Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.

While Aqua Went To Speak With Eraqus…

Zhang exhaled, and then opened his eyes when his family approached him. "I assume you have something?"

"Yup." Ruby nodded, pulling out a 1-Up. "Found this in the Mushroom Fields just yesterday in a ? Block."

"Doesn't that bring someone back to life?" Raven asked, who was wearing a simple black and red T-shirt and jeans.

"Well, if someone's sick, this can also perk them back up. Much more potent than a regular Super Mushroom." Ruby pointed out.

Raven chuckled. "Well, how about that…"

Summer smiled. "Alright, let's go see Luce."

"Indeed. Let's go." Zhang nodded as they walked off to Vale's hospital.

Once they were there, Zhang walked to the front desk. "Excuse me, ma'am. I'm here to see my wife, Luce."

"Oh… about that… she-"

Zhang closed his eyes solemnly. "We're too late…"

"Huh? Oh no no, you didn't let me finish." She said. "She got moved to a different hospital."

"What!" Zhang exclaimed in shock.

"Where did they move her to?" Tai asked.

"When our head doctor heard about Toad Town's hospital, not to mention hearing about a self-proclaimed "Ultimate" nurse, he decided the best course of action was to send Luce to the hospital over there. He felt the nurse would find a way to take care of her condition."

Zhang blushed. "Oh, my mistake… I didn't mean to jump to conclusions."

Yang sweatdropped. "Why the hell would you move her between hospitals?"

"That's what I said." The lady shrugged. "He didn't explain otherwise… so I'm guessing it was just a wild hair he had."

Qrow rubbed the back of his head. "Terrific…"

"So she's in the Mushroom Kingdom. Perfect." Tai turned to Rosalina. "Rosie-"

"Already on it." She would then teleport them all to Toad Town.

The lady blinked. "Did they just… this world is getting weirder and weirder."

BGM: Toad Town (Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story Plus Bowser Jr's Journey)

"Ah geez!" Ruby shivered. "How is it just lightly snowing in Vale yet it's nearly a white out over here?!"

"No idea." Yang shrugged.

"Oh, it's not that bad." Summer said.

"Agreed." Rosalina agreed.

"As someone who tended to camp out in cold weather, this is nothing." Raven added as they walked toward the hospital.

End BGM

BGM: Pokemon Center (Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire)

"Hello!" A Koopa greeted them. "What can I do for you?"

"We're here to see Luce." Zhang said.

"Luce… Luce…" He looked through the computer. "Ah! Luce… here are we. She was transferred here yesterday and is in the ICU. Would you like to go inside?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I'll let the doctors know to unlock the doors for you."

With a nod, they walked off. "I thought Mushroom City had the ICU." Ruby whispered.

"Apparently, Toad Town's got one too." Yang shrugged.

"Large family… though I wonder why Rosalina is with them."

"Excuse me."

"Hmm? Oh, hello, Ms. Torres, what can I do for you?"

"Have you seen Mario around?" Maria asked. "He usually doesn't miss a shift unless Bowser starts acting up again."

"Has the princess been kidnapped?"

"No, not that I'm aware."

"Then maybe he's taking a day off, or he's busy plumbing… or I dunno, on a date. Maybe he's going through something. Heck if I know."

"Tomoe and I are a bit worried. It's been a few days after that whole Phazon war thing."

He shrugged. "Everyone recuperates differently. For all I know, he probably got hit with some Phazon and he's taking it easy for a while."

With Zhang and the others, they walked into the ICU and made their way into Luce's room, who was in the process of being taken care of by Mikan, having set up the Medigun over her. "I don't know how much more life support I can give you… at this rate, we're on borrowed time before you pass from this illness."

"Not if we have anything to say about it." A voice said as Mikan turned around to see the group.

"Hmm? But how would-" Ruby pulled out a 1-Up Mushroom.

"Would this suffice?" Ruby smiled.

