Morning. The light poured in through the grandiose window that the bed had been situated next to, giving Neela an incredible, nearly impossible to believe, breathtaking view over the flying capital of Atlas. The occasional airship drifted by and Neela stared at them for longer than she should have, giving thought to the idea that maybe one of them, or any of them, could take her away from the solitary confinement she'd chosen to embrace for the summer, and deliver her to Eliana who would take her back immediately and they could start again from where they'd left off. A tear ran down her face and she brushed it away. It wasn't the idea that she'd been betrayed, or that Eliana had tried to take Shadow, but the fact that Eliana had run without letting them work things out. She threw her legs over the edge of the queen size canopy style bed and stretched her hands out above her head.

"Ms. Xiao Long," came a voice from behind her that stood at the door. "Finally awake I see. How was your sleep?" She turned to face Klein, not self-conscious of the fact that she was wearing only a bra. His eyes turned pink and he turned quickly to leave. "I'm so sorry. I should have knocked first. I'll be out in the hallway waiting for you once you're done getting dressed. Terribly sorry."

"Sorry, Klein," She called out as he closed the door and she moved to the vanity in the corner of the room, dressing as she watched the city bustle far below. Coming up north was the best decision that she could have made for the summer, she offered to do some odd jobs for Weiss and the SDC to put distance between her and Vale. She needed time to breathe and think, and she figured keeping her mind off of the events that took place at Beacon was the best way. She wasn't going home, she needed to avoid Blake and Yang so they wouldn't ask her what was wrong, but it was beginning to backfire, and every day her anxiety grew worse. She was barely eating or keeping down what she did manage to eat, and sleep didn't come easy. She checked herself over in the mirror before stepping out into the hall and joining Klein who smiled at her with his eyes light brown.

"It's been such a pleasure to serve you again, Ms. Xiao Long," Klein noted as they slowly made their way down one of the large and empty wings in Schnee Manor, heading for the front door so that Klein could drive her over to SDC headquarters. Ever since Ruby and Weiss had moved into the city itself, the manor was seldom used by the family outside of the occasional social get together, or publicity stunt. They offered to let Neela stay in the house for old times sake as Neela had once found it to be amazing as a child, she'd never been inside of such a large building before. "And what are your plans for the day?"

"I think that I'll head to the firing range first," she explained. He grinned as his eyes became red.

"Practicing to take your anger out on someone later?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Just practicing to get better," she noted.

"Practicing just to get better is great too!" He exclaimed, his eyes yellow before turning light blue. He sneezed a few times before they returned to light brown once more. "I'm so sorry, pardon me."

"It's no big deal," she told him with a chuckle.

"I'll have you there in no time," he informed her with a wink. And then they were there in no time, Neela's mind wandering aimlessly during the drive over. She thanked the butler, headed into the building with the visitor badge that she'd been given, heading to the range after fighting with the map for a good couple of minutes, setting her backpack down and placing it in one of the lockers, entering the range and finding that she was the only one in there. She took a deep breath in, nocking an arrow and pulling it back, exhaling slowly before releasing and watching the arrow meet the middle of the moving target.

She did it over and over, dedicating very little of her actual conscious thoughts to the task before her and letting her mind wander to Eliana. Why had she done it? Why did she run? Why wouldn't she come back? Would she ever come back? Was it something that Neela did? Why did she run?! Neela had fired several explosive arrows without realizing it, the several arrows that had split each other one after the other caused the target to give and it shattered on impact with her last shot, forcing her to return to the present, noting Ruby out of the corner of her eyes, simply watching her. Neela shook it off and took aim at the next target as Ruby entered in and stood behind her.

"You really don't even have to think about aiming, do you?" Ruby asked, impressed with the girl. "It's amazing. I'm pretty good with my scythe, obviously, but I don't know if I ever would have gotten that good with my sniper rifle."

"What brought you down here?" Neela asked, glancing back at her and firing without looking, still hitting the bullseye.

"I can't just come down and see my niece?" Ruby asked defensively, knowing that something was bothering Neela. "I thought maybe I could give you tips, but I think I might ask you for some instead." Neela laughed.

"I'm not that good," Neela insisted.

