KEY

"Normal Speech"
"Sign Language"
'Thought '
- 'Scroll Message'

Whilst none of them had the gift of Speed like Ruby did, they made record time in getting everything packed and ready for Fox and Neo. The couple bid their farewells to Coco and Velvet, who were staying in the dorm so that the former could rest and recover for a bit.

"Bye guys, hope you recover by the time we get back."

"I should do, thanks Neo."

"See you Coco, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"So, a lot of things then?" Fox rolled his eyes with a chuckle.

"You're meant to be recovering, remember? Just lay back and relax."

"That's Velvet's line, not yo- Ow!" She received a fairly forceful prod to the scars from her girlfriend.

"This is just too easy right now... have fun you two."

"Will do. Bye!" They'd changed their clothes so that they had a little more comfort when travelling and also a bit more protection from the colder weather up in Atlas; Fox had never been but according to Neo even summertime up in Atlas had a chill in the air. Most high-end families like the Schnee or the Glasur Families had their clothing made especially so that it kept the chill out in all weathers. The rest had to make do with what they had, which wasn't terrible but nothing compared to what they had. Neo was dressed in full Cherry attire; a sleeveless black blouse with white frills on the chest and collar with a black ribbon bow hanging from front of the collar, medium-length black armbands on both of her wrists, a knee-length skirt fastened with a white belt, black shoes and white legwarmers, all with her hair done up in a twin tail style and completely black save a few white streaks and her eyes a permanent green.

Fox was much less disguised as Neo was, simply opting to wear one of his new t-shirts, his new hoodie (which still had a faint smell of vanilla from when Neo wore it) along with his regular trousers and shoes. He also wore his weapons on his wrist, albeit retracted entirely into just their new bracelet form (had to thank Ruby for that upgrade when he got back) Fox carried a large bag on his back that held most of their spare clothes, including Neo's normal outfit, and a few other things. Neo also carried a bag, though not nearly as big but it had most of the food they'd need for the journey.

"I hope that everything will be alright for you two," Yatsuhashi shouted, fighting slightly to be heard over the sound of the Bullhead's Dust engines.

"We'll be fine. Please don't let what happened yesterday get you down Yatsu," Neo signed. Admittedly, using Sign was probably the best idea right now considering the noise, so the tank switched to it.

"It won't. I should be much better about everything when you return. Farewell." The couple waved back and slid the side door shut as it took off, leaving them on their own.

"You nervous, Ni?" Were she capable of making any sound, she would have scoffed at that remark. Instead, she smirked and flicked her boyfriend on the head, her Heterochromia consciously returning as she did so.

'Why would I be nervous? They're my family. The real question is: are you nervous about meeting the future in-laws?' Fox choked on the air, coughing and spluttering everywhere. He spoke in his head so that his coughing could subside properly.

'"In-laws"? Neo isn't it a little early - heck, very early, in fact - to be thinking about that sort of thing? Who knows whether we'll be together in three or six months' time, let alone years.' She gave him the best puppy dog eyes and trembling lip she could manage.

'Do you not... love me anymore?' He found it increasingly difficult not to succumb to the pressure of looking at her like this. Clearly, she'd been saving using this for an extreme moment - by anyone's books, this counted as an extreme case. He caved, hugging her close to his body.

"Of course I love you. It was just... so sudden." He broke the hug to look in her eyes again. "I'm just a little confused, why suddenly with the in-laws?" She rolled her eyes and shook her head, like it was the most obvious thing in the world that he was missing.

'Fox, ask yourself this: "Would Neo honestly leave me for anyone else?" Or even: "Would I leave Neo?" There's no other couple like us; Fate brought us together, but love is keeping us here. I will admit, I could have very easily disappeared from the Hospital and never could have set foot in Vale again. I could have disappeared. But I came back time and time again because something was drawing me back, even before I knew about the link the Parchment made. You intrigued me. I kind of knew I always wanted to be with you, but I never really could express it.' She looked away a little shamefully at her confession, knowing that it was something she maybe could have saved for later or the trip back; any other time except mere minutes after walking on to the aircraft. A scarred pair of lips pressing against her forehead broke her concentration, bringing her back to the Realm of the Here and Now.