"A 1-Up…" Mikan whispered, gears turned into her head as a lightbulb appeared in her head. "Be right back!" She said, taking the 1-Up and running off. "Excuse me, pardon me! Doing an experiment real quick!"

"…Does anyone hear a blender?" Summer asked about a minute later as Mikan came back with a blender and a liquified 1-Up.

"Hmhmhmhmhm~" Mikan hummed as she poured the liquid into the IV bag, watching the liquified 1-Up go inside Luce's bloodstream. To their surprise, Luce's heart monitor slowly picked up the pace as they would see Luce's chest rising and falling normally. Her eyes slowly opened up.

"Oh my gosh, it worked!" Ruby exclaimed.

"A success~!" Mikan chirped. "This will get the pneumonia out of her system for good. However, due to her age, it will take a while for her to fully recuperate. Plus, I would need a few more 1-Ups to get her fully revitalized but considering how rare they are to find… well, we'll take what we can get."

"…Couldn't you have just put the 1-Up in her mouth?" Rosalina pointed out.

"I could have, yes… but I wanted to try something a little differently." Mikan winked.

"Mmm… why do I feel rejuvenated…" Luce mumbled as she slowly stirred, and then spotted Zhang. "Zhang…?"

"Hello, darling… I have a few people I'd like you to meet." He smiled as she looked up and saw Tai.

"Hey mom." Tai smiled.

"Tai…?" Her eyes widened, filled with tears. "Honey!" She smiled and looked down at her husband. "You finally came through."

"Yes…" He smiled. "I have."

"…Let me see your cane for a moment." She said.

"Okay…?" Zhang gave her his cane, to which she gave him ten harsh yet gentle smacks on the head. "Ow! Ooof! Yow! D'oh!"

"That's for how long you kept being stubborn and not listening to me about rekindling your relationship with our son!"

"Yes, yes… apologies, dear." He mumbled as he got another smack on the head. "Ow! It wasn't eleven yea-… oh… right, I apologize for when I went to bed and left you coughing on that chair."

"That's better. Apology accepted, darling."

Everyone sweatdropped. Feisty… Mikan thought.

"Even as an old lady, she's still feisty…" Qrow whispered to his teammates, causing them to snicker… and then the cane was thrown into his face. "OOMPH!"

"I heard that!" Luce glared as Qrow fell on his back, stars flying around his head as Raven and Summer knelt down and started poking his body.

"What did I do?!" Qrow groaned.

"How do you feel?" Tai asked.

"A lot better." Luce smiled. "I feel like I could walk out of here and enjoy the sunshine." She turned her head to look outside, seeing that it was snowing. "Oh… maybe I'll take a raincheck." She chuckled.

"Glad to see you're okay." Summer smiled as Luce turned her head and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh my word… Summer! You're actually alive!" She said in awe.

"No, I'm very much dead. I came back just to help Ruby out with something."

"Oh… that's a shame, but so very glad to see you again!" She turned to Raven. "And Raven!"

"Hi…" Raven waved shyly.

"Did you leave your bandit tribe just to see me? I knew there was some good in-" Luce would see everyone else gesturing her to zip it. "-you…? What are you doing?"

Raven looked down. "It's… complicated. My whole tribe burnt to the ground. I was actually heading over there to pass the torch to Vernal to spend more time with Yang and…" She paused, her face looked like she was about burst into tears at any moment. With a deep breath, she found her composure. "It's hard, but I'm getting by."

"Your… whole tribe? No survivors?"

"No…"

"Oh, you poor thing… my condolences." She said and turned to Qrow, who had a cane-shaped mark on his face. "And Qrow… still looking goofy as ever."

"Yeah yeah…" He mumbled.

Luce would look at Yang and Ruby shortly after. "Oh my word. My two granddaughters have grown spectacularly!" She beamed as the girls walked over and hugged her, then Luce gestured Raven over as she gave her a tight hug after she came over.

