The next morning, the phone rang. The number was not unrecognized now... Glynda, careful to check, had added its owner to her contacts. "Hi, Junior," she said as she answered.

"You did great on that interview, Small Stuff!" he exclaimed. The excitement in his voice was almost a tangible thing. Somehow, though, inexplicably, a hint of annoyance played into it. "Just one thing I don't get. You could have told me Cinder changed her mind." Ah, that's why.

"I didn't know myself. It was as much as a surprise to me as it was to you."

"Okay then." Junior let out a big laugh. "Well then, I guess I'm planning these for both my Summer Storm girls now..."

Glynda frowned, though she knew her old publicity manager couldn't see it over the phone. "Are we sure she wants to continue? Perhaps this was a one-time thing."

"Hmmm, maybe. Tell you what. You call her and find out, then get back with me when you do." Glynda opened her mouth to protest, but Junior wasn't finished. "No, wait, just see if there's anything she's immediately interested in, and get her to call me back. I'll be waiting for her call."

"Junior..."

"Thanks, Small Stuff, I can always count on you!"

The line went dead. Glynda cursed and shoved her cell phone back into her purse. She sighed. I don't even know Cinder's number. I don't even know if I have a way to get it. I wonder if anyone in the neighborhood has a phonebook...

She cursed again. Even if someone had something that antiquated, what were the chances that a celebrity like Cinder was actually listed? Glynda sure as hell wasn't.

I could always just not call her. For now, that's the easiest option, but Junior is counting on me, and he'll know something happened if Cinder just doesn't call. There's no escape... so how can I contact Cinder Fall?

She didn't have any idea. Lately, Cinder had just shown up without warning or any clues at all. At the interview. At Ozpin's concert.

Wait.

Cinder couldn't just have shown up there. She would have to make arrangements. Ozpin might know how to reach her because of that.

For the first time in the two weeks she'd known him, Glynda Goodwitch was glad that she had allowed herself to befriend the ice cream man.


"So, you want me to give you Cinder Fall's phone number?"

"Right," Glynda confirmed. She crossed her ankles for luck as she looked Ozpin right in the eyes.

The middle-aged man sat across from her, smiling slightly. His hazel eyes were amused under his glasses, and he swept a hand through his silver hair. "Doesn't that destroy about ninety percent of confidentiality agreements?"

"Well, I wouldn't say it was that much, but... yes."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, waiting patiently for an explanation.

"Junior called..."

"Junior?"

"Oh." Glynda shook her head, trying to clear it of distractions. Stupid. You know most people don't know him as that, and especially not fans. "Hei Xiong. He was our publicity manager and probably the person who helped us in Summer Storm out the most, next to Bartholomew..."

Ozpin blinked blankly.

"Bartholomew Oobleck. Our director and choreographer," Glynda said. Do staff really get so little credit that even the most enthusiastic of fans don't know who they are? Is this what I have to look forward to with QotC? "Anyway. Junior called. He's in charge of our, quote 'reunion tour,' end quote." Glynda sighed and shook her head. "If anyone could pull off a one person reunion tour, it would be him."

"Hold on. One person?"

"Cinder originally declined all appearances, leaving all responsibility for Summer Storm in my hands. When she showed up to the interview, it was a complete surprise for both of us."

"So you need to get in contact her to see if she's going to do it again."

Glynda nodded. He follows this fairly well.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow again. "I don't know Miss Fall very well. I don't know you very well either. But from what I understand, even if I give you her cellphone number, she'll probably refuse to tell you when she'll appear."

"I expect that. Unfortunately, calling her is still my best bet."

The man stretched and cracked his knuckles. "I disagree. I don't think I can, in good conscience, give you her personal cellphone number."

Glynda narrowed her eyes. Thanks a lot.

"But I do have her concert schedule... she gave it to me so I could work around it for the event last week. And," he said, pulling it out, "it looks like tonight she's playing at the Dust to Dawn club. Ages twenty-one and over, so you don't even have to worry about your girls."

"Are you saying..."

"You go down and get the information out of her yourself."

Glynda stared at him for a moment, her mouth hanging wide open. After a few seconds she regained composure and shook her head. "That," she said, "is a horrible idea."


This was a horrible idea.

