AN: Don't mind me, I'm just still reeling from the last episode. Here's a long chapter cuz I'm a madman.

Also, thank you Lord Maximus for the help with a scene.

And fair warning, the beginning of this chapter is a little steamy, if you know what I mean.

Chapter 68

Aqua awoke to a sore jaw and arms. Opening her eyes, she could see that she was in her bedroom, which felt draftier than usual. Moving her arms created a jingling sound above her head, and she looked towards the headboard and realized that she was still handcuffed to it from the night before. She looked down at herself, and realized there was not a stitch of clothing on her body. On the floor, she could see two discarded sets of clothes, including a pair of lacy black lingerie, and a few small piles of rope. In the bed next to her, still fast asleep, was her husband, as naked as the day he was born. Among other things, she could clearly see the blue water drop tattoo on his chest.

"Mf," she grunted out when she tried to say his name to wake him up. She knit her eyebrows in confusion. "Mmf!" She felt around the inside of her mouth with her tongue, being met with hard rubber. No wonder her jaw was so sore.

She was starting to realize what was going on. After Qrow's meeting with Ozpin, Aqua had met him in the lobby, which was immediately followed by them going back to her apartment to, uh… make up for lost time.

It was wild. It was rough. It was passionate. And it was so what she had needed.

In the end, they had been so drained that they just fell asleep, leaving Aqua handcuffed to the bed and gagged all night.

She tried to scoot closer to him, using her body to nudge him awake. Eventually, she could see him start to stir.

"Mm, well, this is a lovely sight to wake up to," he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek. "Good morning, honey."

"Mfmfmfmf," she said, trying to return the greeting, but forgetting about the ball in her mouth.

"Oh, right, let me get that," Qrow said, reaching behind her head to undo the straps of the gag.

"Bleh," she said once her mouth was free. She took a few seconds to work the tension out of her jaw. "Good morning."

"I think I needed that," Qrow said.

"So did I," Aqua responded. "Like you wouldn't even believe. I have had a, let's just call it 'stressful' last couple of months."

"Wanna tell me about it?" he asked.

"In a little bit," she responded. "Right now, I wanna kiss you." He took the hint, since she was still physically unable to move closer to him, so he instead leaned down to gently take her lips.

After a few seconds, they parted.

"I want something to eat," Qrow said.

"Should we make breakfast?" Aqua asked. Qrow smirked.

"I had something else in mind," he said, his eyes narrowed enticingly.

"Oh?" she asked. "Do tell."

Instead of answering, he picked the gag up and put it back in her mouth, buckling the straps behind her head. He then started planting kisses on her neck, before moving down to her collarbone.

And then lower.

And then lower.

She smiled in anticipation around the ball in her mouth…

…And then there was a knock at the door.

The couple both groaned in frustration.

"Hold on, I'll get it," Qrow said. "You wait right there." He winked at her and she rolled her eyes, silently telling him that there wasn't anything else she could do but wait.

He quickly put his shirt and pants on, stepping out of the bedroom and into the main office part of her apartment. He closed the door behind him.

Except it didn't latch, and slowly swung back open. Aqua's eyes widened.

Are you kidding me?!

"MMF!" she shouted, trying to get Qrow's attention, but unable to make enough noise.

This wasn't good! Whoever was at the door could see her in all her glory! Thinking fast, she used her Semblance to summon Stitch, who quickly grabbed her discarded blanket and covered her up with it. The summon then tried to reach the door to close it again, but Qrow had answered the front door before it got the chance, revealing, to Aqua's mortification, Ozpin.

"Hey, Oz," Qrow greeted his boss, still oblivious of his wife's plight. "What's up?"

Ozpin took one look at Qrow, then one look at Aqua. She had covered herself up, but it was still obvious her hands were cuffed to the bed. Her face turned about as red as Ruby's cloak.

"…I'll come back later," Ozpin said, and turn around without haste. Qrow was confused, until he turned around and saw the open bedroom door.

"Oh, shit," he muttered, walking back into the bedroom. Aqua narrowed her eyes at him. He nervously rubbed the back of his head. "So, uh, breakfast?" he asked.

"Mm hm," she grunted.

"Yeah, I'd heard about the Breach," Qrow said while the two of them were eating breakfast, now fully clothed. Aqua had caught him up on all the stuff that had happened since she came to Beacon. "The pipsqueak did a good job making sure nobody was hurt."

