A Schnee was stubborn to a fault. Powerful, in action and in will.

They were undisputed not only because of their tenacity and audacious nerve, but because crossing a Schnee was making a grievous mistake. Becoming lifetime enemies with such a powerful household meant ruin for any and all involved. Those who dared to have the arrogance to oppose the Schnee Dust Company, dared to spit upon the very foundation that made Atlas as powerful as it was.

A Schnee stood as a symbol of Atlas. Of the authority that could be grasped and clung to, commanding a great respect from the entirety of the world as they knew it.

Although, some might find it egotistical, a family so prestigious didn't chip their way into the bedrock of history without great effort and a fellowship. Wilson believed this first and foremost. The people of Atlas bowed to him, because he deserved to be bowed to. Blood, sweat, and tears had been poured painstakingly into the SDC by every figurehead thus far.

He had gambled, he had lost, and those failures too, were part of him. So too, were they the very lifeblood of his family. Weiss was doomed to walk in his footsteps, because she was the one who most took after him in spirit...and now, she was a parent too. Stepping headlong into the role of the head of a family...he doubted she knew entirely what she was in for.

That his bloodline was tarnished with Faunus blood didn't matter. It had happened before after all. No, it was what their little lives represented that bothered him so greatly. The company would survive another sordid tale and a black stain upon its reputation. It was powerful enough for that. It would weather the backlash and storms of almost any scandal, because quite frankly, humanity needed dust to live.

With great effort, he placed his scroll neatly on his desk, ignoring the photo of three infants that had been sent to him, leaning forward with a world weary sigh. An old, and familiar pain began to ache in his shoulders. Still completely and utterly baffled, he could do no more than sit there and contemplate just what exactly he was going to do.

Like always, he hadn't the slightest clue.

A loud pounding upon his office door made him roll his eyes and scatter his thoughts, thinking it to be Winter. "Come in." He summoned darkly, almost ready to hear another tirade spew from her mouth. Instead, it was a servant, who delivered to him an envelope sealed with wax. Inside was an envelope, and several incriminating pieces of evidence.

DISTROY AFTER READING

It was printed across the top of the page, and when the servant left him, he began to read the letter at length, wondering who on earth would send him such a thing. He quickly discovered that it was Blake's handwriting.

I doubt that you'll read this, or that even after you do, you'll find any measure of comfort in what I'm about to say.

We could mutually hate each other to the end of time, and I'd be satisfied with that. I have no qualms telling you to your face that my loyalties have never rested with you, and that as far as I'm concerned, you could drop dead, and I simply wouldn't care for my own sake. Feel free to continue loathing me until your very last breath, it honestly doesn't matter to me...I fully understand, and even accept, that the sentiment is fully reciprocated.

It doesn't matter to me.

It does matter to Weiss though, and that is the entirety of my concern. She cares deeply about what you think, even if she doesn't follow your advice, she certainly does take it to heart. What I'm about to disclose isn't reparation, vengeance, or even justice. Hell, it's probably not even the right thing to do.

However, I still feel as though this was what I should have done in the first place, after extracting myself from the White Fang.

Years ago, the White Fang split off into different branches all around Remnant. Ultimately, this weakened the strength of the leadership, and the size of the White Fang became too much to manage. The organization split into two factions. Those who sought peaceful solutions, and those looking to rebel in one the largest uprisings that Remnant would ever see. The most aggressive members of the White Fang were not easily controlled by their pacifist counterparts, and infighting among the Vale branch reached an all-time high. Several deadly Faunus took the reins with brutal shows of power and dominance. They convinced the vast majority of the Vale branch, and even part of the suppressed and marginalized Atlas branch that they could solve problems at the core.

If they could strike fear into the human population, they could demands the rights and freedoms so crucial to Faunus.

The most influential and deadly members of the White Fang came up with a plan to target the Schnee estate directly, assassinate the bloodline, and gain control of the Schnee Dust Company. Eventually, there would be enough momentum to begin starting a civil war…or at least, that was the intention. As you know, the White Fang failed, but not without casualties on both sides.

