"AGGH!" Cinder clutched her left shoulder.
"Cinder!" Emerald ran to her side, "What's wrong?"
Cinder didn't say anything. She just held her side and seethed.
Gordeau looked at her in thought before realizing what was happening, "Oh, shit. How did I forget about that?" he mumbled to himself. Before anyone could stop him, he summoned his spear and chucked it though Cinder's arm.
She screamed again and, summoning her Maiden powers, glared at the man.
He rolled his eyes at her, "Stop it. I'm trying to help." With one quick movement he gripped the spear and twisted, pulling the Grimm out of Cinder's body and promptly killed it.
The pain in Cinder's shoulder stopped and she looked on as her arm started to regrow itself.
Gordeau nodded to her, "There. Your arm should be back by the time we start the next viewing."
Cinder was conflicted. On one hand, this fool had relieved her of her pain and was her mistresses' son, but on the other it was clear he did not like his mother and had a soft side for her enemies. She decided not acknowledging him was the best option.
Gordeau rolled his eyes before addressing the audience, "So, as I've said, there are infinite realities out there," everyone nodded before he continued, "Well, in one of those universes, your lives are the subject of a scroll series."
This raised some eyebrows in the crowd. Gordeau continued, "And, as such, the people who produced the show gave most of you musical themes. I thought it would be interesting for you to hear some of them."
"That sounds like fun," Ruby commented joyfully.
Winter raised an eyebrow, "Indeed. It would be interesting to see what other people think of us."
Several other nods came from around the room. Gordeau prepped his scroll, "Okay. I just have them on a shuffle so I have no idea which one we'll hear first or who it will be about." He hit play and the song began playing.
Kill for Kill, eye for eye, blood for blood, it's time to die. Retribution tastes so sweet.
"So, who's this about?" Yang asked.
"All the talk of vengeance makes me think Adam," Blake mused.
"But Adam isn't like that," Ilia commented, earning her strange glares before she defended herself, "I mean, wouldn't his be more like life for eye instead?"
Blake thought for a moment then nodded.
Gone's the life that he gave. Now revenge is all I crave. Retaliation's soon complete
"No," Neo sighed, "It's me."
Roman and Ilia looked at her with questioning gazes, "I was pretty consumed by revenge when you died, Roman. You gave me a life I never knew, and then it was gone."
I was nowhere, I had no one, I felt nothing. Lost without a voice and on my own.
Head's went down in the front row. No one, save Roman and Ilia, had realized just how hard Neo's life had been.
Then a candle's flame brought a brand new name.
"Wait," Ilia questioned, "Neo Politan isn't your real name?"
Roman shrugged, "She couldn't speak when I found her, so I named her something I could easily remember."
"But she can talk now," Jaune noted, "So what's your name?"
Neo shrugged, "I don't know. Neo works fine for me."
But now you've stolen everything and I'm all alone
I had one thing and you've taken it from me
Emerald noted the similarities between Neo's background and her own. Is this how she would feel if Cinder was killed?
A single light, a single friend, but you've made that end
Ilia wrapped her arm around Neo, "Well, now you have two, Sundae."
There was one thing to help escape the misery and now it's all disarrayed.
You took my whole life away. You sent me back to nothing. Now you'll pay. Pay
"That's how you felt towards me?" Ruby asked in shock.
"It was," Neo said solemnly, "Though that was before I knew the truth, and got Roman back. They were originally directed at Matchstick."
Cinder glared at the girl with her own hate.
Life for life, death for death, Tit for tat, just one last breath. Absolution's nowhere near. Cue the scene, now it's time. Reparation for your crime, atonement day is finally here.
I had waited for this meeting, for this moment. Dreamed about the day I'd make you crawl. What a sweet release when you rest in peace. Vengeance, justice, finally mine and I'll watch you fall.
Everyone listened in silence. It was eye-opening for Roman to see just how far the girl he considered his daughter had fallen.
