"It's easy to forget when we're older, but there are a lot of things that we just assume everyone understands about the world." Tai took a small sip of his coffee. "Thing is, kids are still learning about those basic things we take for granted. It's important to keep in mind that they may have a different understanding of certain words and activities than you do."

He grimaced. "For example, the first time I had to take Yang for a haircut…"

"Daaaaaaad!" Yang cried from the salon chair, using her arms to keep the hairdresser at a distance. "She's gonna cut my haiiiir, make her stooooooooop!"

Tai gave the hair stylist a nervous smile, mentally calculating the tip to give her afterwards – whether she deserved one or not was already decided. From the second she'd come through the door, Yang had been making a ruckus. He was just happy he hadn't brought Ruby along; she was at the age where she copied Yang in every way, so if Yang was making noise, it was a safe bet that Ruby would be as well.

"What would she like done today?" The hairdresser deftly dodged Yang's flailing arm as she gestured towards the pictures of sample hairstyles shown on the wall. "I'll hazard a guess that she doesn't want it cut short?"

"Just a trim, thanks." Tai walked forward, placing his hand softly on Yang's shoulder. "Hey, little dragon, what's the matter?"

Yang stopped moving. Noticing her expression in the salon mirror, Tai had to stifle a chuckle as he saw the pout on Yang's face; although Ruby was the queen of pouting, Yang was certainly earning herself the title of pouting princess at the moment. The sisterly resemblance was beyond obvious.

"I don't need a haircut." As if her expression wasn't enough, Yang crossed her arms and sank down further into the salon chair. "I don't want a haircut."

"Why not?"

Yang looked out of the corner of her eye towards the hairdresser. Picking up on the cue, Tai turned towards her. "Sorry to be a bother, but could you leave us alone for a couple of minutes?" In response, the hairdresser nodded her head and walked towards the back of the salon. A jaguar's tail swung behind her as she stepped into the back office.

"We're alone now, do you think you can tell me what's wrong?" Tai spun Yang's chair around to face him; he'd always wanted to do that.

"I'm worried…I won't look like me."

Huh? "What do you mean?"

"Well, there was this girl at school who said she got a haircut, and when she came back, I couldn't even recognize her!"

Tai smiled as he realized what Yang was thinking. "Do you remember last week, when I went to get the groceries?" She nodded. "Well, I got my hair cut at the same time."

Her eyes widened. "Really? But you look the same! I thought if you got a haircut, you wouldn't have any hair left!"

Ouch. Tai winched slightly at the small blow to his pride, but he persisted. "Well, getting a haircut doesn't have to be a big change. Sometimes it's only a little bit. Can I see your hair for a second?" Reluctantly, she held up a few strands. Tai pointed to one of the split ends. "See this? This hair is broken. It's what happens when you go too long without getting your hair cut." Seeing an expression of worry appear on Yang's face, he quickly moved to allay her fears. "It's okay! We can fix it."

Reaching towards the salon counter, he grabbed a comb and a pair of scissors. "Now, I need you to close your eyes for a sec. Can you do that for me?" Yang closed her eyes. "Okay. Now, I'm gonna count down, and then I'm going to fix your hair. Are you ready?" She nodded, clearly nervous. "Good girl. Now, 5, 4…" He clipped the hair with the split end, keeping it as long as possible. "…there, all done."

"What? But you didn't finish counting!" Yang's now open eyes alighted on her split-end-free hair. "But…it didn't hurt."

"Sweetie, getting your hair cut isn't doesn't hurt."

"But it hurts when it gets pulled! Why does it not hurt to get it cut?"

That's…actually pretty logical, considering her age. "I'll explain when we get home. Now that you know it won't hurt, and that you'll still look like yourself, are you ready to see the stylist again?"

"Um…."

"It's funny how a little misunderstanding about a word can cause so much worry," Tai said. "She was around 5 at that time; it happened less as she got older and read more, so I assume Adrian and Julianne will be less prone to that kind of thing. That day, even after I explained that a haircut didn't necessarily mean you would be losing a lot of your hair, she still wasn't comfortable with getting a trim at the salon, since she didn't know the hairdresser. I ended up taking her home and trimming it myself; I learned how from online videos. She seemed far more comfortable with that, even though I wasn't as good at it as the stylist."