Weiss once told me that she was a victim of all the fighting that happened back then. I was merely a child myself, orphaned around that time. Whether or not that makes me a victim too, or simply unlucky, I've never been able to figure out. In either case, those events were what encouraged my upbringing as a member of the White Fang myself, and for that, I found it difficult to fully and completely cut my loyalties after my escape.

I thought that if we could forget each other, we could live in peace.

The past is not so simple a thing, and the shadows of that past loomed over all of us. I know this now. It came to my attention that a handful of the most volatile and violent members of the White Fang managed to escape from the assassination attempt unscathed. They continued commit other violent crimes, going on unpunished. Until recently, no one dared to take them down. The men and women in those photos are the ones who planned the assault on this manor, aided in it, and avoided capture with bloody resistance.

As you can see, they have since been exterminated. I've seen to that personally, through channels that are not entirely legal…I'm sure you understand. Make no mistake, there was no pleasure in this for me. Murder is murder, and I won't pretend I haven't sullied my hands. I just won't stand to see somebody harming my mate without retaliation.

Protecting Weiss, and my cubs, come as my first and foremost priority. Their happiness reaches a close second, and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for them...let this be bodily proof of that.

Weiss would like you to come greet our children. She hopes you will come to accept them as part of the family, and that you may even grow to love them. Truthfully, I can't say I'm entirely fond of the idea. Lord knows you aren't…yet another thing you and I agree on…which is why she hasn't pushed the topic. The problem is, I can't sit idly by and watch her worry about this. Weiss can only push the two of us so far, if we don't meet in the middle, she's only going to get hurt.

Well, I certainly won't be the one to do that, so consider this a personally extend invitation. I'll even let you into the nesting room. For the record, I don't expect you to understand the magnitude of that invitation. I don't even expect you to give me the time of day, assuming you haven't gotten rid of this missive by now, I'll make due with having said this much.

The fact of the matter is, this isn't about you, or me. It's about Weiss, and even in this, I'm willing to bend over backwards to ensure her happiness. The sooner you decide to do the same, the sooner you and I can go back to silently hating each other from afar.

Wilson could only rub his eyes as he put the letter down, silent curses slipping from his lips.

He examined the images of the fallen White Fang members more carefully. Some he knew well for their crimes, others he had never even seen before. Tossing the evidence into the lit fireplace beside him seemed like little more than a consolation. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the night that had transpired at the hands of these criminals...if he thought hard enough about it, he could still smell the blood of his wife on his fingertips.

He still had nightmares, still dreamt terrors that could have so easily become truth...but waking was always painful, no matter what.

Vengeance was something he had yearned for, but these deaths were no more of a comfort to him than the countless nights spent plotting such sweet victory. He doubted many things, questioned others, and as he mentally berated it all, he felt weak.

He felt old…and lastly, he felt tired…so very, very, tired.

He knew what was expected of him, but that didn't make him any more fond of the idea than it had before. If that made him a bitter old man, so be it.

Each cub had a distinctive sound to their voice. Unsurprisingly, their daughter was the night owl, but she could wake her siblings by mewing just as easily. She had done so just last night, in fact, provoking a chorus of kittenish calls for attention. It was amazing just how quickly the litter all responded to each other, sometimes making racket purely for the sake of it. Most of the noise was feline, but, that was always preferable over human sounds.

Of course, Blake was an attentive mother, rousing at even the tiniest of demands. With three little ones, it was no easy task, and it seemed as if she was always doing something instead of resting. She didn't complain in the slightest, even when her feline instinct warred with human logic. Marking her scent took hours out of her day, feeding, bathing, and cat napping taking up the other large chunks of time. She took time to talk to them too, but that language wasn't anything like human speech.

Weiss made no mistake about that exhausted observation, when she realized that the cubs were distinctly feline. Though it wasn't exactly a shock, it took some getting used too.

Weiss was much slower up the uptake to parenthood. Every little mewl or purr were sounds she had never needed to understand on an intuitive level before. Now, her children not only seemingly expected her to know, they demanded a level of proficiency she simply didn't have. Not when it came to communicating as a Faunus would. She was not as warm a person as Blake either, and she exuded that uncertainty when mews turn into human cries…followed normally by loud screeching.

Weiss never truly panicked, but, it was a near thing, especially when Blake left her alone with all three for short intervals.

