Eight weeks. Clean bill of health. The amputation had healed properly, the bleeding had stopped, my muscles had finally gotten used to losing my forearm. I still felt some pain every once in a while, but that was something that just… Something I'd have to get used to.

So why was I back at the damn hospital?

Dad had insisted we come, but this was a wing of the hospital I wasn't familiar with. Not the trauma wing, not the physical therapy wing… It was weird and oddly sanitized. Not in a cleanliness way, but in a space way. Like every piece of furniture was moved into position to look the most inviting it possibly could. Like this one hospital wing was the one piece of all of Vale that somehow didn't get the memo about the Fall.

"Dad, I feel fine, can we-"

"Xiao Long, Yang?" The voice was… familiar? I looked over my shoulder and locked eyes with Guidance Counselor Wheat.

"What's going-"

"I'll be here when you two are done." Dad was up from his seat and gone before I could even yell for him to come back. What the heck was happening.

"Yang? Would you like to come with me to my office? I haven't seen you in quite some time." Professor Wheat gave her usual disarming smile and offered a hand to help me up.

I… wasn't in the mood to accept help for standing up. I rolled my eyes and got up on my own, my hand on my hip in the best simulation of frustration I could make with only one arm.

"Sure, I guess… Why are you here? Shouldn't you be-"

"You're still my student, Yang. You don't get to escape my help just because Beacon's destroyed," she said with a playful wink. That was the first time I'd ever heard anyone talk about what happened to Beacon as if it weren't the worst thing to ever happen.

I sighed and followed her to her office. I was already more frustrated than I'd like to admit, and stopping every few steps to wait for her to keep up with me wasn't helping either. I made sure to open the door for her so she could see I really didn't need her help as we walked into her office.

"Phew. That's a bit of a walk," she said with a small chuckle, sitting down on her couch before rubbing her leg.

"I guess," I said with a shrug, avoiding sitting down myself. I really wasn't in the mood to be here long.

"So, Yang. It's been a while since we last talked, hasn't it?"

I didn't answer. She knew how long it'd been. It'd obviously been a while. I hadn't really needed her help when I'd come to her either. I'd just needed to talk to Blake and had been too afraid to. That'd been a lifetime ago.

"Glad to see you've healed up from your injury. Beacon falling took a lot from all of us, didn't it?"

I only shrugged in response. Of course the Fall had taken a lot from everyone. People had died. I looked around her office, checking out all of the new little trinkets she'd managed to stock. The only thing that was the same as it was in her office in Beacon was the couch I was obviously supposed to be sitting on.

"It feels like just a couple of weeks ago you were asking me for help with your teammate. What was her name?"

I couldn't help the way my eyes reddened at the question. It was such a stupid fucking question. Professor Wheat obviously remembered Blake's name. She'd had dozens of meetings with her. Why was she making me say it?

"Blake. And I don't want to talk about her right now." My voice was low, but even. Well, as even as I could keep it as I turned my attention to another trinket.

"Right, Blake! Oh, don't worry. We don't have to discuss her at all, sorry. I was just reminiscing I suppose. Do you know if she's alright? I-"

"She's fine." That'd come out as more of a growl than an answer.

"Right, right, of course. Glad to hear it." Professor Wheat smiled wide, as if she were genuinely happy to hear that Blake had survived that night. But… for some reason I couldn't believe she didn't already know that. "Enough about Blake. Let's talk about yourself! Have you been eating well? Getting enough exercise? You know, an amputation doesn't have the be the end of your Huntress career-"

"I know that." Everyone knew that. Prosthetics for Hunters were pretty powerful. I just… had to get around to picking one out for myself.

"Fantastic! Glad to hear you haven't given up. You know, lots of people in your position are likely to feel defeated or like there's no way forward. That's an awful feeling for a teenager. Depression is always right around the corner-"

"Is that what this is," I hissed, my eyes turning red and staying red at the accusation. "Dad thinks I'm depressed?" I could feel my body heating up, threatening to light the room around me on fire. Dad thought I was depressed? Taiyang Xiao Long? The man who'd fallen into a depressive state for years and left his two young daughters to raise themselves when we'd needed him most?!

"I think your father's familiar enough with depression to be able to spot it in his daughter."

"Oh fuck OFF! I'm feeling a little bitchy because I lost my fucking arm and now I have to get shrinked? No offense Professor Wheat but-"

"I'm scared, doc. I'm scared that my daughter is falling into the same hole I fell in and I don't know how I can help her. I'm as there for her as I can be- I'm more there for her than I've ever been in my life- but she doesn't want my help." Professor Wheat cleared her throat and looked up from her notes. "Would you like me to keep reading or is that enough? Your father didn't once mention how your behavior made him feel. Just that he was worried about your own well-being. Sorry if that pokes a hole in the narrative you were constructing."