"Neopolitan, I would never leave you. I was just a little surprised, but I agree with what you were inferring. No, I would not leave you, just as you wouldn't leave me. In-laws doesn't seem too bad a thought now, though I'm making it clear right now that that sort of thing will not be happening until we are gone from Beacon and have settled down into life a little bit more."

'I can live with that. For now though,' she pecked him on the lips and then lay her head on his lap, 'I just want to rest a little. We've had a hectic past couple of days, and I don't want to be rocking up to my parents' house going "Hey Mom, I'mma go sleep now" before I do anything else.'

"Makes sense." He adjusted so that she was as comfortable as she could be. "That means you have to let me sleep on you when we're on the Atlas-bound ship."

'No need, there's enough people and we'd be woken up anyway.'

"Whatever you say hun." He leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the nose before he sat up again and stared out of the window watching Beacon drift slowly to the horizon.

Neo was in more need of sleep than she had originally thought. Normally she'd be fine, needing only a few hours of sleep to be rested and ready for the day, but now sleeping was just bliss. Fox had to wake her up later so that they could get on the ship, but until that time he knew he had to manage. Sitting her up. he slowly and slightly awkwardly shimmied her onto his back for a piggyback, then grabbed their stuff. He slung the smaller of the two bags they had over Neo's shoulders and she carried the other in his hand. The setting sun was disappearing behind the treeline of the Emerald Forest in the distance and night was slowly making its way in. The light made Neo's face glow, her skin shining in contrast to her hair and a large portion of her outfit, all of which absorbed a lot of the light that hit it and made in flat in comparison, save a few white streaks in her hair that slowly started reappearing. The soft smile on her face from her dream warmed his heart, and something told him he'd need a lot more of that if they were heading to Atlas.

He got to the Main Gate after 15 minutes of walking. Knowing they'd need to speak to each of them, Fox had to wake Neo up despite the fact she'd not be particularly happy about it. But her eyes shot open and she was up like a flick of a switch.

'Right, let's go!' Fox was still a little confused as to how she could do that; he felt the need to ask.

"How is it that you can go from sleeping peacefully to fully awake in a second? It takes me minutes to even become vaguely aware of my surroundings."

'Who said I was sleeping?'

"What do you... you weren't asleep at all were you? You just hitched a ride on my back just because you could." A giant grin formed on her face, knowing full well she'd been busted but honestly not caring at all. Fox narrowed his eyes, the gesture being all he needed to express how he felt. Neo blew him a kiss, then gestured towards the gate, readjusting the bag on her shoulders.

The couple waited in line in silence to everyone else, but they were talking in their head about this and that, with Neo constantly reminding him that she was 'Cherry' until they got to her old home. If anyone looked at him, they could tell Fox was nervous. He had never been this far away from his family and friends before and that thought unnerved him a bit. A small yet soft hand held his own and a gentle grin brought him back down to ground level and reminded him that everything will be okay. She also reminded him that she could still hear his thoughts, something he cursed himself for forgetting.

The pair of them made it through the checks in one piece, and nothing was called into question - though they would need to go through a second lot of checks a little bit further down the line as they would be carrying weapons onto the ship. Sailing through those checks as well, they were given their tickets and their Huntsman Badges to confirm that they were legally allowed to be carrying weapons with them and boarded the ship heading to Atlas. Compared to the ships that brought them to Beacon in their first year, this ship was massive; but Fox honestly expected nothing more from Atlas. It almost looked like a giant flying cruise ship with its multiple levels of windows and observation platforms, albeit glassed off observation platforms because of the potential high altitudes they would be flying at.

'If you're done staring at it Fox,' his girlfriend teased, 'we've got seats to find.' They were seated in 5 minutes, up in the air in 10 then told they could get up and move around in 20. They made their way to one of the observation platforms on the ship, with only two other people there with them - neither with the anyone else.

"Well, 'Cherry', are you excited to be going home? I know it's been a while for you."

