Chapter 37: Final Respite

"Sora!"

"Ruby!"

"Blake!"

"Yang!"

"Sun!"

"Neptune!"

"NORA!" Nora cut in excitedly, crashing through the three pairs of reunited friends hugging on the beach near the docks. They all flew into the air with a loud yelp before immediately crashing into the ground, the sand of the beach exploding upward as they hit all at once. The Berserker laughed loudly as she looked down at the half dazed warriors, then giggled in a slightly insincere apology She looked over at Ren a moment later to see he was quietly laughing along with her, though it was barely noticed by anyone else.

"I'm not hugging you, Oz," Qrow said as the wizard walked out of his transport.

The man rolled his eyes behind his green glasses. "Oh, whatever will I do?" he muttered, affecting the tone of a man insulted.

Qrow smirked and slapped the man on the back. "It's good to see ya," he said as Taiyang walked over. "Right?"

"Yeah, it is," Tai agreed with a grin. He held his hand out to Ozpin, and the old wizard gave it a hearty shake. "At least if we're all sticking together this time around. No more sending my daughters to one end of the world and me to the other."

"I will attempt to oblige you, Taiyang," Ozpin said with a small smile. He shook his head, amused, then turned towards Qrow again. "I trust that the trial went smoothly, Qrow?"

"Pretty much," the Huntsman said with a shrug. "Council and Schnee got the guilty verdict. Obviously."

"Obviously," Ozpin agreed simply. "And James? Did he follow through on our decided punishment?"

"Yeah. Yeah, he did," Qrow stated. He shrugged. "Never let him know that I said this, but he's not that bad."

"Oh, come on, Oz. Just ask about his little girlfriend," Tai said mockingly. He poked Qrow in the ribs with his elbow. Qrow tried to ignore him. "Hey, don't give me the cold shoulder!"

"I'm starting to hate you," Qrow told his brother in law.

"Ooh, it's like a wintry wind showed up."

"Like, really hate you," Qrow growled.

"Professor Ozpin!?" The wizard looked up and caught sight of a blonde man looking at him with wide, albeit happy eyes. Argent Arc jogged towards the three men and grabbed the wizard by the shoulders. "Wow, when Qrow told me you were alive, I didn't really believe him until now!"

"Mr. Arc," Ozpin noted with a smile. He brushed Argent's hands from his shoulders. "It's been too long."

"Yeah, yeah... So what's this I hear about an alien? Where is he?" Argent asked, patting Ozpin's shoulder and looking around. He looked down at the kids laughing on the beach and then back at Ozpin. "Is it one of those kids?"

"He's the one with brown hair spikier than a pineapple," Qrow explained dryly.

Ozpin smiled at that before calling out to the young man: "Sora! Come here!"

The Keyblade wielder's head snapped towards Oz and he jogged over, jumping the last ten feet to land softly beside them. "What's up, Oz?" Sora asked as he glanced over at the other faces. He raised one eyebrow when he caught sight of Argent's surprised glare. The blonde was slackjawed, and his eyes were almost as wide open as his mouth.

"How'd a scrawny little kid like you jump that far?" he shouted in surprise.

Sora grinned. "Keyblade," he supplied simply. He held his hand out. "I'm Sora!"

The blonde warrior coughed and stood up straight, composing himself as quickly as he could. He cleared his throat, saying, "Jeez. Never thought I'd be this freaked out by a kid." He held his hand out and, for the third and final time, Sora saw the individual in front of him replaced with a silhouette. It was another one of the shapes Sora had seen in Jaune's Heart, what now seemed an eternity ago. The shape was unmistakable, and Sora could almost see a thin silver line that surrounded the man. "I'm -"

"You have to be Jaune's dad!" Sora shouted excitedly, grabbing onto the Knight's hand and shaking it excitedly. "It's nice to meet you! Are you going to help us get him back, then?"

"Y-yes," Argent supplied lamely, more than a little struck by the young man's enthusiasm. He began to laugh in a combination of nervousness and Sora's infectious enthusiasm. Argent nodded and let go of Sora's hand, head turning towards Qrow. "I think you might have undersold his enthusiasm."

"I think it's impossible not to," Qrow said, placing his hand on top of Sora's head and ruffling his hair.

"Hey!" Sora protested, super annoyed by it. He brushed Qrow's hand away before crossing his arms and glaring at the Huntsman. "Stop that, Qrow!"

Qrow did as requested and smirked down at the young man, the look grating on his nerves. So he decided to get back at the man. He looked up and smiled, too. "So, I haven't had a lot of time to talk to Ruby, yet... But she did mention that you've got a girlfriend. Come on, tell us everything!"

Qrow palled even as Argent began laughing mockingly. "I don't need all this mocking from a kid who couldn't figure out his own feelings without being threatened," Qrow retorted, then he looked over at Argent. "And like I said, you can't comment about anyone's relationships, Arc."

"Oh, is he like Jaune, then?" Ren asked as he and Nora approached. He looked up at the man. "I'm guessing he introduces himself to women as 'Argent Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, and ladies love it?'"

Argent stopped laughing. "And who are you two?" he asked the giggling Nora and smirking Ren.

"Did Jaune not write about us at all!?" Nora shouted indignantly.

"He never wrote at all." Argent smiled sadly and crossed his arms. "So, if I remember from the Vytal Festival, you guys are his team mates. I don't remember your names at the moment, but you can call me Argent." He held his hand out to Ren.

The young man shook it and nodded. "Lie Ren. This is Nora Valkyrie," he said as he let go of Argent's hand. He gestured at Nora, who was humming to herself. "And yes. We were members of Team JNPR with your son."

