A/N: So...I'm alive. And I have a Christmas present for you guys.

I am sorry for the hiatus. The semester got real rough and I had to just give up everything to buckle down on studying.

But I have good news. The rest of V2's main events have been storyboarded! There will be bits of filler and side plots but that's to be expected at this point. Also, I have two routes for V3's events roughly worked out. I'm trying to figure out which one I'd like to take.

Anyway, here's the chapter. Enjoy!

I own nothing by the way.

Guilty Rose Chapter 47

She didn't know exactly where she was, all Rose did know was that she was on a snowy cliff looking over the water. On the ground before her was a granite tombstone, but she couldn't seem to make out the name on.

It filled her with a deep sadness the longer she stared at it though.

"I… don't know why I'm here."

Rose couldn't help but make a face as those words came out. Not that she didn't want to say them, but she just didn't mean to say them here. Though the more she thought about it, the more she realized it didn't matter what she said here.

"Well, there is no one here. So I might as well say it here."

Rose took a long deep breath.

"I really don't know why I'm here. I shouldn't be at Beacon. Shouldn't have all these people that care about me."

Rose paused for a moment to search for the words she wanted to say. Finally, they came to her.

"But I honestly wouldn't want it any other way. I love them, and I'm so glad that they decided to work with me. Push me past everything that happened. Make me whole again and bring me back to my mothers."

A tear of happiness fell from her eye.

"I can't imagine my life without them anymore."

Rose smiled as she looked over the waves. But eventually her smile faded when she heard footsteps from behind her. She turned to see who the stranger was that had decided to step in to her moment, only to find a man who was vaguely familiar.

The man was tall and well built, blonde with a scrappy beard. He had this broad smile, a lot like Yang's.

"Who are you?"

The Man didn't seem to respond to the question. He just looked past Rose.

"Summer, it's time to head home, don't want Ruby and Yang catching a cold!"

Rose spun to around to see her mother, though not from the same vantage point she was used to. She had to crane her head up to see her mother smiling brightly down at her. Then she heard a laugh and looked over to see the source of it was a child Yang, wearing a hoodie.

"It's not even that cold dad!"

"I know you're having fun now that you found your semblance Yang, but he's right."

"Awwww, mommy! can't we stay out here longer, it's so pretty. Even Rubes wants to be out here longer, dontcha?"

Rose, not knowing how else to respond, nods vigorously. That elicited a laugh from her mother as she pulled both girls into a hug.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you two."

"Let us stay out here longer?"

Rose's mother snorted at the obvious attempt and just squeezed the girls more."

"Unfortunately no, it is time to head home."

….

Rose woke up to the familiar weight of her teammates laying around her. Se snuggled into them for a few minutes as she contemplated her dream.

She knew who that man was. She saw the pictures that her mother had and asked about the man. He was Yang's father and the man who helped raise her for the first few years of her life. Of course she didn't really remember him even after being told. But she now knew enough to be curious about him.

"Maybe I should ask if I can go to patch to meet him?"

She snuggled into the closest heat source when that closest. The unintended extra affection woke up said heat source though.

Yang, the heat source, peered over at her sister as her sister rarely snuggled more with people like this. Usually it meant something was wrong. Thus, even though barely awake, Yang's instincts took over.

"Rose, is something wrong?"

The girl in questioned looked up, but debated internally about voicing what she wanted to say. The internal dialogue must have been quite visible as Yang's features quickly became etched with concern.

"Rose, if you want to say something, say it, it's okay."

The statement definitely fed one side of the argument in Roses head, but it didn't force a decision. So Rose buried her face in her sister's side waiting for the argument to end.

Rose's action immediately alarmed Yang, who pulled Rose tighter and began whispering to her.

"Come on sis, it's okay. I promised you could tell me anything or ask me anything."

Rose responded this time snuggling in a bit further into the crook of Yang's arm and muttering something. Actually, it was more of a whisper but Yang's bust muffled the sound of her voice.

Yang, being the queen of making jokes, especially at bad times, decided to lighten the situation.

"Rose, you need to talk to me, not my tits."

Yang got a growling sigh in response as Rose pulled back. And though Yang wouldn't admit it to her sister, though definitely her mothers, that might have been the most adorable thing ever.

"I said I want to know more about you're father."

Yang's mind came to a halt when she said that, and it took a few blinks to restart.

"I…. don't know what more I can tell you about him than I already have. What brought this on?"

Rose scrunched her nose, dissatisfied with the answer she received. Soon, she relaxed and went to lazily snuggle with her sister.

"I think I remembered something last night in a dream. I was on a snowy cliff overlooking the ocean. There was a tombstone there. Then there was this blonde man that came up, I didn't recognize him at first."

Yang deemed it best not interrupt, but she couldn't help being excited that Rose remembered something from before she was taken.

"I recognize him as Tai now though. Any way, he said it was time to come home. And I turned around to see you and mom. You tried to stay out longer, something about not feeling cold. But mom said it was time to go."

Yang's eyes widened as she remembered that day. It was a few months before the tragic trip. A smile crept across her face and she pulled Rose to her.

