Cinder's eyes opened to utter darkness. She could feel a soft mattress below her and the gentle touch of silk on her skin. She felt strangely light, in a good way, as if she had been born all over again.

At first, she was relieved by the sensation, but that was quickly substituted by confusion and horror as she realized she should not be feeling that way. She had fought her mother and gotten shot several times by Ruby.

As if in response to her thoughts, a red figure became visible in the corner of the dark room. Slowly, a pale face appeared above the blood-colored cloak, with eyes fixed on the floor.

"Ruby?" Cinder called, a smile forming between her lips. "You're okay…"

Seconds ticked by without a response. Cinder's smile faltered and a sense of dread overwhelmed her like a tidal wave.

Suddenly, Ruby was beside the bed. Her head rose slowly until her silver eyes stared right into Cinder's.

"You should have died."

Cinder felt like she was falling through space, everything she was fading to the void. She faintly noticed blood pouring down her body from her shoulders, arms, legs… Everywhere she had been shot.

Ruby leaned closer, her nose hovering a hair's width from Cinder's.

"I hate you."

Ozpin entered the school infirmary with a somber look on his face. One look towards the nurses had them scurrying away to a side room – they had witnessed enough the past months to know when the headmaster needed privacy with their patients.

Cinder Fall's sleep seemed anything but peaceful. Her face was a mask of not only pain and restlessness, but most of all, terror. Whatever she was dreaming about, it certainly wasn't good. But her wounds had been taken care of with swiftness and expertise, and her strong Aura still worked hard to heal her. She was in no danger of dying.

He moved on to the next bed and grimaced. He had never met Mira before, but seeing what she had done to Ruby Rose made him hate her with a passion. Every wound had been dealt with utmost precision, causing as much pain as possible without killing.

Still, her sleep was the polar opposite of Cinder's. There was the hint of a smile on the curve of her lips, and her breathing filled the room in a steady rhythm.

He almost wished she wouldn't wake up.

After a few minutes, the redhead stirred and opened her eyes. She looked at the headmaster and the infirmary in confusion, her brow furrowing in a way that was borderline comical. Then she seemed to understand her situation and she looked down at her body, shoulders shaking.

"Ruby," Ozpin said. He rarely called his students by their first name. He was hoping it would sooth her at least a little bit. "You've been unconscious for two days now, but you're recovering fast. You can thank your Aura for that."

She looked up at him, but the information seemed to have no positive effect.

"Cinder is also fine. She is healing even faster than you – which I find quite surprising – though she hasn't awakened yet," the headmaster continued. "I suspect she'll be up and walking as soon as her eyes open."

"That's good," Ruby mumbled. "What about…?"

Ozpin smiled comfortingly. She didn't need to finish the question. He knew exactly what she wanted to say.

"In the aftermath of your rescue, Adam Taurus and Argie escaped," he said, cursing himself mentally for postponing the inevitable. He was usually much better at delivering bad news. "We couldn't locate your uncle and Raven, as well as Emerald Sustrai. They are presumed dead."

Ruby closed her eyes, tears sliding down her cheeks silently. Ozpin laid a hand on her shoulder.

"It will be alright, Ruby. You'll get through this," he said, though he knew nothing he could say would actually help. "I invited you to my school early because I know you are strong, and these past weeks have done nothing prove that."

She sobbed loudly, and Ozpin stepped away, deciding to stop before he turned the situation from bad to worse.

Ozpin had a long list of regrets, but the entirety of his dealing with Mira Fall and the White Fang had quickly risen to the top. He knew every bad thing that had happened – Ruby's kidnapping, Cinder's killing spree, Qrow and Raven's deaths – had been his fault alone. He might have not been there in person, or decisions might have taken behind his back, but his orders had taken all of them down a terrible path.

He couldn't help but wonder if he had walked past an obviously better fork along the way.

Suddenly, he felt a presence beside him. He steeled the grip on his cane in instinct and turned to face whoever it was, but to his surprise, it was only Cinder. She was standing effortlessly to his right, eyes fixed on Ruby with compassion.

She didn't bother looking at him. Instead, she quietly walked closer to the bed and climbed on top of it, then embraced Ruby and put the young girl's head above her own shoulder.

