.

Months passed faster than noticed, and it was already summer. And like every year, Ruby's parents took her to the beach. Beach was awesome! There were lots of adorable little crabs, pretty seashells to collect, she could make sandcastles, play in the water…! Oh! Ice cream too!

"And this is for you young girl." the man gave her a cornet with a scoop of strawberry ice cream.

"Thank you!" Ruby said with a happy smile.

The little girl started eating her treat while her mom paid the man, and the two returned to their spot hand in hand.

Upon arriving, Summer sighed deeply. "Put that down, want you, you're acting like a teenager." she told her husband with a pout.

"Okay okay…" Tai put his Scroll in his bag, and the little family enjoyed a picnic under the sun at the seaside.

The weather was good, the wind was pleasant, a calm and perfect afternoon. So why did Ruby still have this weird, uncomfortable feeling? Ever since that gray haired man had come to tell her parents those 'bad news', they had been acting strange. Her dad was more distant, all the time working, and sometimes when she got up to get some water in the middle of the night, Ruby saw him sitting alone on the couch, with a photo in his hands. And sometimes, she saw her mom crying on her side, muttering, but as soon as she saw her daughter, she wiped her eyes and smiled as usual, as if everything was fine, and she did everything that Ruby asked her, cookies, games, shopping.

Ruby didn't understand what was going on, she didn't understand why her parents were so sad, why her father forced himself to work, why her mother gave in so easily to all her whims… She had hoped that during their day at the beach they would be a little happier, but even if they were both smiling, she knew it was wrong.

She didn't like people being sad, especially her parents!

"I'm going to swim!" she yelled as she ran toward the sea.

"Okay, but be careful not to go too far!" her mom called behind her.

"Yes mom!"

The sun was beating down hard in the mountains, and the wind was much more powerful… It didn't really help Falcon to control her Semblance.

For the third time, the little blonde was thrown backwards because of an explosion right in front of her, result of a fireball that had escaped her control barely lifted from her hands. She could easily create powerful flame throwers, but as soon as the fire was no longer connected to her in one way or another, it would dissipate or get out of control. Apparently, she had unlocked her Semblance last fall, a little less than a year ago, and a few months before they met, so she didn't know all the aspects yet, and in addition she seemed to stagnate, as if something was blocking her.

Rook had a hard time believing she had known the little girl for so long, spring had passed at breakneck speed, mission after mission, and Falcon had never ceased to become more and more mysterious. Since the kidnapping mission, she had become completely closed to questions, even those with obvious answers. She obviously wanted to be sure not to accidentally drop information on something, and no matter how hard Rook searched, impossible to find what, nothing came to her mind, at least nothing plausible. She tried to trap her by training her to use her Semblance, to understand where these superhuman strength gains she sometimes had when she was in difficulty or had taken too much damages to be able to continue the fight normally came from. But nothing, again.

It was frustrating to not know, but the worst part was that she was sure that, whatever Falcon's secret was, it was something she was suffering from. And not being able to help her was really the most frustrating thing in this story. Even though she didn't talk a lot, never smiled, and seemed disinterested in everything, Rook had become very attached to her. She couldn't help but find cute the pout she made after being called 'firecracker', yes the nickname sticked, her little squeaks when she yawned, or the song that she hummed from time to time while taking care of her doll.

The doll, let's talk about it… She wouldn't be surprised if she learned it was haunted by the spirit of a serial killer or something. Between the cracks on its face, its red lace dress with a hand-shaped dried blood stain on the side, and having the same hair and eye colors as its owner… And it was not mentioning the attention it received, its hair, its clothes, the girl made sure that it was always flawless, she slept hugging it, and she sometimes stared at it for a long time with an empty look. … Creepy… Fortunately, as a reasonable adult, Rook had managed to convince herself that there was no spirit in the toy, after all it was impossible, ghosts, monsters, witches, that only existed in fairy tales.

"C'mon firecracker, we're done for today." Rook smiled, reaching out her left hand to the girl on the floor, who took it to get up. She was covered with dirt because of the repeated explosions… "You'd need a good shower. Let's go, we're going to the Hiddenhouse."

The 'Hiddenhouse', or really just an old abandoned mansion a little away from the city, where little criminals and people passing by often stopped to rest. There was still running water so it was convenient for travelers, but the place was falling apart, and it was far too cold to settle in, there was no heater, it was poorly insulated, many windows were broken, and there were holes in some areas of the walls. However, it was still a good way not to spend the night outside and to have access to free water, if you were not afraid to shower in cold water. With her Semblance, Falcon certainly didn't have any problem.

While the little girl was taking a shower, Rook sat down on a roughly good armchair and took out her Scroll to take a look at her contract offers. There were many she wouldn't take the risk to accept if she was alone, people tended to overestimate her, but with Falcon who always found a way out, mostly by making everything burn around her, things were often easier. But damn, she really needed to work on her discretion…

A name caught Rook's attention. It was a contract in Atlas, very well paid, not as difficult as the client seemed to think but…

"Not worth it." she thought as she rejected the offer. She wouldn't break a years-long friendship for so little.

Let's see what else was there… Oh, a request for protection, had been a long time. Word had apparently passed on about her failure on her last protection mission, and requests like that had dropped. She didn't like these missions anyway but it was perhaps a good opportunity to make Falcon work on her self-control, and to teach her two or three things at the same time. What's the point of being her mentor if she didn't teach her anything?

