AN: So I've been asked by people a couple times if Aqua would learn from Cloud what happened to Zack. There's been no indication that the Kingdom Hearts versions of Zack and Cloud know each other, so I'm going with they don't.

Also, we'll be meeting another special someone this chapter.

Once again, thank you to Lord Maximus for the help with this chapter.

Chapter 83

Pyrrha nervously held the envelope containing the results of her most recent doctor's appointment. Her mother had been a great help the last few weeks handling Pyrrha's retirement. Their lawyers were still negotiating the possibility of her continuing to fight in tournaments, but Pyrrha found that without the end goal of being a Huntress, prize-fighting just seemed like a waste of time to her.

Finding a new career was going to be difficult, but fighting really was what she was best at. She hadn't brought this up to her mother yet, choosing instead to allow the both of them to focus on the baby, but Pyrrha found that becoming a combat instructor had started to sound very appealing to her.

If she couldn't be a Huntress, she could at least use her skills to help others get started in the profession. That way, she could put her talents to good use, put some good back into the world, and make sure that she can always be there for the baby.

Speaking of the baby, she looked back down at the envelope in her hands. She knew that the baby was healthy, to her relief, but there was something she didn't know yet.

She tore the envelope open, pulling out the report contained within. She scanned the page, her eyes trying to find the part she was looking for.

She saw it about halfway down the page.

Gender: Male

Male.

A boy.

She was having a baby boy. She smiled at the thought, her mind finally being able to start imagining what her child was going to look like.

Would he have red hair like his mother? Or blond like his father? Her smile fell when she remembered what she had done to Jaune.

I'm so sorry, she thought, knowing that Jaune would never be able to hear her. The CCT still hadn't been restored, but she hoped she would be able to talk to him soon.

She couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he learned they were having a son. She just hoped he could forgive her for her mistake.

…And now she was picturing Jaune playing outside with a little blond-haired, green-eyed boy, and felt her heart flutter.

She was taken out of her fantasies about her future life with Jaune as parents when there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" she called out to her mother, since Pyrrha was already in the living room. She opened the front door and was greeted by a tall, stocky man in an Atlesian uniform, wearing a large hat that practically concealed his eyes. Pyrrha recognized him as one of the soldiers stationed at the Atlas Military Base in Argus. She was pretty sure he had a twin.

"Greetings, Miss Nikos!" the man said loudly and enthusiastically. "I bring you a message from General Ironwood himself!"

"The general?" Pyrrha questioned.

Blake stepped off the ramp from the ship onto the familiar docks of her home, Sun looking around in awe at all the Faunus just going about their daily lives at the market.

"I've never seen so many Faunus in one place!" Sun said excitedly.

"This is the one place everyone can feel safe, no matter who or what they are," Blake said. Well, as long as they weren't human.

"Wow, sure is, uh, crowded, huh?" he asked.

"Yes. Yes it is."

"Is it always so cramped?" Sun asked, trying his best to not bump into anyone.

"Well, when you try and take an entire species and put them on an island that's two-thirds desert, yeah, it tends to be cramped," Blake explained, kind of surprised at how little Sun knew about his own race. Granted, he had never struck her as particularly bright, so it shouldn't have been too surprising.

"What!" Sun exclaimed. "You guys have that much space? Why waste it? A little desert never hurt anyone!"

"It's not like the desert in Vacuo, Sun," Blake said in annoyance. "The wildlife here is more dangerous than most other regions."

"So, they give us a terrible island, in the corner of Remnant, to try and shut us up."

"That's a pretty good summary, yeah." Finally, he was learning.

"Huh. Jerks."

"We try to make the best of things," Blake said, continuing to walk through town until she reached the crest of a hill looking down over most of town. The road ended a fair distance away, ending at the entranceway to a large, beautiful house.

One that she was very familiar with.

"Whoa…" Sun said in awe.

"This is Kuo Kuana," Blake said, presenting her hometown to the boy.

"It's…beautiful," Sun said, still a little overwhelmed by it all. "I take it back. This place looks great! Why would anyone ever want to leave?"

