Black, red and death all over.

That was what the war against Salem had amounted to in the end. Nothing but a Grimm onslaught and carnage waiting to happen, with the mad woman's ultimate end goal to destroy all that was in order to end her ever suffering immorality once and for all. With every Relic she got her hands on, the despair of the people of Remnant grew, and as such the Grimm became only stronger.

It had been a battle the likes of which Remnant had never seen. A battle that in spite of all the odds stacked against it had been won.

They had won. The combined forces of the academies of the four kingdoms had united and with the help of the silver-eyed warrior Ruby Rose they managed to defeat Salem once and for all.

But a battle as such, did not come without cost and or sacrifice.

And it was a sacrifice Yang Xiao Long had become quite acquainted with.

Six years. Six long years had passed since that battle. And more often than not she found herself back at this place, erected in honor of all those that had given their lives in the final fight against Salem and her forces. A giant marble statue based in the likes and engraved with the names of those that perished that day.

And the names on it where ones Yang could never forget.

Ruby Rose

Blake Belladonna

Lie Ren

Nora Valkyrie

Qrow Branwen

Everyone, almost all she ever knew or held dear…was gone.

Her partner and girlfriend Blake, her friends, and worst of all her own sister…all gone.

Yang didn't cry as she made her weekly visit to the monument stationed in Argus, Mistral. All her tears had been shed long ago. The memories of the battle where almost a blur but she knew Ruby laid the definitive strike against Salem with her silver eyes, it was enough to end the battle, to end the suffering. But at what cost?

She had cradled her sister's body, begging and wishing she would open her eyes. But there was nothing. And soon they heard nothing from everybody else.

Yang walked towards the monument, placing her hands on the names aligned on them. The students of Beacon that had united to do great things. To end Salem's crusade once and for all. Part of her smiled at knowing that their sacrifice hadn't been for nothing, though inside she cursed at how unfair everything had been since then.

She had mourned everyone. Her sister, the woman she loved, her friends, her uncle. Even her mother the notorious bandit Raven Branwen, the one who had always run from Salem, she had come back to fight, sacrificing herself for the daughter she had left behind as a child.

Six long years spent mourning. She always thought grief got easier to handle over time, but not this kind of grief. The world had been irreversibly changed, for the better perhaps but…not for those that were left behind.

Tracing her fingers along the marble structure where the named where engraved she spoke.

"I miss you all…"

A simple statement that tore her apart from within.

Every day she woke up, expecting to see Blake lying next to her. To get a text from Ruby. To hear the news that Ren and Nora had finally decided to become engaged and she would give anything just to see her uncle at the local pub having a drink. Every day however, she woke up and realized, she was now living in a world without them.

She felt a small tear roll down her cheek. It never got easier being here. Being reminded everyday of their noble but tragic sacrifice to save all of Remnant. They were heroes without a doubt.

"It should've been me…." Yang mumbled under her breath.

Every time she returned her she was hit with a wave of guilt. Ruby was her little sister, it was her job to protect her and she had failed at that. She could barely even look her father in the eye anymore, unable to face him after all was said and done. Taiyang, having lost both the women he loved and his youngest daughter, sunk himself deeper into his work, doing anything and everything to forget the pain he was in.

Not that teaching students to fight Grimm was all that crucial anymore. After Salem's final defeat the Grimm dwindled in numbers significantly. With recent research estimating less than two thousand Grimm to be still remaining in Remnant.

It was nothing short of a miracle. The creatures of Grimm had been around long before Salem and would exist long after her. But the fact that they were now so scarce, added in with the fact that morale had been in all-time high in centuries, the dark creatures where very rarely seen again and not as powerful and or fearsome as they used to be.

Yang kept staring at the monument, the one that was build in honor of their fallen comrades after the final fight. Ruby stood tall with Crescent Rose in her arms on top of an army of marbled Grimm with Blake, Ren and Nora each to the side. She was proud of the monument, it had been very well made and it was certainly something she could appreciate.

"I thought I might find you here" she heard a voice say.

Yang turned around and saw a familiar face, and the very noticeable goggles adorning the face of Maria Calavera. The old lady smiled warmly at her.

"Maria. I didn't expect to see you here, how are you doing?" Yang asked.

"Oh you know," Maria replied stepping forward to stand beside Yang "the usual old lady stuff. The back ache and the front ache and of course dealing with Cordovin as she rattles on about how great that platform is she's building over there!"

She pointed her cane in the distance and Yang looked. It was like a blur but she could definitely make out the silhouette of a platform in the ocean. She had recalled musings about Atlas developing a platform out there in order to test new experiments, but that was about all she heard.

"Other then that I'm holding up just fine. What about you Yang?" Maria asked.

Yang felt uncomfortable being asked that by everybody, but as usual she always had her to go answer "oh just fine. You know me I always start the day with a Yang!" she said confidently, giving a thumbs up with her mechanical hand.

Maria raised an eyebrow, and Yang sighed as she knew that was the universal sign of Maria saying "I'm not buying it kid" without actually needing to say it.

"Okay it's just…I miss them. I miss all of them and being here I keep being reminded that…that I couldn't save them…I couldn't protect them."

Maria nodded hearing that, as if she was expecting such a reply.

"Tell me?" Yang asked a little melancholy "does the pain ever go away."

Maria smiled but shook her head "I'm afraid not Yang. In my old age I've learned many things, and one of those things is that the pain of losing those you love never goes away. It does however get easier to deal with as time goes on."

Her words where meant to be comforting, and Yang appreciated them, but she couldn't help but rebuff by saying.

"It's been six years…six years Maria, and it still hasn't gotten easier…it should've been me! IT SHOULD'VE BEEN…OWWW!"

Yang felt a stinging pain on the back of her head and looked as Maria had her cane raised in the air.

"Now you listen to me young lady, I don't want to hear that kind of talk from you. If it weren't for your sister all of us would be dead. She saved all of us, she saved all of Remnant with her actions. And although I understand your pain, I grieve with you. But don't go on about how you wish it could be different because that's not how it is. Honor your sister, honor the ones you lost by living in this new world they left behind for us."

Yang softly rubbed her aching head as she listened to Maria's words. Deep down she knew she was right, of course she was. It had been something she had heard many times before. But still it never felt…right.

"I'm sorry Maria it's just…it never seems to get easier…" Yang admitted.

Maria sighed "I know Yang I'm sorry I can't say anything to make it easier. But if I may give a piece of advice. Look at what you have, not at what you have lost."

Yang smiled a little. "Thanks Maria. And I'm sorry but I have to go, I have somewhere to be. Catch you later." And she walked off waving at Maria, who waved back and remained standing at the monument admiring it.

Yang pondered those words as she walked over to the main street of Argus. Behind her the sun was slowly sinking, casting a beautiful scenery over the streets. Trailing along the many houses, Yang was flooded with old memories of their time together in Argus. It felt so long ago, longer then it actually was. But she just kept walking until she reached the house at the end of the street.

She walked up the stairs towards it and with her metal hand knocked on the door. She took a breath and waited a few seconds as the door opened and revealed the one she came out to see.

"Hey Yang it's been a while" said the voice of Sun Wukong who stood in the doorway.

"Hello Sun. Can I come inside?"

A/N: That's the first chapter of the revised story. It already feels a bit better and not rushed and I thank all of you for sticking with me in spite of it all. I still hope to hear from to resolve the story statistics issue but I'm kind of clueless about what to do. Heres hoping I hear from them.