AUTHOR'S NOTES: Tonight *was* supposed to be the last chapter of ORW VI, but it turned out to be much longer than I thought it would be, so rather than have a 8000-word chapter, I'm splitting it into two halves. Next week will be the last chapter of the story.

On with the show...

The Xiao Long-Rose House

Patch, North Carolina, United States of Canada

5 October 2001

There was no celebratory party over the trial results. As Ruby remarked, there wasn't much to celebrate. None of them would go to jail, but all but Weiss and Oscar now had huge black marks on their careers, and all of them would now go to different squadrons, wings and commands. There they would have to deal with the fallout from the court-martial, for good and bad.

It was public now. Statements had been made to the press, with Forrest, Beck and Chapel handling the public relations aspect; the military refused to allow the media to interview any of the accused, or any of the witnesses involved, leaving the media with little red meat to devour. For 48 hours, the talking heads on the networks debated who was more guilty—Ruby Flight or Ironwood—but then there was an accidental shootdown of an airliner by a jumpy Yugoslavian SAM site operator, a formal vote by NATO to invoke Article 5 of the Charter against Salem herself, and a vote by the people of Moravia to formally rejoin the Czech Republic, ending the legacy of the Red Prince. Suddenly there were other things to talk about besides Ironwood's cowardice, Ironwood's heroism, Ruby Flight's insubordination, or Ruby Flight's heroism. The trial, with its ambigious outcome in which Ruby, Blake, and Yang were neither wholly guilty nor wholly innocent, would slowly fade to a footnote in history as a bored and confused media looked for something else to talk about.

It might not be a party per se, but in the Xiao Long-Rose house, it felt a little bit like one. In the living room, Weiss, Blake, Oscar, and Willow listened to Tai's and Qrow's war stories. Everyone forgot the trial in laughter and good humor, as Tai talked about the now-legendary Kilt Incident, while Qrow regaled them with the equally legendary drunken nude mud wrestling match between Summer and Raven. No one was drinking alcohol, in deference to Qrow and Willow both trying to maintain their sobriety, but there was plenty of seltzer water and soda to go around, chasing a barbecue of heroic proportions.

Ruby had excused herself in the middle of Tai's story—she'd heard it a dozen times, easily—and walked out to her mother's empty grave. The sun was down behind the mountains, but it still left the clouds a pleasant orange and purple. Ruby bent down and brushed some dirt off the gravestone. Like she had a thousand times, she read the words. Major Summer Rose, USAF. Thus Kindly I Scatter. Ruby traced the flaming rose symbol, and the pilot's wings worked into the stone beneath. She looked at the open space on either side of the grave, and saw in her mind's eye two more graves, that of Yang and her own, which easily could have happened. Yet they hadn't, and they were still here-not older, but certainly wiser.

"Hey, sis. Everything okay?" Ruby stood as Yang approached. "Thought you went to the can, but then I saw you out here."

"Yeah, Yang. I'm okay. Just got to thinking about Mom."

"Yep. Me too." Yang sat down crosslegged next to the grave, and Ruby joined her. "I wonder if she'd be pissed at us, or proud of us."

"She'd be proud of you."

Both women were on their feet in an instant, reflexes honed by combat as the voice came from the woods. To their utter surprise, Raven Branwen stepped from the woods, her hands raised. "I come in peace," she said with an ironic smile.

Yang bit back her retort, which was that she could leave in pieces. "What do you want?"

"To talk."

Ruby looked past her, in the darkness of the woods. "Holy shit, Raven! How long have you been back there?"

Raven chuckled. "Not all week, if that's what you think. No, just walked up from Patch to pay my respects to Summer before I leave. Maybe say hi to Tai…but with my brother in there, that's probably not a good idea. I didn't think you'd be out here, though I'm honestly glad you are."

"I thought you ran back to California already," Yang snapped.

"No, I wanted to see how the trial went. I've been following along on the news at the Dew Drop and at the Loading Zone." The Loading Zone was one of three bars in Patch, and the one most notorious for bad beer, worse music, and best fights. "What little they've been able to report. Near as I can tell, looks like you two managed to escape the worst of it."

