"School sweet school!" Eliana declared as she stepped off of the airship and stretched, giving the rest of her classmates room to unload behind her and she sighed satisfactorily. "I think we should do that more often. Mrs. Adel, do we need to go to class today?"

"That's tentative at the moment," Coco told them.

"How's that?" Neela asked.

"You're free to do what you want this morning, I'm going to help these three get settled in," Coco replied. "This afternoon I'll need to debrief all of you."

"Sounds like a free pass to skip class to me," Ilia added. Coco shook her head as the ship took off and left them in silence on the cliff.

"Feels nice coming back here," Titus said. They looked at him.

"Oddly enough, that didn't sound forced at all," Neela pointed out.

"I never thought that I'd say that the first day that I stepped off of General Branwen's ship, but now I think I genuinely mean it," Titus said. The four of them stared at the school for a long few moments before Ilia removed her scroll and began texting.

"That was a nice moment," Ilia stated.

"Titus is scaring me," Eliana said walking away with Neela.

"Hey!" He shouted.

"In a good way!" Eliana yelled back. Ilia laughed without looking up from her scroll and Titus glanced at her.

"Well, what are we doing for the rest of the day?" Titus asked Ilia. She put her scroll back in her pocket and pointed towards Vale.

"I don't know about you, but I could use some Dust, I'm running a little low," she told him. He thought it over and nodded.

"I guess I could too," he added. "Then lunch?"

"Sounds good to me," she replied.

"They might as well give us tomorrow off too," Eliana told Neela. "It's already Thursday."

"You keep wishing and we'll see what happens," Neela said. Eliana grabbed Neela's arm and pointed at Tawney and Cobalt.

"Hey, guys!" Eliana yelled to them. Cobalt offered half a wave as they headed over, Tawney had a slight skip to her step, but something seemed to be killing her mood at the same time.

"What's going on?" Neela asked. "You both seem a little off."

"I would just like to start by saying that we had a way more interesting time than you did Xiao Long!" Tawney exclaimed. "We discovered a new Grimm, and we climbed a few points closer to you losers."

"Oh yeah, I saw the picture of the Grimm. Camazotz, right? It looked wicked," Neela said.

"Jealous?" Tawney asked.

"Pfft! Yeah right!" Eliana replied for Neela. "Neela was kidnapped, and we had to take down the leader of a dangerous crime ring that was killing Faunus for the hell of it and then wearing their horns and stuff like a trophy! It was crazy! And we beat the hell out of this guy that could turn his entire body mass into muscle!" Eliana smiled as she threw her arm around Neela. "I'm sure once they update our points you guys will be right back to where you were!"

"Sounds crazy," Cobalt replied distractedly. Tawney frowned and brushed past Neela.

"Whatever," Tawney said as she left them. Neela glanced back at her before looking at Cobalt again.

"Cobalt, what's going on?" Neela asked again.

"Soya," Cobalt mumbled. Neela grabbed him by the shoulders.

"What about her?" She asked.

"I can't be completely sure that they did it on purpose, but Lykos and Bái took on Rowan and Soya to try and defend our rank as the second best team," Cobalt explained.

"Rowan from Team IVRY?" Eliana questioned. Cobalt nodded.

"They broke Bái's inhibitor that I had made for her and she had a panic attack almost immediately afterward. Pyrrha knocked her out before she could do too much damage, but if Pyrrha hadn't have stopped her, I get the feeling that someone might have been killed," Cobalt speculated.

"Really?" Eliana asked amazed. Cobalt shrugged.

"Bái hasn't woken up since then and Lykos hasn't left her side, though it might be better that she's still asleep, it gives me a little extra time to try and finish a new one for her so she can have it right away," he explained. "You want to go with me to see if she's awake yet?"

"We've got time," Neela said. "We're pretty open until this afternoon." Neela and Eliana followed Cobalt to the nurse's office, Eliana discussing their shenanigans as they made their way to the building and opened the door, they were greeted by Ren who tried to turn them away.

"It's best that she just rest for now," Ren told them. "I'm glad that you decided to stop by and I'll let her know." They thanked him and turned away as they prepared to leave the building.

"Are you going to talk to Soya?" Eliana asked. Neela sighed and stretched.

