[For a long moment Shirou doesn't answer. Then he nods once, as untouchable as the first time he emerged from that blooded pit where countless dreams and hopes had been snuffed out.

Dreams and hopes that had been entrusted to him instead. To remember them. To hold them close as he strove towards a future where his people could live without fear.] ...And that is all I ask for.

All I want. [His own needs as a person are gone. He forgot what it was like to have them. Well, until Michiru. He can smell the fresh air just beyond the cavern. His form reverts as he breathes in deeply. The world shifts, turning black and white in his mind's eyes as the phantoms of people, their scents leaving an imprint of them dance across his mind's eye.]

I haven't started to lose track of time. That's the first sign, isn't it?