"Oh yeah, letters of reprimand all around, and Ruby got busted. Great news!" Yang said with dripping sarcasm. "Let me guess. You hung around to see if we'd get found guilty on all counts, then you'd offer us a way out with your merry band of pirates in California."

"The thought occurred to me," Raven admitted. "And that offer still stands."

"And your bunch is just going to welcome me with open arms after I iced five or six of them?" Yang snorted.

"I'd think you'd be familiar with how air pirates worked by now," Raven countered. "We weirdly don't hold grudges."

"No thanks."

Raven walked closer, daring to get within arm's reach of her daughter. She stared down at Summer's gravestone. "I'm not saying it's ideal. I'm saying that it's an option. It would be hard, but not impossible…and a lot more welcoming than whatever unit you end up in."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ruby said accusingly.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Think, Ruby. You're a mutineer. Oh, not really—you told Ironwood to take his idiot order and shove it up his iron ass, and he deserved it. But that's not how your next CO is going to take it. They're going to see someone who is potentially going to undermine them. Half of your next squadron is going to think you're the shit for telling off the brass, and the other half is going to think you're shit for not obeying orders. Same with you, Yang. Maybe the pirate's life isn't for you, but I wonder if you've thought about that."

"Sounds like you've got some experience," Yang said.

Raven laughed. "Oz shielded Strike Flight from so much shit. We would've been court-martialed twenty times over for the crap we pulled. But because he had the Big Medal and he had connections, the most I ever got was a few letters of counseling and the occasional jail time in the local lockup for breaking some asshole's teeth in a bar fight. Sad for you that you don't have old Oz, unless that little shit Arashikaze counts." She smiled sardonically. "She doesn't, by the way. You're an asset. If you want to see what happens to CIA assets when they're no longer useful…" She pointed to Summer's grave.

Yang's fists clenched, the metal in her artificial hand audibly. "Get out of here, Raven," Yang growled. "Get out of here or I swear I will kill you."

Ruby quietly got between her sister and Raven. "Raven, you said you came to talk. So talk."

Raven was quiet for a moment, then reached out and gently pushed Ruby aside. "Ruby," she said with more softness than either of the younger women thought she was capable of, "your mother would be deeply proud of you. Maybe not for lipping off to Ironwood—I'm proud of that, for what it's worth—but for everything else that you've done." She looked at Yang. "And Summer would be just as proud of you, Yang. For what it's worth, I'm proud of you. Right now you want to whip my ass, right?"

Yang nodded. "I'd love to."

"And I'm tempted to let you. Maybe that's what we need, you and me. A good old-fashioned punch-up. Clear the air for good." Raven took off her jacket and set it aside. "But before you knock the shit out of me, know this. Summer wasn't the saint you think she was. Either of you. And I'm glad she wasn't." To their surprise, Raven's eyes were shining with tears. "She was my best friend….and I lost her." She glanced at Ruby. "Did you tell her, what I told you at the Dew Drop?"

"Yeah," Ruby confirmed.

"Good." She stepped forward again. "Then Yang, any amount of pain you inflict on me, which I probably deserve, is nothing compared to remembering that fireball over the Urals, and the guilt I've felt ever since. I figured I could hide from it, pretend to not give a shit, even pretend to help the bitch who killed Summer, because I thought taking JINN away from Salem would square things somehow."

"Nice words," Yang said, her fists still balled. "Now explain why you tried to kill us in Japan."

Raven spread her hands. "Because you wouldn't listen, and I didn't think you would understand. And because of the Tribe." She laughed again, bitterly. "Because of the goddamn Tribe." She shook her head. "The things we do for love." A final shrug. "Anyway, now that I've said that, feel free to take your…" Raven's voice trailed off. "Well, shit."

Tai and Qrow were walking out of the house, and both had spotted Raven. Qrow's stride increased, and Tai put a hand on his brother-in-law's shoulder. Qrow shrugged it off, but he slowed down. Raven put her hands on her hips. "Hello, brother dear."