Dust to Dawn, an old convenience store turned tiny nightclub, was packed to the brim with Beacon University students... and if Glynda was seeing right, some of Ruby and Velvet's Signal High classmates, probably armed with fake driver's licenses and older friends to vouch for them. It was an effort for the older woman to weave her way through the crowd to the stage, and only got harder the closer she got. A few kids stared at her for a moment, and Glynda wondered vaguely if she stood out. She was only thirty-four, young to be a mother of a grown adult, and many said she looked even younger than she was... but maybe she was finally starting to look her age.

She vowed to be twenty-nine if someone asked.

She wished she had a drink in her hand, but didn't want to cut through even more crowd to get there, nor face Cinder even slightly tipsy. Her head was best clear for a confrontation like this one.

"Well, well. Glynda, I didn't expect to see you here."

Here we go, the blonde woman thought and turned to face her ex-best friend.

Cinder stood there, as Glynda had expected. Her tall, slim body was highlighted with a slinky red dress. "And you're looking so thoughtful, too, not even caught up in the spirit. Speaking of spirits... aren't you going to get something to drink?"

"I'm not here for that," Glynda snapped.

"Of course not. You're here to see me, aren't you. Not just that though, not so innocent. You want something. You must."

Glynda was silent for a second. She hadn't expected to be confronted this soon; she hadn't expected to be read like a book right off the bat. "That's correct," she said, in as proud and confident a voice as she could muster.

"And let me guess. It has something... no, everything... to do with my surprise appearance yesterday?"

"Yes. Junior sent me to find out if your surprise reunion has more on it's schedule."

"Junior?" Cinder chuckled. "'Senior' might be a more apt name now. He's in his sixties, Glynda. He forgets that I did call him. He must have. I made sure he knew. How else do you think I got onto the show?"

Glynda had kind of assumed that she had just shown up. For the first time, she considered that it probably was not a realistic thought.

She cleared her throat, though she could not even hear the sound over the loudness of the club. "Alright then. Let me remind him just what else you plan to crash."

Cinder placed a finger to her chin thoughtfully and smiled. "To be honest, Glynda, I can't quite bring myself to care to remember. Of course, I could think harder if..."

"If what?"

Cinder looked Glynda dead in the eyes. "A couple weeks ago, I saw the name Ruby Rose signed onto Cinderblock's fan-newsletter sign up, along with her own official fanmail email. Isn't that what you used to do to keep your personal email clear? Sign up for things with your fanmail account?"

Glynda blushed. That was, in fact, something she had done. It was something she had taught her daughter. It may not be playing out well now, but at least Ruby listens to me.

"Remember when Ruby used to call me Aunt Cinder? Summer loved that, and you did too. I'm... highly insulted, to say the least. When I decide to pursue my own dreams, you shun me and blame me for the death of one of my best friends. Do you remember that Summer made me Ruby's godmother? Did that go away when she died instead of making that relationship stronger?" Cinder's face, previously smug and haughty, had at some point descended into anger, and maybe even hurt. "She's mine. Maybe not as much as she is yours," the metal singer sneered, "but I have a right to see her, and you know it."

"You'll tell me what Junior wants if I let you see her," Glynda surmised.

"Exactly."

Strobe lights flashed around the two women, making it difficult for Glynda to think. Not that she needed to. Her first instinct was to protect her daughter from this dangerous woman... to say no.

Still, as she opened her mouth to respond, she found herself having to stop and reconsider. This wasn't what Summer wanted. And, Glynda decided reluctantly, what really were the chances that Cinder had actually killed Ruby's mama?

The blonde woman looked away. "You'll meet me at my home at exactly eight in the evening tomorrow night. Are you available?"

"For Ruby? Of course." Glynda could hear the smirk in her ex-friend's voice.

"So will you give me the information I need now?"

Cinder laughed. "Tomorrow at eight. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a show."

"Of course."

Cinder walked away without another word, back towards the stage. Glynda briefly considered sticking around, but within five seconds, found herself turning and heading back towards the door of the small, cramped club.


From the moment Ruby got home from school, she knew it was going to be a long night.

Her mother was sitting on the couch, eyes narrowed, hands steepled. "Ruby," she said as the redheaded girl walked in, "sit down."

Oh crap oh crap she knows I skipped, doesn't she, the teenager thought, and she could feel herself breathe a bit heavier, a bit more nervously. "Y-yes?" she asked, trying to keep a positive tone as she lowered herself into her favorite, most fluffy armchair.