They survived the first week in a blur, Weiss was sure her blood had changed over to pure caffeine at some point, and she had no idea how Blake could possibly keep up with the demands of three cubs, none of whom favored bottles and didn't seem to nap at the same time. Weiss lessened the burden however she could, but, with Blake still refusing entry to others, and the cubs Faunus ears starting to open up for the first time, Weiss felt her sanity dwindling.

"Well, look who's stumbling around like death warmed over." Yang had commented when Weiss dragged herself down to the kitchen, holding the runt of the litter in her arms.

"Oh, shut up." Weiss groused, as she glared at Yang. "You'd look like death warmed over too, if you had the kind of night we had."

"Touchy…" Yang laughed, a knowing smirk radiating off of her features. She didn't remember a whole lot from when Ruby was a baby, but she did remember complaining that her baby sister kept her up at night. "Well, at least one of you looks like he's having a good day."

Weiss looked down at her son. Wycliff for his part was more than happy to cocoon himself in the soft and fluffy bathrobe that his parent donned, pressing his fingers over and over into the fabric, clutching and unclutching the material. All of the litter tended to do that, another feline trait, Weiss assumed, if reading was anything to go by.

"He does, doesn't he?" Weiss noted.

"Compared to you? Yeah, I'd say so."

"I probably do look awful, and I can't possibly bring myself to care." Weiss said, knowing she wasn't at all put together. All she wanted was a moment of peace before going back into the room filled with one screeching child that wouldn't settle down for the life of her. "Honestly, I'm surprised Blake doesn't have a migraine."

Yang had suspected that, but stated the obvious anyway. "One of those mornings, huh?"

"Four hours, Yang. Four hours. Do you know the significance of that number?"

"The little squirt is still crying, isn't she?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." Weiss replied with a dry air of annoyance.

"Uh, can I…or is Blake still being possessive?"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but handed her child over to Yang carefully, warning her to be mindful of his tail. The little furry appendage stuck out of the hole sewn in his cloth diaper. He was the only child that couldn't use the disposable brand, due to being much too small for any of them to fit him right. His tail made it quite difficult to get a proper fit, and it seemed he would need to grow into them. He took to being passed off in relative silence, seemingly uncaring that he'd received a new retainer.

Though, Weiss considered that probably had to with Yang's excessively large bust and a semblance that was equal to that of a warm blanket. Honestly, what wasn't to like about any of that? Rubbing her tired eyes she leaned heavily across the counter top. "She's not being possessive, she's just doing what feels right, I assume."

"Yeah, I know…it just kind of sucks...that's all. It sort of feels like she can't trust us. I mean, not that she would want us in there all the time, I get that…still, all we ever get to see of the little buggers is whenever you bring one of them out with you, and even then, you're only out here what, like a second?"

"Honestly, we could probably do with some help. Blake insists that we don't. To her it's sacrilege enough that I carry any of them with me out of the room." The white haired woman poured herself another cup of coffee, pondering that for the umpteenth time. Forgoing breakfast had been a bad idea, she was starving. Reaching into the confectionary box that was normally kept on hand for Ruby, Weiss pulled out one of the jumbo cookies, eyeing it hungrily. "Even now, I'm half expecting my scroll to buzz, demanding to know where I am with our son."

"She hates that, I'm guessing."

"Oh, she absolutely loathes it." Weiss said, snapping the cookie in half, dipping one of the pieces into the warm drink in front of her. "She's bitten my head off more than once, and so that's why I've been trying not to do it." Weiss nodded, taking a very large and undignified bite of the morsel in front of her before reaching for a napkin to dab at her lips. "I'm losing my mind, and I have no idea how Blake does it."

"Does what?"

"Everything." Weiss deadpanned. "Just…everything." She waved off the entire thought. "It's a mystery to me."

"Eh, it's probably just because being a mom really fits Blake, and it doesn't fit you as much yet. there's a lot to get used to, and no offense, but you like to maintain order and control...kids are anything but that, and I don't remember Ruby being put on any kind of schedule until she was way older." Yang said thoughtfully.

"Comforting."

