Zettai RWBY Children. Gotta admit, not my best work despite how much I was looking forward to it. Think I'll do better either by the next team MILF chapter or the Maiden Penny omake. Might cancel team Order since it doesn't really have much of a plot.

Anyway, votes for the next academy so far have Mistral dominating the lead while both Vacuo and Atlas only have two votes each. Guess people wanna focus more on Cinder's faction. Or they wanna see more Ruby and Yang focus.

Also, this will be the last omake I post in this story. Any future omakes will have their own dedicated fic, which will most likely be Maiden Penny since I want a more goofy but not crack story.

Jaune, contrary to most people his age, liked kids. He chalked that up to being the middle child of seven sisters. Four older sisters meant he was the baby till the twins and Lily were born, and that point he could be the cool big bro. Granted April and May really turned into hellions when they were twelve, but he was still there for them and Lily. He even worked as the neighborhood babysitter for most of his school life. It was actually a nice experience, all things considered.

It was probably why Ozpin had made him that deal when he failed Initiation. He put 'really good with kids' in his transcripts when they asked for additional skills cause, hey, Huntsmen were also supposed to inspire people, right? Kids were the next generation and they really looked up to the protectors of Remnant.

The deal was thus: take care of four special children under Beacon's care and he could get personal training to offset his lack of experience. He took it in a heartbeat and figured, hey, how hard could it be? He helped take care of the twins and April as soon as he could walk and once his parents and older siblings got busy with the family business. How hard could it be to take care of three ten year olds and one eight year old?

Well, apparently Ozpin left out a few details...

"Back off! That's Ruby's!" Yang shouted, her eyes burning. Literally. Her eyes were alight in a yellow glow and her golden blonde hair was equally fiery.

Sitting across from her on the table, Weiss met the glare with one of her own as the area around her turned into the center of a snowstorm, "She's had enough. I believe that I deserve it more for being a good girl."

Yeah, so Ozpin didn't tell him the munchkins had godlike powers. In hindsight he probably should've been more suspicious that a bunch of kids were at Beacon at all. Sure Huntsmen started training young, but this was ridiculous. The reason they were here was because they needed to control their abilities and it wasn't like their parents could help them with that. Jacques Schnee tried to keep Weiss confined and swiftly changed his mind when she froze half of his mansion.

And what were Yang Xiao Long and Weiss Schnee willing to crater their room for? Who deserved the last cookie on the plate.

His role was a cross between a peacekeeper and a babysitter. Most days he felt like the animal wrangler; and no, that wasn't a dig at Blake despite how often she picked fights with Weiss for her family's treatment of Faunus, "Girls, girls! Calm down!" Jaune got in-between them. Normally being in the middle of two demigods would've been terrifying - and it was - but he liked to think the girls were better behaved than that.

Hey, he survived three months so far.

"Yang, it's okay..." The Ruby said, though the eight year old's eyes never left the chocolate chipped confection sitting alone on the plate.

The only one who wasn't part of the argument was Blake. She was too focused on reading her book, which he'd scolded her more than once on reading at the table. Dinner time was for eating, not reading. Of course she knew he'd be too busy to call her on it, "Girls!" Jaune said again, firmer this time. Demigods or not they were still kids, and an older person getting serious was usually enough to knock them down a peg.

It worked. At the very least they stopped glaring at each other and pouted down at the floor. Their halves of the table were still burning and freezing, however. Jaune sighed. Whoever thought kids would be the best hosts for elemental powers must've been snorting something really good.

"Ruby, you ate almost all of the cookies. I baked these so you could share." He was tempted to just bake more to stop the argument, but he knew that would just teach them that throwing a tantrum would get them what they want. He'd made that mistake with the twins before, "Weiss is your friend, remember? You have to share."

"...Okay." The girl pouted, silver eyes wide, and he felt like he got stabbed in the gut. Ugh, how did Ms. Summer and Qrow deal with this? They should've been the one taking care of the two, but they were busy dealing with their Huntsmen duties and missions for Ozpin. Sadly the two's father passed away half a decade ago on a mission, so being at Beacon was actually kind of a blessing for them. The two were inspired by their parents to be Huntsmen in the future.