"Yeah, I'm proud of her," Aqua said. "Of all of them. Especially since I wasn't there."

"Where were you?" he asked.

"Ozpin sent me with another team to investigate some missing people in a frontier village," she explained. "It turned out the place was run by a cult called Yevon, who performed human sacrifices and kept young women as slaves."

"Damn," Qrow muttered.

"They actually kidnapped me and one of my students," Aqua continued.

"What?" Qrow asked, narrowing his eyes. "They still breathing?"

"No," she said simply. "Oh, and I also met your friend Jecht."

"Really? How is the crazy son of a bitch?"

"Crazy," she answered. "Let's see, then we got back to Beacon, and Ironwood had me and Team RWBY arrested."

"WHAT?!" Qrow roared. "What the fuck, Jimmy?!"

"He saw Ruby use an Aero spell to save people during the Breach, and thought that she was the one that attacked Amber."

"Wait, you know about her?" Qrow asked.

"Yes, Ozpin told us about her and the other Maidens to try and explain why Ironwood made the mistake he did. In return, I had to tell him about the Keyblade."

"…Damn."

"I didn't tell him everything, of course," she clarified. "Especially not about other worlds. People like him are exactly the reason the rules about World Order exist."

"Yeah, I pretty much trust Jimmy about as far as I can throw him," Qrow said. "And I can't even lift a hunk of junk that heavy."

"Oh, and we've got a new problem now. Some mad scientist named Doctor Merlot figured out how to create new breeds of Heartless." Qrow was silent, already aware of the ramifications of that. "And then…" Aqua looked down sadly, remembering what killing those Heartless led to.

"What's wrong?" Qrow asked. Aqua let out a deep sigh.

"Kingdom Hearts appeared over Beacon last week," she said, stunning her husband. "It was created using the hearts of the Heartless we killed at Merlot's lab. When I touched it, it read my heart and trapped me in a dream."

"…What kind of dream?" he asked cautiously.

"It made all my deepest fears come true," she explained. "You and the girls were there, Terra and Ven we fine, Master Eraqus was still alive, and… You and I had a little girl."

Qrow didn't say anything. He just got up from his seat and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Don't apologize," she said. "We both made that decision. Ruby and Yang had to come and get me, and they almost died in the process. Apparently Kingdom Hearts was trying to wipe my heart clear and take it over, so it could use my body to look for something in Beacon. They saved me."

"That's our girls," he said.

"That they are. I just feel like I let them down."

"Why?" Qrow asked.

"I almost wanted to stay. I even kicked Ruby out the first time she came for me. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to say to them. What if they're disappointed in me?"

"Aqua," Qrow said, looking her in the eyes. "You are the strongest, kindest, most incredible woman I've ever met. You took those girls in as your own just because you didn't want them to feel the pain of not having a mother. You've been strong their entire lives, but everyone is weak every now and then. The fact that they jumped right in to come and get you should say everything about how they feel about you."

"Thank you, Qrow," Aqua said, sliding back into his embrace. "…Her name was Larmina."

"Hm?" Qrow asked.

"Our daughter," Aqua clarified. "Her name was Larmina. I remember her clear as day."

"I would've gone with Finch," Qrow said, making Aqua giggle quietly.

"I know, I remember having that conversation, too."

"Well, do you still want to hold off?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered. "They still need us."

"I think the day is rapidly approaching where they're not going to," Qrow retorted.

"I know… Just a little longer."

If one thing was true about Coco Adel, it was that she loved the spotlight. Being up on stage during the Tournament, hearing all the cheering crowds, she felt right at home among her adoring fans.

She and Yatsuhashi had been chosen by their team to represent them in the doubles round, and they were squaring off against two members of Team FMBS from Haven.

"Emerald and Mercury of Haven, versus Coco and Yatsuhashi of Beacon!" Port announced over the loudspeaker. The arena shifted to their battlefield, dividing into quarters for this round instead of halves. They had a patch of tall grass, a ruined cityscape, a hot spring, and a field of blue Dust crystals.

Coco appraised the two in front of her, specifically the green-haired beauty. The girl had a great figure, accentuated by just how little her top was showing, and her tight pants hugged her hips in all the right ways.

This was a girl who knew how to dress to impress, and impress she did.

