Yang couldn't sit still, she kept pacing the cramped cargo area of the airship, her mind unable to slow down. Blake sat between their two sleeping girls, watching her with concern written all over her face. She hadn't seen Yang this worked up since the war. She had always felt things so deeply, always feeling personally responsible for everyone and everything. It had started when she was a child after Summer had disappeared. When Ruby drank the tea Yang had felt responsible for failing her sister, failing to listen, failing to do anything to help her. It had changed Yang, forced her to shoulder more of the burden so Ruby didn't have to. It broke Blake's heart to see Yang already slipping back into her old habits so easily.

"Yang, sunshine, you should sit down, take a minute to breathe," she said softly.

She didn't flinch when Yang's lilac eyes focused on her, flashing red for a fleeting second. She knew the anger and frustration wasn't directed at her, it was from having to leave the boys behind. They had never run before, not like this. Team RWBY had been at the front of the war effort, running wasn't something they had ever done willingly. When the red faded Blake could see Yang's shoulders drop. She wanted to comfort her, tell her it would all be okay, but that wasn't what Yang needed.

Yang closed her eyes, doing her best to focus on what was in front of her. Blake and their kids were safe, her family was safe thanks to Dorin and Sun. She needed to remember that, even if it hurt to have left them behind. She lifted her head slightly to look at Blake sandwiched between the two girls. They were what mattered, not staying and fighting, not running and not the boys.

"I can't help but think we left them there to get hurt or worse…" she admitted. "That was a coordinated attack Blake."

"Believe me I know," Blake said. "But until the boys report we're running blind. Until we do, we need to assume this was a group looking for attention by attacking Vale."

"I know but doesn't it bother you how organized it was?" Yang took a seat across from her wife. "And the one that attacked me… they knew me. What if we were the targets and Vale was just a distraction?"

The airship jerked to the side as the pilot started their descent, cutting off their conversation. The girls stirred, looking around in a momentary panic before they remembered where they were. Blake held onto them through the turbulence while Yang grasped the sides of her seat, trying to keep from being thrown to the ground.

"Sorry! The updrafts have been bad lately." the pilot shouted back to them. "We'll be touching down in five."

The ship rattled again, causing bile to rise in Yang's throat. She had never had problems in turbulence before but after this morning's events, and not having any food on her stomach, her entire world was teetering. She closed her eyes forcing herself to focus on the events of the morning, anything to take her mind off the stomach churning descent. It wasn't the initial attack she was interested in, it was the masked people that followed. They had been wearing Grimm masks, something that both several bandit groups wore and what the White Fang had donned during the war. Yang was confident it wasn't bandits that had attacked Vale, they had never been that organized. This was something else.

She dropped her head into her hands, forcing herself to think harder. Had the people who attacked them been faunus? She couldn't remember if she had seen any ears or tails or scales on any of them. If they were, was this the start of another White Fang? Why couldn't they just leave the past in the past?

"Hey, we're here," Blake's voice was soft, quiet so she didn't startle Yang.

Yang hadn't even realized that they had landed, but she nodded to Blake. She got to her feet heading towards the open cargo door. She hopped down, turning around to help Rey down, then Sky. Blake took her outstretched hand, joining her family on the ground. The girls were staring up at the Schnee Manor in awe. They had visited the home before when they were younger but they were always captivated by the sheer size of the home compared to theirs. Yang couldn't help but smile when the girl's attention turned from the house to the snow that was falling around them. It was comforting that the morning's events hadn't scared the girls too much.

"Incoming," Blake warned as a flurry of rose petals raced towards them.

Her warning came a second too late. Before Yang could step out of the way, Ruby slammed into her with so much force Yang fell, her back connecting painfully with the metal plating of the airship. Ruby didn't seem to notice or care because she was hugging Yang so tightly that she could barely breathe.

"You're okay!"

"I was…" Yang struggled to speak as her sister continued to squeeze her. "And then my sister tackled me."

"Oops…sorry," Ruby said, realizing that Yang had fallen at a weird and uncomfortable angle.

She untangled herself from her sister, allowing Blake to help them both to their feet. Ruby smiled, taking the moment to hug Blake almost as tight as she had hugged Yang. Rey and Sky ran to their aunt, wanting to join in on the hugs. It had been close to a year since they had seen the Schnee-Rose family, with Weiss' busy schedule and Ruby's missions it was hard to find the time to see one another. Yang glanced towards the mansion, finding Weiss making her way towards them. She could tell the heiress was relieved they were there and relatively uninjured but she was much more reserved than her wife. Summer was nowhere to be seen but Yang assumed it was because of the situation, they'd see their niece soon enough. A grin broke across Yang's face as Weiss closed in on them, she could see how hard the heiress was trying to maintain her Schnee composure.

