Back with the resolution to last week's cliffhanger!

Chapter 60

Glynda watched as Cinder slumped in her arms with a sort of absent numbness.

It couldn't be happening. That was the thought going through her head in that moment. After everything that Cinder had done for her, for the both of them, this couldn't be the end. It seemed like some horrible fairytale that might be told to scare children, only she was struggling to find the moral beneath the lines.

It felt like this was all happening to someone else. Like Glynda was an outside observer, watching a tragedy in the comfort of her own home, seeing as one of the star-crossed lovers wept over the body of the other.

And yet, as Glynda's head dipped into the crook of Cinder's neck, and she let out a horrible, ragged scream, she felt the smallest, weakest breath come from out of Cinder's nostrils.

And it was then that her mind helpfully informed her she had work to do.

Cinder was alive.

Cinder hadn't died.

Cinder was in trouble.

Cinder very well might die.

She had to do something about it.

She forced herself to bring Cinder back up off of the ground. She seemed to only grow heavier the longer that Glynda walked, and even if she knew, intellectually, that was because her muscles were still fighting off Tyrian's poison, it didn't help her as she struggled to stand on her own, let alone haul Cinder along.

And yet, she had no choice. If she'd had her semblance – which still eluded her – she could've floated Cinder beside her and the entire thing would have been much simpler. Unfortunately, something about Tyrian's poison had prevented her from being able to properly channel her aura in any real way. It had meant that while she had had full aura during the entire time Cinder and Salem's lieutenants had been feuding, she'd been at risk of being killed at any moment.

It had been terrifying, no matter how much Glynda would've wanted to claim she was entirely unaffected. She could not. The last hour had, without doubt, been the worst of her life. She'd been poisoned, kidnapped, prepared to sacrifice her own life so that at least Cinder might live in a situation she'd felt was hopeless, and then…

And then she'd had to watch as Cinder screamed, as she writhed on the ground; the horrible… parasite that Salem had placed within her eating away at her innards. She'd screamed, and shouted, and the entire time, Salem's men had simply held her still; made her watch.

And yet her agony had nothing on what Cinder had forced herself to go through to break out of it. She'd quite literally lit herself aflame from the inside. She'd burned until nothing within her could have survived, and yet somehow, she had.

Even thinking back on it then had Glynda swallowing on a knot in her throat. She couldn't afford to be lost in her memories. Not then. Cinder was relying on her.

She fell regardless.

She'd never felt so helpless in all her life. Her legs felt like they'd gone so far beyond numb that they no longer really responded to her commands. She could only do so much to will herself to stand without them collapsing beneath her. Likewise, carrying Cinder was only making things harder.

She couldn't keep going; couldn't keep doing this. She needed help, and she needed it… well, in all honesty, she needed it minutes ago, but a good substitute for minutes ago was right now.

She tried to reach inside her chest, towards the basin of her aura, and draw upon that power. But it resisted, almost as if she were attempting to reach out to it with a magnet of opposite polarity. The closer she got to it, the more difficult it became.

And yet… Cinder was dying. In her arms, actively, she was dying.

She'd been entirely useless while Cinder had sprung the both of them free from Salem's clutches. The most she'd been able to do had been to call upon the tiniest bit of her semblance to manipulate a shard of obsidian into that Seer's orb.

Even then, she hadn't consciously done so. It had been in the spur of the moment, her body reacting to a situation before her instincts had even asked it whether or not said reaction was possible.

She needed to do as such again now. She needed to call upon her semblance and force it to the surface. She had to. Otherwise…

Otherwise, Cinder might die.

And she couldn't accept that.

She'd only just gotten her back, only just seen her again. The two of them had escaped Salem's clutches, they were finally free to be together.

She wanted to see Cinder smile. She wanted to see Cinder cry. She wanted to see Cinder show off all the little intricacies and emotions she knew she had within that veneer she'd forced herself to put on.

Outside of her bedroom on that singular night, she wanted to be able to see Cinder for real.

