*Author's Note* - I've been reading through the Fanfiction archive for quite some time now, but never really thought that I would want to write for it. But thoughts can change! I've loved RWBY for the longest time, and now I want to contribute something to it. I hope you all enjoy my story. This is the first Fanfic i've written in almost 4 years. I have no idea how long it will be nor how frequently i'll update, but I guess that's just the nature of right? Haven't people just come to accept that?...No? Okay. Anyway, enjoy the story. (P.S. -Any feedback would be lovely! Thank you!)

Chapter One: Prologue - The Visit

On a small cliff-side overlooking the groves of Patch's wide forestry lays a small memorial. It was put there because it was the most beautiful view on the entire island. A gorgeous horizon for the sun to set, and the ever changing colors of the trees that rustled in the wind. Dad, Uncle Qrow, and I felt it was the perfect place to lay her to rest after she passed. It was a bit of walk to get to, and Grimm sometimes blocked the path, but walking was nothing when it meant going to see her. It had been a while since my last visit, and I was almost to the top. I had stopped along the way to pick up her favorite flower: a rose to lay by her side. She deserves more than a single flower, but it was all I could do. I finally made it to the top and look down at my feet to look upon the stones that lied there, eventually kneeling and staring at the piece of stone ready to say something as if someone was in front of me. I choke up a little, but take a deep breath and let myself become composed before speaking.

"H-hey. Long time since my last visit, I know, but you know how this line of work can be sometimes."

I sit in silence for a bit before speaking again.

"I, uhh, brought you a flower. Your favorite: A rose plucked from Dads own garden. I know you used to love going out with him and planting the new flowers. Unfortunately, he wasn't there when I picked it. Guess he's out on a mission. Like all of us."

I sit there in more silence for who knows how long after that. I can't imagine how long I must have been there just sitting on the edge. I was looking out on the sunset just trying to enjoy a moment of peace for the mere seconds that I had it. The fading light glowed orange in the sky, and beams of sunlight were hitting my face glistening on slim, wet streaks going down my cheeks. Suddenly my mind just drifted to other places when it shouldn't. Didn't matter how long or short the peace I was having stayed. Any time with my thoughts felt like an eternity. So, perhaps, it had been longer than a few moments of pondering. I certainly didn't care. Time was the last thing on my mind, so I just let it slip away like always.

"Here I go...wasting time doing nothing again." I say wearily. "Seem to be doing a lot of that as I get older; wiser, in the sense that i'm a more experienced huntress. I'm able to cleave through my targets and complete missions in a smart, professional way. I'm sure Dad would be proud to hear that. You would too. In a way, you could say I "cleave-erly" get the job done. And still manage to keep some "semblance" of humor."

I cover my mouth and chuckle a little. Small puns, but it's better than nothing. In the years leading up to now I've seen things most humans should never have to witness. It's been a very difficult journey, on everyone involved. But no matter how hard it gets, how frustrated you become, you have to see things better. Know that things can always get better.

"I suppose things are...slowly getting better. Though, i'm sure you'd be more positive on the matter. You'd actually believe it. You wouldn't have to remind yourself everyday of that fact. You'd just feel it."

Even if you say it you realize that saying things will get better is different then believing it. And I wanted to. I wanted to so badly. If not for my own comfort, then for her sake. But I didn't believe it. No matter how many times I repeated that phrase I never truly believed it. Why should I? After everything that's happened why would I truly believe such a statement? Sure, I do my job, but is it really because I feel like I owe it to those...people? No. No, I don't owe them anything. Doesn't matter how I was brought up. It doesn't matter what Dad raised me to believe. If there's one thing that always stayed with me, it's that...sometimes...bad things just happen. And it doesn't matter who did it, or why. All you know is that it happened to you. It happened to me. And that pain seldom ever goes away. No matter how much time goes by.

"...and what happened to you...just reminds me of that everyday," I say under my breath responding to my own thoughts. Thoughts that make me feel like my life is constantly stalling with no resume. But for how long?

How long?

How long has it's been? Years have gone by and you still don't pay any attention to days that have passed. Maybe it was time to buy a watch or something. You have your old broken scroll from before you graduated Beacon, but that's been out of date for so long now. Doesn't even get any service anymore. God, how out of touch does someone have to be to keep a broken scroll and refuse to replace it? I guess it more for sentimental value now. That's all that really matters. How long has it truly been though? Since the old glory days of Team RWBY. Back when things were so much simpler. A Grimm here, and punch there. A daily routine of sitting in bed while Blake reads her books trying to ignore Weiss yelling to..t-. Hmph. I let out a big sigh, stopping myself mid thought. Like putting a movie on pause, and then realizing what you were about to think. Stuttering; stopping at her mention even in my own head. Trying to say her name was still difficult.

"All these years later...and I'm still can't even say your name."

I began getting angry at yourself. Banging my fist into the ground with enough force to shake the lip of the cliff. Why were you like this? Why was it so hard to think about? She was so important. You loved her so much; cared for her so much. You practically raised her when Mom never came back. So why was it so damn hard to say her name! To think of her? 'How insulted you must be' I think to myself. 'By your side, and your older sister still can't say you're name without croaking'. How many time have I come to this place Xiao Long? How many times have you come and just sat here saying nothing as time passed on? Not nearly enough. An insultingly small amount. What respect have I really shown to her all this time? While i'm out in the world wasting time thinking on my own miserable life when I should be thinking about the most important life tha-

...that I lost.

...that I failed at saving.

...that even years later, still feels like yesterday.

The uncomfortable feeling of recollecting those painful emotions from back then. Remembering how I felt, how everyone felt, when you saw with your own eyes the fate that befell the most important person in your life. It was heartbreaking. Angering. All you could do is look on in horror at what these people could do; These supposedly scared and defenceless individuals that you swore to protect. Look what they did to her. Look what they did to my baby sister. All because they were scared for their own selfish lives. I wanted to slam every person I could see into the damn pavement. The cries of the other didn't help me reclaim my composure either. Blake on her knees letting the tears drop to the blood-stained ground. Weiss trying to cover her face from the sight that laid in front of us. How could we be the same after that? How could we move on from that? How…?

"...i-i'm...i'm so sorry."

Tears start running down my face uncontrollably. Rolling off my cheeks and splashing on her grave. A single rose and regret was all I had to give her; all I had to show my sister how much I loved her. It didn't feel like enough. I know it wasn't. I wipe some of the tears from my eyes before speaking again.

"I-I know I can never give you what you deserve, but I want y-you to know-"

I could feel the tears coming back, and try to hold them for just a bit longer. I needed to let my sister know that i'm still going on for her.

"-I want you to know that i'm still doing this for you. I'm still a huntress for you. I may not care as much for humanity like I use too, but I know you still would. You'd still be out there helping others, even after they wronged you. If I can't do this...I-If I can't do this then I really will have failed you. N-not just as a teammate, but as your sister."

I couldn't hold them back anymore. The rest of my tears came crying out, and began speaking through my sadness.

"I'll do this. I'll do this for as long as I have too. To show you what you meant to me."

I collapse with my face down in the dirt; my head right below her grave. I didn't have anything else to say. I didn't have anything I could say. I just let the feeling of blue wash over me. There wasn't much else for me to do but cry and remember. Remember the older days where I could still look my baby sister in the eyes. And give her a nice, warm hug just because I felt like it. Those days were gone. They've been gone for a long time. And they're never coming back. The only thing left I could muster up the strength to say in my sorrow were three little words.

"I love you."

The sun finally sets, and the last glimmer of light fades away.