The students and other adult role models saw how hard it was for Neo to relive this and respectfully listened.
I had one thing and you've taken it from me. A single light, a single friend, but you made that end. There was one thing to help escape the misery and now it's all disarrayed. You took my whole life away.
You sent me back to nothing, now you'll pay the price. You destroyed my life. After years of suffering finally had a place to go, but not anymore.
And now it's war. And there won't be peace till I get what I came for.
I had one thing and you've taken it from me. A single light, a single friend but you've made that end. There was one thing to help escape the misery, and now it's all disarrayed. You took my whole life away. You sent me back to nothing, now you'll pay the price.
As the song finished, Neo sighed, "I just want to let everyone know, I don't feel that way anymore. I still don't like Cinder, but with Roman being back," she paused and smiled at Ilia, "And my new girlfriend, I have no desire for revenge."
Cinder rolled her eyes at Neo's change of heart.
Gordeau nodded at her, "Now, I think we all could use a break. I'll set up the next universe so it will be ready when we get back."
"Neo?" Roman asked, "Could the two of us talk alone for a minute?"
The girl nodded and left with Roman.
Watching as Roman and Neo left the room Ruby released a small sigh.
Honestly, listening to Neo's "song" had made Ruby feel like she dodged a bullet by having been dragged here with the others. If Cinder and Neo really were also on the way to Atlas... that could have ended really badly for them.
She really doubted that Neo would have allowed her to explain what happened and with Neo's Semblance she could have easily killed some of Ruby's friends if given even the slightest opening.
"What did you want to talk about Roman?"
Roman looked at Neo with a sad but serious expression. He had been shocked by the song and how deeply Neo had gone off into vengeance. Part of that was his own fault he knew, because during their time as criminals he had always kept Neo close to him.
While it had done wonders to their own relationship to each other it had also left Neo with only one person to depend on and she was left vulnerable after his death.
"Neo I want you to tell me what happened to you in the time after you flew away from the Airship where I died."
Neo flinched a bit before looking down. For a moment, Roman thought she didn't want to answer but eventually she started talking in a shaky voice which felt like a knife in Roman's Heart.
"After Red opened Hush and I flew away, I fought off a few Grimm who tried to eat me before landing on the ground around a mile or two outside of Vale. The wind made me drift away too far, but I ran back to the City rather quickly. I then hurried to the wreckage of the Ship which we used in the hope of finding you Roman. I found the hat, but there was no trace of you.
Knowing the plan I then went to our Secret Hideout where we planned to go in case we ever would be separated during a Heist. I spent two days there waiting for you before the door was crashed down by some Huntsman who was planning on capturing me. I fought him off and ran away.
I then found out from the News that there had been massive bounties put on the heads of Adam, Cinder, Mercury, Emerald and me. Your picture was also there but crossed out along with listing you as deceased."
Roman watched as Neo teared up and he quickly moved forward and hugged her. Neo sobbed for a few moments in his arms before she continued her story.
"I spent two weeks on the run in Vale. Constantly hunted by Huntsmen and Bounty Hunters, even fellow criminals turned on me the moment I showed up and several of our contacts among the Underworld immediately tried to sell me out for the bounty. In the end I knew I couldn't stay in Vale anymore.
I went to Junior and asked him for help. He let me stay with the Twins for a few days until he managed to find a smuggler-pilot who was headed to Mistral. I took the Bullhead and spent the rest of the year in Mistral.
Mostly I did some fobs for Lil Miss Malachite who the Twins gave me a letter for. I did some information-gathering, theft and the odd assassination job while working for her until one day. While I was on a job, Miss Malachite called and informed me about Cinder reappearing. I then went to confront and kill the Bitch."
Roman frowned as he let Neo go who had calmed down slightly. (Making inwardly a note to repay the debt to Junior, The Twins and Miss Malachite once they returned to the past)
"I see. I´m sorry that I left you alone Neo."
