Sorry for the delay! Family is a struggle sometimes!

Good news, soundtrack soon! Looking forward to that:)

Hope y'all enjoy this chapter, I feel like the end is a bit spotty, but I enjoyed it for the most part.

Please leave comments, reviews, feedback! All that sort of stuff helps me a lot!

"Oh, my, gosh!" Yang gave a cheerful squeal, causing Ruby to jump sheepishly. "You look so cute!"

"Do you think so?" The short redhead mumbled nervously, pulling at the sides of her cloak. Looking up at the mirror Weiss had provided (how did she manage to get all these weird expensive things in there, anyways?), Ruby gave a nervous smile.

The outfit Coco had helped her with was mostly Velvet's, surprisingly, though Coco had helped adjust the sizes slightly for the shorter girl. A black sweatshirt, sleeves rolled up haphazardly, and a pair of shorts Velvet didn't use too often. Smiling a little more confidently, Ruby adjusted the cloak around her neck, before looking at Yang.

"I guess this is it?" She mumbled nervously, her big sister nodding with a grin.

"Your first date." Yang confirmed, bringing Ruby into a brief, but tight, hug. "I'm so proud of you, Ruby. I know that you're trying not to flaunt anything, but I'm really happy that you finally found someone - someones, I guess - that you like."

"I-I'm happy, too." Ruby sheepishly agreed, cheeks warming slightly. "I-I'm sure that you'll find someone, too."

"I, uh, I dunno, sis. I think I'm just going to try going solo for a bit." Yang clearly didn't sound happy about that, but before Ruby could retort, the blonde clapped her hands cheerfully together. "Right! You have to go meet Vomit Boy and Cereal Girl! Don't worry your little head about me, okay?"

Before the redhead could protest, her big sister pushed her out of the dorm room, grinning the whole time as Ruby awkwardly sputtered in desperation. Turning around, she let out a frustrated sigh.

"Something wrong?" Ruby gave a startled squeak, looking up towards Pyrrha. "I like your outfit, it's simple, but cute."

"I-I thank you." Ruby peeped out nervously, looking wide-eyed at her girlfriend. She looked a lot different than usual, but in a really nice way. The cozy yellow sweater Pyrrha was wearing was matched with high-waisted dark pants, and, as always, heels. She still didn't understand how Pyrrha could stand them. "Y-You look good, too. I-I know you didn't say exactly that but I just think that you look really nice."

Pyrrha gave a lighthearted laugh, warm tones not helping with Ruby's blush. "Thank you, Ruby." The taller redhead said sweetly, smiling at the younger girl. "Jaune should be here shortly, he looked about ready to give up with the tie he was trying to get on."

"A tie?" Ruby asked, looking a little nervous. "A-Am I dressed nice enough?"

"I'm sure you are, Ruby." Pyrrha reassured the shorter redhead, placing a hand on the side of the younger girl's face, brushing a few errant strands of hair from her eyes. "Jaune is just… trying to impress, even though he really doesn't need to."

"Aw, that's sweet, right?" Ruby looked up towards Pyrrha brightly, smiling. "I'm sure he'll figure something out."

"Of course, we'll just have to hang out here while we wait." The taller girl said, returning the smile. "How did you sleep last night? Any trouble?"

"No, I slept pretty okay." Ruby replied, holding her hands in front of her, swinging back and forth lightly. "My new scroll hasn't gotten any weird messages, a-and I think I'm feeling a little better than I had been."

"That's good," Pyrrha sounded relieved to hear that Ruby was sleeping a little better, the taller girl moving her hand to the shorter redhead's shoulder, squeezing gently. "If you're ever having trouble, you know that you can talk to me and Jaune, right?"

"I know! I-I'm just really feeling better. Promise." Ruby insisted, doing her best to speak with conviction. She was feeling better, a lot better, but there was always a little nagging doubt that told her she was going to get worse. It didn't matter right now, though, she was here with Pyrrha, and Jaune would be joining them soon and everything would be great.

"Good." Pyrrha said gently, leaning down and giving Ruby a soft kiss on the forehead, eliciting a nervous squeak from the shorter girl. "Do you not like when I do that?"

"N-No! Nothing like that." Ruby shook her head furiously, cheeks a warm pink. "I-I just… I'm still getting used to it. It makes me really happy that you feel that way about me, I-I hope that I live up to what you think of me…"

"Ruby, you already live up to exactly what I think of you." Pyrrha stated, her voice affectionate but firm, knees bending as she pulled the shorter girl into a gentle hug. "Don't let those doubts get the best of you, okay? We've got a big day ahead of us, just the three of us."

