Author's note: this story is designed to be canon-plausible: it depicts outside-canon events, but complies with canon as much as possible. I will update every other Sunday until completion.
Credit for the idea goes to Akisawana. Certain STRQ backstory elements are borrowed from KesonaFryen's "Follow the Beacon".
Enjoy.

"Turn that light off," came the sleep-slurred grumble.

"It's called the sun, Qrow."

"So?"

"I can't turn off the sun."

"Curtains exist, right? Use some."

"Maybe I'll put some up the next time I renovate."

"You're a dirty liar."

"Hey, the early bird gets the worm, right?"

"You make me want to change my name, Tai."

Taiyang Xiao Long looked down at Qrow Branwen, who was lying sprawled on Taiyang's couch, and who was trying to cover his face with his arm and get back to sleep. "You like your coffee black?"

"I like my coffee with a double of whiskey in it."

"So, black."

Qrow cracked his eyes open. "Why are you doing this to me, Tai?"

Taiyang gave Qrow a brief smile. It was a familiar one, a comforting one. Qrow had known Taiyang since their school days—had known him, Qrow realized with a jolt, longer than he'd not-known him. As ever, Taiyang kept his blonde hair short but shaggy, and maintained the impressive physique of a Huntsman who did his business at arm's length. He wasn't as careful about managing his facial hair, which seemed about three days neglected. That was different; he'd always been clean-shaven, once upon a time…

The thought brought back memories that hurt, and Qrow winced in pain rather than think about them. Taiyang, oblivious, went back to his breakfast preparations. "Ruby and Yang are already awake, but I managed to divert them away before they discovered you were here. You know how they'll act if they find you."

Qrow grunted.

"So, I figured I'd do you a solid," said Taiyang, spooning eggs onto toast. "Give you the opportunity to not have to deal with that."

"I like 'dealing with' my nieces," said Qrow defensively.

"When you're not tired, injured, and hungover," said Taiyang keenly.

Qrow groaned. The man had a point, as usual.

"It's up to you," said Taiyang. "I just wanted to give you the choice."

"I appreciate that," Qrow said, and despite his tone of voice he meant it. He was, after all, tired, injured, and hungover, and none of those conditions were going to change in the near future. That made the prospect of dealing with the girls—particularly Ruby and her default energy level of triple-espresso—less enjoyable than usual.

By the same token, though, he was tired, injured, and hungover, which meant that making a clean getaway wasn't in the cards. Nothing that involved moving was, honestly, even for whatever goodness Tai was whipping up in the kitchen.

He did a quick self-assessment, a practice driven into his head by years of hard living and solo survival. Ribs, left ankle, right thigh, right bicep—all the places where he'd suffered hits or pushed his luck (ha ha) and aura too far—all were sore and tender still. Aura was patching them up, but slowly. Focusing aura to contain or heal damage was second nature to a Huntsman, but there was no focusing when the damaged area was "everywhere". It'd probably be days before he could fight at full strength again, longer before he felt whole.

Headache, to be expected—seven out of ten, he'd say. On his scale, that was right between "aftermath of five-hour pub crawl" and "ten minute talk with Raven". He was partially dehydrated, that was for sure, between the field work and the alcohol he'd had afterwards. Coffee would help and hurt. Alcohol, ditto.

His weapon was by his side still. Good. He didn't expect to have to use Harbinger—Taiyang's house was the safest place in the area in his opinion—but he'd have felt lost without it. There was nothing like a broadsword-slash-scythe with a hilt shotgun to help you sleep at night.

Supplies. He was out of food and, worse, out of booze; the last of his whiskey had gone to salving his pain last night. Again, a good reason to visit Taiyang, where food (though not booze) was plentiful. He had a little money to fix the booze problem, once he was fit enough to travel.

His mission was complete for now, too. He'd fired off his report before staggering into Taiyang's. He was off duty for the time being.

All in all, the idea of spending some time with the family… was a nice thought.

"Fudge."

Qrow sighed. Of course. The universe had such great comedic timing.

