A/N: I figured I'd let all of you know that chapter releases will become less consistent for awhile, which is to say they'll most likely take longer than two days. The new semester at my college started and that's taking up a lot of time I used for writing over the summer. Chapters will still come out, of course, just a bit slower than before.

With that said, enjoy the chapter!

We remained at the square helping paramedics get civilians out of rubble for another couple hours. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. A few innocents did die, but at the very least our presence prevented what had been a dozen deaths from becoming a hundred deaths.

The muscular, dark haired girl with the massive sword, whose name is Peregrine, went with us when we opted to go back to Beacon. She explained that she was staying there for a short time at the behest of her mentor, although she wasn't a student.

When we finally did get back to Beacon, I couldn't help but wonder what about her made the Talisman act up. Although I hadn't had an opportunity to ask her anything yet, asking her then seemed rude since she appeared to be in a lot of pain. She didn't look like she had taken a lot of injuries from the Grimm, I had to wonder just what it was?

The first thing I needed to do was get back to the infirmary and change the bandages on my arms and hands. Frankly, it was amazing that I didn't open the wounds again from all of that.

Once I did get back, Doctor Xia told me as much. She was more than a little pissed at me for running off and getting into a fight with Grimm while I was in that state, but ultimately she understood that it wasn't really something I had a choice in at the time.

Cinder was happy to see I didn't get hurt in all the chaos. However, it was only after Doctor Xia left and I was alone with her that I could ask a question, sitting on my hospital bed as I was, "Cinder, Neopolitan and Torchwick weren't leading that operation anymore… Do you have any idea who could have done it?"

She thought for a moment before shaking her head, "Unless Adam Taurus or one of my prior associates did it, then no, but I highly doubt it was any of them… Which means Salem already has new pawns in her grand chess game."

I sighed and looked down at the bed. This was exactly what I didn't want to happen. New enemies meant unpredictable enemies, enemies that I had no idea about. I knew Watts, I knew Tyrian, I knew all of them, but now? That element of knowledge was gone, I was just going to have to go along with what I expected to happen and try to adjust plans accordingly as differences inevitably arose.

Cinder watched me as I sat there silently thinking to myself. After almost a minute of silence, she spoke up gently, "Neve… I can tell you're planning. Aren't you?" I nodded and she frowned, keeping her gentle tone laced with concern, "You need rest, planning isn't resting. Seeing you like this in that state… it worries me."

I closed my eyes and nodded, knowing that she was right. It was one thing to be told these things by Torchwick and Ozpin, but Cinder saying it felt more impactful. Call me biased, because I am.

I opened my eyes again and looked at her, "Well, in that case… I'm not expected to go to any classes for the rest of the week, and after that is fall break, so… how about we plan a date?"

Cinder gained a faint blush as she looked away shyly, "A real date?" It was cute to see her like this, even if we'd already kissed she was still in so much disbelief. I couldn't blame her, so was I, to an extent.

I nodded, "A real date. Not a not-date, something real." I rubbed my chin as I tried to think of what to do for it, although it didn't take me long. Really, there was only one right answer. I smiled, "And I think I know what we can do, too." Cinder raised an eyebrow and my smile grew, "There's this forest trail I used to walk with my mentor. I think it'd be a great first date, don't you?"

She blinked a few times before understanding dawned on her. She smiled warmly and nodded, "Yes… I think that would be perfect. Just as soon as I'm able to walk…"

The plan was set, all that remained, then, was to wait.

Later that day, Doctor Xia came by and showed me how to replace my bandages, she told me that burn wounds were strange. Some went away without scarring, others remained as scars, some still never healed completely. She said she couldn't tell what was going to happen to my arms in that regard. That was why she taught me how to change my own bandages, which was fairly easy all things considered, and also how to treat the still existent but much less painful large wounds on my hands.

After that was all done, Doctor Xia gave me some good news. I was sitting on my bed as she stood next to it, "Well, with that out of the way, I think you're clear to return to your dorm. I still have to suggest that you avoid strenuous activity, it's a miracle your wounds didn't reopen because of that debacle earlier…" She smiled, "Luckily, with your team's mission done and the next few weeks being fall break, you've got no excuse not to take it easy."

I chuckled, she knew that if that wasn't the case I'd have probably been pushing myself as hard as I always did. Maybe even harder now, although she didn't know that. Before I could respond, Cinder spoke up with an amused tone, "Don't worry, Doctor… I will make sure he doesn't push himself too hard. The last thing he needs is a return trip, you'd think he'd know that, and yet if he does, he certainly doesn't care."

That earned a laugh out of Doctor Xia and caused me to blush in embarrassment. Xia smiled at me, "Well, I'm glad to see you'll be well looked over. Although…" She looked over to Cinder, "I'm unsure if I feel right letting you leave yet. You've healed considerably very quickly, but I doubt you'll be able to walk correctly for a few more days."

Cinder frowned and crossed her arms, pouting, "Then give me a wheelchair. I don't wish to stay here anymore, if Neve isn't here then it's going to be awfully dull."

I couldn't help but smile as I looked in her direction, "Cinder… don't you have a dorm of your own?" She did, of course, in the transfer students dormitory. The image of Emerald fretting over Cinder's every need was amusing, to say the least. Although if she planned to break the news to them anytime soon, maybe staying in my dorm with my team would be better. Not that I expected them to do anything, but if they left, she'd be alone…

I decided to correct myself, "Actually… if you want to stay with my team, I know they'll be more than happy to have you. Since we're officially on break, I'm sure that eventually one of the beds will free up for you." The silent offer was there, she could stay in my bed until then, although this time I didn't think sleeping in the same bed as her would be a medically sound idea.

Cinder nodded eagerly, perhaps a bit too eagerly if the way her eyes lit up was anything to go off of, but I thought it was cute. Doctor Xia hummed, "Well… I suppose I'll still be on campus for the rest of the week, if the infirmary doesn't suddenly fill up with students then I can make some house calls." She smiled, "Another way to thank you for saving Shi, Neve."