"I'm going to kill you," Qrow hissed.

"I'm afraid you'll have to get in line," Raven replied, thumbing at Yang. "She's got first dibs."

"What in the fuck are you doing here?"

"Talking the fuck to Yang and Ruby…and Summer. That was my original intention."

"She was explaining why she felt the need to kill us over Japan," Yang said.

Qrow snorted; it occurred to Ruby and Yang that it sounded exactly like his twin. "Oh, that oughta be good. I'd like to hear that myself. You use the Tribe as the excuse again?"

Raven burst into laughter. "Yeah, I fucking did. But you know something?" She was smiling now, and Tai got ready to grab Qrow, while Ruby wondered if she should grab Yang. "You're right, Qrow."

That stopped him. Qrow blinked. "How so?"

Raven's smile widened. "You're right. Yang's right. I was a fucking coward who convinced herself she was doing the right thing. And I wasn't. I threw it all away. Yeah, the Tribe needed me—it still does. But there were other ways, and I never bothered looking into them. I stole the Night Raven because I wanted it, not because I was on some damn fool crusade against Oz using nukes on Salem, and I left a good man—" she pointed at Tai "—and a beautiful baby—" she pointed at Yang "—because I knew I wasn't good enough. I wasn't good enough to be a wife, or a mother…or a sister."

You are enough. The words resounded in Ruby's brain, loud enough that she nearly turned around to the gravestone, half-expecting to see Summer standing there.

The answer took Qrow aback. He stared at his sister. Raven grinned back. Ruby thought she looked oddly triumphant, as if admitting that she had been wrong all along had freed her, somehow. Maybe it has, Ruby considered. "What the fuck are you doing?" Qrow finally said, his voice unsure.

"I don't know," Raven answered. "But it feels good doing it."

"Saying sorry doesn't make up for what you did."

"Never said it does," Raven told her brother. "But maybe it's a start." She let out a long breath. "Look. I'm not going to sit here and put on sackcloth and ashes, and beg for your forgiveness. I already did that with Tai. He forgave me, God knows why, and that's why I'm still here. But I'm not going to abandon the Tribe or California, and I'm damn sure not going to try and be Yang's mom…because that was always Summer. I just…want to try...something." Raven stopped, out of words.

Nobody else seemed to have any either, but Yang's fists unclenched, and Qrow seemed to relax a bit. Tai cleared his throat. "I'm glad we had this talk," he said, "but Ruby, you've got a visitor…and you've also got orders. All of you. The courier just came by."

"At this hour?" Ruby checked her watch; it was after six.

"Yeah. Anyway, why don't you head on in? We'll catch up."

"Okay." Ruby looked at Raven for a moment, then reached up and squeezed her shoulder. Raven patted her hand. Yang lingered for a moment, and mother and daughter exchanged a long look, saying more with their eyes than they ever could with words. Then she followed her sister into the house.

"Still want to punch me?" Raven asked Qrow when the girls were gone.

"Can't tell. I'm not sure if I want to punch you or hug you. Maybe both." Qrow sighed. "Picked a hell of a year to stop drinking."

"You're still my brother."

"And you're still my sister. God help us." The twins shared a smile they hadn't since Raven had left. Tai knew they were remembering better times, times at Beacon, times in Strike Flight, even times as children. The twins had always had each other's back; they were all the other had...until Raven had left.

"Well…" Raven picked up her jacket. "I guess I'd better get going. I have a flight to catch later tonight. Hop from Asheville to Raleigh, Raleigh to Phoenix, then a long drive through Vegas back to SoCal. Assuming the CIA doesn't blow me up somewhere along the way." She threw the jacket over a shoulder. "Give me a ride down to Patch, Tai? I left the rental back there. I walked up here through the woods."

"That's a long walk," Qrow observed.

"I've been walking through all these woods during the daytime," Raven said. "No way I was going to hang out with the roaches at the Dew Drop all the time." She looked around as they started walking back to the house. "Did a lot of thinking in these woods."