9/10. If Coco wasn't about to fight this, girl, she'd be drooling. She would definitely have to see if she was available.

"Hey!" she said, lowering her sunglasses to look her beautiful opponent in the eyes. "Love the outfit!"

"I'll try not to get blood on it," Emerald retorted.

"I can't promise you'll leave without a scratch," Yatsu said, drawing his weapon from behind his back.

"I won't be the one bleeding," Emerald said.

"Ooh, I liker her!" Coco said. Scratch that. 10/10. She always liked it when they were feisty.

"3, 2, 1, begin!"

Emerald and Mercury slowly waked backwards into the tall grass, disappearing from view. Coco and Yatsu smiled at each other before Coco unfolded her gatling gun, mowing the field down with her bullets. Eventually, she realized that the two opponents we flat-out gone, and she stopped firing.

"Huh?" she asked. There was no way they had just disappeared. Where did they go?

"Look out!" someone shouted from the stands, and Coco looked up in time to see Mercury falling from above her, readying an axe kick. Yatsu pushed her out of the way and blocked the kick, driving him back. Coco opened fired again, forcing Mercury to keep moving. He managed to outrun the bullets and kick Coco's weapon off-course, kicking Yatsuhashi twice and jumping to dodge more bullets. He somehow managed to land on the barrel of her weapon, and kicked her in the face. He jumped over a swing from Yatsu's weapon. When Coco pointed her gun at him, he got behind her, forcing her to point her weapon at her own teammate.

After a few tense seconds, she growled, folding the gun back into a handbag, swinging it at Mercury. But he jumped back and lunched two blasts at them, which they deflected.

When the dust cleared, they were surprised to see dozens of those shots gathering around Mercury, who was spinning on his hands and firing them rapidly from his boots. He sent them at the two teens, creating a smoke screen and allowing him to approach and deliver a series of kicks to them, knocking them both back.

Before Coco could recover, however, a chain wrapped around her, and yanked her into the forest.

Eventually, she smacked into a tree trunk. When she got up, she realized that her sunglasses had been broken, lying on the ground.

"I take it back," she said. "I don't like her."

She barely managed to jump back to dodge a green shot fired at her, before more came from a tree above her. Coco unfolded her gatling gun again and started shooting at the branches, but Emerald used chains attached to her weapons to swing from tree to tree, but then suddenly vanished behind one of them.

"Damn it!" Coco exclaimed, looking around for her.

"Coco!" Yatsu shouted as he approached.

"Watch out, she's in the tress!" she said, before hearing the buzzer.

"Oh, and with that final blow, Yatsuhashi is eliminated!" Port announced.

"What?!" Coco shouted, looking behind her to see no one standing there.

What the hell is going on? She thought, her hands beginning to shake. She heard a sudden noise behind her, and tureds around to see a green weapon descending on her.

She was too late. She knew she had lost.

"You're… leaving?" Weiss asked, sitting in a garden pavilion with her sister. Blake had taken the opportunity to meet her before taking Marlene to enjoy the Festival. To be honest, the interaction between the two had been pretty awkward. Weiss assumed Blake's past with the White Fang had something to do with it. She had already been incredibly wary of the Schnee Family from the start, and Winter was a member of the Atlesian military on top of that. She supposed she could understand her partner's trepidation, even if she wished she could have gotten along with her sister.

"Yes," Winter answered. "I was merely needed to oversee the transport of additional units to Vale. Our last shipment was lost to an ambush. I believe you had a run-in with its cargo, actually. It's fortunate those Paladins were in the prototype stage; otherwise your team may not have fared so well." Weiss looked down dejectedly, knowing that further criticism from her sister was coming. Weiss loved her to pieces, she really did, in fact she was the only member of their family Weiss could say she still loved, but did she have to be so harsh all the time? All Weiss had ever wanted to do was impress Winter, and it was starting to feel like she never would. To her surprise, Winter placed a hand on hers. "Weiss, you've done… well, out here, on your own. You should be proud. I'll be honest, it was quite amusing seeing Father's face the day you left for Beacon."

"I can't wait to show him what I've learned!" Weiss said, a little happier after getting some genuine, if seemingly forced, praise from her sister.

"Oh?" Winter asked. "And what do you think you've learned?"

"What do you mean? I'm getting better and better with my glyphs! I've even started Time Dilation!"

"And what of your summoning?" Winter asked, sending a pointed look at her little sister.

