Cardin looked out across the student gardens at Beacon. He had been coming here for a few months, and though it wasn't his intention, he had started to grow a nice patch of flowers in his secluded little corner. He hadn't really intended to plant any kind of garden, but he had been informed that to come into the garden for any period of time he would have to register a plot and plant something. Not one to be deterred from his mission, Cardin opted for a secluded corner, and some nice flowers.
His real mission had been simple: Get Velvet alone in the gardens, the one place she tended to go where there weren't many witnesses, observe her to see what her schedule was, and apologize to her. He had been following her into the garden for some time now, but every time he had a chance to apologize, he lost his nerve and would sneak back to his corner to take out his frustration on the never ending weeds that seemed to plague his garden.
Today, he knew would be the day he would do it. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew that today he could start to make things right. So he had shown up early and started to tend to his garden so that he could get some of his best blooms to present as a peace offering. Finally getting the right combination of blooms, Cardin looked up from his work to see what time it was on the Beacon clock tower. Cardin swore when he saw the time, Velvet would have shown up fifteen minutes ago, he wanted to catch her before she could start working on anything so as to not interrupt her.
Walking toward her plot, Cardin noticed it was oddly quiet in the garden. Usually being the only one, as far as she knew, in the garden at this time Velvet normally would have begun to sing to herself and fill the garden with her melodic voice. But now the garden was quiet. Reaching her plot, Cardin was dismayed to note that Velvet was not her, as Velvet was a woman of habit and had only missed tending to her garden when her team had been sent on a mission. Cardin began to worry. He knew that his team would leave her alone, but others weren't so nice, that and her team was reaching its last year and was being sent on more dangerous missions.
Worry filling his mind, Cardin began to search the school grounds. First he checked the library, the second quietest place on campus, and a good place to hide from any would be tormentors. Not finding Velvet, Cardin looked elsewhere. He then checked the cafeteria as he knew they were serving carrot cake, and judging from the contents of her garden, carrots were her favorite. Not finding her there, Cardin decided to check the last place he wanted to find her, Beacon's infirmary.
Entering obsessively sterile and clean wing of Beacon, Carding notice almost immediately that the place had an unusually dour feel about it. Chalking it up to him projecting his worries, Cardin pressed on. Reaching the front desk, Cardin caught the attention of the nurse on duty. "Are you here to see a patient?" She asked in a falsely happy tone. Cardin put on what he hoped was a friendly face and replied. "Actually, I'm looking for a friend, is a student named Velvet Scarlatina checked in by any chance?" The nurse immediately frowned in sadness. "Oh, yes. We do have a patient by that name. She was just admitted today. Poor girl." Cardin's heart sank at her reply, but he decided to press on. "I was afraid of that when she didn't show up to our usual meeting spot. Can I go see her?" The nurse thought about it for a few seconds then pointed down a hallway. "Down that hall, then take a right. She is in room A11. Please keep it down as there are other patients." Cardin thanked the nurse and walked down the hallway.
Following the nurse's instructions, Cardin soon found himself outside room A11. From the sounds he could hear, she wasn't alone in there. Steeling himself for what was most likely to come, Cardin knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the door was opened by Yatsu. "I'm sorry, but we would like to be alone with our teamma- YOU!" Seconds later Cardin found himself being pinned to the wall by his neck by the normally stoic Yatsu. Drawn to the commotion, Velvet's other two teammates came out the door. "You had better have a good reason for being here you bastard. I have half a mind to let Yatsu kill you here and now. Now talk." Coco glared daggers at Cardin as Yatsu eased up so Cardin could talk, but he didn't let go. Gasping first to catch his breath, Cardin answered. "I was going to apologize to Velvet, but she didn't come to the student gardens when she normally did, so I started to look for her. The nurse up front said she was here." Coco gauged his response for a second, then nodded her head towards Cardin's hands. "And were those for her too?" Cardin glanced down at the bouquet in his hands. He forgot he had even been carrying that in his rush to find her. "Yes, I grew them in my plot at the gardens. I was hoping to give it to her as a peace offering."