"They're good for that." Tai paused for a moment, then gave a shrug. "Raven, the courier's still here. You can catch a ride with them back to Patch; they have to head that way anyhow."

Raven gave him a strange look, but nodded. "All right." There were cheers from inside the house, raucous laughter. "What's with the revival?"

Qrow chuckled. "Ruby's visitor. That mouse Faunus from Poland that helped them get out. What's her name, Tai? Bogo or something?"

"Little. It's her nickname," Tai explained.

"Oh, her," Raven remembered. "Right…Ruby mentioned her when she called from Ramstein, the night before she came back. You told me about that, Tai. Is she all right?"

"Somewhat." They went around the house, and Raven saw the official USAF blue car sitting there, the engine running. She could see the outline of the driver. "If they ask, just tell them you're a Reservist," Tai smiled.

"Heh." All three of them stopped. Raven found she could not look either man in the eye. "Well…this is it. I'm not one for giving a speech any more than the one you just got, but…you ever go after Salem…count me in." She took a deep breath. "That whore Cinder told me to choose a side. Well, looks like I finally chose the right one."

"About fucking time," Qrow said.

Raven reached out and hugged Tai, then kissed him. It was an open-mouthed kiss that Tai felt to his toes, reawakening the old feelings, especially as Raven's breasts crushed against his chest. There had been times, while Raven was there, that he thought about rekindling their romance. Raven was still beautiful, and he could still remember her body against his, the nights that they made gentle love on the bed, or the nights that they had wild sex in front of the fireplace, or in the kitchen, or in the woods, her body seemingly on fire as she screamed his name. But every time the temptation was there, Tai had remembered the heartbreak when Raven simply left, leaving him with questions, self-loathing, and a screaming infant who didn't understand that her mother was gone. And there were stronger memories of Summer Rose. "I'm sorry," she whispered as she broke the kiss.

"So am I," Tai replied.

Raven turned to Qrow. "You want a kiss too, you son of a bitch?"

"Fuck you," he grinned back.

"Twincest is best," Raven quipped, gave him the finger with a smile, then turned her back and went to the car.

"You didn't tell her," Qrow said as Raven got in.

"Nope," Tai sighed. "Just because I forgave her doesn't mean she doesn't face justice." He put an arm around Qrow's shoulder. "I'm not a saint either."

Raven shut the door behind her. The car started pulling away from the house before Raven even had her seat belt on. "Whoa," she said, "you'd better slow down or they're going to be picking us up with a stick and a spoon." The road from the house to Patch was a winding one.

"We'll be fine." The driver slowed down, then turned to Raven. In the darkness of the interior, Raven hadn't noticed that the driver was short, much less female, but now she did. She also noticed that the driver only had her right hand on the wheel; the other held a pistol, pointed across her at Raven's stomach. "At least, I will be." Rissa Arashikaze gave Raven a death's head smile. "Hello, Raven Branwen."

"Wait," Blake said, holding up a hand. "Little, say that again?"

"I want to join up," Little repeated. "I want to become a pilot."

"You mean I didn't scare the hell out of you?" Ruby asked. "We flew through a thunderstorm, got into two dogfights—you puked after the first one—and then got shot down! I'm surprised you'd even want to get into an airliner after that."

Little spread her hands. "Well, the getting shot down part wasn't any fun, especially since I ended up getting shot in the head." She pointed to the scar behind her right eye. It cut across almost to her ear. There was an identical one on the other side. "But the rest? Especially the thunderstorm?" She looked at the floor. "I kind of…liked that. Maybe not the getting shot at part either, but the rest?" Little stared at the ceiling. "I guess I'm crazy, but I enjoyed it. Kind of. Somewhat."

"You're somewhat insane," Yang said with a grin. "But what the hell, you wouldn't be friends with us if you weren't a little crazy."

"You mean you weren't afraid?" Pyrrha asked. She was staying the night as well, even if the house was starting to run out of room.

