A/n: Hello! Sorry for the upload rate, but I had couple of difficulties during this chapter.
And I know I wrote that the next chapter would be in a week, it wasn't.
Sorry.
On other note, I wanted to tell thanks to Metaldragon868 who is helping me a lot with this story!
And to Minesniper, for helping me with the grammar issues I had. Go check them out.

Chapter 2: Love takes time

Cinder PoV

"She is beautiful," I said, looking at the baby girl. She had big, pale, gray eyes with long, black eyelashes. Her hair started growing silver. She had small, silver wolf ears, and a small, silvery-white tail. She also had a gorgeous, toothless smile.

She was going to be my "secret" weapon. But before she could be my weapon, she needed to grow up.

I asked my helpers to get some formula for her. They nodded and left without question while I sat and played with the little baby, all with a small grin on my face. I picked her up and rocked her side to side. She looked at me while I held her in my hands.

She grabbed my finger with her hand, it was the size of my little finger. She was so small, her face was round and a bit chubby, with her big pale gray eyes looking at me.

I didn't have a little sister, nor had I wanted one; but she was close to that. She made me feel… something that I didn't know how to explain.

And it got even stronger when she was about 12 months old. I was changing her diaper with her in my hands.

She looked at me.

She gazed into my eyes with love and affection, her eyes filling up with joy.
Then she smiled at me. A big and wide smile. She laughed and giggled as I played with her. After we stopped, I took her in my arms, holding her carefully while walking to her room. Then I gently put her down to sleep.

She looked at me again, smiling, her eyes widened as I kissed her forehead. She muttered something that I didn't quite understand it at first. I looked at her with a confused look, and then she said it again.

"Mama" Her wolf ears were twitching and tail happily wagging.

I threw my head back with shock. I was surprised by the toddler's speaking.

Wh- What? She can already talk? I thought confusedly. My heart was warmed. It felt something… weird. I've never felt it before.

I was used to people fearing me, kneeling at me, scared.

It was the first time I felt… real love. She didn't know what I did, or what happened to her.

She just loved me.

Then she said "Mama" to me. She thinks that I am her mother.

I panicked a bit at first, I didn't know what to do. I've never experienced this before, this 'Love' thing. It was new to me. But I've decided to accept it, embrace it, and love her back.

I patted her on the head, moving the back of my hand down her cheek, and said to her "Yes darling, I am your mother."

I watched her as she grew up. She got Taller. Became stronger. She became more beautiful with each day that passed.

Her face was getting more lady-like, it started to have a heart-like shape. Her nose was small and a bit lifted, her eyes were a light gray color. Her silver wolf ears had grown bigger, more sensitive. They weren't as cute anymore. They were usually straight upwards, showing off their large size.

I couldn't care less if she was a faunus. After all, she is my greatest treasure.

Adam PoV

"All you have to do is agree." Cinder said.

"I need to think about it." I replied.

"So be it. But I need an answer. Today" Cinder said.

"Argh, Fine." I spat with an unsatisfied look on my face.

I walked out of the room and started thinking about what she had said when something interrupted me. It was a sound of a young girl reading out loud. I was confused. Having doubts as for why in a place like this, a gang hideout, there would be a little girl reading out loud.

So I walked over to the noise, it was a room in the end of the hallway. As I entered I was frozen by the sight. It was a little faunus girl. She was about 5 years old, and she was learning to read.

"Hello?" I said slowly with a soft voice, staying back not to look intimidating. What is she doing here? I thought

"M- My mommy said not to speak with strangers." she muttered and took a step back. Well, at least she is somewhat smart. "You smell like Mommy." She said as she sniffed the air around and took a small step forward.

What? I smell like her mother? How is that possible? I thought but continued. "Okay, what is the next word you are learning?" I asked, kneeling, trying to look less big and scary. I don't want her to be scared of me.

"Um- Umm- It's this one" She pointed at her small book, it said "Big apple tree" in big black and bold words.

