Chapter 48: Change

Two months had passed since the final battle and a lot had changed during that time.

The most notable change of all was that the tension between humans and Faunus had considerably lessened. Ever since the White Fang had been disbanded and the primary members arrested, along with Spike, Cinder and her group, humans had started to view Faunus from another angle. Some of the former members had actually given up on their former beliefs and had taken up honest shops, some even applying to become teachers at Beacon. The White Fang was now nothing more than a bad memory and people soon started to realize that, even if people were of Faunus lineage, it didn't automatically mean that they were bad.

With so many members changing their ways of thinking and mingling more with humans, people soon had to see that they weren't as bad as they'd thought. The councils even started debating about giving Faunus more rights, the goal that the White Fang had always aimed for. The kingdoms acknowledged that their treatment of the Faunus had been wrong and now tried to make up for it by helping old White Fang members find a job. The balance that had been lost between the two races had been restored almost completely, and people knew that things were changing.

There had been some inquiring on the military's side with Ironwood still being skeptic about all those sudden changes of mind, but nothing big had been done. Both Adam and Serena had been questioned, as well as the other members, about their involvement in the attack. The military had been quite interested to know more about the young woman's power, but thanks to Professor Ozpin, nothing else had been said about it. They just told her that they would keep a close eye on both her and the red-headed Faunus since they were a potential danger to the kingdom, especially the former White Fang member. The others were under close surveillance as well, but that would stop after a year if neither of them did anything.

Raven had now become a full-fledged history teacher along with professor Oobleck. The both of them got along well and Yang had a hunch that her sister had a thing for the green-haired speedster. Other Faunus had become P.E. teachers or taught other branches and some had become supervisors for the dorms.

Both sisters had reconciled and talked a lot about the past, namely their mother. It turned out that she, a woman named Spring, had been part of one of the wandering tribes. She had fallen in love with a man from Vale and settled down together with him. The man's name was Orion and he was the father of Raven. He soon left Spring however, and the woman took her child and joined the wandering tribe once again. Five years later, she fell in love with Tai Yang, Yang's father and they soon had her. Unfortunately, Spring died while giving birth to Yang, and so Tai Yang took them both in and cared for them, until his duties as a Huntsman asked of him to leave them. Raven took care of the three of them, but when the time came and she was forced to join the White Fang, she left her sister and Ruby behind, confident that they would make it without her help. Luckily, Ruby's uncle Qrow soon took care of the kids.

Serena and Adam were now also respected teachers at Beacon and both loved their jobs. The students showed great potential in both classes and some of them could already tame a Grimm with almost no difficulty while others were now worthy opponents for Adam. Cardin Winchester had changed classes after he had humiliated himself several more times, though neither Serena nor Adam minded. The boy had been the only one to always object and it got on both their nerves, though Adam seemed more annoyed by it than his girlfriend.

The both of them had found a nice apartment a month after the fight and now lived in a three bed apartment with bathroom. It was nothing big, but they lived near the center of Vale, a short distance away from the Academy and had a living room, a bed room, kitchen and a small bathroom which even integrated a tub. Serena had been pretty uncomfortable at first with the thought of living together with a man with whom she had only been officially together for a month. But a little prodding from Ruby and her sister Yang had helped make the girl decide and no later were both of them moving in.

It was on this evening however, that Serena received the greatest shock so far.

It was around six in the evening and she was just about to make dinner when Adam entered the kitchen. He had stayed behind at the school to train with some students and it was obvious that he was more than a little tired from his training session. His hair was a little more messy than normally and he tiredly draped his jacket over the stool that stood by the table on the right side of the room, plopping onto it with a grunt.

"Welcome home," Serena greeted, brooding over a cooking book that she had bought and trying to figure out just what she should make for dinner. He gave her a grunt in reply, but the girl was long since used to his mannerism and knew that he was returning the greeting.

"What's for dinner?" he asked tiredly, resting his head on his right hand, arm propped on the table. He watched the woman carefully as she turned page for page and noticed the frown that seemed to increase with every turned page. "What's wrong?"

"I can't figure out what to cook," she sighed, closing the book with a bang and putting it back in the shelf overhead. Turning to him, she narrowed her eyes and put her finger to her chin, thinking hard. Come on, there has to be something that I can cook! she thought desperately. Suddenly, an idea hit her and she grinned.

"What?" Adam asked, suspicious of the look she was wearing. The last time she had had it, she had cooked something that was so spicy that he couldn't eat it without taking a gulp of water after every fork. And she had eaten it like it was nothing; even teased him about being too weak to handle the food, which he was not mind you.

"What do you think of Chinese?"

"Chinese?" he asked, not knowing what she meant.

"Yeah, you know, some noodles, chicken,vegetables, a good sauce…" She trailed off at his look and could see the obvious confusion in his crimson eyes. Don't tell me! "You do know what Chinese food is, right?"

"Nope, never heard of it," Adam answered with a shake of the head.

Serena's eyes opened wide and her jaw almost dropped to the floor. How could he not know Chinese food?! How could people survive here without Chinese food?!

