One warm summer day Ruby Rose walked to her mother's grave, and her mother followed her. Not that Ruby knew. No, not a soul could see or hear Summer Rose. Not her daughters, her husband, nor even Ozpin for all his power knew of her sorry state.

For over a decade she had watched as her family never truly recovered from her loss. Falling into despair, drowning at the bottom of a bottle, clinging to an old hood to drive away the nightmares, or searching for a woman who simply did not want to be found.

Soon Ruby arrived at her mother's grave. Standing a few in front of the headstone. Summer stood in front of her daughter as she always did when they had these one-sided talks.

Pulling back the hood on Summer's old red cloak Ruby began to speak "Hi mom, sorry I haven't been by to talk in a few weeks."

It was true that neither Ruby nor Yang had come to visit her in a few weeks when they usually did once every other week at the least. But it was near the end of the school year at Signal. So, she assumed they were busy with classwork. "It's okay rosebud. I know how busy the- "

"I had a bunch of exams," Ruby interrupted, "So I kind of lost track of time. Too many all-nighters I guess," Ruby laughed.

"I hope you did well."

"Most of them weren't too bad. Well except for dust studies and history, but I passed!" Ruby said. Summer had to admit that she wasn't the best in those subjects either. "They're also letting me spar with the 4th years now. So that's cool. I even managed to almost beat Yang! Oh, and Yang said she'll be by later today."

"I'll be waiting." Summer's eldest daughter Yang, even if that title was more honorary than not, had been on break for the last month or so. She'd just graduated from Signal the month prior and had probably been out with her friends most nights. She hadn't been to see Summer for even longer than Ruby had. She just hoped Yang wasn't chasing Raven's shadow again.

Ruby started again, "We're actually going to stay in Vale for a few days before Yang goes off to Beacon,"

So Summer wouldn't see them for a few more days, and this was the last time she would see Yang for at least a few months. "Well, I hope you three have a good time."

Ruby didn't say anything for a long while. Simply staring out past the cliff where Summer's headstone lies. Watching some passing birds, and one particular crow.

"It's going to be weird with only me, dad, and Zwei around the house." Ruby finally spoke, "I know she has to go, but I just... anyways, I'll make sure to tell you about Vale when we get back."

"I can't wait to hear all about it." Summer said. She wondered how the city changed since she passed.

Once again Ruby paused. Waiting in silence. Tears formed in her eyes.

"Mom, do you think I could ever be as good of a huntress as you were?" She said, tears flowing freely now. "Dad says I'm doing well, but I just… I don't know."

Truthfully Summer didn't want Ruby, or Yang, to be a huntress at all. Let alone be a huntress anything like her. "I hope you'll be a far different kind of huntress than I was. A huntress that always comes home..." That's what she always wanted. For her daughters to be safe.

"I miss you, mom." Ruby said, wiping her eyes, "I'll be back soon, I promise. Love you!"

"Love you too, Ruby."

Jaune could have seen the Vale City's skyline from where he was standing if he weren't busy depositing his breakfast into the sea surrounding Patch. Patch was one of Vale's safer frontier settlements. Though one could argue it wasn't really on the frontier. Being as close to the capital as it was.

As it turned out, traveling by ferry with motion sickness was not a fun experience. He'd almost thrown up on a corgi making his way off the ferry. What a corgi was doing on a ferry was a question for another day, but luckily, he avoided soiling anyone's shoes. This time at least.

Once Jaune had finished feeding the fish and making sure nobody had stolen his bag he looked to Vale. Leaning on the dock railing. His mother had given him an address on Patch. Apparently one of her old friends from Beacon lived on the island. She'd said that he'd maybe be able to help Jaune be a bit more prepared, and something about a cute daughter.

But before Jaune could figure out his mother's matchmaking scheme he was distracted. By a woman standing just a few feet from him staring out into the sea with a solemn look on her face.

She looked to be in her mid-twenties, and short. With dark brown hair that transitioned into red. And she liked to wear black. With a black blouse, skirt, and black and white corset. Though her most striking feature would be her silver eyes. Jaune had to admit she was quite pretty.

And by the looks of it, she was having a rather bad day. So Jaune decided to do what his mother had always told him to do. Help out a friend, or at least a potential friend. So, he walked up to his silvered-eyed friend-to-be.

"Hello! Umm, do you need any help? Or to talk to someone?" He said, it didn't seem like she heard him though. Maybe she was just that deep in thought or was trying to ignore the random guy trying to talk to her. "I know I'm just a stranger, but my mom says strangers are just friends you haven't met yet. And I wouldn't want to leave a friend crying on a random pier."

She seemed to hear him this time. Chuckling a bit to herself, but still not turning to him. "That sounds like something Blanche would say."

"Oh, do you know Blanche Arc? Because if you do that's my mom." He said smiling. If he was right, it and this woman did know his mom maybe it would help break the ice a bit, but she didn't answer at first. Just turning and staring at Jaune with a look of surprise replacing her previous solemnity.

"You can hear me?" She said with hope in her voice.

"Yeah? I can see you too. Do people usually have trouble hearing you?"

"Nobody's been able to see or hear me since I died."

"Since you died?" It was at this point that Jaune noticed a few things. The first being that this woman was slightly translucent. The second being that she was floating. And third, being that the wind wasn't moving her hair. Yep, Jaune was talking to a ghost.

Jaune walked down a forest path with his new spectral friend, whose name is (or was?) apparently Summer Rose. Which, surprisingly, was a name he'd heard before.

"Do you want Jaune to end up like Summer?" His father would say whenever Jaune's mother suggested that Jaune should be trained. It wasn't the only name he would use of course. There were at least a dozen names he would reference. Now he could put a face to one of these names.

