Today was the day I'd been waiting for ever since I got settled in. The big dance was today, and everyone was preparing. Actually, let me rephrase that. I was preparing. Freddy decided to stay behind and keep the bar open for a few hours.

That gave me time to write down some of the non-alcoholic cocktails we'd be serving at the dance. There were a few involving some sugar water, lemon juice and some coconut milk. Guess the internet here was pretty handy from time to time. I stretched my arms as I got off the bench I was seated at. I was wearing casual blue jeans, paired with my black t-shirt which Ozpin had so generously given to me. I looked up at the sky. It was a sunny day today. Not too warm, though.

I continued scribbling down on my notepad until it suddenly got a bit darker in my line of sight. Looking up from the pad, I smiled. "Hey, look who it is," I said, greeting the four students in front.

"Team JNPR at your service." Jaune replied, shaking my hand.

"Good to see you all," I said, looking over them. "I'm just finishing my preparations for tonight. Looks like I'll be the bartender for the dance aside my uncle. Which reminds me," I looked at Jaune. "You completed our bet yet?" I asked. He shook his head. "Great." I smiled.

"What bet?" Asked Pyrrha, looking at the both of us with a confused look.

"I am curious to hear about this too." Ren added.

"So am I!" Nora piped in.

I chuckled, holding out my hand to Jaune. "That is a secret between two friends, fellas. So, you all excited for the dance? Got any dates yet?" I asked.

Nora held Ren's arm, tugging at it. "I've got this guy over here! Not as a date-date, but, you know, as a friend-date thingy!" She then, with much enthusiasm I might add, explained how Ren and her were the best of friends and that a relationship would never work out, while Ren continued to shake his head at her childish banter.

Deciding to help the guy out, I cut Nora off from her rambling. "Nora, please, calm down. I get it, you have a date for the dance. Great." I turned my attention to Pyrrha. I already knew she didn't have a date, but to deepen the relationship between Jaune and her I had to give both of them a push in the right direction. That could mean losing the bet, but I have a way to talk myself out of it. Good thing I'm tending tonight, that should give me a better look on things.

Pyrrha seemingly knew that I was about to ask her the same question I had asked Nora. She shook her head. "No, I do not have a date..." she trailed off. "But I'm not giving up!" she beamed.

"Good going, Pyrrha," Jaune responded, patting her shoulder. "As your team leader I order you to further your search for a date, ha ha." He jokingly added.

I slapped my forehead. Quite literally, actually. That got me some looks from the JNPR crew. I didn't care though. I rubbed my temples and looked at Jaune, shaking my head. "Jizzthroat, if I were to have a penny for every brain cell that still functions in that head of yours, I'd have zero. I'd be broke and would probably have to sell my body to take care of my seventeen children."

"Uh… I don't know how to respond to that," Jaune shamefully admitted.

"I didn't expect you to," I replied, sighing. "So, Pyrrha, that is quite a shock. I mean you're a nice girl. I thought guys must be all over you or something. I mean, yeah, I didn't get asked for the dance either, but whatever. I might as well end up dancing with my uncle for all I care."

Pyrrha giggled softly at that.

He, looks like I just got myself a plan. If I play my cards right this could turn out to be a win, win situation for both me and Jaune. "Well, seeing as the three of us have no date, let's do it like this! You each get a share of me!" I held out my arm, a big smile planted on my face. "That way you will both have a date for the dance and not be alone. I know it's a retarted plan, but at least you'll not be one of those losers who have no date for the dance."

"I heard Yang, Ruby, Blake and Weiss don't have dates either," Nora suddenly added.

I looked at her. "Nora, thank you for that useful information." I replied. I turned my attention back to the duo, who had looks of uneasiness on their faces. "So, what do you think?"

Pyrrha shifted uncomfortably, while Jaune rubbed the back of his head.

"Or you two could, I don't know, go together. It'd be a win, win situation for the both of you," I admitted.

Now I know what you're thinking. Ramses, if you continue you have to do Jaune's laundry for an entire month plus do his homework too! Why would you put yourself in that situation? Well, because Jaune is too much of a sissy to actually go on with the idea. He has a major crush on Weiss and that is not going to change.

"I don't think that's a good idea. You know, us being teammates and all," Jaune admitted.

Told you.

Pyrrha became seemingly saddened by his comment. She held her head high, though, and added. "Yeah, you're right. It's best if we just stay professional, you know." Pyrrha looked at me. "I think I'll have to decline your offer. Thanks for asking, though. If you're not too busy tonight, I'd love to dance with you." She smiled.

I nodded, giving her a smile of my own. "Sure. If I'm not being held up by my uncle, I'll definitely give you a chance to dance with me." I looked at Nora and Ren. "You two want to dance with the master as well?"

Nora nodded, while Ren shrugged.

"I will take that as a 'yes'." I went to sit back down on the bench and took out my notepad again. "If you all don't mind, I have work to do. And if I remember correctly, you all have combat training in five minutes."