Coco sighed and turned to Yatsu. "Yatsu, let him go. We don't have time for this, and you know Velvet wouldn't want this." Yatsu grunted in what Cardin assumed was frustration, but he complied and let him go. As the team turned to go back into the room, Cardin called out to Coco. "What happened to Velvet, is she ok?" Coco looked like she was about to tell Cardin to go stuff it, but then changed her mind. "Come in. Just don't try anything." Cardin nodded his head in understanding and followed them in.
Once he was in the room, he saw Velvet asleep on the bed, with bandages wrapped around the top of her head. Turning to Coco, he asked the question he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to. "What happened to her?" Coco grimaced, then answered. "She was on her way back to Beacon after a trip to Vale. Some kids, probably stupid teenagers jumped her and hit her over the head. She wasn't prepared for it, and even if she had been she wouldn't have wanted to accidentally hurt one of them." Cardin's fist began to shake as he tightened it, anger filling his mind. "Is she going to be ok, did they catch them?" Coco shook her head. "We don't know, the doctors said the concussion was pretty bad. They said she might never come back and that we're lucky she doesn't need any life support. Sometimes she opens her eyes, but she won't do anything. She won't move her head, barely blinks. She just breaths, eats if you put something in her mouth. But as far as they can tell, the doctors say she might be like this for a couple of days, or forever. And as for the guys that did this to her, they did catch them, but we asked Professor Ozpin to not press charges against them, to just get them community service, since it would be what she would want." By the end of Coco's explanation, the girl was barely holding it together and had to be comforted by Fox.
Cardin was devastated. He had missed his chance. Velvet was gone. Someone had taken her from her team, from Beacon, and from him. He wouldn't hear her singing in the garden, or see her skipping to class on a bright day. She was gone. After regaining some of his senses, Cardin placed the bouquet in the vase on the end table, just now noticing that the thorns on the roses in the bouquet had cut into his hand and had covered some in his blood. Leaving the shattered team with their teammate, Cardin exited the infirmary. Making his way back to the student gardens, Cardin began to tend to his plot, and Velvet's as well. She wouldn't want it to be left untended for too long.
Over the next two weeks, Cardin tended to his and Velvet's plots in the garden. Every day would find Cardin in Velvet's room, changing out her flowers for fresh ones from his garden. Finally, on the last day of the second week, Cardin found Velvet's entire team in the room, accompanied by Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch. "I'm sorry Ms. Adele, but we can't keep her here any longer. We need to use to free up the room as the grimm migration will be starting. We have already exceeded what policy usually allows." Coco was in tears, as well as her teammates. Mrs. Goodwitch gave them a sympathetic look. "If you can find someone to take care of her, maybe a family member, we could have her transferred to them." Coco shook her head. "We can't. Velvet doesn't have any living relatives, at least not that she knew of. We were her only family." Ozpin sighed and looked dismayed. "We could possibly have her transferred to an assisted living facility, but I wouldn't be able to insure her safety as she is a faunus." Fox spoke up, seeming desperate. "We can take care of her, we can keep her in our room." Goodwitch gave frowned. "I'm sorry, but we can't have that. Beacon is a safe place for active students, but not for patients like Velvet. You all know this." Coco stood up and walked to Goodwitch. "Then we'll drop out, get an apartment in Vale. We can get odd jobs, maybe even some hunter missions even."
At this point, Cardin knew he had to step in. "You can't do that, not when you are all so close. Velvet wouldn't want that." The five who's conversation he had interrupted looked toward him. "Mr. Winchester, I don't believe this is your conversation. In fact, if memory serves, you should be the last person to be near Ms. Scarlatina in her current state." Goodwitch snapped at him. Professor Ozpin put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and spoke. "Glynda, I don't think you give the boy enough credit. He was simply coming to deliver Ms. Scarlatina her daily bouquet of flowers. Grown by himself in the student gardens, while also tending to Ms. Scarlatina's plot for her as well. I think he just overheard our conversation and wanted to keep Ms. Scarlatina's team from making a mistake. Is that correct Mr. Winchester?" To say that Cardin was disturbed was an understatement. "Yes sir. How did you know about…" Professor Ozpin cut Cardin off. "I like to keep an eye on my students, especially if one changes their behavior suddenly. But that is not the topic at hand. I believe you are aware of Ms. Scaralatina's predicament, as well as the current issue we find ourselves in. If you don't believe her team should drop out to care for her, and if she has no relative and would not fare well in a facility, how do you think we should proceed?" Coco shouted at this. "What?! Why would you ask him? He has spent almost his entire time at Beacon tormenting her, and then he goes and picks some flowers for her and you're going to let him decide her future?!" Ozpin looked at Coco over his glasses. "Ms. Adele, sometimes an outside opinion can help a situation. So Mr. Winchester, what do you suggest?"