The little girl got out of the shower, rubbing a towel over her head, and her hair, very curly and tangled already by nature, was even more so every time she washed it, making it look even more voluminous. At first, Rook had thought that she was just too lazy to brush it, it was understandable by seeing the time and the effort it should take, but later, she found out that Falcon simply didn't know how to do it at all. And whoever touched her hair did not live long enough to understand their error… They had had problems in several missions because of that… Falcon was very calm most of the time, but she quickly became very aggressive if someone touched a sensitive point, whether it was her hair, her doll, or simply her past.

It was for these kinds of reasons that Rook kept her own hair short.

"I found our next mission. It's protection." she waved her Scroll in the air.

Falcon sat across from her and nodded, rubbing the towel over her head. She never discussed the missions Rook chose, nor the part of remuneration she received. She just let things happen around her, like she didn't care.

"So, it's some important guy from Atlas who wants to escape from there, apparently he won't be followed and will provide us the means of transport, he will just need protection against the Grimm and he can't ask the Huntsmen." she summarized.

It wasn't surprising, someone who wanted to leave this hell incognito couldn't use legal means, Atlas wasn't very nice with possible leaked information. And the Huntsmen who took clandestine missions were not always very reliable as for their silence and affiliations, contrary to people who lived in total illegality. By the way, as far as she knew, Falcon had no identity papers at all…

"We'll pick him up at the west exit of Mantle in a week, and we have to escort him to-…" Rook's heart missed a beat, and she reread the destination several times to make sure she didn't make a mistake. "Okay never mind, forget what I said, we're not taking this mission."

"Why?" Falcon asked curiously.

"Cause it's suicide. I'm not bringing you in this mess." Rook said as she scrolled through her list of contracts, but she didn't see Falcon frown and clench her fist, nor did she see her get up, until her Scroll was snatched from her hands. "Hey!"

She got up to try to take it back, but her apprentice's face as she looked for the problematic contract made her stop. It was the first time she had seen Falcon so determined outside of a fight. Her eyes weren't red, but it was all like, just as intimidating. Then she stopped and seemed to think for a few moments, and looked up at Rook.

"The unexplored continent?" she raised an eyebrow. Rook sighed and began to approach to retrieve her Scroll, but Falcon stepped back, looking at her defiantly. "You think I'm too weak?" she accused angrily.

Rook blinked. What was that? "What? No, I… Falcon, it's the largest concentration of giant Grimm in the world, just in the waters around the coasts. You can't make it alive, I can't make it alive, and if this scientist wants to die, it will be without us, okay?" she tried to reason with her.

Rook reached out for Falcon to give her the Scroll back, but the girl refused. What happened to her suddenly? Usually she didn't make the slightest comment on the missions, no matter how difficult, and suddenly she wanted to go on a suicide mission to prove she was capable of doing it?

"Falcon, stop your bullshit, will you? It's not a question of strength or weakness, I'm the first to take risky missions when the reward is worth it, but I can at least be realistic, and if we go there, we die. Give me back that Scroll." but with each step forward she made, Falcon made one back. What was her problem today?! "Falcon."

"I can do this mission." the girl said firmly.

"No you can't." Rook responded on the same tone.

At that time, they were already walking around the room, one to reduce the distance, the other to gain some. Rook frowned, they weren't going to start fighting for a Scroll, were they?

Falcon's eyes turned red, and Rook prepared her weapon. Yes, they were going to fight for a Scroll. Okay, it was childish, but she couldn't accept to take on this mission, it was outright suicide!

"Falcon…" she tried one last time.

The girl stepped back again, still with a certain determination in the look. Rook fired the first shot.

Yang jumped back to dodge, and barely had time to stabilize before Rook pounced on her. Despite the age difference, she had no trouble keeping up, Rook's weapon was very similar to Vernal's, and so were their fighting styles. Vernal was just more brutal and less precise, so Rook's shots were harder to dodge, but easier to take, as long as she didn't add Dust. It wasn't an easy task either…

"Falcon, this mission will just kill us!" Rook tried to kick her.

"I can do it!" Yang yelled as she dodged.

She then jumped over the old sofa to dodge a horizontal blow. She knew that approaching this continent was dangerous, she even knew it better than Rook! It was Salem's territory! But she could do it, she was strong enough for that, she wasn't weak! Especially in front of this witch!

Rook shot at her again, and Yang rolled to the side to dodge again. With the Scroll in her only hand and without a pocket to put it in, impossible to use her weapon, her real Semblance had to remain a secret, and her Maiden powers wouldn't help her in a closed space. It was a lot of restraints simultaneously, but she had to be strong enough to overcome that. Raven could do it!

It was the first time she fought Rook, even in training, but she had already seen her fight. Let's see, she only had six charged shots and had already used two. If she could hold on until she ran out, it would be a good start. Yang started running around the room, making sure her opponent had no choice but to use her weapon, or to run after her trying to catch her, knowing that the little blonde was much faster and had more stamina.

It seemed to work, as Rook quickly used her third shot, which narrowly failed to nail the hanging sleeve of her right arm to the wall. Yang tightened her grip on the Scroll as she hid behind an armchair, she should be able to dodge something so simple! She was a Maiden and the daughter of Raven Branwen, she should be stronger than a simple assassin! She couldn't lose a single fight! She didn't want to lose anymore! She didn't want to relive that anymore! She had to prove that she was strong! That she deserved to be still alive while the rest of her family-…!

The red in her eyes intensified as she emerged from her hiding. She wouldn't win a fight by staying hidden! As soon as she took a step out, she had to jump to dodge a blow that would have touched her leg, and landed on the back of the couch. Rook was on the other side of the room, a coffee table and another old couch between them. Yang started to run on the backrest to keep moving, but as she got to the end, she was unbalanced by the sudden collapse of the furniture under her feet because of an arrow with Fire Dust. She quickly positioned herself to land without much damage, but as if to make fun of her, the floor suddenly broke under her weight.