"That's not the point, Sun!" Blake snapped. "We asked to be equal, to be treated like everyone else! Instead, we were given an island and told to make do. So we did the best we could. We came together and we made a home where any Faunus could feel welcome. But this island, this town, will always be a reminder that we're still not equal. That we're still second-class citizens." Sun put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Well, hey, this guy's feeling pretty at home," he said. Blake appreciated the effort, but she was a little too nervous to show it.

Moment of truth.

"Time to go home," she said.

"Oh, yeah?" Sun asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. "Which one's yours? Can you see it from here?" He used his other hand as a visor and scanned the houses around him. Blake peeked up at the large mansion.

"…Kind of," she said.

"Is it that one?" he asked, pointing at a random house. "What about that tiny one down there? I like the paintjob."

"It's…" she said, grabbing hold of his wrist and guiding his pointing hand towards the mansion. "That one."

…

"WHAAAA?!" Sun asked, practically falling over in shock.

"Um, excuse me?" a voice addressed them, and the two teens turned around.

A woman had addressed them. She was wearing a short white tank top that left her stomach exposed, along with a short black skirt held up by suspenders. The woman had long black hair held in a loose ponytail and red eyes, and was wearing gloves on her hands, along with black thigh-high stockings and red sneakers. A black cat tail swished behind her. The woman took a close look at Sun.

"Oh, you're not him," she said in disappointment. Sun pointed at himself, looking at Blake questioningly. Blake shrugged, and looked back at the woman.

"Can we help you?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry!" the woman said, standing up straighter. "My name's Tifa. I'm looking for someone. He's got spiky blond hair, so I thought your friend might have been him, but then I saw his tail. My friend doesn't have one."

"A little unusual for a human to be in Menagerie," Blake said. "It would be pretty big news. You'd probably have a hard time finding him here."

"Oh, yeah, I guess so," Tifa said sadly before Sun stepped forward.

"Hey, don't mind her," he said. "She's grumpy." Blake sent a glare at him. "See? Anyway, I'm Sun. She's Blake. We'll keep an eye out for this guy. If we see him, we'll let him know you're looking."

"Oh, thank you!" Tifa said. "I'll keep looking around!" she left before Blake could say anything to her, before looking at Sun. He looked back at Blake's house, before looking back at her.

"So, does this mean you're a princess?"

Blake had never facepalmed so quickly.

"It's good to see you again, Aqua," General Ironwood said after stepping into the room in Atlas Academy she had been given.

"Hello there, General," Aqua greeted.

"I hope the trip here wasn't too uncomfortable," he said, stepping further into the room.

"It was fine," she said. "The Specialist you sent over is a good conversationalist, so it wasn't boring." The general chuckled.

"Well, if there's one thing that's true about Marrow, it's that he likes to talk," he said, smiling good-naturedly. "Anyway, have you heard anything about the procedure?"

"It's a spinal bypass, right?" Aqua asked. "I did a little research."

"Well, that's not exactly what we'll be doing," the general responded.

"What do you mean?"

"I think it would be best if I have the doctor explain it for me," Ironwood said, turning back to the door. "Come in, Pietro."

A mechanical sound filled the air, belonging to a mechanized chair that carried an older dark-skinned man. Aqua couldn't help but feel a little jealous that she had a regular old wheelchair and this man had one with legs.

"Aqua, this is Pietro Polendina," the general introduced. "Pietro, this is the patient, Aqua Branwen."

"A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Branwen," Pietro greeted happily.

"Likewise," Aqua said. "Where have I heard the name 'Polendina' before?"

"I'm Penny's father," the man answered, and Aqua's eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Aqua said. "I was at Beacon, but…"

"Don't worry about it," the man said. "There was nothing you could do. Though I do appreciate the sentiment. How did you know Penny?"

"My daughter was friends with her. Her name's Ruby." Pietro's smile grew even wider.

"Oh, Penny told me all about Ruby!" he said excitedly. "I'm grateful that your daughter was willing to be such a good friend to mine. It meant a lot to her."

"Thank you," she said, feeling a swell of pride for her youngest. "Anyway, what's this procedure going to be? Are we not using an implant?"