"Yeah, we do." Ruby nodded sheepishly, resting her head against her girlfriend's shoulder. "We're going to that restaurant, right? Alley Ko Knees Heart?"

"Alkyone's Hearth." Pyrrha chuckled gently, briefly tightening the embrace before releasing Ruby. "And after that, we can go spend time wandering some of the city. So long as we're finished up before the last of the evening Bullheads back to the school leaves, we should be fine, and I don't think we'll spend quite so many hours out."

"Heh, yeah, I don't think Yang would want me home so late." Ruby replied with a warm giggle, smiling up at Pyrrha. "So, uh, what was Jaune wearing that he thought needed a tie?"

"Oh, nothing so serious as to actually need it." Pyrrha waved a hand dismissively, a light smile on her lips. "He's been almost as nervous as you, I guess years of dealing with media expectations prepared me for this."

"Hmmmm…" Ruby didn't like the way Pyrrha sounded a little sad saying that, lip forming a pout as she rested her hands on her hips, looking defiatently at the older girl. "Nope!" She announced with a pop of the "p," before breaking into a wide smile. "You're confident because you're you! You're cool and awesome and really smart. We're just working on catching up, one day we'll be just as comfortable as you!"

"Well, thank you for saying so." Pyrrha replied, finding it a little hard to respond properly as her cheeks warmed a little. "I do hope Jaune will hurry, we have reservations for noon, and the Bullhead flight will be at least half an hour."

"It'll be fine!" Ruby chirped cheerfully, taking hold of the taller redhead's hand. "If need be, I can always try bringing both of you with me again! If I keep at it I'll be able to do it lots!"

"Are you sure you won't have any issues with your semblance?" Pyrrha asked, frowning a little as the eager joy diminished in her girlfriend's eyes. "I-I don't mean to say you can't, I just know you've been having some… troubles of late."

"I-It's fine. You're right, anyways." Ruby insisted, doing her best to dismiss Pyrrha's worries, though admittedly it hurt a little to not have the redhead's confidence in this. "Jaune didn't react well to it last time, imagine what would happen if I did it after we'd eaten!"

"Yes, that's certainly true." Pyrrha chuckled nervously, aware that the diminutive redhead was trying her best to not be hurt. Giving her hand an affectionate squeeze, the taller girl smiled. "Tell you what, Ruby. How about tomorrow we try practicing it? That way we can be here in case there's any problems."

"Really?" The silver-eyed girl's eyes lit up brightly, a cheerful smile filling her face as she looked up at Pyrrha, before pulling her into a brief embrace. "Thank you, Pyrrha! You're like… the best with your semblance at Beacon, better than Weiss, even!"

"Ha, I don't know that that's true." Pyrrha waved her free hand dismissively, a nervous chuckle escaping her throat. "I might have more finesse, but my semblance is far more limited than Weiss'."

"W-well, she's busy with hers so I don't want to bother her!" Ruby countered, giggling softly. "Besides, I like spending time with you, and that sounds like a good way to."

"It'll be a good way for all of us to spend time together." Pyrrha affirmed, "Jaune can at least work on training his Aura. He has a lot, but he's still a little sloppy with using it beyond the basic shielding."

"He'll get better!" Ruby chirped cheerfully, a bright smile across her face, not even noticing the sound of a door opening behind her and Pyrrha. "He's already a lot better, thanks to your help. Once he finds his semblance, I'm sure he'll be even more incredible than he is!"

"I think you're giving me a lot more credit than you ought to." Jaune stated, eliciting a startled squeak from his younger girlfriend. Adjusting the collar of the white collared shirt he wore beneath a royal blue sweater, the blonde chuckled nervously. "I'm sure I'll be mediocre at best, that just means I have to do better."

"Nope!" Ruby insisted, cheeks still a bright red from embarrassment. She really needed to work on her awareness better, Jaune and Pyrrha were way too good at sneaking up on her. "You're going to be just as magnificent, you just don't give yourself enough credit!"

Jaune began to sputter out a nervous denial when Pyrrha interjected, giving the two leaders a reassuring smile. "All of us will get much better under the tutelage of the professors here at Beacon, but it's important to remember we can relax, too."

The older girl tightened her grip on Ruby's hand ever so slightly, reaching out for Jaune's in her other. "Why don't we get going, we can discuss who is going to be the most important on the Bullhead."