Argent smiled sadly. "It's good to meet you. I'm glad my son made friends who are willing to go through so much for him," he said. His hand rose and he rubbed the back of his neck, a move filled with self-loathing and shame. "He deserved someone believing in him."

Everyone grew quiet at that. Finally: "Well, don't let us old men keep you from having fun. Go on, we have things to talk about," Ozpin said with a kind smile. He nodded towards the beach, where Ruby was screaming in excitement at her team being reunited. She was currently jumping up and down with her hands around their shoulders, shaking the three girls violently with her Keyblade-enhanced strength while Penny watched in excitement. Sora nodded and jogged off with Ren and Nora at his heels.

"Where are we on finding a way onto the island?" Ozpin asked, eyes fixed on Sora and the others.

"Good news, we have no clue. Oh, wait, that's the bad news," Taiyang stated. He groaned. "And there is no good news, yet."

Meanwhile, Sora and the others were on the beach once more. "Oh, I'm just so excited that Team RWBY is all together again, Weiss!" Ruby shouted to the annoyed looking girl with white hair. Weiss flinched from the intensity of the scream that rang out right next to her ear.

"We all are, Ruby, but can you let us go!?" Weiss shouted back over Ruby's intense squeals of joy. Weiss began to make choking noises as Ruby's grip instead tightened. "Please! You're choking us to death!" Even Yang was starting to look a little blue in the face and began to pull at her sister's arm.

"Oh, fine," Ruby muttered before letting them go. She pouted. "No fun."

She perked up, however, when Sora began walking over. "Sora, it's time to properly introduce you to some people," she said. She dashed over to him in a flurry of rose petals before dashing back to the others with him in hand. Sora tumbled across the ground, unused to being moved at such speeds. He pushed himself up and had to spit out the sand that had filled his mouth.

"I'm overwhelmed by awe," Weiss noted dryly.

"Right?" Ruby asked, not catching the dripping sarcasm in her partner's voice.

Sora didn't notice it either, oblivious as he could be at times. He may have grown up a bit, but – thankfully – some things never change. "Thanks, but I haven't done anything yet," he pointed out with a sheepish grin on his face. He held out his hand. "We kinda met already on that call, but it's good to meet you in person, Weiss. Ruby says you're pretty great."

"R-really?" Weiss asked. She glanced over at Ruby and smiled fondly. "Idiot..."

"Love you too, Weiss!" Ruby shouted. She hugged her friend again before flying past the heiress and bringing another young woman back with her a half moment later. She positioned the copper-haired girl in front of Sora and gestured at her with both hands. "And this... is Penny!"

"Sal-U-Tations!" Penny shouted, swinging her arm in front of her like a good natured child as she did.

Sora laughed. "Sal-U-Tations!" he greeted back with a huge smile on his face, not a hint of insincerity in his voice.

Penny laughed excitedly at his greeting. "I must say, I was excited to meet the boy about whom Ruby has told us so much!" she said. She leaned in towards Sora and whispered, "When she speaks of you, her voice rises more than one octave."

Sora grinned at the blushing warrior. "Even I can pick up on that one," he said, which only caused her blush to deepen further. He brought her into a side hug. "I think mine does too."

Sora looked back over at Weiss and smiled kindly. The heiress smiled back for a moment before growling to herself and letting her gaze fall to the ground. "I'm...," she muttered. She looked up at Sora again and sighed. "There's no excuse for the fact you were nearly atomized, and you have the formal apologies of the remaining Schnee Family."

Sora blinked once then looked over at Ruby. "What did she say?"

"I don't really understand her most of the time, either. Just smile and nod," Ruby supplied with a shrug.

"Idiots! I was saying sorry that my father tried to kill you!" Weiss shouted angrily. Apparently, Ruby hadn't been joking when she said Sora was a lot like her...

"Oh! Then why didn't you just say it like that the first time?" Sora inquired earnestly. Weiss growled to herself again before turning the frustration in her gut to laughter. Sora looked at her in confusion for a moment before joining in.

"Oh, you're just like Ruby, aren't you?" Weiss said after calming down. She shook her head and gestured at him. "So, come on, we haven't seen your new weapon yet. Show us!"

Sora nodded and let go of Ruby. "Okay, ready?" he asked everyone, receiving a few nods. He shut his eyes for a second, then clenched his fist and summoned the Master Keeper to his hand in a brilliant flash of Light. He opened his eyes and swung the weapon over his shoulder with a grin. "Ta da! What do you guys think?"

"It's just weird to see you with any weapon other than the Kingdom Key," Ruby noted bluntly as she basically tore the weapon from Sora's hand. She tossed it from hand to hand and began to spin it around her body in intricate movements, suddenly reminding Sora of the first time he had done this with her. She was no less enthusiastic in her study of the Master Keeper despite the fact that she not only had been around Keyblades for about a year in one form or another, but also that she had one of her own. If anything, it only seemed to fuel her excitement regarding Sora's weapon. "A hilt this square should provide some sort of discomfort due to its edges, but it's almost like the handle is as comfortable to hold as my own weapon's... The blade is round, but we already know that doesn't mean anything... I like the makeup of the guard, too! It's better for catching weapons than the Kingdom Key's was. You see, the edges and segments! It's also a lot longer! You aren't having any trouble dealing with the new reach?"

"Should I?" Sora asked. He shrugged. "I've been switching between different Keyblade lengths for a while, so I didn't really notice."

"Of course," Ruby snorted. She tossed the Master Keeper to her left hand and slapped her forehead sheepishly. "I forgot you told us that already..."

"Ah, my baby sister's acting like a weapon nerd again," Yang said before ruffling her little sister's hair just to annoy the girl.

