The chapter you've all been waiting for!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I love you all so much, hence the double update. Enjoy! ;)

Chapter 45: Synchronization

Ruby had joined Serena and the man that had protected her friend from Cinder in their battle against the woman. She rushed over to them and shot a few rounds with Crescent Rose to keep the enemy at distance until she was standing next to Serena. Reaching behind her back, she drew Serena's stick from where she had secured it.

"Serena!" she called, throwing her the weapon after the older girl had evaded an attack from Cinder. Serena jumped up and caught her weapon, spinning around and getting into position, ready to fight.

"Thanks Ruby!" she called back, smiling to the girl. She was glad that she had her weapon; at least now she could help Adam and Ruby in their fight.

Adam was doing most of the fighting for the moment, his body avoiding the attacks sent at him while he tried cutting the woman with his sword. He was even quicker than when they had sparred together and Serena wondered just how much he had held back when he'd been fighting with her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another White Fang member try to sneak up on him and attack him. Acting on instinct, she rushed over and blocked the man's sword just when it was about to hit Adam. Stick held high and protectively in front of her, she glared at the man as he applied more pressure, making her legs bent and her arms start to give way with the growing force. The man grinned and applied even more pressure, but Serena swiftly pulled her leg up and kicked him in the stomach. Since he hadn't been guarding his lower body, the force of the attack made him stagger back a little, dropping his sword.

Adam looked over his shoulder, noticing that the girl had stopped the attack and was now in a fight herself. She met his eyes and gave him a smile and nod. "I've got your back," she said reassuringly and he gave a small smile in return before focusing back on his own enemy.

"Damn you little girl, don't interfere!" the rabbit Faunus growled when he saw that the raven-haired girl was intent on fighting him. Serena ignored him and attacked with her weapon, aiming the stick for his feet to try and knock him off balance. The man jumped over it, however, and slashed at her with his sword. Serena quickly jumped back before attacking him again, throwing her stick and aiming for any vital part on his body.

Ruby was busy battling a female Faunus with a sickle attached to a chain. It was an old weapon, but it gave her a lot of trouble since the woman had pretty good control over it and attacked her from every direction. She used Crescent Rose to block the sickle just as it was about to strike her in the stomach. Jumping back in a somersault, she landed nimbly on her feet before firing a few rounds. The woman blocked them all with her sickle and threw it forward again.

"Uh oh," Ruby muttered as she tried to evade once more, but she wasn't quick enough and the sharp blade cut her on her left arm, making her wince. She used her semblance and ran forward, locking the woman in close combat, using Crescent Rose to try and disable the woman, but not kill her. Finally, she managed to knock the weapon out of the Faunus' hand and struck her in the stomach with the blunt end of her weapon. But this short period of peace was quickly disturbed by another Faunus attacking her.

"Come on," she grumbled, parrying the man's attacks, glancing over to her friend.

Serena had finally managed to defeat her opponent and, looking over at Adam, she saw that he was having a hard time with his opponent, the woman having somehow acquired a pair of swords out of glass and it seemed that she was evenly matched against the bull Faunus. Her red dress lit up and every time it did, she either sent out what looked to be attacks made out of fire or created new weapons made out of glass. If she wanted to help Adam, then she had to find a way to prevent her from using those powers of hers.

But how? If I attack her, she'll just beat me with her fire attacks. And I'll get in the way as well; Adam can't fight with me around, she realized, disappointed that she had no way to help the man who had done so much for her.

Suddenly, she felt a great number of Grimm heading towards the city. It felt like all the Grimm that lived in the forest were coming towards them. She figured that they were attracted to all the negative emotions like hate that the Faunus were feeling. But if they wanted to get to them, then they would have to go through the city, which meant that they would encounter people. Concentrating, she looked for Ajax's and Napoleon's auras, and when she found them, sent them calming feelings. She was sure that they would know what that meant; those two were clever.

But while she was doing that, she was open to attacks and Cinder didn't hesitate a second when she saw that the girl was not concentrating. Loading an attack, she sent it towards the girl and it hit her straight in the abdomen, making her gasp and fall to the ground. Serena's skin was burning and she could tell that the fire had lightly scorched it, probably leaving another scar behind.

"Serena!"