"Thank you," Weiss said smugly, reaching for the cookie with a dainty hand. Surprisingly enough, she'd complained very little about being forced to move out of her home. Apart from some grumblings about how she missed Winter, Klein and someone she referred to as her 'cake butler' she'd been rather prim about the whole thing. She also claimed not to miss her little brother, but he chalked that up to siblings getting into fights.

Blake rolled her eyes and flipped to another page on her book before he snatched it out of her hands, "Hey!" She hissed, ignoring his umpteenth warning about not reading at the dinner table. Among everyone she definitely took to being relocated the worst. Unlike Weiss, and much like Ruby and Yang, her parents actually did try to help her with her new gifts, but they couldn't exactly drop everything to follow her here considering they were the leaders of Menagerie.

"Alright, you guys gotta get ready for your lessons." That got a groan from all of them sans Weiss, who instead frowned behind her hand like she was taught to, "Come on, you all know why you have to do it!"

"But it's boring!" Ruby protested. At first she'd been excited about being able to control her powers better, but that was before she realized training wasn't flying around everywhere flinging elements. It was actually a lot of meditation and trying to find inner peace, which was a hell of an ask to ask for a bunch of kids. Even teenagers would've balked at that.

"We should be out there doing something with this!" Blake cried, "Faunus are being hurt right now and we can help them!"

"Blake, you can't just punch racists in the face. Again." Not that he was against punching racists in the face on principle, but if Blake had her way she'd be zapping every single person in Vale whoever said a bad word agaisnt the Faunus; and there were a lot of those around Vale. It was actually kind of depressing.

"Why not?" Blake scowled, eyes lighting up like her teammates.

"Because when you zapped team CRDL and made them scared enough to almost drop out, his councilman father almost sued the school," Jaune said for what must've been the dozenth time. Again, he didn't feel sorry for them, but they didn't live in Vacuo where you could just do stuff like that without consequences. And even then Vacuo was the best in how they treated Faunus given their survival of the fittest mentality, so Blake wouldn't be zapping anyone there anyway.

"...Fine." Blake looked away and frowned.

"You should all be more mature," Weiss said. Ironic coming from the girl who could pass as even younger than Ruby. The girl was small, which only made it weirder how obsessed she was with being a grown-up. Being a Schnee must not have been fun. Apparently her older sister was only seventeen and already contemplating joining the military just to get away from her dad.

Yang grumbled and said nothing, arms petulantly crossed. Fights about cookies aside, she was the most level-headed in the group next to Weiss. It was just that she could be...overprotective when it came to her sister. Just about all of the fights got in were because someone started hassling Ruby.

"Look, let's just get you all into training. Remember, I promised I'd take you all out to that festival if you do good."

Jaune led them to the training hall then returned to his own room before he practically collapsed on his bed. Gods, he loved these kids, but taking care of them made him feel a decade older than his seventeen years of age. Dealing with angry kids was hard. Dealing with angry kids who could make nature their toy was another ballpark entirely. That was probably the reason their last babysitter had gone screaming to the Emerald Forest practically daring the Grimm to take her instead.

His self-pity party lasted for only a few minutes before the door opened with a light hiss, "Well now, isn't this depressing." Jaune raised his head and glared at the new and all too familiar visitor.

Cinder Branwen - technically Cinder Fall cause Qrow never officially adopted her. Kinda hard to do that when you kidnap a girl from the hotel she was working at. Then burn it to the ground after making sure everyone was out as a final fuck you to the owner. Granted said hotel banned Faunus and used kids as slave labor, so fuck that place. Atlas didn't sound fun. No wonder Weiss didn't wanna stay there.

She was also unoffiically Ruby and Yang's big sister, being seventeen to their ten and eight, though of course she left all the actual work taking care of these kids to him. She just came by with presents and stories about how cool it was being a first year at Beacon, and of course both their eyes would light up and they never questioned why she was never around to have to help them with their schoolwork or shopping.

"Fuck you."

"You'd like that, puke boy."

"You throw up on someone one time and they never let it go," he grumbled. Okay, so maybe their first meeting wasn't the best. Airsickness and nerves hit an all time peak on the ride over to Beacon and he puked all over her pants...and shirt...and face. Hey, it wasn't his fault the airship turned and made him spew up instead of down! She got a change of clothes! Eventually!