"Sora was using that weapon with the skill of a master swordsman within seconds of gaining it," Blake pointed out. "He destroyed all of the Grimm in Beacon and Vale's capital with a single blow."

"Wait, I thought that was just a rumor! It's not possible!" Weiss shouted, dumbfounded at the idea. She looked over at Sora; he was a lot like Ruby, weird and childish but skilled beyond belief. "You're telling me that was true?!"

Ren was the one to answer that question: "We saw it happen. It was not the most impressive thing we have seen him do as of yet."

Weiss looked at Ren. "Hm... It would appear that I need to hear whatever stories it is you guys have about him," she said, straightening up and acting like her usual, collected self. She waited for a moment and the calm mask dropped. "Come on, guys!"

Ruby snorted. "Fine... Well, when we were on our way to Haven, he blocked an attack that left a mile wide crater in the ground! Oh, or how about -"

"NO!" Ruby turned to the source of the voice and found Yang on her knees, hands over her eyes as if crying. Everyone else glanced at each other momentarily, then back at Yang. Then back at each other, then back at Yang.

"Um... Yang?" Blake asked, not worried at all. This had to just be some dramatic –

"I forgot something super important!" Yang shouted. She surged to her feet and pointed at her sister with one hand and Weiss with the other. A manic and a maybe a little evil smile was on her face. "And what you guys were talking about reminded me of what it is!"

"W-what?" Ruby asked. She started to shrink away from Yang's devilish grin.

Yang's hand drifted from Weiss to Sora. "You two haven't had a duel at full strength, yet!"

Ruby let out her breath. "Oh, that's it?" Her voice was relieved that there wasn't some real problem.

"Really?" Sora groaned. He crossed his arms and dismissed the Master Keeper from Ruby's hands at the same time.

She shot him a dirty look for taking the weapon away. "And?"

"Come on, Keyboy, please?" Yang begged. She jumped on her sister's shoulders and raised one hand to the sky. "Let's see the crazy fight we've been waiting for! Who's with me!?" Yang looked around at the others, her smile faltering. "Oh, come on!"

Blake sighed and raised her left hand. "Banzai," she muttered, conceding defeat. "I do want to see this fight, if only to see what we're getting ourselves into."

"Hah! Knew you'd come through!" Yang shouted. She turned away, then back to Blake. "But it doesn't make up for trying to steal the blonde look, Blake." The cat Faunus rolled her eyes.

Weiss raised her hand next. "Fine. It will at least give us something to do."

"We even got the boring one to agree!" Yang said.

"Hey!"

"What about the beach?" Sora tried to protest. He didn't feel like beating Ruby up in a one sided fight. She may have been skilled with a Keyblade now, but he was way ahead of anyone except maybe Salem.

"We'll do that after," Sun said dismissively.

"Or... not at all?" Neptune tried to suggest. That earned derisive laughter from everyone else present, making the blue haired young man appear completely crestfallen. "Yeah, I thought so... Dammit. Ugh, we're in..."

"Yes!" Yang shouted, pumping her fist and nearly causing her sister to topple over from the movement. She pointed at Ren and Nora. "Come on... You know you want to..."

This time it was Ren who couldn't contain himself. "You're right!" he admitted in what was – for him – an outburst. So if it had been anyone else it would have appeared subdued. "We vote yes."

"Ah, everyone except you, Sora. Now you have to do it," Yang said, leaning on top of her sister's head and grinning at Sora.

"Yang... could you get off of me?" Ruby asked.

Yang waved her hand to dismiss Ruby's question. "When Keyboy says yes."

Ruby turned her silver orbs on Sora and gave him the best puppy dog eyes she could. "Please? This is uncomfortable. Her big butt is heavy," Ruby said.

It was Yang's turn to be offended. "Hey! I'm not fat! I'm muscular."

Sora groaned. He was defeated, he knew it. "Fine..." he finally conceded. He grinned, trying to get himself in the fighting mood; he'd been looking forward to some quiet time with Ruby. "But just once."

R W B Y

"We've been hiking for hours, are we almost ready?" Ruby whined as they continued walking. She wasn't wrong; they had been hiking for hours. "Sora! Come on, I'm bored! Can we stop walking?"

Sora laughed and kept walking. They were pretty far from the eastern coastline of Vacuo and had begun to enter the vast desert of the semi-lawless country. "I think we should get just a little further, okay?" he called over his shoulder to the exasperated group he was traveling with. Everyone except Sun looked like they were ready to die of heat stroke. And Sora knew this was nothing compared to Agrabah, so he'd be fine.

"And come on, when else are you gonna see sights like this?" Sun asked. He was back in his old shirt now, a better fit for the warm and arid climate. He gestured with one hand at a huge series of buttes that cut across the otherwise empty landscape. "You don't have anything like this in Atlas or Vale, right?"

"Oh, no. There are no empty wastelands of sand in Atlas," Weiss noted dryly.

"Empty wastelands of ice, though," Yang pointed out to annoy the heiress.

"Shut up," Weiss muttered.

"Okay! This should be good," Sora said as they approached a crevice. He gestured at the rock cliff and turned around. "Ready, Ruby?"

"Finally!" she groaned, summoning her weapon to her hand.

"Uh, maybe you guys should go to the other side?" Ren suggested. He pointed across the crevice. "I've seen what fights between Keyblade wielders look like, and I think that's why Sora led us out here."

"Oh! Yeah, sure. That's why," Sora said hurriedly.

Ren considered these words for a moment before groaning, voice full of disappointment. "You just wanted it to look more dramatic, didn't you?" Ren asked in defeat.

