Between talking to his team over scroll, managing his sisters, and working shifts at the café, the first few days of Cobalt's holidays were going pretty much the same as the last ones had. He appreciated the simplicity though; especially since he was still staying perfectly active, unlike poor Astra, who apparently had nothing at all to do. Lily had training with her mother and Luna was working on something she wasn't telling anyone about, but Astra had apparently been stuck at home and bored out of her mind. Cobalt wondered about visiting her, reminding himself to ask at some point. At the very least, he could invite her to hang out at the café when he was on break from his work there.

At the moment, though, he was deep in work on a painting, a small one, but one he hoped to give to Storm upon finally asking him out once classes returned. He'd pondered over what to paint before settling on a small river landscape- his favourite to paint. Velvet sat by him, drinking coffee and watching him work wordlessly. She'd always enjoyed watching him paint, and Cobalt never minded.

"Hey, mom?" He asked as he dipped his brush in a blue palette and began applying the paint to the canvas.

"Mm?"

Cobalt pulled his brush across in a sweeping motion. "If cobalt is a shade of blue, why'd you name me after it? There's not much 'blue' about me."

Velvet chuckled. "Well, for starters, your eyes are blue," She pointed out, "And it's not just a shade of blue. It's a grey colour in its natural form."

"Not much grey about me either," Cobalt replied, enjoying the laid-back banter. "Still seems like a weird choice."

"Your hair looked grey when you were born," Velvet defended. "Besides, I'm not the one who named you."

Cobalt's brush slowed to a stop. "Oh. Right."

Silence filled the room aside from the quiet hum of the air conditioner. It seemed as if the world was doing everything possible to remind him of his father these days, and he didn't appreciate it. It always brought those few, brief memories back, and then the sharp pain that came after when he remembered there would never be more. And the slight anger upon reminding himself exactly why there'd never be any more.

Velvet's soft voice broke the silence, "I miss him too."

Cobalt brought the brush closer to his chest, not looking at her. "It feels…ungrateful of me to miss him so much," he admitted quietly. "When I've still got all of you." After all, who could be lucky enough to have four loving parents? When some only had one, or none at all?

"Hey," Velvet put her coffee down, moving closer to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You're not being ungrateful," She assured him. "Having four parental figures doesn't mean you're not allowed to miss the one you lost. That's only natural."

Cobalt sighed and forced himself to continue painting. "I know. I just don't feel like I'm appreciating Coco, Fox and, Yatsu enough for being here when they never had to." Fourteen years, and it had been them who had guided him through his life; through his first heartbreak, his first weeks at Signal, every important moment he'd been through. It didn't feel fair that Silver couldn't have been there too.

"They know how much you care about them," Velvet insisted, her hand still on his shoulder. "You show them that just by being yourself. I see a lot of all of them mixed together in you, you know."

The words were a comfort to hear, but Cobalt still hesitated to ask his next question. "Do you…see any of dad in me?"

Velvet pulled herself even closer. "Of course," She replied, "You're funny and charming, just like he was. And the way you care about and look after your friends reminds me a lot of him as well." Her dark gaze clouded over slightly. "He always tried to make us laugh when we were feeling down. He left a hole in the team after he…" She trailed off, clearly not wanting to say the word.

Her words reminded Cobalt of how he'd felt on the mission a few weeks back, when the mere idea of anything happening had given him nightmares. He decided to open up to his mother about it, not having spoken to anyone else about his feelings.

"Do you…ever worry about the same thing happening to yourself?"

Velvet glanced at him inquisitively. "What do you mean?"

Cobalt slowed his brushstrokes again. "I mean…that you might die on a mission, and…" he swallowed. "And leave everyone behind." The very idea sent shards of glass into his heart. Losing his mother wasn't something he thought he'd ever be able to cope with.

Velvet was quiet for a moment. "Sometimes, yes." She admitted at last. "But…" She took her hand off Cobalt's shoulder and gazed forward distantly. "If there was one big flaw Silver had, it was that he insisted on shouldering everyone's burdens on his own. So, he never joined a team and rarely worked with others. We'd have had his back if we could have, but he never wanted to let us. So, when he had nobody to look out for him on that mission…" She sighed. "My point is, I've got a team- a family- that I know I can count on. So long as I have them by my side, I know I'll be okay. They've gotten me this far."

Cobalt briefly stopped painting as his gaze wandered to the sparkly blue chunk of quartz Luna had gotten him for his birthday, that sat on display on a shelf in the kitchen. It was definitely the prettiest rock she'd gotten him yet.

"I think…I'll be okay too," He decided. "I don't think I'd manage well without a team."

Velvet ruffled the hair between his ears. "I'm glad you've got people you can trust."

Satisfied, Cobalt returned to focusing on the painting, switching the blue paint out for green and dabbing on leaves to a tree, the peaceful silence in the room much nicer than the aching silence that had hung before.

Before he could even finish dotting the leaves on one tree, Coco swept into the room, scroll in hand.

