I hit the ground as Yang tackled me with a bone crushing hug. I felt my aura flicker as she nuzzled her head into my neck hugging her with one arm while my other held my things. "Hi, Yang," I said, hugging her back with as much force as I could. "I missed you too."

"I missed you more babe," Yang said, smiling as she pulled her head up before pressing her lips against mine affectionately. It wasn't making out or anything lewd, just soft passion. After a few seconds of kissing, she got up, looking down at me. "Nice digs."

I was wearing the sweatpants gifted by Atlas and a white T-shirt, since we landed around early morning. I'd woken up literal minutes before we landed, after all. The Ace-Ops walked past, Harriet and Marrow snickering lightly at us as they walked by, presumably to report to Ozpin and Ironwood over CCT communications.

Getting up properly, I dusted myself off awkwardly. "Yeah, I was hoping to shower and change into something nicer before we left," I said as I dusted off my stuff, still in my grip.

"Just wear your normal clothes," Yang said. "Well, combat uniform. Students get half off for the whole festival."

"That's sweet," I said, grinning eagerly. "I have a lot of Lien to spend on you."

Yang snorted as I stretched my arms and legs. "Wow, spoiling me already?" she said, grinning warmly, making her hair seem all the more bright. "And before the festival too."

"What can I say? My golden dragon deserves the best I can give her," I said before wincing at my ultimately cheesy and very cliché compliment. Yang cringed as well, though not as much as I did. "Yeah, that was bad."

"Yep. Sweet, but bad," Yang agreed before she pulled me to my feet. As I dusted myself off, Yang planted another kiss on my cheek. "Meet you at the landing pads in half an hour."

I nodded back at her, rubbing my forehead against hers, before I made my way to the dorms to get changed. It was kind of odd walking around many well/casually dressed or uniformed Vacuo, Mistral, Beacon, and Atlas students wearing nothing but sweatpants and a baggy shirt. I eventually reached my room, where Liya was already changing into her combat outfit.

"Off to that date?" Liya asked as she pulled on her shorts before reaching for her kimono-style outfit.

"Yeah," I said, stripping out of my sweatpants and shirt before reaching for my pants in the closet. "What about you?"

"Sparring. Pyrrha and Jaune are training and I wanna join," Liya said as she pulled on her outfit, adjusting it. It was kind of jarring to think about how comfortable Liya and I were around each other. "Also, this date won't be a repeat of last time, right? We aren't going to get a scroll call full of drunken slobber and loud party music late at night?"

"Huh? I-oh," I muttered nervously in embarrassment. "We don't plan on going to a bar again - we're more or less gonna have fun in the festival down in the city."

"Ooh, sounds fun," Liya said cheekily as she finished dressing up, securing her outfit. "I've been meaning to go down there myself."

"Maybe we can all do it together before the tournaments start," I said, smiling as I tightened on my belt. "We won't have much time to do it anytime else."

"True," Liya said, adjusting her ponytail. "I'll see you later. Stay safe, OK?"

"Same with you," I said. As Liya left, I let my smile drop - wondering what would happen with Cinder's plans for the attack ruined. As I finished dressing, I sighed. There was really no way to predict how things would go, not after everything that happened.

Not after everything I changed.

Shaking my head, I grabbed a comb from the dresser and began to adjust my bangs, half distracted to remember that only Liya uses a comb. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't mind me using it anyway. I finished up a minute later and made my way out of the room.

Now wasn't the time to worry about the impending attack. Now, I had someone I needed to treat to a fun day. It may be the last chance I'll have to be able to.

I met Yang at the airship landing pads, waving to her as she waved back. Minutes later, we were flying down to the city of Vale, sitting comfortably in the Bullhead side by side.

"So, whatcha wanna do first? Anything you wanna try? I heard they have super crazy foods and games there," Yang said excitedly as she rubbed my ears.

"You're eager," I said, purring contentedly as Yang just lay her head on my shoulder.

"Well yeah," she said. "It'll be the second date we ever had. Hard to believe we've waited so long just to have one. First date wasn't so...good."

"Yeah. Sorry for falling apart on you there. Was kinda feeling bad at the time," I said awkwardly.