"So, enjoy this cup of coffee," said Taiyang, wandering back in Qrow's direction. "It might be the last we have for a bit."

"Oh?" said Qrow with poorly concealed dread. He had an inkling of what Taiyang was about to say...

"Yeah. Looks like the coffee maker just gave up the ghost."

…dammit.

"No big deal," said Taiyang, shrugging affably. "It was really old. I'd been wanting to get a new one for a while."

"Right," said Qrow. "What a coincidence. Real lucky break, there."

"Qrow."

"What?" Qrow snapped.

"You've been here nine hours and you're already slipping into your self-loathing routine," said Taiyang sternly. "It was an old coffee maker. I wanted to get rid of it. It's a good thing it died. Now I can stop being stupidly frugal and replace it, like I should have done ages ago. Okay?"

Qrow refrained from answering for as long as he could. "Fine," he said at last. This was an old dance for the two of them. Qrow knew his semblance better than anyone, knew the signs, knew the sorts of things it did. And Taiyang refused to know Qrow's semblance, refused to see the signs, and refused to acknowledge what it did.

Taiyang could be impossible to reason with, and Qrow had neither the energy nor the will to argue the point. Easier to pretend to agree and let it go.

It did revise his opinion on his next steps, though.

With effort he hauled himself into a sitting position. Taiyang was standing before him, expectantly, holding two cups of coffee. Qrow took one of them, steeled himself, and took a bracing drink. Stewed bean-water, honestly… coffee wasn't to help you wake up, it was to punish the body for being tired… Qrow managed to choke it down, scalding though it was.

"Well," he said with a shake of his head, "thanks for the hospitality and the place to crash, Tai. You're the best."

Taiyang frowned. "You can't mean you're leaving."

"I'll grab some food so I don't hurt your feelings," said Qrow with a grin that was only skin-deep. "Like you said, I'm not up for seeing the girls right now, so I'd best be on my way."

Taiyang extended one finger towards Qrow's chest. He pressed firmly.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow," said Qrow, sinking back into the couch to try and escape.

"You're not flying the coop in that condition," said Taiyang with a mixture of disappointment and concern.

Irritation bubbled up in Qrow's chest. "Sure thing, Mister Mom."

Taiyang smiled—a small, bittersweet smile. "You always say that like it's supposed to hurt me, but it never does. And you know I'm right."

"I could leave," Qrow said contrarily.

"You could," Taiyang admitted. "You could drag your miserable, complaining, half-dead carcass somewhere else. And you'd be giving up several days of family, warm beds, and free food."

Dammit. "I thought you woke me up to give me a chance to run off," said Qrow, annoyed, as usual, at Taiyang's generosity.

"It was to give you a chance to hide in the spare bedroom," said Taiyang, and he smiled for a moment before it faltered. "We built this as a four-bedroom house. You know that."

The words were more sobering than the coffee. "Yeah," mumbled Qrow. "I know that."

He couldn't face Taiyang like this. Not with those thoughts in his head. He took another sip of his coffee. Nope, still heinous, but he did feel marginally more human. A little suffering always grounded him nicely.

Unsurprisingly, it was Taiyang who was able to rally himself first. "So," he said, more sedately, "I'll be going up to Signal now. Breakfast is in the kitchen. There's enough for you and the girls, and they know to clean up after. If you want to avoid company, I'd say you've got about five minutes to clear out."

"Sure," said Qrow. He didn't say anything else, and Taiyang, after a moment's awkward silence, headed for the door. The sound of the door opening jogged something loose; he had to say it. "You know, I still say you're being dumb about this… but thanks."

He heard Taiyang's smile. He could see it without looking. "This is your home too, Qrow."

"Lucky me."

The door closed, leaving Qrow alone once more. He didn't mind being alone, really. It was better that way.

He sighed and decided to stop lying to himself for a minute.

Fine. He'd wait for the girls.

Given the moment, he looked around. Taiyang was keeping the house up well. Qrow would have to congratulate him on that. It was an achievement, given that it was a big house, he had no adults to help him, and he did have two aspiring Huntresses stomping around.