He leaned back from the table, sighing as he did so. "That's another thing you'll learn – as time goes on, you'll find things where you're the only one they'll fully trust, regardless of your skill. I think…Yang letting me cut her hair was one of the first times it really sunk in just how much she trusted me."

"Well, the kids seem to have a pretty good understanding of the things they learn about in school, at least." Jaune stirred his coffee nonchalantly. "Adrian reads well above his grade level, and Julianne is top of her class in math. That being said, they are both still pretty young, so I could see them having some ideas about the world that aren't quite right."

"Hmmm…what about social understanding? Things like relationships and emotions."

"To be honest, I'm not sure."

"Uncle Jaune, how did you and Auntie Pyrrha meet?"

Both Jaune and Pyrrha looked up from their respective laptops. The latest contract they'd received was in a remote part of Solitas they'd never visited before, so the team had split up to do background research. Ren and Nora were using the office, so Jaune and Pyrrha decided to work at the Cotta-Arc residence.

"Well, Julie, we first met during our first day at Beacon. I actually tried to ask her out!" Jaune laughed at the thought. "But we didn't really get to know each other until initiation."

"You know, I don't think I ever got a chance to answer you; Weiss cut me off." Pyrrha replied softly. If I knew what I knew now…I would have said yes. "Our initiation was the next day, and during that we ended up as partners."

"Ended up? She saved my life two minutes after initiation started! She also unlocked my aura, and, well…she's been saving my life ever since." Jaune gave Pyrrha a grateful smile before resuming the story. "Our first night as partners was pretty awkward." He put a hand on the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Yes, sharing a bed was hardly part of what I'd envisioned my time at Beacon to be like." Both Jaune and Pyrrha chuckled at the memory; due to a small logistical issue with the administrative office, they'd only had two beds in their room. While both Pyrrha and Jaune thought it would be more logical for them team to split up by gender, Nora (and Ren by extension) were far more comfortable sticking together. After losing a hotly contested game of Maiden Fighter 8, Jaune and Pyrrha had fought over who would take the floor, as both insisted that the other should take the bed. Eventually, since neither party showed any signs of relenting by the time curfew rolled around, they'd eventually agreed to split the bed for the night.

"Auntie Pyrrha?" The woman in question turned towards Adrian. "If you and Uncle Jaune fell asleep in the same room, why aren't you two parents?"

"I…I…what?" Pyrrha's face turned redder than her hair as she spluttered out a few words.

"Yeah! I heard from one of the kids at school say that if two adults fall asleep in the same room, they become parents!"

Pyrrha's face, if possible, turned even redder. Noticing her situation, Jaune stepped in to clarify. "No, no! Not like that! Uncle Ren and Auntie Nora were in the same room!" It took about three seconds before Jaune realized that his statement didn't really make the kids' perception of the events any better. Taking a second to compose himself, he attempted to explain once more. "I mean, we were just sleeping in the same room. Like how you and Julie sleep in the same room. That's not how adults become parents."

"But then how do adults become parents, Uncle Jaune?"

Oh no. Feeling trapped, Jaune's eyes darted between the two expectant children sitting before him and his partner, who currently resembled a tomato and was clearly in no state to speak. This isn't what I signed up for…

Misunderstandings, awkwardness, and just a tiny hint of angst. To me, I don't really like the idea of Pyrrha falling for Jaune the instant they met; rather, I like to imagine that Jaune's growth as a person and the way he supported her through the end for V3 is what caused Pyrrha's infatuation (of course, with this being an AU where the darker events of V3 didn't happen).

What misconceptions about the world did you all have when you were younger? When I was younger, one time I was crying about something really inconsequential, and my dad said I should "save my tears" – clearly, he just meant it figuratively, but I took it to mean that my body had a limited amount of tears for my whole life, and that if I didn't stop crying, I would "run out" when I got older. I was sooooo scared about it…

As always, thanks for your support and kind words! See you next week!

-Linen