"You can be modest, Neela, but you can't ignore your own skill," Ruby explained.

"Thanks," Neela replied.

"Were you going to be in here much longer?" Ruby asked her setting down her own satchel and aiming crescent rose in a single swing. She aimed down the sights, the bullet splitting Neela's arrow down the middle before obliterating the target.

"I woke up later than I expected, so I'll probably head to the office soon," Neela informed her, entering range to collect what arrows she had left intact.

"Intimidated?" Ruby asked. Neela laughed and looked back at her.

"A little bit," she confessed. The two of them laughed as they headed back to the lockers to allow Neela to collect her backpack and headed into a subterranean tunnel that went under the road used for shipping, connecting the testing facility to the research, development, and design facility.

"How have things been going so far?" Ruby asked. "Weiss told me that you're getting all of the work done that she throws at you, but this is summer break, most of the files she gives you are pretty low importance. You can head into the city if you want and take in some of the sights! Or one of us can give you a tour of the Academy! Something fun, you know?! I can't imagine that you'd rather waste your entire summer away in that office just approving weapon designs."

"I don't mind," Neela confessed as they left the tunnel and showed their badges at the security checkpoint. "After working here for the last few summers and acing my advanced Dust studies class this last year, I think that I might have a few things that I can talk to the scientists about once I've finished going through these designs. I've gotten really good at delayed Dust catalyzing, and I was wondering if it was possible to create a hard light Dust bowstring! From all of the research and calculating I've done, if I'm right, it should increase the speed of my arrows noticeably!" Ruby smiled at her niece as they reached the office that they were loaning her.

"You've got it all figured out, don't you?" Ruby asked, smirking. Neela looked at her and nodded, sitting at the desk and removing a laptop from her backpack before thumbing through the papers in the tray on the corner that needed to be gone through yet.

"I think so, yeah," Neela noted, freeing one from the middle of the stack and examining it.

"Well, anyways, Weiss, Amelia, and I are going to have dinner tonight around six, and you are more than welcome to join us," Ruby assured her with a smile. "Maybe drop in so we can pick your brain for a while! I'm sure Amelia wants to hear all about how you saved Beacon Tower!" Neela's smile disappeared as she remembered the events that had transpired and she nodded, refocusing on her work.

"Thanks for the offer but I think I'm just going to have some take out delivered so I can get this finished, it'll probably take me the better part of the day to get through all of this," Neela informed her. "Maybe in a couple of days, I'll stop in." Ruby nodded, turning away and frowning.

"Alright," Ruby said. "If you change your mind, you're always welcome to just drop in." She closed the door behind her, sighing as she walked down the hallway for the receptionist's desk, passing by engineering offices and greeting workers that waved and said hello to her along the way. She probably shouldn't have brought up the fight, but it wasn't something that Neela could avoid the rest of her life. It had been traumatic for her, her sister, and her mothers, but that didn't mean that Neela needed to keep running from it. She needed to accept that it happened and learn from it. As Ruby rounded the corner, she ran into someone unexpected.

"Hey, Ruby," Blake greeted her.

"Blake!" Ruby exclaimed sprinting towards the woman before hugging her hard. The two laughed as Blake spun her around and set her back on the floor. "I didn't think that you'd be here so soon!" Blake sighed and shrugged.

"I didn't feel like I had much of a choice," Blake told her. "When you and Weiss called the other day and said that Klein had told the two of you that she was having night terrors like the ones she'd had as a child, I knew that I needed to come as soon as possible. If you didn't know it, you'd be surprised she wasn't actually ours because she runs from her issues like I did and is stubborn like Yang." Ruby chuckled.

"Yeah, but both of you learned to overcome those flaws," Ruby noted. "Time to teach her to do so as well." Blake nodded at her.

"She in her office?" Blake inquired. Ruby leapt up, pointing from the direction she'd come.

"Head down there, make a right at the end, walk all the way down that corridor, and you should find her on the left!" Ruby declared. Blake looked at her for a long moment before Ruby chuckled and rubbed her neck. "Or if you forget that you can just grab somebody walking by and ask them to take you there."

"You don't have a moment to take me?" Blake questioned.

