Heart to Heart

Chapter 37: A Dream Come True

Oscar was on a couch in the lounge area as he was pressing a cold compress against a sore part of his body. While he was thankful for having his aura unlocked as it really did improve healing, it still took time for it to happen and General Ironwood wasn't one to pull punches, at times literally.

"There you are," A familiar and happy voice suddenly said.

"Ah!" Oscar jumped and turned to see Penny smiling at him. "Penny?"

"I was looking for you," She replied. "We're moving Amity now and we were hoping you would come with us."

"Do I really need to be part of a military operation?" Oscar didn't want to get in the way that was why he didn't go with Ironwood when he went to inspect the operation zone.

"Oh this has nothing to do with any military operation," Penny shook her head and leaned in close to whisper. "The General has a surprise for our friends and it setting up a party to celebrate."

"Oh?" Now Oscar was interested. "Well sure I'd love to help but what's the party for?"

Penny smiled at him, "The General is going to give them their full huntsmen licenses for completing the mission."

"Wait he can do that?" Oscar asked getting up.

"Well a person can gain a license if they show themselves competent enough for a headmaster to sign off on it. Since the General has status as a Headmaster he can do it, although this mission is also being done to assess them as the final step."

"Huh, I wasn't aware of that." After putting away the ice pack, they made their way to an aircraft as they flew to where the coliseum currently was parked in Atlas. The flight over was a little awkward, at least for him. It wasn't all that long ago this girl had called him into a room and suddenly kissed him. He blushed thinking about that as they sat next to each other.

Penny was happily sitting and waiting for the flight as he cast a look sideways before blushing a bit and looking away. Sure, she was just trying to explore things and figure some stuff out but it had been out of the blue. He was trying to just pass it off but he had only kissed two girls in his life, both of them cute.

He remembered that night with Ruby, hell he could never forget it. He could also never forget the image of Penny kissing Ruby. He shifted a bit in his seat trying to not think about it anymore.

"Oscar are you alright?"

"Huh?" He looked at her snapping out of his thoughts to see a slightly concerned look on her face.

"You're body temperature has risen as has your heart beat."

"Wait you can tell!?"

"Of course I was designed to not only fight Grimm but help people. If someone is injured I can perform a base analysis to help determine how injured someone is." Penny explained to him.

Oscar blinked as that did make sense. "Oh, okay."

She leaned in closer to him, "You are okay aren't you?"

He pulled back a little from how close she was getting. Why did he have to be so nervous and awkward around girls? It didn't help that the girls he was around all the time now were all cute or beautiful. Penny was very cute and very open and friendly. He steeled himself trying of think of something to say.

"Just a bit worn from the General's training I guess but I'm fine."

"Well if you're certain but if you feel any symptoms of an injury or something wrong please inform me." Penny told him seriously she took her charge of being a protector very seriously. It was her purpose in life after all and she embraced it and vowed to be the best she could be. After all, it was the least she could do for her father who gave her life.

There was an awkward silence between them, well awkward for him, she just hummed happily, as she waited to land with the supplies they had in the craft.

Oscar tried to busy himself with trying to take his mind off the memory of Penny's lips on his own. It hadn't been bad but it hadn't matched up to Ruby's. That though brought back memories of how Ruby's lips had seemed to soft and the ghost sensation of them on his own came to him. The slight taste on her lips of that night, he shook his head trying to push that away again.

Now was not the time for this, they had a mission and besides it's not as if anything could happen between them right? She was two years older than him she was a huntress in training and grew up in this world. He was just some orphaned boy taken in by his aunt and lived on a farm for most of his life. There was also the fact he had an immortal spirit locked in his head that might slowly merge with him, what that actually meant was still never fully explained.

"Hey Penny?" Oscar asked suddenly.

"Yes?"

"You said you…well…you kissed me to see if you liked girls or boys but what if you liked someone and they might not like you back?" Oscar asked as the words kind of came out of him. He figured since Penny might have her own issues to deal with potential romance one day given she was a robot and that held certain challenges.

Penny thought about it. "I don't know, I feel like it would be sad if that were to happen. I may not have been alive for as long as a normal girl but I do want to experience everything life has. I know that being a robot it will be a challenge for someone to see beyond that. I hope one day that I will find someone that I can share myself with, who I can love and be loved in return."