"I have something to tell you."

Ruby felt herself begin to relax. Something to tell, not something to ask. If it was about skipping class, the conversation would not have started this way. Still, from the way this was going, it couldn't be good. "What about rehearsal?"

Glynda waved a hand dismissively. "Canceled. This is more important... sadly."

"Oh." She paused. No way out of this, then. "So, uh, what's going on?"

Glynda looked down. "We're having a visitor tonight. She's very important. We were friends back in the day, and I'm sure you know who she is, or will once I tell you... she insists that she..."

"Cinder Fall." The name blurted out before Ruby could stop it. "Mom, it's Cinder Fall, isn't it? The last member of Summer Storm. The lead singer of Cinderblock."

Ruby's mother blinked, taken aback. "You put it together after all. I had hoped you wouldn't."

That much was obvious. If she hadn't hoped that Ruby wouldn't find out, then she would have introduced the two back at the concert, she would have never taken the poster of Summer Storm off the wall, to be replaced only with a smiling portrait of the Rose-Goodwitch family.

Glynda folded her hands in her lap. "I should have told you earlier. Your mama would have wanted me to. But... I couldn't bring myself to bring up the history the three of us have."

"Our family?"

"No," said Glynda. "Summer Storm."


Summer stretched her long, pale arms with a smile. "Man!" she exclaimed, "Bartholomew really had us working, didn't he?"

Cinder checked her watch. "And only for an hour more than he said he would. I'm supposed to be on a date with Cyril right now."

"Oh no!" Summer's face turned concerned. "We're near my house. If you call him right now, you can still apologize and..."

Cinder waved her off. "He was getting boring anyway. This'll be what, the third time I stood him up this month? Either it pushes him over the edge, or he's a pushover himself. Guys like that are no fun."

Summer and Glynda exchanged glances and laughed a little, awkwardly. They were all friends. All three of them had formed a bond that was almost definitely unbreakable. Still, Cinder sometimes seemed a little different. Maybe it was simply an effect of her newfound "third wheel" title in the budding romance between her two groupmates, or perhaps she had just always been different than Summer or Glyn. Glyn leaned towards the last idea.

Still, they'd be friends forever.

The girls walked from the studio towards Summer's home. She lived the closest, and Cinder liked to park her car there, away from the bustling downtown that she deemed so dangerous for her vintage vehicle. Glynda could have taken a bus from almost anywhere back to her foster home, but she enjoyed time spent with her girlfriend.

"So did you hear that Peach is going into retirement?" Cinder asked casually. Glynda and Summer exchanged another glance... their friend said so lightly, but both girls knew she wanted some attention.

"I'll bite," said Summer. "No, I didn't?"

"Well, it's true. Five years of being a pop soloist, and suddenly Peach wants nothing to do with it." Cinder shrugged. "Do you think we'll ever be there?"

"No way!" Summer shook her head rapidly. "Summer Storm forever! Nothing could ever tear us apart!"

Glynda put her head down. "I don't know," she admitted. "Who's ever heard of a girl group sticking together for the rest of their lives?"

Summer's cheeks puffed defiantly. "We'll be the first, then!"

"But what happens if something does happen? I don't want to go down quietly. No matter what, you'll see me performing," Cinder promised, flipping her long black waves out of her face and smiling slyly, as if she knew a secret. "Now that the world's decided I'm a star, they will never be able to take it back."

"We'll perform together!" Summer insisted. "All of us. I fully intend to be doing things with Summer Storm until the day I die!"


"She almost got her wish," Glynda noted bitterly. "We were filling out papers and doing interviews until just a few days before they found her body."

She looked towards her daughter. Ruby wouldn't meet her eyes. "So, was Cinder planning to leave the group the entire time?" asked the teenager quietly.

"I have never known, and likely will never know, what goes on in that woman's head." Glynda sighed. "All I know is that she has made it very clear that you are important to her. And I do truly believe that she did, once, care for what we had. You, Ruby, are part of that, whether you remember it or not. You... you used to love your Aunt Cinder. Your teddy bear, Zwei? That was a present she brought to you a week before your mother passed."

Ruby said nothing; a minute passed in complete silence. After a brief period, Glynda checked her watch and found that it was still only five-thirty. "It'll be a few hours before she gets here," she said. "I'm going to take a shower and get ready."