Yang pulled her into a hug as soon as she was close enough. She owed her teammate so much for everything she had done for them that day. From sending Dorin to find them to evacuating them from Vale, had it not been for Weiss, Yang had no idea what would have happened to them. Weiss hugged her back, something that was once an action that Weiss would never do, but now was a common occurrence.

"Where are the boys," she asked, looking over Yang's shoulder for Dorin and Sun.

Her teammates' expressions said all she needed to know. She nodded, understanding the conversation that they needed to have was not one to have around the kids. Weiss let the question linger over them as she went to hug Blake and then the two girls. Act like nothing was wrong for them, once they were behind closed doors. They were all good at that, hiding what was wrong, playing pretend. It was something that Weiss never thought she would find herself doing again. Ruby and her hid nothing any more, but now they would have too. Their daughter and their nieces were too young to understand what was going on.

"Why don't we get inside?"

None of them were about to argue with the suggestion. Not only were the Belladonna-Xiao Long family tired, they were also cold.

"Maybe we can get some food while we're at it?" Yang's stomach growled, punctuating just how hungry she was. "Come on girls, you can play outside later."

Weiss led them into the mansion, down the winding halls that Yang should have been familiar with from the war, but they weren't. Every time they visited Yang got lost in the maze of halls. Of course Yang wasn't paying attention. She was listening to her sister have an animated conversation with Rey and Sky. In front of them Blake and Weiss were catching up on the last year. Yang caught some of the conversation but not enough for it to make much sense. Yang tuned it out, as happy as she was that they were currently out of harm's way; she was still feeling the morning. She hadn't had the opportunity to fully process everything yet.

"Is she alright," Weiss asked, glancing back at Yang who had fallen behind Ruby and the girls.

"I honestly don't know," Blake admitted, her ears flattening. "I think all of this is triggering her PTSD."

"Maybe she should sit this out," Weiss suggested.

She knew of the struggles they had all faced after the war. Learning how to sleep again, learning how to not always be on guard. She and Blake spent years in therapy to help with the sleepless nights, they were the first to start getting better. Ruby had struggled longer, her nightmares and flashback haunting her for almost eight years. But as time went on, much like Blake and Weiss, she got better. Yang on the other hand still struggled with the nightmares. The war had compacted all the trauma she lived with, from being abandoned as a child, to losing her sister, to getting her back, to all the lives they lost in the final push.

Blake stifled a laugh, "like Yang would ever agree to that." She glanced back at her wife, seeing the blonde staring at her feet. "I'll talk to her. If she gives me any reason to doubt she can handle whatever happens once we hear from the boys, I'll bench her myself."

Klein greeted them with a warm smile when they entered the kitchen. After the war he had kept his practice open for a while before retiring several years ago to come work for Weiss again. The heiress had been grateful for his help over the years. He had shown up on her doorstep three years ago asking if she was in need of a butler, it had been a surprise but Weiss had immediately welcomed him back. Summer loved him too, he always found something for her to help him with even when he was doing the simplest of things.

Her daughter, upon seeing the entire family was there, slid off the barstool and ran over to Blake. She had always been fascinated by Blake's cat ears, having only met one or two other faunus in her life. Of course this made Blake her favorite aunt, which Blake absolutely loved.

"Hi aunt Blake!"

"Hi!"

Summer giggled as Blae picked her up and squeezed her tightly. Yang came over, ruffling Summer's hair. Like Ruby, Summer looked so much like her namesake it made Yang's heart ache for the mother she had lost, that they had lost. Small moments like that made her wonder what it would have been like if Summer Rose had been there to see her two kids grow, become the huntresses they were meant to be. She wished she could have introduced her mother to Blake and their kids. Yang pushed it down, forcing herself to stay in the moment and not let herself linger.

"You've gotten bigger," she said. "Soon you'll be taller than Ruby."

"I hope not, I hate being the shortest one," Ruby said, crossing her arms as she started to pout.

"Aw but you're so cute!" Yang teased, pinching her sister's cheek.

Ruby swatted her away, grumbling something to herself, earning a chuckle from Weiss. Summer had squirmed free from Blake and was telling some kind of story to her cousins, who were both eagerly jumping in, excited to be all together again. Klein was busy making sandwiches but his smile beneath his thick mustache gave him away, he was enjoying having the entire RWBY family together again. With the kids so excited to see each other again, the air around them lightened, allowing Blake and Yang to finally relax some. Yang jumped in, helping the butler she barely knew, but loved dearly, help hand out sandwiches to the kids, and then the adults. The girls were off in their own world, the morning's events forgotten, replaced by the joy of being together. Team RWBY kept conversation light, talking about work and random subjects to keep their minds occupied while they ate.