"However if I did like someone who didn't return said feelings I feel it would be painful but I would go on." She told him.

"Yeah…I guess sometimes you just have to move on," Oscar stated feeling a sense of emptiness deep inside of him. How many lifetimes did the spirit of Ozma leave behind people? How many times had his heart been broken by someone or by events? He remembered the sight of one such life of a man drinking himself to death but eventually pulled himself out and moved on.

"However in such a scenario I think I would at least want my feelings to be known."

"Really? Even if you knew how they feel?" He asked.

Penny nodded her head. "Yes, because they deserve to know and who knows. Maybe I could also be wrong in assuming their feelings towards me as well. I'm still learning what it means to be human and there is so much I still don't understand about people, the probability of me being wrong about their feelings would be something to consider."

"I guess so," Oscar trailed off leaving him to think on something.

-Abandoned Mine-

Jaune shaded his eyes as he watched the Amity Coliseum slowly move into the area. It still was amazing to see such a thing floating in the air. The massive structure was just as impressive to him as when he first saw it in Vale. Jaune came from a small town so things like this was just something you don't see every day. Actually given that this stadium was the only one in the world he was safe to say that not many people could say they saw it in person.

It was just as impressive as the first time he saw it at the Vytal Festival. He was so wrapped up about it that he didn't noticed someone sneaking up behind him before he suddenly had a weight thrust onto his back as familiar arms wrapped around his neck.

"So what's got your interest Lover Boy?" Yang teased.

"Just looking at the coliseum," Jaune said shifting his weight trying not to topple over from her added weight. "Are…are you going to get off?"

"You saying I'm heavy?"

"No, just wondering how long you plan on staying on my back." Jaune quickly said, growing up in a house full of women he knew certain danger tones in their voice and also certain subjects you never bring up.

"And here I thought you would like having me press up against you."

"Yang I'm wearing a breastplate and armor, I can't feel anything other than it even if I wanted to." Jaune deadpanned.

"Do you want to?" She whispered into his ear making him blush.

"Yang!" he hissed looking around a bit to make sure no one heard that. Thankfully, everyone was in small groups talking.

"Well do you?" She teased him further.

Jaune knew she wouldn't stop unless he answered her and if he was honest, he really did so he quietly stated. "Yes."

Yang smirked nuzzling his face with her own. "Well maybe when all this is over we can find a little private spot for some fun."

Jaune no longer felt the cold as he was heating up at the thoughts running through his head.

"What are you two doing?" Weiss asked walking towards them with the others.

"Hanging out," Yang stated before jumping off Jaune's back and wrapped an arm with his.

"Man would you look at that?" Ruby asked looking at the large structure. "Can you believe it's been about a year since we last saw it?"

"Has it really been that long?" Blake asked thinking about it, on the one hand it felt like a very different life back then as they had been through a lot. Yet it hadn't really been that long if you thought about it all.

"It does seem like a lot longer," Weiss nodded her head.

Jaune's face feel a bit remembering something, Yang noticed it and gently ran her hand on his arm.

"Hey what's up?" She asked.

"Oh sorry." He shook his head.

"Jaune come on what is it?"

He paused for a moment. "I…I just remembered what the last fight that took place there was."

Everyone's mood fell at that, the last fight had been between Pyrrha and Penny. That battle had ended in Pyrrha accidentally tearing Penny into pieces with the girl's own wires on her weapons. It had been a horrible sight and one that devastated Pyrrha. It was also the start of Beacon's fall, most likely the worst day in all or their lives.

Yang idly flexed her robotic hand remembering that day Adam took her real arm. Ruby remembered seeing Penny lying on the ground of the arena motionless and in pieces. The others also had some down cast looks.

"Sorry I brought it up," Jaune sighed feeling bad about bringing it up.

"It's okay," Ruby stated taking a breath. "A lot of bad things happened on that day and we can't pretend it never happened. But we've also grown a lot since that day and I think using this building to help everyone in the world would be a good way of making up for what happened that day."

"There is kind of a poet justice to it," Blake stated thinking about it.