"Well, under ordinary circumstances, we would just use a Spinal Bypass implant," Pietro explained. "With an injury like yours, electrical signals from the brain that would ordinarily pass through your spinal column get blocked once they reach the damaged vertebrae, preventing them from reaching the lower half of your body. Hence the paralysis. The Spinal Bypass is an implant that we would attach to the damaged vertebrae, and it would allow the signals to literally bypass the damaged section, pass through the implant, and continue traveling through the intact part of the spine further down, and into the legs."

"Okay, I'm following you so far," Aqua said.

"Well, the General felt that there are too many drawbacks to using it on you," the doctor continued. "For one, it's powered by Aura, so it prevents the user from ever being able to fully recharge theirs. And if the user's Aura were to run out, the implant would power down. It's also prone to breaking in combat."

"I felt that it would be a waste of potential to trap you with an implant that could be so easily damaged and render you paralyzed all over again," the general said.

"Okay, so what are you proposing instead?" Aqua asked. The general and Pietro looked at each other.

"It's a new device called the Organic Reconstructor," Ironwood said. "We think it could give you back your legs without any of the drawbacks of an implant."

"You think you can give me back my legs permanently?" Aqua asked.

"We do," Ironwood said, gesturing for Pietro to elaborate.

"Well, Mrs. Branwen, it's a procedure where we create an entirely new vertebra to replace the damaged one," Pietro explained.

"Create a new vertebra?" Aqua asked. "Like cloning? Or is it more like a prosthetic?

"Neither," Pietro said. "Essentially we would take live organic tissue and put them together to mimic the normal functions of the body. This material can be manipulated to mimic the structure of bones and organs, but unlike electronic prosthetics, these organics will be more like regenerated limbs. The body will start to circulate new blood cells, your brain will connect to the artificial nerves and essentially the new vertebra literally becomes a part of your body. It will be more effective than normal prosthetics."

"And it won't wear out?" Aqua asked.

"Not until you do, Mrs. Branwen," Pietro answered but seemed unnerved by what he was suggesting. "However, it's a highly dangerous procedure."

"How dangerous?"

"That's just it. We're not sure. It's never made it to human trials. You'll be the first person ever to have this procedure performed on them."

"No pressure or anything," Aqua said sarcastically. "How likely is it that I might die?"

"To be honest, I don't know, but we have to assume it's high."

Aqua put her hand to her chin in thought.

So, her choices were to either have a fragile implant installed that could easily break and hinder her effectiveness in combat, or undergo a completely new and unproven experimental procedure that could very easily kill her, but if it worked would essentially make it as if she had never been paralyzed at all.

The choice really wasn't that hard.

Though she would have to tap into some old teachings to help make it happen.

The Healing Trance.

"I'll do it," she said. "Use the Organic Reconstructor on me."

Blake hesitated when she reached up to grab the knocker on the front door.

"What is it?" Sun asked.

"I, um… it's just been a long time since I've seen my parents," she said. That, and she hadn't exactly left them on the best terms.

"Well, you came all this way," Sun said, trying to be encouraging. Blake took a deep breath, and banged the door knocker. It resonated loudly, prompting Sun to take a step back.

"Okay, if we're being honest, that's kind of intimidating," he said. After a few seconds, the large door was slowly opened, and a woman poked her head through to see who had knocked. She had black hair, amber eyes, and cat ears on top of her head with some piercings in them. She had a similar fashion sense as Blake, too, wearing mostly black and white. The woman's ears perked up when she saw Blake and she eagerly stepped out from the entranceway.

"Blake?" the woman asked.

"Hi, Mom," Blake said, a little awkwardly. She was taken by surprise when her mother suddenly pulled her into a hug.

"My baby girl," Mom said, her voice filled with sheer relief. Blake hesitated for a second, but calmly returned the embrace. She hadn't realized how much she had missed something as simple as a hug from her mother until now.

"Kali?" a booming voice called, prompting Mom to turn around. "Who is it?"

A tall, barrel-chested man with black hair and a beard stood in the middle of the entranceway, wearing a long coat with a fur collar and no shirt underneath it. His eyes widened at the sight of Blake, but then he smiled, pulling both Blake and her mother into a hug with his large arms.