"Shh…" Cinder whispered. "It's okay… It's okay…"

Ruby's sobbing grew quieter over the next seconds, until there was no evidence of her sadness but the tears streaming down her face and the way she hugged Cinder in return. The pyromancer smiled faintly, and to Ozpin's intrigue, let loose a few tears of her own.

Ozpin hesitated, two sides of him struggling on how to react to the situation. His responsible side, the one who was a headmaster and took the hard decisions, knew it was better to separate the two. Whatever comfort they found now would be nothing compared to the storm that would emerge out of it later.

The other side, the one who had seen too much misery over too little time, wanted to leave as if he had never been there, to allow them to be together for as long as they needed. He wanted to walk out of the infirmary, find a secluded space, and break down too.

After a long bout of consideration, he spun and left the infirmary, all the while fighting with himself not to turn back and pretend he had taken another approach from the very beginning.

Sometimes the easy road is the hardest one to take.

The sun bore down heatedly on Yang as she paced around the perimeter of Mira's base, or what was left of it. It was the only thing she could do to hold back her emotions. She knew as soon as she stopped moving, the tears would come flooding back, and she would have no control over them.

Her father was watching nearby, his method of coping the exact opposite of hers. Taiyang's arms we crossed and his eyes were fixed on the ruined metal hatch, as if he could open a path through it with willpower alone. He hadn't succeeded yet.

Even Glynda, who had virtually no investment towards the effort, was frustrated. She had spent most of yesterday trying to devise a way for them to delve into the lair with her telekinetic abilities, but it had been to no avail. This day had held no result as well, no matter how hard she tried.

"I'm sorry," she said suddenly, lowering her wand. She wasn't accustomed to admitting defeat, much less to something that wasn't even a living opponent. "I can't get inside, at least not without risking damaging the bodies."

"If there are bodies!" Yang exclaimed sharply, but it was clear she held no resolve to her words.

"Yes. If there are bodies," Glynda agreed tiredly. "I could try brute force, but that is a last resort."

Yang was about to give her consent, but her father gripped by the shoulders, forcing her to halt on her tracks.

"Yang, dear. I know you want them to be alive, and believe me, I want that too," Taiyang said with strain in his voice. "But we both know that's as farfetched a possibility as they come. If your mother was alive, she would have found a way out already. She's got your Semblance, remember? You think you couldn't tear through some metal walls if you needed to?"

Yang stared at him, her lips trembling. She looked away, tears brimming on her eyelids.

"Y-yeah. She's got my Semblance. You're right, dad," she said, then looked at Glynda. "Miss Goodwitch, you don't need to do anything else. Thank you for trying. We'll need to find another way to get the… bodies…"

As soon as that final word left her mouth, she crumbled on his hold, burying her head between his neck and his shoulder. Taiyang closed his eyes so he wouldn't cry, trying to be as strong as she needed him to be.

Glynda was frozen where she stood, feeling awful about not being able to give the family any closure. She was famous for her straight, no-bullshit attitude, but that didn't not mean in the slightest she didn't care for other people's feelings. Besides, she might have not exactly liked either of the Branwen siblings, but they had earned her respect. To delay their funeral was a tragedy all on its own.

She was almost glad, then, when her Scroll started to beep loudly. She looked down and saw Ozpin was calling her. Glynda shuddered. The headmaster calling her on her personal telephone? That never indicated good news.

Something about his voice seemed off as he informed her that both Ruby Rose and Cinder Fall had awakened. When she questioned him about it, he ignored it and said she should tell Taiyang and his daughter as soon as possible. Then, before even a minute had passed, he ended the call.

"I have good news," she spoke dryly. "Ruby has woken up…"

"Yes!" Yang exclaimed, relief briefly breaking through her sadness.

"And so has Cinder." Glynda finished.

"…Lesser yes."

Taiyang ruffled his daughter's hair and smiled humorlessly.

"Well, then," he said. "I guess a visit's in order. I can finally evaluate this Cinder…"

"You already met her." Yang pointed out.

"Correct, but… That was before I knew she was a psychopath."

Yang shrugged.

"I wish I had known that too."