And perhaps that was what it was that gave her the strength to take up her riding crop, and point it towards the sky. Perhaps that was what it was that filled her arm with aura, and forced it into the tip of her weapon.

And perhaps that was what it was that allowed her to, with an aching, horrible pulse in her head, like her entire skull might split in two, scream as she fired a blast of energy into the air.

She only hoped someone would see it. Because as much as she'd managed to get such a spell off, her entire body was spinning. She'd pushed herself too hard even trying to get Cinder up the shallow incline towards civilization. And this… this was the last straw for her.

Her head was foggy. Her limbs were weak. Everything was going dark.

But just as Glynda's consciousness began to fade, and she fell to the ground, entirely spent, she swore she could see the approaching form of a small, black bird on the horizon.

/

Glynda awoke slowly, not entirely remembering where she was.

Every part of her body hurt, although not as much as they had earlier while she was… well, doing something. All that remained was the ache of having overexerted herself. She could tell she would be paying for such over the course of the next few days.

She made to get up and stretch herself out, only to find that she was connected to an IV, which seemed to be feeding some form of fluid into her.

"If you're wondering about the IV, I'm afraid the bastards that Salem sent didn't exactly give you an up-to-code antitoxin."

Glynda's head whipped up, and she found herself looking at Qrow, who nodded his head towards her and stepped fully into the room. He looked tired, but ultimately unharmed, which was good, given that after Tyrian had stabbed her with his tail, Glynda hadn't really been able to pay attention to anything. She'd not known if Qrow and the rest of them had won their fight up top.

"How is everyone?" She asked, still a little out of it. "Are the children okay?"

"All of them are fine." Qrow nodded. "Well, little Ms. Penny took a bad hit, but she's a robot, so she just shrugged that off."

Glynda let out a breath of relief. "I'm glad to hear that. Did Penny and Emerald…"

"Hah, they haven't left each other's sides." Qrow said, smiling a bit as he peaked back outside the door of Glynda's hospital room. "I believe they're currently visiting our eh… special patient."

Glynda's brow drew down.

"Special…"

And then she remembered.

"Cinder!" She practically screamed out, lunging forward and nearly ripping the needle filtering antitoxin into her system out of her arm. "How is Cinder!? Is she okay, is she–"

"Alive," Qrow said immediately, holding both his hands up as if to placate her. "She's going to stay alive if what the doctors have told me is accurate."

The emotions that immediately poured out of Glynda then were far too much for her to contain. Despite the fact that she was in the presence of someone she rather greatly respected – despite how certain aspects about said person often making her forget that fact – she found herself letting out great, heaving sobs almost immediately, entirely overcome by the weight of the day she'd gone through, all of it hitting her at once.

She felt every emotion she hadn't allowed herself to feel as she'd shouldered the burden of both herself and Cinder, thinking that if she didn't, then they might not both make it back. Qrow… he was kind. He simply stood at her side, without speaking, without interrupting or trying to cut her feelings short.

When she finally felt decent enough to wipe away at her eyes and think she might not be crying anymore for the next while, she looked up at Qrow and asked, "And the complications?"

"Ah, can't sneak anything by you." Qrow said a bit mournfully. "That's… well…"

"Qrow?"

The man sighed. "Let's just say that I led with the good news so that you didn't have to worry about Cinder dying. She's out of the woods in terms of that. But… well, that's just about the end of the good news."

Glynda felt her heartbeat speeding up.

"I want you to listen, Glyn." Qrow said, placing a hand on her shoulder as if to steady her. "But I'm not going to force you to now. If you think you need to rest for now–"

"I couldn't sleep," Glynda cut him off, shaking her head. "If I didn't know what was happening. Tell me."

Qrow nodded. "I figured as much. In a nutshell… Cinder's in rough shape."

Glynda hadn't expected anything else. And yet regardless hearing it has her brow furrowing.

"How rough?"

"She'll survive, like I said, but…" Qrow ran a hand through his hair. "Well, we'll start with the major, obvious problems. Her left arm was completely unsalvageable. I'm fairly sure you'd have figured that out as well."