He smirked at her.
"By the way, while spending time with Rainbow seems fun for you, how about you start interacting with the other kids too? Pretty sure you can befriend at least some of them."
Seeing Neo's eyes light up a bit more before she nodded Roman smiled before ruffling her head. Laughing as she slapped his hand away, he walked towards the kitchen deciding to take his own advice and talk a bit with Qrow and the Muscled Blond Man who was Lil Reds Father.
Adam watched calmly as most of the others from Remnant left the room to take bathroom breaks or to eat some Lunch.
Waiting until he was the last in the room he leaned back and thought about his situation.
The fact that he was not only alive again but also in some weird sub-space with a sorcerer to watch other worlds was confusing and weird like hell but he could cope with that.
In fact, if Adam's suspicions about what would happen after they left were correct then he would be willing to watch a thousand of these worlds. He was NOT stupid. There was no reason to bring someone like him specifically back from the dead unless it served a greater plan where Adam played a role and just watching Universes was not nearly enough to justify it. So chances were good that at the end of this Adam would be allowed to return to Remnant alive and whole.
Which brought him to his situation.
Adam was not sure what to do when he returned. The White Fang had at this point either been taken over by Ghira or splintered apart after Adam had his mental-breakdown after the failed attack on Haven Academy. Killing a dozen of his own subordinates in a fit of rage certainly would have ruined the rest of his reputation among the White Fang.
Then there was the situation with Blake. Honestly, the romance aspect was not really Adam's problem.
They had only gotten together a few months after she turned 16 and she had defected before the first year of their relationship had been over and most of that time had been spent doing missions and Raids for the Fang. Not much opportunity to go on dates or have a romantic getaway.
What had hurt far more was that she not only simply left the White Fang (Leaving him on a train rigged to explode and full of killer-robots) but also that Blake had left him without a word of explanation.
Blake had been his Student, Team-Partner and literally ONLY friend in the world. She had been the only person who he had EVER shown his face without mask, something he had not even shown Sienna or Ghira his leaders.
Adam had put all his trust into Blake and she had simply not returned it. Even then, he had been willing to just let her go off and do whatever she wanted only for her to turn around and attack the White Fang again and again.
The Shipment of Schnee-dust, the White Fang Rally (costing them a Paladin), Mountain Glenn (Where over a hundred of the new recruits along with his Lieutenant died.).
After Mountain Glenn and the death of so many Faunus Adam had no other choice but to simply accept that Blake was now his enemy which was why he had tried to kill her at the fall of Beacon.
From there everything went downhill for Adam and now he had nothing.
What should he do? What did Salem's existence mean for Adam's desire for Faunus no longer being discriminated? What about the Gods, would they destroy Faunus alongside Humanity when they returned? What about the Relics, could he use them somehow?
Adam was stumped at what to do and the only thing he could think off was to hope one of these Universes would give him some ideas for a new plan which would see the Humans tyranny over Faunus broken. And not one as idiotic as unleashing a zombie plague. That idea had just been stupid.
"Hmm!"
Ozpin looked curiously at some of the books in the library which he found while wandering his sons Domain. He certainly had some very interesting books. Some weird ones too Ozpin idly thought as he remembered the book titled "The Monster book of Monsters" who had growled at him as he walked past its cage.
He sighed as he remembered why he was here. Originally, he had followed the others into the kitchen to grab a bite to eat but the suspicious and hostile looks directed at him had left him very uncomfortable.
The only people who seemed to have nothing against him were funnily or sadly enough Adam Taurus, Neo Politan and Roman Torchwick. All three had done more than enough bad stuff to not care about his lies and misdirections. That said, they didn´t care about him either meaning he still had no one to talk with who would not glare at him.
Feeling depressed he grabbed a random book from a shelf before groaning when he looked at its title "Another Pun". He was not a Xiao Long, damn it.
Putting the book back he grabbed another that seemed more his type called "Fantastic Beasts and where to find them" from Newt Scamander.