"It doesn't add up," Neela said. "You remember what she said during the assembly. To me it seemed like she just had an issue with Faunus, why would she attack Bái at random? I don't know that I really believe the whole 'testing the team's merit' nonsense."

"So we go rough her up!" Eliana declared.

"We can't just go rough her up," Neela informed her. "I'm pretty sure that would cause us to lose points."

"What if you issue a challenge to her?" Cobalt asked. Neela shook her head.

"She would never go for it," Neela told him. "I don't know that there is much that we can do about it."

"So we ask Rowan," Eliana stated.

"He won't just tell us," Neela told her. Neela glanced around. "Where did Titus and Ilia go?"

"Probably to town, why?" Eliana replied.

"I was going to ask Titus what the rules and guidelines of Beacon say about this," Neela said. Cobalt raised his eyebrow at her as they walked across the green towards the cafeteria.

"You think this would be in there?" Cobalt asked.

"No, but if it is, Titus would know," Neela pointed out. Eliana chuckled.

"Hello!" Pyrrha called out to them. They stopped as she moved to them and Eliana waved at her before she arrived. "How was your trip, I heard that you kids got into a bit of trouble while you were in Mistral, especially when Neela was kidnapped." Neela's eyes grew wide and she took a step back.

"How did you know about that?" Neela asked.

"I was told by Nora, though I'm not really sure who told her. I am sure that all of the teachers know it by now," Pyrrha answered. Neela shook her head.

"That's not good," Neela exclaimed as she glanced around frantically.

"Why not?" Eliana asked. Neela grabbed her friend and shook her, dragging her away.

"Catch up with you later, Pyrrha! Cobalt!" Neela shouted as she began running back towards the cliff with Eliana who was struggling to keep up. "We need to go to Vale right now or were not going to get to do anything else this morning before we have our debriefing."

"Why not?" Eliana asked.

"Neela!" Rang out a voice as Neela stopped on a dime. Eliana stumbled past her, turning back to see Neela frozen in place as Blake ran over to her, Yang and Shadow were following close behind. "They said that you were kidnapped while you were in Mistral, is that true? Don't lie to me, you know that I can always tell when you're lying."

"I wouldn't exactly call it a kidnapping…" Neela said rubbing the back of her neck as Blake hugged her tightly.

"She's been losing her mind for the last couple of hours since she found out," Yang told Neela giving her a hug followed by Shadow who leapt into Neela's arms with a bout of laughter.

"She was kidnapped, Yang. That doesn't panic you in the slightest?" Blake asked.

"Why should it?" Yang replied. "She's fine now and she doesn't look too banged up." Yang winked at Neela. "She's a tough kid and she knows what she's doing."

"Did they hurt you?" Blake asked. Neela laughed and shook her head.

"Not exactly, they trained with me a bit and offered me some popcorn," Neela said. Yang laughed as Blake clearly seemed frustrated.

"See, all that worry for nothing," Yang said. She pried Shadow out of Neela's arms and began heading for the cliff again.

"Is sissy coming with?" Shadow asked.

"She can't come with us today, but that's okay," Yang told her. "She's gotta stay here and get better at fighting monsters." Shadow folded her arms.

"Lucky," Shadow protested.

"Don't be like that hun, Grandpa Tai has been looking forward to seeing you all week," Yang said. She stopped for a moment, making it obvious to Blake that she was waiting on her. "Come on kitty cat! Dad's waiting for us to make lunch!"

"Just a minute!" Blake called back. Yang smiled and started walking away.

"I'll save you a seat on the airship but if you take too long you'll have to catch the next one!" Yang yelled. Neela glanced at Yang before looking back at Blake.

"You guys are going to Tai's?" Neela asked. Blake nodded which confused Neela further. "Okay, Raven must have moved out and found a place of her own then?"

"Nope," Blake said. Neela's eyes grew wide and she glanced at Eliana who had the same reaction.

"Then what's going on, is Raven out for the day or week or something?" Neela inquired.

"Your mother and Raven had some words and it appears as though it might finally be time to make amends and reconcile," Blake explained. Neela chuckled.

"It might be best to stay cautiously optimistic about that working out," Neela joked.

"Oh don't worry, I am," Blake laughed. "Bringing Gambol Shroud with just in case I need to get in between the two of them." Eliana and Neela laughed.