Glynda nodded her head. It had fallen off at some point, even if she'd been using it during her brief spat with the men named Watts, Hazel, and Tyrian.

"Her right leg is rather severely scarred." Qrow continued onwards. "Apparently her scroll melted into the flesh of her leg, and… well, I'll spare you the grisly details there, but suffice it to say they're iffy on whether or not she's going to need another prosthetic there, too. And her left eye is… it's still in there, but its dim and foggy. Doctors say she'll have extremely limited sight in that eye, if any at all."

Glynda swallowed on nothing; her mouth impossibly dry.

"I… see… is there more?"

Qrow's nod then was so filled with pity that Glynda almost wanted to push herself out of bed and make her way to Cinder's side there and then. Unfortunately, she'd been a teacher at a school for young children, and had, more than once, seen what getting out of bed before one's injuries were healed could do to someone.

So, despite her wishes, she stayed put.

"Externally, there's quite a lot of surface damage. She has severe burns on a good deal of her body. They're mainly concentrated along the remains of her left arm, her right thigh, and certain places on her face. Unfortunately, that's not the worst of it. Internally, she's somehow burned even worse. That she's alive at all is testament more to her as a person than anything else. According to the doctors, they'd never seen someone in that bad of shape still breathing."

Glynda didn't at all doubt that. She'd watched as fire flowed from Cinder's lips, as if she was some bellowing dragon from out of myth. But such a display couldn't have come without cost.

"Cinder's esophagus is burned. The inner lining of her stomach is burned. A good deal of her intestines is burned. Unfortunately, the burns aren't the worst of it. They found evidence that some kind of parasite had eaten away a good deal of the outer lining of her lungs. While Cinder… burned said parasite, her lungs were caught in the blaze. Luckily, only one of her lungs was severely damaged, but… well, to put it simply, she went from having two lungs of a perfectly healthy twenty-something-year-old to the lungs of someone who's smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for half a decade."

Glynda bit down on her lower lip.

"Now, the good news is that that only applies to one of her lungs. The other still looks by and large fine, albeit with some external scarring. Like I said earlier, though, she's not in any danger of losing her life. We should focus on that."

Glynda nodded her head, knowing Qrow was right. There'd been a very real point in time that Glynda had been totally convinced she'd lost Cinder. Hearing that she was in bad shape hurt, but it hurt far less than it could've.

"Is there anything else?"

"Nothing that's been determined." Qrow stated. "There are a few things they're monitoring, but nothing concrete."

Glynda nodded. "Is… that all, then?"

"Mm. Get some rest, Glynda. We can talk more later."

She leaned back against the rather uncomfortable hospital bed beneath her, and tried her best to get comfortable. It must've been a sign of just how exhausted she was, for it took her but a moment for her consciousness to entirely slip.

/

The next few hours were a bit of a blur. Glynda found herself constantly fluctuating between states of consciousness. On the one hand, every time she slept, she obtained more and more news about Cinder's condition as the doctors ran more and more tests. On the other, the worry within her breast only ever seemed to build when she had nothing to distract her from the thoughts in her head, which, when she was laying down in an empty, sterile room, was rather common.

Still, she was trying to tell herself that the head nurse at Beacon would be incredibly cross with her if she tried to hoist herself out of bed now, and make her way to Cinder. No matter how badly she wanted to do exactly that.

Eventually, however, the dull monotony of staring up at the ceiling tiles and trying to build enough fatigue to return to slumber was interrupted by a quiet knock at her door.

"Come in." She called, almost glad to have something to do, despite knowing that she needed rest.

And in stepped a figure she recognized, even if only by word of mouth. A boy with olive skin, black hair, and lime-green eyes.

This was Oscar Pine, Ozpin's newest reincarnation.

"Hello, ma'am," Came from out of the boy's mouth, and from that alone, Glynda gathered she was talking to the boy himself, Oscar Pine, and not the immortal, ever-reincarnating wizard Ozma. "Uhm, it's good to see you're feeling better."

