The next week passed by incredibly slowly. Between classes, the upcoming break and the painfully slow recovery from my injuries, time seemed to slow down. Finally though, Friday rolled around and we were all sitting in Oobleck's history class as the clock ticked away. Nobody was paying attention to his lesson and I had no idea how the Doctor had couldn't see it.

"Ever since the faunus have been centered in Menagerie, the population of faunus across Remnant is now diluted into small pockets of settlements across the world, although moreso in Vacuo, due to the people's welcoming of both faunus and humans." My mind drifted over to Velvet and our plans for the break. It made me nervous thinking about meeting her parents, but I know that she wouldn't have said it if she wasn't ready to introduce me to them or if she thought it was a bad idea. We were going to be leaving tonight to make the flight to Vacuo, where Velvet was born and her parents currently lived.

The dismissal bell rang and I quickly picked up my books and headed for the dorm to pack for the trip. I opened the door to see my dorm room, decorations adorning the walls, everyone's beds, even mistletoe hanging in the doorway, all thanks to an overly-hyper Nora. And when I say 'overly-hyper' I mean almost breaking the sound barrier excited Nora. I took a look out the window and noticed that it was starting to snow again, large flakes of precipitation falling from the sky. The only things I really needed for the trip were a few t-shirts, hoodies, jeans, deodorant and a toothbrush, along with my normal pj's. It'd been a while since I just travelled recreationally, so I wasn't used to packing heavily. Using my duffle bag as a suitcase, I shoved everything I needed in the cloth container as Jaune and Pyrrha walked in.

"Going somewhere?" Pyrrha asked.

I turned around and nodded at the Champion. "Uh… yeah. I'm going to visit Velvet's parents in Vacuo with her over the break. We'll spend Dustmas eve and day with her parents and we'll leave for my parent's Dustmas day."

"When are you leaving?"

"Our flight leaves in four hours." I replied.

"It's kind of short notice, isn't it?" Jaune said.

I shrugged. "Well, we only decided to make the trip last week."

"Still though, wouldn't you rather wait until after Dustmas to meet each other's parents?" He asked.

I shook my head. "Nah, as much as I love my family, I'd like to spend the holiday with Velvet and her family this time."

Pyrrha smiled. "That's good, Joe. The holidays should be spent with those you love." She said while gazing into Jaune's eyes, while the blonde knight grinned in the same fashion I did whenever I was with the love of my life.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Pyrrha." Velvet said from the door as she entered the room with a smile. She turned her gaze to me. "Ready to go?"

I nodded back. "Yup, everything's packed, just gotta wait for the flight. You excited?" I asked with a smirk, already knowing the answer.

"Can't wait! My parents and siblings will love you!"

My brow furrowed. "How many siblings do you have?"

"Just my younger brother Chris and my older sister Kayla."

"Huh. Never knew that." I mumbled to myself. "Anyway, did you want to grab dinner in Vale or have something to eat here?" I asked, my voice returning to its normal volume.

"I think we should go to Sal's again. It'd be nice to see him before we left." She replied.

I nodded in agreement. "Sounds good. Meet you there in an hour?"

Velvet smiled, kissed me on the cheek and left for her own dorm. I grinned as she left and I turned my gaze back to my teammates, who both smiled.

"You really love her, don't you?" Pyrrha asked.

"You have no idea." I stated. I then looked over at Jaune. "Then again, maybe you do." I retracted my earlier statement with another grin.

After saying my goodbyes to the knight and champion, I found Ren and Nora, gave them goodbye hugs and left for Vale with my duffle bag/suitcase in tow. At least, that was the plan until Ruby and Yang intercepted me in front of the statue in the courtyard, both wearing thick winter coats, yellow for Yang and red for the little reaper.

"Leaving without saying goodbye, Blay-boy?" Yang asked with a smirk and crossed arms. She'd also forgone her usual black shorts in favor of a pair of bright yellow jeans.

I shrugged. "Didn't think you mind." Ruby then jumped forward and attached herself to my chest, making me drop my bag.

"Don't get killed again, Joe." She pleaded with me.

I sighed. "Ruby, I'm going on a vacation, not a mission." I said as I detached the pair of arms wrapped around my chest.

"Still might be dangerous." She said worriedly.

She is really not going to stop worrying. I thought. "Okay how about this: when we both get back from our vacations, I'll buy you a box of chocolate chip cookies from your favorite bakery if you don't worry about me."

"Wait, what if she goes on a sugar rush?" Yang interjected, concerned.

"Then that'll be your problem, not mine." I said with a smirk.

The blonde brawler sighed and gave me a friendly hug. "You're an ass."

I scoffed and returned the hug. "Yeah, tell me something I don't know."

"Actually, that'd be pretty easy." She countered as we pulled away from the hug.