Cinder looked intrigued by the doctor mentioning me saving someone, I just smiled sheepishly, "I appreciate it, doc. So, is she going to need a wheelchair?"

She nodded, "Give me a few minutes and I'll get one checked out, then you're free to go. I highly advise changing out of your patient gown first, Ms. Fall." She smiled and turned around, leaving.

Cinder promptly took out of her scroll and typed away, presumably asking Emerald to bring her her clothes. Then she closed her scroll, "Emerald, Emerald… Always reliable. I know she'll defect with me. She views me as… an older sister."

I supposed that made sense, if Emerald was seventeen still in this timeline. It'd be a bit weird to still have the complex of viewing Cinder as a mother figure with her only being two years older. I smiled at her, "I hope she doesn't think I'm infringing on her quality time or something."

She giggled, "Oh, no… I think in time she'll view you as a… brother-in-law." Then, she smirked, "You know, she told me what you said to her." My face paled and I was about to explain when Cinder's smirk broke into a full smile, "I'm not mad at you. I know why you did it. I didn't give them orders to kill Tukson, if they had I would have been very displeased. Still…" She batted her eyelashes at me, "I'd love to get a taste of what you said to her."

I felt my face heat right back up as I smiled at her. With some small effort, I got up off my patient bed, mentally reminding myself of the earlier idea of getting a walking cane for when I have injuries like this, after all this wasn't going to be the last time I got this badly injured.

I made my way closer to her bed and knelt on it, she stared at me curiously and with anticipation as I tried to put on that confident smile I had given Emerald. I looked into her eyes and flirtatiously asked, "You know, has anyone ever told you that you've got beautiful eyes?"

I hadn't expected this kind of flirty line to work on her, but the way her face ignited a bright red seemed to suggest it did. Her eyes widened and I pressed on, my voice softening, "They're like two ambers, and the glow is so… captivating."

Cinder let out a strange noise somewhere between a squeak and a whimper as she stared at me, "I…I see how you w-were able to throw off Emerald…" I might have not liked doing it when I was flirting with Emerald, but I liked that I could make Cinder like this, it felt nice.

I didn't expect what happened next though.

With a small amount of effort, she sat up and gently placed her palm on my cheek. Her face still red, she smiled an equally flirtatious smile at me, "Has anyone ever told you that you're handsome? That your eyes are like two pools of ice water?"

Now it was my turn to feel my face burn red, she'd never said anything like this before and it took me completely off guard. My heart fluttered and butterflies swarmed in my stomach, even more so as she leaned up close to me until our noses were almost pressed together and she whispered, "I could drown in them..."

She closed the distance and pressed her lips to mine, her eyes fluttered closed and mine did the same. This was more the kind of forward behavior I had expected from her a long time ago, seeing it now was a wonderful thing. The kiss was gentle and loving, much less desperate than the first one we shared.

Regrettably, it couldn't last very long. We heard a knock on the door which prompted me to pull away. Unlike the first time something like this happened though, there was no frustration. We just both smiled like idiots as I went and sat on my patient's bed, "Come in!"

In came Emerald, carrying Cinder's neatly folded regular outfit, Mistrali wrappings and all. She smiled awkwardly at me before continuing to Cinder, "How're you feeling?" She asked as she held out the folded clothing.

Cinder took the clothes, "Better. Still weak, but better. I'm going to be staying at Team CALM's dorm for the night, at least."

Emerald looked surprised, "R-Really? But we have our own dorm… I can take care of you too, you know!" She placed a hand on her hip as she adopted a look of concern.

Cinder smirked, "I know you can, Emerald, but I would like to spend more time with my boyfriend, if it's all the same to you."

Honestly the look of utter shock on Emerald's face was hilarious, "B-Boyfriend?" Then she looked at me and I smiled at her, she rapidly looked between the two of us, "O-Oh! I…I had no idea! Since when?"

Cinder explained, "Just a few days ago, at the dance."

That was more than enough for Emerald to draw her own conclusions about exactly how this had happened, and she just looked more confused and shocked, "W-Wha? H-How long have you two known each other?"

I shook my head, "Don't say it like that, you make it sound… strange." That was more than enough for Emerald to blush, causing Cinder and I to laugh. I explained once I got myself under control, "Well, we met back when I worked at a coffee shop almost a year ago now."

Cinder added, "I helped train him. You might have noticed our weapons are very similar." She gestured to the privacy curtain, "Now, if you don't mind, I need to change. I'm tired of wearing this gown."

Emerald obeyed, closing the curtain, which left her standing next to me while I sat on the bed. It was… awkward, to say the least. I smiled at her, and while she returned it, it was nervous and awkward. She was likely still reeling from the shock, understandably so.

It didn't take long for Cinder to get changed, although I imagine it took some effort since she couldn't really walk. When she finally said she was finished, Emerald pulled the curtain back and Cinder was sitting on the bed. She didn't have as many external injuries as me, but I was sure that getting a Grimm ripped out of your essence would hurt a lot.

Doctor Xia was along shortly after with a wheelchair, which Cinder got into. She lamented it, she said it made her feel weak and powerless, but she was at least assuaged by the fact that it was only temporary.

While Cinder was eager to stay with my team, she wanted to stop by the dorm and break the news to her soon-to-be-former subordinates. So we headed to her dorm in the separate building for visiting students. It looked like any other dorm at Beacon, and Mercury was already there. Emerald had basically insisted on wheeling Cinder around and I wasn't going to fight her on that, so they went in first.

Mercury, who was sitting on what I presumed to be his bed playing on his scroll, looked at the two of them and scoffed, "Well, look who it is. Finally able to leave the hospital after getting your ass handed to you by-"

Whatever he was going to say died when he saw me appear following them. I shot him a smile, "By who?" I pondered, "Cause… the way I see it-" I held up my bandaged hands and arms, "it was an even fight."