"Thank you." She said, offering the boy a smile. "It's good to make your acquaintance as well. We didn't have very much time to talk at all before I headed towards the vault."

Oscar shook his head.

They'd met, albeit briefly, as they'd stormed into the main hall of Haven in pursuit of Leonardo Lionheart. He and Qrow has just sort of… been there. It had made Glynda's plan of going after Cinder directly go from a pipe dream to something feasible, given that, with Ozpin and Qrow at her back, she felt safe leaving her students behind.

With the benefit of hindsight, she felt she'd made the right call.

"Oh, right," Oscar Pine cleared his throat. "Ozpin wanted to talk to you. I'm going to go ahead and pass things over to him."

Glynda nodded, watching as Oscar briefly slumped, before a small shiver ran down his body.

And then Ozpin was looking up at her.

"It's good to see you, Glynda."

"Likewise, sir."

Silence followed that reintroduction, and Glynda found herself thinking on if she'd ever seen Ozpin so obviously contemplative.

"I have heard the reports on Ms. Fall's condition." Ozpin stated slowly, seeming as if he wished to feel Glynda out in terms of the topic. "I must say, she is a terribly strong young woman. Few would have been able to go through what she did and come out the other side alive, let alone largely intact."

"She's amazing."

Ozpin nodded his head. "That she is. I find it impressive that she is as driven as she is. I took her for a more… deceitful sort, I must admit. I stopped her from immediately pursuing you, thinking that she would simply turn on you as she had on I, back in the vault beneath Beacon."

Glynda remembered. She remembered that haunting, terrible moment as Ozpin's body had slid off of Cinder's spear, and the both of them had just… stared at each other.

"And yet, when I told her I would not allow her to pass if she tried to take the Relic with her… she simply threw it at me without a care in the world, and pursued you regardless." Ozpin smiled, and Glynda herself felt a warmth in her chest that she knew not how to properly identify. "She told me she has far more important things to worry about. I misjudged her. I do not doubt that she loves you very deeply."

Glynda nodded her head, even if there was a blush upon her cheeks. "I… I love her, as well."

"I know." Ozpin said, with that infuriating look on his face that he was somehow still able to replicate despite being within the body of a boy who couldn't have been older than fifteen. "So, I have decided that even though I do not entirely approve of your choice of paramour, I do not believe I have any real say in the matter." He smiled. "I hope the two of you find happiness."

Glynda smiled.

"Thank you, sir."

"Ah, but I'm no headmaster anymore." Ozpin, or perhaps she should refer to him as Ozma, spoke out of the lips of Oscar Pine. "And from what I hear, that role was supposed to be passed to you."

She couldn't deny that.

"So perhaps it is I who should call you ma'am?"

Glynda actually shivered, shaking her head. "No."

Ozma chuckled. "I must confess, it would have been a touch odd. Then how about simply Glynda?"

"That… would work for me. May I call you Oz?"

"As Qrow does?"

"I couldn't come up with anything more fitting."

He nodded his head. "That seems fair enough. I have no qualms with it."

"Then it's settled." Glynda spoke, smiling over at the man. "It's good to have you back, Oz."

"It's good to be back, Glynda." The man stated, before suddenly, he straightened out his posture, and cleared his throat. "Oh, and… There was something I've been meaning to say."

"Yes?"

"I am sorry for deceiving you back in Beacon." Ozma stated, looking entirely sincere as he met her eyes. "Using the feelings of yourself and Cinder to manipulate her into becoming a Maiden candidate was… well, it was wrong of me. Terribly so. Too often these last few hundred years I have been finding ways to justify tiny injustices by claiming they are for the greater good. But perhaps there is someone I could learn something from right in front of me."

Ozma bowed.

"I hope you can forgive me, Glynda."

She found herself letting out a breath of laughter then. It was kind of funny that, while such had been so important for the both of them months and months ago – even ultimately leading Glynda to almost entirely stop speaking with the man – now it felt so… so inconsequential. They'd both become such different people in that time – admittedly, Ozpin a bit more literally than her – that she found herself unable to stay upset about something that she had, in truth, gotten over some time ago.