"Hey, Ruby. Guess what I have here?" Cinder asked as she entered the infirmary again. "Cookies, and chocolate ones at that."

The redhead looked up from where she sat on her bed and gave her a weak smile. An hour had passed before Ruby managed to calm down completely, and Cinder had taken upon herself to find food and water for her. She knew cookies were not a real solution at all, but Ruby might as well have her favorite food than anything else.

"Thanks," Ruby said as she took the plate. "You don't have to do this, you know? I'm sure Yang and my dad would be more than happy to take care of me."

"I know. Consider this repayment for taking care of me before," Cinder smiled. "Besides, your family will be here any second now, and then I won't be able to come ten meters close to you… Not that you would want me to, anyway."

Ruby ate one of the cookies silently. It hurt to do that, so much that she grimaced and spit half of it back to the plate.

"Maybe we should cut these to fractions," Cinder suggested hesitantly. "Or I could melt them a bit. Liquid cookies can't be that bad."

"It does sound tasty," Ruby agreed. "Cinder, why would I want you to stay away? I mean, you rescued me. That's a good thing."

"It's… complicated," the pyromancer shook her head. "We'll talk about it after… When you are ready to."

Ruby opened her mouth to say she was ready, but suddenly the infirmary was invaded by her father and sister, who immediately rushed to her side and hugged her. Cinder acted quickly and took the plate of cookies before it could be flown through the air, then diverted her eyes politely and tried to find a way to make the cookies more edible.

"Oh, sweetheart," Taiyang whispered. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Dad!" Ruby protested, more than a little embarrassed. "You're gonna crush me!"

"Sorry!" Her father took a step back. "You're okay, right? Physically. Damn, what did that woman do to you…"

Ruby shrugged and moved her arms to show she was doing fine. Truthfully, she wasn't, but she didn't want her father to worry too much about her.

"We brought a friend," Yang said helpfully. "Wait… Where is he…? Zwei!"

They turned to find the dog sitting beside Cinder on her bed, eyeing the plate of cookies hungrily. Both him and the pyromancer seemed very territorial about the food.

"Zwei!" Yang scolded. "Stop asking for cookies and come see Ruby!"

The dog finally seemed to notice his redhead owner on the other bed, and in the blink of an eye, he was lying by her side like a ball. Ruby smiled and petted him on head, much to his joy.

"Thanks," she said to her sister and her father. "So… Uncle…"

"Yeah," Yang looked away. "My mother too."

"We're working on retrieving their bodies, but it's been difficult to find a safe way inside that damned hatch," Taiyang said. "I'm afraid their funeral will be delayed."

"What's in the way?" Cinder piped up helpfully.

Taiyang turned to look at her, every paternal instinct in him coming alive at once. If Ruby hadn't been there and their situation weren't so bleak already, he would have taken Cinder away for a very throughout and harsh questioning.

"When the explosion happened, it must have damaged some of the hatch's support beams, particularly in the entrance," he explained. "There's tons of metal standing between us and them."

"I could melt through them." Cinder pointed out.

"Aren't you tired? And injured?" Yang raised an eyebrow confusedly. "You know, from when Ruby… shot… you…"

A moment of silence passed before Cinder cleared her throat.

"I'm good to go," she said. "And happy to. If I can do anything to help you three, I'll do it."

"Oh, well, that earns her a point or two," Taiyang mumbled. He then straightened his posture, as if he hadn't meant to say that out loud and hoped no one had heard it. "Let's go, then. You'll stay with your sister, Yang?"

"Yeah," Yang nodded. "Good luck."

Cinder and Taiyang left the infirmary, leaving behind the siblings and their dog.

After a week of missing his owner, Zwei seemed content to just sleep next to her, his snoring filling the room rather loudly. It brought a smile to Yang's face, in spite of their terrible situation.

"You lied to dad, right?" She asked softly. "You're not that okay."

"Don't tell him." Ruby pleaded shortly, rubbing her arms self-consciously.

"Alright, but I'll have my eyes on you, and I'll hire Weiss and Blake's too. Hell, I'll even bring Cinder in for the job," Yang said. "Seriously, don't do anything stupid that'll get you hurt. I've had enough bad stuff happen to me for a lifetime."

