The Blackjack's top hatch slid open and Summer poked her head out.

"Two seconds," she said, ducking back underneath and into the cabin. "It's hot out there." She unclasped her cloak and tossed it aside and then did the same with her woolen vest and gun belts.

Summer climbed out and surveyed the cove they'd landed in. Cloud, still without his own red cloak, did the same.

"It really is hot," Cloud said flatly.

"What, did you think I was lying?" Summer stretched a little bit, wincing as pain from her barely-healed wounds flared up. She strode across the Blackjack's hull and jumped down, her boots splashing in the water. She trudged up out onto the warm, dry sand.

It really was the very picture of an idyllic tropical island, neither totally untouched nor overrun by humanity. The few structures around them were wooden — and not permanent, Summer could tell. Some, the taller ones mostly, were made by professional woodworkers; others bore the telltale imperfections of having been made by younger, inexperienced hands.

Summer noted with a wince that the Blackjack's nose, in its crash, had destroyed the mast of a crude, lashed-together raft. She hoped whoever made it wouldn't be too mad about that.

Cloud took a running leap from the top of the Blackjack and landed firmly on the sand without getting wet.

"Showoff," Summer said playfully. She looked around. "So, where in the Nine Hells are we now?"

"An island," Cloud said. "And it's not deserted."

"Yeah, I figured." Summer sat down on the sand and laid out in the sun. "I'm tired."

"You're tired?" Cloud snorted.

"I'm allowed," Summer said. "We just saved the entire universe from a couple of silver-haired egomaniacs. I can be tired. I can be as tired as I want."

Cloud stabbed the Buster Sword tip first into the sand deep enough to keep it standing and sat beside her, resting his back against the sword.

"We beat Ansem," Summer said. "All the worlds are back how they should be."

"Yeah," Cloud said.

"What do you want to do now?" Summer asked. She turned so she was lying on her side, head propped up by her arm. "I mean, you were looking for Sephiroth, and we totally found him, and you totally kicked his ass. So what now?"

Cloud looked down for a moment. He looked up at the cloudless blue sky. "You're still looking for your home, right? I'll keep helping you out."

Summer blinked in some level of surprise, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. "Oh." She smiled. "Well, thanks." She flopped back down onto her back. "I say let's take a few days here before we go anywhere. Call it a vacation."

"That sounds good," Cloud said.

They sat there — or, in Summer's case, laid there — for a long while in silence.

Cloud perked up slightly. "Someone's coming," he said.

Someone, as it turned out, was Kairi. She visibly gasped when she saw them on the beach. She hurried over at a run.

"Hey!" Summer waved at her, a great wide overhead wave that seemed just a little immature. "How's it going?"

Kairi slowed to a stop as she came up to them. "What are you doing here? Is Sora with you?"

Summer shook her head. "No, we got separated." She scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry."

Kairi looked past Summer at the Blackjack. "Is that your ship?"

"Yep," Cloud said.

"C'mon over," Summer said. "Take a load off!"

Kairi stepped over and sat next to Summer. As she did so, Summer noticed that the survival knife she'd given Kairi was on her belt. Summer smiled to herself.

"So what happened?" Kairi asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Summer responded. "I saw you there."

"I closed my eyes for a moment, and then I was standing on some sand," Kairi said, voice heavy with emotion. "I already knew it was home. Sora was there — but he didn't come with me. And Riku isn't here, either."

"Yeah," Summer said. "We destroyed Kingdom Hearts. Ansem got killed by the light in it, Cloud and I beat up Sephiroth. We were just about to grab Sora and his buddies and — wham! Something smacked into us, transported us here."

"Where did they go?" Kairi asked. "Sora, and Donald and Goofy."

"Dunno," Summer said.

"He's a pretty tough kid," Cloud said, a hint of fondness coloring his voice. "I'm sure he's fine. Besides, he's got Donald and Goofy with him."

"Yeah," Summer said. "So don't worry. He's probably looking for Riku, anyway — we saw him. He was in the Dark Place."

"The Dark Place?" Kairi asked. "You mean the Realm of Darkness, like in Ansem's report?"

"Yeah," Summer said. "I'm sure between all of them they can get him and the King out of there. I got out once, it's not impossible. Then they'll just fly a gummi ship back home, and boom. Happy ending."

Kairi nodded to herself. "Yeah."

Summer's stomach chose that moment to growl loudly. Both Kairi and Cloud looked right at her.

"Heh heh," Summer said. "I'll just hop back on the ship and grab a ration bar in a second."

"What? No, no," Kairi said. "Let me take you home, we can get you some actual food."

Summer didn't know what was the most awkward part of the dinner she was eating.

Well, it wasn't the food. The food was delicious: a rice bowl filled with vegetables, fish and hunks of canned meat that had been fried. Cloud was silent and eating, although she considered the silence may have been a byproduct of the awkwardness in the room.

And Summer had to guess the awkwardness was coming from the other side of the table.

Kairi's parents were intensely wary of these two armed strangers who Kairi had purported were friends. Her declaration that the two had saved her life barely got them in the door, but reception had been frosty ever since Cloud had set the Buster Sword down and accidentally gouged a notch into the hardwood flooring.

"So," Kairi's mother said. "How did you…meet our little girl?"

"It's complicated," Cloud said.

"Difficult to explain," Summer added, her mouth half full.

"We met in another world," Kairi said. "They saved me from evil monsters called Heartless."

Kairi's father glared over his bowl at the two.