Qrow caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror near the entry. He took in his own appearance for a while. Black, graying, spiky hair (which he liked), red eyes (which he loved), a well-worn gray shirt and black pants (which he appreciated for how little dirt they showed), the shoulder clasps for his red cape (his biggest concession to vanity), and a permanent slouch (which he'd given up trying to fix).

As he looked more, he saw other signs, too. Unkempt facial hair. Pale skin, even by his standards, that clung close to his bones. Heavy bags under his eyes. Shallow breathing (his ribs complained about anything deep). He could see how poorly he was taking care of himself. He was a mess.

Man, he was too sober to be this maudlin. At least the girls would help in that regard. They'd never once complained about his appearance. Probably they didn't know quite what it signified.

He'd managed another few swigs of coffee before they returned. He heard them before he saw them.

"You can't be in my class, I'm two years ahead of you."

"Come oooooon, I can keep up with the coursework, you know that."

"It's not up to me, sis, and you know that…"

"U—UNCLE QROW!"

A blur of red launched across the room at Qrow. Qrow might have had top-notch reflexes, but he was far from the top of his game at the moment. His advantage was experience. The moment the door had started to open, he'd put his uninjured arm in front of him. Ruby Rose's arms latched on to that for her hug, even though the impact still left Qrow wincing.

"I'm so happy to see you!" she squealed.

"Hey, look, it's the attack of the pipsqueaks," he said affectionately, and he felt his insides warm faster and more pleasantly than any drink of coffee could do. Ruby was much as he remembered her: face-framing black hair with red highlights, bottomless silver eyes, facial features two years behind her actual age, and a baseline energy level most people couldn't achieve without drugs. He did notice some changes: she seemed gangly, all shins and forearms. "Not as much of a pipsqueak now, are you? Looks like you've grown another inch or two."

"I'm still short, though," Ruby said, and her voice was rich in annoyance.

"And flat," added Yang Xiao Long in well-practiced big-sister-harassment tones.

"Am not, am not!" Ruby shouted over her shoulder. "It just seems that way next to you!"

"Nice to see you, too, Firecracker," Qrow said with a nod at Yang. He pretended not to know what they were talking about, and failed spectacularly. At age 16, the elder sister was developing more and more obviously than the younger, much to Ruby's chagrin. Yang was still the same person, of course—the lilac eyes and brilliant mane of untamable yellow hair made her a singular figure—but when Qrow had been here last she'd been a girl. He wasn't sure that word worked for her anymore.

It bothered him, honestly, and he tried not to notice, but she made that impossible just by existing. It was like trying to stare at the sun and not notice the light.

She smiled. The whole room seemed to brighten when she did. "Hey, Uncle Qrow," she said. "You look like warmed-over death."

"And I feel like lukewarm death," Qrow said, easing Ruby onto the couch next to him. "Got into a situation at the end of my last mission. Nothing I couldn't handle, just got a bit rough, that's all. I figured I'd crash with you kids for a few days, check up on how you're doing, y'know?"

"So cool!" said Ruby, stars in her eyes. "Is this one of the missions you can tell us about, or one of your Secret Squirrel missions?"

Qrow cocked his head, amused. "Kiddo, what's with the 'Secret Squirrel' thing? You've used that phrase before, and I don't get it. Where do the squirrels figure in?"

"That's just what dad called it," Ruby replied. "We asked where you were one time, and he muttered something about Secret Squirrel Sh… stuff."

"Shit," corrected Yang.

Ruby's head whipped around. "Language!" she barked.

"It's what he said," was Yang's laughing response. "I'm just trying to be historically accurate."

"I get in trouble if I talk like that," Ruby grumbled mutinously.

"Yeah, but dad learned years ago that popping me on the wrist doesn't work out so well," Yang shot back with a devil-may-care grin.

"You get your wrists popped often?" Qrow asked.

"No," they both replied.

"Do you deserve to get your wrists popped often?" Qrow corrected himself.

"No," they said again, half-laughing.