Ruby nodded. Yang looked at the plate of cookies Cinder had left behind and picked it up.

"You're not gonna eat these?" The blonde asked in disbelief.

"I want to, but it hurts," Ruby explained. "Cinder was gonna melt them."

"Well, I can't do that," Yang frowned. "Wait, I got an idea."

Much to Ruby's fright, Yang slammed her fist down on the cookies, shattering them into hundreds of pieces. The redhead took the plate with a desolate look on her face.

"That was… horrible."

"You know what they say," Yang shrugged. "Sometimes all you need is some tough love."

"So," Taiyang said casually as he and Cinder neared the hatch. "You dated my daughter."

The pyromancer kept her eyes fixed on the metal wreckage. She wasn't afraid of many things, but just being in Taiyang's presence unnerved them to no end. Not that she would admit it to anyone – she was sure Yang wouldn't let her hear the end of it if she found out.

"Yes, sir." She managed to say after a while.

"I see," Taiyang said. "You also infiltrated Beacon so you could learn its students' weaknesses in alignment with the White Fang."

"Yes, sir."

"And your mother kidnapped my daughter and killed my best friend and my ex-wife."

"Well, she was my adoptive mother, technically, and even that's a stretch," Cinder pointed out. "But yes, sir."

Taiyang huffed heavily, mulling over what to do with this enigmatic specimen Ruby had fallen in love with.

"I won't pretend to like you, but I can't dislike you either. I only know you from what other people have said to me," he noted. "So I'm giving you a chance."

"I… appreciate that, but-" Cinder began to say, only to be interrupted.

"You should appreciate it!" Taiyang exclaimed. "Do you know how much time I spent planning what I would do to the first boy Ruby showed up at my house with? Oh, the terrors I would unleash upon him," he shrugged. "I had no idea it would be a girl. And you seem to care a lot about her, so I won't execute my plans on you."

"Thank you," the pyromancer smiled sadly. "But you won't have to worry about me. Ruby deserves someone much better than me, so I won't be…"

She shook her head and focused her attention on the hatch. Unless it was made of some rare ultra-resistant metal, she would have no difficulty melting a path through it. She produced two flames on her palms, then circled the opening, trying to calculate the best angle to start with.

"What do you mean?" Taiyang asked worriedly. "You don't want to be with Ruby?"

"Sir, there's something I want more in the world," Cinder said. She slapped herself mentally, thinking that might not be the best way to present the notion to Ruby's father. "But as you said, too much bad stuff has happened because of me. And, frankly, I don't know what I would do around here. I'm leaving as soon as Ruby gets better."

Taiyang nodded. He despised the idea that his youngest daughter would have to deal with that, on top of all things, but he saw the sense in Cinder's words. And if Cinder wanted to leave, to forge a better life for herself, away from the mistakes of her past, who were any of them to stop her?

"Okay, I think this angle should be good," Cinder said. "You might want to take a step back, sir."

"Stop calling me sir." He demanded as he followed her advice.

"Sorry," she smiled faintly. "I won't do it again, Mister Xiao Long."

His face soured. Well, if she was going to be that much of a smartass, he wasn't that sad to see her leave.

Cinder thrust her hands towards the ground, releasing two condensed barrages of fire at the wreckage. After a few seconds of that, the flames started to tear through the metal. Five minutes later, they were staring at a huge hole leading into darkness.

"Damn, girl," Taiyang whistled. "You're powerful."

"I wish I wasn't," Cinder muttered bitterly as she neared the hole. "I'm going in."

"You know, being gloomy never helped anybody."

Cinder rolled her eyes and jumped down the hole. A few seconds of falling ensued before she finally landed on the floor. She looked up and saw Taiyang peering down at her from above.

"You don't have to jump if you don't want to!" She shouted.

"Like hell I don't want to!" Taiyang scowled. "I'm a Huntsman too, damnit!"

Without warning, he jumped down the hole. Cinder had a split second to move out of the way before he fell where she had been standing. Unfortunately, his landing was not as graceful as hers.

"Uuugh… Damn… This is gonna hurt even worse later…" He said, rubbing his behinds.