"Dad," Kairi whined, voice low. "You're embarrassing me."

"Listen," Summer said. "I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Summer Rose, this is Cloud Strife, we travel righting wrongs. Your daughter was in peril, and we helped her get back home, that's all there is. We don't ask for payment or this-for-that; we're professionals and we have standards. All I want is for everyone to be safe and happy. I'm no stranger to a cold reception — lots of villages mistrust Huntresses like me. Even this meal means a lot to us." She raised her bowl. "So we do thank you."

There was a long silence in the room.

"I don't know where you come from," Kairi's father said finally. "But what if what my daughter has said is true, then we owe you. I will write you a letter; you give it to the hotel owner, and he will let you stay as long as you need."

"Thank you again," Summer said.

"Why can't they stay here?" Kairi asked. "We have a guest room."

"It's fine," Summer said, waving her hand. "Besides, Cloud and I prefer separate beds. Less awkward that way."

"Wait," Kairi's mother interjected. She pointed rapidly between Cloud and Summer "You're not — together?"

"We spent two weeks on the Destiny Islands," Summer said. She winced as the pickup truck the group was riding in the back of went over a rough patch of dirt road. "I did, if you were curious, meet Sora's mother. She's a librarian for the island's school, and she was a very nice woman. I did explain where Sora was; it's information I would want to know if he were my child. Otherwise, Cloud and I had a very relaxing time. Then we repaired the Blackjack and departed."

"So what happened next?" Oscar asked.

"A few months passed. Cloud and I visited Hollow Bastion. The Princesses had gotten home safely, and Leon and his troop had begun cleaning up the streets. We pitched in for a bit, but it wasn't anything to write home about. We had some other adventures, too — there was a situation with a llama who was actually an emperor, we got hired as part of that expedition to Atlantis — now that was a mess — oh, and also we saved Christmas from the Heartless."

Oscar blinked. "What's Christmas?"

Summer sighed. "It's a holiday celebrated around the winter solstice, like our Midwinter's Festival. Somehow it's on a lot of these worlds."

"Oh, cool," Yang said.

"Anyway, after doing all that and after drinking a lot of eggnog we wandered back to the Blackjack…"

Summer shucked the garish red and white patterned sweater from her body and threw it on one of the couches in the lounge. She straightened her shirt and shook the snowflakes from her hair.

Cloud, meanwhile, stumbled up onto the ship, leaned his sword against the wall, and slumped down onto a couch.

"Talk about a party," Summer said, sitting down in the chair beside the ship's computer terminal. She dropped her bag beside it. "How are you holding up?"

"Tired," Cloud said. He put a forearm over his eyes.

Summer stretched in her seat. "Might as well turn down the lights, get the ship ready for bed." She pressed a button on the computer.

Rather than the standard display, it brought up a black screen with green text.

"Cloud?" Summer asked.

Cloud grunted in response, but revealed one of his eyes.

"You haven't been futzing with the computer, have you?"

Cloud shook his head as best he could. "What is it?"

"A message," Summer said. "Someone wants to meet us — they provided coordinates and a meeting place." She fished a pen out of her bag and wrote the coordinates on her hand before climbing up into the cockpit and consulting the navicomputer. She climbed back down into the lounge. "It's out there, but it's doable with the warp drive."

Cloud sighed. "Where is it?"

"A world named Twilight Town," Summer said. "It's a long trip — we'll have to make a couple jumps, it looks like."

Cloud sat up and swung around. "What if it's a trap? You don't know who sent that."

Summer stopped. She looked at the computer screen, then back to Cloud. "That's true. But it's a risk I have to take," she declared finally.

"Why?"

She pointed at the screen, and Cloud stood finally and stepped over. He read the message carefully. He stood to his full height and looked back at Summer. "They know where your home is."

She nodded. "That's why I have to go."

Summer and Cloud were silent as they made their landing approach.

The town below was idyllic. It looked quiet, neither metropolitan nor parochial, with tan-and-brown buildings working their way up a hill toward a large clock tower. A locomotive running on an elevated track puffed up steam as it cruised over tan and brown buildings. The setting sun illuminated the town, the shadows lengthening as they cruised over the town toward the woods on the outskirts.

If Summer squinted, she could almost pretend it was home. Silently, she somewhat thanked whoever had sent the message; her homesickness had gotten worse without ample distraction such as the impending threat of Ansem and the Heartless had been. She needed danger, excitement, or at the least work that was engaging enough.

"There's the mansion from the message," Cloud said, leaning back and flipping a series of switches. "Looks like there's enough room to land."

"Barely."

"At least I'm not trying to land in a lake."

"It was iced over and covered in snow, that was not my fault," Summer retorted as the landing gear came down. They came to rest on the forest floor and Summer began to shut down the ship. "Just be glad it wasn't Atlantica." She stopped, shuddered silently for a moment, and began to shut down the ship.

They deboarded the ship. The wrought iron gate to the mansion had been left open, and so they walked into the courtyard. It was filled with toppled pillars.

"It's run down," Cloud said.

"Bringing up any bad memories?" Summer asked, with a smile.

"Not really," Cloud responded. "The Shinra Mansion was creepier."

Summer knocked twice on the door. After a long minute of waiting, she gave it a push, and discovered it had been unlocked the entire time.

The foyer was decidedly run down, with barely any furniture that wasn't broken in one way or another. A small model of the house was on prominent display at the center of the room, but it too had been left in disrepair.

"It's definitely a fixer-upper," Summer said. She cleared her throat. "Hello? Anyone home?"