She would then turn to Rosalina. "Who's this pretty looking lady?" She asked, causing Rosalina to blush.

"I'm Rosalina, protector of the cosmos."

"Protector of the cosmos?" Luce wondered as Rosalina proceeded to levitate off the ground and conjured up magic with a smile on her face. "Oh my… I'm sensing a cosmic aura from you." She said as Rosalina floated back down.

"I'm also dating your son." She added.

Luce gasped. "You found another woman and it's this beautiful lady! Ooooh, that's wonderful!" She smiled. "You two take care of each other now!" She then turned to Zhang. "And Zhang, if he manages to lose Rosalina… we do not need another ten year gap of your stubbornness."

"What makes you think that?" He asked as Luce glared at him. "Fine. We'll shorten it this time. How about five years?" Still a glare. "…Two years. A year. Six months? Three weeks. A few days? …Two hours?" Zhang sweatdropped. "You know I'm joking!"

Luce's glare disappeared. "Oh, I know. I'm just messing with you~!"

Sheesh, even when she's recovering she can be quite scary… Zhang thought with a shudder.

"Is she normally like this?" Rosalina whispered.

"Depends on the day." Tai responded.

"So… grandma, I have to ask." Ruby spoke up. "How did you and grandpa meet?"

"Oh, I'm glad you asked!" Luce smiled.

Zhang chuckled. "It began several years ago…"

End BGM

Flashback…

"It was after I had graduated from Beacon. I was one of the select few who knew about Ozma's past so I worked with an incarnation of his. Whatever top secret mission it was, I would do it. One mission, however… well…"

Zhang walked toward the train with a lady right next to him. "Tickets please." The conductor said as they handed him the tickets.

"The headmaster of Beacon is sending us on an errand."

"Oh! Forgive me, sir. The VIP lounge is in the back."

"Thank you." He nodded as they walked inside.

"The mission was simple: Escort the Winter Maiden to Atlas. She had come to Vale on business when her bodyguards were attacked by assassins. She was cooped up in Beacon for safety for the time being. It was then that I was asked to take her back home. I like to think she was feeling homesick at the time… heheh."

BGM: Excess Express at Day (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)

"Isn't this lovely, Friya?" Zhang asked. "This is the safest route to Atlas."

"Yes, I agree… though I can't help but wonder if this route is truly safe."

"Ah, you worry too much. We'll be alright."

"Friya? The same Friya that we met on our way back home?" Ruby asked.

"The very same. She was quite beautiful as a young lady. I'm surprised she's still kicking… not to mention making friends with that Futaba girl. Anywho, we were on our way to Atlas and things were going quite well… for the most part."

End BGM

The train approached a bridge. On top of the bridge was a lone assassin watching the train about to fly underneath the bridge. She jumped off, landing on top of it and gracefully ducking underneath the bridge as the train went through a tunnel right after.

The assassin dropped between the cars and walked inside, heading straight for the VIP lounge. The passengers didn't give her the time of day as they were chatting amongst themselves or reading the newspaper.

"Man, this tunnel's longer than I remember it…" A security guard mumbled as he was guarding the VIP room, and then the assassin dropped down on top of him and snapped his neck, dropping him to the ground. She would then place a charge on the door and then took a few steps back, blowing the door off of its hinges.

"What the hell?" Zhang wondered as the assassin walked in, pulling out a gun and aiming it at Friya before shooting her, but Zhang used his semblance to make a shield from his staff. Zhang let out a chuckle and walked forward. "Friya, hide."

With a nod, Friya got up and used her Winter Maiden powers to make it a white out inside as she swiftly hid right after, then the white out disappeared, leaving Zhang and the assassin by themselves. "Just you and me, lady." He said.

"You don't know who you're messing with."

"You got a name, sweet cheeks?"

"Hmph… you're quite bold asking for an assassin's name. But if you must know before you die… my name is Luce de Cosantoir."