"Don't be sorry," Yang said, a bit more defiance in her voice. "Those jerks had no right to pick on you. Let's just focus on having fun, OK?" I nodded silently, and she sighed. The rest of the trip was silent after that.

We left the city landing pads, heading towards where the festivities were being held. From what I've been able to learn, the festivities were mostly for the people, but huntsman and huntress students were able to come down and enjoy the fun all the same. The town square - where the Breach had occurred - was filled with amusement park style rides, with the streets having booths and tents for food, games, and more all along the sidewalks.

The roads themselves were blocked off to allow for people to walk around. There were plenty of people in Vale, many visiting from settlements and other kingdoms. Smiling, Yang and I walked through the streets to tour the festival, to see what the city and the attractions in it would have to offer.

"So, what do you wanna do first?" Yang asked.

"I dunno, this is the first time I've ever really seen something like this," I said. Alright, that was a half-lie - I've been to Six Flags before, but that was a very long time ago. And it was nothing like what I was seeing in Vale right now. This seemed to be more of a mix of half of an amusement park and half of a county fair.

"Same," Yang said. "The last Vytal Festival two years ago took place in Mistral, and my sister and I had to watch the tournament on TV. But everything else I saw looked so good!"

"Well, let's not waste it," I said, moving my hand around my girlfriend's waist and pulling her against me in an affectionate side hug. "Let's try one of as many as we can get our hands on."

Yang grinned. "Even the bacon wrapped chocolate and peanut bars deep fried in butter?" she said hopefully. I tried not to go green as she pointed out the stall serving those infernal things that didn't even deserve the title of "food".

"Y...yeah," I said. Yang squeed and hugged me before pulling me to the food stall, ordering one large one. I paid for it, and Yang took the horrifying abomination on a stick before me. "Looks...so good."

Yang smirked, and I knew she was messing with me. Biting into it, she squealed and bit into it again, watching as I gaped in horror. I never understood why those things appealed or worse yet - tasted good to people. Yang giggled as she wiped butter and chocolate from her face. "You look like you swallowed a lemon."

"I'd rather swallow a lemon than...take a bite out of that," I admitted. There was no longer any use pretending that this food - if it could even be called that - looked good.

Giggling, Yang said. "Well good thing it isn't Fry-day, eh?" I turned even more green at the horrible, and Yang pouted. "You're no fun. Besides, it tastes alright."

"All that stuff in all that butter and it tastes alright? And it was expensive too!" I whined. "I swear if they start serving this at Beacon." Yang just teased and laughed while I grumbled, the two of us continuing to tour the festive streets.

I ended up buying myself a paper box of chili cheese fries while Yang finished off her greasy monstrosity known as raw cholesterol. "Is this our breakfast?" I asked as Yang grabbed a handful of fries from the box.

Yang stuffed them in her mouth, swallowing after chewing about three times, before burping. "Yep. Given how we're gonna be here all day, at least," Yang said while reaching for more fries.

We finished the box while chatting about what I did in Atlas. She was a bit angry over me getting beaten up by Weiss's sister, and more worried over me and Liya getting severely injured over the training we did while over at Atlas. "That sounded rough. Full body casts?"

"Yeah," I said. "It was funny."

"Doesn't sound funny," Yang said as she cracked her knuckles. She'd stopped eating as soon as two thirds of the fries were gone, leaving me to finish the rest. "Why'd you go and do that? Even I know not to do something that intense, and I'm the word 'intense' in a nutshell."

"I know. But I did get stronger. My body adapted a bit more, and I can handle aura easier now. I did get my aura unlocked literally less than a year ago, remember?" I said.

"I guess, but still. Being stuck for days without being able to move would drive me crazy in minutes," Yang said, shuddering. "Have I ever told you about the time I got into a big fight in Signal?"

"Signal? Is that where you went before going to Beacon?" I asked.

"Yep. Made myself these babies there," Yang said, showing me Ember Celica folded up on her wrists. "But that ain't the point. A few kids were picking on Ruby, mainly her 'nerdy' or 'geeky' tendencies as they called it. Guess what I did?"

"You beat the crap out of them?" I asked.

"Actually, they attacked me first," Yang said. "Then there was a big brawl. I took down like four guys before someone and their semblance decided to ragdoll me and throw me around. I broke both my arms and had to wear casts for a few days."