"Welcome," a deep voice sounded from the second floor of the foyer. Summer looked up to see the speaker. He was a man dressed in dark red robes, with a series of belts wrapped around his face to obscure his identity, but his tanned skin and a single yellow eye was still visible.

Summer put a hand on her hip. "You're the one who sent the message?"

"Indeed." The man began to descend the steps.

"What do you want?" Cloud asked abruptly.

"Straight to business, I see," the robed man said as he reached the ground floor. "I have been called many things, but you may call me DiZ. You are Cloud Strife, Coliseum fighter. Mercenary." He looked over to Summer. "And you. Summer Rose, the Huntress."

"That's me, that's my job," Summer said. "How do you know about us?"

"I first became aware of you through your inadvertent struggle against Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness," DiZ said. "Neither of you bore Keyblades like the King or Sora, and yet you stood and fought. And so I seek your strength for the forthcoming battle."

"Forthcoming?" Summer asked. "We're — it's not forthcoming, we beat Ansem. And Sephiroth, too."

DiZ cleared his throat. "Follow me." He began to ascend the stairs once more; Summer and Cloud shrugged at each other before following. "When a being loses their heart to the darkness, the heart becomes a Heartless. This you must know by now. But the body and soul — where do they go?"

"Nowhere?" Summer asked.

DiZ laughed, a hollow bark of a sound. "Were it so easy! If the soul possesses enough willpower, those bodies without hearts pass into worlds like these — somewhere between light and darkness — and become Nobodies."

Cloud nodded. "So you're saying that Ansem has a Nobody."

"Indeed." DiZ stopped before a door and opened it. From the shelves lining the walls, the room had originally been a library, but the floor had been torn open and a set of stairs led downwards into a dim basement lined with advanced machinery. He began to descend. "Ansem's Nobody has collected a group of miscreants — starting with his fellow apprentices."

"Fellow apprentices?" Summer asked as they passed into a room with an impressive-looking computer with multiple monitors. "I thought they were apprenticed to Ansem."

DiZ stopped. "Slip of the tongue," he said after a moment. "This group is named Organization XIII. What they seek is as of yet — unknown."

"Whatever it is, I don't think it's good," Summer said. "Ansem was an egomaniac who wanted to destroy all the worlds, his other half can't be much better." She sighed. "I'm guessing you lured me here to get me to agree to fighting them in exchange for whatever information you have about home."

"I can give you the information now," DiZ replied. He produced a small card. "I came across your world when looking for places to establish my base — it, too, lies on the edge of the Realm of Light. The combination of firearms and melee weaponry your warriors use is quite distinctive, but monsters prevented me from settling there."

"Well, that's Grimm for you," Summer said, taking the datacard. "And — thank you."

"In exchange, I require you to aid us when the time comes for the remainder of Organization XIII to be destroyed." DiZ opened another sliding door that led into darkness. "But first, the most important piece must be put into play."

"The Keyblade," Cloud said.

"Exactly," DiZ said as the lights came on.

The corridor's far end held eight pure white pods, resembling budding flowers that had yet to blossom. Within two of them were two familiar faces — Donald and Goofy, appearing to the world as if they were taking a nap.

Summer paused for a long second. "Two questions. First off — what do you mean remainder? Second, why are they in there, and where is Sora?"

"The answer is one and the same," DiZ said, striding down the corridor. He stopped to examine Donald and Goofy. "After Sora and his companions destroyed the Door to Darkness, they appeared in another strange world, holding a massive castle: Castle Oblivion. There, a renegade party of the Organization sought to manipulate Sora into destroying the remainder. The entire group the Organization sent to the Castle, save for a particularly clever Nobody named Axel, was destroyed whether by infighting, Sora, or my own ally."

He opened the door to the next room. It was pure white, and at its center was a massive pod. Sora was inside. Before the pod was a pale girl with blonde hair, clad in a white dress. She looked as if she might fade into the walls if you let her.

"This is Naminé," DiZ said. "She is a witch with power over memories, and she is particularly capable of handling Sora's memories."

"Hello," Summer said, extending her hand. "I'm Summer. This is Cloud. It's nice to meet you."

Naminé's eyebrows lifted slightly. "Thank you, Miss Summer."

"Please, just Summer is fine."

"Naminé was once a pawn of the Organization," DiZ said, "but after rearranging Sora's memories, she decided to set things right. Unfortunately, the task of reconstructing their memories requires them to sleep for a year."

"I see," Summer said. "So, until Sora awakens—?"

"My other ally will keep the Organization off our trail," DiZ said, "while Naminé finishes the construction of Sora's memories. Once he awakens, he can fly through the Realm of Light and destroy Organization XIII."

"Lofty goal," Summer said. "So where do we come in?"

"Go home," DiZ said. "Gather strength. Prepare yourself for the fight to come. My other ally will tell you when Sora awakens. When he does, Sora will seek answers that you must provide. Aid him in whatever way you deem fit to ensure the destruction of the Organization."

"Who is this other ally?" Cloud asked.

At that moment, someone else walked into the room with the massive pod. A familiar voice said, "DiZ? You in here?"

Summer whirled, her hand on the hilt of her sword. "You," she said.

"You?" Riku said, visibly confused. "DiZ? What is…this lady doing here?"

DiZ approached slowly. "We are gathering allies," he declared. "Riku, has Summer Rose wronged you?"

"Well, she tried to shoot me," Riku said.