"What does it say?" I asked her with a clueless sounding voice.

"Ummm. B... B- Di" She tried to read the words, but she was getting stuck often "Di- Bi- B..." She tried again, but with no luck.

"Try reading one word at a time, okay?" I asked her, teaching her a life lesson on understanding something when you don't fully know what you are reading.

"Okay," she said, "B... Di- Big!"

"Correct. Next one." I said and smiled at her, encouraging her to read the next word.

"A- Ap... Apple."

"Good job, last one."

"T- Tr- Thre- Tree!" She said.

"Good job! Now say it all together." I said with a small smirk on my face.

"D- Big Ap- Apple Th- Tree!"

"Good job. Give me a high five." I said, raising my arm.

"Why didn't they write 'big apple three'?" The little girl asked writing the number three in the air.

"That's because a tree is a big, big plant that reaches high in the sky. Three is a number."

"Which one is here?"

"Tree, it's a big apple tree."

"There you are!" A voice said. I turned around and saw Cinder again.

"Mommy!" The little faunus girl said, and ran towards Cinder.

C- Cinder is the faunus' mother? But how? Cinder is not a faunus. I thought as more and more questions filled my head with confusion about the two's relationship.

"Come here." She picked the little girl up in her arms, the girl was smiling brighter than anything I've seen before. Cinder really was her mother. Maybe she adopted her? Another thought came into my mind. But why? I don't see her as a great faunus lover, especially considering how she treats my men in the White Fang.

Cinder rocked a bit making the little girl fall asleep, she then gently put her on her bed, covering her up with a blanket and kissing her on the forehead. "Good night, Angel."

"I bet you have questions."

"Uh- Y- Yes," I said as I regained focus ,"Why is-"

"Why is a little faunus girl calling me mother?"

"Y- yes."

"It's because I am her mother; I raised since she was a baby."

"But why? Why did you take her? She is a faunus, humans do not adopt faunus kids."

"I saw greatness within her. So I took her with me, and raised her as my own. Her heritage shouldn't change that or my feeling towards her."

I stood there shocked by the answer. I did not know how to react to this.

No human I've encountered ever said something like this about faunus. It changed me a bit, I felt as if I could trust Cinder more. She didn't see the whole faunus thing as a curse or something. She saw me and them as equals. I liked it.

"Anyways. Let's get back to business." Cinder said, making me focus again.

"Oh right, yes." I said, " I agree to your offer."

"Hm," She said with a smirk, "I didn't think otherwise."

Cinder PoV

"Come now, Eisen. Pick a weapon. You may choose any that you like. You have a huge selection here."

She looked at the table that was full of weapons of various sizes and styles. From guns to swords, staffs and axes.

"Eh, Umm." Eisen focused, grabbing her chin as she thought of a weapon of choice."I know!" She said loudly,"I want swords like uncle Adam has! One for each hand!" She finished

At the mention of "Uncle Adam" my brow twitched in suppressed annoyance. Ever since she had met Adam, she'd been enamored with him. I suppose it was good for her to have a strong male, and Faunus, role model; and it helped that Adam seemed to make her happy. It's just...something about it rubs me the wrong way.

Is it jealousy? I considered momentarily.

I quickly discarded those thoughts as I moved to more important things.

Namely, finding out where to start with her.

At first, I just let her use a training knife before having her use actual training katanas, nothing special. The knife was made of silver steel, it shined with the florescent lighting in the house, and the blade itself was dulled so that it won't hurt the opponent.

It was hard to find a good pair of katanas, but I found them. The perfect pair, they were two black-bladed katanas. They had a red and black handle with white wrappings on it. The blade itself was a bit shorter than the usual, but it still worked well.

But…

I didn't want to show Eisen her new katanas yet. I feel like there should be a more appropriate time for that.

"Eisen"

"Huh?" the little girl looked at me with confusion, as for why would I interrupt her play-time.