"Lemme guess, you used the casts as giant clubs in place of your fists," I said. Yang laughed, and I did too upon seeing the mental image of Yang running around with white cylinders for arms, chasing bullies while waving them.

"I wish I did. But I had to stay home the entire time I was injured. Which meant cool uncle Qrow had to watch over me while dad taught," Yang said.

I heard a "caw" and looked up, a bird eyeing me from the roof of a nearby building. I had a good idea of who that was.

"Qrow? Would he happen to be a drunk who pisses off Weiss's sister?" I asked.

"Huh? How did you-" Yang said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure he found out about you and me dating and convinced Winter to beat the everloving shit out of me in Atlas," I said. "Considering Winter said someone told her that I was dating Weiss instead."

"Ugh...you sure that wasn't my overprotective dad?" Yang asked, clearly upset.

"I don't think your dad drinks," I said. "Though I'm pretty sure your uncle and Winter have a decent rivalry going on from what she's told me."

"Ugh, I'm so gonna beat up Uncle Qrow for this," Yang said, as the crow on the roof flew away.

"Or...I could talk to him," I said, noticing the crow fly into a nearby alleyway. "Anyways, wanna use the restroom? All that fried stuff can't be good for your stomach."

"Hmmm. Yeah," Yang said. "I'll go wait in line. You don't mind waiting for me?"

"No," I said, smiling. Kissing her on the cheek, I unintentionally left a little lip shaped chili mark on her face. Yang left before I got up and walked to the alleyway.

I made my way to the alley before leaning the box of chili cheese fries on a closed dumpster as I walked around, looking for where that crow disappeared to. "Hello?" I asked.

"Didn't expect you to figure it out. Then again, I'm pretty sure you knew from the get-go from what Oz has told me," Qrow's voice said. Turning around, I saw Qrow leaning against the edge of the alleyway entrance. "So you're the brat who's dating Firecracker."

"Yeah," I said. "I was kind of hoping to speak face to face instead of getting beaten up by someone you tricked."

"Heh. Ice queen's so pissed," Qrow said with a snort before frowning. "The only thing keeping me from telling you to bug off is the fact Ozpin says you're important."

"Yeah," I said as I crossed my arms. Qrow was intimidating, but much of that was negated given his tendency to be soft, as well as the fact he was generally an incredible person. "Did he explain why?"

"Yeah, he told me you know the future and how to save Vale. So far, everything he and ol' Jimmy said has been solid. But I don't know a thing about you personally. How do I know you ain't gonna take advantage of my niece?"

"Umm, she's more or less taking advantage of me. Mainly, my ears," I mumbled. "But that's besides the point. She was one of my closest friends before we started dating. And we fought Grimm and White Fang together."

"Just fighting," Qrow stated.

"And took me out to drink. And had food with. And just generally me being a cuddle buddy whenever she felt like needing one," I said. Sighing, I realized how little Yang and I actually cuddled.

"Still not convincing me here," Qrow said, tapping a foot.

"I doubt I ever can," I said. "But know that Yang doesn't like it when you're drinking. Future...or alternate timeline Ruby and Yang worry about you a lot."

"Oh, really?" Qrow asked, his tone showing some interest. "And why do they worry?"

"Summer," I said. Qrow's face darkened immediately. "And her. The Grimm queen. Her agents. The relics."

We were silent after that, Qrow glaring at me while I glared back. I wasn't mad, however, I just felt the need to match his intensity in order to not look like a coward. Something told me Qrow wouldn't appreciate it if I buckled now.

Then again, I don't think he appreciated me bringing up Summer. I wouldn't appreciate that if I were in his shoes.

"Hey, the bathroom line was way too long and-Uncle Qrow?" Yang asked. The two of us jumped in surprise when we heard Yang approaching the alley. "What are you doing here?" she asked, confused at first.

"Having a chat with your boyfriend," Qrow said. "And the reasons why he'll break up with you."

"Ugh, I'm already gonna get the whole dating talk from dad, but you?" Yang complained.

"He's your uncle, I doubt you can really convince him to stop," I said.

"Looks like you aren't as dimwitted as you look," Qrow said.