Summer rolled her eyes. "In my defense, you had kidnapped a child that I was trying to rescue."

Riku pursed his lips. "That's true." He looked around. "So, what, we're allies now?"

"I guess," Summer said. "If you're not bein' all evil and stuff."

"I'm not," Riku said. "Right now, my only goal is to make sure Sora's okay."

Summed nodded. "Then — allies."

"Allies."

Summer turned to DiZ. "I guess I'll be seeing you in a year, then."

"We will await your return, Huntress."

Summer's fingers flew over the console of the Blackjack, preparing it for a warp jump. Finally, she slid the datacard into the navicomputer. It lit up immediately with the coordinates for the system. She keyed up the computer to plot their warp route and turned back to the dashboard.

"It's happening," Summer said, running her hands over the console. Her breathing was shallower than usual. "It's actually happening."

"Breathe slowly," Cloud said. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Summer wrapped her hand around the warp drive activation lever. "Let's go."

In an instant, they were in warp.

It was hours later before they dropped back out, just outside the orbit of Remnant. Even obscured by clouds, Summer could see the continents clearly, for the first time in her life. It was green and blue and so very, very beautiful.

"There it is," Summer said. "Home." A great grin spread over her face. "Prepare for landing."

She directed the ship towards the Kingdom of Vale, making a long approach from the north.

As they flew steadily closer, the comms panel lit up. Summer slipped the headset on and opened the channel.

"Attention, unidentified airship," the air traffic controller said, as soon as the connection was established. "This is Vale A.T.C.. You are nearing restricted airspace, please divert west of Beacon Academy."

"This is the Blackjack. Copy that. Diverting," Summer said. She put a hand over the mic. "That's weird." She cleared her throat. "Air control, just out of curiosity, what's the issue at Beacon?"

She could hear the snort. "You're kidding, right? There's the massive frozen Grimm drawing all the nearby Grimm in. It's completely overrun."

Summer felt caught between the elation of returning home and the ever-growing dread in her stomach that she'd been in the Dark Place for longer than she'd thought. "We're going straight to Patch," Summer said. "Control, I need to transfer me over to Patch Air Control, and I need a heading to stay clear of your flights."

"Roger that," the air traffic controller said. "Stand by for transmission. Best of luck, Blackjack."

It wasn't hard to talk Patch Air Control into letting her land in the forest, especially not when she verbally flashed her Huntress License at them. They landed the Blackjack in a clearing near the Rose-Xiao Long home.

Summer was antsier than she'd ever remembered being. She had to keep forcing herself to take deep calming breaths as they grabbed their bags, disembarked, and trekked over to the house.

They approached and went around the backyard. Taiyang's hobby of gardening was in full view, and this time of spring, it was most apparent.

Summer stepped up onto the porch and hovered her finger over the doorbell button. Cloud stepped up behind her.

"You can do this," she whispered quietly to herself.

She rang the doorbell.

Almost half a minute later, the door swung open.

Taiyang Xiao Long looked much the same to Summer as he had at Beacon, although his youthful liveliness had been sanded away. He looked worn and tired and older. Terrifyingly, he looked years older.

His immediate expression had been relief, which quickly changed to surprise at realizing these were unexpected visitors, to shock at who the unexpected visitors were, to confusion.

"Hey," Summer said.

Taiyang took a tentative step forward, and then another. He wrapped his arms around Summer in a hug and squoze. Summer wrapped her own arms around him. She could hear him crying. She could feel herself crying, too.

"Tai, I'm gonna need to breathe at some point," Summer said, tapping him on the back.

Taiyang released the hug but held onto Summer, as if fearing she would evaporate at any moment. "Summer," he said, looking her up and down. "You look...good? You're not dead."

"That I am not," Summer said.

"You haven't aged. Am I dreaming?"

"Not in the slightest."

"What happened?" Taiyang asked. "Where were you? Who is this?"

"This is Cloud. As for the rest, it's a long story; I think it'd be better if I tell everyone all at once," Summer said. "Where's Ruby and Yang?"

Taiyang's hands fell away from Summer's shoulders, down to rest at his side. He looked down at the ground.

A cold pit began to form in Summer's stomach. "Tai? Where's Ruby and Yang?"

Taiyang inhaled through his teeth. "Maybe this is a conversation for inside."

Every step into the house was like crashing into a new wave of emotion that threatened to overtake Summer. Taiyang watched her with a careful eye, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pressing her tightly to himself as he walked through the house's entryway. Cloud trailed behind them.

Framed photographs hung on the wall — family portraits, candids from family barbeques and campouts, school photos. They sketched the story of Ruby and Yang's adolescence, and with each one they got older — and Summer's heart sank further and further down until it felt like it was beating in the depths of her stomach.

The last one, the most recent one, was of Ruby and Yang with another pair of girls, one with immaculate white hair and the other with long dark curls. Worry ignited in Summer's chest as Taiyang gently pulled her into the kitchen.

"You redid the kitchen finally," Summer said, looking around. As she did, Cloud leaned against the fridge, arms folded.

"Well, I had someone do most of it," Taiyang admitted. "But yeah." He sat at the counter. "Ruby and Yang aren't—they're not dead, Sum."

"Okay, good," Summer said, sitting down opposite him and exhaling. "So, where are they? That was a picture of a team, right? Are they at another Academy right now? Shade? Haven? Atlas, gods forbid?"

