Velvet held the stick over the fire, waiting for the marshmallow to roast.

"Are we sure we're even allowed to light campfires on campus?" I asked half-heartedly.

"Of course", Coco said cheerfully. "That's why they're called camp-fires, Yatsu."

"I really don't think that's accurate."

"Dude. Relax", Fox said, lying lazily on the blanket, reclining on one side with his cheek on his hand. "It's the last day of school. Missions are over. Exams are over. We worked hard all year and we deserve to celebrate a little. Enjoy the company. Enjoy the night. Look at this beautiful starry sky. Isn't it breathtraking?"

"Yeah, admittedly, the stars are…" I paused. Fox was keeping a perfect poker face. "I don't understand why you keep doing this."

"I don't understand how you keep falling for it", he countered. "But seriously, you need to chill. Ask yourself the right questions. Do you know of any rule that says fires are not allowed? That's the right place to start."

"That line of reasoning seems highly debatable."

"It's okay, Yatsu", Velvet said cheerfully. "We're all professionals here, we've got the situation under control. Do you want a marshmallow?"

"Damn right we're professionals", Coco said. "Which reminds me, I brought booze."

"How are these two things connected?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

Fox remained in his reclining position, but waved his free hand in the air to show his enthusiasm. "All hail great leader. Pass bottle."

"Okay, but let's keep moderation in mind, yeah?" Not that I expected anyone to listen to me. I knew I could hold my liquor, but still. Perhaps it would be best if I just stayed sober and alert, and made sure we didn't accidentally burn down the school.

"Relax, Yatsu", Coco said soothingly. "We're all adults here." Then she smirked. "Except Velvet. She can have exactly one glass under our adult supervision."

Velvet rolled up a spare blanket and threw it at Coco. Coco sidestepped expertly, and the blanket hit Fox in the face.

"Oi!" he protested. "Keep me out of it, you lunatics." Then he put the blanket under his head and used it as a pillow.

After some hesitation, I accepted a bottle and decided to relax. Like Coco had said, we were adults. A few drinks in the last day of the academic year were completely earned and couldn't possibly hurt anyone.

A few minutes later, Fox was singing.

Well, okay, it wasn't so bad. His voice was a pleasant baritone. The song was a Vacuan ballad about a mysterious woman who appeared like a mirage to lost travelers, guiding them across the desert until they found an oasis. Velvet, who had caught the chorus the first time, was singing second voice. She'd really had very little to drink, but she was not holding it very well.

"I didn't know you could sing, Fox", Coco told her partner after they'd finished.

"I am a man of many talents", he said, bowing his head graciously. "So, are we opening these presents or what?"

Teammates exchanging presents at the end of the year was a Beacon tradition: optional, but most people ended up doing some variation of it. In our case, we'd decided that each one of us got something from the other three.

My present was a high quality tea set I'd been eyeing for some time. For Coco, we'd ordered a pair of silk pajamas with our emblems on it in order. Fox got a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones.

"So you can tune us out more easily", Coco explained.

He laughed. "Thanks. But actually, you lot are some of the few people I don't want to tune out by default."

Velvet had started unwrapping her own present, but paused to focus on him. "Fox, that's so sweet."

"In a weird, Fox-like way", Coco added.

He shrugged. "I'm used to teamwork, but deeper bonds are another matter. Vacuo forces people to work together to survive. Doesn't matter if we like each other. We don't have the luxury to pick our allies, or make a big deal out of our personal feelings. But here, if I could do it all over again and pick my allies, I'd still pick you. You've become more than teammates to me. You're not just the people I'd trust to keep me alive, but also the ones who make my life here happier and more fulfilling."

I found myself strangely touched.

"Aw!" Coco exclaimed. "Look at that, you guys. Fox finally uses his words to admit he loves me."

Fox affected a thoughtful expression. "In retrospect, I'd like to make an exception for Coco. She's like, whatever. We can keep her if you guys want her, I don't mind. Hey! What the –" The rest of his sentence was muffled as Coco swiped the extra blanket from under his head and let it flop on his face.

Velvet laughed; then she pulled her knees to her chest and leaned towards the fire, elbows on knees, chin resting on her hands. Her face sobered. "When we first became a team, I thought it would never work out."

I regarded her with some surprise. Of course, I knew she'd initially had her reservations towards me, but hadn't realized they extended to the rest of the team. Or that they had been that severe.

Coco blinked. "Wait, what?"

"I'd been hoping I would be in a team with at least one other faunus", Velvet admitted, not looking at us. "I knew it was unlikely, but I'd been hoping. And aside from that, you three seemed really intimidating at first. So strong and capable… I was afraid you'd look down on me, at best. I thought I'd never fit in.

But you were so patient and kind with me. You helped me so much. I was a total nervous mess when we met, and now…" She smiled with self-awareness. "Well, now I'm a slightly less nervous mess. But seriously, I'm so grateful to have all of you. If chance had driven events just a little differently that first day, we would never have become a team… and I can't imagine that now. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Fox sat up. "Okay, Velvet is seriously drunk. What did you put in these bottles, Adel?"

I leaned forward and gently placed a hand on my partner's shoulder. As she looked up at me, I smiled. "We're grateful to have you too."

