"Well, I must say, this is thoroughly degrading." Weiss pointed out from her place on Yang's back. It was merely a sprain that did her in, but getting carried through the streets of Vale was not her idea of a good time.

"We got flung into a tree, fell into a mud pit, our hotel was smashed up by a pissed off Ursa, and this is the part you find degrading…" Yang ranted, lamenting all of the junk in her hair.

"We could have done without rattling the shipment of aura enhancers. I told you the container was volatile the moment you picked it up. Honestly, I'm surprised you weren't injured."

"Oh, it hurt like hell." Yang shot back, looking over her shoulder and regretting it. "When that stuff combusts, it hits like a truck…I'm just built to take it, unlike you. How's your ankle feeling?"

"It'll be fine." Weiss said, crinkling her nose in disgust. "You have dust shards in your hair. I'll let you use my products as soon as we get back to the house." Weiss promised, ever so gently plucking a few more leaves that were glued in with mud. "I have some conditioner that should smooth these tangles right out."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that." Yang rounded the corner, and into the alley.

Pyrrha was outside sweeping the front stoop. "Hello you two. Rough mission?"

"You…could say that." Weiss replied, arms crossed as Yang came to a stop. "Not our finest hour, I assure you."

"It frickin' sucked." Yang said, plucking at her currently tarnished pride.

"Sod's law." Weiss agreed. "How was your mission, I know it was longer than you expected."

"It was alright." Pyrrha replied, glancing back to her home, her voice dropping a little. "Jaune cracked his shield, so he's been kind of down lately. We've sent it in for repairs, but you know how he is...do you mind if I ask, what is sod's law, exactly?"

"Anything that can go wrong, will." Weiss explained, and then tapped Yang's shoulder. "Put me down, will you. I'm sure I can hobble from here."

"Nothin' doing. Ruby would shit a brick if I let you walk in the door like that." She did adjust the woman atop her back though, a little bounce hoisting her up slightly, and off a pressure point. "Anyway, I got a date with the shower, catch ya later?"

"Indeed." Pyrrha said waving them off. "Have a pleasant day."

"To you as well." Weiss called back, but, Yang was fairly eager to hit the front door as soon as possible. In her exuberance, she nearly flung it off the hinges, causing Weiss to roll her eyes. "You're a bull in a china shop."

"Yeah, well we both reek like one, might as well act like it." Yang said as she made a bee-line for the kitchen. Yang pulled a plastic baggy containing two broken scrolls and chucked them onto the table. "Huh, guess they're not home."

"They're probably out shopping. Someone else besides me was clearly uncomfortable with all the mess." Weiss pointed to behind the counter. "Look, the sink is empty."

"Can't remember the last time that happened." Yang chuckled, heading for the back of the house. A single bathroom was shared by the four of them, a setup that they'd long grown used to back in Beacon. They'd even doubled up on shower heads after moving in so that they could conserve the hot water. It was times like these, that they were thankful for such renovations. Seeing themselves in the mirror, Yang offered the only reasonable solution for the amount of disgusting filth caking the both of them. "I'll wash your hair, if you wash mine

"Yes, I believe that would be agreeable…" Weiss grimaced, yanking a hunk of god-only-knew-what from the back of her long ponytail. It was squishy, tar colored, and frankly, that was all Weiss cared to know. "Please do."

Blake tried to recall the last time she ever got lost in a store. After a run to the corner for soy milk late last night, they both realized that watching a child was no small undertaking. Now, with several bags in and, and a full backpack of supplies each, Ruby and Blake now had what was deemed by the store clerks as the baby basics. Somehow, Blake was sure they were getting duped.

Regardless of if they were or not, after the near five hour screaming fit in the middle of midnight, she wouldn't dare be unprepared for when the baby started crying again.

One of the purchases they'd made was a sling, which Ruby had tied onto herself before they'd even exited the store. "Bottles, bottle brushes, two kinds of nipples, three kinds of diapers, wipes, rash cream, binkies, Faunus safe formula, burp cloths, no tears shampoo and conditioner, a pack of short sleeved onesies, a pack of long sleeved onesies, five baby sacks…" Ruby trailed off, scanning the receipt and feeling a little bit queasy. "Baby claw clippers? I didn't put those in the basket."