Cinder rolled her eyes and sat down next to him on the bed. As much as she could be a pain, she was definitely a looker. Even with her dark haired chopped unevenly and the scar across her right jaw - a present from one of the hunts she went with on Qrow - she made the other girls back in Domremy look sad in comparison. Her outfit, a practical but tight suit with added bits of leather clearly inspired by Qrow, only emphasized that.

"You know this would be a lot easier if you helped me out."

"And keep you from actually having to earn that training Qrow and Glynda are giving you?" She smirked, "I'm not the one stupid enough to go to a Huntsman school without any training or Aura. You're lucky I unlocked it for you."

"We both know you only did that cause you'd lose the only decent babysitter Ruby and Yang have ever had," he shot back, "Besides, you didn't get any training until Qrow adopted you. We both know that Rhodes guy couldn't train a monkey to get out of a box."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "You're never gonna stop throwing crap at him, are you?"

"He left a teenage girl to slavery and his 'plan' to free you was training you in secret and just hoping your family would let you go off and be a Huntsman. Pretty sure I'm not the only one who thinks he sucks." It didn't help that he tracked down her and Qrow and tried to arrest the guy for 'kidnapping' her and breaking the law. Yeah, he was pretty sure a literal shock collar also broke laws, but somehow that wasn't enough for him to get Cinder outta there.

"Yeah, yeah..." For some reason, Cinder seemed neutral at best about her former 'mentor' and his really dumb behavior, "I didn't come here to hear you whine about Rhodes."

And then she leaned down and kissed him.

...

Huh? Oh yeah, they were going out. Sort of. He had no idea what the hell this relationship actually was. Being Ruby and Yang's babysitter, of course he'd end up hanging around their big sister. At first it was only when she popped in to do her usual bit of being the cool big sis, but eventually they started hanging out by themselves and even went to Vale on weekends to buy supplies or so she could give him tips to improve his swordsmanship.

The actual transition to making out was actually so subtle he didn't remember the exact moment. There were no fireworks clicking or the realization that he'd found the love of his life. One second they were training and the next they were doing something else. Their relationship didn't even change that much apart from the added makeout sessions. He wasn't complaining.

Cinder pulled back brushed the hair covering her right eye, "Can't stay too long. We've got another assignment and Nikos won't let up about it."

"Still not getting along with your partner?" Jaune sighed.

"I don't trust that fake nice girl act she's putting on. One day that shoe's gonna slip and I'm not gonna be surprised.

"You know some people really are just as nice as they seem?"

"What, like you? Mr. Nice Guy, takes care of kids. Also someone who faked his trasncripts and took an under the table deal to stay in school after he got caught." Jaune winced. Alright, fine, she was right, but did she have to put it like that? "Everyone's got a hook to them, Jaune."

"You know you sound paranoid, right?"

"I'm realistic." She stretched her arms above her head and stood, "Good luck with the munchkins. Don't forget you're coming with us back to Patch this weekend."

"Oh...great."

Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long were an odd pair. Apart from the fact that the two sisters looked nothing alike - which he found out the exact reasons for later - they were the exact opposites in personality too. Ruby stuck to Yang's side like glue and didn't have much in the way of friends, content with just Yang, Cinder, and now him for company. By contrast Yang was an adventurous sort, quick to make friends or pick fights with anyone she wanted.

One thing they did both share, however, was that they were heavy.

""WAKE UP!"" a pair of voices chorused before two twin cannoballs landed on his chest. Jaune grunted and coughed, trying to regain his breath even as Ruby and Yang started excitedly chattering about how the day would go. Past them, Cinder leaned against the doorway, arms crossed and smirking at him. Her eyes basically screamed, 'I'm not going to help you so don't bother asking.'

"Girls, calm down." He coughed again and sat up, rubbing Ruby's head automatically once she and Yang hopped off. He knew the reason they were so excited, of course. They'd gotten enough training from Ozpin that they were actually allowed to use their powers. Well, use them besides when they threw tantrums or got angry or thought he wasn't paying enough attention to them.

"Let's go, let's go!" Yang grabbed his hand and practically dragged him downstairs, pigtails swinging in the wind. Apart from the four of them, the house was still empty. Ms. Summer and Qrow were still out on a mission. Or maybe they were going on a date. Qrow obviously held a torch for the elder Rose, though whether she noticed he had no idea. It wasn't any of his business.