Sitting down he sighed again as he waited in solitude until his estranged son decided to call them back into the room.
Sun relaxed in his chair a bit after he finished eating his lunch. He had to admit the dining room which they had found was awesome. It was like a giant greenhouse with exotic plants everywhere and a large table with chairs in the middle of the room.
Given his upbringing in Vacuo where many of the forests were long gone, Sun always enjoyed being surrounded by nature so he felt right at home.
Looking at the others who were in the room he saw most were still busy eating their food. His eyes lingered a bit on Cinder Fall and her two minions who were whispering to each other about something.
Thinking about four of the people who were not in the room, Sun had to admit that he felt conflicted about all of them.
Ozpin had originally joined them in the kitchen where he made himself some coffee but then had quickly rushed off somewhere. Honestly? Sun pitied the man quite a bit. Lies or not, the expression on Ozpin's face as he left had been one of such utter loneliness and fear that it was difficult to ignore.
Sun had noticed that Ruby had also seen Ozpin's reaction along with some guilt on her face when she merely stepped aside to let the Headmaster through the door. He had quietly used the chance to question her and had found out what had happened.
Afterwards everything had been clear. Qrow's remark about how meeting Ozpin must have been the unluckiest moment of his life had seemingly crushed ALL of Ozpin's confidence and had left the man a wreck merely trying to hide from the world. Sun had not managed to restrain from wincing at Qrow's extremely harsh words, but ultimately Sun would not be able to help Ozpin out of his depression.
The second person was another matter.
Adam Taurus was a person who Sun now felt extremely conflicted about. Partially out of guilt.
Sun very vividly remembered his words to Blake a long time ago: how the White Fang were a bunch of people just using force to get what they want along with his insult afterwards.
Honestly, Sun had always thought the White Fang had just been a bunch of people who had resorted to force over small matters like bullying or getting less money in their jobs or such. Sure, a crappy move from the Humans, but not something which you used violence for. Sun had dealt with some of those himself and had merely resorted to some pranks to repay them.
But seeing Adams face and the SDC-brand right above his eye? Despite Adam tormenting Blake and cutting off Yang's arm, he just couldn't hate the guy anymore. If anything, all the negative feelings he had towards Adam had shifted towards Jacques Schnee, who was pretty much responsible for both Adam AND Ilia's descent into crime.
Between Ilia losing her parents and Adams branded face the man had a LOT to answer for. Not to mention, unlike Weiss and Winter who seemed to still have SOME sort of hope about the man, Sun had no such illusions. He had no doubt that Jacques WAS fully aware of the crimes which his company did.
Things were just TOO much covered up for it to be otherwise.
The other two were bunched into the same matter.
Blake and Yang were off talking now. They had both eaten lunch and then took off to have their chat, but Sun couldn't believe how dense Blake was being.
Yang had pretty much said that Blake was the hottest girl she had ever met, and Blake did nothing about it. Yang forgave her for leaving, and all she did was agree to talk later. Then, though no one else saw it, Yang kept looking longingly at Blake during lunch, but every time Blake saw it, she ignored it.
Sun wondered what else he could do to get it through Blake's head that she and Yang were right for each other. He'd talked to her, he'd given up on his pursuit of her, Yang had even forgiven her for the arm…
Forgiveness.
Gods he was dumb. The answer was there all the time. Blake needed to forgive herself for what she did. That was why she only looked guiltily at everyone. She didn't believe she deserved to be happy.
He sighed and watched as Ruby and Oscar got up and left to take a walk.
He shrugged and did the same. Maybe it would clear his head. And if it didn't, he might run into Blake and Yang and be able to talk some sense into the two.
Gordeau made his way to the dining room. He had set the selector to random, so that he wasn't always the one choosing what they watched. He approached only to see not as many people as he expected.
He knew Adam had remained in the theater, but his Father, Neo, Roman, Ilia, Sun, Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Oscar were all absent.