Sora just grinned and rubbed the back of his neck in response. Sora turned and jumped across the crevice in a single bound. He landed and waved at the others. "Why am I surprised?" Ren grumbled as Ruby followed Sora.

"Cause half the time he's smart?" Blake suggested.

"And the rest of the time he's a dolt," Weiss finished. She looked at her team mates. "Remind you of anyone else?"

Sora stared at Ruby and summoned the Master Keeper to his hand. He hefted the ancient weapon to his shoulder and looked around. "So... on a scale of one to one hundred, what percent are we going?"

"Seventy five?" Ruby suggested as she twirled her weapon around her body.

Sora scratched his head with his off hand. "Um... Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good." He moved into his customary stance and grinned. "Count of three?"

Ruby shrugged and entered her own battle stance. She locked eyes with him and Sora knew what was going to happen before it did. "THREE!" Ruby shouted while she turned into a rocket of rose petals and rushed to collide with Sora. He raised his Keyblade just in time to catch her blow and he slid backwards through the sand for about six or seven feet.

"Cheater!" Sora laughed when Ruby became herself again and they began to push against each other. "You're a cheater!"

"You said on three," Ruby joked while she struggled against Sora. He laughed in agreement before slapping the blade lock to the side and slashing at Ruby's midsection. She blocked the attack at lightning speed.

"Boo! Go fast!" Yang heckled.

Sora jumped away from Ruby and reset their battle. "Then let's give the people what they want," he said. "Keep up!" Then he was on her faster than she'd attacked him the first time, throwing Ruby off for a moment. She dashed to the side, narrowly dodging his attack that left a crater in the ground.

"Hey!" Ruby shouted, though she wasn't angry. More... excited. She launched a firaga at Sora and ran just behind it, planning to attack through the gap in Sora's defenses that would appear when he blocked the spell. Sora slapped the spell to the side as he ran towards her as well, sending the explosion of energy across the desert and into one of the buttes. The spell released its power and a chunk of the rock disappeared, the top of the stone teetering on the now too thin region before falling off completely and slamming into the sand. Ruby stabbed forward with her weapon through Sora's defenses, but he slipped just past the attack and hit her with his shoulder. Ruby flew backwards a few dozen feet, flipping through the air until she landed lightly on her feet and dragged through the dirt for a few more yards.

"That was awesome!" Weiss shouted, causing everyone else to nearly jump out of their skin in surprise. She cleared her throat when she noticed everyone staring at her and rectified what she'd said. "I mean... He's actually kind of impressive."

Sora slashed horizontally at Ruby's head and the woman jumped backwards, firing off a series of Blizzard spells as she moved. Sora slashed the spells down and jumped after Ruby. The two of them clashed in the air, their weapons sparking with electricity as they collided. Sora slashed at Ruby's midsection and she used her weapon to shove off of him and just out of the attack's path, then she stabbed at Sora's head. He moved his head to the side to barely avoid it, then slashed upward at Ruby. She began to move, and Sora lunged forward to grab her trailing leg in the teeth of his Keyblade. He spun midair and tossed Ruby at the ground. She landed with a single bounce before correcting herself and watching Sora's path until he landed on the ground. "Come on, you can do better than that!" Sora shouted.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Don't think you've won yet." She ran forward and fired another few Blizzard spells, each of which Sora easily deflected to the ground. He waited until she got close, then swung at her head. She slid beneath the attack, her weapon trailing frost as she passed him. She came to her feet behind Sora and grinned, landing a kick in the middle of his back that sent him tumbling forward. A few Blizzard spells followed him, but he quickly threw up a Reflect wall to keep himself from getting hit while still in the air. He landed a half second later and rolled to his feet. It was at that moment he realized he was still sliding across the ground.

"What the-?" Sora looked down and his eyes widened. So that had been the point of all the Blizzard spells; Ruby had frozen the entire ground around them over with a sheet of ice. He looked up at her and stabbed his weapon through the ice to stop himself. "Clever."

"I try," Ruby responded. She stabbed her own weapon into the ground and placed her feet on the teeth. "And keep watching for more!" A Firaga exploded from beneath the weapon's tip, sending Ruby into the air, where she twisted the blade to the direction opposite Sora. She fired off another spell and flew towards Sora. She raised the sword above her and brought it down to crash into Sora, but he kicked himself away using his weapon as a point of contact and he began to slide across the ice. The Keyblade appeared in his hand with a bright flash of Light, at which point he twirled it above his head to release a cloud of burning orbs that spread across the battlefield.

Ruby's eyes widened as she realized what Sora was doing, but it was too late to stop him. The fireballs collided with the icy ground and exploded, sending a huge cloud of steam and dust into the air to obscure the battlefield. Ruby frowned and raised her weapon above her head. "Wind!" The dust and steam was thrown away by the spell, giving Ruby clarity to look around the desert. Sora wasn't there. She looked up to try and block him but... he wasn't there either!

"Down here!" Ruby looked down just in time to see Sora erupt through the ground. His weapon was in his right hand, transformed into a huge drill he had used to tunnel beneath her. The weapon flashed briefly and became a dagger he used to attack in these close quarters. Ruby leaned out of the blade's way and brought her blade down with a spell coating its edge. Sora placed his own hand on her midsection as he rose towards her blade, bathing his palm in a spell of his own. The two attacks exploded at the same time, and the two Keyblade wielders were thrown away from each other at the same time.

"Okay," Ruby said as she pushed herself to her feet. "Well, time for that one last trick up my sleeve."

"What would that be?" Sora asked with a grin. He swept his weapon out to his right side and it flashed, returning to its natural form. His grin disappeared when Ruby gave her own triumphant one and her weapon flashed with a bright red light.