Adam had seen the attack and how it had hit the girl. By her look and the way she was gripping her stomach, it must have hurt a lot and possibly injured her. The bad thing was that, while he was worried about the blue-eyed girl and looking at her concerned, he lost his concentration on the fight. Cinder again took the chance, this time sending out an even greater attack. It hit him in the chest, making him fall back. The wound started to bleed and he could feel the old wound start to throb.

"This is it," Cinder said, loading another attack, this one far greater than the ones before. It was a gigantic fireball and he was sure that, if she hit him with that, he would be in great danger of loosing his life. He tried getting up, but the throbbing and pain didn't allow his body to function properly. He looked over to Serena and saw her looking at him with wide eyes, knowing what would happen to him. He didn't even have time to say anything before Cinder launched the attack, a wicked smile on her face and golden eyes glowing.

Serena didn't think what she was doing, she didn't even realize what she was until she had done it. She felt her body move, legs running and trying to get to the red-haired male as fast as possible. She was conscious of the attack heading for him and also what would happen if she were to be hit by it. But it was like her mind and body didn't care.

All she wanted to do was get to Adam.

She skidded to a stop in front of him, arms spread and eyes defiant when the attack hit. She could see Ajax and the others coming up from the corner of her eye and she felt sorry that she would leave them all alone. But instead of feeling searing pain and dying, she felt the energy of the attack entering her body, spreading throughout it until it was completely absorbed.

Adam stared wide-eyed at the girl who had just thrown herself in front of him. And for what? To protect him. He knew that she felt something for him, but he didn't think that she would go as far as give her own life to save his. He watched as the attack hit her, entered her body but instead of her falling to her knees or screaming out in pain like she should have, she remained standing, arms dropping back to her sides.

Serena looked at her hands with wide eyes. What had she just done? She should be dead, the force of the attack was enough to kill her. So why wasn't she? She looked over to Ajax and the others and suddenly, she heard them. Like, really heard them, their thoughts entering her mind.

Well done, child, she heard a voice and thought that it had to be Napoleon. The Grimm was looking at her in a way that told her that he was quite proud of her. You have finally fully synchronized with us.

Synchronized? she asked back through her mind and Napoleon nodded his head.

Yes. You have been accepted by each and every Grimm and now, you have the power to communicate with us and, as you have just seen, absorb energy.

But why me? What have I done to be granted this kind of power? she asked, not understanding why she of all people should be given such a great power.

You, child, have done more than you think. You are the sole human who has accepted us for what we are. Therefor, it will be you who will form a bridge between us and the humans. You have seen that we only mean to help humans and now, you can fulfill this mission by connecting our world with that of the humans as it was always meant to be.

The fights around them had stopped as Faunus and Beacon students and teachers had witnessed the girl absorbing the attack and noticed the numerous Grimm that had started entering the campus. Uncharacteristically, the creatures did not attack them and it seemed like all of them were looking at the girl that had come with the White Fang.

They suddenly noticed her hair turning red, crimson like the eyes of the Grimm and those able to see her eyes saw them changing from their brilliant blue to a glowing red. Ruby and her team looked in wonder and awe at the girl that everyone was looking at and Adam had his mouth agape. He knew that she could control Grimm and that her power was special, but he didn't think that she would be able to do this!

A soft laugh pierced the tense silence that had settled over them and Serena looked up to the woman, Cinder, who was the one omitting the sound.

"I don't know what you just did and how you got out of that one, but I won't let you do it again," she said, her eyes glowing in anticipation.

"You are welcome to try," Serena replied evenly, eyes glowing even more fiercely than before. "But I won't let you."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. I have lost my family and the people I loved once, and I won't let you take him from me. Not if I can do something about it!"

Only later did she realized that she had practically told the whole assembly that she loved Adam, but at the time, she had been too preoccupied to even notice. If she had, then she might have seen the shocked face of Adam, the smile of adoration Ruby was sporting, and the reactions of the others which varied between shock, happiness and just complete confusion since they didn't know what she was talking about.

Cinder laughed loudly. "Oh, and just what are you going to do?" she asked, sarcasm dripping like venom.

Seren narrowed her eyes further at the woman, her eyes glowing brightly, the energy from the previous attack coming back to her hands.

"Well, for one, you can have your magic back!" she said, launching the entirety of the energy back at the woman. Cinder wasn't prepared for this and got hit in the stomach, stumbling back a few feet. Looking up with wide eyes, she said,

"What are you, you monster?"

A/N: I do not own RWBY or its characters. I do, however, own my OC Serena and any other OCs that appear in this story.

Now how was that?