She floated for a few moments, before her back and her head came into violent contact with the stone floor of the first floor.

"Falcon!" she vaguely heard Rook call as she tried to gather her thoughts.

A noise told her that Rook had joined her down there, but between the cloud of dust that surrounded the place of her fall and her head still spinning despite her Aura, Yang couldn't see her arriving on time, nor defend herself when her partner immobilized her on the ground by sitting on her and grabbing her wrist.

"Falcon, that's enough." Rook said angrily.

As if she was going to give up so easily! Yang, her real Semblance charged thanks to her fall, tried to wave her legs to try to get free, making a crack in the stone with her foot, but stopped, suddenly feeling sharp pain in her wrist, accompanied by a cracking noise.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" she cried in pain.

"I said, enough." Rook repeated firmly, not letting go of her wrist.

With her left hand, Rook picked up her Scroll, which had fallen from Yang's hand, and put it in her pocket. Only after she got up, and Yang straightened up, sitting on the floor with her hand tightly clutching the fabric of her pants despite her broken wrist. She could feel the tears starting to flow despite her best efforts because of the pain, so she leaned forward so that her hair hid her face, and bit her lip to stifle her sobs.

She lost.

She hadn't been so ashamed since her argument with her mother almost three years ago. She should have been able to win this fight, even without a weapon, she had been trained by the best fighter in Remnant, she had a Semblance that made her overpowered, she had the Maiden powers, but not only had she lost miserably, but she had been easily overpowered and even injured because of her own lack of alertness! Even though she knew she was stronger than her opponent! Did she really make that little progress in the past few months? After training so much to try to control her powers? After perfecting her use of her mother's sword so much? After succeeding in killing trained Huntsmen and Grimm ten times bigger than her?

"The weak die, the strong live."

Her tears of pain became tears of frustration, and a sob escaped her. Rook could have killed her if she wanted to. With rage she punched her fist against the stone floor beside her with all her strength, but barely created a small crack, her Semblance having already died down when the adrenaline had dropped. The pain in her wrist doubled, and it annoyed her even more. She was weak, she didn't want to be weak, she couldn't be weak, even less in front of someone else, but it was stronger than her, the tears flowed by themselves and she couldn't stop them… It was like that night, she was on the ground, crying, not moving, even when her mother had told her to cross this damn portal…

"Yang! Do what I say! Now!"

"B-But…"

"IT'S AN ORDER YANG!"

Why didn't she listen?! Why was she frozen in fear?! Why was she so weak at this very moment?!

"Falcon…?" Rook asked, her voice full of concern.

Yang did not answer, and pulled her legs up against her chest to sink her head into her knees. She didn't want Rook to see her cry like a baby, it was humiliating enough to be beaten so easily, she didn't want to look even weaker than she already was…

Because she was weak, she knew it, she didn't need to be reminded…

At that moment, she would have given anything to have her mother here taking her in her arms, gently passing a hand through her hair to calm her down…

Rook was completely lost…

At one moment Falcon was completely disinterested in everything that was going on around her, as usual, then the next moment, she got angry because she wanted to do a mission far too hard for her, and now she was crying on the floor? They had known each other for over six months and it was the first time she acted like this. Even her excessive anger when someone touched her hair was not so extreme. Why did she want to go to this continent so bad? As far as mankind knows, there was nothing out there but Remnant's most dangerous Grimm. Or maybe the continent wasn't the problem…

"You think I'm too weak?"

Rook sighed. That was the problem? She thought she looked weak? Her, the girl who beheaded a Nevermore with one swing of her sword? It was ridiculous, who put such an idea in her head? Though now that she thought about it, if she had self-esteem issues, it explained a couple of things, why she put so much energy into training, why she never accepted help for difficult fights, why she never seemed satisfied with her victories…

But quest for power was never a good thing, especially for someone already stronger than the average, and especially for someone so young and impressionable. It was precisely to prevent her from going on the wrong path that Rook had taken her with her, so it was up to her to make sure it did not happen, but up until now she had in fact not done anything about it, she treated her more as a teammate than a student, as an equal rather than someone to tutor. Perhaps she should have thought about it more seriously before taking on this responsibility…

But it was better if it was her than someone who would fully steered her on the wrong path to use her, right?

Anyway, for now she had to find a way to calm her down. She could ask the questions afterwards.

Rook slowly moved away at first, then, seeing that Falcon wasn't reacting, she left the room and quickly climbed the stairs to return to where they had left their bags. She quickly rummaged through the red bag and pulled out the old porcelain doll. Her expressionless purple eyes seemed to stare at her intensely…

Rook swallowed. "Okay, I don't know if there's a spirit inside, but it better do its job…"

She came back down and found the little blonde still in the same place, not having moved at all, but who was now rocking slightly back and forth, humming the lullaby she sometimes sang. How could Rook have not seen that for months? Would she react as violently to every defeat? Luckily she didn't do this earlier…

"I'll have to do something about it…" she thought, "But for now…"

Rook knelt next to Falcon and patted her gently on the shoulder a first time. The girl didn't react, she didn't even notice it, she had completely cut herself off from everything around her…

"Falcon?" she tried to call her. Still nothing. Rook took a last look at the doll and held it right in front of the girl, pushing her arm with it. This time Falcon lifted her head slightly, and slowly unfolded to take the toy and hold it tight. She still hadn't looked up, but at least she was no longer curling up sobbing. "Falcon… Can you hear me?" she tried again. The little girl nodded almost imperceptibly, and Rook sighed in relief. She then sat down for good, and took out her Scroll, opening the page of the problematic contract. No matter what Falcon's problem was, they couldn't go to this continent without leaving their lives there. "Listen, I don't know what you're trying to prove or why, but there are other ways than facing a thousand of giant Grimm at the same time. I don't even know why this guy wants to go there, there's nothing but Grimm all over the continent-…

Falcon cut her, "There's the witch." Rook frowned, and Falcon continued in a low, monotonous voice, her eyes hidden by her bangs surely staring at the doll in her hand. "There is the witch, so this is where her pawns go to see her in person. He's in the war and chose who to side with. Like everyone else."