Cardin thought. He thought for, at least what he thought was a long time. He kept coming up with solutions, but they all ran into the same problem. All the people who really cared about Velvet would have to give up something to take care of her, and he knew she would hate them if she knew they had given up their dreams for her. But there was also the problem of entrusting her to someone who didn't care for her like they did. With her being a faunus, there was a high likely hood that she would be mistreated. Finally, he came to the only solution that let the people she cared about follow their dreams, while still ensuring she would be taken care of. "Let me do it. I'll take care of her."
His answer stunned them all, even Ozpin. Mrs. Goodwitch was the first to regain thought. "Mr. Winchester, I'm not sure you realize the commitment that this would be. Taking care of someone in her condition is quite…" Cardin cut her off and shook his head. "You're wrong, I know exactly what I'm talking about. My grandmother was hurt in a White Fang attack and was worse off than Velvet is. None of my family would do it, so it fell to me. I can take care of Velvet just as well, if not better, than anyone in this room." Coco looked at him puzzled. "But what about you? You would have to drop out. How would you pay for it?" Cardin chuckled. "I would be lying if I said this was the first time I had thought about dropping out. I don't think I have ever really thought I was hunter material. I've always been too selfish, maybe this could be what I need to do. Maybe if I can't learn to help a lot of people, then maybe I can do it for just one person. As for how I would pay for it, you should know that kids of rich parents always have multiple bank accounts to stash their allowances in away from their parent's control. I have enough money to cover my costs, as well as anything I would need for Velvet for a very long time."
Everyone stared at Cardin, long enough that he was starting to get uncomfortable. Fox finally spoke up. "Oh come on. We're not really considering it ar…" What Coc0 said next would stun them all. "Ok." They all turned to her and each said "What?" at the same time. Coco looked at all of them in turn. "I said ok. We all know he is right about Velvet not wanting us to drop out. Maybe I'm crazy, but I am willing to believe that Cardin here really has turned a new leaf and want to make it up, and I am willing to give him that chance." She then turned to Cardin and poked him in the chest, hard. "But listen to me and listen well. I will come and check on you and her every chance I get, and if there is even a single hair out of place, I will kill you. And I am being literal here when I say I'll kill you."
Cardin's Journal Five days after dropping out
"Hey Velvet, I thought I would write this so you could have something to read when you 'woke up'. Is waking up the correct term? I don't even know I you are technically asleep. Sorry, these last few days have been crazy. Your team have been helping me a lot, and surprisingly, so has mine. They were actually pretty understanding when I told them why I was dropping out. Maybe they can get a leader that will whip them into shape. I know I sure couldn't. Well, I guess I should tell you where we are and how we got here. So after Coco accepted my offer to drop out and take care of you, Professor Ozpin took me to his office to fill out the paperwork to drop out. He then told me that Beacon would pay for your medication. Oh yeah, your meds. They have me giving you some vitamins and pills that should keep your aura levels, and to a lesser extent, your muscles from atrophying too much. Anyway, after that I went into Vale and found a house. It is perfect, I know you'll love it when you finally get to really see it. It has a nice courtyard right in the middle with a garden in it. I already know what I am going to plant in it. It only took my and your team a couple of days to get us both moved.
I can't wait for you to get better. That way I can say I'm sorry."
Cardin's Journal Ninety days after dropping out
"Three months. It's been three months since we moved here. I think I have finally gotten into the rhythm of things. I even have some nice plants coming up. I have been making sure to put plants in your room, and throughout the house, but I still have extra, so I have been giving them to the neighbors. They are nice people. The Griffmans to the right of us are this nice older faunus couple, with adorable grandchildren. They like the white roses the best. To the left of us are the Simons, nice young couple with two small children and another on the way. The kids like the daisies the best, simple things are always nice I guess.