The Belladonnas and Sun were seated on the floor around a short square coffee table, drinking tea and catching up. Blake's parents were sitting across from each other, as were Blake and Sun.

"We were horrified when he heard the news," Mom said. "The Kingdom of Vale isn't perfect, but it certainly didn't deserve what happened. Oh, we were both so worried."

"Please, I knew she'd be fine!" Dad said, causing Mom to scoff.

"That isn't the slightest bit true," Mom countered. "You should have seen him pacing."

"You guys have nothing to worry about," Sun said. "I've seen your daughter in action before! And trust me, she's got some moves!" Blake practically choked on her tea at Sun's very poor choice of words, as her father turned a glare on the boy.

"And what exactly do you mean by that, Mr. Wukong?" Dad asked, his tone all too familiar to Blake. Plenty of boys in Menagerie had nightmares for weeks, she was sure.

Sun, to his credit, seemed to realize that he had just put his foot in his mouth, and looked nervously up at Dad.

"I…Uh, well, you see sir, it's just that, you know, that she's such a good fighter and all, uh, and as a fellow fighter, I have a lot of respect for her…" Sun said, starting to ramble.

"Why is he here again?" Mom asked, leaning over to Blake.

"…And her fighting," Sun continued rambling. "But also for her…"

"He just kind of followed me home," Blake said.

"…Because of her fighting. Not her looks. I mean, not to say she's not good-looking. She is! Very! Or…" This was starting to get embarrassing.

"I see," Mom said.

"…Slightly, I meant she's definitely above average. I mean, uh…"

Seriously? Above average?

Sun looked around, saw the tense atmosphere, and grabbed the tea kettle with his tail, using it to pour himself another cup.

"This tea is really good!"

"I like him," Mom said.

"Mom!" Blake said in exasperation. The tension was broken when they heard the loud sound of the knocker.

"Darn it, I completely forgot about the meeting!" Dad said, pounding his fist onto the table. Mom gently covered his hand with hers.

"Ghira…" she said worryingly.

"Give me a moment," Dad said, standing up and walking towards the entrance.

"Is everything okay?" Blake asked.

"Yes, dear, just poor timing," Mom said. "He can reschedule. It's just been hard dealing with them lately."

"Dealing with who?"

"The White Fang," Mom said nonchalantly, as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

"WHAT?!"

"Dad!" Blake shouted, rushing into the entranceway to see her father talking to two fox Faunus wearing hooded robes, one with ears, and one with a tail.

"Blake, what's wrong?" Dad asked.

"Miss Belladonna," one of the men greeted.

"We had no idea you'd returned," said the other.

"What are you doing talking to these people?" Blake demanded of her father.

"This is Corsac and Fennec Albain," her dad explained. "They represent the White Fang here in Menagerie now."

"Those psychos are here, too?!" Sun asked.

"Young man, I'm not sure what you've heard of our organization, but I can assure you, we're not nearly as ferocious as the media would have you believe," the one named Fennec said.

"What we've heard?" Blake asked in utter disbelief that they were seriously trying to pretend that the White Fang was innocent. "We've seen firsthand. Your fanatics slaughtered people!"

"What is she talking about?" Blake's father asked his visitors.

"Precisely what we came to discuss with you, Your Grace," Corsac answered.

"Is everything alright?" Mom asked as she entered the room.

"Wait, you guys seriously don't know?!" Sun asked.

"Know what?" Dad demanded.

"The White Fang was at the Fall of Beacon," Blake explained, glaring at the brothers. "They attacked innocent civilians and they released Grimm into the school."

There was a silence for a few seconds before Dad leveled a fierce glare at the Albains.

"Is this true?" he asked.

"Sadly, Your Grace, it is," Fennec said.

"Don't act like you're s—" Blake shouted, before her father interrupted.

"That's enough!" he shouted, still glaring at the White Fang members. "Explain yourselves."

"Though it pains us to admit, it has become apparent that the Vale branch of the White Fang is no longer operating under orders of High Leader Khan," Corsac said. "Rather, they've elected to follow the rule of one Adam Taurus. I believe you're all familiar with the young adept and his…extreme philosophies."