"Where is everyone," he asked the small group.
Cinder and co. ignored him entirely.
"Well," Qrow started, "Roman took the girls off to another room, probably to give that Chameleon girl the 'Father-Girlfriend' talk."
"Ruby said she wanted to explore a bit after getting a cookie," Summer explained. Weiss huffed softly at the statement.
"Yeah, and Yang and Blake went off to 'discuss' things between them," Tai said sarcastically.
Summer gasped, "Tai! You don't think…"
Tai laughed, "No, I don't. Yang knows better."
Summer let out a sigh of relief. Silently, Raven did the same.
Weiss explained, "I think Sun and Oscar said they wanted some time to themselves."
"Oz couldn't handle the glares we were all giving him, so he left," Raven growled out.
"But that's not the problem!" Nora yelled at Gordeau, "You said we could get anything we wanted here, so why is the only option meat loaf?"
"Meat loaf?" Gordeau asked.
"Hey, everyone, look who I found!" a familiar voice called out as it approached.
"Salutations!"
Ruby wandered the halls of Gordeau's area of existence. He had either lied about living in a small area, or he had made more rooms for them then he had originally stated. Considering he was one of Ozpin's relatives; it could go either way.
She'd seen the man himself go into the library, not that she had any interest in talking to him. She nibbled on her cookie as she continued.
She opened a few more doors. She found a small concert hall, a war room (which she found strange), and an indoor running track. She gasped at the sight and ran a few laps.
She ran so much she worked up a sweat. She decided to head to the team room and grab a shower.
After a quick shower she got clean clothes, but noticed something strange in her closet.
Along with her standard combat outfits hung a sparkly gold tail coat and top hat.
She grabbed the outfit and pondered, "When did I get these? I'm sure I've never seen them before." She left the room still looking at the hat.
A voice called out from behind her. "Sal,"
Ruby's head shot up as she looked behind her.
"U,"
Ruby went wide eyed as standing behind her was her old friend Penny Polendina. Ruby gasped as a tear escaped her eye, "Penny?"
"TATIONS!" Penny cried out and leapt at Ruby; tackling her to the ground.
"ACK! Penny… air…" Ruby gasped out.
"Oh! I'm so happy to see you!" Penny exclaimed as she lifted Ruby off the ground.
"Great… to see… you too… Penny…" Ruby continued to struggle to breath.
Penny set Ruby down finally, "We have so much to talk about! Well, I'm sure you're wondering why I'm back… you see…"
"Winter explained it to me already, Penny," Ruby huffed as she caught her breath, "I'm just happy you're back."
"Oh! Specialist Schnee is here? Speaking of, where are we Ruby?"
"Well," Ruby rubbed the back of her neck, "That's a long story…"
Sun wandered the halls in thought. This walk was not doing what he had wanted it to.
It was SUPPOSED to clear Blake out of his head. What it ACTUALLY did, was make him think of her even more.
Another thing that was bugging him about it, was how quickly Ilia had found someone new. Technically, according to her, Neo had made the first move, but she made it look so easy to get over Blake.
He definitely wasn't able to do it. For all his boasting about there being lots of people who wanted to be with him, he didn't want to be with any of them. He wanted to be with Blake, plain and simple.
But he had meant everything he said. He wanted her to be happy, but he wanted it to be with him.
He sighed. What Sun felt was something he hadn't felt in a long time. Loneliness.
Honestly, he had friends here, but they all seemed too busy doing there own thing to worry about good old Sun Wukong.
He missed Neptune. If his best friend were here, he'd let him say "I told you so!"
Sun cocked his head. His inside voice of Neptune was a lot louder than he expected it to be.
"I told you 'You were just letting her go,' but did you listen to me? Of course not."
Sun stopped in his tracks, "Says the guy who two seconds before that was hitting on a lesbian!" Sun felt stupid for having an argument with a voice in his head, but stranger things had happened today.