"Of course I was, but…I never felt so alive in my life," Little admitted. "Like I was missing something and then I found it." There was silence around the table for a moment, broken only by Qrow and Tai coming back inside the house. Zwei hopped up on the sofa and sniffed at Little, fascinated by the myriad of smells from her that were different from the human-humans and the cat-human. She petted him. The members of Ruby Flight and Oscar looked at each other, because all of them had felt the same way.

"What branch to you want to join up with?" Oscar wanted to know.

"I got to talking with some people at the hospital in Miami, especially the brain surgeon that examined me." There had been a few small fragments from Neo's bullet that had lodged in Little's brain—not enough to damage anything, but after awhile they could. The fragments were out now. "I asked him who the best was, who everyone in America thinks the most highly of." Little smiled at Blake. "So I think I want to join the Marines."

"Oh God." Yang collapsed back onto the floor. "She's definitely got brain damage."

Ruby leaned forward and gently took Little's hands in hers. "Little," she said solemnly, "you don't want to join the Marine Corps. They force you to land on carriers. Imagine trying to park an airplane in this living room. Then you'll be at sea. On a carrier. In a storm. With thousands of other people."

"And they make you eat crayons," Yang added. Blake hit her in the chest.

"It's horrible, Little," Ruby said. "Nobody sane joins the Navy."

"Hey!" Oscar exclaimed.

Little looked a little confused. "I thought I was joining the Marines," she said.

"The Marines are a department of the Navy," Oscar told her.

"The men's department," Blake added, though she was very clearly not a man.

"You know what Marine stands for?" Oscar shot back. "My Ass Rides In Navy Equipment."

They all had a laugh at that, and Ruby continued to massage Little's hands. "And they'll make you fly the F-18. The Bug. Ewww. Or worse, a Harrier."

Oscar looked to Blake for help, and she shrugged. "Hey, Ruby's got a point there."

Tai sat down in his recliner while Qrow resumed his spot in a chair. Willow was sitting next to Weiss, the expression on her face one of even more complete confusion than the mouse Faunus. "Little," Tai said, "Ruby's just giving you hell. There's nothing wrong with the Marines. But you're only 16. You've got some time to decide what you want to do with your life."

"That's true," Little agreed. "At least I'll be living close by now—well, as close by as you can be in the United States. Miami isn't that far."

"Did you hear about your village?" Weiss asked.

"Yes." Little turned somber. "They won't leave. It's their land, my parents said. They'll get it worked out."

"They won't do it alone." That was a situation Willow did understand. "I will make sure the Schnee Company helps them. If they'll accept the help of a German." She smiled. "After all, I have a home not too far away in Zagan. I don't intend to just simply let Salem have it."

"That would be wonderful!" Little almost clapped her hands. "Thank you, Mrs. Schnee."

"Miss Schnee, and you're welcome."

"But you'll still be close…well…maybe." Yang sat up, reached out to the coffee table, and put her fingers across the four envelopes that sat there. All were official looking manila envelopes, marked EYES ONLY. Two bore the seal of the USAF, one of the Navy, one of the Marine Corps. Two of them, addressed to Captains Xiao Long and Belladonna, bulged at the bottom. "I guess…there's no point in putting this off any longer, boys and girls." She handed Weiss the envelopes. "Want to do the honor, Hauptmann Schnee? Since you're not getting any orders."

"Not yet. I'm sure something like that is waiting when I get back to Germany." She and Pyrrha exchanged a glance. The two had already talked about this, alone—they did not want to tell their friends. Not just yet.

"Oh hell. I'm going first." Blake grabbed her envelope and tore it open. She reached in and pulled out an official looking letter with a Navy and Marine letterhead. "Oh," Blake said. "My letter of reprimand. That was fast." She scanned to the bottom. "'As reflected above, your judgement fell far below that which is expected of a Marine officer. Your actions flout the high level of trust and responsibility that was bestowed upon you by the United States Marine Corps. In accordance with the judgement of the court-martial on 2 October, yada yada yada, you are hereby reprimanded.'" Blake sighed. "Well, that's me told."