I shut the door behind us while Mercury asked, "Cinder, what is he-"

Cinder cut him off as Emerald parked her next to her bed, "He's here because I have something to tell both of you, and a choice for you to make."

I stayed by the door, leaning on the wall and crossing my arms while Emerald went to sit on her bed. Cinder looked between the two of them, "The other night, Salem tried to kill me." She let that news hit the two of them, their eyes widened and they exchanged looks, Cinder continued, "She's made it clear that I'm no longer valuable to her. Therefore, she's marked me for death."

Mercury furrowed his brow, sounding confused, "So what? Are you going to start working with the goodie-two-shoes? Gonna just start singing hakuna matata? Kumbaya?"

Cinder scoffed at the idea, "No, but I've come to an unavoidable conclusion. Salem needs to be stopped. I will never be able to have the life she promised me so long as she lives. I don't know how, but I need to stop her. To that end, once I've had proper time to recover and see to my affairs here at Beacon, I will be departing to find new sources of power. I know Remnant has more than its share of secrets."

She looked between both of them. Emerald looked worried, scared even, while Mercury did his best to hide his own worry. He was looking at Emerald more than Cinder, I noticed. Cinder continued, "The two of you have four options, the way I see it. You can leverage your credentials as Haven students to transfer to Beacon and try to live normal lives, you can abandon this whole charade and leave, strike out on your own, you could come with me on my search… or you can stay with Salem and try to kill me." She regarded the two of them, "The choice is yours."

Emerald was very quick to give her answer, "W-Well I'll go with you, obviously! After everything you've done for me, Cinder… I'm not going to just abandon you. We're… we're basically family." She looked at Mercury, "All three of us."

Mercury made a show of sighing an exaggerated sigh, "I didn't sign up for this shit…" He rubbed his forehead, "You two idiots, and idiot number three over there, are going to try to kill Salem. You know, the woman who literally can't be killed? Have you gone nuts?" He looked between Cinder and Emerald, his annoyed expression softened slightly, "Just… don't expect me to start hugging people, alright?"

Emerald gasped and promptly leapt off her bed and tackled Mercury in a hug, causing him to yelp and protest, "A-Ay! I said don't hug! Hands off the merchandise! Ugh…" Yet he ended up returning the hug anyway.

I couldn't stop myself from smiling, "Well, Cinder." I looked at her, "I guess you've got nothing to worry about. You've still got your team."

Cinder nodded, seeming relieved, although she tried her best to hide it, "Yes… I suppose I do."

I smirked, "Violet, Jeanne, and Lunus will all be very happy to hear about you all staying."

Mercury finally got free of the hug, sat up, and looked at me, "Wait… Violet? Did you say Violet?"

I furrowed my brows, he had this look of recognition in his eyes. I nodded and he went silent, causing Emerald, who was now sitting next to him, to ask, "Mercury? What about her?"

Mercury shook his head, "Nah… probably just the same name. I used to know a girl named Violet, way back."

Emerald grew confused, "Well, why don't you meet this girl and see if it's the same person? No need to brood about it!"

He responded with a shrug, "Eh… Fine, fuck it." He stood up and looked at me, "Where's your dorm? I'm coming with you guys."

I shrugged and together the three of us headed back to the dorm. I had no idea if Mercury knew our Violet or if it really was just someone else, but it didn't hurt to check. When I got there and unlocked the door, Emerald wheeled Cinder in first and then I followed.

I saw Violet playing video games on her holo-TV, Lunus was reading a book, 'The Man with Two Souls', and Jeanne was laying on her bed while browsing her scroll..

Lunus and Jeanne both looked up towards us, once they saw who we were they both smiled and waved. Violet, however, was much too focused on her game to look. Mercury and I came in, and when Mercury spotted Violet, the subtle way his eyes widened was enough for me to tell that he recognized her. This was confirmed when he stepped forward and asked, full of uncertainty, "Vi…?"

Violet hearing her nickname was enough for her to pause her game, "Huh-?" She stood up and turned away, and she gasped, "M-Merc? Is… Is that really you?"

Mercury was not the type of guy to show a lot of emotion, I knew that. So it was no surprise to me when, rather than saying anything or really emoting much at all, he strided over to her and wrapped her up in a hug.

I had no idea how these two knew each other, but it clearly meant a lot to Violet, because she started unrepentantly sobbing into his chest, although they were tears of joy. When Mercury did speak again, he just muttered, "Yeah…"

The rest of us shared a look and a shrug, allowing them to hug it out before we learned any more.

It took them awhile to actually get over their emotional mess, that was when Violet said that Mercury and her knew each other when they were young. They were each other's only friends, and they remained that way until Mercury got picked up by Salem's pawns.

The fact that he and Violet knew each other, and Violet reacted the way she did to something simple like breaking a plate, made me think that maybe they had more in common than a home town. It made my blood boil to imagine anyone having to go through that as a child, but they were both alive and their parents were not, which felt like the best outcome to me.

Eventually though Mercury and Emerald left, Cinder stayed and caught up with the rest of the team. Eventually we all decided to watch some movies together, and after several Spruce Willis action flicks, people started to go to bed. I allowed Cinder to sleep on my bed, and while she initially wanted to try and fit us both on it, it became quickly apparent that the bed was a one-person deal.

Maybe if she hadn't been injured, but that was still a lot of closeness. We might have slept in bed close together once already but we hadn't meant to, we moved close together when we were sleeping. Doing that in private was one thing… doing that in my dorm just felt weird, like those couples that make out in public together.

The next morning she returned to her dorm for the rest of her recovery period. It took several more days but eventually she was in walking condition again. During the time she spent waiting, I told her about my idea for our weapons. She seemed to like it, and thus she took my damaged blade that formerly belonged to Dawn, had it repaired on campus, and created a new obsidian blade. She dubbed her new weapon Aurora.

