I do not own RWBY.

A Brief Respite

After the morning they'd had, all the first-years loaded up their plates. There were burgers with an assortment of toppings, pizza, fruit, cookies, and soda, among other things. Yang sat down next to Jade.

"So how'd your semester go? I'm sorry I couldn't be here before this, but my mission in Vacuo took way longer than it should've. By the way…" Yang reached into her bag and withdrew two plainly wrapped packages. Tossing one each to Aurum and Indie, she added, "I know it's late, but… happy birthday."

Weiss shook her head. "And here I was worried that my gifts were too late."

Aurum had torn open the package. "Spicy jerky? You're the best!"

Indie was carefully unwrapping her own package. "A Petra Gigas figurine? These are limited edition; where'd you even get one?!"

Yang reached over the table and ruffled the girl's short blue hair. "I knew you'd appreciate these."

Jade was reaching for the ketchup bottle when Yang slyly reached over and stole a bunch of grapes off her plate. Pulling one off the stem, she declared, "It sure is grape to see you all again."

Weiss and Indie both groaned. Jade simply shook the bottle, and as she applied a liberal amount of the red sauce to her burger, replied, "I know; we really need to… ketchup."

Aurum booed and began pelting both Xiao Longs with blueberries. Yang only laughed and high-fived her daughter. "That's my girl!"

Weiss gave a very undignified snort. "You'll never change, Yang."

"You love me and you know it," Yang retorted.

Weiss only rolled her eyes. "No comment."

Zelty walked over at that moment. "Hey, Skye? I just wanted to thank you again for tutoring me. I'm off probation now and it's all thanks to you."

Skye smiled at him. "That's great! I'm glad I could be of some help. Oh, and this is my mom."

Zelty glanced over at Weiss. "It's… it's nice to meet you, Ms. Schnee." He turned and fled as fast as he could without drawing attention to himself.

Weiss gave an annoyed huff as she stared after him. "Oh, come on. I wasn't even trying to be intimidating that time."

"Oh, you have to try to be intimidating? I thought it was just your personality," Skye snarked. Although, to be fair, Zelty was easily intimdated by adults, especially when those adults were also authority figures.

"There's that sarcasm again!" Weiss declared approvingly. "Really, I'm impressed."

Yang, trying to steer the conversation in a more serious direction, asked, "So how did your semester go? I never got an answer before."

The team members glanced at each other for a moment before Skye proudly replied, "Pretty good. Team SAIJ currently holds a 93 team average, which is the highest of the first-year teams by a significant margin."

Yang whistled, impressed. "That's way better than Team RWBY did our first semester. Then again, you haven't tangled with any criminals yet, so I'd still say we were ahead."

"What makes you think we haven't?" Aurum demanded.

Weiss raised her eyebrows. "Have you?"

Aurum scowled. "No."

"Well then." Weiss turned back to her daughter. "I'll only be able to stay a few days. I have a business meeting with the CEO of Borden Tech that's likely to take several sessions, but I wasn't going to come to Vale without seeing you. Though I do wish I'd managed to catch your match."

"I'm gonna be around for a few weeks," Yang interjected. "Like I said, my mission in Vacuo took a while. I need a break, so I'll hang out here, I think. Visit some friends and family, maybe do a little shopping… I'd be very excited to do some training with you all."

Aurum lit up at that.

"Thanks, Mom." Jade leaned over and hugged her. "I'm glad you're staying a while; I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, sweetie." Yang smoothed out the little cowlick in Jade's hair that was identical to her own, then glanced across the table. "Mind giving us a while? We've got some catching up to do."

Skye nodded. "You can go to our dorm."

"Excellent." Yang stood up. "We'll see you all in a bit."

Jade led the way back to Team SAIJ's dorm room. Shutting the door behind her, the two women took a seat on Jade's bunk. The bespectacled fighter tugged out her ponytail and shook out her hair; it had gotten messed up in the match earlier. She reached for her hairbrush, only to have it snatched up before she could get her hands on it. It had barely registered when she felt the brush in her hair. Mom was using quick, practiced strokes to get the tangles out, and had the ponytail back in place in no time.

"There—your hair's much easier to deal with than mine." Yang set the brush down. "So how's your life been going? I admit, I was hoping at least one of your cousins would end up on your team, but having all three of them must be… interesting."

Jade leaned in and Yang wrapped an arm around her. "It's been fun, mostly. We worked really well together even before Beacon, which helps a lot; we're way ahead of the other teams in our year. But… being in a real school is… not what I thought it would be, and it's… taken some adjustment." She sighed. "My combat scores are perfect or almost perfect every time, but my writing skills are nonexistent. Skye makes me climb something every day—"

Yang frowned. "Why does Skye make you climb things?"

Jade snuggled a little closer. "Indie dared me to climb a rope in the gym, and I couldn't do it. I had to tell them I'm scared of heights, and now Skye's trying to cure me of it."

Yang squeezed her a little tighter. "That was my fault. I know I haven't always been the best mom, but I thought I did all right…"

"It's not your fault," Jade insisted. "I mean it. I've taken down Grimm that size a million times before, and you taught me everything I know. I'm working to get over my fear; that's all that matters now."