"I have a meeting to sit in on with Weiss before Qrow and I head over to the Academy for a debriefing of the intel we collected while chasing after the Fang," Ruby noted. "Thanks again for taking care of that." Blake waved her off.

"It's all thanks to Raven," Blake reminded her. Ruby nodded once before leaving the building, Blake headed towards Neela's office, worried that her daughter would be angry that she came to check on her. It was in Blake's nature to worry, she always had, and even though the Fang were gone, it didn't mean that she would stop worrying about Neela's well being. Blake reached the door, grinning thoughtfully at the placard on the office door that read "N. Xiao Long" and recalling a memory when Neela had seen hers for the first time at Beacon.

Why is your name on the door, mom?

It means that I have a very important job here, and it helps people find me if they need me for anything.

I want my name on a door one day!

And why is that?

Because that means that I would have an important job too, just like you!

Blake knocked on the door and waited for her daughter's reply.

"Come in!" Neela called out and Blake opened the door. "Was there something else you needed, Aunt Ruby?"

"It's been a while," Blake spoke softly. Neela glanced up, dropping her pen and staring up at her mother, her body rigid for a long moment, unable to respond right away before her arms weakly pushed against the chair handles and she stood, making her away across the room slowly and hugging her mother gently. She wanted to cling tightly and to sob violently, apologizing for… something? Neela's mind was a mess, she felt remorseful, but she didn't know why, instead releasing her mother and moving back to her chair, motioning for Blake to take a seat on the couch across from her desk. "How are things going?"

"Great," Neela stammered, faking a smile and nodding. "It's going great, Aunt Weiss has given me quite a bit of paperwork to sort through here, but she knows that I can handle it. I decided I'd rather work on designs this time seeing as the last few summers they put me in manufacturing. I don't mind this though, it's a great change of pace from being hands-on all of the time, you know? And staying in the manor is always a treat, I have a swimming pool the size of our house to myself, so I mean, that's awesome, right?"

"It sounds great," Blake told her.

"It is," Neela replied quickly.

"Shadow has been acting out that fight between Raven and Athena over and over for the last month," Blake said thoughtfully, shaking her head and laughing. "I thought that she'd be scared afterward, but she's really taken it in stride. Yang and I are about to leave on our trip, so we have that going for us, but I'm really glad that you're enjoying yourself here."

"Thanks," Neela responded. "I really am."

"Good," Blake offered thoughtfully. "Good." They sat in silence for a long moment before Neela looked up from her paperwork and set it down.

"So… Why did you decide to drop in?" Neela inquired.

"You haven't called once since you got on the airship. You haven't been coming home on the weekends like you have every summer in the past. I asked if we could schedule a get together during the week two weeks ago and Ruby said that you'd rather not. I can't get a hold of you when I call your scroll. It seems like…" Blake trailed off before staring at her daughter. "It seems like you're trying to ignore us."

"I would never do that!" Neela defended standing. "I just…" She stopped and stared at the desk. "I thought that with Ruby and Weiss here, this would be the safest way for me to get over my separation anxiety."

"I don't believe that," Blake replied and Neela was stunned. "Even if that is the case, Ruby tells me that you have a few episodes a day where you completely shut down. Klein has been staying up through the night every day since you've arrived because you've been having night terrors again. That's why Ruby and Weiss have been harassing you about calling us. I know that you're trying to be strong, Honey, but you don't need to put yourself through hell for no reason." Blake motioned for Neela to join her on the couch, but Neela refused at first, lightly shaking her head as tears formed in her eyes.

"No," she mouthed. Blake's eyes filled with hurt as she motioned for Neela again who joined her reluctantly. Blake pulled her in for a hug as she sat and Neela lost control, pulling her mother in tightly and sobbing violently until there was nothing left for her to get out, Blake's shoulder soaked with her daughter's tears. Neela's crying steadied out, the occasional gasp coming from her as she seethed, her breathing erratic as she shook her head. "I was trying to be strong…"

"It's not going to get any better if we don't talk about it," Blake assured her. "You have never packed your bags faster to leave for here than you did after you read that note. You barely said goodbye to me, Yang, or Shadow. Your sister is worried about you, just as much as Yang and I are."