I painted my metallic blade sky blue, when both blades were joined together, the sky blue blade was at the top of the bow and the obsidian blade was at the bottom. Cinder painted her metal blade the kind of green you saw in an Aurora, although the name of the exact color escapes me.

It was Saturday when Cinder was able to walk again, and that day she insisted we go to Forever Fall to celebrate. Since we were going to the forest, we both dressed in what we considered our hunter gear (Cinder having dedicated herself to wearing her 'Mistrali Huntress' outfit with the chest wrappings) and took our weapons, in case any Grimm strayed onto the path. Although we doubted that was going to happen, that trail was fiercely guarded by patrols of hunters.

So we found ourselves stepping out of bounds of the city and onto the nature trail, Cinder had laced her fingers into mine and held my hand as we walked side by side. She had a smile on her face as we walked, and so did I.

For a time, we simply enjoyed each other's company as the eternally autumnal leaves of Forever Fall occasionally fell to decorate the ground. While Forever Fall was never without its leaves, that didn't mean it didn't lose enough to decorate the trail in them. I had no idea how that worked, but then again I'm not a florist.

Eventually Cinder wanted us to diverge from the path. I knew exactly where she wanted us to go, and it made my already present smile grow.

We entered the clearing we used to train at, although as we got to the middle of the clearing, rather than turning for a sparring match, Cinder simply moved to sit on the ground. I sat beside her, she looked like she had something she wanted to say, apprehension was clear on her face. I smiled encouragingly at her, "Something on your mind?"

She nodded slowly as she drew her knees up to her chest and held them there, "It's… something that I've tried to avoid thinking about but it's still there. Salem needs to be destroyed, that's not up for debate, but I still can't help but feel that I… I don't have a home anymore. Evernight Castle was my home after I ran from the Glass Unicorn… Now though, I'll probably never see it again."

I watched her intently, taking in everything she was saying. She continued, taking a deep breath and exhaling, "I suppose that I just… feel like I'm back at square one. I don't have a home anymore, just like before. It…" She closed her eyes for a moment, "It feels empty."

I understood exactly what she meant. I looked down at the ground for a moment and let out a single mirthless laugh, "Hah. Yeah… I know that feeling all too well." She opened her eyes and looked at me, my previous smile was growing strained but I still put a hand on her back, "Ever since I came here, to Remnant, I've struggled. For… a very long time, I felt like I didn't have a home. That I didn't belong here, I guess technically I don't, but…"

I thought for a moment. Cinder let go of her legs and scooched closer to me. She rested her head on my shoulder. I moved the hand on her back to wrap around her waist and continued, my voice soft, "I've learned that home isn't just the place you live. Home can have four walls and a roof just as easily as it can have a heartbeat."

Cinder lifted her head to look at me. I met her melancholic gaze and smiled, "Home for me isn't necessarily my apartment. I feel at home when I'm with my team, in the moments between the blinks when we're just… whiling away the hours playing games or watching movies, like the other night. That's home, no matter where we do it. And, Cinder…"

I reached a hand up and gently cupped her cheek, "Home feels all the sweeter when you're part of it. No matter what's happened in the past or what will happen in the future, I want you to know that I'd love nothing more than to have you share my home. You run, Cinder… You run a lot. You've been running for a very long time, and… I know you're going to leave eventually."

My voice was laced with a bittersweet melancholy, "You're going to keep running because you want to find the power to defeat Salem, because you want to be able to finally stop running, right?" She nodded, I could see some tears starting to mist up in her eyes, "All I ask of you is that while you're running, let those legs of yours carry you back to me sometimes, okay? If you need a place to call home, to rest and not think about any of what we're supposed to do… Then you can always come to me. Even if we ever end up at odds again, even if we fight sometimes, I promise that you can always come to me."

Tears began to stream down her face as she leaned forward and locked her lips with me. I closed my eyes and she did the same, I felt her put a hand on my chest and gently push me down, so I laid back in the grass while we remained locked in our embrace.

She laid on top of me, every kiss she gave me was filled with neediness and passion, a silent plea to stay. I would be lying if I said I didn't have the same feelings laced into every bit of affection. This kiss was intense, as she pressed her lips to mine I could feel her nipping at my lip, asking for more.

I relented and we added our tongues to the kiss. Neither of us were good kissers, because we had no experience. Yet that really didn't matter, because she was everything I wanted, and I was everything she wanted. Her breathing grew labored before mine. Hers was intense and filled with heat, it just made my face burn brighter.

Eventually she let out a soft moan that sent a shivering sensation through my body. That, however, was enough for us to finally break for air. Her face was a volcanic red, and she grew steadily more embarrassed as she rolled off of me and sat up, "U-uhm, I… I'm sorry, that… That slipped out somehow."

It was embarrassing for me too, I was just grateful that we were far enough from the trail that the odds of anyone having seen or heard anything was low. I sat up and smiled sheepishly, "Uhm, it's okay… I, uh… It was… cute?"

All me saying that did was make her bury her face in her hands and whine in embarrassment. I couldn't help but smile a bit brighter as she did, I placed a hand on her back and rubbed it before offering an escape, "How about we start heading back? We can get some frappes on the way."

She was all for that, and so the two of us stood and started back.

After that, with Fall Break in full swing, it was time for everyone to split up once again. I had let everyone on my team know about the birthday party for Shi that I wanted them to go with me to, and they were more than happy to join me. Lunus was going to bring Ruby along as well, since they were going to be back at Patch.

Jeanne and Violet were staying, along with all of Team JNPR. Emerald and Mercury, too, were staying on campus. Cinder decided to use this as an opportunity for us to spend more time alone together, which was good, because other than helping plan for Shi's birthday party, I was out of things to do.