They took their time, knowing that rushing wouldn't make things happen any quicker. It had been decided not to do anything until they heard from the boys in Vale, at least for the time being. There was a silent agreement that if communication from Vale remained silent that they would take action, but that would be at the earliest tomorrow. Still they needed to plan, figure out what they would do in case they had to head back to Vale.

"Klein, do you mind watching the girls while we talk," Weiss asked him as Yang started to gather everyone's plates for him.

"Of course," he said with a smile. "I'd be happy to keep them occupied."

Weiss smiled at the man she had known all her life. She had always seen him as more of a father figure than her own deadbeat father when Jaques had been alive. She knew Klein also considered her his family, he had said it on more than one occasion. He was such a good and selfless man that Weiss had no idea what she would have done without him.

"You two better behave," Yang warned with a smile, knowing her and Blake's firecrackers could be a handful for the untrained.

"We will," Sky said.

"Promise," Rey added.

Yang kissed them both on the top of the head. She had been worried that they would be affected by the events in the morning, but both seemed to be handling it well, as well as two kids who had no idea what was happening could. Rey was still her usual hyper, upbeat self, or as Blake put it - a tiny Yang. Sky on the other hand had always been quiet, much like Blake, so her lack of enthusiasm wasn't immediately concerning to her.

"I love you two, no matter what happens," she needed to say it, needed them to know, she had been abandoned so many times, making her think she was unlovable. She would never leave them wondering if she had loved them.

"I love you too mom," Rey said, turning to hug her. "It'll be okay, Uncle Sun and Dorin will be back soon"

"Me too, I love you too," Sky said quickly.

Yang chuckled, "Alright, we'll be done in a little bit." She knew she would be just down the hall but her anxiety was through the roof. Part of her didn't want to leave her kids no matter what happened.

Blake slipping her hand into her, drew her back to the task at hand. Her wife gently urged her to follow Ruby and Weiss who were already headed down the hall. Yang allowed herself to be led at a quick place after their two teammates. She was aware Blake was in the same boat as she was, neither of them wanted to leave the girls regardless but Blake was much better at compartmentalizing than Yang. She didn't have the abandonment issues that Yang had and that was okay, she was there to remind Yang that they weren't abandoning anyone, including their two friends.

Weiss led them to a room that Yang remembered from the war. It had been their war room, where they had come up with the plan to save Penny and how to evacuate all of Atlas. It was way too big of a room for the four of them to plan in, but in a time like this the space was welcome. Every single one of them had the tendency to pace with working through plans.

"Alright, why did the boys stay behind," Ruby asked as soon as Weiss closed the door behind them.

"They wanted to gather information," Blake said. "Once they figured it out they were going to join us here."

Weiss nodded to herself as she began to pace. She hadn't been aware Sun was in Vale, but she was glad he was. Dorin had been doing much better in recent years but he still fell into his self-destructive tendencies from time to time. It would be better with Sun, he would keep the former huntsman in check, she knew the faunus would look after him.

"What exactly happened," Weiss had seen some reports but the CCT had been down in Vale since early that morning, not long after the attack first happened. "What we have heard was that it was an accident at one of the dust shops."

"What?!" Both Blake and Yang shouted at the same time.

"Easy," Weiss said. "I'm sure that's the story they released to keep people from panicking."

She was probably right, even after fifteen years people lived with the lingering fear of another Salem or another White Fang rising up. Still it didn't mean any of them had to like the lying. The deceit that Ozpin had manufactured over the years was what had caused the war to take the path it did. It had allowed Salem to become so powerful and almost win, it was also the reason so many died. Lying now was making the same mistakes they had made then, at least that was how the four of them saw it.

"They were wearing Grimm masks," Blake said after a moment. It was such a minor detail, but one she kept coming back too. "And they had numbers, at least fifty, probably more."

"Do you think it's the White Fang?" Ruby was chewing on her thumb, running through it all in her head. "I thought your family had made sure they were disbanded?"

"We had, or at least we thought we had," Blake admitted. "Anything is possible, there will always faunus who are angry about how they were treated. It's not something that goes away."

"Yeah, I lost count of how many were angry about the chieftain's daughter marrying a human.," Yang added.