"Come on! You know I didn't know about that!"
Sun rolled his eyes, "Why am I even arguing with you? You're a voice in my head!"
"Dude, turn around."
Sun begrudgingly did so and his eye's widened. Neptune WAS standing there in his trademarked pose. He smiled and a sparkle came off his teeth.
"You still have to teach me how to do that," Sun mumbled.
"I told you it's genetic," Neptune shrugged off.
The two bro-hugged before Sun pulled back, "Wait, how did you know about that stuff with Blake?"
Neptune smirked, "Oh, you were doing that thing where you say your thoughts out loud again. Just be glad I was the only one around to hear it."
Sun rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "That bad, huh?"
"Yeah," Neptune admitted, "Seems like you want to talk about it."
"Probably couldn't hurt," Sun admitted, "But maybe later. I'm sure you have questions about where you are."
Neptune scoffed, "No. I know exactly where I am."
Sun raised an eyebrow at him but he continued, "I'm in a hallway… Talking to my best friend… And…"
He looked over at Sun who had a smug grin on his face. Neptune folded in half, "Okay, you win. I have no clue where I am man and it's kind of freaking me out!"
Sun patted his friend on the shoulder, "C'mon, I know a guy who can help."
"So, why are we here?" Ilia asked Roman. The three of them had found a small conference room and had sat down to discuss matters.
"Well," Roman explained, "First off, Neo are you okay? I know we talked a bit already, but the outburst during the last universe has me worried."
"Everything going on is little overwhelming," she admitted, "And I let my emotions get the better of me. But as I said, you two are there to keep me grounded now, so no revenge plots. And hopefully one of the two of you will reel me in if my emotions get the better of me again."
"Always," Ilia smiled.
"Of course I will, I've cared for you this long and haven't stopped, why would I now?" Roman smirked, "But, that leads me to point number two, your relationship."
Ilia and Neo glanced at each other as Roman glared at the two. There was a tense silence in the room for a few minutes before Roman burst out laughing.
"Oh, you should've seen the looks on your faces!" he laughed out, "There's no need to worry! Rainbow here has proven to me already that she cares for you, so I approve."
The two sighed before joining in the laughter themselves.
"No," Roman continued, "I just want to make sure you both know what you're getting into."
"I already told her about the voice thing," Neo sighed, "And she told me most of her story as well, so there shouldn't be any surprises."
Roman looked to Ilia, who responded, "Yeah, I'm ok with not hearing her voice after we leave. I'll learn to communicate with her some other way."
The couple smiled at each other and Roman nodded, "And you know she's a criminal?"
Ilia nodded, "So am I, in the time we're going back to."
"Huh," Roman acknowledged, "Well, I guess we didn't need this talk as much as I thought we did."
Suddenly Neo stomach growled, causing the room to laugh.
"Let's go get some food before Sundae here explodes," Ilia teased as the three headed back.
Yang and Blake sat awkwardly, facing each other in silence. Neither of them knew how to approach this topic, and they wanted to start on the right foot.
"Okay," Yang sighed, "Let's discuss the elephant in the room."
Blake looked over at the literal elephant in the room.
"Blake, a joke? I'm shocked," Yang chuckled, "But not that one! Though I don't know why you picked the indoor zoo to have this conversation."
Blake shrugged, "It was the first door I found."
Yang rolled her eyes, "Anyway, what I was trying to say back there was I don't care."
"What?" Blake gasped.
"I don't care about your past, I don't care that you left, I don't even care that I didn't see you for months! What I do care about is that you came back." Yang looked down and sighed, "No one whose left me has ever come back into my life forever. Sure, I found my mother, but she left because she was afraid of being a committed parent. Summer's back now, but for how long? How long before we go back and I lose her again?"
Yang put her head in her hands. Blake walked over and rubbed her back gently. Yang looked up and smiled at her, "This is what I care about, Blake. You came back and ever since then, you've been spending more and more time with me. Sure, we've had a few disagreements since, but you've done your best to be there for me and that's all I care about."