Well, other than obsessively fret over the Vytal Festival. Cinder might not be aiming to attack it, but that didn't mean that whoever masterminded the Breach wouldn't. Especially with the disturbing increase in murders as time went on in the city.

Some were stabbed in the back, others in the neck, and most disturbingly of all, some of them appeared cleaved in half. It added this sense of underlying tension to the city, patrols of huntsmen and policemen were ramped up, and Beacon students were advised to keep their weapons on them at all times.

I had a feeling that this was supposed to be a means to ferment fear among the populace, to plant a seed they could harvest later, but for the life of me I had no idea what I could do about that. Nothing short of capturing the murderer would relax people, and nobody knew who it was. As much as I wished I had the answer, this was one of the things that I couldn't rely on my foresight to solve. I was no detective either, so I was left in the lurch.

One particular afternoon, a couple weeks into the break and just a scant few days before Shi's party, I was sitting in my apartment on the couch. I had tried to take what basically everyone had told me to heart and was spending the days either training, playing games, or watching mind-numbing television.

Some might call that boring, but frankly any day without a major catastrophe was a good day.

I was pulled out of watching one of the Mistrali Cartoons (still called anime here, for some reason), when I received a phone call.

I had expected it to be from Cinder, she was coming over to visit almost every day, especially now that she wasn't working for Salem, but instead it was from the last person I could have possibly suspected.

It was Ozpin.

When classes were in session we talked every few nights so I could train my magic further, however, on break Ozpin insisted that I keep my training on the more basic level. He wanted me to avoid pushing myself too hard and not getting any rest during the break. Him calling me, then, was a bit worrying.

I answered the phone, and greeted him, my voice laced with concern, "Headmaster?"

Ozpin sounded normal as he returned the greeting, "Neve. I hope the break is treating you well?"

He was always a man of formalities. I humored him, "So far so good, are the preparations for the Vytal Festival going alright?"

He seemed pleased by the choice of topic, "They are proceeding apace, however there are some things I wish to speak with you about. If you do not mind, I'd like to find a time where you wouldn't mind a couple visitors. Glynda and I wouldn't ask you to come back up to Beacon for this, so we would come to you."

That was surprising, I had never really thought of either of them as anything less than 'bound to the school' given I had never seen either of them outside of classes or the Headmaster's office. Still, I supposed I couldn't say no, "Hmm, if you visit tomorrow I can make sure we have a place to share some coffee, or hot chocolate." Tomorrow was Sunday, which meant the cafe would be free for me to host some guests. Then, I remembered, "Ah- I did promise Cinder that I would spend time with her that day, so maybe some other day?"

Ozpin chuckled, "I'm glad to hear you and Miss Fall are enjoying your vacation. However, having her there as well shouldn't be an issue. You've told me before that she knows of your true nature, correct?"

Even Ozpin didn't know the whole story. He just knew that I was not from Remnant, at least, this version of Remnant as far as he was concerned. Still, I did tell him that I told Cinder, if only so that he knew I trusted her greatly. Having her over would certainly make whatever business they had with me more pleasant, I smiled as I responded, "That works for me. Are teachers allowed to have double-dates with students? That sounds a bit odd."

He sounded amused when he responded, "I assure you, even if this will not be a formal meeting, it is certainly not a double date. Were Glynda and I to go on one of those, it would much sooner be with other professors."

I raised an eyebrow at the implication, "Wait, does that mean you and Glynda…?"

I could feel him smirking on the other side of the call, "As you are well aware, the less you know about a professor's life outside of school, the better. We will arrive at five, I trust that is a good time?"

Well, that evasiveness more or less confirmed my suspicions. I decided to move past it, it ultimately didn't matter, "It is. I'll see you then, Professor."

After that I texted Cinder to let her know what we'd be doing for at least part of the day. She was curious as to what Ozpin wanted to talk to me about, but didn't seem averse to the idea of talking to him. I imagined that at that point she still had some animosity towards him based on what Salem had probably said about him, but after Salem tried to kill her, I didn't doubt that she was at least willing to tolerate him.

The next day, I dressed in my usual turtleneck, scarf, jeans and boots. About thirty minutes before five, Cinder texted me that she was at the door. I was already wearing my turtleneck, jeans, boots, and scarf, so all I needed to do was head downstairs. When I opened the door, I saw Cinder wearing a dark red sweater, jeans, and some black boots. She smiled at me, "I should make you some new outfits, Neve. Wearing copies of the same outfit all the time is boring."

I smiled back and stepped back, allowing her to enter the cafe before I shut the door behind her, "I won't say no to that, especially if you're the one making them." She gave me a quick kiss before I headed over to the counter to get her a frappe.

While I was making the drink, she came over and asked, "What do you think they need to talk to you about?"

I shrugged, "Could be any number of things. Oz isn't the kind of guy to set something like this up without a reason. I've kept my distance from him outside of training so I don't get pulled into his schemes, but trading notes isn't something I'm opposed to."

As I turned back towards her and away from the machine with her drink and set it on the counter. Cinder took the drink and curiously considered me, "Salem rarely spoke of the man, seeing him up close like this will be… enlightening. You work parallel to him, then?"

I nodded, "More or less. The things that I know put me at a great advantage, admittedly. You should have seen the look on his face when I first called him his true name." Cinder giggled and I fixed myself a chocolate chip frappe, the same as Cinder's, and then we moved to sit at our normal booth.

Once we were sitting down, she leaned on me and smiled, "You know, it's nice being able to just enjoy time together without worrying about Salem or anything like that… I could almost believe I'm just a normal person."

I returned the smile as I leaned back on her, sipping my frappe before responding, "Yeah. Like you met me at the coffee shop that my mom runs, we hit it off, and now we're dating."

Cinder giggled, "The end result will be the same, if we have it our way." She then whispered in my ear, "We'll beat Salem, and people will call me Mrs. Cadere."

