AN: Hey everyone, I have the next chapter here. This is a short chapter, but it has a few very important moments for characters. Even when writing it, I got emotional during certain parts. This one shows a lot of character development and sets up some things that will happen in the future. Hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you thought or if you have any suggestions, and have a nice day.

Chapter 35 – A Child's Happiness

Mercury.

Later in the afternoon, back in the academy dormitory in a residential part for family living, Ruby sat in at a small table across from Jack. The one room they were in was full of stuffed animals and two small beds, one in each corner. The little girl was now wearing a white gown-like dress, while the silver eyed girl was wearing her pink-rose outfit, "That dress is really pretty." Jack said with a smile.

"Thanks," Ruby responded with a slight giggle, "Yours as well." She then looked over to see, Nursery Rhyme, who was laid on a beanbag chair as she was reading from a black book, "I like your friends dress also, but why doesn't she want to join us for tea time?"

"Oh, Rhyme likes to go around the school and find new books to read." Jack answered, "Once she finds one, she sits down to read it all."

"Wow, she must be really smart." Ruby responded as she looked back at Nursery Rhyme's face turned red as she turned the page, "Where have I seen that book before?" Ruby said to herself. Suddenly, the group heard a knock on the down, "Who is it?" Ruby responded, trying to imitate Weiss tone of speaking, coming across as slightly condescending.

"Mercury," The voice responded.

"We don't know anyone by that name," Jack responded, causing her and Ruby to giggle.

A sigh was heard behind the door, "The butler has returned."

"You may enter," Ruby responded, causing the door to open, revealing Mercury with a tired look on his face.

Mercury sighed before taking a deep breath, "I wanted to inform you that the tea is heating up and will be ready soon."

"Excellent," Ruby said in a posh voice, "Bring it to us as soon as it is ready."

"And snacks too." Jack added on, "We are hungry?"

"As you wish," Mercury said as he bowed. He then walked out the room and closed the door. He then exhaled as he started to walk, "…What moron would buy a pink dress like that?" He said to himself as he felt far enough away from the room, "At least she can keep that crazy girl busy while I just have to play Butler. But where is Jack's family, especially that mother." He said as he walked by a small nightstand with a photo frame. Mercury looked down at the picking it up to get a better look at the photo inside.

Is was a picture of Jack a few years younger, smiling as she was in the arms of a beautiful woman. The woman had long greyish-green hair and a brown jacket over a green dress. The woman had an alluring smile as she held onto the young Jack, "Well, at least I know what she looks like. She's that type of mom." Mercury said with a slight grin before he noticed something absent in the photo, "No dad, must have raised her on her own." Mercury said before putting the frame down.

Mercury continued down the hall until he entered a kitchen. A teapot was already in the oven as he walked over to the cabinets over the sink. As he opened the cabinets looking for snacks, he noticed the sink full of used food containers that looked familiar to him, "For such a good mom, she doesn't seem to wash the dished. And this sink is too high for that girl to reach up here." He said before he noticed the dry blood on this inside of the container, causing him to look away as a line of sweat went down his face.

Mercury then walked over to a fridge, "Maybe something in here-" he said while opening it, noticing three more one more of the food containers, "…I'm not opening that." He said to himself before he noticed a note on the food container. He pulled off the note to read.

"Dear Jack, I'll be gone for a couple of days to visit friends in a nearby town. I hate to leave you alone, but I left you plenty of your favorite treats. Also, I had someone set up the bed for your little friend Nursery Rhyme. I also asked Atalanta to stop by and check on you if I learn I'm running late. Take care sweetie, Love Mom," Mercury read as he looked at the note, "P.S. Keep the lid closed until you want to eat it, that will keep it fresh ; )" Suddenly, Mercury had a look of confusion as he noticed something on the note, "This has a date on it, but it's over a week ago." He then closed the fridge door, "Something is not adding up."

Suddenly, Mercury heard someone open on the front door. He looked over to see the lioness faunus walking in with a mournful look on her face. Upon entering, she noticed Mercury, causing her expression to change to confusion, "Who are you?" she said in a slightly angered voice, "What are you doing here?"

"Calm down, I'm one of those transfer students." Mercury responded, slightly calming the lioness Faunus, "You must be Atalanta, the person Jack's mom's letter mentioned."

"I am." Atalanta responded, still keeping her distance, "But that doesn't explain why you are here."

"Long story," Mercury responded as he walked over to the teapot, putting it off the oven burner, "Short version, I'm keeping these kids company while their mother is away. Why, because even I don't know how I got roped into all this." His last sentence sounded tired as he looked in other cabinets, discovering a tea set,

"That's …nice of you," Atalanta responded, her voice calmer as she walked into the kitchen, "Is Jack in her room, playing with Nursery Rhyme?"