"Yeah, you're right." Jaune agreed, slipping his free hand into his Jean pocket, "we're already running a bit late thanks to me."

"It'll be fine! We can just walk quickly!" Ruby announced gleefully, before looking over at her boyfriend, a teasing glint in her eye. "What happened to the tie?"

"Th-the tie?" A pout formed on Jaune's face as he playfully looked at Pyrrha, who rolled her eyes in return. "Nora, uh, threatened to staple it to me if I was having so much trouble."

"Oh." Ruby looked a little worried, offering a sympathetic smile. It was hard to tell when Nora was joking or not, especially if Ren is mediating for her. "Well, I think you look nice without it!" Nice save, Ruby! "Today's going to be great!"

The ride on the Bullhead was thankfully uneventful, conversation fading away to comforting Jaune as his motion sickness began acting up. After about half an hour on the small airship, the trio found themselves walking along the edge of the northern river that ran down from Beacon to the city proper.

Vale's commercial district was massive, as was befitting of a city of so many million inhabitants. Were it not for the improved transportation Dust provided, it would take weeks to trek the entirety of the city's size, as it was, appointments across the city could still take hours to reach.

The river didn't quite have the same familiar sea air which reminded Ruby of home that the docks had, but the city had done well to keep the waters clean enough that the smell wasn't an unpleasant one. She was trailing behind Pyrrha and Jaune ever so slightly, taking in more of the sights as they walked, perhaps a bit funny given she was the one of them the most familiar with the city.

There was something about Vale that was just so enthralling to Ruby, it was hard to describe. The fact that there was this great city where so many people could live relatively safe and peaceful lives, unafraid of the Grimm… It was beautiful and inspiring to her. That was why it was so important that they'd captured Torchwick, because he was just as big a threat to that peace as the Grimm were, and that wasn't acceptable. Sure, it had been scary, and she'd gotten hurt, but that was worth it. Anything was worth it if it meant making these people's lives better, that was why she was a Huntress.

"Ruby?" Ah! She'd gotten distracted again. Looking up, she met the emerald eyes of Pyrrha, who offered her a polite smile. "Mind wandering again?"

"Y-yeah." The shorter girl mumbled, blushing lightly as she fiddled with the sides of her cloak, returning a sheepish smile. "Just… thinking of how much I like Vale."

"I didn't realize you had such an affection for the city as you did for Patch." Pyrrha asked, offering the younger girl a hand, which she took gratefully, her smile widening towards the taller girl as they returned to Jaune.

"It's hard to explain… I love Patch a whole lot, it's where I grew up." Ruby elaborated, "Vale is just… there's so many people here, who never have to worry about the Grimm, and I like that. Patch still had issues from time to time, though the Huntsmen at Signal tended to take care of them pretty well."

"I can understand that." Jaune said, giving the duo a warm smile. "Domremy has a big city watch, my sister Rillo and her partner are members of it. We might have sturdy walls, but there's always a risk of Grimm, it's part of why I hated that my family was so against me becoming a Huntsman."

"That's something I've never had to relate to." Pyrrha noted, offering her free hand to Jaune, who took it happily as the trio continued the way towards their destination. "Argus is well defended by Atlas' military, so the occasional Grimm that comes up from the ocean is dealt with swiftly. I've always wanted to be a Huntress, but never because I experienced the need of them."

"Ah, well, I wouldn't say that's why I want to be a Huntress, but it's definitely one of the things that inspires me, same with my mom." Ruby explained, smiling softly at the mention of her mother. "I've always wanted to protect people, even if the people of Patch are the ones I have the most experience protecting. I guess it's in the blood, right? Both of my parents were Huntsmen, and now me and Yang want to be."

"Maybe not exactly in the blood," Jaune offered, "but I think that having family who are a part of that life certainly helps. My dad may have retired, but I remember growing up on stories of Huntsmen, up until his injury."

"Dama was certainly an inspiration for me, and we aren't related by blood." Pyrrha agreed, her pace picking up a little. "I know that my father was a Huntsman, but that was never my sole inspiration. I've always felt a calling to protect people, at least as far back as when I found my semblance. I had a friend who had a very powerful semblance, but he hated it, and I always thought that it was foolish of him."

"Maybe he was scared of it?" Ruby suggested, "sometimes semblances can be weird or unnerving. One of my classmates at Signal hated her semblance because it made other people uncomfortable, so she always tried not to use it."