I wish you could see how things are going. Your team graduated, with honors even. They never did replace you. I don't know if the school couldn't find one, or if they wouldn't let them, Coco never told me when they visited and I never asked. They all still come and visit you. They used to come visit every day after class, but now with them away on missions, they can only visit when they get back. I make sure to keep a room ready, just in case one of them shows up. I know I have sad this before, but I just wanted to tell you that I am sorry. For Everything."
Cardin's Journal 140 days after dropping out
"I thought the world was ending at first. The White Fang, and some other guys tried to attack Vale, heck, all of Remnant. I don't know how bad it was elsewhere yet, but here it was like the breach all over again, but so much worse. I was able to keep the house safe, even managed to get our neighbors inside and safe too. Turns out that old man Griffman used to be a soldier and still had some fight left in him. I don't think I did too bad either, at least not for a dropout hunter turned gardener.
Joking aside, I really did think we were going to be done for, but then team RWBY apparently did whatever it is they tend to do. I still don't know what they did, but apparently them, team JNPR, that Wukong guy's team, and your team worked together to end this. I don't know anything other than their all right, a little beat up, but breathing, and that when they did it, the grimm, White Fang, and whatever else left.
I hope you get better soon, then I can have them all over and we can have one big celebration. The carrots are coming in quite good right now. I even bought the lot behind us to turn into a larger garden."
Cardin's Journal 380 days after dropping out
"The green houses are finally done. I even made sure to put in a nice spot for you to sit at while I'm working, just like in the regular garden. I am so glad that Mrs. Simons' idea to sell my flowers is doing so well. I was able to buy a storefront near the house. I was looking for some workers to run the shop for me since I didn't want to leave you for too long, and you won't guess who I hired. My old team. I hired my old team. Turns out they took some damage during the whole fiasco and were looking for a non-hunter type job. They didn't seem to care that they would be working in a flower shop. So I went with my gut and hired them. I hear nothing but good about them, and sometimes they even bring come and visit. They also helped me with the name. I named the store, Scarlatina's garden. I hope that was ok.
If you don't like it when you get better, we can change it. Just make sure to get better soon ok?"
Cardin's Journal 7 years after dropping out
"Coco came by today. She even brought the twins to come see their aunt Velvet. I'm glad to see that they still come visit you. I think Coco may even have gotten past her desire to murder me. The flowers are coming in well for this time of year, and my third generation hybrids is coming along as well. I had to go take care of stuff at the shop today. I don't usually like to drag you out here with me to do it, but Dove's old war wound finally got to him, and he had to get some surgery a few days ago. Nothing major, at least not major as far as surgery goes, but he'll be out for a few days. Sky and Russel both decided to get some food during their lunch break down at that food truck I warned them not to, and guess what? They're both out of work with food poisoning. Oh well. Once I finish writing this I am going to close shop and we can head home. I finally managed to bake an edible carrot cake this morning, so we'll see how it goes."
Cardin closed his old journal and put down his pen. He sighed and looked around the shop, and began to whistle as he put away some merchandise under the counter and made sure the flowers were safe in their refrigerators. Once he was done, he would slip into the back room to get wheel Velvet and her chair back to their home. He hoped she wasn't getting bored of the music he was playing for her. He would have to see if there were any more artists she liked, or maybe some movies he could out on for her when she had to sit away from him where he couldn't talk to her like he did while he gardened.
As he finished locking the final cabinet he heard the bell on the door ring. "I'm sorry, but I was just closing up shop, if you come back tomorrow I'm sure I can help you with whatever you are looking for." As Cardin turned to see who had come in a gun was placed against his head. "The money in the register and safe, give it to me." The man said. Cardin remained calm and tried to talk to the man. "I would be careful if I were you. My business partner is in the other room, and she is a trained huntress." That appeared to be the wrong thing to say as the man hit Cardin over the head with his gun. "Don't you lie to me. I've been watching this place, and I know for a fact that your other boys aren't here, and the only one in the back is that braindead bitch. You can't scare me, not give me the money and maybe I'll take that waste of space off your hands too."