"Cinder used it to hurt Vale and the world and we'll use it to help bring it back together," Weiss had a small smile on the idea.

The moment was interrupted when an angry looking General Ironwood was walking towards the group. At first they were a little worried he was coming at them about something they had done but as he got closer, they could see he was talking into his scroll.

"I don't care who he is, you can tell Jacques that this is a military area and if he tries to fly in that I gave you orders to force him down and take him into custody for entering a secure military zone." Ironwood angrily told someone on the other end of the call.

"Where you talking about my father?" Weiss asked hesitantly as that was one person she was not looking forward to seeing.

Ironwood took a breath, "Unfortunately, somehow he found out about the operation here and attempted to land. Thankfully, with the increase in air patrols one patrol found him and stopped him from entering the area. The last thing we need is him here and seeing Amity Coliseum."

"Increased air patrols?" Ruby asked.

Ironwood gave her a look with a small smirk on his face. "You're little stunt getting into Atlas caused me to revise my air patrols."

"Oh, yeah, that." Ruby blushed.

"My father won't take that lying down," Weiss commented.

Ironwood pitched the bridge of his nose knowing that man wouldn't let this go. "I suspect that I'll be getting a visit from him in my office when that happens."

He took a breath before continuing on, "At any rate you've all done good work today. In fact I have a surprise for you all now that the coliseum is here."

They were wondering what he was talking about as Winter showed up in a vehicle for them. The Ace Ops apparently went on their own as they had more work to do as they entered the small ship as it took them to the Coliseum. The place looked a lot different as it was so empty and on lower power to save energy. It was actually a little creepy with how their footsteps echoed in the halls.

Back when the festival was still going this place was so full of life and now it was silent and empty like a tomb.

When they got to the open area of the arena, there off to the side was a long table with what looked like a cake and food. There was Oscar and Penny there setting up along with her father Pietro and Maria also helping out.

"Oh what's the party for?" Nora asked with a huge smile.

"For you," Ironwood stated with a smile. He got them to line up in front of him with Penny and Winter next to him. He looked them over, they were young yes, but they were also experienced. They had gone through trails of fire, blood and pain and had come out the other side stronger for it.

They had experienced more in the last year than most students did in their entire four-year term.

After what he had seen of their actions today and from what the Ace Ops observed, he felt confident that his choice today was the right one.

"This place holds meaning for everyone here this place was where it all started to fall apart. It's only fitting that we are all gathered here together to help fix it all. I feel that today is the day when we all come together and help repair what was broken at Beacon."

"You've all come a long way since that day and it's because of that I feel you all deserve this." He nodded at Penny who walked over to them as she walked down the line and tapped something on a tablet she had in her hands. As she did tap, each one of them felt their scroll vibrate.

As they pulled them out, they noticed a new icon had been installed as they pressed it, it showed their ID but now it wasn't a civilian ID. It was a huntsmen ID that was now being shown to them. They all looked at their new IDs in shock and surprise.

"Congratulations, you've all earned this." He said proudly to them all. "It's well within my power to establish new Huntsmen and Huntresses who have shown promise and the ability. You all have done that in spades, I know you'll do us all proud."

He paused looking around. "Well…that's all I have. I uh, well I supposed I should get back to work now. Please enjoy the party."

Ironwood never really knew how to end a speech. Normally had had people for this kind of thing but this was a last minute kind of affair. He adjusted his uniform as he walked off, he would have enjoyed staying but he really did have a lot of work to do. There was so much to inspect and set up that he was going to be busy for the entire day. On the bright side, he would be too busy to meet with Jacques.

"Wow…I can't believe this," Jaune said staring at his picture with the info on it. It was a current picture which was surprising and he wondered how they did that? On the right was a lot more information.

Name: Arc, Jaune

LN: 63700-89061-45795

Place of Issue: Atlas

Authority: Atlas Academy

Restrictions: Class C

"Restrictions C?" He asked.

"It's kind of a rank," Qrow explained pulling out his own license, on his it had 'Restrictions: Class S'.

"I take it that's high?" Ren asked him.