I smiled and walked past the sisters, picking up my bag along the way. "Have a good Dustmas guys. Tell Blake and Weiss I said 'hi'."

After that encounter, I made my way to the airship and headed down to Sal's small store in Vale. I entered the establishment and greeted the father of my late friends with a smile. "Hey Sal, how's it going?"

"Not too bad, business is still good." He replied cheerfully. I nodded. The place seemed to be doing well enough as just about every seat was occupied.

"Anyway, I'm supposed to be meeting Velvet here. Has she shown up yet?"

The old, muscular wolf-faunus shook his head. "Not yet. Her spot's wide open though." He said, gesturing to the empty booth in the back-right corner of the building. "You want me to get you some chicken noodle soup?"

I shook my head. "No thanks, I'll wait for her first." I said, taking a seat in the familiar booth, setting my bag underneath the table. Velvet arrived shortly after I had, wearing a black winter jacket overtop of her normal clothes with a rolling suitcase behind her. She walked up to the counter, conversed with Sal who pointed to me waiting in the booth. I gave her a smile and wave as she walked over.

"I ordered the chicken noodle for you." Velvet said as she placed her bag on the opposite side of the booth as she took a seat next to me.

"You remembered." I stated, slightly surprised.

"Well, yeah. How could I ever forget my best first date?" I felt my face heat up at that remark and couldn't find my words.

"Thanks… I-um…" I stuttered out.

Velvet chuckled and gave me a hug, effectively shutting me up. Sal quickly brought us our soups and we delved into them, consuming the delicious bowls of hot broth with vigor.

We quickly finished our dinners, but still had less than three hours until our flight, so we decided to wait near the boarding gate for our flight at the airport. With our bags dropped off and hopefully on the aircraft, we sat next to each other in the provided chairs and waited for our flight to be called. I was staring blankly at my scroll, going through old conversations when Velvet spoke up.

"Hey Joe?" She asked.

"Hmm?" I replied, still gazing at my messages.

"What was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"Dying." She said quickly, obviously nervous about the subject.

I sighed and shut off my scroll as I recalled the event. "It's… I guess it's just like everyone describes it. There's a long tunnel with a light at the end." I summarized. "I think it's different for everyone though. I saw my friends from initiation day. Elias was the one who told me to get back to Remnant, back to Beacon." I looked her in the eye. "Back to you." I said with a smile.

Velvet blushed and leaned her head against my shoulder as I put an arm around her waist. "Did he really say that?" She asked after a moment of silence.

"You know I'd never lie to you." I spoke from the heart.

"Yeah." She chuckled lightly. "I guess not."

An attendant called out our flight number and we promptly boarded, now heading off to Vacuo. It was going to be an eight-hour flight and I had a lot of questions about Velvet's family.

"So are there any topics of conversation that I should avoid? Are all your siblings faunus just like you? Is your dad the stereotypical overprotective father, or is he more relaxed?" I quickly asked from the aisle seat while Velvet sat in the window seat next to me.

She chuckled at my nervousness. "Joe, calm down. No, there aren't any topics that you should avoid, my younger brother is a faunus like me, but my older sister is adopted and I guess my dad's not exactly super-protective, but he's not very relaxed either." She replied.

I exhaled deeply as I clenched my armrest. Velvet put her hand over mine and intertwined my fingers with her own. "Hey." She said soothingly. "My family's going to love you."

I gave her a small smile. "Here's hoping."

Thankfully, Velvet managed to dispel my anxious demeanour by filling me in on what her family was like, how they had adopted Kayla when she was just six years old, how her sister was two years older and her brother a year younger than Velvet was.

"So we just found her wandering the streets of Vacuo, thirsty, hungry with only the clothes on her back and nowhere to go."

"And your parents took her in?"

Velvet nodded. "Yeah. They felt bad for her and after trying to find her family, we adopted her. She's been a pretty good big sister to me. I can't recall any bad memories of her."

"So… does she know what she wants to be?"

"Yeah. A Psychologist. She likes helping people through less than conventional means." Velvet said with a laugh.

"Yeah. I can understand that." I replied.

"How about you?" She asked. "Any brothers or sisters?"

I smiled. "Not unless you count my uncles Castor and Pollux. They may be slightly older than my mom, but they behave like they're my age."

Velvet chuckled again. "So do you think you'll see them when we visit?"

"Oh there's no doubt. I'm their only nephew in Vale and they just seem to know whenever I'm close by."

"Are they both huntsmen?"

I shook my head. "Castor is, but Pollux is an engineer. He usually works on large-scale projects like buildings, but the one exception was when he helped me with my blades."

"Ah, okay."

Conversation continued to bounce between our families, what we'd do when we landed and where exactly we grew up. Thankfully, Velvet had grown up in a less desert-covered area of Vacuo and in more of a countryside, forested area away from the city. I had also learned that her father had enlisted with the Vacuan army reserves before leaving of his own volition to start a family of his own and become a mechanic at a garage. Her mother was a nurse at a hospital, very caring and apparently never stopped worrying about her three kids, even to this day.