She grabbed Blake's hand and held it gently.
Blake smiled at her, "Yang, the reason I came back was because of Adam's attack on Haven, but you're the reason I stayed."
Blake cleared her throat, "If you hadn't been there, I probably would've left with my parents and gone on fighting for the Faunus is Mistral. Even if Ruby and Weiss had been there and not you, I would've done that. But you give me the strength to try things that I never would have done before. To stick with you, to face my failures instead of running away, and to feel something I haven't felt in years."
Yang looked at her longingly, but she turned away sharply, "But I don't deserve it. I don't deserve you. And you certainly deserve better than me."
Yang pulled back in shock, "What do mean?"
"Yang, I've done terrible things. I set Adam on his dark path, I made Ilia reject peace, I got both you and Sun physically hurt, and I've been a terrorist!" Blake ranted, "And nothing I do can ever make up for that! You're too good for me, Yang. So, maybe it's best if we just forget about this."
Yang went wide eyed. "Why would you say that?" she sniffed out.
Blake sighed, "Because it's the truth."
"Stop it," Yang cried, "You can't mean that."
Blake had her own tears in her eyes, "But I do, Yang."
"DAMN IT, BLAKE!" Yang stood up quickly. Her eyes turned red and her hair lit on fire. She yelled, "You don't get to make that decision alone! You just said you feel something for me. And you deserve that feeling as much as anyone. No one deserves to feel unloved, trust me, I know."
Blake shrunk away. Yang panted for a minute before cooling off, he hair and eyes returning to normal. She thought about what Blake said and smiled in realization, "You know, didn't you promise me you wouldn't run away from things anymore?"
Blake sniffled but raised an eyebrow, "That's not exactly…"
"And isn't this running away from me right now?" Yang finished with a grin.
Blake blinked. YANG had just found a loophole in her promise. It wasn't that Yang wasn't smart, far from it. But she didn't have a reputation for thinking things through.
Yang continued to grin, knowing she'd caught Blake, "And who cried to me that they weren't gonna break that promise?"
"Me," Blake mumbled.
Yang gently grabbed Blake's hands, "Blake, you're afraid. You're scared you'll screw up again. Do you want to know something though? I'm scared too."
Blake looked at Yang in shock as she continued, "What if I turn into my mother? What if I abandon you and never come back? I'm scared that if I say what I feel it'll be real. But neither of us can see the future. We can only look to the past and all those things you complain about, all the events of your past that you don't like, I love. They're what made you into the girl I deserve, the girl I want to be with," Yang steadied herself and looked right into Blake's eyes, then she said the hardest words she ever has, "The girl I've fallen in love with."
Blake broke down into happy tears and put her head on Yang's shoulder. The two embraced each other for a minute before Blake pulled away slightly, "You really are too good for me, Yang."
Yang started to roll her eyes, but Blake kept going, "And I couldn't be happier about that. I love you too."
She pulled Yang down and kissed her passionately.
After a minute the pair broke off from each other. Yang had a goofy grin on her face before speaking, "Well, that was wonderful, Blakey. I only wish I'd seen it sooner."
Realization hit Blake's face, "You too? For how long?"
"You heard our teammates," Yang nodded "Apparently since the dance."
"Me too," Blake nodded, "Sun's the one who told me."
"Speaking of," Yang noted, "Is he going to be mad about the whole thing?"
"No, he said as long as I'm happy he is," Blake explained before realizing something, "Wait, we're the thing Ruby and Weiss wanted to talk to you about?"
"Yep," Yang stated with a popped p, "And, I think someone else might need our help with it."
Blake looked at her curiously before Yang continued, "I found out during that conversation that the Ice Queen has a thing for my sister."
Blake looked at her with wide eyes, "Weiss? Has a thing for Ruby? Well, that's new."
"I know right?"