"Probably not a bad idea," Eliana added. Blake kissed Neela on the forehead and hugged Eliana before she made her way towards the airship.

"I'm not done talking to you yet about what happened, but I'm glad to see that you're okay. I love you, Neela!" Blake shouted back.

"Love you too!" Neela yelled out.

"Bye, Mrs. Bellabooty!" Eliana added. Neela looked at her.

"I think you enjoy that a little too much," Neela said laughing. Eliana shrugged as they followed the path the Blake had taken. "Well, now what do we do?"

"Maybe a quickie and then meet up with Coco?" Eliana suggested.

"What?!" Neela asked as she stopped dead in her tracks once again and looked up at Eliana. What was Eliana insinuating? This was just another Eliana being Eliana moment, right?!

"A quick bite to eat?" Eliana said confused. "What did you think I said?" Neela blushed and laughed, over exaggerating and rubbing the back of her neck as she waved Eliana away.

"Nothing! Pfft nothing, I just misheard you, is that a crime? For someone to mishear someone? I think not! Yeah, no, yeah, lunch sounds great, let us go do that and then we will find Coco when we come back and give her our post mission reports or debriefings or whatever! Yes! Great plan!" Neela exclaimed in one large outburst.

"Are you okay?" Eliana asked Neela. Neela nodded.

"Fine," Neela replied. "I'm fine."

"Okay, because you're looking a little red…" Eliana began.

"I'm fine!" Neela stated again. She smiled at Eliana and Eliana beamed back at her.

"Alright," Eliana said.

"Did I mention that I really hate camping?" Ilia asked as she browsed the Dust and picked up one of the canisters, looking it over. "I'm just glad that we'll be sleeping under a roof tonight, I had enough of roughing it in Vacuo during my childhood. You ever try any of these hybrid Dusts? They're from the SDC, so you know they're good, but I'm not sure what the application would be for some of these. Like this. Fire and lightning. Sounds cool in theory and I'm sure it looks awesome, but how practical is it?"

"I'm sure Weiss had something in mind when she came up with it," Titus said as he grabbed the Dust he needed and moved to the counter.

"Do you think that she oversees the production of all new Dust products? She probably has a team that does that for her, right?" Ilia speculated as she paid for her items and they left. Titus looked up and down the street before looking back at her and shrugging.

"I'm not all that sure if I'm being completely honest," Titus admitted to her. "The military doesn't work as hand in hand with the SDC as people think." Ilia was surprised by the fact, though was quickly distracted by the sound of her scroll going off in her pocket. "Vin?" Ilia looked at the caller ID, shaking her head and holding a finger up to him as she answered.

"Hello?" Ilia answered a bit confused at first.

"Hello, Ilia!" The cheerful voice rang out. "It's me, Mrs. Arc. I was just calling to ask you how the mission went in Mistral. If you want to talk about it, that is." Ilia wasn't sure how to react and Titus waited for her to give him some kind of approval before continuing on and looking for somewhere for them to eat. She waved him on and he glanced down the road again before leading her back towards the docks.

"Uh yeah," Ilia replied. "Sure. What did you want to know?"

"How was it? Was it your first time going on any kind of camping trip or anything of the sort?" Pyrrha asked Ilia. Ilia thought for a moment before replying.

"Not technically camping per se, but I have roughed it on far more than one occasion. It was nice to have others nearby to lean on if I needed any help. I think we had a pretty good time in Mistral, even if things were crazy most of the trip," Ilia mentioned.

"I heard most of what happened to Neela," Pyrrha said. "How did Eliana and Titus hold up?"

"Oh you know Titus," Ilia replied laughing as he glanced back at her. "He's such a spoiled Atlas military brat. Telling me the whole time that if this was a mission for Atlas instead of Beacon that he would have had everything that he needed set out and prepared for him ahead of time, and that they would have let him stay in a hotel or some other place where he wouldn't have to sleep outside."

"Hey!" Titus yelled. Pyrrha laughed on the other side of the phone.

"Sounds like Titus," Pyrrha added. Ilia laughed back and smiled, a feeling of joy welling up inside of her.

"I know!" Ilia exclaimed. "He may be a gargoyle, but I think that deep down within, beyond that rock hard shell of his, he's just a big softy!" Titus stopped and Ilia ran into him, bouncing off and looking up at him.