"We're having fun, why'd you have to go and ruin it?" Yang asked.

"It's not ruined, we can keep having fun once I convince your uncle here that he doesn't need the protective schtick when I'm around," I said.

"And why should I believe that?" Qrow asked.

"Because you care about Yang. And I care about Yang. But you clearly don't trust me at my word, so let my actions speak for themselves. If I ever do anything, anything at all to hurt Yang, I'll let you and her beat the shit out of me," I said. "I doubt I can win against either one of you solo anyway."

Qrow raised an eyebrow before sighing. "You got guts, kid. I'll hold you to that," he said. He reached for his flask in his shirt before he looked back to Yang. Lowering his hand, he cleared his throat. "Anyways, just wanted to do a little bit of probing - no harm done."

"Yeah," Yang said, frowning. "Sure."

Qrow sighed and looked at me as he walked out of the alley. "See Oz when you and Firecracker are done."

"Got it," I said. As Qrow left, I walked over to Yang. "Hey, it's fine. Honestly, I expected this kind of talk when we first started dating."

"I know. I just wish it wouldn't feel so difficult. I mean, I can take care of myself. Dad keeps acting like I'm a baby or something," Yang said. "And Qrow always picks on me, calling me 'little firecracker' and constantly messing with me. I mean, he's cool but what he did is so uncool!"

I fell silent at the topic of parents, Yang's ranting falling to the back of my mind. I wondered if my mom was doing alright. Or dad. Or my aunts and uncles. The remembrance of the fact that I'd likely never see my home or family again flooded back into me like a hurricane. If we defeated Salem, would I go back home? If I died, would I go back home? Or would this be my new home?

Would I ever see my family again?

"Hey," Yang said. "You...uh, you OK?" I flinched and realized my eyes got all watery. "I'm sorry...I know you've had it rough, it's pretty dickish of me to-"

"No. No, it's alright. I promise," I said, kissing Yang on the cheek. "Just thinking. L-let's go back to having fun, please?"

Yang sighed before smiling, a sad and small smile. "Yeah. Let's finish up the-oh, you finished the fries?"

I looked to see my little cardboard box of fries gone from where I placed them. "Nope, I think your uncle is though," I said. Yang grumbled under her breath as I chuckled. I didn't mind Qrow stealing the fries, we were both full anyway.

We made our way to the rides, with small roller coasters in big open spaces and stationary rides in full swing. "Wanna do the drop of doom?" Yang asked.

"Sure!" I said, reminded of the Drop of Doom from Six Flags. "Where is...it..." I paled upon seeing the tower.

I remember the Drop of Doom ride being around 120 meters in height. This had to be in the 400 meter range of height. "W-whoa," I said, gulping nervously.

"What? You do realize we went about twice this high when we were launched in initiation, right?" Yang asked.

"I-I know. Still, this is kinda scary..." I admitted. "I'll still go. I think I'll still be fine with you around."

"Sweet," Yang said as she pulled me into line, her fingerless gloved hand clasping around mine gently. "You can hold my hand the whole time."

With that bright smile of hers, how could I possibly refuse? It was a ten minute wait to the front of the line. The whole drop ride could carry about twenty four people at once, six people on each side of the tower. Each rise and drop was about two minutes in total, and many of the people who were going on that ride came off extremely shaken, their faces either a sickly green or a frightened pale white.

When we were up, Yang and I sat down at the very edge of one of the tower's corners. As our lift to the very top began, I clasped her hand and closed my eyes. "I'm kinda scared," I admitted as we continued to go up. By how the wind felt, we were going up pretty fast.

"I'm here," Yang said, her voice soothing me. I turned to see Yang smiling at me, her hair blowing in the wind and covering about half her face. Yet despite that, she still looked perfect.

"You're awesome, you know that?" I managed to squeeze out. Yang blushed pink and looked away, brushing aside some of her bangs that got into her eye.

"Thanks," Yang said. "You're...you're amazing too." We didn't even notice the ride stop, reaching the top. The loud clanking of the ride stopped, and Yang looked back at me. "You know, I really-"

Then we dropped. All of us on the ride screamed as we dropped the full 400 or so meters at full velocity. Yang's grip on my hand turned from gentle and affectionate into a horrifying death grip. I didn't blame her, I was squeezing her hand just as hard. I don't think I was even screaming - I couldn't even hear my own voice over the other twenty two people on the ride with us.