"Oh yeah," Qrow nodded his head. "Only senior Huntsmen can get to this rank. It can open up a lot of doors as well as it allows me to take on more dangerous missions."

"How he managed to get that high I'll never know," Winter muttered under her breath and she would deny that it was because her own rank was Class A.

"Wow, I can't really believe it," Yang said staring at the image on her scroll. "Can you believe this is what we set out to be when we joined Beacon?"

"I know I wasn't sure we would be able to do this when Beacon fell," Blake said as she couldn't believe it fully.

Ruby smiled looking down at her new ID, she couldn't believe it, she was a Huntresses. This was something she had wanted to be ever since she was old enough to know what a Huntress was. Just like her dad and just like her mom she was following in their footsteps. She wished she could call her dad up and give him the news.

"This is awesome!" Nora shouted out as she hugged Ren. "Can you believe it?"

He gave her a small smile as his arms wrapped around her waist. "It does seem like a dream."

"Well then I think we should enjoy the festivities then," Penny nodded her head as everyone agreed and made their way to the table.

Penny went to cutting the cake as the blades came out of the compartment in her back. The nearly invisible wires controlling them as she cut the cake with machine perfection as the razor sharp blades sliced the cake like a razor.

"Well congratulations are in order then," Maria said walking up to Ruby.

"Thanks, this is just so great," Ruby gushed. "I'm a real Huntress now!"

Maria chuckled reminded of the day she got her license in much the same way as these kids did. She never went to any combat school but earned her license the old fashioned way. "Well now that you have it what do you plan on doing with it?"

"Same thing I always wanted to do," Ruby stated. "To help people."

Maria smiled, "Good answer, now help me get a piece of that cake will you?"

Everyone was milling about talking and being all excited. They also learned that apparently they had also been paid for their job of clearing out the Grimm in the area as their first official payments. This was surprising but Winter explained that the General felt they earned it as it was a mission for the Atlas military.

Looking at the money Jaune was glad for it as something he had planned might actually be feasible now.

"Not a bad pay for a day's work." Yang who was hanging on his arm looking at the pay in his account. "This should be helpful for later."

"Yeah it will be," Jaune smiled as he needed a moment with some of the others. The problem was, with Yang on his arm he couldn't tell them what his plan was without ruining the surprise. He needed a distraction, something that could take the focus off him for a bit. His eyes landed on Blake and it might work but he needed to get word to her.

He noticed that Yang's drink was empty. "You want to get another drink?"

Yang looked at it and tilted her head. "Yeah I could do for another, although I wish it was a Sunrise."

"Well I'm going to talk to the others while you get it then."

"Sure thing," Yang untangled her arm and went to the table.

Jaune quickly made his way to Blake. "Hey I need you to distract Yang for a little bit."

"Okay," Blake said in a slightly guarded tone. "Why exactly?"

Jaune lowered his voice a bit. "I'm trying to plan out a surprise date for Yang and I can't have her listening in while I get the others to help me out. I just need you to keep her busy and focused for just a bit."

Blake relaxed as she smiled and nodded. "Okay now that I can do."

"Thanks Blake." With that, Jaune went off to get some help to set his plan into motion.

Blake walked towards Yang to intercept her but as she neared, she suddenly realized she had no idea what to talk about. She was horrible at small talk, it was one of the reasons she didn't interact with others more.

"Hey Yang," Blake said walking into the girl's way.

"Hey Blake," Yang stopped with a drink in her hand.

"Can…can I talk to you for a moment?" Blake

Yang blinked but nodded her head as Blake led her off to an area with just them. All the while Blake was wondering what to say but she figured maybe this was a good time to talk about something that had been bothering her. She had tried to push it away but she needed to talk to someone about it. She had learned from Yang back with their talk when she was pushing herself with finding the White Fang in Beacon that she needed to talk now and then.

"So what's up?"

Blake took a breath. "Yang…have you been feeling anything since we fought Adam?"

"Feeling what exactly?"

"I just…I feel…I feel like there's something ugly inside of me Yang." Blake wrapped her arms around her own torso. "It feels like wrong and I don't like this feeling."

"Blake he was trying to kill us both," Yang said in a softer tone.