The two settled into silence. Yang sighed as she considered her daughter's life. It had always been just the two of them; she'd ended her relationship with Forrest before Jade was born, and she'd often blamed herself for his death. There hadn't been any hard feelings between them, but if she hadn't broken things off with him when she had, he wouldn't have taken the mission that had ultimately cost him his life. It had nearly torn Yang in half to leave her newborn daughter with her sister while she went on a mission; it echoed too closely what her own mother had done. Still, she had to make a living somehow, and bringing a month-old child on missions was out of the question.

As soon as Jade was old enough, Yang had started bringing her along. She'd done her best, and she didn't think she'd done too badly… until that day five months ago. That giant Nevermore… it had been ages since the last time she lost her temper like that. It was a good thing Grimm dissolved when killed, because she'd defeated it by literally tearing it apart.

Sensing that now wasn't the time to break the silence, Jade simply sat there and let the hug continue.

xxxxx

Weiss had asked for a few minutes alone with Skye, and the two of them were currently wandering around the beautifully landscaped grounds, talking. "…A 93 average is excellent, but I admit I was expecting a little higher," Weiss was saying. "Any reason for that?"

"Well…" Skye considered for a moment how much she should say. "Jade is terrible at written assignments, but I can't be too hard on her; it's not like she's ever needed to know how. And technically, she hasn't failed any of them."

Weiss raised an eyebrow at her. "I highly doubt that poor writing skills are responsible for seven points off your average."

"No… well, Indie's been struggling in combat class. Out of our whole team, she's the weakest in close quarters, and for some reason, she keeps getting paired up with opponents who are really good at it. She's been making an effort to improve, and we can all see the difference."

"And Aurum?"

Skye smiled. "Aurum's combat scores are almost perfect, and her academic classes aren't far behind. We had to ban her from coffee after the first day, though."

"Good; I'm glad to hear that you're all doing well." Weiss stopped walking for a moment and looked down into her daughter's eyes; the two of them were the same height, but Weiss almost never wore heels lower than three inches, whereas Skye preferred flats. "Do you know why I didn't argue when you said you wanted to enroll at Beacon instead of Atlas?"

Skye shrugged. "I got the feeling there were lots of reasons."

"Yes, but the most important reason is that my time at Beacon was wonderful. I met my best friends here. I wanted you to have the same opportunity to meet new people, outside of Atlas. It's good for you to see how other kingdoms run things, especially considering the military situation back home. Atlas isn't exactly the most…" she paused, "…diverse community. As the future head of one of Remnant's most powerful companies, you need to see as much of the world as possible, learn as much as you can, in order to be successful. You're my whole world, sweetheart, and I want what's best for you."

"I know, Mom." Skye leaned in and quickly hugged her mother. Despite the formal tone Weiss had just been using, she didn't hesitate to return the embrace.

xxxxx

With Jade and Skye taking the opportunity to spend some time with their moms, Aurum and Indie had decided to visit the gym. Their current project was working on combination attacks.

"Fire!" Aurum yelled.

Indie aimed one arrow at the target and loosed. Aurum dissolved into shadow and sped toward the target herself, trying to beat the arrow there. Her efforts succeeded; she reached the other end of the long training gym a split second before the arrow thudded into the bulls-eye.

"Ready to step it up a notch?" Indie asked.

Aurum nodded, grinning.

"All right; let's do it!" Indie attached the next arrow to her quiver cord and lined up her shot. "Now!"

Aurum pelted down the room, trying to catch the arrow. The idea behind this combination was that Aurum would catch the cord and then run in circles around an opponent, tying them up and effectively disabling them. It would work on human opponents as well as Grimm—if they could get it to work.

The arrow thudded into the target again; unlike last time, it didn't hit the bulls-eye, which meant that Aurum had at least managed to clip it, even if she hadn't caught it outright. "Damn! I know we can do this; let's try again."

They'd been at it for an hour when they realized they weren't alone anymore. Jade looked them over from the doorway. "Practicing Flowergarden again?"

Yang burst out into a huge grin. "You call your team attack Flowergarden?"

"Well, obviously." Skye's voice came from behind them. "Their emblems are both flowers; what else were we supposed to call it?"

"Oh, I don't know." Yang shrugged. "It's a good name; I just wasn't expecting it."

"What do you call your other team attacks?" Weiss asked. She'd come in behind Skye.

"Well…" Skye glanced at her teammates. "Ice Dragon!"

Jade tensed, preparing for what came next, and attached the bases of Lu Xise together. The combined tonfa now resembled a baseball bat, too long to be called a baton but too short to be considered a staff. As soon as she was ready, Skye cast a speed glyph underneath her partner's feet, and the girl shot forward, swinging her weapon at incredible speeds.

"Snowcat!"

As Skye yelled the latest attack name, she summoned a series of glyphs that ascended into the air like a staircase. Aurum activated her semblance and hurtled toward the floating snowflakes, jumping onto each one. As she reached the top, she leaped off and began spinning, her fans slicing the air with deadly precision.

Indie turned to the adults. "Not bad, huh? We fight really well as a team."