I blushed a dark red, she had been getting more and more flirtatious as time went on, it didn't always land and mostly came off as funny or endearing, but that line certainly landed, I responded simply, "I hope so." I did then and I do now, further along but not quite finished. Maybe I'll be able to finish this journey with just that. I can only hope.

She kissed my neck and caused me to shudder, "C-Cinder…" I smiled nervously, "You're getting bolder."

She placed her hand on my chest, "Why wouldn't I? I love you. I gave up my whole world for you." She didn't sound like she regretted it at all, "Now that I can, I want to love you. I want you." There was a pause as she considered what she just said. Then, for all her newfound boldness, she still turned a bright red and looked away, "U-Uhm, I uh- I didn't mean-"

I laughed lightly as she struggled to recover, my own blush creeping onto my face. I would never have imagined Cinder to be the kind of person to get embarrassed like that, but when it came to romance she acted her age, and I acted mine. Which is to say, we were both incredibly awkward.

When the feeling of embarrassment passed, we both just enjoyed our drinks in silence for a while. It didn't take long after that for there to be a knock on the front door. I stood up and walked over to the door, adjusting my sweater as I walked to try and make it look a bit less wrinkled.

Once I opened the door, I was greeted with an interesting sight. While Ozpin wore the same suit he always did, cane placed in front of him with his hands atop it, Glynda was dressed differently. Her hair was down, for one, which in and of itself was shocking. However, further than that, she wore a fairly casual white blouse and a long pleated skirt rather than a pencil skirt. I played off my surprise with a smile, "Come in, I'll get some drinks, feel free to take a seat at the booth Cinder's at. Oz, do you not have other clothes?"

Glynda scoffed, "I told him to dress down." They both entered while Glynda looked at Oz sternly, "Do you dress that way to look older than you are? You're forty, not sixty."

Oz smiled meekly, even the ever implacable Headmaster of Beacon seemed to have his weaknesses. I knew that this wasn't the first time a host of Ozma still had a romantic relationship even with their new tenant. While I was sure it was possible to make work, as evidenced by Glynda and Ozpin, I still didn't even want to think about how much effort it'd take. Hopefully with Cinder no longer on Salem's side, Ozpin might live a lot longer and Oscar could get a chance at a normal life.

Given how many differences there are in this world, I wouldn't have been surprised if he went to someone that wasn't Oscar if he did die sooner rather than later. Did Oscar exist? Would he be different or the same? Without going to Mistral, there was no real way to tell.

The two professors went and sat across from Cinder, which was another one of those things that remained incredibly surreal to me even after finding out how different Cinder is. I started towards the counter, "What'll you both have? Hot chocolate, Oz?"

Ozpin agreed with my assumption while Glynda hummed, "Hmmm… Give me a vanilla frappuccino, if you would be so kind."

I had expected her to want black coffee, but I didn't allow the surprise to register on my face. At least, I hoped it didn't. I heard Ozpin address Cinder, "Miss Fall, it's good to see your injuries have completely healed."

Cinder responded with a tinge of guilt in her voice, "I am too… although I feel awful I couldn't prevent Neve from taking the wound that he did." She was referring to the scars that were left on my hands, running from between my index and middle finger then all the way down to my wrists. They were noticeable but thankfully not, in my mind, that bad. Cinder still feels bad about it even today, her reasoning being that it reminds her of the night we fought and she tried to kill me. A reminder of the burning tower only extinguished by a flash freeze.

I pushed the memory out of my mind as I returned to the booth with the requested drinks, setting them down in front of Oz and Glynda before sitting next to Cinder, "Now, what brings the Headmaster of Beacon and his top confidant to this coffee shop?"

Oz, who had put away The Long Memory when he sat down, folded his hands and looked directly across at me, "We will get the business out of the way, then. I have a favor to ask of you."

I raised an eyebrow and nodded for him to continue, so he did, "I know you're fairly well acquainted with Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan." That wasn't surprising, and he didn't sound accusatory, so I let him continue, "I don't bring this up to incriminate you, but to point out you have contacts that are outside of my reach. I would like you to leverage them and get their assistance in trying to find the person committing these murders. They're hardened criminals, if the detectives aren't making progress, hopefully a new perspective will lead to a breakthrough."

Cinder and I exchanged glances. It was clear we were both surprised and a bit taken aback by this request. We looked at him and Cinder answered first, "Interesting to hear that the Headmaster of Beacon is willing to work with hardened criminals. Here I presumed you to hold the same unwavering ideals as some of your students."

Glynda in turn responded while looking at Cinder, "Pragmatism is necessary to see true good done for the world. If working with thieves means catching a serial killer, we'll do it."

Cinder regarded Glynda with a nod, seeming to agree with the sentiment if nothing else. She herself might not have been in this to do good, but she knew I wanted to, so she developed at least a sense of understanding with 'good guys', even if she didn't agree with them.

I sipped my frappe before responding, "It's a rare event for you to ask for help from outside your circle. I can do it, but… I assume you don't want them to know that you're the one who asked this?"

Ozpin nodded, "That is correct, knowing that I asked you is… superfluous information. It's best we keep that to a minimum." He sipped his hot chocolate before he continued, "I will leave all of the details to you, if they ask for monetary payment, then simply notify me and I'll see the appropriate funds prepared."

Ultimately it wasn't a hard thing to do, and I didn't see why it wouldn't be worth trying. If there was a chance that those two could find out important info that the police couldn't, then it was worth anything they asked for in return. With that in mind, I smiled, "Well, I can do that. I guess that means you owe me a favor?"

Oz smiled wryly, "I don't offer favors to just anyone, Neve. If there's something you need or want done, within reason, then I will do my best to see it through."