I didn't even have to look at them to know what their expressions would be like. I heard them darting towards the entrance of the academy. I love my job. And I love it when people actually listen to me when I tell them something. I knew asking for every student's schedule wasn't a bad idea. Thank god Ozpin didn't object against the idea.

I might sound like a creep, but I like the idea of knowing someone's location—especially when I can save lives with it. I continued scribbling down on my notepad, all the while wondering how things were at the bar.


During the afternoon hours a bar is usually jam-packed with people. It can get quite stressful for a bartender during those hours. People will order a variety of drinks, and sometimes it can get really out of hand. You might get some drinks mixed up because of all the stress, or some people might have to wait a bit longer for their drinks to be served.

However, during this particular afternoon, the bar was pretty quiet. And for a good reason.

Freddy was seated on a barstool, his back facing the counter and his front facing the bar's entrance. He sat there, cross-legged, calm, waiting for someone to arrive. He tapped his fingers on his knee. He wondered how this would turn out.

As if on que, the door opened, and two figures walked in. Freddy got up from his stool, and motioned for them to sit at the bar.

"Good to see you, Yang." He smiled at the blonde. He glanced to the other girl. "And this must be Blake. I do believe I have seen you before. It's nice to finally see you again. How have you been?"

Blake's reply was a mere, yet bored "good". She took a seat at the counter or the bar and rested her head on her palms. She glanced around, taking in her environment. It almost seemed like she was scanning the area for something.

Freddy looked at Yang, and she looked back at him with a sad frown. He gave her a nod of insurance and walked behind the counter until he stood directly in front of Blake, the only thing separating them being a thick piece of wood. He smiled at her, but she didn't smile back. She just stared at him blankly.

"What can I get you?" he asked.

"Some water will do," Blake replied.

Freddy nodded. He did as she told and handed her a glass of water. He gave Yang the usual—that being Haven's Dust. Handing her the glass, he decided he would speak up first.

"Blake, you seem troubled. Is something bothering you?" he asked, hoping to get some sort of a reaction out of her, "You're a smart girl, so you might already know why Yang has brought you here. I can see you have not been sleeping well, and your grades have been dropping too, right? Young lady, what has gotten into you? What could have possibly happened to make you go down such a path?"

"You don't know me." Blake frowned. "So why bother asking?"

"Because," Freddy said, pointing a finger at Yang. "That girl right there was on the verge of tears yesterday! She came in here and I instantly knew something was wrong, so I ask her and guess what she says? She's worried sick over you! So THAT'S why I bother asking."

Blake looked over at Yang. Yang averted her gaze towards Blake.

"Yang, if you're going to tell me to stop you might as well save your breath," Blake said coldly. "I'm not giving up. In case you haven't noticed, things haven't been going all that well. We can't slow down either. That's a luxury we unfortunately do not have."

Yang looked at her friend. "It's not a luxury," she said, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's a necessity. I'm not telling you to stop, just to slow down."

"A necessity?!" Blake repeated after her friend. "The only necessity is stopping Torchwick. You saw what he was capable of when he hijacked that mech he stole from the Atlesian military. He almost killed us! He could have done some serious damage! You don't understand!"

"I do understand! I thought I made that VERY clear when I told you about my mother on our way to this place! I can't believe the way you're acting right now." Yang countered, her eyes turning red. "I told you, I haven't given up the search for my mother! To this very day I still want to know what happened to her. What good is the search when we end up destroying ourselves in the process?"

A hard noise cut both of the girls off. They both turned their attention to the bar, where Freddy had slammed his hand down on. He looked at the two girls with a look of frustration on his face.

"Ladies, I don't like it when two people argue—especially when one," he looked at Blake, "has no respect for the other's words. Yang has told you something very personal, or so I am to believe judging by her words. And you dismiss it like it is the most common thing in the world. Are you even listening to anything she is saying?" he asked.

Blake was about to reply, but Freddy cut her off.

"What is on your mind? Can you at least tell me that?" Freddy asked, his gaze softening.

Blake shifted in her seat. She looked to Yang for any guidance. Yang gave her a reassuring pat on her back, and Blake decided to speak up.

"There is so much going on at the moment, and I feel like I'm the only one who can fix it. The things that have happened, I could have stopped them, but I was too weak. Now I can only make sure those things never happen again. I'm the only one who can do this. I just have to do it." Blake's shoulders slumped, and she took a sip from her glass. "I know that my grades have been dropping, that I rarely eat and don't get enough sleep. But who cares about that? The only thing that matters is stopping Torchwick."

"Clearly it does matter to someone," Freddy said, crossing his arms. "Otherwise we wouldn't be here, now would we?"

Blake grunted, not wanting to look at her friend. She had said some pretty harmful stuff. Not to mention rude and insensitive. She was a shit friend.