"You could afford to be a bit more daring, then," said Qrow. "You don't wanna get in too much trouble, but a little trouble is good for the soul."

"I'll be sure to tell dad you told us that," teased Yang. "Hey, dad, you'll never believe what a little birdie told me…"

She was forcing the jokes, just like Tai always did, Qrow knew. "He's used to it," Qrow said with a shrug. "He was always the responsible one. He's the one who became a teacher while I went off to play crusader."

Yang's face darkened at that, but Ruby overshadowed her by nearly bouncing in her seat. "But you could be a teacher too, didn't you hear?"

"Huh?"

"They're having staffing issues up at Signal," explained Yang, her expression restored. "Dad was telling us about them."

"Huh," said Qrow. "Is that why you kids are out of school but he had to go in?"

"Term doesn't start until Monday," Ruby replied. "We're still off, but he has to go in to get ready."

"Oh." As usual, Qrow's grasp on time was shaky. How much of their lives had he missed this time? He tried briefly to do the math, but that hurt, so he stopped. He'd missed a lot, he decided. More than he'd meant to.

Yang went on without noticing Qrow's head-pain. "But that's the tricky part, they're trying to work out who's going to teach what, with all the holes to fill. One teacher retired, Meriwether's on medical leave until she gets a new prosthetic…"

"And it's a good prosthetic she needs, one of the expensive ones from Atlas, which is super-cool but it means it takes forever to get it shipped all the way here to Patch," said Ruby enthusiastically.

"…And Horten's on maternity leave, and Lewis took a job in Mistral," Yang finished.

Ruby nodded her agreement. "All normal stuff, it's just happening all at once. The school's had a run of bad luck, you know?"

Qrow fixed his smile in place so that the kids wouldn't know how his insides were suddenly squirming. No, he told himself. It can't be you. You weren't even here when all of this was happening. It was all before, right? Right. Your semblance is powerful, but it doesn't reach across continents.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Qrow nodded. "Yeah, does sound like an unhappy coincidence."

"No, it's a happy one," said Ruby. "Dad was saying that if they had even one more teacher it would make all the difference. They could rearrange things and scrape by. If only there was someone nearby who was qualified…"

Qrow blinked. There was no way she was suggesting what he thought she was suggesting.

She made a gesture with her hands, as if she obviously was suggesting what he thought she was suggesting.

"I hope they find one," Qrow said, hoping she'd take the hint.

"They won't have to," said Ruby proudly. "I found them one already."

"Who is it?" asked Qrow with a hint of desperation.

"You, duh," was Ruby's expected but unwelcome answer.

Qrow moaned and leaned back until his head was sagging over the back of the couch. "Ruby, kiddo, you're the best, but that is such a galactically bad idea I can't even start with it. I'd have to invent whole new words to describe how bad an idea it is."

"That doesn't sound like 'no'," said Ruby.

Qrow closed his eyes and gave a weak chuckle. "Okay, I'll play your game. No."

"I think you'd make a great teacher," Ruby said.

"Me too," added Yang.

"Why would you think that?" said Qrow, baffled.

"You've taught us a bunch, and it's always helped us," Yang said.

"I've gotten much better since your last visit," Ruby said, "and all because I've been training like you taught me."

"Huh," said Qrow, uncertain and nervous, but the girls didn't let him try and defend himself.

"You've been on active duty as a Huntsman longer than we've been alive," Ruby said. "I bet you've got all sorts of cool stories!"

"You have experiences none of our teachers have," Yang agreed. "You've been all over Remnant…"

"…you've fought grimm on every continent…"

"…you're a Huntsman legend…"

"…we hear stories about you all the time…"

"…not to mention all the Secret Squirrel Shit…"

"Language!"

"…you can teach us things we can't learn from anyone else," said Yang, like she was putting a bow on top.

That's probably true, and that's part of the problem. "It sounds a lot cooler than it was when you put it like that," he said.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Sorry, but I remember you finishing off half your stories by saying, 'And trust me, it was even more awesome in real life. You had to be there'."