"She wasn't supposed to leave!" Neela cried out. "She was supposed to stay with me! Even if it wasn't the way that I wanted, she promised that nothing would come between us, and even though I forgave her, she left! There's only one reason she would have left! I don't want to talk about it because it will only hurt more than it already does."

"She left because she's scared and confused, and doesn't want to hurt you again," Blake explained.

"But… she didn't. I forgave her. She would never hurt me," Neela noted. Blake sighed.

"I know," Blake said. "But I was there once too. Things can change, I promise."

"What do you mean 'you were there once'?" Neela questioned. Blake smiled as she pulled away slightly to look her daughter in the eyes.

"You know that Yang lost her arm trying to protect me from Adam Taurus," Blake explained. "I blamed myself. In my mind, Yang wasn't hurt because she'd chosen to risk being hurt. She was hurt because of me. It was my fault that she'd take a risk like that. And so when the dust settled, I ran, making sure that I would never hurt Yang again. But, much like your separation anxiety, Yang was all too familiar with being left by the people that loved her. Raven, Summer, and then me. I hurt her more by leaving than I would have by staying, but I couldn't see that. After everything sank in, I was afraid that Yang would never forgive me. Trust me when I say that things will get better, but this is the worst that they'll ever be."

"Why didn't you ever tell me you ran before?" Neela pried. Blake sighed as she rubbed the girl's back.

"I wanted to tell you several times before, but Yang refused to let me. She had the best intentions, so don't get me wrong, but she was afraid that you would think less of me if you knew the truth. But we can't ignore the past, can we? I can't act like it was a mistake that can just be swept under the rug, it was a wrong decision that I actively made and I learned from it, just like Eliana will learn from hers," Blake informed her.

"I would never think less of either of you after everything that you've done for me," Neela exclaimed. "I just wish that the two of you felt the same about me…"

"What?" Blake asked wide-eyed as she glared at Neela. "Neela, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Neela said as she began to pull away. "Nevermind, mom." Blake gripped her quickly, tears filling her own eyes as she stood and grabbed Neela by the shoulders.

"I don't like seeing this side of you, Neela, tell me what's wrong," Blake demanded. Neela's eyes became wet once more as she refused to look Blake in the eyes.

"You and Yang don't regret adopting me, do you?" Neela asked. Blake pulled her in swiftly and tightly, holding her close and pinning her head to her chest as she kissed Neela's forehead.

"We would never think adopting you was a mistake," Blake asserted sternly. "Why would you think that?"

"Everything…" Neela gasped as she cried again, this time shaking with rage. "Everything that has happened in the last year to you and Yang is because you saved me that day. Athena said that she was only swearing revenge on us because you stole me from her. If I wouldn't have been saved none of this would have happened. Yang wouldn't have lost her chance at having her mom back if it wasn't for me."

"Stop it," Blake demanded. Neela looked up at Blake who looked angry, but her expression was still soft. "Didn't you hear a word that I said? You're blaming yourself for the pain that Yang is feeling. It wasn't your decision to hurt us, it was our decision to love you!" Neela teared up again. "That's the risk we take being huntresses. Bad things happen. Lives are going to be lost. But it won't always be like that. You just have to remember times will get better.

Yang and I wouldn't have half of what we have in our lives now if we didn't save you that day. It literally changed what we wanted out of life for the better in more ways than we could ever tell you. Until we found you Yang was never crazy on the idea of being a mom. I wanted to have a kid at some point, but I wasn't gonna force it on Yang because of her past experiences. But once you moved in with us while we looked for someone to adopt you, everything changed in weeks. Yang was completing contracts and missions in record time just so she could be home with you. I started taking less just so you didn't get bounced around with who was watching you. We knew we couldn't let you go and stopped looking for a long time before the day we told you we were going to adopt you, just so we could make sure everything checked out legally and that we could always have someone home with you. You're one of our greatest blessings, Neela. Never think you're anything else."

"I'm sorry!" Neela yelled embracing Blake again. "I'm sorry! I know you love me! I do! I'm just so confused right now and I don't know what the right choices are!"