The blade reappeared in her hand a moment later, no longer the same weapon it had been a moment before. The rods that had run parallel to the blade had unfolded to create a single, long handle. The teeth of the weapon were at the center, the cross forming a secondary handle perpendicular to the primary shaft. The one time guard of the blade had become part of the scythe's head, the coiling rose bush connecting the blade – which looked just like that of her old scythe – to the long handle. Extending from the opposite side of the circle from the blade was a spike made of four colors – red, white, black, and yellow. Her scatter emblem was at the center of the secondary handle's cross-section, the only visible sign of the Keyblade's Heart.

"That, uh, that's a pretty good one," Sora said dumbly as Ruby placed the weapon along her shoulders. He gulped and raised his Keyblade defensively in front of him. "Then... bring it on!"

Ruby launched a Firaga and flew right at Sora with her reborn scythe above her head. He sidestepped the first blow, knowing better than to try to fight with all the leverage that weapon had. "When and how?" Sora asked. He slashed at Ruby, only for her to jump and land on his weapon. She tore hers out of the ground and slashed at Sora again. He tossed his Keyblade away with her still atop it and rolled away, summoning the blade – sans Ruby – back to his hand when he came to his feet.

"Professor Ozpin wasn't only teaching you how to do things, Sora," Ruby said with a smirk. "He told me how a few days before you woke up, but I only just got it. Gotta love hard work!"

"Hmph... you got it faster than I did," Sora muttered. He grinned and rushed her, taking great care to dodge the attacks so quick only Ruby could unleash them. He barely managed to dodge them all, getting more than a little lucky to do so, and slammed his Keyblade into the shaft of the scythe. The sudden force threw the weapon from Ruby's hands, but she grabbed onto the tail end of it before it could escape her fully. She shifted it back into Keyblade form, this time backhand, and brought it around at Sora's head, stopping an inch or two from his temple.

"I win!" she shouted.

Sora raised one eyebrow and looked towards her weapon with his eyes. Ruby frowned and followed with her own. A Reflega hexagon was floating just in front of the blade's tip. He cleared his throat to attract her attention then looked down with his eyes. Again, Ruby followed suit. His Keyblade was at her throat. "Dang it!" Ruby shouted. She dismissed her Keyblade and pouted. "Fine... you win."

R W B Y

Late the next day, everyone was finally enjoying their time off. Weiss had completely warmed up to Sora after his duel with Ruby, clearly appreciating that the stories about his skills and powers were not just tall tales. Even with Ruby, Neptune, Sun, and Blake's testimonials – or seeing it on television – it wasn't the same as seeing him in real life. Even at the 75 percent they agreed on, they had both looked pretty impressive, with the destruction of the butte being the favorite visual of everyone in the audience.

Sora was currently hanging out with the other guys on the beach, playing with a ball. They were all dressed in their swim outfits. Sora was wearing black and red shorts adorned with a checkerboard of crowns. Ren's were green, aside from the huge lotus flower on the outside of his left thigh in magenta. Sun's outfit was just his usual attire, sans shirt. Even Neptune was there, though only because they had agreed to stay as far from the water as they could while remaining on the sand. The blue haired guy was in shorts of the same color as his hair, though Sora seriously doubted they had ever gotten wet. Or that they ever would.

The girls were out exploring the small town they had docked at, enjoying being Team RWBY again for the first time. Well, Team RWBY plus Penny and Nora, but the android and berserker had been eager to tag along on their adventure. "Okay. Favorite Spruce Willis movie?" Neptune asked as he sprinted towards Sora to try and tackle the Keyblade wielder. The game had once just been tossing the ball around, then trying to throw it hard enough for Sora to drop or miss it. At this point, it was the other three guys trying to steal it from him while using questions to distract him.

"I like the one with the ghosts," Sora said as he effortlessly moved past Neptune. "Favorite character is the kid who sees dead people. He's got a good voice."

"Good one," Ren said, appearing out of nowhere to try and kick the ball out of Sora's hand. Sora tossed it straight up, knowing he couldn't pull it out of the way in time, and it soared over Ren's head. Sora grabbed the ninja's leg and tossed him to the ground before grabbing the ball out of the air. Ren rolled to his feet and jabbed for the ball with his left hand. His fingers grazed the top of the ball, but Sora held on. "I prefer Dust Fiction."

"What!?" Sun asked. He shook his head. "No way! The one by Setting Scarletino? You like that one?"

"And why is that surprising?" Ren asked, performing a backhand slap for the ball while the Faunus attacked from above.

"That's the one with the... well, the guy... in that suit! And people cursing and getting shot all the time!" Sun explained as Sora dodged between them. "It... it just doesn't seem your speed is all. I was thinking more... I don't know, Curver. It's more of a think piece than Fiction is."

"I'm a fan of Blue," Neptune said as he came up behind Sora and jumped at the young man's legs. "Ha! Got you!" His arms wrapped around Sora's legs and the Keyblade Master yelped in surprise before beginning to tumble to the sandy ground. The ball finally bounced out of his hands and rolled across the ground.

"Dang it," Sora muttered as the ball bounced away. He sighed and pushed himself to his feet, reaching out to Neptune. "And of course that's your favorite."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Neptune asked angrily.

"The hair, Man. Duh," Sun pointed out. He picked the ball up. "Whose turn is it now?"

"Me, losers!" Yang jumped in and stole the ball from the Faunus. She was dressed in a brown terrycloth swimsuit cover zipped up half the way so her yellow bikini top was clearly visible. "Unless you boys are scared of a real woman!"