"Not exactly," Taiyang said sheepishly. "They were at Beacon. Ruby got in two years early, before you ask. Something…happened at the Vytal Festival. There were a lot of conflicting news reports about it, but they got out okay. Well, Yang lost an arm, and Ruby was out cold for a full day. But then—"

"—Ruby and Yang left," Summer finished.

"Ruby did," Taiyang said. "One morning in the late fall, I walked into her room to find…just a note." He stepped over to the fridge; Cloud stepped aside. He pulled a folded up paper out from under a magnet and unfolded it. "This is it. She went to Haven, I think."

"What about Yang?"

"Yang followed her," Taiyang said. "Just a week ago."

"And you let both of them just go?!" Summer was halfway to shouting.

"Well, things have changed since you've been gone, Summer," Taiyang shouted right back. He huffed and sat down, calming himself. "It's my leg, Sum. I can't do fieldwork any more, at least not for more than a few hours. I'm a teacher now."

"Gods, I'm sorry," Summer said. "I didn't know."

"You couldn't have," Taiyang mumbled. He slid the note across the counter. "Listen, I think Ruby's following either Qrow or Ozpin. Nobody's seen the Headmaster since Beacon fell, but they never found the body."

The note was scrawled on standard printer paper, in a thick pen or perhaps a thin marker. The paper itself had been folded in half lengthwise at some point, and the penmanship wasn't anywhere near immaculate but it was distinctly legible, with blocky letters.

Some darkly comical part of Summer's mind said it was far better than the last time she'd seen Ruby try and write anything.

"Dad," Summer read aloud, "I'm sorry. I have too many questions about what happened at Beacon, and about what Uncle Qrow told me about what I did. I think the only place I can find answers is Haven. I know Yang and Patch need you right now. Try not to worry — some of my Beacon friends are coming with me. Take care of Zwei while I'm gone. Love, Ruby." Summer looked up and shut her eyes and inhaled sharply. "And that's all she wrote," she said, voice quavering.

"You okay?" Taiyang asked.

Summer closed her eyes. "Yeah," she said. "Haven. Haven Academy. What route did she take to Mistral?"

"I don't know," Taiyang said. He pulled out a large, fold-out world map and unfurled it over the counter. "She left before we got regular airship transport back. Her best bet would have been over the ocean."

"The ports," Summer said, tracing between dots on the eastern side of the continent of Vale. "Argus is less direct but it spits you just north of Mistral. You just take the Limited down into the city proper."

"Would she take that route?" Cloud asked, putting his hands on the table.

"No," Summer said, pinching her brow. "If I'm a broke teenager trying to get to Mistral, I'm not going to Argus. I'm going to the nearest port and then traveling overland. And she probably got stuck in some village over the winter."

Cloud put a hand on his hip. "How are we catching up to her? The Blackjack?"

"No, it's too conspicuous," Summer said. "I need to avoid detection — prevent the wrong people from knowing I'm alive. Tai, you said air travel was fine, right?"

Taiyang nodded.

"I have a plan," Summer declared. "We arrange air transport from Vale out to Anima, somewhere secluded. Forge documentation to make it look like an official Huntsman deployment. Then we ride the rails up to Mistral."

"How are you going to forge this documentation?" Cloud asked.

"Simple," Summer said. "We talk to the Deputy Headmaster of Beacon." She paused. "Tai, who exactly am I going to be calling?"

"Glynda," Taiyang said, flipping out his Scroll and navigating through menus and sub-menus.

"Oh, good," Summer said sarcastically. "Glynda Goodwitch. This won't be awkward." She took it from Taiyang, who had left it dialed but hadn't placed the call. She looked around. "Here goes." Her thumb pressed down on the screen to place the call.

She held the phone up to her ear as it dialed. It was an agonizing wait before the tones ended and there was another voice on the other end. It was a woman; she said, "Taiyang. Any news?"

"There might be one or two new developments," Summer said, leaning over the counter.

There was a pause. "Who is this? How did you get this scroll?"

"It's Summer. Turns out, I'm not dead."

Glynda seemed to process this for a moment. She sighed finally. "Summer Rose. Only you could return from the dead so flippantly."

"You know me; I'm full of surprises. Listen, I need that favor you owe me."

Irritation was audible in Glynda's voice even over the Scroll. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that. Well, what is it?"

Summer exhaled and closed her eyes. "I need transport for two. Me and someone—someone from outside the Kingdoms. I'm going after my daughters. As soon as possible. And make it discreet."

"It'll be tomorrow," Glynda said, her typing audible over the line. "Patch Airfield. One Bullhead. Seven in the morning."

"Seven sharp," Summer repeated.

"And, Summer?"

"Mm?"

"It's good to have you back."

"Good to hear from you too," Summer said. The call ended.

"Sounds like we've got transport," Cloud said. "What next?"

"Well, we've gotta pack some bags," Summer said, sliding her hand over Halbmond's hilt. "Not to mention arming ourselves to the teeth." She glanced over to Taiyang. "I don't suppose we have any Dust?"

"None of yours," Taiyang responded. "Threw it out 'cause of degradation. Ruby left some, though."

Summer pursed her lips. "Sounds like it's gonna be a late night of handloading, then."

The day passed into nighttime. Summer and Cloud busied themselves with preparation work, grabbing everything they needed from the Blackjack and packing it up. They ended up with two fair sized bags. Summer went into town quickly, focusing on a task to not let herself be overwhelmed with the changes to Patch in the thirteen years she'd been gone, and bought herself a leather journal. She tucked her research notes from studying Ansem's research inside. After that, she busied herself with loading her empty cartridge casings with Dust.