"I know and I know he didn't give us a choice," Blake looked away. "I just don't want to feel like that again."

Yang knew a bit of what she was talking about, she had talked to Jaune about her own feelings on it. Although she was more worried that she could end up liking killing as she just felt a bit numb about it all when she thought about it. She didn't feel like Blake did but she could see this was really bothering her.

"Then next time, we try and take a person like that in." Yang told her trying to ease her worries. "If this bothers you so much we'll work even harder so you don't have to be put in that kind of situation again."

Blake gave a weak smile as there was no guarantee they wouldn't ever have to deal with something like that again or they would be able to take someone in alive all the time. But Yang's offer did make her feel a bit better about it.

"And don't feel alone about feeling like that," Yang cast a look over Blake's shoulder to see Jaune talking with some of the others. "Jaune kind of felt the same way as he wanted to kill Cinder."

"He did?" Blake blinked but then thought about it. Cinder killed Pyrrha and that was something she or any of them could let go. She had been their friend and a good person and Jaune's partner.

"Just don't tell anyone, I'm trusting you with this Blake." Yang said seriously.

Blake nodded her head. "How about you? How have you been holding up?"

Yang shrugged, "Okay actually."

Yang looked at her flesh and blood hand. "You know I didn't get any shakes during that mission at all."

"Really?" Blake knew that Yang had been having issues with her hand shaking at times. "I think that's actually good news."

"You think?" Yang teased.

"I'm not a psychologist."

"True…you think there's a mental healthy package with being a Huntress now?"

"Might be," Blake shrugged she hadn't really thought about it but given it was Atlas she wouldn't be surprised as they seemed to have everything. Given everything that Huntsmen and Huntresses go through maybe a mental healthy visit might not be a bad thing.

"At any rate I'm just happy that I seem to be getting better," Yang paused. "I won't lie I did feel some fear on that last mission but not as much as I've been feeling before. I think dealing with Adam helped to put some of those feelings down."

"You sure that's all it was?" Blake smiled a bit.

Yang paused before smiling against looking at Jaune. "Okay yeah he's helped a bunch too. You know it's strange, I never thought I would feel this way about someone before."

"Oh? How do you feel?" Blake felt a little excitement since she did love her romance novels so seeing Yang like this it was kind of like seeing something play out before her.

"It's hard to describe," Yang thought about it. "I mean yeah I'm attracted to him but it's more than just that. There's this emotional connection too that I never really thought about when people were together. I just thought people get together ya know? Not this whole thing of feeling like this, like he's such a big part of my life now, it's actually kind of scary."

"Scary?"

Yang sighed. "Yeah I mean maybe I'm over thinking things. Things are great now and I don't want to ruin them but part of my mind can't help but think, what if this doesn't last?"

"Not all relationships do," Blake knew that well enough as she was pretty sure her breakup with Adam and how that went could go down in history as one of the worst break ups of all time. The only thing that she felt could top it was what happened with Salem and Ozma, now that was a breakup for the literal history books.

"Yeah that's what's worrying me," Yang looked at her drink. "My…Raven left my dad and although I was too young I know it had to have hurt him deeply. Then when Summer died, Ruby was too young but I remember dad just…shutting down. It was like someone had gutted him and although he tried to hide it I saw it now and then. It scared me as a kid it was why I thought trying find Raven might help matters, as stupid as I was back then."

"Yang you were a kid."

"I know but you know what happened with how I nearly got Ruby killed." Yang took a breath she would never forgive herself for putting her little sister in danger like that. "I just don't want to put Jaune through something like that, he's already had it happen once before."

Blake and Yang were silent on that, knowing full well what they were talking about.

"I also don't want to lose this," Yang said softly. "I know I talk a good talk and stuff but this relationship. It's real Blake, it's more real than anything I've ever had with someone else like this and it scares me sometimes."

"I think that's only natural," Blake told her. "We're all looking for that special someone that completes us, that makes our lives better. Having that and then losing it, I can't imagine how horrible that has to feel. But you can't let it get to you or else you might lose out on finding something wonderful."

"Speaking from experience right?" Yang smirked.

Blake rolled her eyes. "Yes I know, between you and my mom I finally gave Sun a chance and I'm glad I did…I wish he was here to see this."