"Yeah, and that Ruby girl too," Mercury responded as he tried to set up the tea set, "Now, tell me why you are here."

Atalanta sighed before walking, sitting at the kitchen table, "If you read the note, you know that Reika is not here. And that she hasn't been here for a little while." She then looked up at Mercury, who was pouring the tea, "Well, I learned that the town she was visiting was attacked by Grimm. And-"

"Let me guess," Mercury interrupted as he sat across from her, "Jack's mother isn't coming back." his commented caused Atalanta to solemnly nod, leading to Mercury look down as he put his right hand on his face, "Damn it, she's only a kid" he said before he turned back the lioness Faunus, "What's going to happen to her?"

"The school has a system in place for people in her situation. Sadly, it's quite common for things like this to happen." Atalanta responded, "Reika had no lasting realities and lead a certain lifestyle that I didn't agree with, that's why it's unknown who Jack's father is. But, the important thing was that she truly loved Jack. Even going as far as to take in Nursey Rhyme so Jack's friend would always be close by."

"You're telling me the book kid also lost her parents?" Mercury responded in disbelief.

"Like I said, it's sadly common." Atalanta responded before putting her hand to her chest, "Even I don't know who my parents are. All I knew about them is they couldn't live in this kingdom, but they couldn't take me with them." A moment of silence fell between the two as Atalanta looked down at the table.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Mercury responded, "If it's anything, I didn't know my mom either. And I certainly wish I didn't know my dad." His comment caused Atalanta to look up at him, "So, you came over to tell her the bad news?"

"I wanted to come here sooner," Atalanta responded, slightly raising her voice, "But, how do you tell a little girl something like this?" Again, a moment of silence fell between the two.

Suddenly, a third voice spoke up, "…I'll tell her." Mercury and Atalanta turned to see Ruby standing in the hallway, "I can tell her."

"Ruby, I didn't know you were here." Atalanta commented, "And what are you wearing?"

"Oh this, we were having a tea party." Ruby responded, "But I was worried when Mercury was taking a while to get everything. So, I came over and overheard the conversation." She then walked over to the table, her eyes slightly mournful as she looked at Atalanta, "But I can tell Jack about her Mom."

"Why do you want to do that?" Mercury asked, "This girl isn't exactly mentally stable. She'll likely snap is you tell her this the wrong way."

Ruby then turned to the grey-haired assassin, "Because…I have been on the other side of this talk. I know what she might go through, let me try to be the one to tell her."

Then two sitting down looking at Ruby, whose eyes showed a mix of sorrow and understanding. Mercury sighed before he started talking, "Okay Ruby, you can tell her. But…change back to your normal clothes before you have the talk." He said with Ruby nodding. Mercury stood up, turning to Atalanta, "You and I can talk with the book girl, this will give them the room alone for a bit."

"Right," Atalanta said before turning to the silver eyed girl, "Thank you, Ruby." She said with Ruby gaining a slight smile.

Pyrrha.

The sun begins over the land as the day was coming to its end. In her room, Pyrrha laid on her bed. She stretched out her left arms as she held the mini-spear given to her by Vlad. As she intensely focused on it, a black aura surrounded it. However, it vanished in a second, "This is impossible!" She said to herself before putting her right hand on her face and let her left arm fall to her side, "Maybe I'm not as good as he thinks I am." Her expression changed from frustration, to sorrow, "Maybe I'm not as good as I think I am."

"Fou!" Pyrrha heard Mash's pet call from near her bed. She looked down to see that Fou was biting her mini spear, chewing it like it was a bone. Pyrrha smiled as she giggled at the sight. Suddenly, Fou stopped chewing and turned to the door. Pyrrha looked to see Mash entering their room. She back in her normal clothes and carrying a large white textbook with a paper on top under her right arm. "Fou!" Fou called as it ran into Mash's left arm allowing the female shielder to catch it and put a smile on her face.

"Hey Mash," Pyrrha said as she sat up, "How did training with Jaune go?"

"Really good, but I'm tired," Mash said with a yawn as she sat on the bed across from her. Fou escaped her arm and curled up into a ball near her pillow, "I also got the report back from my professor."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that," Pyrrha said with a smile, "If you don't mind me asking, how did you do?"

"I did alright," Mash said as stretched out her arms, "I got a B minus."

"B minus?" Pyrrha said in slight disbelief, "B-but, I told you everything I knew about polarity."