Jaune turned to look at Summer. She floated, not walked, beside him. Wearing that same solemn look from before. Which he guessed he couldn't exactly blame her for. It's probably pretty depressing to be dead.

"So how do- did you know my mom?" He asked.

"Oh," she said, Turning to Jaune and not looking as she continued floating forward. "She was my best friend at Beacon. Her team's room was right across the hall from ours."

"I don't think she's ever mentioned that."

"Well, that's…" She paused, "I guess it's too hard for her to talk about. She was always sensitive about that kind of stuff."

"Right. If you don't mind me asking, how did you- Well you know?"

"Die?" She sighed, "I had a mission to destroy… a very ancient and dangerous grimm, and I failed."

"You went alone?" It wasn't exactly uncommon for lone huntsmen to take mission contracts, but if this one was as dangerous as she said, then they should have sent multiple teams.

"Maybe. I don't remember most of what happened. Just leaving home and bits and pieces after that."

"Like what?"

At this Summer paused a moment. Crossing her legs, as if she was sitting, and rubbing her chin deep in thought. "Fire and ash. Dead trees. A castle. A woman." She paused and winced from the memory, "And what felt like having my soul ripped out of my body."

"So that's what it feels like to die…"

"I wouldn't recommend it." She chuckled.

The two continued to walk, or float in Summer's case, down the forest path. Listening for any sign of grimm. Patch was a relatively safe settlement, but nowhere was completely safe from the grimm. But there was nothing but the faint sound of rustling leaves, and the smell of the nearby ocean.

"What were you doing down by the pier?" Jaune asked.

"Seeing my family off," She said still in her faux sitting position," My oldest daughter, Yang, is starting at Beacon soon. Tai and Ruby are spending the weekend with her in Vale."

"Who are Tai and Ruby?"

"Ruby is my youngest daughter. She looks a lot like me so you'll know if you see her. Tai is Yang's father and my former teammate at Beacon."

"Well, I'm going to be classmates with Yang then." Not legitimately of course, but that wasn't something he had to tell her at this point. "I'm heading back to Vale after I'm done here on Patch. Do you have any advice?" He would need all he could get of course.

"Work on your landing strategy, don't touch Ozpin's coffee, and hope you get a cute partner because you'll probably end up dating at some point."

"You dated your partner?"

"Married him, and we had Ruby together." She said with a smile.

"Ah, well why didn't you go with your family? I know I'm the first person you've been able to talk to, but I'd imagine you would rather be with them."

Her smile disappeared. "I can't leave Patch." She said, "I can only go to certain parts of the island. If I try to go further it's like trying to walk through jello after a certain point."

"Sorry, but where can you go?"

"The forest around my grave and into some parts of the village. Nowhere else really. I can't even go..." She stopped. Staring forward at the cabin in front of them. The address where Blanche Arc had sent her son and, unknown to him, a place Summer thought she would never see again. "Home"

So, this is where you..." Jaune didn't have time to complete his thought before Summer rushed off toward the house. Disappearing through a wall. "…lived"

Jaune stood there, staring at the section of wall Summer had flown through, for a long second before realizing something. Summer said her family just left for Vale. Which means nobody is home. Which means there's nobody to help prepare him for Beacon. Which means he came to Patch for no reason. "Well, crap. What do I do now? Guess I'll just leave?"

For the first time in over a decade, Summer set foot in her home. It took her far too long, and cost her far too much, but by some miracle, she was finally allowed to return. Perhaps the brothers had finally decided to show her some mercy? The whys didn't matter now though. She could finally get a glimpse of all that she had missed.

She went wall to wall, and picture to picture. Pictures of Yang in pigtails. Tai and the girls at an amusement park. Lots with Ruby and Zwei. A few with Ruby and Qrow.

Qrow… How she wanted to knock some sense into her former partner. Running off and drinking himself half to death. Blaming himself for Summer's death. Using his damn semblance as an excuse not to see his-

All too soon Summer felt that familiar pull. The same pull that she felt when she got too far away from her grave. Her brief return to her home was over "No no no, not yet. Please not yet," though she begged for it not to be. But her pleading went unheard by whatever power had decided to give her respite and chose to take it away so soon.

She was dragged out of her house and dragged up the path which she and Jaune had arrived from. "Where did Jaune go?" she asked. She flew forward, soon catching up to the wandering knight-to-be. "Jaune, where are you going?"

It was at this point that Jaune let out a very manly scream of terror. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" he demanded. She thought it was strange that his first instinct wasn't to reach for his weapon.

"Sorry. I'm not really used to this yet."

"It's fine just- Wait, why aren't you at home?" he said with a questioning look.

"I was pulled away," she said with a sigh "The brothers must be punishing me for something."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, it's not your fault. but where are you going?"

"Well, nobody home. So, I just figured I would go back to Vale."

"When did you leave?"

"A few minutes after you flew off" Which would have been around the time that she was pulled out. He left and she was pulled out. He left and she followed. It couldn't be.

"Can you stay there Jaune, I want to test something." Summer then proceeds to fly as far away from Jaune as she can manage and then flying in a circle around the point she's been attached to. Which as it turns out was Jaune. She could follow Jaune anywhere he went. She could follow him to Vale. To Beacon.

Summer returned to Jaune who was looking at her with a puzzled expression. "Jaune, I think I might be attached to you."

"Well, I guess mom was right about that whole strangers being friends you haven't met yet thing." He said with an awkward laugh. Rubbing the back of his head in some sort of a nervous tick.
"I meant literally. I can only go so far away from you before I start getting pulled back."

Jaune blinked a few times "What does that mean?

"It means that I'm going to Beacon with you."