He made them all a quick breakfast then they all went to the patch of clearing. Cinder lagged behind as she always did, lazily keeping an eye on the perimeter. As much as the two wanted to, they weren't going to be able to use their powers against the Grimm. Godlike powers or not, they weren't tossing children to Beowolves. They'd have to be satisfied with the empty field.

"Faster, Jaune-Jaune!" Ruby shouted next to his ear. He was carrying her in a piggyback; she really did remind him of Lily.

"We'll get there when we get there." He rolled his eyes playfully as Ruby pulled her imaginary reins. As shy as the girl was to make new friends, she was a bundle of sunshine to the people she did know. He still remembered the days when she'd hide behind Yang and look up at him with those wide, shy eyes.

"I can fly! Mister Ozpin taught me how!"

"Oh? Can Yang fly?" Cinder asked.

"Nope!" Ruby grinned.

"Only cause I can't use air!" Yang complained.

"You'll get there some day," Jaune said. He didn't rub Yang's head. Unlike her sister, she was very touchy about her hair. Cinder told him once it was because it was one of the last things she had from her dad.

"It's too slow! Why can't we use more of these powers now?" Yang asked.

"We need to make sure you don't blow us all up. I know I call you firecracker, but I don't wanna mean that literally." Cinder smirked, "Besides, just think on how much better you'll be than everyone when you finally get to Beacon."

"Ooh, ooh!" Ruby suddenly shouted, "Jaune-Jaune, Cindy, I can take you flying!"

"Yeah...I don't think that's gonna work, kiddo." Jaune grinned weakly.

"It will! Here, look!"

He didn't get a chance to say anything before wind picked up from under them and Jaune found both himself and the piggybacking Ruby rising to the air, "Hey!" Cinder shouted. She grabbed onto his feet just before they were out of reach and the three of them continued to fly up slowly and steadily while a pouting Yang looked up jealously, "Ruby, quit it!"

"We're flying!" the cloaked girl shouted back excitedly, not noticing his and Cinder's panicked expressions. With Aura they could survive a fall from this height, but it'd still hurt. Ruby tugged the wind so they flew in different directions. Poor Cinder had to keep a death grip on his ankle to keep from falling off, "This is so cool!"

"Yes, Ruby, very cool. Now please let us down," Jaune said, trying his utter damndest to remain calm even as they weaved in-between trees and nearly crashed into the side of a cliff,, "We taught you to be careful with these powers, remember? You can't just go take people flying."

"Especially when they don't have a way to safely land." Cinder looked down at the rapidly shrinking ground and grimaced, "Now get us down already, munchkin."

"Aww, are you sure?"

At both his and Cinder's affirmative, she slowly let them back down where Yang was, pouting all the while. Jaune heaved a sigh of relief as they landed back on solid ground. Before Ruby could run off and do something else, Cinder grabbed her ear and twisted it. Not enough to hurt, but enough to keep Ruby rooted to the spot, "Be careful next time. Remember what the old man taught you."

"I'm sorry, Cindy..." Ruby's lips wobbled.

"She's not mad, Ruby, just remember that these powers aren't a joke," Jaune cut in. Yang looked ready to fight Cinder, family or no, "The reason Ozpin's letting you use them now is because you all promised to be careful. So no more unplanned flights and don't use it for anything except to defend yourself. That goes for you too, Yang." She gave the other blonde a pointed look.

"But I didn't do anything!" she protested.

"We know. It's a warning, not a lecture." Cinder let go of her ear, "Now come on, let's go. Don't worry, we won't tell Summer or Ozpin what Ruby did, but remember: careful. Next time we won't cover for you."

""Okay!""

The clearing was only a few minutes away. Both he and Cinder kept a respectful distance, careful not to get caught in the blast radius, "Thanks for trying to help back there. Not that you really did anything except flop around, but it's the thought that counts."

"Ah, shut up."

Blake Belladonna was a handful. Her parents had called her spirited, and yeah that was one way to describe her. Another would be stubborn.

Case in point.

"Blake, no."

"But-"

"No." He dragged the young Faunus away from trying to 'rescue' a monkey Faunus being arrested by the cops. From what he heard - from the guy's own mouth, no less - he'd stowed away on a ship and got in trouble with the local authorities for it. Blake, of course, just saw a Faunus being harassed by a couple of officers and thought that it'd be fine if she shoved said officers over the pier with a burst of wind.