"I…" Weiss said before looking away. "You know I can't."

"Don't be ridiculous," Winter snapped. "Every Schnee has the ability to summon. We have for generations.

"I've tried!" Weiss said in exasperation. "It's just… it's the one thing I've been having trouble with!"

"We Schnees are unique," Winter said. "Unlike many, our Semblance is hereditary. But that doesn't mean it will come easily." She lifted her hand and created a small glyph in her palm. "Your Semblance is like a muscle. The more you practice with it, the stronger it will become. But if you only focus on one aspect of it…" there was a sudden flash of light, and when it faded, a white Beowolf stood at Winter's side. "If you fail to test the limits of what you think is possible, then you'll never truly grow."

Weiss smiled at the creature before remembering something she had intended to tell Winter.

"You know," Weiss said. "We have a professor here named Aqua Branwen."

"I met her," Winter said with a frown. "She's somehow married to that cretin, Qrow. You say she's teaching?"

"Yes, she teaches Advanced Combat and Team Tactics. This is embarrassing to admit, but during our first semester, I actually thought she might have been secretly a Schnee. Like a long-lost older sister or something."

"Oh?" Winter asked, raising a confused eyebrow. "Whatever gave you that idea?

"Her Semblance is very similar to ours," Weiss said, really catching Winter's attention. "She uses summoning glyphs, except she can summon copies of her friends."

"Interesting…" Winter said.

Aqua watched as Qrow approached Team RWBY's dorm. Now that their alone time was over, it was time for him to go see the girls.

She hadn't told him that she had called ahead to let the girls know he was coming.

He knocked on the door, and after only a second, it was thrown open, two figures tackling him to the ground in a hug.

"UNCLE QROW!" they yelled happily. Aqua couldn't help but notice that they were just as ecstatic to see him as they always were as kids. With a bark, Zwei hopped on top of the pile, wagging his little tail, making Aqua laugh.

"Yup, missed you too," he said through grit teeth. "Can't breathe."

"Too bad," Yang said. Aqua smiled at the scene, beyond happy that their family was finally all back together. After a few more seconds that were probably excruciating for the man they had been suffocating, they finally got up, letting Aqua and Qrow into their dorm room.

"Tada!" Ruby said, presenting the room proudly. "RWBY Dorm!" Qrow took a look around the place, raising a skeptical eyebrow at the haphazardly-put-together bunk beds.

"Please tell me you two don't have bottoms bunks," he said.

"Oh, no, our partners sleep on the bottoms," Yang said.

"Atta girls," Qrow said, giving them a high-five. The girls both sat down on a bed on one side of the room, and Qrow and Aqua took a bed on the other side. Zwei, having missed Qrow, settled down on his lap, allowing the Huntsman to gently pet him while they talked.

"So, Uncle Qrow, did you get in trouble with Ozpin?" Ruby asked. "You did kind of break our courtyard." Aqua sent Qrow a quick glare for that, sending a chill down her husband's spine.

"Nah, me and Oz go way back," he said. "We're cool."

"Cool for an old guy," Yang said with a scoff.

"Not funny," he said.

"So, what are you doing here, anyway?" Ruby asked. "Weren't you supposed to be on a mission for, like…ever?"

"Well, I wanted to take some time to come see my girls," he said, making Ruby and Yang smile. "I caught your last fight while I was down in Vale. Good job making it through to the next round."

"Thanks!" Ruby said.

"Other than that, I heard you were told about Amber," he said.

"Yeah, Ozpin told us," Yang said. "Your mission had something to do with that?"

"Pretty much," he said. "I was entrusted to keep an eye on her, but she got hurt on my watch. I've been out for the last few months trying to find out who did it. The trail led me back here."

"You think the one who attacked her is already here?" Aqua asked.

"Pretty much," he said. "You all need to be very careful, and don't trust anyone you've never met before. I couldn't get a good look at their faces, but I do know that there were three attackers: two women and one man."

"Got it," Yang said with a nod.

"Do you think Torchwick had anything to do with Amber's attacker?" Ruby asked.

"I wouldn't think so, but there's something about this whole thing that's bugging me," he said. "It would be understandable for crime to go down after Roman got caught, but it's stopped completely. That's not normal."

"You think someone else took over his operation?" Aqua asked.

