Surprise bitch, thought you'd seen the last of me?
From the moment "Home" played in volume 5 when Yang and Weiss reunited, I knew there would be one extra bonus chapter on this fic. I just wanted to wait until RTX/Vol. 6 release announcement in order to celebrate. And now, here we are!
So here lies the actual end. At least until more Weiss songs are released which, let's be honest, will probably happen with volume 6. Maybe I'll add more here, maybe it'll be another fic. Who knows. Anyways, happy RTX! October 27, here we come!
"I don't know what path we will be shown, but I know that when I'm with you I'm at home"
Atlas. The name of the kingdom rang in the air as the Huntsman explained what needed to be done now that Haven Academy appeared to be safe…at least for the time being. Mistral was going to need help rebuilding after all of this, and the situation with Professor Lionheart would need to be dealt with. But after a few weeks maybe, if even that, they would all need to head to Atlas. Her eyes shot up to Qrow when he said that, not knowing why other than that Ozpin had said they needed to take the relic there.
Atlas.
After everything she had endured there, all the humiliation and pain and abuse she had suffered there, she had to go back? After everything she had done to escape, the planning…what she had tossed aside? She would be wanted there, surely her father would be looking for her. He would want to know the moment she reentered the kingdom's borders. Even if she was disinherited, she had caused him an embarrassment, she had become a stain on the family.
There was no way she could go back home.
"The borders are closed," Weiss announced to the room, "General Ironwood has been very…defensive since the Fall of Beacon." It was the only rational argument she had, and though she said it calmly, she could feel a slight tremor in her hands and fear starting to grip her throat. Funny, she could handle fighting hordes of Grimm, the overpowered lackeys of a madwoman who seemed to be intent on taking over the world, and could take getting stabbed with a glass spear…but returning to Atlas and potentially facing her father? That was what froze her.
"Hmph, Jimmy would be the one to think that's how to fix it," Qrow snorted and reached for something in his pocket. After a moment, he decided against it and looked at the prone figure of Oscar, running a hand through his hair. "Well, we go way back. He'll just have to make an exception for us."
She turned her eyes to the ground as the planning regarding Atlas resumed. She knew it wouldn't dissuade anyone from going. Going to Atlas was inevitable if Ozpin said it was what they had to do. It was their duty to follow through, but she didn't want to return. She had left, no escaped, for a reason. Atlas was unbearable, her father was unbearable, and now she was being asked to walk straight back into everything she had sworn to leave behind. The thought was distressing.
"Weiss?"
She looked up as Ruby's quiet voice caught her attention. Her team was still huddled together hugging, as if each of them were refusing to let go of the others in case it wasn't real and they would wake up from this dream. They had all been separated for so long, it was a miracle they had all been reunited at all, let alone here, coming together to save Haven. They were all here. And now all three of them were looking at her in concern.
She hadn't even realized tears were forming in her eyes until she looked up and quickly blinked them away.
"You didn't leave on very good terms, did you?" Yang asked, violet eyes soft in concern and understanding.
In the midst of everything, between being caught by Raven and her tribe and then being thrown into saving Haven and finding the relic, Weiss never got the chance to explain what had happened with her family at Atlas. But Yang wasn't dumb, and she wasn't surprised the blonde was able to discern what had happened after their talk about Blake. She would understand, they weren't the same, but their situations had been similar. They each had their own, similar versions of loneliness.
"No," she admitted and shook her head with a sniff, "I…I had to escape my home after my father disinherited me. I'm not upset about that in particular, but…I'm an embarrassment to him. He wanted to keep me locked up so he could keep an eye on me, he won't be happy about this." She looked down to the ground again and sighed. Just a year ago, she wouldn't have been able to admit this. A year ago she didn't have nearly as much of an understanding of herself or her situation. "I do not have any desire to go back."
"He won't touch you." She looked at Yang as her fiery voice made that promise. The blonde was looking back at her with a determination she had only ever seen when it came to doing something for Ruby. Yang smiled, "We won't let him. Family looks out for each other, and your real family's got your back, right?"
"Right!" Ruby beamed, "You've got your team again to help you all the way!"
"And some of us were pretty good at avoiding Schnees," Blake added with a small smile of her own, "We won't let anything happen to you."
The amount of love and support she felt radiating off of her team was overwhelming. This was what she had been missing and so desperately needing when she was taken back to Atlas, support, comradery. Love. She remembered what she told Yang during that conversation to. "You, Ruby, and even Blake are more like family to me than my brother or even my own father." She had meant it then, but hadn't realized the full scope of it until now. Here, with her team she had an unbreakable bond of love and support for them, even if she hadn't always shown it in the past.
And in return, she had unwavering love and support from them.
"I missed you all so much," Weiss said, feeling it more apt than to say thank you. She had already said it to Yang and Ruby, the former was probably getting tired of hearing it at this point, but she didn't care. She meant it every single time. Being separated had been nearly agonizing, and she didn't want it to happen again. Team RWBY was her family.
It wasn't perfect. Blake still seemed unsure about everything. Yang was still uncertain around Blake. Ruby was exhausted from whatever her eye powers were and Weiss herself still had a hole in her side from being stabbed. Everything that had happened to them since the Fall of Beacon had changed them, damaged them, but it was nothing they couldn't adapt to. So long as they had each other, they each had their family, they could endure everything. She truly believed that.
Her teammates were her home, her real home, birth kingdom be damned.
"Well, we're all here now," Ruby said, ever the optimist, "And this time we're all gonna stick together, right?"
She looked at Blake, who simply nodded. She wished the Faunus girl would say something, but it was a start.
"And we're going to take Atlas by storm and show everyone nobody messes with Team RWBY," Yang added, and it was so nice to hear the real confidence in her voice again.
"Yes," Weiss agreed and smiled, unable to contain it, "Yes I think we will."
So long as she had them, so long as she was home, she could do anything.