Insult him, hurt him, Cardin didn't care, but make any threats against Velvet? That was signing your own death warrant. Without thinking, Cardin slammed his elbow into the robber's stomach and then threw him across the room into a flower case. Trying to catch the man before he could get his bearings, Cardin charged at him, intending to knock him out quickly. However, it had been seven years since Cardin had fought in any true combat with another person, and the man was back on his feet and managed to get out of the way. Before Cardin could turn around, he felt one of the man's bullets rip through his leg. Cardin tumbled to the ground in pain. Before he could get back up, the man kicked him in the side and turned him over. "Damnit! You couldn't just give me the money. You just had to be a hero. Well let me tell you something asshole. Heroes don't exist in this world. Just people trying to get by, and idiots who got themselves killed by trying to be a hero. And guess which one you have earned yourself a place in?" Cardin could only stare in detachment as the chambers in the man's gun rotated. It was odd how things worked when you were about to die. The world seemed to move in slow motion as the world got darker. The bullet must have nicked something important. Not that it would matter, Cardin could see the chamber stop, a new cartridge loaded, he could see the hammer pull back on the gun, then he saw the world go white.
Cardin slowly regained consciousness, brought back into the world of the living by that infernal beeping. As he opened his eyes, he realized he was in the hospital. He tried to raise himself up to look around, but he found that he just didn't have the energy to. He was about to call for a nurse when someone helped him up. "Don't worry, I've got you. You really shouldn't strain yourself too much. You lost a lot of blood and aura after that bullet got you." Cardin turned his head to thank the nurse and stopped. Sitting beside him was no nurse, but instead was Velvet. Which, as far as Cardin was concerned she was much better than a nurse. "Velvet, you're…" Velvet smiled and put a finger to his lips. "Shush you. We'll talk about this later. Right now I think the doctors want to talk to you." Velvet got up and left to go speak to a doctor. Cardin was scared to let her go, as he was terrified that she would disappear, and that this dream would end. But he chose to not say anything. He looked to where he assumed she had been sitting and his eyes widened. She had been reading his journal.
Later the next day, the doctors let Cardin leave, with instructions that he not over exert himself. According to them he was lucky to be alive, the bullet had nicked a major artery, not to mention his assailant was about to put a bullet through his head. But then Velvet explained that the first gunshot seemed to wake her up, and that when she finally managed to learn how to walk again and got to the main room, she saw the man about to kill him, so she knocked him and gave Cardin first aid.
So now here Cardin sat at the kitchen table in his home in the wheelchair the hospital had lent him. Velvet was humming to herself as she chopped up some veggies for a stir fry. Cardin had tried to convince her not to, but she had shushed him down again. As she walked back to the pantry to look for some ingredient, Cardin decided to try and speak again. "Velvet, I just wanted to tell you something." He couldn't see her, but he could hear her rummaging through the pantry. "And what was that Cardin?" Cardin gulped and tried to make the words come out but he couldn't. Damnit! After seven freaking years of being near her he still couldn't say the words. He was going to do this, even if it killed him. "What I wanted to say was… I mean what I was going to… what I… Damnit."
Before he could make more of a fool of himself, he was stopped by two arms wrapping him in a hug from behind. "I know Cardin. I forgive you. I forgave you when you first told me, and I have forgiven you every time you told me before. I won't say I was more or less awake for the whole time, but I remember all the things you have done for me. What you have said and promised. I know you're afraid I'll go away, that this is a dream, but I promise that I am here and I'm not going away anytime soon. Now I can begin to say I'm sorry to you." Cardin tried to come up with a reply but was cut short as the front door was kicked in. "Hey Cardin, hope you don't mind, but the twins and I were in town and thought we would stop in and… What the fuck is going on here?!" Coco yelled as she walked into the kitchen, making Cardin regret ever giving her a key to his house. She was closely followed by her children who began running around the kitchen singing an alternating chorus of "Momma said a swear!" and "Auntie Velvet is awake!".
Velvet quickly let go of Cardin and turned to face Coco and immediately turn into her old, shy self as she tried to tell Coco why she hadn't contacted her old team yet. Cardin chuckled and steeled himself for when Coco inevitably blamed it on him, but he found that he didn't really care. He was happy for once. For the first time in his life, Cardin could say that he was really, truly happy.
Author's Note: Don't really know where the idea for this one came from. I was going to put it as a chapter in my other Fanfic "RWBY fluffpile" but changed my mind as it is nearly 5k words without the Author's Note. I don't really have any plans to add any more chapters. If enough people ask, I might make a short epilogue chapter. I also apologize for spelling errors. My copy of Word decided to have a fit and stop spell-checking things until I reset it.