Vacuo. One of the most unforgiving places to live in Remnant.

Yang never thought that she would be here in this kingdom, surviving with her team and numerous others, yet here they were. It wasn't as bad as they had feared, but still, it was rather different from not only Vale and Mistral, but even Mantle. The influx of Grimm was constant for a place they had to make do with, not to mention the potential threat of something going wrong somewhere in the city was higher than they'd ever experienced before.

They barely found time to settle down.

If they did.

Anytime Yang tried to read a comic with Ruby, it ended in them barely reading a few panels before they had to put their comic down and venture out into the city, looking for a potential sign of danger. Weiss wasn't enjoying the luxury as well, having had to put aside her own leisure time herself. Neither did Blake, who didn't find time for reading.

Nobody else, from Emerald to Oscar, found their fair share, either. It was all work, no play.

The moment Yang found the comic she and Ruby left on the table once again, she wanted to tear it apart. Part of her was starting to think that perhaps she and Ruby were wasting time on a stupid, dumb thing that was taking time away from making sure Vacuo and its population were safe. But if she did, she and Ruby would have one less fun thing to retreat to. But what was even the point of getting comics if they couldn't find time that didn't risk the city going unprotected? Even with all the defenses, even with all the help they were getting, it probably wasn't enough.

It was never going to be enough anyways.

Salem, Cinder, Mercury, and Tyrian were still out there alongside Gods know who else is serving Salem. Yang should have realized that the moment Team RWBY and Jaune finally landed back in Vacuo.

So what would happen if Cinder struck today? What then? But then if they deal with her, what would happen with the Grimm? Would they turn deadlier? But if they stopped her, what would stop others, Salem herself included, from finishing what she started? Why was she even out there fighting a war none of her teammates know might be truly hopeless?

Why? Why? Why?

. . .

Ravagers and Sulfurs were coming, like clockwork.

Penny took it out on them as a routine, watching them perish to her new string-free swords and newfound Maiden powers. Ever since Winter sacrificed her life weakening Cinder, Penny had become the new Winter Maiden for the foreseeable future. Even months on, she missed her dearly, having made one of her best friends since Ruby. In fact, she was among one of the first to deliver an eulogy at her military funeral. Although the two didn't get along with each other as much as she wanted to admit, she could trace most of their conflict back to Ironwood, who was one of her two principal creators.

She had learned to cope with her untimely passing, but for a while, she wanted to shout at the world for taking away a dear friend. She wanted to curse the Gods. And a second later, she was, even as she tore through the seemingly endless count of Grimm.

She stood back, then held her hand out in front as the swords entered a familiar position. A ball of concentrated fire formed between the swords.

Penny smiled as the balefire rippled loose. The balefire decimated the numerous Grimm coming her way. Even months on, she was still fortunate to be able to fulfill her chances at protecting people.

Eventually, and with the help of surviving Atlesian military infantry and Huntsmen alike, the Grimm had been warded off.

For a few hours.

A few hours.

Penny pushed that to the side for now. She was the Winter Maiden, sure, and she was more than happy to help, but she recognized when to let others do their thing. She was effective at dealing with Grimm and crowd control, but others were better than her at internal politics and area patrol. She had a third advantage, though, and that was entertaining people while their spirits were low. Even as a human, she still found crafty ways to keep people happy and entertained, even if only for a short while.

Nonetheless, every little bit helped. And she was fortunate about it.

. . .

Yang remembered a time when Blake lost sleep over an irrational (at the time) fear.

It was the day before the dance. Blake was worrying about Roman, who had gotten away despite Team RWBY and half of Team SSSN's best efforts. Blake once said that she didn't have the luxury to slow down, and Yang brazenly said "no" to that. Yang was right; there was time to sit back and relax, and come to the dance that night. After all, Roman and his partner Neo weren't infallible.

But if Blake said that today, she would have the one in the right. Nobody had the luxury to slow down anymore.

"Blake." Yang said blankly. "I take back everything about the luxury to slow down from all those years ago. You were right."

But Blake didn't respond. Instead, she was staring at a map riddled with marks indicating where the next Grimm attack might happen, where Salem and her allies could strike, and where civil unrest could turn violent.

"Blake? Blake?" Yang approached her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have doubted you back the—"

"Can't you see I'm busy?" was all Blake asked.

