So, this past week, I saw a call for voice actors for the 'Yuuzahn Vong At War' mod for 'Star Wars Empire At War: Forces of Corruption.' I volunteered, so now I'm going to be the voice of the Quasar Carrier. Never done voice acting before. I can tell you from a few hours of work on them, I will not likely be a professional voice actor anytime soon. Still, I've only been told to rerecord only one line, so that's a plus!

Also, THAT VOLUME 5 TRAILER! GET HYPED!

Also also, Last Jedi tickets are on sale!

Summer ignored the stares of various professors as she waited for her cookies to bake. Everyone in there knew she didn't work at Beacon. They also knew that she had specific permission from Headmaster Ozpin to use the staff lounge for this purpose. If they had questions, and several did, Summer just told them to speak with the Headmaster.

The timer dinged and Summer grabbed her oven mitts. She opened the oven and the smell washed over her. Even without looking at the cookies, she could tell they were baked to perfection. She pulled the cookie sheet out and placed it on top of the oven. Now a few of the professors were staring at the cookies, but they weren't getting any. These were all for Summer's 'niece.'

She picked a bag off the floor and set it on the counter. She hummed one of her favorite songs as she spatulaed every cookie into the bag. Amber would love these. She always did, and it had been too long since she had any. Not since before her mother was assassinated. Summer shook her head. Amber probably needed as many friendly faces as possible right now.

Summer picked up the bag and left the staff lounge. She walked directly toward Ozpin's tower. On the way, she thought she saw Clover walking to the airship docks. The Spring Maiden would be flying back to Mistral, where she'd disappear again for the next year, or until Ozpin summoned all the Maidens. Mary, the Summer Maiden, was probably halfway back to Atlas on her private yacht. Hopefully hiding in plain sight would continue to work for her.

Something had been irking Summer for a few days. Ozpin wouldn't let two Maidens live in the same house together, even when that house was occupied by one of the best Huntsman teams that Remnant had ever known, but it was perfectly acceptable for all four to come to Beacon for a day. Summer didn't doubt the students' capability against Grimm, but against other experienced Huntsmen, they'd be rolled over. She'd have to talk to Ozpin again about this. If Amber couldn't live in the STRQ house, maybe she could move a little bit closer.

Summer entered Beacon's tower and walked to the elevator. She pushed the up button, and for once, the elevator was at her floor. That literally never happened before in this tower, what with the main CCT floor being a few floors below Ozpin's office. She shrugged and entered. Summer held her Scroll up to the panel and the elevator rose to Ozpin's office.

A few seconds later, the car stopped and the doors opened. Ozpin sat at his desk with Amber and Cherry sitting across from him. From Summer's position, it looked like Amber's head sunk between her shoulders. Ozpin looked up from his desk and locked eyes with Summer. "Amber," he said, "there's someone here to see you."

Amber turned around in her chair, her eyes sad. But as soon as she Summer, they could have done the job for a lighthouse. "Auntie Summer!" She jumped out of her chair and ran toward her 'aunt.'

"Hey there, Amby." Summer set the bag down just outside the elevator and dropped to a knee. She held out her arms waiting for her 'adopted niece.' Amber ran into the open arms and Summer folded them around her. "It's been too long." She ran a hand through Amber's hair. Silky smooth, just as she remembered it.

"I missed you, Auntie." Amber tightened her tiny arms around Summer's neck.

"I missed you too, Amby." Summer pulled Amber off and looked her up and down. "Wait, you're too tall to be Amber. Sorry, I have you mistaken for someone else."

Amber fervently shook her head. "Nope! I'm me."

"Really?" Summer raised an eyebrow. "I'm not convinced." She leaned forward and kissed Amber on the forehead.

The expected giggles burst forth. Tiny hands tried to push Summer's head away. "Stop it! That tickles."

Summer pulled back and smiled. "Yep! I only know of one girl who thinks kisses tickle." She reached back and pulled the bag forward. "And since you are Amby, I have these for you."

Amber looked at the bag and sniffed the air. Her eyes widened even more. "Cookies!" She jerked the bag open and picked one off the top. She jammed it into her mouth and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. "Yummy!" She grabbed another one and did the same. Summer's cookies had that effect on people.