She even did the voice. He was impressed against his will. "Most of that isn't combat school stuff, though," he protested. "That might be nice for the Huntsman academies, but it's not… appropriate for Signal." I'm not appropriate for Signal.

Ruby scoffed. "Are you saying you're overqualified to teach us?"

"Uh…" He pulled his hands over his face. "Listen, girls, I just woke up. I'm tired, injured, and hu—headachey. And hungry. I haven't even had breakfast yet. I'm not talking about this on an empty stomach."

"That's doesn't sound like 'no'," Ruby said again, wiggling in her seat.

"But it is a promise to talk more after we eat," said Yang mercilessly.

Qrow chuckled. "How does Tai live with you two? You must have him wrapped around your fingers."

"He bribes us a lot," said Yang as she walked to the kitchen.

"How do you suppose Yang got a motorcycle?" Ruby said as she followed her older sister's lead.

"And you need to learn to drive a harder bargain," Yang chided her younger sister. "He can usually buy you off with just cookies."

"I like cookies, thank you very much…"

Qrow made contented noises. Ah, domesticity. It was an idea so alien to him it was like it belonged to another species, but a nibble of it now and then was nice. Just enough to get the taste in his mouth. It helped. It really helped.

Of course it had been Taiyang who managed to settle down. He was the only member of Team STRQ who'd been cut out for that life. Mister Mom. Qrow had been calling him that for years before he had kids. He hadn't known how right he'd be.

It wasn't a bad life, when you got right down to it. It was steady work—there were always kids who needed schooling, and your odds of coming home safe at the end of each day were pretty damn high compared to the alternatives. Patch had just enough grimm that he could work up a sweat if he cared to, and plenty of places to buy alcohol when he needed it, and…

Oh, blech, was he thinking about Tai or himself? Either way, blech.

"Food."

Qrow hauled himself to something vaguely upright-ish, though his body ached to do so. Ruby was holding a plate towards him. Toast, eggs, fruit, something from the sausage family. An altogether more nourishing and wholesome breakfast than any he'd had in the past six weeks. He hoped it stayed down.

Piling all the rest of the food onto the toast until it was overloaded, he lifted the toast and gave the widest bite he could manage. He couldn't help the appreciative moan that escaped him as the flavors washed over his tongue.

"That good, huh?" said Yang, eyebrow raised.

Qrow chewed enough that he could stuff what was left into one cheek. "'U ne'er reaiii… mrf." He chewed some more, tried again. "You never realize how much you take food for granted until you're on your own in the wild. Especially if you're in the wide spaces between major cities. Especially if you're moving on your own power, and you have to carry everything yourself." Chew chew, swallow. "The foods that keep the best taste the worst. And you have to track how much you're eating, and how long it can last. You can scrounge up food in some cases, but all the time you spend finding food is time you spend not doing the mission you're out for in the first place, so sometimes it can do more harm than good. Food's serious business for a Huntsman."

The girls glanced at each other as he took another bite of his toast. They smiled; Ruby spoke. "Sounds like he'd be perfect teaching our Logistics classes, huh?"

Qrow gagged. Eggs tried to slide down the wrong pipe.

"No," argued Yang, "I'd want him running our Survival practicals."

Qrow managed to cough the eggs back onto his plate.

"You gonna make it there, Uncle Qrow?" said Yang, smirking at him. "What an embarrassing way to snuff it. The legendary Huntsman, Qrow Branwen, felled by his breakfast."

"'His death was tragic… and delicious'," Ruby added, holding up her hands as if to frame the words.

"You girls are what's killing me," Qrow mumbled. "I don't know why you're so dead set on this."

"We don't know why you're not," Yang said, and her voice was quieter this time. It let her confusion come to the fore.

Qrow took another bite of his breakfast. He was sure to fully chew this one before speaking again. "It'd be a bad idea," he said, in lieu of explaining. "Besides, I'm just here for a few days while I pull myself together again. Then it's back out to the field. You know, where the real work gets done."

"Where are you headed to next?" Ruby said innocently.