"Come with me" I said and made a gesture with my hand for her to follow me

"Where are we going?" the little faunus girl asked with confusion, trailing behind me.

"To the sparring room" I said "This is where you are going to spend the next few weeks, depends on how well you'll do."

"Wha- Mommy why?" the girl asked with tears coming into her eyes.

"Shh… relax my child, I am not leaving you. I meant that this is going to be your "school" for the next few weeks or even months. You will be going here in the morning, training until noon and going back home." I explained to the little girl. "I will never leave you," I said as I hugged Eisen, she tightened her grip on me and didn't let go until she was calm once more.

The following morning, I explained to Eisen everything she will be learning in the "school."
She had mixed feeling about this, she never left my side for more than few hours, and even then I was just in the other room, as far as she knows at least.

"Let's go Eisen" I said to the girl, as she hopped out of her room, dressed in sports clothes. She has a light, plain black T-shirt on, black and white shorts that widened at the end of them and red sport shoes.

I grabbed her and picked her up, looking at her and smiling as I opened the door and went through it. I pressed the button on the wall and waiting for the lift to come. A few seconds later the lift came and I pressed the '-2' button. We slowly descended to the '-2' floor, where our sparring room was. I walked inside and put her down. "It's time Eisen"

The first training routine was how to attack and counter attack with knives.

At first, Eisen was getting really frustrated with herself not landing hits on her sparring partner, but as time passed she was getting better and better. She was able to hit her sparring partner 3 times without taking a hit. It was huge progress considering she was still a young little girl.

After that the next few weeks she was learning how to parry attacks. This was a harder technique it involved a lot of patience and having complete focus, both of which will be hard for a little girl.

And as expected the girl was getting tired of this training rather quickly.

At the first few lessons she was failing, and wanted to quit. But I pushed her not to -to pick her weapon and continue.

It was hard for the girl, but she succeeded.

Her sparring partner went for an upper attack with the knife, she placed her knife above her head, slightly tilted. As her partner's knife hit it, his knife ran along her blade and left her untouched.

She had blocked the attack instead of just dodging it. She was getting better and better.

After few months of training, she was already able to attack, parry, dodge and counterattack. It was impressive considering she was still young. I decided that on her birthday, which will be this upcoming weekend, I'll give Eisen her first set of training swords. It'll take a long time before she will be able to actually fight with them, but I believe in her. She has a will of iron, after all.

As the weekend approached, Eisen became more and more excited for her birthday. She knew I had a present for her but she had no idea what it would be. The closer the weekend was came, the grin on her face was grew bigger and bigger.

"Mom!"

"Mommy!"

I heard shouting and felt something jumping on my stomach, I waited for her to be in the air, and then I caught her.

"Gotcha!" The little girl screamed, but she wasn't hurt, she was giggling.

I pinned her to the bed and started tickling her, she was laughing uncontrollably.

I let go of her as she got down off the bed, waiting for me.

"Can I get my present?" Eisen asked with her eyes widening with hope.

"You know the rules."

Eisen frowned "Yes... only after breakfast."

"Go brush your teeth, I'll be there shortly." I said and entered my private bathroom. I looked in the mirror, my raven hair was flowing on my shoulders. I opened the faucet and let the water stream out as I took my toothbrush and put it under the water for a few seconds, and brushed my teeth. Then I opened the closet I had there under the sink, and got a box out. It was wrapped with wrapping paper that had angels on its light blue background. The box itself was quite large, it was long and thin, but light. It was Eisen's first katanas.

I left the bathroom and put the box on the nightstand as I quickly undressed from my nightwear and into a more casual look. Then I grabbed the present and left to the kitchen, hiding the gift behind me.

"What do you want for breakfast, Birthday Girl?" I asked Eisen. It will probably be bacon and eggs. I thought, but I asked her anyway.

"Umm…" the girl thought for few seconds and gave me her answer, and it was as I thought. "Bacon and eggs, please." Eisen said with a big smile covering her face.