"Yeah I bet he would be over the moon for you," Yang laughed. "Oh well when this thing is finished you can give him a call and tell him everything."

Blake smiled at the thought. "I plan on doing just that, well maybe after letting my parents know I'm okay."

"Oh god I hope our letters got to dad," Yang sighed thinking about it. "He's got to be worried sick not hearing from us and especially from Ruby for so long."

"I'm sure they made it to him by now."

"Let's hope," Yang said looking at the others enjoying themselves. "So how about we get back to the party?"

"Yeah I think I could use another slice of cake." Blake stated.

They walked back to the group as Blake's eyes locked on with Jaune's, the boy gave her a smile and a nod. So whatever he had planned he seemed to have gotten what he needed. Blake wasn't sure what was going on but she could ask later. She had a feeling Jaune wasn't just done yet. She smiled wondering what he had planned.

"Hey babe." Yang said linking her arm around Jaune's again.

"Hey yourself, got a drink I see."

"Yep, had to have some girl time with Blake, hope you didn't mind."

Jaune shook his head, "Of course not."

"So what shall we do to celebrate?" Yang asked him.

"Uh…aren't we already?"

Yang rolled her eyes, "I mean between us."

"O-oh that," Jaune blushed seeing the hungry look in her eyes. "M-maybe we should find a quieter place."

"You read my mind," Yang smiled and then noticed Penny. "Hold on a second I'm going to see about that."

"I wonder what she means by that?" Jaune asked himself.

Yang walked up to Penny who was chatting with Ruby and Weiss. "Hey Penny can I ask a favor from you?"

The three turned around as Penny cocked her head to the side. "What do you need?"

"I was wondering if you have access to all those empty rooms next to the ones we use?" Yang asked.

"I do," Penny told her. "You're quarters are in the area where normally students from other academies stay at when the Vytal Festival is in Atlas because the General wanted to give you all some space."

"He might also have been planning on making us all Huntresses," Weiss thought about it. "It wouldn't be proper to have us roomed with students at this rate."

"Well I was wondering, can you get me access to one of the empty rooms?" Yang asked Penny.

"I…don't see why not but why?" The robot girl asked.

"Oh no Yang," Ruby sighed.

"Hey I just wanted a place for me and Jaune to have some couple time." Yang turned to her little sister and partner. "Do either of you want to walk in with us making out?"

"Eww, I don't need that image in my head," Ruby told her.

"Agreed," Weiss stated flatly.

"Oh I see," Penny didn't know much about relationships, other than what she found in her research that is, but she did know that couples like to be alone for various reasons. "I think I can get you one."

"Please don't make it close to our room," Weiss stated.

"Why would that matter?" Ruby asked innocently.

Weiss wasn't sure to shatter the girl's innocence on what Jaune and Yang might get up to alone and decided not to scar the young girl. "For privacy reasons."

"Yeah that," Yang stated quickly she knew that Ruby knew all about sex but she didn't want to advertise to her little sister she was really thinking hard on spending the night with Jaune. Then turning to Penny decided to give the girl her thanks. "Thanks Penny you're a real pal, I'll owe you one for this."

"Well there is something I could use some help on?" Penny thought about it.

"Oh?"

"Yes I would like to ask questions about relationships, besides you and Jaune the only ones in active relationship is Ren and Nora at the moment. I could use the valuable data to further my understanding of human relationships."

Yang blinked before grinning this could be fun. "Oh sure I can tell you all kinds of things. Did you know that Jaune really has nice hands?"

"Ahhh!" Ruby covered her ears and walked off.

"Done," Weiss said simply before walking off.

"Well now that they are out of the way," Yang draped her arm around Penny's shoulders. "So what questions do you got?"

Ruby really needed some space after that, she loved her sister and Jaune was like the brother she never had. If they ended up even marrying she would be the happiest she could be for it but she did not need to hear about the more adult stuff they got up to.

That's when she noticed Oscar was sitting off by his own she frowned seeing him alone at a party. She walked over to him to the stands as she sat down next to him. "Hey, you doing okay?

"Oh Ruby, no I…I just need to think. My mind has been busy a lot lately." He said his shoulders slumping a bit.