It did. A nice, big hole that would've made me feel like garbage if I weren't feeling so...

"Whatever. I'm fine. My arm is healed up, and once I can get a prosthetic I can get back to being a Huntress. This is stupid," I said with a frustrated shrug.

"So determined to get back to work…" I could see Professor Wheat turning that fact over in her head a dozen times as she got ready to ask me something that'd no doubt piss me off. "Has your sister already returned to active duty?"

"No… she's- she's still recovering." Ruby had been going through her own thing ever since the fall. She'd done… something that night. Something they couldn't explain- something that Dad and Uncle Qrow refused to explain.

"Ah! Then it's Miss Schnee who's returned to active duty, isn't it? She was always an ambitious woman, I'm sure she's the one who's encouraging you to get back to it." I could tell she was fishing for info, but she was just so nice.

"I don't know? Probably not. She… Her parents weren't exactly supportive of her being a Huntress in the first place. I doubt-"

"Oh, of course, my apologies. Then it must be Blake-"

"I don't know. I haven't talked to her," I interrupted. I really didn't want to talk about Blake. Not with her. The second I'd start she'd see through me so easily. I'd barely talked to this woman at all even while I was still attending Beacon, and I knew that Professor Wheat could see through me like I was made of glass.

"She must be busy if you haven't had a chance to reach out to her." Still fishing. Still so nice! It was like not responding would just make things worse!

"I don't KNOW. She's made it clear she doesn't want to see me," I tried to control my anger, but that'd always been the hardest emotion to keep below the surface.

"Oh? Has she told you that?"

"I- no? But she hasn't talked to me in two months! If she wanted to reach out, she knows where I live," I hissed through grit teeth.

"Ah. Apologies. You seem to hardly be affected by that at all though. You're incredibly strong to be seeing a breakup through on your own-"

"WE'RE NOT BROKEN UP!" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop myself. They were so cringey I couldn't believe I'd actually said it out loud. Of course Blake and I were broken up! She'd left without so much as a goodbye! She'd abandoned me! I… just hadn't actually said it out loud before.

"Sorry… No, we're… not together anymore. But I'm fine about it. It's just a breakup." That probably would've been more convincing had I not just blown up about it a couple of seconds ago.

"Mhmm." Professor Wheat looked towards the empty couch again, practically begging me to sit down. I huffed and finally sat down.

"Well, I'm glad you're… fine about it. Blake Belladonna is safely behind you in the past, and the fact that she left without so much as a goodbye doesn't trigger any negative emotions at all." Professor Wheat let that hang, like she knew every word was bullshit and was waiting for me to be honest. I wanted so badly for it to be true. For me to be over Blake so I could move forward with my life. So I could stop waking up in the middle of the night crying over her. Worried that she was being hunted by some White Fang member or…

"You know, Yang, you don't need to be okay. Your father, your sister, your Uncle… they're all already worried about you… You might as well rely on them a little while you recover, don't you think?"

"I'm recovered! My arm is fine!" I waved my injured arm, desperately trying to get Professor Wheat focused back on the injury.

"I believe you, Yang. Your arm is fine. You're physically ready to get back out there! But I'm not your physical therapist, Yang."

"I'm not depressed," I shouted, banging a fist on the couch beside me. "I am not someone who gets depressed!"

"Of course not! You're Yang Xiao Long. You lost an arm, your sister was hurt during the Fall, your girlfriend disappeared, and you're not even a little sad about any of it!"

"Professor-"

"Your father lost the love of his life and shut down for over a decade, but you? No, you're not isolating yourself from your family at all! You're not lashing out. You're not experiencing mood swings or in a generally depressive state since Blake disappeared. Your family is just overexaggerating?"

"It's not like that!" My voice cracked and I could already feel the lump in my throat. This wasn't fair. I wasn't depressed, I just-

"Then what is it like Yang?"

"I LOST AN ARM FOR HER!" Something else I'd never said out loud before. I hadn't just lost my arm. I'd traded it. I'd thrown it away like it was nothing to save Blake. "I lost an arm for her, and I'm not even mad or sad or frustrated about that! I don't hate her or blame her or ANYTHING! I'd do it ALL OVER AGAIN for her in a heartbeat!"

I looked over my shoulder, some part of me begging Blake to come around the corner. To have been waiting behind a door or something the same way she had all those weeks ago. I didn't hate her. She didn't have to run away anymore!