"Dunno," said Qrow with a frown. He pulled his scroll out and checked it. There was his mission report, and there was the reply. That was faster than he'd expected. It must have come in while he was sleeping off his Qrow-ness.

Good work as usual, Qrow. Take the next two weeks to recover. I'll contact you once things have developed more. -Oz

"Is it somewhere fun and exotic?" Ruby asked, sweet as can be.

"Uh…" Qrow thought hard—where was somewhere far he hadn't been lately? "Solitas," he managed.

"You took an awful long time answering," said Yang keenly. "I think you just made that up."

Damn these kids. "So what if I did?" said Qrow, losing his temper. "I'm not hanging around long enough to be a teacher, and that's that! I've got better things to do than play with kids!"

Ruby and Yang looked at each other. They didn't speak for a moment. Great, was this their version of sibling telepathy? His form of that with Raven had been much more limited (mostly variations on the word 'bitch'); he rarely knew what she was thinking. Was it different for these two?

He focused on his food. He enjoyed it. He didn't want to; the more he did, the harder it would be to leave when the time came. He couldn't help himself. Taiyang had gotten awfully good since the days when he'd been STRQ's team cook. (Almost by default. Summer had been the team baker, but that was different. Raven burned everything she cooked, which the others agreed was probably deliberate. Qrow was perma-banned from all kitchens.)

"I guess that's it," said Yang casually. "I know a lost cause when I see one."

Ruby sighed. "It's too bad. I wanted him to stick around a while, this time."

"It can't be helped." Yang held out her hand; Ruby deposited her plate in it. "Hey Rubes, you ready for our morning spar?"

"Meet you there," she said, then turned to Qrow. "You wanna watch? We'd love for you to see how we've been coming along."

Qrow smiled. Genuinely, to his surprise. "I suppose," he said. "I've got time to kill, and watching you kids flail cracks me up."

"Great!" said Ruby, clapping. "We'll be out front in a few minutes. I know you're still finishing breakfast, so just come out when you're ready, okay?"

He didn't have a chance to respond before she was zipping upstairs. There was a brief bit of crashing, more thump-thump of feet coming back downstairs, and then she was out the door with such vigor he was surprised the hinges held.

Qrow took his time finishing his food. Yang was outside long before he'd cleaned his plate, choked down the last of his coffee, and chased it with several glasses of water. He even had enough time to rummage around for a hangover cure. As he'd expected, he didn't come across any alcohol in his search, but he was able to put together a hair of the dog that was, if nothing else, a splendid placebo.

At last his stomach was settled and his headache was manageable. He headed for the door.

As soon as he walked out there was yapping to his right. Qrow barely glanced at Zwei, the black-and-white corgi Taiyang usually remembered to care for. "Hey there," he said in Zwei's direction, and the dog—unusually perceptive for its kind—barked back. Zwei didn't approach, though. Qrow had never tried to kick the corgi, but whatever power protects pets rushing at a human's legs was no match for Qrow's semblance. Zwei learned quickly.

The girls seemed to be between falls. Both were panting, but their weapons weren't in ready positions, and they were chatting. Ruby noticed Qrow leaving the house. "Ca-caw," she called.

Yang grinned. "Ready, then?"

"You bet!" said Ruby. She hoisted her weapon, it unfolded, and…

…and it was larger than she was, even with her growth spurt.

This wasn't the same weapon she'd wielded when he'd been here last. Sure, it was a scythe, that was the same, but plenty about it had changed. Qrow found himself reverse-engineering it in his head as he watched her twirl it about, partly to make ready, partly to discourage Yang from any reckless charges.

Her technique was off, though. She wasn't used to it, he could tell immediately. Both weapon and wielder had changed, and they needed time to grow together.

He frowned. The unfamiliarity was manifesting in another way, too…

Yang kept just out of Ruby's range, close enough to probe and force Ruby to act, not close enough to get punished. She was teasing Ruby, threatening her, trying to provoke—

There it was. Ruby felt a feint like it was a charge, took a lunging swing that fell short. Yang stepped around it, and…

And made a gruesome footwork mistake Qrow would never believe Taiyang's daughter could make. She didn't suffer for it, but it was so fundamentally flawed Qrow felt pain.