Yang opened her envelope and reached in like a child opening a Christmas present from a relative they didn't really like. "Yep. Here's mine. 'Dear Captain Xiao Long. Nice going, dipshit. We're going to assign you to Shemya, you stupid bitch. Love, the United States of Canada Air Farce. P.S. Your last aircraft is still at the bottom of a lake.'"

"It says that?" Little was aghast.

"In so many words. Not the Shemya part." Yang reached into the envelope again. "Though that's not off the table, I guess."

Qrow took a drink of seltzer. "At least we'd be close. I got told that I was being assigned to Eielson up there in Alaska. Temp assignment, of course." Arashikaze had told him that when she was delivering the orders. He wondered if she had already killed Raven, and found himself hoping that she wouldn't.

Yang pulled out another official looking letter. "Oh great. What's this? They figure out a way to give me two damn letters of reprimand? It's…" Her voice trailed off. She read the paper, and then read it again. "I don't believe it."

"What, pumpkin?" Tai said.

Yang turned it around. This was on parchment rather than a computer printout, and at the top was a single medal with the twin flags of the old United States and Canada. Prominent among the words was THE UNITED STATES OF CANADA. Below it were several other official words, and just as prominent, THE SILVER STAR. Yang turned the envelope over and shook it. A ribbon, and a box, fell out onto the floor. She opened the box to expose the Silver Star medal. "I don't fucking believe it," she repeated. "They give me a letter of reprimand and the Silver Fucking Star on the same day?"

"What did you get that for?" Little asked.

"Saving my life," Ruby told her. "She flew in front of a missile meant for me. That's why she got shot down."

"Should've given you the fuckin' CMH," Qrow growled, using the wrong term for the Medal of Honor.

"Pretty sure they don't give the Medal of Honor to people who are getting court-martialed," Blake said. She reached into her envelope. "Oh, what the hell—they did it to me, too!" Her parchment was for the Bronze Star with V device, for Valor, for the reconnaissance mission. There was a medal and ribbon for her as well.

"They're not going to make it a public award." Tai got up and went into the kitchen—partly to get another seltzer, partly out of anger. "This way Gale still rewards you without actually rewarding you."

"Ah, who cares," Qrow snickered. "At least you get to put on the ribbon."

"Ruby?" Weiss looked at her friend. "Did you get anything?"

Ruby looked into her envelope. "Nope. Just the letter of reprimand, and…and my orders." She took a deep breath. "Time to face the music."

"Oscar?" Weiss turned to him. He had opened his envelope as well, but his was just a simple envelope, not a manila one. "Mine are just orders," Oscar told her. "General Gale already gave me my Purple Heart. Since I had the charges dismissed, he said the other day that they're looking to get me something for resisting torture."

Yang almost said Ruby should get something too, but that would bring up memories her sister didn't need right now. "Well, Rubes?"

Ruby looked over her orders. "I don't believe it."

"A lot of that going around," Willow said, which surprised all of them; the eldest Schnee had revealed she had a sense of humor lately, long buried by abuse and alcohol.

"What? What?" Yang demanded.

Ruby held up her orders. "I'm going to Hill Air Force Base."

"The 388th?" Tai referred to the wing that was based there.

"No. The Aggressors. The 64th Aggressors." Ruby leaned back on the couch. "I don't get it. That's an elite squadron. I just got court-martialed and demoted, for goodness' sake. And they sent me to the Aggressors?" The 64th Aggressor Squadron was indeed an elite unit, trained to simulate enemy aircraft. They didn't simulate GRIMM, the reasoning being that if a pilot could beat a living, thinking human being, they could beat a robot. Only the best got selected for Aggressor training; it was one step below getting selected for Vytal Flag.

Yang jumped up and pulled Ruby off the couch into a crushing hug. "Hey, Sis! That's payback! That's karma, sis! That's God saying He still loves you!"

"Ergh…yeah…" Yang let Ruby sit back down, but all Ruby could hear was Raven's words from earlier. "Okay, Oscar, your turn." Tai caught the look of concern between his youngest daughter and her lover.