I nodded, my thoughts were drawn forward to Shi's birthday. If she was that determined to become a huntress, maybe I could use this to help her, "I already know what I'm going to ask." Oz looked intrigued and I explained, "So in a few days I'm going to the birthday party of this little girl who really wants to be a huntress. I saved her from human traffickers and ever since then she's apparently been really determined. So I was thinking that maybe you could find someone willing to mentor her? She's going to need all the help she can get, even now."

Oz and Glynda shared a look, they seemed surprised at my request, even if he hid it better than she did. They looked at me and Oz smiled before he responded, "I can do that, Neve. That's a very admirable request, to think of the future of our world even now, when you're so young."

I shrugged and played it off with a wave, "I just want to do what I can to help her. She's had enough trouble in her life just with those slavers, she doesn't need to struggle to find someone willing to help her with her dream."

Cinder put a hand on my shoulder and smirked at me, "Neve… just take the compliment." I deflated with a defeated sigh, which elicited some laughter from the other three around me.

The rest of our meeting was uneventful, mostly small talk relating to plans for break and expectations for the Vytal Festival, once it started. Team CALM was planning to participate, but Cinder wasn't sure if she wanted to get involved. She said she would be fine just watching the proceedings rather than participating herself.

Oz and Glynda eventually left, having their own lives to get back to. I was glad to be able to go back to the things I had planned before for today. Which was to say, Cinder and I went up to my apartment so I could teach her to play Stardew Valley (honestly the fact that that game exists in Remnant is some sort of divine providence).

I was sitting on the couch next to her as I explained the game, and it was only after we finally started playing that I asked, "Are you sure you don't want to participate? The Vytal Festival only comes around every couple years."

Cinder hummed, "It doesn't hold any importance to me. We fight things all the time without needing there to be a tournament to celebrate fighting things."

I shook my head, "It's not about that, it's about unity and peace. Even if you don't care about that stuff, I'd still like to see you participate." I looked at her, sitting on my right as she was, and I smiled, "I want to cheer you on."

She blushed and cleared her throat, "Well… maybe. I'll have to ask Emerald and Mercury. We were going to participate with Neopolitan but I'm unsure if she'll be interested now."

I knew she would be, Neo was all about fun, and I had no doubt that Neo would view kicking around a bunch of students during a tournament as fun. I voiced this, "You know Neo will be up for something like that." She still looked uncertain, so I decided bribery would win the day, "If you do participate, then I'll… I dunno, give you something?" I had no idea what she could want. Maybe a nice dinner?

Cinder's eyes widened at my simple offer, "A reward?" She looked at me and I nodded, "Like what?"

I furrowed my brow, she seemed eager to know. I shrugged, "I dunno… what do you want?"

Cinder gained a contemplative look on her face, "Hmm… I'll do it." She didn't tell me what she wanted, but I supposed that maybe she just didn't know what she wanted. I wasn't exactly an expert gift giver, so I hoped she didn't just ask me to surprise her.

After that we went back to playing our farm game. I tried to convince Cinder to go for one of the bachelors or bachelorettes but when the idea of getting married was brought up, she said she only wanted to get married to me. Try as I might to convince her that it was more interesting to marry one of the townies, she seemed set on that. I remember telling her, "There are so many interesting characters to marry."

To which she said, "You're an interesting character to marry. You're even a video game character. So answer this question, Coffee Boy, where's my mermaid pendant?"

I couldn't handle her sheer forwardness, I just stopped protesting her wanting to marry my character and relented. We both knew we were a long way off from thinking about marriage or anything like that, but that didn't mean that her flirting and asking things like that didn't get to me.

We spent the rest of the day together before Cinder left back to her apartment. Some nights she asked to stay, which was always flustering even if nothing happened, but that day she hadn't really brought any night clothes, so she had to leave. She said something about bringing some of her clothes over so she would always have them at my place, but she hadn't done that yet.

The next day I got in touch with Roman and told him what I needed him and Neo to do. They were skeptical at first, usually criminals weren't hunting other criminals he said, but the promise of a generous reward was more than enough for him to relent. Lien was an easy thing to promise, and it also just so happened to be a hell of a motivator for him.

There wasn't anything notable that happened the rest of the time before Shi's birthday. That was when my team, Cinder, Team JNPR, and Ruby all met up with gifts we had all bought for the girl before we made our way to the Xia family household. I hadn't expected Team JNPR to come along, but apparently Jeanne told them about it and they were all for it.

The house itself was in a neighborhood I could firmly call upper-middle class. It was a nicely sized two story home in the suburbs, really the kind of place you'd envision as idyllic for a well adjusted childhood.

The inside was nice too, Doctor Xia and her husband were clearly doing well for themselves. Mr. Xia was a thin man with short brown hair, matching eyes, and a mustache. He looked very plain, and considering that he was an accountant, I supposed that he was. In spite of that, the fact that he was comfortable with letting his daughter pursue her dream, even if it was going to be dangerous, spoke volumes to his character.

Provided Shi didn't have second thoughts, but I'd be surprised if she ever did. The fire I saw in her eyes anytime something about being a huntress came up, even when she was that young, told me that this wasn't going to just be a phase.

The party was held out back, Shi didn't seem to have very many, if any friends. I asked her mom and apparently it was because they had moved to the city from Mistral and it was taking her a long time to adjust. However, they still went all out with her party. Cake, balloons, even a bouncy castle! She wasn't without people playing with her, of course, Jeanne, Violet, Ruby, and Nora. By extension of the last two, Lunus and Ren were dragged in as well, specifically Lunus and Ren were subjected to Shi's face painting efforts. Needless to say, those pictures were going to be joke material for years to come.

I talked with Doctor Xia through a lot of it, asking her how things were going and what Shi had been up to. More of the same, as it turned out, she was still very interested in my work stopping robbers and was looking forward to watching the Vytal Festival, apparently they had tickets to attend.

That was… a little nerve wracking. I was going to have to keep an eye on where her and her family were during the Festival, in case something did end up going wrong. I sincerely hoped it would just be a normal festival.