"I know, right?" Yang sighed then, looking down at the small boy in her arms. Baby blue eyes looking up at her, blinking slowly. "Hey, Weiss...if I were you, I probably wouldn't worry about it too much. If I was in your position right now, I'd probably look worse..."

"You say that, Yang...but I highly doubt that. The boys are all too happy to just lay there and claw on the blankets. Wycliff seems to sleep on just about anyone. He fell asleep on Ruby yesterday when I snuck out of the room for a half hour to check the stocks. I wish I could say the same for my daughter, but, Bianca keeps screaming. She's nursed for a little bit this morning, but the rest of the time, she's just been so loud...and I so much as hold her, and she starts crying immediately."

"Heh, sounds like mommy girl. Ruby was like that too..." Yang trailed off before chewing on her lower lip. "Do you have a guess as to why she's in a bad mood?"

"Blake thinks it because her other ears are starting to open and take sound. It makes everything so much louder, I'm supposing. Whatever it is, its god awful." She dipped the other half of the cookie into her mug of coffee when her scroll started beeping. She checked it, even though she didn't need too. "And on that topic, Blake is now plotting my demise for subjecting our infant son to the horrors of the kitchen."

Yang wisely didn't comment on the mild agitation lingering in the shorter woman's voice. She watched as Weiss set her scroll on the counter, and pointedly took another swig out of her mug. "Um, aren't you going to answer that?"

"Coffee now." Weiss murmured. "Wife after."

Yang could only laugh when the scroll started to ring, forcing Weiss to answer it with an exasperated, but loving sigh, assuring Blake that she would return to the room monetarily.

The house was strangely quiet during the day, though, Yang supposed that would be expected since Weiss wasn't around to dictate normal activities. Over seventy-five percent of the maids, cooks, and other household crew had been sent on vacation well away from the manor, all expenses paid by the SDC. It was the first vacation some of them had ever taken. Many of the Faunus workers particularly had never had the luxury of leaving the manor on such a whim, and went back to their homelands to visit relatives, or at least the grave markers of kin they once knew. Others chose relaxing getaways to tropical locations owned by the company.

Yang watched one of the few maids remaining in the home as the elderly woman with reptilian eyes dusted the furnishings, same as she did every single day like clockwork. She had no family to speak of, and her mind had slowly been going over the years. If it wasn't for her ritualistic tasks, there was a good chance she would end up rotting the remainder of her life away in some old folks home.

Instead, she stayed in the mansion with only one task to worry about. Dusting the tables...and only the tables. Honestly, Yang was sure that was merely an excuse to keep the woman on the payroll at this point, seeing as she was getting absolutely nothing done, but humming away happily as if she were. Yang held back a smirk as the woman fawned over that same end table over and over again, until one of the other maids reminded her it was time for a tea break...the fifth tea break in the last five hours that the woman had been puttering in the room.

So, with one of the other maids, she tittered on, talking to one of the other maids about one of the books she read recently, while her coworker washed the windows.

It was a reminder that even though Weiss herself was taking a great deal of time off, people under her employment counted on her success and fortune. Where would this woman be without a place to stay, truly? As a Faunus, there probably weren't many retirement homes in Atlas who would welcome her.

Thinking about that made the blonde worry even more than before. Yang had been entrusted with overseeing various parts of the company for a short time…and more importantly, Blake had put a special sort of stock in Ruby…dragging her into the dark and questionable underground that the criminal underworld demanded. Yang still wasn't sure how she felt about that, but one thing was made clear as day.

Her time and place at the SDC was slowly dwindling…her life at the manor was no longer what she expected it to be, or what she wanted it to be...it was time to go back to Vale.

Seeing Weiss and Blake tend to their little ones made it all the more clear, there just wasn't a future here for her anymore. That was gone now, completely…and it had been that way for a long time. Probably ever since the couple married and settled down, if Yang was being honest with herself. She couldn't keep staying in the role she had once stood in, and like it or not, the SDC didn't need her nearly as much as everyone kept telling her…not with Ruby stepping up to oversee plenty of the security detail.