"I remember that day too, we had so much fun building snowmen and having a snowball fight. You and mom teamed up on me. Do you remember anything else."

Rose, being pulled into her sister's mood a bit, shook her head with a bittersweet smile.

"No, just that."

Rose trailed off there, not sure if she should speak again.

"There's something else, isn't there?"

Rose nodded softly, not sure if what she was about to ask was okay.

"Yes, I want to got to Patch to see him again. I know you and mom say that might not be okay."

"No, it's not that it's not okay, dad just hasn't been himself these last few months. But, if you want, we can talk to mom and Ozpin."

Rose looked up with massive silver eyes, searching for a sign of hope in her sister's eyes. When she found it, she smiled softly. Though before Rose could say anything back to her sister, a thoughtful hum interrupted the moment.

"As it's still a bad idea for you, or well any of us to just roam around, they'll probably suggest a mission to patch or something along those lines."

"You're probably right. we'll need to get her a different outfit too just to be safe. I suggest a beowulf hoodie."

"Oh, that's a splendid idea, I'll ask Coco to procure one. She'd just ask for pictures in return."

Blake nodded back at Weiss before adopting a thoughtful look.

"You'll need something too Weiss. No offense, but you stand out in a crowd."

Weiss sighed back in response because she wholeheartedly agreed.

"No, you're right. I'll need something too. Maybe a grimm hoodie of my own?"

"Yeah, that should work, no one would expect an 'illustrious Schnee' to be walking around Patch in a hoodie and jeans."

"That is true, so I want an ursa hoodie. Also, might I suggest, since we are already going to be ordering multiple hoodies, you and Yang get one as well."

"That sounds really nice actually."

Yang and Rose just stared on at their bedmates as they had their discussion, wondering when the two woke up and if they should bother joining in on the conversation.

"I would suggest a manticore for you Blake. They're a native grimm to Atlas. Though I can't think of anything for Yang."

Blake hummed in agreement while considering grimm. Then she remembered one from her childhood.

"Ah, a sea feilong, they are an aquatic grimm from the oceans around Menagerie."

Weiss nodded as she retrieved her scroll to message Coco.

As Weiss typed with Blake looking over her shoulder, Yang and Rose just looked at each other.

"They do that a little too often, not that I really mind. I just don't want them spend lien on me for no reason."

Yang shook her head and sighed.

"They want to do it, so let them. Besides, they aren't wrong, it would be bad if you were recognized by some random person."

Rose sighed, conceding that point before looking back at Weiss and Blake. The monochrome pair must have gotten distracted or were being barraged with questions as they were completely invested into the scroll.

"Why don't we get ready while they're doing whatever it is they're doing and go find mom."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

….

Summer couldn't help but stare at her daughter as if she had an extra head. Raven on the other hand was going through every possible outcome in her head from best to worst.

"Sweetie, can you run that by me again?"

Rose tilted her head, not understanding where she wasn't clear, but shrugged it off.

"I said I want to go to Patch to see Taiyang."

Summer rubbed the side of her head this time. She was afraid that she heard correctly the first time.

"Okay, can I ask why, we've told you about him before and you didn't seem so interested in meeting him. So what's changed?"

Rose shifted uncomfortably at that, as she didn't want to explain her dream. Not that she was embarrassed, just that she didn't want to put it into words again. So she decided to go with the more concise story.

"I just remembered a bit of Patch and Tai, it wasn't much, but it was enough for me to want to go back… home."

No one missed how Rose said the word home. It was so full of uncertainty, but also no small amount of hope.

Summer and Raven looked at each other and over the span of several seconds had a silent conversation. A conversation the conveyed both their worries and assurances about this. Finally, both woman decided that they could handle almost anything that could go wrong with this trip.

"That's…. fine Rose. We're still supposed to stay on campus until the White Fang has been dealt with, but we can go talk to Ozpin. Though, I just want to know if you're sure about this?"

"Okay, though Weiss and Blake brought up the idea of us taking a mission to Patch to make it easier for us. Plus, they're getting us new outfits that would make it harder for people to recognize us."

Summer perked up at that, they thought this through and decided to use proper channels. She couldn't help but feel a swell of pride that her girls were acting mature and responsible.

"That's a great idea, and I'm sure Ozpin will have something for us."

Raven sighed loudly at that, disrupting some of the moment.

"Just one thing though Rose, let us talk to Tai first when we go. He's a good man, but hasn't always made good decisions. So… just be ready for anything when you meet him."

Rose looked at Raven with a curious stare, not sure what to make of that warning. Her insecurities said that he'd hate her for what she'd done, but the wording of the warning seemed to indicate that he did or will do something. Though before her thoughts could go too far, her mother gave her a small smile.

"Don't think on it too much Rose, we'll be there with you every step of the way. Now we're going to go talk to Ozpin, we'll see you after your classes."

Rose and Yang hugged their mothers and let them go before heading off to their classes.

As the women walked down the hallway, they glance at each other both knowing they needed to talk about this more. Eventually Raven spoke up.

"I don't think this is a good idea."