"Grandma was an assassin?!" Yang and Ruby exclaimed in shock.

"I was born in a period of chaos after the Great War, my family was assassins for hire, so I quite literally grew into it. It wasn't the most pleasant time of my life but that was in the past. That said, I was quite the effective assassin, since my semblance allowed me to easily take my target out."

"And yet, you didn't use it when you took the first shot." Zhang teased.

"Oh hush now."

"Luce de Cosantoir… I'll be sure to remember that." He said.

"Since we're introducing ourselves. Who the hell are you?"

"Zhang Taiyang Xiao Long… and I'm the Winter Maiden's bodyguard. So why don't you run along now… unless you want to make the first move."

"I'm not going to remember your name… because this is where it ends for you!" She said, activating her semblance as her gun crackled with electricity and fired an electric shock.

BGM: Ninja Hideaway (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe)

Zhang put up another shield. "LIghtning enhancement, eh? You must be known as the Lightning Assassin I've heard so much about!"

"So my reputation precedes me!" Luce aimed and fired again, but Zhang rolled out of the way and with a smirk, he jumped onto the chairs and used his draconic aura to turn his staff into a golden yellow sword and blocked the bullets as he swiftly slashed her repeatedly, but Luce gracefully backflipped as she lunged at him and kicked him in the gut, sending him sliding a bit but he quickly recovered and morphed his weapon into a flail and swung at her, where she weaved her head… which gave him the opportunity to run in and did a flying knee kick that knocked Luce straight into a cabinet.

"Mmph!" Luce grunted as she shook it off. "It's rare that I find someone who I can go toe to toe with. I'm going to enjoy this."

"Believe me, my dear, I'm enjoying this as well. Perhaps we should discuss our differences over dinner."

"Tonight's main course… you!" Luce said, firing at Zhang.

"Oho! Taking it nice and fast, are we? I like it!"

Luce blushed. "That's not how I meant it, you weirdo!"

Are they seriously flirting at a time like this? Friya thought in her hiding spot.

Luce swiftly shot at Zhang, striking him in both shoulders as she front flipped and axe kicked him, but he rolled out of the way and gracefully twirled his staff and smacked her in the head before shoving it into her gut and launched out a draconic blast to knock her into a window.

He would then launch into her and swung his staff again, but she rolled out of the way as he smacked it against the window and shattered it, then he turned around only to get kicked in the face and then shot at with her lightning enhanced bullets.

Luce roundhouse kicked him right after, knocking him to the ground. "This is where it ends." She said, but he got up and sweep kicked her to knock her on her back, but she caught herself with her hands and then flipped herself back up. "It's not every day someone lives against my guns. Usually they keel over."

"I'm no ordinary huntsman, honey."

"Yes, I can see that. It's too bad you're cute… because this would hurt a lot more if you weren't."

"So you're saying I'm irresistible. Funny, I could say the same to you, my lovely assassin."

"Oh my gosh, just get a ROOM already!" Friya complained.

"Shall we settle this someplace else?"

"Nah, I'm more comfortable killing you in this one."

"Suit yourself."

The two would proceed to clobber each other, with the occasional flirting which was enough to drive Friya nuts as the two delivered swift harsh blows to each other, both in hand to hand and with their semblances and weapons. Both of them delivered another hard blow that knocked them both down, their auras flickering.

"You're… you're a hell of an adversary, I'll give you that much. Never thought I'd have that much fun trying to murder someone." Luce panted as she pulled out a needle and shoved it into her arm, injecting something into her as she tossed it out the window.

"What was…?"

"A booster shot to restore my aura." Luce smirked.

"We have those?" Ruby wondered.

"They discontinued them, unfortunately." Luce said.

"How on earth… why did they discontinue them? A lot more huntsman and huntress lives could be saved!" Mikan pointed out.