Falcon slowly turned her head towards her, her eyes were reddened by her tears and there were traces of tears on her cheeks, but her expression had returned to the same as usual, neutral and without emotion. Her gaze was lost in the void for a few moments, then on the Scroll, and she looked Rook in the eyes again.

"You're right. We better not go there. I don't want to be involved in any of this." she said in a calm, relatively firm voice, and then got up and went up the stairs, her doll pressed against her. Rook was now alone in the middle of the room, sitting on the floor in the dirt, with one thought in mind.

"The fuck just happened…?"

Arthur Watts was a brilliant scientist who made the glory of Atlas, particularly known for creating Mantle security system, and now, for tragically dying in an experiment on the next destructive weapon of the Atlas military. Of course, he would no longer be in the spotlight with the plan he had in mind, but it was a small sacrifice compared to what he was going to gain. James preferred a plastic doll with bolts in its head rather than his genius ideas? Well someone else would benefit, someone who could recognize his talent.

When Watts asked why his project had not been chosen, he was told "Top secret", so he searched, for weeks he searched, taking advantage of his status to have access to classified files, then he found a clue, which led him to another, then to another, and from one thing to another, he discovered everything. He would never have imagined something of this magnitude, and he felt betrayed for not being in the secret. Did they think he didn't deserve it? That he wasn't up to the task of helping them to save the world? But this guy and his doll was? Just because they needed a girl to receive these "powers"? Ridiculous!

But then he thought that maybe the other side would accept his services, maybe this "Queen" would recognize his genius at its true value, an element of weight on the scales of fate!

So he searched again and managed to contact her, and he had not been disappointed. The "Queen", a half-human half-Grimm being, just that, had been impressed by his ideas, and had offered him a place by her side for her conquest of the world. If he was on the side of this demon, no doubt that his genius and her power would assure their victory, and this worm of Ironwood would then regret not begging him on his knees to help them…

BIIIIIIIIIIP ~…!

"Contract refused" appeared on his Scroll.

Watts sighed. He still needed to find a way to get there without getting killed along the way…

"There we are!" Rook happily said with her arms wide open and a big smile on her face.

Yang sighed and looked around. Rook had woken her up early this morning, before sunrise, and dragged her half asleep into the middle of nowhere in the nearby forest for no apparent reason… It was always better than having to explain her yesterday's behavior… Falcon's past was still a total mystery, and the longer it remained, the better. But of course, she had been unable to keep her self-control, she panicked as soon as it was implied that she was too weak to do something impossible that she didn't even actually want to do. It was stupid from her, Salem was on this continent, going there would be throwing herself in the mouth of the Beowolf. And even if by some miracle she survived the mission, the risk of revealing her identity was way too big.

In the end, Rook rejected the mission anyway, but the problem now was to find valid explanations for what she had said, and this while her brain was still running in slow motion…

"Eh oh! Remnant to Falcon!" Rook called, passing her hand in front of the young girl's face.

Yang jumped and shook her head to wake up. Rook displayed her strange smile, and went into combat position, without taking out her weapon.

"See, I realized that, as a mentor, I was supposed to teach you things, which I have absolutely not done so far. But better late than never, right?" she shrugged.

It hid something, Rook was curious by nature, she hated being kept in the dark, she said so herself, and even if she respected Falcon's privacy, she had to be looking for an explanation for what happened yesterday. But for now, if she wanted to take her role more seriously and not ask questions, Yang wouldn't complain. If Rook was stronger than her, then training with her was a good way to gain power.

"No Semblance, no weapon. Just hand-to-hand." Yang nodded silently and got in position too. She hadn't trained much in hand-to-hand combat this year, she was more focused on the sword and her powers, but Raven had always said it was her best asset, she should being able to manage… Right?

An hour and thirty minutes later.

"Ouch…" Yang deadpanned lying on the ground.

"As you say…" Rook agreed in pain.

Okay, good news, she hadn't lost too much of her hand-to-hand combat skills. Bad news, Rook was much stronger than she looked…

They were currently both lying on the ground in the forest, out of breath, with their Aura empty and bruises everywhere… Yang might be excellent in hand-to-hand combat, but Rook was taller, more robust, more agile, more strategic, she had her two arms, and she didn't have a wrist that was still painful from yesterday! If she had been a boy, the little blonde would have been happy to kick him in the right place…

"Okay, at least I know what to make you work on…" Rook manage to say once she caught her breath.

"Really?" Yang frowned.

Rook straightened up and sat down, massaging her left shoulder with a pained expression on her face. From the beginning, she should have known that Yang's kicks were dangerous, especially when her Aura was already low.

"Yep. First, we have to find you a way to block on the right side…" Rook pointed at Yang's missing arm, making her groan. Without her right arm, it was impossible to defend herself on this side without her flames or her sword. She once got hit so hard that she was sure to have broken ribs… "Second, you have to learn to be more attentive, you're way too focused on your attacks, and not enough on the incoming blows." Well, a bandit was usually the one who attacks, not the one who defends… "And third… you won't like it, but you really should tie up your hair. It keeps flying in your field of view and creating you blind spots."

