction of the summoned Irisviel finding out that Kiritsugu adopted a son is to unhesitatingly accept that she now has a step-son and try and learn as much about him as she can.
  • Upon first meeting Shirou, she gives him a hug.
  • Like Kiritsugu, she also shows no distinction between Shirou and Archer, referring to the Counter Guardian as her son and expressing empathy for his situation and unhappiness.

---