Disclaimer: All character belong to Rooster Teeth Productions

Co-Authored with ToxicExotic

Amends

It was a nice day in Vale. With the storms having passed and the month quickly edging towards summer, the sun held a permanent fixture in the clear blue sky. Warm winds blew gently through the street, and the sound of happy chatter surrounded them as families took advantage of the weather to hold picnics while enjoying the play that was being put on in the centre of the park. Just looking at the food was enough to make Blake's stomach growl, but thankfully there were plenty of stands around the area selling everything from cheap, greasy street food to pricey, healthy alternatives; though a vast majority of them were definitely just desserts. Even better though, Blake had managed to find the one vendor among them all that was still selling tea instead of milkshakes.

"Thanks." Blake smiled and accepted the two cups. Taking a sip and deeming it acceptable, she passed the other along to Ilia.

"Thanks."The girl hummed and cupped it. "I don't get how you can live here. It's so cold."

"Not all of us enjoy having our clothes stick to us." Blake chuckled.

"I enjoy being warm." The girl mumbled and slowly sipped her drink. "And full."

"I could eat." She agreed, motioning towards a sushi stall on the other side of the park and leading the girl over to it. "So how're the meetings going?"

The faunus gave an unimpressed shrug. "The same as most trade negotiations. We ask for a little, they ask for a lot. I can tell none of your council have ever been to Menagerie because they think we actually have Dust to spare."

It was a common misconception. While the desert behind Kuo Kuana was completely lifeless, there was no denying that it was rich in Dust. From the amount of large rocks jutted out of the ground, Blake could only imagine just how much of the material laid buried beneath the endless sea of sand. Unfortunately, as useful as it would seem, the desert was simply too dangerous to even attempt to harvest some of it. Before the Faunus Wars, both the SDC and the Mistral Trading Company had made attempts, but even they had been quickly repelled by the Grimm and harsh environs. Though given what had happened to Vacuo at their hands, Blake was unable to consider that a bad thing.

However, despite nothing having changed and history having proven the assumption false, a lot of people still held the misconception that Menagerie was rich with resources.

"They're as much my council as they are yours." Blake replied pointedly. "I only go to school here, remember. I am surprised that they let you in the meetings though. The council doesn't exactly have a high opinion of the White Fang."

"Well it helps that they don't know who I am." Ilia sipped her tea. "Your dad and Sienna agreed to leave that part out."

"Smart choice." Blake hummed. "So they're getting along again?"

"Eh, not really." The chameleon carefully plucked a purple pansy from a shrubbery and placed a petal in her mouth. "They are talking again though. Sienna has always respected your dad, she just disagreed with how he did things. Just like we did."

"Sienna's way was hardly better." Blake countered. "We were just too young to see it."

"I already told you she's trying to fix that." Ilia argued back. "That's why she sent me here, she wants to stay updated to know where to focus our efforts."

"Efforts?"

Blake couldn't help but be a little mistrustful. While Sienna had only ever preached violence when it was absolutely necessary, there was no denying that her definition of necessary was a little looser than most and had led to quite a few deadly misinterpretations of her words; especially in Atlas where tensions were at their highest. Seemingly detecting that caution in her voice, Ilia turned to face her and held her arms up slightly.

"Nothing violent." She clarified. "Just…"

"I think I'd rather not know, actually." Blake sighed, taking a sip of her tea. "Just promise me you're not…"

"I'm not."

Despite being unsure, Blake decided to take Ilia at her word and gave her a small smile. Arriving at the small sushi bar, they were quickly greeted by a friendly cat faunus and took a seat on two of the stools. For a few seconds, their conversations ceased as they ordered their food, but Blake quickly resumed it with a question she needed to know the answer to.

"And you're not just doing this because she's caught your eye, right?"

"Wh-What?"

The sudden red tint to her skin and the stuttering was all Blake needed to confirm her suspicions. "You speak about her like I used to speak about Adam." She muttered with a raised eyebrow.

The faunus let out a capitulating sigh and shook her head.

"Alright, fine. She's very attractive." Blake would definitely not disagree there. "But she's also twice our age."

"True, but at least I know your type now. Activist cat faunus." The girl's skin turned an even deeper shade of red, and Blake let out a soft chuckle.

"Shut up." Ilia scowled, though Blake was happy to recognise it as a playful one. It didn't last long though, and mere seconds later her face fell into a somber expression. "That isn't why I believe in her though."