After the fourth cookie disappeared, Amber stopped and looked into the bag. Her eyes teared up and her shoulders slumped. "Mommy loved these."

Summer's shoulders slumped as well. "I know." She pulled Amber into another hug and rubbed her back. "I miss her too. She was my sister." That second part wasn't technically true, but it was emotionally true. Amber would learn that when she was older. Summer's eyes flicked to Cherry and locked with hers. Summer flicked hers to Amber then back again. Cherry frowned and slowly nodded. Apparently Amber was like this a lot.

"Amber," Summer whispered, "your mommy wouldn't want to see you like this. She would want you to be happy. She would want you to show your beautiful smile wherever you go."

"It's hard." Amber buried her face in Summer's shoulder.

"I know. I lost my mommy too." Summer's eyes fell as she remembered that day. "I held her hand as she became an angel." Amber pulled her head off Summer's shoulder and looked into her adopted aunt's eyes. "It was hard, but I didn't do it alone. My friends and family helped me through it, and never left me alone when I was sad, even though some of them were halfway across Remnant.

"Amber, I can do the same for you." Summer caressed the side of Amber's head. "I don't care what time of day it is, if you need to talk with me, I'll talk for however long you need. If I don't pick up, I'm either driving or fighting monsters like your mommy did. I promise, I won't be gone for nine months like last time. I'll try and see you at least once a month."

Amber's head dipped. "Why can't I come with you?"

Summer hesitated and shot a challenging glance at Ozpin. He sighed and shook his head. Summer's glance turned into a glare, but all hostility disappeared when she faced Amber again. "It's too close to where you lived before. Some of those bad men are still out there. So right now, it's too dangerous for you to be near the city for a long time. As soon as it is, I'll come get you myself."

Amber rose her head. Her lower lip trembled. "Pinky promise?" She rose her right hand with her pinky outstretched.

Summer took that pinky with one of her own. "I promise that when it is safe, I will bring you home."

Amber's lips twitched upward. "I love you, Auntie Summer.'

"I love you too, Amby." Summer hugged Amber again and resumed rubbing her niece' back.

Cherry cleared her throat. "I'm sorry to break this up, but we have a flight to catch."

Summer nodded and peeled Amber off her. "Be good for Cherry. Next time I see you, I want to hear nothing but glowing things about you."

"I'll try."

"That's all I can ask. Now where's that famous smile?" Amber curved her lips up, but it wasn't a smile. "I don't mean that one. I mean this one!" Summer tickled Amber's sides. Amber burst out laughing and tried to push the hands away, but Summer kept up the assault. Amber fell back and tried using her feet to get Summer's hands away. That worked just about as well as her hands.

"I think that's enough, Summer," Cherry laughed as she put a hand on Summer's shoulder. "Don't make her pee her pants."

Summer withdrew her hands. "That's no fun." Amber pushed herself off the floor with a huge smile on her face. Summer returned it. "That's the one I was talking about."

Cherry walked to Amber's side and reached a hand down. "Come on, Amby, let's head out." Amber took the hand and Cherry helped her up. Cherry also took the bag and walked to the elevator.

Amber faced Summer as she stepped into the elevator. "Bye bye!" She waved at her aunt.

Summer waved back. "Bye bye." The elevator doors closed. Summer waited a few seconds for the car to fall a few levels before turning to Ozpin. It was better that Amber didn't hear what was coming. "Oz, please tell me I didn't just lie to her face."

Ozpin sighed. "You know the rules, Summer. No two Maidens may live in the same house."

"For when the Maidens know what they're capable of and they've used their power, yes. Amber doesn't know any of that stuff. And I have nothing against Cherry, and it didn't look like Amber did either, but she's not Amber's family. There's a huge difference."

"Summer," Ozpin sounded sympathetic, but he wasn't backing down, "you know very well what happened last time two Maidens lived together."

"My mom randomly became the Winter Maiden, I know. But neither Winter nor Spring were Huntresses. Amber isn't there and I don't know if she ever will be, but you and several other people in power have said team STRQ is one of the strongest Remnant's ever seen, and that's without me using everything I got. We can protect her."