Late into the night, Summer stepped into her and Taiyang's bedroom. She dropped her bag on the floor and took out her set of pajamas.

Taiyang was sitting in the bed and reading a book, his lamp on. A pair of rectangular reading glasses were perched on his face.

"It's late," Summer said, taking off her vest.

"I know."

"I'm surprised you didn't get a smaller bed," Summer said.

"Felt wrong," Taiyang said. He shut his book and set it on the nightstand. "I guess if I did it would have meant I'd given up hope that Raven or you would come back. Wasn't something I wanted to do." He looked over at Summer and the pajamas she was putting on. "Are those new?"

"Yeah." She climbed into bed. "So…Raven never came back?"

"Not exactly," Taiyang said. "I think she's watching out for Yang — at least, that's what Qrow said." He paused. "You're going out there for her, too."

Summer laid down on the bed and looked straight up at the ceiling. "I regret what I said to her, and I want to apologize. If she doesn't want anything to do with me then that's not my call to make, but I want closure."

"Love is a difficult thing." Taiyang reached over and brushed Summer's hair out of her eyes.

"I missed you," Summer said, wrapping her hand around his wrist. She pulled him into a kiss.

"Not as much as I missed you," Taiyang responded. He kissed her again. "You gonna be okay out there?"

"Of course," Summer said. "Don't you know who I am?"

"I think you said that last time."

"Hey, I'm fine," Summer shot back. "Just took a little bit longer than expected."

Summer rubbed her eyes as she stood to the side of the VTOL landing area at Patch Airfield. As she watched, Cloud emerged from the tiny terminal with two cans of coffee in his hand. He tossed one to her and she caught it, cracked it open and chugged a few gulps of it down.

As she did, her ears picked up the sound of an approaching aircraft. She looked up.

The newer models of Bullhead were sleeker than Summer remembered, and the pilot of this one was certainly skilled with how he handled the landing with ease.

Summer's eyebrows raised in surprise as the Bullhead came in for the landing and she saw why the bay door was open.

Standing in the open door was Glynda Goodwitch. She, too, had changed from her younger days; her once shoulder length hair had grown longer and been done up in a bun. The dress Summer remembered her wearing had been altered, the bodice becoming a blouse, the skirt replaced with pants, and a cape that didn't quite go around her shoulders had been added.

Glynda stepped out as the engines shut down.

"I'm digging the cape," Summer said.

"You're why I wear it," Glynda replied. "Brothers, you look like you walked straight out of my memories. Except the outfit."

Summer gestured to her clothing. "You like?" Both of them shared a chuckle.

"Who's this?" Glynda asked, tilting her head to look past Summer and at Cloud.

"My companion," Summer introduced, "Cloud Strife. He's from outside the Kingdoms. He doesn't have a license, but I can vouch that he's cleared for Huntsmen-caliber duty."

Glynda nodded. "If you'd like, I can register him as your apprentice — that way, he'll have a provisional Huntsman's License on file."

"Thank you," Cloud said.

"Cloud, this is Glynda," Summer said. "She's a…friend?"

"Friend," Glynda confirmed. "Summer has caused me no shortage of headaches, but I would be glad to count her among my friends." She gestured to the Bullhead. "Your ride. She's fueled up and ready to head to Anima."

"The pilot's trustworthy?"

Glynda nodded. "He is." She looked out to the east. "Summer, I wish you luck in finding your daughters. Brothers be with you."

"Brothers be with you too," Summer said, climbing aboard. Cloud hopped aboard alongside her.

From the tarmac, Glynda held up her hand; it faintly glowed purple. With a wave, she shut the door.

"Let's get this show on the road," Summer said, climbing into the cockpit alongside their pilot. He was unshaven, brown scruff covering his chin. A flight helmet and sunglasses obscured the rest of his face.

Summer slipped on a headset. "Morning," the pilot said once it was secure.

"Good morning," Summer said. She held out a hand. "Nice to meet you — I'm Summer."

"Captain Douglas K. Plissken. Call me Kirk," the pilot said, shaking her hand. He fired up the engines. "Better strap in. We've been cleared for takeoff."

The Bullhead began to lift gently up and soared over the trees and out over the ocean before it began to bank, turning around and heading to the east.

"Mistral, here we come," Summer mumbled to herself.

Plissken had dropped them in an Anima forest as directed.

The sky at midday had been cloudy, but Summer hadn't expected it to rain this hard. She'd silently reprimanded herself for forgetting how wet Anima springs could get. With this amount of rain, even the trees weren't fantastic cover.

"There's the train station," Cloud said, pointing.

"Okay," Summer said. "I say we run for it."

They ran for it, only stopping when they were inside the half-covered train station. Summer flipped her cape's hood down as Cloud shook his head vigorously to get the water out of his spiky hair.

The train station itself was near empty. There was only a boy — or perhaps a young man — dressed in the rough, dirty, and hardy clothes of a farmhand at the automated ticketing kiosk.

"I'll go get us tickets," Summer said.

As she approached, the boy thumped the side of the kiosk before kneeling down and looking at a taped-over panel on the kiosk's front. Summer's eyes flicked to the screen, which was asking for payment, before she looked back down at the boy.

"Oi, kid," she greeted. "Everything alright?"

By the time Summer finished recounting, the sun was setting and Mistral loomed before them.

"And that's the whole story," Summer declared. "You know the rest, more or less." She looked behind them. "And it looks like we're almost here."