Then it was over. My blood no longer felt cold, and I could hear my heart pounding loudly, coughing and gasping for breath. "Phew..." I gasped as the seat clamps came up, letting me flop to the ground. "It's over..."

I looked back to see Yang still planted firmly on her seat, arms wrapped around her stomach. She was deathly still, and my blood froze in worry. "Yang! Yang, are you alright?" I said. "Say something."

Yang slowly looked up at me, and I could see that her face was blue, her expression panicked. "Uh oh..." she croaked. I was about to ask what was wrong when I heard her stomach gurgle. And it was very, very loud. "Bathroom," she whimpered nervously.

Five minutes later, I was sitting by the portable restrooms, awaiting Yang's return. As I was waiting, I was currently talking to Ruby on the scroll, who was asking me how Yang was doing.

"She isn't picking up her scroll. Is she alright?" Ruby asked.

"She's...in the bathroom," I said. "It's pretty bad."

"Why? Was she poisoned?" Ruby asked, her voice extremely panicked. I couldn't blame her - I was panicking the whole time I was practically dragging her to the restroom. I was glad I didn't have to stay by the stall, however.

"She ate bacon, chocolate and peanut bar, and butter on a stick," I said. "Then we ate chili cheese fries and dropped from about 400 meters in a giant tower."

"Ooooh..." Ruby winced. "Yeah, Yang always sees weird foods as challenges."

"Yeah, I'm gonna get her a milkshake and treat her to some games later, to see if that'll help anything" I said. "Want me to bring you something?"

"Cookies?" Ruby asked hopefully.

"Yeah," I said, chuckling. "I'll call you later, OK?"

"OK!" Ruby said. "Tell Yang I called!" She hung up and I switched apps to get online. I hadn't touched my online story lately, and I needed to publish my next chapter. I'd lost some followers to my long pause, and I had no intention of leaving it on hiatus. Blake would probably kill me if I did. I quickly added an apology in my author's note before publishing it, and I went back to waiting.

"Ugh," Yang groaned. Turning, I saw her wiping her face tiredly. "That could've been really bad..."

"Are you empty?" I asked.

"Yeah," Yang said, shuddering. "No more ultra mega fried foods, that stuff burned like hell on the way out."

I gagged, glad that Weiss wasn't here or else she'd likely faint on the spot. "O-OK, so where to now?"

"Well, wanna go play some games?" Yang asked. "You could win me a giant teddy bear like how the boyfriend in the movies usually does it."

"You think I can?" I asked. "I dunno, I'm not that good a shot."

"I mean, all the games are rigged anyway," Yang said, shrugging. "But it's fun to try, you know? Don't you want a kiss?"

"I thought I get that as default as your boyfriend," I whined.

"You get head pats and ear rubs as default. You get kisses when you've been good," she said. Then she winced. "That...sounded racist. My bad."

"Kinda. But I don't mind," I said, holding her close as we walked. "Come on, I think I might just win you a few teddy bears."

Turns out, I was actually a good shot. I wasn't incredible like Ruby when it came to sniping, but I was just good enough to win the medium sized prizes. Within the hour, I'd won Yang five teddies and Grimm plushies and a large bag to carry them. I don't know why there'd be Grimm plushies, but at least they were made to look cute.

We spent about half of the day going on rides after that, mostly small but fast roller coasters, stationary rides like those swinging boats, the barrel rides, looping cars, and bumper cars. About a third of our time was spent on bumper cars alone, since Yang and I were being a bunch of giggly weirdos trying to turn this into a competition.

We were finally barred from using the bumper cars again after Yang accidentally used her semblance indoors, resulting in a massive indoor traffic jam as the burning girl in a bumper car chased me around, with me using neural Dust formed oars to try and escape her. It was very comedic, and we both laughed when videos of it were posted online minutes later.

After that, we spent another few hours going on rides and trying different snacks and foods for lunch. Blooming Onions and Monster Burgers were so much bigger on Remnant, after all. Yang and I agreed not to go on any more rides if we didn't wanna throw up, so we spent half an hour talking about the festival, mainly attack plans and team combinations when it came to fighting. Since Liya and I weren't participating in the festival tournament, Yang felt safe disclosing this stuff with me.