"I think you need to realize something, Blake," Freddy said. "You have people around you that care deeply for you. You just don't see it. This entire trip Yang has been there for you. She has cared for you. Listened to you and even shared personal information with you to make you see things from a different perspective. You are so caught up with your own thoughts and ideals you fail to see the bigger picture." He smiled at her. "There will always be people who care for you, no matter what path you take. However, that does not mean that they will agree to walk said path alongside you. That is where you have to come to a compromise with yourself. Do you want to share this path and drag your friends into the hell you have created for yourself? Or do you walk a different path and try to see things from another point of view?"

Yang's expression was… somewhat a mix of impression and complete surprise. Was this guy a bartender or a psychologist? He mentioned it before, but seeing it put into action with her watching from the sidelines made her see Freddy in a different light. She started respecting this man with every second he talked. That was an uncommon thing for her. Usually men only cared for one thing when talking to her. But Freddy… and even Ramses, they're different. They act so… like they don't even care what's happening around them. Like they're living each day to its fullest. Maybe that's why she was so interested in spending more and more time with both of them. She hadn't really gotten the chance to talk to Ramses a lot. She'd have to ask him for a drink or something.

Blake looked at Freddy as if he had just basically summed up her whole life up until now. She struggled to find the right words. She did not know how to answer the lines he had just said because they were all true,

Silence befell the bar, and none dared to speak. Well, except for one person.

"I understand," Freddy said, placing his hand on top of Blake's. The sudden touch made her flinch, but instead of pulling away she let her hand sit there. For some reason it felt… nice. "More than you realize, I understand wanting to walk away from your friends, and act on your own. But please, don't do what I did. I didn't have someone looking out for me back then. At least, not until that person was of the right age and understood what was going on."

"What… what do you mean by that?" Blake asked.

"A long, long time ago I lost someone very important to me," Freddy replied.

"Who?" Yang asked.

Freddy looked at Yang, his eyes drooping. "My son."

Audible gasps from both members of team RWBY could be heard. Nonetheless, Freddy continued.

"My son was in the military. He was shipped out and… something bad happened out there. He lost a good friend of his in the midst of battle. When he came back he was a changed person. I tried to go after the military, thinking they had done this to my son. I told him I would do everything in my power to make them pay for what they had done to him." He wiped his eyes with his sleeves. "But I… I failed to see that all my son needed at that time was a shoulder to cry on. He did not have anyone else. All of his friends refused to talk to him because of the PTSD he was suffering from. They did not want a guy around who would jump at the slightest noise that resembled a bomb or a rocket going off. So, they decided to stop visiting him, since he rarely came out of his home after the incident."

Again, nothing but silence.

"After that, my son went on a trip to make him feel better. Or so he said. He never came back from that trip. Two days later they found his body. He had taken an overdose of prescription medication by the grave of his fallen comrade. He had a note with him specifically meant for me. It read, 'Dear papa, if you are reading this, then you must know that I am in a better place now. You were so focused on helping me I felt like I was becoming a burden, just as I had become to all my friends. I did not want you to leave me as well, so I decided to have the last memory of us together be a good one. I enjoyed our last meal together. Your burgers were always my favorite. I love you, papa. Your son, Henry.'

He went into his pocket and took out an antique looking pocket watch. Opening it, there was a piece of paper folded neatly inside of it. "This is the note he wrote. I carry that with me everywhere I go." He unfolded the note, handing it to Blake. "Be careful, it's all I have left to remember him by."

Blake grabbed the note, holding it like it was some sort of artifact worth millions. She read it, and every word written on there was exactly what Freddy had just told her. No mistake whatsoever. It all added up to what was written on the very note she was holding.

Handing the note back to him, Blake let out a long sigh. She looked at Freddy, who had started folding up the note again so that he could put it back where it belonged.

Yang was wiping away a tear that had formed in the corner of her eye, and even Blake felt a sting in her chest.

"Why?" she asked. "Why share such a personal story with us? With me?"

"Because, Blake," Freddy replied. "I don't want you to turn into me. I do not want you to make the same mistakes I did." He placed the pocket watch back into his pocket. "Now, it's getting late, and you have to get rid of those bags of yours." He motioned to Blake's eyes. "Now, chop, chop, and get going you two!"

The two ladies did so, and stood up. They bid their farewells, and Yang gave her friend a big hug. Freddy couldn't help but smile at the sight. They left the bar, but before the door closed, Blake took one glance back into the bar and watched as Freddy sat down on a barstool and took out his pocket watch again. She looked down at the floor. She felt really bad for him. The loss must still sting a lot. The door closed shut, and Freddy was left alone.

Freddy stared down at the watch, getting lost in thought. Minutes passed and the door to the bar opened.

"Bar's closed," Freddy said.

"Even for your favorite nephew?"

Freddy looked up to see Ramses standing there, smiling at him. Freddy smiled back and looked down at the watch. He felt his eyes starting to water up when all of a sudden, a warm hand reached his shoulder. Looking back up, he saw Ramses standing beside him. He nodded to him and let his tears run freely.

Sometimes even the oldest and wisest of men must show their true colors.

Together they sat there in silence, remembering the memory of a deceased family member.