"I am not!" He yelled. Ilia and Pyrrha laughed again. Ilia felt a heat wash over her that was comforting, and she failed to understand the ecstatical feeling within her. What was this?

"Did you buy anything for Vincent while you were over there?" Pyrrha inquired.

"Just a couple of postcards," Ilia told her. "I really wasn't sure of what to get him, especially considering the fact that his family is pretty wealthy. I'm sure that there are alot of things that he already has." She could feel the tenderness of Pyrrha's smile as she replied through the phone.

"I think that was a great idea," Pyrrha weighed in. Titus stopped at the crosswalk, waving to Eliana and Neela as he spotted them and Eliana rushed over. Ilia lit up and gasped.

"Really?!" Ilia asked.

"I really think so. If he's the kind of boy that you think he is, he's going to love it," Pyrrha told her. Ilia beamed and smiled.

"Ilia, come on! Let's get something to eat!" Eliana called to her.

"Who is she on the phone with?" Neela asked.

"Pyrrha, I think?" Titus replied. Neela gave a slight smirk and patted Titus on the back.

"You and Eliana can go on inside, the two of us will be coming in just a moment," Neela told him. He nodded and went in with Eliana. Neela approached Ilia as she wrapped up her conversation.

"Any time that you want to talk Ilia, feel free to do so," Pyrrha told her. "I'll let you get to lunch with your friends, that's what was going on in the background, right?"

"Right!" Ilia exclaimed.

"Goodbye, Ilia," Pyrrha said.

"Goodbye, Pyrrha," Ilia finished as she hung up her scroll and put it back in her pocket. She took a deep breath, looking up to find that Neela was walking towards her and it was then that she felt the tears that were running slowly down her face. She took the few steps to Neela quickly and threw her arms around her. "This was your doing, wasn't it? I knew we talked about it a little bit before with each other, but I don't think that I could possibly ever thank you enough."

"I know that Vin is there for you, but sometimes every girl can use a 'mother' to listen to them and really relate on a level that's completely different than what a significant other can provide," Neela told her.

"I haven't had that in such a long time, Neela," Ilia sobbed into her leader's shoulder. "I nearly told her that I loved her at the end of the call. I didn't know before how badly I needed something like that. I'll never be able to make this up to you, I appreciate what you did for me, I'll never forget!" Neela laughed.

"I just want what's best for my teammates," Neela explained. "There's no need to pay me back. Just keep doing your best and we'll call it even." She released Ilia and watched her wipe her tears, giving her the thumbs up afterward. "Okay?" Ilia smiled wildly and nodded her head.

"Okay!" Ilia responded.

"Great!" Neela stated. "Now, why don't we go get some food before Titus starts going on about how back in Atlas he had a strict schedule that he had to adhere to and would have had to have finished twice as much food in about half of the time he has here."

"He does that to you too?" Ilia asked her. They crossed the street and entered the restaurant.

"You didn't really think that you were the only one who got that same song and dance every time he's in a rush, did you?" Neela asked.

"He never does it when we have anyone else with us!" Ilia blurted out.

"Are you girls talking about me again?" Titus asked.

"Yes," Neela replied.

"Of course," Ilia answered.

"What is it this time?" He asked as Neela and Ilia took a seat.

"That whole bit you do when you're running late and tell us all about how you did things back at the academy," Neela told him. Eliana laughed, nearly hitting the waitress as she brought her water over.

"Right! 'As a lieutenant-general of the Atlas army, we woke up at around five-thirty so that we'd be up by the time that the sun graced the horizon with its appearance. Then they'd line all of us up outside in the courtyard and we'd do some extremely rigorous training! You know, like they'd tie one of my hands behind my back and then I would do at least one thousand push-ups, and then several hundred laps around the lake or some other large something or other that would be an absurd distance for me to have to run every day!'" Eliana declared.

"That is not what I said," Titus defended himself. "It was only about 50 laps around a lake or some other large thing." He smirked at Eliana and she laughed.

"Alright, enough talk, let's eat!" Neela blurted out. Ilia looked at her friends and smiled. This was her family, wasn't it?

Blake found out what happened, but doesn't seem too thrilled. Next week, Chapter 87 - Freakout!

A big thank you to Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.

Until next week, stay classy!