Not that I'd tell anyone else if they asked. Boyfriends don't do that.

We spent more hours playing games together - winning two more bags full of plushies, as well as buying new things. Like I promised Yang, I spoiled her with many things she wanted at the festival - jackets, new pairs of sunglasses, and a brand new dress that she wanted to try on.

A section of the square had been cleared off for a band performance, and Yang and I were part of the crowd listening to their music and dancing along. I don't think I'd ever seen Yang smile this much in my life. I know these are all basically just words to be typed on a page, but you had to be there. It was magical.

Fittingly for the end of the day - or more or less the early afternoon - we watched the sun lower behind the tall buildings of Vale atop a ferris wheel. It wasn't a perfect ending, since this view had nothing on a real sunset over the horizon. Still, Yang and I leaned against each other as we sat, the bags of plushies and souvenirs at our feet.

"You know, Ruby's just gonna take like half of the plushies for her own bed," Yang said wistfully. "I'm pretty sure that'd be enough for the bed supports to break and send it crashing down on Weiss."

"I'd laugh if I weren't so worried for Weiss if that happened," I said. "Not gonna lie, I wanna cuddle with you surrounded by the plushies."

Yang giggled. "Sounds comfy," she said. We went quiet for a bit, before Yang spoke up again. "Will you be rooting for me?"

"Duh. I'm rooting for your entire team. You, Weiss, Ruby, and Blake will definitely kick ass," I said.

"Well duh, dude," Yang said, leaning against me even more as I watched her smile swell with pride. "They're my sisters."

I felt my heart swell at that final statement. I'd forgotten that team RWBY was more than a team: they were a family. A family that would go through incredible amounts of hardship for months to come. I was tempted to tell her, to warn Yang of the impending danger, of the truth of this world, and so many things that could help so much in the long run.

Instead, I looked down at Yang against my shoulder and pressed my lips to her hair. For a minute, I thought I'd catch hell for doing that, but Yang didn't mind. She simply cooed and nuzzled me back. "This was fun," I said in her hair.

"Mhmm," Yang said back. Neither of us cared as the ferris wheel began to move, our car lowering and blocking the rest of the sun behind the buildings. We eventually got off of the ferris wheel, hands full of bags as we made our way out of the festivities to a nearby bakery.

After buying six dozen cookies in a large box labeled, we decided to go to a fancy pasta restaurant, having a simple four star meal with all our stuff crammed under the table. We talked about lots of things as we waited and ate. We talked about what I did in Atlas, mainly the kinds of training Liya and I received. When the topic drifted to Winter Schnee, Yang's expression visibly darkened for a bit, and I had to reassure her that things between Weiss's elder sister and I were fine.

I told Yang about the Schnee Fundraiser event, and she visibly shuddered at the thought of being trapped in a room full of the stuffiest snobs on Remnant. I decided not to mention Robyn Hill, as Yang would most likely get curious about her, and I'd risk revealing something that would ruin everything.

"So, how did the whole 'debriefing' thing go?" Yang asked.

"Well, we tried to piece together as much of the situation as possible. Roman Torchwick's intentions. The reasons as to why the train attack under the city was moved up," I said.

"Moved up?" Yang asked.

"You don't remember?" I asked as I popped a piece of veal steak in my mouth. "When everyone came down to rescue us, Torchwick had his goons move the schedule up or something. Then we had to chase the train," I remarked when I swallowed.

"If they moved the schedule up, then they had to have planned something in the long run. Maybe a multi-pronged attack? Multiple attacks from different directions?" Yang said as she swirled her fork in her creamy shrimp scampi.

"Look at you, you put that together faster than me and Liya when we were asked," I said, grinning. It was technically true - considering it took me until Volume 4's release to piece together that the Breach was originally supposed to take place during the massive attack on Beacon. I'm still embarrassed about that to this day.

"Yeah, I've been learning. Strategy classes, educational videos...board games," Yang said, brushing imaginary dust off her shoulder with a mock smug expression. I chuckled to myself as I ate a crab cake, which was part of my side dish.