"Blake, he's a criminal."

"You're just saying that cause he's a Faunus!"

"No, I'm saying that because he confessed to commiting a crime. If a human did that I'd say the same thing." Jaune sighed. The Faunus really did get a real deal in a lot of places, but that didn't mean every Faunus was innocent. Then again, could he really blame Blake for not seeing that? She was a kid. Back then he also looked at everything in Black and White. Sometimes he still did.

Blake yanked her hand from his and crossed her arms with a scowl. She wasn't happy here and she didn't like how rarely she was able to see her parents. She didn't hate him for it, even she understood it wasn't his fault, but she was more prone to arguing and disagreeing with him regardless.

This time was different, though. Instead of arguing or throwing a tantrum, she turned around and ran. Before Jaune could grab her, a bolt of lightning shot overhead and nearly zapped him. It was a warning shot. She expected him to run or be frozen in fear. Instead he pressed forward even faster and scooped her up with both hands, arms looped around her stomach and lifting her off the ground.

"Let me go!" She struggled and squirmed in his grip, "I'll zap you!"

Jaune ignored her threats and dragged the irate catgirl to a nearby park, praying and hoping no one would think this was a kidnapping. He plopped her down on a bench and held up a hand before she could shout, "I'm gonna go get some ice cream. I'm trusting you'll be here when you get back."

"Or what?"

"Or I'm calling your parents." She gasped and looked like he just threatened to stab her. He knew from experience that getting told on was worse, "Stay."

Ten minutes later and they were sitting side-by-side quietly nibbling on their strawberry ice cream cones, "I hate you..." she muttered, voice muffled by the frosty treat.

"Hmm..." It was a declaration he'd heard before. Lily had her fair share of tantrums once she hit seven and he was too busy with his school friends to hang out with her. Name calling, declarations of hate, loudly proclaiming how much she preferred her other sisters who actually spent time with her. He didn't hold it against her. Most kids thought about themselves first and other people second, if at all.

"I'm gonna run away back home."

"You know they'll just send you back." Sometimes the only solution was to talk to them like they were adults.

"Grrr..." She licked her ice cream again, "...I don't like it here. People are mean and they treat the Faunus like they're wrong. I want to go back home."

Jaune sighed, "Blake, look, I'm not gonna pretend I get what it's like to be a Faunus. I'm Human, so it'd be lying if I said I know what you're talking about. Still, there's a reason you're here. These powers...they can do a lot of good and they can do a lot of bad. You can hurt people, even the ones you're trying to protect."

"No, I wouldn't!"

"Are you sure? What if you get so angry one day that you accidentally hurt your mom and dad?" Her eyes widened, as if she hadn't even considered the idea before. It was likely she never actually did, "You nearly shocked me earlier."

"Th-That was just supposed to scare you!"

"I know, but what if you missed or hit somebody else?" She trembled and looked down at the ground, "I know how tempting it is to just hurt whoever's hurting you or someone you care about, but you need to learn to control. You have great power now, and that comes with a lot of responsibility." Okay, so he was quoting directly from the Huntsman comic, but it was still a good lesson to learn.

"...I miss mom and dad."

"I know." He scratched in-between her car ears. Kali told him it was her favorite spot, "Ozpin said they visit soon, but right now some people can't hurt you." Apparently the White Fang were all too eager to try and snatch up Blake as their own personal weapon. It was one of the reasons Ghira and Kali had agreed to send Blake so far away from her home. The thought of her being Sienna's thrall was too much for them to bear.

"...Sorry for almost zapping you."

"It's fine. Come on, let's head back."

Weiss Schnee was a bit of an oxymoron. Despite looking the youngest she was actually the oldest, turning eleven in just a couple of days. Besides that she often tried to act years above her age. She didn't play games, kept to a rigorous schedule, and spent any and all free time she had either studying or training. Every time Ruby or someone else invited her to hang out she'd always refuse, claiming that 'a Schnee must be held to a higher standard'.

Jaune just felt depressed when he looked at her. It was clear the girl was forced to grow up way ahead of her time and didn't know how to really act like a kid.