"Yang," Ruby admonished as she and the others caught up. Sora smiled stupidly upon seeing Ruby in her swimsuit. It was mainly black, save for the blood red floral pattern that appeared across it. She had a towel wrapped around her legs, the material red with a large, silver Scatter at the center of its face.

"Eyes are up there, buddy," the blonde growled at Sora, who swallowed quickly and looked at the sky. Yang laughed internally, amused by the fact she could intimidate someone who could easily beat her in a fight. Yang turned to Ruby. "Oh, calm down. I won't flirt with Keyboy any more than I usually would."

"Hi," Sora said lamely. Ruby looked over. "You look... Heh..." He blushed and clasped his hands in front of himself. "Wow."

Ruby blushed and smiled back. "Okay, okay. Real cute," Yang said, shoving Sora so he fell face first into the ground. "How about all of you couples do something alone so the singles here don't have to watch. I -" She sighed and looked around; all the couples were already gone. "Really? Ruby, no you know what or I'm killing him!"

"What is 'you know what,' Friend Yang?" Penny asked innocently.

Yang's face turned bright red and she turned to the android, who was still in her usual dress. Apparently, until the Synth-Skin was finished solidifying she was supposed to stay out of the water. "Um... Oh, God..." Yang muttered. She didn't want to be the one to tell what was pretty much a five year old about... that. "God help me."

Sora and Ruby watched from beyond the thin, tropical treeline, laughing quietly at Yang. "Friend Yang, I'm still confused!" Penny said when Yang didn't answer. This only elicited more laughter from the pair.

"Ah, it's always fun when Penny's around," Ruby said as their laughter died down. She sat down with Sora and leaned against his shoulder. He, in turn, leaned his head on top of hers.

The two of them sat like this for a while, completely silent and just appreciating their time together. They had barely spent any time around each other since their duel the day before, which had been their first interaction in months. It was nice to just be together instead of fighting for their lives against monsters or demonic witches bent on the end of reality. Finally: "Well, I kept my promise, didn't I?" Sora said with a grin. He took a breath and leaned his head more against Ruby's.

Ruby smiled but didn't open her eyes. "I knew you would." She snuggled into his neck and sighed contentedly. The two returned to their happy silence for a while.

The entire time, however, Sora could feel what he wanted to say burning away in his gut, eating at him. Finally: "Ruby, we need to talk about something important." He stopped leaning on her and they locked gazes.

"Oh, that sounds... scary," Ruby muttered. She bit her cheek. "What about?"

"Your mom."

Ruby let out her breath. "Oh, good," she muttered. Then she frowned. "Well, not good, but better than the bad part of my imagination was picturing." She shook her head. "I'm rambling. So, what is it?"

"If we can, I think we should try to help her."

Ruby looked at him with guarded emotions. "Thank you, Sora," she said cautiously. She didn't want to say the wrong thing here.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that you almost died last time you tried," she pointed out sadly. She looked over at him, fear dancing across her features. "I don't want you to almost die!"

Sora gave her a worried face. "Good point..." He shrugged and said, "I think we'll be able to save her, so if I get a shot I'm taking it. But that's not why I wanted to talk about this. I just wanted to tell you... if it comes down to it and... and we can't save her, like we literally cannot save her without one of us dying... I – Let me do it."

Ruby's eyes widened. "W-what?"

Sora shook his head. "You shouldn't have to, well, you shouldn't have to kill your mom. Even if it is to save the world and free her from Salem," Sora explained. He grabbed onto Ruby's shoulders. "I won't make you do that."

"Sora, that's nice, but I'm a big girl," Ruby pointed out. She placed her hand on his. "I'm ready to deal with the consequences."

"I know that. I'm just telling you that you don't have to."

Ruby smiled. He was a nice guy, wasn't he? "Thanks, Sora," she said before pulling him into a tight hug. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

"Oh, great, we walked into a love fest." Sora and Ruby looked over at the source of the voice, then jumped to their feet at the same time. Their Keyblades flashed in their hands and they angled the weapons at Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black.

Sora and Ruby rushed them, Sora slashing at Mercury's neck and Ruby at Emerald's legs. The two criminals cringed as Sora and Ruby approached, then jumped apart to avoid the attacks. Mercury rolled to his feet and began trying as hard as he could to avoid the lightning fast strikes Sora was sending his way. The Master Keeper flashed in Sora's hand as it came around again, suddenly switching to backhand grip as Sora's last attack missed. Merc yelped and threw himself backwards, tumbling to his back and watching a few strands of his silver hair drift to the ground. Emerald, meanwhile, had wrapped the chains of her weapons around Ruby's Keyblade and wrenched it from her hands. This didn't do anything, obviously, as Ruby just summoned the blade back to her hand as soon as it flew away. She slashed upward, the attack taking all of Emerald's attention away from a kick that the heroic girl delivered. Emerald snarled as she flipped through the air and landed on top of Mercury, the both of them groaning at the collision. The Master Keeper clanked as Sora lowered it to Emerald's throat, a warning to stay down. Mercury's hands flew up immediately. "Calm down, we're not here to die in a pointless fight with you two!"

"We actually... we actually came to ask for your help," Emerald muttered from on top of him. She rolled off of him, groaning as she did, and raised her hands above her head in surrender as well.

"Help Salem and Cinder? Sure," Ruby noted dryly. She and Sora both took a step back despite their doubts and let Emerald and Mercury get back up to their feet.

"No, you don't understand, Red," Mercury growled. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his boots, tearing off the weapons and tossing them to the Keyblade Wielders' feet. Emerald shot him a glare and he shrugged. "What? I don't know of any other way to say we're definitely not trying to kill them!"

"Fine," she sighed. She gave him another glare. "It's weird for you to be right about things." She pulled her weapons from her back and tossed them to the sand beside Merc's.