Sure, Ruby was a novice at paperwork, and hated the monotony of routine, sure, but if her sister was anything, it was capable and adaptable. Her time in the field demanded that she be that way, and those traits would serve her well. From across the table, Ruby was buried in her own stack of reports. They'd been at this for days now...the only thing keeping Ruby going at this point was the promise of unlimited hot chocolate, and something Sun had murmured into her ear, which, Yang was sure she didn't want the details of.

Yang closed the laptop she was typing on and set it aside. "You don't have to do this…"

"No one can go through thousands of hours of incident reports in a day." Ruby said, her eyes still glued to one absurd case that revolved around someone accidentally igniting fire dust down in the ballistics lab. "Besides, this one includes hunter involvement. I want lead on this."

"I'd really rather if you didn't." Yang said, reaching for the file to look at it again. "There are other things you should be doing."

Ruby shrugged. "Not all of the Grimm are cleared out in the north yet."

The blonde hesitated, the hard truth about those matters were bitter on her own tongue. "I doubt they ever will be, not fully. These artic Grimm are made to withstand these conditions."

"Then hunters and huntresses need to rethink their strategies, that's all." Ruby regarded Yang then, eyes of steel both in color and in gaze softening as she leaned back in the chair. "I don't plan to go taking the inspections routes, if that's what you're worried about...but this case...it just bothers me, so I wanted to help."

The purity of the dust demanded a recall on all rounds made and issued to the SDC security force. Notifying all of the personnel, and cross-referencing all of the mines that the dust came from would be a long and drawn out task…mine inspections could take months, and the staff of hunters on the SDC payroll had dwindled thin. It was no small issue, but it was just one of many.

Finally, Yang spoke slowly. "That's not what's bugging me."

"Then what is?"

"You told me if I went with Yatsuhashi, when I came back, we'd figure out what to do about things, but it's a huge problem. What are we going to do?" That, Yang decided, was a much harder question to answer, but the facts were plain as day. "You don't really want to do this kind of work. Someone else should be sitting at this table…someone who actually wants to do the work when I go back to Vale."

"So…" Ruby started almost hopefully. "You are going back then?"

"I…might." Yang hesitated, before looking away. "It's not as simple as will or won't. It comes down to the safety of the people I care about. If I go back to Vale, I've got to know Blake can trust whoever she picks for the part."

"Okay…so what?"

"Well, Ruby, don't know if you noticed or not, but she's obviously looking at you. Thing is, if you want to go off and be a huntress after you get your new arm, I can't exactly go back to Vale, now can I?"

"Hold on just a damn second." Ruby's voice gained an edge to it after hearing that. One that was sharper than she intended to be. "You can't pin that kind of choice on me, Yang, that's not fair."

"Tough cookies, Ruby, chew harder." Yang shot back. "Do you really want Blake giving orders to one of her little buddies? If they turn on her, it's over, and you know that just as well as I do."

"There are people better suited to lead the security division." Ruby said slowly. "Great guys, most of them Blake trained personally. Or you, and they're all great choices."

"But they're not the best choices." Yang told her. "And when you play for keeps, you go with the best. All in, or not at all. We've had their backs for years, it has to be us…if it's not us, then what good are we? Why'd we come all the way to Atlas, if it wasn't to, protect them, and keep them safe?"

"Weiss offered me a job. I saw the good it could do, and so I took it." Ruby sometimes hated herself for thinking that way, but ultimately, that's what had kept her in Atlas for all these years. "I was prepared to strike out on my own. Weiss gave a place so I didn't have to, and that was the best thing ever. I loved the job. Getting hurt doesn't change the fact that I am a huntress…so I do hate dealing with the security stuff...I probably always will."

"Ruby, come on…" Yang pressed. "Say it how you really mean it."

"I hate the paperwork. I hate giving out orders to do things I don't agree with, and I'm not okay with justifying all of that for the sake of protection." Ruby started, her words like acid. "I hate living in fear, I won't. I refuse, and I know there will always be more attacks on the SDC...but...those won't just go away because I want them to...and the worst thing is, that cloak and dagger work from before is terrible too."

Of course Ruby wouldn't agree with it, Yang partially hoped that Ruby never did.

"You're right." Yang murmured. "There's got to be a better way, but Blake and I haven't found it yet. I don't know if we ever will."