"So," Blake asked, "How does Ruby feel?"
"Don't know yet," Yang shrugged, "But I have an idea on how to find out."
"So," Blake sighed, "Our first activity as a couple is to see if your sister likes her partner?"
"That sums it up nicely," Yang acknowledged.
Blake rolled her eyes, "Okay, I'm in."
"Salutations!" Penny greeted the assembled crowd. Strangely enough, Sun and Neptune arrived at the same time.
"Sup, losers," Sun called out, at the same time as Penny, "Look who I found!"
Neptune did his pose with the glint again and Sun rolled his eyes.
While Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury ignored the group, all of the students present looked at Neptune very briefly before turning their attention back to Penny.
"Aw, doesn't anyone care?" Neptune joked.
"No," Weiss responded shortly.
"Miss Polendina," Winter stood up, "It's a pleasure to see you again."
"Same to you, Specialist Schnee," Penny smiled, "I heard you informed everyone about my situation. Thank you!"
Winter nodded and sat back down.
Ruby made the rounds and introduced Penny to the people that didn't know her. Pyrrha, however, snuck away to a corner. She really didn't want to talk to the person she killed, even if she had come back.
"Pyrrha? What's wrong?"
Pyrrha was shocked by the voice. She had expected Jaune to find her, but he had missed her departure. It was actually Ren who had come to talk to her.
"I killed her, Ren," Pyrrha admitted, "She probably wouldn't want to see me anyway."
Ren nodded his head in understanding, "I understand, but we are on the same side. I'm sure she knows by now that Emerald and Cinder were responsible for that. If you just introduce yourself properly, I'm sure she'd forgive you."
He stood up and walked away, leaving Pyrrha to her thoughts.
Meanwhile, Gordeau had explained to Neptune and Penny what was happening. Shortly after Ilia, Neo, and Roman entered the dining room.
"You!" Ilia squinted her eyes at Neptune, "Of all the people why you?"
Neo narrowed her eyes, "What did Blue here do to you?"
"He hit on me multiple times, even though I told him no," Ilia explained with a sharp tone in her voice. Weiss gave a silent chuckle, remembering her situation with Jaune.
"I said I was sorry about that!" Neptune protested, "I didn't know!"
Ilia just rolled her eyes and looked away. Neo glared at Neptune before turning and walking away with Ilia.
Elsewhere, Pyrrha snuck back into the theater. Adam shot a brief glance her way before shrugging and returning to his brooding.
She sat down in her seat and waited patiently for the viewing to start.
Meanwhile, Yang and Blake entered the dining room hand in hand.
After catching the two up, Ruby remembered the other reason she was here, "Oh, Mr. Gordeau, err Mr. Ozpin, err…"
Gordeau chuckled, "Just Gordeau, Ruby."
"Right," she nervously chuckled, "I found these in my closet, and I didn't own them before."
She showed Gordeau the hat and coat, "They look familiar…"
He shook his head, "Well, everything should be ready for the next viewing. I'm sure you've all been waiting with antici…"
He paused mid word, causing the assembled people to lean in before he finished, "pation."
He went wide-eyed as he finished. The meat loaf, Ruby's new hat, and now this! The pieces seemed to fit into place. He knew what they were watching next, and a certain underage boy should not see it.
"Ahem," he cleared his throat, "Make your way back to the theater please, I'll go collect Father and Oscar."
He ran off to find Oscar. It didn't take him long as the boy had stopped to marvel at the indoor farm. Gordeau quickly locked the door to the farm with Oscar still inside.
He sighed and walked off to find his dad.
AN: I'm back! Here's some conversations and additions. Added characters: Penny Polendina and Neptune Vasilias
Thanks to Zweig for the Adam, Ozpin, the scenes immediately following 'One Thing,' and the first part of Sun scenes. Also Adam knows something is up, but what is he going to do?
The hints are fairly obvious where we're going next. See you on Friday!