I'll have to change that ASAP!

"Wait here," she said before rushing out of the kitchen, putting on her new pair of black sneakers and leather jacket and exiting the flat. She quickly descended the two flights of stairs and pushed the door open, entering the evening life of Vale. Most people were slowly getting back from work and the shops were full of people who wanted to buy something before heading home.

Serena took to the right and entered the small convenience store that held everything she needed. Grabbing a basket, she went through the rows, grabbing chicken, some noodles that looked Chinese to her and some carrots, broccoli and some chives. Heading to the cashier, she payed for everything and headed back home where Adam was still waiting for her. She had barely been gone for fifteen minutes and immediately started preparing the food.

"Can I help?" Adam asked from behind, standing right behind her and watching her chop the chicken.

"Sure. Could you cut the vegetables into small slices?" she responded, handing him the kitchen knife and resuming her task while he started on his. In no time everything was cut and Serena quickly cooked the noodles while frying the chicken in a wok, before adding the vegetables and noodles. In the mean time, Adam set the table, though Serena replaced the knife and fork with Chinese chopsticks, earning herself a quizzical look from him. He had never seen those things and had no idea on how to use them. She gave both of them equal portions before sitting down.

"I hope you like it. I always loved it when my mom made this," she told him before digging in. Adam took the chopsticks and fumbled with them, trying to figure out just how in the world he was supposed to eat with those. Looking at Serena, he saw her handle them like it was nothing. Serena glanced up from her bowl to see his confused look. "What's wrong?"

"How do you use these?"

"Oh, right, you've never eaten food like this. It's quite ease, just put them in-between your middle and index finger and push down with you thumb. You'll get used to it once you have the hang out," she explained, showing him how she did it. He mimicked her and with a little difficulty, was finally able to eat his food.

"This is really good," he commented.

"Really? That's great; I was a bit afraid it would taste weird since I've never cooked this before. You can put on some soy sauce or chili paste if you want. Just don't use too much chili, it's really spicy."

She grabbed the soy sauce and poured some of it over her own noodles before taking a generous helping of the chili. She loved spicy food and knew how much she could take. Adam thought so too and took a large helping of chili as well, problem was that he had no idea just how spicy it was. So it came as no surprise when he suddenly jumped up and ran to the sink to pour himself a glass of water. Serena almost choked on her noodles at the scene before her and couldn't stop her laughing once her mouth was void of any food.

"Oh shut up," Adam grumbled, glaring at her playfully. This only made her laugh harder and Serena almost fell from her chair, clutching her stomach and trying to somehow calm down.

"I… I'm sorry," she started, laughing even more. "You're… You're just… so adorable," she finished, her laughter slowly but surely dying down and leaving her with a big smile on her face.

"Woman, I have killed countless people and am a most dangerous criminal. I am not adorable," Adam replied, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Oh really?" Serena teased, standing up and walking to right in front of him. "You wouldn't harm a poor, defenseless girl, now would you?" she asked, giving him her puppy dog eyes.

Adam grinned before grabbing her by the waist and spinning them both around so that she was now leaning against the counter with her back. Serena blushed at the sudden boldness and position she found herself in, but the gentle eyes of the man opposite from her soon made her relax.

"Perhaps, but I don't think you qualify as 'defenseless'," he replied lowly before capturing her lips with his own. Serena's arms instinctively went around his neck and stayed there, her fingers lightly caressing the soft strands of hair. This only urged Adam on and he was soon pushing her against the counter with more force and before Serena knew what was going on she was sitting on it, which put them on eye level, with Adam standing in-between her legs, hands resting on her sides. She didn't react, but when his hands started to travel up her shirt and his mouth wandered lower and lower, she suddenly realized just what was going on.

"W-Wait," she whispered, panting lightly from the lack of oxygen and emotions that were swirling around inside her. She wanted this, she really did, but she wasn't ready yet. Adam paused and looked up at her, seeing the swirl of emotions that was clearly visible in her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, it's just that… I'm not ready yet," she mumbled the last part, uncertain what he would think of her now.

But the male only gave a small smile before pecking her on the lips and lifting her off the counter, carefully setting her back on her feet again. "It's okay. We've got time," he replied huskily, watching the relief that flooded her face at his words. He knew that she would still need some time and he was a patient man, at least he had become more patient lately, so he could wait.

"Thanks," Serena replied, drawing him in for another kiss before cleaning up the table. "How about we watch a movie?" she asked, scanning through the TV-magazine to see what they could be watching.

"Sure," he replied, plopping down on their couch and waiting for the raven head to settle down beside him. Slinging an arm around her shoulders, he turned on the TV and later on that night, Serena was contently curled up in his side, head resting on his shoulder while both watched some action movie.

Yes, a lot of things had changed, but her feelings for the male beside her hadn't. And Serena was sure that life had a lot to offer for both of them.

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.

Yay, more romance! And a lot of things have changed in Vale and will continue to do so. But, for those of you who think that this is the end, let me tell you that it isn't. There are still about five chapters to come, so don't quit just yet.