Things only got worse when he got a call from Willow Schnee.

"Mr. Arc. This is your number, correct?"

"Yes, Mrs. Schnee." He pressed the scroll close to his ear as he leaned outside the room's windowsill. He never really talked to the Schnees. Ruby, Yang, and Blake's parents often checked in with him, but in Weiss' case all he ever got was her butler Klein calling once a week to make sure if she was still okay and keeping to her schedule. Just relaying what Jacques Schnee asked, he said.

"Hm, we've had some...issues here. It'd probably be better if Weiss stayed there for now."

"What?" He looked back at the room. Weiss was still studying, head pored over a thick textbook she didn't even look strong enough to carry, "It's her birthday. What about the party? She's been-"

"There isn't going to be a party." There was a hint of regret in her tone, but it was quickly replaced with the same practiced neutrality as before, "Jacques cancelled it. There was an attack on one of our Dust convoys and a business deal was ruined because of it. A party wouldn't be 'appropriate', to use his words." She chuckled bitterly, "That's all I have to say. Thank you, Mr. Arc."

"But-"

The call cut out. Jaune looked down at the scroll in disbelief. What the fuck? Did that honestly just happen? He pocketed the scroll then brought a hand down his face. So not only was Weiss not going to see her family, but she didn't even have the courtesy to tell her about it herself? The worst part of it all was that he knew exactly how Weiss would react to it.

And he was right.

He told her exactly what Mrs. Schnee had told him and Weiss just took it. There was no screaming, no disbelief or throwing a tantrum; he might've actually preferred that. Instead she just nodded and said that 'she understood' then excused herself to go back to her studies. But he didn't miss the sudden emptiness in her eyes or the way she had to force the words out. Despite her claims, she'd definitely been looking forward to it.

So he made plans.

Weiss had thrown herself into training when her birthday came, which left him free to set everything up. The other girls were all too eager to help, even Blake. Despite how much she hated the Schnees, she felt sorry for Weiss.

The last thing Weiss expected when she opened the door to her room was for him, the rest of the kids, and Winter Schnee to be there yelling "SURPRISE!" at the top of their lungs. The little girl shrieked and icicles flew overhead. Good thing they prepared for those.

"Wh-What is-"

"Happy birthday, Weiss!" Jaune grinned. The three kids pushed the table with the large cake forward. Klein (who sadly couldn't make it due to his responsibilities) had given him the cake butler's personal recipe and he spent most of the previous day making it. It was all worth it to see the wide-eyed look of familiarity she had, "Since you couldn't go back home, I thought we could have a party here."

"Indeed." Winter smiled. She'd been eager to cooperate once he told her of the situation and his own plans, even taking an official sick day in order to come. Apparently that was a big deal for her, "Happy birthday, dear sister."

Weiss looked at him, her older sister, and her three other friends urging her to blow out the candles and make a wish. And then she cried. The kids had panicked, wondering what made her so sad, but he and Winter just shared a knowing look. This was the first time in years someone had celebrated her birthday without making such a ceremony out of it. Just cake, friends and presents.

"I'd like to thank you for doing this," Winter said. The two of them were standing near a corner and watching the four play a game of pin the tail on the beowolf with Weiss being blindfolded, "It's been...such a long time since I've seen my sister actually act her age."

"No problem." He took a sip of his juice, "Weiss is a good kid. She deserves to be one." She was a Schnee and had the powers of a Maiden, but more than that she was an eleven year old girl who never asked for any of it.

"That she does." And then she held his hand. The contact lasted for only a few seconds, but he noticed it all the same, "...If you would, could we exchange scroll numbers properly? I would like to continue a correspondence."

"Uh...sure." She was just asking to be friends...right?

It took close to midnight for the party to finally be over. Ruby, Yang and Blake were asleep as a pile on the floor while Weiss insisted on helping him clean up. Winter, sadly, had to go back to Atlas if she wanted to get enough sleep and make it to classes the next day.

"Thank you for the festivities, Mr. Jaune," Weiss said.

"You don't have to be an adult yet, Weiss." He ruffled her hair. Her eyes widened, and for a second he thought he made the same mistake as Yang, but eventually she leaned into the gesture before pulling back.