The girl took a sip of her tea and lowered it back onto the table, her eyes focusing on the swirling liquid and turning the same murky brown. Knowing the girl was looking for some words, Blake chose to wait and simply sipped on her own drink instead.

"I like your parents." Ilia began a few moments later. "And I know they did what they thought was best for us; but for all the protests and speeches, not much really changed."

"A few laws were passed in Vale, but your dad wasn't firm enough to make any impact in Atlas or Mistral. No matter what he did, how many speeches he made, he never got our people out of the mines. But Sienna did. She may not be perfect, and she definitely made some mistakes, but she gave our people the fire to fight back and stop accepting how we were treated."

"And now that she's calmed down, I really think she can make the change your dad hoped he could make." Ilia finished with a resolved smile. "That's why I follow her. Not because of looks, but because I really do think she's the best chance for our people to start to get the equality we've been after for centuries."

As Ilia spoke, Blake was once again hit with the same familiarity as when she read her old diary entries about Adam; but there was something else there too. There was caution, an acknowledgment that Sienna had made mistakes. It was something Blake had never been able to do until it was too late, and it was that caution that made Blake feel a little more comfortable with Ilia's decision. Not completely, but enough to know that the girl was not blindly following someone she admired.

"I'm not going to talk you out of this, am I?" The girl gave a shake of her head, and Blake let out a soft sigh. "Alright, just promise me that you'll get yourself out if things don't change. Don't make the same mistake I did."

"I will." Ilia said with a nod. "But you don't have to worry. Sienna's not Adam." She paused for a second and fiddled with what remained of the flower. "And neither is Ruby. I'm sorry I said she was."

"It's fine." Blake breathed, reaching out to pull one of the petals from the flower and placing it in her own mouth, enjoying the light minty flavor. "I get you were just…"

"Jealous?"

"Well I was going to say worried… but that too."

"Old habits die hard, I guess."

Blake stayed quiet for a moment. Though she was very aware of how Ilia had felt about it, her admission of jealousy was the first they had ever actually spoken of it. Surprisingly however, it wasn't as awkward as she thought, but Blake still felt a little bad for the girl.

"I'm sorry I never let you down properly." She mumbled. "I thought if I did then things between us might change, so I just tried to ignore it. That wasn't fair."

"Not your fault." Ilia shrugged and placed the center of the flower aside for later. "Was my own stupid crush, though I'm guessing I can take that as a rejection."

Blake reached out to take her friend's hand.

"I always loved you, Ilia." Blake admitted with a soft smile. "Maybe not in the way you wanted me to, but your friendship is probably the only memory I'm glad to have from those days."

For the briefest of moments, Ilia's skin tinted blue and a slight sadness entered her eyes, but it quickly faded and the smile was returned.

"Thanks." She muttered.

Happy that they had both finally gotten some closure, Blake let go of Ilia's hand as the food was placed in front of them. It was good to finally be able to talk to her again without the tension that had been present during the mission.

"So…" She said, her stomach grumbling as she got ready to eat. "What would I have to do to get you to come spar with us at Beacon? It would be cool to actually introduce you to my team properly."

"I thought you didn't want me anywhere near the Schnee?"

"That was when you were angry." Blake hummed, taking a bite out of a tuna roll. "Which you're not anymore."

"I'm still not sure how I feel about her."

"I won't deny, she's a little rough." Blake chuckled. "But she's nothing like her dad, and if you hang out with her for a bit, you'll see that." Ilia didn't seem convinced. "Besides, she's an excellent fencer so I'm sure she could give you some tips."

The girl let out a small, reluctant breath. "You not gunna give up till I agree, are you?"

"A bad habit I got from my partner." Blake chuckled.

"Ugh, fine." Ilia groaned. "I promise to think about it if you pay for the meal."

"Done." Blake smiled happily, settling back into her chair to enjoy the sushi.

For the first time in just over a week, Ruby felt at peace. Headphones on and music blaring, she laid on top of the small bookcase beside the open window to enjoy the warm air while scribbling away in her notepad. Small diagrams and plans littered half of the pad, and more notes than she had taken for any of her classes filled the margins as she revelled in once again being able to write without being subjected to excruciating pain.