Not only had there been faunus angry about the marriage, there had been humans who'd frowned upon it. Stuck in the old ways of seeing faunus as inferior people even though they were the same as them, just with some extra attributes. It hadn't helped that directly after the war team RWBY had been in the spotlight for months, regarded as the best of the best, seen as war heroes to almost everyone. They were still very much in the public eye, nothing they did was free from the scrutiny of people who thought they had done wrong. Overall though relations had improved but even fifteen years later some still hadn't let it go. It was frustrating to all four of them, that what was happening now could very easily be because someone couldn't let the past go.

"So what do we do?" Yang had found herself a seat and had propped her feet up on the table.

"We wait," Weiss said, lifting her friend's feet off the table and dropping them to the floor. "That's all we can do until they report in."

They couldn't plan, they couldn't even look into what was happening unless they reached out to Winter, who might have had more information. They were completely in the dark, and running in blind when their responsibilities had changed to include their children was unacceptable. Besides there was no guarantee the oldest Schnee would give them the information if she had it. She may have had a soft spot for her sister's found family but she was the current head of the Atlas Military as well as the Winter Maiden, she had her responsibilities and stayed very by the book.

The four of them exchanged glances, sitting around wasn't something they had ever done well. It didn't need to be said, but they all hoped the boys would contact them within a few hours so they could pass information along and allow the military to handle the situation. If they didn't hear from them, they would have to go back for them. The Atlas Military would never mount a rescue mission for two people over something that could be a one off attack. Even if one of those individuals was former military.

"Well, regardless, you'll be here for a little," Weiss had stopped her pacing, realizing there wasn't much to be said between them. Her family had been attacked, put in danger and forced out of their home, she was angry for them, and she would ensure they had their justice. Once they figured out what was happening. "Sky and Rey can stay in Summer's room with her, I'm sure they won't say no to a sleepover. As for you two, I'll have Klein prepare you a room, it isn't like we have dozens of them available."

"Thank you Weiss," Blake said, hugging her best friend. "We're grateful for everything you've done for us today."

"Hold on," Yang held up her hand to stop them. She was aware that there was currently nothing they could do, but she wasn't done. "Before we get situated I have one question."

They all turned to her. She leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin in and her hands.

"If this threat turns out to be real and the boys are in danger, do we fight?"

They all fell silent, contemplating their answers, none of them would judge if they said no. They all had their kids to think about. Weiss and Ruby's daughter was only six and Blake and Yang's girls were five and eight. Only Rey was old enough to understand that what had happened had deeply unsettled her parents. The other two were still young enough that they knew something was wrong, but didn't understand just how wrong things were. How could any of them tell their kids that they were leaving to fight a battle that should have been over years ago?

At the same time there was a very real possibility that the threat that had come to Vale had something to do with their past. They wouldn't ask someone else to fight their battle if that was the case. There was a chance that no matter what they did, including abstaining from the fight, that their family could be in danger and they would have to fight anyway.

"If it comes to it, yes," Ruby was the first to speak, her determination written on her face. "I don't think it will, Dorin and Sun are both fighters but-"

"-we'll be ready," Blake rested her hand on Yang's shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

Yang brought her hand up to rest on top of Blake's. Regardless of what happened they would always have each other's back.

"Agreed," Weiss added, "until then we should rest, perhaps spend some time together as a family.

Weiss cried out in surprise when Yang, still seated at the table, wrapped her prosthetic arm around Weiss' waist and yanked the smaller huntress towards her into a bear hug.

"Look at you calling us a family," she teased as Weiss tried to squirm free. "Remember back at Beacon when she hated us?"

Weiss continued to struggle in Yang's grasp while Ruby and Blake stood to the side laughing at them. Yang let her struggle for a little while longer before she finally let Weiss go. The heiress was red in the face but her smile said it all.

"If you're quite done," she said, straightening out her skirt. "I'll show you your room?"

"Alright princess, lead the way," Yang said with an exaggerated bow.

Weiss left the room mumbling something about leaving Yang out in the snow. Ruby grinned, sneaking a thumbs up to her sister as she followed Weiss. Blake high-fived her wife, laughing as they followed behind Ruby and an ever reddening Weiss. Blake wasn't sure but she thought that Weiss might actually hurt Yang. They had gone from teammate's who hadn't entirely liked each other, to friends to family, to what they were now. Something much deeper and closer, that couldn't be explained easily. Blake hoped the bonds they had formed over the years would serve them well in the upcoming days if they had to return to Vale. They hadn't fought together in years, she wasn't sure that they would be able to fall into their rhythm. Only time would tell if the four of them could face the coming storm and make it out alive.