"Hey sweetie," She said to Velvet. "The boys are parked outside; I'm going to go and help them unpack."

Cobalt gave her a quizzical look that she seemed to miss.

"Ah," Velvet stopped sipping at her coffee. "I'll come and help in a sec."

As Coco headed out of the room, Cobalt turned his questioning look to Velvet, who was tipping her mug back to finish off the drink. "What's going on? Who's here?"

Velvet's eyes shot wide open as she quickly set the mug down on the floor. "Shit! We forgot to tell you!"

"Tell me what?" Cobalt asked as his mother scrambled to her feet.

"Your uncles are going to be staying here for a few weeks until they can secure a house," Velvet explained. "We meant to tell you when you got home from Beacon, but apparently, we all neglected to mention it."

Cobalt pricked his ears. "Oh. Cool."

He rested his brush on the palette and stood up, joining Velvet as she headed outside. He'd almost forgotten that Sun and Neptune were moving to Vale; a decision agreed upon by all of Team SSSNN, in order to raise their children in a better environment. It had meant that they weren't able to be as active in the Vacuo Reconstruction Project, but it would at least make moving recourses from one kingdom to the other easier. And most importantly as far as the team was concerned, it meant Juno, Raine, and Mei would grow up in a much safer place than the desert.

Outside, Coco was helping Sun and Neptune take boxes out of the trunk of their car, while the triplets bounced around the adults' legs, clearly excited by the prospect of moving to a new city.

Sun put a smaller box down as he and Velvet approached. "Ah, Cobalt!" He greeted cheerfully. "Have you gotten taller since the last time I came down here?"

Cobalt grinned. "Hey, Uncle Sun," He chuckled, "I think it's just been a while."

Sun shrugged. "Ah, true. Hey, you're a Beacon kid now, right? How's that going?"

"Pretty good," Cobalt replied honestly. "Luna and I have great partners. We actually just went on our first official mission last term."

Sun nodded approvingly. "You'll have to tell me all about it once we can settle down."

"Can we help you unpack?" Cobalt asked.

"Nah, I think the three of us have got it handled," Sun replied. "Although," he glanced at his kids as they almost tripped Neptune over. "If you two could take those three inside and entertain them while we work, that'd be a huge help."

"We'd be happy to." Velvet assured him. Cobalt nodded; he'd not met the triplets too often before now, only once a year since they'd been born.

Right on cue, the children scrambled over to Sun, clinging to his legs, and bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Dad!" Juno squeaked. "Look at all the trees! They're everywhere!"

"I saw a lake!" Mei added. "Can we swim in it?"

Raine tucked his tail close to him. "Dad, do you think there are any Grimm in Vale?"

Sun chuckled at them warmly. "Calm down," He told them. "All of your questions will be answered. For now," He motioned to Velvet and Cobalt. "Do you remember your Aunt Velvet and your cousin Cobalt?"

Raine tipped his head as he surveyed them, before Juno butted in.

"I remember," She boasted. "They're nice!"

Sun nodded. "Good. Do you think you can go inside with them while your father and I unpack all of our stuff?"

"Yes!" Mei replied enthusiastically, her tail curling up. "We'll be good!"

"You know," Velvet looked thoughtful. "I think we might have some fresh lemonade in the fridge."

The faces of all three six-year-olds lit up in delight.

"Hey, hon!" Neptune called to Sun from the back of the car. "Could you come and help me and Coco with this one?"

"Be right there!" Sun called back. He crouched down as his kids crowded around them. "Make sure you behave while we're busy, okay?"

"We will!" Juno promised, while her siblings nodded eagerly.

Sun stretched his arms out. "Hugs?"

As the kids piled onto their father, Cobalt tried to push away the ache in his chest, Velvet's hand on his shoulder indicating that her thoughts were the same as his.

There's no changing the past, Cobalt reminded himself. And you still have two fathers. They're just as important.

Leading the kids inside as Sun hurried over to help his husband, Velvet leaned over to Cobalt, lowering her voice so that the kids couldn't hear, not that it mattered, seeing as they were racing ahead of them anyway.

"Are you okay? I saw that look back there."

"I'll be fine," Cobalt replied softly. "I can't say it's hard to see others having what I don't, because I know I still have that." He sighed. "It's just…still hard. I think it always will be."

Velvet rested her hand on his shoulder again. "He'd be proud of you for going on after all these years." She told him softly.

Cobalt nodded. "I know. I think he'd be proud of you too."

With a gentle smile, Velvet moved away to usher the triplets away from Cobalt's painting, which they were staring at curiously. Cobalt watched her kneel down to talk to them, encouraging them to sit down around the table and wait as she went to the kitchen to get them the lemonade she'd mentioned.

Cobalt took the chance to go and sit with them, eager to better learn about his young cousins. Hearing them talk mostly about how great their fathers and uncles were, Cobalt suddenly promised himself to give Fox and Yatsuhashi a hug as soon as they got home from work. After everything they'd done, they deserved it.