"I forgive you, Oz."

"I'm glad."

"But if you don't mind…"

"I'll leave you to your rest," he said with a smile, and then, a moment later, Glynda gathered that it was now Oscar Pine standing before her. "Oh, uh… hello, ma'am. Or… should I call you–"

"You can call me ma'am." Glynda chuckled.

"Understood!" Oscar bowed a tad awkwardly, before making his way out of the room.

And again, Glynda was left in silence.

She wasn't entirely certain what she wanted to do, either. She had to rest, she understood that, but she was also beginning to understand just why so many of her students had been unable to sit still when they'd gotten back from missions injured. It was incredibly difficult to just… sit there and do nothing after what had happened.

More than anything, she wanted to confirm Cinder's condition for herself.

Even then, she fought to keep herself where she was on her bed, and just… waited.

/

Time passed, as time had a tendency to do.

Glynda continued to flit in and out of sleep as the hours went by. It was around a day later by the time the doctors at Mistral Medical Hospital finally gave her the right to go and see Cinder, apparently having come to the conclusion that the last of the poison had been eliminated from her body.

She barely paid any attention to said facts.

The sterile white halls of the hospital had her on edge. She'd never liked such sights, and she liked the smell of cleaning product even less. It stained the air she breathed.

Still, that all sort of faded from thought around the time she stepped up towards the door to Cinder's room. She had been given a room all to herself for a number of reasons. For one, she required rather intensive care from a team of doctors to start working on recovery…

And perhaps more relevantly, she was an international terrorist who had played a part in the destruction of Beacon.

Glynda had still yet to come up with anything as to how to deal with that particular situation.

In that moment, however, Glynda resolved simply to see her.

She opened the door and stepped inside, taking note of the heart monitor that was tracking Cinder's heartbeat. It gave a quiet beep every second or so. A good deal of her upper body – that which wasn't covered by a medical blanket – was wrapped in gauze. Her face had multiple bandages, she had a tube going into her mouth, and where her left arm had once been, there was only a stump.

Her right leg, on the bright side, seemed to have survived whatever surgery they'd had to do there. That… that was a relief. Glynda hadn't wanted to think about such an innocent thing as having her scroll in her pocket costing Cinder one of her legs.

There was a stool in the corner of the room that was likely reserved for a doctor, but given no one besides her was present at that moment, Glynda took it for herself. She sat down upon it and slid so that she was a foot or so away from Cinder's sleeping form.

It was only then that she realized she hadn't exactly come with anything to do. She'd come to see Cinder, and to confirm that she was, undeniably, still breathing. She could see the subtle movement of Cinder's chest, raising and lowering with her breaths, and that did enough to assuage her immediate concerns.

But then she was left with the same longing she'd been stuck with for the last day or so. The longing to get to talk with Cinder. For the two of them, finally on even ground, to exchange words. To have a dialogue.

And yet she couldn't. Cinder was asleep, and likely would be for a good while yet.

It was both aggravating and terrifying.

Because of course, Cinder's condition was stable now, but that didn't mean something couldn't go wrong. That didn't mean that given another few days asleep, Cinder's condition might devolve.

And even though she'd done nothing but sleep for nearly a day at this point, she was still exhausted. As annoying as it was, her eyes were heavy, and she half wanted to lean her head against Cinder's bed and sleep then and there.

…When she thought about it, that didn't sound like such a bad idea.

She leaned forward, trying to find a comfortable position for her head to rest. She eventually settled on the armrest that Cinder's left arm would've taken up had it not been… well, absent. It wasn't the most comfortable sleeping arrangement, and she was fairly certain she'd wake up with a nasty crook in the neck…

But it was the most content she'd felt in nearly six months. Able to see the ebb and flow of Cinder's chest. Able to hear the breath leave her nostrils. Able to watch her face slowly grow less and less pale; color finally returning to her cheeks.

