*inserts the 'honey you've got a storm coming' gif*
Weiss and Jaune's surprise engagement wasn't the only proof that things were changing. While Blake Belladonna took on her father's role as chief of Menagerie and Yang Xiao Long travelled the world as a huntress, Glynda Ironwood and Ruby Rose began efforts to start a new school in Vale, or rather, to revive Beacon Academy.
"You'll be headmistress, of course," Ruby had gasped, upon explaining the idea to Glynda, "But I would love to teach! Maybe even Uncle Qrow would transfer from Signal!"
Now, their efforts were finally paying off—starting with the arrival of a big day for both of them: the unveiling of the newly built campus with a fundraising gala. Hundreds of guests—many graduates of the school, many who were there when the school fell, and many who were in support of reviving Vale's own huntsman and huntress academy—were expected to come.
"Ozpin would be proud," James said, staring up at the decorative ceiling of the great hall where the gala would be held. Glynda was setting up a podium on the far side of the room, and Ruby was practically bouncing up and down. She had grown more mature. Glynda could see it in the girl's face the moment she had brought up the idea of a gala. A scar stretched across her cheek and down her neck to her shoulder from that last battle, the night before the enemy had gone silent. Salem had promised to take out her eyes, something had distracted the witch though, and her plans had been destroyed in the faction of a second. Now, in a beautiful scarlet dress, with long hair tied up in a braided bun, Ruby looked like a woman—like her mother—at twenty years old.
"Summer would be proud," Glynda emphasized, she turned to the young woman in front of her with a smile, "I had given up hope on Beacon Academy, Ruby," she said, "It was you that rekindled that hope."
"Well, but… I couldn't have done this without either of you!" Ruby said, pressing her hands together with a wide smile, "So, I guess this was made possible by all of us!"
"Hey?" A light knock on the huge great hall doors, and in slipped Oscar Pine, with wide green eyes and a nervous smile. At 18 years old, Oscar was looking more like a young man. He had grown his hair out into a thick little ponytail. He had grown stronger, broader, and now he stood a full head and a half taller than Ruby.
"Oscaaarrr!" Ruby squealed, throwing her arms around her friend. The young man's face instantly turned tomato red. "I'm soooo glad you're here! This is going to be the best night ever! Where's everyone else?"
"Waiting outside," Oscar said, trying to peel himself away from Ruby's tight embrace.
"Awesome!" Ruby grabbed his hand and dragged him back towards the door he had come through. They both slipped outside, and James was left alone in the great hall with his wife, who was still trying to fix the podium.
"Glynda, it's fine," He said, moving towards the new headmistress.
"James, this event has to be absolutely perfect," she huffed, straightening the podium yet again, and then turning towards the tables to check on something else. James reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her against him. "James—"
"You need to relax," he sighed, "What did the doctor say about stress?"
"I'm not stressed," Glynda huffed, "I just want this to be perfect. For Ruby and… for Ozpin…" she trailed off, glancing back over at the huge wall hanging of Beacon's symbol behind the podium.
"I know," James said, "And it's going to be perfect. I promise. I need you to relax. You're going to end up stressing me out." Glynda shook her head with a sigh, and then rested her forehead against his chest.
"I'm sorry. I know you're worried." James gently clasped Glynda's hand in his own and led her into a slow, gentle dance.
"What in the world are you doing?" Glynda laughed, glancing up at him.
"Dancing. Trying to relax. Soon this entire hall is going to be full of people. The kids are with Qrow and Winter now, I want to take advantage of every moment I have with my wife." He sent her into a slow spin, and when she came back into his arms she kissed him.
"I love you, James, but I should probably sit down."
"I'm not going to argue with that," James said, leading her to a seat. "Give yourself a few moments before you have to give your presentation."
"My presentation," Glynda glanced up at the podium again, "I hope I can do his vision justice."
"Ozpin would be glad to see you taking over," James said, "You have been and always will be a brilliant headmistress."
The young adults finally came into the hall, following Ruby, who was striding across the floor with purpose. "…of course we've been planning classes, positions, dorm rooms, etc… I'm so glad you're all here! This is going to be an amazing year! And with your help we'll be able to accomplish so much!" Glynda looked p at James, reaching to take his hand.
"Our children are going to grow up with the school bringing light to a dark world, James."
"I know," he squeezed her hand, glancing over at the podium. If our children become even a little bit as strong as these ones, they're going to be courageous, wonderful people. He imagined Autumn and Marin growing up, he imagined them being inspired by those who came before them and he smiled. He had always been worried about what sort of father he would turn out to be, but now… maybe everything would turn out okay.
REPLIES TO REVIEWS:
FeugoFox42: This is the best! Means my deception as a writer is work. Mwahahaaaa! No, seriously though, I do see potential in Weiss and Jaune, but with that argument you could see potential with Weiss and literally any of the other teens on the show. Still, I remembered that I had developed an entire 2nd gen cast, and upon looking at my timeline I realized that with Qrow and Winter expecting their second one and Glynda and James waiting on the twins we're getting pretty close to Jaune and Weiss being married AND Ren and Nora being married. (Yay! Renoraaaaa!) Anyways, I have lots of ideas. Boundless ideas. For this 2nd gen thing.
SemblanceOfInvisibility: I'm glad it all worked out. I thought it might seem a little rushed (though I might have mentioned them together before in this fic). Like I said in the above response, I kind of panicked when I looked at my timeline for my 2nd generation children. I mean, all the teens are in their twenties now, and the timeline I wrote up MUST be followed :P I'm really glad you liked the chapter. I miss writing Qrow and Winter. :( But, I have some REALLY good James and Glynda chapters lined up, so those are going to be fun.
Guest: I definitely see potential in Weiss and Jaune, so I'm having fun experimenting with pairings, but for sure they're an important part of my enormous 2nd gen plan. As for Ozpin, we have Oscar in this series. My headcanon, or rather the idea that I'm using for this "alternate world" (really, it's an AU), is that Ozpin passes on to Oscar all his knowledge and understanding and memories, and then fades away. So, at this point Ozpin has faded away from Oscar, though... Oscar is technically Ozpin... sort of. Honestly, I don't even know. :0
Thanks for all the reviews! See you when I post the next one. (which should be soon I hope. NaNoWriMo's coming up, so we'll see!)