"Well…here goes…" Oscar pulled out his orders. He set them down. He didn't even attempt a smile. "VFA-41."

"The Black Aces?" Blake nodded. "That's a good bunch. They just transitioned into the new Super Bugs." She used the nickname for the F/A-18E Super Hornet, a more advanced version of the older F/A-18C that Oscar had flown before.

"It's at sea," Oscar said, his voice low. "The Ronald Reagan."

"Oh." Blake's single word said it all. Oscar would be going to sea, back to the regular Navy. He would still be a Huntsman—his status had not been revoked—but he would be far away from Ruby.

There was silence in the room, then Blake sighed, her ears back, and grabbed her orders. "Let's see what I got—oh," she repeated. "Well, that's interesting."

"What's that?" Pyrrha could feel the gloom from Ruby and Oscar, and hoped for anything to dispel it.

"VF-84. Jolly Rogers. I'm back in F-14s." Blake's mouth quirked into a smile. "I wonder if I could get Marrow back as my RIO?"

"I'm pretty sure I speak for him when I say go to hell, Blake," Weiss smiled. It helped a little.

"And I'm on the Reagan too." Blake put out a hand. "Hello, shipmate."

Oscar smiled too; at least he would know someone aboard. "Hello, shipmate."

"I guess that's just me. Gad, I wonder what hellhole they stuck me in…" Yang reached in and pulled out her orders, but not without trying to lighten the mood somehow. "Probably Israel. Then I can move in on Blake's boyfriend." She put her hands up to her face and batted her eyes. "Ohhhh, Sunnn…bang me harder, Sun..."

"Just read your orders, blockhead," Blake admonished.

Yang stuck her tongue out, then looked at them. "Well, I'll be damned."

"That is a new one tonight," Willow observed.

"I got the 4th. The 4th Tac Fighter Wing. Right over at Signal. Back in Fifteens." Yang leaned back against the wall. "I'll be…Major Oum must've said something."

"So I'm at Hill, Yang is at Signal, Blake and Oscar are at sea, and Weiss is in Germany," Ruby sighed. "Well…we knew that was coming. They're scattering us."

"I guess so," Blake mused.

They were all silent for long while as they thought about it. "It sure was fun while it lasted," Yang said. "Well, aside from the whole getting shot at, shot down, dosed with kerasine, almost sold into sex slavery—"

"Twice," Weiss interrupted.

"—and getting my arm lopped off. Other than that, it was pretty cool." Yang nodded, then smiled, geniunely. "Best damn job I ever had."

"Beats retail," Oscar added, and they all broke up in laughter. Ruby jumped up, grabbed Little, and between them they brought over seltzers for all. She twisted hers off, then thrust it forward. "Here's to the Army and the Navy, and the battles they have won. Here's to America's colors, the colors that never run."

Blake clinked her seltzer against Ruby's. "May the wings of liberty never lose a feather."

"We sure shook the pillars of heaven," Yang agreed.

"I have no idea what any of you are talking about," Weiss told them, "but…to Ruby Flight."

"To Ruby Flight!" they all cheered.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: If this world doesn't have "Big Trouble in Little China" in it, then Salem's right: it doesn't deserve to exist. I also inadvertently quoted "Fury," but oh well. It's a good line. We've already established that Yang and Ruby are total geeks, so naturally they would quote Jack Burton.

Just for trivia's sake, the incidents I mention that push the court-martial off the front pages actually happened on October 4, 2001, though this world has twisted them. There really was an airliner accidentally shot down by a SAM site, and NATO did invoke Article 5 of the NATO Charter...but the airliner was shot down accidentally by Ukraine, not Yugoslavia, and NATO invoked the Charter against al-Qaeda, not Salem.

So Ruby Flight has been officially broken up...for now, of course. But we still have one chapter left. What's the mysterious thing Pyrrha and Weiss are up to? What's going to happen to Ruby and Oscar's relationship, and Blake and Yang's sort of one? Will Arashikaze kill Raven in revenge for her nephew, negating Raven's whole heel-face turn? And what about Neo?