And Glynda resolved then and there that, when Cinder awoke, she would be right there beside her.

/

It was not Cinder, ultimately, who woke Glynda from her nap, but another person who'd come to visit her.

"Ms. Goodwitch?"

Glynda's eyes fluttered open slowly, and she let out a great yawn as she rubbed at her eyes, getting the sleep out of them. She peered up at the person who'd come in, and smiled when she saw who it was.

"Hello, Emerald."

The girl smiled back, albeit with a tad bit of uncertainty hanging about her gaze.

"Uhm… would you mind if I sat as well?" She asked, holding a metal folding chair in her left hand.

"Of course not." She scootched slightly away from Cinder's bed, giving Emerald room to set herself up. She unfolded her chair and sat down so that she was around the same distance away from Cinder as Glynda was. "How have you been?"

"I've been… well, I've been." Emerald said, laughing a bit awkwardly. "Penny and I… well, we've been talking with one another a lot, but neither of us seems to be able to build up the courage to talk about… us, y'know?"

Glynda nodded. "That can be rather difficult."

"Especially since it's all my fault." Emerald sighed. "I think Penny's not bringing it up to make me feel better. To not rush me. But honestly, I wish she would so I could just rip the gauze off and get it over with!"

Glynda chuckled. "I understand that as well. But I think you may be going about things the wrong way, Emerald. I somehow doubt Penny is the type to passive-aggressively wait for you to come to her and apologize. If anything, I'd say she's likely just as nervous as you are about this."

"What?" Emerald seemed confused. "But… what would she have to worry about? She didn't do anything wrong."

"Are you positive she'd think that way?"

"I just… what could she possibly think she…"

"Penny is incredibly intelligent, Emerald, but I'm certain you've been able to learn that while her social skills are growing by leaps and bounds, they still have rather glaring holes. I'm not certain she has any idea how to approach a topic like this. Even for someone far more experienced in such matters such as myself, I can tell you that I'm quite anxious thinking about what it is I plan to say to Cinder when she awakens."

Emerald took a moment to absorb that information. "…Really? You're nervous about that?"

"Of course." Glynda said, and then she laughed when Emerald's brow furrowed. "Emerald, let me tell you that the number one thing all adults have in common is that we're all doing our very best to appear as if we're not making this all up as we go along. Surely, I think of myself as a bit better at managing difficult scenarios than others, but even I grow afraid."

Emerald nodded her head a tad bit blankly, staring over at Cinder's prone, sleeping form.

"That's… good to hear. Thank you, Ms. Goodwitch."

"You're welcome."

They sat in silence for a while after that. The sound of Cinder's heartbeat felt like it grew stronger every minute, even if Glynda was fairly certain that was just an effect her own mind was having upon her.

And then, out of nowhere, Emerald suddenly said, "She really loves you, y'know."

"Wha–?" Glynda found herself caught off guard.

"The whole time we were in Evernight… she was an inconsolable wreck." Emerald said with the barest hint of a smile on her face. "She just trained, and trained and trained. Until her body was completely dead, and all she could do was pass out in bed. She barely ate, or showered, and despite working until she passed out, she was never very well rested. She was a mess."

"…I wish I could've been there."

Emerald gave a sound reminiscent of a laugh, but not quite so. "As do I. Maybe then she wouldn't have slapped me."

Glynda turned with a raised eyebrow. "She did what!?"

Emerald smirked. "Eh, I'm over it. She was at probably the lowest point I'd ever seen her, and… well, I don't really blame her. I went into it thinking that might happen. She apologized and everything. About a lot of things."

"Even so–"

"I don't blame her. Seriously." Emerald said, trying to calm her. "But, if you wanted to get on Cinder's case about that in a joking way, I think that would be appropriate penance."

"Oh, she'll be hearing words from me."

Emerald just laughed.

Again, silence stretched between them, and yet, Glynda couldn't help but think the reasoning on this particular case might be somewhat different. She watched as Emerald avoided eye contact with her, as she seemed to be working up the courage to say something. A part of Glynda wondered what that might be, even if she had an inkling already.