"Okay, Honey," I said with a small grin on my face.

She liked when I cooked. My meals were her favorite, and I enjoyed cooking for her.
I poured some oil on the pan and put two strips of bacon to let them fry, and in the mean-time I scrambled the eggs.

Once I flipped the bacon I poured the egg onto the pan, making an omelette with bacon strips.

After few minutes the meal was ready, I served it to Eisen with some orange juice. Her face had a large smile decorating her face when she saw the bacon omelette.

Happiness filled my heart as I saw the joyful child enjoying their favorite meal. This was her birthday after all.

After she had finished the meal. Her eyes were filled with pure joy, and hope. She was getting excited. She wanted her present.

"So… Umm- Mom…. My… Thingy…." She said as her lips curved into a large smile.

"Oh… Right." I said, acting that I didn't know what she was talking about.

"How could I forget your lunch for today?" I said as I turned around back to the kitchen, with a large grin covering my face from teasing the little girl.

"Mom? Are you serious?" She asked. Her smile disappeared, and her eyes were filled up with concern.

"Oh? Did I forget something?" I said looking at the girl with confusion. "Apart from this?" I continued and handed the box to her.

Her face instantly sparked with joy again. She jumped out of her seat, and grabbed the box with excitement. She started ripping the wrapping and throwing it anywhere, just to let the paper out of her hand. After few seconds, a small 'rain' of blue paper was falling to the floor.

Finally, she got to the box. She opened it slowly, her eyes filling with joy and excitement.

Her face froze. She doesn't like it? I thought to myself when her movement snapped me back, Her face had pure happiness on it. Her smile was bigger than ever, her eyes were looking at the blade with eagerness and joy.

She picked up the two blades from the box, she took one in each hand. The blades were long and shined with the reflection of the light bulbs in the room.

She turned around and dropped her blades as she saw my face. I was smiling wide.

She ran up to me and wrapped her hands around my back for a hug, her face was resting on my chest as she tightened the grip. "I love you, Mommy!" She said, looking upwards to my face.

"I love you too, Honey."

It was that moment that I realized that I had never experienced this kind of love before. I had lovers beforehand but it wasn't this kind of love. This was familial love. And now that I get to think about it, I've never really had a family. My parents were junk and left me to do whatever I wanted, not giving a shit. I could've taken that to two places. Give up, or I could keep trying; and I did. It did not cause me to lose myself.

I loved that girl, I loved everything about her. She wasn't a secret weapon. She was my daughter.

? PoV

I was walking the streets of Vale, it was Autumn. The trees were colored yellow and orange, and the weather was getting colder. The clouds were getting darker and darker.
It would rain soon,I thought, let's get this over with.

I was either about to do something really, really stupid, or something really really smart. Depends on how you look at it.

Okay, I need to go over the plan again just to make sure. I thought, sitting in a cafe in the center of Vale. I go into the bank and sit on one of the benches in the corner. Then a man walks into the bank, he is heavily armed. He threatened to kill everyone if they move, disobey him, or call the police. He'll aim his assault rifle at the young female at the counter telling her to get him to the vault. He takes me, threatening to blow my face off if he doesn't get to the vault in the next minute.
I'll pretend to cry and be scared, then he takes me to the vault and makes me put all the money in the bags. After I am finished, he takes me again and walking towards the back door, leaving the bank and me. What they don't know is that there is no robber, and it's all their imagination.

"I'm ready." I whispered to myself, and walked into the bank when a thought hit me, something that could completely ruin the whole plan. If there were any cops inside, my plan would not work.

The sound of gunfire a few blocks away alerted all the people in the bank, and a couple people left running.
No more cops, good. I thought.

And so continued the heist as planned.

Everything went smoothly until one bastard, one greedy bastard, felt he didn't want to die and ran off before I finished taking all of my money.

"Fuck."