'Hey, I heard those quotation marks around my name.' The boy shrugged, staring out at the clouds as they approached ever closer to the top of the window. 'But in answer to your question; yes, I am excited. But nervous at the same time. I remember how they got when I lost my voice - my Father felt dreadful, said that it was entirely his fault for me being the way I am. He said that if he had just let the condition be, I may still be able to talk; the medicine I was given reacted with my Aura at the low dose levels it dropped to and sent it into overdrive. It took my voice with it. Mom was pretty bad too. Uncle Lang was the worst, no doubt about it.' He didn't hear it, but Fox saw Neo's shoulders rise and fall noticeably as she fought against any emotions swelling to the surface. 'They may think I'm still dead. I mean, I did destroy the "This Person Isn't Dead Anymore" paperwork from the Hospital, both the physical and electronical copies - but they might have seen it too. It's not like I'm hard to spot in medical records, even without an image. Just search for heterochromia borealis and there I am in that small list of about 10. I hope they haven't looked at the records... I really hope they haven't...' Her hands were gripping the railing tight, her knuckles white from how tight she held onto it. Her grip eased as her boyfriend slid his hands next to hers, letting her know he was there for her. She loosened her grip on the metal and let him slide his hand underneath for her to hold instead, the grip much gentler now she was holding his hands than what it was a moment ago.

"If they have, I just think you've got to be truthful about why you did it. In the time I've known you, you haven't done things without reason. Unless this was an exception, doing that is no different. They will understand. They are your family; they may not support you all the time, but that fact will never change."

'There you go again, finding the right words first time round.' Her hands let go of his as she instead chose to hug his middle whilst staring out as the ship broke through the clouds to reveal the clear, uninterrupted night sky.

"That wasn't always the case, y'know. But you bring out the right words." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and joined her in staring out at the worlds beyond their own. "I'll tell you now, if I had a view like this - I'd honestly stay and watch it for the rest of my life."

'That's great and all...' Neo started. Fox heard the fact she was annoyed, so turned to look at her. Yup, she stood there with a furrowed brow and was giving him death stares. '...but I noticed you weren't looking at me!' Fox couldn't help but laugh, gaining the attention of one of the other people on the platform.

"Why would I do that?" At first those words sounded like an insult, like he was only doing this as a joke. Neo took it like that at first and was ready to run away and most likely kill him the first chance she got. Fortunately for him, he finished his train of thought before she did anything stupid like that. "I thought it was pretty obvious that I wanted to do that with you anyway, that I didn't need to say anything. But: I would watch you, be with you, be proud of you for the rest of my life." His free arm made its way round and rested on her other shoulder. "And I mean that, Neo." The last word was whispered, knowing full well she didn't want her cover blown. But by him using it, it showed her he genuinely felt that.

'Apology accepted.' Her grin was enough to lighten the mood between them. They stayed there for a minute or two, rocking side to side in unison. 'Now, how about we actually go and get some shut eye before we get to Atlas?'

"That sounds great. Lead the way."

The fact the light from the sun disappeared from the bottom to top meant that they had dropped below the clouds. She let her eyes open as slowly as she could, fatigue having actually set in when her body hit the bed late last night. She was partially thankful that she was only wearing a sleeping top and her underwear, it made the bed seem even more relaxing. She eased herself up to get a better look out the window and saw a sea of pale grey, followed by another sea of blue. Besides that, there wasn't a lot more she could see, so she got up and walked to the small window in the room they were given for the journey over. Staring out, she glanced upon an all too familiar sight: Atlas.

Home.

'Fox look at this! Isn't the view amazing?'

"You can say that again..." She turned around to see Fox sitting up in bed, staring straight at her behind like it was the only thing left in the world.

'Get your ass out of bed and take a look outside.' Feeling his joke didn't quite get the response he was looking for but not wanting to aggravate his girlfriend at a time like this, he made his way to the window. Neo heard the intake of breath as copper brown eyes gazed upon a Kingdom of marble white buildings. Looking at him, she saw him mesmerised by the sight of the city. Grinning, she mentioned, 'This, I don't mind you staring at over me.'