A whole minute ticked by without so much as the sound of footsteps outside the door. Professor Wheat gently calling my name made me give up. I turned back around, tears already falling down my face.

"I just… wish I'd gotten a goodbye…"

Helping to keep Vale safe was exhausting and pushed me to my limits. Border patrol, Grimm extermination, rounding up a criminal here or there, the odd escort mission through Forever Fall or the Emerald Forest. Every single day there were three dozen new missions on the board. Someone else in need of help. A new dangerous Grimm that'd breached a border wall. And every single night there was even more work to do to keep the Kingdom safe.

It was a Sisyphean task, and night after night I watched the toll it was taking on Professor Goodwitch seem to grow heavier and heavier. She had help- Beacon professors who'd survived the Fall. Students who were still eager to help even if they wouldn't be graded on it. But no amount of help eased the burden of leading this cleanup.

That truth couldn't be any more apparent than tonight. I'd been on an escort mission for the past two nights, and was returning to Professor Goodwitch to debrief. I'd gotten so used to keeping my movements silent, I'd forgotten to knock or even make any noise as I entered her office. Professor Goodwitch had her back to me, and was taking a few gulps from a bottle of liquor. Her hair was a mess, with pieces of rubble caught in it- she'd certainly been working on the rebuilding effort earlier in the day and hadn't even had a chance to shower since returning. Her glasses were placed upside-down on the desk, as if she'd just thrown them there.

I flinched in surprise and tried to back away, but I wouldn't exactly go unnoticed forever.

"Miss Belladonna?" Professor Goodwitch quickly cleared her throat and waved me back inside. "Come, come. Apologies. I… needed-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me," I mumbled, unable to take my eyes off the floor. "I came to give my report. The mission-"

"Went well, of course. Miss Belladonna, I expected nothing less. Your record has always been exemplary." Professor Goodwitch was speaking slowly and clearly, trying to avoid slurring her words.

She was exhausted.

"Professor?"

"Yes, Miss Belladonna? Is everything alright," she asked curiously. Usually she gave me my next assignment and I just left.

"... how often did you have to tell Headmaster Ozpin to take a break," I asked.

"Huh? I… ah! Clever, Miss Belladonna. But I can assure you, I'm fine. Just a little-"

"Professor, if you start spreading yourself too thin, Vale crumbles by tomorrow. You… you should rest tonight. Please…" I could see the argument beginning to form on Professor Goodwitch's face. She had too much work to do. She was too busy. She wasn't going to listen to a student telling her to take a break. I braced myself for it all, but then she seemed to catch herself. She took a deep breath and sat down in her chair.

"I… suppose you're right, Miss Belladonna. The border patrols already have their assignments for the evening…" She grabbed her glasses and looked over a couple of documents before sighing and putting them back down. "Thank you, Miss Belladonna… I haven't had a chance to take a break since…"

"Yeah… not the best time to be promoted to your new position." I realized that might've been the worst thing I could've said, but Professor Goodwitch still chuckled anyway.

"No, I suppose not. Headmaster Ozpin was better suited to this sort of work." She sighed, combing her fingers through her hair and knocking loose a couple pieces of rubble.

"What… happened to the Headmaster?" It was a question everyone was asking, but no one who knew anything was talking. That night had been awful for everyone, but surely the rogue Grimm or White Fang soldiers hadn't taken out Headmaster Ozpin!

Professor Goodwitch turned her green gaze up to lock eyes with me. I could see an immense sadness in them and immediately almost felt bad asking.

"You know, Headmaster Ozpin and I have known each other for a very long time… I actually met him here, at Beacon. He was an… incredibly different person back then, if you could believe it."

I took that as an invitation to get closer. I sat down on the desk and let her talk. She was clearly caught in a memory, and that was better than her trying to sneak in any paperwork still needing to be done.

"Well, not entirely, I suppose. He still had an enormous heart. Helping others was practically a compulsion he was unable to shake. And trouble seemed to find him wherever he went." She chuckled at that, as if it were the most obvious thing that Headmaster Ozpin was someone who used to get into loads of trouble.

"Then we graduated. James- General Ironwood- went back to Atlas. And Ozpin needed someone to keep him in line as he focused on becoming Headmaster." She took another swig of her drink before offering me some, seemingly catching herself, laughing, and taking another swig.

"Everything has fallen apart so quickly… I never even had the chance to say goodbye," Professor Goodwitch sighed, resting her head in her hands. I couldn't tell if she looked more drunk or exhausted at this point. "Miss Belladonna, if I can be informal with you for a moment?"

"Uh, yeah? Of course."

"Say goodbye to the people you have left. Before you lose the opportunity."