"So," Yang said. "Where are we going?"

"Maybe," Summer said. "I'd like to try and find Qrow or Ruby first, if they're in the city."

"How are we going to find Qrow?" Cloud asked.

"No idea," Summer said. "I was going to start with Haven's headmaster, warn him about Hazel and see if Qrow's reported to him, and if that didn't work out, then I'd check with the Guild."

"You should try the bars first," Yang said with an unhappy snort.

Summer frowned. "Why?"

"Uncle Qrow is, um…" Yang trailed off. After a long, hesitant moment, she plainly stated, "He drinks a lot."

"Oh, Qrow," Summer said with a sad sigh. "When we do find him, I'll have to talk to him."

Ozpin's voice floated up in Oscar's mind. The advice is sound, however. Finding Qrow may be that easy.

Oscar cleared his throat. "It might work," he said. After a moment he meekly added, "Well, that's what Oz says."

They did find Qrow Branwen in a bar. It was a relatively nice and downbeat one, not far from Haven's campus. His back was to them, but Summer recognized the shape of the sword set by the bar.

Summer flashed her license at the burly man at the entrance. She nodded her head back at the group behind her. "They're with me. Huntress business."

The man nodded and stepped aside to allow them all entry in, although he did raise an eyebrow at Oscar.

"Let me handle this," Summer said, holding a hand up.

"Got it," Cloud said.

Qrow was alone at the bar. A lone bartender stood before him. As Summer watched, the man joylessly refilled Qrow's glass of whiskey. He stepped slightly to the side as Summer stepped up to the bar on Qrow's right. "Can I get something started for you, ma'am?"

"Yeah, I'll take a Brass Monkey," Summer said, looking at Qrow. His eyes widened, his brain performing vast mental calculations.

The bartender smirked. "Been a while since I made one of those. Coming right up."

Summer slid onto the stool.

Qrow tentatively turned, glancing between Summer, his drink, and the bartender's back as he mixed Summer's drink. "What are you?" Qrow asked finally, voice low, head ducked low and facing Summer. The smell of alcohol was on his breath. "Because I know I haven't been drinking enough to start seeing things, unless this ass drugged me, and I know one of her lackeys has some sort of hallucination-inducing Semblance. So if you're both working for her, then I am going to open a can of whoop-ass all over this bar. This is your last chance. What are you?!"

The bartender turned and set a highball glass before Summer. He looked down at Qrow, who was glaring, his teeth nearly bared, and stepped back.

"Your drink, ma'am," the bartender said shakily.

Summer tossed him some lien. "Closed tab, thank you. Keep the change." The bartender nodded and scurried into the back, behind a short curtain. "Qrow," Summer said flatly. "It really is me."

"Summer Rose is dead, dumbass," Qrow said, grabbing the hilt of his sword. "Disguise or Semblance-induced hallucination, you screwed up at step one."

Summer slipped her hand, the one further from Qrow, onto Halbmond's hilt. Her other hand reached out and grabbed Qrow's right forearm as it lifted his sword. "Listen to me. Once, you attempted to combine your favorite energy drink with booze and you ended up naked in a park and you had to call me to get you a change of clothes."

"Hey! You promised you wouldn't tell anyone," Qrow shot. He paused for a moment, mental calculations resuming. "Wait. I've never told anyone else that."

"Neither have I."

"Summer?" Qrow asked. His sword made a dull thunk as he set it back down. "What…how?"

"It's a long story," Summer said. "But I'm back."

The curtain behind the bar parted and another bartender stepped out. She had long hair, dark brown to the point of being black, and rich, chocolate colored eyes which were currently set in a glare down at the two of them.

"Break it up, you two," she said. She cracked her knuckles.

Cloud's voice punctured the silence. "Tifa?"

The bartender's gaze shot up, her eyes wide. "Cloud?" She walked to an empty section of the bar and vaulted it in a smooth motion. "Cloud," she said again. "It is you, isn't it?"

Cloud nodded.

She rushed forward with such sudden speed that Summer reflexively grabbed for her sword.

Tifa immediately wrapped her arms around Cloud, who wrapped one of his own around her body. "I thought I'd lost you," she said after a long moment, audibly crying into Cloud's shoulder.

Cloud sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah, me too."

"Sorry," Qrow said. "Summer — who's this?" He looked over at Oscar. "And the pipsqueak?" He flicked his gaze to Yang. "And, uh, hey, kiddo."

Yang awkwardly waved.

Summer cleared her throat and took a swig of her drink. "Qrow, allow me to make introductions — the gentleman with the sword is Cloud Strife, my traveling companion, and the kid is Oscar Pine."

"Hi," Oscar said. He drew in a deep breath and looked Qrow in the eye. "I'd like my cane back."

Qrow's eyebrows lifted. He stood, revealing Ozpin's collapsed cane, strapped to his belt. He laughed before pulling it from his belt and tossing it to Oscar in a single motion.

Oscar caught it reflexively. The telescoping cane emerged to its full extension, and it rested in Oscar's gloved hand.

"Now that those introductions are done," Summer said, turning to Cloud and gesturing to the bartender in his arms, "I was wondering who this is."

"This is Tifa," Cloud said, blushing. "She's, uh, my significant other." Tifa turned and looked at Summer and waved with her hand that was still wrapped around Cloud.

"Hi, I'm Summer Rose, nice to meet you," Summer said quickly. "This is Qrow, that's Oscar, my daughter Yang, and I think you already know Cloud. Everyone good? Good." Summer turned back to Qrow. "Where's Ruby?"