"You know, Beacon wasn't the first time the Fang started shooting up Vale!" Sun said.

"The High Council had their suspicions of a splinter group, but they could prove nothing until this latest incident," Fennec said.

"'Incident'?" Blake asked. "People are dead!"

"And it is a tragedy," Corsac said.

"Your Grace," Fennec said, "We came to assure you that Brother Taurus and his followers do not represent the will of the White Fang."

"I find that very hard to believe," Blake said. She didn't miss that they still called him "Brother" Taurus.

"We understand if you bear any skepticism towards these claims," Corsac said. "The White Fang's tactics are admittedly, more aggressive since you stepped down as High Leader and became Chieftain of Menagerie. But this, is no way to make our message heard."

"We have ample documentation from the council meeting, as well as several strategies to apprehend and punish these strays if you care to review them," Fennec said.

"I will, but another day," Dad said. "I'd like some time to reconnect with my daughter."

"But of course, Your Grace," Corsac said.

"We completely understand," Fennec chimed in. "It was a pleasure to see you again, young Blake."

"We were saddened when we heard of your departure from the White Fang, but understand if you can no longer support our cause."

"It is a wearying fight, after all."

"Who says I'm done fighting?" Blake asked.

"Hmm," Corsac muttered. "If you ever wish to return, you need merely come find us."

"Sister Ilia would be elated," Fennec said, surprising Blake with his willingness to bring up her best friend. Granted, emotional manipulation was par for the course for Adam, so it made sense that the rest of the Fang practiced it, too.

"Goodbye, gentlemen," Dad said, closing the door on his guests.

"So… those guys were creepy," Sun commented.

"I really don't like you."

"An interesting development, wouldn't you say?" Fennec asked as they descended the stairs.

"Interesting indeed," Corsac said.

"So, shall we inform Brother Adam?"

"Oh, we shall."

"Excuse me!" a voice called, and the brothers turned to see a black-haired woman with a cat tail approaching them. "I was wondering if you'd be able to help me. I'm looking for someone."

"Of course, Miss," Corsac said, giving the woman a friendly smile. "Always happy to help."

"Come in!" Aqua called out in response to a knock on the door. She spun her chair around, and was surprised and happy to see Pyrrha of all people walk into the room. She was looking healthy, which relieved Aqua, but her eyes were drawing to the girl's stomach and the obvious bump.

"Hi, Professor Branwen," Pyrrha greeted.

"Pyrrha," Aqua said in surprise, looking at the redheaded girl's bulging stomach. "You're pregnant?" She knew it was an inelegant and obvious question to ask, but it was kind of a shock. She couldn't be blamed for not being able to think of anything else, surely. Pyrrha nodded in response to the question, her hands resting on her belly.

"I am." Aqua was silent for a moment as she took it in.

"Jaune… Jaune is the father, isn't he?" Pyrrha nodded again. "That's why you up and left after Beacon. Who else knows?"

"Aside from you and my mother, Professor Ozpin and Cinder knew. They found that night below Beacon," Pyrrha answered, looking like she felt a little ashamed. "I guess we were all making our share of mistakes then.

Aqua felt like she should scold the redhead, but then again, Yang had done the exact same thing with Mercury. Regardless of what happened afterwards.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"General Ironwood invited me here to provide moral support to you," Pyrrha answered. "He told me about an operation to restore your legs." Aqua nodded.

"That's right."

"I would have thought Ruby and Yang would be here," Pyrrha said.

"Ruby's gone to Haven with Jaune, Nora and Ren to find Cinder. Yang… she lost her arm in the attack. She's fine but she needs time to heal like everyone else," Aqua answered hesitantly, seeing Pyrrha flinch at the mention of Jaune. "You left without telling him."

"I didn't want him to give up his dream," Pyrrha said. "And before you say anything, my mom already scolded me for taking his choice away from him. Now, I'm not sure why I thought it was a good idea."

"Well, as long as you realize your mistake," Aqua said. "So, emotional support, huh?" Pyrrha nodded.

"I was told this operation would be new and if it works it could be a breakthrough in medical science."