She really didn't. Like she said, Tai was a good man usually. She wouldn't have married him or trusted him with her daughters otherwise. But the man had a temper, and a nasty one at that.

"I know, but I can't give her a proper reason for her to not see him."

Raven made a face at that. They actually didn't need a reason in her mind, sometimes things just won't work out well. But she could concede to a specific reason being more dissuading in this situation again.

"He's not her father, there, plenty of reason not too."

She knew that was a low blow to everyone involved, herself included, but necessary evils.

"Raven… it's not that simple. We never told him she wasn't his. Plus, raise her with me until she was taken. So it's not right for us to just deny either of them this meeting."

And there was Summer being unreasonably reasonable.

"Okay then, what about us not knowing if he's calmed down since the divorce. He was acting pretty violent."

That was Raven's final line of defense, and the real reason she didn't want Rose to see him. Not because she was afraid of what Tai would do to Rose, because frankly Rose would probably beat the man down in a heartbeat. But she was terrified of the psychological damage he would do.

"That was months ago, plus, maybe we could send someone ahead to talk to him, maybe Qrow?"

Raven stared for a moment, trying to think of some way to refute that, but she couldn't. At least not without sounding petty.

"You're ability to see the best in people, or work around their worst parts at least, is infuriating."

"Hey, you love that about me!"

"Doesn't make it less infuriating."

Summer laughed and pulled Raven into a kiss before they finished making their way to Ozpin's office.

….

Roman rarely paced, but he consider it a far better alternative to screaming at random objects. Or throwing a certain two tonal girl out the window who was silently laughing at him.

"Would you quit it! it's not even that funny!"

Neo continued laughing and signed to him.

'That's what you think, I think it's hilarious!'

"Of course you would. And to think I thought I raised you better."

Neo blew a raspberry at him. He may have raised her, but she still got to give him shit, especially at times like now.

'You're not my real dad!'

Though the words seemed harsh, there was no spite to them. It was just another part of this banter they developed.

"And you not my real daughter, but I'll still ground you as if you were."

Neo scrunched her nose at that, he didn't threaten grounding this early in their usual banter, but she still had a comeback.

'I'll tell Rose you kidnapped me!'

Roman didn't miss a beat snapping a retort back at her.

'And I'll show her the album of embarrassing pictures of you.'

Neo actually look horrified at that notion. Roman rarely hung that over her head because he knew it was one of her few actual weaknesses.

"Okay, maybe it's serious this time."

"I can do this all day Neo, you've given me the practice."

Roman stood there with his arms out in challenge, but Neo wasn't taking the bait. Her face turned serious as she took a moment to find her words.

'You really like her, don't you?'

Roman faltered at that. He was expecting the rapid change in conversation, nor the blunt question. The same question that led to this whole situation.

Just how much did he already love this woman that he's known for barely a week.

His expression must have said it all as Neo let out a silent whistle, how the hell she did that, he still didn't know.

'Okay, so it's that serious.'

"I'm not going to lie to you Neo, I haven't felt anything like this since I found you."

Neo went wide eyed when he said that. She fumbled with her words until she got one out clearly.

'Seriously?'

Roman sagged a bit.

"Yes."

'Then go with your gut. You did it with me and that worked out...well.'

Roman gave Neo a critical eye before sighing.

"And if my gut says marry her?"

'I'll help you steal the perfect ring then.'

A/N: So yay...cliffhanger. I apologize but I figured you would want a chapter with a cliffhanger more than a longer wait.

So recap time.

I'm obviously setting up for Rose to finally meet Taiyang, but I also wanted to showcase character development too. Rose finally changing her tune about her not deserving everything.

The scene with her waking up is simply more setup, and a bit of fun with Blake and Weiss. Grimm hoodies for everyone!

The scene with Raven and Summer was to hammer out how they feel about the situation, but how they also are trying to support Rose, despite their reservations.

Now, about the meeting with Tai. My plan for it has drastically changed from what it was almost 2 years ago (yeah, the 2 year mark is coming up O.o). I won't spoil it, but I'd like to alleviate any worries. It will be dramatic and intense (hopefully) but not bashing. I do apologize if anyone has thought this story was bashing Tai, I just wanted him to have a really nasty temper in the beginning. It made things more dramatic in my opinion. But like with every other character in this story, He and his purpose have evolved because of people's input and me finding better uses of characters. I hope you guys like what I do with him.

Final scene is this fluff check in scene because I love this iteration of Roman. He's not a good guy, but he's not a bad guy. Amorality for the win! I guess… Anyway, the scene was a bit hard to end, but I'm happy with what I did.

End of recap.

So hopefully I will get back on track, but my track is going to be a lot different. I'm planning to graduate in a year and to do so, I need to finish a whole minor and pedagogy (education, for those uneducated) and finish a bachelors in Physics…. I hate myself but there's nothing else I can do. So expect chapters to be every 2 to 3 weeks for now. If I get done faster I will post faster.

So that's all I have to say on the story. But I want you guys to know that I appreciate everyone's patience with me and all the support you've given me while writing this story. I love you guys because you're awesome like that.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Please Follow, Fav, and Review!