Unfortunately, our dinner was interrupted when Qrow stumbled into the restaurant with a loud commotion in the front. Upon spotting us, he walked over and dragged an empty seat over to us, sitting next to me. "So, fun date, Firecracker?" he said with a snarky grin.

Yang growled as her uncle ruined things for her again. I, however, didn't seem that bothered. "Yep, could always use a third wheel," I said as I slid my plate of crab cake piccata to Qrow, who began eating without question. "So, any reason why you're here?"

Qrow swallowed a handful of pasta - a literal handful as he didn't use a fork. "Yeah, ol' Oz and Ironwood want to talk with you. They sent little ol' me to pick you up. No rush, so I can take my sweet sweet time." It was pretty goofy and intimidating with that dark smirk on his face, with sauce on his stubble and a noodle hanging from his lip.

"Ugh, uncle Qrow, you are being so uncool!" Yang said.

"Wait, you say he's usually cool, right? What is it about him that is cool? Also, you already said to see the headmaster when you saw us earlier today," I said.

"Yeah, but the old man asked me to take you to the office personally. Says it's important," Qrow said before ruffling Yang's head. Yang halfheartedly swatted it away, and I could tell she was alright with her uncle around as long as he didn't do anything mean.

"Important how? Is it..." I raised an eyebrow, easily signaling what I was trying to convey when Qrow nodded his head.

"What are you talking about?" Yang asked. "What are you planning? This better not be some dumb plan to-"

"No, Ozpin warned me that your uncle would have some big hundred question test to see if I'm worthy of you. So far, I passed all of them with flying colors," I lied easily.

"Well, not all of them," Qrow said. "You haven't met Tai yet."

"Didn't Ozpin tell me that Taiyang slept with his whole team?" I said, waggling my eyebrows. "The whole team?"

Yang began to do a mix of laughing and gagging as Qrow let out a croak in the middle of his shoveling my pasta in his mouth. Most of dinner was the three of us exchanging snarks, and Qrow ordering more food for himself despite eating the last half of mine.

I ended up paying for everything, which didn't tick me off so much - as I had plenty of Lien - but the principle still mattered. Qrow even stopped to grab a bottle of wine - which he thankfully paid for himself, before walking out with Yang and me, still holding the plushies and clothes from today.

Turns out, Harriet was waiting for us outside the restaurant. Judging by the scowl, she either did not want to deal with me again, or had to deal with Qrow on the way here. "Good. You're here, let's go," she said.

"But what about us?" Yang asked.

"We could have our moments tomorrow," I said as I held Yang's hands. "Ozpin said whatever this is, it's important and I really don't wanna let school and your uncle ruin today. So I'll settle for just having your uncle ruin it."

Qrow barked out a laugh as Yang pouted. "Besides, he's family. I don't wanna get in the way of that. No matter how much of a snarky bastard he may be," I said, looking at Qrow for the last part.

Qrow threw up two middle fingers, and Yang sighed quietly before taking the bags I had off of my arms. "Alright. Stay safe."

"You too," I said. I smiled as Yang turned to shove everything in Qrow's arms, catching the wine bottle he'd drained a third of, before walking to the landing pads.

Harriet started leading me somewhere else, however. "Wait, where are we going? Aren't we all going back?" I asked,

"Headmaster Ozpin and General Ironwood are somewhere else with a guest. They requested secrecy, and told me to be discreet."

"O...K..." I said. "Are we there yet?"

I heard a growl from the speedster before I got grabbed by the arm and teleported. Teleported? That didn't sound right. All I knew is that I was somewhere else in the city now, far from the festivities which were closing for the day. I felt like I was about to throw up, and my legs buckled. And there was lightning in front of me-

Oh. She used her semblance. That explained a lot.

"Thanks," I said as soon as I forced my stomach back down. "So, what's-"

"Salutations!"

I turned to see a small empty cafe, with General Ironwood and Ozpin looking at me through the window, sitting across from each other at a table. When did General Ironwood get back? It wasn't even a full day of returning yet. However, that was the secondary thing on my mind. The first was an orange haired girl with freckles waving at me from the other side of the table between General Ironwood and Ozpin.

A totally normal orange haired girl with freckles.