"There's zero White Fang activity anywhere in the city. I think it's a pretty safe bet that whoever was using Roman is now calling the shots directly."

"But why would they have the White Fang stop doing anything?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it can't be good. That's why I'm so frustrated with Ironwood. He can't see the bigger picture, even when it's staring right in front of him."

"Well, whatever's going on, we'll be ready for it!" Yang said.

"I certainly hope so, Firecracker," he said. "Well, I've got some more rounds to make. I heard a little friend of ours is at Beacon right now."

"Oh, you mean Cinder?" Yang asked. "Yeah, her team is fighting in the Festival.

"And Yang's dating her teammate Mercury," Ruby threw in, making Yang whip her head to look at her sister.

"Ruby!" she said in betrayal.

"Oh, really?" Qrow asked, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. "Well, then I have even more of a reason to go pay a visit." He stood up, gave the girls a hug, and headed for the door. "Beside, your mom wants to talk to you about something. And remember, you've still got a ways to go. And don't think for a second that graduating means you're done. Every day out there is worth more and a week in this place. You two, you're gonna go far. But only if you keep learning; if you never stop moving forward." The girls contemplated what he said for a few seconds before nodding determinedly. "Love you."

"Love you, too," they said, before turning their attention to Aqua.

"Let's head back to my apartment," she said. "Less interruptions."

"Excellent form!" Winter said, appraising the glyph that Weiss was attempting to create, the heiress pointing her sword at the ground in front of her. "Now think to your fallen foes! The ones who forced you to push past were you were, and become who you are now." The glyph began to flicker. "Think of them, and watch as they come to your side." The glyph continued to flicker, and eventually disappeared.

"I can't!" Weiss yelled with a stomp, before Winter smacked her in the back of the head.

"Stop doubting yourself!" Winter yelled.

"I'm trying!" Weiss yelled back, whirling around to face her sister.

"If this is what you call trying, then you have no hope of winning the tournament, let alone succeeding as a Huntress! Why don't you just move back home? I'm sure Father would give you a nice job as a receptionist!"

"I don't need his charity!"

"But you do need his money, don't you?" Winter asked, leaning close.

"What? How did you know about that?"

"Lucky guess. I may have been in a similar situation when I joined the military. So what have you done this time?"

"Well, that's the thing," Weiss said. "I'm not really sure! I went to pay for lunch the other day, but the card didn't work!"

"How embarrassing," Winter said with a smirk.

"I know!" Weiss said, only to see Winter shaking her head. "Well, it was! Why would he cut me off like that?"

"Perhaps so that you'd stop avoiding him and call home." Weiss growled, attempting to create another summoning glyph before Winter put a hand on her shoulder.

"Emotions can grant you strength. But you must never let them overpower you. It sound to me like you have two choices in front of you. You can either call him, beg for his money back, and explain once more why you would want to study at Beacon over Atlas, or you could continue to explore Remnant, discovering more about the world and honestly, more about yourself." Weiss was silent. "It's time for me to go." She pulled Weiss into a hug.

"It was really good to see you, Winter.

"Until next time, sister."

"So, you're okay now?" Ruby asked hesitantly. Aqua smiled, patting a spot on her couch for Ruby to sit on while Yang took the other side.

"I think I'm all right now," she said. "It won't be easy since these memories won't go away but… Before I say anything else can I ask you both something?"

"Sure," Yang said with a shrug.

"Have I… disappointed you two?" she asked, throwing her daughters for a loop.

"What?"

"When I was in that dream world I was shown everything I could have wished for. It was so amazing that I literally kicked Ruby out the first time she came to save me," Aqua explained, feeling ashamed. "I thought I would have been so much stronger than that after all we've been through. Everyone around me was so happy that I almost wished I had been wrong when I was growing suspicious. Do you think I was weak for that?"

"No!" Ruby exclaimed, immediately hugging Aqua. "Mom, you're not weak for that. I think anyone else have gladly just gone along with living in there. You broke free… You broke free for us. Everything you do is for us, to the point I almost feel like we don't deserve you."

"Yeah," Yang said, hugging Aqua next. "So what if you were tempted? Everyone has wishes and desires. No one should blame you for that."

"Yeah," Ruby said, pulling away a bit. "Actually, I have a confession. I've wondered sometimes what would have happened if Mommy was still alive when you came. Even if you weren't our Mom and became our Aunt when you married Uncle Qrow I can picture the two of you becoming best friends. She would have loved the Keyblade and would probably be sad that she didn't have one herself."