Ever since returning from the mission, doing pretty much anything had been a chore. Holding a pen had caused sharp pains to tear up her arm, standing up for prolonged periods of time was torture on her legs to the point where she had taken to sitting in the shower, and even sitting was enough to cause her ribs to hurt.

Worst of all though was that her skin had constantly been tingling as if thousands of ants were crawling over her throughout the entire day, the feeling so annoying that she had asked Nora how on Remnant she dealt with her semblance. Unfortunately, the ginger girl had merely answered that she liked being tickled so quite enjoyed it, which while being very Nora, wasn't helpful at all.

Thankfully though, her recovery had finally finished and she had awoken that morning with her body completely free of pain. Almost immediately she had jumped out of bed and given her scythe a few twirls, enjoying the feeling of once again being able to hold her darling; at least until she'd accidentally woken up her partner by cutting the top off of one of her bedposts. Needless to say, Weiss was not amused, though the woman had quickly calmed down.

Looking across at her partner, the striking girl sitting at her desk with her Queen Lancer curled around her chair and a palm-sized Beowolf playing with a ball of paper atop the table, she watched as the heiress typed away on her tablet, inputting data and running simulations. Unlike usual, her shoulders looked relaxed, and though the lightning scars were still reaching just past her wrist, the pain didn't seem to be bothering her; or maybe she'd simply gotten so lost in her pet project that she could no longer feel the pain, which was not too usual when Weiss sat down to work on her Dust guide.

However, despite not wanting to distract the woman when she was clearly enjoying herself, Ruby did need her help so stood up and slowly walked over to the other side of the room. As she approached, the miniature Beowolf abandoned its ball and trotted over to the edge where she used a single finger to scratch it's tiny head. The second her finger touched the shining white creature's fur, its owner gave a small jolt and looked up from her device.

"Mind checking these Dust numbers over for me?" She asked politely.

"Fine." Weiss sighed, placing her device down and reaching out for the notepad. "What is this anyway?"

"A new phantom cage." Ruby admitted. "The other ones are too clunky and Hunters should have them on us at all times. Even if The Chill are rare."

She'd half expected Weiss to call her stupid for worrying about such a thing, and was ready to defend her position, but to her surprised the woman simply gave a nod and ran her finger across the page.

"Hardlight instead of fire?"

"Easier to control." Ruby explained and pointed to the diagrams. "Those poles there refract the light around to create the cage, and can be pulled back towards the handle to close it, pushing the orbs onto these spikes and destroying them. The problem is…"

"You are having trouble with the intensity of the hardlight."

"Exactly. I haven't really worked with it before."

"Hmm." Weiss hummed, absentmindedly tapping her device, Ruby hearing a ping from her own Scroll. "Hardlight burns too hot to not use a coolant. Hollow out the poles and place a blizzard crystal at the bottom to push the cool air through them."

"Two-thirds wind?"

"Two-thirds ice." Weiss corrected. "Temperature control is more important. I sent what I have on it over for you."

"Thanks." She muttered, a little bit of guilt seeping in as Weiss rubbed her wrist. "Is your wrist okay?"

"It's fine, Ruby." The women replied dismissively. "It's just pins and needles."

"Isn't it supposed to be gone by now?" She asked as a knock sounded from the door. "Coming!"

"It is healing, just slowly. It's better than it was yesterday, and the day before."

"Alright." She mumbled at the firmness in her partner's voice and moved over to the door.

As she pulled it open though, her feeling of guilt only increased as she was greeted by Kali and Saber. The former wore a long black hakama with gold trim and a one sleeved bolero, her skin shining for the first time since meeting her due to it no longer being caked with dirt. The latter however was clad in his usual guard outfit, though she found it a little odd that he chose to keep his hood up when he never had during their mission.

"Good afternoon, dear." The older woman said with a motherly smile.

"Hey, Mis- Kali." She smiled weakly. "I think Blake's out with Ilia right now."

"I will be heading over there soon." The woman said with a nod. "We actually wished to have a quick word with you, if that's okay?"

Ruby looked over at Saber. Despite the fact that he had marked their performance on the mission rather well, she hadn't forgotten their last interaction. She'd assumed the man would never want to talk to her again, so she had no idea what he could have to discuss with her.

"S-Sure." She stuttered and moved aside so that they could enter.

"So this is where my daughter lives now." The woman looked around. "It feels warm. Like a home."

"We try our best." Ruby sat down on the edge of her bed, Allie growing slightly and bounding over to jump up onto her lap.