"That's what they say," Aqua said, seeing Pyrrha had not been told of the dangers from it. "Pyrrha, when they finish the operation I need to do something for me." Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

"Okay."

"When they're done, I need you to, and follow me on this, hit me really hard," Aqua said.

"What?" Pyrrha asked, wondering if she heard her former teacher right. "Did you just say—"

"I need you to hit me until I wake up," Aqua clarified. "Ironwood told you about the operation but it seems like he didn't tell you that this operation has a high chance of not only failure, but of killing me."

"What?!" Pyrrha gasped.

"Please calm down," Aqua said. "Don't stress yourself out. It'll be bad for the baby. Take a deep breath." Pyrrha did so, taking a few breaths to calm herself. "Better?" She nodded. "Good. According to the doctor, this operation works by taking the raw organic material the damaged organ is made from, and making a brand new one to take its place. They're going to make a new vertebra and use it to replace my damaged one. If all goes well I should be able to walk again."

"Then why is it so dangerous?" Pyrrha asked.

"It's never been tested before. The operating machine will directly remove the damaged part and transplant the new one but there's no guarantee the new one will work. The human body isn't as fixable as a robot. You can't just swap out parts as easily. Not only is there a chance it might not work but the surgery and the organ itself could put enough of a strain on my body that I can't survive it," Aqua said, feeling bad to be telling this to a pregnant girl. "Ironwood believes I can survive this and I have a little something that might be able to help me through this."

"What's that?"

"It's something I learned during my apprenticeship. A form of self-induced hypnosis where I channel all of my Aura into healing my body. It's a powerful ability but depending on how grievous the wound is the deeper I need to focus. Essentially I would be placing myself in a trance-induced coma," Aqua explained, remembering this special technique her master had taught her. Granted, she was embellishing the explanation a little bit, not telling Pyrrha that it was actually a magically-induced coma. The Healing Trance was basically a technique that allowed her to send healing magic coursing through her body, but required her to place herself into a coma.

Pyrrha seemed interested.

"A healing trance? I've heard of such techniques before but I've never seen one." Well, that was convenient. "Ren meditates frequently and his Aura control is better than anyone I've ever met."

"There's a drawback. As soon as the procedure is done, I have to fight my way back consciousness or else I'll slip away into a deep slumber. It's a powerful skill but it's a method of last resort. It I am so deeply submerged in my unconscious state, I need something powerful to shake me awake, like something hitting me hard enough to regain my senses," Aqua said with a smile. "Hence, why I asked you to hit me."

"You want me to wake you up as soon as the surgery is done because it might take too long to wake up after you're moved back to bed rest," Pyrrha said in understanding. Aqua nodded.

"That's right."

"Well, it's an odd request, but you can count on me, Professor," Pyrrha said.

"Oh, and one other thing," Aqua said, causing Pyrrha to raise her eyebrow in confusion. "I'm not your teacher anymore. Just call me Aqua."

"Okay, Aqua," Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Now, enough with the doom and gloom," Aqua said, looking down at Pyrrha's bump. "I know I disagreed with you not telling Jaune, but I'm happy for you, Pyrrha. That baby's going to be lucky to have you for a mom."

"Thank you, Aqua," Pyrrha said with a smile. Aqua's own face turned into a smirk.

"So, is it a boy or a girl?" Pyrrha waited for a few seconds before answering.

"It's a boy!"

The two of them cheered happily.

Tyrian strolled through the front door of a tavern, seeing a woman scrubbing the floors. She was a pretty little thing.

"Excuse me," Tyrian said, licking his lips. "I was hoping you could…help me find someone."

AN: Well, R.I.P. cute waitress.

So, yes, Tifa has been magically transformed into a Faunus. It'll be explained later.

Did anyone else find it weird that the branch of the White Fang that pretends to be peaceful still acts like a cult if the Albains are anything to go by? They're a group of freedom fighters, why did they think that was a good look?

I also think it's kind of interesting that Blake is the only member of Team RWBY that came from a normal family, and yet she rejected it, while the others all wish they had what she did.

And we know what Aqua is going to have to go through to walk again.

As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!