Yang fell silent. Blake was looking at her with reddened, baggy, almost lifeless eyes. The face appeared seemingly emotionless, but if Yang were to look, she saw a small hint of tears in those eyes. Then just like that, Blake was back to scrutinizing the map, this time grabbing the red marker and scribbling over it.

So Yang left the shack for a home.

Dozens more shocks greeted her as she exited her own. She saw a few people emerge out of them, one of them a Huntsman. However, the first thing Yang noticed was his lively eyes; light was still in them. He was even whistling, something Yang hadn't done in a while.

'No way,' Yang thought. 'He shouldn't be like this. We're struggling and we're only a few steps away from total destruction. Why?'

Just then, Penny dropped by, landing near the doorstep of her and her team's Vacuo home. She was wearing an altogether new set of clothes for the weather; a white button-up shirt with puffy short sleeves, a frilly collar with a red ribbon, a green pinafore dress, long black socks, and a pair of black Mary Jane-style shoes.

But that wasn't what stood out. No, it was her eyes.

Penny's eyes were lively and free of bags, which, to her, was an anomaly. She could have sworn she saw people with either dead eyes, bags under eyes, or both, but rarely neither. Her, and that Huntsman's, eyes were examples of just that.

How?

"Salutations, Yang!" Penny exclaimed to her. "I am here to give your sister Ruby a visit!"

"Ruby's not here today," Yang stated matter-of-factly. "She's away keeping watch on... people..."

Her mood dropped. "Oh." She started to step away, prepared to take off. "Then I shall return to my quarters."

As this was going on, Yang thought about what must've happened here before she, Team RWBY, and Jaune returned to Remnant from Ever After. People she knew and loved must've passed away in that time, and every time, it must've hurt the same. Penny was the new Winter Maiden as well, as she had noticed in arriving at Vacuo at long last. Admittedly, she wasn't sure what was going on, but then it hit her:

Winter was the Winter Maiden.

And Winter had perished along the way. It wasn't a surprise, then, that she thought Penny was probably going through her own hurt as well, despite what her eyes were trying to tell her.

"...Wait, wait!" Yang held her hand out to Penny, who stopped to turn towards her mid-air, when her eyes widened in shock.

'Oh Gods, am I already wasting her time?' was the first of several distressing thoughts that entered her head. Now she stood in place, paralyzed, and Penny could see that shock crystal clear. She couldn't blame her for reacting that way towards her own words. After all, this was an unforgiving environment. All hands had to be on deck for Vacuo to survive. Were it to fall, it would be the end of humanity as everyone knew it on the horizon.

"I'm sorry if I'm wasting your time, and I'm sorry if whatever happens is because of me being such a—"

"There is no need to apologize, Yang!" Penny exclaimed. "You are not what you are currently referring to as a 'waste of time'."

"Yes I am."

"I disagree."

"Yes I am."

"I disagree." Penny cheerfully put her hands behind her back. "Do you not see the other Huntsman and Huntresses coming to help? Neither the Atlesian military as well?"

"Yeah, yeah," Yang began, "but don't you see how much we're all scraping by? How much Grimm is coming from every angle? Don't you?"

And then, Penny paused. Was Yang taking everything on herself? Of course, it had been a hot minute since she had seen Ruby; she was seeing members of Team JNOR, Team FNKI, Team CFVY, even the Ace Ops, but Ruby and her teammates seemed an anomaly in that regard. In fact, she had only seen them a few times since they arrived back on Vacuo.

She could only wonder if her teammates shared those same thoughts.

"Yang. When is the next Grimm attack?"

"A few hours." Yang shook her head. "That is barely any time for rest before they come."

"And where are they coming from?"

"Everywhere, from every. Angle."

Penny paused for a moment, then took a deep breath, smile faded. "Yang. Do you promise to trust me on what I'm about to say?"

"...Fine."

Penny nodded. "You and your teammates are taking on too many missions at once."

"...What?" Yang was stunned by what Penny was saying.

"It is true that there are Grimm attacks every two hours and 31 minutes on average. However, if you account for the locality of the Grimm attacks, your area and the ones surrounding it would only receive a Grimm attack every two days. The same scenario occurs for the other ones, but at different places in the 24 hours of a day."

Yang stopped to consider Penny's words. She and her team would frequently patrol Vacuo and its surrounding refugee camps for anything that may or may not happen. Maybe that was why they seemed to run into Grimm, civil unrest, and whatnot every few hours. Still, she couldn't imagine surviving in a place where the cards appeared stacked against humanity's ultimate victory. Not that she was wrong, however. Atlas had fallen months ago, and Vale and Mistral had been crippled beforehand.