"But father always said a Schnee-"

"Your dad isn't here." Jaune sat down and patted the space next to him on the bed, which she reluctantly took, "I get wanting to grow up, I do, but you won't be a kid forever. Just...enjoy the time you have right now. Parties like this, staying up to talk to your friends, going to festivals. I'm not saying you should just forget about your responsibilities, but please spend some time being yourself. Am I making sense?"

"I...I think so." She nodded meekly. This was probably the first time she'd ever had a talk like this, "It's not wrong for me to enjoy myself."

"Right." He nodded happily.

"Will you be there for the next birthday?"

"Sure." He ruffled her hair again and she giggled, "Come on, let's get some sleep."

"Okay. Goodnight, da- uh, Mr. Jaune!" Was she about to say...no, he was reading too much into it.

The Vytal Festival was one of the most anticipated events in Remnant and it was no different in Vale. Or for his charges. All of them were eager to see the festivities, especially Weiss once she'd taken his words to heart. She'd even sat on to his shoulders and was very much enjoying the feeling of being tall as they walked around the various stalls and festivities.

Thankfully he wasn't alone. Cinder had actually decided to be a good big sister for once and agreed to watch over Blake and Yang, leaving him with just Weiss and Blake to look after. It was easier that way, at least, "Ooh, let's go over there!" Weiss grabbed his hair and tugged excitedly with one hand while another pointed at a stall selling cotton candy. Blake had her eye on the next stall selling some Mistralian treat called taiyaki.

"Cindy, Cindy! Win us a prize!" Ruby dragged Cinder over to a shooting range stall.

"I betcha I can win the prize for that punching game!" Yang shouted, then sped off before Cinder could say a word.

"...Is this what they're like everyday?" Cinder asked.

Jaune just smiled.

They spend the entire day just enjoying themselves. By the time they got back to Beacon he was practically dead on his feet, but he didn't regret it. Ruby was beaming and swinging her new teddy bear around, Blake and Yang were sharing the absolute cartload of food they all bought, and Weiss was humming and smiling as she skipped ahead of them. Skipped. Schnees did not skip, she said once. Look at her now.

And then they opened the door to the kids' room.

"You've finally arrived." Salem, Queen of all Grimm and Mistress of Evil, was sitting on a chair right at the center of the room. Their shock lasted for only a couple of seconds before he and Cinder stepped in front of the kids, weapons drawn. She rolled her eyes at them, "And what do you expect to be able to do with those puny implements? I cannot be killed."

"Kids...run." Jaune said.

"But-"

"Run! No arguing!" Cinder shouted.

They didn't listen, of course. The four rushed past them, eyes alight with Maiden power, "We won't let you hurt Jaune-Jaune and Cindy!" Ruby shouted. He wanted to hug her, then toss her out of the window to relative safety.

Salem stood, and as Jaune prepared himself to take whatever attack Salem meant for them, she stopped and looked at each of the kids in turn. Her eyes widened and she stepped back as if she'd been struck.

"I surrender."

"...What?" Cinder asked flatly.

"I surrender." She sat back down and steepled her hands together, "I'd come here intending to judge Ozma's castoffs myself, but seeing them now...I know I cannot bring myself to harm them." And then, as if the day wasn't insane enough, Salem, the bane of all that was good and decent, pressed both hands to her cheeks and squealed, "They're so adorable! Who could harm such creatures?"

"...What?" Jaune asked flatly.

"Do you not see it?" Salem tilted her head to the side.

"No, I know they're cute, but that doesn't explain-" He stopped. Was he honestly trying to convince the Queen of all Grimm to change her mind about not killing them? He needed to change tracks, "Yes, they're really adorable, aren't they?"

"They are." Salem nodded happily, "Oh, it has been so long since I've seen children. They always ran away from me in the past."

"Yeah, I wonder why..." Cinder muttered.

"We still won't let you hurt Jaune-Jaune and Cindy!" Ruby shouted again.

"Oh, I would never dream of doing anything to make any of you sad," Salem cooed. Cooed. It was actually scarier than when she was about to kill them, "I'll tell Ozma that I'm haling my plans for world destruction as of this moment. I will ensure that they remain safe and happy and content."

...

Did someone lace that cotton candy with something? Cause this felt like a bad trip.

"Tell me, children, how would you feel about being adopted?"