"If the assassins that killed Scarlet were working for a gang or one of the tribes, I would agree with you." Ozpin sighed. "But they weren't. They were hers."

Summer blinked. "Salem?"

"Yes. They could lie to the police investigators, but not to me. Unfortunately for her, the ones she sent refused to kill a child."

Summer sighed. "So low visibility in her case is a really good idea." She shook her head. "I know normally waiting until she turns eighteen is a good idea to tell her about her powers, but in this case, I think we should tell her what she is. I know what you're going to say, it's a bad idea, and it'll attract unwanted attention, but you saw her." Summer gestured toward the elevator. "Anything that reminds her of her mom torments her. It doesn't need to. She has her mom in her head. I believe Scarlet is more than capable of keeping Amber's Aura in control…Besides, we don't know how long Scarlet is going to stay in Amber's head. She might not last until Amber's eighteen."

"I have already considered this, and I have looked into what has been done in the past. It was hit or miss on whether the new Maiden lived a normal life or whether they used their powers in the wrong situations at too young an age. And in almost all situations, the girl was confused. Having two minds active in one so young, it doesn't end well."

"Okay…" Summer shook her head. "So how long do we wait? The sooner the-"

"Summer," Ozpin interrupted, "it won't be any time soon. Amber needs to mature. By the time it is safe to tell her, we might as well wait until she turns eighteen." Summer dipped her head and crossed her arms. "I know you want to help Amber. I do too, but what she needs is not what she wants."

"I suppose there's no way of convincing you otherwise?"

"No." Ozpin shook his head. "I see no other way."

"There's always another way. If I figure it out, I'll tell you. Is there anything else you had for me?"

"No. That will be all Summer. Give my regards to your team."

With that, Summer waited for the elevator to return. No need to make a mess of rose petals in Ozpin's office. After about a minute the elevator returned and Summer stepped in. She returned to ground level and proceeded to the parking lot. It had been too long since she got out for a good ride, and from the feel of it, her motorcycle thought so too.

Bumblebee sat alongside several other student motorcycles, and in Summer's rather biased opinion, outshone all of them. The motorcycle was the one thing she splurged on with her Huntress income. She had no regrets at the time…then she learned that while Huntsmen bore allegiance to no Kingdom, they still had to pay taxes while they lived in them. Still, this was the one thing she didn't have to share with her team.

Before she picked her helmet off the seat, Summer checked her Scroll. She'd had it on silent from when she was meeting with Ozpin the first time through talking with Amber. She might have missed something. It turned out there were quite a few calls from Tai and Qrow. Did something happen back home?

She punched in Tai's number and held her Scroll to her ear. It rang five times before going to Tai's voicemail. Summer bit her lip and sat on Bumblebee. This couldn't be good. She called Qrow, hoping he would pick up.

This time, Qrow answered before the first ring ended. "Summer! Where have you been?"

"I've been in with Ozpin," Summer defended. "Qrow, what's up?"

"Raven's been in labor for three hours. Get to Vale General as soon as possible." The line clicked.

Labor…Baby…Raven's having her baby. A huge smile broke out on Summer's face. "Raven's having her baby!" she cheered while jumping on her bike. She stopped and looked at what she was sitting on, then at her parking permit. It actually expired five minutes ago. She couldn't leave Bumblebee here and teleport, but she needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible…At least hospitals had free parking.

Summer slammed her Scroll back into a pocket and pulled her open front helmet over her head. She kicked Bumblebee on and into gear then sped out of Beacon's parking lot. Normally police didn't patrol the road between Beacon and Vale and there weren't any speed cameras along it either. But after all her years at Beacon as a student and as a guest demonstrator, this was the first Summer allowed herself to partake on the Beacon Speedway.

Now this is why Summer had an open front helmet. She loved feeling the wind on her face and a little bit in her hair. No helmet at all would be better, but she wasn't suicidal. Even people with the strongest Auras were still killed in car accidents. Summer checked her speed. A hundred and fifty miles an hour and still climbing. Maybe she should look into getting time on Vale's actual racetrack. This was freaking awesome!