"We've got a safehouse," Qrow said. "She's there with Raven and the rest of the kids."

Summer's eyes widened. "Raven? Raven's here?"

"Why do you think I'm drinking?" Qrow grumbled.

"Well, finish your drink, let's go," Summer said impatiently.

"Wait, wait, wait," Tifa said, disengaging from hugging Cloud. She wiped her eyes and face. "Let me come with you, I just have to talk to my manager real quick."

Cloud shot Summer a quick look that said this wasn't negotiable. She nodded.

Tifa leapt over the bar again and hurried into the back.

"She seems nice," Summer said.

Qrow looked over to Cloud. "So how did you meet Summer?"

"We fought each other in a tournament," Summer said. "He was pretty good and he didn't have a ship, I had a ship, so we started traveling together."

"Ship?" Qrow asked.

"Mom was in space," Yang said. Oscar nodded to confirm it.

"Listen, I'll explain it all when we get to the safehouse," Summer said. "I literally just told this group the entire thing, I'm not in the mood to do it two more times. Just once."

Tifa emerged from the back. "Alright, I've got the rest of the night off. Where are we going?"

With Qrow in the lead, the procession wound their way up the streets to a block of apartments. They ascended to the third floor to the unit all the way at the end of the building.

Qrow knocked thrice on its door.

A moment of silence stretched onwards, tension thick in the air.

The door opened, just a crack at first. A blue eye peered out at them. Once the person on the other side had seen Qrow, they relaxed and opened the door fully.

It was a young man with unkempt blonde hair, dressed in a black hoodie and blue jeans. "Qrow?" he asked. "And — Yang? And are these Huntsmen?"

"Sort of," Qrow said.

Yang waved. "Hey, Jaune."

"I mean, I'm a Huntress," Summer interjected, putting a hand to her chest in mock indignation.

Cloud adjusted his hair. "I just do a bit of everything."

Oscar looked down at the cane in his hand. "I'm a farmboy."

"And I'm a bartender," Tifa said with a smile. "Nice to meet you."

Jaune stared in confusion, looking over the group. His gaze lingered on Summer. "Hold on — who are you?"

Qrow laughed. "Kid, this is Summer Rose."

Jaune raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know Ruby had any…uh, cousins?"

Summer laughed wholeheartedly. At Jaune's confusion she held out her hand. "Nice to meet you." As he took it and shook, she continued, "I'm Ruby's mother, actually."

"What?" Jaune asked. He looked between Summer and Qrow and their visible age difference. "But—huh?"

"It's a long story, can we come in?" Summer asked.

"Yep," Qrow said, brushing past Jaune.

Summer walked in.

It was an apartment, dimly lit by a single lamp in the corner. The entrance led directly into a living area. Standing in the corner were another pair of Huntsmen-in-training: a young man with Mistralian features who was clad in green and a girl with fiery orange hair. Neither of them had weapons at the ready, but they were ready to draw them, still visibly wary as the group filed in, Tifa shutting the door behind her.

"Ruby's friends?" Summer asked Qrow.

"Yep," Qrow said. "Kids, this is Summer, say, 'hi, Summer.'"

"Hi," Summer said. "Uh, thanks for looking out for my daughter."

"I thought Ruby's mother died," the one in green said — tone even, but with an accusatory edge behind it.

"That's not getting old." Summer put her hands on her hips. "No, I didn't."

The door to one of the bedrooms slammed open. "Can't I read my comics in peace?" Ruby Rose shouted, headphones around her neck. She stopped when she saw the group that had filed into the apartment — specifically, the woman leading it.

Summer cracked a smile as best she could.

How was she supposed to process all of it? Summer had missed thousands of hours of time with her daughters, both of them. Ruby was very nearly a grown woman herself. She'd gone to Beacon, and when her world crumbled out from underneath her, she had found new resolve to pursue answers, traveling across the world to do so. It was a strength that Summer doubted she'd had at Ruby's age.

And so she stood there, with a smile that didn't reach her eyes; tears were welling up in those eyes. Intensely proud, melancholic, grateful, sorrowful, she was all of these all at once.

"I'm home," Summer said finally.

"M-mom?" Ruby asked.

Summer opened her arms for an embrace.

"You're really here?" Ruby asked.

"She's the real deal," Qrow said from his spot on the couch as Summer nodded.

Ruby stumbled into Summer's arms and cried. They both shed tears for a long while.

The door opened.

Summer turned around, still holding onto Ruby.

The group that was still clustered around the doorway parted, revealing Raven Branwen, a paper bag filled with groceries in her arms. "Summer?" she asked, voice uncharacteristically soft.

Summer tapped Ruby's back twice and they separated.

"Rae," Summer said, stepping towards her.

Without really looking, Raven shoved the bag of groceries into Jaune's arms and stepped towards Summer. Within a few paces they stood close enough to touch.

"It's been a while," Summer said.

"It has," Raven said, voice still soft. "I—I missed you."

Summer reached a hand up to Raven's cheek, softly cupping it. Raven nodded and closed her eyes.

"Uh," Yang said. "What's going on?"

Summer leaned in and kissed Raven.

For an instant, every regret Summer had ever had was washed away. All the uncertainty and the pain was gone. She could feel Raven's hand caressing her neck gently, and when they separated, Raven's cheeks were flushed.

There was a long moment of silence in the apartment.

"Wait, what!?" Ruby asked.

END OF BOOK ONE