"Exactly", Coco added. "You belong. Completely and unquestionably." She remained silent for a bit, before adding: "If anyone here should be grateful, it's me. I was so preoccupied with this idea of being tough all the time and making all the hard decisions. You people made me question all my notions about strength and leadership. You made me think about what it truly means to work as a team."

"I think it was a work in progress for all of us", I said. "What?" I added, as both Coco and Velvet turned their attention to me. Fox pointed a finger in my direction.

"It's your turn to share something meaningful and personal", he explained.

"Is that what we're doing?" I thought for a bit. "Well… okay. But you know my deal already. For most of my life, I've been a source offear for others. First it was my strength and size. Then my semblance. But you accepted me. Fox was actually cocky when we sparred the first time. It was surreal. When I didn't want to talk about my semblance, you respected my privacy. And then, it was revealed to you in a way that must have felt unexpected and frightening. But you still accepted me like it was no big deal. Moments like this one, right now? They're priceless. All of us hanging out, doing nothing special… just joking around and talking about whatever. That's what I'm thankful for. I didn't have a lot of that growing up."

After a short pause, Coco raised up her hands exasperatedly. "Damn. Am I the only person in this team who did not have an angsty childhood?"

I laughed. "Maybe." My eyes fell on the small unwrapped box still in Velvet's hands. "You gonna open that, Vel?"

"Oh! Right." I watched her tear the paper with some trepidation. We'd put quite a bit of thought into it, and felt like it was a good idea. Still, I wasn't completely sure how she'd react.

Velvet opened the box and held out its content. "Oh…"

A heart-shaped locket, made of stainless steel. Similar to its predecessor, but hopefully a little more durable. Her Huntress's emblem, the stitched heart, was engraved on the surface.

She regarded it in silence for a moment. "You thought about this."

I cleared my throat. "We took the liberty of putting a picture in it. Just a suggestion. Of course, it's yours to do with as you wish."

"Open it", Coco nudged gently.

Velvet did so. From the inside, our collective faces looked back at her. It was our yearbook photograph.

"Yeah, so, we wanted a team picture and in the end we just decided to go with that one", Fox said. Velvet looked up at us, clearly at a loss for words. But her smile was luminescent. "I think we all look great", Fox continued. "Do you like it?"

Velvet took his hand and squeezed it: she had difficulty speaking eloquently at the moment, and Fox couldn't see her happiness in her expression.

"Thank you", she said.

XXX

The departure hall was buzzing with lively discussions; teeming with students standing around with their friends, talking about their holiday plans, or walking to the various gates from which their airships would depart. It was quite a convenient arrangement: each airship could accommodate a large group of students who wanted to return home for the holidays. The airships would be landing at central locations in each kingdom, and from there we had to make our own arrangements. I was planning on public transportation or something. It wasn't my biggest worry.

As if she'd read my mind, Coco placed a hand on my shoulder. "You'll be fine", she said reassuringly.

I took a breath. "I know. It's just… it's not usual that I'll be spending so much of my holiday at Hiyoko's house. I mean, her father has hosted me before, of course. But only because he felt like he had to. Now it almost feels like he's not being begrudging about it."

"It'll be fine", Fox said reassuringly. "Just be cool. Have fun with your sister. If the old guy gives you trouble, kick his ass."

"I'm not gonna kick his ass –"

We were interrupted by my scroll ringing, Hiyoko's face filling the screen. I answered. "Hey, pipsqueak."

Predictably, she protested. "Don't call me that!"

"Sorry, your Excellency."

She sounded a bit out of breath. "When you land at Mistral Central, wait there", she ordered. "Daddy and I are coming to get you. He complained about the long ride and stuff, but I made him promise."

A hint of nervousness came upon me, but I dismissed it. I was going to stay with them for a while anyway: a couple more hours hardly made a difference. "Okay", I replied, smiling at Hiyoko's determined expression. "Thanks for bullying your dad for me."

"I didn't bully him! I just talked to him a bunch until he agreed."

"Of course." My scroll vibrated, a notification popping up on the screen: I recognized the icon of the academy's departure scheduling app. "Gotta go now", I told Hiyoko. "I think my airship's almost ready to leave."

After she released me, I checked the notification. Airship MI348 to Mistral departing from gate 13F in fifteen minutes. Please make your way to the gate.

I turned to my team. "I have to go."

Fox nodded. "Take care, big guy."

"See you in September", Coco added.

Velvet stared at us in disbelief. "What? That's it? No way. We're doing a group hug!"

We did a group hug.

A few minutes later, I was inside the soaring airship, full of students and bustling with excited conversations. As the airship gained height, I approached one of the windows for a last look at Beacon Academy. I imagined my friends standing at the departure halls, talking until their turn came to leave. I pictured us all getting back together next year, and wondered what that would bring. My home for the next three years got smaller and smaller until it became a landmark on a map-like view; and then, all I could see was sky.

XXX

A/N: A huge shout-out to Voidborne II for first comment ever and the consistent support since.

Many thanks to muskrat3 and spacemanspiff888 for the lovely reviews.

I would also like to thank everyone who favorited the story, as well as everyone who gave it a chance, even if it wasn't for them.

I have two more lopngfics on CFVY in my head: one focusing on their second year in Beacon, and one in Vacuo, putting more emotional focus on the consequences of the re-initiation plotline from the novels. I will be taking a break from writing for the next two or three months to plan the next stories. In the meantime, I will be responding to comments and might drop some one-shots.