Eventually the time came for Shi to get her gifts, she had already blown out her candles earlier and the cake, which was impressively large mind you, didn't last very long. We made sure to leave a good chunk of it for the family though.

We had all given her things to help fuel her interest in being a huntress or otherwise just fun things she could enjoy on her own. Ruby got her a book of fairy tales and Violet got her several manga (thankfully geared towards children). Cinder made her some clothes, I gave her some very basic instructional videos meant for kids interested in becoming huntsmen.

Of course, at this point the celebrations were winding down. Mr. Xia went inside, and I heard him open the front door. Apparently there were some last minute guests, but the question was, who?

We didn't have to wait very long for an answer, although all of us were incredibly surprised by who we saw. Ozpin and Glynda, both of whom were carrying one gift a piece. Doctor Xia was surprised to see them, "H-Headmaster? Professor?" She looked between the two of them, "What is this about?"

Ozpin smiled, Shi was near Cinder and I, standing by the table that held her presents. He walked over to us and handed Shi her gift, which turned out to be a rather intricate looking music box. He looked back to Doctor Xia while Shi unwrapped her gift and said, "Well, other than to give the gifts in our hands, there is one other gift that I wanted to give. Albeit this one is not one you wrap."

Shi tilted her head as she looked at Oz, "A present that you don't wrap? What is it?" One of her red panda ears twitched as she awaited an answer.

Oz's smile grew somewhat mischievous as he looked at me, "Neve, do you remember what you asked of me?"

My eyes widened and I smiled, "Did you find someone who can do it? Someone who can be her mentor?"

That got an excited look from Shi as she gasped, "A men-tor?! Like for teaching me hunting stuff? Every hero has one!" Well, she wasn't wrong.

Glynda looked amused as well, and suddenly Oz's mischievous smile looked even more humored, "Yes, indeed. I have decided that, in an effort to help you gain the fundamental understanding that you need to succeed at Signal Academy, Neve will serve as your mentor."

Bastard.

I supposed I should have been careful what I wished for, because Oz was fulfilling my favor while giving me even more work to do, even more responsibility. I crossed my arms, "Oz, are you sure that's-"

I didn't get a chance to respond, instead Shi whirled around towards me and immediately wrapped me in as tight a hug as she could muster, "Neve! You're gonna be my mentor?! This is the best birthday ever!"

Any protest I would have had before died in my throat, "Yeah… I am." I shot Oz a glare, but that just seemed to make his smile grow.

That alone seemed to have made her day, while everyone else seemed entirely on board with the idea of me helping Shi. Thankfully, they also offered to help me if I needed it, either for demonstrations or to write down lesson plans and the like. I was going to need that for sure. Cinder even offered to help me teach her our fighting style, which seemed like a great idea to me, so I accepted.

Oz later told me that it would count for extra credit, and gave me a run down as to how he planned for it to work when school was in session. Which was to say, every other day instead of free sparring I was supposed to go and instruct Shi. I was no teacher, but with everyone helping me I was at least willing to try.

When all was said and done I could say that it was a good party. Oz and Glynda left not long after breaking the news, and I invited all of my friends to come back to the coffee shop. We might not have been able to commandeer it like last time, but I could at least pay for some frappes for them. Since it was open today, that meant that June would be the one making them instead of me!

Of course she was more than happy to oblige once we got there, especially since I was actually paying this time instead of relying on her generosity. I felt bad about asking for free stuff from her anyway, so it was no skin off my back to pay for the drinks everyone had.

I was sitting at a table with my team, Cinder, and Ruby, while Team JNPR had their own table. We were all chatting about how our breaks were going, Ruby and Lunus had apparently spent a lot of time enjoying their hometown and visiting the beach, which presented the idea that before it got too cold we should all go to the beach together. Cinder seemed excited at the idea, almost as excited as Jeanne and Violet, but not quite.

The weather wasn't supposed to get super cold until around mid October, and we'd already be busy with the Vytal Festival by then. So we made some plans for towards the end of break as one last hurrah before the Vytal Festival closed out the year.

Everything was going well, and I didn't think much of it when Peregrine showed up, thankfully without her massive sword on her back for once.

I didn't know her that well, but Jeanne talked about her like she was a cool person, and I had no reason to doubt her. Peregrine, wearing the same outfit she was wearing during the Breach, approached my table and awkwardly cleared her throat, "Uhm, excuse me…" She looked at me, "Jeanne tells me you're Neve?"

I nodded, sipping from my frappe as I did so, then I set the drink down and said, "That's my name, wear it out if you want."

Peregrine smiled nervously, "Ah, good, good." She waved meekly at Jeanne, who was enthusiastically waving at her. Peregrine had such an intimidating presence, between how tall and muscular she was, her dark clothes, and the strange magical pulses the talisman started to send out anytime she was near. Yet, she seemed more socially awkward than anything else. She turned her attention back to me, "May I speak with you somewhere private? It's… about your necklace."

Now, to everyone at the table aside from Cinder, that was a harmless question. However, she and I both knew that it was the furthest thing from harmless to ask about, and in private too? She didn't seem to mean any harm, so I shrugged and stood up, "Yeah, come with me." I looked at Cinder and the others, "I'll be back in a sec, alright?"

After that I showed Peregrine to the most private place I had, my apartment. She looked surprised as we stepped inside and I shut the door behind me, "You… live here?" I nodded at her and she shook her head, seemingly trying to focus herself, "R-Right."

Now that we were completely alone, she turned towards me and placed her hands on my shoulders. I was surprised by the sudden contact at first, and more so as she looked into my eyes with a desperate yet hopeful gaze, "I wasn't sure at first. I saw that necklace and thought it was just a coincidence, but then I looked into you. You appeared without any background. No family, no home, nothing. Not like me, I was born here, but… I still…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she opened them again and spoke.

"You're from Earth, like me, aren't you?"