After all, there had been things left unsaid between the two of them as well.

"Hey, so, uhm… Ms. Goodwitch?"

"What is it, Emerald?"

"That uhm… when the Vytal Festival was on, you and me, we…" Emerald stopped, her voice catching on something in the back of her throat. "You said you were going to… uhm…"

Glynda understood that Emerald was asking what she thought she was only a moment before she closed the distance between them, and wrapped both arms around her.

"I still want you." She said without a doubt. "Make no mistake about that."

"Oh." Emerald said, but her voice was shaky. "Oh, that's…" She let out a soft breath, sounding like she might cry.

"I want you to have a place to go back to." Glynda said as she ran a hand through the girl's hair. "And I want – that is, as long as you want it to be so – for that place to be with me."

Emerald couldn't seem to nod her head fast enough. "I do… I do want that."

"Then allow me to ask… Emerald, would you like the two of us to become family?"

Emerald nodded into her chest, but then, surprisingly, she let out a little giggle. It seemed an emotion entirely separate from the usually stoic and sassy Emerald, and yet, when the girl looked up at her with a smile – despite her reddened eyes – she could see the amusement playing about her face.

"Y'know, Ms. Goodwitch, you can just ask if you want me to be your daughter."

Now it was Glynda's turn to go red in the face, and for her to want to avoid Emerald's eyes. It wasn't at all a prospect that terrified her or some drivel like that. Instead… instead it was something she'd barely considered. She hadn't thought Emerald would…

"Do you… that is… that doesn't make you uncomfortable, or–"

"No." Emerald said, twiddling her thumbs together. "If anything, I think… up until you, no one ever wanted me. And because of that… if there's someone who I would want to be my…" She hesitated for a moment, took a breath, and then kept going. "My mom, then it's you."

Glynda really tried not to cry. She'd cried an awful lot within the past forty-eight hours. It felt like all she was doing was crying.

And yet cry she did.

"Please don't cry, Ms. Goodwitch," Emerald said whilst barely holding it together. "You're going to make me cry. I only just managed to stop."

"I'm sorry." Glynda laughed. "I'm afraid I don't think that's possible. I'm just… very happy."

Emerald's lip quivered, and then, in the next moment, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Glynda's back and burying her face into her shoulder. Glynda followed suit, holding Emerald in her arms and allowing the both of them to shed near-silent tears.

She wasn't really sure how long that went on. It didn't particularly matter, either. It was a wondrous thing, almost like a dream, and Glynda was content to stay within it for as long as she possibly could.

Even if she knew that perhaps finally, her dreams wouldn't end.

Eventually, Emerald let out another little giggle.

"Y'know, I just thought of something." She said, looking up at her with a mirthful expression. "If you and Cinder start dating in earnest, does that mean that she's going to be my mother, too?"

Glynda's brow furrowed.

"…Perhaps we don't think about that too terribly much."

Emerald's infectious laughter was like music to Glynda's ears.

/

It was later that night, resting in one of the hotel rooms that their group had decided to procure for them near enough to the hospital – they'd left a good deal of their number within the walls of the building to act as scouts, just in case Salem's men decided to make a reappearance – to react if something changed, that Glynda heard a knock at her door.

She yawned and stretched herself out, beginning to feel her muscles aching from having overexerted themselves the previous day. She imagined that was only going to get worse for a while with how far she'd pushed them.

She stood up and made her way to the door, but didn't open it until she muttered, "Who is it?"

"It's your friendly neighborhood carrion."

She unlatched the door, and nodded to Qrow, who stepped inside.

"What is it?" She asked. "Is something the matter?"

"It's Cinder," he said, and Glynda's heart briefly lurched, the worst possibilities all coming to her at once.

That quickly disappeared as Qrow's expression morphed into a smile.

"We just got word; she's awake."

End Chapter 60

Two chapters to go! Feel free to let me know how you guys felt about this one, I must admit I'm curious.

See you all next week!