Now Yang was charging inside Ruby's weapon range, but Ruby was backing away even as she twirled, bringing her scythe around again. Not enough; Yang was struck by the staff, not the blade, and she was more than able to absorb that kind of hit. Cheeky girl actually gave Qrow a wink even as she advanced. A right hook came around.

Even expecting the blast that erupted from Yang's gauntlet when she connected, Qrow was still caught off-guard by its volume. Yang was packing heat in those things.

A fact that was just as helpfully communicated by Ruby stumbling and falling backwards, aura sparking brightly at having to absorb such a blast. Yang advanced another step, staying well inside Ruby's range and guard. Ruby unexpectedly threw her weapon forward—then burst forward with impossible speed, underneath Yang's next punch, catching Crescent Rose in the act and spinning to a stop out of range. Rose petals fluttered past her as she made ready again.

Zwei barked excitedly. As if that was a signal, both girls eased out of their stances. Yang laughed as she faced her sister. "Okay, you survived, but I still won the pass."

"Yeah, suppose you did," said Ruby sheepishly. "I was done as soon as I committed on your feint. What do you think, Uncle Qrow?"

Qrow had been furiously biting his tongue, wanting to speak, desperately trying not to speak. He could see what the kids were doing, he knew their game, and they were still catching him.

They'd been messing up on purpose. He knew it. They knew he knew it. They smiled at him. Dammit.

"You have to channel your aura through your whole weapon, not just part of it," Qrow said to Ruby, though he had annoyance enough for everyone. "Especially you, since all a scythe's weight is at the head. If your aura isn't reaching out there and making the weapon an extension of you, it'll always be too heavy. You know that."

"Guess I just… forgot," Ruby said, unconvincingly. "Crescent Rose is bigger now, so I gotta get used to pushing my aura that much more, I suppose."

"And you," Qrow said, glaring at Yang, "what was that crossover nonsense? You know how easy it is to trip pulling a stunt like that? Even a near-miss puts you on the ground. You've gotta tighten your fundamentals if you wanna take on anything more dangerous than a fourteen-year-old with a gardening tool."

They were both taking his criticism without losing their smiles. Ruby didn't even complain about the slight against Crescent Rose. Qrow knew that he'd been had. He'd seen the trap and still fallen into it.

"It's always great to have you coaching us, Uncle Qrow," said Ruby sincerely as she stowed her weapon.

"But it'll be hard once school starts," Yang said. "Once we go back to classes, we won't be able to see you all school day, so we won't have many chances for you to teach us."

"Unless," Ruby said, hands held adorably behind her back, swaying side-to-side, "you found a way to teach us while we're at school…"

Qrow glowered at them. It wasn't fair.

They weren't fair.

They were going to be terrifying Huntresses.

"Fine!" he hollered, crossing his arms as if he was the petulant teenager in the situation. "Fine! I'll talk to Tai when he gets home tonight."

"Hooray!" said Ruby, and she was hugging him before he could muster any defense. Yang followed, a step behind but with more force, and he was sure the two of them would shatter what little aura he could muster.

With as much affection as he was getting, though, maybe that was a fair trade…

Crescent Rose slipped off Ruby's back, hit the ground, and fired.

Qrow would have sprang back at the noise, but four teenaged arms held him steady. Even so, he could see a branch fall from a nearby tree, blasted away by the stray sniper shot. Zwei twirled in place, barking insanely.

"You didn't engage the safety?" said Yang severely.

"Whoopsie," said Ruby, abashed. "Plus, it looks like I forgot to upgrade my stow when I rebuilt Crescent Rose, and it couldn't take the weight. I'll need to fix that… right, Uncle Qrow?"

Qrow couldn't answer. He was staring up at the sky. It had taken all of fifteen seconds for him to realize that something he'd agreed to was a terrible mistake.

Even for him, that was a record.

To be continued...