"Let's start with you coming home this weekend to visit, hm?" Blake asked her as she held Neela close, comforting the girl. Blake and Yang would never let her go. She knew that now. She always knew that. Why had she been avoiding them? Neela nodded and laughed through the sobs.

"Yes!" Neela replied. "I want to!"

"We're home!" Blake called out as she opened the door and Neela walked in ahead of her, setting down her bags just inside of the door as she took a deep breath in and sighed. She wasn't sure why she'd been avoiding them and the feeling of regret and remorse she'd experienced before crept back in. She felt awful for avoiding them. She never meant to hurt them, she only wanted to distance herself from the pain that had been born from the White Fang attack. Neela spotted Yang standing across the room, smiling at her, tears in her eyes as they burned red.

"Mom, I'm sor…" Neela began. Yang sprinted across the room, hugging Neela tightly and nearly tackling her as she squeezed her too hard, making it hard for the girl to breathe.

"Don't you ever, ever think I wouldn't want you here. I love you more than I could put into words. I will never feel any different no matter what happens. You're my Little Bird, and I wouldn't want it any other way," Yang informed her, pulling back and wiping the tears from her own face before wiping Neela's. "Blake messaged me, Neela. Raven made choices in her life that led to her having a lot of enemies. If it wasn't the Fang, someone else would have come after her. I didn't lose her because of you. If it weren't for you and Shadow, I never would come as far as I did with her, and there's no way that I ever would have forgiven her. She died protecting you two. I can't think of a better way she would have wanted to go."

"Right," Neela nodded with a sniff before spotting Shadow coming down the stairs in her cat footie pajamas, dragging a fleece blanket behind her and stopping at the bottom, rubbing her eyes.

"What is going on?" Shadow asked. "It is way too early in the morning for this nonsense, I haven't even had my waffles yet." She blinked a few times, looking at Neela before it finally clicked. She dropped her blanket and scrambled to her sister, leaping into her arms. "You're here! I was afraid you weren't coming back!"

"I'll always come back, Shadow," Neela told her, kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry I was gone for so long." Shadow folded her arms as Neela set her down and knelt in front of her.

"It's okay," Shadow shrugged. "Eliana's been gone for a while too." Neela's body began to shake before Yang placed a hand on her shoulder. Neela looked up at her.

"Eliana's just on vacation like Sissy. She'll be back before you know it," Yang assured her. Neela swallowed hard and nodded.

"Is Sissy home to stay?!" Shadow called out to Blake who had finally entered the house after retrieving the rest of her bags from the motorcycle outside.

"She's only home for the weekend," Blake said. Shadow looked defeated as she stared up at Neela.

"You're leaving again?!" Shadow cried.

"Only for another month," Neela assured her. "I'll be home for good again soon." Shadow groaned.

"I don't want you to leave again!" Shadow exclaimed.

"I'll be back next weekend," Neela said with a wink. Shadow perked up.

"Really?" She questioned.

"No more long trips away," Neela replied with a smile. "Just for you." Shadow hugged Neela again.

"Good!" Shadow declared.

"And when I come back next weekend, I'm taking you back to spend a couple of days with Amelia," Neela whispered with a wink to Blake.

"Really?!" Shadow exploded. Blake nodded. "Yes!"

"What's going on?" Yang asked, not catching what Neela had said.

"Nothing," Neela said standing as Shadow took off.

"Blake?" Yang questioned moving to her wife.

"We get a week to ourselves," Blake whispered. Yang grinned and kissed her.

"Oh really?" Yang asked.

"No more siblings," Neela said leaving the room.

"What?" Yang called out.

"You heard her!" Shadow shouted back.

"The two of them are more than enough," Blake laughed. Neela sat at the table with Shadow, talking about how awesome Raven's fight against Athena was. Neela's mind wandered. Things would get better. They already were. She just needed to believe Eliana would come back…

But convincing herself of that proved to be the most difficult thing she could do.

There we have it! The End of Year One! I can't thank you all enough for reading this story and enjoying it, and we will be back the weekend of September 12th with Chapter 1 of Year 2!

Chapter 1: Blood

Make sure to follow me here to make sure you get notified when Year 2 goes live!

And as always, Stay Classy!