"What was it?" Jaune asked, head cocked slightly to the side.

"Uh, it's hard to explain. It made you see things when she looked at you, like… if you've ever had sleep paralysis, it's that sort of stuff."

"That certainly sounds uncomfortable." Pyrrha nodded, "in this case, though, I think he was just afraid of water. I'm sure there's a story behind it, but he never told me, and after I started to gain popularity, we didn't see much of each other."

Before Ruby could ask for further information, Pyrrha came to a stop, Jaune and Ruby pulled back by her grip as they continued on without thinking. "We're here!" She announced, smiling brightly as she let go of her partners' hands, turning to face the restaurant properly.

It wasn't the fanciest place in Vale, that was for sure, having more of a family run energy to it, but that was fine to Pyrrha. She hated going to fancy places whenever her family ate out or after a tournament, having people wait on them excessively. While she knew that given the Northern Mistrali origins of the restaurant, it was unlikely she'd go unrecognized, she hoped that at least she wouldn't be treated as such a celebrity.

"Alkyone's Hearth…" Ruby was a bit wide-eyed as she looked at the restaurant. It was definitely fancier than the diner her dad would take the family to every once in a while. Looking to Jaune and then Pyrrha, she frowned, hand going for a silver brooch notably absent from her attire. "A-am I dressed okay?"

"You're fine, Ruby, don't worry." Pyrrha said with a smile, offering her hand to the younger girl, who timidly accepted. This was going to be their first real date, it was more than a little intimidating now that they'd arrived.

Stepping inside the building was a little relieving, at least; warm, cream colored walls greeted them, the interior furnishings fairly standard save the occasional hint of Northern Mistrali architecture. In front of them, a nervous looking teenager stood at a small table thing. Ruby wasn't exactly sure what to call it, and it didn't really matter as the teen addressed them.

"Oh! Um, w-welcome to Alkyone's Hearth. D-do you have a reservation?" It was clear by the way he fidgeted, looking nervously towards Pyrrha, that he recognized the Mistral Regionals Champion.

"Reservation for a Nikos." Pyrrha said plainly, the almost monotone politeness catching Ruby a little off guard after a couple weeks without hearing it. This was her "pleasant because I have to be while talking to fans" voice.

"Y-yes, ma'am!" The teen nodded frantically, wolf ears flat against his head as he grabbed three menus, sheepishly beckoning the trio to follow him to a table. Placing the three laminated sheets of paper on the large booth table presented to them, the Faunus retreated haphazardly with a simple "here's your table!"

The three stood indecisively, one of the menus across from the others, before Pyrrha shared a glance with her partners, and took the lonely menu and placed it between the others. "It'll be a tight fit, but I think we can manage." The redhead said warmly, taking the seat furthest in, pulling Ruby along to sit between the two members of JNPR.

It was… cozy. Well, that was a bit generous, it was rather cramped, but Ruby didn't mind, she didn't want to sit away from Jaune or Pyrrha, and if that meant being a little stuffed in then it really wasn't too big a deal.

While Ruby was unfamiliar with the food, the menu was kind enough to include descriptions, and she soon enough found what she needed, while Pyrrha peered over her to help guide Jaune towards something he might enjoy.

"So, um, your parents met here, right, Pyrrha?" Ruby mumbled nervously, eyes darting around as they waited for a server to tend to them. Looking over towards the Faunus near the entrance, she frowned a little. He seemed to be having a bad day, ears still low to his head. Had something happened?

"That's right." Pyrrha confirmed, drawing Ruby's attention back to her. "Mother had a business trip bringing her to Vale, I was only five at the time, so I had to stay in Argus with some friends of my mother."

"Mother met Dama here, sitting at the bar, from what little they've told me." The taller redhead continued, idly tapping her finger against the table while they waited. "I don't know many details, but I can tell you they certainly fell into a whirlwind of romance! Why else would Dama have moved to Argus after only spending a couple days with my mother?"

"Only a couple of days?" Jaune sounded a little incredulous, though he had the decency to look sheepish when Pyrrha turned her verdant eyes on him. "Not that I'm suggesting it didn't happen! Just that it sounds like something out of-"

"A fairytale!" Ruby interrupted the sputtering boy with a squeal, the gleeful realization sending her looking wide-eyed towards Pyrrha. "That's so cute! How soon did they tell you? Did they get married really soon after, too, or did they take a while? I always wanted to have that happen to me - falling in love at first sight - I mean it didn't and I'm super happy with you two I just always really liked that part of fairytales it's like they were meant for each other!"