"Sad? She would totally be jealous," Yang said with a snicker. "Yeah, I kind of wondered that myself." Aqua was giggling now. "So, my girls are ranking me against Super-Mom?"

"Please, you're just as much of a Super-Mom as she was!" Yang said, with Ruby nodding in agreement. "Trust me on this, Mom. You have no need to be worried about competition."

"Thanks," Aqua said, patting Yang on the head, making the girl grumble at her hair being touched. "As for what I was about to say… I've decided to make peace with these memories I have from that world. Even if they weren't real, they're so much a part of me now that trying to forget them would be like forgetting a part of myself. Even if I have trouble sorting them all there's one thing that makes me treasure them."

"What's that?" Ruby asked. Aqua smiled, wrapping her arms around both of her daughters. "You two. Even before… Mina you both were a constant in my alternate life. I have even more great memories of you two, now."

"Good memories of us, huh?" Yang asked with a smile.

"You, Qrow, Ven, Terra, and my Master. Even of these memories weren't real, you make them real for me. I think I can handle that as long as you're both all right with that." Ruby smiled and leaned into Aqua's shoulder.

"I'm all right with that, Mom."

"Me too," Yang agreed.

"Thank you," Aqua said, hugging them again. "And you're both okay if Qrow and I really do have a child?"

"Oh yeah!" Ruby said, nodding happily. "Finally, I'd be the big sister, and she'd think I'm the most awesome sister!"

"News flash: I'm the awesome big sister in this family," Yang said, gesturing to herself with both thumbs. "I have the experience when it comes to being awesome."

"Yeah, well I have a Keyblade and Larmina would be like 'Wow Ruby, you're the most awesome big sister ever'!" Ruby argued.

"Hey, I'm so awesome I don't even need a Keyblade!" Yang said, crossing her arms with a pout. "So she'd say I'm the best!"

"Oh no, I'm going to be the best big sister ever!" Ruby shouted, pointing at Yang. "You dare take my title from me and you risk an all-out war!"

"Bring it on, little sister!" Yang dared. Before Ruby could pounce Aqua grabbed both their ears and sat them back down on the couch. "Ow, Mom!"

"Don't 'Mom' me, young lady," Aqua barked, her authoritarian tone shutting both sisters up. "No starting fights in my apartment."

Both Ruby and Yang calmed down but were happy to see Aqua was back to her normal self as she sighed and let go of their ears.

"Honestly, you two. You act like we've already got a kid on the way. Have some patience, will you?" Aqua said, shaking her head. "And as much as I'd like for it to be agirl I wouldn't mind if it's a boy, either."

"Oh, me too," Ruby said with a nod.

"Uncle Qrow would be happy to get a little more testosterone in the house," Yang said with a snicker. "So, why Larmina?"

"Well, Qrow thought Finch would be a good name for keeping up the bird theme from his side of the family," Aqua explained. "As for me, I kind of chose a name that could represent both of us. Larmina means 'Blue Sky' and since I'm named after water I thought it could represent my color and his bird theme at the same time."

"Blue Sky, huh?" Ruby asked, smiling as she leaned against her mother. "I like that."

"Well, we have a red rose, a yellow dragon, the sea and a black bird. Why not add some sky?" Aqua laughed a bit as she, Yang, and Ruby sat on the couch, cuddling with each other. "Just one thing."

"Yeah?" Yang asked.

"It if turns out to be a girl and Ruby wants to teach her how to make cookies, do NOT decide to do it without me or her father present… Scratch that, don't do it without me present," Aqua quickly added.

"Why?" Ruby asked.

"So I don't come home to find you and your sister embroiled in the Cookie-Dough War against the evil Dragon Empress," Aqua said with a sigh, shaking her head. Yang burst out laughing.

"The Dragon Empress?" Ruby asked with a groan. "Yeah, that's totally something Yang would call herself."

"Well, it does have a nice ring to it. The Dragon Empress," Yang said with a snicker. "Oh yeah, Nora can keep her Queen of the Castle title. For what is a Queen to an Empress of Dragons!? She stood up, making a dramatic pose with her fist held up in the air. "Bow to your Empress, foolish mortals!"

"Just like before," Aqua said with a sigh.

"What happened?" Ruby asked.