Showers were good for clearing Glynda's head most of the time, but she stepped out of the water with more questions than ever. She slipped on a white Oxford shirt and purple pencil skirt almost automatically, thinking about so many things at once that it seemed a wonder that she was able to think at all.

Did she plan to leave? Did she kill the love of my life? Does she really care for Ruby? Is she doing what she thinks is right, or does she know how she comes off?

It was six, two hours before the moment of truth. She sat down at her desk and pulled out Diary 14, beginning to write in her messy, but elegant hand.

"Close your eyes now, time for dreams

Death is never what it seems

Did the things you thought you should

All the things they said were good"

The poetry came without thought. She wasn't sure if she was writing it to Summer, as the diary was intended for, or to Cinder.

"Born an angel, heaven sent

Falls from grace are never elegant

Stars will drop out of the sky

The moon will sadly watch the roses die"

Glynda always was the moon. She could only reflect the lights of others: her girlfriend, her daughter. Cinder Fall.

"You can't have my life

I'm not your sacrifice

You can try, but I'm free

And you won't conquer me

I won't crawl"

She might have done some awful things, but she's trying her best to make amends. As she thought that, she was surprised to find that she believed it. Everything that had happened in the last month seemed to stem from Cinder's desire to rekindle a friendship. She wanted to get to know Ruby. She wanted to be involved with Summer Storm reunion activities. She even tried to kiss Glynda.

Glynda paused.

Was Cinder trying to rekindle a friendship? Or maybe something a little bit different?

The thought chilled her. Could she forgive Cinder? Perhaps. Could she forgive Cinder that much?

Glynda put her pen back to the paper.

"Most of all

I won't fall for you"

In fact, the thought made her sick.

She ripped the paper out of the diary and shoved it in her skirt pocket.


Dinner was made and Ruby and Glynda were both sitting awkwardly in the living room when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," both women said in unison, rising, then laughing awkwardly. Ruby sat back down, allowing her mother to walk to the foyer to receive Cinder.

Glynda took a deep, calming breath as she opened the door.

Cinder did not stand there. Instead, one of her bandmates, the small one with multicolored hair... Neo?... stood there with a note and a package. She handed them to Glynda and stood there expectantly.

The blonde woman found herself unsure what to do, so she reached into her skirt pocket, drew out a couple crumpled bills as a tip, and thrust them into the girl's hand, all while staring at the small woman's face, trying to see if that was the right thing to do.

Neo saluted almost sarcastically, and walked back towards the small smartcar that was parked in front of the Rose house.

Glynda shut the door behind her and walked into the living room. "I don't know what just happened," she said aloud as she set the package on the coffee table and began to open the note.

It was written in Cinder's familiar, but long forgotten, chicken scratch handwriting.

Glynda,

Sorry I couldn't make your little dinner party. A problem with our record label came up, which I'm sure you understand. We'll reschedule. In the meantime, because we promised, here's a list of the Summer Storm events I'm planning on attending. I'm also sending some things for dear little Ruby. I figured she was a little old for teddy bears, and I hope she finds everything here a little more acceptable.

In addition, I really should apologize for Neo. She's the only person who would get off their lazy ass and do me a favor, but she'll make you tip. I'm not paying you back, though.

Kisses,

Cinder.

"Awww, you're never too old for teddy bears!" Ruby exclaimed when Glynda read the note aloud.

Glynda smiled and opened the package.

On top, as promised, was a list of dates and events, all of which looked vaguely familiar to Glynda as part of the fifteen year interview tour. Beneath was a layer of red tissue paper, which she removed delicately, reluctantly.

Her breath caught. Beneath the tissue paper was at least three posters, several tee shirts of different colors and designs, autographed photographs, CDs, and even stationary. Each item was adorned with the Cinderblock logo.

Ruby's eyes widened. "Oh man oh man!" she exclaimed. "Mom! You should have more friends who are celebrities!"

Glynda decided not to remind Ruby that not only did she, but that she was one herself.

The teenager dug through the box. "This is amazing! I can't believe that Cin... Aunt Cinder would do something like this for me!"

I can barely believe it myself. Glynda's mind began to race, wondering Cinder's motive, what might be wrong with the merchandise, what she wanted.

Then, she stopped. Maybe she's just changing.

Glynda smiled a little and stuck her hands in her pockets. After a beat, her smile faded.

Her pockets were completely empty.