"Neo, this is Atlas?" he managed, still awestruck.

'Yup. This is the Kingdom I grew up in. I didn't see a lot of it for many years, but I've been back since then and I've had a wander around from time to time. There's a few places I'd like to take you whilst we're here, if that's okay with you.'

"Of course it is Ni." Smiling, as sense finally came back to him, he gave Neo a quick kiss on the forehead before walking towards the small set of drawers by his side of the bed. "Come on, I want to get out of here as fast as possible." Sadly for him, he missed the evil smirk grow on her face and her irises swap colours from Cherry's green eyes so that pink sat in her right eye and brown in her left. Not eight paces away from the window, a sudden weight fell on Fox's back and he tumbled to the floor as Neo had jumped on his back, his chest planted firmly on the carpet.

'Oh no, you've fallen and been trapped by the vicious Ice Cream Death Monster! There is no leaving now!'

"Not the Ice Cream Death Monster! Anything but that!" he cried, playing along. "Whatever shall I d- ow!" He was cut off by pain when she rested her knees, quite heavily considering her size, on the small of his back and held her hands at the top of his arms with a firm grip to keep him from moving.

'I don't know, what are you going to do?' she teased, clearly enjoying this.

"Give up." He flopped, unwilling to be part of this silly little game anymore. She wasn't best pleased about that, so she tried again; pressing down harder and tightening her grip. He grimaced at the pain, but he was face down in the carpet so she couldn't see it.

'I said "what are you going to do?"'

"Give up. I surrender. The Monster has won, all is doomed." He really wasn't playing along at all, and that irked Neo. She flipped him over so that he was laying on his back facing her now. His face looked as uninterested as his voice sounded. She leaned in close, staring right at his eyes, though he didn't look back.

'One more chance Fox. What are you going to d-' Before she had time to react, Fox's lips pressed against hers for a long, stolen kiss. As time drew on past the initial shock of the gesture, Neo settled into it. She leaned back gradually, letting him get to a sitting position so that they were both comfortable as they remained lip locked. Their foreheads remained in contact as they broke for air, Fox speaking through small yet deliberate intakes of air.

"What I am going to do, Neo, is not spell my plan out to the enemy and either let them think they've won or make them lose their concentration. When the defences are down, I will strike. It will be when they least expect it, making the ploy all the more satisfying when it works - there is no way this wouldn't work." He grinned, proud of his achievement.

'Props to you for the strategy. However,' in one movement she hoped he wasn't expecting, she grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him back down to the floor, her legs now straddling him and her hips resting on his stomach, 'what did you have planned for a counter strategy, like this one?'

"This is your counter strategy?" All he got was a smile in reply. "Well, as bad as I know it is to agree with the strategies and plans of the enemy, I have to say I like where this strategy looks like it's heading." His hands grabbed her exposed hips as hers slid their way down to his chest. "Care to show me the rest of the strategy?" Her hips deliberately slid backwards so that her crotch rubbed against his own as her lips landed on his once again. Her mind spoke clearly even though her mouth was incapable of producing words; even if it could, she was otherwise engaged with kissing her beautiful boyfriend.

'Fine then. Step two:'

Cherry strutted out of the room afterwards, her face glowing a fainter tint than her namesake. Fox walked out soon after with the rest of the stuff that Neo didn't carry behind him, his face blushing slightly; given his skin tone was much darker than his girlfriend's the glow on his cheeks was less noticeable. Fox was equal parts disappointed and glad; she had been to Atlas many times and therefore knew how long it took from seeing Atlas on the skyline to landing on the airstrip. So, from the second they started "Discussing Battle Strategies", she was calling the shots. Fox found her really attractive when she did that, so he wasn't in the mood for arguing on that fact. He was glad about that. He was disappointed they didn't have more time, but they could make that time again later, providing she was cool with it.

Walking out into the open Atlas air was a stark contrast to what it was like on the ship. On the way there the air was warm, now every breath had a chill to it even on a clear morning like today in the midst of summer. Most people who left the ship went straight away to where they needed to go, but Fox and Neo/Cherry waited around for the rush to disperse before they left.