"Unfortunately, young folk back in the day abused the hell out of them and put steroids in them for more than just an adrenaline boost. This is why we can't have nice things." Zhang grumbled.

"Oh… that'll do it…"

Luce aimed her gun at Zhang, smirking. "Now then, it's time we parted ways. Any last words, you hunk?"

"Yeah… you might wanna be aware of your surroundings."

"Huh?" Luce wondered as suddenly she was blasted out of the window by a blast of cold aid from Friya.

End BGM

Zhang looked out the window. "Toodle-loo, my sweet assassin!" He waved, and then earned a smack on the head by Friya. "D'oh!"

"The way you two kept flirting, I was wondering if this VIP Room was going to turn into something way more adult."

"Oh come now, can't we have a little fun in our fights?" He mumbled.

"You're welcome, by the way."

Luce got up, shaking it off and watching the train leave. "Rrrgh… that man… ooooh, I'm going to make him pay."

"I successfully escorted Friya back to Atlas right after that. You'd think that would have been the end of my run ins with Luce, but nope. Every now and then, we would run ins with each other and proceeded to clobber each other like normal. We had an intense rivalry."

"Intense, huh? In more ways than one, I imagine." Tai teased.

"Hey!" Zhang scolded, hearing the ladies giggle in the room. "Anywho… the more we flirted, the more we started to fall for each other. You could see we were attached to each other at that point. However, one day changed everything."

"I don't get it… usually I'm this great assassin yet after meeting you, my missions just kept falling apart. My reputation plummeted… I'm not this dangerous assassin anymore… how the hell did you do that?"

"Beats me. I believe our scores are tied at this point."

"You're keeping track? Uuuugh, why am I not surprised!" Luce grumbled. "I don't even know what to do…"

"I do have one idea." Zhang said.

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Come with me and leave your assassin days behind."

"What? Why the hell would I-"

"Because I love you, you crazy bitch!" He said as Luce's eyes widened.

"…Oum dammit, I've been struggling to say the same about yo-" She would see him get on one knee, causing her to gasp.

"Luce de Cosantoir, will you do me the honor of marrying this crazy bastard?"

Luce put her hands over her mouth, absolutely speechless before putting her hands away, tearing off her assassin outfit. "I will… you flirtatious crazy bastard you!" She pulled him into a kiss right after.

"Aww! Adorable!" Rosalina gushed.

"Right? That's cute!" Summer grinned.

"Heck yeah!" Ruby agreed.

"That's… a hell of a proposal there." Qrow said.

"But a cute one! …Cute-ish, I should say." Mikan giggled.

"After that, we got married and raised Tai… and then later on, we became mentors for Team STRQ. Shaping them up into who they are today." Zhang said. "And that… is how I met your grandmother."

"That was a good story!" Yang smiled.

"Mhm!" Ruby agreed.

Luce smiled. "Ah, memories… such good memories."

Mikan chuckled. "Well, the good news is that your pneumonia is gone. However-"

"Due to my age, it will take some time for me to fully recuperate." Luce nodded. "So you're going to keep me in here to keep an eye on me until I've fully recovered."

"Pretty much." Mikan nodded. "Thankfully, we'll get you out of the ICU pretty quick."

"I'll be here to keep an eye on her too. You kids can go. I'll be here if you need me."

Tai nodded. "Understood. Nice seeing you again, mom."

"It was a pleasure to see you all again, and meet for the first time." Luce smiled, causing Rosalina to smile back as they walked out of the room while waving goodbye.

Zhang chuckled. "Good times indeed."

Luce closed her eyes. "I say by the time I get out, we have a sparring match. Just like old times."

"You sure you're up for that?"

"I've got some spring in my step now, yes."

"I suppose so."

"By the way, I believe our score is 140-139."

Zhang chuckled. "Hey, who's keeping score here?"

This one was created by Log, who even suggested "Have them flirt a bit during their fight" to me!

Ibuki: Aww, flirting when they're killing each other. How adorable.