Tying up her hair? When she couldn't even comb it? With one hand? What a joke… And… Raven had loose hair… And she liked to look like her mother, even if she didn't have the same hair color. She knew they had practically the same face, and she hoped that as she grew older, she would look more and more like her. Even after all that happened, she remained her model, someone she admired more than anything…

Rook's hand entered her field of view. Yang took it and got up. It still hurt everywhere, but it wasn't worse than training with Vernal. A bottle of water was placed on her head, and she caught it before it fell on the floor.

"Ten minutes break and we go back to it, okay?" Rook said stretching her back.

Yang nodded and took a deep sip. Without her weapon, Rook wasn't as dangerous, but she still knew how to defend herself. Yang often forgot that she was one of Mistral's best assassins, because she was so carefree and impulsive outside of combat. Lil' Miss wasn't joking when she said that her eyes were bigger than her stomach, because she was far too confident during certain missions, such as when she fell asleep in the cockpit during the kidnapping mission, then got mad when the older sister criticized them… Come to think of it, yesterday, she gave the first shot…

But Yang wasn't really in a position to criticize her, having herself a lot of anger issues, even if it was mainly because of her Semblance. And Rook was nice, she wasn't too indiscreet, even if curiosity clearly itched, she trusted her, she helped her…

"Kinda sounds like mom…"

"So firecracker, ready for the second round?" Rook asked with an arrogant smile.

No, she must be wrong. Rook was far from being like Raven. No one was like Raven. No one.

"Not even me…" Yang thought sadly as she went back to training.

"WHAT?! WHY?!" Ruby cried.

"Sorry kid, but there's… something… I have to do…" Qrow tried to explain without success.

"But… But…" Ruby turned to her mother with tears in her eyes, hoping that she could convince her uncle Qrow to stay for her birthday. He couldn't be here last year because of a mission, and this time he wouldn't even tell her why!

Summer hesitated and cast a desperate glance at Qrow, but he shook his head with a sad look.

She sighed, "No sweety. Uncle Qrow has something important to do that day…"

"But …!"

"It's… complicated, sweetheart."

"Ruby, please…" Qrow begged her.

Ruby was about to reply, but when she saw the sad look in her uncle's eyes, she went silent. If it was really important for him… But she had barely seen him this year! What was going on around her that she wasn't told?

Ruby finally went back to her room, and Summer allowed herself to breathe.

"Sorry Sum…"

"Don't apologize, you have the right to go." she reassured him.

"But why did it have to be the same day as Ruby's birthday?"

"Say hi to Raven for us." she hugged reassuringly. He smelled alcohol for miles…

"I will…" he promised.

It had been a hard year for everyone, but especially for him, he lost his sister after all. Maybe after visiting her grave he would feel a little better, his mind would be a little calmer after being able to tell Raven what he had on his heart. Let's hope so…

"You're sure you don't want to come with me? It will be fun." Rook asked.

"I'm sure." Falcon answered, "I never celebrated Halloween, it doesn't really interest me. Besides, I have something important to do that day." she said the last part looking at her feet.

Rook didn't show it, but she was worried. Like every year, she would return to her hometown for Halloween to see her friends and bring candy to the orphanage, and she wanted to take the opportunity to introduce them to Falcon, but the little blonde apparently had other priorities than eating candy. It's been months since the girl's little meltdown, and since then, Rook had done everything in her power to take her role as a mentor more seriously. Except that if she wasn't handicapped in some way, her student was as strong as her, or even stronger. But she was still missing the essentials, she rushed head first without thinking, and tried to hit as hard as possible, while several times she could have won the fight with just one or two calculated moves. But she was improving, she was more discreet on mission, faster, more efficient, and she seemed to relax a little more the rest of the time, as if she just needed to let off steam. Rook not questioning her once about what she said probably helped reassuring her.

But it was always frustrating not to know…

The girls separated at the airfield, and the transportation to Atlas took off. Rook was a little worried about leaving Falcon alone, but she wanted to trust her, it was only for a week, and she had her Scroll number just in case. She didn't have any reason to worry, did she?

Even after not flying for a year, Yang still had a hard time getting used to it. The forest seemed so much taller and bigger on foot…

The journey between the nearest civilization and the last location of the tribe was long and boring, despite the few Grimm who confused her with their meal. She took a certain pleasure in being able to decapitate a Beowolf who jumped on her without having to stop or even to look at it, she still remembered when she saw her mother do it for the first time, she had had stars in her eyes.

The walk seemed endless to her, and yet, the more she advanced, the more she had the impression of recognizing the path. It was weird, the camp had only been there for a few weeks before the attack, and even if she participated in the patrols, it shouldn't be enough to recognize a specific piece of forest after an entire year in civilization. But yet, having grown up in the forest, she differentiated trees as others would differentiate buildings, she remembered the mushroom that had grown here, the gunshot that ended there, the root that protruded in this place, the branch right up to her face which had scratched her cheek once… Yes, she could recognize a precise piece of forest among all those she had visited.

She was getting closer, she could feel it. Her steps became more hesitant, her breathing more difficult. Her heart almost stopped beating as a myriad of memories came back to her. She could almost see the logs raised around the camp, the guards posted at the entrance standing in attention when they saw their leader's daughter arrive, Antonin who was still trying to get closer to her, Ramy complaining about the new members doing stupid things, Vernal giving orders here and there, and Raven…

The sun was barely rising. The attack had taken place in the middle of the night, before or after midnight, she didn't know, but it was on the morning of the 31st that she had woken up with one arm missing, and her dead mother lying on the sofa. For her, it was on that day that everything had changed. One year, day for day. She had barely seen the time pass, she had spent the winter in hotel rooms or inns, then she had done many missions with Rook, and didn't pay any more attention to the time of year, she hadn't noticed the change from spring to summer, nor from summer to autumn. She didn't even notice her birthday. Ramy used to make fries with ham for her, but this year she couldn't even say what she had done that day. Maybe she was on a mission, or she was training, or it was a day off. Who knows.