I took two of the three bags and ran out the back door as planned. I ran off into the distance, looking for a place to hide, when I heard police sirens. I was struggling to run fast due to the two bags of money on my back. With no other option, I turned into a back street, hiding behind a dumpster. I could hear the police continuing the chase, running across the alley.

I stayed there for a couple more minutes until the coast was clear. Right when I was about to leave, I heard footsteps. They sounded weird, not usual. They echoed in the alley, slowly coming towards me. When they stopped.

"Come on out, Kid. I know you're there, I saw you." A female voice said, it was soft and nice.

I was scared, my mind didn't work properly while I was stressed.

"I'll count to three. One… Two….. Th-"

I walked out of my hiding spot and took a look at the woman.

She was in her late 20s, early 30s. She had a one-piece dress that was red with some golden patterns on it. The odd sound of the footsteps was now made clear when I looked down and saw that she had what looked like glass high-heels.

Is she comfortable in those?

"That was an impressive trick you pulled there. What's your name?" She asked

"E- Eme" I gulped. I had fear inside me, I could not finish the sentence.

I tried again and this time, it worked. "E- Emerald." I finally said.

"I could use someone like you." She said, smirking.

"Wh- What do you mean?" I asked. My body started trembling with fear, her presence on it's own terrifies me.

"I need someone with your skills. I can provide a safe place, and food in return." She said again.

"What's the catch?" I asked. I knew there was something fishy going on.

She smiled, "If you wanted to leave you'd already have done it. I've seen what you are capable of, so don't try to fool me. It won't work."

"So, what is stopping me from leaving?" I asked her with a calm voice, confident I am going to win this argument.

She didn't talk; all she did was pull out her scroll, type something into it, and put it on speaker.

'A bank robbery in downtown Vale occurred today. The suspect is a girl with green hair and red eyes. She was last seen carrying two black sport bags full of money, and her clothes were ragged and torn. We are yet to identify the suspect, if you have any information please contact your local police department.'

She closed her scroll and put it in her pocket again. "I don't think you have much of a choice here, Emerald." She said with a smirk, one which widened into a full smile.

Fucked! I'm fucked! I can't get out of this one…. Or can I?

I concentrated and closed my eyes, focusing hard, I started walking. She continued to talk as if I was not moving.

Suddenly her smile disappeared, She moved back few steps, the sound of her heels echoing in the alley. She grabbed me by my neck. What?! How did she know?! I didn't do anything suspicious!

"Hmhm." She laughed with her mouth closed, "I've got a few tricks of my own. As I said, I am no fool." She dropped me onto the ground, "You have thirty seconds to decide where you want to spend the rest of your life."

FUCK! My thoughts screamed. This the end. I can't go to prison, I'm too young! I can't accept her offer either. I have absolutely no idea who she is, or what she can do.
I had to think fast, "Uhh…" I don't want to rot in jail.

"Ummm….. Fine." I said at last.

I could not think of any good reason not to go with her. She's a criminal? So what? So am I. She's killed people? She's not the only one who's had to kill.

And strangely enough, I had this feeling. Beneath all the fear, I had... trust in her.
My mind was astonished by the idea of trusting such a powerful woman.

"Good." She said with a victorious smirk appearing on her face.

"Come with me." She said as she wrapped her hand around my waist and grabbed me.
I let her take me, not that I had any other choice, and wrapped my hands around her neck to secure myself against her. Is she going to carry me like this all the way to wherever she wants to take me? A thought came into my mind when a sudden movement cut my train of thought short.

She jumped. No, she leapt. It felt almost like she was able to fly.

We started falling, and less than a second later, we had landed on the roof of the building that surrounded the alley. What?! She can jump more than 20 meters in the air? How is that even possible? Is she a huntress? No, she can't be. She has this dark feeling to her. I can't put my finger on it, but she's definitely not a huntress.

After quite a few minutes of hopping on top of buildings, we got to her "safe place." It was an abandoned flat in Old Vale, it was quite large. It had a big living room with a couple of couches, a kitchen with a dining table, and a corridor with 5 doors. The floor had a light gray carpet on it, it had the feeling of fur when it touched my skin.