At the warm smile Pyrrha was giving her, Ruby gave a startled squeak as she realized that she'd been going on for a bit without letting her girlfriend or boyfriend respond. "I-I'm sorry!" She blurted out, cheeks red from ashamed embarrassment. "S-sometimes I just -can't stop it's like my brain is going even when it doesn't need to and it-"

"It's okay, Ruby." Pyrrha said gently, placing a hand on the shorter redhead's cheek, as she leaned down to give a peck on her forehead. "There's nothing wrong with that, it's just another thing for us to love about you."

"Really?" Ruby asked, red faced after the display of affection, silver eyes shimmering with nervous tears she was trying to fight back.

"Of course!" Jaune agreed, his hand finding Ruby's atop the table, the shorter girl turning to find the blonde giving her a confident, reassuring smile. "It's not something wrong with you, even if it's not super common with other people. One of my sisters, Ginger? She's really smart, but she can't do writing at all. We don't know why, but ever since she was a kid, she's had trouble with it. She used to be really ashamed of herself, but our mom made sure she knew that it didn't mean anything was wrong with her. That's true for you, too."

"Thanks…" Ruby mumbled, smiling softly as she ducked her head slightly, the embarrassment she was feeling now from affection rather than shame. Oh gosh both Jaune and Pyrrha were being attentive and it made her feel really awkward, time to deflect attention away from her! "So, um, I wonder where the server is!"

Pyrrha looked around, brow raised at her girlfriend's statement. It had been an awful long time for no one to come tend to them. "Um, excuse me!" The taller redhead called out to the wolf Faunus near the door, the teen jumping in surprise and turning to look towards her. "Do you know where our server is?"

As the Faunus nervously approached, Ruby looked around the restaurant more. It wasn't as though they were uncrowded, but there were maybe a few less people than she might've expected on a Saturday at lunch time. More curious than that, though, almost every customer was some sort of Faunus, with the only other humans being those seated with Faunus. Finally, though faint, she could just barely make out what appeared to be three faded scratch marks on the wood near the entrance.

"Okay! That solves that." Pyrrha said, her voice drawing Ruby out of her fixating, silver eyes returning to the taller redhead. Noticing her girlfriend looked a little lost, Pyrrha smiled, explaining what she'd missed. "The boy apologized for the inconvenience and said that he would go get someone."

Oh, gosh, now she felt bad. She hadn't meant to inconvenience anyone, she just wanted to turn the attention away from herself.

After a couple awkward minutes passed, a rather imposing woman approached the table, wearing an apron that barely seemed to fit her stout frame. By Ruby's guess, she had to be closer to seven feet than six, not counting the pair of striped horns that sprouted from her head; the closest person she could compare the Faunus to was Yatsuhashi, who seemed to have a similar frame.

"Apologies for the inconvenience, folks." The towering woman said, offering a dip of her head that made Ruby feel all the worse.

"I-it's okay!" The diminutive redhead squeaked out, "I-I was just being impatient."

"Even if you were, it's no excuse." The woman shook her head dismissively. "We're shorthanded as is, but add in nonsense like that ruckus yesterday, and employees get a bit skittish."

"What happened yesterday?" Jaune piped up, doing his best to not be intimidated. Whatever bulk Cardin had was dwarfed by the woman's size.

"Just some stupid ruffians causing a fuss. Nothing you kids need to worry about." The Faunus' eyes drifted towards Pyrrha, head dipping ever so slightly with respect towards the green-eyed girl. "Not every day we get a celebrity from back home to visit. I hope everything will be up to your standards, Miss Nikos."

"Oh! I'm sure it will be!" The taller redhead insisted, her voice absent some of the near monotone it usually took when people brought up her status. "We were looking for somewhere less… extravagant than my agent would've allowed. Now that I'm no longer in Mistral, I can enjoy some of the simpler things in life."

That sounded a little planned ahead, in Ruby's opinion, and apparently the large woman agreed. "Yes, well, either way, I'll take your orders, make sure things get done right."

"Oh, very well." There was Pyrrha's passive voice that Ruby disliked. "What might your name be, ma'am?"

"Alkyone." The color faded from Pyrrha's face, her smile fading slightly. Getting special treatment from the management was the last thing she'd wanted, and with the trio so distracted by the imposing woman's presence, they didn't even concern themselves as a few of the now curious customers took pictures on their scrolls.