Summer rounded a corner and saw a couple of other motorcycle racers in the center of the road and they had regular crotch rockets, not a supercharged one like Bumblebee. Time to make those guys question their manliness. Summer pulled up alongside them. Both helmetless riders looked at Summer and their jaws dropped. Summer waved, then sped past them. She loved beating guys at what they thought were guy things. Tai and Qrow weren't fun like that anymore…They learned quick.

But Summer's fun came to an end too soon. She rounded the last corner and a crossroads came into view. She pulled back on the throttle and slowed down. Zero to sixty was fine and all, but sixty to zero is what really mattered. Bumblebee couldn't quite stop on a dime, but he could stop a lot sooner than those crotch rockets she passed a mile back.

As she came to stop at the light, Summer thought of the quickest way to Vale General. Third was under construction, Main was always jammed, Winter avenue had a major wreck earlier…Fifth over to Cruz to Fourteenth to General avenue.

Summer turned right and moved with the flow of traffic. Of course, the one thing she couldn't predict were the stop lights. Every single intersection she came to, the light was red. Why wouldn't these things let her through? Every time she had to be somewhere in a hurry, the lights worked together to stop her. Why couldn't they cooperate just this once?

After way too long, Summer pulled into the hospital's parking ramp. She found a spot near the skyway to the hospital proper. She turned off Bumblebee and ran across the skyway. The receptionist on the other side looked up like nothing was out of the ordinary. She probably saw this all the time. "Welcome to Vale General. How may I help you?"

Summer slammed her hands on the desk. "My best friend's giving birth here. Where is she?"

The receptionist hit a few things on her keyboard. "What's her name?"

"Raven Branwen." Summer shook her head. How'd she forget to say Raven's name?

"Let's see here." The receptionist busied herself on her keyboard. "It looks like the delivery was successful. She's been moved to room M334." She stood up and pointed down the hall to the right. "You're going to want to go down that hall. You'll pass three more before you see a sign labeled 'Maternity Ward.' You'll take the second staircase you pass, climb up one floor, take a right, then the rooms will be marked with 'M's. I'll let you figure out where 334 is."

"Thank you so much!" Summer pulled the receptionist over the counter and into a hug. She released the poor woman and ran down the hall. Thankfully, no doctors or patients blocked her path. She almost ran past the mentioned hallway, but she did slam into one of its walls. Summer made sure she didn't knock anything off before continuing. She would teleport, but the janitors here had enough to clean up already.

Summer came to the right staircase and practically flew up them. She burst into another hallway and looked to the right. Qrow was standing outside a room looking at his Scroll. "Qrow!" Summer called, though not loud enough to carry through the walls and doors…hopefully.

Qrow looked up. "Twenty minutes. What took you so long?"

"I had Bumblebee. Couldn't leave him at Beacon." Summer jogged over to Qrow and looked at the room number. She smiled and covered her mouth with a few fingers. "They're in here?"

"Yeah, they are." Qrow sighed. "But I need you to do something first." He reached into his jacket and pulled out…

"A breathalyzer?" Summer's shoulders slumped. "I thought she trusted me."

"She does, but you know your agreement. Stay sober, and you get to be the baby's godmother. If not, that's up in the air."

"Qrow, I've been sober for months."

"I know that, you know that, but does this?" Qrow stuck the breathalyzer out to Summer.

Summer narrowed her eyes. Something about the way Qrow said that…the breathalyzer was either fake or rigged. If it showed anything other than zero, it was fine. She sighed and took the thing. "Fine." Summer breathed into the tube. Nothing came up right away and she handed it back to Qrow.

He hit something else and made a fake sounding gasp. "One-point-oh. Summer, how are you alive?"

"Practice." Summer smirked. "I've actually been drunk for the past three months. Couldn't tell, could you?"

"Really? Well then," Qrow put the rigged breathalyzer back into his jacket, "we'll just keep this between us."

"And that's why you're my second in command." Summer pushed past Qrow and crouched down. She held her breath as she slowly opened the door. Raven wore a hospital gown and her hair was a mess, but Summer had never seen such a joyful smile on her partner's face. Tai stood just to the side, looking down with a similar expression on his face.