"You're a good Huntsman, Mister Xiao Long." Cinder quipped humorously, receiving a fierce glare in response.

She turned to look at what was behind them; a mess of fallen metal and debris, blocking off the rest of the hallway. Cinder went to work again, melting a path through the obstacle, Taiyang following close behind.

They emerged on the other side of the wreckage and noticed that area didn't seem nearly as bad as what they had seen beforehand. Taiyang had been right about the assessment of the place – the explosion had indeed primarily damaged the entrance of the hatch, and left the rest intact.

"They were on the top floor, as I recall," Cinder said quietly. "Which is here, by the way. It shouldn't be hard to find them."

The two walked along the hallway with a sense of dread, Cinder maintaining a small flame to give them some light. Before long, she paused and crouched down, finding a familiar corpse collapsed against a wall.

"Emerald," she muttered. "Shit… What happened to her?"

Taiyang looked at the body, trying to determine what Cinder found so haunting about it. Her back was charred black, but that was to be expected – she must have turned away from the explosion at the last second, but that hadn't been enough to save her.

He frowned when he noticed that there was indeed something strange about the corpse. Emerald's neck was wrinkled and gray, which couldn't be related to the explosion at all.

"What is that?" He whispered.

"Want my best theory?" Cinder asked rhetorically. "She got too close to Mira. Even if Emerald had betrayed her, in that moment, Mira held no distinction between ally and foe."

"That's horrible," Taiyang said. "I'm sorry for bringing up your relation before."

"Don't worry about it," she shook her head. "You wouldn't mind if I brought her body too, right?"

"Of course not," he said. "She might have been at the enemy's side most of the time, but that doesn't mean she doesn't deserve a proper burial. We're not savages."

Cinder nodded and lifted Emerald in her arms. Before Cinder switched sides – before everything – they had gotten along rather well. Her old self would never have said it, but Cinder had even considered her a friend. It seemed unfair and cruel that Emerald hadn't gotten a second chance like she had.

"Okay, let's move on," Cinder said, surprised at how difficult it was to speak again. "They can't be too far ahead."

"Right," Taiyang nodded, starting to walk. "We need to find them. My daughters would be heartbroken if they couldn't say farewell to their uncle," he closed his eyes. "And Raven… The last time we talked, I pushed her away. Not only that, I practically forbade her to see her own daughter."

"You were doing what you thought was right for Yang," Cinder pointed out softly. "But you could have been nicer."

"Well, aren't you the most helpful-"

Suddenly, he was sent crashing against the wall to their left by a punch to the cheek. Cinder almost dropped Emerald's body as she turned to face the attacker, expecting to see Mira – but to her surprise, it was no one but Raven, breathing heavily with her clothes torn and right fist outstretched.

"Raven?!" Cinder exclaimed in disbelief. "You survived?"

Raven blinked, seeming to only then notice who she had just attacked. She rushed to Taiyang's side and covered her mouth with her hands.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I thought… I thought you were her."

"Well, because I'm so womanly-looking!" Taiyang roared. He stared at her face, his anger visibly draining away in a matter of seconds. "You're alive. By Remnant, you're alive!"

He hugged her and laughed hoarsely, and she did the same. Cinder stared with a smile on her face, before she realized something with much confusion.

"Her?" She repeated. "You mean Mira?"

"Yes," Raven said hauntingly. "She's still alive. She survived and she finished Emerald off."

Cinder laid Emerald down on the floor and took off running through the rest of the hallway. Her heart beat fast with terror and excitement – if her mother was alive, they were still in danger, but it also meant she would get to kill her at last.

At the very end of the hallway was a metal wall with a huge hole on it. Cinder approached it with disbelief, then looked up – the hole went on and on upwards, like a tunnel, forming a passage to the surface. Without hesitating, Cinder jumped and ran up the tunnel.

She emerged in the Emerald Forest and looked around like a madwoman, expecting to see her mother ready to attack. But there was no one there, and no sign of her presence.

Cinder turned and slid back down to the secret base. She found Taiyang and Raven where she had left them.

"She's gone," Cinder's voice was void of emotion. "She made a tunnel."

"A tunnel? To where?" Raven asked confusedly.

"To the Emerald Forest."