"You really want to know? I mean…" Aqua trailed off. "Maybe I shouldn't have said anything."

"Too late now," Yang said, sitting back down and leaning closely to her mother. "I got to know."

"Besides, maybe by telling us, we can help you make peace with them," Ruby suggested with a smile. "They sound like good memories to share." Aqua smiled back.

"Yeah, they are." She sighed and decided there was really no reason not to share. "Okay, so it goes like this. I had just come back from an early morning training when I found the kitchen turned into a war zone…"

Cinder's eyebrow raised when there was a knock on her dorm room's door. She slipped out of bed, having already changed into a red night gown. Suddenly remembering who had come to Beacon the night before, she gave her teammates a look to be ready. She slowly approached the door, opening it to reveal Qrow.

"Hey, Spitfire," he said, pulling her into a hug. "Long time, no see." She was surprised, since Qrow hadn't seemed like a hugger when she knew him before, but still returned it.

"It's good to see you, Qrow." They pulled back and he took a look at her.

"Damn, you got big," he said. "I guess it has been ten years, though. You look great."

"You too."

"Eh, I'm old. You don't have to be kind. Anyway, while I'd love to catch up, I heard there's someone named Mercury around here."

"Uh, yeah?" Mercury said nervously, standing up. "That's me." Qrow walked towards him, taking a scrutinizing look at the boy. Cinder shook her head, telling him to not do anything yet.

"You seem a little nervous there, son," Qrow said. "Good. You should be."

"And why's that?" Mercury asked.

"Because a little birdy told me you're dating my niece, Yang," Qrow said, and Cinder's hand hit her forehead before she could catch herself.

Seriously? This was why he seemed so suspicious of him?

"Now, I know I'm technically her uncle, but that girl's like a daughter to me, and you're the first boy I've had to give this speech for."

"Wait, I'm her first boyfriend?" Mercury asked.

"Yup. Is that a problem?"

"No!" Mercury said hastily. "I just didn't know I was her first."

"Her first…?" Qrow asked, his voice taking on a dangerous edge.

"Boyfriend!" Mercury clarified. "I meant boyfriend!"

"Good," Qrow said, gripping his shoulder tightly. "So, I just wanna let you know that if you ever do anything to break her heart, I'll break you. Understood?"

"Understood, sir," Mercury said.

"Good, as long as we understand each other," Qrow said, stepping towards Cinder again. "Now then, what do you say we catch up?"

"Are you sure we should be interrupting?" Blake asked, standing outside Professor Branwen's door.

"Look, their mom has it rough and they've been gone for a while. I just… want to make sure their mom is okay." Weiss knocked on the door but no answer came. "I know what happens when a mother breaks down."

After knocking on the door a third time, Weiss decided to use her glyph to open the door and she and Blake were treated to the sight of… Professor Branwen telling a story to Ruby and Yang on her couch.

"And like that, Ruby and Mina were on the ground, beaten as the Dragon Empress stood over them. 'Surrender and join me!' she ordered, and Ruby said 'We'll never give in! You destroyed our big sister!'" The professor was grinning now, and Yang quickly joined her. "Only for the Dragon Empress to say 'I did not destroy your big sister, Ruby Rose and Larmina Branwen. I'—"

"I am your big sister!" Yang suddenly yelled in an evil voice and let out an equally evil cackle.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ruby yelled, falling to her knees in absolute pretend horror.

Blake and Weiss just watch as the two sisters and their mother broke down in laughter.

"…I think they're okay," Blake whispered.

AN: funny story, the conversation that Aqua and Qrow had about what to name their child is pretty much the conversation I had with Lord Maximus when we were working together on the fake Kingdom Hearts storyline. I wanted to name her Finch to fit with Qrow's bird theme, and Lord Maximus suggested Larmina, which means "Blue Sky". I liked it better, so I went with that.

I have to make a few adjustments to how Qrow interacts with the sisters here, since in canon I get the distinct impression that he favors Ruby. I needed to change that here.

Also, I like Qrow putting the fear of God into Mercury, since he's Yang father substitute, someone has to scare the piss out of her boyfriend so he treats her right.

Also, there's just something about Winter in this volume that kinda rubs me the wrong way. Like, I know she's the only Schnee that Weiss still loves, but I can't get over how harsh and detached she is. It really rubs in how lonely Weiss was before going to Beacon.