Lost in her thought, she didn't notice she had arrived, until the ruins of the camp entered her field of view. She had to hold on with all her might not to cry. The corpses were still there, in much worse condition, a foul odor was emerging, the autumn leaves had not yet fallen from the trees, the burnt rests of tents and equipment were almost invisible under the grass if you didn't get too close, and plants had started to grow on what was left of the main tent.

It was sad, empty, and yet… somehow peaceful. The sun warmly illuminated the area, she could hear the birds singing, one or two squirrels ran away when they saw her coming…

Yang let her feet gently guide her to Raven's grave. The turned earth was now covered with grass and even flowers, but the rock had not moved, it was still exactly the same, the wing-shaped emblem with a gear, vaguely reminiscent of an eye, engraved just above her name. She told her once that she and Qrow had taken the name "Branwen" only for their registration in Beacon, they didn't have one before that. Branwen was the name of the tribe, not the name of its members, in fact, last names were not much used in the camp, it was useless, first names were enough to recognize each other. Vernal for example didn't have a last name, neither did Antonin, but Shay and Ramy did.

But if a last name is the name that you share with your parents, the name that defines your affiliation, then Yang couldn't imagine herself carrying another name than her tribe's name… And yet she had claimed to be called Falcon for a whole year. In wanting to keep her existence secret, she had rejected her own name, the name her mother had chosen for her, the name of her tribe.

Tears started to flow down her cheeks as a small sob escaped her lips.

"I messed up everything, didn't I?"

Only a light breeze answered her. Yang quickly wiped her eyes and sat on the floor before her legs flinch. She passed her bag over her shoulder and took out her doll to hug it. For the first time in a year, she allowed herself to cry for good. Then she let out all the frustration she accumulated each time she felt weak, all the loneliness she had felt each time she fell asleep without her mother coming to tell her good night, with only a doll to console her, all the sadness that tore her heart when she remembered she had nothing left, that the place where she had grown no longer existed, that the people that she saw every day of the year were all dead, that her mother, always behind her with her kind smile and her proud look, had died by her fault, because of her weakness… All the anger she had towards herself for not being able to do anything that night but putting herself in danger and dragging her mother into her fall… She never wanted this to happen, she would have preferred to die in her place, with the rest of the tribe, it was unfair that she was the only one to live when because of her-…

"I'm sorry…! I'm sorry…! I'm sorry…! I'm sorry…! I'm sorry…!"

Still clutching her doll, Yang buried her head in her knees. Her cries echoed even louder in the clearing now empty of all animals, reminding her of how alone she was now. She didn't want to be alone, she hated it. So like when she was trying to fall asleep, she hugged her doll even tighter. And like when she was trying to fall asleep, she felt as if Raven's warm arms were wrapped around her to rock her, with her sweet smell of mint tea, and her hand caressing her head gently, letting her fingers run through her hair. The familiar feeling allowed her to relax, and little by little, her tears subsided, returning to mere sobs. She had a sore throat now, after crying so loud for so long. In fact, she didn't know how long she had been crying, but it had helped her feel better.

A little calmed down, she pulled her head from her knees and wiped her eyes again. Her sleeve was soaked with tears and snot… She shook her head, sighing, and a weird feeling caught her attention. So she turned her head, and saw Qrow, sitting right next to her.

"Feel better now?" he asked with a sad smile.

Yang blinked. Her hand went up to her head, and she felt Qrow's hand, his fingers between her curls. Seeing her stunned look, he gave a tired little laugh and took off his hand from her head, only to hold it out with his palm up. Yang hesitated a little, then sighed and pulled the comb out of her bag to give it to him. She turned her back on him and felt him begin to untangle her hair. She felt a bit guilty, knowing it hadn't been done for a whole year because she couldn't. Yet he did so without complaining or commenting. The thought warmed her heart a bit.

"So, how have you been?" he asked, even though he didn't get an answer at his first question.

Yang opened her mouth to answer, but she couldn't get a word out, her throat still hurt a bit, so she shrugged as she often did. Qrow didn't seem bothered by her lack of response. It was as if they had been appart for only a few weeks and not a whole year. She hadn't thought about him much during the year, practically not in fact… But he didn't call her either, he didn't try to reach her. Maybe he didn't think much about her either? She couldn't really blame him if that was the case, they had only been around each other for a month, and she probably didn't make him want to see her again. But still…

"We'll meet again?"

"Of course, I'm not going to let you go like that, and someone needs to make sure that you don't do too much bullshit in your corner."

Maybe he was just expecting to see her again here, it was pretty obvious that she would come after all… However, she was surprised that he came…

Since he couldn't see her face, she allowed herself a slight smile. She didn't know if he came for her or for Raven, she didn't dare to hope it was both, but in any case, it made her happy, it made her feel like if she wasn't alone, and it showed there was still someone who cared enough about her mother to visit her on the day of her death…

Yang's smile faded.

"Why didn't the rest of team STRQ come?" she asked accusingly. She felt Qrow stop combing for a few moments before resuming with a sigh.

"Raven's death comes just the same day as Ruby's birthday. You can't blame them for that." he explained.

Yang frowned. "Who's Ruby?"

Qrow sighed again. Perhaps her still slightly hoarse voice had made her sound more upset than she was, but she didn't care. "She's Tai and Summer's daughter. Basically your little sister."