Ruby and Sora glanced at each other in disbelief, then back at Mercury and Emerald's expectant faces. "Okay," she finally said. Her Keyblade remained summoned though it drifted down to her side, and Sora soon followed suit with his weapon. Ruby narrowed her eyes on the two criminals and pointed at them. "What did Cinder send you here for?"

"You don't get it, do you? Salem betrayed us!" Emerald said desperately. She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "Salem told Blondie to kill Cinder!"

"Jaune murdered Cinder?!" Sora asked worriedly. Vengeance had a way of staining someon'e Heart, making it harder for them to escape the grip of deep Darkness.

Mercury shook his head and said, confused, "No. He almost did, but then he – I don't know why, it was just that he wouldn't." He shook his head. "Not that it mattered. Salem did it the moment Blondie refused."

Sora breathed a sigh of relief and dismissed the Master Keeper. Ruby looked at him, unsure that was a good idea, but she did the same thing anyways. "When was this?"

"Just before the DISC was turned on. We bolted before we could see anything else that happened," Emerald explained.

Sora smiled. "Jaune came and saved me. He's the one that turned off the DISC," he said.

Ruby looked over at him and frowned. "You didn't tell us that."

Sora shrugged. "I wasn't sure it meant anything. I thought that he ran back to wherever Salem is the moment I started to wake up. But if he wasn't listening to her, maybe he didn't go back!"

"Look, not that we're all very happy for you and your friend, Keyboy, but we came here for a reason," Emerald interjected. "None of you can find Salem. And even if you did, none of you could ever get to Salem."

Sora and Ruby nodded. "Oz was worried about that," Sora noted. He shrugged. "But he'll figure it out."

Ruby nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we just have to wait until the Headmaster figures something out."

"Are you two serious..? Never mind, of course you are," Emerald muttered angrily. She pointed at herself and Mercury. "You need someone to take you two to Salem."

"Yeah?" Sora agreed, completely unsure of where this was going.

Emerald and Mercury looked at one another. "God, they're idiots," Mercury said simply.

"We -" Emerald gestured between herself and Mercury again – "are going to take you idiots and your idiot friends to kill Salem."

"It's all her idea by the way," Mercury noted, pointing at Emerald. "For the record, I said it was stupid."

Sora and Ruby looked at one another, then back at Emerald and Mercury. "Okay, but... how do we know we can trust you?" Ruby asked, her Keyblade back in her hand and pointed at the pair.

"And here's why I said it was stupid," Mercury muttered under his breath.

"I think we can trust them," Sora interjected. Mercury and Ruby both looked at him with wide, surprised eyes.

"Why?" Mercury asked. He put his hand up to cut off Sora and shook his head. "I swear to God, if you say 'Because anyone can be redeemed' I will kill myself now."

Sora shrugged. "Fine. It's because we have no other choice," Sora instead pointed out. Emerald pointed at Sora, as if to say 'Finally!' Sora looked over at Ruby's skeptical frown. "Look, we need to get there as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the more likely it is she'll just go after the purest Hearts she can find to fix the χ -blade, and then we won't be able to stop her at all. Better now than before she has a way to destroy the universe. Of course... going will give her enough of the things she needs to fix it completely, so we'll only have a little while to stop her..." Sora looked at the sky and laughed.

"Has he gone crazy?" Emerald asked Ruby, but the younger girl just shrugged.

"It's just like Xehanort all over again!" Sora explained, looking around at the confused trio around him. "When I fought Xehanort, he was using us to complete the χ -blade, too. I just... It feels like some things never change."

"R...right," Mercury muttered, still not completely sold on teaming up with Keyboy. Well, he had nothing better to do, and at least it would be a little fun to kick some ass. Mercury clapped his hands together. "So, who wants to tell Ozzy we have a key to his ex's place?"

R W B Y

Ozpin stared out over the ocean as Ironwood and Doctor Polendina finished talking to the Atlesian soldiers and completing the programming of the war droids respectively. Somewhere out there he would soon be face to face with Salem once again. He could not feel anything regarding this coming battle, not fear, anger, not anticipation for the end. He felt this was because it had yet to truly sink in that everything was happening. If it had not been for the sudden appearance of Mercury and Emerald, this fight may never have come to pass at all. He looked over at the source of the footsteps, then returned his attention to the horizon. "You okay, Oz?"

Ozpin shrugged. "I'm fine," he said simply. "Just trying to let this all sink in."

"Hm," Sora grunted. He looked over at Ozpin and stood silently for a moment. "Qrow said you wanted to see me?"

Ozpin sighed and turned to the young man. "Yes. I wanted to speak with you again, Sora."

"Lay it on me, Oz," Sora said with a soft smile. He laced his hands behind his head and looked out over at the horizon with his eyes closed. Ozpin smiled as he caught sight of the light glancing off of Sora's serene face, the wind ruffling the young man's hair. Ozpin looked back at the horizon as well. Sora opened his left eye so he could look at Ozpin. "Well?"

Ozpin chewed his tongue for a moment, thinking to himself for a while about the question he was about to ask. What would his answer be if confronted with the same inquiry? "What do you think of Mercury and Emerald? Are they trustworthy?"

Sora shrugged. "I want to give them a chance, but I don't think anyone else does," he said. He shut his eye again. "I get it. They did help destroy Vale and they're part of the reason Pyrrha died. On top of that, they aren't good people. I don't even know if they want to be good people." Sora let his hands fall to his side and smiled again. "But they came to try and help us. Even if they don't want to be good people with all their Hearts, there's something in there that is. They wouldn't have come to help at all if they didn't care."