"And it helped a lot," Mash as she got up, "He just said there were a few things I didn't mention that could have made it a stronger report." She walked over to the desk, "He said I could add to the paper and resubmit, even gave me a textbook on the subject, but I'm happy with that grade." She yawned again before returning to the bed, "Besides, the last few days have been so busy I need to rest for a while." She then took off her glasses before turning to Pyrrha, "Thank you again for your help."

"No problem," Pyrrha responded before she looked over to the white textbook for a couple of seconds, "Hey Mash, is it okay if I look at that textbook?" she asked, but was met with a few seconds of dead silence, "Mash?" Pyrrha then turned to discover Mash was already asleep, as well was Fou, "…I'll just take your silence as a yes." The red hair warrior whispered before she got up and grabbed the textbook. Once she returned to her bed, she opened the textbook and began to read.

Ruby.

A few minutes later, Ruby had changed back into her normal attire. She walked down the hallway, passing the photo of Jack and her mom. As she got to the room, Mercury and Atalanta were already taking Nursery Rhyme out of the room. Before the door could close, Ruby held it open. She looked in to see Jack still sitting at the table, waiting with a slight smile, "Hey Jack." Ruby said as she entered the room.

"What happened, where is your dress?" Jack asked as Ruby sat down in the chair across from her, "We liked it."

"I know, but…we need to talk." Ruby said with Jack smile slightly fading, "Jack, you know your mom loves you a lot, right?"

"Of course," Jack responded with her smile returning as she looked up at the ceiling, "She loves us as much as we love her. Our Mommy is kind, helps us with homework, makes us our favorite foods, and always gives us time to play." She then turned back to Ruby, who was smiling at her, "What about your Mommy?"

"My mom?" Ruby said before you closed her eyes for a second. "She's my inspiration to be the person I want to be someday. She showed me what it was like to be calm in the face of danger, how to properly take care of my things, and she made the tastiest cookies." Ruby said before looking back to Jack, "I'm thankful for everything she showed me, and I won't forget a single thing about her."

"...Those are happy thoughts," Jack said with a weakening smile as her eyes started to water, "A couple of nights ago, we had a bad dream. Something happened to our Mommy, but then we woke up. It was just a nightmare…but…" She said as her smile completely faded, her cheeks turned red as a river of tears poured down her face. Ruby leaned in and hugged Jack, closing her eyes as she held onto the little girl, "Ruby, do those happy thoughts make this pain go away?" Jack asked while she cried.

"As time goes on, it helps." Ruby responded as she gently rubbed Jack's back, "Right now, just cry as much as you need to." She then opened her eyes part way as she looked at Jack, "Remember, she loved you with all her heart."

Outside the room, Atalanta peeked through the slightly opened door. She quietly closed it as she walked over to Mercury, who was crouching as he talked with Nursery Rhyme at eye level, "Now, you need to make sure you're a good friend to Jack." Mercury asked, "Both of you are in a tough spot right now, so you need each other to get through it."

"Okay," Nursery Rhyme responded, causing Mercury to smile, "Will you help us also?"

"I don'-" He said as he looked into Nursery Rhyme's face, seeing that straight-faced expression. Mercury sighed before restarting his sentence, "Yes, I'll do what I can." To his shock, Nursery Rhyme hugged Mercury.

"Thank you," the book child said as Mercury was about to hug her back, but she released him after just a few seconds. She then held up the small black book she was reading before, "I need to return this before they know it is gone. When I come back, can we have dinner?"

"S-sure kid," Mercury responded as Nursery Rhyme smiled. She then walked away as he stood back up. The grey-haired assassin then placed his right hand on his face, "What am I doing?" he said to himself as he remembered back to his conversation with Emerald, "I can't even follow my own advice."

"That was nice of you," Atalanta said as she walked, causing Mercury to lower his right hand, "I'll help out as much as I can as well."

"Thanks," Mercury said before looking over to the lioness Faunus, who smiled as she stared at him, "What?"

"Nothing," Atalanta said with a grin, "It's just nice to meet someone who cares about a child's happiness." Her comment still left Mercury confused, but she still smiled at him.

AN: There you go, Ruby has a moment with Jack, which something that I have been planning for a while now. It is sad moment but allows for both characters to bond more than ever. Mercury also shows a lot of development from how he acted at the start of the story, and Atalanta is starting to take notice of this side of him. Pyrrha now starts to begin her path of discovering new aspects of her power, and it all starts with some reading. Sorry again for the short chapter, but the next should be longer as that is the one I plan to final have Ruby get her companion as a Rider. That is all for now, thanks for reading, and hope to see you in the next chapter.