Yang turned around, glaring at him. He should know she didn't want them as a family! She didn't want Tai as a father, so this Ruby was certainly not her sister! She was Summer's daughter! She was …! She was precisely what Ozpin had tried to get rid of Raven for! And her birthday had to be the same has Raven's death!

Seeing her now red eyes, Qrow sighed harder, before putting his hand on her head to put it back in place and continue combing, as Raven sometimes did.

"Listen kid, I know you don't like Tai, but you really have to work on your anger…" he said tiredly, not phased at all by her apparent rage.

Yang groaned but didn't answer, she knew he was right, she knew she was too impulsive and it was a flaw. She thought back to her very short fight against Rook, it was her anger and her frustration that had made her too reckless, but it was stronger than her, certain things just immediately got on her nerves… Before, she never had reason to get upset so much and so quickly, but now, everything related to her past made her either sad or furious. So she tried not to think about it, to move on, she really tried… but sometimes… often… she couldn't… It was too recent, too fresh in her memory, even after a year…

"Long ago, before we met, I dreamed about you… The peace you'd bring, the songs we'd sing, the way you'd make things new… Then one day, you arrived, I heard your angel cry… Helpless, small, and perfect, welcome to your life… "

The passage was played in a loop in her head, alternating between Raven's voice and her own. It was soft, soothing, quickly calming her, and added to the feeling of the comb in her hair, she even found herself dozing. She felt the teeth of the comb settle on the top of her head, and descend on her right side without encountering a single obstacle. He had managed to unravel this entire part? Already? Wait, the sun was high in the sky, it must have been past noon. She didn't notice they had been there for so long. Qrow continued to untangle her hair without saying a word, as if he didn't even think about it. Maybe it relaxed him, like it relaxed her. Or maybe it was just to keep himself busy. In any case, his presence was reassuring…

Yang brought her knees against her and rested her chin on them, letting herself be lulled by the sound of the wind and the soft feeling of the comb in her hair. She missed it…

Qrow couldn't help but smile, Yang had just fallen asleep right in front of him… It was understandable, to arrive so early she had to walk all night, she probably was exhausted.

All year long he had been worried sick about her, she hadn't called him once so he didn't have any news, no way of knowing if she was okay, if she was doing okay alone, if she had a roof when it rained, if she ate properly. But apparently she was fine, or as fine as she could, she was still devastated by Raven's death, as evidenced by her cries when he arrived, and her resentment towards Tai hadn't gotten better, but she didn't look hurt or unhealthy, her clothes were clean, and apart from her hair tangled to an almost ridiculous point, she seemed okay. It was surely coming back here that made her snap like that.

As he parted a strand of hair from the back of her head, he realized that he had almost done half of it. Well, it had taken him most of the morning, but he still surprised himself finding it relaxing. He was starting to understand why Raven liked to do it, the knots were a little annoying, but once passed, bringing the comb down into Yang's long golden hair was something mesmerizing… A little laugh escaped him. Damn, if someone saw him do that he would never here the end of it…

The autumn wind was blowing gently that day, everything was so calm, so peaceful… It was the kind of atmosphere that Raven liked, all that was missing was the smell of mint tea, and it would be like she was still there, it was her home after all…

A long growl echoed throughout the clearing, completely breaking the mood.

"I said "smell of mint tea", not "sound of gurgling stomach"…"

Maybe he should have brought something to eat… The girl didn't seem to have thought about it either, they both had other things in mind than food when they came. It was funny to see that even though they hadn't seen or talked to each other this year, they had spontaneously found themselves here and now. Even if Yang didn't really seem to consider him as her uncle and more as an acquaintance, and even if he didn't know her very much either, their bond with Raven brought them closer little by little. They both were present at her death, they tried to recover together, and in his eyes it was a bond that nothing could break.

Despite all the support that he had received from people around him to help him overcome this ordeal, Summer, Ozpin, and others, nothing calmed him more than knowing that Yang, on her side, was fine. Raven made him promise to take care of her, so when he saw he could keep his promise, his guilt eased for a moment.

His eyes left his work as he looked at the improvised gravestone. He screwed up everything with Raven, but he wouldn't let anything happen to Yang. He didn't know how far the little girl would go, or what path she would take, but he wouldn't let her down. He would not make this mistake twice. Never.

The rest of the afternoon passed quietly, Yang had slept peacefully all along, without silent tears or sad whispers, and Qrow had continued to comb her hair, trying not to awake her. He finished only when the sun started to set, and smiled proudly when he realized that he had just taken care of a year of tangles in indomitable hair. As the little girl was still sleeping and he didn't know when she would wake up, he put the comb in her bag, and took out the sleeping bag, as well as a thick sweater that he folded to make a pillow. He installed his niece for the night, taking care to give her her doll, and gently stroked her head.

A year, and yet he felt like nothing had changed, neither in good nor in bad. He wished he could do more, he knew he was the only one in a position to help her, but there was nothing he could do if she didn't open up to him. So for now he would be right there for her, he would let her know that she was never alone. It was all he could do.

Night finally fell, the moon didn't illuminate much but there was no cloud, which made the stars clearly visible. Yang was still asleep, so Qrow stayed awake, in case a Grimm approached. He remained seated for a long time, facing his sister's grave. He wanted to talk to her, tell her Summer and Tai said hi, tell her he was sorry he didn't bring her flowers, tell her he terribly missed her, tell her he would do anything to hear her call him an idiot right now, tell her he regretted not having been there for her when she needed it, but that he would now be there for Yang. He promised.

But he said nothing, at least not out loud. He didn't want to risk waking up the little girl, even though he knew she was a heavy sleeper. Or maybe it was just an excuse for his inability to get a word out. Or maybe he just didn't want to break the peaceful silence of the night which, for once, didn't bother him. He distractedly looked at his Scroll, it was almost midnight, and Qrow realized that for the first time in a year, he spent a whole day without drinking.