In Raven's arms lay a beautiful little bundle of joy. She wasn't even making a sound. Her little head lolled to the side. The prettiest lilac eyes stared back at Summer. A big smile broke out on the small face and she reached out toward Summer.

Raven looked up from her baby girl to Summer. She pet the top of the baby's head. "Yang, say hi to your Auntie Summer." Yang let out a squeal of happiness.

"Hi, Yang." Summer gave the baby girl a fingers only wave. She crouch walked over to the bed and peeked over at the baby. Yang gurgled and a little bit of spit came out of her mouth.

Raven used the hospital blanket to wipe the spit up. "Careful, Yang. Don't dirty yourself."

Summer smiled at her partner. She'd never seen Raven so gentle. She faced Yang again and reached out a hand to rub the baby's head. "She's beautiful. She's perfect." Summer smirked and faced the new parents. "How'd that happen?"

Raven shot Summer a weak glare and Tai just laughed. "I think that gene skips a generation. Yang must have got it from my mom." He pasued. "Wait, did you just say perfect?"

"I did, and I meant it." Summer giggled and turned her attention back to the cutie in front of her. "Can I hold her?"

The arms holding Yang tightened their grip. "She's not comfortable with others yet. She cried the whole time when the nurses took her to get cleaned and when Qrow held her."

"It's my Semblance, Rae," Qrow said from behind Summer. "Kids don't like it."

Summer turned her head to face Qrow. "You can turn into a bird, and you still think your Semblance is bad luck. One of those things doesn't exist." Summer faced Raven once more and put on her best puppy dog face. It never worked before, but now that Raven had a kid… "Can I please hold her, Rae?"

Raven blinked then looked down at Yang. She smiled and nodded. "You are the best with kids."

"Thank you." Summer stood up and held her arms out. Raven relaxed her grip on Yang and held her up. Yang gurgled again and looked at her mom, then to Summer. Her smile disappeared her lower lip trembled.

"Don't cry," Summer soothed. She gently took Yang in her arms and cradled her. "I'm nice, and I'm your mommy's best friend, well, besides your daddy." She rocked baby Yang from side to side. Yang's big eyes locked onto Summer's face. Her lower lip stopped trembling and the corners curved upward. She gurgled happily and wiggled in Summer's arms. "I think she likes me." Summer raised her arms and lowered her head to kiss Yang on the forehead. Yang giggled and wiggled even more.

"Don't steal my baby from me," Raven scolded, her eyes narrowed.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Summer gave Yang back to Raven. "She's yours, and she likes you better." As if understanding, Yang cooed and snuggled into Raven's chest.

"I think that's the first time someone's liked me better than you right off the bat." Raven cupped the back of Yang's head and gently moved it closer to her heart. She smirked up at Summer. "Does this make me team mom now?"

"For now." Summer rested her chin on Raven's bed. "Let's see how good of a mommy you are first."

Raven chuckled. "Team mom is fine, Sum."

"But…" Summer purposefully trembled her lower lip, "why is Yang the only one who can call you that?"

"Because she is my actual daughter." Raven took her eyes off Summer and smiled down at Yang. "Plus, I'm pretty sure she's going to call me mama first." Raven winced.

"Okay mama!" Summer closed her eyes, smiled, and cocked her head.

Raven groaned, but Tai and Qrow laughed. "You walked right into that one, Rae." Tai said.

"I knew it right after I said it." Raven sighed and laid back on her pillow. "I know it may be hard to believe, but I'm exhausted right now. Pushing a baby out is not easy. I want to take a nice long nap."

"Oh! Of course. Sorry." Summer stood up slowly and backed away. "I'll let you sleep."

"You're not the one I'm worried about." Raven glared at Qrow. "Someone can't keep quiet to save his life."

Qrow shook his head. "I should actually head back home. Me in a hospital…Not a good idea."

"You're a bird, Qrow." Summer grabbed Qrow's arm and dragged him out of the room. "What did Raven do to you as a kid that made you think that your Semblance is bad luck?"

It's refreshing to write fluffy every once and a while.