After a few more hours, we finally landed in the city of Vacuo, the usually warm kingdom now wrapped in a cloak of snow and coldness. I'd never been there myself before today, only told what it had been like by my parents. We stepped off the plane and into the airport, additional snow starting to fall outside as we grabbed our luggage and walked outside where Velvet waved over a taxi for us. During the ride to her home, Velvet had fallen asleep in the vehicle and I couldn't say that it was completely her fault. It was three-fifteen in the morning and almost pitch dark, creating a very welcoming atmosphere for sleep. I however, was far too anxious to let sleep crawl into my thoughts.

What if her parents disapprove of me? Will we have to break up? What if her sister and brother don't like me? What then?

The moonlight gave me a good view of the building surrounded by a fairly dense forest with the next piece of property being separated by at least an acre of land. We pulled up in front of a medium sized house with a concrete exterior, a large front window, two floors, a detached garage and a relatively short driveway. "That'll be twenty-three-fifty." The cab driver whispered, bringing me out of my stupor. I nodded back and gave him twenty-five lien.

"Hey, Velvet. We're here." You'd think I hit her with a shot of adrenaline judging by how fast she was moving. She instantly zipped out of the vehicle, pulled her suitcase out of the trunk and was already rushing me to do the same.

I let out a chuckle at her enthusiasm, got out of the car and slung my duffle bag over my shoulder. The taxi drove off and Velvet grabbed my hand and led me to the front door of the house where she knocked and waited for an answer.

"Are you sure your family will be up this time of night?" I asked.

"Oh yeah. Chris is on leave from his training in the military, Kayla's classes are out for the semester and neither of my parents are working today." I cocked an eyebrow when Velvet mentioned her brother was in the military.

Better live up to their expectations. I thought nervously. After another moment, a tall man with slightly elongated front teeth resembling a rabbit, blond hair, brown eyes wearing a light gray housecoat over a black long-sleeved shirt and plaid dark grey pajama pants opened the door.

"Dad!" Velvet shouted out as she enveloped the man in a hug.

He broke into a grin and returned the embrace. "So good to see you, Velvet." He turned his gaze to me and released his daughter. "Who is this?" He asked politely, although he also sounded slightly cautious.

I smiled at him and extended my hand. "Joseph Taren."

"My boyfriend." Velvet interjected happily.

He shook my hand and quickly released it. "Fallow Scarlatina." He replied. "So you're the one who's captured my daughter's heart. Well, come on in, get out of the cold." He said, gently pushing Velvet inside the house.

I followed suit and took off my winter jacket and shoes, placing them both in the closet directly adjacent to the door. The house was fairly cozy with a carpeted floor, a fabric couch up against the wall that separated the living room from the kitchen and dining room, a couple of chairs in two of the corners and a Dustmas tree decorated with lights and ornaments with several presents wrapped up and placed underneath in the corner closest to the door. On a large stand in the opposite corner of the Dustmas tree was an HDTV with a gaming console hooked up to it. At the end of the front door hardwood hallway was a set of stairs that led up to a second floor and to the right was another hallway that led to four rooms, three of which I was informed by Velvet were bedrooms while the fourth was a bathroom.

"The guest bedroom and my room are adjacent to each other while Chris' is across the hall and my parents sleep upstairs along with Kayla." Velvet said to me. "Mom asleep?" She asked her dad.

He nodded back. "I told her I'd stay up until you arrived. Both of you should get some sleep, you look haggard."

"Thanks, dad." Velvet replied sarcastically.

The faunus man smirked in response and climbed the stairs. "Goodnight, Velvet. Joseph." He called back.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding and turned to Velvet. "You think he hates me?" I asked quickly.

She sighed. "Joe, you had one short conversation. It's hard to judge a person in that amount of time." I massaged my forehead with one hand and Velvet motioned for me to follow her. She took a right down the hallway and opened the first door on her left to a bedroom with a mattress on a box spring with a nightstand and alarm clock directly next to it and a window. "Well, this is the guest room, the bathroom is straight across from here, there's two more bathrooms upstairs and my room is next to yours." She repeated.

I let out a light laugh. "I wish we were this close together at Beacon."

She giggled back and kissed me on the cheek before dragging her suitcase out of the room and into her own. I took off my hoodie and fell onto the soft bed, sleep continuing to elude me.

So, to sum up: piss off her dad, get beaten to death. Piss off her brother and have my neck snapped in my sleep. Piss off her sister and be mentally tortured for the duration of the stay. As for her mom, well… I didn't even want to begin to think what she might do if I accidentally did something to make the over-protective mother of the Scarlatina clan angry.

Watch your words, Joe. Watch. Your. Words.