"It's nice." Saber commented. "Haven's were too big.

"Well Mistral does have a tendency to go overboard."

"Says the girl who comes from a floating city." Kali jabbed, her tone light enough that even Weiss couldn't take offence.

"More of a tactical decision than one made out of desire for comfort." Weiss replied smugly. "According to my sis-"

"So what did you wanna talk about?" Weiss scowled at her and her lancer buzzed at the interruption, but Ruby knew just how long Weiss could go on about her sister.

"Well," the woman reached out to scratch Allie's ears, "As I'm sure you are aware, Petilly was placed in a grieving house when we returned to Vale."

She gave a small nod. Ozpin had told her as such when they'd returned, but he'd not really gone into much more detail other than that she was going to make a full recovery. Unfortunately, since she wasn't family and the girl was still a child, she hadn't been allowed to visit.

"Is she okay?"

"She's healing, albeit slowly." Kali sighed sadly. "Dotty is looking after her, and the doctors finally managed to activate her aura, but her face and arms are going to be permanently scarred."

"Those scars are incomparable to the knowledge of where she got them." Saber replied with a heaviness in his voice. "Everyday she'll look in the mirror and be forced to remember. It's… not a fun life."

Ruby glanced across at the man and saw him gently touch the vicious looking scar that ran down from his hairline over his right eye. Looking at her partner, she raised an eyebrow at her but only received a shrug in return. She'd never really thought about it, but it suddenly dawned on her that she had never once heard or seen Weiss treat her scar with any kind of disdain.

"I've no doubt." Kali agreed. "Though I am hoping she can find some peace on Wednesday."

Ruby tilted her head "What's happening then?"

"Her brother's funeral. The mortician finally released his body, and he's being buried at noon. Which is actually why I'm here. Petilly would like you all to attend."

"Us?" Ruby blanched. Petilly had been another one she'd thought would never want to see them again.

"Prince liked you all, and you were good to her." Kali hummed. "She also knows that you tried to save him, so she wants you there so she can thank you."

"Oh…"

Ruby wasn't sure she deserved any thanks considering how things had ended. Prince was still dead, and all her intervention had done was make Petilly watch her brother die a slower, more painful death than was necessary. However, before she could reply, Weiss placed her tablet down and shook her head.

"We would be honored to attend his burial, Miss Belladonna." She declared with a raised eyebrow in her direction. "Isn't that right, Ruby?"

"Uhh yes? I mean… Yes. Of course we'll be there."

"Good." Kali smiled. "I will let her know then. But we really should be going. Are you ready, Saber?"

"I will catch up at the waterfall." Saber hummed, walking towards the window. "I'd like a word with Miss Rose before we go."

From his tone of voice, Ruby could tell that it wasn't a request and a small pit began to form in her stomach. However, as Weiss cast her a questioning look, she gave a small nod of her head to show it was okay. Seemingly satisfied, the woman stood up from the desk and waved her hand at the Beowolf causing it to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"I can show you around the grounds and escort you to the airships, Miss Belladonna." The heiress smiled kindly, earning a nod of appreciation in return. "Skadi?"

Tapping her shoulder and looking towards her Lancer, the creature gave an annoyed chatter as it began to shrink. Nevertheless, its wings stretched out behind it and it took to the air. By the time it landed on its owner's shoulder, it was barely bigger than Ruby's forearm. Giving the hornet's thorax a stroke as the creature fell back to sleep, goodbyes were exchanged and Weiss led Kali out of the room.

Left in silence, Ruby quickly began to fiddle awkwardly with her thumbs. With no idea what to say to him, and worrying that anything she did say would cause an argument, she opted to stay quiet until the man was ready to talk. Thankfully, it didn't take long, and the man soon let out a small breath.

"I don't blame you for being cautious after the last time we spoke." The man acknowledged, an unmistakable hint of regret in his voice. "My behavior was… Well…"

He fell silent, and Ruby watched as he pulled his hood down and scratched the back of his head. Whether it was the remorse in his voice, or the uncertain action she had seen from her sister her whole life, she didn't know; but she felt her discomfort ease a little.

"I didn't act any better." She admitted and hung her head. "You were just trying to save people."

"Regardless. I allowed my anger to get the better of me and took it out on your team when you were only there to help. None of you deserved that."