"The Emerald Forest?!" Taiyang repeated in disbelief. "She made a tunnel to the-"

"Did you find my brother?" Raven interrupted.

Cinder shook her head slowly.

"Oh," Raven looked at her lap sadly. "That was as stretch, anyway. He tried to kill Mira, but… she turned him to ashes. I doubt even that remains after that explosion."

Taiyang's fists clenched as he took in the full meaning of the news. It was too cruel a fate, something you heard only in stories. Qrow had done nothing but the best for his family, and his reward had been to be swept away. Not even his ashes could be preserved now.

Cinder looked away. Mira Fall. A monster escaped unscathed and no doubt planning her next move to bring more misery. It had been going on for too long, so much Cinder was tired of the hatred she should be nurturing even now. She just wanted it to be over.

"There's nothing left for us here, then," she said weakly. "Raven, can you walk?"

"Yeah, I can-"

"I'll carry you." Taiyang interrupted and took her in his arms. Raven seemed halfway between embarrassed and grateful.

"Right," Cinder sighed and picked up Emerald's body. "Let's go back."

Glynda poker her head inside Ozpin's office, her expression unusually guarded. The room was empty, with the light of nearing dusk pouring through the windows. The headmaster's chair, unoccupied, as if it belonged to a ghost.

"Ozpin?" She entered the office cautiously. "Are you here?"

She hadn't seen him for the last three hours, which usually wouldn't worry her too much. But considering everything that was going, from close friends being murdered and students almost so, Glynda would feel much better with him always in her sight.

She moved to a side room, the one that Ozpin was supposed to sleep in. She scolded him nearly daily for not going to bed, instead only taking light naps at his desk, of all places. It was unacceptable behavior for a role model, and not healthy to boot.

Surprisingly, it was there she found him, sitting at the edge of his bed, staring down an old photo. Glynda couldn't contain her curiosity and sneaked a peek at it. It only made her feel even worse.

Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen, Qrow Branwen. It felt like that picture had been taken centuries ago.

"Ozpin," she said softly. "They're expecting you at the funeral. It starts in half an hour."

"Tell them I won't come." He said, and she noticed with horror that his voice was slurred, as if he had been drinking.

"You can't just not come, Ozpin!" She scolded. "You are the headmaster, our-"

"Exactly! What right do I have of mourning them?!" He exclaimed. "I caused their deaths. All the mistakes… Everything… It's all on me…"

Glynda took a step back, as if she had been slapped in the face. Never before had she seen and heard the headmaster in such a terrible state. For the first time in years, she didn't know what to do.

"Ozpin…" She said tentatively. "You can't blame yourself. Qrow was a Huntsman. He knew the risks and he accepted them."

"It doesn't change anything," Ozpin shook his head. "If that's how it is… I don't want any of this anymore. Five years from now, when those girls are Huntresses too… What decision am I going make that'll get them killed?"

"None," Glynda replied resolutely. "We don't obey you because you're a dictator, because we have no choice… We obey, no, we listen to you because you're wise, Ozpin. You are an amazing leader, but that doesn't mean you don't make mistakes," she sat beside him and laid a hand on his knee. "It means you make mistakes, but you don't let them defeat you. You don't stop trying – you keep moving forward."

Ozpin was silent for a full minute, his eyes fixed on the picture in his hands. Slowly, he set it down on his bed stand, then looked at Glynda with an amused smile on his lips.

"You know, if I was fifty percent more drunk and not so terrified of the consequences, I'd attempt to initiate passionate sexual intercourse with you." He said.

"O-Opzin! You are drunk," Glynda rubbed her arms and looked away. "And we have a funeral to attend."

"Oh, right," he frowned. "Well, good thing I'm not fifty percent more drunk."

She got up from the bed blushing and cleared her throat, then left the room in a fairly rigid march. Ozpin followed her, his steps a bit too wobbly for a man of his position.

Glynda had arranged a corner of the school grounds to be cleared and made private for the duration of the funeral. A hole had already been dug in the ground, right underneath the shade of a verdant tree.

The sun was setting when everyone got there. Yang was more than happy to see Raven alive and breathing, and for the first time, she saw her parents together, with no hint of animosity between them.