"They-"

"We already have parents!" Yang shouted, not at all afraid or weirded out at the turn this had gone, "Jaune's our big bro and Cindy's our big sis!"

"And then when Mr. Jaune gets together with Winter, he'll be my big bro for real!" Weiss added.

...

Wait, what did she-

"So this Jaune Arc is a connection." Salem looked at him, not to see how she could kill him, but sizing him up like a slab of meat, "He is adequate. I shall get together with him and henceforth shall be called as Auntie Salem by all of you."

"You're not a Faunus," Blake said, as if that was literally the only problem here.

"Family transcends such things, child," Salem said warmly, "But that can come later. First I should talk with Ozma about our new status quo. Excuse me."

And then she walked past them like it was the most normal thing in the world, though not before she looked him up and down again. Was this what it felt like to be objectified? Cause he didn't like it. At all. The kids, seeing that the scary lady was gone, got ready for bed, leaving just him and Cinder standing outside in the halls, still in utter disbelief.

"Well...that just happened." Jaune said.

"Yep."

"I also really appreciate you not saying anything when Salem literally said she planned to date me. Thanks for that.

"Uh, what the hell did you expect me to do? She's the Queen of all Grimm. I love you, but that ain't a fight I'm picking."

"..."

"What?"

"You just said you loved me." Jaune grinned.

"Ugh, of course you'd focus on that." She groaned and shook her head, "Come on, we gotta go to Ozpin's office before they have some kind of magic duel and destroy the school. I actually kinda like it here."

"Sure thing, lover."

She slapped his shoulder and grunted, "Move it!"

"Whatever you say, honey bun."

"You're the worst."

Like I said, not my best work. I promise the next omake will be more humorous. The addition of a redeemed Cinder also made it so that Jaune didn't have to deal with the team's shenanigans alone, as was the original plan. Still, I'm pretty sure at least some people will enjoy a goofy, lighthearted Knightfall where Cinder was rescued.

Another original plan was that Jaune and Cinder's relationship was actually supposed to be built up, but I thought that would take even more focus away from the kid shenanigans so they're already kinda together by the start. And as I was writing it, a part of me now regrets not pairing Jaune with a teenaged Winter instead :/ Maybe next time.

Questions:

1. How strong do you guys think team RWBY is currently in the story? Whether they approved or disapproved of the tournament, the consensus among readers seems to be that team RWBY can and will win no matter what happens. But couldn't someone like Pyrrha or Penny be able to beat them? Neither side would fight like it's a life or death struggle so it'd even the odds.

2. I'm curious about something. Since some people have complained about Jaune's lack of action, would you guys mind if I delve a bit more into politics and dirty business for the Council arc? It would put focus on Jaune and Mercury as they're exposed and deal with the skeletons in the closet.

The issue is that it might feel like too much of a genre shift and it's only tangentially related to the Maidens plot. Mostly it's there to show the darker side of Vale and help expand Jaune's capabilities and worldview. Would you guys enjoy that or do we just wait for Jaune focus in later arcs?

3. Should I update less? I've gotten comments before that I update too fast and that it keeps people from reading and responding. Not too serious, just wondering if I should slow down a bit.

Review Answers:

BrazeRancor - Team RWBY is popular, but they're not the 'four most important people in the country'. Anyway, having them fight real Huntsmen sounds cool. Might use that.

WellLifeJustAintFair - In the Worst Timeline omake he literally became Blake's herald. Jaune's public relationships skill is a 10.

ReadYesyes - Why wouldn't they let team RWBY compete? Because they're too strong? That's like refusing to let someone enter the Olympic sprint cause they're too fast. While the other students might consider it unfair, the same can be said for anyone facing Pyrrha with her broken Semblance and prodigy fighting skills.

Chuck B. Winanaki - Blanche hasn't actually done anything wrong, you know. He's been straight from the start.

Austin - No plans to fight the Gods. Team RWBY is strong, but they're still human. They ain't killing the creators. Also, no Halloween omake plans, sorry.

Guest - Pretty sure you asked before, but like I said, I don't mind. Just make sure it's clear that I didn't write it.

MASTER T-REX - Yeah, Ruby keeps getting NTRed by her teammates while everyone else assumes she's an NTR mastermind. Poor Ruby. At the end she'll be happily married to Jaune and people still assume this is some long con to get a harem.