Yang woke up early in the morning, with her doll near her, in her sleeping bag. When did she go to bed? Opening her eyes slowly, the first thing she saw was Raven's grave. Not yet fully awake, the vision made her panic, and she straightened suddenly, before remembering that the event was recent only in her memory.

"A year…" she thought.

Now calmer, she looked around, and saw Qrow, sitting cross-legged next to her, elbow resting on his knee, and head resting on his left hand, the right one was on the handle of his sword. And he was sleeping. Yang sighed and put her things in her bag, just keeping the sweater out, feeling a cold gale. It was fall after all, the weather was starting to cool down, she would have frozen overnight if Qrow hadn't put her in her sleeping bag.

… He was probably cold…

…

"I have no reason to do that." she told herself.

Qrow stirred in his sleep.

"He will attack me by reflex if I touch him." she tried to convince herself.

Another cold gale passed, and Qrow stirred a little more.

"I said no!"

As if to reprimand her, a pine cone fell on the top of her head. And as she passed her hand over the place of impact, she realized that her hair, which had not been untangled for a whole year, was smooth and soft, a comb would easily pass through it… must have taken hours…

In the tree, she saw a little squirrel with another pine cone in its hands. Yang's eyebrow flickered. It must have been a fucking joke…

"Fine, I'll do it!"

So with a groan, she got up and walked to the trunk which contained Raven's belongings, and which hadn't moved either since last year. Inside she quickly found a thick winter coat, and looked at it with a certain nostalgia. She still remembered some cold nights when she would huddled in it in search of her mother's warmth…

Then she shook her head. It was a thing of the past. Remembering it was hurting herself for nothing.

As she got closer to Qrow, she was careful not to make any noise. She knew it was better to avoid waking someone who slept with a hand on their weapon. Vernal almost shot her once… Once right behind him, Yang didn't know how to put the coat on his shoulders without surprising him, it all depended on how deep he slept and the time he would take to realize the situation. And unlike Raven, he didn't know her enough to recognize her presence while sleeping and let her do it. And damn, she would just quickly go away!

Yang took a few more steps, took a deep breath, and put the coat very, very gently on her uncle's shoulders. She waited a few seconds, but nothing happened. Phew…

The sun was now completely up, it was time to leave. Yang put her bag on her back, and took one last look at Raven's grave with a determined look.

"I will become strong, I promise." she whispered before she walked away.

The journey to her meeting point with Rook was long, she wouldn't get there in time if she didn't leave now. She didn't know why, but she felt a little bad about keeping her waiting…

When he was sure he could no longer hear her steps, Qrow allowed himself a smile.

"Like mother like daughter."

The first thing Rook did when she got out of the airship was to stretch. The flight was crowded, and she had been crushed all along. Quickly looking around, she easily found her little blond hothead, sitting on a bench a little further while eating a sandwich. Rather than calling her out loud with the name she used for the assassinations, she whistled to get Falcon's attention. The girl noticed her and joined her, and rather than a "hi!" or a "how have you been?", the first thing Rook said was:

"Who untangled your hair?"

Falcon's hair was perfectly untangled, much less voluminous, shiny and silky, and Rook wanted to know who had accomplished such a miracle. The little blonde just shrugged as she often did, but there was something different in her eyes, something sweet, as if she was thinking about a good memory.

"A friend." she said calmly.

A friend? Falcon had friends? It was… a good news. Or just an additional mystery about her. Rook sighed, she had decided that Falcon should open up to her willingly rather than forcing her to answer. So instead, she pulled out a big bag of candy that she had brought with her from her Halloween party. Her friends were disappointed not to meet her little apprentice, so instead they sent her as many treats as possible. They could be really nice when they wanted to.

"I might not be able to eat everything alone, wanna help me?" she said with a smirk.

As she opened the bag just under Falcon's nose, she saw the latter rushing on a marshmallow, and making a happy little squeak when she put it in her mouth. Falcon liked marshmallows. Good to know.

As they walked, Rook couldn't help but notice that the little girl seemed more relaxed. Whatever she did this week, it was good for. Too bad she didn't do it more often.

"UNCLE QROW!" Ruby jumped at her uncle's neck the second she saw him in front of the school.

Qrow caught her laughing and ruffled the top of her head, "Hello kid. Didn't miss me too much?"

"Yes!" she replied angrily.

Qrow gave a nervous chuckle, and put her in his arms correctly as he started walking towards Patch's small shopping area.

"Sorry for missing your birthday. Forgive me if I buy you an ice cream?" he begged.

Ruby put her hand on her chin to pretend to think, then looked at her uncle, "Two ice creams." she said defiantly.

"Deal." he immediately accepted, "But don't tell your mom or I'm dead." he added with a scared voice.

And they continued on their way talking, Ruby doing most of the talking. Qrow listened carefully, his mind now calm enough to understand something.

Finally ! A year has passed and I feel like it has been longer for me than for Yang! XD

Aaaaah, the reunion between Yang and Qrow! I wasn't going to separate them forever either, I have big plans for them! *evil laugh*

*cough*

Otherwise, next week's chapter will be a bonus, because I'm working on an important event in the story that spans several chapters, so I'd rather finish it before posting, just to be sure everything is in agreement and don't contradict myself on details (it's harder than it looks). The translation also takes me time, one day per chap generally (and by day I mean from when I get up, around noon, to when I go to bed, around 2am), and I'm starting to be late, so , I might skip a week if I have no choice, but I'll do my best, and keep you informed n_n

So, see you next week for the bonus chapter!