After much arguing, Ruby managed to convince them to take her to the funeral without an infirmary bed. Weiss and Blake learned how difficult it was to carry a hyperactive girl to her uncle's funeral.

When Ozpin arrived, nobody noticed anything out of the usual, though Raven did catch a glimpse of Glynda's blushing cheeks when he stood by her side.

Cinder was the one who brought Emerald's body, her face solemn as she laid her down on her resting place. When she stood again, her face was strangely emotional – not wild, like most of them had grown accustomed to, but like a normal person's dealing with newly-discovered feelings.

They took turns covering the hole in dirt. Minutes later, Ozpin crouched down and stuck a cross on the soft soil.

EMERALD SUSTRAI.

Ruby insisted on fixing her uncle's cross. She almost collapsed as she did, tears flooding her eyes. Yang had to drag her away before she broke down.

QROW BRANWEN.

"I'm sorry this happened," Ozpin spoke. "I cannot lie to myself or any of you – I have a lot of blame to shoulder for recent events. Life is one long road with too many forks to count, and you have entrusted me with deciding which ones to take. We cannot go back – I cannot go back – but we can learn from the steps we already have taken."

Everyone nodded respectfully, then Raven took a step forward.

"I spent seventeen years of my life away from my family. I did it for someone I loved, and for that reason, I do not regret that decision," she said. "If it weren't for Qrow, however, I might regret it. I might have been even less of myself in this moment, if that's possible. He was there for me, always. I can only wish him a well-earned good rest."

She turned back and hugged her daughter. After a few moments, Taiyang embraced them both, much to Raven's delight. For now, there was an understanding, an unbreakable bond between the three of them.

Cinder stared at Emerald's cross, her fists clenched and eyes wavering uncertainly.

"I… I didn't know her very well," she said. "She was… a good thief, I guess. There's so much I never asked her. Did she have siblings? What about her parents? Any dreams or aspirations?" She paused. "It makes me think… If things were different, I might be the one on that grave, and nobody would have anything to say about me too."

"She was a good psychopath…?" Yang suggested jokingly.

Cinder smiled bitterly.

"Mira is still out there. Who knows what insane scheme she will try to pull next?" She shook her head. "I'm not going to waste my life chasing her shadow. Let her come. When she does, I'll be here to finish all of this."

Everyone muttered their agreement, even Ozpin. They paid their respects silently for a few more minutes, then slowly started to walk away, until only Cinder and Ruby were left staring at the graves.

"Are you going to kill her?" Ruby asked suddenly.

Cinder faltered. She knew why the question was asked, and she knew her answer would be ill-received. But it was the truth, and she wasn't about to start lying again.

"Yes," she said. "I'm going to kill her."

"Good," Ruby smiled. "She killed my uncle. Let her come."

Cinder's heart skipped a beat as she turned to look at Ruby. She almost expected to find a monster in her place, to make her realize it was all a nightmare, but no – there was that youthful face and shining silver eyes Cinder had grown attached to so long ago.

"Can you take me back to my room?" Ruby asked, as if nothing was wrong. "I really don't wanna sleep in the infirmary tonight."

"S-sure," Cinder stuttered. Her distress must have carried to her appearance, because suddenly Ruby looked very concerned.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Cinder said dryly. "It's just… The funeral. I've never attended one before. I guess it got to me."

"Aw, that is so cuuuuuute!" Ruby gushed excitedly.

Cinder smiled at the reaction, but inside she was even more distressed. This was wrong.

So, so wrong.

Next chapter, Ruby adopts her Blood Rose persona. Confirmed. Just you wait.

We're getting pretty close to the end. I expect this story to be over by the end of this year. Hell, maybe the last chapter will be posted on the last week of 2015, that would be neat. (BTW, I love you guys. I feel like I don't say that enough.)

I'd like to be an asshole and once again plug Of Vale Blood. It's neat. We want your readership there.

Also, I've run out of S. S. Falling Petals humor. The main purpose of that bit was making jokes about people not figuring out the chapter titles. Now it just feels meh to me. Sorry.

Sexy-Ozpin-sized thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited Falling Roses Burn Brighter!

-Zeroan