"I am saying this because I was just like you."

Penny, being just like her? No way, she remembered her always appearing so lively, so positive... and then, her mind went back to Winter.

"What do you mean?" Yang asked.

"When Winter gave her life for my survival, I became the Winter Maiden. From there, everything had changed, for a while. I checked each and every corner of the city. I intervened in each and every incident. I was protecting the city from Grimm, but was I protecting myself from me?"

Once again, Blake's argument with Yang from years ago popped into her mind. However, she thought beyond just the words "I don't have the luxury to slow down"; Blake was actively choosing to lose sleep over a criminal who may have either already been caught or even killed. Team RWBY were among hundreds of fellow students who could protect themselves and each other.

And most importantly, she was the safest she'd ever been.

"I..." Yang blinked. She had already learned her lesson looking for Raven, whom she did eventually find well after the Fall of Beacon. She had even taught Blake that lesson.

How did it all go out the window so fast?

"No. I was not protecting myself from me. It is the reason why I had to take a step back and observe."

"Okay..."

"I saw people performing their duties the best they ever could. And, they were successful."

"Yeah..." Yang nodded. "That's... what getting help from every Kingdom does."

"And that was when I learned that I could slow down."

Yng sighed, then took a deep breath. "I... have to admit, I've seen this lesson over and over. First with myself, then with Blake... I mean, with those two, you'd think it would be hard to forget, but no. Vacuo threw all that out the window." She sighed. "Or at least, that's what it looked like."

Even saying that to Penny, Yang was unsure. Was Penny telling the truth, or was she lying? If she were lying, she should have hiccupped at every moment, but she didn't. Yet, she wanted to say she was lying right then and there...

But did she really want to?

"At the very least, you have a reminder now!" Penny exclaimed. "Do you understand what I am saying?"

Yang took a deep breath. None of Team RWBY had slept in a day or so (or was it two?) in hyperfocusing on protecting the city or populace, and what Penny was saying still came across as unbelievable. But, she was willing to be proven wrong. She and Penny could choose to stay in some area right now and then hang around there, waiting for a Grimm attack that might come days later than she'd expect.

"Would you like some dessert with me, Yang?" Penny asked.

"S—"

She asked herself again: did she really want to?

Well, only one way to find out.

"Sure."

So they did. Penny got Yang a simple swirl in one of the few places for sweets here in Vacuo's city. But, Yang remained unsure. She hadn't gone out like this since... several weeks ago? And yet, it felt... right. It was not going to erase everything else around her, Penny, and the place, but again.

It was just the way it was meant to be.

Yang indulged in her own swirl alongside Penny.

Yet, there was one more nagging feeling: when were the Grimm going to strike?

"Penny..." Yang swallowed.

"Yes, Yang?"

"Can we... Can we hang around this part of the city?"

"Yes!" Penny smiled. "For how long?"

"Like, 4-5 hours..."

"I can arrange that."

So they stayed to watch for Grimm. Penny had set a timer to last precisely five hours, which was quite a bit of time to spend from the middle of the afternoon to just after sunset. Along the way, they greeted passersby who stopped to wave hi, observed the occasional person on the streets playing instruments, and did a little sightseeing. Plenty of details were shared between the two as well; Penny mentioned the magnet incident that almost ended in Ciel finding out who she really was, and Yang mentioned a food fight that Penny swore she wanted to be in, badly.

And through all this, Yang's fears were beginning to fade, especially after the three hour mark.

What was even the point of chaining themselves to an unnecessarily stressful life if they could just pick up only part of the slack and let the others do the rest of the job? Indeed, they still had to remain vigilant, but two hours and a half was still enough for a break from what may as well be 10-30 minutes of work. Maybe an hour max for patrol, but hey, hours of waiting was expected for patrolling and keeping watch.

Finally, sunset. Penny's timer went off, snapping her from her entranced viewing of the sunset by surprise.

"Oh, our five hours are through!" Penny chuckled. "Would you like another round of desserts?"

Yang looked back at Penny with her third actual smile in... well, weeks. As Penny looked back, she saw that light was beginning to return to the eyes of Ruby's sister, who no longer seemed as tired as before.

"Sure," Yang began, "but only after sunset."

So they continued sitting atop a rooftop to watch. For that little moment, everything seemed alright in Vacuo again.