"Perhaps all they care about is survival," Oz pointed out.

"Maybe... but I like to believe in them, Oz. I think, with enough time, they'll surprise everybody," Sora said, sure of it as he gazed out at the sunrise across the horizon. "They're not like Salem; they care about something. All it will take for them to have that happy ending is to be strong enough to find that something."

Ozpin snorted. "What's so funny?" Sora growled.

Ozpin let his mind drift rather than answering. It was an eternity ago, and he was standing in his office. His old office, back in Daybreak Town, not the one that had been crushed to rubble a continent away. He was writing on a piece of paper, the same young and determined face beside him. "But Oz, we need to help them!"

"There isn't much we can do, Skye," he said, his memory playing out in his mind. Ozpin looked up from the piece of paper at the boy's determined glare. "I'm not a teacher."

"Then why did you take me in, why did you teach me?" Skye snapped. He threw his hand across his chest. "Those scholars are basically just going to lock them up like Aliux did! Those scholars are more interested in finding out why the χ -blade chose them than actually helping them. Your girlfriend included!"

"She isn't –" Ozpin cut himself off and sighed. "Skye, this is not up for discussion. The scholars will at least provide them food and shelter. Their lives will be real and worth something."

"But not happy!" Skye growled.

"So?" Ozpin asked simply. He shook his head. "Not everyone gets a happy ending, Skye."

"I know that. But they have the strength to make one, if you'd just give them a chance!" Skye shook his head and then looked at the ground. "They all have something out there they care about, someone maybe. They need the chance to find that something."

Ozpin turned to Skye and took a slow, deep breath. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"I'd bet my life that all of them will have a happy ending, Oz," he snapped obstinately. Ozpin smiled at Skye and shrugged. "What?"

"Fine. Fine, I agree."

Ozpin's mind returned to the present, eyes focusing on Sora. "Oz? Oz! Come in, Oz!"

The old teacher looked over at Sora again. "Sorry, I was just... you said something that sounded very familiar to me," Ozpin explained. He shrugged. "I suppose I was just appreciating how you are."

Sora frowned. "How I... am?"

"Nothing bad, I assure you. You're just so optimistic, even for people you've never really met or who have been your enemies. I can't believe an old pessimist like me keeps meeting people like you when I need to the most." Ozpin patted Sora's head, causing the young Keyblade Master to slap at his arm in annoyed retaliation.

Ozpin placed both hands on the top of his cane. He had one last thing to teach Sora, though he supposed it was trivial on the whole. Ozpin explained, "Should she complete the χ -blade, Salem will undoubtedly abandon the Kingdom Key. I have never seen a Heart like yours, Sora. You are actually, truly capable of claiming two Keyblades as fully your own. Once she or, possibly, Jaune cast aside their weapons, you should be able to summon either one to your aid. If it is Jaune, you may wield the weapon without fear. If it is the Kingdom Key that is abandoned for something greater, you must remember to unseal the Keyblade from Salem's Heart. Picture that chain, that lock, that ties her destiny to that of the Keyblade... and then you will be able to unlock it and unchain the Kingdom Key from her control." Ozpin's gaze returned to the sky. "I will be at your side as long as possible, but I am not so much a fool as to believe I am the hero of this story. Therefore, Sora, I want to ask one thing of you, even if it is a selfish burden to bestow on anyone else. Especially on you."

"You know that I would do anything for a friend, Oz," Sora assured the man, clapping his hand on the man's back. "Helping the people I care about isn't a burden, it's the best!"

Ozpin smiled. "I give you the responsibility of my happy ending, Sora. If there is anyone in this world who could make my dream of being free of Salem a true reality, I believe it to be you."

Sora blinked twice then grinned as wide as he could. "No problem, Oz," he exclaimed. He gestured at himself with his thumb. "Leave it to me and Ruby, okay? We'll make sure everyone gets a chance at their happy ending!"

Sora took a deep breath put his hands on his hips. The Sun was now barely touching the horizon and was reflected as a pillar across the entire breadth of the ocean. A breeze flew across the ocean and Sora took a econd to appreciate the salty feel of the air against his skin, something that had comforted him since he was a kid. "After all, that's my happy ending."

AN: Surprise! At the end of the chapter this time. I think that's how they all will be from here on, seeing as this is the farewell stretch of the story. Maybe they won't, though. I've been known to make decisions on a whim.

This is the last of the break chapters prior to the final battle. This is it – after this chapter, Sora and the others are going to go head to head with Salem. It's been a blast so far and a I'm excited for this last stretch of the game! Thanks for sticking with me for 37 chapters, I can't wait for the last three. Oh, and an epilogue, but that'll just be postscript right here.

If you've never left one before, please leave a review. I'd love to hear everyone's opinions, so far.

Anyways, now for responses.

To warrior of six blades: I'm happy you liked Jaune's fight. I enjoyed writing it and seeing him give it his all despite his inevitable defeat. I really enjoy writing Argent, too; do you think the line sounded enough like Jaune to come from his dad?

To Soul's Release: Thank you! The trial was one of the plot points I'd planned out from the get go so I'm glad it payed off.

To gamelover41592: Welcomed might have been a strong word, huh? I couldn't picture anyone but Sora being willing to actually think they were being real. I mean, they don't even think they're really doing the right thing. Maybe they aren't right now, but eventually... Maybe one day.

To Guest: I'm unsure if I'll do a gag like that. When I get around to the spin off, the main party might end up watching Sora's old adventures in a gag once or twice. The tone of that one will be lighter than this story's is; this one's about persevering through the deepest Darkness, and that one'll be about... well, I don't want to reveal that yet. You'll see soon.