Yang was applauding. "That was great!" She paused a moment, then added, "If you ever want someone to practice on, I'll be here!"

Weiss simply smiled. "That was quite impressive. I'm glad to see that you're all continuing to improve."

xxxxx

Skye kept one page on her scroll open to Beacon's scoring page, and refreshed it every hour for the next several days until final grades were posted. As soon as she registered that the listing for the current semester was no longer blank, she called her team over. "Are we ready for this?"

The other three girls nodded eagerly. Skye projected the image onto the wall of their dorm room before she hit the Submit option that would display their results. "Team grade: 93. And individual grades… here." She clicked on the link. "All right! For combat… Indie, 88; Jade, 95; Aurum, 96; Skye, 93. And academics… Indie, 99; Jade, 84; Aurum, 93; Skye, 96. There's some comments from our professors here too."

Jade glanced over the comments. "Hey, Trace says I have 'good battle instincts.' That's good."

Indie skimmed them as well. "Heh, Waters says I'm a 'natural Dust user.' What's that say about you, Skye?"

The heiress shot her teammate a mock superior look. "If you hadn't noticed, she said the same thing about me."

"And Scarlatina complimented our performance and says we've all improved!" Aurum cheered.

Jade held up both hands for high fives. Indie and Aurum both slapped one while Skye put her scroll away.

Their cheering was interrupted by a loud thump. Jade answered the door. "Mom! Is it time already?"

Yang grinned at them. "You bet! Can't expect to improve if you don't train!"

The four teens sent her ahead, then quickly changed into their workout gear and headed for the gym. Yang was very happy to let them pummel her if it meant spending some time with her family, so they'd been doing this every day of their break. She was staying in the building set aside for use by professional Huntsmen, on the floor with temporary housing, and hadn't taken any missions yet.

"You know we'll only be able to do this another couple days, right?" Yang questioned as they joined her. "Classes start up again on Monday."

Jade's expression became somewhat disappointed. "Does that mean you're leaving soon?"

Yang looked apologetic as she adjusted her sleeves. "'Fraid so, kiddo. Believe me, I'd love to stick around, but…"

"I get it." Jade's shoulders slumped. "You have to go save the world."

"Save the world?" Yang repeated, fighting a smile. "It's nothing that dramatic. I distinctly recall taking you along whenever I was a guest lecturer at one of the schools. You really think talking to a roomful of students qualifies as 'saving the world'?"

Jade shrugged. "Among other things."

Yang shook her head. "Don't you think you're being a little dramatic?" She'd given up on trying not to smile.

"Maybe a little." Jade held up her hand with her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart.

Yang took another long glance at her daughter before slowly saying, "You know what? I don't think taking one day off from training will hurt. Why don't we all get some fresh air?"

Aurum looked incredibly disappointed but had the sense not to say anything. Yang followed the group to a spot outside, one that Indie had decided was a good place for just about anything she wanted. It wasn't much, just a tree with a couple benches underneath, but the maple had evenly spaced branches perfect for climbing, a sturdy trunk to practice her punches, and shade—either perched on a branch or sitting on one of the benches—for studying.

Yang recounted a number of the crazier missions she'd taken over the years, to the amusement of the team. They'd heard it all before, of course, but these stories never got old. At one point, after Yang had paused for a breath, Aurum cut in with, "Is that how you know Professor Scarlatina? You met on a mission, right?"

"Nope." Yang shook her head. "Team CFVY graduated from Shade, but they started out right here." She patted the bench next to her for emphasis. "They transferred after the fall of Beacon, when the school was temporarily overrun by Grimm."

Jade shivered. The idea that Beacon Academy, or really any of the combat schools, could be taken over by the very thing they were created to fight was terrifying.

"Anyway, CFVY was a year ahead of us, so we only overlapped for one year," Yang continued. "But anybody who fought that day… it brought us all closer together." Her eyes became unfocused for a moment; she was obviously seeing the horrors that had occurred so many years ago. Then her gaze snapped back to the teens clustered around her. "But enough about that. Jade, I'll stick around for your birthday, but after that… I'm headed off to Mistral. It won't happen now, but how about at the end of the year, I take you in to get your driver's license?"

Jade nodded eagerly. Since she'd grown up on the road, she owned very few things—there simply wasn't room for anything larger than a couple of bags and some food. As a result, her birthday presents tended to be experiences. She was a little relieved to be finally getting a driver's license—learning how to drive had been her birthday present five years ago, when she'd turned thirteen, but she'd technically been driving illegally the whole time since then. It wasn't too big of a deal, since knowing how to drive was really only in case of emergencies, but still. Having an official driver's license would mean one less thing she had to worry about.

Yang smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "Excellent! You know I'll miss you, but it's been great getting to spend a little time with you—all of you," she added, glancing around at the team. "Maybe someday you'll actually be able to take me on in a fight!"

I learned something writing this chapter. I learned that I have absolutely zero talent for writing small talk. It took me five tries to get the damn thing right. This is also why it's shorter than the last several chapters. Anyway, be prepared for more action next time.

Please read, review, and enjoy!