Though Ruby definitely agreed with that, she also knew that Saber had valid reasons for being as angry as he was. Seeing how Blake had been treated over the last week and how Velvet had been treated before that, as well as learning from Ghira just how much Menagerie struggled to have what other kingdoms considered common conveniences, it was easy to understand exactly why Saber had assumed the worst.

"Believe it or not, Miss Rose," The man continued and leaned against the bookcase, "I used to be a lot like you."

"Like me?" She queried.

"Hopeful." He answered.

Ruby squirmed a little. "What changed?"

He didn't answer straight away. Instead he just shook his head.

"I became a Huntsman." He said simply, his blue eyes flicking across to meet hers. "Growing up, all I wanted to do was help my people feel safe. I trained tirelessly, I attended Haven and graduated near the top of my class, and when I got home I reorganised the guard and trained others to do the same. But protecting people… it's not as easy as it sounds in the stories. As much as I wanted to save everyone, I couldn't; and not accepting that reality only meant that more people would die."

As the man stopped talking, Ruby remembered the story Professor Port had told her. Aside from a few minor details, their stories were frighteningly similar. As was the story Qrow had told her of her mom, as well as what Ozpin had said. Sadly, she was beginning to doubt that there was a single Hunter out there who didn't have such a story.

"But how did you accept that?" She mumbled quietly. "How did you accept that you left someone to die?"

"I can't answer that for you." The man sighed. "Everyone is different, and you should find your own way. But you do need to find a way to accept it, Miss Rose; because if you don't, then you will always be a liability."

Looking down at her lap, Ruby let out a low breath. She didn't want to be a liability, especially not to her team, but she knew he was right. If she kept on acting as she had, then one day someone she could have saved would get hurt. Maybe even someone she loved. But she still had no idea how to accept such a thing. The idea of leaving someone behind, of giving up on them… it hurt to even think about.

"I'll… I'll think about it."

The man gave a small nod and pushed himself away from the window.

"Thank you." He said as he made his way towards the door. "You're a good Huntress, Miss Rose. I just don't want to see this life crush you as I've seen it do to so many."

"I know."

She really did. The last week of her life had not been pleasant. The nightmares had still yet to stop, and the knowledge of just how much pain she had caused had been constant when awake. Unfortunately, it was becoming undeniable that those things were going to become common in her life, and as much as she loved being a huntress, she worried about just how long she would be able to handle it.

How did Mom handle it? She wondered as Saber left the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Though she barely remembered anything about her, she knew from Yang and her dad and everybody in Patch that the woman was exceedingly caring. People often spoke of just how willing she was to help in any way that she could. Yet, according to Qrow, even she had learned to accept that sometimes things had to be done in order to save a life.

How had she come to terms with the fact that she had to hurt someone, or allow someone to get hurt, in order to do her job? She didn't know, and she would never know. Whatever wisdom or advice she could offer was gone, and neither her dad nor Yang felt things the way she did.

So, wiping a tear away from her eyes, Ruby pulled her Scroll from her pouch and unlocked it; quickly bringing up an old picture that had been placed into its own folder. On the screen was her mom, the woman's red and black hair standing out brilliantly against her white cloak. Sat on her shoulder was another girl, only two years old but already poised to be a carbon copy of the older woman.

It wasn't much, but it was her favourite. And despite offering no answers to the question she wanted, the smile on the woman's face was enough for Ruby to know that she would find her answer one day. If someone as amazing and caring as her mom had, then so would she.

Raalm's Note

Hello everyone. Not really much to say today. For the most part we really just wanted to show the characters starting to accept things.

With Blake and Ilia, we really wanted to have Ilia forge her own path in this fic that is away from Blake, because in the show her character is very reliant on Blake's existence and we feel that detracts from her growth. It also played well into how we have set up Blake in this fic and how she is still unsure what the best path forward is, or if there even is one, so having her accept Ilia's answer was another way to further that understanding.

As for Ruby's side, we wanted to show that she understands that acceptance she can't save everyone is something she will have to come to terms with, but also that its still a struggle for her. It goes against who she is at her core, and its going to cause her some pain, but she understands it has to be accepted. We also wanted to show her working towards the future and seeking out those other options, hence bringing back up her creative wiles with the phantom cage.

I would also like to say that as of the day before publishing this one, the final chapter has finished being written.

Anyway, that's it for me today. I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)

Chapter 67 will be uploaded on the 12th of August.