"Well, I'm a good listener if you want to talk about it." She offered. "I mean it wouldn't be the first time." She blushed as the last time they had been talking like this ended with them kissing. Which only brought memories of the night before to her mind and that didn't help matters.

'Why did I have to think about that!?' Ruby mentally shouted at herself. "Stupid brain! Stop thinking about it! Just do what I tell you and not think about that, okay?'

Oscar shuffled a little nervously as when he thought about that night the ending of that night also ran into his mind. He had to push that memory away as he focused on what was bothering him.

"Well Ironwood took me to some training while you guys were off on this mission."

"Oh, how did that go?" Ruby asked curious.

Oscar chuckled. "Well he doesn't pull any punches even when going easy on me."

"He does seem like the type." Ruby giggled.

"Well it's just that with how he's been helping us and everything I don't like keeping what we know from him." Oscar told her.

Ruby looked down at her hands as she thought about it. "I know, I feel the same, I mean I wanted to tell him but after seeing how Mantel was and how he looked…"

"He looks like he's had it rough," Oscar had only ever met the man recently but he felt like he knew him for a lot longer. Most likely some influence of Ozpin in the back of his mind but he could just feel how the General looked ragged and tired. "I feel…I feel like he's drowning and needs something to hold on to."

Ruby thought about it and it seemed like how she felt only put into words. "Yeah, I feel like if we told him everything it would crush his spirit but I don't like to lie to him either. I feel torn the entire time but I think this project could be helpful. Not only to him but to everyone."

"He needs a win," Oscar thought about it aloud. "After Beacon he must have felt responsible for it."

"He shouldn't, I mean there were a lot of people there and Cinder out played everyone." Ruby said.

"Yes but you know how some people can get."

Ruby nodded her head, "I think we will have to tell him everything."

"When?"

"I guess…when the time is right?" Ruby shrugged.

"How will we know when that is?" Oscar honestly asked.

Ruby shook her head sadly. "I have no idea, with everything going on and him focused on this project I don't want to add to his worries. I wanted to get to know him more and I hoped that I would think of how best to tell him. I'm worried telling him would take away his hope of winning."

Oscar thought about it wondering if a false hope was better than the grim reality of everything? Then there was the thought of what he talked about with Ironwood about his plan to tell the world about Salem. If that was the right thing to do, wouldn't have Ozpin or one of his other incarnations have done that already? He decided to voice his worry to Ruby.

"Is telling the world that Salem is real the right thing to do? What if she decides that being in the shadows is no longer needed and acts out in the open from now on? Who do we know is or isn't working for her already? There are still people we don't know, remember that name I found in Lionheart's notes?"

"Oh yeah what was it again?" Ruby had forgotten about the meetings Lionheart had.

"Watts," He supplied. "We never learned who that was. This is why Ironwood is taking so much security about this because we have no idea if Atlas has moles in it. Salem could have people all over the world and we might never know until it's too late."

"What if we expose Salem and all her agents act out some kind of revenge?"

Ruby took his hands in hers seeing how much this was worrying him. "Then we'll all face it together just like we always do."

Oscar looked at her hand it was such a slender hand and yet it was warm and he could feel the strength of her hand even in her gentle grip. Yet he could feel the comfort in her light grip and he felt a bit more at ease as he took a breath.

"Yeah, I'm still trying to cope with everything I guess. It wasn't that long ago I was just helping my aunt on her farm and here I am training to fight in a war that has lasted longer than recorded history."

"Yeah that is a lot," Ruby chuckled. "But it's important to remember we're not in this alone."

"That's true, thanks Ruby." Oscar smiled at her as she smiled in return.

"So…you want to go get something to eat? I'm pretty sure there's plenty of cake left."

"I think I will," Oscar stood up with her. "I think I got my appetite back and I did work one up with the General."

"Great," Ruby bounced up next to him happy he seemed to be doing better. "Because so did I. Oh you know what I learned? Harriet said my semblance might not actually be speed but something else entirely."

"Wait really? Do you have an idea of what it could be?"

Ruby scratched the side of her face, "Not really but I plan on working on it."

TBC…