Without a minute to waste, she walked me into the corridor and into the second door on the right. It was a simple bedroom with two beds on each side of the room, the walls were colored with a slight blue tint, and there was a small desk in the middle of it. I continued to examine the room when I a movement on the bed caught my eyes. A girl sat up and looked at us.

"M- Mom? Who's this?" She asked confused, her face was still looking sleepy with her eyes half closed and a yawn that she was about to let out.

"This? This is Emerald, she is going to live with us for now." The older woman said as she patted my head from behind. What did I get myself into? crossed my mind.

"Emerald. This is Eisen, my daughter. And before you ask, yes, she is a wolf faunus." The woman said, she acted much softer than how she had in the alley.

"H- Hello." I said with a small awkward smile and a little wave.

"Hi." She replied to me. She was overwhelmed by me, but I wasn't sure why. Is it the new scents? Or a new look? Thoughts were filling my mind. I was afraid that she won't accept me. I didn't know why I had this fear in me, but I knew it was there, and it was growing.

"You can stay here." She said and pointed at the second bed in the room. She was being much warmer towards me, it feels almost like she was my…mother, I thought, but I'm not sure if I can trust her. I have the feeling that I need to, but can I? I continued my thought.

With that thought in my head, a feeling of anger filled me. I was getting furious about what had happened, and started thinking of what would've happened if they weren't dead. If my parents weren't dead.

"Wh-" The older lady started, but did not finish due to me throwing my revolvers down on the ground and muttering.

"I… I- I am sorry…. This… all of this is new for me…." I said. After a deep breath, and with a sigh, I continued "I've been on the streets. Alone for a couple of years now. And now, this feeling- someone actually caring about you- and getting a normal place to sleep…. It made me think about why people don't do anything to help those in need. It infuriated me. I was about to hit the wall when I heard a soft voice speaking.

"Well, it won't be as difficult anymore." The older woman said. "You can stay here, I'll help you out." It calmed me down, I wasn't sure why. Something in her voice was relaxing and calming.

"Thank you," I said again, "can I ask you a question?" I asked, trying not to sound rude.

"Yes, of course, Emerald." She said with a small smile widening on her face, it wasn't the sinful smile that she had earlier in the alley. No, it was a cheerful one. She's happy that I was getting more opened up. It softened her a bit.

"Wha- What should I call you?" I asked her with a hint of concern in my voice.

It seemed like the question had caught her off guard. "What do you mean by that?" she said with confusion.

"We didn't actually introduce to each other, and I don't know your name, or what to call you." I said looking down at the ground, trying not to make eye contact.

"I am Cinder, Cinder Fall. But please just call me Cinder."

"Nice to meet you, Cinder." I said while working my arm towards her, allowing myself to slightly trust her.

"Nice to meet you, Emerald. And thanks for clearing this up." She said this and patted me on the head, going out of the room, and walking into the corridor.

"So… What is it like to live in the streets?" The girl asked me. At first I wanted to tell to piss off, but when I looked at her, I saw something. It was something that I had lost long ago. Curiosity. She was being curious about something that she had never experienced.

Argh, She's nosy, but it's actually nice to have someone ask about you, and she probably isn't trying to be rude. I started thinking, not realizing that I was staring.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked, shaking me from my thoughts.

"Oh, no no no. It's okay, I'm just not used having to company. I was alone for the last five years. It is still hard for me to have a conversation."

"Oh," she said, lowering her face with shame. She clearly didn't try to be rude, just curious.

"Can I ask you a question?" She asked me.

"Sure... " I said a bit insecure.

"Does this make us friends?"

A/n: Boy oh boy this chapter was a pain to write. But I had to, for the sake of the story.
So this was kind of a filler chapter, but it was necessary. I need it for the next few chapters. And Oh boy shit's about to go down.

If you liked the story please - Favorite - follow - review.