20 Years Later

Weiss

I walked out of my room and started cleaning up the mess this house always seems to have. Dishes were on the coffee table with scraps still on the plates and a toy was tossed haphazardly into the hallway. I put everything away where they needed to be and dusted off the case where Myrtenaster had been cooped in for all of these years. It was a good weapon but I had no plans to pick it back up. It was going to have to stay where it was.

The sun had just gone down, the forest outside the window was dark, hiding whatever lay out there. The sound of a door closing was heard. Two people bickering at each other, which in reality was pretty normal in this house. At first it was annoying to hear but it just puts a smile on my face.

A golden mess of hair entered the living room. "Yes, Blake! I have everything I need!"
"Are you sure, Yang? Last time we went on a mission you forgot one of your gauntlets." Blake with her always calm personality.
Yang ignored the verbal punch, instead looking over at me. "You going to be okay, Weiss?"
I smiled and nodded. "It's only an over night mission. I would be surprised if something went wrong."

I wasn't surprised Yang and Blake survived as a couple all these years. Two years after we graduated from Beacon, Yang proposed to Blake and they began their lives as a Huntress team. They worked really well together apparently, from what I've heard. I had tried taking control over the Schnee Dust Corporation after my father finally stepped down. I eventually righted the wrongs he made but the stress was too much for me to take. Instead, I appointed someone to take my place and moved into a house by the Forever Fall Forest. It brought up good memories for me, being this close to nature.

Blake and Yang had moved in with me after they had sent a very surprising letter to me one day. Apparently Blake had decided she wanted to have a child. Yang had her arguments against it, one of them being the fact that they are still huntresses and wouldn't have the time for a child. Blake had planned for it though, at the end of the letter she asked if they could move in with Weiss since I had stopped taking missions and could help raise their child. The house I had was a little big for one person so I accepted and let them move in. It took some getting used to having the couple around me again but I was secretly happy to have my family back again. Blake had thought of adopting a child but she had decided that the qualifications for adopting as a faunus was too much for her, and instead found a sperm donor for a natural child birth.

Yang was right about her arguments though. With all of the missions they took on, they had times where they weren't able to watch their new child at lengths of days. I ended up taking care of her during those times, and I had gotten very attached to her.

Yang waved a hand as she walked out. "If you're fine, then we'll be off. Bye, Weiss!"
Blake shook her head and proceeded out the door. "Stay safe! And remember the bed times!"

I laughed at Blake's attempt at being funny. She was a lot more outgoing after having her child. Maybe it was the leftover hormones. After only thirty seconds I heard Blake yell outside.

"Cadenza Rose Belladonna! Get back inside right now! Yang may have not seen you but I can see you behind that tree just as well as you can see me!"
"But Mom!"
"No buts, Caden! Inside! Now!"

A frustrated groan came from the door as a little, black haired, girl walked in. She hung her head and sat on the couch. She was exactly how I imagined a very young Blake would, especially since Blake never had shown them a picture of her so young. Since Blake was the biological mother, Caden even had a faunus heritage behind her, cat ears and all.

I sat down next to the sad girl. "What's wrong, Caden?"
She looked up. "They wouldn't let me go with them. I wanted to help them."
Her kindness nearly broke me. "You're only nine. You still have a way to go before you can help them with their missions."

Caden had decided that she wanted to be a huntress just like her parents and was dead set on her idea. Since she was still too young to go into a training school like Signal Academy she had settled for getting small tutoring sessions from me. Nothing really all that intense that involved a weapon or anything like that. Blake would probably throw me out of my own house for letting her use a weapon. She caught on to it all pretty easily, I would say. It must be Blake's genes showing up.

"Aunt Weiss, can I ask you something?" I always enjoyed the fact that she included me as her family.
I pulled her into me lap and looked down at her. "Sure, Caden. What is it?"
She pointed up above the fireplace. "Why do you have that weapon up there?"

Apparently she finally decided to ask about Crescent Rose which Yang had let me put on the wall below a picture of Ruby. It seemed like overkill to do something like that but it felt like a natural thing as the days went by.

"It belonged to Aunt Ruby. It helped her become a strong fighter." All those days of training flashing back.
Caden had wide-eyes at the device. "It's so cool looking. Do you think I would use something like that when I grow up?"
I smiled at her anticipation. "I don't know. You're going to have to design your own weapon like the others."
"I'm going to design one like that... that... um.."
"Scythe, Caden. It's called a scythe." She was still learning, fortunately.

Dealing with a child was tiring but seeing her little smile quickly made up for it. Giving her lessons, dinner, and other general activities were always something to look forward to. I wouldn't give her up for the world, although I doubt it would be my decision. Yang was already protective of her when out in public so it would take a train to get through the black and gold tag team. But when they were gone, I was the last line of defense. I haven't actually fought in years but I wouldn't hesitate to pick my sword back up for this girl. But thankfully, the nights have been peaceful where I was. Even in the dead of the night, not a sound was made that would make me think something would happen.

I eventually had to put her to bed like any other child though. She didn't like it but she knew I would mention any bad behavior to Yang and she straighten her out when they got back. Besides, she was already tired from the lessons I gave her earlier in the day.

As I put the covers over her, she asked me a question. "Can you sing to me tonight?"
I sighed a little. "You know Yang doesn't want me treating you like a baby now."
"But she isn't here and your voice is so pretty." Her eyes widened and her ears went a little flat.
God damn, she has me wrapped around her finger. "Fine, but don't tell your mum about this."
"Yay!"

She immediately settled down and waited for me to begin. I cleared my throat and began singing one of her favorite lullabies. She was obviously effected by it. She always fell asleep at the really slow part.

"Don't worry: I've got you.
Nothing will ever harm you."

Her eyes began to droop.

"I'm close by. I'll stay here.
Through all things, I will be near."

She dug deeper into her covers and began drifting off into sleep. Before she fell asleep, she said one last thing. "I wish I could have met Aunt Ruby. She seemed nice." And then her breaths slowed down into a steady pattern. She was such an innocent girl. I bet Ruby would have loved her just as much as Yang, Blake and I do. I kept on singing just to make sure she stayed asleep, but thoughts of Ruby stayed in my head.

"Close your eyes.
Don't you cry."

I tucked her in a little.

"Love's around you.
In time, you'll fly."

I ended the lullaby and went to leave Caden's room. Before I turned off the lone lamp in her room, I turned and looked at her. "I love you, Caden. Goodnight." The lamp clicked off and I left her room, gently closing the door. In the living room I looked at Ruby's picture. "And I still love you, Ruby." I went to my room and began my sleep to get ready for the next day.

Well that's all for this story guys! I hope whoever read this enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. It sounds sappy to say this but it felt like I was truly breathing when writing this. It's not my own characters and such but this project has greatly pulled me up out of the gutter lately. I should wrap it up though. As always, reviews are welcome and I guess they now can be an actual full review now. Have fun everyone!