"So, what's the plan Cherry?" he asked, making a point to push the name so that it became natural for him to say it.

'Straight to my parents' house I think. I wouldn't want to keep them guessing or worrying any longer than they need to. The sooner they know I'm okay, the better.'

"Whatever you say, Cher. I'll follow wherever you go but be prepared; I may be staring at everything as we're walking."

'There'll be time for that afterwards, now come on.' The pair of them caught a smaller aircraft that would take them to one of the districts in Atlas. Landing here brought back memories for Neo. She caught her first flight from here back when she was younger, they'd taken a small trip to the far side of Atlas to go see a show, and she was honestly more excited about flying there than she was about seeing the show. The entire time she recalled asking "Daddy, when are we going to fly home?" and he would always reply "Not yet, my flower. We must wait until we are done here." The usually confident woman grew steadily more nervous as they got closer and closer to their destination. By the time they were within viewing distance of the house Neo was shaking. He'd noticed that she was before, taking her hand to ease the nerves but now it was beyond what actions could do.

"Neo, what's the matter?" He didn't care about keeping the name act up, not while she needed help and attention, not 'Cherry'.

'I'm just... scared of what they'll think.'

"What are you talking about?"

'I'm dead, by all accounts. If they saw that, believed it and then I show up, they'll have a go at me for putting them through that heartache, at best.'

"They are your family, they ought to be happy to see you safe and sound."

'Yeah, but... I... still feel wrong. When they see Cherry, they know that their little girl is safe, knowing full well that I'm underneath all of the make-up and costume but not doing anything to show how happy they are about it because Cherry is a familiar-stranger to them.'

"Then why don't you give Cherry a break? Be truthful, let them see you, let them know that you are safe, not some character you use to hide yourself."

'Fox, they haven't seen their daughter in years. She is dead; she died the same time Neo was born.'

"And Neo 'died' months ago, I know I'd want to see my daughter and know she was safe."

'I don't want them to see Orchid again!' Her irises blinked from green to white as the name resonated in her mind. She hadn't spoken that name in any real sense for a long time, not in conversation like this at least. Fox pulled her to a little side alleyway as her tears started forming.

"Neo, shh, it's all right." Hs arms wrapped around her and he started rocking side to side, humming a nameless tune to ease her worries.

'I haven't called myself that in nearly eight years...'

"I still think it's a beautiful name to go with a beautiful personality to make you the beautiful person you are." He felt the smile on her face on his chest.

'Would you stop being so good at making me feel better in a sentence or two? It's like you have a power or something.'

"Maybe I do, how would you know?" He pushed her away to look into her eyes, which had reverted to Cherry's green eyes again. He took a hold of her dark wig she wore for Cherry and removed it, revealing her natural split hair colours. "I think you should show up as you." Her eyes darted down, avoiding eye contact as best as she could. "They won't hate you Ni. They can't. They're seeing their daughter again." Slowly her eyes drifted back to meet his again, comfort flooding in as she did so.

'You're... you're right. I should.' The green in her eyes faded slowly to give way to pink and brown. Smiling at her boyfriend briefly, she went to grab the bag with Neo's clothes in. 'Keep an eye out, I don't want people walking down here to see me strutting about half dressed.'

"Sure." He stood in the alley waiting for her to be done. After 5 minutes, a pair of arms wrapped around his middle from behind.

'All done now, pretty boy.'

"Good to hear Ni. Now come on, let's go meet them."

Next week, we'll get to see what time has done to the Russets. It's so nice to be able to have parts of the story like this that are much slower and feel more natural, rather than the over the top rush of a battle scene or the exposition dumps I know I can rattle off from time to time.

And yes, I did reference them having sex again. This is Fox's first relationship, so he's learning about it all, and Neo has her old habits that she is breaking from, but not fully. But expect things like that in the future as well, it's always fun to do that. Especially when you can't write convincing lemons, like me. It seems I'm much more of a lime person.

As always, feedback - good or bad - is most appreciated