"I did." Blake said with a roll of her eyes.

"She doesn't even have claws!"

"Our finger nails are thicker than yours, hence claws. My clipper is too big to use on her, I'd be afraid to hurt her." Blake said as she took her own fingers and pushed them back. When she did this, the tips of her nails grew out. "All cat Faunus have claws, Ruby, we just manicure them down so that they don't grow long, sharp, and pointy. She's liable to scratch herself, or us for that matter, if we don't."

"What happens if you let them grow out?" Ruby asked then curiously.

"Well, they're retractable, so if I extended them unclipped, they would curve around the tips of my fingers. I keep them short enough that even extended, they don't curl around, see?"

Ruby nodded, skipping to the grand total at the end of the long bill, the sticker shock was still bothering her. "We just spent over two-hundred lien…Weiss is going to kill us."

From inside the sling, the small baby started to meow, and chose to do so incessantly. "Here, Ruby hand her to me." Blake said, shuffling the groceries and the baby around until Ruby was carrying the plastic bags, and Blake was now cradling an inquisitive Faunus in her arms. The mewing dulled to a purr when that free hand soothed the tiny twitching ears that swung around like tiny radar atop the girl's head. "I really wish Yang would hurry her ass up and call us back."

"You and me both." Ruby said as they crossed the alleyway in relative silence. "I just…" Ruby's eyes flicked over to the baby. "What if she hates her?"

"Um, Ruby, of the many things we need to be worried about, and I admit, that list grows by the second, I don't think Yang could ever hate an innocent baby."

"I don't know about that."

"Hmm." If it were anyone else other than Yang, Blake would have jumped directly to the obvious. That the girl was Faunus, not human. However, knowing Yang like Blake did, that was simply impossible. She had never known Yang to hate a Faunus for simply being one. There were a few choice words she had about particular ones, Adam included, but that was because of his bad attitude, and his affiliations. Not because he had horns on his head. The other obvious conclusion might be a misguided sense of jealousy…but Blake also tossed that aside too.

Yang, for all of her bad temper, was one of the most maternal figures Blake had ever known.

After a few moments, Blake cleared her throat. "Why do you think Yang will hate her?"

"Because it would be easier to hate her. It would be easier to just…turn our backs, and pretend this didn't happen…it can be another family who had a tragedy." Ruby explained, pulling out the house key, not an easy feat with her arms full. "It doesn't have to be us again…this…always happens to us."

"If she's going to end up hating anyone, in any of this, it'll probably be herself." Blake surmised, the very thought worrying her as well. "But it's not just you two anymore. This isn't someone else's tragedy. It's ours, We're a team, and we'll figure this out, Ruby. I promise."

They pushed passed the front door, And Ruby very nearly tripped as she halted. Frozen stiff. Yang was sitting on the sofa, a beer in hand, and her bare feet up on the coffee table.

"Hey guys!" Yang greeted lazily, waving at Blake, who could only swallow hard. "Great to see ya grabbed so groceries."

"Y-yeah, groceries…" Ruby trailed off. "I'll…um…I'll just be right back."

"Uh, okay." Yang raised an eyebrow. "Well, that was weird, she on the red or something?"

"No…nothing like that, but…it's complicated." Blake forced out, her voice edgy at best. As she sat down, Faunus cub still cradled to her chest, she gave Yang one of the softest looks she could muster. "We need to have a long talk."

"Uh-huh…" Yang sat upright then, another sip of beer and she set it off to the side. "So, what's with the kitten, kitten?"

"That's what we've got to talk about, but I don't know how to make this any easier." Ruby interrupted. "So I'd though I'd just…show you…" She re-entered the room. Weiss hobbling behind her. The once exhausted ex-heiress looked as if she'd seen a ghost, in spite of just coming from a long, hot shower. Ruby placed the sword that was in her hand onto the table, and then sat down on the floor in front of it. "This…is Raven's sword…and that baby…that's our little sister."

AYangThang: Don't worry guys, I won't leave you hanging on this for too long. Hope you all enjoyed it.