"Then we look harder, Yang." Ruby groused softly. "We didn't graduate Beacon to hide behind our weapons and reputation. We graduated to make changes. If you don't want to make them, I will, and..."

"What is it sis?"

"I guess that's why..." Ruby huffed with a sigh. "I guess that's why I'm sitting at this table…because like it or not, changes do have to happen. Besides, I can't do anything else until I get my new arm. I hate sitting around worse than I hate security stuff."

"But you will get it...you're new arm, I mean. After that, you'll go back into the field, right?"

"I'm going to give it my best shot." Ruby said uncertainly. "SDC hunter or not, that's my goal."

"And Yatsuhashi needs to stay in the competition circuit with Pyrrha…" Yang murmured quietly. "She relies on him, and Velvet needs him too."

"Did Velvet say that?"

"Huh?"

"Did Velvet say that she always needed him around? That he couldn't live his own life?"

"Ruby…come on, it's not like that…"

Ruby's shoulders sagged. "I know. I didn't either…not really." Pushing all of the paperwork to the side, she put her arms on the table, and used them as a pillow for her head. "Look, Yang, I promise we'll get this all sorted out. We always do…but, I can't promise it'll be on your terms. Things are really different now, it's not just the four of us. Whatever we decide, it's got to be something we can all make do with, and it's not going to be perfect for anyone, but that's just the ways it goes. You have to do what you want to do regardless of that. It doesn't matter what we decide."

"Doesn't it, though?"

"If you want to be with Yastu, then just do that." Ruby said. "Everything else…well, it has to work out somehow. That's really the only option there is, you know?"

"I know, Ruby." Yang murmured. "I…do plan to go back to Vale…but, it's not like I won't ever be around. They travel around a lot because of the work Coco does. That's why they have the house up here in Atlas in the first place. That's really the only assurance I have in all of this that Vale's where I want to go. If it wasn't for that, I don't know if I could handle it. I just hope everything works out like it should."

Yang couldn't fault Ruby's logic.

Part of her didn't want to, and when she made a call to Yatsuhashi and heard him offer soft, meaningful words of solace just as always, it was the last straw. The tipping point she knew inevitably was coming. Just talking to him captured a lump in her throat that Yang simply didn't like. She knew, then and there, what she had to do.

It was with great difficultly that Yang wrote her resignation letter to the SDC following day. It was merely a formality, but that alone was enough to prove just how influential these women in her life had become…after all, when had she ever cared about formality? A pang in her chest reminded her that deep down, she really didn't, but this was the right thing to do.

Writing it was easy, sliding it under the door took only a moment's hesitation, but the aftermath was grueling. Facing down the only family she had ever come to know frightened her. She spent hours just pacing outside of the nesting area, leaning against the wall, and crumpling herself restlessly in the corner. Anxiety kept her from knocking, and finally, she leaned agents the door defeated.

She landed against it loud enough to make it sound like a knock.

What she didn't expect was that the would be opened, and Yang crashed to the floor without preamble. Her shocked expression found piercing golden eyes peering back at her. "I told you, they're too young." Blake said with her hands on her hips. "When they're ready to be socialized, Yang, I promise you'll be the first to know and then you can cart all three of them all over the house as much as you want, but for now you just have to wait."

Yang cracked a weak smile, but it fracture the moment she found her voice. "I can't wait that long, kitty." She picked herself up of the floor slowly. Blake offered her a hand with strength Yang hadn't seen in so long, she partially forgot Blake had it in the first place. The gentle glow was almost like a shadow of dark silk against Blake's skin. "You got your aura back." The blonde said, feeling her voice strain under the observation.

"Of course I do, I don't have to take the limiters anymore." Blake said, leaning gently against the doorframe, arms crossed. "I haven't had too since the cubs were born, which you would know if you actually answered your texts."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Yang said guiltily. "How does it feel?"

"Amazing." Blake said, feeling as though she had been missing part of herself for so long, that she was astounded it had even come back. "I never knew how much I would miss having my aura around until it just wasn't there anymore. Though, I still feel like a civilian." She said, poking at her belly as proof.

"I'm glad you finally have it back though."

"Back or not, it's still flaky. I won't be good in a fight for a while, if ever." Blake looked over her shoulder, assuring herself that Weiss wasn't having trouble getting the litter settled. Satisfied, she turned back to Yang. "I doubt I'll be able to devote the same amount of time to training anymore, at least, not for a while."

"You'll get there, Blakey." Yang said with a shake of her head. "You kind of have to, you know?"

"Okay, out with it. What's wrong?"

Yang said nothing at first, choosing to fidget in place instead. When the moments ticked on by, she knew Blake wasn't going to change the subject.

"It's gotten to the point I just don't even know anymore." Yang shrugged and leaned heavily against the doorway too, and closed her eyes when she felt Blake toy with the wayward strands of blonde tresses that rested between them. "I had this whole big speech prepared, but it just doesn't seem like that's good enough either. I don't want to make this into something it isn't, but I can't just ignore-" Yang shut her mouth with a loud click, looking away from those entirely too deep golden eyes. "That's not what I mean either...shit."

"Yang," Blake murmured "Don't be complicated."

Blake could read her like an open book, and Yang hated it. Although, she couldn't deny it was her own fault. She swallowed hard and pulled away. "I love you guys…I've always loved you guys…you're my family, Blake, and even if it's not the weird sort of family I twisted around in my mind and kept hoping for...you gave me a place to be, you know? You guys gave me a home. I'll never be able to thank you enough for that."

"You're an idiot." Blake sighed softly, pulling Yang into a tight hug. "Why would you choose now to pick at old wounds?"

"Because I'm going back to Vale." Yang said, her arms finally feeling like limbs instead of cylinders of lead holding her in place. She wrapped her arms around Blake in reply, not realizing how completely powerless she was against such a simple show of affection. How starved for it over the years she had become all due to her silent suffering. "And, I guess, I don't want you to hate me for it."

"Hate you?" Blake pulled away only enough to see the dark expression on Yang's face. Fully expecting to be cast aside. It was old trauma from Yang's childhood, lingering whispers that she was easily forgotten about and left behind. "My god, Yang. That's impossible. I couldn't..."

"But what if you do? If you ended up hating me, I can't do it." Yang said quietly. "If you even think for a second that you would resent that, tell me to stay, and I will."

"That's your fear of turning into your mother talking." Blake could only sigh at Yang's bullheadedness. "Yang, living your own life is not the same thing as abandonment. I can't ask you to keep torturing yourself this way." Blake said softly. "If you want to go to Vale, Weiss and I have to support that. Ruby too. It's exactly as you said, we're family. There is nothing in this world you could possibly do to change that." She pulled away then, fixing the collar of Yang's shirt. "If I have to take you to Vale myself to prove that to you, I will."

Yang shook her head. "I'm flying out the day after tomorrow."

"Then stop moping around in the hallway and come greet your niece and nephews properly." Blake all but scolded, dragging Yang through the threshold. "Don't look at me that way, if you start blubbering, I will too, and if we go in there like that, we'll probably send Weiss fleeing for the office."

"As if I couldn't hear your entire powwow from here." Weiss said, from the warmth of the bedding, as she watched over the three little ones. Ever so carefully, she removed herself from the fluffy blankets, taking a handful of torn paper and flinging it at the blonde. "You're lucky I shredded that resignation letter, Yang, or else I would beat you over the head with it…and next time you slide something like that under the door, make sure it doesn't look like you've used it as a tissue..."

"Weiss, I just-"

"Not another word." Weiss commanded, cutting her off at the pass. "Save it Yang, of all the asinine things to come out of your mouth over the years, this is one thing I'm sure I don't want to hear." Instead, she pulled Yang into a hug of her own, a difficult thing to do with someone so much taller than herself. "You had us worried, you blundering ox, and like it or not, you are still part of this family, and as such, part of this company...Coco and I have plans for you Yang...big, big plans. You'll just have to wait and see."

AYangThang: Sorry this took so long to get out. I had planned it for mother's day, but that failed spectacularly because I ended up going up north, and we have no internet up there, so my bad. Anyway, this is the official final chapter. An epilogue is incoming in the coming weeks to tie up loose ends, and honestly, I think you'll really love that, but until then, hope you enjoyed this, and I'll catch you later.